The Trouble With Charlie
A Novel
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- $3.99
Publisher Description
Elle finds the body of her soon-to-be-ex husband, Charlie on her sofa, stabbed to death with her kitchen knife. Elle's close friends stand by her through the difficult funeral, but Elle alone must face the loss of the man she'd loved. Except that the loss is not total--Charlie is still around. Elle feels his presence, smells his after shave. Hears him accuse her of killing him. And even though she doesn't believe in ghosts, she argues with him, asserting her innocence. Oddly, Elle has a gap in her memory; she can't account for her activity during the time of his murder. As she tries to clear herself by finding out how Charlie died, she discovers that she had plenty of reason to kill him. Charlie had secrets. Infidelity. Unsavory business associates. Involvement with an international organization of sex abusers. The more she learns, the more danger she faces. As unscrupulous people begin to fear she'll expose them, Elle races against time to avoid arrest, fight off attackers, solve the murder, and make peace with Charlie's spirit.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Jones makes the most of her plot twists in this solid stand-alone featuring Philadelphia elementary schoolteacher Elle Brooks. Elle's marriage to Charlie Harrison is at an end, their divorce waiting to be finalized. On returning home after a night out with her girlfriends, Elle is unsettled by indications that Charlie, despite having moved out, is in the townhouse with her, including what feels like a light kiss on the back of her neck and a long-stemmed rose lying on the kitchen floor. She grabs a knife to protect herself, only to find Charlie dead, stabbed in the back. As the obvious suspect, Elle finds that clearing her name is complicated by frequent, unexplainable gaps in her memory that have even Elle doubting her own innocence. Not much depth, but the brisk prose keeps the pages turning.
