I’ve been a fan of Rick Mofina’s work for a long time: Last year’s Her Last Goodbye, and Their Last Secret from a couple of years ago are standouts, but he has had a long career full of surprising mystery books.
Everything She Feared is an April 2023 release from MIRA publishers
I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book. All opinions are my own. This post contains affiliate links, see disclosures for more detail.
About the Book:
When a teen falls while taking a selfie at the edge of a cliff, the last thing she sees before plummeting to her death is Katie Harmon, the nine-year-old girl she was babysitting, looking down at her.
Investigators gather at the scene, and Katie’s mother, Sara, rushes to comfort her daughter. Yet there’s a small, secret ping of alarm in Sara’s heart that she cannot share—though rookie detective Kim Pierce senses it.
For years, others have tried to unravel this secret. From true-crime podcasters to a haunted journalist searching for a killer who vanished after being released from prison several years ago. And now, with detectives tightening the focus of their investigation, Sara is consumed by her darkest fear—that the babysitter’s death was not an accident.
My Thoughts:
I gave this book 3.5 Stars
Another intriguing mystery from Rick Mofina.
Anna, a teen, falls over the side of a cliff while taking a selfie. The only witness is Katie, the nine-year-old girls she is supervising as a part of a field trip with their school. Anna clings precariously to a branch while Katie runs for help, but when others arrive, Anna has fallen to her death. Katie’s mother Sara knows that there is something sinister in their past. She begins to wonder if Anna’s death is a tragic accident, or could Katie possibly be involved?
This story has a lot of moving parts–many characters, points of view, and motivations. It takes a while for all of the different parts to come together in a cohesive whole, but when it does it’s a race to get to the truth. This book kept me guessing until the end, I appreciated that the reader learns everything right along with the police and others, it made the story more suspenseful.
The one thing I didn’t love was the portrayal of Katie. Sometimes she seemed much younger than nine, sometimes much older. Her dialogue was awkward and the interactions between Sara and Katie kept going around and around in circles. When taken as a whole, this didn’t detract too much from the reading experience for me, but at certain times it tended to slow or halt the pacing.
Rick Mofina is very creative and I always look forward to his books, his plots are creative mysteries that never fail to keep my interest.
About the Author:
Rick Mofina is a former crime reporter and the award-winning author of several acclaimed thrillers. He’s interviewed murderers face-to-face on death row; patrolled with the LAPD and the RCMP. His true crime articles have appeared in The New York Times, Marie Claire, Reader’s Digest and Penthouse. He’s reported from the U.S., Canada, the Caribbean, Africa, Qatar and Kuwait’s border with Iraq. This is his 31st book.
Social Links:
Author Website: https://www.rickmofina.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/RickMofina
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/rick.mofina.1
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rickmofina/
GoodReads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/93666.Rick_Mofina
