Mondays mean Kaye George is
here for another “Monday With Kaye” segment. This week she is reviewing Life Without Parole by Clare
O'Donohue. Published in 2012 it is the sequel to the first book in
the series Missing Persons published
in 2011.
“Life Without Parole” by Clare
O'Donohue
The second Kate Conway mystery picks up after the painful,
complicated death of Kate's husband, which took place in the first book. It's
seven months later and she's fooling herself into thinking she's recovering. My
heart aches for the rather brittle, but likable Kate as she deals with her
grief and her boredom with her job as a reality show television producer.
She's been doing decorating and makeover shows and becoming more jaded
with each one. So she jumps at the chance to do something different, interviewing
men serving life sentences in prison—life without parole. The two men lined up
for the first documentary episode are murderers whose death sentences were
commuted. Kate is to show the TV audiences how they deal with the fact that
they will die in prison. She is excited to talk to two people who don't care
about throw pillows or paint chips.
Another show lures her by offering her lots of money and
promising to work with her schedule. This one will have her film the investors
and participants in a new, hip restaurant as the build-out is finished and the
place opens. When Kate finds out who is behind the job offer, she almost backs
out. The further she gets into the lives of these people, all of whom are hiding
something, the more reservations she has. When one of them is murdered, she
tells herself that finding the killer will make good television. But she finds
she's not quite as hardened and cynical as she thinks she is.
I can't say enough good things about this novel. It's deeper and
more serious than a lot of mysteries and a super read.
Reviewed by Kaye George, author of Choke for Suspense Magazine
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