‘The Evening’s Amethyst’ by Marni Graff

Synopsis

Who is Verity? That becomes the central question for American writer Nora Tierney, who has moved to her new Oxford home with her fiancé, DI Declan Barnes, and her young son. Declan’s new case at Exeter College coincides with a frantic call from Nora’s stepsister, Claire Scott: a fellow graduate student has died in a fall, and Claire begs Nora to help her prove her friend didn’t commit suicide. The sisters conduct their own snooping, while Declan and his tam juggle this death with a cold case that proves to be more surprising than Declan could ever imagine.

My Review

I have read and loved a couple of Marni’s books now.  I still have a few books from her back catalogue to catch up with but I will get there.  Marni’s latest release is called ‘The Evening’s Amethyst’, which is the fifth book in the Nora Tierney series and it is another corker of a read.  I thoroughly enjoyed reading ‘The Evening’s Amethyst’ but more about that in a bit.

It took me a little while to get into this book, as I was tired and finding it hard to concentrate when I started to read it.  However once I got into the story then that was it and I was away.  I loved the characters and the relationship between them.  I had my own suspicions as to what was going to happen so I had to keep reading to see if I was anywhere near the truth or if I had put 2 + 2 together to make 5.  I found reading this book to be rather addictive.  I would pick the book up only intending to read a couple of chapters but I would become immersed in the story that I would still be sat there reading several chapters later.  I was so wrapped up in the story that I lost all track of time and just how quickly I was getting through the story.  All too quickly I reached the end of the story and I had to say farewell to Nora, Declan and the rest of the characters.  I found ‘The Evening’s Amethyst’ to be a gripping read, which kept me guessing and which kept me on the edge of my seat.

‘The Evening’s Amethyst’ is extremely well written.  Marni certainly knows how to grab the reader’s attention and reel them in as it were.  Once Marni has your attention she doesn’t let you have it back until the moment you read the last word on the last page.  For me, the story hit the ground running and maintained a fairly fast pace throughout.  Reading ‘The Evening’s Amethyst’ was a bit like being on an at times scary and unpredictable rollercoaster ride with several twists and turns along the way.

In short, I really enjoyed reading ‘The Evening’s Amethyst’ and I would recommend it to other readers.  I will certainly be reading more of Marni’s work in the future.  The score on the Ginger Book Geek board is a very well deserved 4* out of 5*.