2023 Book Review #48: Wrong Alibi

 

It's been a very long time since I've read a novel by this author.  Several years ago, I read her novel titled Virtue Falls and I remembered it was very suspenseful, although a bit odd.  This one is also suspenseful and very good.  The cover art  drew me in as did the author's name.....I've seen so many of her books but had only ever read the one suspense one.  She also writes historical fiction and romances. I don't tend to read romances but I do enjoy historical fiction and mysteries. 

STORY SUMMARY

Evelyn Jones is only 18 years old when she gets a job in a very small Alaskan town named Rockin. Her boss is a very quiet man who lives in an isolated mountain home.  His name is Donald White. Evie has hopes and dreams for her future with this new job, but that all shatters when one morning Donald White just disappears. His disappearance leaves Evie to face charges of embezzlement, theft...and a brutal double murder of a young mom and her little boy. She protests vehemently that she is innocent....but no one believes her and the local chief of police is corrupt. She is convicted of the crimes and faces life in prison.....until fate forces her to go on the run. 

Evie's escape has left her feeling scared, scarred and isolated. She is isolated from her mother Ioanna, and her younger sister Marya. She takes on a new identity and is now known as Petie. She works at a wilderness camp for a man named Hawley Foggo. She is bent on getting justice, though, and learns as much as she can in the lonely winter months as sole caretaker of the camp. She is intent on recovering her life and she will search for the real killer who slaughters without remorse...a real sociopath. 

Finally, the day comes.  Donald White has returned but he too has made some changes not only in his appearance, but in name. He is now known as Derrick Green. Evie emerges from hiding and is back in Rockin where she discovers her mother is dating Derrick! Evie must untangle the threads of evidence that all point to Donald White aka Derrick Green as being the killer of Zone Jameson's wife and son. Will she be able to prove that White/Green is really the killer? 

MY THOUGHTS

I enjoyed this book better than the previous book I read by this author. 

This book moved fast and went from present to past flawlessly. It's divided into different sections and each section is labeled with the setting and time. 

The character of Evie is a little far-fetched...she often appears to be someone older than she really is meant to be but the development of her character is so well  done that she is a believable character. I love that the author had her learning so many languages and that she kept in shape to deal with some of the hardships of Alaska. 

There are several twists in this book and I really enjoyed the excitement of that. 

This is a book I found hard to put down....I stayed up many nights to read "just one more page". 

All of the characters have a voice at some point in this book and my favorites, besides, Evie/Petie, were Zone, Hawley and Jeen. 

I don't want to go into much detail because I don't want to ruin anything for you. If you like suspenseful mysteries, you will enjoy this novel. I did like that it was set in Alaska.  It made for a more stark reality for some reason. 

It's not often that quotes from mysteries jump out at me but this book had one.  It is a quote that reminds me of one in deeper books....books like the literary classics. 

"Each of them had cut themselves on the jagged edges of unfamiliar emotion."  (pg 288, Wrong Alibi by Christina Dodd, c.2020)

The themes in this book are: family, love, betrayal, justice, juvenile delinquency, honesty, second chances, redemption, forgiveness, honor. 

In my opinion, this book is appropriate for ages 17 and older (due to some mature content).

On a scale of 1-10, with 10 being the highest, I rate this a 9.