cover image Echoes Among the Stones

Echoes Among the Stones

Jaime Jo Wright. Bethany House, $15.99 trade paper (384p) ISBN 978-0-7642-3388-3

A decades-old murder case brings together a grandmother and granddaughter in this excellent inspirational mystery from Wright (The House on Foster Hill). Imogene Grayson discovered her sister, Hazel, murdered in their attic in 1946 and has devoted her life to finding justice. Seventy years later, and no closer to knowing the truth, Imogene is a grumpy nonagenarian who’s never gotten over the loss of her beloved sister. Imogene’s granddaughter, Aggie Dunkirk, receives a letter from Imogene requesting a visit while she recovers from a broken hip. Grudgingly, Aggie complies, only to discover that Imogene has lied about her broken hip to gain Aggie’s sympathy, there is a skeleton in her backyard, and she has a disturbing dollhouse that appears to be a recreation of a murder scene. In sections set in the mid-century, Imogene begins her investigation which quickly goes cold. In sections set in the present, Aggie takes a job restoring a flooded cemetery with handsome archaeologist Collin O’Shaughnessy. Together they discover secrets among the graves, along with roses with messages written on the petals. They soon realize someone wants them to stay away from the grave of Hazel Grayson, and when Aggie makes the connection to her grandmother, she dives fully into solving the mystery of Hazel’s murder. Wright eloquently weaves in Imogene’s faith and belief in redemption, and the prose easily jumps between the two eras as Aggie gets closer to the truth. Fans of Terri Blackstock will love this. [em]Agent: Janet Kobobel, Books & Such (Dec.) [/em]