Criminologist, Maeve Rosetti, returns to the small town where she grew up, aiding in the search for her missing fifteen-year-old niece while navigating a complicated relationship with the sister she left behind. The police believe Jessica is holed up with a friend, but Maeve has serious questions. Could one of the town’s off-the-grid inhabitants have taken Jessica? Then, her brother-in-law’s unexpected behaviour sows a seed of doubt. And there are parts of their childhood sister Kathleen doesn’t want to talk about either, especially the unsolved disappearance of their father. Maeve agonizes over revealing her own dark secrets to the sibling she yearns to reconnect with. Is it too much of a risk?
Maeve becomes a target for mysterious forces that taunt her, threaten to harm her. But who is her tormentor and is he connected to the still-missing Jessica? Along with her newfound ally, Hank, Maeve aims to find out, but when a girl’s body is found, she fears it is too late.
The bonds of family are fragile, easily broken. How well do sisters really know each other? She Thought I Knew is a tense, psychological thriller that heaps secrets upon secrets with an end you won’t see coming!
Criminologist, Maeve Rosetti, returns to the small town where she grew up, aiding in the search for her missing fifteen-year-old niece while navigating a complicated relationship with the sister she left behind. The police believe Jessica is holed up with a friend, but Maeve has serious questions. Could one of the town’s off-the-grid inhabitants have taken Jessica? Then, her brother-in-law’s unexpected behaviour sows a seed of doubt. And there are parts of their childhood sister Kathleen doesn’t want to talk about either, especially the unsolved disappearance of their father. Maeve agonizes over revealing her own dark secrets to the sibling she yearns to reconnect with. Is it too much of a risk?
Maeve becomes a target for mysterious forces that taunt her, threaten to harm her. But who is her tormentor and is he connected to the still-missing Jessica? Along with her newfound ally, Hank, Maeve aims to find out, but when a girl’s body is found, she fears it is too late.
The bonds of family are fragile, easily broken. How well do sisters really know each other? She Thought I Knew is a tense, psychological thriller that heaps secrets upon secrets with an end you won’t see coming!
CHAPTER ONE
She pawed at her open jacket; traced puffy lettering on the pink shirt underneath. Piano-keyed down to new jeans that felt stiff even after two cycles in the washer.
She must be alive then.
But there was more than one way to die.
A sledge hammer was pounding her skull, using it like an anvil. Eyes shuttered on the narrow cot,she moaned as a wave of vertigo overwhelmed her fragile sensory system. Blurred images-- flashes of color--shot through a wind tunnel, disappearing down a black hole before she could grab hold of them. From somewhere inside her head, waves of tinny music washed over, earsplitting then faint in turns.
Muscle memory kicked in, but when she raised her head off the pillow, the room spun like a carnival ride, knocking her flat again. She lay back, still woozy, trying to catch her breath-- waiting for the whirring inside her brain to stop-- when a spasm coming from nowhere rocked her lower right leg, forcing her knee to retract. She yelped in pain.
The movement was accompanied by a metallic noise, but her fevered brain failed to connect the two events.
Some moments later, the tension in her shoulders began to ease, the knot in her calf muscle uncoiling like a rope. Her denims had lifted above the ankle, and a coarse,prickly blanket bit into bare skin, reminding her of the one in the medical room at school.
They didn't want to make it too comfortable if you hadn’t studied for a test or you got your period and didn’t want to do Phys. Ed.
But the cover didn't smell like a mix of antiseptic and detergent. Her nose wrinkled. More like the socks she forgot in the bottom of her gym locker--mildewy and gross. She shivered, sucking in fetid air.
Where was she? Her mind was a complete blank.
A great, big nothingness.
She tried harder to focus, which resulted in a searing pain at the base of her neck, another barrage of disembodied voices. A merry- go- round of nameless faces, amorphous shapes.
Her mind and body exhausted from the effort,she drifted off.
Hours later she awoke, eyes adjusting to the muted light. Brain fog was dissipating, neurotransmitters firing on all cylinders, the ache in her head mostly gone. With a store of untapped energy, she moved her left leg which felt equally stiff as the right had.
There was that sound again.
She Thought I Knew is the first book in author C.S. Cowan’s new West Coast Thriller series featuring Simon Fraser University criminology professor Dr. Maeve Rosetti. Maeve returns home to her roots to support her estranged sister when Kathleen’s 15-year-old daughter, Jessica, goes missing after sneaking out of the house to attend a local dance. With time running out for a happy resolution, Maeve must confront the demons of her past to help bring her only niece home.
The plot for the book is robust and full of intriguing secondary storylines: the death of Maeve’s husband, the old hurt standing between the two sisters, and their father’s unsolved disappearance when they were young, to name a few. But even more tangles are in store for readers as the story progresses. The author cleverly eeks out clues but reserves just enough detail to obfuscate the truth behind Jessica’s disappearance. I was certain I had this one figured out, only to find out I couldn’t have been more wrong.
The story focuses on the impact on the missing girl’s family and the subsequent unfolding of family secrets. Maeve and Kathleen’s estrangement runs deep, and there is a walking-on-eggshells tension, which extends to include Kathleen’s husband, Doug, whenever the two are together. The appearance of Doug’s best friend, reporter Hank Jensen, was like a breath of fresh air in the highly emotional atmosphere. He and Maeve worked well together as they talked to possible witnesses or checked out leads to Jessica’s whereabouts. One aspect I liked about the plot’s very foundation is that Maeve lets the police do their job. She is the first to draw a line between her profession and that of the trained investigators, and everyone adheres to and respects that distinction. What she does uncover is that there are consequences to our actions, some immediate and some that manifest themselves long afterward.
The author’s writing style was comfortable and easy to read, and I was absorbed into these characters’ lives from the start. The story is smartly paced, with twists occurring as new clues to Jessica’s disappearance start to taper off. The setting on the Sechelt Peninsula’s Sunshine Coast was unique, providing a lot of possibilities to figure in the search: populous Vancouver and rural west Canada, tourist hotspots, lonely stretches of beach, and mountainous areas, with drifters, “Coasters,” and the indigenous people all present and available for plot twists.
With its deceptively intricate plot and engaging main character, I recommend SHE THOUGHT I KNEW to mystery and thriller readers and those who enjoy Canadian settings.