My Sister's Grave

Story not for me--but that's just my taste

I think the narration was good on this well-written police procedural story. I have no negative things to say in that regard.

What I will say, is that when I purchased this book, I was unaware of the level of violence in the story. The only reason to mention it is to let others know that there are some places a bit harder to listen to than I expected.

I usually appreciate it if I can know that in advance, and better make a decision about a book. This is only my taste. And since I like police procedurals and mysteries, there is always the chance that that there will be more violence than I'm comfortable reading. Often I can pick up on that in advance from what's been said about the story, but I somehow missed it this time.

I think there are many good reviews here, so I only wanted to add this heads up for those who may be seeking good mysteries that are low on violence. This is not in that category. My three stars should really be directed to Audible, who didn't let that be known in advance about the book--not intended to say anything against the author.

163 people found this helpful

Quite good...

To be honest, I didn't really think I was going to like this book, but I've been burning out on epic fantasy and wanted something completely different...
This is a thriller. A murder mystery with, at its heart, a kidnapping and murder thought solved 20 years earlier, but which had forever changed the small town where it had taken place.
And a family, a happy loving family completely devastated by the loss of their talented and daring younger daughter.
I wound up listening to it in one long sitting while in bed with pneumonia and quite enjoyed it. The characters are likable, the plot twists were interesting and unlike many of these books which have endings that dissolve into frantic shoot out scenes, this one stayed suspenseful and readable to the end.

238 people found this helpful

Junk food

Initially I thought it was interesting enough. I wasn't looking for something stupendous - just some simple mystery as a distraction from the heavier stuff I usually read. The writing is simplistic and immature, but I could get past that. The character development was thin, but the characters likable enough. The dialogue was wooden. But I was interested enough to keep going. But in the end, the book was a whole lot of nothing. It was like eating at McDonalds. Now I can enjoy a greasy burger and fries every once in a while. But when I'm done, it often gives me a bad taste in my mouth, and I feel like that was a wasted bunch of calories.

So, if your in the mood for something super simple and kind of junky just to kill some time you could probably enjoy this. But there is much better stuff out there. Try Girl on a Train instead.

26 people found this helpful

Superb police thriller with lots of twists!

My Sister's Grave introduces Tracy Crosswhite, a Seattle police officer whose younger sister went missing 20 years ago. She has been working on the case in her western Washington home town for 10 years. A man had been convicted of first degree murder despite no body having been found. The book opens with the body being found after 20 years. In the interim Crosswhite's dad had committed suicide and her mother was also gone. Crosswhite is convinced that the man had been convicted of first degree murder based on planted evidence and the body supports her suspicion. The novel continues through several twists and turns to a surprising ending.

My Sister's grave is well written and well narrated. The second book in the Tracy Crosswhite series (which I will review soon) was released two months ago (the title is Her Final Breath). The third book in the series, In the Clearing, will be released on May 17, 2016.

This series has real promise. I highly recommend My Sister's Grave.

93 people found this helpful

Silly plot

A couple of things bugged me here. One, from the beginning, Dugoni intersperses chapters where old Cascade County townsfolk are conspiring to cover up the murder. The act of doing this puts the audience ahead of Tracy. So we know more than she does.

About half of this book centers around a court proceeding. I've read better. Think of Lincoln Lawyer by Connelly. The evidence here is too contrived. Actually, the court scene, the mystery, the story behind the old codgers, the revenge, its all flat. There was one point where I felt like I was listening to the ultimate horror cliche. The cliche where a dumb blonde goes into a dark evil place and the audience is yelling "No, No, don't go in there".

The reason this book is not a total disaster is that Dugoni can write a clipping contemporary thriller. His prose is not exceptional along the lines of Cormac McCarthy, but its on par with James Patterson or John Grisham or just a step below. If you don't mind a mind boggling plot, this book might be good enough for you to give it a shot.

50 people found this helpful

Nice mystery

Any additional comments?

Having seen this repeatedly recommended for me, I finally succumbed to the Kindle Unlimited with Narration of this book.

The narration is clear without distraction. The voices are distinct. But interestingly, the narration was not the one aspect that carried this book. Nor was it the characters. (I’m not sure exactly what was lacking, but I did not get emotionally involved or connected with any of the characters.)

It was the mystery. The dogged determination of a sister who spends 20 years digging into what happened to her little sister, fascinated me.

So much detail into the mystery helped me follow the trial and the people completely and drew me into a world where I just had to know.

I recommend this as a great weekend listen and challenge the next readers to guess the truth before the end comes.

80 people found this helpful

great book

Any additional comments?

This is a great book and read by someone with a nice voice. I don't know why other reviews don't like it, as they aren't saying much as to why. It's a thriller! Nice to have on during commutes. I found myself staying in the car and wanting to hear the rest of the chapter.

79 people found this helpful

Slow Start, but A Gripping Book w/Surprising End

This book is, first of all, very well-written for its genre. The author pays attention to every detail, as a good mystery book must do.. I had trouble getting interested in the first few chapters, but from then on I couldn't put the book down. The last part of the book is very much a surprise. I definitely recommend this author for mystery lovers.

For comparison, I believe it is more interesting and better written than The Girl on the Train.

68 people found this helpful

Corny, not much thrill

I so wanted to like this book. I love mysteries, thrillers, police dramas, who dunnits, but they need to have good characters and good writing.

The romantic relationship in this book was just plain corny. It was also unnecessary to the plot, in my opinion.

The sibling relationship was very good, and the plot was o.k. I did not guess the outcome until pretty close to the end. But the writing was mediocre.

The narrator was below par.

Sigh.

7 people found this helpful

A sister never gives up

What did you love best about My Sister's Grave?

I enjoyed Tracy sharing memories of her sister, learning how much they loved each other. Tracy never gave up looking for his sister and was very determined to learn the truth of what happened to her.

Did the plot keep you on the edge of your seat? How?

There were a few dull moments, but for the most part I was entertained throughout the book. I liked that there were several twists that could have led to various outcomes. I went back and forth on who I thought the murderer was a few times, so it wasn't completely clear-cut.

What three words best describe Emily Sutton-Smith’s voice?

Very good narrator. (Another book that could really use both male and female readers, but all in all it wasn't a bad listen.$

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

Yes! There is a chant that the sisters said with each other and it is first revealed in flash-backs. It is an important part of the plot toward the end of the book, and it reinforced how much the sisters cared for each other.

Any additional comments?

This is the first book in the Tracy Crosswhite series. I have download the second book, although I haven't had a chance to listen to it yet. I am looking forward to see how Tracy gets on with her life.

56 people found this helpful