Thursday, April 16, 2015

False Tongues: A Callie Anson Mystery - Kate Charles

False Tongues: A Callie Anson Mystery
Kate Charles
Poisoned Pen, Apr 7 2015, $24.95
ISBN 9781464200045

In spite of having a new beau in London Police Family Liaison Officer Mark Lombardi, All Saints Church Anglican curate Callie Anson wants to skip Deacon's Week; as she is not ready to see her former lover Adam who dumped her for someone else.  Still Tamsin Howells insists Adam is not coming; so Callie’s friends Val Carver and Nicky Lamb persuade her to head to Cambridge.  However, to her dismay Adam decides to attend Deacon’s Week.

At the same time that Callie struggles to arrive in Cambridge, Mark works on the murder investigation led by Detective Inspector Neville Stewart of popular teenager Sebastian Frost in Paddington Green.  However, the cops soon find a cyber-crack in Sebastian’s seemingly golden life as an intelligent, handsome star athlete and son of two medical professionals.  Mark works on obtaining the cooperation of the victims’ reluctant parents while reading the riot act to his own family for their cold reactions towards Callie.

Linked only by each subplot containing a close look at family relationships, these diverse captivating dramas grip the audience throughout the outstanding fourth Callie Anson (and Mark Lombardi at least in this book) mystery (see Secret Sins, Evil Intent and Deep Waters).  The Callie tale focuses on encountering a former love for the first time since the other party broke it off; while the Lombardi segue concentrates on cyberbullying and families rallying around one of their own (in death or against their loved one’s wishes).


Harriet Klausner

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