Day 13 - My Xmas Month Countdown - A Book and a Song

Do we look like we want to go to the groomers??

Egads! Another Friday in December as 2019 rushes to its conclusion. A busy day ahead. The dogs will be heading off to the cleaners to get their winter shaves and haircuts. Jo and I may do a bit of shopping while they're out of the house. So while it's nice and early I'm going to do this BLog entry, make my footie predictions for the weekend matches, enjoy my morning cuppa..

Book 13

Julia Keller

Julia Keller - Bitter River (Bell Elkins #2).

Julia Keller's Bell Elkins' mystery series is set in West Virginia, an area of the US with which she is familiar. She was born in W Virginia and lived there during her early years. I've read the first two books in this series of 8 books (for the moment anyway) and enjoyed them both. My review of Bitter River is below.

"Bitter River is the 2nd book in the Bell Elkins series by Julia Keller. I enjoyed the first book, A Killing in the Hills, but this one was even better. Keller is an excellent author spinning a tense mystery and crafting excellent characters.

Bell Elkins is the DA of a small town in West Virginia. She is called out by the sheriff, her friend Nick Fogelsong, when a body is discovered in her car in the Bitter River. The body is that of a young girl, Lucinda Trimble, a high school senior, who is also pregnant. The story basically involves their investigation of the murder of the girl. Complicating the story is the fact that Nick had previously had a relationship with the girl's mother, Maddie many years ago. Both had moved on, Nick marrying someone else and Maddie marrying as well.

Besides this main story, Bell is also dealing with a number of issues, her ongoing relationship with a younger man, Clay; the fact that her daughter has moved to Washington to live with her father and Bell's ex-husband; the absence of Bell's sister after her release (in the last story) from prison. As well, an ex-friend of both Bell moves to Raythune County to get away from things for awhile. He has some issues, it appears. Will these affect anything?

This is more than simply a murder mystery, as things begin to spiral out of control as the story moves along. The tension builds nicely and there are a number of surprise happenings that add to it. Judith Keller is an excellent story - teller. She develops characters very nicely, making them more than words on paper. She presents the locale and events clearly and in a manner that draws you in to the story.

I found the story flowed along smoothly and could feel the tension of the characters and events as they occurred. I enjoyed it very much. Some of the events seemed far-fetched, but in Keller's hands they just made for a more entertaining story. Well worth reading. I look forward to continuing the series. Next in line is Summer of the Dead (4.5 stars)"

Song 13

Ava Max

Ava Max - Torn.

Ava Max is an American songwriter from Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Her single Sweet but Psycho was a breakout debut. She followed with So Am I and Torn, both released in 2019. Ava says the song explores the struggle between love and hate. It contains a sample of Abba song, Gimme Gimme Gimme.

Enjoy your Friday and have a great weekend.