Skip to main content

No Stone Tells Where I Lie by Madeline Kalvis

 

Title: No Stone Tells Where I Lie

Author: Madeline Kalvis

Genre: Psychological Mystery

 Length: Novella- 165 pages

Thank you to the author for providing a copy for an honest review.

What It's About: Emma Cambourne is a police officer who is sent to be the new constable on a small island in the Indian Ocean with her ailing husband. A few mysterious deaths and disappearances along with residents that seem to have something to hide lead to a case that is a lot to handle. 

My Thoughts: The main strength of this story was the setting. The descriptions of the island, South Alderney, created a very vivid picture perfect for a melancholy story like this. The beautiful descriptions were a, sometimes unpleasant, feast for all five senses.

The story was very mysterious and somber.  It was written in a way to keep the reader feeling a little uncomfortable and thinking that things are not quite right. It is obvious right away that something strange is happening on the island. It could have used a bit more clarity on the resolution of what was happening on the island. There were some revelations to some questions that were really satisfying. Then was left wanting just a tiny bit more light shed on the situation. 

Emma's emotional state as she deals with the health issue of her husband while trying to figure out such an important case was really well developed. Her unease and slow loss of control was felt through the page. Ultimately, that is the main takeaway from the story is the effect that a place and circumstances can have on a person.

I would recommend this story to those who love a good character study with mysterious setting and circumstances. If you like lovely descriptive language and don't mind a bit of an open-ended ending than this book is for you.

My Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Riding the Nightmare by Lisa Tuttle

  Title: Riding the Nightmare Author: Lisa Tuttle Genre: Horror Short Story Collection Published: 8/22/23 by Valancourt Books I received a copy for review through NetGalley.  This new collection from a Lisa Tuttle collects stories previously published between 1986 and 2017 with a new expanded version of 'The Dragon's Bride'. The stories seem to fit together in that they all explore unconventional types of relationships from the female prospective. The plots themselves are varied. Some worked better for me than others. This is a great release from Valancourt Books from this great author of Nest of Nightmares and Familiar Spirit. Ride the Nightmare:   Being second to a man in an open marriage isn't easy. For Tess it brings on a prophetic nightmare.The nightmare imagery is great. 4 stars Bits and Pieces: A woman realizes the men that leave her life leave parts of themselves behind. In the pursuit of creating a perfect man she goes to great lengths to get what she wants. 

Boys in the Valley by Philip Fracassi

  Title: Boys in the Valley Author: Philip Fracassi Genre: Religious Horror/ Coming of Age Published: July 11, 2023 by TOR Nightfire  I received a copy for review through NetGalley. It is not easy growing up in a turn of the century group home for boys run by priests like the orphans in this religious horror story. Peter is a 16 year old orphan trying to choose between becoming a priest and being with the girl he loves. The toughest things the boys have to deal with are punishments from overzealous staff and small food rations until one night the sheriff rolls in with someone he believes to be possessed. That is when all hell breaks loose. This was a super scary thrill ride of a novel. The characters were all developed so well. There are characters to love and some to hate, but none are one sided. Well, except the demon who is all evil. The boys have had to deal with so much in their lives and I did not want anything to happen to them. If you cannot handle reading harm coming to ch

They Lurk by Ronald Malfi

  Title: They Lurk Author: Ronald Malfi Genre: Horror Published: July 18, 2023 by Titan Books I received a copy for review through NetGalley. They Lurk is a collection of five novellas about the evil that lurks just out of sight waiting to strike. The first four novellas in the collection were previously published by DarkFuse in 2009. Now they are being reprinted by Titan with the addition of a new novella Fierce which is a 100% must read. The novellas seemed to be ordered from least amount of tension and horror to the most. The first two novellas were quiet slow burn stories and then things really kick off from there with ever increasing dread until the ultimate peak in Fierce.  Skullbelly - A private investigator is hired by the families of a group of campers that go missing in the Pacific Northwest where he learns the terrifying local legend of the cryptid, Skullbelly. The character study of the PI, the backwoods small town atmosphere, and the truly horrifying description of Sku