Bøger af Susan Finlay

Steve and Claire Jensen, a frightened couple who ran away from the Witness Protection Program, are desperate to protect their young children from the bad men targeting the family and the government officials who want to force them to testify despite the danger. Unexpectedly, the couple gets the offer of a lifetime-refuge in a 'secret' town that is off-the-grid and free of government control. The town takes care of its own; the only requirement is that all healthy adults, except caregivers, work in the town. Soon after they arrive, the family can't believe their good-fortune. The idyllic town nestled in a wooded canyon offers peace and quiet and a small bustling community. But they discover that no place is perfect-government or not, there's always someone in charge. After weeks there, Claire begins to notice peculiarities. What is it about this place that gives her goosebumps? Is there a bigger secret than the town's location, or is she paranoid because of the nightmares she's endured? When Steve begins to notice, too, they don't know if they're both over-reacting, worried over nothing, or if there's a hidden agenda to the 'secret' town.

Juliet Powell, a former child-prodigy, wants her old life back-a life where she was happy, in love, and sheltered, a life working as a well-respected math professor in Massachusetts. What she has, instead, is a life in hiding and only partially protected under the witness protection program. She tells herself she will eventually adapt to her new life, but with each new identity comes more stories and more chances of getting them entangled. She's getting further and further away from who she really is. When she blows her cover yet again, her handler warns her this is her last chance. She needs to blend in like a chameleon and play the game, but how can someone who has always believed in honesty suddenly become a convincing liar? Compounding her problem with this new move, a political maneuver not of her choice and not within the usual rules of witness protection, ensconces her in the role of principal at a Denver high school full of gangs, drug dealers, and disgruntled employees. And then, when she discovers that a stranger is watching her and her young son, and her handler can't or won't move her, she must decide whether to run away and take her chances, or stay and fight to make the school safer. It's a book that on the surface deals with school violence and fear, but at the heart of it is a woman's struggle with lying and deception, trust, self-identity, and the moral decline of society.

In this gripping and emotional dual-timeline genealogical mystery, the fourth in the Tangled Roots series, Lucas Landry journeys alone to the Czech Republic in search of clues about his mother's ancestors after discovering what he'd always believed about her heritage was wrong. Bohemia and Broken Hearts is a poignant and gripping genealogical mystery that explores the intricate threads of family relationships, love, trust, and war. Lucas Landry, a Californian, moved to Germany with his wife and children to explore his paternal ancestry but a recent event has left him disenchanted with genealogy. When his brother Seth discovers some surprising information about their mother's ancestry, Lucas reluctantly embarks on a journey to the Czech Republic to uncover the truth. However, what seems like a simple trip becomes a maze of unforeseen problems that Lucas could not have predicted. Alternating with Lucas's story are the tales of his ancestors, Simon Muskowsky and Marie, who find themselves trapped in WWII in the tiny village of Klein Mohrau, Sudetenland. Their love story unfolds amidst the chaos of war and the struggles of daily life. As Lucas delves deeper into his family's history, he discovers more about his mother's ancestry and his own roots. However, what he truly longs for is to mend his shattered marriage and reunite with his wife and children. Bohemia and Broken Hearts is a beautifully written novel that weaves together the past and present, revealing the intricate connections between generations. It is a must-read for fans of historical fiction, mystery, and family drama.

Buried lies and tangled secrets threaten the lives of two time traveling families in the sequel to Inherit the Past. Seventy-six-year-old Lotte Furst doesn't know who she can trust. Her time traveling brother (the only person who can operate time portals) was supposed to send her back home-to 2009-but he double-crossed her. She only got partially back. Within days, she was again in 1789 Bavaria, stuck and in grave danger. And why? Before her failed attempt to get home, she had written a letter confessing to a murder she didn't commit. The letter was meant to help fellow time traveler, Karl Kimmel, and atone Lotte's past mistakes. It shouldn't have affected her future, since she was supposed to be out of harm's way. Now that her good deed has backfired, Lotte is on the run and hiding in a grotto like an animal because, if caught by the Bavarian Feldgendarms, she'll go to prison. Her only hope is to find her wily brother and persuade him to send her back where she belongs. Karl knows where her brother is and Karl owes her. Trouble is, Karl lives in a big town where danger of capture looms. Plus, he has a granddaughter who wants to see Lotte caught and brought to justice. Lotte's visit with Karl sets off an explosive chain reaction affecting everyone she knows in the past-including estranged family members she originally time traveled with four months ago. People go missing. People die. And secrets get spilled.

In Reynier, France, a sleepy hillside village peppered with ancient picturesque troglodyte cave dwellings, the locals value their privacy and their quiet life. Few tourists know it exits, which suits the locals just fine. One day, after a torrential storm, a townswoman happens across a terrified soaked toddler sitting alone in the woods. She brings the toddler into town, but no one recognizes the child. Suspecting the child's parents-rare tourists perhaps-must be lost or in trouble nearby, the locals organize a search party to find them. Their search leads instead to the discovery of a murder victim, another stranger, in one of the caves. As the investigation gets underway, the situation heats up. The residents of this once peaceful close-knit village find themselves terrorized by a possible serial killer. Facing their own mortality, they wonder whether the killer is an outsider, or one of their own? And who will be the next victim? Captain Pascal Goddard of the local Gendarmerie has his hands full; he must solve the biggest murder case the region has ever seen. The residents will not let him rest until he uncovers the killer's identity, putting a stop to the killing so a frantic village can return to normal. But as the list of suspects grows, some begin to worry that past history will paint them as guilty even if they are not; at least not of murder. Where Secrets Reside is the second book in the Outsiders series. Praise for the first book, In the Shadows- "Impeccable Characters. . . Susan Finlay's sense of character development in IN THE SHADOWS is impeccable. I'm very fond of this author and this story."-Susan Wingate, Author of the award-winning, #1 Amazon bestsellers Drowning and the Bobby's Diner series "Atmospheric, great setting. . . the descriptive prose drew me right into a convincing story from the outset and I can only imagine that the author's experience as a photographer, with a photographer's eye, must be the other side of the coin to the compelling eye for setting."-Raymond Nickford, Author of A Child From the Wishing Well and Aristo's Family "One of My Favorite Novelists. . . Susan Finlay is an accomplished writer who can bring a story to life. It was easy for me to get lost In the Shadows. I loved this Outsiders Mystery."-Mary Enck, Author

Seventy-nine-year-old Fabienne Laurent's biggest fear is that her family will notice her memory problems are getting worse. If they do, she's sure they'll send her to live in a nursing home, away from everyone and everything she loves. That's what she and her husband did when her own mother's dementia caused them too much grief. Not taking care of her mother the way a daughter should is one of her biggest regrets, but she can't undo the past. At best, she can keep her own family from making the same mistake, at least until they have no choice. With that decision made, she'll have to cover up her illness as long as possible. Maybe that won't be a problem. They haven't noticed, so far . . . . But, she soon discovers it might not be as easy as she'd hoped. While helping her daughter and son-in-law renovate their new hotel in the small French village of Reynier, she finds mysterious journals that lead them to the unearthing of an old tomb deep inside the town's caves-and also to the remains of a woman who was murdered twenty years ago. That discovery turns her world upside down, because Fabienne not only knew the victim, but also had a motive to kill her. She must find a way to recover lost memories and convince herself and everyone else that she didn't do it. The Forgotten Tomb is a story about family bonds, aging, regrets, trust, and forgiveness.

Mystery in a French village . . . Gendarme captain Pascal Goddard looks forward to taking a break from work to focus his attention on his wife Chantal and the birth of their first child. Two weeks before their baby's due date, a couple who recently moved into a troglo in the nearby village of Reynier, France, report their baby missing. When Chantal finds out, worried for the safety of their unborn baby and for the missing baby, she begs her husband to find the child. Hours later, the unexpected happens to Chantal. Torn between sitting at Chantal's bedside and praying for a miracle or doing his job and fulfilling what may be her last wish, Goddard must decide soon; the missing baby, if abandoned out on the snowy hillside or left in Reynier's labyrinthine cave system, won't survive for long. He brings in the Gendarmerie's canine unit and personally interviews the short list of suspects, including the baby's parents and her five-year-old brother. With few leads, and severe weather threatening to impede the investigation, Goddard is anxious. And then, three more people-including the baby's brother whom Goddard has become fond of-disappear. Now Goddard puts his own life in danger to find them all. Winter Tears is the third book in the Outsiders series. Praise for the first two books- "Impeccable Characters. . . Susan Finlay's sense of character development in IN THE SHADOWS is impeccable. I'm very fond of this author and this story." "Atmospheric, great setting. . . the descriptive prose drew me right into a convincing story from the outset and I can only imagine that the author's experience as a photographer, with a photographer's eye, must be the other side of the coin to the compelling eye for setting." "Simply put, "Where Secrets Reside" is one of the best mysteries I have read in a very long time. Set in the small, quiet village of Reynier, France, a young woman finds an abandoned toddler deep in the woods. Who is she, and where is the mother? From there, one after another, murders begin. Who is the guilty party? Is there one, or several? Are the deaths related in some way? Is Maurelle Martin involved? After all, she was once a suspect in a London murder. What about her husband? In less capable hands, a complicated plot like this one would quickly turn into a maze. In Susan Finlay's very capable hands, it is a fascinating hunt. if love mysteries and you're looking for a superb read, pick up a copy of "Where Secrets Reside", sit down with a cup of coffee or tea, and plunge in. I'm looking forward to Susan Finlay's next mystery. She's definitely got me hooked!"

When laid-off California architect, Max Hollander, inherits his grandparents' house in Bavaria, it seems like the perfect opportunity to start over. If all goes well, he'll sell it and make enough money to tide him over. More importantly, he hopes taking his antagonistic son Ryan on the trip will help rebuild their trust in each other and maybe even give them a chance to investigate a longstanding mystery that has haunted their family. Twenty years ago while Max's mother was staying at her parents' house in Riesen, Germany, she and her father disappeared, never to be heard from again. Now, as they search unsuccessfully for that same house, Max and Ryan become lost until they serendipitously meet three Germans who help them find it. But their luck is short-lived: before day's end they will get swept back in time . . . with no way to return to the present. Realizing the same thing may have happened to his missing relatives, Max and companions set out to find them. Their quest soon embroils the hapless group in a murder investigation that widens the rift between father and son and places both lives in danger. Inherit the Past is a story of family, love/relationships, guilt, and redemption.

Pregnant, running from a bad environment, bounced around in foster care her whole life, and shunned by her father, seventeen-year-old Bailey Blackwood doesn't expect miracles, and it appears as if she isn't about to receive any. Poor judgment has her accepting a ride from a husband and wife, unaware that she has placed herself in danger, about to be kidnapped. After she finally escapes, Bailey and the couple's dog end up in an abandoned mine that suddenly transports them back in time to an 1878 gold mining town where she meets the town's marshal, Wyatt Hawkins. Wyatt feels for the young girl, but he has his hands full, investigating a murder. Meanwhile, teenager Ryan Hollander, a modern American who was swept up in a similar fashion and has been living with his family in 18th-century Germany, tries to return home through the portal there, but somehow also ends up in the Old West mining town. Alone and terrified, he fears he'll never see his family again. When Bailey and Ryan meet, they realize the time portal isn't reliable and any hope of getting back to their time vanishes. Both must face the real possibility of being stuck in the past. Not Expecting This is a story about family, guilt, regrets, and redemption.

Twenty-eight year old Lucas Landry, a Sacramento, California native, is a counseling psychologist specializing in drug abuse treatment, yet couldn't save his own opioid-addicted father. His feelings about his father and his death get complicated when he discovers his father hid many secrets about their ancestry from Lucas and his brother. Lucas embarks on a journey to find answers: What secrets had his father hidden, who are the Landrys, and where did they come from? Are Lucas and his estranged brother destined to repeat their ancestors' mistakes? A hidden attic in Lucas's father's old Victorian house is a goldmine of memorabilia and clues from the past, clues which seem to lead to Nazi Germany and the former Sudetenland, breadcrumbs to other lives. Ten year old Christa Nagel is an ethnic German living in the Sudetenland near the Polish border in 1943 with her parents and five younger siblings. When her father is conscripted into the Wehrmacht, leaving Christa and family alone to fend for themselves, she is horrified and worried for him. After a while, though, she's not sure which is worse, fighting in the war or trying to keep their family together and safe. When the war ends, she and her family, as well as millions of other ethnic Germans face expulsion from their home, marched away into the unknown.Fifteen year old Ilse Seidel, a German girl living in a small Bavarian city, knows more about danger than anyone her age should know. She's survived bombings, lost loved ones, and witnessed Jewish friends being carted away from their homes. She wants nothing to do with the war or with soldiers. Her life takes a dramatic turn when she finds a wounded soldier in need of help.Lucas is determined to assemble these breadcrumbs, find out how their stories intertwine, and reveal his ancestry. Will what he learns make him feel better about himself and his family, or worse? Breadcrumbs and Bombs is about secrets, lies, prejudice, betrayal, guilt, love, genealogy, and what it means to be a family.

Joshua Clayton abandons his lavish vacation in Paris when a terrible betrayal forces him to take inventory of his life. Avoiding going home, he accepts a temporary job as handyman for an elderly woman, Paulette Lapierre, in a small French village, but ends up as her caregiver in the final days of her life.When he stumbles across human remains on Paulette's property, the secrets she had hoped would die with her come to the surface. A decades old murder filled with lies, love, and twists draw Joshua into the investigation. But the deeper he goes, the more nothing is as it appears. Joshua and Paulette must race to find the killer before the killer finds them.

There is a stranger amongst the residents of the cave-riddled village of Reynier, France. Suspicious, they believe there's only one reason Maurelle Dupre would be lurking in their small village-she's a gypsy, a thief. But a former Chicago detective turned mystery author, Dave Martin, who happens to be visiting his French grandmother, isn't so sure about the beautiful stranger when happenstance causes them to meet. He wonders why she seems so frightened and distrustful. He knows he shouldn't get involved. The last time he trusted a woman in distress, the consequences resulted in the loss of his detective's shield and his wife. But, as always, the detective in him can't seem to leave well enough alone. However, what Dave couldn't know is how persuading Maurelle to reveal herself will ultimately unveil something far worse than mere theft. In the Shadows is a story of trust, belonging, and murder.

"e;Early on you are assailed by an image so potently repellent, so graphically horrible that it squats in your brain and refuses to be dislodged."e; Jonathan Meades"e;Susan Finlay has a staggeringly beautiful prose style that belies a devastating viciousness. And, what's more, she knows how to tell a story."e; Anouchka GroseDescription - "e;I had just gotten away from it all, by which I mean all those ordinary, boring things like skyscrapers, cigar-smoking industrialists, linoleum, plastics, television, westerns and marihuana. I had either seen or heard about them. Whether they are good or bad is beside the point..."e;A nameless graphic designer is haunted by the concentration camp in which he was once interned. Obsessed with his past, as well as Italy's present 'economic miracle', he retreats to a rural villa where he decorates the rooms with "e;arrows, signs, advertisements"e;; invents a new, purposefully incomprehensible typeface; and attempts to devise a marketing campaign for stones. Upon finally returning to Milan life becomes even more unbalanced. He loses his job and acquires a mistress whom he soon confuses both with his wife and the memory of the young, Czech woman he abandoned at the end of the war. Known primarily as a screenwriter for Michelangelo Antonioni, Federico Fellini and Andrei Tarkovsky among many others, Tonino Guerra also wrote poetry and fiction. Reissued to mark the centenary of his birth, and with a new introduction by acclaimed cultural critic Michael Bracewell, Equilibrium remains a relevant, powerful, and intensely visual account of a broken but (post-)modern man.