A Dead Daughteris a murder mystery written in the third person. It involves mostly Americans, but there is a lot of Hispanic dialogue and influence. In fact, at least two of the main characters have Spanish names. I have never been to California, but I liked that because it appealed to my sense of realism.
Without giving too much away, I hope, the plot revolves around the abuse, in a professional sense, of young rich heiresses by a psychiatrist and his partner in crime, although they both seem to have different motives for their actions.
The lead character is Jessica Huntington, a solicitor and wealthy heiress in her own right. In fact, the whole novel concerns wealthy 90210-types, who seem happy to include the maid and pool attendant in their expensive jaunts. In Britain, where I come from, that is unlikely to happen, but, as I said, I have never been to California. It is nice to think that it might there.
I found most of the characters believable, but thought that there were too many stories going on in the novel for my taste. There were at least three in my reckoning. This might be a genre thing or a style that I am not used to. I don’t really care about what people do in a story, but I insist on knowing why they did it.
That is just my preference.
A Dead Daughter is an enjoyable story, especially for people who know the area, as there is plenty of local colour. I enjoyed A Dead Daughter and am happy to see that there are both prequels and sequels.
If you would like to know more about A Dead Daughterby Anna Celeste Burke , please click this link:
Owen Jones, Amazon Best-Selling Author from Barry, Wales, has lived in several countries and travelled in many more. While studying Russian in the USSR in the '70's, he hobnobbed with spies on a regular basis; in Suriname, he got caught up in the 1982 coup; and while a company director, he joined the crew of four as the galley slave to sail from Barry to Gibraltar a home-made concrete yacht, which was almost rammed by a Russian oil tanker and an American aircraft carrier.
“I am a Celt, and we are romantic”, he said when asked about his writing style, “and I firmly believe in reincarnation, Karma and Fate, so, sayings like 'Do unto another...', and 'What goes round comes around' are central to my life and reflected in my work. I write about what I see, or think I see, or dream... and, in the end it is all the same really”. He speaks seven languages and is learning Thai, since he lives in Thailand with his Thai wife of fifteen years.
His first novel, Daddy's Hobby is from the seven-part series 'Behind The Smile: The Story of Lek, a Bar Girl in Pattaya', but his largest collection is 'The Megan Series', twenty-three novelettes on the psychic development of a teenage girl, the subtitle of which, 'A Spirit Guide, A Ghost Tiger and One Scary Mother!' sums them up nicely. He has written fifty novels and novelettes, including: Dead Centre; Andropov's Cuckoo; Fate Twister; The Disallowed (a philosophical comedy); Tiger Lily of Bangkok; and A Night in Annwn (Annwn being the ancient Welsh word for Heaven). Many have been translated into foreign languages and narrated into audio books.
Owen Jones writes stories set in Wales, Spain and Thailand, where he now lives. He is a life-long Spiritualist, and this belief is interwoven, in a very realistic way, into many of his books and storylines. If you like a touch of the 'supernatural', try his books
He sums his life up thus: “Born in the Land of Song, Living in the Land of Smiles”.
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