Dead Reckoning by Lea O’Harra
Publisher: Sharpe Books-UK (Sept 29, 2022)
Category: Crime Fiction, Family Life, Kidnapping
Tour dates: January 5-31, 2023
ISBN: Coming Soon
ASIN: B0BGYG3HGX
Available in Print and ebook, 289 pages
Description Dead Reckoning by Lea O’Harra
Indiana, January 2010.
It’s a hot summer’s day in 1984 when twelve-year-old Gilly and her friend Sally find a dead new-born in a shoebox in the cemetery of their tiny town. Deciding to keep their discovery a secret, they bury the body in Gilly’s yard.
The results are disastrous. Flowers are mysteriously left on strollers. Two local children disappear and end up dead. A suspect is arrested and confesses, blaming the deaths on the girls’ having taken the dead baby.
Gilly grows up but is haunted by what’s happened. As a young woman, she flees the town and its memories, going all the way to Japan.
Returning with her Japanese husband Toshi to attend her mother’s funeral, Gilly finds the past is not past. She’s threatened, and someone is putting flowers on strollers again.
When another child is abducted, Gilly knows she must discover the truth about what happened all those years ago before more lives are lost.
Praise Dead Reckoning by Lea O’Harra
“Both a drama and a thriller, full of twists and human insight.”-Thomas Waugh
“The immediate declaration of past events, the discovery and concealment of the dead baby, provides a gripping start to this book.
The story is simple yet powerful, immediately drawing the reader into a world that identifies the challenges of growing up in a small town in Indiana.
The book tackles the casual racism that is often overlooked, with great clarity. Although this is a crime novel it is also a powerful story about how a single childhood event can influence the future.
It compels you to share the history and become part of the small-town network. Through a nexus of characters, we see how relationships that are made in our formative years, affect our lives.
The story is more than a crime novel. It also serves to gives a fascinating insight into life in a small town in the USA, through the eyes of somebody who never really wanted to return.”-ReallyPoshScouser, Amazon
My Thoughts
This book is a must-read for fans of mystery and thriller genres. The author’s writing style is dynamic and captivating, making the reader feel as though they are part of the story. The narrative is told from a first-person perspective and maintains a strong grip on the reader from the beginning to the end. The twists and turns in the plot will keep you on the edge of your seat, and the authenticity of the story makes it feel real and believable.
The author deserves special praise for her writing style, which is a mix of memoir and well-developed journalistic-style pieces with heart and soul. Although there are a few instances of profanity and potentially disturbing images, the author avoids gratuitous violence and gore. This makes the book suitable for both young and old adults.
The fast pace of the book and its fascinating story make it a strong 4.5 rating. Don’t miss out on this pulse-pounding thriller that will leave you guessing until the very end!
Excerpt of Dead Reckoning
From Chapter Five: 776 words: send to Ruth, ‘Media of the Heart’
“That was one helluva summer!” Harry tells Toshi. “For one thing, there was the weather. It was hotter than usual, and so little rain the farmers were scared their crops would die. For another, Dad got remarried, not bothering to tell us beforehand. We read about it in the local newspaper. And his new wife was a Byron girl, only a few years older than me. Then Mom lost those fingers. But what happened after was even worse. Two kids in town got killed.” Harry!
Sally and I look at each other and say nothing.
My brother laughs, taking in Toshi’s shocked look. “I guess Mouse never told you. Don’t worry. It’s not as bad as you might think. In fact, I think my little sis was even a bit of a heroine.”
“Harry!” I exclaim. “Please don’t exaggerate.”
“It was a long time ago,” Sally chimes in.
Toshi stares at us all in turn. When we don’t elaborate, his features take on their usual impassive expression. He says nothing. Pulling his phone out of his pocket, he rises and walks towards the hall, saying, “I need to text my mother again.”
I know Toshi. From the way he moves—the rigidity of his body, the measured pace of his steps—it’s obvious he’s simmering with suppressed fury.
Harry glances at me when I heave a loud sigh.
“I wish you hadn’t said anything, Harry,” says Sally. “Bad memories.”
“Sorry,” he whispers.
“You didn’t think maybe there was a reason I didn’t tell Toshi?” I say.
“Yeah, I get it. It just came into my mind, talking about Mom’s accident. What happened to those kids was so soon after. I’m an idiot. Carol always tells me I should try to think before I speak. But I never do.”
Sally suddenly stands, too, her face grim. “I’m going to do a little clear up in the kitchen,” she says. “You must be exhausted, Gilly. Jet lagged. Not that I’d know anything about it. I’ve never been on a plane, never been further than New York, and Hal drove me there!” Harry disappears into the toilet and Toshi reappears. I’m in the situation I least wanted after Harry’s ill-considered revelations. That is, alone with my husband. Toshi beckons for me to sit beside him on the sofa and grips my arm.
“Murders?” he hisses.
I stare down at my hands, folded in my lap. I don’t want to see Toshi’s face.
“So, what was Harry talking about?” he says, keeping his gaze fixed on the door, on the lookout for anyone coming back in. “You told me you had a boring childhood in this town. You never said anything about murders.”
“I wasn’t involved. It was all a misunderstanding,” I say.
“Right. But your brother just said you were.”
“No, Toshi, it was something that happened many years ago. Sally and I knew the kids who got killed, that’s all. Not surprising given how small this town is.”
“Why don’t I believe you?” He squeezes my arm tighter and waits but I say nothing.
“Is this anything to do with that long scar you have?” Toshi asks. “The one on your stomach you refuse to talk about?” I still say nothing.
After a minute or two, he gives a sigh of disgust, releases my arm, and makes a point of moving as far as possible away from me on the sofa.
I wish you hadn’t come, wish you hadn’t insisted!
Then Toshi stands and, walking to the hall, takes out his mobile phone. Scrolling down the screen, he mutters to himself, “Why did I marry her? My mother warned me not to. A mistake. A mistake!”
I want to explain. But. even more, I don’t want to. I know our stay in the States will be a nightmare if Toshi’s furious with me. On the other hand, I can’t bear to go over unpleasant memories with him.
“The shame,” my husband continues, talking to himself. “How can I tell my mother? It’s lucky she doesn’t speak any English. That Japan is so far from America. She’ll never hear about it.”
It’s a relief when I finally hear the toilet flushing. Harry appears, wiping his hands on his jeans. He sees me watching and flushes slightly.
“What I’d really like to do is wipe my hands clear of this place!” he says. “Wad the whole building up in a little ball and throw it away,” and he mimes the movement, going up on tiptoe for the jump shot, like he’s still the star forward on the high school basketball team and wants to dunk our past into the net.
Praise Lea O’Harra
“Lea O’Harra offers us a whodunnit set in a Japan labouring under the weight of cultural imperialism, a country where the characters find that their friends and lovers are really strangers and imperfect ones at that…-Nick Sweet, author of the Inspector Velázquez series
’With her deep knowledge of Japanese culture, superb writing, and sensitivity to human foibles. O’Harra has crafted a cross-cultural whodunnit sure to please Japanophiles and mystery lovers alike.”-Suzanne Kamata, author of Losing Kei
Awards Lea O’Harra
Autumn 2017 “Lady First” was awarded ‘finalist’ status in the crime fiction section of the Beverly Hill Book Awards.
‘Lady First’ was also a finalist in the National Indie Excellence Awards in 2018.
About Lea O’Harra
Lea O’Harra has published three crime fiction novels set in rural modern-day Japan: Imperfect Strangers (2015); Progeny (2016); and Lady First (2017). These comprise the so-called ‘Inspector Inoue Murder Mystery’ series originally published by Endeavour Press (UK). She has also had a story included in Best Asian Crime Fiction published by Kitaab Press (Singapore) in 2020.
In the spring of 2022 Sharpe Books reissued the Inoue mystery series and, in September 2022, published Lea O’Harra’s fourth novel, Dead Reckoning, a stand-alone set in her tiny hometown in the American Midwest.
Website: http://leaoharra.com
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2 Comments
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I am so glad you enjoyed ‘Dead Reckoning’! Thanks for hosting!
