Scan barcode
A review by samanthamurphy_redw01f
Dream Stalker by Nancy Gardner
5.0
To avoid being triggered, people who want to read this book should beware that it deals with suicide, drugs and murder.
Please note: The ARC I received had a few issues with names and other details, but I've been told that they will be fixed in a later edition of the story. So, some readers may have a version where they're given a description of someone and then Lily suddenly calls them by their name, for instance. But it's still an exciting read!
Dream Stalker by Nancy Gardner is told from Lily Scott's perspective. She is the amateur sleuth whose friend asks her to "Find the truth" moments before committing suicide. Dealing with this trauma, Lily tries to reconnect with her estranged daughter and sister with the help of her old friend, Martin. But Lily's sister, who is a nun is preoccupied with fighting to save the homeless shelter she runs from the heir of the land who wants it replaced with high-rise condos. When the heir of the land, Jolene Williams, is found dead and the cellphone of Lily's daughter is at the scene of the crime, Sarah is arrested. After about three decades of her first disastrous walk among people's dreams, Lily must dream-walk again to discover what really happened to drive her friend to suicide and learn the identity of Jolene's killer to save Sarah.
From streets and landmarks of Salem during the fall to fleshed-out characters with distinct characteristics to learning about plants in Wicca, this book was entertaining and gripping when the action got going! There was also a Nancy Drew reference and a few scenes that had the classic Nancy Drew vibe, which I enjoyed. Sneaking around to find evidence, driving around Salem on a Vespa and interviewing people made the story fun! There was also no end of drama!
Gardner did a wonderful job with spacing out background information. It was always in bite-sized chunks that were relevant to the current events. The clues to the killer's identity were placed well and there were a couple of surprises that just added to the intrigue!
However, I do have one major complaint: the book is titled Dream Stalker. I didn't find that we got enough of this aspect of the story. Most of it was focused on Lily solving all of these issues in the waking world. Her few stints of dream-walking were brief and didn't reveal much information about the Dream Stalker. As the title of the book, I expected more. Although, I am looking forward to reading the rest of the trilogy once they're released!
For an in-depth review with spoilers, check out my blog:
https://redwolfsroom.blogspot.com/2021/06/mystery-and-mayhem-in-salem-book-review.html
Please note: The ARC I received had a few issues with names and other details, but I've been told that they will be fixed in a later edition of the story. So, some readers may have a version where they're given a description of someone and then Lily suddenly calls them by their name, for instance. But it's still an exciting read!
Dream Stalker by Nancy Gardner is told from Lily Scott's perspective. She is the amateur sleuth whose friend asks her to "Find the truth" moments before committing suicide. Dealing with this trauma, Lily tries to reconnect with her estranged daughter and sister with the help of her old friend, Martin. But Lily's sister, who is a nun is preoccupied with fighting to save the homeless shelter she runs from the heir of the land who wants it replaced with high-rise condos. When the heir of the land, Jolene Williams, is found dead and the cellphone of Lily's daughter is at the scene of the crime, Sarah is arrested. After about three decades of her first disastrous walk among people's dreams, Lily must dream-walk again to discover what really happened to drive her friend to suicide and learn the identity of Jolene's killer to save Sarah.
From streets and landmarks of Salem during the fall to fleshed-out characters with distinct characteristics to learning about plants in Wicca, this book was entertaining and gripping when the action got going! There was also a Nancy Drew reference and a few scenes that had the classic Nancy Drew vibe, which I enjoyed. Sneaking around to find evidence, driving around Salem on a Vespa and interviewing people made the story fun! There was also no end of drama!
Gardner did a wonderful job with spacing out background information. It was always in bite-sized chunks that were relevant to the current events. The clues to the killer's identity were placed well and there were a couple of surprises that just added to the intrigue!
However, I do have one major complaint: the book is titled Dream Stalker. I didn't find that we got enough of this aspect of the story. Most of it was focused on Lily solving all of these issues in the waking world. Her few stints of dream-walking were brief and didn't reveal much information about the Dream Stalker. As the title of the book, I expected more. Although, I am looking forward to reading the rest of the trilogy once they're released!
For an in-depth review with spoilers, check out my blog:
https://redwolfsroom.blogspot.com/2021/06/mystery-and-mayhem-in-salem-book-review.html