Book Review: Unbreathed Memories

Reviewed By: Harriet Klausner

Unbreathed Memories     Amazon US PB Amazon Canada PB
Marcia Talley
Class/Genre:   Mystery   Amateur Sleuth
Series: Hannah Ives
Dell, Jun 2000, $5.99, 288 pp.

After recovering from a mastectomy, Hannah Ives waits to undergo reconstructive surgery so she can feel like her old self. While her new age sister Ruth runs off to Bali to find her spiritual self, her younger sibling Georgina begins to ask Hannah strange questions related to their childhood. A hysterical Georgina calls Hannah to come pick her up at her psychologist’s house. Hannah arrives only to have Georgina show her the body of Dr. Diane Sturges who apparently fell off the balcony. Hannah anonymously calls the police as her sister flees the scene.

The next day the police call Georgina and Hannah who admits they left the scene of the crime. They bring Georgina in for questioning and follow up with a visit to her father. Georgina believes, with the help of Dr. Sturges, that her father sexually molested her as a child and he killed Diane to silence her. Hannah takes it on herself to prove her dad’s innocence and to persuade Georgina that she suffers from false memory syndrome planted there by her now deceased therapist.

UNBREATHED MEMORIES is an entertaining mystery that sensitively deals with current social issues. Hannah is a wonderful role model who has no time for self-pity. She is a fighter who will enter hell for that heavenly cause she believes is morally right. The story line is intriguing and fun, but tally one for the star as this plot belongs to Hannah. Marcia Talley is a bright light who has enlivened the amateur sleuth galaxy with the opening act of what should be a warm long running series.

Harriet Klausner

Reprinted with permission. Do Not repost without permission from the author, Harriet Klausner