Orchids and Stone

Check out the full review at Kritters Ramblings Daphne is still recovering from big things that happened in her past - her sister was murdered and it goes unsolved and her dad commits suicide. She is now living with a boyfriend and his two kids and thinks her life is going in the right direction. She is walking their dog one evening and in a park she hears a women yelling that she was basically being kidnapped. Daphne remembers her father saying many times that he wished someone had spoken up when her sister was kidnapped and murdered, thinking that if a bystander had said something maybe she would be alive or the murder would be solved. With that in the back of her mind, I understood why she was pursuing this and really inserting herself in this old woman's life.

Daphne Mayfield hears an elderly woman calling for Help! She's a bit reluctant to help because she's not sure what's happening. The little old lady says 'they' are stealing from her, but when another woman comes after her, calling her Mother, Daphne backs off. As she later thinks about it she wonders ... is the old lady a victim of a crime .. or suffering from dementia or Alzheimer's. Daphne doesn't know what let it go means .. the more she thinks about it, the more she thinks she should have done something, anything. And as she gets involved in watching her house and trying to rescue her, she puts her own life in danger. PRO: Good premise, a bit suspenseful, a bit of the psychological. CON: She repeats her story to various cops, her family, her best friend. Gets a little boring.. a little irritating. Daphne has had more than enough pain and trauma in her life. When she was a child, her older sister was raped and murdered. Her father never stopped grieving ... he took his own life 10 years after the fact. Her sister's killer was never found. She has a box of her sister's things .. letters, poems, etc. that the police never saw. She tracks down the lead investigator, now retired, to see if there were ever any leads. PRO: Again, good premise. Interesting take on how these events changed her life. CON: It was disjointed, never went anywhere. Daphne is living with her boyfriend, Vic, who is divorced and has two children he shares every other weekend. They've been together 4 years and she's still trying to fit in. PRO: She really does love the children .. and an old dog that needs a new hip. While Vic wants to put him down, Daphne says that everyone deserves a second chance. CON: Relationship between Daphne and the kids are never resolved. The ex-wife is a harpy and does everything she can to keep things stirred up. Personally, I was hoping Daphne would slap the snot out of her. Didn't happen. I wasn't too happy with Vic either .. he was way too passive about the whole thing. This was an okay read, but I felt that story lines never really meshed. It was like reading separate stories with no satisfying endings. With her family background, I wanted to feel sympathy for her and I wanted to be proud of her for making a good life for herself in spite of how things happened. I just didn't get there with her .... I find it frustrating that only one of the stories had any kind of closure.. the rest just hang there. My thanks to the author / Thomas & Mercer / NetGalley who provided a digital copy in exchange for an honest, unbiased review.