A Model Murder (Alicia Allen Investigates Trilogy, 1)
Celia Conrad, 2011
Barcham Books
341 pp.
ISBN-13: 9780954623326
Summary
A Model Murder is a fast-paced mystery that draws scary, sometimes hilarious, parallels between alpha males in strip clubs and law firms.
This first book in the Alicia Allen Investigates Trilogy introduces Alicia Allen, a 29-year-old London Anglo-Italian lawyer whose desire for Pringles is matched only by her desire to solve crime. When her neighbor—a beautiful aspiring Australian model—is found raped and murdered before she can pick up her first paycheck at a sleazy “hostess” club, Alicia ignites with such passion to bring the wrongdoer to justice, it would make even Portia envious.
As her dangerous quest draws her into the dark world of exploitative “hostess clubs,” Alicia finds herself facing similar circumstances in a new law firm where alpha males roam the halls in solicitor suits intimidating or stalking undervalued female coworkers. Worse luck, the deeper she delves into the investigation, the more her comfortable world falls apart. Friends are viciously attacked...potential lovers may not be what they seem...clues pop up in Italian opera, Shakespeare, and a cat.
Alicia soon finds her willingness to risk her own life for the sake of justice is sorely put to the test in a world where Fate plays no small role. (From the publisher.)
This is the first book in the Alicia Allen Investigates Trilogy. Wilful Murder (2012) is the second, and Murder in Hand (2012) is the third.
Author Bio
• Birth—N/A
• Where—London, England, UK
• Education—J.D., University of London
• Currently—lives in West London, England
Celia Conrad is a British author who shares similarities with the heroine of her Alicia Allen Investigates Trilogy in her own Anglo-Italian heritage and solicitor experience (aka "lawyer" in the U.S.). Together they share an enthusiasm for crime solving, Shakespeare, All Things Italian and, of course, Pringles. A Model Murder was her debut novel, written at the suggestion of a mentor who encouraged her to write mysteries based on real-life stories she has encountered while working within the law. She followed it with Wilful Murder and Murder in Hand, Books 2 and 3, respectively in the Alicia Allen Investigates series. (From the author.)
Visit the author's website.
Follow Celia on Facebook.
Book Reviews
Conrad draws disturbing, often painfully entertaining, parallels between strip clubs and law firms where Neanderthals still roam the Earth. Her down-to-earth heroine has no superpowers of intuition and deduction, but is quite simply a good neighbor who will stop at nothing until a wrong is made right. All clues are juggled in midair until the breathtaking conclusion: no small feat for a first-time author.
Midwest Book Review
A craftily woven tale of friendship, deception and murder.
Maria Miller - Amazon U.S.
A subtle satire about the law and lawyers. Here is a debut thriller that kept me page turning until the final unexpected twist.
Multrus - Amazon U.K.
Like a delicious meal cooked with love, you will want to savour every mouthful slowly and nibble every morsel. And once completed, enjoy the memory of a satisfying experience yet not wanting the moment to end.
Hermes 3Magistus - Amazon U.K.
Gripping suspense...Celia Conrad has woven a wonderful tapestry of complex and interesting characters, not a few of whom are potential suspects in a horrific murder.
Robert Worden - Amazon U.S.
A contemporary murder mystery written in a straightforward style with discreet clues and naturalistic dialogue. Conrad reserves plot intricacies until the unexpected denouement.
C.S. England - Amazon U.K.
Discussion Questions
1. What makes Alicia unique as a character? What do you think her passions are? How do your own passions manifest in your life?
2. What do you think drives Alicia in her quest to find the murderer? Why does she choose to get so embroiled in the investigation?
3. How do you feel Alicia’s Anglo-Italian background influences her personality and decisions? How are the other characters influenced by her multi-cultural heritage?
4. In what ways can you relate to having a multi-cultural background or perspective, or do you know someone who does? How is this useful?
5. What did you think about Ivano’s character and Alicia’s feelings towards him? How do your feelings towards him change as the plot unfolds?
6. How did you feel about the character of Cesare and Alicia’s relationship with him?
7. How do you feel about the character of Alex and Alicia’s involvement with him?
8. How did you feel about Alicia’s interaction with the police?
9. What do you think about Alicia’s relationships with women in her personal life? Did you suspect that any of her “friends” might turn out to have something to do with Tammy’s murder?
10. What do you think about Teresa’s character and Alicia’s professional relationship with her? How do your feelings towards her change as the plot unfolds?
11, Did you suspect any of Alicia’s co-workers might be the murderer or have something to do with the murder?
12. What do you think the author wishes to portray about the nature of sleazy clubs and law firms?
13. What insight does this book give you into the working life of a young female lawyer?
14. How do you feel about the action leading up to Tammy’s murder? Did you wonder how the story was going to develop or why certain characters were being introduced in the way they were at a specific point in the plot?
15. How did you feel about Alicia’s elderly neighbour Dorothy, and what happens to her?
16. How were the references to opera and Shakespeare relevant to plot and character?
17. What was your reaction when the identity of the murderer was revealed?
18. What does the novel tell you about good and evil and the distinction between them?
19. What part do you feel Fate plays in the story?
20. How do you feel about the way language and culture is portrayed? Did you learn anything new about Italian or Australian culture? If you are American, did you learn anything new about British language or food?"
21. A Model Murder is the first book of a trilogy. Certain characters appear in the remaining parts of the trilogy. Which characters do you envisage returning, which characters would you like to see return and how would you like Alicia’s relationship with those characters to develop?
(Questions courtesy of the author.)
The Ashford Affair
Lauren Willig, 2013
St. Martin's Press
400 pp.
ISBN-13: 9781250027863
Summary
The Ashford Affair, a page-turning novel about two women in different eras, and on different continents, who are connected by one deeply buried secret.
As a lawyer in a large Manhattan firm, just shy of making partner, Clementine Evans has finally achieved almost everything she’s been working towards—but now she’s not sure it’s enough. Her long hours have led to a broken engagement and, suddenly single at thirty-four, she feels her messy life crumbling around her. But when the family gathers for her grandmother Addie’s ninety-ninth birthday, a relative lets slip hints about a long-buried family secret, leading Clemmie on a journey into the past that could change everything. . . .
Growing up at Ashford Park in the early twentieth century, Addie has never quite belonged. When her parents passed away, she was taken into the grand English house by her aristocratic aunt and uncle, and raised side-by-side with her beautiful and outgoing cousin, Bea. Though they are as different as night and day, Addie and Bea are closer than sisters, through relationships and challenges, and a war that changes the face of Europe irrevocably. But what happens when something finally comes along that can’t be shared? When the love of sisterhood is tested by a bond that’s even stronger?
From the inner circles of British society to the skyscrapers of Manhattan and the red-dirt hills of Kenya, the never-told secrets of a woman and a family unfurl. Kirkus Reviews predictred that "Willig's crossover into mainstream fiction heralds riches to come." (From the publisher.)
Author Bio
• Birth—March 28, 1977
• Where—Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
• Education—B.A., Yale University; J.D., Harvard University
• Awards—RITA Award: Gold Leaf Award
• Currently—lives in New York City, New York
A native of New York City, Willig discovered historical romance fiction when she was only six years old, while she was attempting to find books about her idol, Eleanor of Aquitaine.
After graduating from the Chapin School, Willig attended Yale University, where she majored in Renaissance Studies and Political Science, and was Chairman of the Tory Party of the Yale Political Union. Ms. Willig then studied graduate level early modern European history at Harvard University before entering and graduating from Harvard Law School. Willig briefly worked for Cravath, Swaine & Moore, a law firm in New York, while authoring her "Pink Carnation" series of books, until she gave up law in order to focus full time on the series.
What makes her books unique is that the historical romance novel structure of each novel is framed by a modern chick lit-style story—following Eloise Kelly, an American grad student, as she attempts to write her dissertation and uncover the identity of the Pink Carnation (the leader of the ring of spies and Willig's Pimpernel). Along the way, Eloise finds love with an attractive Englishman (descended from a family of spies), Colin. The books also feature several different romantic adventures detailing the exploits of the fictional Purple Gentian, the Pink Carnation, the Black Tulip, and a host of other characters from early 19th century England and France.
Lauren's books have been named a Romantic Times Top Pick! and Lauren has been nominated for a Quill Award in 2006. She has won the RITA Award for Best Regency Historical Romance, the Booksellers Best Award for Long Historical Romance, and the Golden Leaf Award.
In Spring of 2010, Willig taught Reading the Historical Romance at her alma mater, Yale University, along with fellow alumna and romance novelist Andrea DaRif, penname: Cara Elliott. The course received a great deal of attention for helping to bring the romance novel academic notice.
In 2013, Willig published her first book outside the Pink Carnation series: The Ashford Affair. (From Wikipedia.)
Book Reviews
Willig takes us from the twilight of the British aristocracy to colonial Kenya to modern-day New York City in her first historical romance.... In 1906, five-year-old Addie Gillecote leaves Kenya after her parents’ death to live in London with...the Lord and Lady of Ashford...[and treated as a charity case.... Well-researched details of life in the 1920s lends texture to this solid historical novel.
Publishers Weekly
With this standalone, new readers will have the opportunity to enjoy Willig's talent for balancing multiple, connected storylines without the added pressure of a long-standing series, while returning fans will enjoy hidden "Pink Carnation" references and the pleasure of another novel well done. —Stacey Hayman, Rocky River P.L. , OH
Library Journal
Willig veers away from her Pink Carnation Regency spy series in this stand-alone.... Though it lacks the swashbuckling charm of her long-running series, Willig’s new outing takes readers from WWI-era London to Kenya of the 1920s to New York in the 1990s, offering plenty of twists and intrigue to keep them entertained. —Kristine Huntley
Booklist
Multigenerational tale, from an author of popular Regency/historicals, takes a family from estates in England and Kenya to a Manhattan law firm..... The panoramic canvas Willig chooses to cover is a bit overambitious—the law firm minutia, although entertaining, is essentially a digression—but she makes up for the unwieldiness with sharp, scintillating dialogue and expert scene-craft. Willig's crossover into mainstream fiction heralds riches to come.
Kirkus Reviews
Discussion Questions
1. Addie wants “her” girls to have the chances their mother didn’t; Marjorie, in turn, pushes Clemmie to focus on work, rather than marrying young like she did. How do their ambitions impact their children? What role does the weight of familial expectations play in shaping the major characters in this novel? Have there been times in your life when you’ve felt constrained or propelled by your parents’ wishes?
2. Addie and Bea love each other dearly, in their own way, but neither really understands what makes the other tick. Do you think their friendship is an unhealthy one? Do you have legacy friends from your childhood with whom you have a similar dynamic?
3. In The Ashford Affair, we see Bea and Addie on either side of World War I, a moment of huge social and cultural change. How does that changing landscape affect the lives of these two characters? What do you think would have happened to them both if World War I hadn’t intervened?
4. Ashford Park has a powerful hold on both Addie and Bea, so much so that Bea names her home in exile “Ashford Redux”. What do you think Ashford represents to each of them?
5. In the case of both Addie and Frederick, and Clemmie and Jon, it takes two tries for true love to conquer all; Clemmie comments at one point that if she and Jon had gotten together the first time, they would probably have broken up, that they were too young. What do you think might have happened if Clemmie and Jon had dated after Rome, or if Addie and Frederick hadn’t been derailed by Bea? Would those relationships have been very different from the ones they eventually achieve? Why or why not?
6. Both in England and in Kenya, Bea feels betrayed by the difference between what she’s led to expect from life and what she receives. She complains that she wasn’t trained for this new world. Do you have sympathy for her? Have there been times when you’ve felt the same way, or known people who have?
7. In the 1920s, large numbers of Europeans moved to Africa, seeing it as a place of hope and opportunity, a place to make one’s fortune or to get away from the memories of the Great War. Frederick, Bea and Addie all find very different things in Kenya. What does Kenya mean to each of them? Does it matter that it’s Kenya, or would the same story have played out anywhere?
8. The world of Bea, Frederick and Addie in Kenya is essentially the English aristocracy transplanted to the African landscape. None of them questions his or her right to make a home there or to use native labor. Does the colonial aspect of this bother you or make you think less of them? Or is it simply a reflection of the times?
9. Addie makes some choices in the novel that ripple down through history to deeply impact her loved ones. She decides not to tell Marjorie and Anna that Bea was still alive. Do you think this was the right or wrong thing to do? Why? Do you sympathize with Addie and Marjorie’s decision not to tell Clemmie about her real relationship with Addie? How might the story have been different if these two decisions had gone the other way?
10. After finishing the novel, what do you think of Bea? Do you find her sympathetic? Unlikeable? What did you think happened to her—and were you surprised when you learned that she was still alive?
11. Clemmie comments at the end of the novel that her grandmothers—both of them—lived through so much, while her generation has been ridiculously sheltered. Do you think that’s true in general or just true of her? Were the World War I and II generations really tougher and more daring or do we just perceive it that way?
12. Clemmie’s sense of self is shaken by learning the truth about her family. Do you think she overreacts? How would you respond to a similar revelation? Have you ever learned something about your family that has shaken you?
(Questions issued by the publisher.)
Hurricanes in Exile
Claude Brickell, 2014
Bricbooks
145 pp.
ISBN-13: 9781312009660 (Kindle)
Summary
Murder, mystery and mayhem in madcap New Orleans!
When ex-Marine Tobias Cochran arrives in New Orleans after his discharge, he right away lands a gig as server at the St. Charles Avenue Mansion.This popular wedding venue holds a host of wacky characters the likes of which Toby has never seen. And just when he is getting use to the frenetic pace of things, a pretty female bartender he has taken a liking to is suddenly murdered. Toby can't believe what has happened, and as the detective assigned to the case is turning up no leads, Toby is determined to track down and expose the culprit of this cruel and senseless act himself.
This leads him to various alternative locales each offering a variety of clues that soon point to one suspect in particular. The trail, though, takes an unexpected turn when Toby discovers a vampire-like cult the supposed culprit hangs out with. Despite the horrors of this, Toby is driven to solve the crime no matter what even if it means getting in with this sinister group himself. He is convinced by doing so, the identity of the real murderer will at last be revealed. All this with an impending hurricane heading directly for the Louisiana shore.
Also, Four Short stories: A Southern Boy Comes Home
Author Bio
Claude Brickell is a New York-based writer of adventure mysteries. Born and raised in the South, he received his formal education at New York University Tisch School of the Arts, the American Collage and the Sorbonne in Paris and Oxford University in England. He is a Vietnam-era veteran and a former ice hockey league player. His mystery series The Jewel Trilogy follows art historian Michael Bennington as he travels the world searching for rare and missing jewels and artifacts. The first installment, The Napoleon Connection, is an Amazon.com bestseller. Hurricanes in Exile follows the mystery series. (From the author.)
Discussion Questions
1. How would you best describe the genre of this book?
2. The lead character Toby Cochran is an ex-Marine. Is he likable?
3. A young woman is murdered and Toby is determined to solve the crime. Is the way he goes about it credible?
4. The story is set in New Orleans. Is that interestingly?
5. Attached to the book are four short stories. Do you feel they were appropriate to be attached?
(Questions courtesy of the author.)
The Eye of Adoption: The True Story of My Turbulent Wait for a Baby
Jody Cantrell Dyer, 2013
Little River
288 pp.
ISBN-13: 9781481040136
Summary
No one just adopts.
From the very first steps of acknowledging adoption as a choice to the final document that seals the deal, Jody Cantrell Dyer paints a raw, warm, heartbreaking and eventually triumphant portrayal that narrates the entire adoption process through compassionate and humorous prose.
Dyer’s candor and soul color each page of The Eye of Adoption. She directly addresses the sorrows of infertility and the demands of adoption while consistently word-weaving a life rope of assurance, humor, and optimism for her readers. A middle-aged wife, mother, and teacher, Dyer “tells it like it is” in hopes that waiting adoptive parents, birthparents, adoptees, and those close to them will find kinship through her story.
Author Bio
• Birth—February 14, 1974
• Where—Columbus, Georgia, USA
• Raised—Gatlinburg, Tennessee
• Education—B.S., University of Tennessee
• Currently—currently lives in Knoxville, Tennessee
In her words:
Women, I wrote this book for you!
When I was a child, I often shopped at the Sevierville, Tennessee, Kmart department store with my mother. During each visit, I listened intently for an East Tennessee twang to broadcast over the loud speaker and say "Attention Kmart shoppers, the blue light special is...." When I heard those messages, I rushed to the pulsing blue light to see what helpful piece of merchandise was marked down and up for grabs.
I am a teacher and a writer. More importantly, I am a middle-aged married mother of two children—one biological and one adopted. Folks, that is not as simple as it sounds. I went through the gauntlet to add a second child to my family, and I know many of you can relate. I wrote this book for you.
So, I would like to broadcast in my own East Tennessee twang, "Attention Amazon.com shoppers! If you are in any way associated with the heartbreak of infertility or the 'beautiful burdensome blessing' of adoption, my book, The Eye of Adoption, may help you."
I know that most author pages are written in third person, but that does not match my down-to-earth personality, nor does it match the tone of my book. I want to talk directly to readers because I want your to clearly understand my serious goals for the book as the following:
- To inspire and encourage infertile or waiting adoptive families.
- To enlighten birthparents with a story from an adoptive parent's point of view.
- To educate the extended families and friends of adoptive parents and birthparents.
- To serve adoption agencies, social workers, churches, and ob/gyns as they care for and minister to those affected by unplanned pregnancies, infertility, and/or adoption.
- To hopefully entertain readers with anecdotal commentary, commiseration, and comic relief.
Please visit my website (see below) for information on my blog Theories: Size 12 and my other work (guest posts, magazine articles, speaking opportunities, and more).
Also, I love to hear directly from readers. Please email me with comments or questions about any of the above at
Again, thank you for learning about The Eye of Adoption. Happy reading! —Jody Cantrell Dyer
"If God can work through me, He can work through anyone." —Francis of Assisi. (From the author.)
Visit the author's webste.
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Book Reviews
This book has been reviewed extensively by Amazon customers. Click on the cover image above to see their comments.
Discussion Questions
1. What are universal experiences and emotions lived and felt by women struggling to build their families?
2. How do you relate to Jody and Jeff?
3. How does Dyer’s writing style promote the message of her book?
4. What did you learn from The Eye of Adoption about yourself?
5. What did you learn from The Eye of Adoption about infertility?
6. What did you learn from The Eye of Adoption about domestic adoption?
7. Have your views of infertility changed? If so, how?
8. Have your views of modern adoption changed? If so, how?
9. What did you enjoy most about your experience reading The Eye of Adoption?
10. What did you enjoy least?
11. How will you demonstrate support to a friend or family member going through infertility?
12. How will you demonstrate support to a friend or family member going through adoption?
13. How do you think Jody can best use her book to spread her message of hope and humor?
14. How do you feel and think, now that you’ve met Jody and her child’s birthmother, about birth parents’ rights and processes of termination of rights?
15. What do you think adopting his son did for Jeff, emotionally speaking?
16. Do you think Jeff should try to find his birthparents? Why/why not?
17. What issues do you think could be problematic for Jody’s family as their adopted child grows older?
18. How are some of the issues (open adoption, domestic infant adoption, and anti-abortion statements, financing adoption) mentioned in the book controversial?
19. What were your favorite “scenes” in the book? Why were those scenes or moments memorable to you?
20. What, if any, relationship do you have with infertility or adoption? Has your attitude toward either changed? If so, in what ways?
(Questions courtesy of the author.)
The Pieces We Keep
Kristina McMorris, 2013
Kensington Books
464 pp.
ISBN-13: 9780758281166
Summary
In this richly emotional novel, Kristina McMorris evokes the depth of a mother's bond with her child, and the power of personal histories to echo through generations...
Two years have done little to ease veterinarian Audra Hughes's grief over her husband's untimely death. Eager for a fresh start, Audra plans to leave Portland for a new job in Philadelphia. Her seven-year-old son, Jack, seems apprehensive about flying—but it's just the beginning of an anxiety that grows to consume him.
As Jack's fears continue to surface in recurring and violent nightmares, Audra hardly recognizes the introverted boy he has become. Desperate, she traces snippets of information unearthed in Jack's dreams, leading her to Sean Malloy, a struggling US Army veteran wounded in Afghanistan. Together they unravel a mystery dating back to World War II, and uncover old family secrets that still have the strength to wound—and perhaps, at last, to heal.
Intricate and beautifully written, The Pieces We Keep illuminates those moments when life asks us to reach beyond what we know and embrace what was once unthinkable. Deftly weaving together past and present, herein lies a story that is at once poignant and thought-provoking, and as unpredictable as the human heart. (From the publisher.)
Author Bio
• Birth—ca. 1975
• Raised—Portland, Oregon, USA
• Education—B.S., Pepperdine University
• Currently—lives near Portland, Oregon
Kristina McMorris is a bestselling author and recipient of more than twenty national literary awards, as well as a nomination for the prestigious RITA® Award.
At age nine, she began creatively expressing herself when she embarked on a five-year stint as the host of an Emmy® and Ollie award-winning kids' television program. Being half Japanese, Kristina jokes that she discovered a genetic kinship with the camera early in life and continued to nurture that relationship by acting in many independent and major films while living in Los Angeles. Later, as the owner of a wedding/event planning company, she served as the six-year host of the WB's weekly program Weddings Portland Style.
Kristina's extensive experience in media and events led her to becoming a professional emcee and contributing writer for Portland Bride & Groom magazine. Her previous writing background also includes ten years of directing public relations for an international conglomerate.
Just a handful of years ago, deciding sleep was highly overrated, she compiled hundreds of her grandmother's favorite recipes for a holiday gift that quickly evolved into a self-published cookbook. With proceeds benefiting the Food Bank, Grandma Jean's Rainy Day Recipes sold at such stores as Borders and was featured in a variety of regional media. It was while gathering information for the book's biographical section when Kristina happened across the letters her grandfather mailed to his "sweetheart" during his wartime naval service - a collection that later inspired McMorris to pen her first novel, a WWII love story titled Letters from Home.
Praised by Woman's Day and hailed by Publishers Weekly as "a sweeping debut," Letters from Home was published in 2011 by Kensington Books and Avon/HarperCollins UK, followed in 2012 by her novel Bridge of Scarlet Leaves and novella "The Christmas Collector, which appeared in the anthology A Winter Wonderland. Kristina's latest novel, The Pieces We Keep, was released in December 2013 to wide and critical acclaim. Rights to her books have been sold to numerous foreign publishers, Readers Digest, Doubleday, the Literary Guild, and more. Her forthcoming novella, "The Reunion," will be featured in the anthology Grand Central (Berkley/Penguin, July 2014).
A frequent guest speaker and workshop presenter, McMorris holds a B.S. in International Marketing from Pepperdine University. For her diverse achievements, she has been named one of Portland's "Forty Under 40" by The Business Journal. She lives with her husband and two sons in the Pacific Northwest, where she is currently working on her next novel. (From .)
Book Reviews
An expertly woven and richly satisfying work of historical fiction that will touch any reader who has experienced love, loss, tragedy, or the impact of family secrets.
Boston Globe
Two narratives, one concerning Nazi spies and the other a troubled boy in contemporary Oregon, begin to converge at the halfway point in this novel of espionage, reincarnation and doomed romance. For the first 100 pages, there is little to connect the two stories, told in alternating chapters....[but] McMorris' strong pacing keeps the two stories zipping along and all its many strings connected for a gratifying conclusion.
Kirkus Reviews
Discussion Questions
1. While reading The Pieces We Keep, did your interpretation of the title change over the course of the story? Discuss the symbolism of the cover image in the same regard.
2. What does “faith” mean to you? How did you come to arrive at that conclusion? Has a personal tragedy ever caused you to reexamine and/or alter your core beliefs?
3. When comparing the novel’s dual timelines, how do the past- and present-day stories parallel? How do they contrast?
4. Memories—cherished and burdensome, lost and recovered—are major elements of the book. Which memories in your life have played a distinct role in shaping your personality? If given a choice, would you erase any from your mind? How different might you be without them?
5. Of the various parental relationships in the book, which are the most interesting to you? Do you identify with any of them? How has your view of your own parents, or your relationship with them, developed over time?
6. Connections between the past and present were interpreted by characters in different ways throughout the story. Early on, what did you perceive as the source of Jack’s issues? Did that change by the book’s end?
7. Do you believe in the possibility of past lives? In your opinion, does such a theory complement or contradict contemporary religious and/or Christian principles? Did the story reaffirm your existing beliefs or expand your thoughts about what might or might not be possible?
8. Vivian’s view of love and marriage greatly change by the book’s conclusion. Upon reflection of your life, how has your perspective on these topics developed and why? How did Isaak and Gene both contribute to Vivian’s growth as a person?
9. Every major character in the book wrestles with grief in some form. Discuss the range of ways in which each person deals with this emotion. Have you or your loved ones ever reacted to loss in a similar manner?
10. At several points in the novel, Audra questions her skeptical and spiritual beliefs. What is your personal view of coincidence versus fate or predestination?
11. How do secrets, whether kept or revealed, affect characters in the story? Do you agree with the reasons they were withheld from others? If you have ever concealed a major truth from a loved one, do you now regret it or feel it was justified?
12. Army Private Ian Downing, whom Vivian encounters at the cafe, first appeared in Kristina McMorris’s debut novel, Letters from Home. If you were previously familiar with his character, how does his personality differ in The Pieces We Keep?
13. Audra spends a great deal of time doubting her parental abilities. The petition she reviews with Russ reflects and amplifies what could easily be deemed her shortcomings as a mother. How would you rate your own parenting skills, or that of your parents? What ruling might a stranger make based solely on documented incidents?
14. Who was your favorite character early in the book, and why? Did your opinion change as the story progressed? Who was your favorite character by the end?
(Questions issued by the publisher.)