The morning after a party attended at her country store, Robbie goes down to begin her day and discovers the body of Erica, the party's honoree. She investigates on her own but lets the cops know what she finds. Robbie has theories. Some more farfetched than others. Other things are also happening in town. Robbie has a list of suspects but cannot narrow it down. Who did it? Also, what is that tool she found?

 

I love these characters. They are like a family almost (probably get along better than some.) Robbie's romance has hit the rocks. I feel bad for her. Not so sure what I feel towards Jim right now. I only hope there is no collateral damage from it. I'm getting to like Buck. He's okay. Wanda's rough around the edges. The story was good. I am no detective. Until it plays out at the end, I did not know who I was looking at for the murder. Am looking forward to reading the next book.

Robbie opens a country store/restaurant. She's having lot of problems getting it open with the mayor's aide, Stella, making it more difficult. When Stella is found murdered, the sheriff looks at Robbie. She did not do it and lets the sheriff know information she discovers from the present as well as the past. She comes into the restaurant one morning and finds a mess that will get her shut down if the health department knows of it. Who did it? Is it connected to Stella as so much of the past is? Will Robbie figure out the murderer or will she be the next victim? I liked this book. It is a good set-up for the series. I liked the characters, some more than others. Robbie is a strong woman who handles the setbacks in her restaurant and overcomes them as well as some of the people in town. The story was believable. I am no detective. I did not figure out who iw was. Good thing Robbie did as well as the explanation at the end. Looking forward to reading the next book.

Robbie opens a country store/restaurant. She's having lot of problems getting it open with the mayor's aide, Stella, making it more difficult. When Stella is found murdered, the sheriff looks at Robbie. She did not do it and lets the sheriff know information she discovers from the present as well as the past. She comes into the restaurant one morning and finds a mess that will get her shut down if the health department knows of it. Who did it? Is it connected to Stella as so much of the past is? Will Robbie figure out the murderer or will she be the next victim? I liked this book. It is a good set-up for the series. I liked the characters, some more than others. Robbie is a strong woman who handles the setbacks in her restaurant and overcomes them as well as some of the people in town. The story was believable. I am no detective. I did not figure out who iw was. Good thing Robbie did as well as the explanation at the end. Looking forward to reading the next book.

Anahera returns to her home town of Golden Cove after the death of her husband. She comes back full of rage and bitterness but hides it well. When Miriama, a local girl, goes missing the town looks for her. Anahera becomes close to the cop in the town, Will. The two are attracted to each other but because of their pasts they try to deny the attraction. Both are broken but with Miriama missing other pasts come up in the town including the town's past. Anahera gives information to Will and together they try to piece the town's pasts, residents' pasts, and current events to find Miriama.

 

I enjoyed this story. There is a lot of pain in the town as well as both Will and Anahera's life. I was glad that Anahera was able to fit back into Golden Cove although she knew she could not stay. I liked that she was able to befriend Jemima, the wife of a childhood friend. The friendship caused both to be able to say things that others would not have understood since they had not gone through them. Both needed a friend.

 

I appreciated that Will was flawed. He had his own baggage and was able to handle Anahera's anger and rage and understand it. Golden Cove had its secrets but also gave up the secrets.

 

I have to admit I did not anticipate the ending, was actually surprised by part of it. A good story that kept me interested and not wanting to put it down.

 

When Cody Blaze meets his father, Russell, for lunch he has no way of knowing it will be the last time he sees him alive. A few days later, Russell is killed. It appears he fell asleep while returning from some out-of-town business and drove off the highway.

 

After the funeral, Cody is at the family home consoling his mother when he discovers a letter addressed to him in his father’s home office. The letter is written by Russell and discloses that if Cody is reading it, he didn’t die accidentally as it may appear. He’s been murdered.

 

In the letter, his father entreats Cody to read his unfinished memoir not with the intention of discovering “the motive for my death and the probable identity of my murderer”, but because “there’s so much about my life you never knew about, much of which leads up to this moment of my demise”.

 

As Cody begins to read the memoir, he discovers he never knew the details about his father’s early life, a life filled with violence and tragedy.

 

Russell Blaze grew up in the sixties and his memoir is steeped in the hippy counter-culture of the time as well as the eras’ turbulent politics. But it’s his own family members who are the most troubling including his younger brother, Leo, who when still a juvenile murdered their abusive stepfather.

 

Russell goes on to become a successful journalist, marry a black woman and have a child, while his brother, once out of prison becomes a proponent of white supremacy and lives a marginalized life of hate and violence.

 

Fate sets the two of them on dramatically different journeys only to converge with deadly consequences.

 

On the surface, Words Kill is a murder mystery and, in that regard, its plot is somewhat contrived. However, author David Miles Robinson has offered

us much more than a whodunnit. He’s written a book that showcases the big issues of that time in American including the War in Vietnam and others that still resonate today including the prevalence of post-traumatic stress syndrome among veterans, alcohol and drug addiction, and particularly racism. He also digs deep into a dysfunctional family dynamic and reveals how damaging events in early life can manifest into catastrophic results years later.

 

I particularly enjoyed this book because of Robinson’s realistic take on interracial relationships as well as his authentic depiction of the dark side of the hippy lifestyle. It wasn’t all sunshine peace, and flowers during the Summer of Love.