The Library “Where Life Checks Out” by Carmen Desousa

 

When Mark Waters decided to be a detective, he didn’t plan to investigate ghosts.

But as he sifts through evidence of a supposed suicide by train, he learns a murder that took place eighty years ago may directly affect his case.

Six months after the strange occurrences at The Depot, there’s another murder. This time, The Library holds secrets of several murders, and the dead won’t rest until the murderer checks out too.

About this author:

A romantic-suspense writer, my novels overflow with romance, mystery, suspense, and of course, tragedy. After all, what would a great story be without a tragic event setting the stage? My sensual and gripping mysteries have earned bestseller status on three continents because of their ability to make readers love, laugh, cry, gasp, and hope.

She Belongs to Me  – December 2011Land of the Noonday Sun  – May 2012Entangled Dreams  – September 2012

When Noonday Ends  – December 2012

Split Decisions  – June 2013

Creatus – September 2013

Free Short Story Prequel The Depot

website

http://www.carmendesousa.com/

twitter username

Author_Carmen

MY REVIEW:

This book was originally to be a book of short stories from what I know so it started out with the story “THE DEPOT” a short story of the supernatural / detective story.

The book is very well written and the characters are very likeable, even the ones who aren’t suppose to be. there’s  imagination to put into this  book, It doesn’t get boring and monotonous, it holds your interest and takes you kind of a roller coaster ride. But in the end it all woks out and comes together.  leavening you wanting to know more, identifiying with the and loving the 2 main characters. Mark and Ashlyn.

Spolier:

It really starts out in the past , Edda is running to the bar to see her friend Becky to let her see and tell her that Westley her fiancée has beaten her because she told him she was pregnant and he has a very bad reaction. But when Edda arrives at the bar and no one seems to take notice of her and images of different eras start emerging before her she realizes what Westley has really done to her.

skips ahead to :

The Depot, it had been in the past aa Brothel, a boarding house and a saloon. now it is a old  a old train station/ restaurant  in Pennsylvania known to be haunted  since the 1800’s, where they believe a suicide or murder  has taken place and a detective Mark Waters and his partner Tim Townsend  (who is  portrayed to  be not so great a detective, he focuses more on the women then the job). Who has had his won very strange occurrences with the  supernatural at t the depot.They are there to investigate this murder/ suicide  of a very wealthy mans son, Devin Burke and his father is demanding answers. His son would never kill himself.

Mark who is decides to investigate further because things just don’t add up for him finds that Devin is or was dating Ashlyn a bartender/waitress at the Depot. He goes there after hours to get a feel for her to see if she thinks she is capable of the murdering him. what he finds is he is attracted to this women.

Ashlyn and Mark end up back at her place and she decides to give him the tape of the murder she has stolen from the cameras the night after  the murder before the police could get it. Mark knows the tape was replaced he just has not said anything to her yet.  She is sure this tape is going to ruin her life and she is going to go to jail for murder. She has planned  to finish school and make something of herself. She has thought she was in love with Devin and him her and she would be taken care of with his wealth but now that he is dead that is just a dream and she thinks that he was not in love with her anyways the way he treated her when she told him she was going to have his child and they got into a fight that night and he tried to kill her , choke her to death but something besides Ashlyn hitting him with a bottle and had stopped him making him run towards the train station out back of the bar and that is when he was hit by the train and Ashlyn thinks she has killed him. She ends up letting Mark watch the tape and he sees something he never imagined he would see but it clears Ashlyn of the murder and shows it was not a suicide but a supernatural fore that has caused his death. someone was looking out for Ashlyn but why and who?

                                                                                       **********************************************

The Library Review:

well the book goes on, not to another short story but to later in the story  Mark and Ashlyn are now a very much in love couple and Mark is willing to father the child of Devin Burke. Ashlyn decides to leave mark to go stay with her mother for a couple weeks and if you ask me Mark is a bit of a whiner when it comes to this because he thinks she is breaking up with him even though he has proposed to her and she has excepted but then runs off the next day. she just needs time to herself to get things straightened out to settle things, to think about things, like telling the Burkes this is their grandchild which they do not know. Ashlyns mother who  is like a class A bitch and  thinks mark is not wealthy enough for her cause he is just a cop, even though he has another business venture he makes a decent amount of money through and since Ashlyn has started her own thing and making a decent living too they will be well enough off that they will not be struggling to raise a child or for anything else, Gives Ashlyn a hard time pretty much always so Mark is really insecure as to why she would go there , just to get away form him? 

Meanwhile there is another murder at  “The Library”, a homeless man. Who ends up being a police officer Wade Buchanan who had skipped town and the police thought he committed the double homicide of his wife and daughter . He never gave Wilson Waters a chance to try and clear his name.  Mark is sent to investigate. It is his captains wife’s, library, Captain Andrew Davis. Of course Townsend is useless as usual, his wife has kicked him out again for always wondering to other women.  So meanwhile Mark uses the case to try and get Ashlyn off his mind. I’m going to try and make this a bit shorter . mark meets this volunteer at the library Jay, she’s very pretty. she always seems to lead mark to her section of the library, fiction, but never really gets near him. he comes to find out that this is a ghost, which he thinks he is loosing his mind when he finds this out,  which is in Gregory’s house,  she is hiding the evidence from years before when she was murdered and mark need this to solve the case and much more. it really makes the whole book so much more interesting when you have this all put together kinda towards the end but mark is putting this all together as the books goes on. Ashlyn Mother Laura has dated Gregory years before he broke up with her and started sating Jessica. so this is all beginning to add up now you see? Wade was married to Jessica’s mother  and they were both murdered but wade was not the murderer. Mark goes back to the library to find the evidence he realizes was in a book where Jessica/ Jay hid it before she was murdered. Margret surprises him and holds a gun on him for the evidence that mark has just pulled out of the back of a book. all she really ever wanted to do was save the library but she became very deceitful over the entire thing and pretty much married the captain to get leverage if they ever found out any information on where the evidence was, she never loved him just used him. Bill  Burke who was  the real murderer pops up and hold them all at gun point until the child of Jessica appears in front of him backing him towards the railing but then shots ring out and Townsend saves the day shooting wild bill who was hired by Westly Burke not knowing he was into illegal activity and more. and Jessica disappears knowing everything’s going to be ok. Margret goes to jail of course her own husband arresting her for obstruction of justice, with wild bill for the murders and Ashlyn finally has her baby and tells the Burkes it is their grandson the aire to the Burke empire so to speak . young Gregory burke and his wife are now part of the family and  captain Davis has taken a liking to Ashlyn’s mother.

so this is a lot of info and confusing at times that you really have to pay attention but when it all comes together it is quite interesting. I honestly don’t know how Carmen could keep up with what family member did what and who was who’s girlfriend, grandmother,great grandmother, cousin..etc..lol.  

So it looks like if Carmen writes another book to go along with The Library she has a few characters she can chose from to write their own story about. I myself would like ot see what happens with the captain and Laura, Ashlyn and Mark so I say she writes a story about them but that’s just my opinion.

Read this book its worth it, it will keep you guessing, entertained and maybe a bit confused at times but you can sort it out.