Summertime

by Liz Rigbey

SUMMERTIME

Genres: Mystery, Suspense, Fiction, Thriller, Drama

448 pages, Paperback

First published July 1, 2004

Reviews

[Katie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I finish this book in awe of the twists and turns that Ms. Rigbey was able to weave into the story. This book has an ending I did not expect or see coming.

I found the book a bit hard to get into, and yet as I look back on it, I don't really understand why. All along the journey of the story she adds more detail, more delicious bites to reel you into the depths of the story. And she takes such a grand view of the family she is talking about; this is not just mom, dad, kids, but grandparents, mysterious childhoods for everyone involved, back to WWII. I honestly finish this book feeling like I need to start it again because I suspect the clues were there all along but that they were so beautifully interwoven that I saw nothing out of the ordinary.

A definite recommendation for people who enjoy well-written, thoughtful mysteries!

[Kate · Rating 4 out of 5]

Every time I picked up this book I found myself singing Lana Del Rays song by the same name. Strangely it would be the perfect haunting theme song if this was ever to became a movie or TV mini series. Ironically the book cover and title actually had little resemblance to its contents. It was more like spring time and the naked picture with the fish, well who knows. Any ways enough frippery, this is an intriguing book with lots of twists and turns that keep you chasing yourself down blind alleys.The type that means you can't wait to get back for more.

I found the opening chapter griped me immediately. It is the story of a babies death on a train as it travels across Russia under Stalins rule. Lucy has grown up hearing this tale often and in different guises turns out be a recurring theme. In the second chapter we leave the train and catapult into Lucy's current life in New York, which feels bland and rather sad. We soon discover this is because she had a son who had died three years earlier. She needs to return to California due to the death of her much loved father. What follows is the unravelling of a man and a life she thought she knew, but discovers she did not. Nor is much that she had come to believe of her own past. We are all fumbling around in half truths until the very last page where it all becomes clear. A very agreeable suspense filled murder mystery.

[Oliver · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bücherbox fund in Bamberg.
eigentlich eine 5/5, aber ich bin mir noch unsicher über das ende. für die story definitiv ein passendes ende. aber irgendwie... idk. würde es so ablaufen? im echten Leben? und sollte das meine Meinung überhaupt beeinflussen? hmmm.
sehr schön geschrieben und in einigen punkten zu sehr nachvollziehbar (too close to home)

[morgane]

DNF

[Kerry Goerl · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really liked how the story would go back after the fact and explain why. It kept me interested in what was next. Hard to put down. I did feel they rushed closing some storylines at the end though

[Annthelibrarian · Rating 5 out of 5]

I couldn’t put Liz Rigbey’s Summertime down. Her first book, Total Eclipse, written in 1995, was equally a page-turner. In this book, the lovely and lonely northern California coastal region is the setting. Lucy returns to California after a three year hiatus when her father mysteriously dies. Tragedies and stories from the past muddy the waters of the present in this wonderful mystery. I can’t find much information about author Liz Rigbey, but sure wish she’d write another book!

[Aetuck · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good book with an intriguing story. Of course there is a mystery and murder taking place and my choice for the murderer changed several times during the book. Seemed like a long book to get the story across but something I would recommend as to read book.

[Karschtl · Rating 3 out of 5]

It takes a while until this book really gets going. But then it's actually really suspenseful! However, I wouldn't call it a thriller (I had this book shelved in my 'Thriller section', based on the cover text), it's rather a drama with a lot of tragedy in it.

[Maura Heaphy Dutton · Rating 1 out of 5]

Disappointing: tension and mystery depend on every character behaving as stupidly as possible.

Having greatly enjoyed Rigbey's thriller Total Eclipse, I was prepared for a slow burn, and an unlikely plot, redeemed by sharp insights into the way facts are slippery things, and how we can unwittingly collude when someone sets out to deceive us.

But here, a similar set up -- a murderer hiding in the plainest of plain sight --results in 400-odd pages of mostly padding, and a multiple murderer who challenges all common sense.

I can almost buy the idea of parents who, having discovered that their older child is a "demon seed" narcissist who has murdered her baby brother, decide to shield her from the consequences and hide the crime. Almost. They come up with a lame explanation for how their baby boy has died, and they will watch their daughter carefully, and guard her surviving sister "like a jewel."

Except they don't. Watch the Demon Seed carefully, that is: again and again, DS tries, and almost succeeds, in eliminating her annoying little sister. And do the loving parents say anything? Do they admit that they might, just might, have made a mistake? Nope. And then, Demon Seed succeeds in murdering Little Sister's little friend, who has figured out the family secret -- and do the loving parents finally admit defeat, and get her shut away where she can't hurt anyone else? Nope. Do they even change their habits, and take extra precautions to protect the world from their little monster? Hell, no.

Everything here hinges on the idea that the parents would be will to put themselves, and everyone around them, in danger, ineffectively wringing their hands in horror but doing nothing when DS strikes again. And strike again she does ...

[Jackie Trimble · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was really good. I read it due to #MonthlyKeyWordGXO. "Summer" was one of the key words for July.

Others about this book complained that it was a little jumbled and took too long. I liked the slow burn of the book and how it came to the conclusion. I am embarrassed to admit that I didn't see the end coming. I thought Lucy was suffering from mental illness, like her mother, and that's how all the woes in the book would be explained. I won't give anything else away.

I'm trying to recall how I came to own this book on my TBR. I have concluded that it's a book I might have taken from my Mom's bookshelf or one that I can't recall gathering from the library summer book reading program in which you can take a pre-pub book after joining it. (Thus, the different cover.) Regardless, I'm very glad that I read it and recommend it highly!

[Alek · Rating 3 out of 5]

WOW CO ZA ZWROT AKCJI. Nie spodziewałem się tego. Ogólnie książka mi się podobała ale było kilka momentów dla mnie, które się nie łączyły i nie zostały nigdy wytłumaczone. Pierwsze zabójstwo Jane było w wieku 7 LAT i nie wiemy czy był to wypadek czy zrobiła to świadomie. Jeżeli zabiła z tych samych powodów co innych, bo chciała by nie cierpieli, jest to dla mnie strasznie dziwne, bo nie sądzę by 7 letnie dziecko mogłoby mieć takie poglądy. Nie widzieliśmy reakcji Larry’ego na całą sytuacje, tylko było napisane, że wyglada na zmęczonego i przechodzi na emeryturę, uważam, że powinno być coś więcej opisane, jakiś szok, złość cokolwiek. Totalnie nie spodziewałem się, że zabójcą będzie Jane, był to niespodziewany zwrot wydarzeń, który mi się podobał.

[Bernie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I like Liz Rigbey, I really do. This is the second book of hers I've read, and there are definitely deep mother-daughter issues in both. This is a 'low' 3-star, because when you're reading a mystery or thriller, as this book is characterized, you expect a less meandering 'taking a walk down memory lane' pace. Her writing IS beautiful, the relationships complex and interesting. However, if the next book I read by her is at this level of disappointment and more 'memoir-ish' take (how it reads/comes across), I may abandon any future readings.

[Frances · Rating 4 out of 5]

A better than average thriller with a great beginning, good characters, and twists which I did not see coming. I'm not entirely sure what the title or cover image have to do with anything though.

[Lois · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting story

[Ruth · Rating 4 out of 5]

I started this and almost put it down but I'm so glad I didn't. It suddenly pulled me in and turned out to be a great book.

[Janet Briggs · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved it, even though I took months to read it - no fault of the book!

[Romi · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was an interesting book with an unreliable narrator. I read it in one day and it definitely kept my attention. I didn’t love it but I certainly enjoyed it.

[BookeryBliss · Rating 2 out of 5]

The very first chapter is what prompted me to read this book. A haunting beginning when a family flees on a train, and the youngest of the children, an infant, dies unexpectedly in the arms of his mother. The following chapters offered enough mystery to keep me reading, but felt that the story itself dragged on much longer than necessary. This was was skillfully crafted to keep the reader's interest throughout the entire book but also offers a satisfying "ah ha!" moment at the end. The reason for my lower rating is mainly due to the lack of any adrenaline in it's plot. But then again, slow and steady wins the race for others who enjoy the genre.

[Therese · Rating 4 out of 5]

A well-written and reflective thriller. Liz Rigbey is always interested in questions of memory, and how the past re-emerges in the present. This story offers a quietly drawn storyline, with no overt violence, but some chilling crimes and a sense of menace. The story finishes with a surprise conclusion, which unites all aspects shown to the reader.

[Bonnie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Very slow beginning. This book does illustrate people never really know each other fully. Even people with whom we are most initmate. I believe there was a large amount of unneeded description and character rumination. I enjoy precise writing.

[Barbara · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting psychological mystery. It highlighted the decisions made for love of a child that can have devastating consequences over the years. Not too into it at first but finally it grabbed me. Set in the San Francisco Bay Area too which always interests me.

[Ann Rawson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Complex, compelling plot with a fascinating first person narrator.

Family secrets and lies and a wilful blindness to them is at the heart of the story - but there's also real emotional depth that holds it all together and made me care.

[Goldie]

wonderful!
a haunting past. couldn't and wouldn't justify her by calling it selective amnesia.
more like repression. can you blame me? im a psych stud who particularly liking defense mechanism.

[Kathy Reynolds · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good story.

[Béatrice · Rating 3 out of 5]

Étonnant voyage dans la mémoire d'une jeune fille, mais la chute est un peu incroyable!

[Ruth · Rating 2 out of 5]

Didn't like first person voice.

[Amanda · Rating 3 out of 5]

Wow! This book had so many twists, I really had no idea who the murderer was! I highly recommend.

[Maggie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another good beach or airplane book. Very intriguing plot, good writing. Recommended.

[Gail · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loses momentum at times, but generally excellent

[Gumble's Yard - Golden Reviewer · Rating 2 out of 5]

Overall a fairly gripping psychological mystery/thriller – with some quite strong writing albeit with a plot which is too far-fetched.