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Smoke River #4
Over Her Head
From RITA Award® winning author Adina Senft comes a series of domestic suspense novels flavored with faith. In the small town of Smoke River, Washington, everyone knows the Elect of God. They’re good religious people, honest, hardworking … and they’re hiding some dreadful secrets.
What kind of mother suspects her own daughter of murder?
Laurie Hale has the perfect life—and the perfect family to go with it. All she wants is for her kids to find the popularity and success in school that she enjoyed back in the day. But one night on the Smoke River bridge, a bid for popularity goes wrong and one of the teens from that weird group, the Elect of God, is found dead. When the police begin to investigate her daughter Anna, fear and suspicion begin to eat away at everything Laurie values. Anna is just one of several teenage suspects, but none of them is saying a word, and peaceful Smoke River divides along religious lines—to the point that Laurie is even asked to bow out of her prayer group just when she needs their support. Her marriage starts to crumble and her standing in town shows its shaky foundations.
Laurie doesn’t want to face the truth. But it’s the job of investigator Nick Tremore, her cousin, to find it. What if Anna really was there the night that Elect girl, Randi Peizer, was killed? Why is Nick spending so much time with Randi’s mother? And what kind of person is Laurie if she can doubt her own child’s innocence?
“As tragedy unravels a community and a church, a good woman is forced to face the stark truth of her own faith. Once more, [Senft] has created a compelling story of crisis and spirit.” —Mary Jo Putney
What kind of mother suspects her own daughter of murder?
Laurie Hale has the perfect life—and the perfect family to go with it. All she wants is for her kids to find the popularity and success in school that she enjoyed back in the day. But one night on the Smoke River bridge, a bid for popularity goes wrong and one of the teens from that weird group, the Elect of God, is found dead. When the police begin to investigate her daughter Anna, fear and suspicion begin to eat away at everything Laurie values. Anna is just one of several teenage suspects, but none of them is saying a word, and peaceful Smoke River divides along religious lines—to the point that Laurie is even asked to bow out of her prayer group just when she needs their support. Her marriage starts to crumble and her standing in town shows its shaky foundations.
Laurie doesn’t want to face the truth. But it’s the job of investigator Nick Tremore, her cousin, to find it. What if Anna really was there the night that Elect girl, Randi Peizer, was killed? Why is Nick spending so much time with Randi’s mother? And what kind of person is Laurie if she can doubt her own child’s innocence?
“As tragedy unravels a community and a church, a good woman is forced to face the stark truth of her own faith. Once more, [Senft] has created a compelling story of crisis and spirit.” —Mary Jo Putney
305 pages, Kindle Edition
First published May 23, 2007
5 people are currently reading
69 people want to read
About the author
Shelley Bates
9 books9 followersShelley Bates holds an M.F.A. in Writing Popular Fiction from Seton Hill University in Pennsylvania, where she teaches as adjunct faculty. She was the winner of RWA's RITA Award for Best Inspirational Novel in 2005, a finalist for that award in 2006, and, writing as Shelley Adina, was a Christy Award finalist in 2009. Three of her books have shortlisted for the American Christian Fiction Writers' Carol Award for book of the year.
A transplanted Canadian, Shelley returns there annually to have her accent calibrated. Between books, she enjoys traveling with her husband, playing the piano and Celtic harp, and spoiling her flock of rescued chickens.
A transplanted Canadian, Shelley returns there annually to have her accent calibrated. Between books, she enjoys traveling with her husband, playing the piano and Celtic harp, and spoiling her flock of rescued chickens.
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
January 1, 2008
Over Her Head
Shelley Bates
During her morning run, Laurie Hale discovers the body of young girl. She becomes more shaken later when she finds out the dead girl’s mother is the newest member of her bible study group.
People around town are growing uneasy as the events of the girl’s last night alive come to light. Several teens were in attendance when the girl either fell or was pushed off the bridge. No one is talking or those that are talking seem to want to point the finger at Laurie’s daughter, Anna. According to Anna, she was no where near the bridge that night. Laurie chooses to believe her daughter despite their strained relationship.
When Anna becomes more of a suspect, Laurie begins to question her own daughter. Laurie soon finds her relationship as the bible study group leader becoming more and more awkward when she must face the fact someone is lying. What if Anna did have something to do with the girl’s death? Laurie must deal with these disturbing questions as her perfectly orchestrated life, family, marriage and church service begins to crumble.
This was a well written, well executed suspense. At times I disliked the protagonist. If the author wanted to paint Laurie Hale as a control freak, she certainly nailed the character development. Laurie had a tendency to be self-absorbed and controlling at the most awkward times. This weakness was upsetting, but at the same time represented human behavior as a whole. Humans tend to want things there way and nothing bad to ever touch them.
There are quite a few themes that run through this novel like the relationship struggles between parents and teenagers, single parenting, marriage struggles, grief, judgmental attitudes and forgiveness. Over Her Head offers something for readers of women’s fiction or suspense in one emotional fulfilling package.
Shelley Bates
During her morning run, Laurie Hale discovers the body of young girl. She becomes more shaken later when she finds out the dead girl’s mother is the newest member of her bible study group.
People around town are growing uneasy as the events of the girl’s last night alive come to light. Several teens were in attendance when the girl either fell or was pushed off the bridge. No one is talking or those that are talking seem to want to point the finger at Laurie’s daughter, Anna. According to Anna, she was no where near the bridge that night. Laurie chooses to believe her daughter despite their strained relationship.
When Anna becomes more of a suspect, Laurie begins to question her own daughter. Laurie soon finds her relationship as the bible study group leader becoming more and more awkward when she must face the fact someone is lying. What if Anna did have something to do with the girl’s death? Laurie must deal with these disturbing questions as her perfectly orchestrated life, family, marriage and church service begins to crumble.
This was a well written, well executed suspense. At times I disliked the protagonist. If the author wanted to paint Laurie Hale as a control freak, she certainly nailed the character development. Laurie had a tendency to be self-absorbed and controlling at the most awkward times. This weakness was upsetting, but at the same time represented human behavior as a whole. Humans tend to want things there way and nothing bad to ever touch them.
There are quite a few themes that run through this novel like the relationship struggles between parents and teenagers, single parenting, marriage struggles, grief, judgmental attitudes and forgiveness. Over Her Head offers something for readers of women’s fiction or suspense in one emotional fulfilling package.
March 27, 2008
Good mystery, might have been better in the first person, but overall really good.
November 3, 2015
Over Her Head was an enjoyable and uplifting read. Author Shelley Bates depicted how church family works and I could truly relate to the situations.
While it was a good read, I rated this book 3 out of 5 stars because I would have loved more suspense to the story. I felt like some of the true emotions of the accident were brushed over and too much time was spent on developing a romance story within this book. I feel like I would have enjoyed this book more if it were written from Anna's prospective and the turmoil she was going through rather than her mother, Laurie.
While it was a good read, I rated this book 3 out of 5 stars because I would have loved more suspense to the story. I felt like some of the true emotions of the accident were brushed over and too much time was spent on developing a romance story within this book. I feel like I would have enjoyed this book more if it were written from Anna's prospective and the turmoil she was going through rather than her mother, Laurie.
July 3, 2009
Shelley Bates isn't afraid to take on the hard realities of life, whether it be religion, self, teenagers, family, or all of the above. In Over Her Head we are forced to look at our own beliefs, judments, and actions, and that is one of the hardest things for most of us to do. In a plane ride back to Wyoming, I was able to lose myself in this really great story, and not think at all about how much I hate flying. That is quite a feat as a writer...
August 10, 2017
This is a Christian book but is in no way preachy. It’s definitely holding my attention. So much so that before I was done reading it, I went online to see what else the author had written.
This is the best Christian book I've read in years.
This is the best Christian book I've read in years.
January 27, 2016
4* I really enjoyed this story of family/teen relationships. A girl drowns, and none of the teens on the bridge that night are giving any information. The circumstances are unique and thought-provoking. There was enough suspense to keep me reading.
July 12, 2013
I read one of Bates' books before, and I was looking for a sequel to it, but I settled for this instead. I'm very glad I read this book. It was not astounding by any means, but it was a good read. I couldn't stand the suspense, which is great for this kind of book.
June 16, 2010
Great Book!
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews