A String Of Murder

by S.J. Wilke

Laura sees strings. Strings are memories people create during heightened emotional episodes. These strings are left behind on inanimate objects, creating a history that Laura can read. Not a bad skill to have for an antique appraiser. However, not all strings are good. When she bumps into a serial killer with twenty-three bloody strings attached to his knife, things become personal. Her best friend, Carol, is dating him. Laura suspects her Carol is his next victim. She tries going to the police, but they think she’s a kook. Travis Dyner is a respected member of the community. He broadcasts the college football games. The police say this isn’t the first time someone has tried to stop him calling the game. But what can Laura do? All she has are his strings. How can she use her talents to catch him in time to save her friend? …and possibly herself.

231 pages, Kindle Edition

First published July 20, 2017

About the author

SJ Wilke has graduated from writing humorous articles for Information Technology trade rags to using her degree in Psychology and expertise in computers to create books with a psychological edge to delve into the world of murder, the supernatural, and that nice girl who just happens to be a gun-for-hire. She loves to make her characters as real as can be, drawing from the people she has met around the world and her own experiences. She is a world traveler and never know where she’ll sit down with her laptop to write. Her three four-footed editors and critiques (the cats) monitor her on a daily basis.

Reviews

[Barbara Bamberger · Rating 5 out of 5]

A String of Murder
S J Wilke

Review by Barbara Bamberger Scott

Laura, the heroine of S. J. Wilke’s A String of Murder, has a gift. It’s unique and it might be useful if she uses it properly. She can look at certain objects and mentally picture their history – objects that are associated with strong feelings, powerful, unusual situations that leave behind the feelings of those who experienced them. She called these feelings “strings” because that’s what the memories look like when they first come in to her mind. Jack, a wildcat antique entrepreneur, recognizes her talent for identifying art pieces and hires her to work for him. So the money starts to come in and young Laura finds she has a real career…maybe.

The problem is, seeing strings has its scary, dangerous side. Sometimes people get hold of an object by devious, even violent means, and knowing about the history can be very perilous. When her best friend Carol hooks up with new boyfriend Travis, Laura “sees” his knife and realizes that he’s a serial killer with twenty-three bloody strings attached to the weapon. Laura has to act to keep Carol from being his next victim. Travis, a local radio personality, is a popular figure in the community so no one, least of all the naïve Carol, wants to believe he could be a monster -- but whenever she’s near him, Laura has vivid, string-induced visions of his gruesome murders, able to identify the victims and the horrible ways Travis chose to eliminate every one of these helpless females.

Laura tries going to the police, but Detective George Sorn seems to think she’s just a kook. So Laura calls on her friends, a cast of lovable and colorful characters: her fellow antique peer, Jack, in a gay marriage with men’s fashion maven Philippi; gun toting tough gal Mitzi, who runs her own security agency; and bodyguard, waiter extraordinare, and cross-dresser Chaz. At Carol’s insistence, Laura arranges to “tell Travis’s fortune” in a public park in hopes of forcing his hand. One way or another, Laura wants Carol to see for herself what a fiend she’s involved with. But…things don’t always turn out they’re planned, and it will take a chilling confrontation between Laura and Travis to tip the scales to the side of the good guys and gals in this supernatural thriller by wordsmith S. J. Wilke.

[Lauren · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another interesting read by SJ Wilke.
Laura has a cool but also creepy (Travis) power to see strings attached to things. Super helpful with antiques (uh, can I get in on getting 10% of a Picasso and whatever else Jack pays her). She has such interesting friends in Jack and Philippi (I mean new wardrobe whenever you want it). Laura was a bit mean when she describes her friendship with Carol though, saying she liked her because she turned guys off so they never approached. Like totally using your friend, yeah you saved her from becoming number 25, but still you don’t have kind thoughts toward her.
However other than that Laura gets “adopted” by Jack and Philippi, and I guess starts to date George Sorn. So that’s cute. Ending is also cute though I want to know if George was serious. Isn’t she only 20, 21 at this point.
But overall it was a creepy story at times, but fast-paced and interesting.

[Therese Therrien · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well-paced quick read that had me on the edge of my seat. Loved the characters and the side stories and subplots. Extremely interesting! Also had some humor thrown in there.