Thwack!

by Marj Charlier

Romance, witchcraft, science, and murder are seamlessly woven together in this tale of friendship and second chances... Astrophysicist Cetacea Whitholm looks the very picture of success with a best-selling textbook on the origins of the moon, a handsome young philosophy professor for a husband, and a nice Tudor home on Prof Hill. Recognizing that she is at the probable end of a sometimes illustrious, sometimes mediocre career, Cetacea is tortured by the unrealized ambitions of her youth that spoil any chance of enjoying an easy semi-retirement as an emeritus professor. Didn’t she work hard enough at her research or, as a childhood friend suggests, did she spend too little time on any other aspect of her life? She has yet to forgive herself for the death of her young son and failure of her first marriage thirty years ago, and she has given up on finding any joy in her tepid second marriage. When her second husband is murdered in their basement, she is the prime suspect, and she realizes she is running out of time to resolve her life's issues. Could she have committed the heinous crime, or was she framed by the moon goddess Basina, the odd, yet brilliant mathematician in the astrology department?

271 pages, Paperback

Published November 25, 2015

Reviews

[Palm Springs Daze · Rating 3 out of 5]

While learning of her brother's suicide, distraught mother Cetacea inadvertently asphyxiates her infant son in the family garage; finds her handsome husband in bed with a voluptuous college co-ed; returns home from a weekend Wicca gathering to find her second, gold digging, estranged husband dead in a pool of blood.

Palm Springs' skilled storyteller Marj Charlier quickly immerses and mesmerizes the reader to keep turning the pages to find out what will happen next. Ms. Charlier's enthralling imagination spins absorbing, exciting narratives.

The matte black, rubber-like book cover is a distinctive, tactile sensation for the hands.

[Rose Baldwin · Rating 5 out of 5]

The book was engaging, well-written, and smart. The protagonist was 60ish and I enjoyed reading about a believable character close to my own age. The science in it is one more plus. Very good book. Will look for more by this author.