Same River Twice

by Janet Poland

When reclusive reporter Miren Lassiter inherits her scientist uncle's riverside cottage, her carefully guarded world is upended. She discovers the body of a local historian hanging from antique gallows in a museum, and soon becomes a suspect in his murder. Mysterious intruders break into her home. When she catches one of them in the act, he is the last person on earth she expects to see.

As Miren struggles to get answers from scientists, history buffs, and nosy neighbors, she must face the reasons behind her fear of intimacy and commitment and reach out to others to identify a murderer...before she becomes the next victim.

278 pages, Paperback

Published July 2, 2019

About the author

Like Miren Lassiter, the heroine of Same River Twice, Janet Poland is a westerner transplanted to Bucks County, Pennsylvania. She grew up in California, the great-granddaughter of a Colorado cattle rancher. And like Miren, she worked as a newspaper reporter and editor. Later, Janet published seven parenting books, and now her first mystery novel.

But unlike Miren, she isn't reclusive or burdened with a dark and troubled past. She lives in an 1830s farmhouse with a husband, a Maine Coon cat, and twelve sheep. (Well, the sheep actually live outside.)

Reviews

[J.C. Paulson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Miren Lassiter is among the many, many — far too many — journalists caught up in the downsizing of newsrooms across North America. When her job hits the chopping block, the unexpected inheritance of her scientist uncle’s property in a rural area at least gives her a rent-free home . . . crammed with further unexpected items and at least one very big, very serious secret.
On the day she is laid off, Miren discovers a body hanging from the gallows in a museum, and things become even stranger once she moves into her new home. Things go missing. Men emerge to ask questions about her uncle’s possessions . . . or to woo her . . . or both? No one seems to be quite precisely what they should be or seem to be, while a mysterious fungus repeatedly comes up in conversation.
Meanwhile, a difficult personal story unwinds in tandem with the mystery, shedding shadowy light on Miren’s solitary life and sometimes-distant personality.
Janet Poland, a former journalist, completely nails the problems with news-gathering and staffing in the modern era — and shows us how it’s done; this reviewer has a similar past and can attest to her accuracy. At the same time, she dexterously weaves her main character’s fascinating past with a complex and unique mystery. Same River Twice is riveting, evocative, sometimes creepy, often moving and very, very well done.

[Iga Wiktoria Pietrzak · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read 'Same River Twice' with much intrigue. The mysterious aura surrounding the old house along the riverbank makes for a good page-turner as it draws you in with anticipation of a secret revelation. I felt the pace of the book could have flowed somewhat faster, and at times felt there was excessive dialogue that added little substance to the overall buildup of dramatic atmosphere of the storyline. The ending unmasks a shocking truth which leaves you questioning how such things can be possible in the civilized world. The narrator discloses very little detail about herself until the ending of the book, which cleverly adds an element of surprise for her readers.

[Gwen Tolios · Rating 3 out of 5]

Struggled a bit with this book - it didn't really stick to a genre and the MC was too passive for me - but i could connect to her desire to just be alone with a glass of wine and peace.

Picked this up for the aro rep - I'd call it fuzzy, but there. Certainly sparked a discussion with my ace book club!

[Beth Meyers · Rating 3 out of 5]

First fiction written by this author. It ended well but for the majority of the book, the author wandered with her storytelling. It could have stood another editing to tighten up some of the plotlines.

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