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Whiteout
Wild with guilt and anger over her failing marriage, Maggie Ryder escapes to the safety of an Illinois farmhouse during a full-blown blizzard. Maggie had been hired by the owners to do some stencil painting in the dining room. But why aren’t Louise and Sid Shaw not home to welcome her?
Maggie has risked her life driving through the harrowing storm and doesn’t mind being alone in the warmth and safety of the house. Not at first.
But then a stranger walks down the stairs and into the kitchen. He says he’s Ian Shaw, Louise and Sidney’s son, and that his parents headed upstate ahead of the storm to visit their daughter.
Snowbound with him for six days and nights, isolated by ground blizzards and impassable country roads, Maggie forms a headstrong attachment to the talented and amusing young man.
When they leave the house together, Maggie is caught up in mysteries of theft and unexplained deaths. She questions Ian’s identity, what crimes he might have committed, and how much her impulsive loyalty to him will cost her in the end.
Maggie has risked her life driving through the harrowing storm and doesn’t mind being alone in the warmth and safety of the house. Not at first.
But then a stranger walks down the stairs and into the kitchen. He says he’s Ian Shaw, Louise and Sidney’s son, and that his parents headed upstate ahead of the storm to visit their daughter.
Snowbound with him for six days and nights, isolated by ground blizzards and impassable country roads, Maggie forms a headstrong attachment to the talented and amusing young man.
When they leave the house together, Maggie is caught up in mysteries of theft and unexplained deaths. She questions Ian’s identity, what crimes he might have committed, and how much her impulsive loyalty to him will cost her in the end.
272 pages, Kindle Edition
Published June 4, 2019
27 people are currently reading
30 people want to read
About the author
Mary Howard
3 books7 followersThough I was born in Iowa, I flew off to Southern California in my youth to live by the Pacific for a while and figure out where to go from there. Later I lived in Woodstock, Illinois, for years, a forty-minute train ride from downtown Chicago, on Lake Michigan. Attracted by water both times, I guess, and craving adventure. Now I live in Ames, Iowa, where I counseled students in the College of Design for seventeen years and raised two fabulous sons.
My novels are set in small Midwest towns. I have written three suspense (mystery) novels and am now working on a novel that is just as suspenseful, but focused on a provocative family secret, not involving a crime. I am fascinated by the extraordinary natures of my characters and strive to know them better page-by-page -- as they lead me on to a satisfying, and sometimes surprising, conclusion. I love imagining what it is like to be someone else. That requires compassion, as well as imagination.
My five favorite writers are Alice Munro, Ian McEwan, Anthony Dorr, Edith Pearlman, and Annie Proulx.
My novels are set in small Midwest towns. I have written three suspense (mystery) novels and am now working on a novel that is just as suspenseful, but focused on a provocative family secret, not involving a crime. I am fascinated by the extraordinary natures of my characters and strive to know them better page-by-page -- as they lead me on to a satisfying, and sometimes surprising, conclusion. I love imagining what it is like to be someone else. That requires compassion, as well as imagination.
My five favorite writers are Alice Munro, Ian McEwan, Anthony Dorr, Edith Pearlman, and Annie Proulx.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
August 21, 2019
Whiteout tells a tale full of outward surprises and inward revelations. Maggie, a stencil artist, gets snowed in a farmhouse with a charming and mysterious stranger. The stranger plays a violin that enchants Maggie as much as its performer does. Old secrets reveal themselves; and although Maggie doubts Ian's honesty, she can't resist his magnetism. Deaths have occurred in the past and more deaths occur in the present. Is Ian who he says he is? Is anyone? Every chapter brings a new twist and turn, and the reader can't be certain about anything. Whiteout will keep you guessing and turning pages until the mystery at last unfolds.
July 11, 2019
Another spellbinding suspense by Mary Howard. The descriptions put you snowbound in the middle of a blizzard even during the heat of July. And I clearly remember the blizzard of '79. The characters are many-layered and constantly produce twists in the plot. I am reminded of the movie "Charade,' constantly trying to decide if a character is the villain, the hero, or just a bystander. The background on the blizzard, violins, music, stenciling and the era is carefully researched. I highly recommend this book.
July 1, 2019
5 stars for a book that surprises me at every turn. This is actually my second time reading WHITEOUT (I got a sneak peek before it was published) and I am still taken aback--and delighted--with how skillfully Howard lays the ground for a complex, challenging story that packs in spooky thrills but also sensitively deals with human pain, error, longing, and loss.
The novel deftly handles the sexy danger of being trapped snowbound in a house with an intriguing yet possibly dangerous man, but where can a story go from there? Maggie Ryder finds out, because once she's able to get out of the house where she and Ian Shaw have been thrown together, she has to face who he really is--and she has to come to terms with her own life, which includes a distant husband, a difficult relationship with her former best friend, and new friends who will teach her unexpected things.
And if the human heart isn't enough mystery for you, there's a priceless violin in the picture that could get everyone--including Maggie--in a whole lot of trouble. Thrillers aren't usually my thing, but I'll read anything Mary Howard writes--she draws me in & won't let go.
More thoughts on femmeliterate
The novel deftly handles the sexy danger of being trapped snowbound in a house with an intriguing yet possibly dangerous man, but where can a story go from there? Maggie Ryder finds out, because once she's able to get out of the house where she and Ian Shaw have been thrown together, she has to face who he really is--and she has to come to terms with her own life, which includes a distant husband, a difficult relationship with her former best friend, and new friends who will teach her unexpected things.
And if the human heart isn't enough mystery for you, there's a priceless violin in the picture that could get everyone--including Maggie--in a whole lot of trouble. Thrillers aren't usually my thing, but I'll read anything Mary Howard writes--she draws me in & won't let go.
More thoughts on femmeliterate
November 13, 2019
This thriller kept me reading straight through. A good psychological mystery with great atmospheric writing.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews