Our Tragedy

Janes #1

by Elizabeth Elle Mitchell

A wife accused of murder. A teenager searching for answers. A neighbor who knows everyone’s secrets.

Kore's doting husband is murdered in broad daylight mere steps outside their front door. Her life in shambles, all she wants to do is hide away and grieve her loss. But a shocking photo taken at the crime scene is made public, and she finds herself dodging the press and defending her innocence.

Hannah, a less-than-popular teen with striking turquoise hair, overhears a conversation between classmates just minutes before finding out about her favorite teacher’s murder. She worries that his killer might be walking the halls with her, and soon, everyone becomes a suspect.

Their neighbor, Clarence, keeps a journal of everything that goes on in his small cul de sac. Secrets are being harbored behind each door and window. After his neighbor’s death, he begins to wonder who was willing to kill to keep theirs buried.

For fans of Liane Moriarty and Gillian Flynn comes a novel about the ripple effect of grief created by one man’s murder through the eyes of his widow, one of his brightest students, and his ever-nosy neighbor.

342 pages, Paperback

Published November 4, 2021

About the author

Elizabeth Mitchell is a disabled author, multidisciplinary artist, and publisher who's lived many lives. Her work challenges, blends genres, explores haunted bodies, and delves into the human psyche. She's a social activist, a gamer with potato aim, and an avid reader. As a woman with several invisible illnesses, she enjoys living a semi-horizontal life with her husband and spoiled furbutts in the PNW. Her writing is also under Elle. Find her at https://www.justanotherelizabeth.com/.

Reviews

[Thriller BingerGirl · Rating 4 out of 5]

«𝕊𝕒𝕕𝕝𝕪, 𝕙𝕖 𝕔𝕒𝕟 𝕠𝕟𝕝𝕪 𝕠𝕓𝕤𝕖𝕣𝕧𝕖 𝕙𝕒𝕝𝕗 𝕠𝕗 𝕙𝕚𝕤 𝕟𝕖𝕚𝕘𝕙𝕓𝕠𝕣𝕤 𝕗𝕣𝕠𝕞 𝕙𝕚𝕤 𝕧𝕒𝕟𝕥𝕒𝕘𝕖 𝕡𝕠𝕚𝕟𝕥. 𝔸𝕝𝕝 𝕠𝕗 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕔𝕦𝕝 𝕕𝕖 𝕤𝕒𝕔 𝕞𝕒𝕚𝕝𝕓𝕠𝕩𝕖𝕤 𝕒𝕣𝕖 𝕖𝕒𝕤𝕚𝕝𝕪 𝕒𝕔𝕔𝕖𝕤𝕤𝕚𝕓𝕝𝕖, 𝕓𝕦𝕥 𝕥𝕙𝕖𝕚𝕣 𝕙𝕠𝕞𝕖𝕤-𝕙𝕖 𝕕𝕠𝕖𝕤𝕟'𝕥 𝕓𝕣𝕖𝕒𝕜 𝕚𝕟𝕥𝕠 𝕡𝕖𝕠𝕡𝕝𝕖'𝕤 𝕙𝕠𝕞𝕖𝕤. 𝕋𝕙𝕒𝕥 𝕨𝕠𝕦𝕝𝕕 𝕓𝕖 𝕒 𝕔𝕣𝕚𝕞𝕖—𝕚𝕝𝕝𝕖𝕘𝕒𝕝, 𝕚𝕟𝕧𝕒𝕤𝕚𝕧𝕖.»
⭐⭐⭐⭐
𝙅𝙪𝙞𝙘𝙮 𝙨𝙚𝙘𝙧𝙚𝙩𝙨 𝙖𝙢𝙤𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙣𝙚𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙗𝙤𝙧𝙨

This novel keep you intrigued from the start. Alternating the stories of
𝗞𝗼𝗿𝗲, 𝗖𝗹𝗮𝗿𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲 & 𝗛𝗮𝗻𝗻𝗮𝗵. And how a terrible crime, in a quiet neighborhood is interlaced with their life and secrets. There are various characters among the storyline but is not hard to keep up with them since they are well developed. Is a slow burner- sometimes the grieving process part of the story was dragging the story rhythm - but definitely will keep you guessing; even when many secrets come to light some of them you wouldn't guess it 😈 I enjoyed 𝗖𝗹𝗮𝗿𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲 so much I was dying to know more about his motives and rules to pry into his neighbors lifes. I can't wait to see how this series will go on and if we meet again some of the characters. Thank you for my gifted copy 💜 Is always a pleasure read your stories.

Te matiene intrigado desde el principio. Alternando las historias de 𝗞𝗼𝗿𝗲, 𝗖𝗹𝗮𝗿𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲 y 𝗛𝗮𝗻𝗻𝗮𝗵. Sobre cómo un terrible crimen, en un barrio tranquilo, se entrelaza con su vida y secretos mejor guardados. Hay varios personajes en la historia, pero no es difícil seguirles, ya que están bien desarrollados. Es un libro lento- a veces el proceso de duelo de 𝗞𝗼𝗿𝗲 estancaba el ritmo de la historia- pero definitivamente mantiene la expectativa y te hará suponer; incluso cuando muchos secretos salen a la luz, algunos de ellos no los habrías imaginado😈 Disfruté mucho del personaje de 𝗖𝗹𝗮𝗿𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲 me moría por saber más sobre sus motivos y reglas para entrometerse en la vida de sus vecinos. No puedo esperar a ver cómo continuará esta serie y si nos encontramos de nuevo con algunos personajes. Gracias por mi copia adelantada 💜 Siempre es un placer leer tus historias.

[Cheyenne · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this book after Another Elizabeth, and I really enjoyed both books. This was definitely more of a traditional thriller in format, though it still had the same diversity and inherent feminism that I loved in Another Elizabeth. I think I noticed more editing errors in this book, though I think they are from an indie press if not self-published, and it was clear they were truly mistakes and that the author does have a good handle on grammar, etc. overall.

I liked the different perspectives that we get in this book. Clarence, the old man spying on his entire neighborhood, was probably my favorite, just because I'm incredibly nosy and it was fun to live vicariously through the extremes to which he took his nosy-ness. That said, there wasn't a perspective I disliked, which was nice.

I mainly took a star off because there were occasional things that didn't make sense. For example, it's mentioned at one point that Kore's sister, Moira, is in a relationship with a woman, and later she admits to an accidental pregnancy. Kore doesn't question this at all, but I did, since it seemed to imply that Moira either cheated on her partner or was raped. It wasn't until several chapters later that Moira explained she and her partner had been on a break, which would have made more sense to include immediately.

Arguably, there were also a lot of elements, such as the character of Moira herself, that never really contribute much to the outcome of the story. This wasn't as tightly woven as most thrillers I've read. Even so, I was along for the ride and enjoyed the fully fleshed-out world of Janes, and I will definitely read more of Mitchell's books in the future.

[Valerie Anne · Rating 5 out of 5]

A neighborhood filled with secrets is rocked by a tragedy. Character-driven literary suspense for anyone who's ever wondered what kind of mischief their neighbors get up to behind closed doors. The mystery in this book is interesting and keeps the plot moving forward, but it feels less important than the deep dive into the characters, the exploration of their grief, and how death can ripple through a community, affecting everything and everyone in its wake. Come for the complicated characters, stay for the voyeuristic intrigue.