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The Falls
DON'T LOOK DOWN . . .
Early one morning Claire Malvern awakes to an empty bed -- and her husband missing. There is no trace of Keith Malvern -- only an eyewitness who claims a man jumped off the bridge at Bloodroot Falls in the middle of the night.
It is the spectacular waterfall that first drew Claire and Keith away from their fast-paced, high-tech careers to pursue the dream of opening a bed-and-breakfast in the rustic lodge above Bloodroot River. But the dream becomes a nightmare when Keith's body is found snagged in the river rapids, his death ruled a suicide.
Claire knows her husband would never take his own life. But local sheriff Nick Braden thinks her suspicions of foul play are unfounded. Despite his skepticism, Nick and Claire start digging into her husband's past . . . and what they uncover paints a shocking portrait of what really happened that September night.
394 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2003
12 people are currently reading
460 people want to read
About the author
Karen Harper
104 books1,498 followersA New York Times and USA Today bestselling author, Karen Harper is a former college English instructor (The Ohio State University) and high school literature and writing teacher. A lifelong Ohioan, Karen and her husband Don divide their time between the midwest and the southeast, both locations she has used in her books. Besides her American settings, Karen loves the British Isles, where her Scottish and English roots run deep, and where she has set many of her historical Tudor-era mysteries and her historical novels about real and dynamic British women. Karen's books have been published in many foreign languages and she won the Mary Higgins Clark Award for 2005. Karen has given numerous talks to readers and writers across the county. Her most recent books include THE SOUTH SHORES TRILOGY (CHASING SHADOWS, DROWNING TIDES and FALLING DARKNESS.) Her latest historical is THE ROYAL NANNY. Please visit her website at www.KarenHarperAuthor and her fb page at www.facebook.com/KarenHarperAuthor
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 48 reviews
February 2, 2011
You know you’re in trouble when you come across a line like this in a book: “I have a feeling my survival training from years ago and my duty during Operation Desert Storm is going to come in real handy.’
Of course the joke’s on me. The revelation - spoken by hard-as-nails Sheriff Nick Braden doesn’t come until page 285 - but I knew the book was gonna be a stinker by page 10…yet I still kept reading.
Publishers Weekly loved The Falls and said Harper has a fantastic flair for creating and sustaining suspense… Um- okay.
Claire Malvern wakes up in the middle of the night and discovers that her husband, Keith, is missing. They live in Washington State, where they are renovating an old fishing lodge they intend to open as a B and B. When Keith’s body turns up in the river, presumably after having jumped off the bridge at Bloodroot Falls, the Sheriff calls it suicide, but Claire just knows Keith would never kill himself.
Sadly, though, Claire knows less about her husband than she thinks she does. And it turns out that most of the small cast of characters in Harper’s cliched novel have something to hide. Sadly, none of it is very interesting.
Look - there are all sorts of this kind of book out there and I’ve read lots of them. What’s the most important ingredient to make them work? You have to care about the characters. They have to be believable.
Nothing to look at here, folks. Move along and save your money.
Of course the joke’s on me. The revelation - spoken by hard-as-nails Sheriff Nick Braden doesn’t come until page 285 - but I knew the book was gonna be a stinker by page 10…yet I still kept reading.
Publishers Weekly loved The Falls and said Harper has a fantastic flair for creating and sustaining suspense… Um- okay.
Claire Malvern wakes up in the middle of the night and discovers that her husband, Keith, is missing. They live in Washington State, where they are renovating an old fishing lodge they intend to open as a B and B. When Keith’s body turns up in the river, presumably after having jumped off the bridge at Bloodroot Falls, the Sheriff calls it suicide, but Claire just knows Keith would never kill himself.
Sadly, though, Claire knows less about her husband than she thinks she does. And it turns out that most of the small cast of characters in Harper’s cliched novel have something to hide. Sadly, none of it is very interesting.
Look - there are all sorts of this kind of book out there and I’ve read lots of them. What’s the most important ingredient to make them work? You have to care about the characters. They have to be believable.
Nothing to look at here, folks. Move along and save your money.
February 5, 2022
The Falls, Karen Harper, 2003
My favorite quote: “I have a feeling my survival training is going to come in real handy.”
Notable characters: Keith Malvern, a man who allegedly commits suicide; Claire Malvern, his wife, who believes he was murdered; Nick Braden, the town sheriff-turned-love-interest
Most memorable scene: The discovery of a hidden truth that I can’t talk about here lest some crazed anti-spoiler fanatic give me the fist-shaking, crazy-faced what-for
Greatest strengths: Its plot twists
Standout achievements: The red herrings here are plentiful, clever, and effective. Well done, Karen Harper
Fun Facts: According to Publisher’s Weekly, Karen Harper has a “fantastic flair for creating and sustaining suspense.” I’m inclined to agree
Other media: N/A
What it taught me: It’s kind of a long story, but here we go … So, in 2005, Karen Harper won the Mary Higgins Clark Award, right? Now, we all know I don’t love ol’ Mary. I’ve tried and tried and I just can’t dig the Mary. But even so, I really like Karen Harper’s work. Weird, right? So, I guess what this book taught me is that sometimes, things should be the other way around. Like, what if there was a Karen Harper Award that the Mary was striving to win? Yeah. I like that much better …
P.S. — I would totally be on the Karen Harper Award Committee, and trust me: the Mary would never win
How it inspired me: The Falls pretty much set me on the path of romantic suspense novels. I don’t really know why it stood out to me so much, but it did. It opened up a new world I’m not sure I would have explored otherwise — so thank you, Karen Harper, for that
Additional thoughts: The Falls is a well-timed and deftly delivered whodunit with guy-gets-girl undertones that will appeal to lovers of the suspense, romance, and crime and detection genres
Haunt me: alistaircross.com
My favorite quote: “I have a feeling my survival training is going to come in real handy.”
Notable characters: Keith Malvern, a man who allegedly commits suicide; Claire Malvern, his wife, who believes he was murdered; Nick Braden, the town sheriff-turned-love-interest
Most memorable scene: The discovery of a hidden truth that I can’t talk about here lest some crazed anti-spoiler fanatic give me the fist-shaking, crazy-faced what-for
Greatest strengths: Its plot twists
Standout achievements: The red herrings here are plentiful, clever, and effective. Well done, Karen Harper
Fun Facts: According to Publisher’s Weekly, Karen Harper has a “fantastic flair for creating and sustaining suspense.” I’m inclined to agree
Other media: N/A
What it taught me: It’s kind of a long story, but here we go … So, in 2005, Karen Harper won the Mary Higgins Clark Award, right? Now, we all know I don’t love ol’ Mary. I’ve tried and tried and I just can’t dig the Mary. But even so, I really like Karen Harper’s work. Weird, right? So, I guess what this book taught me is that sometimes, things should be the other way around. Like, what if there was a Karen Harper Award that the Mary was striving to win? Yeah. I like that much better …
P.S. — I would totally be on the Karen Harper Award Committee, and trust me: the Mary would never win
How it inspired me: The Falls pretty much set me on the path of romantic suspense novels. I don’t really know why it stood out to me so much, but it did. It opened up a new world I’m not sure I would have explored otherwise — so thank you, Karen Harper, for that
Additional thoughts: The Falls is a well-timed and deftly delivered whodunit with guy-gets-girl undertones that will appeal to lovers of the suspense, romance, and crime and detection genres
Haunt me: alistaircross.com
April 20, 2017
In Karen Harper's the Falls, nothing what it seems in a small town in Oregon. When Claire Malvern couldn't find her husband Keith one night, she called the Portfalls PD to help search for him. When it had turned out he had fallen from the Bloodroot "Suicide" Bridge, they believed he had fallen to his death. But for Claire, she didn't believe it happened that way. In order to proof her claim that it was nothing but that, she would need Sheriff Nick Braden's help. Then things got tumuleous for Claire, when someone's been stalking her, sending her threats, and driving her crazy by hearing the sounds of the falls in the background. When she needed her friend's the most, she learned some hidden truths about them, when it concerned Keith. The closer she had gotten to push to the truth, the more dangerous things had gotten between them, when it brought Nick and Claire together, exploring feelings for each other. And in the end, she discovered how twisted and far-reaching people would go to make ends meet with her own life.
March 16, 2009
HORRIBLE!
January 21, 2011
The main charachter was a super-woman. There was nothing that could stop her: being tasered, plane crash, swimming in a cranberry bog. SO much was going on, I really didn't care who was after her.
October 13, 2023
This was a page-turner for me....the writing was easy to follow and it kept me reading longer periods than I should have.
Claire and her husband, Keith moved to Oregon to work on a lodge near a river that produces a lot of salmon. She wakes up in the middle of the night to find her husband is not in bed with her...she searches the house for him, the outside area and everywhere she could think of.
She calls the police and Sheriff Nick Braden arranges a search team after someone makes an anonymous phone call saying he saw Keith jump off the Bridge into the raging falls and river.
Claire is sure he didn't jump ....after they found him twisted and dead among the rocks....but was murdered. It takes a lot of incidents before Nick believes she might be right.
There are many near-death events in this novel....being tasered and left on the bridge to fall into the falls, chased in the cranberry bog with a man chasing her with a large scooper, having Nick's airplane oil-line leak before they made their destination....he carried Claire for 2 days because she had a sprained ankle.
I suspected who the killers were and was right when it was revealed who they were. In 3 weeks of trying to solved this case, the sheriff and Claire fall in love....
Claire and her husband, Keith moved to Oregon to work on a lodge near a river that produces a lot of salmon. She wakes up in the middle of the night to find her husband is not in bed with her...she searches the house for him, the outside area and everywhere she could think of.
She calls the police and Sheriff Nick Braden arranges a search team after someone makes an anonymous phone call saying he saw Keith jump off the Bridge into the raging falls and river.
Claire is sure he didn't jump ....after they found him twisted and dead among the rocks....but was murdered. It takes a lot of incidents before Nick believes she might be right.
There are many near-death events in this novel....being tasered and left on the bridge to fall into the falls, chased in the cranberry bog with a man chasing her with a large scooper, having Nick's airplane oil-line leak before they made their destination....he carried Claire for 2 days because she had a sprained ankle.
I suspected who the killers were and was right when it was revealed who they were. In 3 weeks of trying to solved this case, the sheriff and Claire fall in love....
November 30, 2018
A lot of skimming on this one. Red herrings galore. Stilted dialogue. And somehow I never understood how the sheriff figured out who was behind murdering Keith so he could try to protect the heroine. We are also beaten over the head with both protagonists telling us ad nauseum how they misunderstood their spouses and their marriages weren't based on trust. This paved the way for the sheriff investigating the murder of a man to fall in love with his wife (and she with him) in the space of three weeks. Yep. Three weeks. Gahhhhh.
February 4, 2019
Although this book had a good plot I found it a bit dull at times. Keith Malvern supposedly committed suicide by jumping off the Bloodroot Bridge in the middle of the night. Although Claire didn't believe it was suicide and wanted the sheriff to keep digging. Suspense builds but than pretty soon it is like you are reading a book about marriage counseling. than you are back to people trying to kill Claire. a bit hard to follow.
May 28, 2023
Unfortunately I failed to put the date I started reading this because I literally slogged through this. It took forever to read. The plot was so unbelievable. I am a mystery fan so when the wife of the dead man starts to have feelings for the local sheriff literally pages into the book, I about stopped reading because I wasn’t wanting a sappy romance. The author put so many red herrings that it was overdone. Really it seemed like every character she had gone any length to detail was a suspect
September 14, 2024
That was one of the most painfully stupid books I’ve ever read. The plot wasn’t just far-fetched, it was actually beyond any stretch of the imagination. Absolutely ridiculous. It was like a bad daytime soap opera come to life. The only reason I kept reading was to see what over-the-top scenario would jump out next. I am dumber for having read this book.
July 8, 2025
Good book!! Is it suicide or murder? Who is threatening the widow, and why? When will the cops take her seriously about her husbands death? Lot so people to meet along the way. Which makes for a lot of suspects!! Friend relationships, marriage relationships, cultural neighbor, cranberry bogs and harvesting, family businesses...etc. Worth the read and trying to figure out who is behind it all!!
May 12, 2019
Thrilling, couldn't wait to find out " who dunnit ". Lots of atmosphere and twists and turns. I enjoyed it very much.
August 6, 2019
Good book.
February 4, 2021
Caso interés.ante. para todos los públicos.
Descubrimiento de autora interessante
Descubrimiento de autora interessante
March 21, 2021
Absolutely loved it! The mystery had my head spinning as to who was the criminal.
July 22, 2021
Good read with a lot of twists and turns. I did not suspect who the killer was at all!!
October 28, 2021
Easy read. Relaxing book. Didn't have me on the edge of my seat but was glad that I read it.
March 3, 2022
Her books feel really slow; however, the story is quite good.
December 15, 2022
Good mystery, set in the Pacific northwest. Fast paced with a not so subtle romantic subplot.
July 29, 2024
Ok for a light read. Just too predictable. In the very first chapter, you know the heroine and the sheriff will end up together. No real character development. Stilted dialog.
April 8, 2009
This was very different from other Karen Harper novels that I read which are usually set in an Amish Community. However, this novel was filled was mystery and suspense and kept me on the edge of my seat.
Keith and Claire Malvern have left their Seattle, Washington jobs to restore an old lodge in Portsfalls, Washington and turn it into a B & B.
Shortly after their restorations are complete, Claire's husband Keith is believed to have committed suicide by jumping off the old railway bridge. Claire is at first devastated that her husband would do such a thing, then realizes he wouldn't. She sets out to try and convince the town's Sheriff, Nick Braden, that Keith did NOT commit suicide.
Not believing her, Claire sets out to do some investigating on her own and soon finds herself way in over her head. Death threats, dead animals showing up on her deck, someone tampering with her paintings and other odd happenings. It's not long before she convinces the town Sheriff that someone did perhaps kill her husband and is now wanting to kill her.
Sheriff Braden begins his own investigation and soon finds he too is being stalked and wanted dead by whoever killed Keith and whoever is wanting to kill Claire.
Who is it? You'll have to read the story to find out. Very gripping reading!!!
Keith and Claire Malvern have left their Seattle, Washington jobs to restore an old lodge in Portsfalls, Washington and turn it into a B & B.
Shortly after their restorations are complete, Claire's husband Keith is believed to have committed suicide by jumping off the old railway bridge. Claire is at first devastated that her husband would do such a thing, then realizes he wouldn't. She sets out to try and convince the town's Sheriff, Nick Braden, that Keith did NOT commit suicide.
Not believing her, Claire sets out to do some investigating on her own and soon finds herself way in over her head. Death threats, dead animals showing up on her deck, someone tampering with her paintings and other odd happenings. It's not long before she convinces the town Sheriff that someone did perhaps kill her husband and is now wanting to kill her.
Sheriff Braden begins his own investigation and soon finds he too is being stalked and wanted dead by whoever killed Keith and whoever is wanting to kill Claire.
Who is it? You'll have to read the story to find out. Very gripping reading!!!
April 9, 2008
I enjoyed the book as well. The chemistry between Claire and Nick was sizzling, but I could understand why nothing happened between them until the end. Remember, Claire just lost her husband (even if it wasn't much of a marriage at the end) and Nick, having previously reprimanded one of his deputies for getting involved with a suspect from a previous case, pretty much refused to put himself in the same position. I completely understood that, and I enjoyed how each were aware of the other but wouldn't do anything about it until the case was solved.
As for DeeDee, you kind of get a picture of someone who's disturbed; it was kind of freaky. And even through it all, Nick and Claire both decided to help her when the time came. (tsk, tsk, Crystal, weren't you paying attention to the conclusion of the book? LOL!) DeeDee was receiving not only psychiatric help, but had also lost weight, and once she 'did her time' was moving in with one of her sister's to be the kids nanny. Both Claire and Nick agreed that when the trial and what not came around, they'd be there to help. And with everything that happened, I thought it strange but nice.
Overall, I'd never read Karen Harper before, but I plan to add more of hers to my TBR pile.
As for DeeDee, you kind of get a picture of someone who's disturbed; it was kind of freaky. And even through it all, Nick and Claire both decided to help her when the time came. (tsk, tsk, Crystal, weren't you paying attention to the conclusion of the book? LOL!) DeeDee was receiving not only psychiatric help, but had also lost weight, and once she 'did her time' was moving in with one of her sister's to be the kids nanny. Both Claire and Nick agreed that when the trial and what not came around, they'd be there to help. And with everything that happened, I thought it strange but nice.
Overall, I'd never read Karen Harper before, but I plan to add more of hers to my TBR pile.
December 10, 2008
We need different categories for ranking. How does one rank a good genre piece against one of the classics? Each suffers by comparison.
Anyway, this is an engaging narrative within its particular genre (romantic suspense). Heroine (Claire) is not overly stupid but does get into trouble (no suspense without that) and the hero (Nick) cares for her but isn't all brawn and testicles (e.g. romance not just sex). The setting in the Pacific Northwest is nicely described with information about salmon runs, cranberry farming, importing antiques, and the duties of a small-town sheriff.
Anyway, this is an engaging narrative within its particular genre (romantic suspense). Heroine (Claire) is not overly stupid but does get into trouble (no suspense without that) and the hero (Nick) cares for her but isn't all brawn and testicles (e.g. romance not just sex). The setting in the Pacific Northwest is nicely described with information about salmon runs, cranberry farming, importing antiques, and the duties of a small-town sheriff.
February 9, 2017
Kylmä talvinen päivä vaati selvästi lukemista sohvan nurkassa. Tämä kirja saikin ajan kulumaan kuin siivillä. Varsin kelpo dekkari, nopeatempoinen ja viihdyttävä vaikka paikoitellen sortuikin ehkä hieman kliseiseksi, mutta ei haitannut kyllä lainkaan. Syyllistä en arvannut etukäteen, vaikka aavistukset syistä saivatkin ajatukset sivuamaan myös häntä. Lopulta todellisuus oli toinen kuin ajateltu, mutta en kaukana ollut mietintöineni minäkään.
PS. Mielenkiintoisin hahmo oli ehdottomasti intiaani Sam.
PS. Mielenkiintoisin hahmo oli ehdottomasti intiaani Sam.
November 14, 2008
Good suspense novel. It took me some time to get into the story, but once I did I found it to be pretty good. Good mixture of romance & suspense. Kept me guessing & I never did guess who the killer was. This was my first book by this author, but I have since read many more from her. I really enjoy her books.
March 23, 2013
This book was not about romance as much as solving crime and learning how to move on. I thought it was very well done. I really liked the main characters; they were strong people who had been hurt, and were learning to live again. I really appreciated that the characters were able to develop their relationship in a mature, non-sexual manner.
May 13, 2016
eerste keer dat ik iets las van "Karen Harper" en het was direct een schot in de roos, geweldig boek met een fantastisch einde en ontzettend veel spanning, de laatste 100 blz kon ik niet stoppen om het einde te kennen :-)
ik schrijf Karen Harper alleszins op mn lijstje van graag gelezen auteurs !
alle andere titels van haar zijn welkom ;-)
ik schrijf Karen Harper alleszins op mn lijstje van graag gelezen auteurs !
alle andere titels van haar zijn welkom ;-)
April 19, 2008
This one took me a little while to get into, but in the end I found it to be a rather enjoyable suspense novel; interesting characters, a typical good-guy-gets-girl romance undertone, and a fairly well-delivered whodunit. Overall, it was worth the reading time
February 23, 2012
This is my first book by this author. I am anxious to collect more of her books. The entire story kept you guessing, the plot a twist and turn of constant suspense. Thoroughly enjoyed this quick read.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 48 reviews