Group Read with Kevvie! discussion

Share your thoughts on chapters 5-8 in this thread.

I took notes as I read this time! Really enjoying the book! Tough to put it down especially with how chapter 8 ended.

Here are my notes!

The mysterious caller? Who could that be? Is this about $$. Feels like it could be. They did say she was spending too much in the last chapters

I like the concept of brief future comments mixed in with the ongoing narrative. Ie- the police asking about the key and the jewels

Back to money and changing the will… did tony do something to make her want to keep him out?? And a telegram he takes? Intrigued..

The injured man in the playhouse. 😳 why did they take his pants??? Oh and his gun!

Another letter in a blue envelope

Wait!! Who is Bessie?? And why was she paid to leave? Ah!! The letters that tony took were from Bessie! Tony’s wife!! 😳

Why does Bessie have so many bills if she was give half a million to leave! Gambling?

And an intruder!

That is quite the way to end chapter 8!! Don and Bessie and even the business with Evans are all tied up together!!! 💕💕

I think I have to go back and listen to the last bit. I'm confused as to who some people are.

Still a little confused but I'll figure it out. lol

Oh my gosh, Sandy, right??? The story really exploded in these chapters. I LOVE the scene where they find Evans, starting with the blood on poor Roger, through finding him pantsless beside the pool! We know that the pants were removed to access the keys, and now someone has a set of keys to thee Cloisters as well as a gun.

I'm so excited Bessie is back! She is one of those characters you love to hate. I have a few questions about her. Bessie said “I wouldn’t stay in this mausoleum for a million dollars. But we have to get along together for a while.” So then why is she staying there???

I know how Maud and Don and Bessie and the business with Evans relate, but I love how perplexing such an idea seems right now. At this point there's really know way to connect it. I did pick up on one insignificant line that could actually get someone's thoughts on the right track, but I'm not going to say which detail that was. I will just say the seeds have been planted!

Leane, so in the Cloisters we have Maud Wainright, her son Tony, and now Tony's wife Bessie. And of course our narrator Pat.

The Cloisters neighboring property is the Farm w/ Margery or Margaret, I forget.

From the town of Beverly we have Bill Sterling, the doctor, and Dwight Elliot, the Lawyer. Pat's friend Lydia Morgan, and Lydia's daughter Audrey. Lydia's ex-husband is Don Morgan, who left her 15 years ago but now wants to come back to town. Lydia and Bill had been seeing each other, but now that Lydia is welcoming Don back into their home, sounds like her relation with Bill is over.

Hope that helps!

Okay, that's where I was confused. I thought Lydia was with Bill but then it seemed like that was over no matter what. And I'm like, why ruin a good thing with him for some guy the left you and your daughter.
It just seemed like the story jumped to that really quick and then I started doubting myself and thinking maybe I didn't know who Bill really was.

Thank you for explaining!

I definitely don't think it's a coincidence that Evans keys go missing around the same time Bessie shows up!

So I’m a day behind already! But hope to catch up with you all over the weekend. So much going on! Why is Bessie back? Obviously for more than money and as you said Kevvie, if she wouldn’t stay in that “mausoleum” for a million dollars, what is she hanging about for? What does she have over Maud and Tony to give her so much power? The keys missing is so frightening- not sure how they can sleep at night! I’m so intrigued to find out how all of the people and events are related!

Yeah it's so frightening that somebody has a set of keys and a gun. I certainly wouldn't feel safe anymore!

Bessie is evil! I love the dynamic she brings to the plot as well as the tension with Tony. I can’t wait to read on tomorrow so I can catch up with you all!

Right?? Bessie is such a wonderful character!

oooh - the story is drawing me in more and more!

I'm loving how Rinehart is building the suspense and tension. She keeps including these illusions to a tragedy. Bessie is something else!! I liked the description of her cold blue eyes. I loved this quote from chapter 6 - " But even then the valley and the Hill, having run their parallel courses for years, were gradually approaching each other, and trouble, in the shape of a young woman in a shiny sports car, was on the way from the East."

Here is another interesting quote from the end of chapter 6 - "Those locked rooms intrigued me. However, Maud had never mentioned them, and so they remained a mystery during those early months at the Cloisters. I presume they were opened and cleaned at intervals, but I never say this done, and when I learned their real significance it practically changed the world for me."

The locked rooms were Bessie's room, right? How is that world-changing for Pat?

I know this might sound strange... but.... I will continue to read this book. Hilda was the name of my grandmothers' sister, and they are talking about a will. It hard to read - because my mother passed in 2019. There are alot of triggers. So I will continue until I can't anymore, pg 55, so we will see.

Kellie, I'm thinking this may not be a good book for you. Perhaps better to stop now than get even more triggered by it.

Janelle, I'm so glad you're liking Rinehart's writing style. Yes the locked rooms are Bessie's. That was world changing because up to that point she had been falling for Tony, and did not realize he was already married.

Kevvie wrote: "Janelle, I'm so glad you're liking Rinehart's writing style. Yes the locked rooms are Bessie's. That was world changing because up to that point she had been falling for Tony, and did not realize h..."

Right, got it. Thanks.