A Life for a Life: Lynda McDaniel
Stereotyping people is wrong and
even misdiagnosing a student or older person because they appear to you on the
surface to be mentally challenged or slow is not always the case. When the book
opens we meet ABT a young man who befriended the other voice heard throughout
this novel. Her name is Della and she too has a difficult past as this young
man finds himself sitting outside of her store everyday a murder is committed
in the woods not far away as Della and her dog Jake take some time to chill out
and relax as she finds the body of a young girl and from this point on their
two lives not only intertwine but will change forever. What happens when a
murder, a tragedy turns into something positive for two mismatched people? Living
in a small town everyone gossips and knows practically everything about
everyone else. This town is no different. When Della alerts the sheriff about
the death of someone named “L” he dismisses her and claims it appears to be a
suicide based on a note that she found on the victim. But, something does not
ring true and Della begin a former reporter and very inquisitive won’t give up
until she finds out who this young girl was and allows her the dignity of being
properly laid to rest. A Life for A Life is a heartwarming story of how a
serious tragedy gave two people a new start in life. With a sheriff named Bower
who discounts much of what he hears about most things she turns to ABIT or
Vester Jr. his real name to help her decipher the clues, find clues and even
learn that he too has a strong value in life as we learn in the prologue when
they decide to collaborate and write a book about that spring day.
ABIT’s father is abusive and cruel
and although at times he shakes off the insults and physical abuse he seems to
muddle through. Thinking he is worth not much and no longer allowed to do the
one thing that matters to him, attend school, he trudges along each day sitting
outside the Coburn story that his father once owned and hopes to see Della, get
into some conversation and feel wanted. But, things take an unusual turn
because Della is consumed with the murder and with the help of her friend Cleva
who alleviates her stress when things get hard; they aim to learn the harsh
truth about many of the people and a killer that just might be hiding in plain
sight.
Della and Abit formed an alliance
and since she needed help in her store she asked him to stock, watch the store
and even created a Rolling Country Store that he and a man named Duane would
run together. Since he was not old enough to drive they traveled together
bringing food and other supplies to people that needed them. Laurel Falls, N.C.
is the setting and the dialogue at times represents it so that readers get a
flavor of the community and the people. Della was married to a man named Alex
and the author shares their past together and when he shows up things starts to
drastically change.
Finding out the name of the murder
victim and meeting her family was the start of honing in on why she might have
been killed. But, learning about an organization named Green Treatise whose
members hated the government, did not want to pay taxes and resented anything
about the government unleashed a whole group of suspects and some surprised
Della and Alex when they decided to attend one of their meetings. Someone was
calling Della threatening her to back off and to make sure she got the message
they torched her store. With the help of ABIT things got under control since
his powers of observation helped save the day. But, this fight was not over and
a funeral for the dead girl was planned and the suspects were all present but
who chose to gain from her death?
Someone received a phone call to
come to that clearing and said he was needed there. He thought that it was some
kind of joke or prank by the Green Treatise. Maybe an initiation, of some guys
from the government who were trying to “broker a deal.” This is the man that
Della saw at the sight in the clearing where the girl was killed. He touched
her to see if she was alive but she was dead cold. As he stated if the sheriff
bothered to look into things he would find his fingerprints at the scene but
then something changes and someone is arrested for the murder but is he guilty.
Working for the forest service and having feelings for Della, Gregg becomes a
suspect and Della and Abit along with Alex went on a crusade to prove him
innocent. This is a story told from two different voices and two different
perspectives yet in the end they intertwine and blend together. Della not
accepted by everyone in Laurel Falls with a somewhat checkered past and wanting
to start over again yet at times floundering. Wondering why Alex was willing to
help her solve the murder yet at times doubts and concerns popped into her
mind. Abit has been labeled at mentally slow or challenged but as you get to
know him and understand him better you will realize that he has an innate
ability to sense situations, care for people and just wants his father to
finally be proud of him but he feels he will amount to nothing hence living
down to his own expectations by sitting outside Della’s store in his own chair,
an nobody better take it, and laments, listens to gossip and hopes to spend
time with Della.
A story told in two voices and yet
there a many more that are heard as Della and Alex start to bond yet one simple
misunderstanding might alter it all. While Della found a suicide note at the
crime scene, Cassie who is Gregg’s assistant found another one and there lies
where the mystery takes on a new tone. As Della looks at both notes she
realizes that something is off. Enlisting the help of a former forger named
Nigel who now works for the Treasury Department with his help she uncovers a
major clue that forces Bower to realize that this might not be a suicide and
that someone other than Gregg might have committed the murder but will he
follow up on it or is there something else we don’t know? Evidence found in
Gregg’s truck was it planted? Who wanted everyone to think he was guilty? Why
didn’t the sheriff want to look further? With the Rollin Store doing well and
Abit and Duane working together Della determined to find the real killer. When
Alex disappears for a while Della becomes suspicious but when he returns with
Abit you won’t believe what you see and how Abit’s transformation changes it
all. Labeled, thought to be slow as the novel progresses you learn how much he
yearns to go back to school, make himself and his father proud of him and why
doing this job and working for Della has changed his life and hers too. With
the killer on the lose they have to sort it out before Just who was scamming
and stealing for older people? Who was pretending to house people in need but
in reality taking what they owned and using it for herself to profit feeding
them oatmeal and pretending to give them a clean and safe place to live?
Just who wanted Lucy dead and why
and was coming after Della? Warnings not heeded and more lives on the line will
they stop this person or will another body be found? An ending that will create
some surprises and twists and a former Washington, D.C. reporter named Della
who had investigative reporting in her blood and just might prove to be more
than just the owner of a the Coburn Store and Rollin Store but maybe Ellicott
City’s new sleuth. Characters whose voices are definitely defined and a plot
that keeps readers wondering until the very end. A LIFE FOR A LIFE: How far
will you go to save yours? What happens in a small town when a murder saves not
only life but opens new doors for even more?
Fran Lewis: Just reviews/MJ
magazine
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