Customer Reviews

Unbreathed Memories (Hannah Ives Mystery Series, Book 2)

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

After recovering from a mastectomy, Hannah Ives waits to undergo reconstructive surgery so she can feel like her old self. While, her new age sister Ruth runs off to Bali to find her spiritual self, her younger sibling Georgina begins to ask Hannah strange questions related to their childhood. A hysterical Georgina calls Hannah to come pick her up at her psychologist's house. Hannah arrives only to have Georgina show her the body of Dr. Diane Sturges who apparently fell off the balcony. Hannah anonymously calls the police as her sister flees the scene.

The next day the police call Georgina and Hannah who admits they left the scene of the crime. They bring Georgina in for questioning and follow up with a visit to her father. Georgina believes, with the help of Dr. Sturges, that her father sexually molested her as a child and he killed Diane to silence her. Hannah takes it on herself to prove her dad's innocence and to persuade Georgina that she suffers from false memory syndrome planted there by her now deceased therapist.

UNBREATHED MEMORIES is an entertaining mystery that sensitively deals with current social issues. Hannah is a wonderful role model who has no time for self-pity. She is a fighter who will enter hell for that heavenly cause she believes is morally right. The story line is intriguing and fun, but tally one for the star as this plot belongs to Hannah. Marcia Talley is a bright light who has enlivened the amateur sleuth galaxy with the opening act of what should be a warm long running series.

Harriet Klausner

Marcia Talley's second mystery, Unbreathed Memories, features spunky breast cancer survivor, Hannah Ives. Hannah's sibling, Georgina, believes she's a victim of child sexual abuse. When Georgina's psychologist is murdered, Georgina becomes a suspect, along with Hannah's father who believes the psychologist was a quack. Hannah, eager to save her family, sets out to prove her father's innocence. If you like your heroines spunky, heroic, and humorous, then you will enjoy Unbreathed Memories. It's a fast-paced jaunt that draws you in and keeps you turning the pages to the end.

I have not once read a book by Marcia Talley, let me tell you, she is a fantastic writer. This book is full of excitement, romance, and best of all mystery of a murder! I can't say this is the best book I have ever read, but it is one of the best books I have ever read. You will be amazed when the killer is revealed in Unbreathed Memories. This book kept me turning pages late at night, don't miss this great read! The best Mystery book I have ever read in my entire lif is called Bloodline by Jill Jones, don't miss that one either!

Like another Amazon reviewer, I have never been a reader of mysteries. Last year I read Sing it to Her Bones, and then came across Unbreathed Memories this year. Marcia Talley had won an award for the former -- but this second mystery is even better! I read it on vacation, but couldn't wait to get back each evening to find out what Hannah would do next! Marcia Talley is a gifted writer who has made a mystery reader out of me! I can't wait to read Hannah's next adventure!

Marcia Talley has a knack for handling serious subjects with ease and wit. Breast cancer, incest, and false memory syndrome are all treated with the seriousness they deserve, but not in a heavy-handed, over-serious manner. Her main character, thrust into life-threatening situations, still manages to make you smile or laugh out loud with her occasional jibe or quirky humor. Add a plot full of mystery and you have an absorbing read, the kind of book you hate to see come to an end.

Those of us who have experienced traumatic amnesia at some point in our lives understand that there are blank spaces in our memories for varying periods of time. I had a childhood accident where I remember starting to fall, and my next memory is having bandages removed from my leg some period of time later. I was left with a large scar and no memory of the intervening time period.

In this novel, Hannah Ives has a younger sister who is undergoing counseling. Her analyst has convinced her that something buried in her past is causing her problems. She recreates her childhood in her mind, but are the resulting memories real or fantasies? Was she really abused by someone as a child? What she thinks she remembers is causing a major turmoil in her family.

Hannah Ives gets involved in some sleuthing, intermixed with reconstructive surgery after having breast cancer. Hannah's own life is put in danger as the mystery is solved.

The novel could be classified as a tragedy. Events are somewhat unfinished as it ends with her sister still in counseling and trying to resolve her past. What really happened when the family was in Sicily? It deals with mature subject matter, and I would probably rate it at about the PG-13 level.

What a great book! I am hooked and have since read everything else I can find with Talley's name on it. The plot was intriguing, and the story brought me right up to where Hannah was mentally and emotionally. I just had to read the rest of Hannah's books to see how she got into such a situation. I loved the relationship between Hannah and her husband. Reality! Not every day is blissful and this writer sure tells it like it is. Although I am somewhat unfamiliar with the area portrayed, I could actually find myself walking those same streets. Good job! I'm hooked!

I loved Sing It To Her Bones and was anxious to read the next in the Hannah Ives series. I loved the book. It's a page turned and I couldn't put it down. I don't usually read mysteries but Marcia Talley is changing my ways. I can hardly wait for the next installment. I think the character (Hannah Ives) is so real and normal. In fact, all of the characters in this book seem so true. The sisterly relationships, the weirdo at the church, all of them seem like people I know.

Keep em coming Marcia Talley.

I love Hannah Ives. She is just about the most realistic heroine around today. I had read "Sing It to Her Bones" and liked it. Now I discover there are several more Hannah Ives books out there. I guess I will be reading them out of order, but it is worth it.

I have this marked this book down one star because Hannah idiotically puts herself in danger at the end. It was the only thing that didn't ring true because Hannah is otherwise extremely intelligent and sensible.

This book (and several others by the same author) were a gift from a friend who teaches at the US Naval Academy. These books are set in and around Annapolis with the most sympathetic of heroines: Hannah Ives, a fifty-ish dynamo who is just recovering from a mastectomy (I think this was covered in a previous book but I seem to have come into the middle of the series). This book deals with the fact and fiction behind the repressed memory craze that shook the US ten-ish years ago. What I like best about this book is Hannah's wacky family and how real the family dynamics seem to be. It is a little stiffly plotted and some of the coincidences are a little too handy, but I really like the setting and Hannah and her wonderful husband, so I think I'll go back for another helping or two.