Grave Endings : A Novel of Suspense (Molly Blume)

Rating:
Summary: Krich's Best!!!!
Review: "Grave Endings" is a mesmerizing, suspenseful page-turner, with many tantalizing twists and turns along the way to keep you guessing and guessing and guessing...But more than the actual mystery itself, what affected me profoundly was the moving story of Molly's steadfast devotion to her dead friend's memory, a devotion that transcends the grave and catalyzes the events that unfold in the book. The pain of losing one's dear
friend is so palpable in fact throughout the book, and so genuine, that one wonders if Krich ever lost a close friend herself. Whether she did or not is really irrelevant; what matters is that the feeling of loss and pain is authentically portrayed, so much so that you can't help but feel moved to tears. The mixture of pathos and joy that permeates the book as Molly moves towards her wedding day while at the same time continuing to track down her friend's murderer feels very authentic. Krich's portrait of the Orthodox Jewish community is lovingly and authentically rendered, and those unfamiliar with but interested in this community will find the book a fascinating and reliable guide into a very different world. KUDOS!

Rating:
Summary: You don't have to be religious to love this sleuth!
Review: From the tantalizing beginning to the most satisfying ending, Rochelle Krich once again keeps the reader on the edge of her seat. As GRAVE ENDINGS opens, we find the engaging Molly Blume preparing for what should be the happiest day of her life, her wedding to the "hunk" Zack. Just at this time, circumstances arise to make her confront head-on the facts concerning the murder years earlier of her closest friend, Aggie. The constant juxtaposition of happiness and pain, religious and secular thought, humor and hair-raising drama help to make GRAVE ENDINGS a most satisfying and thought-provoking mystery. You will be anxiously awaiting the next installment of this captivating series. Well done!



Rating:
Summary: Rochelle Krich succeeds again
Review: Grave Endings has Molly Blume, crime reporter, preparing for her wedding to Zach, but something keeps interfering. New evidence has come to light six years after the murder of Molly's friend Aggie. Molly's family wants her to concentrate on the wedding; to forget the past; to let everything alone. Molly just isn't the kind of person to ignore the whisperings of something still wrong.
I don't want to go into detail and spoil the story. I always enjoy reading about Molly, her friends and family. The bits of Orthodox Judaism that are interspersed throughout the novels are informative without overwhelming the story. Instead they accent & flavor it.
Those of you who've been reading about Madonna & others' new found interest in the Kaballah may be interested in the Kaballistic thread in this book.
Happy reading!




Rating:
Summary: Our modern day Raymond Chandler
Review: I agree with all the glowing things the other reviewers have written about Grave Endings. Krich hooked me in the first chapter and had me staying up way past my bedtime to finish this book. Her details about Los Angeles and Orthodox Jewish tradition are fascinating to read. This is a very well written, moving book. I loved it! Highly recommend.

Rating:
Summary: Intricately plotted novel that transcends the mystery genre
Review: I don't think that I can state it any more succinctly: don't miss Rochelle Krich, particularly her Molly Blume series. GRAVE ENDINGS, Krich's latest novel, is the third of the Blume books, and one that begins with the unresolved question of who murdered Aggie Lasher, Blume's best friend. Lasher's stabbing death has been unsolved for six years, and at the beginning of GRAVE ENDINGS it appears that the LAPD, Lasher's family, and Blume may finally have the answer to the question of who so abruptly ended Lasher's life. But naturally things are not quite so simple.

GRAVE ENDINGS commences with Blume being notified of the apparent death by drug overdose of Randy Creeley. Death by O.D. is not unusual in Los Angeles, and Creeley apparently had been dealing with his addiction for years with only mixed success. What is noteworthy about Creeley's demise, however, is that at the time of his death he had in his possession a locket that was a present from Blume to Lasher, a special memento that Blume had obtained at Rachel's Tomb in Israel. It appears that the unsolved homicide is now a closed case. Ordinarily this would be considered welcome news, given that it comes on the eve of Blume's marriage to Zack, an orthodox Rabbi and her one-time high school sweetheart. Blume, however, is troubled by a number of aspects to the matter, not the least of which is how Creeley came to murder Lasher and why he kept the locket.

As Blume begins to investigate Creeley's life, she is shocked to discover that Creeley had worked with Lasher at Rachel's Tent, a shelter for women in abusive relationships, and that Creeley and Lasher might have been romantically involved. The latter is particularly upsetting to Blume, given that she and Lasher were best friends who shared everything. But Lasher had never mentioned Creeley to Blume. As Blume begins to investigate Creeley's past more closely, she begins to encounter resistance on all sides and finds that her inquiries are placing her in danger, even though Creeley, who supposedly murdered Lasher, is dead.

Krich once again demonstrates that she is a master at presenting an intricately plotted mystery against the background of the Los Angeles orthodox Jewish community and culture. No matter what the degree of your familiarity may be with Jewish customs and practices, you cannot walk away from this book without learning something new. Krich's presentation adds to, rather than detracts from, her narrative. Her knowledge of Los Angeles, and her ability to utilize it as a plot element, is reminiscent of Michael Connelly's novels. GRAVE ENDINGS should ultimately find an audience beyond the boundaries of those who troll the mystery aisles.

--- Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub

Rating:
Summary: Seeking closure in a friend's death.
Review: Molly Blume is a true crime writer who is about to get married to the love of her life, Rabbi Zack Abrams. Instead of concentrating on the last minute wedding details, however, Molly is preoccupied with an old crime. Her best friend, Aggie Lasher, was brutally murdered six years earlier. Recently, the police found the dead body of an ex-con named Randy Creeley, who apparently died of a drug overdose. The authorities have reason to believe that Randy killed Aggie, and they are ready to close the case.

However, after looking into the particulars of Randy's life and his relationship to Aggie, Molly has many unanswered questions. She decides to investigate Aggie's death herself, and she interviews friends, relatives, and others who knew both Aggie and Randy. Molly Blume is a bright and tenacious reporter with good instincts, and she is indefatigable in her search for the truth. She becomes a thorn in the side of Andrew Connors, one of the detectives working the case. Her investigation leads her down a winding road, and she makes some shocking discoveries that shed new light on the case.

Molly is a spunky and likeable heroine who places her own life on the line to learn the identity of Aggie's murderer. The intricate plot is engrossing and filled with many unexpected twists and turns, and the author never resorts to offensive language or gratuitous violence to generate artificial excitement. "Grave Endings" is a workmanlike and entertaining mystery that will please Krich's many fans.

Rating:
Summary: fine amateur sleuth
Review: Molly Blume writes true crime books and works as a free lance journalist. Six years ago someone murdered her best friend Aggie; Molly mourned her loss, but hounded police even when they filed the homicide as a cold case. Sixteen days before her wedding to Zach, Detective Andy Connors asks her to identify a locket that he thinks belonged to Aggie. Molly confirms that it was Aggie's locket because of the red thread inside and a personalized inscription in Hebrew outside.

The jewelry was found in the apartment of Randy Creely, whom police believe died from an overdose and probably killed Aggie. Molly has doubts as she ponders why he kept the locket, sent letters asking people he abused to forgive him, and regularly attended Narcotics Anonymous. Randy's sister is contacted by a person who insists her brother was to send him a package that never came. He trashes her apartment and warns her that if she tells anyone, he will insure that is the last thing she ever does. Molly becomes convinced that Randy never killed anyone and was murdered. If she tracks down the thug who harassed Randy's sister she feels she can learn the truth.

The added fun of this fine amateur sleuth tale is Molly conducting an investigation while also preparing for her Orthodox Jewish wedding ceremony. The mystery is a puzzler because Randy was not a nice person (understated) and is easy to see him as a killer just like the police do; Molly digs beyond the obvious seeking the truth. Between the insight into her religious beliefs and her inquiries, readers will send accolades to author Rochelle Krich for a fine tale.

Harriet Klausner


Rating:
Summary: Mazel tov, Molly! You're a Mitzvah!
Review: Tough and tenacious Molly Blume's nose for nuances of attitude and behavior is largely responsible for her success as a free-lance journalist cum true-crime author. Sticking that nose where it doesn't belong has led her into danger as well as successful sleuthing in the past, usually because something about those previous cases had piqued her curiosity and made her unwilling to settle intellectually for what seemed obvious to everyone else. "Grave Endings" involves a totally different situation. Young wanna-be actor Randy Creeley's death from a drug overdose in his shabby apartment meant just one thing to Molly's friend LAPD Detective Andy Connors: a locket once worn by a dead woman has been found in his possession. Ergo! He could now write 'case closed' to the unsolved, six-year-old stabbing death of Abby Lasher...Abby who was Molly Blume's best friend and the recipient of Molly's gift of the locket with its protective red thread enclosure. It seems like a simple and obvious matter of identification and conclusion to Andy, but Molly has spent those years haunted by what-ifs? and regrets, mourning the death of her friend and agonizing over her own guilt in not being there for her when she might have helped to prevent it. Not just her mind, but her emotions reject this quick closure to her friend's brutal ending, and now that she finally has a starting point for an investigation of her own, nothing...not police indifference, her family's concern, nor her pending wedding to her beloved Zack...will prevent her from pursuing it. Driven by her insatiable need to know more, Molly sorts through the human wreckage that dissolute, charismatic Randy has left behind. The deeper she digs, the more she becomes convinced that his death is not an isolated accident, but a conscious and deliberate ending to a pattern of cover-up and complicity in old abuses and deaths that began many years before. Once the pieces start falling into place, Molly unearths one damning piece of evidence which enables her to act swiftly and daringly to save an innocent woman's life and ensure that justice will be served so the LAPD can at last enter "case solved" into both Abby and Randy's files.

I think that the Molly Blume novels are some of the freshest and most exciting additions to the Female Sleuth component of the suspense genre that I've encountered in the past several years. Basically, if Rochelle Krich writes it, I want to read it, but her Molly books please me most. Why? Because I love the character! Molly's warm, she's caring...she's smart and savvy...yet she's so intensely and believably her own person. Moreover, I'm always delighted by their fast-pacing, intricate plotting and intriguing premises (the fascinating tie-in here to those Kabalistic-inspired red threads, ie.) However, lagniappe for me is not just Molly herself, but Molly's world. Perhaps more than is true of either of Ms. Krich's two previous books in this outstanding series, "Grave Endings" gives me entre and welcome to the world of Orthodox Judaism, and I genuinely value and appreciate the privilege of sharing it with Molly, Zack and their families.