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Rating: 
Summary: dissapointing at best.....
Review: I didn't like this book. I read it quickly and never stopped for some reason, perhaps because I thought it would surely get better, but it never did. It's about a woman losing her friend to a violent crime. The killer is never found. The surviving friend can't cope with the loss of her friend well and has an affair with a man who comes to the aid of the victims family during their crisis. IE he's a police liason who comes to help the victims family cope, he's there to help the main characters dead friends husband. However the main protaganist ends up sleeping with him and it's all sort of hazy as to why. The main character is breastfeeding her child and there are so many (...) references to her doing this that it's borderline insane. I swear every other chapter was "my heavy breasts" "late to feed the child" blah blah blah!!! This book had a great plot in theory but bad production when it came time to capture it all. Later in the story the main protagonist loses her own daughter to an apparent drowning. Her 9 yr old daughter believes she can see the original murder victim and drowns in the beach while trying to talk to the dead victim. This happens while her Mommy is off sleeping with the cop liason dude. But her husband claims he doesn't want to know about it and they eventually move away from the beachy town where all this dead and carnage occurs and she still thinks fondly of the cop liason guy. This is all to unrealistic it makes me gag. The whole novel ends where she tells "us" the reader that they've moved and moved on with life and she still thinks about the way the conversation would go if she were to ever talk to the cop liason guy again. Pathetic!!! The most alarming part of this story is the depiction of the violence of the crime against the murder victim. The murderer cuts out her heart and it's never found again or maybe it is but the writer is never clear on this. Only states that later on a bag is found containing an unidentified mass of bloody dried up ..mass. She calls it a mass so we're never clear on that issue. This book bites. Don't waste your time. Great cover, greater promise. Big letdown. Shame on you Julie Myerson..shame shame... Such a great plot line done so poorly and unrealistically. Thank god I bought it used for less than $5.
Rating:
Summary: dissapointing at best.....
Review: I didn't like this book. I read it quickly and never stopped for some reason, perhaps because I thought it would surely get better, but it never did. It's about a woman losing her friend to a violent crime. The killer is never found. The surviving friend can't cope with the loss of her friend well and has an affair with a man who comes to the aid of the victims family during their crisis. IE he's a police liason who comes to help the victims family cope, he's there to help the main characters dead friends husband. However the main protaganist ends up sleeping with him and it's all sort of hazy as to why. The main character is breastfeeding her child and there are so many (...) references to her doing this that it's borderline insane. I swear every other chapter was "my heavy breasts" "late to feed the child" blah blah blah!!! This book had a great plot in theory but bad production when it came time to capture it all. Later in the story the main protagonist loses her own daughter to an apparent drowning. Her 9 yr old daughter believes she can see the original murder victim and drowns in the beach while trying to talk to the dead victim. This happens while her Mommy is off sleeping with the cop liason dude. But her husband claims he doesn't want to know about it and they eventually move away from the beachy town where all this dead and carnage occurs and she still thinks fondly of the cop liason guy. This is all to unrealistic it makes me gag. The whole novel ends where she tells "us" the reader that they've moved and moved on with life and she still thinks about the way the conversation would go if she were to ever talk to the cop liason guy again. Pathetic!!! The most alarming part of this story is the depiction of the violence of the crime against the murder victim. The murderer cuts out her heart and it's never found again or maybe it is but the writer is never clear on this. Only states that later on a bag is found containing an unidentified mass of bloody dried up ..mass. She calls it a mass so we're never clear on that issue. This book bites. Don't waste your time. Great cover, greater promise. Big letdown. Shame on you Julie Myerson..shame shame... Such a great plot line done so poorly and unrealistically. Thank god I bought it used for less than $5.
Rating: 
Summary: You can't take life for granted
Review: Isn't it always in the midst of everyday routine that fate steps in and changes everything? The obscure glitch suddenly becomes more sinister: someone is late or doesn't show up at the usual time. There is no explanation, but within hours, there is a phone call that changes a family forever, the façade of safety abruptly shattered. At the best of times, we like to think we live as if every moment matters, but the truth is that we forget, caught up in the mundane tasks that fill the hours of the day. For two English couples living near the ocean with their children, their days are predictable, with young children to Shepard from one place to another, play dates and sports events. Brutality strikes a blow to this comfortable domesticity for one couple, when Lennie, wife of Alex, fails to return home one late evening after a meeting. When Alex phones Tess and Mick, their best friends, they begin the long descent into acceptance of the truth: that Lennie has been murdered, a senseless murder with no apparent suspect or motive. In addition, the body has been mutilated in a particularly gruesome manner. Tess becomes the central figure in the drama, as Lennie's best friend and close to Alex as well. A grief counselor is assigned to Lennie's family and, because of his proximity to the unfolding personal drama, Lacey is in a position to monitor the emotional storms that are shaking the foundations of both families. Like Alex and Mick, Lacey is drawn to Tess, the mother of four, caring for a new baby, her other children and the only source of comfort for them all. But Tess is questioning her own role in the tragedy, whether she was Lennie's best friend, after all. She is also drawn to Lacey, who is all the more attractive because he isn't part of the emotional intricacies of the last few years. No matter what Tess decides personally, her choice will impact the future of each family. As the protagonists struggle to reassert their daily patterns before Lennie's murder, it is hoped that the imminent burial of the young mother will put to rest the self-doubts and second-guessing of the last few weeks. But fate intrudes once more, another subtle twist provided by the skilled author, plunging both families into yet another trauma before they have properly dealt with the first. In this process, the author exhibits her consummate writing talent. Myerson's style is remarkably uncluttered and the novel is structured in such as way that allows the reader to perch, like the proverbial fly on the wall, watching the story unfold. The character's forceful personalities create the texture of their relationships, for example, between Tess and her husband, Mick, Tess and her daughter, Rose. With minimal, never superfluous description, Myerson's characters define each scene with their actions. The reader is privy to the same sense of immediacy experienced by the protagonists, as vulnerable to the vagaries of fate as anyone in the story. This author virtually enables her reader's participation in the process, understanding Tess' motivation when deciding her future. Luan Gaines/2003.
Rating:
Summary: solid police procedural cozy
Review: Lennie, wife and mother of two, left the PTA meeting to go home late that night. However, she never made it back. Instead, she is found dead in a parking garage, the victim of a vicious mutilation. Lennie's neighbor Tess is mortified with what happened, but hides her feelings to take care of the two kids and help her best friend's husband Alex copes with this tragedy. The police question Lennie's friends including Tess and her boyfriend, but find no clues as to motive and identity of the culprit. Family Liaison Investigator Ted Lacey makes inquiries, but soon after meeting Tess, they begin a secret tryst. However, her daughter Rosa vanishes without a trace leaving behind a hysterical mother and a baffled police force. Though the story line travels at a deliberately slow pace, fans receive an insightful look at an English town on the verge of mass hysteria out of fear that they could be next. Readers who enjoy a leisurely pace will be hooked with the depth and understanding that the murder of a mom following an innocent event and then the disappearance of a young child does to the locals. Action fans need to go to California not England, but anyone who appreciates a slowly simmering police procedural cozy will want to read Julie Myerson's latest tale. Harriet Klausner
Rating:
Summary: solid police procedural cozy
Review: Lennie, wife and mother of two, left the PTA meeting to go home late that night. However, she never made it back. Instead, she is found dead in a parking garage, the victim of a vicious mutilation. Lennie's neighbor Tess is mortified with what happened, but hides her feelings to take care of the two kids and help her best friend's husband Alex copes with this tragedy. The police question Lennie's friends including Tess and her boyfriend, but find no clues as to motive and identity of the culprit. Family Liaison Investigator Ted Lacey makes inquiries, but soon after meeting Tess, they begin a secret tryst. However, her daughter Rosa vanishes without a trace leaving behind a hysterical mother and a baffled police force. Though the story line travels at a deliberately slow pace, fans receive an insightful look at an English town on the verge of mass hysteria out of fear that they could be next. Readers who enjoy a leisurely pace will be hooked with the depth and understanding that the murder of a mom following an innocent event and then the disappearance of a young child does to the locals. Action fans need to go to California not England, but anyone who appreciates a slowly simmering police procedural cozy will want to read Julie Myerson's latest tale. Harriet Klausner
Rating: 
Summary: Excellent Thought-Provoking Novel
Review: Something Might Happen is a tense and absorbing novel. It looks at what happens to the family and friends of a woman called Lennie after she is brutally murdered in a close-knit village in England. The story is told through the eyes of Tess, Lennie's best friend. As the book progresses we uncover a lot about Lennie and her husband Alex, as well as Tess and her husband Mick. Other characters also have a large part to play, notably Tess's four children, the police officers investigating the murder, the family liaison officer and Lennie's father, Bob. At first I was startled with the way that the novel is written in the present tense, which is different from anything that I've read before. It was very effective in making the action seem real and up close and I got used to it quickly. The characters were complex and interesting although they often did things that were not good for themselves - but I guess that's grief for you. The dialogue was faultless and really captured the way that each person was responding to the murder. The descriptions were also great - the ones for Tess's baby Liv really made her come to life in my mind. The tension grew and grew, but I was still not prepared for the ending, which was a real shock. Overall Something Might Happen is a thought-provoking book. It makes you think about the fact that something can easily happen at any moment to fracture our world. It's not a whodunit as such but I think most fans of crime novels would like it - it falls into the psychological category. I'm certain that I shall remember the characters and plot for a long time to come. JoAnne
Rating:
Summary: Excellent Thought-Provoking Novel
Review: Something Might Happen is a tense and absorbing novel. It looks at what happens to the family and friends of a woman called Lennie after she is brutally murdered in a close-knit village in England. The story is told through the eyes of Tess, Lennie's best friend. As the book progresses we uncover a lot about Lennie and her husband Alex, as well as Tess and her husband Mick. Other characters also have a large part to play, notably Tess's four children, the police officers investigating the murder, the family liaison officer and Lennie's father, Bob. At first I was startled with the way that the novel is written in the present tense, which is different from anything that I've read before. It was very effective in making the action seem real and up close and I got used to it quickly. The characters were complex and interesting although they often did things that were not good for themselves - but I guess that's grief for you. The dialogue was faultless and really captured the way that each person was responding to the murder. The descriptions were also great - the ones for Tess's baby Liv really made her come to life in my mind. The tension grew and grew, but I was still not prepared for the ending, which was a real shock. Overall Something Might Happen is a thought-provoking book. It makes you think about the fact that something can easily happen at any moment to fracture our world. It's not a whodunit as such but I think most fans of crime novels would like it - it falls into the psychological category. I'm certain that I shall remember the characters and plot for a long time to come. JoAnne
Rating: 
Summary: One person's perspective of murder in a small town.
Review: Tess and her family chose a life by the sea, in a small Suffolk town. A safe town, a good place to work and to raise your children. As Tess begins to recover from baby number four, a crack is made right down the centre of the cocooned, quaint world in which she lives. Lennie, mother of two, liked by everyone, best friend to Tess and hubby Mick, has been murdered. No clues and no suspects. It's only known that the killer was fast and brutal. Lennie is attacked at a beach side carpark after a local committee meeting, her heart cut from her chest and taken away.
Lennie leaves behind two boys and her husband Alex, an old flame to Tess from her pre-family days. As the whole town is watchful, the character of it changes. Tess begins to query the stability of her own marriage as the blinkers are taken off what might have seemed her happy life. A police liaison is called in to assist the family, and it is this new face who judges Tess not as a wife or a new mother. Tess is pulled between this possible new love with Lacey and the ties that bind her inexplicably to her already fragile family. When two of her children claim to see Lennie watching them from a distance, Tess is pulled back with a jolt to realize who it is that always will suffer the most.
The "Something Might Happen" idea is that Tess cannot overstep the boundaries of her position, in case things will change. The death of her best friend has taken some of the control away and is down this slippery slope upon which Tess begins to slide. There is no direct speech in this novel so you are privy to all and only the thoughts, worries and concerns of Tess. That limits the read somewhat, and lessens the suspenseful element. The character of Tess is not remarkable, yet completely believable as she views the aftermath of a violent event on the lives of her neighbours and loved ones. "Something Might Happen" is a slow moving novel exploring the ripple effect of crime in a small town with no corners of the psyche remaining unexplored.
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