A Family of Strangers

By: Emilie Richards

Narrated by: Vanessa Johansson

Length: 13 hrs and 12 mins

Publisher's summary

Could a lifetime of memories...be a lifetime of lies?

All her life Ryan Gracey watched her perfect older sister from afar. Knowing she could never top Wendy’s achievements, she didn’t even try. Instead Ryan forged her own path while her family barely seemed to notice.

Now Wendy shares two little girls with her perfect husband while Ryan mourns the man she lost after a nearly fatal mistake in judgment. The sisters’ choices have taken them in different directions, which is why Ryan is stunned when Wendy calls, begging for her help. There’s been a murder - and Wendy believes she’ll be wrongfully accused.

While Wendy lies low, Ryan moves back to their hometown to care for the nieces she hardly knows. The sleuthing skills she’s refined as a true-crime podcaster quickly rise to the surface as she digs for answers with the help of an unexpected ally. Yet the trail of clues Wendy’s left behind lead to nothing but questions. Blood may be thicker than water, but what does Ryan owe a sister who, with every revelation, becomes more and more a stranger?

Is Wendy, who always seemed so perfect, just a perfect liar - or worse?

©2019 Emelie Richards (P)2019 Harlequin Enterprises, Limited

Family of strangers

Loved this book and the unexpected twists that occurred. Families can definitely become messy at times.

it's was good just not exceptional

I enjoyed it. it was easy to follow along with and listen to. But also pretty predictable. There was one or two surprises. I'd recommend it for sure.

Fantastic

My first read by this author and loved all of it! Exceptional story line. Very unexpected and created story for sure!

Wonderful

Throughly enjoyed. Listened as a reread and the narration enhanced the story just as it should. Well written story, held me all way through.

Great

Great plot with a twist! Slow at first but got really good. I wasn’t too fond of the reader in the begging as she sounded loud like a reporter but it grew on me later.

little bit of love, crime, & mysterious family

Really good story, the narrator did a really good job. I already love crime podcast for the fact that she was a podcaster made it more interesting.

Fun story with a sense of humor.

Very entertaining and well performed! At first I was expecting a more serious story, but it has an Evanavichesque quality minus the over the top crazy characters! I very much enjoyed the book!

Kept me wanting to listen to have the story unfold.

I liked the characters, very well developed story line. I enjoyed the personality’s and learning what made them the way they turned out being who they were.

Ryan

Extremely good reading, I would recommend it to anyone. The twist and turns were enjoyable.

Not Bad

It wasn’t life changing, but it was an enjoyable listen. As far as this genre of books goes, this one was pretty good. There was no sudden, “lucky” finding at the end that brought the whole thing together, all the pieces were well laid out throughout the story, and it progressed well. It may have been slightly slow in a couple of places, but nothing so horrible or long-lasting that I thought about quitting in the middle. It was like a mystery in that I wanted to solve the riddle, but also not really a mystery. It didn’t end with some unbelievable dramatic fight scene, yet it wasn’t necessarily anticlimactic either. I never had to suspend my disbelief too far, nor was it a typical everyday story of things that most people experience.

There were a couple tiny things that bugged me, the passage of time as far as how much the main character seemed to do in the few weeks between Thanksgiving and Christmas, and the idea of a 6 & 8 year old walking a German Shepherd alone in one scene. I’m not a book critic, so have no reason to give this less than 5 stars, it was a well written story, and the performance was good. The narrator’s voice wasn’t my favorite, but that’s just personal preference, and it definitely didn’t grate my nerves as some can.