This was a really good Louis Kincaid mystery. This book had Louis traveling back to Michigan to visit his foster parents, Phillip and Frances. Phillips asked Louis to help him locate the remains of his first love, Claudia who had died in an "insane asylum" in 1972. The institution was closing and her coffin was found filled with rocks. As Louis begins to investigate he discovers old family secrets, horrible abuses at the asylum . He also has to deal with an over zealous newspaper reporter that believes a serial killer that died in the asylum is still alive, since two more recent bodies have turned up with similar MO. Louis also has to deal with his own demons from his childhood and his years growing up with Phillip and Frances. The secrets Phillip has kept from his wife for over 30 years threatens to destroy their relationship. I used to read a lot of P. J. Parrish, but over the years I have fallen behind on this series. I found this one stuck way up on the top shelf of my bookcase and remembered how good these were. This one was pretty lurid, and really spooky at times when they were walking around an old abandoned insane asylum and prowling through tunnels underneath the building. The treatments of days gone by are revisited here and this makes for some difficult reading. So, this one is not for the squemish. There a satifactory ending with some of the characters, but sort of leaves you hanging with others. I would have liked to feel that Phillip got the closure he needed and then was able to do the right thing by Frances, if she was able to accept things. Those issues may have been spoken of in later novels, and I'm just not aware. This book was published in 2006 and there have been several released since then I think. This may not have been my all time favorite P. J. Parrish/ Kincaid mystery, but it satified my craving for a good mystery. I think I'll try to catch up with P. J. Parrish.
Once again I wish we had a 10 star system and would rate this as a 7...but since 3.5 was not an option I went with 3 rather than 4, although either would be justifiable IMHO!I accidently broke one of my cardinal rules about never reading a book in the middle of a series without having read its predecesors. I read a short story by Parrish (actually 2 sisters, as some of you may already know), and enjoyed. In talking to my sister about it she said she had this book on her shelf that she had not read and I could have it if I wanted it....YEAH, FREE BOOKS!!!!! I was about 5 chapters in before I realized it was a part of a series, but since I was already connected I plowed ahead.I might rate this higher had i read the series from the outset, a step I plan on rectifying shortly. As a stand alone book I felt that it started kind of slow, and had a sense that there were peices I was not connecting ...when I discovered it was part of a series it clicked for me as to why. I also felt that it started kind of slow, again on the basis of a stand alone book. I can see now how it probably builds upon Kincaid off of the previous works. I would say the first half of the book was decent with some brilliant spots where I was literally on the edge of my seat. The second half of the book was totally enthralling, and had me jumping back and forth about where it was going. I had a preconcieved idea of shutter Island and the house on haunted hill pictured in my mind...While the crime/mystery wraps up cleanly, I would like to have seen a little more finality in some of the personal affairs in Kincaid and his circle..but I guess that is why they call it a series!I would recommend this book to any fans of the crime/suspense seriel killer type novels on the market. I am not ready to rate it alongside of Bosch, Boldt, Rhymes or Davenport...but certainly feel that it rivals the Cross or Deleware type character series.
What do You think about An Unquiet Grave (2006)?
Maybe previous books in this series are better or maybe I am just burnt out on mysteries. I picked this up at work and read it on breaks. The premise seemed promising: PI and former cop Louis Kinkaid returns to his foster family in Michigan to help his foster father find out what happened to the remains of his first love, who died twenty years after being committed to an insane asylum. The story lurches along from one implausible revelation to the next and so many of the characters seem clichéd: the mentally ill man-child, the cold, clinical psychiatrist, the police officer who thinks PI’s are a nuisance. Other readers seemed to like it, so it is probably just me.
—Ruthiella
When a cemetary is being relocated, Louis Kincaid gets roped into a locating a Claudia's body which wasn't in her casket. His foster father dated this girl and lost touch when she was committed to an asylum back in 1951. During his investigation, Louis discovers the many atrocities committed in the name of mental health as well as a lead or two on Claudia. Other more sinister mysteries come to light and Kincaid nearly gets killed in the discovery process.This is one of the better mystery novels I've read recently. Totally convoluted plotlines with lots of intersecting characters and deadly secrets. Louis Kincaid is one determined private eye. He doesn't give in, even when the chips are stacked against him.
—Barbara ★
