Marilyn's Mystery Reads

Dahlia “Doll” Devine is a singer of country songs at McPhee’s Tavern, and her own life could be a perfect country song by itself.  An unknown father, abandoned by her mother when she was a young child, now deserted by her boyfriend Joey who took their rent money with him–it’s an absolute tsunami of bad things that have happened to Doll.

Still, dressed in spangles and cowgirl boots, she’s the leader of a very popular all-female quartet that performs weekly at the Tavern, and all the members are hoping for that big break.

One night, just before the group is set to go on stage, Doll enters her bedroom and finds a woman sitting on her bed.  Even though it’s been 20 years since Doll has seen her, there’s no doubt in her mind that it’s her mother, Marisa.

Doll spent most of her childhood going from one foster home to another, some pleasant and some definitely not.  Then Alex McPhee, owner of the Tavern, took her in, and now she has a room there, a place to perform, and a job behind the bar when things are extra busy.  I don’t need you, she tells Marissa, I’ve got everything I want.

That night a booking agent is in the bar.  He tells Doll he’s impressed by her singing but that the quartet needs original songs, not covers, if they want to make it big.  He mentions signing them, which would be a significant step in their careers, and gives Doll the names of people he represents, an impressive list.  Although having an agent representing them would be a significant step up, she is wary and a bit afraid of starting to write her own songs, so she doesn’t share the news about the agent’s visit with the other women in the group until after their performance.

The following morning a young woman appears outside McPhee’s.  She’s shivering from the cold, so Doll feels forced to invite her inside to warm up.  When the woman tells her that she’s looking for her mother, that she knows she was there the previous night, Doll figures it out–Marisa is this woman’s mother also, thus making them sisters or perhaps half-sisters.  Neither one is happy to find out about their relationship.

And then Doll finds Joey’s body outside the Tavern.

Wreck Your Heart is a beautifully told story about betrayal, forgiveness, and friendship in an unusual setting.  We can see how her mother’s desertion colored her daughter’s life and how her reentry changed Doll’s outlook on life and love.  Doll is a fabulous character, and readers will sympathize with her when things go wrong and cheer when it all gets straightened out.

Lori Rader-Day is the author of numerous mystery, crime, and suspense novels. She has won three Anthony Awards, a Simon & Schuster Mary Higgins Clark Award, and an Agatha Award for Best Historical Novel.  You can read more about Lori Rader-Day at this website.

Check out the complete Marilyn’s Mystery Reads at her website.  In addition to book review posts, there are sections featuring Golden Oldies, Past Masters and Mistresses, and an About Marilyn column that features her opinions about everything to do with mystery novels.