Title: Lie Still
Author: Julia Heaberlin
Narrator: Rebecca Gibel
Format: 10 cd's, 12 hours, 3 minutes
Published: Blackstone Audio, 2013
Genre: mystery, thriller
Obtained: library
Summary: Emily Page and her husband, Mike, move from Manhattan, New York, to Clairmont, Texas. Mike will be the new police chief in this small, wealthy, close-knit community. Emily begins to receive mysterious mail, calls, and messages that are sometimes threatening and horrifying. Caroline, the "leader" of the local women, is found dead. Is what is happening to Emily being done by the same person who murdered Caroline? Are the threats Emily is getting related to something from her past or present?
Thoughts: There was so much going on in this book that it kept me engaged and interested throughout. It was also entertaining, especially the humor and the colorful characters. Each character had their own interesting story, and was unique and well developed. Most of the characters were hard to connect with, but their personalities were so amusing, this didn't seem to matter so much. All of the characters had secrets and many of them had horrific things happen in their past. There were so many characters with these terrible pasts that it made the story quite unbelievable at times, but it also made for an excellent mystery and it kept me reading.
The weakness of this book was that it was full of disparity. For example, at times it was very serious and at others it really had some excellent humor. Sometimes this made a nice balance, but at other times it just didn't work. Also, sometimes the story seemed quite realistic, but then other times quite far-fetched. This made for an odd mix.
The narrator had a distinct voice for each character, so I always knew who was talking. She also read at a good pace, was easy to follow, and kept me engaged.
So, if you like an entertaining story with a lot going on, lots of secrets, a good mystery, and colorful characters, you'll love this book. If you are looking for a believable story where you connect with the characters, this isn't the one for you. I believe this novel would make for a great book club discussion.
Tea: Li Shan
Obtained: purchased
Li Shan tea is an oolong tea grown in Taiwan. This sample came from the Yezi Tea Company. According to the Yezi Tea website, this tea is harvested at 6,600 - 7,800 feet above sea level. Therefore, the harvest is limited due to the small amount of agricultural land at this high altitude.
The sample arrived in a lined bag which kept the leaves fresh. The bag was easy to open. The leaves had an earthy scent. They were gray and green clumps of all sizes. They looked like they had been wet when collected, crumpled up and dried like that.
I put three teaspoons of leaves in my tea pot and poured nine ounces of hot water over the leaves. I let this brew for forty five seconds. The liquid was a pale yellow. The scent was of sweet flowers with a background of the earthy scent. This was very different from just the scent of the leaves.
The taste of the tea was similar to the scent. It was a mix of sweet flowers and an earthy flavor. The tea was light, smooth, and refreshing, but also relaxed me. This tea was delightful!
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