The Edge of Evil

I have recently read several of J.A. Jance's "Ali Reynolds" series (see Man Overboard and Clawback), so I decided to go back and read the 1st one. Jance is a fine writer and so I don't need to repeat that she creates believable characters, a decent sense of place, and tight story lines. Ali Reynolds is a co-anchor on the evening news (6 and 11 pm) for a TV station in Los Angeles. After her show one evening, the new guy brought in to bolster ratings tells her she is being let go, and inadvertently admits that it's because she is considered too old to appeal to a younger audience. This in spite of the fact that the male newscasters are decades older than Ali's 40+ years. Her husband, Peter, is an executive at the station, and it turns out that he and just about everybody else knew that Ali was going to be fired before she did and said nothing to her. She is determined not to take this obvious case of age discrimination lying down.
When she learns that her best friend from high school, Reenie, is missing and that she has been diagnosed with ALS. Ali decides this is a good time to go back to Sedona, Arizona, where her parents have run the Sugarloaf Cafe for years, and support Ali's family while she also gets her own life sorted out. She hires an attorney to pursue the age discrimination case and her college age son, Chris, decides to drive with her to Sedona while he is between terms at UCLA. Chris also sets up a blog for Ali called "cutlooseblog." Ali is initially surprised and then gratified to find out how many people start following her story of being let go from the TV station. As Ali investigates Reenie's disappearance, she also digs into understanding more about the disease of ALS and that becomes a thread on her blog as well. When Reenie's car and body are discovered over a cliff on a nearby mountainous road, many believe she committed suicide rather than face the slow and painful death of ALS. Ali is convinced her friend would never leave her children before she had to and determines to find out more about Reenie's last hours. In the meantime, she discovers her husband has been having affairs and now Ali's decided to end the loveless relationship. Her blog brings her to the attention of some abused women and then, unfortunately, to the attention of their abusers, who threaten Ali with physical harm. There is a lot more going on, but just go read the book and get the whole intriguing story for yourself. Publishers Weekly was not particularly impressed with the book and called it "predictable" but I still liked it.

A Simple Favor

This debut novel by Darcey Bell opens with an aside from one of the 3 main characters. "My mother used to say: Everyone has secrets. That's why you can never really know anyone else. Or trust anyone. It's why you can never know yourself. Sometimes we even keep secrets from ourselves. Growing up, I thought that was good advice...Later I discovered that Mom was speaking from personal experience. And I wonder if she was not just preparing me but programming me for secrecy and mistrust. Did she sense that I would grow up to have darker and more shameful secrets than anyone else's? Secrets I mostly manage to keep--even from myself?"
Stephanie, widowed for 2 years and living with her young son Miles, finds herself feeling lonely and so begins writing a blog for "Moms." What goes into the blog is a slightly altered version of the real Stepanie's life; her blog offers emotional honesty, unequivocal support for the challenges of being a mother, and a mostly sunny take on the world. When she is befriended by glamorous neighbor and mother of her son's best friend, she is thrilled at having found a kindred spirit--she thinks. Emily works as a publicist for a fashion designer in Manhattan, and is married to a handsome British financier on Wall Street. Due to their busy lives, Stephanie occasionally picks up their son, Nicky, and keeps him at her home until Emily or Sean can pick him up. On one particular occasion, when Sean is abroad on a business trip, Emily fails to show up. Stephanie thinks she must have misunderstood, but Emily is not answering her phone. After a couple of days, Stephanie is panicking and gets in touch with Sean, who doesn't initially seem too worried;  eventually, however, she and Sean go to the police, who also are not too worried. People not infrequently walk away from their families, after all. However, several weeks later, a body is discovered in a lake near Emily's old family cabin in Michigan, wearing Emily's ring, and matching Emily's DNA. It seems clear that Emily is dead. As Emily mourns her best friend, Sean mourns his wife, and Nicky struggles with the loss of his mother, the families become entangled. And then Nicky comes home from school one day, claiming to have seen his mother.
Apparently Stephanie did not take fully to heart her mother's advice and she continues to trust even after she learns of betrayal. She will do anything to get her best friend back, including betraying others in turn. You just know this is not going to end well.
A favorable review from Library Journal, and not so favorable reviews (which I share) from Publishers' Weekly and Kirkus.