Promise Not to Tell

Way back in the lazy days of summer, Booker Babes met on August 10th, at Kim's to discuss Promise Not to Tell by Jennifer Mcmahon.

Part mystery-thriller and part ghost story, McMahon's well-paced debut alternates smoothly between past and present. In the fall of 2002, 41-year-old Kate Cypher, a divorced Seattle school nurse, returns to New Hope, the decaying Vermont hippie commune where she grew up, to visit her elderly mother, Jean, who's suffering from Alzheimer's. Kate has avoided New Hope since the grizzly, unsolved murder of her fifth-grade friend, Del Griswold, 31 years earlier. Kate fears she betrayed Del, a free-spirited farm girl. Did her betrayal cause Del's death? Who killed Del? Another local girl is murdered in a similar manner at the time of Kate's return. Could the killer be loose again? Meanwhile, Jean appears to be possessed with Del's spirit and may have the answers to these questions. As Kate investigates,

she learns stunning truths about many events and people from her youth. McMahon does a particularly good job of portraying the cruelty of school children. (from Publisher's Weekly)

This story lead to the discussion of several topics including:bullying, child abuse, betrayal, and even a supernatural element. Customers on Amazon gave this book and average of 4 1/2 stars out of 5. This was Jennifer's first novel, so I think she should be happy with that, although many of the reviews by professional reviewers gave it poor reviews.

As often is the case, food was a highlight. Everyone brought

something to share.

We even had a beautiful bouquet of fresh flowers provided by Karen.

Kim shared the baby quilts she had made in a

nticipation of the arrival of her newest grandchild.

Beth was looking at Susie---always good for a laugh!

Nancy poses pretty for the picture while Karen is still trying to prove a point.

As usual, Susie just doesn't know what she's talking about!

Jan, the "techie guru" has the latest in note-taking tools!

As usual we strayed off the topic a time or two, but all in all we had a great discussion!

Promise Not to Tell was the perfect title for book club! We have the motto, "What Happens at Book Club, Stays at Book Club". So, we do "Promise Not to Tell"!