Black Valley

April 6, 2015
A plucky heroine is the best part of this sequel to The House on the Cliff from Williams, who died in 2014. Welsh psychotherapist Jessica Mayhew is intrigued by a new client, artist Elinor Powell, who suffers from claustrophobia and feelings of guilt after finding the body of her mother, a murder victim. As Jessica becomes embroiled in Elinor’s world, she connects with Jacob Dresler, an art critic, with whom she begins a passionate affair. When Jessica and Jacob go away for a romantic weekend to an area of the Welsh countryside where Elinor said she would be camping, someone dies. Jessica tries to figure out what’s going on, but Jacob dismisses her theories. Jessica’s choice to investigate solo leads to her making some poor, credibility-straining decisions. Williams’s breezy style and her well-rendered details of rural Wales compensate for the mystery’s overall lack of suspense. With Williams gone, this is presumably the last in the series. Agent: Peter Straus, Rogers, Coleridge & White (U.K.).

April 15, 2015
The psychotherapist heroine of The House on the Cliff (2014) entangles herself in the dangerous world of fine arts. Elinor Powell has been claustrophobic and unable to paint ever since she came into her art studio in Cardiff and found her mother's body. The police think Mrs. Powell was murdered when she surprised someone stealing a valuable family painting. In a session with therapist Jessica Mayhew, Elinor bemoans the scrutiny that she, her twin sister, and her sister's husband, Blake, are getting from the police, although Elinor is suspicious and fearful of Blake too. Jess is sympathetic toward the needy, childlike Elinor-and intrigued by the art scene her new client introduces her to. At a party in honor of the new (but absent) art sensation Hefin Morris, Jess meets Jacob Dresler, a London art critic who gives a lecture about the reclusive Morris. Jacob shows such interest in Jess that he helps her forget she's a middle-aged mother of two and that her estranged husband is involved with a younger woman. After a passionate night with Jacob, Jess agrees to go away for a weekend with him at an inn in Cwm Du, the Black Valley, which happens to be in the same area where Elinor has camped by herself. But the romantic getaway at the inn built around a ruined 12th-century castle becomes a nightmare when Elinor and Blake converge on the inn and Blake is found dead at the foot of the tower. Jess had misgivings about him, but now she can't help wondering about the other people she's recently become close to. And her theory about the mysterious Morris may be difficult to prove-especially if the next death is hers. For someone trained in reading subtle cues, Jess seems oblivious to the warning signs all around her. But her sleuthing does get her out of her office and into a complex puzzle that keeps you reading in spite of the plot contrivances.

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May 15, 2015
Welsh psychotherapist Jessica Mayhew leads a very complicated life. She is separated from her husband, and her teenage daughters are no longer as close to, or dependent on, her as they once were. Her one constant is her therapy practice, and a new patient, artist Elinor Powell, provides an interesting challenge. Elinor blames herself for her mother's murder and the theft of a valuable painting from her studio. She feels that her claustrophobia and her inability to paint are linked to these crimes. She also has some issues bordering on paranoia with her twin sister, Isobel, and her brother-in-law, Blake, an unscrupulous art dealer. When Jessica actually meets this dysfunctional family at a preview of works by Blake's newest discovery, she begins to think that Elinor may be right. She finds herself getting more involved than a therapist should, with dire consequences. Readers who enjoy atmospheric, psychological thrillers with well-developed characters will find this one to their liking.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2015, American Library Association.)