S.D. O'Donnell

Deadly Memories by S. D. O'Donnell is recommended.
When his elderly neighbor Mrs. Blackstone calls him to help, retired detective Saul Becker finds himself thrust into the life of a beautiful woman who is found in a catatonic state on Saul's property. The police and doctors call her Jayne Doe. Because Saul managed to get her to say a few words after she was found, he's persuaded to visit her daily in the hospital until she comes out of her self-induced catatonic state. But Jayne is still suffering from amnesia and has no clue about her past.

Saul is very aware of his past, and he is trying to steer clear of any entanglements in his current life when Jayne shows up. He has had plenty of danger in his past and reason's to keep his life simple and quiet. The arrival of Jayne changes all of that and soon Saul finds himself working with her, trying to untangle the answers found in her mysterious past. At the same time there are odd things going on around Saul that makes him wonder if someone is stalking Jayne. Maybe she has a reason to hide too.

Deadly Memories did manage to keep me engaged and entertained. It is well written and proved to be a quick and easy read with a clear, linear plot. O'Donnell keeps the action moving along with just a few slowdowns here and there along the way. Don't expect any startling plot twists in this solid debut mystery with hints of a psychological thriller.

There are a few places that ask you to take some leaps of faith to accept the actions of the characters. For example Becker has had no contact with anyone on the police force, including his ex-partner, until Jayne shows up and then he's down there talking to them again - and they are all hail-and-hearty good with his actions. Even if he was a legend on the force there would be some animosity. Additionally, there seemed to be no rhyme or reason for this to turn into a love story.

Disclosure: My Kindle edition was courtesy of WindStorm Books for review purposes… (meer)

The story starts out with a terrified young woman hiding in a hollow tree, she has amnesia and is catatonic, no one knows a thing about her.
Mrs. Blackstone is ex-cop Saul's neighbor and she is the one who finds the woman on Saul's property and begs his help with "Jayne Doe". He gets her to the hospital, visits her every day until she slowly comes out of it but, still no recollection of who she is. Saul and "Jayne" become close and he decides to help her find out the mystery of her life and why someone is after her and what in the world was so frightening to send her into a catatonic state .
This is a great mystery with some surprising twists and it's also a love story. I wasn't sure what I would find at the end of this story and I was pleasantly surprised.… (meer)