Destroying Angels

I was delighted with "Destroying Angels". I was prepared not to be, mainly (and unfairly) because the book service that sent me the novel usually sends clunkers and I end up wondering how such bad stuff ever gets published. But not this mystery: it is well crafted, with many viable suspects, a truly nasty villain, and a group of characters who seem like real people--they have cancer, bad tempers, passions, secrets: all the personality traits you'd expect to find in real life. They weave a tangled web of jealousy, love, and intrigue in a finely crafted narrative. And to top it off, Gail Lukasik is a good writer, a wordsmith of the highest order. She tells us it took a long time to find a publisher for this novel: hopefully the next one will be released soon. I am eagerly awaiting it!

The Door County setting is beautiful and an interesting contrast to the sinister plot. The local characters are spicy. Good character development makes the reader care about the protagonist and her feelings about breast cancer survival give added depth. A thoroughly enjoyable read. And if you like it as much as I did, you will be happy to know that there's more ahead -- this is the first in a series.

A quiet, steady read with the sublime gentleness of a Door County trail hike through a patch of poisonous mushrooms. Gail Lukasik explores the adventure of breast cancer survival in her appealing protagonist Leigh Girard with authority in a mystery twisting with unpredictable turns of events and poetic writing. Highly Recommended.

Loved this book! It is paced well and engaging. Leigh Girard is tough, but likable. The writing is spell-binding, sparse, taut, and powerful. I guarantee that you'll be up all night trying to finish this one. Keeps you guessing until the end.

After fifteen years of marriage and teaching in Chicago, Leah Gerard leaves behind her spouse, job, and home in Libertyville to relocate to Egg Harbor, Wisconsin following a mastectomy in which her hubby was more concerned with plastic surgery than her health. In Egg Harbor, Leah obtains a job with the Door County Gazette. Editor in Chief Jake Stevens assigns Leah to write a column on recently deceased artisan carpenter Carl Peck, a standard practice of the paper to do an article on the recently deceased. Leah interviews Carl's wife Eva only to learn she is suing Dr. Porter and Bay Hospital for wrongful death and negligence before the widow's daughter Sarah tosses her out. Leah talks with Dr. Porter, who is shocked by the suit as he insists his patient died from a heart attack brought on by a failed liver. Still she keeps digging and soon finds a link to a two decade old murder, making Leah wonder bad liver, bad heart or possible homicide. Though a paid reporter, Leah's lack of investigative experience makes this fine mystery more an amateur sleuth tale as the intrepid journalist learns her trade on the job. The cast is fascinating because of their different reactions to Leah's inquiries into the death of Carl. Gail Lukasik provides an exciting, exhilarating and enjoyable who-done-it that at first only Leah considers a possible murder disguised as a heart attack though the medical examiner and police quickly join her bandwagon. Harriet Klausner