Rosie Thompson is an eighteen-year-old girl with her whole life ahead of her. The Homecoming Dance is just one night away and she can already feel the weight of the crown upon her head. But when she leaves her home that Friday night, it’s for the very last time. When her body is found in a park the next morning, a whole town is turned upside down and a family is torn apart.
Fifteen years later, Olivia still hasn’t moved on from her sister’s murder. Not only does she still see the ghost of her dead sister, she is pursuing a career studying the very monsters that destroyed Rosie and hundreds of other helpless victims. Olivia is desperate to find closure, but a new murder with connections to her past has reopened old wounds.
Nate Tucker is a successful Chicago detective. He also happens to be Olivia’s best friend. Nate has been fascinated by the Thompson case since the first time Olivia mentioned her dead sister to him. When a dead girl shows up in the city under circumstances eerily similar to Rosie’s murder, he is quick to make the connection.
Now, with stale evidence and fifteen-year-old memories to guide him, Nate has the chance to solve the current murder case, as well as the death of the Homecoming Queen that refuses to stop haunting the people she left behind.
Dark and haunting, Ring Around the Rosie is utterly suspenseful and surprising to the end.
Olivia is haunted by her sister’s murder fifteen years ago, when there is another murder of a young woman with several similarities to her sister’s case. The detective assigned to this new case turns out to be her best friend Nate and these two decide to reinvestigate Rosie’s death as part of this new investigation.
My problems with the book started fairly early, first there was the minor irritation of the relationship between Olivia and Nate, I got fed up with the ‘is it a romance or not’. However, the main problem was the investigation, which just felt so amateurish. It didn’t help that this was interrupted by frequent fifteen-year flashbacks. Also I wasn’t sure what Olivia’s role was, except for being a victim, as she didn’t contribute much to the whole enquiry. Finally I got to the end of the book only to find, that if I want to know how Rosie was killed I have to read the next book.
If possible I would have given one and a half stars. I nearly gave the book two stars, but having to buy another book to find out the ending was enough to make me give one star.
The cover and the synopsis lured me into downloading this title. As other reviewers have remarked it's a romance that purports to be a psychological thriller, and to top it all -it's another of the incomplete brigade - buy the next exciting instalment to follow the story. No thank you. Not for me.
I'd have given it 4 stars if the mystery had been resolved, but this is one of those stories that simply doesn't finish in one book. Seriously it is a mystery to me how it hasn't been solved in 15 years as there is a very ready suspect that needs to be investigated in a more thorough fashion than what Nate did. Obviously it's not him, otherwise there would not be a need for another book! This is just a run of the mill creepo story with the requisite hero and damsel in distress. The twist is the sporadic appearance of Rosie, the murdered sister who doesn't know who murdered her, but who still withholds information that could help solve it. (Why you ask? I have no idea...she's already dead so what difference could it make?) And of all the stupid things, Olivia, expecting Nate, throws open her apartment door to the creepo without checking who was at the door, at a time when she is locked down at home to avoid just such a confrontation. Nothing special about this book, except it is a quick read.
I was a massive fan of Cold Case, so this was right up my alley. Stepping back and forth in time, if it's heralded well, doesn't bother me. Sadly, the flashbacks had nothing to identify the era; there were no notes on music, fashion, or attitudes. And, while I realize that this will leave the book timeless, it was a little disappointing. Another frustration - one of the storylines didn't tie up, ending without closure. I realize that this story arc will probably span several novels, but it will take me time to work my way back to this series. (TBR pile you are killing me.)
The writing was engaging and pulled me into the story right away. I liked the main characters though I didn't fall in love with them. Both of the cases had tenuous leads and it seemed to be a fluke that one of them was solved; the mystery aspect was a shade weak. Despite the quibbles, it was a great piece of escapism that I zoomed through in a couple of days.
Packed this in at 46% in disgust at one more stupid error too much......I almost gave up on it last night but thought I'd give it another go today and see how far I got but they kept on coming and the last one I highlighted was a particular howler.....and I couldn't face one more. The story was quite good, although nothing I've not read before as far as I'd got into it but that didn't worry me too much. I liked Olivia and Nate and really enjoyed the inclusion of Rosie as a regular character, too......I think that's what kept my interest more than anything. He suddenly drifted into the first person talking about "my memory" and not "her memory" which was odd, then words were missed from sentences here and there. He writes about 'a killer of convenience' and doesn't elaborate so I've no idea quite what this entails. There were apostrophe errors here and there but some of the spelling is just dreadful. He wrote empathically when he clearly meant emphatically, pouring not poring and my proverbial straw was when we had pallet and not palate !!! That finished it for me, I'm afraid, and I will be avoiding further stories in this series.
This is a wonderful first book of a series. Olivia and Nate have a remarkable relationship as best friends. The plot is excellent and Rosie, the ghost, makes a wonderful twist to this psychological thriller. Great book that I read in one day. I could not put it down. Julian Scott is amazing.
I would have rated this better, if I didn't need to buy the next book to find out what happened to Rosie.
Also, I expected more detective work. They barely touched on Rosie's murder, but what stood out was that the detectives had no idea that she had a serious boyfriend, when at least 3 people close to her knew. Did they not interview anyone??
Anyway, I won't be reading the next book, because if this one didn't have an ending, I can't expect the next one to answer any questions.
Really enjoyed this book! Loved Olivia's dead sister, living with her. That was super cute. Jillian could have made it creepy or awkward, but instead she added humor. I also liked how the H/h had been Best friends for twelve years and how cute their bantering was. There really wasn't anything I didn't like about this book. Except, Jillian doesn't have her books in Kindle Unlimited, so, I can't read the next book and find out who killed Rosie. I read a good two books a day. I can't afford my reading addiction, without Kindle Unlimited. Read Jullian's books, they're totally awesome!! I couldn't put this one down until I finished.
It's a wonder that Olivia is doing as well as she is. Her sister was killed and 15 years later, they still don't know who the killer is. Thank goodness for Nate, her best friend. He helps keep her sane and also drives her crazy with his jokes and other antics. When another young girl is found murdered in the same way that Rosie was, the race is on to find the killer. There were plenty of secrets to uncover in this fast-paced story. Not everybody is a s innocent as they appear and it will take at least another book to sort the facts from the fiction regarding what happened to Rosie.
A well written book with believable characters and intriguing plots. I read it in one afternoon. I prefer each book to tell a complete story not have to keep buying books to put it all together. Would recommend this for anyone who loves a mystery.
A really good fast whodunit with good writing and better than average editing. I know, harping on the editing but it's so nice to read without wanting to fix mistakes! Thanks for the good story from a grateful reader.
I normally don't like "series" books but Olivia Thompson was excellent! Olivia and Nate are best friends and are trying to solve the mystery of her dead sister and the newest murder. They can't solve her sisters murder but solve the newest one and realize they are in love with each other!
Overall a satisfying 1st story of a series. A bit disappointed that one crime remained unsolved and will likely become a back story as the series continues. 3 stars
I really liked Olivia and Nick. Olivia's conversations with Rosie were entertaining. I liked how the romance developed with Nick and the flash backs to give more context to the story.
Though there is a TBC as I call it (To Be Continued). Yeah. A second book, though you could stop at the first one, I suppose. Olivia, the main character, had an older sister who was brutally murdered when they were both teens. 15 years leter, the case hasn't been solved. And now, another almost identical murder has occurred. Her BFF is a detective with the Chicago police force, and he's been trying to help solve the murder...and is on the case of the current murder. As far as Rosie's murder (Rosie being Oivia's big sister who died and whose ghost visits her little sister regularly), they get a few new leads here and there, a few liars, and some assorted creeps on a visit hime, for starters. Then a coed who was taking all of Olivia's psychology of creeps and crooks classes is murdered as well. And Olivia gets a gross gift that is an obvious threat. Also, Olivia's dad turns our to be right about her detective friend. As for the rest, no spoilers here. You have to read to get past the bare bones in my review.
I liked the concept a lot. I did find that the, "will they, won't they" was way too much, and very high school aged behavior. I would have preferred the author draw their growing relationship out over several books, or have already had them together before the book began. The drama in the book detracted from the story too much.
These books need to be on Kindle Unlimted. They are very short, and the cases aren't wrapped up in one book. The author needs to make them more accessible, especially with how unfulfilling the first book was.
I do want to find out what happened to Rosie so I'll be keeping an eye on the rest of the series for when the books go on sale. Until then, I'll wait. It's absolutely not worth paying full price for the rest of the books until we see if the characters develop more and the story gets better.
Sorry I couldn't give this book more than a 1 star rating but there was so little I enjoyed about this book . The two main characters were in conflict with one another if they were friends or a couple . That seemed more important than finding the murderer . I wouldn't call this book a thriller because I never got that feeling of danger or suspense . Then to know the real killer after Olivia was never caught was such a let down I'm not interested in following up on the next book to be disappointed at the end if the killer isn't identified . 1
It’s not easy for someone to recall, again and again, a murder which occurred 15 years ago, especially, the murder of a person who was a kin. Good characters. Good story. The ending was like how it appears in movies. It was like reading a movie scene. Good investigations done by characters. Characters were nice in their own ways. It’s 3.5 STARS from me. I felt that the editing could’ve been improvised in certain areas, though I’m not a professional editor, it’s just my observation as a reader, or maybe it’s just that I’m new to reading this style of writing. Thank you to the writer for this good piece of work.