Reviews for Suspicion

The average rating for Suspicion based on 2 reviews is 4 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2013-10-03 00:00:00 Erica Duvall My TBR stacks are perilously high, leaving many books buried or forgotten - sometimes for years. Luckily I was moving furniture and found yet another pile of books I hadn't gotten around to reading. A hardcover novel caught my attention with a title and cover promising something mysterious: 'Suspicion' by Barbara Rogan. I didn't even bother to glance at the inside of the book jacket. After all, I wouldn't have brought it home in the first place if the story hadn't piqued my interest. Well, I didn't have to read very far before I realized I had purchased a first-rate suspense novel. The story opens with successful writer Emma Roth being asked by her husband Roger to drive all the way to Morgan Peak on Long Island to look at a large Victorian house for sale. Determined not to move from her beloved New York City, she nevertheless finds something about the imposing cliffside mansion that draws her in. Or as Rogan writes, "Sometimes houses choose people. They reach out, they whisper, they entice and enfold…Something about this house moves Emma; something speaks to her." Emma is particularly drawn to the octagonal tower room overlooking the cliffs and crashing waves. It certainly seems an ideal spot in which to write her bestselling novels, all of which just happen to be ghost stories. She convinces herself that the move will be good for both her husband and her 10-year old son Zack. So despite its steep price and isolated location, the Roth family buy the home. In order to help pay for the hefty mortgage, the Roths take in a boarder who rents the carriage house on the property. The new tenant is Caroline, a psychologist, who is fleeing a bad marriage and takes a dim view of all men, including Emma's handsome husband. As Emma and her family settle into their new routine in the village, she discovers that it isn't the absence of city life that troubles her, but a growing sense of uneasiness. The trouble begins in the third floor tower library. What she hoped would be her writing sanctuary now becomes an almost sinister place. Alarming messages appear on her computer and in the book manuscript she is working on. Then there is the feeling of being watched and the refusal of her dog to follow her up into the tower. Could the house be haunted? If so, she is reluctant to say anything since she fears people will only claim she lying about it as a gimmick to sell her next ghost story. However just when the reader thinks this is merely an atmospheric ghost tale, events transpire that indicate there is a person who clearly wishes to harm Emma. But who can it be? The beauty of Rogan's novel is that it is so aptly titled. Indeed suspicion permeates nearly every page. The reader - along with Emma - will come to suspect virtually every character at some point in the story of being the dangerous culprit. This is a good old-fashioned read in the best sense. Filled with a sympathetic heroine (who has a secret of her own) and a colorful cast of characters that take turns seeming like allies one moment, and alarming suspects the next, 'Suspicion' will keep you turning the pages long after you should have gone to sleep. But the lack of sleep is well worth it. Rogan has written a satisfying, and endlessly intriguing tale with a nail-biting climax. This is the first novel by Barbara Rogan that I have read, but it certainly won't be the last. And after reading 'Suspicion', I suspect that - along with me - you will go in search of her other novels.

Review # 2 was written on 2009-10-16 00:00:00 David Wardell This reminded me of a good old fashioned gothic ghost story. A quick, easy read with very few characters to remember, but great character developement. Pick a good rainy day, curl up in a blanket with a cup of hot cocoa and enjoy this excellent mystery.