Just as she did last year with And Now She’s Gone, Rachel Howzell Hall has again pulled me out of a reading slump with her newest thriller, These Toxic Things. Fans of Hall’s work will once more be treated to a clever, unique mystery full of characters that are truly original.
In These Toxic Things we follow Mickie Lambert who makes high-tech digital scrapbooks, which are a collection of items, memories, and keepsakes that hold a special significance for clients. Working with her newest client, however, includes challenges that Mickie has never dealt with (or even dreamed of dealing with) before.
At the same time, Mickie is suddenly receiving threatening messages that she can’t even fathom a reason for. She also is concerned with a recent change in her parents’ behaviour and their lack of a plausible explanation. To add just a little more to Mickie’s current stressors, she is also dealing with the break-up of the romantic relationship she has previously had with the man who is currently her boss, with whom she helped to create and develop the digital scrapbook technology. Being pulled in so many different directions makes Mickie feel all the more like a very real person.
Hall’s mystery and thriller elements are consistently well done and there are always surprises in store, but more than anything else this is a fascinating and well told story full of interesting characters, clever dialogue, and a flawlessly crafted plot.
I have tried for days to come up with exactly the right adjective for Hall’s incredible writing in These Toxic Things, but I have finally decided that there is no single word to encompass how alive her characters always feel. I came away feeling like I knew these people and feeling like I was actually there with Mickie when all of this went down. Hall’s style and pacing is second to none, and I am already excited about whatever she does next.
These Toxic Things is available from Amazon, Book Depository, and other good book retailers, like your local bookstore.
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Synopsis | Goodreads
A dead woman’s cherished trinkets become pieces to a terrifying puzzle.
Mickie Lambert creates “digital scrapbooks” for clients, ensuring that precious souvenirs aren’t forgotten or lost. When her latest client, Nadia Denham, a curio shop owner, dies from an apparent suicide, Mickie honors the old woman’s last wish and begins curating her peculiar objets d’art. A music box, a hair clip, a key chain―twelve mementos in all that must have meant so much to Nadia, who collected them on her flea market scavenges across the country.
But these tokens mean a lot to someone else, too. Mickie has been receiving threatening messages to leave Nadia’s past alone.
It’s becoming a mystery Mickie is driven to solve. Who once owned these odd treasures? How did Nadia really come to possess them? Discovering the truth means crossing paths with a long-dormant serial killer and navigating the secrets of a sinister past. One that might, Mickie fears, be inescapably entwined with her own.
