Book Beginnings & Friday 56 - #97

Book Beginnings on Friday is a weekly meme hosted by Gilion at Rose City Reader. Every Friday we share the first sentence (or so) of the book we’re currently reading, along with your initial thoughts about the sentence, impressions of the book, or anything else the opener inspires.

My Book Beginning:  

The Ghost of Christmas Past (Molly Murphy Mysteries, Book 17) by Rhys Bowen

New York City, December 1906

It had been a year of losses.  Losses and uncertainty.  Of a darkness I couldn’t shake off.  

My Thoughts:  This is an unusual beginning for the books in this series - most of the time Molly is an upbeat character so for it to start out sad from the start is strangely different.   

What do you think?  Don't forget to leave your book beginning below and to link-up at Rose City Reader.  

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Friday 56 is a weekly meme hosted by Freda at Freda’s Voice on every Friday.

To Play along here are the Rules:

*Grab a book, any book.
*Turn to page 56 or 56% in your eReader (If you have to improvise, that's ok.)
*Find any sentence, (or few, just don't spoil it)
*Post it.
*Add your post below. 

*Don’t forget to add your post URL (not your blog url) at Freda’s Voice.  
*It's that simple.

My 56 (Also from Dark Illumination by Hadena James – about 56% on Kindle):  

He grinned and she responded.  I stared at her with surprise.  She had seemed such a timid little thing and here she was, exchanging grins with the mast of this big estate.  Maybe she was just realizing the possibilities of her life now that she was no longer in the orphanage. 

My Thoughts:  I haven’t gotten this far into the book, and I'm not sure who Molly is referriing to as timid but I definitely like this teaser of what's to come so far.

So what do you think?  Do the teasers tempt you?  Don’t forget to leave your 56 below and to link up at Freda’s Voice. 

About The Ghost of Christmas Past (Molly Murphy Mysteries, Book 17) by Rhys Bowen

Semi-retired private detective Molly Murphy Sullivan is suffering from depression after a miscarriage following her adventure in San Francisco during the earthquake of 1906. She and her husband, Daniel, are invited for Christmas at a mansion on the Hudson, and they gratefully accept, expecting a peaceful and relaxing holiday season.

Not long after they arrive, however, they start to feel the tension in the house’s atmosphere. Then they learn that the host couple's young daughter wandered out into the snow ten years ago and was never seen again. 

Molly can identify with the mother's pain at never knowing what happened to her child and wants to help, but there is so little to go on. No ransom note. No body ever found.

But Molly slowly begins to suspect that the occupants of the house know more than they are letting on. Then, on Christmas Eve, there is a knock at the door and a young girl stands there. "I'm Charlotte," she says. "I've come home."

Amazon

Don't forget to post your meme's and link up at both host locations.  

Have a great Friday! 

Maria