A dual timeline mystery novel showing the similarities between the stories of two women sharing a familial bond and the grave danger they both are in. A great read for all mystery lovers!

I have loved Pamela Cranes past novels. This one I could not sink my teeth into. I’m not sure what was amiss. This may be a better story for another reader.

Full review to come on Goodreads and Amazon. Thank you to the publisher, author, and NetGalley for a review copy.

April 1910. Women’s rights activist Alvera Fields mysteriously vanishes from her home one night, leaving her newborn baby and husband behind, the case never solved.
April 2021. On the anniversary of her great-great-grandmother’s disappearance, Alvera’s namesake Vera Portman vanishes in an eerily similar manner..

This sets the scene for a remarkable and intense story by Pamela Crane. I read this book in one sitting as I was unable to put it down, the story spans over 100 years with two narrators leading us through this impressive read. I have read other books by Pamela Crane but for some reason this one resonated with me more, I think I identified with the characters more in this book than others and was just riveted to the pages wanting to know what would happen. in regard to these family dynamics, they definitely are a complicated bunch. The twits and turns continued throughout and I have to say that this book is one of my favourite all time reads. I will remember it for a long time.

Thank you to Netgalley the author and publisher for a copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

This story will take you on a roller-coaster ride with so many major secrets and lies. Whose story to believe and is there a murder or is that another wrong alley? Childhoods that shouldn't have been. Families that are just hanging on. Well written and entertaining.

This is basically the story of a teenage girl, Vera, who goes missing on the same day that her great, great, grandmother, Alvera, a suffragette, went missing in 1910. Vera is the daughter of Felicity Portman who is part of a wealthy family. Her sister-in-law, Marin, is also her best friend. Crane lets the reader know that both Felicity and Marin have secrets which could have impacted on Vera's disappearance.
The story starts very slowly and at the point where I was about to give up, it began to pick up the pace and get more interesting. I'm not sure the backstory of Alvera really works or was necessary. There are plenty of twists and turns in the Portman family to sustain the novel. The ending is too over the top for me but for those who enjoy this kind of drama, they will be very satisfied.

I have to admit, I was in two minds about this book as it had a great premise starting with one of our main character's namesakes and her disappearance back in 1910 and how she was never found again and then it jumps to the present moment and Felicity and Oliver's eldest daughter Vera has vanished. She hasn't been seen or heard from in six months and it looks like she could be gone forever. We also learn that not only Felicity and Oliver, but the "WHOLE" family are keeping some pretty messed up and dark secrets and they are all blaming themselves for Vera's disappearance. All Felicity wants is her daughter back as she feels like she has lost part of herself and can't function as is she without Vera and her marriage is starting to strain as their youngest daughter Sydney is dying and Vera was their only hope of saving her. I have to admit, this was a very busy book with what felt like a lot of characters' storylines and way too many secrets. Also, all the characters just felt so unstable. When the truth is revealed, I wanted to throw the book across the table as like seriously WTF and then to add that, the book took a weird twist with Aunt Marin that confused the heck out of me and even now I am still not 100% accurate to the timelines of the story as I got so confused with her twist. I do have to say. that one thing I do like about Pamela Crane's books as it was the same with Pretty Ugly Lies, was that you don't see the endings coming and they keep making you guess and even after you finish the book, it makes you think about it as you try and work out what just occurred. I do have to admit, if I wasn't so frustrated by the way the last few chapters of the book played out - I would have rated this a 4Ps instead of a 3Ps. I am now however looking forward to trying her other books which I have three to read on my Kindle .

Reading Between the Wines book review #128/115 for 2021:
Rating: 3 🍷 🍷 🍷
Book 📱: A Slow Ruin
Author: Pamela Crane
Genre: Literary Fiction | Mystery & Thrillers
RELEASED on December 5, 2021!

Sipping thoughts: Slow ruin is definitely a slow burn. It is told by two character’s POV, Felicity and Marin. But it also flashes back to the early 1900’s when Vera’s great-great-great women’s right activist grandmother went missing. Over 100 years later, Vera goes missing to the exact date. The story goes back and forth trying to solve both Vera and Alvera’s disappearance.

Sipping synopsis in seconds: Old missing unsolved mystery. Secrets uncovered. Missing teenager. Family lies and coverups. Diary entries. Mysterious friends and family. More lies. More reveals. Bomb drop. Aha! Makes sense now. Mystery solved. GASP- that happened at the beginning of the story and I did not know! Sadness. Epilogue.

Cheers and thank you to @NetGalley and @TabellaHouse for an advanced copy of @ASlowRuin.

#ASlowRuin #PamelaCrane #TabellaHouse #NetGalley #advancedreadercopy #ARC #Kindle #Booksofinstagram #readersofinstagram #bookstagram #nicoles_bookcellar #bookworm #bookdragon #booknerd #booklover #bookstagrammer #bookaholic #bookreview #bookreviewer #IHaveNoShelfControl #ReadingBetweenTheWines #fiction #thriller #suspense #mystery #MysteryAndThrillers #LiteraryFiction

It took me a little while to get invested in the characters and story, but eventually I did. While the beginning felt a little slow, it soon picked up speed. I enjoyed the story and would read more from the author.

Great book and a great story I loved it!!! So far I have loved all of Pamela's books!! Such great writing!!

Pamela Crane did not disappoint in this domestic thriller spanning almost 100 years. With her skillful hand, she was able to incorporate a family's history of secrets and lies through several generations. The story begins in 1910, with Alvera Fields fighting for women's rights. When she disappeared, suffragists claimed someone did something to her because of what she stood for. She was very wealthy and they knew she would never leave behind her baby, husband and their beautiful estate.

The dual timeline changes to 2021 when her great-great-granddaughter Vera disappears on the exact date. What could the connection be and why? Vera's family, although in a different historical period, live in a vast estate where a family was once murdered, leaving the town to wonder about the darkness of it all.
The Heirs never sold Alvera's estate or the remnants within, but looked at the clues left behind hoping for a solution to the most recent missing case. When parents, Felecity & Oliver locate Vera's journal, there is much to be said about the things discovered. You realize the lack of communication and warmth in the family is missing also.

There are a lot of family issues going on...infidelities, dark secrets, lies and a sister-in-law, Marin, that may have something to do with Vera's disappearance. This shady character is hard to like, as well as some of the other ones. The author manages to mesh the story lines together, but not without flaws. At times, I struggled to make it work, but it kept me engaged to see what the outcome would be. I will definitely continue to indulge in this author's writing for she has a style that is worth escaping inside of.
Thank you NetGalley and Independent Publishers Group for this title in exchange for my review.

After being a little sad I wasn't approved for Pamela Crane's The Sister-In-Law, I decided to try my luck at requesting A Slow Ruin. I was so happy when I was approved!! This is the first book I’ve read by Pamela Crane. Loved the beautiful cover of the book -- I was amazed that the girl on the cover is Crane's daughter! So awesome!
I really enjoyed the multiple narrators throughout the book: Felicity Portman and her sister-in-law, Marin. Both Felicity and Marin go to great lengths to find Felicity's missing daughter, Vera. Every few chapters I thought someone else was to blame for her disappearance. By the time I got to the ending, of course I was 100% wrong! I thought the references to Alvera Fields, the great-great- grandmother who disappeared 111 years ago was an interesting touch and enjoyed reading the old articles from The Pittsburgh Press. I thought that was a very creative touch and I've never read a thriller with a bit of history in it. Loved how deep the characters were, all the family drama, the twisty plot, all the secrets that came to surface and of course the shocking ending!!

Thank you NetGalley and Tabella House for this e-ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I will post my review on instagram @thrillersandcoffee

A slow burn. The first half was a bit confusing with two main characters being narrated. The second half took hold for me and I enjoyed reading it again. Lots of plot twists and question marks but altogether a good read.

Thank you Netgalley for this arc

The first half of this book was a bit on the slow slide. At times I felt frustrated not knowing Felicity’s and Marin’s secrets (but I guess that’s what makes this such a bingeable and suspenseful read!) The second half definitely picked up speed and unveiled secrets and twists that I did not see coming.

Crane’s style of writing is suspenseful and filled with the raw emotions of her characters. This helps to accentuate their personalities and brings her characters to life.

I really loved Marin as a character. I sympathized with her backstory and was rooting for her. As for Felicity, I was not able to connect as well. However, I feel her character was purposely written that way. Her character is depicted as a distraught and unhinged mother so naturally, she will be represented in a less than flattering light.

This is my 3rd book by Crane and I cannot wait to see what she has in store for us next. She has easily become a writer I’m drawn to.

I am freaking DIZZY from being twisted this way and that way in this book!!! This isn’t your typical domestic thriller! First, I need to say that Pamela Crane has a way of writing that is both a professional novelist and also writing first person perspectives in which you feel like you’re reading actual thoughts in real peoples’ minds. Their personalities are so evident and I love the sarcasm, the wit, and the raw emotions. My zillions of theories were ALL FREAKING WRONG!!! Every last tiny one of them and I’m SO hear for it!!! That was my favorite part! And then I wanted answers. And I wanted MORE answers. And I wanted to know what happens after the end of this book and it’s like Pamela was like, “Oh, here you go, Stephanie!” And she kept giving me the answers to all of my burning questions! This is definitely on my list of favorite books of the year and is now on my permanent list of books to recommend!!!

“A Slow Ruin” is a slow burn for sure. I found myself wavering all over while reading this. I really liked some things, and other things, not so much. This is a hard one for me to rate and review!

The synopsis is about all that be revealed - in April of 2021, a teenage girl named Vera goes missing. Coincidentally(?), on the same day in April of 1910, the girl’s great-great-grandmother also went missing. Personally, I think the whole 1910 story wasn’t necessary, but I guess it added an extra layer, as did the suffragette who is loosely based on a relative of the author.

The author wrote a note at the beginning, explaining that the 1910 parts were a true story of a woman who went missing and was never found. She took that story and tied it with a modern-day missing child story, with her niece writing Vera’s journal entries and her own daughter posing for the cover. I love that she put a lot of thought into this book, so I feel badly that I only found it to be average.

Cons:
*The first half is really slow and cumbersome, and it took awhile to get interesting

*The characters were pretty one-dimensional; I found it hard to keep everyone straight in the beginning

*The ending was a bit too dramatic for me

Pros:
*The second half was much better, and had many twists (nothing too crazy, though)

*The author must be around my age, because the pop culture references were fantastic and I think I caught them all (Mortimer Randolph is a great one)

*I didn’t hate this, and even the slow parts were decent with twists galore

Overall, I’m going right down the middle with three stars on this one. I think some people’s opinions may be higher, but this one just didn’t hit me the way it could have.

(Thank you to Tabella House,, Pamela Crane, and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my review.)

Wow, this book has a lot going on. There are two narrators, Felicity and her sister-in-law Marin. Felicity's daughter is missing and the same happened to her great-great-grandmother in 1910. Is there a connection or is it merely coincidence? There is only one timeline but we are also given snippets of another from 1910 when Alvera went missing. There are also multiple plot threads and lots of characters to keep track of, yet Pamela Crane manages to seamlessly keep the story going, weaving a tale of lies and betrayals.

Each chapter ends in such suspense that it kept me turning the pages to the next, I literally could not put this book down. None of the characters have any redeeming qualities, with the exception of the children. There are lots of secrets and backstabbing going on and I loved every minute of it. This was such a twisty novel and it kept me guessing throughout, I loved the ending and I highly recommend this addictive domestic drama for the suspense alone.

Love everything from Pamela Crane, and this was no different. Really enjoyed the twists and storyline. Would definitely recommend to any thriller lover. Thank you NetGalley for this advanced copy!

Pamela Crane knocks it out of the park yet again! What a perfect title for an amazing book. I loved the characters, their flaws and all. This story hooked me from the beginning and did not let go! The perfect slow burn of tension and intrigue. So many crazy twists and turns. Highly recommend.

It was about a year ago when I discovered author Pamela Crane, since then I have read some of her books and WOW! Why I hadn’t I heard of her before? I have read two previous novels which were super suspenseful and intense. This one was a little slower paced but very enjoyable and I really wanted to know what happened to young Vera!

Synopsis:

April 1910. Women’s rights activist Alvera Fields mysteriously vanishes from her home one night, leaving her newborn baby and husband behind, the case never solved.

April 2021. On the anniversary of her great-great-grandmother’s disappearance, Alvera’s namesake Vera Portman vanishes in an eerily similar manner.

Six months later, the police recover a girl’s body. While the family waits in the horror of finding out if it’s Vera, Felicity Portman clings to hope that her missing teenage daughter is still alive. Despite all odds, Felicity senses a link between the decades-apart cases—a mother feels such things in her bones. But all suspicion points to the last person who saw Vera alive: Felicity’s sister-in-law, Marin.

Marin, with her troubled past.
Marin, the poor woman who married into the rich family.
Marin, the only one who knows Felicity’s darkest secret.

As Felicity makes a shocking discovery in Vera’s journal, she questions who her daughter really is. The deeper she digs, the more she’s ensnared in the same mysteries that claimed their ancestor in a terribly slow ruin.

A Slow Ruin comes out on November 30.