Recently released from a mental institution, Beth Gregory accepts a job as a live-in secretary/PA to the reclusive painter Josh Warrington. Beth’s long red hair fascinates him from the first moment he sees her and Josh wants him to be his Rapunzel for a series of fairy tale paintings he’s working on.

Beth has two major fears: that she will be sent back to the mental hospital and the visions which landed her there in the first place will return. They do; this time giving her glimpses of murders before they happen. Beth becomes the main suspect in the murder investigation and then she has the most disturbing vision of all: she will become the next victim… 

REVIEWS:


“This is one of the best romance mystery books that I have ever read! You won’t be disappointed in Ms. Gisby’s writing! As an author, I know the rule of “presenting the villain” early in the book, but never knew who it really was until the last pages! I read this on vacation, and made my husband set in the hot car in the middle of the desert for ten minutes so that I could finish reading it before taking my turn at driving!” - Epstein LaRue, author of Crazy Thoughts of Passion and Love at First Type 

“I should know better than to begin an Annette Gisby book toward the end of the evening. As usual, I wound up sitting right where I was and reading it straight through. I am not a fan of the thriller genre, but Drowning Rapunzel is not a conventional thriller. This author doesn’t rely on blood and gore to shock her readers into an appropriately unnerved state. Instead she writes about ordinary people doing ordinary things, lulling us right along with her heroine until she drops the tale’s next bombshell.” - Nina M. Osier, author of High Places and Eppie award winner for Regs. 

“”Drowning Rapunzel is a delightful mystery and a delightful romance. There are secrets and plot twists aplenty. I enjoyed watching Beth and Josh slowly fall in love as they deal with the people and happenings around them.” - Judy Cook, for www.romancestudio.com

PROLOGUE


He wished he’d thought of the water sooner. It was easier that way, not so much mess. It was peaceful too, watching her hair fan out behind her like a veil of gold. She didn’t struggle after his hands were around her neck and he was grateful. It showed him that she accepted her fate dutifully, like she should. She should never have made him wait so long.

Now he was waiting again, but he didn’t mind. He was used to waiting now. Waiting could almost have been his middle name. Actually, it was Alphonse, but anyone who knew that was already dead and so it didn’t matter anymore.

It was a while since he had hunted like this, anticipated the inevitable. Usually he preferred the quick kill, where they didn’t know he was coming until they started screaming. He liked to hear them scream. Made it all seem that bit much more worthwhile.

But there was something different about this one; something that made him want to wait, to delay the final moment, to make it last. He wanted to frighten her long before the end, when she would beg him to kill her. He couldn’t quite tell what it was; there was just an air of something other about her. She wasn’t like the other girls and he grinned broadly. Of course she wasn’t. She was special. They were all special. They were his.

Maybe it was the hair which attracted him. It was long, tumbling in red-gold waves down her back, almost to her waist. It reminded him of golden syrup. He loved golden syrup, loved to eat it straight out of the tin with his fingers. No mother to nag him about that. Not anymore. Fingers were fine, but sometimes he preferred bread, white bread, none of that wholemeal nonsense. He could almost taste it on his tongue, could almost taste her and he had to stifle a gasp at the image. No point in attracting undue attention to himself.

Maybe it wasn’t the hair; maybe it was the grey-green eyes which seemed to see right down to his soul. Would she recoil in terror at what she saw there, or would she welcome it like the others before her? They had all welcomed him in the end. Or maybe it was the way she dressed, so unlike her contemporaries in their short skirts and skimpy tops. Any time he’d seen her, she was always covered up in long dresses and baggy sweaters, as if she didn’t want to show off any of her womanly curves. She had curves, the clothes could not disguise them and he had long imagined his hands roving over her delicate skin.

He also knew that underneath all those layers, there was a wanton harlot just waiting for him to let her out.

But not yet. He would wait. He was getting good at waiting.

Rating:

Reviewer: AlexJouJou

Beth Gregory is trying to get a job. She has spent the last two years in a mental institution due to a very unfortunate set of circumstances. You see Beth sees—in the paranormal sense that is. Enter Josh Warrington, an eccentric painter with family money. He hires Beth as his live in assistant. There are some sparks that are immediately put to the test as Beth sees a vision of a drowned victim in the lake on Josh’s property. Soon after she is the recipient of some strange writing on a foggy bathroom mirror and creepiness abounds. The cast of characters includes some quick to judge police officers, an over bearing brother (Beth’s) and a family in tragic circumstances (Josh’s sister). Add a housekeeper who seems to take an immediate dislike to Beth and it is easy to see why Beth fears that she will soon wind up back in the institution. As clues are discovered and new motivations come to light a picture of the killer emerges—the question is who fits that image?

I have to say I did not identify the killer until about ¾ of the way in the book. The prologue was suitably creepy—the words of the killer chilling and definitely foreboding. As a suspense novel, Drowning Rapunzel is quite good. When I first started reading it almost seemed like an old fashioned Harlequin book—like something I would have read in the 1970s. I didn’t realize it was set in England until I was a little ways in so that explained some of the language differences to me. The plot of the suspense is very well written—with each character playing a part of the whole. There aren't any "wasted" characters or major red herrings and the clues are revealed at a good pace—not frantic or chaotic.

As a romance, it gets a so-so from me. I did not feel that the spark between the two main characters was very believable—and I wasn’t very invested in it. Josh’s character was just too odd for me to see him as a “leading” man. Beth’s past is not explained until too far into the story—you need to know the details earlier to form a stronger connection to her. Beth’s brother comes off as a complete jerk—and there are some unanswered questions regarding him including his behavior that never get resolved.

Overall, I liked Drowning Rapunzel. Again it wins in the suspense genre—and it definitely keeps you guessing and evaluating potential suspects all the way through. I think the romance aspect (it is listed as a romantic suspense) could have been removed without much effect to the story as it seemed quite awkward much of the time—almost forced. So if what you want is romance I can’t really recommend this novel but if you like mystery/suspense then it gets a thumbs up from me!

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