Dell (Paperback), ISBN 0440235189
Hannah Ives, breast cancer survivor, suffered enough from the disease, the aftermath of chemotherapy and finding a dead body near her sister's home. Now, back in her Annapolis, Md., home and ready for a fresh start, Hannah longs for a little peace and quiet, and some time to reflect on the possibility of reconstructive surgery.  

Between sister Ruth deciding to redecorate Hannah's house by way of feng shui, her parents moving to a nearby neighborhood and sister Georgina's therapy for her depression, Hannah begins to feel as if the tide of her life has finally turned. Then Georgina's therapist takes a flyer off a balcony, and Georgina becomes the primary suspect in a tangled case. As Hannah begins to do a little investigating of her own, she discovers long-hidden secrets and unclear memories -- both of which may cause her own family to become involved. 

Marcia Talley writes with style. Her first novel, Sing It To Her Bones, won the 1998 Malice Domestic Grant and garnered a well-deserved nomination for the Agatha Award. She pens a tight, moving story featuring a protagonist that despite being labeled a "cancer survivor" remains strong, determined and smart.  

Herself a cancer survivor, Talley could easily present Hannah as either a pitiful weakling destined to live on the kindness of strangers or portray her as the perfect heroine who walks on water with the ability to leap tall buildings in a single novel. But Talley does none of that. Instead, Hannah Ives walks, talks and breathes like most normal, intelligent and strong women with a sense of humor, a strong sense of self and enough self-doubt to make her interesting.  

In Unbreathed Memories, Hannah faces some extremely disturbing family problems while trying to understand why her sister acts so strangely about the death of her therapist. Marcia Talley's matter-of-fact style and sensitive treatment of her characters' problems make for an excellent novel. She writes a first-rate mystery with a dash of humanity and reality thrown in for good measure. Unbreathed Memories provides a fitting follow-up to Sing It To Her Bones. 

Maria Y. Lima

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