The Cruelty of Swallows

The Cruelty of Swallows: Novel of Life, Loss , and Love

Early in the morning, Lieutenant Lauren Riley is sent to investigate a murder in a notorious, wealthy and politically charged resort in the Sierra Nevada. This will be an interagency investigation involving both Plumas and Butte Counties. From the beginning, it will be complicated, but the tangles do not fully reveal themselves until the investigation is underway, and they keep on coming.

The Lieutenant was born in Moluku Lake. She is the daughter of one of the tribal council members. The tribe is poised to open a casino in the resort – in direct competition with the current hub of all that happens in Moluku Lake – the Eagle Nest Empire. Everyone is for or against the casino and yet, nothing is likely to stop it, unless scandals, blackmail and extortion can slow it down!

Riley arrives in Moluku Lake as a blizzard is already crossing the Sacramento Valley moves into the foothills. The storm won’t slow down this ski resort that is designed to function in snow, but it will place pressure on the annual benefit gala for the art council: the masque ball. And it will allow the sheriff to close the roads in and out of the resort – which traps everyone in a super charged arena as a second murder threatens to unhinge everything.

Moluku Lake is a pleasurable and private destination for the wealthy but behind the obvious opulence, colossal and unscrupulous egos twist back and forth – not for money but in order to demonstrate their power and control. Nothing is what it seems at first and there is nothing like murder to ignite mayhem. The ambitious Lieutenant must sort it all out while keeping her own balance amid help and hinder in a town where everything is the color of ice and just as chilling.

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Book Review

Jo Claypool

Never have I highlighted a book of fiction until now. Nancy Weston’s book, The Cruelty of Swallows, is written in a way I have not experienced before. At times, it is most poetic and flows like wind whispering through the trees. There are phrases I want to cling to as they penetrated my very core.

Weston’s characters are strong and believable. The love between Kenzie and Tom is powerful and unique as they build each other up and experience an unspoken support on so many levels. The character development throughout connected me to each person in a way that made me have to stop reading and process the events going on in their lives.

The title drew me in, and I now understand. Life can be messy. Don’t miss out on this powerful book! I am anxious to read more of Weston’s work.