How would you feel if the teen you lovingly raised suddenly became suspect in a murder? This is the premise of Over Her Head, the new novel—based on a true story—by award-winning writer, Shelley Bates.
Laurie Hale enjoys a life most women admire. She has a good husband and nice kids, and she is a natural leader. Her skills as an organizer combined with her enthusiasm for helping others have made her popular in her church and community. Then Laurie discovers a body during her morning run. The dead girl is fourteen-year-old Randi Peizer, a newcomer to town. Forensic evidence reveals the unpopular student drowned after being pushed off the bridge. Accident or murder? Police investigate and find that Laurie’s teenage daughter Anna may have been involved. As her faith in Anna’s innocence is tested, Laurie’s confidence in her roles as a wife, a mother, and a friend to the women of Glendale crumbles under the proud waters that overwhelm her soul. If she is to help her troubled daughter, Laurie must first find the way out of her own despair.
Over Her Head wrings our emotions through the author's deftly-handled contrasts. We shiver at the frightening secret world of cyber-age youth and feel the heartbreak of parents trying to understand them. We are heartened when one grieving mother draws comfort from her faith, but distressed because the other, too wrapped up in her own agenda, discovers emptiness where God should have been. Shelley Bates is a captivating storyteller. I couldn't put this novel down until I finished reading it. Then when I did, I had to run for tissues. And believe me, it takes a lot to make this gal cry!
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