Come on, just the title alone is worth a second glance, right?

As usual Michaels indulges in cozy storytelling with a different twist on her characters. Here the heroine of the story is suffering from desiring forbidden fruit, so to speak, but is highly moral and won't follow Eve's path. Between her urge for independence and witty humor - and thankfully less of a bitchy nature than many other Michaels characters - she's another likable act to follow. The sister Mary is an intriguing one, not a usual for Michaels, a little reminiscent of an early, watered down V.C. Andrews character. She's frail and fragile, being protected from all sides, yet with a cunning glint in her eye when it suits her. Her husband was just in between, a character to feel for but no one who overly stands out. Overall, as always, the blend is a gripping one that only serves the stories purpose.

Plot wise, it's another good one. You never know with her books whether there really is something supernatural, or whether it's something that ends up being disproven. I won't spoil that part for you, but will say the emphasis the supernatural is handled a little less than usual. It's the main theme of the story, but doesn't involve the same sort of endless debates, research, and multiple signs and symptoms other novels share. While not as detailed, it's still as mystifying, and I in no way could imagine the ending. In fact, the revelation was a smidge creepy, which is also abnormal for Michaels.

Pace wise, it's lightning as she hops on the plane in chapter one and conjures up important facts in her mind, then plunges right into the heart of the matter. A reader and fan of mysteries won't grow bored. The trademark love story is of course present as always, without much steam or surprise. Suspense is high when it's meant to be in scarce parts, and Michaels typical language use is appealing.

On the downside, while the story didn't drag its feet and remained interesting, I didn't stay 100% glued in all parts. More action would have spruced up a few scenes. This is one of Michael's earlier works and it wouldn't have hurt to flesh out a few characters more, particularly the good old doctor. His enthusiasm for his patients seemed a little overdone and stereotypical as well. It was never explained about his avid treatment of the psychiatrist, but the end result leaves the reader assuming it was all in the heroines head. From reading the story, to me it wasn't, and them having a sort of conversation about it would have been preferred. Overall a sweet ending (after the chilling part, of course)

If you're in the mood for a delightful little mystery with a tinge of morbidity, The Crying Child's your midnight companion. ( )

A young struggling artist visits her wealthy sister and brother-in-law. Jo's sister Mary just had a third miscarriage, and the loss of her baby is affecting her mentally - she's clinging to the idea of a child out in the woods, who is crying for her and begging for her help. Jo begins to wonder if Mary really is crazy -- but then she hears the crying too. Jo teams up with her brother in law Ran, and the handsome (but woman-wary) doctor Will Graham, to find out what the crying is. But when the ghostly apparition of a beautiful, sad woman appears, Jo begins to dig into the past of Ran's family, and discovers a web of lies, murder, and terror centering on a lost child.

Jo is an excellent heroine: smart, wry, brave, and loyal to her sister, who is a rather nebulous presence once it's discovered that, while unstable, she's not totally delusional. I thought Ran was something of a controlling fink, but he was very human in his flaws and strong points (loves his wife, wants a child, etc). I disliked Will initially, because of his rather hostile stance toward women, but began to warm to him as the novel progressed. A genuine ghost story which made for an entertaining read and my second favorite Barbara Michael's book, ( )

ok novel — mysterious cry — ghost?

From the moment she arrived on King's Island, Joanne McMullen knew that her sister's grief over losing her child had driven her dangerously close to madness. But when Joanne heard the same child's voice that her sister had heard wailing in the woods, she knew something terrible was happening!

Wow! Just wow! What a terrific gothic! The story plays fair in that there are hints all along. Still, putting those hints together isn't easy. This book gave me chills. The thought of the crying child haunts me. ( )

This one of Michaels's really managed to creep me out. I think it was mostly due to the spooky imagery of the child crying in the middle of the night and rocking horses rocking all by themselves that had me keeping the light on for most of the night. The mystery aspect of the story wasn't the best of Michaels as I had a part of what was doing the crying figured out early on, the suspense side of the plot though was excellent. As was the bits featuring the paranormal. I only wish that the story didn't feel so rushed towards the end. ( )