A Promise of Ruin: A Dr. Genevieve Summerford Mystery by Cuyler Overholt
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There were many times throughout A
Promise of Ruin that I found it difficult to read. That’s because of the internal look it takes
at sex slavery. It is a very important
subject that people need to know about, but that does not make it any easier to
read. Despite this, everyone should.
Dr. Genevieve Summerford had not expected to get involved in an investigation when
the body of a young woman was found in the river. Her easy conversation with the police changed
this. A girl, Rosa, saw Genevieve talk
to the police and rushed forward to seek her help. She had expected her friend Teresa, an
immigrant from Italy, to visit on her birthday, but she never showed up. Concerned something may have happened to
Teresa, Rosa asks Genevieve to convince the police to look for her friend. No one took Rosa seriously when she went to
the police for help, but seeing as how easily Genevieve is able to speak with
them, she may just be the person to get someone to listen.
Not certain
there is anything to investigate, as anything could have happened to Teresa on
her way to America, Genevieve is reluctant to help Rosa at first. That does not mean that Rosa and Teresa don’t
stay on Genevieve’s mind, though, despite her efforts to forget them. Eventually, Genevieve decides to investigate. She visits Antonio, Teresa’s fiancé and man
she came to America to marry. Sadly, he
hasn’t seen Teresa either. He had
intended on picking her up at the dock, but he was late meeting her boat, and
has been searching for Teresa ever since.
That does not mean he wants any help looking, though. At least he doesn’t from Genevieve. Antonio tells her that he is the one who will
help Teresa, and that Genevieve should stop asking questions before she ends up
getting hurt.
This
warning does not sit well with Genevieve.
She continues to look into what happened to Teresa, but this time
with Simon Shaw’s, Genevieve’s love interest, help. It’s actually a surprise that Simon helps
Genevieve because things are not going well between them. Genevieve thought they were embarking on a
romantic relationship, but Simon won’t even kiss her. The only conclusion Genevieve can think of for
this behavior is that she misread Simon’s intentions and that he only wants to
be friends. This theory is why
everything becomes especially confusing between them when Simon keeps worrying
about Genevieve’s safety as she investigates.
To
be honest, Simon should worry about Genevieve’s safety, and his own too. As they look for Teresa and try to figure out
what happened to her, they uncover a sex slavery scheme. It is with this discovery that Genevieve
finds herself in an extremely dangerous situation. A situation where if everything goes
according to someone else’s plans, Genevieve will never be found by her loved
ones again.
Reading
about the sex slavery in this book was truly horrifying, but I highly doubt
it’s anything as horrible as what happens in real life. I’m glad Ms. Overholt brought this subject to
the attention of her readers because sex slavery is still happening today. Genevieve may live in the early 20th
century, but that does not mean this problem stayed back then. It did not at all, and it is a problem we
need to figure out how to fix today.
On
a much lighter note, Simon drove me a little crazy in this book. He ran hot and cold with Genevieve, then
blamed her for his behavior. It did not
matter that she was the one trying to move their relationship along, his changing
feelings and behavior was somehow her fault.
Seeing Simon treat Genevieve this way makes me wonder if he’s punishing
her for what happened between them in the past.
It may be subconsciously, but either way it is cruel. This is why I’m not so sure about everything
between them supposedly being resolved by the end of the book. Behavior and feelings like that take a lot to
change. I would not be surprised if they
arose again, along with the conflict it causes between them, sometime in the
future.
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