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Lisa Preston
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Orchids and Stone Paperback – April 1, 2016

by Lisa Preston (Author)
3.6 3.6 out of 5 stars 8,474 ratings
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They’re trying to take me. Help! Help me, please.

Daphne Mayfield sought a moment of quiet in a park―a break from city life, a tense relationship, and chronic overwork―but then an elderly woman makes a desperate plea. Daphne is reluctant to get involved when she’s not sure what’s happening, but she wants to help the stranger. Is the rambling old lady the victim of a crime or a victim of dementia?

As her unease grows, Daphne can’t let go of the encounter. No matter what her boyfriend or her friends say. No matter what the retired homicide detective warns. Though she knows she’s meddling in other people’s lives, her instincts scream that the danger is real.

With each increasingly bold intervention, Daphne involves herself in someone else’s crisis until she’s in too deep to turn back. She’s not just fighting for a stranger’s life…she’s fighting for her own.

Previous page
  1. Print length
    320 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publication date
    April 1, 2016
  4. Dimensions
    5.5 x 1 x 8.25 inches
  5. ISBN-10
    9781503952324
  6. ISBN-13
    978-1503952324
  7. See all details
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All the Little Raindrops: A Novel
"All the Little Raindrops: A Novel" by Mia Sheridan for $10.39
The chilling story of the abduction of two teenagers, their escape, and the dark secrets that, years later, bring them back to the scene of the crime. | Learn more

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

Daphne Mayfield has had a hard life. As a child, her sister was kidnapped, never to be seen or heard from again. Years later, Daphne’s father takes his own life in a dumpy hotel room, ridding himself of his grief but only increasing it for those left behind. Tragedy continues to follow the young woman when, in the park, she meets Minerva Watts, an elderly woman who is begging for help. At first glance, Daphne thinks she’s simply old and confused, especially when the woman’s daughter comes along and takes her away. But something in Daphne’s gut tells her there is more than meets the eye. Not being able to live with the guilt of having something bad happen to Minerva, Daphne embarks on what becomes a wild journey of deceit, corruption, and terror to find out the truth: Is Minerva Watts a crazy old lady, or has she been kidnapped like Daphne’s sister? Preston creates a riveting tale in her first thriller, intertwining the past with the present for an exciting ride that will keep readers hanging on until the very end. —Carissa Chesanek

Review

“Gritty and powerful.” ―Jo-Ann Mapson, bestselling and award-winning author of Finding Casey

“Daphne is both physically tough and emotionally vulnerable, a heroine readers will love and root for in this fast-paced, gripping read.” ―Laura Moriarty, author of The Center of Everything

“A mesmerizing debut that is part mystery, part modern love story, and thoroughly gripping. Orchids and Stone stars a bright, uniquely independent woman who is strong enough to define her own future and tender enough to rediscover both love and forgiveness. Lisa Preston’s deftly layered narrative crescendos to a nail-biting climax that surprises and satisfies.” ―Carol Cassella, bestselling author of Gemini

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ 1503952320
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Thomas & Mercer (April 1, 2016)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 320 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 9781503952324
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1503952324
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 11.2 ounces
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.5 x 1 x 8.25 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    3.6 3.6 out of 5 stars 8,474 ratings

About the author

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Lisa Preston

Lisa Preston

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Lisa Preston (1964- ) turned to writing after careers as a fire department paramedic and a city police officer. Experience in her earlier professions enhance the medical and legal passages of her fiction and non-fiction.

Her debut novel, Orchids and Stone, was released by Thomas & Mercer in April 2016, and has been described both as a thriller and as domestic noir. Reviews include praise from the best-selling novelists Jo-Ann Mapson, Laura Moriarty, Kate Moretti and Carol Cassella.

Her psychological suspense novel, The Measure of the Moon, will be released April 2017.

Her published work includes non-fiction books and articles on animals, particularly the care and training of dogs and horses.

Away from her desk, she spends hours on backcountry trails as a runner and rider, sometimes combining her two outdoor pursuits via the obscure sport of Ride and Tie.

She lives with her husband and Malinois on Washington State's vast Olympic Peninsula.

Website: lisapreston.com

Customer reviews

3.6 out of 5 stars
3.6 out of 5
8,474 global ratings
A bit slow, all for the better!
4 Stars
A bit slow, all for the better!
Character development was a bit slow-paced, but it made the reader much more in-the-moment with what is yet to come. A good read!
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Top reviews from the United States

Susan Flett Swiderski
4.0 out of 5 stars Defined by Her Past
Reviewed in the United States on March 8, 2016
Verified Purchase
I'm in awe of this writer. She has a boatload of reviews already, and her book hasn't even been released yet! High five!!!

Okay, I got this book through the Kindle First program, and it was enjoyable enough. Not great, but engaging for the most part. As some other reviewers have already indicated, there's a lot of repetition in the book, which does slow things down a bit, but not overly so.

The book presents two parallel plots, and it's somewhat disappointing that there's no resolution to the mystery regarding the disappearance and murder of Daphne's sister. Although it occurred twenty years in the past, it's been the defining event in Daphne's life, and has stifled her development in many ways. With her continued obsession with solving the mystery, and the lack of any meaningful answers, it doesn't look like she is ever going to "grow up." In a second book, perhaps?

With the other story line, regarding the old lady who begs Daphne for help, saying she's being kidnapped and robbed, there are some moments that are very interesting, and others that merely evoke head-shaking disbelief over the stupid choices Daphne keeps making. I mean, STUPID. Really, really stupid. Not to mention selfish. I mean, she may be emotionally immature and self-involved, but does that mean she'd deliberately speed through a red light while pursuing people who she thinks might be bad guys? Or that she'd show next to no concern for the people hurt in the subsequent accident caused by her actions? Or that she'd continually put herself into needlessly risky situations with total disregard for the consequences?

Well, evidently, it does.

Anyhow, this was an enjoyable read, even if the main character isn't particularly likable. Granted, her past history is pretty awful, but maybe it's time for her to start living in the present, and to start planning for a better future. In her defense, there are some indications at the end of the book that she may be moving in that direction. Again, I wonder... does this mean a second book is in the works? Could be.

Three and a half stars, rounded up to four.
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Heather
3.0 out of 5 stars This was a good book. It was intriguing and enjoyable, just not earth-shattering.
Reviewed in the United States on December 19, 2016
Verified Purchase
This had been my March Kindle First book but I was way late in getting to it.
I went ahead and got the audio upgrade, voiced by Cris Dukehart, since it was available for just $1.99. Those have been helping get through these old Kindle First books that I hadn't reviewed in a timely manner. Dukehart was a great narrator, too. Her voice just felt perfect for Daphne Mayfield.
The book is listed as a mystery/thriller/suspense type book which isn't really my thing, but it was still a fun read/listen. Part of my issue with the genre is that it always feels a bit predictable to me, and in that, this one wasn't an exception. I felt like I knew where the overall story was going for most of it. Aside from that it follows that typical pattern all mystery novels seem to, the parts of the story are great and the characters were amazing and written with great depth. There's also some great misdirection, and extra things that seem like clues but don't add up to anything, and blocks along the way that were totally normal but not things that I expected to see in a mystery. The ties between the back story and the plot were solid. I especially enjoyed the way some comments haunted the main character.
As a character, I really liked Daphne and identified with her as a woman working outside of expectations. I enjoyed the pieces of her relationship with Vic that were the opposite of gendered expectations and roles and the way it's even pointed out in the story. I felt like every character was someone I'd met before and I liked that about it, as mystery/thrillers go. I'm kinda over the whole super-specialized this or that type of character. I like that everyone was just a normal person and all the police procedural parts were entertaining for their absolute believably. One of the reasons I tend to stay away from this genre is all the pieces of the story that are expected to be there, like super concerned cops or the story getting the one cop who cares or the one that was amazing but just got divorced or has an problem with alcoholism after the one case they never solved. These guys were all normal and responding in ways that I would expect actual cops to respond rather than the stuff I see on television. I appreciated that even her best friend and boyfriend only humored her because of her past and that it was a bad anniversary for her.
I especially enjoyed that it was a mystery that wasn't about a cop solving a case, even though there are plenty of cops in the book. Personally, I'm sick to death of cop shows and cop stories. Don't get me wrong, I think cops mostly do as good as they can with what they have and I know that's different from county to county. I absolutely respect them, but these sensationalized crime stories are grating on my nerves and the concepts of criminals forming some sort of bond to the cop who usually gets their case and blah blah, snore. Anyway, this was not one of those stories, and I adored the cop who even pokes fun at that.
There are triggers to be concerned with in this book, specifically rape, suicide and murder. I'm not calling these spoilers though, because they are all part of Daphne's back story and revealed in the first two chapters as such. Whether or not they happen again later in the story is another matter....
Anyway, they are part of Daphne's motivation so they will come up a lot in the story as her character progresses through the plot. If these things trigger you, I wouldn't pick up the book. But then again, if they're problems, I'm sure you aren't reading mystery novels in the first place since most cover these topics.
Like I said above, I had gotten this book as a Kindle First back in March, but it's still available at Amazon for both Kindle and Audible and other places.
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Top reviews from other countries

Jaye22
4.0 out of 5 stars *A Slow Start* - 3.5 Stars
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on August 23, 2021
Verified Purchase
This was one of the earlier books I picked a few years ago and I am now seeing why it has taken me a while to read it. Very slow start the lead character Daphne has a family celebration coming up that she dreads. It’s the anniversary that took two members of her family. She tries to avoid it and lives with her boyfriend who shares kids with his ex wife. On an ordinary day she is having some quiet time in a park when an old lady claims the people she is with are trying to rob her. Daphne is reluctant to get involved.

On discussing this with her boyfriend to settle her fears he rings the police. She feels she is not being taken seriously, so she decides to get involved. Then a whole catalogue of drama ensues with Daphne pursuing things and taking matters into her own hands.

A very frustrating book the best part for me happened at the end of the book. It just seemed to take a long time to get there.
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Kindle Customer
4.0 out of 5 stars Entertaining read
Reviewed in Australia on July 9, 2016
Verified Purchase
Really enjoyed this. Something different in story line
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FHO
3.0 out of 5 stars Light reading
Reviewed in Australia on December 15, 2018
Verified Purchase
A light read, but not particularly well written. At times wanted to give up on it. Finally finished it. Perhaps needed to tie things up better.
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M. jackson
3.0 out of 5 stars The book starts with an intriguing premise. See something suspicious in the park but don't intervene , doubts creep in - uncerta
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on March 29, 2016
Verified Purchase
This happens to Daphne who already has guilt over her sister's death and father's suicide. She starts to investigate. At this point I was gripped. Then the whole emphasis changed and the story was about her relationships with her partner, his family.
This frustrated me as I was expecting a detective thriller but found myself in a not so imaginative love story - you know the sort - the pair hit problems on the Rocky road to marriage. For me the book lost its way as if the author ran out of ideas and took the easy way out. Maybe the blurb lead me up t he garden path in terms of my expectations but in the end I was disappointed . To me a short novel padded out to the required 300 pages.
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MRS R GARDINER
5.0 out of 5 stars Good Read
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on January 7, 2017
Verified Purchase
I read this without recommendations, just thought I would try it. I was expecting a crime thriller which was to an extent but it is more about a woman's emotional struggle with the death of her father and older sister and her relationship with her long term partner. I like a lot of anticipation in a crime novel but this did not keep me on the edge of my seat.
It is a long book, well written and I may read another by this author .
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