Saturday, June 27, 2020

About the Book

Book: The Green Dress

Author: Liz Tolsma

Genre: Christian Historical Suspense

Release Date: June 2020

Death Seems to Follow Harriet’s New Friend

Book 6 in the True Colors series—Fiction Based on Strange-But True History

When Harriet Peters came to Boston in 1882, the Robinson family took her in like one of their own, and Harriet became closer to Lizzie Robinson than her own siblings. Now, four years later, Lizzie is deathly sick, failing quickly just like several others in her family have done over the past few years. How can so many in one family die from the same mysterious illness? Harriet doesn’t have answers, but she is determined to help the family, bringing in a new-to-the-neighborhood doctor, Michael Wheaton.
As Harriet and Michael close in on the answer, putting their own lives at risk, can the cause be found before anyone else dies?

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MY REVIEW

I am enjoying this series that lets readers into a world of crime and what it might have been like to be there when it happened. This story was particularly interesting to me because of the weapon of choice to murder. It is a slow and painful way to die.

Harriet is overwhelmed when she learns her dear friend becomes very ill. It was unnerving to learn other members of the family had died much the same way. Every time I read that someone had become ill I knew what was about to happen. The author does an amazing job of detailing the deaths and leaving a trail of suspects. The historical period was very vivid and I felt myself travel make in time to stand beside Harriet.

It was eerie to read that Mrs. Robinson continues to sew on a green dress. I had to find out what the significance the dress was to the story. I needed to know why Mrs. Robinson had premonitions about the deaths. It was a little weird that she thought her dead husband had something to do with the mystery. The story gave me chills as I continued to read. The author keeps her readers interested with subtle hints of the mystery and what the green dress had to do with everything. The ending is a shocker and be prepared to say “I didn’t see that coming.”

"I received a complimentary copy of this book from Barbour Publishing and Celebrate Lit. I was under no obligation to post a review."

About the Author

Liz Tolsma is a popular speaker and an editor and the owner of the Write Direction Editing. An almost-native Wisconsinite, she resides in a quiet corner of the state with her husband and is the mother of three. Her son proudly serves as a U.S. Marine. They adopted all of their children internationally, and one has special needs. When she gets a few spare minutes, she enjoys reading, relaxing on the front porch, walking, working in her large perennial garden, and camping with her family.

More from Liz

We’ve all been there—started a letter or an email or even a list, didn’t like what we had, crossed it out or hit the delete button, and tried again. Now imagine that happening when you’re writing a novel.

That’s what occurred with The Green Dress. Finding the perfect place to start a novel can be tricky, but when you’re trying to balance fact with fiction, it’s even harder. I needed the fictional heroine, Harriet Peters, to have a good reason to come into contact with and become close to the factual Robinson family. And I needed for the hero, Michael Wheaton, to meet Harriet early on. So I dove into the story. Five chapters later, the hero and heroine hadn’t yet met. The book wasn’t working.

I scrapped those chapters and started at a different point. At first, it seemed to be going better. I was happy. Until I got to the fifth chapter, when I realized again that the book wasn’t working. Frankly, it was boring. So those ended up in the virtual trash bin. Meanwhile, the clock was ticking on my deadline. I was desperate to find the right starting point, at a place with high tension. Finally, I had an “aha” moment, and the story flowed from there. That’s how the first five chapters (and the rest of The Green Dress) came to be.

—Liz Tolsma