Review
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Title: Fool Me Twice
Author: Stephanie Black
Publisher: Covenant Communications
Genre: Fiction
Year Published: 2008
Number of Pages: 293
Binding: Paperback
ISBN: 978-1-59811-527-7
Price: $15.95

Reviewed by Karen Hamilton

Life in small town Morris Glen is anything but exciting. Megan O’Conner has put her dreams on hold to “help” her mother after becoming a widow. This is proving to be much more involved than she had anticipated. Between the constant interference and expectations of the townspeople and her mother's emotional manipulation, Megan finds it very difficult to get her life going and to start down the path to fulfilling her dreams.

When Kristen, her identical twin sister, shows up, it is an unexpected surprise. Kristen arrives with a whirlwind of change, opportunity and manipulation. Kristen has always been able to manipulate Megan into participating in her schemes. Kristen is the outgoing daredevil of the two, while Megan is the sweet and obedient twin. Kristen is not shy about voicing her opinion of Megan’s life, “So she (mother) could pin me to the wall and torture me with lectures on how heartless I am and why am I not like darling Megan who doesn’t mind having Mommy’s apron strings knotted around her neck?” (p.19)This leads to Megan defending her choices and Kristen pointing out all she has lost while she has been the dutiful daughter.

Kristen has “discovered” an elderly Aunt Evelyn, who is dying and has decided to leave her money to Kristen. Aunt Evelyn wants Kristen to move in and take care of her in the final months of her life. Kristen puts together a scheme where she is willing to split the money that she will inherit with Megan, if Megan will agree to move in with Aunt Evelyn and pretend to be Kristen. This includes knowing who, what, where and how Kristen has been doing things for the last several months. Megan agrees and is given all the information that she will need to assume her sister’s life.

As Megan begins her life as Kristen everything isn’t as it seems. There are little things that nag at her mind, conscience and heart. Megan keeps pushing them to the back and ignoring them, so that she can finally earn Kristen’s approval. The voices of her doubts abruptly become louder when she finds a folder all about her life in Morris Glen. What is it doing in Britteridge? Who put it together and how does Megan fit into this plot? Now Megan needs to figure out who is manipulating who and how to stop a murder from happening without having all the information that is needed to do this daunting task.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I was trying to keep up and figure out what was happening. This is a keeper and a great introduction to the mystery genre. As I look for books for my daughter to read, this is one that I can give her and know that she will enjoy it. Fool me Twice is a book that will appeal to a wide range of reading ages.