Graven Images

by Nancy Mehl

Cally Jo McAllister was only four years old when her mother was murdered. As her mother's body lay sprawled on the floor of their once happy home, Cally cowered in fear, hidden by the darkness... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1588515958
• ISBN13: 9781588515957
• Release Date: October 2001
• Publisher: Publish America
• Length: 200 Pages
• Weight: 0.75 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.5" x 6.0" x 9.0"

Customer Reviews

Thriller and Love Story

Nancy Mehl grabs the reader in the very first scene of Graven Images, when the state calls Cally Jo McAllister, an eight-year-old child, as a witness in the murder of her own mother. Cally, with the counsel of child psychologist Lily Sinclair, describes the man she saw next to her mother's bloody body. This man, Albert Boone, is the custodian of the church the family attends.The next chapter takes us to Cally McAllister, the young adult and student, who is paying her own way through college. To do this, Cally uses her artistic talent to draw pictures of the perpetrators of violent crimes. She wants to help people who have suffered what she did. She is also somewhat shy, though she has a warm friendship with Police Sergeant Dan Christopher. Except for Cally's friendship with Lily Sinclair, the psychologist who helped her through her childhood trauma, Lily's husband Dell, and Dan, Cally has few friends. Her only family member is her father, Jack McAllister, with whom she shares a troubled relationship. Although he was once a successful businessman, he lives a bitter and reclusive life. The reader learns early in the novel that Jack's previous generosity and love of life died with his wife, and that he guards a terrible secret.Cally's life begins to change. A kind woman is interested in her father and a nightmare that Cally hasn't had since childhood returns to her, but it is evolving. Cally is convinced that her subconscious is trying to tell her something she missed years ago about her mother's death. Cally turns to Lily, her oldest and dearest friend. Cally also meets a handsome young lawyer who falls head over heels in love with her, but the reader, unlike Cally, knows that Dan Christopher loves her, too. Mehl moves her novel into high gear as Cally begins to unravel some of the secrets kept by the people closest to her. She finds that her father has kept her childhood home, the house where her mother was murdered, and she is convinced that she needs to return to these familiar rooms to figure out what the dream is trying to tell her. Mehl draws her readers into a web of conflicting and entwined motives with break-neck speed. It's a good thing Graven Images isn't a long book, or I wouldn't have made it to work one day. The end is satisfying and ultimately tender and warm-hearted. I'll be looking for Nancy Mehl's next book.

Two for the price of one

Nancy Mehl's Graven Images is really two parallel stories, A murder mystery and a love story. The tales are equally compelling and masterfully crafted, complimenting each other throughout the book. Cally Jo McAllister, police sketch artist, is haunted by the cloudy childhood memory of her mother's murder. It was her testimony that sealed the fate of the man accused of this heinous crime, and now a recurring nightmare has Cally questioning her own remembrance. Her struggle to discover the truth, leads Cally into harms way. A dedicated police sergeant does his best to conceal his powerful feelings for Cally, and a handsome attorney openly pursues her heart while harboring a dark secret of his own. This book is full of surprises and it defies your attempts to predict the outcome. It's a great read with vividly drawn characters and a fast pace. The subject matter is intense but very well handled by the author. I would highly recommend this book to a wide audience ranging from young adult to seniors.

Mesmerizing!

Nancy Mehl is an artist of the highest quality. Her story is extremely well crafted, her character development superb and her plot so full of mazes, you'll at time feel like a pretzel.A beautiful young wife is murdered right before the eyes of her young daughter but the killer doesn't know she sits in the shadows watching him. Led by a series of nightmares and with the help of a sensitive and caring psychiatrist seven year old Cally is able to draw the face of her mother's killer. This enables the justice system to prosecute and convict him.Fast forward and Cally is now grown up and a young college student, who works part time for the police department as a sketch artist putting faces to descriptions given by crime victims. Cally meets and falls in love with a young defense attorney who likes to study transcripts of old trials. After giving him the transcripts of her mother's trial the clever young man uncovers enough inconsistencies to cast doubt on the original conviction.From there Cally is faced with a series of what ifs. What if the man convicted of her mother's murder and who later dies in prison, wasn't the man who really killed her mother? As Cally begins to share her doubts, someone becomes concerned enough to want her dead.The nightmares return. Two young men are in love with her, but what if one of the young men wants her dead? Her father has withdrawn himself from her, a bitter, hateful old man but what if the face in the nightmare she can't make out is that of her father. What if it was her father who killed her mother?Their old pastor, a kindly man and a man who had been counseling her mother just before her murder, suddenly expresses an interest in Cally's reoccurring nightmares. What if the good pastor is actually a murderer?No one is above suspicion. Do for yourself a fun thing and buy this book. You'll feel like you've run a marathon and if you're successful at figuring out this who done it before the climax, you can give yourself a star because you'll have proven beyond any doubts you're a first class sleuth. Ain't gonna happen. LOLJonathan David MastersReviewer(...)

Compelling! Solid!

A solid, compelling mystery. Nancy Mehl is a talented storyteller. She knows how to grab onto a reader's attention and then demand complete attention. Graven Images is the kind of puzzle that has enough pieces to make it challenging, enough pieces to keep you guessing, enough pieces to so that a finished sketch is apparent, but the picture is far from decipherable until the end. When Cally Jo McCallister is just four years old she witnesses her mother being murdered. Through intensive therapy sessions she can see the killer's face. Her artistic ability allows her to sketch the face of the killer. The murderer is apprehended, before being sent to jail, he dies. Cally grows up, working part time as a police sketch artist while putting herself through school earning a psychology degree. When attempts are made on her life, and nightmares from her past once again begin to plague her dreams, Cally questions whether or not the man arrested for murdering her mother was the one responsible. Mehl seems to easily draw up a cast of believable characters. She manages to make each one real and three-dimensional. You care about the ones she wants you to care about and are suspicious of those she wants you to spend time wondering about. Like Alfred Hitchcock, Mehl can deliver a surprisingly unexpected twist and only then does it make complete sense.Having been fortunate enough to read Mehl's novel, Sinner's Song, I knew what I'd be getting myself into when I started reading Graven Images. A few days of neglecting everything but her story. Mehl is a talented mystery novelist. Her talent as a writer is well honed. She knows how to pace and build suspense. Graven Images is one of the best mysteries I have read all year. --Phillip Tomasso III, author of Third Ring & Tenth House

An exciting mystery!

I really enjoyed this mystery! Cally Jo is a Police sketch artist who is haunted by a nightmare from the past. As a child she witnessed her mother's murder, and her testimony put the suspect in jail. Now, years later, she begins to doubt her memories of the event. She finds herself confronting her own past, and slowly realizes that someone does not want her to uncover the truth - and is willing to kill her to prevent it.This is a gripping, many-layered mystery of psychological trauma, families torn apart by violent crime, and Cally Jo's quest for truth and love in a dangerous world. I found the characters coming alive in my mind. I recommend it highly for all mystery fans.