Review: Echoes on the Wind by Helaine Mario

Today I'm so excited to bring you my thoughts on Helaine Mario's, Echoes on the Wind, #4 in her Maggie O'Shea series. Helaine has fast become a must read for me and if you read her you'd think the same.
Enjoy!

ASIN: B0CW1HCWPZ
Publisher: Suncoast Publishing
Release Date: 6-21-2024
Length: 364pp
Source: Author/Publisher for review
Buy It: Amazon/ B&N/ IndieBound

ADD TO: GOODREADS

Overview:

TWO STRONG WOMEN, GENERATIONS APART, CONNECTED BY MUSIC…

In 1943 war-torn France, a young woman on the Night Train to Paris has a chance meeting with two very different men who will change her life, setting in motion a Dual Timeline story that will resonate like ripples on water for generations to come.

Many years later, classical pianist Maggie O’Shea is drawn to Brittany by a long-lost letter from her Grandmother Clair and the memory-stirring music of Chopin. But before Maggie can discover the secrets of her past, a ruthless killer named Dane re-appears in her life, threatening her upcoming wedding and those she loves.

Set against the backdrop of the international music world, Maggie will learn her Grandmother’s story, chord by chord, through Chopin’s Preludes. She will face a final confrontation with Dane. And, in one shocking moment, her love story will take a heart-breaking turn that will change her life and echo into her future.

Past and present converge in this haunting tale of loss and sacrifice, friendship and family, courage and survival – and the transcendent power of hope, music, and love.

My Review:

Echoes on the Wind
Maggie O’Shea #4
Helaine Mario

 

Echoes on the Wind is so much more than a romantic suspense or historical novel, it’s a literary treasure to be read and re-read, to be gifted and to be shared. Set in the dual timelines of present day and WWII France Helaine Mario paints a haunting picture of the French occupation, of what normal citizens had to do to survive the horrors of the Nazis and how some of those citizens went above and beyond to save the world. And in the present, she catches fans up on the goings on of Maggie, the musician, the bride to be, the woman stalked by a madman. And through it all she manages to tell a beautiful atmospheric story weaving music into every page, bringing her vibrant eclectic characters to life and investing her readers into it all so that they become immersed in her beautiful words. The novel could be read as a stand-alone but reading the Maggie O’Shea novels in order will fill in all the blanks.

Echoes on the Wind finds Maggie once again steeped in music, mystery and mayhem. As Maggie awaits her upcoming nuptials to Beckett and become a part of his family consisting of his three-legged dog and his ward Dov, she learns she inherited a cottage in Brittany from her French maternal grandmother Clair, a woman Maggie never met. Maggie decides to go to Brittany to claim her inheritance and learn more about her grandmother and while in France Maggie learns about her grandmother’s life during WWII, her losses, her sacrifices and her love of Chopin’s Preludes. But Maggie also learns that her maniacal nemesis Dane is still alive and still pursuing her and she’s determined to keep him away from her loved ones back in the states. But by now Maggie should also know that Beckett will not leave her in danger.

 

A brief personal note: Since losing my husband six months ago my love of reading left me, but Echoes on the Wind brought it back. Thank you, Helaine.

Editorial Reviews:

"Mario has once again hit all the right notes with Shadow Music, drawing the reader into a landscape of art and music... using a tuning fork of spine-tingling suspense."
-Sandra Brown, New York Times best-selling author

"Gripping, intense, and lyrical, Shadow Music is a heartbreaking journey wrapped in a page-turning mystery. Ruthless greed, devastating courage, long-lost secrets-and a riveting ending that's a crescendo of emotional realization, deep understanding, and haunting inspiration."
-Hank Phillippi Ryan, USA Today best-selling author

"Music is not just backdrop here but also a character that permeates Maggie's life... bolstered by the transformative power of classical music, Maggie finds what has been lost, including herself. Brava!"
-Library Journal (Starred Review)

"From Manhattan and Washington to Vienna and Salzburg, Dark Rhapsody by Helaine Mario takes the reader on a suspense-rich journey into a violent collision of the worlds of lost art, famous musicians, and international politics. Mario writes with the soul of a poet, painting her characters and scenes with deft touches of insight and wit. Her heroine, Maggie O'Shea, will burrow into your heart. Dark Rhapsody is that rare novel―a story that's a page-turner and a deeply felt character study."
―Gayle Lynds, New York Times best-selling author

 

About the Author:

Best-selling author Helaine Mario grew up in NYC and is a graduate of Boston University. Now living in Arlington, VA, this mother of two, grandmother of five, and passionate advocate for women’s and children’s issues came to writing later in life. Her first novel, The Lost Concerto, won the Benjamin Franklin Award Silver Medal. Echoes on the Wind is her fifth novel and the fourth in her Maggie O’Shea Classical Music Suspense Series. Royalties from her books go to children’s music and reading programs. Helaine recently lost her husband, Ron, after 57 years together. Her new book echoes with loss, grief and, ultimately, the healing power of love.

A personal note to my readers,
There is a lovely quote that says, “Happiness is finding the first good book in a series, and knowing there are more to follow.”
If you want to learn my pianist Maggie O’Shea’s story from the beginning, then begin with THE LOST CONCERTO. DARK RHAPSODY and SHADOW MUSIC follow. ECHOES ON THE WIND, newly available summer 2024, is #4 in my award-winning Classical Music Suspense series. Each story comes from my heart.
My only stand alone is FIREBIRD, a novel of espionage, art, dance and enduring love.
In all of my books, the emotional heartbeat is a strong woman. It's been said that my books are like music. They take you on a journey, they tell a story, they make you feel something. More than anything, I want my readers to fall into the story, to care about the characters. I want them to ask, What would I have done? While there are too many moments in life that we cannot change or control, I know that it’s how we deal with what happens to us that matters. This always will be a theme in my novels.
I like to say that 'Music tells our stories." I want to be a storyteller forever. Beyond grateful.