top of page
Writer's pictureShelly Maynard

Fool Her Once | JOanna Elm


Fool Her Once

by Joanna Elm

February 1-28, 2022, Virtual Book Tour



Some killers are born. Others are made.

As a rookie tabloid reporter, Jenna Sinclair made a tragic mistake when she outed Denny Dennison, the illegitimate son of an executed serial killer. So she hid behind her marriage and motherhood. Now, decades later, betrayed by her husband and resented by her teenage daughter, Jenna decides to resurrect her career—and returns to the city she loves.

When her former lover is brutally assaulted outside Jenna’s NYC apartment building, Jenna suspects that Denny has inherited his father’s psychopath gene and is out for revenge. She knows she must track him down before he can harm his next target, her daughter.

Meanwhile, her estranged husband, Zack, fears that her investigative reporting skills will unearth his own devastating secret he’d kept buried in the past.

From New York City to the remote North Fork of Long Island and the murky waters surrounding it, Jenna rushes to uncover the terrible truth about a psychopath and realizes her own investigation may save or destroy her family.


Book Details:

Genre: Thriller (Domestic) Published by: CamCat Books Publication Date: March 1st, 2022 Number of Pages: 416 ISBN: 0744304938 (ISBN13: 9780744304930) Purchase Links: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Goodreads | BookShop.org | CamCat Books


My Thoughts:

Joanna Elm will grip you from the first few pages into this domestic thriller that checkmarks every aspect of the genre. Secrets, disturbances, and tension all plague the pages as we unfold Jenna's story.


For me, I typically want to like a hero/heroine -- EXCEPT in a domestic thriller. Jenna fulfills exactly what I'm looking for. A character I can have a love/hate relationship with throughout the book. Because let's face it. It's that aspect that truly adds to the idea of this being a "domestic" thriller versus a general thriller. Jenna isn't overly likable to me. She's good at her job, but her sense of entitlement, air of arrogance, and cattish attitude were not very becoming for her as someone I could see myself liking in the real world. But all of these rolled together made her an excellent reporter/investigator.


The timeline jumps from past to present, letting you slowly build the tension of how the events of the present came to unfold. At times, it was a chill that would settle in as I read. I thoroughly enjoyed that! This twisty novel will have you questioning if you can decipher truth and lies for personal relationships as well as the idea behind killers being made or born with the affliction.


Never having been to the area, I often felt like I could have been at some point and time. The scenery is felt -- not just words on a page. If you want a book to immerse yourself in and come out not being the same, this is it!





About the Author



Joanna Elm is an author, journalist, blogger and an attorney. Before publication of her first two suspense novels (Scandal, Tor/Forge 1996); (Delusion, Tor/Forge/1997), she was an investigative journalist on the London Evening News on Fleet Street in the U.K. She also wrote for British magazines like Woman’s Own.

Then, she moved to New York where she worked as a writer/producer for television news and tabloid TV programs like A Current Affair. She was also the researcher/writer for WNEW-TV’s Emmy-award winning documentary Irish Eyes. In 1980, she joined the Star as a reporter, eventually becoming the magazine’s news editor and managing editor before moving to Philadelphia as editor of the news/features section of TV Guide.

After completing her first two novels while living in South Florida, (Nelson DeMille described Scandal as “fresh, original and unpredictable”) Joanna returned to New York, enrolled in law school, graduated summa cum laude, passed the NY Bar exam and worked as principal law clerk for an appellate division justice in the prestigious First Department. She has been married to husband Joe for 35 years, and has one son.


Catch Up With Joanna Elm:



This is a giveaway hosted by Partners in Crime Virtual Book Tours for Joanna Elm and CamCat Books. See the widget for entry terms and conditions. Void where prohibited.



Follow the Book Tour!



1件のコメント


Wendy Barrows
Wendy Barrows
2022年2月22日

Great review! Thanks. :-) It sounds like I might have to add this to my wish list!

いいね!
bottom of page