REVIEW: The Dead Key

The Dead Key
Author: D.M. Pulley

Iris Latch is unhappy in her new job at a Cleveland engineering firm. She's always been a bit lazy, a bit lackluster.....and now that she's graduated from college and has student loans to pay, she isn't enjoying her adult life at all. She gets handed grunt work to do....and hates it. Then, out of nowhere, she is asked to complete a special project. She is to draw floor plans for the First Bank of Cleveland building. The bank closed 20 years before in 1978 after a scandal of some sort involving safe deposit boxes and incomplete banking records. Iris has no idea when she enters the dusty time capsule of dusty marble and gold trim that a young bank employee stumbled on a crime so big that it imploded some of the wealthiest families in Cleveland and ruined The First Bank of Cleveland. A crime so big that it is still very dangerous to go poking around the dark, closed building. Beatrice in 1978 and Iris in 1998 will share in the fear very, very soon, even if they are 20 years apart in time.

This is such a suspenseful and interesting story!! I listened to the audiobook, narrated by Emily Sutton-Smith, and the details are so vivid that I could imagine being in that dusty, dark creepy bank building. I don't usually like stories that jump back and forth in time, but both main characters and the storylines are so well crafted that it was seamless. The time jumps just heightened the suspense, rather than making the plot confusing. I felt sorry for both women and could imagine how scary both situations would be. The suspense and mystery build until the very last page of this story! Best suspense story I have come across in a long time! The story kept my attention to the very end. Loved it!

The audiobook is just under 14 hours long. It took me several days to listen to the entire story because I didn't want to miss anything! Emily Sutton-Smith read at a nice even pace, and her voice was perfect! I have hearing loss, and sometimes female voices are difficult for me to understand. But I had no problem hearing and understanding this audiobook.

Awesome story!! I am definitely going to read more by D.M. Pulley!