The Green Dress by Liz Tolsma

MY REVIEW:

Each and every book I have read from the True Colors series has been excellent. I have enjoyed the historical tales based on true American crimes. Some of them are almost too strange to believe but it is obvious that the authors have researched their chosen subjects well.

The Green Dress is a somewhat disturbing addition to the series. The story itself is very good with well developed, three dimensional characters who practically leap off the pages of the book. Even the villains of the story showed more than one side of their personalities. The disturbing thing is the very idea that such evil people exist in our world and the depths of their lack of conscience and depravity. The fact that the story is based on a true crime is indeed unthinkable.

I tend to enjoy suspenseful novels. The Green Dress contained just the right touch of mystery and suspense to hold my interest and keep me turning the pages. I found Harriet and Michael to be perfect heroes with their loyalty, determination to find the truth, and resolve to help. It was not too much of a surprise when the truth was exposed but satisfaction that the horror had been stopped. I found it particularly interesting when the role of the green dress was revealed.

I highly recommend The Green Dress as well as the entire True Colors series. I don’t intend to miss a single book in the series.

I voluntarily reviewed a copy of this book provided by Celebrate Lit. A favorable review was not required. All views expressed are my own.

ABOUT THE BOOK:

Book: The Green Dress

Author: Liz Tolsma

Genre: Christian Historical Suspense

Release Date: June 2020

Click here to get your copy!

Death Seems to Follow Harriet’s New Friend

Book 6 in the True Colors series—Fiction Based on Strange-But True History

When Harriet Peters came to Boston in 1882, the Robinson family took her in like one of their own, and Harriet became closer to Lizzie Robinson than her own siblings. Now, four years later, Lizzie is deathly sick, failing quickly just like several others in her family have done over the past few years. How can so many in one family die from the same mysterious illness? Harriet doesn’t have answers, but she is determined to help the family, bringing in a new-to-the-neighborhood doctor, Michael Wheaton.

As Harriet and Michael close in on the answer, putting their own lives at risk, can the cause be found before anyone else dies?

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Liz Tolsma is a popular speaker and an editor and the owner of the Write Direction Editing. An almost-native Wisconsinite, she resides in a quiet corner of the state with her husband and is the mother of three. Her son proudly serves as a U.S. Marine. They adopted all of their children internationally, and one has special needs. When she gets a few spare minutes, she enjoys reading, relaxing on the front porch, walking, working in her large perennial garden, and camping with her family.

MORE FROM LIZ:

We’ve all been there—started a letter or an email or even a list, didn’t like what we had, crossed it out or hit the delete button, and tried again. Now imagine that happening when you’re writing a novel.

That’s what occurred with The Green Dress. Finding the perfect place to start a novel can be tricky, but when you’re trying to balance fact with fiction, it’s even harder. I needed the fictional heroine, Harriet Peters, to have a good reason to come into contact with and become close to the factual Robinson family. And I needed for the hero, Michael Wheaton, to meet Harriet early on. So I dove into the story. Five chapters later, the hero and heroine hadn’t yet met. The book wasn’t working.

I scrapped those chapters and started at a different point. At first, it seemed to be going better. I was happy. Until I got to the fifth chapter, when I realized again that the book wasn’t working. Frankly, it was boring. So those ended up in the virtual trash bin. Meanwhile, the clock was ticking on my deadline. I was desperate to find the right starting point, at a place with high tension. Finally, I had an “aha” moment, and the story flowed from there. That’s how the first five chapters (and the rest of The Green Dress) came to be.

—Liz Tolsma