Call Me Carmela

As a book reviewer, I received a copy of this book for free from the publisher or author to facilitate this review. I received no other compensation, and all opinions are always 100% my own.

Dot Meyerhoff is a police psychologist in the Northern California town of Kenilworth, and she’s already got more than enough on her plate when her friend, Fran, asks for her help with her god-daughter Ava. Ava was adopted at birth, and now that she’s 18 she’s managed to track down her birth mother. Unfortunately, this has exposed cracks in her adopted family’s relationships, and Ava has run away to Fran’s. Co-owner of a popular local diner and a police widow herself, Fran has maintained friendships with a lot of the local policeman, including Ava’s adopted dad.

Dot finds Ava to be strong-minded and determined to find the truth, no matter who it hurts. In fact, Ava expects to be the one who is hurt. But when Dot and Ava meet with Ava’s birth mother Iliana, they find a different story, one that is going to end up with Ava looking at old friends in new ways. Soon they’re entangled in details of alcoholism and bullying, adoptions that were barely legal, rape followed by threats of deportation, corrupt policemen, and shattered lives. One thing is clear: for Ava to know and tell the truth, a lot of lives may be irrevocably changed.

Call Me Carmela is a gripping read. Ava’s single-minded determination and courage calls out the best in both her birth mother and adoptive mother. Dot is calm but tough, successfully managing to speak wisdom into disparate situations. I enjoyed this book! Recommended!

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Author Bio:

Ellen Kirschman, Ph.D. is a police psychologist. and clinician at the First Responders Support Network. She is a member of the International Association of Chiefs of Police, The American Psychological Association, Mystery Writers of America, Sisters in Crime, and the Public Safety Writers Association. She is the recipient of the California Psychological Association’s award for distinguished contribution to psychology as well as the American Psychological Association’s award for outstanding contribution to the practice of police and public safety psychology. Ellen brings her expertise and decades-long experience to both fiction and non-fiction. She is the author of three non-fiction books and a five-book mystery series featuring police psychologist Dot Meyerhoff.