Do You Remember?

HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN: DON’T even get me started. How many times a a day do I use my landline to call my cell phone because I cannot remember where I put it? Oh, I can remember all the lyrics to Beatles songs, but the person’s name who comes up to me at a cocktail party? NO way. (That’s one good pandemic thing, right? No more of those stomach-churning moments when your mind goes blank in public. There IS no public!)

 But see? I remembered to post his blog today—because I absolutely adore Tessa Wegert. (And her books, too, which you can see from the cover of her brand new THE DEAD SEASON!) SO let’s think about memory a bit. 

And so you don’t forget to leave a comment, we’ll give a copy of Tessa’s first novel, DEATH IN THE FAMILY, to one lucky commenter. Her new book—don’t forget—go get that right away. Well, read this first.

 Remember When… Mysteries and Thrillers About Memory Loss 

 By Tessa Wegert 

 Remember when…? 

 That’s probably a line you’re using a lot this time of year. Remember when we spent the holidays in Mexico? Remember that time we got snowed in and the whole neighborhood pitched in to shovel? I think it’s fair to say we sometimes take the significance of the phrase remember when for granted. 

Memory is one of those things we don’t appreciate until it fails us. Only then do we fully understand the critical function it plays in our lives. 

 As a plot device, memory loss is sometimes associated with Hollywood movies and soap operas. Is there a long-running drama series that hasn’t seen a character suffer from amnesia? While the treatment of memory loss in fiction can sometimes be a bit heavy-handed, authors with a deft touch – like the two I mention below – can use it to tell wholly original and compelling stories.

 

In White Out , the latest thriller from Danielle Girard, the story begins with Lily Baker regaining consciousness in a car after surviving a crash. There’s a man next to her whom she can’t place. 

Even more alarming, she can’t recall who she is. 

 At the same time, not far away in small North Dakota town, war veteran Iver Larson wakes up from a drunken stupor without a full recollection of the previous night’s events. When a murder victim is found outside the bar he owns, and Detective Kylie Milliard begins to investigate, his hazy memory only makes him more suspicious.

 Memory features prominently in White Out. It shapes the plot and helps build suspense, of which this book has plenty – but it also connects two characters besieged with doubt and struggling to make sense of their lives. 

 As the title suggests, memory loss also factors into Wendy Walker’s psychological thriller All is Not Forgotten .

Following a violent attack, high schooler Jenny Kramer is given a drug designed to medically expunge her memory of the painful experience. Instead of fully protecting Jenny from psychological trauma, though, the drug prevents her from moving on with her life. 

 All is Not Forgotten is narrated by Jenny’s psychiatrist, a man with secrets and troubles of his own, and we learn more and more about that fated night as the novel progresses. Memory becomes the linchpin of a chilling story that explores the emotional impact of memories. 

 In my new book The Dead Season , the second mystery in the Shana Merchant Series that began with Death in the Family, Shana’s inability to accurately recall key moments from her childhood threatens to obstruct an urgent investigation. 

When she gets involved in two cases that hit close to home, remembering experiences she shares with a dangerous man becomes critical to outsmarting him. 

 I used memory as a tool to put my protagonist in a vulnerable position and set the stage for a confrontation with the killer who haunts her days. The onus falls on Shana to rescue an innocent child, but in order to do that she has to revisit painful moments from her past. 

 Some of my favorite mysteries and thrillers feature memory as a theme, from Tana French’s In the Woods to Robert Ludlum’s The Bourne Identity. Which books incorporating memory loss have you enjoyed? Share your comments below, and I hope you make many joyful new memories this holiday season! 

 HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN: Memory is SUCH a tricky thing, so agree! Just ask me weather I took my calcium pill today. NO idea. Or even what day it is! Can you think of a book where someone loses their memory? Or where memory is an issue? And can you tell me where I put my glasses?

 Remember—leave a comment to enter to win! 

 THE DEAD SEASON 

 Senior Investigator Shana Merchant has spent years running from her past. But she never imagined a murder case would drive her to the most dangerous place of all—home. After leaving the NYPD following her abduction by serial killer Blake Bram, Shana Merchant hoped for a fresh start in the Thousand Islands of Upstate New York. 

Her former tormentor has other plans. Shana and Bram share more than just a hometown, and he won’t let her forget it. 

When the decades-old skeleton of Shana’s estranged uncle is uncovered, Bram issues a challenge: Return home to Vermont and solve the cold case, or the blood he spills next will be on her hands. As Shana interviews members of her family and the community, mining for secrets that could help her solve her uncle’s murder, she begins to realize how little she remembers of her childhood. 

And when Bram grows impatient and kidnaps again, leaving a trail of clues Shana alone can understand, she knows his new victim will only survive if she wins the psychopath’s twisted game. In order to solve one mystery, Shana must wade into her murky past to unravel another. 

Tessa Wegert is the author of Death in the Family and The Dead Season, part of the Shana Merchant series of mysteries. A Canadian-born former freelance writer whose work appeared in Forbes, The Huffington Post, Adweek, and The Economist, Tessa now lives with her husband and children in Coastal Connecticut.