Compelled


Fiction - Mystery - Sleuth
303 Pages
Reviewed on 09/03/2016
Buy on Amazon

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Author Biography

Inge-Lise Goss was born in Denmark, raised in Utah, and now lives in the foothills of Red Rock Canyon with her husband and their dog, Bran. She spends most of her time in her den writing stories. There, with her muse by her side, her imagination has no boundaries, and her dreams come alive. When she’s not pounding away on the keyboard, she can be found reading, rowing, or trying to perfect her golf game, which she fears is a lost cause.

    Book Review

Reviewed by Jack Magnus for Readers' Favorite

Compelled is a private investigator mystery novel written by Inge-Lise Goss. Sidney was fit and healthy, so her sudden attack in the middle of the night came as a total surprise. The agonizing tightness of every muscle in her chest and difficulty in breathing had her convinced she was having a heart attack. Chas, her husband, made the call and the EMS rushed her to the nearest Nassau County, Long Island, hospital, but the doctors found nothing wrong with her heart or any other physical system in her body. No one could explain the pain that remorselessly coursed through her body. Bernice was a medium in Florida whose dreams were nightly punctuated by the screams of a woman who kept on repeating a man’s name. When she was discussing the problem with a friend, she was visited by a woman’s spirit who claimed her husband, Aden, was innocent and told Bernice she needed Sidney to help her. Contacting Sidney, a Nassau County police officer and former CIA agent, was Bernice’s desperate attempt to help her ghostly visitor and get some sleep. Wracked with pain and worry over her health, Sidney’s first inclination was to ignore the pleadings of the strange female caller, but then she discovered that her pain eased when she spoke to Bernice. It seemed like she would have to solve the mystery of Aden and his wife’s murder or be doomed to a lifetime of agonizing pain.

Inge-Lise Goss’s contemporary paranormal sleuth mystery novel, Compelled, is a taut and absorbing story that follows a former CIA agent’s attempt to find the murderer of a San Diego woman. Goss weaves tantalizing traces of the paranormal throughout this well-told tale as Sidney travels to San Diego and tries to piece together a puzzling and complex crime that makes little sense, with the help of Sam, a local private investigator. Aden and Mara were deeply in love and had two children, in spite of their recent crisis and turmoil over his having had a one-night stand with a co-worker while away on business. Even Mara’s parents are certain Aden would not kill his wife. Sidney is a multi-faceted and highly competent sleuth whose combination of brains, ingenuity and superb physical conditioning make her a match for anyone. Goss’s plot includes numerous blind alleys and red herrings for mystery lovers to mull over as they try to figure out the identity of the killer. Compelled is well-written, suspenseful and action-packed, and it’s hard to put down. It’s highly recommended.

Arya Fomonyuy

Compelled by Inge-Lise Goss is an unusual investigative novel; intriguing, beautifully paced, and gripping in an all-absorbing sort of way. When Sidney Langston, a New York Detective is rushed to the hospital because of severe chest pains, everyone expects the worst diagnosis. But she’s found to be in perfect health. And then something unusual happens. In San Diego, a woman who looks every bit like the detective is murdered. It happens at the same moment Sidney experiences the chest pains, and it seems the woman is not ready to quit until Detective Langston avenges the wrongful imprisonment of her husband and her death. Can Langston find the killer and heal herself of the invisible wound to her chest?

Compelled is a rare detective story with the worst stakes. The story starts with a bang, the tension mounts to a climax, and the denouement is as exhilarating as the very beginning. The writing is impeccable, the plot laced with surprises that are hard to anticipate. But what will keep the eyes of most readers glued to the pages is the mounting tension and who the protagonist is set against. I loved the suspense, and this disturbing desire to know more. The author will toy with your emotions and tease you while you watch anxiety build up in the lead character. Characters are solid, masterfully created, and carefully developed throughout the story. Inge-Lise Goss has created a winning thriller with characters that readers will care about or hate, but it’s the sense of mystery that permeates the story that I found interesting.

Trudi LoPreto

Sidney Langston is a detective in New York, who is suddenly stricken with chest pains that have doctors puzzled. Mara is a happily married woman living in San Diego, until she is murdered while waiting for her husband to return from a business trip. The two women are linked together as Mara, the ghost, finds Sidney through a medium, and uses Sidney to prove her husband’s innocence in her murder. Sidney quickly realizes that the pain disappears when she agrees to help Mara, and immediately sets off to solve the crime. There are few clues to go on, except those that Mara is able to convey, but Sidney refuses to stop digging until she finds the truth and proves Aden did not murder his wife. The story takes many twists and turns and there are many people involved who could easily be the real killer. This is a forget about your chores, stay up late book that you must read for yourself without any spoilers from this reviewer in order to truly appreciate it.

Compelled is an excellent mystery/sleuth book with a bit of ghostly intrigue. I found it to be everything a mystery book should be and more. Author Inge-Lise Goss gives us characters that are real, and some were likeable while others not so much. I usually shy away from ghost/spiritual type stories, but Compelled was not overdone and the mystery and sleuthing were the main themes for the story with the ghost adding an important element of enjoyment. I urge you to read Compelled because it is definitely a five star plus story.