This is part of the Joanne Kilbourn book series. It is the 21 st one.

I had not read anything else in this series but I did not feel it couldn’t be read as a stand alone. The recapping of the family history explained all I needed to know.

Libby Hogarth, a lawyer of the rich and famous, comes to town and delivers a speech after representing an alleged rapist.

She is threatened by many people and is eventually murdered

You also get to know the family and I think it would be interesting to read the earlier volumes in the series to see how everything had developed over time.

I enjoyed this audiobook and believe this would be a great series to read.

I forgot about this series! I got an ARC of another book in this series and this one reminded me how much I love the series! This one does not disappoint! I really love how the family really loves each other, cares for each other, and supports each other. They also bring non-blood people into their lives and treat and love them like family. That is my favorite aspect of these characters. Throw in some murder and some smart peeps to solve it and it's my idea of heaven!!

#WhatsPastIsPrologue
#NetGalley

I didn’t realize this was part of a series when I first requested it. The author gives a lot of back story, so it didn’t bother me, but would have probably been a more enjoyable listen if I had known the characters better. This was quite a tame story, more tell than show.
Recommended for readers of the Joanne Kilborn series.

Thank you to Netgalley and ECW Press Audio for allowing me to listen to an advance copy of this book.
I have read or listened to the last six Joanne Kilbourne books written by Gail Bowen. I really like them. They are not my normal cup of tea. Joanne is married to a lawyer who is paralyzed from the waist down. They have an adopted daughter. They live in a small town in Canada where, if these books are any indication, bad shit happens alot. There are many books before the last six that detail Joanne's history. The reader doesn't really need to know that in order to enjoy the books but it's fun to have the same characters appear in each book and the reader gets to watch them grow and change.

There are no psychological dilemmas in these books. Joanne and her family are nice people. Believably nice people. They are Canadian after all. Joanne is the "detective' who ends up solving the murder or murders that happen in every book.

This book was interesting in that it addressed the #metoo question. And raised the question many people have asked. When and how do you know if someone is lying for revenge? Ms. Bowen did her best to weave a good story and add these difficult questions not to mention that women in general don't want to talk about violations.
I think she was brave to take this on. I didn't need her to answer any questions. I think she is a good story teller and I like a good story.

ARC audiobook provided in exchange for an honest review.

The narrator of this audiobook was fantastic! Regrettably, I didn’t know this was part of a much larger series but I enjoyed it none the less. I felt like all the characters were well developed and I didn’t feel like I was missing too much information from the previous book that would have altered my enjoyment of this story. I would definitely recommend if you’ve read the other books first, but even if you haven’t, there’s a character summary at the beginning of the book that really helps.

Thanks to NetGalley, ECW Press Audio and Gail Bowen for the opportunity to review an advance copy of WHAT’S PAST IS PROLOGUE audio. I found this book to be rather a serious discourse narrative about a rape case and an ensuing suicide by the perpetrator, as discussed by a family of attorneys and a university professor. The plethora of characters was announced at the beginning of the book. A murder occurred about 70% into the novel but as far as I could tell, was not of paramount importance overall. This was difficult to retain attention to because it wasn’t narrated like a story but more like a textbook.

I gave up on this without reading too much; it just did not manage to hold my attention. There was just way too much explaining, as well as stilted dialogue.

What’s Past Is Prologue by Gail Bowen
Narrator, Marcia Johnson
This is book 21 in a long running series. I have read most but not all of the preceding books. This one was a minor letdown for me but because I love the series so much, I cannot really give it a bad review. There did seem to be several references to things that happened in previous books so this would not be a good place to start this series and it really would not read well as a standalone. Also if you are looking for a rip roaring murder mystery, be aware that the murder does not take place till the book is almost 2/3 finished.
As to the narrator, nobody likes it when a new narrator comes on board after listening to someone as the voice of these books for so many years. I just could not enjoy the narration very much. It is also annoying when a narrator mispronounces the name of a character who is mentioned several times. Lena is pronounced Leena, not Linna.
I am still reading some of the mid series books and will continue to do so but this was not my favorite.