Thief River Falls

Title: Thief River Falls
Author: Brian Freeman
Published: February 1st 2020 by Thomas & Mercer
Format: Kindle 318 pages
Genre: Suspense

First Sentence: Down, down, down came the rain.

From the Publisher: Lisa Power is a tortured ghost of her former self. The author of a bestselling thriller called Thief River Falls, named after her rural Minnesota hometown, Lisa is secluded in her remote house as she struggles with the loss of her entire family: a series of tragedies she calls the “Dark Star.”

Then a nameless runaway boy shows up at her door with a terrifying story: he’s just escaped death after witnessing a brutal murder—a crime the police want to cover up. Obsessed with the boy’s safety, Lisa resolves to expose this crime, but powerful men in Thief River Falls are desperate to get the boy back, and now they want her too.

Lisa and her young visitor have nowhere to go as the trap closes around them. Still under the strange, unforgiving threat of the Dark Star, Lisa must find a way to save them both, or they’ll become the victims of another shocking tragedy she can’t foresee. (Goodreads)

My Opinion: I have started and stopped this book a couple of times. I have always been a fan of Brian Freeman’s but there was something about the slow start and things that seemed sloppy and didn’t make sense. Yet, I knew there was usually a twist, one that I wouldn’t see coming, and would make everything work. I just needed to be patient. It would show up eventually. And when it did, wow!

You might have a few inklings since there were tells along the way, but you might not recognize them until the final chapters, and once you realized what was happening, you won’t be able to absorb this book fast enough. Brian Freeman has a way of building his characters and settings, situations that you can see coming, and those sneaky bits which hit you when you aren’t looking.

Don’t quit too soon and you will be glad that you stayed for the ride.

Unfinished Business

Title: Unfinished Business
Author: J. A. Jance
Published: June 1st 2021 by Gallery Books
Format: Kindle, Hardcover, 352 pages
Genre: Mystery
Source: My thanks to Netgalley and the Publisher for an opportunity to read an advanced copy of this book.
Series: Ali Reynolds #16

First Sentence: Prologue: An icy wind blew in from the west, and Broomy McCluskey, age fifteen, huddled in the moon-cast shadow on the far side of the shed, shivering -- whether from the chill or anticipation -- and waiting for the light in the kitchen to come on, signaling that his mother was about to send her mutt, Rocco, out to do his business.

From the Publisher: Mateo Vega, a one-time employee of Ali Reynold’s husband, B. Simpson, has spent the last sixteen years of his life behind bars. According to the courts, he murdered his girlfriend. But Mateo knows that her real killer is still on the loose, and the first thing he’s going to do when he gets a taste of freedom is track him down.

After being granted parole, a wary Mateo approaches Stu Ramey of High Noon Enterprises for a reference letter for a job application, but to his surprise, Stu gives him one better: He asks him to come on board and work for B. once again. Just as Mateo starts his new job, though, chaos breaks out at High Noon—a deadbeat tenant who is in arrears has just fled, and tech expert Cami Lee has gone missing.

As Ali races to both find a connection between the two disappearances and help Mateo clear his name with the help of PI J.P. Beaumont, tragedy strikes in her personal life, and with lives hanging in the balance, she must thread the needle between good and evil before it’s too late. (Simon and Schuster)

My Opinion: Wow. I don’t think there is one thing that J. A. Jance forgot to put in this book. She managed to cover all the bases, from birth to death, illness to healing, then rounding it out with justice being served, and a wrong righted. Each character from her past few books had a place here and then some. When a person says, if you don’t like the current plotline hang-on, there is another one around the corner, they hadn’t met Jance, where you can say, if you don’t like this plot, hold on there are another half dozen coming your way.

I am surprised how much I enjoyed this wild ride. The last couple of books were so-so, but this one grabbed me from the first page, and though the ending was a bit abrupt, I enjoyed the ride. There is no telling where she will go from here, but for once in a long time, I am looking forward to where Ali and the employees of High Noon Enterprises are heading.

The Lost Apothecary

Title: The Lost Apothecary
Author: Sarah Penner
Published: March 2nd 2021 by Park Row
Format: Hardcover, 301 pages
Genre: Historical Mystery

First Sentence: She would come at daybreak -- the woman whose letter I held in my hands, the woman whose name I did not yet know.

From the Publisher: Hidden in the depths of eighteenth-century London, a secret apothecary shop caters to an unusual kind of clientele. Women across the city whisper of a mysterious figure named Nella who sells well-disguised poisons to use against the oppressive men in their lives. But the apothecary’s fate is jeopardized when her newest patron, a precocious twelve-year-old, makes a fatal mistake, sparking a string of consequences that echo through the centuries.

Meanwhile in present-day London, aspiring historian Caroline Parcewell spends her tenth wedding anniversary alone, running from her own demons. When she stumbles upon a clue to the unsolved apothecary murders that haunted London two hundred years ago, her life collides with the apothecary’s in a stunning twist of fate—and not everyone will survive. (Park Row Books)

My Opinion: After a slow start, I was concerned where this book would go and how long it would take to get there. What I hadn’t expected was the intertwined stories to completely captivate me. How Eliza, Nella, and Caroline, though separated by 200 years, could share their voices and speak of sorrows and hopes in a way where the reader could feel each nuance, and if for a time, share in their journey of self-determination and discovery.

A Rogue's Company

Title: A Rogue's Company
Author: Allison Montclair
Published: June 8th 2021 by Minotaur Books
Format: Kindle, Hardcover, 352 pages
Genre: Historical Mystery
Source: My thanks to Netgalley and the Publisher for an opportunity to read an advanced copy of this book.
Series: Sparks & Bainbridge Mystery #3

First Sentence: The tram trundled down from the Vauxhall Bridge and screeched reluctantly to a halt, pausing long enough to allow two women to jump down to the pavement.

From the Publisher: In London, 1946, the Right Sort Marriage Bureau is getting on its feet and expanding. Miss Iris Sparks and Mrs. Gwendolyn Bainbridge are making a go of it. That is until Lord Bainbridge—the widowed Gwen's father-in-law and legal guardian—returns from a business trip to Africa and threatens to undo everything important to her, even sending her six-year-old son away to a boarding school.

But there's more going on than that. A new client shows up at the agency, one whom Sparks and Bainbridge begin to suspect really has a secret agenda, somehow involving the Bainbridge family. A murder and a subsequent kidnapping sends Sparks to seek help from a dangerous quarter—and now their very survival is at stake. (Macmillan)

My Opinion: Very disappointing. When billed as a historical mystery, and the body, which turned out to be inconsequential, doesn’t show up until the middle of the book tends to be a bit misleading. When a preface doesn’t make much sense until the end of the book, and where the author spends more time describing women’s clothing, hair, and interfamily turmoil, than the plight of kidnapped victims, left me wondering what I was doing continuing with this book.

The only thing that kept me turning the pages was the humor, but even that was seldom and far between. I should have listened to my inner voice and given up within the first 100 pages.

Snowblind

Title: Snowblind
Author: Matthew Costello and Neil Richards
Published: July 2014 by Bastei Entertainment
Format: Audio, Kindle Edition, 152 pages
Genre: Mystery
Series: Cherringham #8

First Sentence: Archy Flemming pushed at the branches in his way. What happened to the path I was on? he wondered.

From the Publisher: One of the worst blizzards in years hits Cherringham, cutting off the village from the rest of the world. Just outside of town, Broadmead Grange is a struggling retirement home, housed in a gothic mansion behind towering walls. One of the home's residents, poor old Archy, becomes Cherringham's latest victim after he loses himself amongst the snow drifts. Did Archy really just fall victim to the elements, or was there foul play involved? Jack and Sarah take on the case to dig up the truth. (Goodreads)

My Opinion: There is a certain warmth to this series that keeps drawing me back. Each short story brings clarity to the relationship between Jack and Sarah, their good-hearted inquisitive minds, and their commitment to the people of Cherrington. Do I know where each story will lead? No, and that is the best part. In a span of two hours, the reader or listener will travel different paths only to wind up where good prevails.

The Night Hawks

Title: The Night Hawks
Author: Elly Griffiths
Published: June 29, 2021 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Format: Kindle Edition, 368 pages
Genre: Police Procedural
Source: My thanks to Netgalley and the Publisher for an opportunity to read an advanced copy of this book.
Series: Ruth Galloway #13

First Sentence: PROLOGUE: There’s so much blood, that’s what he always remembers. Even after the police and the ambulance have left, there’s blood on the grass and even on the trees, dripping into the mud like some Old Testament plague.

From the Publisher: There’s nothing Ruth Galloway hates more than amateur archaeologists, but when a group of them stumble upon Bronze Age artifacts alongside a dead body, she finds herself thrust into their midst—and into the crosshairs of a string of murders circling ever closer.

Ruth is back as head of archaeology at the University of North Norfolk when a group of local metal detectorists—the so-called Night Hawks—uncovers Bronze Age artifacts on the beach, alongside a recently deceased body, just washed ashore. Not long after, the same detectorists uncover a murder-suicide—a scientist and his wife found at their farmhouse, long thought to be haunted by the Black Shuck, a humongous black dog, a harbinger of death. The further DCI Nelson probes into both cases, the more intertwined they become, and the closer they circle to David Brown, the new lecturer Ruth has recently hired, who seems always to turn up wherever Ruth goes. (HMH Books)

My Opinion: Thirteen books in, and I am still fascinated with this series. Granted, some books are better than others when it comes to interpersonal relationships, and some books are better when it comes to history, but on those occasions when the best parts of those two worlds come together, the reader is devouring each word in a single short weekend.

Once again, Nelson and Ruth are at a crossroads in their relationship. Nelson and his wife, Michelle, realize they need to sort out their family issues. Then add in Nelson’s mother learning the truth about Kate, which leaves every part of the Nelson family dynamic up in the air. Things are about to get messy, but maybe or is it possibly, Michelle and Ruth have found common ground.

There are many characters in this book, and if you ask me -- too many, to the point that I found myself channeling Ruth from time to time with frequent outbursts of, “Who the bloody hell is that?”.

The Laws of Murder

Title: The Laws of Murder
Author: Charles Finch
Published: November 11th 2014 by Minotaur Books
Format: Hardcover, 304 pages
Genre: Historical Mystery
Series: Charles Lenox Mysteries #8

First Sentence: A late winter’s night in London: the city hushed; the last revelers half an hour in their beds; a new snow softening every dull shade of gray and brown into angelic whiteness.

From the Publisher: It's 1876, and Charles Lenox, once London's leading private investigator, has just given up his seat in Parliament after six years, primed to return to his first love, detection. With high hopes he and three colleagues start a new detective agency, the first of its kind. But as the months pass, and he is the only detective who cannot find work, Lenox begins to question whether he can still play the game as he once did.

Then comes a chance to redeem himself, though at a terrible price: a friend, a member of Scotland Yard, is shot near Regent's Park. As Lenox begins to parse the peculiar details of the death – an unlaced boot, a days-old wound, an untraceable luggage ticket – he realizes that the incident may lead him into grave personal danger, beyond which lies a terrible truth. (Minotaur)

My Opinion: For me, the previous books in this series have been rough going. In the past, for every three steps forward in the ongoing investigation, Charles Finch would pull back and go into monotonous descriptions of the times, clothing, or room décor. This book, The Laws of Murder, felt different. This outing, the investigation stayed on track, the subtle hints pointed you in the right direction, the scandal was relevant for the time and today, and the verbal interplay between Charles and Lady Jane was both entertaining and charming.

As I slowly make my way through this series, I am beginning to appreciate it more. Hopefully, in the future, the author will continue to stay focused on the mystery at hand while steering away from his previous need to describe wallpaper.

Finding Freedom: A Cook's Story; Remaking a Life from Scratch

Title: Finding Freedom: A Cook's Story; Remaking a Life from Scratch
Author: Erin French
Published: April 6th 2021 by Celadon Books
Format: Hardcover, 304 pages
Genre: Memoir

First Sentence: It was ten past three in the afternoon, the time of day that I looked forward to the most. **

From the Publisher: Long before The Lost Kitchen became a world dining destination with every seating filled the day the reservation book opens each spring, Erin French was a girl roaming barefoot on a 25-acre farm, a teenager falling in love with food while working the line at her dad’s diner and a young woman finding her calling as a professional chef at her tiny restaurant tucked into a 19th century mill. This singular memoir—a classic American story—invites readers to Erin’s corner of her beloved Maine to sharethe real person behind the “girl from Freedom” fairytale, and the not-so-picture-perfect struggles that have taken every ounce of her strength to overcome, and that make Erin’s life triumphant.

In Finding Freedom, Erin opens up to the challenges, stumbles, and victories that have led her to the exact place she was ever meant to be, telling stories of multiple rock-bottoms, of darkness and anxiety, of survival as a jobless single mother, of pills that promised release but delivered addiction, of a man who seemed to offer salvation but in the end ripped away her very sense of self. And of the beautiful son who was her guiding light as she slowly rebuilt her personal and culinary life around the solace she found in food—as a source of comfort, a sense of place, as a way of bringing goodness into the world. Erin’s experiences with deep loss and abiding hope, told with both honesty and humor, will resonate with women everywhere who are determined to find their voices, create community, grow stronger and discover their best-selves despite seemingly impossible odds. Set against the backdrop of rural Maine and its lushly intense, bountiful seasons, Erin reveals the passion and courage needed to invent oneself anew, and the poignant, timeless connections between food and generosity, renewal and freedom. (Celadon)

My Opinion: Yes, I fell for the hype, and I am so glad I did. Finding Freedom is a rough memoir to read. Emotionally raw parts and seemingly bottomless chasms where you wonder how Erin made it through, but at the same time, highs showing the resilience of a woman who had no other choice. She is a nurturer, and by nurturing others, she allowed her soul to mend, allowing her the bravery to make it to the next day, to the next spirit needing her kind of giving. Food. Warmth. Home. Through her writing, she has shown forgiveness can heal, and if she can forgive what life handed to her, then we should attempt to follow her lead, take a breath, and lay blame aside so we can open up and accept what is next in our path.