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.