Coached to Death

Title: Coached to Death
Author: Victoria Laurie
Published: November 1st 2019 by Kensington Books
Format: ebook, 352 pages
Genre: Mystery
Source: My thanks to Netgalley and the Publisher for an opportunity to read an advanced copy of this book.
Series: Life Coach Mysteries #1

After reading this book, I realized that I have intertwined Victoria Laurie’s prior series (Psychic Eye and Ghost Hunter) into one gobbled mess leaving me confused as to where Gilley began. This isn’t all bad since the reader needs to be familiar with the characters in those books to understand a few in this one.

Fresh from a divorce and the sale of her business, Cat Cooper has taken up residence in the Hampton’s and planted Gilley in her guesthouse. With a new venture as a life coach what could possibly go wrong with these two involved. Well for starters, Cat’s next-door neighbor is found dead with Cat’s shattered punchbowl next to her head.

The police have no idea what to make of this situation, but with the new friend's Cat is making and a suspected hired killer on the loose, someone is going to end up in jail, with a new boyfriend, a new hobby, or even a new reputation. But either way, when one of the Cooper sisters are involved, you know that there is going to be a high level of humor, bumbling, and shenanigans.

The Angels' Share

Title: The Angels' Share
Author: Ellen Crosby
Published: November 5th 2019 by Minotaur Books
Format: eBook, Hardcover, 368 pages
Genre: Historical Mystery
Source: My thanks to Netgalley and the Publisher for an opportunity to read an advanced copy of this book.
Series: Wine Country Mysteries #10

Ellen Crosby’s wine country series isn’t just a murder mystery, but a lesson in history. Located in Loudoun County, Virginia, the Montgomery Estate Vineyard is situated in the perfect setting to bring American History to the forefront and place the wine industry smack dab in the middle.

The Thanksgiving to Christmas season took a different turn for Lucie Montgomery when her neighbor billionaire and philanthropist Preston Avery is murdered after revealing a secret to Lucie which has now put her in the crosshairs of an unscrupulous killer determined to lay claim to documents and a priceless Madeira that hold historic value.

Combining an elusive cast of characters from Jamestown to the founding fathers, to Shakespeare, to the Mason’s, the Declaration of Independence, and a First Folio, Ellen Crosby has managed to merge the right amount of truth with an author’s imagination resulting in an enthralling murder mystery.

About the Title: The Angels’ Share is the amount of distilled spirits lost to evaporation from the barrel or cask during the aging process.

Brownies and Broomsticks

Title: Brownies and Broomsticks
Author: Bailey Cates
Published: May 1st 2012 by Signet
Format: Paperback, 323 pages
Genre: Magical Cozy Mystery
Series: Magical Bakery Mystery #1

I stumbled across this book by chance and I think I have found a new series to follow. Both the people and the place of downtown Savannah are charming. Katie Lightfoot and her newly discovered talents are delightful and when the Honeybee Bakery, owned by Katie’s aunt and uncle, is the center of a murder, Katie and her newfound friends bring their special talents to the rescue.

When I say special talents, it turns out Katie’s family has been keeping a secret and now that Aunt Lucy is there to guide Katie, with the use of a few spells, the ladies and their friends will soon be able to clear her uncle’s name and the coven can return to their usual do-gooder activities.

Obviously, it wouldn’t be a traditional cozy mystery without a love interest, but this is where things get a little complicated for Katie since there are two men in her life. Not sure where either relationship will go, but along with Katie, I am interested in seeing the possibilities.

Next book in the series: Bewitched, Bothered, and Biscotti

About the Author: Bailey Cates also writes under the name Bailey Cattrell and is the author of the Enchanted Garden Mystery Series

The Guardians

Title: The Guardians
Author: John Grisham
Published: October 15th 2019 by Doubleday Books
Format: Hardcover, 375 pages
Genre: Legal Procedural

I must admit that as the book was gearing up, I managed to get a couple of the characters confused and had to go back a couple of times to straighten myself out. Two storylines are going on with different casts of characters and for some reason, I was beginning to confused the men and their backstories.

Cullen Post, ex-attorney and current Episcopal Priest, spends his days on the road meeting with men and women who the nonprofit Guardian Ministries (think The Innocence Project) believes have been wrongly condemned. The ministry has a good track record of gaining the release of the wrongly convicted, but they are still way behind when it comes to both time and money.

Quincy Miller, a black man, is one such wrongly imprisoned. As you learn his story and the corruption of small-town white America, you cannot help but wonder, to question our legal system, and to exhale heavily in the frustration of it all.

John Grisham brings Post’s and Miller’s plight to the forefront and with time running out and evidence missing, you are right there in the front seat of Cullen’s car as he races from one witness to the next, from one courthouse to the next, and from one judge to the next until all the pieces finally fall into place and the Guardian’s can help another innocent man regain his freedom.

You know that there are more stories to tell and begin to hope Grisham will bring Cullen and Frankie back. You want to know the rest of their layers and that of the people The Guardian Ministries are working to save.

The Vanished Bride

Title: The Vanished Bride
Author: Bella Ellis
Published: September 10th 2019 by Berkley Books
Format: eBook, Hardcover, 293 pages
Genre: Historical Mystery
Source: My thanks to Netgalley and the Publisher for an opportunity to read an advanced copy of this book.
Series: Bronte Sister Mystery #1

So. Many. Words. Yet, very few that moved the plot forward. If it was not for sheer determination, I would have wall-banged this disappointing attempt to recreate the Bronte style with a murder mystery on the side.

With overactive imaginations, Charlotte, Emily, and Anne invent a factitious solicitor’s agency and set off in 1845 Yorkshire to solve the disappearance of a young mother. Wandering over much of the countryside, and then some, the trio bumble and discover, in an anticlimactic way, what became of Elizabeth Chester.

Bella Ellis, a pen name for Rowan Coleman author of The Accidental Mother, which I enjoyed, does her best to throw in red-herrings, and additional characters, all to no avail. I found the first book in the Bronte Sisters Mystery series to be lackluster and will not be picking up any further offerings.

The 19th Christmas

Title: The 19th Christmas
Author: James Patterson and Maxine Paetro
Published: October 7th 2019 by Little, Brown and Company
Format: Hardcover, 339 pages
Genre: Police Procedural
Series: *Women's Murder Club #19

Once again, the writing team of James Patterson and Maxine Paetro wait until the middle of the book to give the reader that little bit of needed information to enable them to pull together the disjointed parts. Then lets the book run too long with a little side note that will either be a teaser for the next book, or a need to hit the obligatory page count.

19th Christmas is a giant guess as to who Mr. Loman is and what his grand plan entails. Is this a wordplay from “Death of a Salesman” or is there more to it, because as the book says, there are “lots of moving parts”. So begins the long drawn out mindless adventure into Christmas Women’s Murder Club style. As the ladies each track down their men, suspects, and stories, their narratives slowly unfold with a cold and blustery San Francisco as a backdrop.

It was disheartening that the author felt a need to clarify the previous book, the 18th Abduction, before this current book began. If the reader was paying attention, it was clear from the start that the book took place before the birth of Julie and therefore she would not have been mentioned.

Not sure where the next book, 20th Victim will go, but with Joe’s first-born daughter, am I the only one that either forgot about her or didn’t know she existed, making an appearance, one does wonder if she will be a central figure.

Beating About the Bush

Title: Beating About the Bush
Author: M. C. Beaton
Published: December 3rd 2019 by Minotaur Books
Format: eBook, Hardcover, 256 pages
Genre: Cozy Mystery
Source: My thanks to Netgalley and the Publisher for an opportunity to read an advanced copy of this book.
Series: Agatha Raisin #30

How M. C. Beaton has managed to get to book thirty without Agatha aging or figuring out her life, is beyond me, yet, I continue to check-in to see what this village sleuth is up to.

Having been called in to investigate industrial espionage, Agatha and assistant Toni Gilmour soon begin to wonder if it is all a set up when strange happenings trigger a deeper look and in doing so, Agatha befriends a bad-tempered donkey, is left contending with a group that have killed to keep their secrets, and to top it off, she realizes Sir Charles Fraith’s upcoming nuptials have put her into an emotional tailspin which is soon relieved by the arrival of a new man -- Chris Firkin.

Every time I finish a book in this series, I find myself exhaling and mumbling “Oh, Agatha”. Not because the case study is all that difficult, or that her bumbling has once again almost cost her her life, but rather when it comes to men, this educated professional woman, will never learn.

Brewed Awakening

Title: Brewed Awakening
Author: Cleo Coyle
Published: December 3rd 2019 by Berkley Books
Format: eBook, Hardcover, 368 pages
Genre: Cozy Mystery
Source: My thanks to Netgalley and the Publisher for an opportunity to read an advanced copy of this book.
Series: Coffeehouse Mystery #18

There was something different in the writing style of this book. An almost push and pull between the styles of the writing team of Marc Cerasini and Alice Alfonsi.

What begins with Clare Cosi, manager of the Village Blend waking up on a park bench with no knowledge of how she got there, to recalling the area looked familiar and hopeful she might be able to get help at a coffeehouse where she once worked with her ex-husband, to realizing she has somehow lost about 10+ years of her memories. Clare is now in a struggle with the local police, and a questionable publicity hound doctor, to prove she is not responsible for the disappearance of a local hotel owner.

No one wants to push Clare into remembering, reasoning she should come about her memories as organically as their coffee, yet Matteo wants to use their time to convince Clare they belong together all the while Mike Quinn has a ring he is dying to put back on her finger.

‘Brewed Awakening’ involves the usual “scooby-do” type adventure all over New York and the Hamptons, and somehow, they bumble their way around the police, even though Mike is the police, to get to an interesting conclusion as to who and what was behind this mishap all along.

There is more than the usual amount of characters bandied about so the reader is going to have to pay close attention as to who is related to who, who married who, and most importantly who ended up where.

Ripe For Vengeance

Title: Ripe For Vengeance
Author: Wendy Tyson
Published: July 16th 2019 by Henery Press
Format: Kindle, 276 Pages
Genre: Cozy Mystery
Series: Greenhouse Mystery #5

Spring at Washington Acres is kicking into gear and along with it is the death of Denver Finn’s college friend. Mentoring at-risk kids have its rewards but when one is accused of murder, during a mentoring hiking and camping event, Megan and friends run to the rescue to prevent a prime suspect from being used as a scapegoat.

There is simplicity without being too obvious with the series. The same recurring characters; their ins and outs of life. Though there is a close call with Bibi, Megan’s grandmother, I will always look for her, and consider her my favorite. There is something about her insights which always brightens the Greenhouse Mystery series.

Ripe for Vengeance is the fifth book in the series, and though some of the usual bickering between vegan and organic and whatnot become tiring, I tend to look forward to what Wendy Tyson will bring to this series.

The Confession Club

Title: The Confession Club
Author: Elizabeth Berg
Published: November 19th 2019 by Random House
Format: eBook, Hardcover, 304 pages
Genre: Women's Fiction
Source: My thanks to Netgalley and the Publisher for an opportunity to read an advanced copy of this book.
Series: Mason #3

Though a series, the books can be read as stand-alones since Elizabeth Berg brings in just enough of each character’s past, without being too heavy-handed, to get the reader caught up.

Book three in the Mason, Missouri saga (The Story of Arthur Truluv, and Night of Miracles), involves a Confession Club since book clubs are boring in comparison. Each week, the ladies come together to reveal a secret and to munch on one of Iris’s decadent desserts. Maddy is back, sans husband, and trying to figure out life with her daughter Nola. Yet what takes center stage is John, a homeless man battling PTSD and Iris’s deep fascination and attraction to him. Yes, you are going to question John to some extent, but while watching their budding romance you do not care. There is a sweetness, an understanding, and vulnerability between the two and that is all that matters.

I do hope that John returns in future books, he is a gentle but damaged soul that brings out a different side of Iris. A side all members of the Confession Club, and the town of Mason, can draw from.

Land of Wolves

Title: Land of Wolves
Author: Craig Johnson
Published: September 17th 2019 by Viking
Format: Hardcover, 336 pgs
Genre: Western Fiction
Series: Walt Longmire #15

I was starting to lose hope for this series. The last two or so books did not resonate with me in the way his earlier work had. By the time I put this book down, after a weary moment or two of wondering if this would be the last I would see of Walt, I was heartened to know Walt is Walt again and the people Absaroka County will continue to have a man fighting the good fight.

Walt is back home and recovering from his near-death in Mexico. He is having blackout moments and wondering what the point of all this is if he can’t be with his daughter and granddaughter. Sure, a computer and email are fine, but what is most important are people, and he is missing his people.

When he sees a lone wolf, that is believed to have killed a local sheepherder, Walt not only takes a liking to the creature but feels a bond. The comparisons between Walt and wolf M777 are endless and as the reader continues their stories, they could very well be indistinguishable -- from how they are old and grizzled, lonely and world-weary, feeling their age, both are from a bygone era, and neither are part of their original pack.

Though what this book boils down to is heartbreaking, Walt, Vic, and the entire team from the Sheriff’s department, with the other usual cast of characters, bring the dry humor they are known for. Craig Johnson weaves a few storylines together and by the end, the picture weaves a story of a family. Some are damaged, some continue to fight, and some won’t let you wander away no matter what is pulling at you.

The Beekeeper of Aleppo

Title: The Beekeeper of Aleppo
Author: Christy Lefteri
Published: August 27th 2019 by Ballantine Books
Format: Hardcover, 317 pages
Genre: Fiction

The depth and direction Christy Lefteri takes with ‘The Beekeeper of Aleppo’ has the reader both hoping to get to the end quickly, to know how it works out and to slowly immerse themselves with the atmosphere, trauma, and personalities which bring this book together.

The reader is plunged into the middle of the Syrian war through the eyes of Nuri, a beekeeper, and Afra his wife, an artist. Seemingly overnight, their world is destroyed by a bomb that has taken everything they loved. Now childless and Afra without her eyesight, Nuri must navigate their way to a new life in the UK. As they travel through Turkey and Greece, they are confronted by the good and the bad the world has to offer.

Yet, as the story unwinds strengths change. The reader begins to see the cracks and wonders about the who, why, and how that has gotten them where they are. How the flashbacks and visions are either building for a future or tearing down a past. Why Nuri has put all his hopes into his cousin, and mostly whose strength is carrying this couple forward. Along with Nuri, the reader begins to question and in doing so, the final pieces of the puzzle fall into place and with Afra and Nuri, you will see the dawn of new possibilities.

This book will resonate with the reader. It will cause tears and clenched throats, but that is what excellent literary fiction is supposed to do - transport you to a different time and place. A place you will want to revisit from time to time to make sure that Nuri and Afra are alright and that finally, the world is treating them well.

Death Masks

Title: Death Masks
Author: Jim Butcher
Published: November 3rd 2009 by Roc Hardcover
Format: Hardcover, 341 Pages
Genre: Paranormal
Series: Dresden Files #5

Harry Dresden, a professional wizard, is hired by a rather questionable character in hopes of finding the Shroud of Turin, which has found its way to Dresden’s hometown of Chicago. For some unknown reason, the head of Chicago’s version of the mafia is determined to get his hands on this artifact but not before Harry must deal with fallen angels in human hosts.

The war is still going on between the White Council and the Red Court, and Harry must find a second for his upcoming dual and though Michael is his first choice, new characters (Shiro and the Archive) come to his aid and Harry realizes what others are willing to sacrifice to keep him safe.

This book was a turning point for me. The previous four were a take it or leave it series for me, but now I am wondering if I should go back, reread, and reappreciate what Jim Butcher is building.

Mistaken Identity

Title: Mistaken Identity
Author: Lisa Scottoline
Published: July 23rd 2019 by Harper Paperbacks
Format: Paperback, 592 pages
Genre: Legal Procedural
Series: Rosato & Associates #4

Leaping back into the past I thought I would pick up where I left off with this series. Lisa Scottoline has drawn a challenging character with Bennie Rosato -- tough in the courtroom but soft when it comes to her mother’s battle with dementia.

These two sides of Bennie collide when she is called in to handle the case of an assumed cop-killer. There is no denying that Alice Connolly looks like Bennie, but when Alice claims that they are twins separated at birth, there is only one person able to confirm this and she is too far gone to explain.

Since Bennie’s law practice specializes in taking down dirty officer, there are very few places she can turn and when this seems to be getting the best of her, and a “sister”, since the DNA testing is not back yet, Bennie has to pull out all the stops and hope that she has the right client to go after the corruption that is setting them both up for a fall.

This is a tightly wound book that will take some time to unravel, but when it comes to Lisa Scottoline and the Rosato & Associates Law Firm, you are in for a treat and even a smile to two.

A Very Mummy Holiday

Title: A Very Mummy Holiday
Author: Lynn Cahoon
Published: October 29th 2019 by Lyrical Underground
Format: eBook, 81 pages
Genre: Cozy Mystery
Source: My thanks to Netgalley and the Publisher for an opportunity to read an advanced copy of this book.
Series: Tourist Trap Mysteries #9.5

‘A Very Mummy Holiday’ is an odd title for this Lynn Cahoon novella since it implies a Halloween theme yet is based around Thanksgiving with an unwrapped body found in a sand dune.

A long-needed vacation is what Jill Gardner, Greg King, and friends are looking forward to but which quickly goes astray when an overturned sand buggy literally lands on top of a buried body. There were rumors of a runaway bride and her jilted groom (or was he her killer), but there were more questions than evidence until the body showed up.

Lynn Cahoon does her best to tie all the parts of this short story together, but where some aspects are drawn out, other conclusions are leapt to without enough meat or reasonable supposition to lead the reader there naturally. Unfortunately, this is yet another holiday-themed novella that missed the mark.

The Long Call

Title: The Long Call
Author: Ann Cleeves
Published: September 3rd 2019 by Minotaur Books
Format: eBook, 384 pages
Genre: Police Procedural
Source: My thanks to Netgalley and the Publisher for an opportunity to read an advanced copy of this book.
Series: Two Rivers #1

Can a book be minimalist and over descriptive at the same time? In the sparseness of this book, you will find the complexity that is DI Matthew Venn, a man raised in a strict religious sect who was shunned when he married Jonathan Church. Opposites in so many ways, Matthew and Jonathan’s worlds collide when young women, each diagnosed with Down syndrome, are missing from an arts center that Jonathan manages.

The story gets twisty and the reader is expected to put a few ragged edges together, but in doing so, you are left with an encompassing story of a group of dedicated people trying to link a body on the beach with the missing girls and how their stories are intertwined.

This is not a quick read. The setting is dark and drab but at the same time all-encompassing. It is an odd collaboration of people, places, and cultures, yet the reader is inexplicably pulled by the snippets of interpersonal relationships which are drawing people apart yet bring them together.

Word to the Wise

Title: Word to the Wise
Author: Jenn McKinlay
Published: September 3rd 2019 by Berkley
Format: eBook, 304 pages
Genre: Cozy
Source: My thanks to Netgalley and the Publisher for an opportunity to read an advanced copy of this book.
Series: Library Lover's #10

Word to the Wise, the tenth book in the Library Lover’s mystery series hits on a subject which is not common to cozy mysteries. Stalking is a not a subject to be joked about and Jenn McKinlay takes a delicate, yet strong, hand to the subject and the fear associated with it.

What begins as a normal day for library director Lindsay Norris turns into a frightening experience when a library patron takes a kind gesture and turns it into an open invitation for a relationship that was not offered. The stalking continues until Grady turns up dead on the steps of the library and Lindsay and her fiancé, Mike Sullivan, are named chief suspects. As Grady’s wife makes public accusations, no one is sure what is going on until Lindsay does some reverse photo identification and finds out not everyone is who they claim to be.

In the past, I did not hold this series to a high standard, the characters were created to be simple and naïve. The atmosphere and relationships are on the old-fashioned side, but once you get past that, the core friendships are what rises to the top. This book and its subject matter changed that. Jenn McKinley took a cozy mystery to a different dimension and in doing so opened the eyes of her readers.

The Book Charmer

Title: The Book Charmer
Author: Karen Hawkins
Published: July 30th 2019 by Gallery Books
Format: Paperback, 368 Pages
Genre: Women's Ficton
Series: Dove Pond #1

I was drawn to the book by the cover, but it was the town of Dove Pond, North Carolina which kept me turning the pages. The Book Charmer has the ambiance of Practical Magic by Alice Hoffman, but different at the same time. A book where family and community take center stage with a bit of whimsey and magical nudging to get people where they need to be.

A seventh daughter within the Dove family line is a rare occasion but when it happens magic comes with it. The current Dove sisters each have a special talent and if I am jumping to conclusions, this first book in the Dove Pond series will lead to at least six more books where each of the women will be able to tell their stories and share their gifts.

Woven around Sarah Dove, the town librarian who spends her days listening to the murmuring of books, and Grace, who spent her childhood bouncing around foster homes and has now taken on the responsibility of her deceased sister’s child and the one foster parent, Mama G, who never gave up on her and who is now facing her own battle with dementia.

Bringing Mama G back home, to Dove Pond has soothed her mind, but has brought frustration and anxiety to Grace. That is until the community embraces her and she finds a way to bring a dying town back to a semblance of what it had once been.

Karen Hawkins has thrown everything she can into this book and it works. There are fears, anxieties, unknowing desperation, along with friendships, romances, magic, laughter, and most importantly --- love. It is about breaking down barriers and accepting what is out there if only you give yourself a break and a chance.

A Curio Killing

Title: A Curio Killing
Author: Mary Ellen Hughes
Published: September 8th 2019 by Midnight Ink
Format: eBook, 264 pages
Genre: Cozy Mystery
Source: My thanks to Netgalley and the Publisher for an opportunity to read an advanced copy of this book.
Series: Keepsake Cove #3

Another slow meandering choppy book which reads more like ideas than a finished manuscript. I don’t know what it is with this series, Mary Ellen Hughes has put out great books in the past, but this one, in particular, falls flat.

As the Keepsake Cove Spring Festival is gearing up, Callie Reed soon learns her ex-boyfriend Hank, and his new band, will be performing. Thinking this would be the most traumatic event of the weekend, things suddenly turn sideways when the band’s manager, Bobby Linville, is found dead and Hank is the prime suspect.

With nowhere else to turn, Callie is called to Hank’s aid and with her meandering investigative skills called into use again, since there is no officer in sight, Callie, with the help of her friends have to put the pieces together and in doing so, uncover a couple of other secrets in their quiet little cove.

The most challenging thing about this book is not putting it down to find something else to read. Though short, there is too much filler and not enough side story to keep the burdensome dialogue forefront in your mind.

Fudge Bites

Title: Fudge Bites
Author: Nancy Coco
Published: September 24 2019 by Kensington Books
Format: eBook, Paperback 320 pages
Genre: Cozy Mystery
Source: My thanks to Netgalley and the Publisher for an opportunity to read an advanced copy of this book.
Series: Candy Coated Mystery #7

It’s been a busy first year for Allie McMurphy and the McMurphy Hotel on Mackinac Island, but as they are winding downing into the wintery off-season, two bodies are discovered and once again Allie and her cohorts are trying to put together the clues and discover what a sack of hymnals and gold bars has to do with the two gentlemen.

Nancy Coco winds a few different story plots and aspects to keep the reader engaged, yet at the same time, takes a couple of farfetched leaps in hopes of pulling her characters and conclusions together. While there are parts of this series I like – the town, the people, etc., I am beginning to get frustrated with the personification of Allie’s dog. Granted, the Bichon adds a certain cuteness, but being a canine detective is just pushing it too far for me.

A series which should be read from the beginning due to the recurring characters and needing to keep them straight will have you settling in for a cozy mystery with a little romance on the side on a remote island with their own set of royalty and shenanigans.

From Scratch

Title: From Scratch
Author: Tembi Locke
Published: Published April 30th 2019 by Simon & Schuster
Format: Hardcover, 339 pages
Genre: Memoir

To be honest, I never thought this book was going to end. I understand the death process is hard, I understand raising a daughter alone is hard, but to hear Tembi Locke tell it, she was all alone, except for all her friends and family; she wasn’t prepared for her husband’s death, yet it was a 10-year journey. I lost interest about a third of the way through yet stuck with it in the hope there would be a moral to her tale. There was not.

This is a love story which began 20-years prior when a young college student met a charming Sicilian chef from a strict family who would not accept their son marrying a woman they did not know, was not Sicilian, and horror of all horrors – she was a black American, from Texas. Combining their two careers and the adoption of their daughter, the couple finds a new normal, a new peace, and a seamless life together until a soft tissue cancer metastasizes and their perfect life devolves into ten years of doctors, treatments, surgeries, hopes, and disappointments.

This is a long drawn out book about coming to terms with the things which you had no choice over. About putting past hurts to rest and realizing you did your best, loved your best, and compromised when your best was not going to make the bad go away.

Open Carry

Title: Open Carry
Author: Marc Cameron
Published: February 26th 2019 by Kensington Publishing Corporation
Format: Hardcover, 320 pages
Genre: Police Procedural
Series: Arliss Cutter #1

Add a little Walt Longmire, a touch of Jonathan Stride, and a pinch of Leroy Jethro Gibbs and you have Arliss Cutter, the unforgettable protagonist in Marc Cameron’s newest series.

Supervisory Deputy U.S. Marshal Arliss Cutter (a bit like Jonathan Stride) learned his skills, which are all numbered (a la Jethro Gibbs), from his grandfather and brings them to every assignment. This time he is headed to Alaska, with new partner Deputy Lola Fontaine, to bring back Hayden Starne a predator and kidnapper.

When a local is reported missing, everyone assumes Hayden is responsible since they were known to have worked on a local television production (think Real Housewives Alaska-style), yet things are not what they appear when a Mexican cartel boss shows up seeking revenge on the show’s producer.

This book is not for the faint of heart. I have a strong stomach and yet even I got a bit queasy. There is extreme brutality yet Arliss has a way of adding humor (this is where the Longmire reference comes in) and with a little romance from an unexpected place, yet a character which I hope returns, you end up seeing Arliss for the sensitive soul he can be.

Aunt Dimity and the Heart of Gold

Title: Aunt Dimity and the Heart of Gold
Author: Nancy Atherton
Published: June 18th 2019 by Viking
Format: Hardcover, 240 pages
Genre: Cozy Mystery
Series: Aunt Dimity Mystery #24

Finally, an Aunt Dimity book where Lori Sheppard is not treating her 10-year-old sons as if they were still teething and wearing short pants. Her helicopter parenting was truly getting on my nerves but she seems to have broken that mold, and not only introduced a more mature style but has introduced a tale which will keep her readers engaged.

There is no need to have read the previous 23 books in this series to understand Lori Sheppard or the village of Finch since Nancy Atherton spends the first few pages reacquainting her readers. There is a bit of repetition when she rehashes her findings with mystical Aunt Dimity, but that, along with her always needing to light the fire before she settles down for her evening discussion, is just one of the many quirks in this series.

What begins as a pre-Christmas party at Anscombe Manor quickly turns into a history lesson when Emma shows the ladies, and an unexpected guest, a curious room which had never been properly identified on any building plans. Not only is this room a mystery, but there is yet another curiosity hidden within its walls. Thus, leading the ladies on a tour of old archives and bumping down country lanes in search of a family’s history.

I enjoy the simplicity of this series, of revisiting the busybodies and laughing as the friends jump to all sorts of conclusions before realizing their over-romanticizing tends to get in the way. Granted, there is usually a moral and a happily ever after, but on occasion, you just close the book shaking your head.

The Golden Oldies Guesthouse

Title: The Golden Oldies Guesthouse
Author: Dee MacDonald
Published: August 27th 2019 by Bookouture
Format: eBook, 543 pages
Genre: Women's Fiction
Source: My thanks to Netgalley and the Publisher for an opportunity to read an advanced copy of this book.

Though not specifically billed as a sequel to “The Silver Ladies of Penny Lane”, since “The Golden Oldies Guesthouse” can be read as a standalone, it takes up about eighteen months after Tess and Simon Sparrow are married. While on vacation in the Cotswolds, the ever-adventurous Simon takes an old bumpy road and at the end is a glorious yet crumbling mansion. Called Over and Above due to its never-ending costs, which are over and above quoted repair bills, Tess and Simon toss all care to the wind and purchase it with the hopes of turning it into a long-term retreat for authors, artists, and whatnot.

The whatnot is their first set of guests who arrive in the second part of the book, and with them, secrets which bring this book to life since the first part was beginning to border on boring. As backstories are revealed, the reader finds themselves falling deeper into the narrative. From a spinster, to a lonely older man, to a has-been actress, to a couple trying to hold on to their marriage, this book bounces from one storyline to the next without missing a beat.

I do hope that Dee McDonald continues this as a series. The mere fact that each guest coming to the Sparrows’ Nest (which they had renamed) will have their own unique stories could make this a gem of a series for years to come.

Wonton Terror

Title: Wonton Terror
Author: Vivien Chien
Published: August 27th 2019 by St. Martin's Paperbacks
Format: eBook, Paperback, 320 pages
Genre: Cozy Mystery
Source: My thanks to Netgalley and the Publisher for an opportunity to read an advanced copy of this book.
Series: Noodle Shop Mystery #4

I love coming back to this series. Maybe it is all the food talk or maybe it is the main character that seems to bumble her way through her amateur sleuthing, but there is something charming about Lana Lee and the input from the Mahjong Matrons. Maybe that could be a second series for Vivien Chien, something centered on the matrons who breakfast together and supply a fountain of knowledge from the comfort of their favorite booth.

The first outdoor Asian Night Market of the summer is in full swing when an explosion rips through the event. Turns out that propane tanks on food trucks can be tricky and when a body is found in the rubble, a man who was seen fighting with his wife, starts everyone gossiping when it comes to light that the two had a contentious marriage and on a previous occasion the police had gotten involved. Is it possible that his death was intentional?

It isn’t until Lana, with her murder book and overcurious mind, starts putting the clues together and asks one too many questions, do the pieces fall together and once again Lana’s life is on the line.

The Rosie Result

Title: The Rosie Result
Author: Graeme Simsion
Published: June 4th 2019 by Text Publishing Company
Format: Hardcover, 378 pages
Genre: Fiction
Series: Don Tillman #3

About halfway through I lost interest in the book. From what I remember from the prior books were more humor and more odd encounters. Granted there were a few in The Rosie Result, but they seemed to miss the mark.

With a son who is suspected of being on the autism spectrum, over-analytical, and on the spectrum himself, Don Tillman takes it upon himself to diagnose 11-year-old Hudson. There are online evaluators, but Don being Don decides to take it a step further and develops his on “Hudson Project”. There is nothing typical within the project, but in the end, both father and son come to their conclusions about themselves, friendship, responsibilities, and other suitable things which will finally put an end to all questions and allows the Tillman family to find their places, and futures, in the world.

The Rosie Result is the third and purported final book in the Don Tillman trilogy.

The Perfect Wife

Title: The Perfect Wife
Author: J.P. Delaney
Published: August 6th 2019 by Ballantine Books
Format: eBook, Hardcover, 413 pages
Genre: Psychological Thriller
Source: My thanks to Netgalley and the Publisher for an opportunity to read an advanced copy of this book.

This is a book which will stay with you. There is a futuristic reality of Artificial Intelligence (AIs) taking over the everyday world that is spooky in its possibility. Start with the advancements made by the companies run by the tech billionaires, add in a slightly off-center tech genius, add in a disappearance, or is it murder, then finish it off with a cobot, a companion robot, who takes on the appearance of the person you love and there you have “The Perfect Wife”.

There were parts of the book that confused me. How could a preprogrammed AI, with data gathered from social media accounts, have what from the outside appears to be insider knowledge of the person they have replaced? Granted, in this book AI is not technically artificial intelligence, but rather autonomous intelligence, yet Abbie seems to know more than “she” should.

There is a side story around the son of Abbie and Tim. Danny developed a disintegrative disorder called Heller’s syndrome which is often referred to as late-onset autism and you see the battle between Tim and AI Abbie as to what is the right care for Danny. This had introduced me to Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) therapy. Doing a little side research, it is no wonder they disagreed as to what is best for their son and why Abbie fought so hard to find a stable environment for him.

It is the ending that will make you say “oh, I get it now”. Where it should have all made sense in the beginning, when you realized what a self-obsessed narcissist Tim was and as you reflect, you realize the clues were there all along.

JP Delaney is an author that has psychological twists down to an art. You know there is a bombshell waiting for you, you just don’t know when or where it will land and when it does, you are blindsided.

Scone Cold Dead

Title: Scone Cold Dead
Author: Karen MacInerney
Published: June 28th 2019 Self-Published
Format: eBook, Paperback, 244 pages
Genre: Cozy Mystery
Series: Gray Whale Inn Mystery Series #9

Some weekends are made for simple books full of familiar faces and a bit of a murder on the side.

Some shenanigans are going on with the lobstermen of Cranberry Cove. Enough so that an investigator is coming to the island to keep an eye on one trapper. Unfortunately, this young woman is killed before she can step foot on the lobster boat. Following her death, it comes to light she wasn’t there for the lobster counts, after all, she had ulterior motives and now someone is desperately trying to cover up the real reason she was there.

Add in the usual love story subplots, a new artist retreat, and an illness which is keeping a much-loved character bedridden, plus delicious recipes, and you have the usual plot of Natalie Barnes Investigates. It is truly surprising how no one on this island is as cleaver or is as quick as she is. Yet, she always seems to be knocked over the head when someone is trying to getaway.

Since Karen MacInerney has taken to self-publishing, there is a bit of a letdown when it comes to proofreading and editing. The flow is slightly off in this book, old tried and true plotlines are easily inserted, and nothing new ever happens. Yet, we continue to come back to the familiar and to check in on the meandering goats that are still munching on the delectable geraniums.

Old Bone

Title: Old Bones
Author: Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child
Published: August 20th 2019 by Grand Central Publishing
Format: eBook, Hardcover, 384 pages
Genre: Thriller
Source: My thanks to Netgalley and the Publisher for an opportunity to read an advanced copy of this book.
Series: Nora Kelly #1

Combining legend, fact, fiction, and science, the writing team of Preston Child takes the reader into the final days of the Donner Party and wraps enough mystery and intrigue to captivate the reader with a current-day archaeological dig, led by Nora Kelly a curator at the Santa Fe Institute of Archaeology, in the Lost Camp, all the while encompassing treasure hunting, grave robbing, and bio-warfare.

The book grabs you from the beginning, slows down a bit in the middle, and ends with such an explosive end the reader might not have understood, from the beginning, where this book would end up. Some of the descriptions are a bit graphic and stomach-turning, but this is about the infamous Donner Party and most people know what was supposed to have happened.

This is the first in the new Nora Kelly series which has Pendergast making a surprise visit, but not sure if he will be a recurring character. But one does wonder if Corrie and Nora will partner together on future cases.

The Warehouse

Title: The Warehouse
Author: Rob Hart
Published: August 13th 2019
Format: Hardcover, 368 pages
Genre: Dystopic / Technothriller
Source: My thanks to the Publisher for an opportunity to read an advanced copy of this book.

As Margaret Atwood once said, add enough truth to your fiction so people can’t accuse you of making it up and that is exactly what Rob Hart has done. As if Bezos, Walton, and a little Musk on the side, had a singular vision with the backing of government antiregulation. It isn’t shocking that the head of Cloud comes from Arkansas or that there are drones delivering products that have been, in a way, stolen from their rightful inventors. This is what business has turned into and billionaires are only supplying what the masses demand.

The Cloud has devised a new live-work environment since there are very few life-sustaining jobs outside of their facility and the earth is little more than a wasteland. Cloud, in its infinite wisdom, has given the public what it needs – jobs, housing, and food. What more could a desperate workforce want?

Zinnia is a corporate spy. Hired to infiltrate Cloud technology and find a way to bring it down. Paxton was the CEO of his own small business that was slowly pushed out of the market by Cloud. When that dream was over, he worked as a prison guard which gave him the right credentials to work for Cloud security and to learn their secrets. What Zinnia and Paxton didn’t expect was their two worlds colliding. Decisions will be made, minds altered, revolting revelations made, and in the end, there will be one final chance at freedom.

The plausibility is what is so terrifying. The learned helplessness. We see it coming, we know it is possible, yet we do nothing because we each want to save a few dollars, receive items nearly instantaneously, and all the while putting out of our minds what those sacrifices entail. Oh, and don’t get me started on the future of food.

Ron Howard and Brian Grazer now own the movie rights to this book. As you read, you can see it on the big screen, see the crowds arrive at the theaters and walk out chattering about how fantastical the idea is as they contemplate their new big box store purchase.

The Cactus

Title: The Cactus
Author: Sarah Haywood
Published: May 7th 2019 by Park Row
Format: Paperback, 384 pages
Genre: Women's Fiction

Cacti is not prickly to keep invaders away but to allow it to thrive in the harshest of environments.

I am not going to go as far as to say Susan Green is on the spectrum, but I do tend to wonder since she has very precise ways of looking at life. Ways which are orderly with no room for emotion or the feelings of others. She has well throughout life plans and when she discovers, at the ripe old of 45, she is pregnant, and with the recent passing of her mother, Susan is a befuddled mess.

Susan and Richard had a mutually satisfying relationship. He was a man that she had met a decade or so previously through a lonely heart ad. They laid out their relationship rules, complete with an understanding there would be no sharing of their personal lives and settled on a purely physical relationship with mutually agreed upon evenings out. All organized and precise the way adults should behave. She never anticipated a baby would enter the picture, and when it did, she quickly ended their relationship determined to keep her independence.

Her relationship with her widowed mother was of begrudgingly mutual respect if they did not see each other frequently. Susan’s brother Edward, on the other hand, was a thorny nuisance and when her mother’s will was read, and Susan did not receive what she believed to be her fair share, she did what any other rational legally trained person would do -- she gathered her documents and went to court.

Refusing to give up her autonomy, yet needing the proceeds from the sale of her mother’s home, she reluctantly begins asking for help from the few people who are willing to get close to this prickly person who raises cacti. Then again, she doesn’t technically ask, they are the only people left in her life willing to see past the brusque exterior.

As her due date nears, and the court case is coming to a head, Susan encounters a shock she never prepared for. A secret so devastating it causes an emotional upheaval that will breakdown her walls and allow her to bond with Rob and Kate, letting in a life she had denied, and in turn, allowing Susan Green to forget the rules.

The Moment of Lift: How Empowering Women Changes the World

Title: The Moment of Lift: How Empowering Women Changes the World
Author: Melinda Gates
Published: April 23rd 2019 by Flatiron Books
Format: Hardcover, 273 pages
Genre: Women's Study / Human Rights

I savored this book. I had no intention of rushing and found myself lingering over certain passages and stopping fellow book lovers asking if they had had a chance to read, and if not, let them know that they were in store for a remarkable journey when they did.

Somewhere in the first couple of chapters, you forget who millionaire philanthropist Melinda Gates is and instead join a woman on a journey of not quite enlightenment but a discovery of women in general. Women who once they know they have a voice will use it to lift their neighbors and daughters and allow them to see a world that was denied to the previous generations.

You will cry along with Melinda and relish in the differences that the Gates Foundation has made in the lives of women in impoverished countries. Women that thought that their only choice was no choice. A husband would be chosen, more children would die than see their fifth, not to mention their first, birthdays. Hunger, beatings, and brutal backbreaking work so their husband could live a freer existence because that is the way it has always been.

There are many quotable parts of this book, but what remains with me is a simple fact that “change does not happen until someone says no”. They are simple words, but words strung together have a deeper meaning. This is a nightstand book, a book that should be picked up and reread from time to time so we don’t forget.

The Woman in the White Kimono

Title: The Woman in the White Kimono
Author: Ana Johns
Published: May 28th 2019 by Park Row
Format: Hardcover, 352 pages
Genre: Historical Fiction

There was truth within the magical stories Tori’s father had told. Stories which never grew old and took on a life of their own yet always included a blue pebbled street, a tea merchant and his beautiful daughter, a pathway of lanterns, a tree, and of heartache and hope. It was not until, as he lies dying, a letter is shared and secrets revealed. What Tori did not know was there had always been hidden truths in his tales which has now led a grieving daughter on a journey to a life-before-a-life.

Told in an alternating style encompassing the harsh realities of 1957 Japan and current day where Tori Kovac, an investigative journalist, travels to Japan to find Naoko, a woman who was her father’s first love. A love not allowed between an American serviceman and the daughter of a tea merchant determined to rebuild his business by arranging a marriage between his daughter and the son of a wealthy and powerful family.

The letter revealed an unknown daughter. A sister Tori never knew, and in response to the deep loss of her father, she is determined to find this woman. A woman that is half her father, someone who could help her to fill in the blanks and can share her stories. What she did not expect was a harsher reality of what Naoko had to endure. Of a time and place which was cruel to pregnant seventeen-year-old girls who carry a half American babies.

Carved out of true stories, there is a heart-wrenching authenticity to this book. A never wanting to let go of Tori or Naoko, or the countless other women who had to suffer, yet there is a knowing they are at peace after this dark piece of history has been told.

A Grave End

Title: A Grave End
Author: Wendy Roberts
Published: July 15th 2019 by Carina Press
Format: eBook, 219 pages
Genre: Paranormal Mystery
Source: My thanks to Netgalley and the Publisher for an opportunity to read an advanced copy of this book.
Series: Bodies of Evidence #4

Another one of those series I cannot explain why I continue to ready, yet I do in hopes they will get better or the main character will become less whiney and damaged.

As families reach out to Julie Hall, in desperate need to find missing loved ones, she must keep her walls up or become overwhelmed by the sheer number of emails and requests she receives. From time to time there are those cases which spark her interest but when they take place in her old home town, a town which holds brutal memories, her first reaction is to delete the request, lock her doors, and hide from the outside world.

There is something about the case of Alice which piques her curiosity and a chance meeting outside of a prison with a psychic, she tentatively combines skills to see if they can come up with a breakthrough for the family. Dead ends after dead ends lead Julie frustrated and exasperated. Her dowsing rods are not picking up on Alice’s remains, until she goes to the one place she swore she would never return to.

Though I had begun to wonder about a specific character in the book, I figured it could not be that easy, why would an author ask so little from her readers, but that is exactly what Wendy Roberts did. Maybe next time she will add in more twists or additional plots to throw us off.

I’ll never understand why this series took off in the way it did when her previous – Ghost Duster Mysteries, and Grounds to Kill just disappeared from the radar.

The 18th Abduction

Title: The 18th Abduction
Author: James Patterson, Maxine Paetro
Published: April 29th 2019 by Little, Brown and Company
Format: Hardcover, 368 Pages
Genre: Suspense
Series: Women's Murder Club #18

First off, don’t let the 381 pages shock you, the font used is larger than most hardcovers so it will be a quick read. Second, don’t be thrown by the authors use of the name Karin Slaughter as a character in the book, it was an interesting way to introduce the term “Googleganger”.

A long thought dead war criminal “the butcher of Djoba”, and three missing teachers from a prestigious high school have Lindsay and Joe running all over San Francisco. What no one knew at the time was one of these seemingly innocent teachers has a secret, actually more than one, but as the story unfolds their background unfold with it. Add in a woman sitting beside Joe’s car hoping for help when no one else will listen. Quickly two seemingly unrelated stories will be tied together if they can get the butcher to commit a crime. Not just any crime, a crime that will give entry to his past and give Lindsay, Joe, and the rest of the Women’s Murder Club an entrance into a brutal piece of history.

What James Patterson and Maxine Paetro unfold will not be for the squeamish. This is a brutal book that visibly lays bare war crimes. You cannot help but have a visceral reaction to the pictures that are drawn with words that leave a lasting impression. So be warned, this book goes a little deeper than their usual fluff, a book that contains composites of real events and individuals, a book that barely conceals the true criminals that they are talking about.

Shamed

Title: Shamed
Author: Linda Castillo
Published: July 16th 2019 by Minotaur Books
Format: eBook, Hardcover, 304 pages
Genre: Police Procedural
Source: My thanks to Netgalley and the Publisher for an opportunity to read an advanced copy of this book.
Series: Kate Burkholder #11

Linda Castillo does not disappoint in this eleventh installment to the Kate Burkholder series. A bit heavier and more disturbing than her previous books, the author takes Kate and the police force of Painters Mill down a dark and disturbing road with the murder of a grandmother and the abduction of a special needs child.

“Da Deivel has hurt Grossmammi” are the first words Kate can get out of terrified Anne Helmuth. Mary Yoder is dead and 7-year-old Elsie is missing. With little to go on and only a basic description, the police are left with very few leads. The locals have no idea who could be responsible, but when an innocent comment is made about Elsie being a gift, new ideas are forming and when you kick over the right rock, family secrets are revealed. Secrets lead up to the highest echelons of the tight-knit Amish community. With the pieces coming together, Kate does not like the picture which is forming and why Elsie, of all children, would be kidnapped. In a desperate need to have her child returned, Miriam Helmuth reveals the truth behind Elsie’s birth and what part both a mid-wife and Bishop Troyer had in a late-night visit to a remote farm.

As notes are being left with those who know more than they should, and bodies piling up, Kate is in a battle with time to have a child returned before any more damage can be done to the families involved and the community that protects them.

This book will grab you from the beginning. You may have the intention of reading a bit here and there, to savor what is being said, but you will not be able to let go until you reach the end and know the pain some have suffered and the dishonesty others will go to when they think they are doing what is best for a child.

Fatal Frost

Title: Fatal Frost
Author: Karen MacInerney
Published: October 18th 2016 by Thomas & Mercer
Format: Paperback, 282 pages
Genre: Cozy Mystery
Series: Dewberry Farm #2

Hoping that book two in the Dewberry Farm Mysteries series would have rounded out the people and places of Buttercup, I was disappoint when instead the book was nothing more than a gosh-golly-gee-whiz, jaunt through a tedious “he said, then she said, then he said” dialogue leaving the reader wanting to jump through the pages and pull something of interest out.

Once an investigative journalist and now a small-time farmer, Lucy Resnick continues to learn the ways of farming and wayward animals. Now that she has found freshly dug holes on her property she does a bit of investigating on her own and when a few clues come together and a body is discovered in a burned out house, Lucy and the bumbling sheriff finally put the pieces together all the while poison-pen letters are winding their way through town.

Karen MacInerney tries to throw too many parts into this one in hopes that something will stick to the proverbial wall, but sad to say, it just came out as a jumbled overcooked mess. Unfortunately, this will be my last trip to Dewberry

The Right Sort of Man

Title: The Right Sort of Man
Author: Allison Montclair
Published: June 4th 2019 by Minotaur Books
Format: eBook, Hardcover, 336 pages
Genre: Historical Cozy Mystery
Source: My thanks to Netgalley and the Publisher for an opportunity to read an advanced copy of this book.
Series: Sparks and Bainbridge #1

A brilliant new historical mystery series full of laughs and twists that will keep the reader fully engaged.

Gwendolyn Bainbridge’s husband was killed during WWII sending her into a deep depression and a stay at a sanitarium resulting in her in-laws gaining legal guardianship of her son. Iris Sparks was a spy and “lover without the benefit of clergy” to a married man who has been supporting her. Five months after meeting, and not knowing each other well, decide out of desperation to open “The Right Sort Marriage Bureau”. Three months after opening their door Tillie La Salle, who was recently matched to a local man Richard Trower, was found dead on “a night that was meant for hope”. Gwen and Iris have no choice but to jump into the investigation not only to save their names but to save their business. Each brings something different to the table but when it counts, they both have too much to lose and will go down any dark and dangerous alley to find out who Tillie was since her story, and where she worked, isn’t adding up.

Full of interesting characters, from Detective Sergeant Michael Kinsey who appears to have quite the past with Iris, to gangsters that can get the ladies items that have disappeared during wartime, to characters with multiple names and shady pasts, and my favorite – Salvatore Danielli “Sally”, who is a combination debt collector, office help, writer, and gentle giant.

The Bookish Life of Nina Hill

Title: The Bookish Life of Nina Hill
Author: Abbi Waxman
Published: July 9th 2019 by Berkley
Format: eBook, 352 pages
Genre: Women's Fiction
Source: My thanks to Netgalley and the Publisher for an opportunity to read an advanced copy of this book.

A nowhere book that suddenly, because there was nowhere else to go, turned into Fredrik Backman’s “My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She’s Sorry”, then bounces back to nowhere only to finish up as a romance.

I have no idea what happened here, in the past, Abbi Waxman’s books were a must buy, they were full of family, humor, and the realities of life. Yes, to be honest, this book touches on family, a damaged one, but still family. There is humor, sparks here and there, but not sustained. I just found it a disappointing foray into the same Larchmont neighborhood of her two prior books.

The introverted only child of a professional photographer single mother, who left her in the care of a nanny when she could no longer fit in a cardboard box, suddenly becomes aware that there was a father out there. A man who recently died and has mentioned her in his will. Not only is she learning about a man she never knew but she has come to find three sisters, a brother, and a smattering of nieces and nephews. With Nina’s anxiety attacks, over planned journal, pub quiz night, a new family, a new man, and a dearly loved job surrounded by books which is about to close its doors, it is no surprise that this wandering book encapsulates a life half lived. If you are looking for a happily ever after type of book, you will literally find it here since that is how Abbi Waxman decided to end this book – with those exact words.