Known to the Victim

Title: Known to the Victim
Author: K.L. Armstrong
Published: June 25, 2024 by Doubleday Canada
Format: Kindle, Paperback 344
Genre: Thriller
Source: My thanks to Netgalley and the Publisher for the opportunity to read an advanced copy of this book.

First Sentence: Prologue. The day my mother was murdered wasn’t the worst day of my life.

Blurb: When Amy Gibson's mother is brutally murdered by her boyfriend, Amy's world is completely undone. Overcome with grief and heartache, she withdraws from everything around her—college, her friends, her entire life. Until her estranged half-brother, Oliver, saves her, pulling her back into her life and giving her family. Giving her a home.

Eight years later, she's picked herself up and has worked hard to move forward. She’s the host of a popular true crime podcast that focuses on crimes against women committed by their partners and is finding purpose and healing through helping women in ways she couldn't help her mother.

And then Oliver is accused of the unthinkable—something that is so unlike him. Something that horrifies Amy. But desperate to save the only family she has, she sets out to prove her brother's innocence.

But as the days pass and more information about Oliver and his past slowly comes to light, Amy begins realizing that nothing is ever as it seems—especially when it comes to family. (GoodReads)

My Opinion: A slow, meandering start—the kind that makes you wonder if you accidentally picked up a snoozer instead of a thriller. But hold on. Just when you’re about to nod off, BAM! A “wait, what” moment smacks you awake. Suddenly, you’re focused and questioning everything.

The protagonist is Amy Gibson. She’s got brains—PhD-level brains—but common sense? Not her strong suit. You’d think academia, her past life experiences, and podcast would prepare her for life’s curveballs, but nope. She’s like a deer caught in the headlights, stumbling through a maze of secrets and danger.

What some may not know is that K.L. Armstrong is the same Kelley Armstrong behind the Rockton, Haven’s Rock, and Rip Through Time series. Unlike Armstrong’s other female characters, Amy’s no kickass detective or fierce time traveler. Nope. She’s more like a gullible puppy chasing its tail. Unfortunately, the books that lured us to Armstrong’s world? Strong, smart women taking charge is missing from this book.

When readers crack open an Armstrong thriller, we want action from page one. No dilly-dallying. So, let’s keep our heroes on point because life’s too short for foolish protagonists.

“Known to the Victim” is the final K.L. Armstrong standalone thriller. Previous titles are The Life She Had, Wherever She Goes, and Every Step She Takes.

Gone to Hot Pot

Title: Gone to Hot Pot
Author: Vivien Chien
Published: May 21, 2024 by Minotaur Books
Format: Kindle, 55 Pages
Genre: Short Story
Series: Noodle Shop Mystery #9.5

First Sentence: No sooner had I walked five hundred feet in to Asia Village, than I hear a voice yell from behind me, “Megan Riley!”

Blurb: While Lana is away on a business trip, Megan Riley, best friend and roommate, is on doggie duty. Things between Kikkoman—Lana’s loveable black pug—and Megan go smoothly, except they both have a case of cabin fever, thanks to another treacherous Cleveland winter. When Megan comes up with the idea to take Kikko to Asia Village after a grooming appointment, she never imagined that the wrinkly little dog would disappear right under her nose.

Megan enlists the help of Kimmy Tran who is more than willing to help with the task. She even goes as far as naming their recovery Operation Pu Pu Plunder. Kimmy quickly involves—to Megan’s dismay—many Asia Village shop owners, employees, and even a few regular customers to assist in tracking down clues in search of Lana’s missing dog.

And though Megan begrudgingly appreciates the help of Lana’s beloved work community, she has just one rule for all of Don’t. Tell. Lana.

My Opinion: Reading along, I wasn’t sure what the point of this short story was. Then, two-thirds of the way through, I had my duh moment and realized it was the perfect vehicle to refamiliarize readers with the quirky characters of Asia Village shopping plaza and to introduce a new character. Sometimes, I can be very dense. So, get to reading, catch up on Lana’s world, and then you will be ready for Peking Duck and Cover.

I Hope This Finds You Well

Title: I Hope This Finds You Well
Author: Natalie Sue
Published: May 21, 2024 by William Morrow
Format: Kindle, 343 Pages
Genre: Fiction

First Sentence: There will be questions. Ones I don’t have socially acceptable answers for.

Blurb: As far as Jolene is concerned, her interactions with her colleagues should start and end with her official duties as an admin for Supershops, Inc. Unfortunately, her irritating, incompetent coworkers don’t seem to understand the importance of boundaries. Her secret to survival? She vents her grievances in petty email postscripts, then changes the text color to white so no one can see. That is until one of her secret messages is exposed. Her punishment: sensitivity training (led by the suspiciously friendly HR guy, Cliff) and rigorous email restrictions.

When an IT mix-up grants her access to her entire department’s private emails and DMs, Jolene knows she should report it, but who could resist reading what their coworkers are really saying? And when she discovers layoffs are coming, she realizes this might just be the key to saving her job. The plan is simple: gain her boss’s favor, convince HR she’s Supershops material, and beat out the competition.

But as Jolene is drawn further into her coworkers' private worlds and realizes they are each keeping secrets, her carefully constructed walls begin to crumble—especially around Cliff, who she definitely cannot have feelings for. Eventually she will need to decide if she’s ready to leave the comfort of her cubicle, even if that means coming clean to her colleagues. (GoodReads)

My Opinion: As layoffs are whispered about, the office staff at Supershops begin to become unhinged. Jolene, an admin, decides to use a white script to leave a little extra frustration in her emails, and out of the blue, they are discovered. This leads to a reprimand and computer surveillance. Unfortunately, or fortunately, depending on your level of curiosity, the IT big brother has accidentally given Jolene reading permissions to all messages and emails within her group. Now, a good person would report this to HR. She tried to, but they didn’t seem interested, and hilarity and retribution ensued.

Jolene soon realizes that all is not as it appears with her co-workers, and her insight might allow her to keep her job. The only problem --she now knows everyone’s innermost secrets, and should she decide to use it against them, what type of person would that make her. Well, employed for one.

Everyone working at a cubicle farm will find this book laugh-out-loud funny. The personalities are relatable, wondering if they would make the same choices and eventually thinking about the deeper costs while watching those around you crumble.

My only drawback with the book was the HR guy. Would an HR representative risk everything even if they felt their job was shredding their soul? But then again, Jolene did need an outside interest.

Illustrated Girl

Title: Illustrated Girl
Author: Josephine Angelini
Published: July 2, 2024 by Sungrazer Publishing
Format: Kindle, Paperback 264 Pages
Genre: YA Fantasy****
Source: My thanks to Netgalley and the Publisher for the opportunity to read an advanced copy of this book.
Series: The Chronicles of Lucitopia #1

First Sentence: Fifteen Days. I still can’t believe my time sis almost up. Three hundred and fifty days have passed since I got myself into this mess, and now I’ve only got one choice left to make.

Blurb: Ever wish you could travel inside your favorite book and become the main character? Of course you have. Everyone has. But if you ever manage to pull it off, here’s a tip. Timing is everything…

Take Holly for example, who after saying a spell is transported inside a fairytale called The Chronicles of Lucitopia, a magical world infested with grifter grandmas, halitosis-riddled bandits, and devoid of any functioning toilets.

Holly becomes Princess Pleasant exactly as she wished, but she gets there too late, right after an evil sorcerer turns Lucitopia into a tetanus-ridden hellhole. And now, it’s up to Holly to make things right.

With the help of a freakishly handsome, yet frustratingly virtuous knight, Holly sets out to fix her story, but she only has fifteen days left to do so or she risks being stuck in Lucitopia for the rest of her life, which may prove to be a short one considering she’s overdue for her shots. (GoodReads)

My Opinion: I think this is my favorite book of the year. Part folklore, part adventure, and a lot of humor and quirkiness. You will want to read this in one sitting to keep the momentum going and from the beginning, you will ask yourself what-if. It is the itchy part in the back of your brain that has you trying to connect magical dots and not being able to turn the pages fast enough.

Holly makes a deal that plunges her inside of her favorite book. Little did she know that she would be fighting for her life in a disease-ridden place, with bad food, and seriously scary creatures. Now, as Princess Pleasant, Holly has fifteen days to save Torvold the Bold’s life, help him save the Virtues, outmaneuver the evil sorcerer Asphodel in a great battle, and save the good people of Lucitopia. This is a lot to ask of a girl from Fresno. Oh, and she must kiss a real boy for this spell to be broken or she will be stuck in this realm forever.

I did not want to finish this book. I did not want this story to come to an end. This is the first book in the series, but the way it ended, I am now wondering if the rest will be companion books instead of a continuing series.

The Illustrated Girl is for readers who enjoy lighthearted fantasy from a writer who understands how to keep a story clean, with butterfly moments, and can add the right pop of humor and possibly a well-placed tear.

Mrs. Quinn's Rise to Fame

Title: Mrs. Quinn's Rise to Fame
Author: Olivia Ford
Published: January 30, 2024 by Pamela Dorman Books
Format: Hardcover, 384 pages
Genre: Women's Fiction

First Sentence: Prologue: It was a December night, the sort which usually makes being inside fell wonderfully cozy, but tonight it didn’t. The trees outside looked brittle and lifeless, their unfamiliar contortions a reminder that she was a long way from home.

Blurb: Nothing could be more out of character, but after fifty-nine years of marriage, as her husband Bernard’s health declines, and her friends' lives become focused on their grandchildren—which Jenny never had—Jenny decides she wants a little something for herself. So she secretly applies to be a contestant on the prime-time TV show Britain Bakes.

Whisked into an unfamiliar world of cameras and timed challenges, Jenny delights in a new-found independence. But that independence, and the stress of the competition, starts to unearth memories buried decades ago. Chocolate teacakes remind her of a furtive errand involving a wedding ring; sugared doughnuts call up a stranger’s kind act; a simple cottage loaf brings back the moment her life changed forever.

With her baking star rising, Jenny struggles to keep a lid on that first secret—a long-concealed deceit that threatens to shatter the very foundations of her marriage. It’s the only time in six decades that she’s kept something from Bernard. By putting herself in the limelight, has Jenny created a recipe for disaster?

My Opinion: Jenny Quinn has been married to Bernard for almost 60 years and is looking for a new adventure. Jenny and her husband Bernard never had children, which is a subplot, and she is now looking for something that is all her own. So why not secretly apply to a national baking show where she can share her passion. Never expecting the fateful phone call, she suddenly finds herself lying again. Jenny's application to British Bakes isn't her only secret. There is something she had never shared with Bernard, and her fear of him finding out is beginning to paralyze her. With her sudden rise to fame, she fears it's only a matter of time before her world and marriage come crashing down. But this cooking show is giving her purpose, and is she ready to let it all go to save Bernard pain?

You can't help but cheer for Jenny. Early on, the reader can easily unravel her first secret, but that doesn’t take away the raw emotion you feel on each page as you follow along with her successes, failures, and resilience.

Christmas, Criminals, and Campers

Title: Christmas, Criminals, and Campers
Author: Tonya Kappes
Published: October 26, 2018 by Tonya Kappes Books
Format: Kindle, 264 Pages
Genre: Amateur Sleuth
Series: Camper & Criminals #4

First Sentence: “The way Nadine carefully wove the tapestry of the small town really did make it feel like its own character,” Abby Fawn said with a deep sigh of happiness.

Blurb: Welcome to Normal, Kentucky where NOTHING is normal.

Librarian Abby Fawn is star struck when her favorite romance author, Nadine White, has rented a cozy camper at the Happy Trails Campground for the winter months.

Abby is devastated to find out Nadine White is nothing like the person she portrays in interviews or on social media. In fact, Nadine White is not nice at all and Abby lets her feelings known that she thinks Nadine is a fraud. . .after she finds out Nadine has a ghost writer.

When Nadine White is found dead in the Normal Library, Abby Fawn is Detective Hank Sharp's number one suspect.

It's time for Mae West to put up her camping gear for the winter months and put on her sleuthing gear to figure out who is framing Abby Fawn before Abby is the ending in Nadine White's final chapter.

My Opinion: With a heatwave going on, what is better than reading a Christmas book?

Abby Fawn, librarian in Normal, Kentucky, is excited when she discovers that her favorite author, Nadine White, will be spending time at Happy Trails Campground while writing her next novel. But that quickly fades when Abby discovers that Nadine is a fraud.

This wouldn’t be a cozy Camper & Criminals outing without a body showing up and Mae West, proprietor of the campground, saving the day. Mae has made Normal her hometown and she will protect Abby from being Detective Hank Sharp's primary suspect. While also trying to avoid her mother, who has taken up residence, and manage the usual shenanigans in the trailer park. There is no rest for Mae and the readers are right on her tail at every turn.

I enjoy the quirkiness of this series. It is a nice break between heavier books, and it’s always fun checking in on this quaint town.

Olive You to Death

Title: Olive You to Death
Author: Lynn Cahoon
Published: June 4, 2024 by Kensington
Format: Kindle, Paperback 200 Pages
Genre: Amateur Sleuth
Source: My thanks to Netgalley and the Publisher for the opportunity to read an advanced copy of this book.
Series: A Tourist Trap Mystery #16

First Sentence: The business-to-business meeting for May was stuffed with agenda items.

Blurb: In the coastal town of South Cove, June is tourist season—and wedding season. Unfortunately, Jill Gardner’s own wedding has been delayed. But that just gives her more time to search for a missing bride—and a killer. (GoodReads)

My Opinion: It seems like more of an outline with inconsistent parts. I found myself thinking -- that is not what you said a couple of pages ago. Maybe Lynn Cahoon has too many books in progress and cannot remember her previous paragraphs or where she wanted a book to go.

With a local woman missing, you would have thought that more people in this close-knit small town would be upset or out looking for her -- but then again -- maybe the people of South Cove have been there and done that so frequently in the previous fifteen books, that when a person goes missing, it’s just another Tuesday.

Overall, the book reads superficially with too much chatter about finding a new wedding venue, Jill needing to finish her final paper, and the burning need to take Emma for a beach run. If this is a mystery, shouldn’t the mystery be front and center? The missing woman is lost in all the surrounding chatter.

The book does drag with the amount of repetition and poor editing. The reason behind the missing woman is all sorts of ridiculous. Then add in Aunt Jackie suddenly putting in her notice that she is retiring but wants compensation for all that she has done for the business, and Jill wanting to overcompensate her, was unnecessary icing on a lopsided cake.

Dark Storm Rising

Title: Dark Storm Rising
Author: Linda Castillo
Published: April 2, 2024 by Minotaur Books
Format: Kindle, 65 Pages
Genre: Police Procedural
Series: Kate Burkholder #15.5

First Sentence: He parked in the stand of chinquapin oak trees, fifty yards from the mouth of the driveway, and killed the engine.

Blurb: Newlyweds Chief of Police Kate Burkholder and John Tomasetti are happily spending their honeymoon at a beautiful Lake Erie cabin that was once part of an historic Amish settlement. But when a violent storm suddenly erupts, Lovina Nisley, the Amish owner of the cabin, goes missing. Lovina is in the early stages of Alzheimer’s disease, so it initially appears the elderly woman simply took the wrong path, but her disappearance takes an ominous turn when her husband reveals that a developer has been threatening them if they refuse to sell him their home. With temperatures dropping and local law enforcement unable to reach them, Kate and Tomasetti must brave the perilous weather to find her. But will they reach Lovina in time to save her life?

My Opinion: A short mystery featuring Chief of Police Kate Burkholder and her husband, John Tomasetti, who have decided to take a few days off for their honeymoon at Lake Erie near where Kate had once spent summers at her Amish grandparents’ cabin.

As a storm flares up, there is a knock at the door. One of the owners of the unit they are renting is missing. Lovinia, in the early stages of Alzheimer’s, has disappeared. She might not have just wandered down the wrong path. A developer in the area wants the property, and now Kate and John begin to wonder if this disappearance, in addition to other vandalism, is related.

Castillo’s short stories are perfect teasers to whet your appetite for upcoming novels. “The Burning,” the sixteenth book in the Kate Burkholder series, is due out next month.