A Halloween Cozy

Burned to a Crisp by K.A. Miltimore
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

From the publisher: “Hedy Leckenmaul runs a strange little bakery in the sleepy town of Enumclaw, Washington. Her bakery may be bizarre but it is the non-human guests who stay at her home, along with her resident ghost, and her menagerie of talking animals that truly is strange. Hedy hosts a waystation for supernatural travelers and while hosting two such travelers, the town is rocked by an arsonist who is kidnapping women, and pitting the residents of Enumclaw against each other. Hedy and her friends must solve the mystery when one of their own vanishes, leaving them racing to find out who is behind it all before it is too late.”

I read this during the spring, but I saved my review until October. While reading this paranormal, cozy mystery, I found myself constantly thinking what a great Halloween read it would be. I may try to fit the second book from this series into my own autumn reading plan.

Paranormal anything is not my usual cup of tea, but in my quest to try on a variety of different mysteries this year, it is only natural that I would want to explore places I would not usually go. I am glad I ventured down this path, and relieved to find it was not as uncomfortable as I would have thought.

Hedy runs a bakery and occasionally has special visitors stay with her in a bed and breakfast. Her special visitors are interesting characters. There are also talking animals and a ghost in Hedy’s home. While hosting two of these visitors, a strange series of crimes occurs in her small town, and one of her guests could very easily be the perpetrator.

I enjoyed the setting of this book. Having lived for several years in the Pacific Northwest, I am familiar with Enumclaw and found the visit back there (through my reading) refreshing. Enumclaw is a smaller community and would certainly be both a good place for hiding some unusual business and a place that would be devastated and quick to respond to these crimes.

The fairy tales Hedy shares with Mel were interesting and kept me engaged. As did the stories from both of the guests and the history of the items Hedy keeps in her bakery. While this was a short-ish book, there were a lot of different story lines and they were well-maintained and kept together nicely.

At the end of the day, this was a cozy mystery with some paranormal aspects and a fun read! Like I said, I may fit the next one in this month, but as it is a Christmas story, maybe I will hold on and read it after Thanksgiving.

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Remember Me by Mary Higgins Clark

Remember Me by Mary Higgins Clark
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

From the publisher: “Unable to forgive herself for the death of her two-year-old son Bobby in a car accident, Menley Nichols’ marriage to Adam starts to fall apart – until the birth of their daughter Hannah. Determined to rebuild a life together around their precious baby, Menley and Adam decide to rent a house on Cape Cod for a month, confidant that the tranquility of the place will be ideal for Menley and little Hannah. But the peace they crave is disturbed when strange things start to happen – incidents which make Menley relive the horror of the accident in which she lost Bobby… incidents which make her fear for Hannah. And step by step, Menley and Adam are drawn into a dark and sinister web of events which threatens their marriage, their child and ultimately Menley’s sanity.”

An oldie, but a goodie from the Queen of Suspense herself. Mary Higgins Clark was one of my first “adult authors”. I remember devouring her stories in junior high, high school, college and beyond. She was the first author I stood in line for to get her signature. She has an entire shelf (overflowing) in my personal library. She is still putting out books, albeit most of them are co-written, and I still enjoy picking them up once in awhile. But as the days are growing cooler and shorter, I found myself drawn to pick up and older title, by an author who has been so prevalent in my life.

As a more mature reader, I have learned to choose stories with a bit more depth than this, but sometimes, a little brain candy is fun.

One of my favorite things about MHC’s early books are the settings. These are small New England towns with quaint histories. This one is no different. The history of Remember House is tragic and romantic and lends more than a touch of creepiness to the current story.

Another thing that has kept me reading and going back to these books is the female protagonists. Clark does a good job giving us flawed female heroes, with history and somehow a lot of strength to figure out their own stories. I like Menley in this book. She may question herself and doubt herself, but it added to her character. Her drive to find the truth and some satisfaction propelled the story.

I will continue to pick these books off my shelf whenever the mood strikes; and I am sure it will strike many times in the years to come.

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New Detective Series

Little Girls Sleeping by Jennifer Chase
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

From the publisher: “He looked down at the little girl, sleeping peacefully, her arms wrapped around a teddy bear. He knew he was the only one who could save her. He could let her sleep forever.

An eight-year-old girl, Chelsea Compton, is missing in Pine Valley, California and for Detective Katie Scott it’s a cruel reminder of the friend who disappeared from summer camp twenty years ago. Unable to shake the memories, Katie vows she won’t rest until she discovers what happened to Chelsea.

But as Katie starts to investigate, the case reveals itself to be much bigger and more shocking than she feared. Hidden deep in the forest she unearths a makeshift cemetery: a row of graves, each with a brightly coloured teddy bear.

Katie links the graves to a stack of missing-persons cases involving young girls—finding a pattern no one else has managed to see. Someone in Pine Valley has been taking the town’s daughters for years, and Katie is the only one who can stop them.

And then another little girl goes missing, snatched from the park near her home.

Katie’s still haunted by the friend she failed to protect, and she’ll do anything to stop the killer striking again—but can she find the little girl before it’s too late?”

A little detective fiction to start off my fall.

This was a solid mystery. There is a bad guy killing young girls, a flawed detective must use all her wiles to figure out who he is.

I thought this was a good beginning to a new series. Katie, a veteran, returns home with her canine friend and is able to jump into a new career with the help of her family. As the story progresses, we get to meet other people from Katie’s past and new people she will be working with throughout her story. And the weird part at the end could make for some interesting future experiences. (Read the story and you will know what I am talking about, no spoilers here).

There were plenty of twists and developments to keep a slow burn feel to this novel. I do not have issues with the pacing, but this was not a fast-pace thriller. Plenty of suspicion flung in a multitude of directions made this one a little harder to figure out; but the guilty party was certainly not too low on my list of possibilities.

I had not read anything by Jennifer Chase before this, but I will be looking at reading both her earlier novels and additional titles in this series.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this book and share my honest opinion.

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Wendy Walker’s The Night Before

The Night Before by Wendy Walker
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This book kept me guessing!!!

I did not want to walk away from the story of Rosie’s missing sister Laura. Although, as life will have it, I did have to put the book down and participate in my own life from time to time. The mystery in this story was kept taut and the suspense was fabulous. I think Wendy Walker has crafted another great story for mystery, suspense, and thriller readers.

I enjoyed the alternating between points of view and time line disorienting in the best possible way. This structure kept me off-balance and unsure of who I should trust throughout the story. This lack of trust in the characters, made it hard for me to *like* any of them, but I did care about how the story concluded. This is a fine line for me. I wanted to see justice for all, but did not feel myself rooting for any of the protagonists, and probably would have been satisfied with any of them being the guilty party.

There was suspense and story a plenty here, and certainly a satisfying conclusion that did not require any stretch to believe it was true. I will watch for future titles by this author.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced copy of this e-book!

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A Chilling Tale: A book review

The Chosen by Kristina Ohlsson
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The Chosen is a dark story that looks into the heinous murders of a pre-school teacher and two young boys. In true Nordic Noir fashion, the motivation is dark, the atmosphere oppressive and every character flawed and suspect.

Nordic Noir has been characterized by it’s Scandinavian setting, it’s bleak landscape and plain language. There are many authors who are finding their home in the genre and readers continue to seek out these morally complex, disturbing tales. This is a new Nordic author for me. And this title is touted as a #1 Bestseller in Sweden on the cover of my edition. While noir is not one of my go-to genres, it is one I find myself comfortably enjoying when the mood strikes. I would not consider this a good place to begin a journey into Nordic Noir, but if already a fan, this is a good author to add to your reading schedule.

Once again, I am reading a series out of order; but, in this case, I did not feel like I missed anything by doing so. There were several references to earlier exploits by our detectives, but enough information was shared that I could follow along with where the characters were. The fifth installment in this series focuses on a tight-knit Jewish community in Sweden. As the detectives fight their own personal demons, they must also solve the crime and for one involved, it’s going to hit much too close to home.

The author uses an interesting construct of interspersing pieces of the ‘conclusion’ throughout the story. The reader is set up to know one of the characters is going to have a very bad day early on. The information given in these conclusion parts keeps the reader guessing right to the end. The language is straightforward and easy to read, even if the material is occasionally more than one wants to imagine.

The comments about the snow littered throughout the story helped to set the stage: “Snow is falling from the dark sky, settling like frozen tears of angels on her head and shoulders,”
“The falling snow was like confetti made of glass,” “It was as if the snow was whispering to him”. And those are just a few of the examples from the first 50 pages.

I picked up a copy of this book at a library bag sale. I was surprised to see it came from a library system in the UK. I will be searching out additional titles by this author, so I am hoping her books have crossed the pond!

This is a very dark story, as is typical of the genre. There is a tight knit community with secrets galore and all those secrets will need to be exposed in order to find the hunter of children. There is no lack of suspects and even as they are cleared, they come back under suspicion. This story will keep you guessing and may keep you up at night.

New Thriller Coming May 3

Gone in the Night by Mary-Jane Riley
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

From the publisher: “When the victim of a car crash begs journalist Alex Devlin for help before disappearing without trace, Alex finds herself caught up in a mystery that won’t let her go.

Determined to find the missing man, she is soon investigating a conspiracy that threatens some of the most vulnerable members of society.

But will Alex be prepared to put her own life on the line to help those who can’t help themselves?”

This was a fast-paced thriller which I thoroughly enjoyed. Once again, I chose to read a series out of order. This was my first in the Alex Devlin series, and my first by this author, but I am pretty sure it will not be my last.

The story begins with several story lines, setting the stage for our main characters’ convergence. Throughout the novel, we see the story through the eyes of several characters. The author succeeds in making each voice unique and I did not question whose story I was hearing at any given time. Most of the chapters were short, but they stayed focused on one character at a time which made the story accessible and kept this reader wanting more.

The mystery was present, but I found the thriller aspects were much better well done. I did not particularly find there to be a lot of suspects, but hunting down the killer or killers and stopping them sooner rather than later felt urgent. Another reviewer mentioned the cat-and-mouse game in this book, and I wholeheartedly agree with that characterization.

I am not good at geography in general. I do recognize this book took place in the UK somewhere, but not in London. I did not find the exact location to be required knowledge to enjoy the story. There was some vocabulary in the book with which I was unfamiliar and I do believe it is English slang which has not yet made it over the pond (at least not yet to me). I also kept in mind that the word f*ck is not viewed as offensive in the UK as it can be here in the US, so I overlooked the liberal use of the word. Not that it was out of place, the characters generally used it in appropriate places and ways for their situations.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an advance e-copy of this book.

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Murder in Belgravia by Lynn Brittney

Murder in Belgravia by Lynn Brittney
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Another historical mystery for me. This one is set during WWI London. I really like the premise of this novel: a police officer realizes he is going to need help from the fairer sex and sets up an under the table operation in order to investigate more sensitive crimes. Then the crimes got a bit dark.

I am enjoying reading more historical mysteries and WWI has been a good time period for me. This one reminded me that the seedy underground has always existed. Heroine available at the local chemist shop, brothels, sex slaves, corrupt police officers and murder. And a war will not stop these activities from continuing.

I thought the characters were well drawn and nuanced. Caroline, the high society doctor lady, was probably my favorite. Although, the very handsome Greek (Billy) was a close second. I am looking forward to see how this group of characters grows and continues to solve mysteries during WWI.

The mystery in this story was a little convoluted. As I said above, there was a lot going on in this very short novel. An abusive husband is murdered after gravely injuring his wife. The investigation uncovers many more undesirable activities. While the major characters were well done, the minor characters felt more like caricatures and did not distinguish themselves well in my head. I was not surprised by the guilty party, but did have a hard time figuring out who it was.

I will be looking for future titles in this series.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for my advanced copy!

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Into the Fire by Sonia Orchard

From the publisher:

“A year after her best friend died in a house fire, Lara can’t come to terms with the loss. Logic says there was no more she could have done to save the mercurial and unhappy Alice, but Lara can’t escape the feeling that she is somehow to blame for the tragedy.

She spends a weekend at the rebuilt house with Alice’s charismatic widower, Crow, and his three young children. Rummaging through the remains of their shared past, Lara reveals a friendship with Alice that was as troubled as it was intense. But beneath the surface is a darker, more unsettling secret waiting to be exposed.”

A realistic look at friendship. The lives of Alice and Lara came together and grew apart over the span of more than a decade as we explore Lara’s views, highs and lows of her relationship with Alice. I found the prose meandering (in a good way), the characters became real people and the pacing made the story. I felt this was more realistic or literary fiction than mystery or thriller. While there was a little mystery woven into the plot, I found it much more a story about finding closure than about finding the answer.

Told in first person through Lara’s eyes, we are introduced to a grieving woman who is coming to terms with the loss of her closest friend. As she spends the weekend with her late friend, Alice’s husband and children, Lara reminisces of her times with Alice. She remembers good times and bad times, arguments and joys. Throughout it all, the author orients us solidly in Australia: “The moon is not yet visible in the sky, I can’t see more than a metre off the side of the road, just the poa grasses lining the edge of the dirt and the palsied limbs of the stringybarks jutting overhead, bleached white in the headlights.”

While flawed, I found I cared about the characters and wanted to know more about them. As the narrator, Lara had secrets from the reader, but we also saw the most growth in her character. At the beginning of her friendship with Lara, she was in college and trying to find herself. Later, she was trying to figure out who she was apart from Alice and at the end we know she is going to discover a self without Alice. We know because we have faith in the growth and changes she has already experienced. I would love to access to Alice’s journals and see how her mind was working throughout the story. I couldn’t decide if I liked Crow or not, but I am pretty sure that is what he would prefer. He was a person and I certainly felt I could be angry with him, laugh with him and sympathize with him at different points in the story.

At the end of chapter 3, Lara writes “I was enjoying the kind of serene benevolence that can settle on you like a mist when everything in life seems to be in a perfect equilibrium.” At just 10% into the novel, this was exactly how I felt. There was a comfortable feel to the narrative and the story. We knew things were not going to stay that way, but for the moment, life was good. The path we follow from college to adulthood has detours and bumps galore, but all relatable. After a traumatic loss, our minds reel and will flit from one memory to the next, picking apart the details of what was important and what we may have done wrong. A year removed from the accident did distance both the reader and the narrator from some of the fresh emotions occurring closer to the death, but even muted, they were there.

Interspersed throughout the story there were some interesting psychological theories and ideas. I found the one about the differences between male friendships and female friendships sticking with me. The basis of friendship is an interesting topic and the differences between men and women is certainly a global one. The comment towards the end “We were not the women we once were, and we were the ones who could best bear witness to that change. Sad as it was, it was easier, simply, to look away.” also struck a chord with me. We depend on people to know us at our best and our worst. Sometimes, it’s hard to see the ones we love at their worst and it is easier to busy ourselves with the day-to-day of our own lives. It is also sometimes easier to avoid those who may notice we are not living our best lives.

I enjoyed this excursion down under. I think I may need to go call my best friend and remind her that I love her! I found I could not quite give this the full five stars because of the handling of the abortion. It may be my puritanical, prudish, American self, but the cavalier almost brazen way the abortion was discussed and dealt with rubbed me the wrong way. I found myself thinking about this book and its characters long after I set the book down for the day. Thank you to NetGalley for providing this reader a new book and introducing her to a new author!

Everything Here is Beautiful by Mira T. Lee

Everything Here is Beautiful is a lovely examination of mental illness and its effects on various relationships. The story focuses on two sisters, one of whom lives with an unspecified mental illness (is it bipolar disorder? maybe it’s schizophrenia). Told through various points of view, the illness plays a role in each character’s life.

Miranda and Lucia are Chinese-American sisters. Miranda, the elder, is the responsible, practical sister. While the younger Lucia has far more eccentricities. And is battling with mental illness. After the death of their mother, they are each other’s only family. The struggles between these two sisters felt genuine on every page.

While the other characters in this book, especially Manuel and Yonah, are well-drawn and genuine, the sisters stole the show for me. The plight of each of these characters brought the story more devastatingly real.

This was a beautiful tale shedding light onto the plight of family’s facing mental illness.

Reading by candlelight

I may need to stop paying my electric bill periodically. Every few years, we experience a large enough storm to knock out my power for several hours (or days). During these hours, I find myself settling into a candlelit atmosphere and opening a new book. This year, I was fortunate enough to have a copy of Jesym Ward’s Sing, Unburied, Sing on hand.

The hype around this book was huge. Everyone was talking about it. It won the National Book Award, was nominated for a slew of other awards and made my to read list when it was long listed for the Morning News’s Tournament of Books. It was short listed long before my copy became available at the library , but such is the life of an avid library patron.

Sing, Unburied, Sing is a contemporary look at impoverished life in the southern United States. At it’s heart, it is a tale about a dysfunctional African American family struggling through life. Leonie is a drug-addicted mother living with her parent waiting to reunite with her children’s father. Jojo is a 13-year-old trying to find his place in the world; simultaneously being a child and raising his 3-year-old sister. Mam and Pop, Leonie’s parents have stories to tell as well. Ward weaves this story together through alternating points of view of Jojo and Leonie with the occasional assistance of a ghost named Richie.

The prose was absolutely lyrical. My own reading, in a mostly dark living room with the flickering candlelight may have helped make this ghost story even more haunting and emotional.

While the story takes us on a road trip through Mississippi, it is mostly a character-driven story. The history of all involved is spooned out quietly and revealed in beautiful, if heartbreaking ways.

This was not a long book (285 pages), but it had depth. My power was restored before I finished the book, but the haunted feelings remained. I have previously read Dr. Zhivago and Fall on Your Knees by candlelight and both have certainly remained in my good favor long after I closed the covers. Not to worry, I will continue to pay my bills, but maybe I will remember to unplug once in awhile and read a new book by candlelight.