Tag: Elin Hilderbrand

November 2025–Part One:

November 12, 2025

Book #76:

Kill For Me Kill For You by Steve Cavanagh (351 pages).  This mystery author comes highly recommended by sources I trust, and I was excited to finally read this novel (of perfect length!). Well-constructed with an interesting premise, this novel is about two women who each want some killed, and who agree to kill the other’s target, giving the other a perfect alibi. This is a such a fun read! It’s propulsive, well-written (because bad writing is distracting in mysteries, let’s be honest) with people to root for. There are some great twists I didn’t see coming–the final twist really floored me, given a particular detail the author hid. A solid 5 stars from me and I’ll be recommending this in person from now on for a good, well-written mystery. (For true literary mysteries, my go-to recommendation is Louise Penny’s Three Pines series of course).

Book #77:

The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion by Beth Brower (Length: 265 pages). Yes, Emma is back. These wonderful novels are entirely addicting, and it takes great willpower for me not to read them all in order. (There are 8 so far in the series–25 total are expected–and I have the next 3 waiting in the wings on my Kindle). This particular installment is set in the fall through to New Year’s Eve. The focus is still on Emma’s deepening platonic friendships with 3 men: Pierce, the boarder in her attached guesthouse, Duke Islington and the young Vicar Hawkes. I loved Emma’s handmade Christmas gifts she gave to these three, and again, so many clever bits of conversation and laugh-out-loud turns of phrase here. Emma isn’t a perfect character or human being but she’s a total delight and her resilience is admirable. 5 stars from me. Once again.

Book #78:

What the Dead Know by Barbara Butcher (Length: 289 pages).   This is a non-fiction account written by a medico-legal investigator with New York City’s Office of the Chief Medical Examiner. The author’s job is to determine the cause and manner of deaths at scenes of fatal accidents, suicides and homicides. These accounts are disturbing, graphic, depressing and scary but are also well-worth a read as the dead deserve our attention to their stories. The author has personal battle scars of her own and is honest about her past addiction. Her background colors her accounts of how she handles the crime scenes and her clients and the writing is top-notch here. These stories are memorable, and this is honestly difficult to put down. I absolutely recommend this one. 4.5 stars.

Book #79:

The Academy by Elin Hilderbrand and Shelby Cunningham (428 pages).  Boarding school and campus novels are my jam so I had to pick up this new novel written by Elin Hilderbrand and her adult daughter which is set in the imaginary Tiffin Academy in New England. Rich kids behaving badly plus faculty making questionable life decisions set in a gorgeous stereotypical boarding school experience (with gourmet meals to boot) make this a really fun read. This novel is told from various perspectives: the female headmaster, the new girl (a junior), a few teachers and the student body itself. Nothing too serious happens but there is a bit of a plot and book two (about senior year) is en route. I do want to read about what happens to these students and I’ll definitely check it out. 4 stars.

Book #80:

Do Not Disturb by Freida McFadden (Length: 327 pages). I listened to this one as this is one of my favorite authors to listen to when I want an easy-to-follow, psychological mystery/thriller. This particular novel (as is the case with most of this author’s novels) is not well-written. The premise here is interesting on its face: a woman kills her abusive husband and then hides out in an out-of the-way dilapidated motel, named the Bates Motel. There’s a profile of a woman sitting in the window of the house behind the motel, surprise, surprise. The plot IS propulsive, and I kept picking this one back up, so there’s that. The resolution of the story is pretty straightforward, but apparently the author isn’t sure we understood it so she has a character walk us through the resolution step by step, in case we didn’t get it. The twists are fun here, if not a bit obvious. Don’t expect too much with this one but I’ll give it 3 stars for its entertainment value.

September 2025 Part Two:

September 30, 2025

Book #64:

The Identicals by Elin Hilderbrand (Length: 433 pages).  I really enjoyed this one! Set in both Nantucket and Martha’s Vineyard, the two main characters are identical twin sisters: Harper and Tabitha Frost. They are estranged, due in part to Parent Trap-style machinations years ago and part due to emotional traumas. This is a very fun read, with Hilderbrand’s strong writing per usual; it is a bit cheesy in parts but the propulsive plot and writing style makes this one more memorable than most of her books. 4.5 stars from me.

Book #65:

The Carpool Detectives by Chuck Hogan (Length: 336 pages). I’m OBSESSED with this non-fiction book! I listened to this one on audio, and it’s definitely the way to go here. At the beginning of the pandemic in 2020, four stay at home moms investigated a cold case murder of a couple whose car had gone over the guardrail into a deep ravine outside of Santa Monica, California. Because it was COVID lockdown, everyone who was a potential witness (including the case detectives) were at home and the women just cold-called them, starting to break this complex case open. This is so well-written and reads like a murder novel. It’s propulsive and you won’t be able to stop reading or listening. The audio was excellent here, with the reading of the group chats adding extra interest. This is absolutely a five-star book. Let me know if you pick this one up!

Book #66:

The Lost Bookshop by Evie Woods (Length: 448 pages).   There seem to be so many fiction books with the words “Bookshop” or “Bookstore” in them and apparently, I’m on a quest to read all of them. This particular novel has a blend of magical realism and romance and is set in two time periods: the 1920s through 1950s and present day. Opaline Carlisle is a woman in Ireland who opens a bookshop in the 1920s, which was very unusual for the time period. And in present day, Martha and Henry are two young people in Ireland who are connected to and are looking for this bookshop which has mysteriously vanished. This is a sweet story with likeable characters, but it’s a bit over-dramatic in parts. I enjoyed the focus on books here, especially those written by the Bronte sisters. This is a memorable, fun read. 4 stars.

Book #67:

Is She Really Going Out With Him? by Sophie Cousens (Length: 367 pages). Romantic comedies with older protagonists are rare, and I’m so happy when I pick one up that’s actually really well written, as this one is. Anna Appleby is 38, freshly divorced with two kids, and works as a journalist for a local magazine called Bath Living, about the goings on in Bath, England. To save her job, Anna agrees to write a dating column with the premise of her kids choosing who she dates and what they are to do on the date. There is of course, a separate love interest, and the chemistry between Anna and this person is fantastic. The dialogue is witty and charming, and I thought about these characters even when I wasn’t reading this. 5 stars.

Book #68:

A Marriage at Sea by Sophie Elmhirst (Length: 251 pages). This non-fiction account of an English couple, Maralyn and Maurice, who were lost at sea in 1973 after their boat capsized en route to New Zealand, thanks to a breaching whale. Forced to survive on an inflatable raft and small dinghy, this is partially an adventure story but it’s mostly about them as people and as a couple. This is a riveting, fast read and well-paced (although it does slow down a bit in the last third). 4 stars from me.

Book #69:

The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion by Beth Brower (Length: 208 pages). This volume is the best volume so far! Emma is trying to figure out options for her financial future, but this takes a backseat as her friendship with a trio of 3 different men continues to deepen. This quartet recognizes they have a unique chemistry together and it’s fun to see this develop. Emma, of course, gets into more hilarious adventures and her witty repartee shines even more here. These are so well-written and just so funny. I find myself smiling as I read them. 5 stars, of course.