Tag: mystery

April 2026–Part One:

April 15, 2026

Book #27:

Talking at Night by Claire Daverly (400 pages).  I don’t recall where I first heard about this novel, but it’s been in my Libby holds for awhile. Rosie and Will meet in high school in England. They experience a soul connection, but a series of tragedies and bad timing seems to keep separating them. This is told in flashbacks as well as in present day. This isn’t as angsty as I feared this would be, featuring younger people, thanks to the stellar writing quality and the help of fun supporting characters such as Marley, Rosie’s best friend as well as Will’s grandmother. A story with more emotional depth and enough of a relationship thru line is what I’ve found here. 4 stars from me.

Book #28:

Fangirl Down by Tessa Bailey (Length: 380 pages). This is the first book in a series of 5. I’ve read this author previously so when I saw a few of her books in this series in the clearance section of Half-Price Books, I snapped them up. This is a fun pool/vacation book, and features Josephine Doyle who has been a loyal fangirl to Bad Boy PGA tour star Wells Whitaker for the past 5 years, even during his most recent 2-year slump. Josie’s family owns a pro shop in Palm Beach and after it gets destroyed by a hurricane, Wells joins forces with Josie to help one another through their tough times. This rom-com is VERY steamy, so a heads up to those avoiding open door romances. There is a great depiction of type 1 diabetes as well as the life of pro golfers. The plot is sufficiently propulsive, this author’s writing is continually solid and I enjoy how she introduces the next couple in this series; I’m picking that one up very soon. 4 stars.

Book #29:

Moonflower Murders by Anthony Horowitz (Length: 603 pages).  This is the second in the Magpie Murders trilogy and I was so excited to get to it after how much I enjoyed the first one. Here we are reunited with the previous book’s protagonist, book editor Susan Ryeland who returns to London/Suffolk to investigate another murder. This one is also inspired by an Atticus Pund mystery book she previously edited, so it’s another book within a book here. Both mysteries are very well-constructed, per usual, and I really enjoyed the connections between the two mysteries. This is LONG (a two for one) but it goes down very smoothly thanks to excellent writing, well-drawn characters and fast-moving plots. 5 stars.

Book #30:

So Old, So Young by Grant Ginder (Length: 384 pages). This came highly recommended by a book podcaster I listen to, but I’ve seen some other reviewers who didn’t care for it. The premise in this novel, labeled “friendship fiction” is the author follows a group of friends from college into middle age, tracking their personal changes as well as the changing dynamics amongst the friends. The novel starts with a funeral, but the reader doesn’t know who died; from there the author starts at the beginning of the friend group. It definitely reminded me of the movie The Big Chill, where not a lot happens plot wise but there’s a lot of introspection and navel-gazing with each individual character and how they relate to the others in the friend group. The writing is fantastic and while I didn’t like any of the characters, I really enjoyed the author’s perspective and characterizations here. If you must like your characters, skip it, but if you don’t, give it a whirl. This is a memorable read! 4 stars.

September 2025–Part One

September 15, 2025

Book #59:

The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion Vol. 2 by Beth Brower (Length: 164 pages).  Clearly, I’m loving this series that seems to be everywhere on Bookstagram and various book podcasts. Here, in the second volume, Emma is getting more settled into her life at Lapis Lazuli house. The same characters that were in the first volume are here which is nice, as the focus in this volume is more on the plot. Now the plot is essentially Emma’s daily life but her antics are still on full display here. Emma doesn’t feel the need to act as a typical woman would in 1880s London; for example, she doesn’t have a chaperone, as she doesn’t feel the need for one. The writing is excellent, and the character development is where this author truly shines. Another 5 stars from me.

Book #60:

Bento Box in the Heartland by Linda Furiya (Length: 321 pages). This is a food memoir I’ve had on my bookshelf for quite a while and in the interests of clearing my shelves, I finally picked it up. The author writes about growing up in Versailles, Indiana, in the 1960s and 1970s, a town so small, she and her family were the only Japanese-Americans who lived there. Told through the various meals and foods her mother made for the family, Linda explores what it was like growing up during this time period in middle America, including the racism she and her family experienced. The writing quality here is mid-level but it’s still an interesting read. I enjoyed her food descriptions the most, and I am passing the book on to someone I know who would enjoy this account. Three stars from me.

Book #61

The Hungry Ocean by Linda Greenlaw (Length: 286 pages).   This is a non-fiction account written by the only female swordfish captain in America, the captain of the Hannah Boden. The author and her ship were referenced in Sebastian Junger’s The Perfect Storm (an account of the tragic loss of the Andrea Gale fishing boat). Here, the author intersperses an account of a “typical” 30-day swordfish run in international fishing waters in the Atlantic Ocean with snippets of her personal history. This is very well-written and very propulsive. She gets into the nuts and bolts of what it takes to operate a fishing boat, and her perspective as a female captain is riveting. She is a phenomenal writer (taking a year to write this book, she comments that running a fishing boat is actually easier than writing a book) and I enjoyed every page here. 5 stars.

Book #62:

One’s Company by Ashley Hutson (Length: 272 pages).  I listened to this one and the narrator is great. Now, this is a bleak book with a strange premise. A young woman win’s the nation’s largest lottery in history and uses the proceeds to reconstruct the entire “world” of the TV show “Three’s Company”, down to the entire apartment building, furnished exactly as it is in the show, down to period-specific daily newspapers. There is some traumatic history here which is obviously driving this, but the pacing and writing are top-notch. Ultimately, the narrator Bonnie isn’t causing harm to anyone else by doing this and we are along for the ride. Riveting account but it’s a bit unnerving to follow along at times. 4 stars.

Book #63:

The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion Vol. 3 by Beth Brower (Length: 229 pages). Clearly I’m a fan of this series and it just keeps getting better. In this installment, Emma gets invited to a society ball on her own and not as a foil to help her better suited cousin find a husband. There are so many laugh out loud lines here, and Emma’s innate intelligence and her grit make her a truly well-rounded and likable heroine. There are 5 more volumes in this series so far, and I’m intending to read all of them so fair warning. 😉. Five stars, once again.

August 2025–Part One

August 28, 2025

Book #52:

The Grey Wolf by Louise Penny (Length: 425 pages).  This is Book #19 of this author’s Three Pines mystery series featuring the esteemed head of homicide in Quebec: Armand Gamache. I’m obsessed with this series and this author and while this isn’t my favorite of the series (by a long shot), I never regret reading one of Louise Penny’s novels. This particular novel involves eco-terrorism, specifically the aspect of poisoning the domestic water supply. There are entirely too many characters to keep straight here, for my liking, so I’m glad I read this one in print instead of struggling through the audio version. The build up to the action is slow here, but the ending is very exciting with a cliffhanger. (Her 20th novel in this series is The Black Wolf). Not a lot of time is spent in Three Pines here, which makes me sad, but a few of the characters DO visit the monastery featured in my favorite book of the series, #9: A Beautiful Mystery. Overall, I’ll give this a solid 4 stars from me because Louise Penny can do no wrong, in my eyes.

Book #53:

Murder in the Dollhouse by Rich Cohen (Length: 353 pages). I had heard about this book being an excellent true-crime book and what I heard is correct. This is fantastic, but so, so sad. Jennifer Dulos was the uber-wealthy heiress who married Fotis Dulos, a Greek immigrant who didn’t come from money, but who was charming and charismatic. You learn in the first few pages that Fotis murdered Jennifer so there’s no mystery here. Instead, the author sets the scene and tries to determine the why of what happened, to the extent anyone can truly do this. The author does a fantastic job of setting the scene and giving the reader the backgrounds of this couple. This was very well-paced and hard to put down. The couple left 5 children behind, and Jennifer’s body still hasn’t been found, which are just 2 reasons why this is so heart-breaking. Solid 4.5 stars from me

Book #54:

Leave Only Footprints by Conor Knighton (Length: 322 pages).   In my quest to read all of the good books involving hiking, the outdoors and national parks, I listened to this fantastic read on audio. This is the very interesting account of the author’s visit to every national park in the United States in his attempt to get over a failed engagement. While his accounts are surface level on many parks, likely due to space and time constraints, I really enjoyed his stories, anecdotes and historical tidbits he included throughout this book. This is great on audio and would make excellent listening during a road trip, or even a walk or hike. 4 stars.

March 2025

March 31, 2025

Book #15:

Nine Lives by Peter Swanson (Length: 340 pages).  I’ve read a few mysteries by this author, so I was excited to get my hands on this one. This is loosely based on the Agatha Christie novel And Then There Were None in that nine people receive a list of names in the mail with their name on it, and one by one they are killed off by a nameless murderer who remains unknown until the very end. The resolution is interesting but ultimately a bit disappointing after the suspenseful build-up. The changing points of view of the various characters aren’t difficult to keep track of (although I can’t imagine it would be easy to do so in an audiobook version). Overall, I’ll give this mystery 4 stars because I enjoyed the ride.

Book #16:

The Hazelbourne Ladies Motorcycle and Flying Club by Helen Simonson (Length: 433 pages). This is a quirky post-WWI novel set in a town in England on the sea. The focus of this novel is the eponymous club and Constance, a young woman who needs to work to support herself, but who is mingling with female members of society who don’t. This was pretty slow to start (and I almost DNF’d) but my desire to find out what happened to Constance made me pick it back up and I’m so glad I did as the action picks up about halfway through and then I couldn’t put it down. This is a fascination examination of the plight of women who are left jobless and without purpose after their wartime jobs are taken back by the soldiers returning home. The writing is strong and often lyrical and overall, I enjoyed this look at a very specific slice of life and time period in England’s history. 4.5 stars.

Book #17:

A Walk in the Park by Kevin Fedarko (Length: 505 pages).  This non-fiction account of author and his photographer friend hiking the entire length of the Grand Canyon National Park (700 miles!) had me literally gasping in shock the first few pages. What a read!! I adored The Emerald Mile (Kevin’s historical account of the fastest rafting trip down the Grand Canyon) and his skillful writing in on full display once again in this entertaining, harrowing, frustrating and humorous book. I came away from this fully inspired to tackle my annual (and much shorter) hike in the Grand Canyon this month, and I found some fellow readers along the trail who also enjoyed this as much as I did. This would be a fantastic gift for anyone who enjoys adventure tales or books about hiking and nature. 5 stars!

Book #18:

Plainsong by Kent Haruf (Length: 320 pages).  Finding myself in the mood for some solid literary fiction, I finally picked up this National Book Award Finalist (book 1 of 3) featuring a community in the small town of Holt, Colorado. The author skillfully weaves various members of the community together and does it so beautifully here. Characters such as Tom Guthrie, the American History teacher at the local high school and his young sons Bobby and Ike, who have a paper route, causing them to interact with everyone in town. Victoria Robideaux is a young, pregnant high school student, and her teacher Maggie Jones is Tom’s co-worker and Victoria’s savior. My favorite characters, however, are the elderly bachelor farmers, the McPheron brothers, who immediately stole my heart. This novel is memorable, never saccharine and truly is a work of great literature. 5 solid stars from me.

Book #19:

The Other Side of Disappearing by Kate Clayborn (Length: 385 pages).  This is the fourth or fifth novel I’ve read by this author. I believe I got this one as part of the Amazon Prime free books and just hadn’t gotten around to it. This author is known for writing rom-coms with emotional depth and this novel is no exception, Jessie, her 18 year old half-sister Tegan, along with a podcasting duo of Salem Durant (think “Serial” level fame) and her assistant/partner Adam Hawkins set off on a trip to find the young women‘s mother who is believed to have run off with a notorious con man (the subject of Salem’s hit podcast). The plot is a bit confusing in the beginning, but it’s worth sticking with it, if only for the central romance. The chemistry is believable, the romantic developments are realistic, and the novel is really beautifully written. 4 stars from me. (Deducting one star for the slower start).

Book #20:

Tilt by Emma Pattee (Length: 240 pages). This book seems to be everywhere right now. Billed as psychological literary fiction, this short novel features Annie, a 37-week pregnant woman shopping for a baby crib in IKEA when the “Big One” (the Cascadia earthquake–a real-life pending 9.0 earthquake that will decimate the West Coast) hits. Set entirely over the course of one day, Annie tries to walk across the devastated city to find her husband, while alternating chapters flash back to Annie’s life. I am not a fan of Annie at all. I found her to be entirely too whiny and navel-gazing, but I was able to empathize with her and her situation thanks to the very vivid and skillful writing of the author. I literally read this book start to finish in a few hours because I had to find out what happens to Annie and her baby. I found the ending to be unsatisfying initially, but then after a few hours, thought that it had to end this way based on everything that came before. A solid 4 stars from me.

February 2025–Part Two

March 30, 2025

Book #12:

The Undercurrent by Sarah Sawyer (Length: 279 pages).  This is a literary mystery, with the emphasis on literary. This is about Bee and Gus, twins in a Texas town, and when they are 15 years old, a neighborhood girl goes missing. Slow-moving, but beautifully told, this novel features alternating timelines as well as various points of view. Bee is a new mother in the present-day timeline, and the other viewpoints are in the past, including Bee, her mother and Leo (the twins’ best friend’s) mother. This is very well-written, and I enjoyed the resolution. Trigger warning for miscarriage, and there are other tough themes but those are all off the page. A solid 4 stars from me.

Book #13:

The Off Limits Rule by Sarah Adams (Length: 322 pages). This is a cute rom-com (the first in a duology) featuring a single mom who moves back home and stays with her older, very protective brother. And of course, her brother’s best friend is known as a player, so he’s “off limits” to Lucy. But of course Cooper is impossibly hot, and charming, and kind to Lucy’s son, so a secret romance occurs. The chemistry between Lucy and Cooper is believable on the page, the 4 year old son is adorable and the writing is solid. Nothing special but a fun way to spend an afternoon. 3.5 stars.

Book #14:

The Last One at the Wedding by Jason Rekulak (Length: 352 pages).  I enjoyed this author’s previous mystery Hidden Pictures, so I was excited to pick this one up. The protagonist is a middle-class UPS driver dad who is contacted by his adult daughter, Maggie, after a 3 yearlong estrangement, and Maggie surprises her dad with the news that she’s marrying the uber-wealthy Aidan Gardner, the son of the founder of the mysterious company where Maggie works: Capaciti. So, Frank heads to a palatial private estate in New Hampshire to join the festivities. The foreshadowing is a bit aggressive here and I figured it out way too early for my liking. But it’s an enjoyable, FAST read (I read it in one sitting) and I will remember the central mystery and plot. A solid 4 stars from me.