Tag: book review

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Book review crime historical fiction mystery

Read & Review (R&R) – “The Truth We Hide” by Liz Milliron

“The Truth We Hide” is a plot-driven, interesting character-filled, well-researched, historical fiction novel.

In the fourth Homefront Mystery from Author Liz Milliron, it’s 1943 and Betty Ahern is no longer building airplane parts for Bell Aircraft. She has decided to become a full-time private investigator and is studying for her license. Betty’s best friend, Lee introduces her to an acquaintance, Edward Kettle, who has recently been let go from his job and wants her to clear his name. But, Edward has a secret he would like to keep hidden and as soon as Betty takes the case, Edward is brutally murdered. Betty finds out that Edward is a homosexual and she is left to wonder was he killed because of his sexual preference or something else. Edward’s sister wants to pay Betty to continue and clear Edward’s name and Betty must examine her own moral beliefs before moving forward. As Betty investigates further, things take a dangerous turn into the world of wartime espionage.

Among the somewhat likable, some not-so-likable suspects are a tabloid reporter, a boarding house roommate of Edward, a former coworker of Edward, Edward’s lover and a young man about Betty’s age with movie star looks. The good-looking man shows an interest in Betty which causes conflict in her feelings and makes her reflect about how her fiancé who is overseas fighting in the war will react to her choice to become a full-time PI when he returns home. Will he accept her new life decision?

This series does not have to be read in order, but if you haven’t read any of the first three, you might enjoy picking up one of those as well to get acquainted with Betty when she worked at Bell Aircraft. Also, no spoilers in this review but in case you have read the other books in this series and are wondering, Betty’s best friends Dot and Lee do appear in the book and also her detective friend, Sam, is back and working the case. Will Betty uncover the hidden truth behind Edward’s murder or will Betty’s investigation turn her into the killer’s next victim? You will have to read “The Truth We Hide,” by Liz Milliron to find out.  

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Book review crime mystery reading

Read & Review (R&R) – “Ordinary Grace” by William Kent Krueger

A slow, summer read – my latest read is Ordinary Grace by William Kent Krueger. This book is a New York Times Bestseller and Winner of the 2014 Edgar Award For Best Novel.

It is a story of a young man, a small town, and murder in the summer of 1961.

Ordinary Grace transports you through beautifully written scenes to a time of innocence shattered in the life of a boy growing up in a small town of New Bremen, Minnesota.

Frank Drum is preoccupied with the concerns of any teenage boy, but when tragedy unexpectedly strikes his family—which includes his Methodist minister father; his passionate, artistic mother; Juilliard-bound older sister; and wise-beyond-his-years kid brother—he finds himself thrust into an adult world full of secrets, lies, adultery, and betrayal, suddenly called upon to demonstrate a maturity and gumption beyond his years.

Told from Frank’s perspective forty years after that fateful summer, Ordinary Grace is a novel about a boy standing at the door of his manhood, trying to understand a world that seems to be falling apart around him.

I was moved by this book, but I also felt that the characters were stereotypical and I did figure out who the killer was before the reveal.

While not a page turner, it is an unforgettable novel which casts the light on the hard price of wisdom and the ordinary grace of God.  

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Book review short stories Uncategorized

Read and Review (R&R) – “Sidle Creek” by Jolene McIlwain

My latest read and recommendation is a book written by a member of my Sisters in Crime group. Jolene McIlwain’s Sidle Creek came out this year and is published by Melville House. It is a collection of short stories centering around the rural places and people of Pennsylvania. Sidle Creek is filled with 22 expertly crafted short stories. Jolene engulfs you in the lives of her characters and transports you through vivid imagery to the places they call home. She delves into hard issues with grace, understanding and empathy. This book and the stories within will stay with you long after you turn the last page.

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book club Book review history reading Uncategorized

Read and Review (R&R) – “The Only Woman in the Room” by Marie Benedict

Our book club’s latest pick was written by Marie Benedict, a fellow Pittsburgher.

The Only Woman in the Room is the story of the 1930s film star, Hedy Lamarr. She not only possessed stunning beauty but a brilliant mind.

A young, Austrian-born, Hedwig Kiesler is gifted numerous bouquets of flowers by an Australian arms dealer, Fritz Mandl. At the encouragement of her parents they meet. Hedy marries him but soon discovers that he only wanted her as a pretty face to accompany him to social engagements. During the abusive marriage, Kiesler and her husband host many dinners and social engagements involving high government officials. When Kiesler overhears the Third Reich’s antisemitic plans, she devises a plan to escape. Her escape lands her in Hollywood where she became Hedy Lamarr, screen star.

Hedy Lamarr made many movies, but what I found most interesting is how she enlisted the help of a composer to create an invention and attempted to patent it. This patent is the basis of modern cellphone technology. She is dubbed the “mother of Wi-Fi” and other wireless communication such as GPS and Bluetooth.

I found this book very interesting.

Some other books by Marie Benedict are: The Other Einstein, Carnegie’s Maid, Her Hidden Genius, The Mystery of Mrs. Christie, and Lady Clementine.

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book club Book review fiction

Read and Review (R&R) – “The Madwoman Upstairs” by Catherine Lowell

Samantha Whipple, the last living Brontë descendant is used to stirring up speculation wherever she goes. Since her eccentric father’s untimely death, she is the presumed heir to a long-rumored trove of diaries, paintings, letters, and early novel drafts passed down from the Brontë family – a hidden fortune never revealed to anyone outside of the family, but endlessly speculated about by Brontë scholars and fanatics. Samantha, however, has never seen this alleged estate and for all she knows, it’s just as fictional as Jane Eyre or Wuthering Heights.

But everything changes when Samantha enrolls at Oxford University and long-lost objects from the past begin rematerializing in her life, beginning with an old novel annotated in her father’s handwriting. With the help of a handsome but inscrutable professor, Samantha plunges into a vast literary mystery and an untold family legacy, one that can only be solved by decoding the clues hidden within the Brontës’ own works.

I’m all about scavenger hunts, but found this novel to be a slow burn. I did find Samantha’s wisecracking wittiness entertaining and I kept reading as my curiosity demanded to know would she find a fortune, and would her and her professor get together. No spoilers here, but if you read/enjoyed the Brontës, this might be the book for you. Friends that have read the Bronte books tell me that they enjoyed the references and theories about Wuthering Heights, Jane Eyre, Agnes Grey, and The Tenant of Wildfell Hall. I have been told it is a modern retelling of Jane Eyre.

This book came out in 2016 and as of this writing, I don’t see any other books by this author.

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Book review crime fiction psychological thriller reading suspense thriller

Read and Review (R&R) “The Couple Next Door,” by Shari Lapena

A friend of mine loaned me this book and it turned out to be the perfect purse companion for my recent flight and trip.

This psychological thriller is Shari Lapena’s debut novel and a very engaging, suspenseful quick read. The story is a compulsive page turner.

The Couple Next Door asks readers the question: How well do you know your friends and family?

It all started at a dinner party. . .

Anne and Marco Conti are a young couple with friendly neighbors, a beautiful baby girl, and a seemingly perfect life. When the couple are invited to a dinner party at the neighbors and the babysitter cancels, they go anyways, taking along a monitor and taking turns checking on the baby every half hour. Of course, we all know where this bad decision is going…the unthinkable happens: their baby is kidnapped. What follows is a roller-coaster ride of deceit, betrayal, and family secrets.

This book is filled with emotion and readers will find themselves drawn deeper and deeper into the secrets of the Conti family.

An unnerving plot, characters you can’t trust, and a shocking ending.

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Book review crime fiction mystery police procedural reading suspense Uncategorized

Read and Review (R&R) “Where the Guilty Hide,” by Annette Dashofy

Non-stop action in this well-written, heart-pounding, police procedural.

“Where the Guilty Hide,” a Detective Honeywell Mystery is the first in a new series by the proficient author, Annette Dashofy. This book is set on the shores of Lake Erie and told in third person with alternating chapters of Matthias Honeywell, a good-looking detective with demons he needs to overcome, and Emma Anderson, a freelance photographer who unknowingly takes a photo that could be sold to the highest bidder or could cost Emma her life.

When Detective Honeywell’s home invasion investigation turns into a murder investigation, he methodically tracks his leads. Each time, the leads bring him back to Emma Anderson. As the investigation continues and the home invasions and bodies pile up, Matthias and Emma race to catch the killer who will stop at nothing to get what they want.

This book also has an interesting, strong, supporting cast of characters and Dashofy’s plot twists are sure to keep readers turning pages until the final scene.

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Book review fiction mystery reading suspense thriller Uncategorized

Read and Review (R&R) – The Love of My Life by Rosie Walsh

The Love of My Life, by Rosie Walsh was my book club’s April choice. It was also a Good Morning America Book Club pick.

Rosie Walsh is a New York Times bestselling author. Her other book is Ghosted.

The Love of My Life is a mystery-filled story of love, lies, and forgiveness. This book poses the question – Is it possible to love someone and not really know who they are?

The plot centers around Emma. She is an intertidal ecologist. Her adoring husband is Leo, an obituary writer.

Because of Emma’s tv star status, Leo is tasked with writing a stock obituary for her. He feels it is his place as he knows her best.

However, as the story unfolds and you turn the pages, we find out that almost everything Leo thinks he knows about his wife is a lie.

Leo tells us that “she studies the places and creatures that are submerged at high tide and exposed at low.”

He tells us how she adores their young daughter, Ruby, and their rescue dog named John Keats; that she’s also a former star of a BBC series on marine wildlife and a recent cancer survivor. Leo says,

“I think it was Kennedy who said we are tied to the ocean — that when we return to it, for sport or leisure or some such, we are returning to the place from whence we came. That’s how I feel about us. To be near to my wife, to Emma, is to return to source.

“So when I learn, in the days following this morning — this innocent, commonplace morning, with dogs and frogs and coffee … — that I know nothing of this woman, it will break me.”

This is a story told in alternating narratives with short chapters and constantly changing viewpoints and flashbacks.

There are questions of trust, betrayal, mental illness, trauma, and is it ever acceptable to hold things back from one’s spouse.

One of my favorite quotes from the book “I don’t know anything, other than that it’s only when something’s damaged beyond repair that we realize how beautiful it was.”

Categories
Book review crime fiction mystery reading thriller

Read and Review (R&R) – “The Guest List” by Lucy Foley

This month my book club pick was “The Guest List” by New York Times bestselling author, Lucy Foley. It was published in 2020 and is a murder mystery about a death at a wedding.

The story is told from the point of view of multiple people and has alternating timelines – the bride, the bridesmaid, the best man, and the plus-one.

The secrets, grudges, and mysterious pasts of the guests are slowly revealed ultimately unveiling who is killed and the killer.

On an island off the coast of Ireland, guests gather to celebrate two people joining their lives together as one. The groom: handsome and charming, a rising television star. The bride: smart and ambitious, a magazine publisher. It’s a wedding for a magazine, or for a celebrity: the designer dress, the remote location, the luxe party favors, the boutique whiskey. The cell phone service may be spotty, and the waves may be rough, but every detail has been expertly planned and will be expertly executed.

But perfection is for plans, and people are all too human. As the champagne is popped and the festivities begin, resentments and petty jealousies begin to mingle with the reminiscences and well wishes. The groomsmen begin the drinking game from their school days. The bridesmaid not-so-accidentally ruins her dress. The bride’s oldest (male) friend gives an uncomfortably caring toast.

And then someone turns up dead. Who didn’t wish the happy couple well? And perhaps more important, why?

Agatha Christie perfected what’s called the “locked room mystery.” Foley updates this method using a moody island and a brewing storm.

“It feels personal, this storm. As if it has saved all its fury for them.”

This book reminded me of “Big Little Lies” in a spooky setting, teasing about a murder in the prologue and spending the rest of the time working through multiple POVs to reveal who wants the victim dead.

I give this book three stars – a “liked it,” but didn’t “love it.” I really liked the premise and the setting. I would have liked more action in the first 200 pages. It is only in the last 100 pages that Foley ramps up the plot twists.

Okay, readers of my blog –

Were you able to guess who the victim was?

Were you able to guess who the murderer was?

Categories
Book review crime fiction mystery reading

Read and Review (R&R) – Vera Kelly is not a Mystery

I got this book from a local bookstore and thought the premise sounded interesting – When ex-CIA agent Vera Kelly loses her job and her girlfriend in a single day, she reluctantly goes into business as a private detective.

This is book two – the first being “Who is Vera Kelly,” and perhaps I should have read this first.

Unfortunately, the story never really jelled for me. It is set in the 1960s when it is very much a “man’s world,” and relationships between same sex partners must be kept secret. While Vera went to some interesting places (Dominican Republic) and met and dealt with some shady people, I felt the majority of characters were undeveloped, her relationships didn’t do much to advance the story (I kept waiting for her love relationships to play into the plot), and the writing was choppy with different points of view injected throughout.

I am giving this book two stars.