Tag: book review

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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.

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Book review crime fiction psychological thriller reading suspense thriller unreliable narrator

Read & Review (R&R) – The Housemaid by Freida McFadden

This month my book club read the psychological thriller “The Housemaid” by Freida McFadden.

Right from the above opening lines I was hooked. “If I leave this house, it will be in handcuffs. I should have run for it while I had the chance. Now my shot is gone.” – Prologue

This story was definitely a page-turner filled with a major plot twist in the end that I didn’t see coming.

Millie Calloway has recently lost her job and is living out of her car. When she is offered employment as the housekeeper for the wealthy Winchester family, Millie jumps at the chance. Anything is better than sleeping in her car-even a small cot in the attic bedroom with a sealed shut window and a door with a lock on the outside. Her new employer, Nina Winchester is constantly making messes and confusing dates and times. Nina’s husband, Andrew is charismatic, intelligent, and rich. He treats Millie well. Soon, Millie starts to like Andrew and imagines what it would be like to be his wife. Millie will do anything to stay employed with the Winchesters, including ignoring major red flags popping up in the household.

This is a well-written story with unreliable narrators, gaslighting, major plot twists, and chilling menace throughout.

Believe me when I say in this book, things are not always what they seem!

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Book review crime fiction mystery police procedural suspense Uncategorized

Read and Review (R&R) – “Lie Down With Dogs” by Liz Milliron

This month I read “Lie Down With Dogs,” by Liz Milliron. This is the fifth book in her Laurel Highland Mystery series but can be read as a standalone.

A police procedural, twisty mystery, written from both of Milliron’s main characters in the series, Sally Castle and Jim Duncan’s POV, this novel is two investigations intertwined in the world of greyhound racing.

Jim and Sally are both starting new career paths.

It is Jim Duncan’s first day with the Criminal Investigation Division and in addition to the adjustment to the job, (wearing a suit instead of a uniform after fourteen years and being the new guy) he has a new partner. Jim’s partner refers to him as a “rookie” and seems to be scrutinizing his every decision on the case they are called to investigate – a murder scene with a badly decomposed body and an undernourished greyhound caged in the victim’s garage.

For Sally, she is contemplating leaving the public defenders office to give her the freedom to defend and seek justice for clients of her own choosing. She considers the offer of partnership with her college friend and gives it a test run. Her first case involves a client accused of embezzling from a greyhound adoption group. Sally soon finds out that the group may have ties to the shooting victim in the case that Jim is investigating.

Both Sally and Jim are dog lovers.

And then there is Sally and Jim’s love relationship. With Sally taking a new job without the security of a guaranteed paycheck and her lease coming up for renewal, Jim asks her to move in with him taking their relationship one step further.

Is Sally’s client innocent? Will Sally exonerate her of the charges?

Will Jim earn the respect he deserves from his partner and catch the murderer before he or she kills again?

And, what about the greyhound found at the crime scene and Sally and Jim’s relationship?

You are going to have to read the book to find out!

Liz Milliron is also the author of a historical mystery series, The Home Front Mysteries, set in Buffalo, NY during the early years of World War II.

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Book review fiction reading Uncategorized

Read and Review (R&R) – “Wish You Were Here” by Jodi Picoult

This month’s pick for my book club was “Wish You Were Here,” by Jodi Picoult. Published in 2021, the rights have been sold to Netflix for film adaptation.

I have yet to read a Jodi Picoult book that I didn’t sit back and say, Wow! “Wish You Were Here,” brought me the same result.

This is the first book I have read with a setting during the lockdown of Covid.

Based on the true story of a traveler stranded on a remote island, and taking place in the early days of Covid-19, Picoult gives you a human look at the isolation, pain, loss, loneliness and grief that took hold of us as the world shut down.

The amount of research Jodi Picoult did in this book is much like her others, extensive.

Although the first half of this book moved slow for me, overall, as with all Jodi Picoult books, I enjoyed it, I learned some interesting info (no spoiler alert here), it made me think, and I will definitely pick up another of her stories.

Seeming to have it all, Diana is set to celebrate her 30th birthday with a vacation trip. But, what happens instead is she finds herself alone in the Galápagos islands, her boyfriend (a surgeon) thousands of miles away fighting to save people with COVID, when the island is put on lockdown. With no way to get home, Diana luckily is offered a room by a local and becomes immersed in the island culture and the locals’ way of living.

She then becomes involved in the lives of local businessman, Gabriel, and his daughter, Beatriz. Through these new friendships and interactions, she begins to question what she had thought she wanted from her life, the path she is on and whether it is the right one.

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book club Book review psychological thriller thriller

Read and Review (R&R) – Verity by Colleen Hoover

Have you read Colleen Hoover?

This is our book club’s second read by her. The first was “It Ends With Us.”

Colleen Hoover has a huge, loyal following of fans on various social media sites and I recently saw on Instagram that her sales this year have topped Dr. Seuss and she has sold more books than James Patterson and John Grisham combined.

Below is the synopsis taken from the back of Verity –

Lowen Ashleigh is a struggling writer on the brink of financial ruin when she accepts the job offer of a lifetime. Jeremy Crawford, husband of bestselling author Verity Crawford, has hired Lowen to complete the remaining books in a successful series his injured wife is unable to finish.

Lowen arrives at the Crawford home, ready to sort through years of Verity’s notes and outlines, hoping to find enough material to get her started. What Lowen doesn’t expect to uncover in the chaotic office is an unfinished autobiography Verity never intended for anyone to read. Page after page of bone-chilling admissions, including Verity’s recollection of what really happened the day her daughter died.

Lowen decides to keep the manuscript hidden from Jeremy, knowing its contents would devastate the already grieving father. But as Lowen’s feelings for Jeremy begin to intensify, she recognizes all the ways she could benefit if he were to read his wife’s words. After all, no matter how devoted Jeremy is to his injured wife, a truth this horrifying would make it impossible for him to continue to love her.

What did I think of Verity?

Page-turning tension!

It was an easy, creepy read and I read all 314 pages in three days. You can sense the danger pulsing all around in this book.

A dark and disturbing erotic romantic thriller with an ending twist I did not see coming and is still messing with my brain!

There is a lot of sex in Verity and without giving out any spoilers, this book had some very graphic descriptions and touched on some subjects that as a mother I had a hard time reading, but that being said, kudos to Colleen Hoover for her writing and book successes.

Will I read another Colleen Hoover book? Yes, but not for a while.

Once I get this book out of my head, can someone please suggest a funny cozy mystery?

Categories
Book review debut novel fiction humorous fiction reading Uncategorized

Read and Review (R&R) – Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus

My book club’s choice for September was “Lessons in Chemistry,” the debut novel by Bonnie Garmus. This book is a GMA book club pick and is coming to Apple TV in 2023.

Elizabeth Zott wants to do one thing-perform her research at Hastings Research Institute. The problem is, it’s the late 1950s-early 1960s and she is a woman.

When she meets Calvin Evans, a Nobel-prize nominated, grudge-holder at Hastings true chemistry results. They even adopt a dog, “Six-Thirty.”

Things really heat up for Elizabeth when she finds herself not only a single mother to her daughter, “Mad,” but also the reluctant star of the cooking show “Supper at Six.” Elizabeth’s unusual approach to cooking (“combine one tablespoon acetic acid with a pinch of sodium chloride”) has everyone talking, and, some not in a good way. Because Elizabeth Zott isn’t just teaching women to cook, she’s capacitating change.

A funny plot with quirky, well-developed, supporting characters and lots of chemistry. Garmus brings in some serious themes and grief, but the overall plot of the story – you can’t keep Elizabeth Zott or any determined woman down resonates and stays with the reader. This is an easy read. Kudos to Bonnie Garmus for writing this book.

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Book review YA mystery

Read and Review (R&R) – The Memory of Cotton by Ann K. Howley

Fifteen-year-old Shelby’s life has spiraled out of control since her little brother died and her parents divorced. She fights at school, lashes out at her mother, and can’t find a way to pull herself out of her self-centered vortex of anger, fear, and grief. When Shelby inadvertently finds her great grandfather’s Ku Klux Klan robe and a cryptic message embroidered in a family quilt, Shelby and her conflicted, gay, best friend Darrin drive traumatized Grandma to her hometown in North Carolina to help her make amends with the past.

“The Memory of Cotton” by Ann K. Howley is a heartfelt YA novel about relationships and coming to terms with your past-no matter how painful it might be. Sometimes we must go back and revisit the hurt in order to move on. Ann Howley’s debut novel explores friendship, family dynamics, loss, and love. It is filled with vivid descriptions, a tightly written plot, and characters you definitely want to read more of.

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Book review fiction reading

Read and Review (R&R) – The Seven Husband’s of Evelyn Hugo

This month’s read for my book club is “The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo,” by Taylor Jenkins Reid. Has anyone else read this book?

A fictitious story about a Hollywood icon’s life and loves during her rise to stardom from the 1950s through her glamorous career and marriages. Evelyn Hugo is ready to tell her story to the world. She picks Monique Grant, an unknown journalist who cannot believe she is being given this opportunity. The actress is adamant that she wants to tell the story of her true self, her move to LA in the 50s, the glamorous and not-so-glamorous parts of her career, and her marriages. As Evelyn’s story comes to an end, and Monique learns everything she needs to write the actress’s biography, it becomes clear why she was chosen for the job and the truth changes Monique’s world forever.

Categories
Book review humorous fiction mystery reading

Read and Review (R&R) – 4 Sleuths & A Bachelorette

I was very excited when I won this book in a giveaway from Traci Andrighetti. It was written by her and three other USA Today Bestselling Authors – Leslie Langtry Arlene McFarlane, and Diana Orgain.

Each author incorporated their protagonists (Merry Wrath, Valentine Beaumont, Franki Amato, and Kate Connolly) from their books into creating this joint effort to make “A Killer Foursome Mystery.”

It’s the worst bachelorette party ever – Babette Lang’s bachelorette party – and Babette is MIA.

When one of the guests drops dead, the four women sleuths join forces to solve the mystery.

The list of suspects includes a wannabe hand-model bartender, a chain-smoking talent agent, the bride-to-be’s cheapskate boss, the drunk fiancé and his crazed sisters.

This book was a fun read filled with laugh-out-loud humor. The styles of the authors blended well together, there were lots of red herrings, and plot twists.

Next up for this foursome – 4 Sleuths and a Burlesque Dancer.