04 Monday Apr 2022
Posted in detective, Fiction, murder, murder and investigation, thriller
A young woman, raised by her grandmother with a vocabulary of old fashioned expressions from simpler times, is left on her own to navigate the complex world. Compulsively dedicated to order, she throws herself into her first job as hotel maid until one day her world is upturned with the discovery of the death of one of her regulars. This is a light mystery – joyous, warmly uplifting.
28 Monday Feb 2022
Posted in 20th century, detective, Fiction, mystery
Tags
The author does a great job of creating the atmosphere of the 1970’s – it felt nostalgic and like a trip back to a simpler time.
“Amy Mason Doan creates a whole world and mood with her exquisitely crafted novel, Lady Sunshine. It’s replete with late-’70s nostalgia, and Doan masterfully renders the lives of musicians and those who are drawn to them, no matter the price. A delicious daydream of a book.”
—Elin Hilderbrand, New York Times bestselling author of 28 Summers
“With a winning combination of lyrical writing and a page-turning plot, Amy Mason Doan chronicles the evolution and mysterious demise of the friendship between two young women at the California estate-cum-commune of a renowned musician. A tone-perfect evocation of the free-spirited late 1970s and a riveting coming-of-age story, Lady Sunshine captures the highs of artistic creation, the dangers of hero worship, and the costs of trying to outrun your past. This sun-dappled book has it all: heart, smarts, and an irresistible musical beat.”—Karen Dukess, author of The Last Book Party
24 Saturday Apr 2021
Tags
best friends, detective, ex-convicts, mystery, revenge, thriller
“I LOVED this book. From the riveting plot to the beautiful writing. But mostly what kept me longing to get back to it each day were the characters, especially young Duchess. Fierce, brave, vulnerable, she leaps off the page fully formed. As does Walk. How aptly named. A chief of police on his own inexorable journey. This is a book to be read and reread and an author to be celebrated.”
—Louise Penny, #1 New York Times bestselling author
“It’s an instant classic….Let’s begin at the end. After you’ve turned the final page of Chris Whitaker’s magnificent new novel, you’ll struggle–I struggled, certainly–to describe the experience…it recalls the very best of Tana French and Dennis Lehane. Think of Duchess Day Radley as a twenty-first-century Scout Finch, tough and curious and good. In fact, think of We Begin at the End as a novel at the same time distinctly American and profoundly universal.”
—A.J. Finn, author of the #1 New York Times bestseller The Woman in the Window
“Two damaged children–one timid and sweet, the other foul-mouthed and furious–will break readers’ hearts in this well-plotted and perfectly-paced novel. If, like me, you love stories that kidnap your intended schedule because you can’t not keep turning the pages, then I wholeheartedly recommend Chris Whitaker’s We Begin at the End.”
—Wally Lamb, New York Times bestselling author of I Know This Much Is True
“This is an epic drama and a profound masterpiece. I’ll be amazed if I read a better novel this year.”
—Daily Mirror (UK)
26 Friday Feb 2021
“An intriguing look at life in 19th-century New England, a heroine whose goodness guides all her decisions, and a mystery that surprises.”―Kirkus Reviews
“Rose Carroll is a richly crafted and appealing sleuth. A terrific historical read.”―Rhys Bowen, New York Times bestselling author
“The historical setting is redolent and delicious, the townspeople engaging, and the plot a proper puzzle, but it’s Rose Carroll―midwife, Quaker, sleuth―who captivates in this irresistible series debut.”―Catriona McPherson, award-winning author of the Dandy Gilver series
07 Saturday Nov 2020
“Superb . . . Child neatly interweaves multiple narratives, ratchets up the suspense (the reveal of the motel plot is delicious), and delivers a powerful, satisfying denouement. Fans will enjoy learning more of this enduring character’s roots, and Child’s spare prose continues to set a very high bar.”—Publishers Weekly (boxed and starred review)
“Another first-class entry in a series that continues to set the gold standard for aspiring thriller authors.”—Booklist (starred review)
“With his usual flair for succinctness and eye for detail, Child creates another rollicking Reacher road trip that will please fans and newcomers alike.”—Library Journal (starred review)
02 Monday Nov 2020
Posted in Fiction, mystery, United States
Tags
1950's, African American women, detective, mystery, passing (identity), racial indentity, sisters, Southern town, twins
“The Vanishing Half is an utterly mesmerizing novel, which gripped me from the first word to the last. It seduces with its literary flair, surprises with its breath-taking plot twists, delights with its psychological insights, and challenges us to consider the corrupting consequences of racism on different communities and individual lives. I absolutely loved this book.” —Bernardine Evaristo, Booker Prize winning author of Girl, Woman, Other
“[Bennett’s] second [book], The Vanishing Half, more than lives up to her early promise.. . . more expansive yet also deeper, a multi-generational family saga that tackles prickly issues of racial identity and bigotry and conveys the corrosive effects of secrets and dissembling. It’s also a great read that will transport you out of your current circumstances, whatever they are… Like The Mothers, this novel keeps you turning pages not just to find out what happens.” —NPR
“Bennett pulls it off brilliantly… Few novels manage to remain interesting from start to finish, even — maybe especially — the brilliant ones. But… Bennett locks readers in and never lets them go… Stunning…She leaves any weighty parallels — between, for example, racial and gender determinism — to the reader. Her restraint is the novel’s great strength, and it’s tougher than it looks… The Vanishing Half speaks ultimately of a universal vanishing. It concerns the half of everyone that disappears once we leave home — love or hate the place, love or hate ourselves.” —Los Angeles Times
“Bennett’s tone and style recalls James Baldwin and Jacqueline Woodson, but it’s especially reminiscent of Toni Morrison’s 1970 debut novel, The Bluest Eye.” —Kiley Reid, Wall Street Journal
09 Friday Oct 2020
A Jewish son (American) can pry no family history from his Jewish father (Hungarian). Even when a painting stolen by the Nazis surfaces trying to be reunited to it’s rightful owners – in fact his family! He can elicit nothing from his hard-love father. Masterfully told, intricate relationships, scathing humor……an unpredictable ending awaits you.
“A riveting story–and, in Sarvas’s able hands, artfully told . . . Sarvas has created a gripping, twisty mystery that deftly tackles big questions–about the weight of history, the intricacies of identity, the often anguished love between parents and children…” –Barbara Spindel, Barnes & Noble Review
“Sarvas’s rich and engaging second novel is worth the decade’s wait since his first . . . Sarvas couples a suspenseful mystery with nuanced meditations on father-son bonds, the intricacies of identity, the aftershocks of history’s horrors, and the ways people and artworks can–perhaps even must–be endlessly reinterpreted.” —Publishers Weekly (starred review)
“What does the next generation carry forward, and why is it so compelling? In his powerful novel Memento Park, Mark Sarvas explores the essential questions of history, its burdens, and legacies. The gifted novelist Sarvas takes us by the hand and tells us a story that demands to be heard.” –Min Jin Lee, author of Pachinko, finalist for the National Book Award
03 Monday Aug 2020
Posted in 20th century, Fiction, murder, suspense
Tags
African Americans, investigation, legal thriller, missing persons, murder trials, mystery, race relations, rich people
10 Friday Jul 2020
Tags
detective, Giverny (France), man-women relationships, murder investigation, mystery, opthamologists, Secrecy
A thrilling tale of murder that takes place in Claude Monet’s gardens in Giverny, France. The location provides a lush backdrop to this intricately plotted mystery that takes place over just 13 days in 2010. The ending is astonishing and you’ll be desperate to find others to discuss the outcome!
One of France’s most celebrated crime authors and winner of more than 15 major literary awards, I rushed to read his first novel, After the Crash.
“A work of genius befitting the masterpiece by Monet at its heart…. Bussi cleverly breaks all the perceived rules of plotting in a story containing riddles within riddles…. But every loose thread is meshed neatly together in the final pages until the jaw-dropping big reveal at the end. The result is simply stunning.”―Daily Express (UK)
“Bussi’s portrait of the difficulties of investigating a closed community is fascinating, and the novel ends with one of the most reverberating shocks in modern crime fiction.”―The Sunday Times (UK)
18 Monday May 2020
Posted in Fiction, murder, murder and investigation, mystery
Tags
cold cases, Harry Bosch (fictional character), murder and investigation, mystery, women detectives
Weston Public Library’s March 2020 choice for the Mystery Book Club.
Harry Bosch (retired detective) teams up with LAPD Detective Renée Ballard to face the unsolved murder of a runaway, and the fight to bring a killer to justice.
“Of the myriad things Connelly does superbly as a crime writer, perhaps one of the least heralded is his ability to bring characters together from different series…A guaranteed chart-topper.”— Bill Ott, Booklist (starred review)
“LAPD Det. Renée Ballard, first seen in 2017’s The Late Show, makes a welcome return in this outstanding, complex police procedural…Bosch and Ballard, both outsiders with complicated pasts, form a perfect partnership in this high spot of Edgar-winner Connelly’s long and distinguished career.”— Publishers Weekly (starred review)
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