What Happened To The Bennetts by Lisa Scottoline

 

It was a night like many before.  The Bennett family was on the way home from one of their daughter's field hockey games.  In the car was Jason, the dad, Lucinda, his wife, Allison, the daughter and Evan, his son.  But this night was different.  On a dark stretch, a pickup truck forced the Bennett's car to a halt.  Jason assumed they wanted his new Mercedes but they didn't seem to.  They ordered all the family out and when the family dog lunged at them, they shot Allison.  Taking off, one of the carjackers shot the other and left him there dead.  Allison also died after being transported to the hospital.

Grieving and unsure how to go on, this is just the beginning for the Bennetts.  Soon, two FBI agents show up at the door in the middle of the night and insist the family come with them.  The dead carjacker was the son of the head of the local crime syndicate and the rest of the family is in danger as he was told Jason killed his son.  The Bennetts are immediately put into witness protection.

But the gang is on a vengence trail.  They show up at the Bennett's home only minutes after the FBI spirits them away.  The next day, they burn down the house, Jason's court reporting business and vandalize Lucinda's photography studio.  How can the Bennetts ever feel safe and how can they ever move on with their lives?

Lisa Scottoline writes in the mystery genre with over thirty novels to her credit and an Edgar Award.  In this book, the reader is taken on a fast ride as the action never stops.  What is really behind the Bennett's problems?  Is it Jason's job?  Lucinda's secrets?  The action is nonstop and the Bennetts are each focused on individually.  This book is recommended for mystery readers.  

No Time For Goodbye by Linwood Barclay

 

That night was the most embarrassing that fourteen year old Cynthia Bigge could remember.  She was in the parked car with her boyfriend, drunk and exploring each other when her father pulled up, got her out of the car and drove her home.  Cynthia ran upstairs and passed out, putting off the repercussions she knew were coming until morning.  

But when she woke late the next morning the house was quiet.  No one was there, not her mother or father or big brother.  There was no note but the car was gone.  Where could they have gone?  Maybe her father was just at work and her mother had given her brother a ride to school.  But the day drug on and no one showed back up.  And they never did.  The case made the papers, an entire family except one disappeared in the night.  Where did they go?  Why did they leave Cynthia behind?

Years later, Cynthia is now grown and married with a family of her own.  But the mystery has never left her and she is determined to try again to find out what happened.  Her husband has been supportive over the years but he's not sure she shouldn't let sleeping dogs lie.  But they hire a private detective and the aunt who raised Cynthia discloses a secret she never told anyone, not even the police.  Maybe now Cynthia will finally find out what happened all those years ago.

Linwood Barclay is a Canadian author although he was born in the United States.  He worked as a journalist before writing this novel which was his breakthrough novel.  He writes in the mystery/thriller genre.  He has several book series and has written thirty novels over the years.  In this book, outside the main mystery, the relationship between Cynthia and her husband is a key story.  The husband wants to protect her but doesn't know if that means helping her try to find out what happened or if she should just try to forget the past and move on.  This book is recommended for mystery readers.  

No Lawyers In Heaven by Henry Milner

 

This is the memoir of Henry Milner, the English criminal solicitor who was known as 'Mr. Big Of Criminal Briefs.'  I found this book fascinating with the inside look at English courts which are different from ours with different laws and procedures and with the self-depredating humor that is so typically English.  Milner starts with a brief look at his childhood and what inspired him to take up the law.

Then he gets into some of his more famous cases.  He was one of the solicitors for those accused of the Brinks-Mat robbery in which the robbers lucked into a treasure trove of gold bars then worth $26 million and it would be worth $290 million in today's markets.  Six men were arrested with one turning states' evidence but the gold was never recovered and not all of the six were found guilty.  He also handled murders, tax frauds and other crimes.  

The last part of the book lists those solicitors that he considered the best and then antidotes from his practice and life.  There is lots of talk of yachts, five-star restaurants and expensive wines and luxury vehicles.  He was the best and got paid accordingly.  Throughout it all, the tone remains one of reminiscence and light-hearted tone that plays well with the reader.  I listened to this title and the narrator did an excellent job as I loved the accent and imagined that Milner would sound much the same.  This book is recommended for readers of memoirs and those who are interested in true crime and the law.

Bright Young Women by Jessica Knoll

 

This is a retelling of the Ted Bundy story, focusing mostly on his last rampage in Florida and seen through the eyes of Pamela Schumacher, the president of the sorority where two girls are killed and two others left horribly beaten.  Pamela is also a main witness as she actually sees the man as he is leaving.  Along with Pamela there is Tina who has spent years trying to find what happened to her friend the day she didn't turn up at the lake for a planned outing in Washington.  

Although I was already familiar with the case, it was interesting to read about it again through this focus.  The author never names the killer; instead he is known only as The Defendant.  She refuses to give him any more press or fame, portraying him realistically as an average man who others saw as creepy rather than the handsome charismatic character the press gave him.  This man barely made it through his schooling and those who met him soon realized something was off about him.   

Another thing I really liked was her theory about the victims.  Rather than focusing on the fact that most had long brown hair parted in the middle, Knoll believed that the victims were picked because they were, in fact, bright young women.  Women who had marvelous futures in front of them.  Women who would have pursued careers, gotten married, had children, lived fulfilling lives.  The Defendant would never have any of that and chose to blot out what he could never achieve on his own.

Jessica Knoll is not only an author but worked as a senior editor at Cosmopolitan and has had articles in other magazines and newspapers.  This was her third novel with her first, Luckiest Girl Alive, having been made into a movie.  I really liked the friendship that grew between Pamela and Tina as they pursued the man who ruined their lives and took their friends from them.  There was also a side story featuring Carl, a newspaper journalist that started as an ally but betrayed the women to make his own career.  This book is recommended for both literary fiction and true crime readers.  

The World Played Chess by Robert Dugoni

 

This novel portrays the life of Vincent Bianco during two times in his life, the summer of 1979 and the present.  In 1979, Vincent had just graduated high school as the valedictorian but growing up in a house of ten children meant that his first two years of college were going to be at the local community college.  He needed a summer job to even afford that and his big brother got him a job doing construction.  Vince had never done that but he was willing to learn anything and was a hard worker.  The crew was the boss, Vince and two older guys who had been in Vietnam but had served their time and were back home.

Vince could tell that the man he grew close to that summer, William, was haunted by his time in Vietnam.  He had a hard time handling his temper and when he lost it it was far more explosive than the average guy.  He was drinking a lot that summer as well.  But he mentored Vince both on the job and afterwards and helped him define what a man was and how to become the kind of man that people respected.  At the end of the summer the two knew they would probably never see each other again and William gave Vince his journal from Vietnam to explain what shaped him into the man he was.

Now, Vince is middle-aged with his own family and a son, Beau, who was the same age as Vince had been that summer.  Beau has always played sports and has a shot at playing at a big university.  But in his senior year he has to face a heartbreaking situation that changes his life and his outlook on what he wants.  Vince and his wife worry about Beau and if he is ready to take on the challenges of a man's life.

Robert Dugoni is best known for his mysteries but he has written several novels that explore life and this is one of them.  All the characters are well drawn and the journal is a real insight into what the young men of America faced during the Vietnam war, many of them still in their teens.  Vince serves as the fulcrum of the novel, standing between William and Beau, taking the lessons he has learned from William and using them to help his son during his own challenges.  This book is recommended for literary fiction readers.   

Dungeon Crawler Carl by Matt Dinniman

 

Out of nowhere, every structure on Earth collapsed.  It was part of an alien occupation.  Carl was outside trying to track down his ex-girlfriend's cat so he and Princess Donut were spared.  They find a place that offers sanctuary and with two million other survivors all over the world, enter. 

They soon find out that their sanctuary is a video game for aliens to watch.  It's like a Survivor show except losers aren't voted off; they are killed by the myriad types of monsters there.  The game has levels and Carl and Princess Donut are on the first.  The players have six days to find the staircase to the second level.  Players also have the opportunity to get followers and sponsors to help them survive.

Carl and Princess get to the second level making friends and enemies along the way.  Can they continue to progress in the game?  

Matt Dinniman is the author of the highly successful Dungeon Crawler Carl series both in novel and graphic novel forms.  He lives in Washington and is also an artist and a bass player.  There are currently eight novels in the series.  There are entire groups that are built around the series and that engage in community building activities and the series is considered one of the top five LitRPG series.  The action is fast and furious and the monsters and maneuvers are highly imaginative.  Carl shows his emotional side in helping others rather than just killing everyone he meets.  This book is recommended for funloving readers.  

Round Up The Usual Peacocks by Donna Andrews

 

Meg Langslow is hosting her brother's wedding at her farm.  But no one told her that the mothers of the bridal couple were planning the wedding of the century.  Half the country has been invited it seems and the backyard is being transformed into a summer bouquet.  In the meantime, Meg's nephew, Kevin, who lives with her comes to her with a real problem.  He and his friend have started a true crime podcast and someone doesn't like it.  Kevin's partner on the podcast was almost hit going home the other night.  Meg jumps at the chance to work on a mystery rather than wedding preparations.

The podcast focuses on Virginia cold cases and they have three recent ones that might have upset someone.  The first is the case of a man from the next county who served time for a murder that the pair suspect he did not commit.  The second case is at the university where Meg's husband works in the drama department.  It involves a cheating scandal at the business school twenty years ago.  Finally, the pair covered the disappearance of a woman singer in Charlottesville years ago.  No one has heard of her since and no body has been found.  

Meg starts investigating and soon meets new people she brings into her social circle.  She knows everyone in town and her life is a mix of doing and receiving favors.  There's the sheriff, the local vet and administrators at the university.  Add in a pair of folk singers, a history professor and a local farmer and Meg's life keeps getting bigger and bigger.  But can she solve the attempted murders?

This is the thirty-first Meg Langslow mystery so there are plenty of fans who will be interested in this latest one.  It was my first exposure to Meg and her world but there will be more.  The novel is written in a breezy fashion and everyone would love to be as connected as Meg is to her town.  I listened to this book and the narrator, Bernadette Dunne, is the long-time voice of the series and did a wonderful job.  Readers who enjoy a cozy mystery will be the best fit for this novel. 

The In Crowd by Charlotte Vassell

 

DI Caius Beauchamp has more than enough cases.  There is a woman who has been found dead in the Thames, maybe an accident maybe a homicide.  She was involved decades ago in a pension scandal where the money disappeared along with her boss.  Then there is a twenty year old disappearance of a girl at a boarding school that he has been tasked to solve.  Finally, on the one night that Caius went to the theatre to relax, when the lights came up after the show, there is a dead man sitting in Caius' row.

But all wasn't a loss at the theater.  Caius meets Callie there.  Callie is a milliner and the two hit it off and start seeing each other.  As with most modern relationships there is a bit of come and go as each wants to not reveal their feelings too early and scare the other off.  Callie is extracting herself from a friendship where the other woman has turned into a Bridezilla even though she has known the woman from school days and she is one of her oldest friends.  

This is the second novel is the DI Caius Beauchamp series.  It came to my attention when it won Best Novel at the Edgars and I'm glad it did.  The plot and characters were witty and just so typically British.  I liked the interplay among the police team and the budding romance between Caius and Callie.  Charlotte Vassell is a newcomer in the mystery realm with this novel being her second book.  To win the Edgar Best Novel with a second book is pretty extraordinary and I found this book to be intriguing.  It is recommended for mystery readers.  

The Surface Of Earth by Reynolds Price

 

This is the story of the Mayfield family in the states of Virginia and North Carolina during the early 1900's.  There is one constant in as the generations come and go.  The men of the family don't raise their sons.  The first Mayfield we hear about leaves his wife and children and ends up in Richmond where he lives the rest of his life with a housekeeper.  His son convinces one of his female students to elope with him.  They live together until their son, Beau, is born and his wife and son go back to visit her family.  The family has a crisis while she is there and then the baby gets gravely ill and she stays and stays, never returning to her husband but devoting her life to her father.  When Beau grows up, he marries a woman who dies giving birth to their son.  He attempts to raise the boy himself but soon takes him to the home where he was raised and leaves his son with his grandmother and great aunt to raise.

Another similarity between the generations is how love is perceived.  The men almost regard their love as poison, regretting and asking forgiveness from the women who love them.  Most of the men make their living as teachers.  Another commonality is the interplay between the Caucasian Mayfields and the African American women around them.  Most of the men have affairs with various women resulting in unacknowledged sons.  

Reynolds Price is an American author who wrote about the American experience, mainly the life in the South and its border states.  He also taught at Duke University for over fifty years.  This book is the beginning of a trilogy about the Mayfield family and its' lives over the decades.  There are no happy stories or marriages in these pages; every love relationship is tortured and troublesome.  But it is an interesting look at life during the early 1900's until after the World Wars and I'll pick up the other two books in the trilogy and see what happens with the Mayfield family.  This book is recommended for historical and literary fiction readers.  

The Savage Garden by Mark Mills

 

Adam Bunting is not sure what to do with his summer off from Cambridge.  His tutor suggests that this might be a good time to do the research he will need for his thesis and has a suggestion.  He has an old friend in Italy who wants someone to document the story of her villa's garden which was created in the 1500's by the owner to honor his wife.

Adam agrees and soon he is in Italy and meeting the villa's owner, Madame Docci.  He views the garden full of statues, vales, fountains and benches.  It is fascinating as is the story behind it but Adam feels that he is missing something.  As he studies the garden over the coming days, he starts to see the hidden design behind the one clearly there to see.  He also starts to realize that the Docci family also has hidden secrets and starts to wonder if he was brought there to uncover them as well.

Mark Mills is a British author who writes in the historical and mystery genres.  This book is a mix of the two with items about the ancient secret and the one created during World War II when the villa was taken over by Germans.  Adam starts as a naive boy, crushed by his first heartache, but over his time in Tuscany at the villa, he comes into his own and becomes a man as he has to juggle what he knows and what should happen to his knowledge.  This book is recommended for historical fiction readers.  

All Them Dogs by Djamel White

 

Tony Ward has come home.  He went to England after killing the man who killed his best friend and has been there several years.  Now he is back in Dublin, wondering what's left for him.  He has a few friends but gangs change fast and many of the guys he knew have either moved on or died.  His mother and brother are still there, but he and his brother are enemies from way back.  He doesn't have work but his buddy Kenny says he can get him in with someone.

He lands right in the middle of a gang war.  His first assignment is to accompany Flute Walsh as an enforcer.  He went to school with Flute but back then no one talked to or messed with Flute.  He is a huge man, mostly silent.  He and Tony get along and soon are enmeshed in a relationship.

But there are no friends in gangs.  Every day is given only if you did well the day before.  Soon Tony is drawn into the fight between the two big men of Dublin and both want him to kill the other.  Who can he trust?  What will he do?

This is a debut novel from Djamel White who is a Irish author and has been longlisted for the Booker Prize of 2026.  The novel is fast paced and the frantic life of Tony who doesn't know what he'll be doing from one day to the next or who he can trust will bring the reader into his life.  There is lots of gang slang and the reader will need to be ready for that but it is all pretty understandable from the context.  Tony is a tortured man and it is unclear what his life will be going forward.  I devoured this novel and I'm looking forward to more from this talented author.  This book is recommended for literary fiction readers.  

The Cradle In The Grave by Sophie Hannah

 

In this fifth novel of the Zailer/Waterhouse series, someone is committing murders of a very specific group.  The victims are women who were convicted of killing their babies but were later exonerated as medical knowledge advanced.  One of the most well known television executives is making a documentary about the women's cases of wrongful conviction and has made one particular doctor the scapegoat of the entire issue.

Fliss Benson is a beginning producer, working for the man who is making the documentary.  She is shocked when he calls her in, tells her that he is leaving the company and that the documentary is now hers.  She is less excited when she starts to get the same cards with gridded numbers that are being left on each victim or sent to them in the mail.

Simon Waterhouse is sure that the focus of the police is wrong.  It turns out that their hated superior, known to them as The Snowman, was involved in the first case years ago, a woman who lost her two sons to cradle death but was convicted and served nine years before she was exonerated.  He never believed that the woman did anything wrong and he is determined that this case be used to further prove the innocence of the women who are now being targeted.

This is the fifth novel in the nine novel series that makes up this Sophie Hannah series.  As always, she delivers an intricate plot full of twists and turns that ends in the two detectives, Zailer and Waterhouse saving the day and solving the murders.  I am really enjoying this series and very glad that I found it.  This book is recommended for mystery readers.  

Murder Through The English Post by Jessica Elliott

 

Things have been slow in the detecting business that Edwina and her best friend Beryl have started.  So when Edwina is drafted to become the village magistrate, she agrees although she isn't sure she is qualified.  On her first day, a case of two good friends who for some reason were involved in fisticuffs is her first case.  She learns that one of them has received an anonymous letter that stated his friend was maligning his character around the village, doubting his wartime heroics.  Once the man is convinced that the letter is false, the friends shake hands and go on their way.  A successful ending but Edwina is concerned.  She remembers a time in her childhood when anonymous letters went around the village and what trouble it caused.

Sure enough that letter is only the first.  Some seem accurate such as the one accusing the post mistress of being a terrible gossip and the one accusing a man of straying hands whenever he is around women.  But others are vicious and soon there is an attempted suicide and a death.  The village constable isn't sure she has all the resources she needs to solve the case so Beryl and Edwina agree to take on the case.  Can they find the letter writer before more damage is done?

Jessica Elliott writes in the cozy mystery genre under several pen names.  This is the sixth Beryl and Edwina mystery and it is delightful.  All the characters of a post World War I English village are there and the two women are resourceful and unafraid to ask anything that will move the case forward. Beryl is an American adventuress while Edwina is the typical reserved English lady.  Together they make a perfect pair of detectives.  I listened to this novel and Barbara Rosenblat did an excellent job as the narrator.  This book is recommended for mystery readers who don't want blatant violence in their mysteries.  

The Last Book Club by Joanne Rock

 

Jordyn has come to Sarasota Springs on a mission.  A year ago, the woman she regarded as a sister was killed there in a hit and run.  No one has been identified as the driver, the incident written off as an accident.  Jordyn is not so sure.  When she had talked with Tara before her death, Tara had seemed not herself, worried about both her business and her personal life.  Could the incident been more than an accident?

Jordyn manages to meet and befriend the clique of boogie women who make up the group that Tara was friends with and gets an invitation to join their group and their book club.  But the group seems full of secrets, double-dealings and adultery with each others' husbands.  Could one of them or their husbands been the person who killed Tara?

Joanne Rock is a popular author who mainly writes in the romance genre.  In this novel, she slowly uncovers all the various secrets that may have led to Tara's death.  Tara had fought off danger since she was adopted as a teenager and Jordyn was her only real friend.  This book is recommended for mystery readers.   

Others Were Emeralds by Lang Leav

 

A small Australian town named Whitlam now houses mainly immigrant families from the Far East.  The narrator of this novel and her family fled Cambodia due to Khmer Rouge.  Others came from Vietnam or Thailand.  Life is hard but easier than where they came from and everyone works hard to build a better life.

In the high school, a group of teenagers form a group.  Ai is the narrator and Brigette is her best friend.  Bowie is Ai's first boyfriend and Tin is his friend.  Sying can become obsessive and her latest obsession is politics and the way immigrants are treated.  There is prejudice against the immigrants mainly from the white population of Australia but day to day Whitlam is fairly safe as the majority of the town are all those who have fled other countries.

Then a horrific event changes the lives of these friends forever.  As high school ends, the individuals move on with their lives, each searching for a way to thrive in their country and to remain close to their individual families and cultures.

Lang Leav is an Australian author who was born in a refugee camp before her family came to Australia.  She began her career as a poet and has several books of poetry.  That comes through in her fiction writing as the language is evocative of the environment and what is happening around the characters.  Loyalty to family and friends is another keynote of the novel as is the ability to realize that everyone has their own life and not everything done is focused on oneself.  The novel is ultimately hopeful and lets those not living the life experience the life of an immigrant.  This novel is recommended for multicultural and literary fiction readers.  

The Graveyard Killings by Wes Markin

 

Yorkshire police are investigating two murder cases, one occurring in 1980, the other recent.  Both cases focus in a graveyard.  In the older case, the body of a young girl who was the victim of a hit-and-run is dug up and another body is put in her grave.  The recent case has two bodies, a young couple, both dead together in the graveyard.  

Two police officers handle the cases.  DCI Emma Gardner is in charge and works on the case of the teenage victims.  Her subordinate, DI Paul Riddick is assigned the other case.  Both have issues.  Emma is still grieving the loss of a subordinate and wondering if it is her fault.  Riddick is worried about a young man caught up in the vise of drug dealers who have taken over his house and Riddick wants to break the group and save the young man.  But he has an alcoholic background and every day is a constant battle to fight off the demons that make him drink.

As the cases progress, they eventually come together and the two police start to work together, giving Emma a firsthand ability to observe Riddick and his issues.  Both cases are eventually solved.

Wes Markin is a British author who writes crime novels.  He has four different series with this being one of the four.  His hallmarks are twisty plots, fast pacing and a look into the dark side of human nature.  This novel is the fourth of eight books in this series.  Markin is a new author for me but I'll be reading more by him.  This book is recommended for mystery readers.  

The Things We Never Day by Elizabeth Strout

 

This is the story of Artie Dam.  To most people, Artie is an average man.  He is a high school history teacher.  He's been married to his wife, Evie, for decades.  They have a grown son, Rob, who lives away.  Artie loves to sail and he loves his family.

But Artie is depressed.  He's not sure what life is about even after all these years and he thinks about ending it all.  Even though he's known for supporting his students and saying things that they will take with them for life, he can't do the same for himself.  But when he has a boating accident and almost dies, he realizes that he doesn't want to die after all.

Then life hands him another crushing blow, one that he's not sure if he will ever get over and that rearranges his whole life.  It redefines his relationship with his wife and son and his wife and makes Artie rethink everything he thought he knew.

Elizabeth Strout is a major American author who writes about family relationships and what is important in our lives.  It will be a long time before I forget Artie Dam, who has blows handed to him by life as we all do but manages to remember what is important is the love we share.  Artie doesn't hesitate to share his love with those around him.  The book is a bit political and I'm rarely fond of that as I think it really dates a book as politics change so quickly and hopefully books last for a long time.  But readers will take away hope from this book, especially those who are middle-aged and beyond and looking back at their lives to find meaning.  This book is recommended for literary fiction readers.  

A Red Dotted Line by Simon Gervais

 

Mike Watson and his wife Lisa are both operatives of the IMSI, International Market Stabilization Institute, which is a private organization developed to protect financial stability of the West.  The pair is sent to Russia for several reasons.  The first is that a scientist there is developing a weaponized chemical warfare virus to unleash on the West and that needs to be stopped.  Mike's father was the Canadian diplomat to the Middle East who was kidnapped two years ago and there have been recent sightings of him in Russia.  Finally, both of the first two reasons are there because of a shadowy underground figure called the Sheik.  He was the one who kidnapped Mike's father and he is helping the scientist developing the virus with money and security as she was his first wife.

The IMSI manages to turn the number two scientist and needs to get him out of Russia  That is Mike's mission and as he fights off various people who want to stop him from helping the man get to the West safely, Lisa is sent to another part of Russia to retrieve his wife.  Along the way, the Russian President's nephew, who works for their security organization, changes sides and starts to work with Mike when he realizes the Sheik has been lying to his uncle all along.  Can Mike, Lisa and the Institute save the world?

Simon Gervais knows about secret missions.  He was a Federal agent for several decades, specializing in counterterrorism.  The action in this novel is fast and furious and readers need to read carefully as individuals can change sides in an instant.  This is the second novel in The Thin Black Line series which features Mike Watson and his wife.  This novel is recommended for readers who like spy novels and thrillers.  

A Deadly Episode by Anthony Horowitz

 

One of Horowitz's books about a case he worked on with Hawthorne has been optioned to be made into a film.  Horowitz is less than excited.  He doesn't get to write the screenplay; Hawthorne is being paid more than him by a good amount and actors are lining up to play Hawthorne while casting his character is much more difficult.  Still, it's good exposure.  He meets with the woman who will be doing the screenplay and realizes that her focus is the environment and she doesn't want any suggestions from him as she turns his murder mystery into a screed for her favorite cause.  The casting has brought her and the two actors playing Hawthorne and Horowitz together from an earlier movie they did.

Then the actor playing Hawthorne is murdered; stabbed in his trailer between scenes.  Who could it be?  His co-star who still harbors resentment from their first film?  The screenwriter who lived with him for two years and had a child with him?  Those he treated horribly on the set and away from it?  His agent whom he just fired?  Suspects abound.

This is the sixth book in the Hawthorne and Horowitz series.  I love the satire and the fourth wall mentions of Horowitz's real life as a famous author whose works have successfully been made into television series and who is one of my favorite mystery writers.  Horowitz works with Hawthorne on the murder and is constantly surprised by Hawthorne's insights into events as always and the ending is satisfactory.  This book is recommended for mystery readers.  

Amy Among The Serial Killers by Jincy Willett

 

Amy was a creative writing teacher and one of her favorite students over the years had been Carla Karolak.  Carla had been a child star with a pushy, horrible mother who tried to take all of Carla's money and bought a mansion near the ocean.  Now that Carla is on her own, she has turned half the house into a business.  She rents out rooms to hopeful writers where they can work in peace.  Carla is happy enough although she has few people in her life.  Her assistant is one, there's Amy and she interacts with other former students from Amy's classes.

Then a horrible event happens.  One of Carla's renters is found killed and dismembered in her writing cubicle, found by Carla.  The police tie the murder to some others which have occurred lately.  Who could be the serial killer?  There is the obnoxious former student who wants to be a true crime writers and who tries to take over Carla's business.  He is dating Carla's assistant along with a woman who works for the police and who feeds him inside information.  There is the homeless man who seems to be around and shows up in police searches.  How much does Carla really know about the other former students she has let into her life?  Is she a target as well?

Jincy Willett is an American author and writing teacher just like Amy.  This novel is the third in the series about Amy and I really enjoyed it.  Carla is an interesting character who only in her thirties is growing up and demanding her fair share of life and the relationship between her and Amy rings true.  The focus is more on the relationships the characters have than on the gruesome details of the murders and the mystery of the killer's identity is quite well hidden until the final reveal.  I listened to this novel and the narrator was wonderful.  This book is recommended for mystery readers.  

Universality by Natasha Brown

 

A gold bar is missing from a remote English farm.  The man who owns the farm doesn't live there as he prefers his London apartment.  But he left the bar there and when a group of back to the land commune members decide to squat there, the bar is found.  Before it is taken, it is used to hit a man in the head in a fight among commune members.

An ambitious woman journalist is told about the story and sees it as a real opportunity for her next story.  She interviews the man who owns the bar who is a venture capitalist, the head of the commune and several of his followers and even tracks down the man who did the assault and interviews him.  She tells a story of greed, both by the original owner and all those who interacted with the gold bar.

But that's not the end of the story.  The author gets a real career boost.  The capitalist is exposed as a venal opportunist.  The commune breaks up.  And there are more machinations behind the scenes.

I'm rapidly becoming a major Natasha Brown fan.  She is a British author and this novel was longlisted for the Booker Prize in 2025.  I've also read her first book, Assembly, and was blown away by it.  Her writing is spare and every word is important.  This book has so many layers and secrets abound on each layer as it is revealed.  The entire article is full of machinations and hidden motivations and the author is amazing as she does this with what seems to be such a sparse tale.  This book is recommended for literary fiction readers. 

The Chelsea Girls by Fiona Davis

 

During the last days of World War II, two women meet while entertaining the troops in a USO troupe.  Hazel Riley is known as the girl who never made the Broadway stage although constantly being hired as a backup to the star.  Maxine Mead is a gorgeous actress.  When the two women come home after the war, they both end up in New York and living in the Bohemian Chelsea Hotel.  Hazel decides there is more than acting in the world and starts writing a play while Maxine is soon cast as the star of Hazel's play.

But there are is an unannounced war heading for Broadway.  After having success ruining careers in Hollywood, McCarthy seems to be setting his bullseye on Broadway.  Years before the War when socialist and progressive groups were in vogue, Maxine had attended a protest.  Hazel, whose brother believed in the cause, had signed petitions he had given her almost without reading them.  But both of them are now in the crosshairs of the government's attempt to bring down Broadway.

Fiona Davis has written extensively in the historical fiction genre, focusing on the women of various times.  Both women characters are fascinating but Hazel will win hearts as she attempts to make a career for herself.  Those not familiar with the witch-hunts of the time will be taken by the unfairness of the McCarthy targets and how he ruined careers and got people blacklisted from their work rather than name their friends.  This book is recommended for historical and women's fiction readers.

The Disappearance Of Adele Bedeau by Graeme McCrae Burnet

 

In a small town in France, a waitress in the local bistro has gone missing.  The police, led by Inspector Gorski, investigate.  They talk to everyone but one man seems suspicious.  Manfred Baumann is the local banker and a creature of habit.  He takes his lunch and his dinner in the bistro although he rarely talks to anyone.  People looking back think he seemed interested in Adele.  He has lived in the same apartment for years and after dinner he goes to his apartment and does whatever.  Once a week he visits a brothel. 

Several people saw Adele leaving town on the back of a motorbike.  Manfred had walked from the bistro that night with Adele and had seen that also.  But when the police interviewed the bistro customers, he lied about seeing her for no real reason except that he constantly analyzed every conversation and its affect on the other person and believed if he told the truth he would be arrested.  

Inspector Gorski is determined to solve the disappearance.  His first case, years ago, had gone unsolved and he is adamant that this one will be solved.  He is suspicious of Baumann because he can tell he is lying and because he knows how Adele left town.  Why would Baumann lie?  He doesn't know but can sense that Baumann has secrets he is hiding.

Graeme McCrae Burnet is a Scottish writer who writes in the historical true crime genre.  His work has been both longlisted and shortlisted in various years for the Booker Prize and has won various awards around the world.  The reader will come to know Manfred as the book is mostly written from his point of view.  Manfred has dark secrets going back decades that still influence his everyday life and his belief that people are constantly talking about him.  This book is recommended for readers of historical literary fiction. 

The Hounding by Xenobe Purvis

 

There are five Mansfield girls and they have come to live with their grandfather in Little Nettlebed now that their parents have died.  Mr. Mansfield is the wealthiest man in the village but there is talk that he made his fortune on the backs of others, selling flour dearly during a time of little food.  The girls all look exactly alike, tall and slim, dark hair and piercing blue eyes.  They stick to themselves and ignore the villagers.  

There are also men in Little Nettlebed.  Robin is a gentle soul from another farm who has come to the Mansfield house to help with the harvest  Thomas is also a hired hand and he lives in the house as his home is too far to go back and forth.  Pete is the man who poles the ferry back and forth and is about to be married.  Each of the men have a different opinion of the girls.

Then a rumor starts, who knows where.  It's said that the girls turn themselves into hounds.  There are reports of hens killed and other animals.  Should the girls be forced out?

This is a debut novel for Xenobe Purvis.  It was chosen as a Notable Book by the New York Times and a Best Book Of The Year by NPR and Kirkus Reviews.  It has a haunting tone as the villagers and the girls interact and it is unclear exactly what will happen as the rumors multiply about the girls.  There is a lot of discussion about the proper relationship between men and women and who should be the most influential.  There is also a hint of horror that threads throughout the book.  This book is recommended for literary fiction readers.  

It Could Have Been Her by Lisa Jewell

 

Jane Trevally is at loose ends at this point in her life.  She is living in the country in the massive pile of her family's old house which is falling down around her.  Jane has been married several times to rich men and never developed a career.  She knows she needs to sell the estate and find a job but it seems overwhelming.

Then while out walking her dogs one day, they come across a small lost dog.  Jane takes it to the vet and finds out it belongs to a girl who was renting a local VRB0 but the girl has disappeared.  There is a London address attached to the dog's chip so Jane offers to take the dog home.  Her favorite ex-husband invites her to stay in his house while he is overseas and her favorite stepson offers to go with her.  The two go to the address and find a locked gate.  When a man comes to answer them, he takes the dog but insists that he knows nothing about the missing girl who had the dog in the country.

Jane is shocked as she looks at the house.  Once, back in her twenties, she had been picked up in a bar by a charming man.  He offered her a job and insisted that she come with him that night to check it out and meet the family.  When Jane arrives with him, she sees a wife who seems scared and starts to get a bad feeling.  When the man makes her a drink, she finds a way to knock it over and runs out of the house and away.  She has always thought she avoided a disaster that night.

Now here is an unfriendly man and a missing girl.  Jane and her stepson decide to investigate the mystery and discover that the house also contains an elderly woman who would be the wife Jane met that night, the unfriendly man, the missing girl and her brother who ran away to join the circus when he was sixteen.  Surely there is a mystery here to be solved.

Lisa Jewell is one of my favorite thriller authors.  Her characters are always finely drawn and there is lots of psychological background for each.  Jane is a delightful character and I hope Jewell writes more books that feature Jane and her stepson and have them create a detective agency for this next stage of Jane's life.  This book is recommended for mystery readers.  

Love In The New Milennium by Can Xue

 

In this novel of China, women seem to have limited choices.  Work is either in a factory or a brothel run from the community baths.  Men and women seem to fall in love at a glance but the relationships never work.  The men don't do much better.  Either they don't have any love or friendship in their lives or if they have a relationship, they end up in prison so that they can work on their attitudes towards the woman they love.  

Along with love, there is much talk of ancient ancestral villages and caves, and the gathering and use of traditional plant-based medicines.  There is a doctor who uses this type of medicine and he and the only woman with a traditional job fall in love but it doesn't work out any more than any of the other relationships.

Can Xue comes from a family that was severely persecuted during the Cultural Revolution of the 1950's and she was only allowed to attend school through the elementary years.  She taught herself English and is now regarded as China's most prominent author of experimental fiction.  This novel is my first of her works and it takes quite a lot for those unused to this type of writing to read and appreciate it.  I feel like I, and maybe most readers, will need several reads of this work to gain all of her meaning.  She seems to be saying that love is temporary and that men and women are rarely able to make it work in the long term.  This book is recommended for literary and multicultural readers  

Boxer Handsome by Anna Whitwham

 

Bobby was raised to box.  His grandfather on his mother's side and his father were both boxers and Bobby has been in the gym since he was a small boy.  Now he is about to have the match that will make or break his career.

Connor was a friend in those boyhood days but now he's going to be Bobby's rival in the big fight.  Both representing the same gym, one will go on and one's career will be done.  Days before the fight, the two have a street fight over the girl Connor loves but who is having a fling with Bobby.  Now the fight in the ring will be between enemies.

Bobby meets a girl who brings her brother to the gym to learn some self-defense.  Chloe is nothing like the usual girls that Bobby meets, she is more refined and she makes Bobby want to be better.  She will be coming to the big fight and gives Bobby one more reason to win.

This is a debut novel from Anna Whitwham who is an English author who was singled out as one of the Best New Novelists in the Guardian's annual listing.  The boxing scenes ring true and it turns out that Anna herself took up boxing in the months after her mother died a slow death from cancer.  Growing up she had been like the girl that Bobby and Connor fought over but after she had a child herself she finally began to grow up.  Readers will be transported to a world most have no idea of.  The action is brutal and the characters don't seem to be fully developed but caught in a world that defines them as one thing and refuses to let them break away.  I will be looking for more work by this author and I'm glad to have seen the boxing world from the inside.  This book is recommended for literary fiction readers.  

The Briar Club by Kate Quinn

 

Briarwood House is an all female boarding house in Washington D.C. in the 1950's.  It's pretty run down as the landlady doesn't believe in spending any money she absolutely doesn't have to, it's bad enough having to raise two kids on her own.  An interesting collection of women live there.

Nora works for the government in the documents division, preserving important documents such as the Constitution.  Fliss is an English woman whose doctor husband is still in Japan after the war working for the military after the war as Japan is rebuilt.  She has a baby and is overwhelmed with single motherhood while she waits for his return.  Reka is older, an artist in her seventies who fled to the United States from Hitler and his men.

Bea is a high school physical education teacher while she recuperates from the knee injury that ended her career in women's baseball.  Arlene is a secretary for the government as well and she dreams of catching a Communist spy and becoming famous.  Claire is a woman who grew up in poverty and will do any job to make money, saving for her own home one day.  

The women all lead separate lives, only speaking when they greet each other or when they argue about the shared bathroom.  Then Grace moves in.  Grace is a widow and she is friendlier than the rest.  She invites everyone to her room every Thursday for a shared dinner and slowly the group becomes friends.  They start to help each other and to help the two children raised by the landlady who only sees them as workers to make her money.  As the women become friends, they start to work together to make the house a home.

Kate Quinn is an American author who writes historical fiction.  This novel is based in Washington D.C. during the time of McCarthy and his witch-hunts in which he said he was discovering Communist spies but in reality he browbeat those who might have been liberal before WW II and joined progressive groups.  He delighted in making one person turn against others in their circle and those named were blacklisted in their professions.  The growing friendships among the women and their individual secrets are the basis of the novel.  Each woman gets her own chapter where the reader learns her backstory and her love life.  This novel is recommended for historical fiction readers.  

The Undertaking Of Hart And Mercy by Megan Bannen

 

Two lonely people unfortunately can't stand each other.  Mercy is the person holding up Birdsall & Son Undertakers as her father ages out.  She thought it would be temporary but soon realizes that she loves the work.  Hart is a marshal assigned to the bordering land of Tanria where he kills monsters.  He has to go to Birdsall & Son periodically when he kills a person who was taken over by a monster to insure the person finally gets a decent burial.  He and Mercy hit it off wrong from the start and now they can't stand each other.

Or can they?  Lonely beyond belief, Hart writes an anonymous letter to 'A Friend'.  He is shocked to find that he gets a reply and a friendship starts.  When his friend suggests they meet in person, he is shocked to see Mercy sitting at the table in the restaurant they picked.  Could he like Mercy?  Even worse, could he love her?

This is a charming novel that introduced me to a new author I'll definitely be reading more of in the future.  Megan Bannen was a librarian before she starting writing in the fantasy genre.  I listened to this book and both the narrators did an excellent job.  The romance is slow starting but really heats up and I fell in love with all the Birdsall family along with Mercy and Hart.  There is intrigue and double-dealing and a satisfactory ending.  This book is recommended for fantasy readers.  

To Kill And Kill Again by John Coston

 From 1974 to 1986, Missoula, Montana, had a serial killer.  The victims were divergent.  One was a preacher's wife, another a teenage runaway.  There was a married couple and a female woman slightly known by the murderer.  The police had suspicions but couldn't get any proof.

Wayne Nance had been a bit strange since childhood.   At times he was very friendly and at his work he remembered everyone's birthday and brought all the women Valentine's Day.  Need someone to help you move?  Wayne was your guy.  But some saw his other side.  Wayne had a strict routine and he got very upset when it was changed at all.  He delivered furniture and felt like he was the boss of the warehouse.  He didn't like the customers' husbands at all.  He was finally stopped when he broke into the house of his latest crush and she and her husband fought back.  

John Coston worked as a journalist and a news editor at the Wall Street Journal.  He also wrote two true crime books and this was one of them.  While it took years to bring Nance to justice, he was suspected by the police and considered strange by most who knew him.  Like with other serial killers like Ted Bundy who are often written up as normal and charming, those who knew them best tended to shy away as the more you knew them the more their 'otherness' stood out.  This book is recommended for true crime readers.