A Rock And A Hard Place by JD Kirk

 

Scottish detective Jack Logan is taking a break from police work.  His last case had left him with injuries, both physical and psychological.  The physical healed quickly but he's not sure about returning.  His bosses are running out of patience and want him back to head up his team.  In the meantime, an annoying, by the book inspector has been brought in.  Temporary or is he?

When news comes of a body found in a remote cave, Logan is tempted but at the same time, caves are what he wants to avoid.  Still, it is one of his childhood heroes, a musician named Johnny Freestone who is the victim.  Reluctantly, Logan agrees to head north and 'consult' with the DCI in charge.  

Johnny Freestone was one of the big ones, a rock star who filled stadiums.  But his star had dimmed over the years and his attempts at comebacks had all failed.  Now he has been found dead deep in a cave in his hometown.  Who would have killed him?  It turns out lots of people.  Freestone was obnoxious, rude to everyone, known for delighting in breaking up marriages, deep in debt he never paid back.  Logan starts to give his opinions but is squashed by the SIO in charge who makes it clear that Logan is not officially back and needs to do as he is told, not a position Logan is used to.  

This is the twenty-first Jack Logan mystery.  Logan is bold and assertive but in this book, he appears mild as he tiptoes his way around the murder as he decides if he will return to the work he has loved for years.  His team is still eccentric but effective and the clash between him and the SIO in charge is amusing.  This book is recommended for mystery readers.  

The End Of Drum-Time by Hanna Pylvainen

 

The time is 1851, the location a remote Scandinavian village.  Only two types of people live here.  The Sami tribes have lived here forever, their reindeer herds everything to them.  They live on reindeer meat and milk, trade the reindeer for the few things they cannot make themselves and travel with the reindeer so that the herd always has grazing.  The lands outside the village are their winter grazing grounds. 

The other inhabitants are those who have come to 'civilize' the tribes, but really to fence in their land and try to make the tribe people more like them.  The village they live in has a few houses, a church and a store.  Mad Lasse is a Lutheran minister who has come to save the Sammi people.  He has two marriage-aged daughters, a son and then a clutch of younger people.  

Willa is one of those daughters.  She despises her life and wants something more.  That something more turns out to be Ivvar, one of the Sami herdsmen.  The two fall in love and when the Sami make their annual pilgrimage in the summer to the coastal grazing grounds, Willa runs away from home and becomes a couple with Ivvar 

The Lutheran church decides that Lasse has gotten out of church bounds and transfers him to another parish.  The uncle of the storekeeper comes to replace Lasse in the church and he is a brutal minister, striking the congregation if they are not attentive and fining those who don't attend.  Something must come to a head with the opposing groups of people and it does in a violence-filled night.  

Hanna Pylvainen is an American author.  This novel was a a finalist for the National Book Award.  The research Pylvainen did for the novel shines through on every page as she transports the reader to the remote Swedish tundra.  The reader will learn about the tribal life of the Sami people and the damage that drinking alcohol did to their lives.  The clash of cultures will inevitably bring an end to the life the Sami people have known, as their opposition has the money and government with which to fence in the land and change the way of life of those who went before.  This book is recommended for readers of historical fiction.  

The Last Great Road Bum by Hector Tobar

 

Joe Sanderson seemed like he would live an ordinary life.  He was born and raised in Illinois in a middle class family.  As he was finishing high school, he had a revelation.  The family went on a vacation to Mexico City and when they left, they agreed to leave Joe behind to make his own way home.  He traveled around Mexico before returning and an itch was born.  Joe was not longer content with the idea of going to college, getting married and raising a family.  He wanted to see the world.

And see it he did.  He traveled to Jamaica, then through Europe and Asia.  He met the love of his life on the road but she wanted stability and Joe wanted adventure.  He was in Vietnam during the war and managed to get to the front lines by pretending to be a journalist.  He went to Africa, specifically Biafra and Nigeria during the famines and civil wars that became genocides and worked as a volunteer, handing out food and medicine.  But Central and South America always called to him.

When he returned to those countries that make up Central and South America, Joe was radicalized by the war and turmoil he had seen around the world.  He eventually fell in with the guerilla fighters of El Salvador and died fighting with them in the jungles.  Wherever he traveled, he kept a diary and wrote home letters to his mother, brother and father.  

Hector Tobar is the son of Guatemalan immigrants.  He worked for twenty years as a journalist for the Los Angeles Times where he was on a team that won the Pulitzer Prize for coverage of the LA Riots.  He has also written six novels.  He came into possession of the papers that Joe Sanderson left behind after his death in El Salvador and then contacted the family and was able to find out more about Sanderson through their recollections and Joe's letters home over the years.  The book is a mix of fiction and nonfiction and the reader will accompany Joe as he travels the world and ends up fighting against tyranny.  This book is recommended for both fiction and nonfiction readers.  

The First Time I Saw Him by Laura Dave

 

Five years ago, Hannah Hall's world fell apart.  Her husband, Owen, had to disappear when he ran afoul of a criminal organization, one his father had been legal counsel for.  Owen had testified against the organization and they will never stop looking for him.  Hannah was left with a teenage stepdaughter, Bailey, who hasn't forgiven her for marrying her father and a knowledge that she and Bailey will never see Owen again.  

The grandfather, Nicholas, had brokered an agreement that Hannah and Bailey would be left alone but when Nicholas's death is reported, that agreement ends.  Nicholas had been friends with the head of the organization but he has turned the reins over to his children and the new head hates Daniel for testifying against her husband and putting him in prison.  She will do anything to get back at Daniel, including going after Hannah and Bailey.

Laura Dave has created another tense, pulse-pounding thriller that continues the story of Owen and Hannah.  The action is fast and furious and the plotting is intricate.  Readers who enjoyed the first book, The Last Thing He Told Me, will also enjoy this one which is recommended for thriller readers.  

Taiwan Travelogue by Shuang-Zi Yang

 

The year is 1938 and a young Japanese writer, Aoyama Chizuko, has been approached by the government to go to Taiwan, which the Japanese have occupied since 1895.  They want her to give lectures about her novels and meet with government officials.  They will provide her lodging, food, travel expenses and a translator.  Chizuko jumps at the chance.

But she isn't that interested in giving the lectures or meeting with officials.  She wants to experience Taiwan and especially, Taiwanese food.  Chizuko is a major foodie and there is never a moment she doesn't want to eat.  She is assigned another young woman as a translator, Chizuru.  Chizuru is more than willing to travel with Chizuko and show her the Taiwanese sights. Even better, she is willing to arrange for Chizuko to dine on all the varieties of Taiwanese food from street food to government dinners.  Chizuru is also a talented chef herself and cooks for Chizuko often.

As the two women travel to the various locales in Taiwan, Chizuko and Chizuru become better acquainted.  They tease each other and confide secrets.  Chizuko begins to feel that Chizuru is the best friend she has ever had but there is a reserve she cannot break through.  What keeps them from being soulmates?

This is a delightful novel and that shows in its awards.  It won the National Book Award for Translated Literature, the International Booker and the Golden Tripod Award in Taiwan.  Readers will learn about the Japanese occupation of Taiwan, Taiwan sights and memorials and so much about Taiwanese food.  But underneath lies the secret that prevents the two women from ever getting as close as the novelist wishes for and it is slowly revealed to the reader.  This book is recommended for multicultural and literary fiction readers.

Broken Ground by Val McDermid

 

Alice Sommerville and her husband can't believe they are finally here.  Alice was raised with the story of the Indian motorcycles her grandfather and his buddy had buried at the end of World War II on a remote farm in Scotland where they had been posted.  They always intended to go back and get them but somehow they never found the time.  But Alice is here and she has the map and she's sure they will find the treasure this time.

They find the spot and they find the motorcycles still in pristine shape.  But they also find something else.  Or someone.  That brings in DCI Karen Pirie.  The first task is to find out who is buried there. There is no identification except for a huge weight-bearing belt.  Who could have killed the man and why leave him there?

As the case unravels, it turns out that not only were the motorcycles valuable, but another man had stowed a fortune in diamonds in one of the saddlebags of one of the motorcycles.  Was the man killed over the diamonds?  The motorcycles?  Pirie is attracted to the man who owns the land where all of this occurs but doesn't trust his interest thinking he might be involved.  

Val McDermid is known as one of Scotland's best mystery writers.  This is the fifth in the Karen Pirie series, which has been made into a television series as well.  The way Pirie unravels the mystery while also handling a domestic abuse case back home and fighting off the stratagems of her overbearing boss is fascinating and fans of the DCI will be happy with another stellar mystery.  This book is recommended for mystery fans. 

The Wild Hunt by Emma Seckel

 

When the call comes, Leigh Welles has not been home to the island since she left it.  Now her father, the last of the family on the island, has had an accident and died and she must go home to bury him.  Leigh's brother, Sam has been a big success but Leigh's experience off the island has been a series of dead-end jobs and shoddy flats.  She is not sorry to be returning.

But things seem different.  The island has always been inhabited by a population of crows that the islanders call the slaugh.  They believe that the birds are otherworldly and carry the souls of the dead.  But lately the birds have flocked together and attacked island residents.  What does that mean?

Iain MacTavish lives on the island, his father having left him enough money that he doesn't need to work.  He was a pilot during the recent world war and that war took both his best childhood friend and his wife from him.  He wanders the island spending time with himself thinking about the war and what it meant.  

Leigh and Iain come together when Hugo, a young teenager whose big brother was Iain's best friend, disappears.  Where could he have gone?  What took him away?  

This is a debut novel for Emma Seckel and I'm looking forward to reading more from her.  She is a Canadian author and photographer and spent four years of university in a small Scottish town which gave her the ability to portray the island where Leigh and Iain live.  The writing has a misty feel where nothing is quite as it seems but almost everything has changed dramatically over the years.  The characters are all still dealing with the aftermath of World War II and the deaths and tragedies it left behind.  The supernatural elements add to the book without overwhelming it.  I listened to this novel and the narrator added to the atmosphere of cloudy understanding as the characters grope towards the truth.  This book is recommended for historical and literary fiction readers.  

Kunstlers In Paradise by Cathleen Schine

 

Julian is lost, aimless in his twenties and unsure what his next step in life will be.  His roommate has just moved out, his girlfriend has broken up with him and his liberal parents have not been enthusiastic when he he had suggested moving back home.  But they have a suggestion.  His grandmother, in her nineties, is living in Los Angles with a friend and a giant St. Bernard dog.  She has fallen and broken her arm.  Why doesn't he go visit her and help her during her recuperation?

Julian grudgingly agrees.  He gets to LA and settles in with the two ancient women and then disaster strikes.  Covid closes down the country and he is now stuck in LA for the foreseeable future until the closedown lifts.  Mamie had come to LA when she was eleven with her Jewish parents as they escaped the Nazis before they attacked Vienna.  Her father was a composer and they easily fit in with the refuge population who had come to the United States.  Mamie was taught tennis by composer Arnold Schoenberg, she knew Christopher Isherwood and Thomas Mann.  She had a relationship with Greta Garbo who was the most beautiful woman in the world.  She has plenty of stories to last through the shutdown.

Cathleen Schine is an American author who has written several novels that explore family relationships.  In this one, she has created interesting characters in Mamie and her live-in help and in Julian as he navigates early adulthood and finding his purpose in life.  Grandparents and their grandchildren have a special relationship that is different than that of parents and children and often grandchildren are willing to take advice from grandparents that they ignore from parents.  Readers will learn about Los Angles during World War II and the refuge population that came there to work.   This book is recommended for readers of literary fiction.

Perspectives by Laurent Binet

 

The year is 1557, the place Florence.  The artist Jacopo de Pontormo has been found dead near the mural he has been working on for seven years for the Duke Of Florence.  No one had been allowed to see the painting as it was hidden behind scaffolding.  When Pontormo's residence was searched, a scandal ensued.  He had painted the face of the Duke's young daughter, just reaching marriageable age, onto a nude woman's figure painted in a promiscuous pose.  Why would he do that to his patron?  Who could have killed him?

Duke Cosimo de' Medici reaches out to Giorgi Vasari, one of his most trusted advisors, to lead the investigations.  Vasari suspects that it must have been someone in the art world, as a piece of the mural was painted over that night in a slightly different color.  Was it Pontormo's assistants?  A jealous rival?  The artist chosen to finish the mural?

Laurent Binet, a French author is quickly becoming one of my favorite authors.  I recently read his first novel, HHhH about the assassination of a Nazi leader and which won awards. This novel is told entirely in letters between the various characters.  There is also political intrigue going on involving Catherine de' Medici, the Queen of France, who is involved in an attempt to militarily take over parts of Italy.  A interesting character in the novel is Benvenuto Cellini, the goldsmith who is also an adventurer, a braggard and always willing to take a chance for money.  This book is recommended for literary and historical fiction readers.  

Mrs. S by K. Patrick

 

The setting is rural England at the kind of English boarding school that worships the past and 'girls' who have come through it.  Tradition and rules are everything.  Into this structure comes a young Australian girl, only twenty-two, who has been hired as the matron, a title that has little defined roles but seems to boil down to watching the girls and making sure they are where they are supposed to be.  The matron is openly gay and at first has no friends among the staff.  But she finds that the housemistress is also gay and they form a friendship. The girls seem to know and sometimes make comments but overall she is accepted by them and the rest of the staff.

Then there is Mrs. S, the wife of the headmaster.  As opposed to the protagonist, Mrs. S. is the epitome of femininity. She dresses in lovely dresses daily, even in the sweltering heat of an English heat wave.  All the girls love her and want her attention.  But the Australian has an immediate attraction to Mrs. S. and it is difficult to tell if Mrs. S. is also attracted to her or if she is merely being friendly.  As the weeks go by, the attraction grows on both sides and soon the two are having a torrid affair.  Surely this is a state of affairs that is doomed to disaster.

K. Patrick is one of Granta's annual Best Young Novelists.  She is Scottish and both a poet and a novelist.  The author identifies as trans-masculine.  The sex scenes in the book are quite graphic which could be an issue for some readers.  Patrick is able to portray the slow, building attraction between the matron and the headmaster's wife, one young and openly gay, one middle-aged and the epitome of what is considered 'normal' in a compelling way that makes it seem normal when the two actually get together.  Patrick herself attended a rural English school with famous former students who were authors as this environment is portrayed.  I found this book and author fascinating and a good indication of what literature can do for us, showing a world many of us will never know.  This book is recommended for literary fiction readers.  

29 Seconds by T.M. Logan

 

Sarah's life has been hard for a while but things are about to change.  She is lecturing at the university, supporting her two small children and herself while her husband is off living with another woman.  But it's the time of year when promotions are made and Sarah is sure that this year she will be getting tenure as she has starred in the classroom and also in research and bringing in grant money.

But when she goes for her evaluation, she finds that the promotion is going to a man with several years less experience than her.  That is, unless she is willing to sleep with the head of the department, a man known among the women as a sexual harasser.

Sarah is furious, frightened and not sure what to do.  Her university is the only one of two where her specialty is pursued.  Sitting and thinking what to do, she sees a kidnapping attempt, men trying to take a young girl.  She manages to foil the attempt and the girl's father brings her into his office and offers to do anything she would like as repayment.  Did she have someone she wanted disappeared?  Money?

Sarah refuses his help but he gives her a burner phone and tells her she has seventy-two hours to make a decision.  Sarah is torn.  Can she really have her boss disappeared?  With minutes left before the deadline, she gives his name to her contact.  She doesn't really believe anything will happen but soon the word is out that the man she hates has disappeared and no one knows where he is.  What happens now?

T. M. Logan is an English author who was a journalist before turning to writing full time.  He says that he writes the kind of books he likes to read, psychological thrillers.  I'm not sure how men would react to the boss but I think a sexual bully boss is a common enough occurrence that many women can relate to.  Sarah has a lot to decide, whether she will cave in to the bullying in order to support her children or whether she will expose him at the risk of losing her job and being blackballed in her industry.  Can she really make the man go away if she doesn't have to do anything but make a call?  Is she willing to step over that line?  This book is recommended for mystery readers.  

The City Changes Its Face by Eimear McBride

 

This novel is set in London in the mid-nineties.  Eily and Stephen have started a relationship and have just moved in together into a flat.  Eily is nineteen while Stephen is in his mid-forties.  He is a filmmaker while she is still in university hoping to become an actress.

When Stephen's daughter comes to visit there is a strain in his relationship with Eily.  Eily is only two years older than his daughter.  Stephen hasn't seen her in years as she has been living in Canada with his ex-wife.  Along with the strain of getting to know her again, she has also arrived as his autobiographical film is about finished and she and Eily now see all the horrors of his early life and the time he spent addicted to street drugs.  

Eighteen months later, the relationship is very tentative.  Eily has had something happen and hasn't left the flat in months.  There is a slow revealing of her secret and what it means to the two.  Can their relationship survive?

Eimear McBride is an Irish author whose work I typically love.  I wasn't as taken with this novel as with some of her other work but it still was interesting and I'm glad I read it.  It's hard to imagine a relationship with that kind of age gap that could possibly work and its interesting to view one from the inside.  Stephen is haunted by his past and one senses that part of the draw to Eily is that they are on the same emotional level in their growth as an adult.  The daughter remained a mystery to me, at times accepting of everything she finds in her father's life and at times still being the little girl who lost her father many years ago to divorce.  This book is recommended for literary fiction readers.  

Brotherless Night by V.V. Guneshananthan

 

Sashi lives with her family in Sri Lanka.  Her father works away from home so it is her mother, her four brothers and Sashi.  They are Tamil but seventy-five percent of the population is Sinhalese and her people are discriminated against by the majority government.  Sashi's family believes in education and Sashi and two of her brothers want to be doctors, another wants to be an architect while the last wants to be an engineer.  Their days are consumed with school and studying but there are rumbles of revolution.

As revolution and repression become realities, Sashi's life starts to become on of loss.  Her first crush, a friend of her brothers and the smartest person in her school, leaves to join the Tamil Tigers who are the main force of the revolution.  Soon two of her brothers join him.  Another brother is lost in the riots that take over a town one night and her grandmother's house is burnt down.   

Sashi only wants to be a doctor but she also wants to help those in need.  She starts working in a free clinic and soon is put on the government's watch list along with some of her teachers.  She works with her teachers to document the atrocities going on around her and is drawn deeper and deeper into the counterrevolution.

V. V. Guneshananthan is an American author but she is from a Tamil background.  She spent over twenty years researching this novel which won the Women's Prize for Literature in 2024.  The reader will read on, aghast at what is occurring in the country and the loss and torture that becomes everyday occurrences for those fighting the government for the same rights given the majority ethnic group.  This book is recommended for multicultural and literary fiction readers.  

Brooklyn by Colm Toibin

 

Eilis Lacey lives in a small Irish village with her mother and sister.  Her brothers have left to find work and her father died.  Although Eilis did very well in school, she cannot find work in the village.  When a priest offers to sponsor her in the United States, finding her a job and a place to stay, she agrees to go.

She finds herself in Brooklyn, living in a boarding house with other girls and with a job in a department store.  At first, she is terribly homesick but helping the priest at church functions, taking classes at night and going to the weekly dance at the church start to help her fit in.  She meets Tony at the dance, an Italian plumber who is unfailing kind and enthusiastic about life.  He wants to marry her but a disaster back home takes her back to Ireland.  Once there, she is in two minds about returning to Brooklyn.  What will she choose?

Colm Toibin is an Irish author currently living in the United States.  His novels have been nominated for the Booker Prize three times and this was one of them.  Eilis is an interesting character.  She is strong enough to leave Ireland and start a new life, but once here, willing to let her actions be dictated by those around her; the priest, her landlady and her boss at work.  Tony will be everyone's favorite character, he is strong and determined to win Eilis to start a family of their own.  This is an interesting look into the immigrant experience that we all have somewhere in our own backgrounds.  This book is recommended for literary fiction readers.  

Bronze Drum by Phong Nguyen

 

This is the retelling of the Vietnamese story of the Trung sisters in the Au Lac region in 40 AD.  Trung Trac is the elder sister, always disciplined and making sure that she fulfilled all the expectations of a nobleman's daughter.  The younger sister, Trung Nhi, is more creative and less worried about meeting others' expectations.  The two train in poetry, martial arts and song.

In that time period, those in the Au Lac region had been defeated by the Han Dynasty of China and were subject to their rules.  One of those concerned marriage.  The Au Lac women were free to take lovers and have children rather than marriage if that was their desire.  The Han insisted that noblewomen must marry.

When their father falls afoul of the Han's expectations, they paid a surprise visit to the palace.  There they beheaded the father, the husband of one sister and the lover of another.  The sisters along with their pregnant mother were beaten and turned out from the palace.  They decided that they would not be defeated but would create a revolution of women and defeat the Han.  Using a bronze drum and it's various beats to communicate in battle, the women were successful.

Phong Nguyen was born in a small village outside Hanoi.  He is now a Professor of Writing at Missouri University.  I listened to this novel narrated by Quyen Ngo who has also narrated such novels as Discipline, The Mountains Sing and Dust Child.  The narration of the drum in battle was effective.  The book follows the sisters through their childhood into their early adulthood as they find love and then hate for the Han Dynasty when their worlds are shattered.  This book is recommended for multicultural readers.  

The Reckoning by John Grisham

 

The Banning family was known and respected in Clanton, Mississippi as they had been landowners for over a hundred years, growing cotton as most did around there  The current residents were Pete Banning and his sister who each had around six hundred acres.  Pete was married to a beautiful wife and had two children, a boy and a girl.  The Bannings lived in a mansion on the land and life should have been good.

Then World War II arrived.  Pete went to war and ended up in the Philippines.  When MacArthur pulled out, Pete was one of the men left behind and captured by the Japanese.  He was on the Bataan Death March and a prisoner of war.  When he managed to escape, he went into the jungle mountains and fought against the Japanese with others who had been left behind and was a hero, decorated by his country when he managed to get home.

That made his actions more of a mystery.  One October morning Pete Banning got up, strapped on his gun and drove into town where he shot and killed the beloved pastor of the church.  Pete acknowledged what he did, went to jail and awaited trial.  He wouldn't tell anyone his motive and never did.

The family of the pastor sued the family for civil damages and were awarded a huge amount.  There was never any doubt about the crime, but the reason was still a mystery.  Pete's children hired lawyers but there was a good chance that the Banning land would soon belong to someone else.

John Grisham is known for his legal thrillers.  Many reflect issues in the American legal system.  Grisham is an attorney and practiced law as a defense attorney for more than a decade before changing careers.  He is known for his work with the Innocence Project, helping those who were convicted wrongly.  In this work, a large section discusses the plight of those captured in the Philippines during World War II and their horrendous treatment.  The answers to Banning's crime don't come until the very end of the book and I certainly didn't see it coming.  This book is recommended for mystery and legal thriller readers. 

The Wrong Stars by Tim Pratt

 

Callie Machedo is the Captain of the White Raven, a ship that does salvage work when they aren't chasing down miscreants for the TSN.  They are headed to headquarters when they come upon an old ship, hundreds of years old, in a place where it shouldn't be.  When they board to look for salvage, they discover that one crew member is still there in cryptosleep.  They rush the survivor to their own ship where their doctor can safely return her to animation.

The survivor is Dr. Elena Oh and she immediately tells them when she awakes that her crew made first alien contact.  Her ship had left the Earth five hundred years before looking for a new world to live upon.  Instead they had found aggressive aliens who captured most of her crew.  Callie tells her that alien contact had been established many years ago with the Liars who gave Earth and others the technology that allowed easier space travel with wormholes and instant relocation through them to anywhere in the universe.  Captain Machedo also agrees to go back to where Oh's ship had been and try to rescue her crew.

Aided by a Liar the crew heads back out into space.  The Liar admits that his kind knew of the other aliens and had been enslaved by them for hundreds of years.  He is petrified of stirring them up but agrees to go along and help.  What will the crew find?

Tim Pratt is an American author who writes in the science fiction genre and has won various awards such as the Hugo.  When I started this book, I wasn't sure I would like it as it seemed like it might be a YA novel with silly love stories scattered through.  But as I read, I became engaged with the crew of the White Raven and their mission.  I liked the diversity of the crew as it contained an engineer who was my favorite character who was slowly turning himself into a cyborg and who was amusing and adventuresome.  It also contained a being composed of two humans who had been caught in a disaster and who were melded together by aliens who didn't know what humans should look like.  The adventures were interesting and there is plenty of room for more.  This novel is the first in a trilogy about the Axiom who are the evil aliens and is recommended for science fiction readers.  

Iron Flame by Rebecca Yarros

 

It's the second year of training for those who wish to serve as dragonriders for the government.  Violet was expected to die in the first year along with those others who were too weak to make it through training.  But her iron will took her through that and brought her a love in Xaden Riorson that she never expected.  

But now Violet's eyes have been opened.  She is learning more and more about the secrets of the kingdom and the lies that everyone has been told.  She knows that both her sister and brother are alive and serving, her sister as a dragonrider, her brother with the opposition.

Violet has made new enemies including the head of training for the core and he delights in doing anything he can to push her past her limits, hoping to kill her.  But the woman who bonded with the biggest dragon alive isn't the kind to be killed and she fights back with everything she has.  Can she and her friends win?

This is the second novel in the Empyrean Empire series.  There is lots of steamy sex and the plot moves quickly.  Violet and Xaden have a bond that can't be broken and Violet and her cadre are loyal to each other to the death.  There are twists and turns and more secrets of the Empire are revealed.  This book is recommended for fantasy readers.  

Mad Mabel by Sally Hepworth

 

Elsie Mabel Fitzpatrick is 81, six feet tall and the epitome of a curmudgeon.  She lives on a small street where she has lived for over sixty years.  Her neighbors include the elderly man next door with a chihuahua she despises, a Chinese couple, a middle-aged man who she does like a bit, a nosy neighbor who thinks she is in charge of policing everyone's behavior and a single mother who has recently moved in with a seven year old daughter.  Mabel ignores them all, her only friend Daphne who has been her friend from childhood.

Mabel has a secret as do many of us.  But hers is bigger.  She was once called Mad Mabel, the youngest murderer ever who had killed her father.  Her father who never liked her.  Her father who spent his time making her life miserable as he had made Mabel's mother's life.  Mabel was in custody from the age of fifteen to the time she turned adult and moved on the street and no one knows who she is except Daphne.

But when Mabel's neighbor dies and she discovers his body, everything comes to light.  For some reason, the police suspect that the man could have been murdered and who would do that but the murderer next door?  As her secret emerges, Mabel's life is interrupted again and again, not only by the media who make her the headline news, but by Persephone, the seven year old girl who has no boundaries and decides that Mabel is her new best friend.  Will all of Mabel's secrets be exposed?

Sally Hepworth is an Australian author who writes in the domestic relationship and thriller genre.  I've read many of her books and this one is delightful from beginning to end.  Mabel has lots of secrets and they are slowly revealed as the book continues.  Her gruff exterior truly hides a heart of gold and as the mysteries are unraveled, the gold shines through.  I listened to this novel and the narrator is perfect, a slow English accented voice that can convey hauteur perfectly and as this is Mabel's normal way of dealing with others, makes her come alive.  This book is recommended for mystery readers.    

Transcription by Kate Atkinson

 

The story starts in England in 1940.  England has declared war on Germany after it marches into Poland and takes it over.  Everyone is worried, not sure what lies ahead but ready to do their part.  Juliet Armstrong is just out of school and not sure what to do with her life.  When she is offered a job transcribing after secretarial school, she jumps at the chance.

What Juliet is transcribing are the ramblings of a group of Nazi sympathizers in London, suspected of giving information to the Germans.  MI5 has an operative set up in an apartment and the sympathizers believe that he is working for the Germans and collecting their information.  But his apartment is bugged and next door is Juliet, her technician and her boss who transcribe the conversations and send them on to be analyzed.  It shouldn't be dangerous but as time goes on, Juliet is pulled deeper into operations and it becomes life or death.

Ten years after the war is over, Juliet is now working for the BBC in an obscure part which produces educational shows for children.  It's a living but not one she is crazy about.  Then she starts seeing figures from her time in MI5 although they pretend not to know her.  What does that mean?  Soon Juliet realizes that once you work for the government, they can pull you back in at any time.  Will she survive her second round of working for them with all the secrets she knows?

 Kate Atkinson is an English author who writes in both the literary fiction and mystery genres.  In this historical fiction, the reader is never quite sure what is true and what is a mask for what is going on behind the scenes.  Juliet is a sympathetic figure and it's difficult to figure out what is going on around her and if she has enough training and native intelligence to keep herself safe.  Although she can be callous, she shows her human side in various situations and does what she can to help others.  This book is recommended for historical figure readers.

California's Deadliest Women by David Kulczyk

 

In this anthology, David Kulczyk tells the stories of the women who killed in California over the past decades.  There are twenty-eight stories and most of the women on California's Death Row have their stories told.  Probably the one whom most readers will have heard of is Betty Broderick whose story was made into several television series and movies and who recently died still in custody.  There are some serial killers but most are women fleeing disastrous relationships or killing for money.  This book is recommended for true crime readers.  

Long Gone by Joanna Schaffhausen

 

The call comes at night as calls tend to do when you're a homicide detective in Chicago.  Officer Leo Hammond was shot and killed in his bed, his wife says by an intruder wearing a frogman's suit.  Hammond was part of a group of four officers who had a reputation for clearing almost all their cases and who had handled some famous ones.  The three surviving men are determined to work this case of their friend and partner's murder, but the brass refuses and gives the case to Annalisa Vega and her partner, Nick Carelli.

Annalisa has issues within the department.  On her last case, she ended up sending both her father and her brother to prison when she determined that they had committed a crime.  Now her family isn't speaking to her and the rest of the police force except for her partner shuns her.  But she's a great cop and this case needs to be solved fast.

There are plenty of suspects.  Leo's first wife despises him after a messy divorce and his second wife just had him take out a million dollar insurance policy.  Then there is Moe Beck.  A flashy car dealer, most of the police force feels that he got away with a murder years ago and now he's dating Annalisa's sister-in-law.  The first murder he was suspected of was investigated by Leo and his friends.  Is that case coming back to life?

This is the second Annalisa Vega novel in the series of five cases.  I listened to this one and the narrator did an excellent job.  Annalisa is a gung-ho detective who is starting to question her choices, including her divorce from her partner Nick.  Once she gets a case she never stops until she can solve it, even when her superiors tell her to back off.  Joanna Schaffhausen is an American author with a doctorate in psychology and a background of writing for network news as well.  Her ability to turn out a tense, fast-moving murder mystery will make her a must read for those who sample her work.  This book is recommended for mystery readers.  

The Director by Daniel Kehlman

 

This is a fictionalized account of the life of famous director G.W. Pabst, a German living during the time of World War II.  Pabst was a famous director who had discovered Greta Garbo and made her famous in his films.  He was living in France when the Nazis took power in Germany and he and his wife and son immigrated to the United States and Hollywood.

But his fame did not translate.  No one wanted to give him work and when he had a great idea for a film, he was told he would have to make a film the studio heads wanted with actors he couldn't pick before they could talk about the film he wanted to make.  The film was a flop as Pabst anticipated and the family decided to go back to where his mother was living in land that the Germans had taken over.

They returned to find disaster.  His mother was much sicker than they had anticipated and the servants were running the house rather than serving.  They intimidated the family into living in the servants quarters and fed them less and less as food became scarce, consuming the rations themselves.  When a high-ranking Nazi came to visit Pabst, he requested that the family move to Berlin and that Pabst make movies for the government.  They offered money, a good apartment, care for his mother and just to make sure Pabst would obey, veiled threats as to what could happen to those who did not cooperate.

Pabst detested the government but thought he could remain independent and do his work unbothered.  He continued to make films until the end of the war, and many were masterpieces.  While his work was supported, he became more and more entangled with the government as thinking that he could avoid them and that the world would understand was idealistic and wrong.

Daniel Kehlman is a German Austrian novelist and playwright whose book Measuring The World is the book with the highest sales since 1985 and who has been nominated twice for the International Booker Prize, once for this novel and once for Tyll.  His works are far ranging, each one researching and discussing varied topics as opposed to some authors who seem stuck in a rut with one character or situation for much of their career.  G.W. Pabst was a real person and the book explores how one can fool oneself into doing wrong in order to achieve the goals that are obtainable only by compromise.  While Pabst never became a Nazi, his son is young when they move to Berlin and is caught up in the Nazi recruitment and sent to battle the Russians when he is still young, another sacrifice Pabst did not expect when he made his deal with the government.  There is so much to think about with this novel and I know I'll be rereading it as it is an amazing novel and exploration about how what we do rather than what we say we believe defines our lives.  This book is recommended for literary fiction readers.  

The Jackdaw by Luke Delaney

 

DI Sean Corrigan is known for his ability to get inside the head of the most depraved killers.  He has recently been promoted to head up a new division in the London Met, the Special Investigations squad.  It means more hours and more work but Corrigan is happy being able to concentrate on what he does best.

There's always plenty of work for the squad and the newest killer has a twist.  He kidnaps wealthy individuals from the banking industry and puts them online.  After reciting what he considers to be their crimes, he has the online viewers vote whether they should be executed or not.  Since the vote is anonymous, the first time lots of viewers vote yes, thinking it is just some online theatre.  But the kidnapped man is killed onscreen. 

Now the case is Sean's and his teams.  More people are kidnapped as the team frantically tries to find The Jackdaw, the killer's nickname.  Now not as many people are voting for death but The Jackdaw maims those he doesn't get to kill.  He is also working with a journalist to get the most attention he can.  Will Sean and his team find The Jackdaw before more people are killed?

Luke Delaney was a police officer himself in the London Met and worked in the CID where murders are investigated.  This gives his work a realistic turn.  He is especially good when writing about the stresses of the job and how it affects detectives' home life and outside relationships.  The action is fast paced and the reader will be flipping pages to see if The Jackdaw can be caught.  This book is recommended for mystery readers.  

Time Of Death by Mark Billingham

 

DI Tom Thorne is on a well-deserved vacation with his girlfriend, DS Helen Weeks.  But they have hardly gotten to their destination when they see on the news that a second girl has gone missing in the town where Helen grew up, and the main suspect is Helen's best friend from school.  Helen insists that they go and support her friend and Thorne agrees.

The evidence is mounting against the husband and when the second missing girl's DNA is found in his truck after he stated he had never given her a ride, he is arrested.  Everyone in the town is relieved although the ordeal won't be over until he gives up the location of the girl, who could still be alive.  Helen's friend is crushed and Helen tries to give her what help she can.

But not everyone is convinced.  Thorne doesn't believe that the police have investigated thoroughly as this is a small town where murders don't happen and the police aren't trained for a case of this magnitude.  As he pokes around the edges of the case, he becomes sure that the arrested man is not guilty of the first murder or either of the kidnappings.  He doesn't know who is yet but he knows enough to be a burr under the police's saddles.

This is the thirteenth Tom Thorne novel in the series.  It's evident that Tom cares deeply for Helen and there isn't much he wouldn't do for her.  Readers will learn more about Helen and her backstory.  Thorne's friend Phil Henricks, a pathologist, comes to help and he starts a relationship that could be serious as well.  The crimes are tricky and the solution is well out of the routine.  This book is recommended for mystery readers.  

Song Of Susannah by Stephen King

 In this sixth and next to last book in the Dark Tower series, all of the group have gone through the door from their world into the present.  Susannah is about to have her baby and she learns that it is also Roland's.  She is transported to New York City but Mia has control of her and the baby.  Jake and Father Callahan are both there as well and are trying to find Susannah and help her.

Roland and Eddie are in Maine.  They go there to meet up again with the bookstore owner and finalize business with him but when they come through the portal it is straight into an ambush.  Can they all finish their missions and reunite?

Things are getting serious in the series.  It's almost time to go to the Dark Tower and make the ultimate fight for the salvation of existence.  I had to wait a bit before starting the last one in the series as I don't want this story or battle to be done.  Roland and Eddie have an encounter in Maine that blew me away but I won't spoil the surprise for those who haven't read it yet.  This book is recommended for fantasy readers.  

Don't Go to Sleep by Bryce Moore

 

This is a retelling of the New Orleans Axe Murderer.  In this version, it is 1918 and seven years ago, Gianna's family was attacked at night by the Axeman.  He seems to target Italian families, those who run neighborhood stores in particular.  Gianna's family was lucky as none of them died although both her mother and father were hit.

Now, as if World War I and the Spanish Flu weren't enough, the Axeman seems to be back.  Gianna has nightmares in which there is some connection between she and the Axeman and she can tell when he is about to attack, even whom he is targeting in some cases.  She and her friend Enzo are determined to track the Axeman down and put an end to his reign of terror but can they?

Bryce Moore is an American author and librarian.  He writes YA historical true crime novels based on various cases in the past.  I liked how he educated the reader about the Spanish Flu at the same time that the Axeman thread was unwound and how the flu killed more than other causes such as crime and the war.  Gianna shows courage and love for her family and neighborhood and Enzo is a great sidekick.  I listened to this novel and the narrator did a great job.  This novel is recommended for YA, historical fiction and true crime readers.  

Checkout 19 by Claire-Louise Bennett

 

This book is told in first person narrative, the everyday life of a young author.  We hear about her childhood and what inspired her to start writing.  We follow her to university and then to her adult life.  To make ends meet she works in a grocery on Checkout 19.  There she observes human nature such as the Russian man with snow white hair who rushes around the grocery on the perimeter several times before he can settle down enough to start going up and down the aisles.  We learn about her various lovers and friends and the moves she makes throughout her life, sometimes on her own, sometimes with a man.

But occasionally, into the prosaic details of an everyday life, horrendous things are dropped.  She tells of these occurrences with the same calm voice that she mentions cooking a meal but they are shocking to the reader who had been moving along sure they knew what this book was about and enjoying reading the details of an ordinary life.

Claire-Louise Bennett is a British author although she currently lives in Ireland.  She has written three novels as of 2025 and all three have been listed for prizes.  I came across mention of this book in the New York Times Review of the best books to read from 2000-2025.  It was also shortlisted for the Goldsmith Award.  Since then I've purchased both her other books as I'm interested in recent authors, especially from overseas.  This book was surprising in its sudden switches from daily life to tragedy and I know I'll be on the lookout for more of her work.  Checkout 19 is recommended for literary fiction readers.  

Behold The Bird In Flight by Terri Lewis

 

The year is 1198.  King Philip of France and King John of England are in constant battle over Normandy which both have claims to and where John's mother is living.  John knows that he isn't popular like his brother Richard the Lionhearted and he resents his subjects for that.  But he is a great warrior and has been extending England's territory.

Eleven year old Isabelle is the daughter of a nobleman.  She is beautiful and her golden hair is her chief beauty.  She is betrothed to Hugh, the son of another nobleman and a man already.  Isabelle is sent to live in the Hugh's household although the marriage won't take place for several years.

Isabelle is entranced with Hugh, but he already has a lover in court and considers Isabelle nothing but a child whom he will eventually marry for her dowry.  When King John announces that he is to visit the household, Isabelle plots to make Hugh jealous with the attentions of the king.  But John is more than interested; he kidnaps Isabelle and takes her back to England where he marries her.  

As the years go by, Isabelle gives John children but her heart remains with Hugh.  John turns out to be a stubborn, jealous man who suspects Isabelle of cheating on him whenever she looks at another man.  But he is right.  When she goes to visit her mother in Normandy to recuperate, she has an affair with Hugh  Which man will have her as his wife?

I had never heard of Isabelle and her abduction by King John.  It is a fascinating story although it does highlight the plight of women who were regarded as not much more than property to be bred and give men children.  Isabelle grows into a woman with a woman's mind and purpose as the years go by and it is interesting to watch this growth.  Terri Lewis, an American author, has always been fascinated by the medieval period of history and this is her debut novel.  Readers will be swept away by the story of the love John and Hugh both have for Isabelle and for her returning love and determination to live life on her own terms. Lewis has done a remarkable job of interpreting the history and bringing it to life.   Isabelle later reunites with Hugh and I would have loved to have heard more about their lives when they finally got together.  This book is recommended for readers of historical fiction.

The Counting Game by Sinead Nolan

 

The Kellough family is the talk of the village, which is a small Irish group people who live between the forest and the sea.  The father left the family and the mother tried  her best to raise the three children but she is fighting mental issues.  She went over the cliffs a few months ago and now the oldest child has left college and come home to try to raise her teenage sister and small brother.  There is an aunt but she is often away and is disabled and confined to a wheelchair.

One day Saoirse and Jack go to play in the forest.  It is one of their favorite places to play although the village says it's haunted.  Three girls from the village went missing there in recent years and none has ever been found.  Saoirse and Jack play the counting game where one hides and another tries to find them while counting.  Saoirse hides but when he tries to find her Jack can't.  But he thinks he sees the Creature who haunts the woods and he runs back home, scared out of his wits.  But Saoirse doesn't come home that night.

The police mount a task force to search the area to find Saoirse but the days go by and there's no sign of her  Jack who hadn't talked much since his mother died, now isn't talking at all.  The police bring in Freya Hemmings, who is a psychotherapist who works with small children to try to gain Jack's trust and see if he can help.  As the time mounts, Freya is starting to make progress with Jack but it is clear someone in the village wants her gone and is starting to target her.  Can she make a breakthrough with Jack and get Saoirse back home?

Sinead Nolan is an Irish author who started as a journalist and who is also a counselor.  She grew up in the same environment as the location of the book.  Readers will be caught up in the hunt for Saoirse and the slow unraveling of Jack's secrets.  He isn't the only one with secrets; everyone seems to have them.  The ending has a great twist and I'll definitely be watching for more of Nolan's work.  This book is recommended for mystery readers.