No one would have expected these women to become friends.  Imogen Fortier is fifty-nine, married and lives on an island outside of Seattle.  Joan Bergstrom is twenty-seven, single and living in Los Angeles.  But Joan writes Imogen a fan letter about her food column and sends her a small packet of saffron.  Imogen doesn't know what to do with it and writes back for instructions.  Imogen has been cooking for many years but pretty much the cuisine she grew up with.  Joan is in the midst of international cuisine and encourages Imogen to broaden her horizons.

The novel is told through a series of letters between the two women.  Through their correspondent, we learn of Joan's forbidden love with a man of another culture and Imogen's husband and how as he learns to cook, trauma he has carried for years starts to unwind.  The two women tell each other everything and are each other's greatest support.  Joan even starts to write a food column in Los Angeles.  

Kim Fay is a former travel writer and has won acclaim in the travel and food literature awards.  This book with its unusual format is life sustaining and celebrates both food and the friendship between women.  Both women draw on their friendship to explore new ideas, meals and life situations.  The reader will finish the last page sustained by the joy and friendship possible.  This book is recommended for readers of women's fiction.

Real Tigers by Mick Herron

 

Jackson Lamb is not the kind of boss you look forward to seeing each day in the office.  That's particularly true if you are an operative of Slough House which means you already did something that ruined your career.  Lamb treats them with sarcasm and disrespect and that's on a good day.  If there is an exception, it's Catherine Standish, who shares the upstairs floor with Lamb.  She is middle-aged and a reformed alcoholic and it's not clear if either of those characteristics are what makes a difference.

When Catherine encounters a man from her past on the street, she wonders for a minute if it is a coincidence.  But she is being kidnapped; the man a soldier of fortune.  When her picture is taken and she is asked who of her co-workers she wants it sent to, she picks River Cartwright, a young impetuous man.  He rushes off to try to save her, not telling anyone else.  

But in the world of Slough House, little is as it seems.  There are layers upon layers behind Catherine's kidnapping and the tendrils reach high into the government.  The other operatives are determined to save Catherine once they discover what is going on while Lamb treats it as just another inconvenience.  

This is the third book in the Slough House series.  It is full of the witty and snide humor that characterizes the series.  Lamb is the sheep in dark clothing who acts as if he could care less but who always has his finger on the pulse of what is happening and who can handle any situation.  It is not until the end of the book that the title gains meaning and it is chilling.  This book is recommended for mystery/spy readers.  

Booksie's Shelves, July 29, 2025

 

It's the end of July and we're in a sweltering summer haze here in NC!  Only two more months of this horrid heat and humidity and fall will be here.  I've read 179 books so far this year so I'm hoping I can make my goal of 300 before the end of the year.  Today was the release of the 2025 Booker Prize nominees and I have eight of the thirteen and will wait on a couple of the rest until they go to paperback or on sale in the United States.  I've just returned from Georgia to visit my family and wonderful grandkids which is always fun.  We're also slowly but surely trying to turn one of our feral cat visitors into an inside cat.  He has been with us for over a year and lately has spent a couple of nights inside.  We're also moving his feeding inside to stop attracting wildlife to the back porch.  We've had raccoons, possums, foxes and a groundhog come in through the cat door.  Here's what's come through the front door and mail:

1. Paradise, Abdulrazak Gurnah, literary fiction, purchased (Nobel Prize winner)
2. Fatal Flowers, Rosemary Daniell, literary fiction, purchased (recommended by Pat Conroy)
3. The Gentleman From Peru, Andre Aciman, literary fiction, purchased
4. The Confession, Jessie Burton, literary fiction, purchased
5. Birding, Rose Ruane, literary fiction, purchased (Women's Prize listed 2025)
6. Reservoir Bitches, Dahlia de la Cerda, literary fiction, purchased (Women's Prize listed 2025)
7. By The Sea, Abdulrazak Gurnah, literary fiction, purchased (Nobel Prize 2021)
8. A Country You Can Leave, Asale Angel-Ajami, literary fiction, purchased
9. Girl Dinner, Olivie Black, horror, sent by publisher
10. The Oyster Thief, Sonia Faruqi, fantasy, purchased
11. One Of Us, Dan Chaon, literary fiction, sent by publisher
12. Enlightenment, Sarah Perry, literary fiction, purchased
13. The Book Of Lost Hours, Hayley Gelfuso, fantasy, sent by publisher
14. Big Girl, Mecca Jamilah Sullivan, women's fiction, purchased
15. The River Swimmer, Jim Harrison, literary fiction, purchased
16. The Evening Of The Holiday, Shirley Hazzard, literary fiction, purchased
17. The Hounding, Kenobe Purvis, fantasy, sent by pubisher
18. The Trial, Rob Rinder, mystery, purchased
19. Mr. Peanut, Adam Ross, mystery, purchased (New York Times Notable Book)
20. The End We Start From, Megan Hunter, literary fiction, purchased
21. The Elements, John Boyne, literary fiction, sent by publisher
22. The Killer Question, Janice Hallett, mystery, sent by publisher
23. Sirens, Joseph Knox, mystery, purchased
24. The Confessions, Paul Bradley Carr, thriller, sent by publisher
25. Joseph, Julian Rathbone, history, purchased
26. Sleeping With Soldiers, Rosemary Daniell, literary fiction, purchased
27. The Dust That Falls From Dreams, Louis De Bernieres, literary fiction, purchased
28. A Year With The Seals, Alix Morris, nonfiction, sent by publisher
29. A Dog In Georgia, Lauren Grodstein, literary fiction, sent by publisher

Here's What I'm Reading:

1. Red Queen, Juan Gomez-Jurado, mystery, hardcover
2. The Sewing Girl's Tale, John Wood Swift, historical fiction/true crime, audiobook
3. Spook Street, Mick Herron, mystery, audiobook
4. Cry Baby, Mark Billingham, mystery, Kindle
5. Neuromancer, William Gibson, science fiction, Kindle
6. The Outside Boy, Jeanne Cummins, literary fiction, paperback
7. The Space Between Us, Thirty Umigar, literary fiction, paperback
8. Nights At The Circus, Angela Carter, literary fiction, paperback
9. What Remains Of Her, Eric Rickstad, mystery, audiobook
10. Audition, Katie Kitamura, literary fiction, hardback

Happy Reading!

Buried by Mark Billingham

 Luke Mullen is only thirteen and he's missing.  His father is a former police officer and he's determined to be front and center in the investigation.  Tom Thorne is heading up the investigation.  Luke was seen getting into a car with a woman at the end of his school day.  Is this a woman he has been secretly seeing and he's run off with her?  Is it a kidnapping?  

Luke attends a private school and it's clear that his family has money.  When it becomes clear that it is indeed a kidnapping, Thorne is faced with other questions.  Is this just a money thing?  Or is it also payback from some criminal that the boy's father put away and who has now been released?  The family seems to be keeping secrets, one of them being former criminals who may form a threat to the family.  

In the meantime, other crimes go on.  One of the most newsworthy was the brutal attack and murder of an Asian boy who was beaten and kicked to death one night while waiting for a bus.  This murder happened close to the private school where Luke attends.  Is it connected somehow?

This is the sixth book in the Tom Thorne series.  Tom is feeling his age with a bad back giving him lots of pain and anguish.  He feels like his hands are tied in some ways as it is clear that Luke's father is getting inside information on the investigation from his former police mates and his interference makes everything more difficult.  Tom has a suspicion about what is going on that runs counter to his bosses' ideas and he just wants to be left alone to see if his idea pans out.  This book is recommended for mystery readers. 

The Waste Lands by Stephen King

 

The Gunslingers continue on their journey to the Dark Tower.  Roland, Susanne, Eddie and Jake are connected by Ka.  Jake picks up a companion, an animal that resembles a groundhog but seems to have intelligence and who can talk after a fashion.  As they journey, they encounter a town of people for the first time.  Most are very old and they cannot believe their eyes, that a Gunslinger still exists.  They tell the group what is up ahead.  The main thing is the city of Lud which is full of two opposing cliques and which has continual battles.  That is also where the trains ran from and Roland believes that they need the train in order to transverse the Wastelands.

Lud is a walled city with a bridge.  Both sides want Jake for their own purposes, none of which are good.  He is captured by a slummy man who resembles a pirate named Gasher who takes him into underground tunnels to his master, Blaine the Mono.  Death waits on all sides but the group is able to reunite and convince the Tick Tock Man who is the spirit of the train, to take them on their journey.  He is also evil and intends to kill them until they can win a game of riddles.  Will the group survive?

This is the third book in the Dark Tower series.  Jake and Roland are separated in some ways from the rest as Roland broke Ka to prevent Jake's death in his world and bring him into his own world  But they travel on.  It is interesting to see other people, survivors of the apocalypse that ruined the World and how they differ.  Some are kind and helpful, some are evil and depraved.  The addition of the furry companion is a good one and he provides some warmth in the cruel cold world.  This book is recommended for readers of horror and fantasy. 

The Busybody Book Club by Freya Sampson

 

After a disastrous encounter at work in London, Nova Davies has moved to a small village with her fiance which is his hometown.  It's quite an adjustment from London as they are living with his parents until they find a house.  There isn't much to do but she has Steven and his best friend Laura works with her.  Her new boss is wound tight but a good sort as well.

Nova works in community engagement and her job is at the village community center.  She starts a book club and only has a few members at first.  There is Phyllis, an older woman who insists on bringing her smelly bulldog everywhere she goes.  Arthur is another older member, a farmer who is a constant caretaker for his wife who has become housebound.  Then there is Ash, who is a teenager, basically loves sci-fi and not much else and doesn't say much.  Rounding out the group is Michael who has just started and whom no one really knows much about.

At the meeting, Michael gets a text and suddenly jumps up and leaves.  After the book club is over, it's discovered that the money the community raised to get a new roof has been stolen and suspicion falls on Nova who may not have locked the office.  The club thinks Michael may have taken it and when they track him down, they find that his mother has died and the police suspect it could be murder.  Who could have killed her?  They decide to find Michael and hopefully the money along with him.

Freya Sampson is a British author who worked as an executive producer in television before she started writing.  Readers will love Nova and cheer for her to straighten her life out.  Arthur is another sympathetic character while Phyllis provides the comic relief.  They each have secrets and as they get to know each other better, the secrets start to emerge.  I usually don't read cozy mysteries but this one was a delight to read and is recommended for mystery readers.  

The River Is Waiting by Wally Lamb

 

Corby Ledbetter isn't doing well.  Six months ago, he was married to the love of his life, Emily, their two year twins were thriving and he loved his job.  Then he lost his job as a graphic designer.  The company loved him and his work but they had to downsize and other employees had been there longer or had better credentials.  Now Corby is doing the house husband routine, looking after the twins and Emily is supporting the family on a teacher's salary.  They are both exhausted and Corby is hiding secrets.  Like the one about how he isn't really looking for a job these days.  Like the big one that he's drinking and doing drugs, even during the day while he's watching the twins.

Then the disaster happens and nothing will ever be the same again.  In a moment of Corby's intoxication, he makes a mistake and tragedy occurs.  He is criminally charged and sentenced to three years of prison but even worse, he hates himself and he's afraid the Emily does as well and that she can never forgive what he did.  

While in prison, Corby sees a lot of bad, inmates who terrorized others and guards that bullied the inmates because they could.  But over time, he also finds some good.  There are some guards and prison employees he gets close to.  He is helped by and helps other inmates.  He joins AA and gets his addiction under control.  Most importantly, he has the time to work on himself and get real about what he was doing and if he can make a positive change going forward.  As the days tick down, he makes himself promises about what he'll do when he gets out.  Can he pull it off?

Wally Lamb is an American author who is known for his novels about imperfect people (as we all are) who are trying to get to a better place.  His work is highly celebrated and this one is an Oprah Book Club pick.  Corby is a work in progress and the reader will have to decide if he can be forgiven for one minute of carelessness that changes the world of everyone around him.  Lamb has volunteered for years in a women's prison so the characters and routines of Corby's imprisonment ring true.  This book is recommended for literary fiction readers.  

The Drawing Of The Three by Stephen King

 

When The Gunslinger, Roland, caught The Man In Black, he told him that he would have to bring three other individuals into his quest for the Dark Tower.  This second book in the series tells the stories of each one brought and how Roland handles it.  

The first of the three is Eddie.  Eddie is a young man in his early twenties and a heroin addict.   He spent his life looking up to his big brother who spent his time as an addict and breaking down Eddie's opinion of himself.  Eddie and Roland meet on an airplane where Eddie is attempting to bring in drugs for a mob boss and Roland helps him evade the law.  When a battle erupts between the boss and others in his gang, Roland is there to help Eddie and bring him back to his land.

The second person is really two people in one.  Odetta Holmes has had a difficult life.  When she was five, a brick fell on her head as she was walking on the sidewalk with her parents.  Odetta was put in a coma and while there, Detta came to being.  Odetta lived a double life; she is refined while Detta is coarse, Odetta is pleasant while Detta is ready to kill anyone she sees.  Later Odetta has another tragedy when she is pushed in front of a subway train and loses her legs.  Roland brings her over as well although Detta is determined to kill both he and Eddie.

The third person is a psychopath.  He is a man who has killed and maimed people for years without being caught or even having suspicions brought his way.  An accountant with a mild look, he is the person who victimized Odetta twice as well as the person who pushed Jake from the first book into traffic where he was killed.  Roland inhabits his mind and eventually pays him back once he knows what part the man plays in the Dark Tower saga.

This was a great book.  I'm being drawn more and more into this story.  There are monsters who are horrendous, and love affairs and the continuing mystery of Roland and his quest for the Dark Tower.  This book is recommended for fantasy readers.  

Fresh-Air Fiend by Paul Theroux

 

In this anthology, Paul Theroux writes about various trips he has taken around the world.  Although many identify him as an author who writes about train trips, his preferred method of travel is kayaking or sailing around coastal lands.  In this book, he talks about his trips in Hawaii, Easter Island and Palawan.  He also talks about travel in the United States which was the first I had read of his travels here.  He spends a lot of time in Cape Cod and surrounding areas kayaking and also discusses traveling in Florida.

But it's not all self-travel.  He talks quite a bit about his time in Africa with the Peace Corps and how he started his travel book writing along with the novels he writes.  He also spends time talking about China and a trip he took down the Yangtze River and areas adjacent such as Hong Kong before the handover.

In an interesting ending to the book, he has articles about other travel writers, all of whom he knew.  He discusses Bruce Chatwin, John McPhee, V.S. Pritchett, Graham Greene, William Simpson and Rajat Neogy and it is interesting to see his take on other travel writers and his generosity in talking about them.

I came to know Theroux's writing through his novel, The Mosquito Coast and then started reading his travel books.  He is an American author, although he lived in England for seventeen years while married and raising his family.  He has traveled and written about his travels all over the world and he descries the 'travel' of most tourists who have a tailored experience set up for them by others.  This book is another in his many travel books that readers will enjoy and it is recommended for nonfiction readers who enjoy learning about the physical world around them.   

In A Place Of Darkness by Stuart Macbride

 

The town of Oldcastle is in the midst of a serial killer investigation.  Every two weeks, a couple is targeted.  The victim is tortured and killed horribly and slowly while their partner is forced to watch, this being accomplished by screwing their hands to the kitchen table.  Then the partner is taken away and none of them have been found.

The police are stumped and need some help.  Not in that category in their opinion is the newest member of the team, Detective Constable Angus MacVicar.  MacVicar has wanted to be a detective forever and today is his first day.  But he is not regarded as a plus but rather a huge, bumbling liability as no one has time to teach him the ropes.

Knowing they are above their heads in this investigation, the police ask for the help of a criminal profiler.  When Dr. Fife arrives, it turns out that he is sarcastic and a former native of Oldcastle and a dwarf.  Since no one has any idea what to do with Angus he is assigned to be Fife's assistant.  As the murders continue, the pair start to form a friendship.  They are opposites in every way, size, attitude towards others, willingness to break rules, etc.  Can they solve the murders before another pair are killed?

Stuart Macbride is my favorite Scottish author and a must-buy for me.  This one introduces a new character and readers will quickly fall in love with Angus.  Although he starts off clueless, his innate strength and huge heart make him a real hero and I surely hope there will be more books about him.  This one was a Richard and Judy pick in England and highlights all of Macbride's strengths; engaging characters, gory murders, a surprising ending and a new hero.  This book is recommended for mystery readers.  

Sandwich by Catherine Newman

 

This is the story of a family on a beach vacation and their relationships.  There is the main character, Rocky, and her husband, Nick.  Their grown children, a son who brings his girlfriend of many years and a daughter who is gay and in college.  They are joined by Rocky's parents as well halfway through the week.

Rocky is in menopause and angry all the time.  She constantly rails at Nick and then wants him to comfort her.  She has hidden a huge secret in their marriage for decades and resents him for not 'seeing' her in her totality although she has created the distance with her secret.  She is also suffering from empty nest syndrome.  

During the week, secrets are revealed.  The son and his girlfriend are pregnant and haven't yet decided what to do.  Rocky guesses and then causes a fight between the two by being the first to know, even before the boyfriend.  Rocky's parents reveal family secrets such as the fact that many members of her father's family were killed in WW II by the Nazis.  Her mother reveals that she has a heart condition and passes out on the beach necessitating a trip to the hospital.  And Rocky finally reveals her big secret, although not directly to Nick.  She tells her daughter and he overhears her.

Catherine Newman started as a children's book author but lately has written several adult novels, this being one of them.  The book has gotten a lot of praise but I had a hard time with it as I couldn't relate to Rocky at all.  This is a woman who has everything, a husband who continues to love and desire her, two grown children who are successful and still close to her and loving parents.  Yet she whines and rages and is one of the most narcissistic individuals I've encountered in print.  Her ideas of parenting are far from mine.  I was thrilled as my children grew up and moved into their own lives as I raised them to be independent.  My role as a parent of adult children is to support them when they ask for it but not to intrude and make everything about me.  I was turned off as Rocky reminisces about giving her son sexual advice about specific techniques when he was a teenager.  I can't imagine how Nick endured her constant ranting and blaming him for everything that has ever gone wrong in her life.  This book is recommended for readers of women's fiction but beware. 

Nothing To See Here by Kevin Wilson

 

Lilian's life isn't going well.  She's in another deadend job and living back at her mother's place, up in a stuffy attic room.  She had thought she would break out when she won a scholarship to a private boarding school in her teenage years, but that didn't happen.  She did find a real friend, Madison, who came from a rich family and was her roommate  But when Madison got into trouble, Lilian's mother sold her out for a cash payout and Lilian took the blame and was expelled.  Lilian and Madison had kept up a loose relationship over the years writing each other sporadically.

So when Madison calls her with a proposition, Lilian doesn't have much going on.  Madison had married a Senator who has designs on being the next Secretary of State.  One thing could hinder his ascent.  He has ten year old twins from his first marriage and their mother has just died.  Would Lilian be interested in moving down to Tennessee and keeping them for the summer?  Madison has a four year son with the Senator so Lilian isn't sure why she needs a nanny for the twins.  That's when Madison tells her the rest.  The twins, Beatrice and Roland, both are spontaneous combustion children and will break into flame when upset. 

Lilian has nothing else going on and she'd love to see Madison again so she agrees.  When she meets the twins, they are almost feral.  Their mother had never sent them to school and their father hadn't seen them since the divorce.  They had no outside friends but had been raised totally isolated in their mother's house.  Lilian is taken aback but emphasizes with them and soon is committed to their care.  As the days go by, Lilian finds ways to help them manage their talent and starts to help them find ways that they can go into society.  The twins start to form a relationship with their little brother as well.  But when their father's aspirations seem to be working out, he wants to send the pair overseas to an institution.  Can Lilian find a way to save them?

I've loved every Kevin Wilson book I've read and this one was no exception.  He explores the idea of dysfunctional friendships.  Madison is a calculating individual, taught by her wealthy father that others are there for what they can do for you.  She has used Lilian since they met and feeds her a little friendship occasionally but Lilian is always the steadfast friend.  He also explores dysfunctional families.  Beatrice and Roland have never known anything else and at first their only loyalty is to each other.  Lilian falls in love with the two in a maternal way she never expected and they form a little family of their own.  The ending is satisfactory and the reader will remember these characters long after the book is done.  This book is recommended for readers of literary fiction. 

Night Of The Living Rez by Morgan Talty

 

In this anthology the author, Morgan Talty, illustrates the modern life of the Penobscot tribe in Maine.  We see David go from a young boy full of wonder but knowing that he isn't welcome in school or that he has to hide his homelife to him grown up and caught in the throes of prescription drug addiction.  He lives with his mother, grown sister and his mother's boyfriend in a small house on the reservation.  He and his friends play in the woods, paddle canoes in the river and try to hunt down the supernatural beings they have heard about in Native American stories.

But as David grows up, a tragedy in his family leaves him stumbling and uncertain.  His life becomes one of addiction as his friends fight the same battle.  His mother has always had an alcohol problem and his sister fights depression as she gets pregnant and loses the baby.  There aren't jobs and school was never his thing.  But the reader can tell that David has a good heart and does what he can to help his family and friends.

Morgan Talty is himself a member of the Penobscot tribe and grew up there.  This book has gathered many awards and was a National Book Critics Circle Award winner.  I listened to this book and the narrator did a great job, taking us from David's childhood to his old age.   It took me a little while to realize that this was a series of stories but each story unveils another piece of David's life.  We don't learn the details of the tragedy that oversaw David's life until the end of the book when David is telling it to a psychiatrist but it makes everything fall into place.  This book is recommended for literary fiction and multicultural readers  

The Gunslinger by Stephen King

 

This is the first novel in Stephen King's epic series The Dark Tower.  The book opens with two men.  Roland Deschain is the Gunslinger, a man whose childhood was spent training for his task and whose first kill was the man who betrayed his father with his mother.  Roland is chasing a figure known as the Man In Black who is a wizard like figure who has destroyed the world leaving it a shell of what it once was.  Somehow Roland has heard of the Dark Tower and knows that if he can find it, he has a chance to save the world and that the Man In Black has the knowledge he needs.

He meets two individuals that help him.  The first is Alice, a woman he stays with for a short while as he rests and gets ready to take up his journey again.  The second is a young boy named Jake he finds along the way in a barn.  The Man In Black had killed Jake in the other version of this world, the one we would recognize and Roland takes Jake along with him on his quest.  He looks after him but is asked to sacrifice him in order for the Man In Black to give him the information he needs.  

I've been meaning to read this epic series for years and finally decided now was the time.  I like the dystopian feel of the first novel and the hints we get of The Gunslinger's past life.  There are questions of right and wrong, of whether it is better to sacrifice one in order to save the many and the question of whether some individuals are meant to save the world.  I look forward to reading more about these characters and the quest as the series progresses.  This book is recommended for fantasy readers.  

Recollections Of My Nonexistence by Rebecca Solnit

 

This is a memoir covering Rebecca Solnit's life from the time she moved to San Francisco fresh out of college to her middle years.  I've been aware of Solnit but hadn't read anything by her and this book was amazing.  Some of the feminist ideas are things that rang very true such as the fact that most women do not feel safe in their daily life to do such things as go for a walk alone or come home late at night.  Women are often denied their voices and often are lectured by men about the women's field of expertise even when the man doesn't know anything about it, something I often encountered as an IT professional.  One thing that was new but made me think quite a lot was the statement that perhaps our society has set the thin woman as the standard because they actually physically take up less room.  I see my friends eating tiny meals or denying themselves food they want and I wonder why we've all agreed to the thin standard..

Solnit spent many years in her first apartment, a small one in the middle of a black neighborhood.  That neighborhood has slowly become gentrified as another group is marginalized and pushed out.  It covers her early writing years and then her growing fascination with nature, especially the West and its landscapes and native people.  We learn about her early writing career and then how she began to make a living at it and became fascinated by the intersection of it with art.  We learn about various jobs she had before becoming a full time writer and how each job informed her writing.  We learn about various artists that she interviewed and became fascinated by.

Sometimes I'll read a book and think YES! and this was one.  As soon as I finished it, I went to Kindle Unlimited and borrowed two more of her books.  The writing style is crisp and she doesn't hesitate to state the truth as she has found it.  Where many men are wrong about feminists is that they believe we don't like men.  We like men, we love men but we don't see ourselves as needing to submit to them.  We'd rather partner our lives with them.  This book is recommended for nonfiction readers who enjoy memoirs and for everyone interested in the relationship between women and men.

The Tainted Cup by Robert Jackson Bennett

 

The country Daretana is under attack.  It's the wet season in which the Leviathans come and try to breach the walls and destroy the land.  But crime doesn't care what season it is.  A high official lies murdered in a strange way.  A tree has taken root inside his body and when it grows rapidly, it tears its host apart.

Two investigators are sent to solve the mystery.  Ana Dolabra is an experienced investigator and has solved many crimes.  But she has to have an assistant as she cannot stand stimulation.  She spends her time inside and wears a blindfold all the time.  She needs someone who can go forth and view the crime scene and do all the other things that require a presence.  

Dinios Kol is a new investigator, in fact he is on probation still.  This will be his first case.  Kol is an engraver; he has been modified so that he can engrave everything he sees, hears, smells, etc. and repeat it all on demand.  He is also finding out that he has other talents that he didn't even know of.  He is very hesitant at first but as the crimes continue and he does more and more, he starts to gain his confidence.  Can Ana and Din solve the mystery?

Robert Jackson Bennett is known for his fantasy work and has won numerous awards in the fantasy world.  I personally regard him as an automatic buy and read everything he writes.  This novel is interesting as it is a mixture of fantasy and murder mystery.  The two investigators have been compared to Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson and there are similarities although not a blind copy of that pair.  It is fascinating to see Din start to gain his confidence and overcome his fears that he just won't be good enough.  The mystery is compelling and the world building is superb.  This book is recommended for both fantasy and mystery readers.  

What Moves The Dead by T. Kingfisher

 

When Alex Easton receives a letter from his old friend Roderick Usher, they spring into action and travel to Roderick's ancestral home.  Roderick has written that his sister Madeline whom Alex also knows well is sick and maybe dying.  Alex arrives to find that the Ushers have fallen on hard times.  Much of the mansion is shut off and it is cold and damp with few servants.  Alex is not the only visitor.  Denton, a former Army surgeon is also there.

Madeline is a shadow of herself and Roderick doesn't look much better.  They are both skeletal and Madeline has been having catalepsy episodes where she can appear head for several days and is sleepwalking at night.  What could be causing her illness?  Denton is the first to admit that the mystery is beyond him.  The entire mansion and surrounding estate is sickly in appearance, especially the tarn where Madeline almost drowned a while back.  The wildlife is acting strangely and when Alex shoots a hare it doesn't seem to die.

The only people Alex trusts to tell her the truth and support her is her manservant Angus and an older lady from the neighboring estate who is an expert artist and mycologist.  Can they find what is haunting the house of the Ushers before everyone is affected?

T. Kingfisher is an author from my home state North Carolina.  She is well known in the fantasy world and writes a lot of fairy tale retellings and this book retells the story of the House Of Usher.  The writing sets a tense tone and the reader is slowly brought around to believing in things they would never have considered before.  I listened to this novel and the narrator did a great job.  This book is recommended for fantasy readers.  

Gone To The Forest by Katie Kitamura

 

The Old Man is the ruler of his domain with no questions.  He carved out a farm in this colonial country and it is now a fishing destination and tourists come there.  Tom has always lived there.  He is very introverted and never sure if his father actually loves him although it's always been understood that Tom will inherit everything one day.

But things change.  The first change is the girl.  She is the relative of neighbors, sent out to try to salvage her reputation.  The two families want a marriage between Tom and the girl but it's not to be.  She does move in but discards Tom in favor of the Old Man.  

The biggest change is the revolution.  The natives are taking back their country and those who came later are about to lose their grip.  The government breaks up big estates and gives ten acres to any native who wants it.  But that isn't the end.  A rebel faction is fighting against both the colonials and the government.  Will the revolution get as far as the farm?

Katie Kitamura is an American novelist whose works I've been reading lately.  This was an early novel and is grim reading.  It explores family dynamics and even more, sets up the Old Man to be seen as the tyrant he is, both in his family life and in his business dealings.  It also explores the entire concept of imperialism and its effects.  This book is recommended for readers of literary fiction.

Lifeless by Mark Billingham

 

DCI Tom Thorne has been out of work following the death of his father in a fire.  His father was struggling with early memory issues and Thorne isn't sure if he accidentally set the fire or if it was a payback from the criminal enterprise he just took down.  His mental health is suffering and he has no focus.  When he returns management wants to put him at a desk.

But murder in London doesn't take holidays.  Someone is killing the homeless on the streets at night, kicking and beating them to death.  Thorne makes the case that he would be the perfect person to go undercover.  His bosses are hesitant but he convinces them and is soon wandering the streets, sleeping in doorways, drinking beer with other homeless men and making friends.  His only contact is a daily phone contact with Dave Holland on his team.

Eventually, a pattern emerges.  The murders seem to be tied to former soldiers from Iraq and an action there that may have been an atrocity.  Can Thorne and his team find the other soldiers before they are killed and stop the killer?

This is the fourth Tom Thorne novel in the series.  The reader gets to know Thorne more than they do other detectives in other series.  We know about his love for his father, his guilt at what may have happened and the instability of mind that seeing nothing but the worst of human nature can have on even the strongest individuals.  The plot is tight and satisfactory and I'm looking forward to the next in the series.  This book is recommended for mystery readers.  

My Reading Life by Pat Conroy

 

There are only a few authors whose works I save after I read them.  One of them is definitely Pat Conroy and it was a major loss to the reading world when he passed away.  Conroy grew up as a military brat and moved constantly as a child.  His life was shaped by the books he read and by his parents.  His mother for instilling the love of reading in him and his father for his example of violent masculinity.

In this book Conroy talks about the people who influenced him to read and in his writing career.  There was an English teacher in high school who not only gave him books but took him to author's homes.  A bookseller in Atlanta where Conroy went almost daily and who encouraged him in many ways.  The poet and author James Dickey whose class he took and whose writing he admired although he found him another example of toxic masculinity.  There was the time he spent living in Paris and Italy.  But mostly he lived in the South and as a Southerner, what he writes always strikes a chord in me.

Another amazing fact about Conroy that comes out in this book is his strength as a friend.  Once a friend, he stayed friends for life.  He was there for his friends as they weakened and died and delivered many eulogies.  He encouraged them and did little things for them that are so easy to overlook in the bustle of day to day life.  Conroy wasn't perfect; he had three marriages and often suffered from depression.  But he was a writing icon and I love everything he wrote.  This book is recommended for all readers.  

Impact by Mark Mills

 

Lyndon Winslow, patriarch of an extremely rich family is dying.  He calls all his family home even Florence who is the widow of his favorite son.  They have been estranged and he wants to reconcile before he goes.  On her way to the estate, Florence is hit head on by another car.  It's a miracle she isn't killed and the other driver is.

The police investigate and they decide that it wasn't an accident; someone was trying to kill Florence.  The detectives assigned to the case are a strange partnership.  Dylan has just been promoted to detective while Carrie is about to retire.  It will be Dylan's first case and Carrie's last.  

It turns out that there are several candidates who might have wanted Florence dead.  Her father had made enemies in Africa who killed him and threatened his family.  Then there are the Winslows.  Lyndon has just changed his will and included Florence in a big way, even putting her in charge of his trust.  That doesn't sit well with the rest of the family.  Can Carrie and Dylan discover who is coming for Florence before they manage to kill her?

Mark Mills is a British author whose earlier novels both won acclaim.   In this one, he is deft at creating characters who seem real while also having their own issues.  Dylan for one is about to come to the end of a long term relationship and balancing that with a job that he isn't sure he will be good at.  Carrie is a former FBI investigator and has personal problems as well.  The building of their relationship is interesting to watch as is Dylan's growing comfort with his job.  I listened to this book and the narrator did a great job, being unobtrusive yet moving the story along.  There are plenty of twists and turns and I'll look forward to more Mark Mills mysteries.  This book is recommended for mystery readers.  

The Sequel by Jean Hanff Korelitz

 

Anna Williams-Bonner is a widow.  Of course, that's because she killed her husband, Jacob Finch Bonner but let's not be picky.  He was a successful novelist but that's because he had stolen the plot of her brother's novel, which was a thinly disguised version of Anna's life, one she never wanted publicized.  Her brother is also among those no longer living along with the rest of her family.

Anna decides to write her own novel of the experience of being a widow and losing someone to suicide which is what the world believes happened to Jacob.  To her surprise it becomes an immediate bestseller and soon she is off on a book tour across the country to make appearances at bookstores and clubs, being interviewed on podcasts and radio shows.  She could get used to this.

But something is wrong.  She starts to get little notices that tells her that someone out there still knows her secrets.  She thought she had gotten rid of everything but now she's getting pages from his manuscript in the mail, and even worse, so are Jacob's parents and her publisher and agent.  Anna knows she needs to track down the culprit and take care of the problem before it ruins all her plans for the future.

Jean Hanff Korelitz is a successful author of both literary fiction and now she has written a couple of mysteries.  Several of her works have been adapted for television series or movies.  In this book, she follows up on her book The Plot, which introduced the characters featured in this one.  Readers will be intrigued and repulsed by Anna and amazed at how her life seems to go her way, with of course a few murders along the way.  I listened to the novel and the narrator had the perfect cold yet self-assured narration to bring Anna to life.  This book is recommended for mystery readers.  

Salvation Of A Saint by Keigo Higashino

 

A man named Yoshitaka is found dead on his kitchen floor.  His wife is out of town and he is found by his mistress, who is also the wife's employee.  He has died of arsenic poisoning while drinking coffee.  The timing seems suspect.  He has just told his wife he wants a divorce after a year of marriage because she hasn't been able to give him a child.  His mistress is pregnant and he plans to marry her instead.  

The Toyko Police respond.  Detective Kusanagi is the old hand of the unit.  Two new detectives have recently arrived.  He is fine with the new young man, but the new woman detective, Kaoru Utsumi, is another matter.  She is independent and not afraid to voice her opinions.  The obvious suspect is the wife, Ayane but she was hundreds of miles away visiting her parents.  Utsumi is convinced that somehow she still did it; Kusanagi is enamored of the wife and doesn't believe she was involved.  They have to work together so bring in Detective Galileo, a physics professor named Manabu Yakawa, to help with the case.  Can they find the culprit?

This is the second Detective Galileo mystery.  He and Detective Kusanagi were friends in college and the professor uses his scientific training to help solve mysteries.  This tale was especially interesting for two reasons.  The first was how the murder could have been accomplished and there is much research before that is established.  But to me the most interesting thing was the interplay between the old guard Kusanagi and the new women detective, Utsumi.  The older male detective has had it his own way for quite a while and watching his difficulty in adjusting to a younger female detective is fascinating.  The crime is solved satisfactorily and all is well in Toyko.  This book is recommended for mystery readers.  

How To Catch A Killer by Katherine Ramsland

 

In this true crime book, the author categorizes the ways that killers are caught by the police and then gives a short overview of various killers who fall into that category.  Some of the methods include killer mistake, forensic evidence, self-surrender, witness reports and police procedure.

Many of the killers described will be ones familiar to the true crime reader.  These include Ted Bundy, the Golden State Killer, Aileen Wuoros, Son of Sam, the BTK Killer, Sam Little and Richard Ramirez.  Others will be new to the reader as there are also examples from other countries.  Each outline gives an overview of the killer's crimes, his or her background and how they were caught along with the number of victims they killed.

Katherine Ramsland is well known in the field of deviant psychology.  She holds graduate degrees in forensic psychology, criminal justice and clinical psychology.  She teaches forensic psychology and criminal justice at the university level and has written over seventy books on the subject.  Her book on the BTK killer, Dennis Rader, came from an extensive correspondence with the killer over several years going back into his childhood to trace the beginnings of his obsessions.  Whether an overview like this book or a more in depth profile of one killer, her writing style makes the material easy to understand for even a beginner in the field.  This book is recommended for true crime nonfiction readers.  

How To Age Disgracefully by Clare Pooley

 

Who could be against a community center?  Not the pregnant yoga group or the childcare center or any of the other groups that use the facility as a meeting place.  New groups are being formed like the Senior Social Club for members over seventy.  Lydia, who is a new empty-nester, has signed on to lead the group but those who sign up don't seem to need a leader as they have tons of ideas of their own.  

And what a group they are.  There's Ruby, who knits constantly and uses her creations to make social statements.  Art is a former actor and also a talented shoplifter.  Anna is a former truck driver but not she does her driving in a mobility cart.  William is Art's best friend and a whiz with money.  Then there is Daphne.  Daphne has been holed up in her elite apartment for more than a decade.  She is grieving the life she had with her husband Jack but as much for the planning and scheduling and project management she did as for love.  Daphne has decided she needs friends and is soon the star of the show as she always is.

Then there is Ziggy.  He is a teenage single dad as the result of one unplanned encounter.  He loves his daughter Kylie but how will he ever make a life for the two of them?  When a teacher agrees to help him get into a university, he is thrilled but who will keep Kylie while he is doing extra schoolwork with the teacher?  In steps Daphne who agrees to babysit although she has never been around a small child much less a baby.  

All these people come together to try to save the community center, a plan that centers around Art and a stray dog named Margaret Thatcher winning a talent show.  Can such a long shot ever work?

This was my first Clare Pooley novel but I'll be watching the shelves for more of her work.  The writing is light-hearted and features optimistic people who set a goal and go after it no matter how difficult.  Older readers will enjoy reading a book that emphasizes the strengths of aging rather than the deficits.  All readers will fall in love with Daphne who makes life better for everyone around her although she is no one's role model.  This book is recommended for readers of general fiction.