The Knave And The Moon by Rachel Gillig

 

Things are very different now in the Stone Kingdom.  The Cathedral which supplied the power to the kingdom and the king through divinations is shattered, nothing more than ruins.  Roderick Myndacious, the king's bodyguard, Bartholomew the gargoyle and Maude Bauer who trains the knights are rumored to be dead.  Benji has been named king and to secure his throne, has forced a marriage on Sybil Delling, the last surviving divinator.  To further secure his throne, Benji creates a plan to hold a series of tournaments in which he will be the winner and replenish the royal treasury while tightening bonds with various sections of the country.

But not all plans go as they are visualized.  A masked man rises in the tournament and wins the prize instead.  His compatriots win others of the tournaments.  He is known as The Knave but in reality, he is Roderick, come back to claim his love, Sybil and pay back the king who stabbed him and left him for dead.  Can he do what he wants?

This is the second book in the Stone Kingdom and I thought it was a fitting followup to the The Knight And The Moth where the reader meets all of these characters.  The romance between Roderick and Sybil is both erotic and compelling while the machinations of the king and the religious administration that have kept the power in the kingdom for centuries are fascinating.  Rachel Gillig is one of my new finds for the year and I think she has made it to the must-read list for anything she writes.  I absolutely was drawn into the world of the Stone Kingdom and this will be a fantasy series that I read more than once.  This book is recommended for fantasy readers.  

May We Feed The King by Rebecca Perry

 

A female curator spends her days recreating the past by staging scenarios in museums and exhibits.  She sources and arranges artifacts such as food, costume, furniture to create historically accurate scenes.  She has just accepted a commission to recreate in a castle a barely known king's life.

The king had never expected to rule.  He was the third son, not even the spare but when both his older brothers die, he is crowned the ruler.  His is not a ruling temperament.  He is a mild man who would rather contemplate nature than make plans to conquer neighboring kingdoms.  His queen, whom he loves dearly, is in a long-term relationship with another man and the king allows this to continue if it makes her happy.  The counselors don't know what to make of him as he seems little interested in their plans and warnings.  Even the servants are bemused as the king prefers to eat plainly and rarely asks them to do anything.  Can such a man rule a kingdom?

Rebecca Perry is an English author who started her career as a poet.  This is her debut novel and what a novel it is!  It has been chosen as a Booker Prize shortlist nominee and it also won the Waterstones Debut Fiction prize.  She wanted to explore the issues of authority and imagination.  Can someone without the desire to rule others be the steward of power?  How much authority does the curator have in her choices and timelines to create her art?  I will be closely following this author as she continues her career and look forward to seeing what she next produces.  This book is recommended for literary fiction readers and historical fiction readers of alternate histories.   

The Tax Inspector by Peter Carey

 

The Catchprices run a car dealership in Australia.  It was started by Albert and Granny Catchprice.  They had three children.  Mort still works at the dealership.  Cathy does also but wants to go on the road with her husband and their country western band.  Jack left the business and is now a prosperous real estate developer.  Mort had two children.  Johnny has left and is now a Hare Kristna although he leaves the commune periodically to try to straighten out things at home.  Benny is only sixteen and wants nothing more than to turn the dealership into what he just knows could be a business that could make them all rich.

Everything is put in jeopardy when Maria, a heavily pregnant tax inspector from the government comes to the business.  There are suspicions that Catchprice Automotive hasn't been on the straight and narrow with their tax payments and those suspicions are right on target.  Granny says she just signs what the others give her to sign while the children say that Granny is firmly in charge.  Things get even more complicated when Jack meets Maria and falls in love with her.

Peter Carey is one of my favorite Australian authors.  He has won the Booker Prize twice; once for The True History Of The Kelly Gang and the other time for Oscar and Lucinda.  He has written many other novels that illustrate life in Australia, always with an undercurrent of humor and a nod to the fact that Australia was settled by English convicts.  This book discusses sexual abuse of children by their fathers, another thing that has been handed down in the Catchprice family.  How it plays out across the generations is the dirty secret that fuels the family as the need to keep it secret binds them together.  This book is recommended for literary fiction readers.  

The Red Tent by Anita Diamant

 

This novel retells the Biblical story of Jacob who was born to Isaac.  Jacob had a twin brother, Esau, whose birthright he stole.  Fearing retribution, he fled his childhood home and ended up at the home of another man who was a shepherd.  Jacob ended up marrying the four daughters of his employer, although he did not claim the last two, who were illegitimate, as open wives.  Jacob had twelve sons by these wives who later headed up the twelves tribes of Israel.  He also had one daughter, Dina.

The red tent was the place where all the women went monthly when the new moon appeared to have their monthly cycles.  While there, they rested, talked and sang, and became closer to the other women of the encampment.  As Dina grew, the skills of the women such as cooking and spinning cloth, were passed on along with the stories of their family and their relatives.

Dina ended up living far from her family as a woman as she first fell in love with the prince of another country and then after his death, went with his household to other countries.  She was skilled as a healer and midwife.  

Anita Diamant is an American author.  There is only a brief mention of Dina in the Bible but Diamant makes up an entire life story for her, while explaining the creation of the twelve tribes of Israel and the story of Jacob and Esau.  The emphasis is on the relationship between various women as they all pull together to make their families strong and on the love between them.  The tent was the place where the women had power as opposed to the rest of the month when they were expected to obey the men of the family.  It was an interesting and informative novel and I enjoyed reading it.  This book is recommended for women's and literary fiction readers.   

The People We Keep by Allison Larkin

 

April Sawicki is definitely not living the good life.  Her mother left years ago and now her father has moved in with his girlfriend who doesn't want April and left her to live in a motorhome by herself, only stopping by occasionally to check on her.  April works shifts in the local diner when she can get them with the diner's owner the only adult who seems to care about her.  She is quitting high school because she just doesn't see the point.  The only thing she has going for her is that the most popular boy at school has picked her for his girlfriend but that's probably because she will sleep with him.  Now he is putting pressure on her to maybe get married and she knows that isn't in the cards.

The only thing she enjoys is playing her guitar.  When she goes to an open mic night at a local bar, the applause she gets tells her the next step.  She takes a neighbor's car and hits the road.  She ends up in Ithaca and finds a job at a local coffee shop.  She makes a set of friends but as time goes by, she knows this isn't what she needs and hits the road again. 

Now April's life is moving from town to town, bar to bar, singing at a gig.  If she needs to, she busks in a local park during the day.  She knows people up and down the East Coast and often spends the winter in Florida, staying in unrented places.  She knows enough men that she can find affection when she needs it but under it all, she knows she needs to go back and resolve her childhood before she can hope for success as an adult.

Allison Larkin is an American author who has written several novels.  April is a forlorn character when we meet her with it seems no one to care about her as she makes her way on her own.  When she makes friends, she always still moves on when she thinks they want too much.  Watching April grow and make a satisfactory life for herself while continuing to care about others is a good way to spend a couple of afternoons and I enjoyed this book of discovery.  This novel is recommended for women's and literary fiction readers.  

The Other Half by Charlotte Vassell

 

This debut mystery investigates the upper class of England along with deaths.  I actually came across the second in the series and read and loved it and went back to see where everything started.  The main character is DI Casius Beauchamp whose team consists of Matt and Amy.  Casius is at loose ends as his girlfriend of three years has just ended their relationship.  He is determined to focus on work but didn't plan on finding a body on his morning jog.

The victim is Clemmey who runs with a group of Cambridge graduates she has known since university.  Chief among these is her boyfriend, Rupert Beauchamp who is about to come into his title.  He and Clemmey have been together for ten years although together has a different meaning for Rupert.  He cheats on her with anyone who catches his eye.  His best friend is Alex and they both studied the classics for their degree along with Nell who they both love but who is unattached at the moment.  

As the murders mount, Casius and his team realize that the answers go back for years and that love is very different in the entitled classes.

This was Charlotte Vassell's debut novel.  She is an English author who studied history and art and trained as an actor before starting her writing career.  Her second novel won the Mystery Writers Edgar Allen Award as Best Novel of 2025.  It was interesting to view the relationship between the average person and the entitled (sometimes literally) upper crust in England and how investigating a murder which involved them carries its own issues.  The characters become more polished as the series progresses and it's also interesting to view love and relationships in modern England.  There isn't a lot of mystery about who is the villain but the interest lies in the investigation.  This book is recommended for mystery readers.  

The Midnight Show by Lee Kelly & Jennifer Thorne

 

After seeing a college group do improv comedy, a television producer in the 1980's decides that this might be the idea he is looking for.  What if he created a show, airing late in case the material got risque, and gave a bunch of comedians their heads to write and perform what they wanted?  The original four are Lillian Martin and her friends Sam, Stevie and Kent.  Add in Gina whose career seemed bright before she froze on a late night talk show, a Broadway star to add pizazz and a male heartthrob and the formula seems unstoppable.

At first it is.  Showrunner Sally Schumacher keeps things in balance while the show finds its place.  Soon it is all anyone is talking about and the stars are becoming famous.  Lillian dates Bobby Everett who is the heartthrob and their romance is feted everywhere.  The stars party after every show and other nights as well and soon rumors of drugs and addiction start to grow.  Can the show continue to exist?

In its third year, after a summer break, the stars return.  Several of them spent the summer trying out their careers in movies while others just drank and drugged the time away.  Lillian in particular seems out of things, barely balancing her life and career.  When she disappears after a show, the rumors start to fly.  Did she and Bobby break up?  Was it a suicide as she was last seen near the Brooklyn bridge?  Where is she?

Lee Kelly and Jennifer Thorne have written a novel that is attention grabbing for anyone who ever watched Saturday Night Live.  The authors are both American although Thorne now lives in England.  Both are authors separately and this novel is the fourth one that they have written together.  Readers will enjoy the nostalgia of the book looking back at the 1980's while they guess which character is a stand-in for the original cast of Saturday Night Live.  This book is recommended for those who love entertainment novels and mysterious happenings.  

Nomad Century by Gaia Vince

 

The main tenet of this book is that climate change will necessitate the migration of up to three billion people in the coming decades.  The entire earth's geography will be redrawn and those areas which are tropical or warm such as the Caribbean, Africa and Central and South America will not longer be able to sustain life.  This will have their inhabitants moving to areas that can be lived in.  But how would this work?

The author believes that the only way for humanity to survive is for those currently living in areas that will be sustainable will have to completely change their ideas about immigration.  They must welcome those seeking new homes, whether it is former farmers from their own country or people from other countries who are totally different in their culture, language and appearance.  Governments must support the immigrants with food, child care, shelter, health care and job training.  

Food will be totally different.  Humans will move to a plant-based diet and entire industries such as cattle and chicken production and fishing will disappear.  This will free up more land for farming plant crops. Humans will get their protein from eating such things as insects or lab grown food.  Many current occupations will disappear while new ones will be developed.  

Gaia Vince is a science writer and broadcaster.  While she provides many novel ideas, I find it difficult to believe that humanity will change their attitudes, occupations, diets and energy production as quickly as she sees it happening.  She believes that all energy production must be green energy by the 2030's.  I can't imagine humanity being happy with a insect-based diet.  Most importantly, I find it difficult to believe that attitudes towards immigrants will change as rapidly or thoroughly as the author believes is necessary.  Countries around the world are becoming less welcoming of immigration rather than more welcoming as more and more countries are moving towards the far right in terms of immigration.  Still, these are interesting and provocative ideas.  I listened to this book and the author was the narrator.  Her voice added to the mix as it was calm yet definitive in her suggestions.  This book is recommended for nonfiction and science readers.   

The Other Woman's House by Sophie Hannah

 Charlie Zailer and Simon Waterhouse have finally gotten married, something Charlie thought would never happen.  They are on their honeymoon overseas in a gorgeous villa far from police troubles. But crimes are still occurring and some are the strange kind that Simon specializes in.

Connie and Kit Bowskill have been married for years and Connie thought it was a great marriage, except for the fact that they are stuck in a small village where her family lives and feels comfortable poking their noses into every smidgen of Connie's life.  The two run a successful business and have a beautiful house they have spent years renovating.  But if their marriage is so good, why does Kit have a house in Cambridge as his home address in his GPS in his car?

Kit swears he didn't enter that address so now Connie also suspects him of lying.  Is he having an affair?  Connie starts to spend entire days traveling to Cambridge and watching outside the address, trying to catch Simon visiting there but never does.  Their marriage becomes a series of recriminations.  One night, while Connie in online looking at a house tour of the property, which has recently hit the market, she sees a woman's body lying in a pool of blood.  Shocked, she runs to get Kit but when he comes and looks at the tour there is nothing there.  Has Connie gone mad or is someone dead at the address?  The mystery is more than the local policemen can handle and Simon and Charlie end up returning early from their honeymoon to investigate.

This is the sixth book in the Zailer/Waterhouse series.  As always, Hannah's imagination takes the reader far further than their own mind would.  I was completely at sea and very surprised at the ending.  Simon is the strange case specialist and although he isn't really liked at work, everyone realizes that he can solve cases that no one else can.  The relationship between Simon and Charlie is still offbeat even with the marriage.  This book is recommended for mystery readers.  

The Mad Wife by Megan Church

 

Lulu Mayfield counts herself lucky.  She has her son, a husband she loves and who works to support them and friends in her neighborhood.  She is known as The Queen Of The Mold for her jello salads.  She has tons of friends as none of the wives work, here in the 1950's.  They stay home, clean, cook and raise the children while supporting their working husbands emotionally.  Then Megan becomes pregnant again and soon her family will be complete.

But something isn't right.  A new couple has moved into the neighborhood and the wife doesn't seem to be the same as the rest.  Her speech is strangely disconnected at times and she seems to be keeping secrets.  Lulu is slipping as well.  Her pregnancy is a difficult one and the housekeeping starts to slip a bit.  When the husband of the new couple goes after the same job as Lulu's husband, the strain starts to mount.  

After the birth of her baby, Lulu doesn't recover quickly.  She has a terrible case of insomnia and rarely sleeps.  She forgets things, including getting dressed or cooking for the family.  She and her husband become estranged as Lulu starts to accuse him of various things.  What has gone wrong?

Megan Church is an American author who writes in the woman's fiction genre.  Her stories focus on the emotional lives of women faced with extraordinary events in their lives.  Lulu is the perfect 1950's wife until she isn't and the reader is taken along on her journey as she strays from the perfect housewife to a woman unsure of everything she knows.  This was my mother's generation and much of what I read in Lulu's story I could recognize as things my mother was living as I grew up.  This book is recommended for women's fiction readers.

The Decagon House Murders by Yukito Ayatsuji

 

A group of Japanese university students have created a mystery club, where they meet to discuss mystery books and authors.  They call each other by famous detective's names such as Agatha, Poe and Ellery.  The club decides to go on an outing over their school break.  One of the students has an uncle who has just bought an island where six months ago, four grisly murders occurred over a week, then the house of the perpetrator burned down with the bodies of all the victims.  There is still a guest house on the property and it is built in the shape of a decagon.  There are seven club members who want to go so there is plenty of room for everyone as the house has ten rooms like its name.

The week comes and the students are taken to the island.  There will be no way off for a week until the boat comes back and no telephone service or electricity.  The group will be totally on their own.  Their first night is fine but they awake to find tiles that have been labeled The First Victim, The Second Victim, etc.  and a note saying that each of them will be murdered.  Surely someone is playing a joke.  But slowly the prediction starts to come true and one by one the group is murdered.  

The group attempts to solve the murders as they happen as they attempted to solve the prior murders.  Back on land, there are also people interested in the first murders and when they realize the students are on the location, fear for their safety.  But when they get to the island to persuade them to leave, all the students are dead.  Who was the murderer?

This book is famous in Japan for launching the new traditional or classic detective novel in the genre there.  Yukito Ayatsuji writes in the genres of horror and mystery and was one of the founders of the Japanese Mystery Writers Club.  I've seen this book in various lists of the best of various genres over the years and so I jumped at the chance to read it.  The mystery was fascinating as it used the example of Christie's And Then There Were None to slowly take away character after character.  The prior murders on the island added even more mystery and chances to play the detective.  This book is recommended for mystery fans.  

The Night Of Many Endings by Melissa Payne

 

When a blizzard sweeps through Silver Ridge, Colorado, a group of people are trapped there.  Nora Martinez is the librarian, a young woman whose life has been defined by trying to help her brother who is caught in the throes of drug addiction.  Jasmine is a teenager who spends most of her spare time in the library, reading and grateful for a sanctuary.  There's Marlene who has been a customer of the library for many years and who tends to push people away verbally as she mourns the death of her husband.  Vlado is the security guard who has immigrated to the United States and is working on creating a new life for himself.  Finally, there is Lewis.  He is a homeless man who had planned on riding out the storm outside but had been brought in by the group as the storm worsened.  

As the hours go by and the group tries to survive the cold, lack of power and hunger, they start to coalesce as a group.  Secrets are shared and tactics for getting through the challenges life throws at one are discussed.  The group starts to grow closer as they give attention at various times to different members as they need help and survival tactics.  Will this closeness survive after the storm?

Melissa Payne is an American author who lives in the same type of small Colorado town she writes about.  Her books tend to focus on those in need of second chances and the realization that those chances are available for those who need them.  My favorite character was Vlado who doesn't complain about his need to immigrate and start all over again in his professional life but who just gets on with it while helping those around him whenever he can.  He loves Nora but has always been too shy to take his feelings forward.  I loved the small town feeling where everyone pretty much knows everyone else and chips in to help when necessary as that's the kind of town I grew up in.  This book is recommended for women's fiction readers.   

The Investigator by John Sandford

 

Letty Davenport, adopted daughter of Lucas Davenport is bored with her job.  She has been working in research for a Senator with her master's in economics but she is used to action as she helped her father work his cases as a lead investigator for the state of Minnesota.  About to quit, she agrees to stay when the Senator offers her a different job.  She will an active investigator aligned with Homeland Security.

Her first job is in Texas.  Someone has been stealing oil from the pipelines.  That's bad enough but Homeland Security suspects it might be a criminal gang who need the money to finance their plans.  Letty is joined by John Kaiser, an ex-military man who now works for Homeland Security.

They discover that what was suspected is true.  A right-wing militia group headed by a woman is behind the thefts.  They want to stop illegal immigration from across the border and plan a big demonstration of their power when the latest caravan of immigrants heads for Texas.  Can Letty and Kaiser stop their plans?

Fans of John Sandford have watched Letty grow up from her time as a poor girl from a dysfunctional family to a whip-smart young woman with lots of investigative experience once she is adopted by Davenport and his wife when she is orphaned.  Letty is whip-smart, a sharpshooter and unafraid to use her gun in a crisis, as she had to save her adopted family from certain death when a pair of men broke into the home to get revenge on Lucas when Letty was still in high school.  Now she is able to think clearly on the ground, is unafraid of action and ready to put an end to the group willing to kill to get their idea of immigration across.  I can't wait to read more about Letty and her adventures.  This book is recommended for mystery readers.