The Window Seat by Aminatta Forna

 

This book is a collection of autobiographical essays by Aminatta Forna.  She is not only an author with books such as The Hired Man and Memory Of Love but a professor of writing in various universities throughout the world.  Forna has led a fascinating life.  Her childhood was spent in various countries.  Her father was executed as a revolutionary in Sierra Leon during the period when various African countries were establishing their independence from colonial rule.  Her stepfather was a diplomat so she and her brother grew up in various embassies in such locations as Iran, Zambia and Thailand.  Her mother was Scottish and she also spent time as a child in Scotland.  The first part of this collection are stories from her childhood and these events.

The latter part of the collection are more reaction pieces to various topics that she has an interest in.  She has a real love for animals that comes through in these pieces.  Topics she covers include the inauguration of Donald Trump, various dogs she has owned and the street dogs in Africa, suffering from insomnia, the experience of being a woman and dealing with men's catcalls and attempts to belittle based on gender, chimpanzees kept as pets or used in testing, peanut butter and wildlife she has encountered, especially foxes and coyotes; the foxes in England and the coyotes in various locations in the United States.  I listened to this book and Forna was the narrator.  Often having the author as the narrator is not a good choice but Forna was an excellent narrator and having her own voice narrating her life experiences was a fabulous choice.

I can highly recommend this book.  Forna is an amazing author and I can't imagine anything she would write that I wouldn't find fascinating.  She is determined to live life on her terms and to live a full life and the reader is blessed to be able to share this part of her life with her.  This book is recommended for readers of memoirs and essays.  

Faithless by Karin Slaughter

 When Sara Linton and Jeffrey Tolliver go for a walk in the woods around Sara's parents' house, they don't expect it to end in horror.  But it does.  Jeffrey tripped over something and they realize it is a pipe.  The pipe leads to a coffin buried in the earth and a young girl who has been buried alive and is now dead.  

The two are used to seeing dead bodies.  Jeffrey is the police chief in this small Southern town and Sara the coroner.  But this is a particularly gruesome death.  Who is this girl?  Who hated her enough to do this?  As the investigation progresses, it turns out that the girl did not suffocate.  Instead someone sent cyanide down the pipe and poisoned her.  She is part of a religious family that runs a large farm that grows soy and employs ex-cons and drifters.  Did one of them do this?  Was it part of the family?  The family sends off cult vibes and Jeffrey isn't sure what they would do.  Can the two find the answer before more girls are killed?

This is the fifth of the six novels in the Grant County series.  The crime is arresting and the investigation is interesting.  Jeffrey and Sara are in an on again, off again relationship, moving through marriage, estrangement and reengagement.  A secondary character, Lena, is a detective in the force who faces many issues from her own past and she is featured again in this novel.  Readers will be caught up in the action and horror that only Karin Slaughter can deliver.  This book is recommended for mystery readers.

Reputation by Sara Shepard

 

Things are not going well at Aldrich University.  A hacker has broken into the university's servers and has released an easily searched database of all the emails of each student, administrator, faculty and staff as well as the medical personnel attached to the university.  This leads to revelations of many scandals and gossip runs wild.  The ante is upped when Dr. Greg Strasser is found murdered in his kitchen the night of the Aldrich annual fundraising gala.  Strasser is married to the university president's daughter, Kit Manning, the main fundraiser.  Did she kill him?

Greg had been revealed as having a torrid affair.  Kit doesn't remember coming home that night from the fundraiser just finding Greg.  Although she didn't drink at fundraising events, that night she had in order to face down the gossips whispering about Greg.  But Kit isn't the only suspect.  There is Laura, a nurse whose newborn baby has Greg's piercing blue eyes.  Kit's daughters are acting strangely.  Willa, Kit's sister and a scandal journalist comes home to support her sister and investigate the mystery but she has secrets of her own.  There is Raina, a student who worked as the university president's assistant and who has befriended Kit's daughter.  She seems to have some connection to Greg as well.  Then there are the men whose wives, daughters and girlfriends have been seduced by Greg.  

This twisty tale of gossip, backstabbing and secrets is a real pageturner.  There are multiple characters and the story is told in turn from each character's point of view.  Everyone has a secret they don't want revealed and the hack puts all those tawdry actions out in full view of all.  This book is recommended for mystery readers.

Dead Of Winter by Stephen Mack Jones

 August Snow is a native Detroit guy.  A former policeman, Snow is now retired and a millionaire due to a civil settlement leading from an injury on the job.  Snow grew up in Mexicantown and one of his favorite places was Authentico Foods.  Ronaldo Ochoa, the founder of Authentico was a friend from back when the restaurant was just starting.  Now the restaurant has morphed into a company that supplies tortillas to restaurants throughout the area.

Ochoa asks Snow to come meet him.  To Snow's surprise, Ochoa asks Snow to buy his company.  Ochoa is older and ill and wants to assure that his company will survive to provide for his family.  He has been approached by a shadowy figure to buy him out and Ochoa fears that the proposed purchaser wants to raze the company and develop the area for the professionals who are starting to return to Detroit.  Snow isn't interested in buying but agrees to look around.

As he investigates, Snow starts to see that what Ochoa had feared is true and that violence isn't out of the question for the people behind the offer.  Soon Snow and his friends are caught up in a maelstrom of violence with assassins gunning for them.  Can Snow unravel the business and those behind it before he and his friends are killed?

This is the third August Snow novel.  Readers may find the violence a bit over the top and the lack of police follow-up after multiple killings is a sticking point.  Outside of that, the author explores the topic of gentrification in a realistic manner with the results of such development on those who already live in the area and who are forced out.  It is an interesting viewpoint from a detective of color and one whose roots in the black and Hispanic communities are deep.  This book is recommended for mystery readers.

A Darker Domain by Val McDermid

 

Detective Karen Pirie is in limbo at the police station.  She headed up the case that sent the former superintendent of the station to jail for murder and has now been shunted aside as the head of the Cold Care Review Team.  Her new supervisor is not sure what to make of her but he knows he doesn't like what he sees.  Unfortunately, he has to depend on her when two cases show up at the same time.

Back in 1984, a sensational case happened in this rural locality.  The daughter of one of the wealthiest men in Scotland, Sir Broderick Maclennan Grant, was kidnapped along with her infant son.  During the ransom payoff things went badly and the daughter was killed, her son never found.  Now new evidence has shown up in the case and it has landed in Pirie's lap.

At the same time another cold case from the same time period has been reported.  Misha Gibson shows up at the police station to report her father missing.  Not unusual except that he went missing twenty-two years before and this is the first report filed.  Misha's mother always assumed Mick Prentice ran out on the marriage and his daughter and they learned to live with that.  His best friend went missing at the same time and it was during the coal strikes when society was disordered.  They figured Mick just upped stakes and went to find a better life somewhere else but now Misha's son is sick and needs a blood donor to have a chance at getting better so Misha wants him found.  Can Karen juggle the two cases and solve them both?

This is the second Karen Pirie novel in the series.  She is an interesting character, a confident woman who isn't described as the most attractive woman anyone has ever seen but the average woman most of us are used to seeing in daily life.  Pirie is intelligent and insightful and has the determination and force to follow a case from start to finish no matter the price she has to pay with her superiors in order to get to the solution.  As such, she is a breath of fresh air.  The cases are intriguing and the resolution is satisfactory.  This book is recommended for mystery readers.

Runner by Thomas Perry

 

Jane Whitfield has retired from her work helping people disappear.  These days she leads the life of a surgeon's wife in upper New York, volunteering at the hospital and living her life.  But when the girl comes to her begging for help, Jane decides that maybe she needs to do one last job.  The fact that there is an explosion at the hospital minutes later with the people searching for Christine responsible makes her decision a reality.  She grabs Christine and off they go.

This will be a hard job.  Christine is pregnant.  Her boyfriend wants her back because his wealthy parent will cut him off unless he can produce a grandchild.  Unfortunately, Christine also knows about his unlawful deals and can send him to jail if word gets out.  He sends six people to track her down and bring her home. The six are professional finders and they make it clear early on that they will stop at nothing to bring Christine back.  What they hadn't counted on was that Jane is just as determined and will whatever it takes to help Christine escape to a new life.

This is the sixth novel in the Jane Whitfield series.  Thomas Perry is one of my favorite authors.  His tight plotting and his knowledge of all the details that would have to be attended to in order for a person to escape their life is fascinating.  Jane is an enigma; a woman who will stop at literally nothing in order to help those who must flee for their lives.  What motivates her to put her life at such risk?  How many times can she do this successfully?  This book is recommended for thriller readers.

The Demi-Monde Winter by Rod Rees

 

The Demi-Monde is a computer virtual reality game created to train the military.  It is the most elaborate game ever developed with millions of characters, most of whom are programmed to be vicious and desperate for power.  The world is broken into sectors which are based on reality so there are sectors for England, Europe, the far East, Russia and other geographical regions.  The cultures in each sector is distinct with some having male dominated cultures, other women dominated, some futuristic, some caught up in Victorian times.  The worst villains in history are leaders in these sectors.

Somehow, the President's daughter has been transported into the game.  The government is tasked with getting her back to reality and they recruit Ella to head up the mission.  Ella is a college student just looking for a way to finance her studies and the five million dollar payday is just what she is looking for.  Whether she would agree if she knew what was facing her is another story.

Once inserted, Ella find some allies to help her.  The main one is a magician who can get into any place and who agrees to use Ella as his assistant.  That requires her to play various things such as a magician's assistant and a voodoo queen.  The two manage to find the President's daughter who is a spoiled brat.  Can they now get her back while the Demi-monde is about to break into a war to rival that of World War II?

This is the first novel of four in this series.  The world building is elaborate and detailed and the use of historical characters is interesting.  There are many characters and each is given a full backstory.  The interplay of these characters fuels the novel along with the main mission.  This book is recommended for sci fi readers.

The Maidens by Alex Michaelides

 

Mariana Andros goes to Cambridge to be with her niece Zoe when Zoe's friend is found murdered.  A therapist, Mariana worries about Zoe's mental health after the death.  They are both still grieving the recent death of Mariana's husband.  Simon and Mariana raised Zoe after the death of her parents in an accident.  Zoe has more experience with loss than most her age and Mariana worries that this death may be more than Zoe can handle.

Zoe's friend is just the first.  There is a group of young women who flock around a charismatic professor, Edward Fosca.  After observing him, Mariana is convinced he is the murderer and sets out to prove it.  The police are not convinced, viewing Mariana as an amateur who doesn't have any proof to back up her theories.  They are right but Mariana is convinced her training has given her the ability to diagnose Fosca as a psychopath.  As the murders continue, can Mariana get the proof she needs?

This is Alex Micahelides' second novel.  Like his successful first novel, The Patient, it is based in the world of psychological practice.  As Mariana attempts to prove her theory, she finds that she has put herself in danger, drawing attention from the killer.  I'm not sure that universities would allow the kind of female adulation of a male professor that the book documents or that the police would give Mariana even the amount of attention she gets in the book for her theories.  Those two elements don't ring true for me but work in the book to build tension.  This book is recommended for thriller readers. 

Cat And Mouse by James Patterson

 

Detective Alex Cross is more challenged than ever in this novel.  He is faced with two separate serial killers on the loose and the cases need his insights.  Gary Soneji, the killer Alex caught and put away for life has escaped and is on the loose.  He knows he will be caught again but he is determined to cause as much havoc as he can before then and killing Cross is definitely on his list.  At the same time, there is a killer in Europe who has claimed more than a dozen victims.  He is known as Mr. Smith and one of the FBI's top consultants wants Cross's help on that case.  He agrees to help Cross catch Soneji if Cross will help with the Mr. Smith case.  Another factor is that Cross has fallen in love.  He is starting a relationship with the principal of his children's school and worries that his job will make that relationship difficult to sustain.

The defining characteristic of Patterson's novels is pace.  He writes at a breakthroat pace with short chapters that rush the reader along on a roller coaster ride.  Alex Cross is an intriguing character and readers will be interested in reading about how his mind works.  There are lots of interesting characters around him in his family and friends and plenty of twists and turns to surprise the reader.  This book is recommended for mystery readers.

Mechanical Animals edited by Selena Chambers

 

In this anthology, all the stories are about mechanical animals and how such entities fit into our everyday world.  Although one might think this is a recent idea with the advent of robots and AI, it is a surprising mix of the modern and older stories as the idea has fascinated the imagination of scientists and authors for decades.

Authors in this anthology include Jess Nevins, Tessa Kum, Delia Sherman, Maurice Broaddus and Sarah Hans, Lauren Beukes, Jesse Bullington, An Owomoyela, Stephen Graham Jones, Hans Christian Andersen, Molly Tanzer, Aliette de Bodard, Nick Mamatas, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Kat Howard, Michael Cisco, Adrian Van Young, Robert Toombs, Joseph S. Pulver, Jr, Alistair Rennie, Jules Verne, Caroline Yoachim and Carrie Vaughn.

My favorite story was Closer To The Sky by Carrie Vaughn.  It is about a family on the frontier.  The young daughter of the family has been gifted a mechanical horse by her uncle who is an inventor and this horse is her original living horse who has been retrofitted by the uncle after an accident that should have taken its life.  The horse allows the girl to outwit a gang of outlaws and one of lawmen who all want to find her uncle's workshop and control his inventions going forward.  The horse saves her life out of love and the girl ends the story by vowing to learn her uncle's knowledge in order to keep her beloved companion in good stead going forward.  This book is recommended for science fiction readers.

The Archer by Shruti Swamy

 

From the moment Vidya sees the dance form known as Kathak, she knows what she was meant to do with her life.  She is living in the in Bombay with her father and younger brother, her mother having died.  She is expected to run the household, cook, shop and clean but she knows there is more to her life than this.  She manages to study hard enough to get a scholarship to a school of engineering.

While she is studying to get her degree, it is her secondary priority.  Her first is always Kathak.  She practices for hours daily and goes for lessons with a renowned teacher several times a week.  The teacher encourages her to devote her life to dance and Vidya is glad to.

But life intervenes.  Moving forward, the reader encounters Vidya as a young wife, her husband another artist.  His media is photography.  He comes from a very wealthy family which has disowned him for marrying Vidya but the couple is happy.  When Vidya becomes pregnant, the family is willing to take her in.  Vidya wonders which she will put first, her child or her art?

This Swamy's first novel as her first publication was an anthology.  The text is poetic and dreamy as Vidya describes her feelings for her art, her friendships, her love for her husband and her child.  The message seems to be that each person must find the one thing in life that will bring them the most joy.  This book is recommended for readers of literary fiction.

Olive, Again by Elizabeth Strout

 

In this novel, Elizabeth Strout takes the reader again to the small town of Crosby, Maine and one of the most memorable inhabitants, Olive Kitteridge.  Olive is still the person she always was, quick to say whatever is on her mind and surprising to those around her.  She is older now and life has changed.  Olive's husband Henry has died and she is a widow.  But things change and Olive meets Jack, a retired Harvard professor and they fall in love and marry.  

The novel is a collection of stories about those who live in Crosby and their relationships to Olive.  There is the woman fighting cancer whose friends ignore her because they don't know what to say yet Olive steps in and visits and gives the woman space to say the forbidden things that are preying on her mind.  There is the teenager who is cleaning houses to make enough money to get out of town and who develops a strange relationship with the husband of one of her employers.  The reader gets to find out what is going on with the Burgess brothers, another of Strout's novels.  

Throughout the novel, Olive is the blunt woman who many turn away from and who always speaks her mind.  She isn't sure if her only son likes her although she knows he loves her.  She can show amazing kindness but is also quick to bring her friends and acquaintances to task when she sees them straying.  Those who liked the first novel, Olive Kitteridge, will enjoy returning to Olive's life and hearing more about this unique individual.  This book is recommended for readers of literary fiction.

The Dirty South by John Connolly

 

Another dead girl has been found in Burdon County, Arkansas.  That makes three in five years, all killed in the same brutal way with the same mutilations.  All are young African-American women, teenagers.  Cargill police chief Evander Griffin is determined that this murder will not get swept under the rug like the last one did.  Burdon County is up for a huge investment by a multinational company and it was deemed unadvisable to have a murderer around the last time so the death had been classified as an accident although everyone knew it wasn't one at all.

Griffin hears that there is a new guy hanging around in a bar, asking questions about the dead women.  He goes to talk with the man but his attitude is irritating and Griffin ends up taking him in and putting him in a jail cell while he checks him out.  The man is Charley Parker.  He is a New York City ex-cop, having left when the tragedy hit.  His wife and child were murdered and Parker now spends his time searching for their killer.  Griffin feels that Parker could help them find their killer and after some thought, Parker agrees.

There are plenty of suspects.  There is the Cade family who run the county.  Pappy Cade is getting older and determined that the business deal that will make Burdon County rich will be his legacy.  His older son, Jurel is an investigator with the county police while his daughter handles the politics at the state capital.  His youngest son is considered the family's weak link.  There are drug dealers and meth cookers, strip joint owners and disreputable preachers, all lining up to make money from the deal if it happens.  Which of them is killing off young women?

This is a prequel novel in the Charley Parker series although it is the nineteenth in the series.  It explores what made Parker the man he is and why he feels compelled to seek out the evil found in the world.  Some of the characterizations of the small town grifters and power hungry are a bit trite but overall the novel is a satisfactory chapter in the series and gives readers a deeper understanding of Parker.  This book is recommended for mystery readers.

The Blacktongue Thief by Christopher Buehlman

 

It's not what he'd dreamed of but Kinch Na Shannack finds himself in a forest by the highway waiting on someone to rob.  He needs to pay the Takers Guild for his education.  All that education on stealing, lying, robbing and how to tell a tattoo that contains a spell needs to be paid for and Kinch has no other way to find the money.  But sometimes you are lucky and sometimes not.  Kinch and his cohorts rush out to rob a company only to find it contains a female knight, Galva.  She makes short work of Kinch's crew but at the end of the fight, the two decide to travel a bit together.  Galva is searching for her queen, rumored to be in giant country and she is willing to spare Kinch's life in exchange for his help.

Thus starts an epic quest.  There are dangers aplenty.  Goblins abound and there is nothing they like more than a dinner of human flesh.  Krakens kill everything in their path indiscriminately.  Giants are not jolly folk but terrifying behemoths who can kill with a swat.  Witches abound, including one called Deadlegs who lost her legs in a fight and now gets around by hacking off the legs of her dead enemies and using them until they rot past use. A blind cat takes Kinch as her soulmate.   Kinch is alternately terrified and amazed, falling in love or fighting for his life.  

I listened to this novel and it was wonderful.  The author, Christopher Buehlman, was also the narrator and his accented narration was perfect.  It is one of the few books I'd love to listen to again just to hear his voice some more.  There are songs interspersed throughout and they are done well also.  

This book is a five star rating for me.  It's one of the best fantasy books I've read lately and I read a lot of fantasy.  It is humorous and thrilling by turns.  Kinch is a thief and a rascal but his exploits hide a heart of gold.  The book is getting a lot of positive buzz with accolades such as editor's choice for Best Books of 2021 in the fantasy genre.  It is the first of a proposed trilogy and the reader will finish the last page desperate to read the next.  This book is highly recommended for fantasy readers. 

Midnight In Peking by Paul French

 

January 8, 1937.  It is a cold and bitter night in the city of Peking.  The Chinese inhabitants are uneasy as the Japanese Army is inching its way ever closer to the city with its motto of kill and burn all.  The Foreign Legation of British, French and other countries has fewer and fewer inhabitants as they flee back to their own countries.  A young British girl, Pamela Werner, 19, is missing.  She left the night before to go skating with some friends and never returned.

But she is no longer missing.  Her body is found on the outskirts of the Legation near what is known as the Fox Towers. She has been brutally murdered and the body mutilated with its heart and other organs cut out and missing.  Pamela is the daughter of a former British consul.  The Peking police know that this will be a massive case with political implications.

Two detectives are assigned to the case.  Inspector Dennis is brought in from Shanghai to head up the British investigation while Inspector Han is in charge of the Chinese one.  Although they are to cooperate, it is soon clear that there are political forces which do not want the case solved as it may reflect poorly on the city and its inhabitants.  

There are multiple suspects.  Pamela's former headmaster has rumors of possible pediphile leanings.  A rickshaw operator has been found with a bloody rickshaw.  Pamela was dating many boys, both British and Chinese.  There is talk of a secret club of British men who run parties where young girls are paid to dance naked.  Who has killed Pamela and will the powers that be let the case be solved?

Paul French has discovered and written an in-depth exploration of this case.  He lived and worked in Shanghai for many years as a journalist and his writing skills are on full display.  The book won an Edgar Award for best nonfiction as well as a Crime Writers Dagger for nonfiction.  The case with its intricate layers of political maneuverings is fascinating for readers of true crime and is recommended for them.

Klara And The Sun by Kazuo Ishiguru

 

Klara is an AF or Artificial Friend.  She spends her days in the store window display waiting for a parent to choose her as a companion to their child. When Josie picks her from all the other AFs, Klara is excited.  She goes home with Josie and her mother and fits into the routine of the household.

Josie is pretty much always at home.  She is sickly perhaps as a result of being 'lifted' which is the term for genetic modification to give children advantages.  Klara, of course, being entirely artificial, is more intelligent but since she lacks the emotional responses of a human, filters everything through her logic base and misses much.  One example is that since Klara is solar powered, she believes that the sun is a god.  As Josie becomes sicker, Klara attempts to make a deal with the sun whom she believes can heal Josie.  She also doesn't get the emotional interactions between Josie and her mother or the mother and the neighbors.  Rick, the neighbor boy, is Josie's main friend outside of Klara.  He is not lifted and there is a stark difference between the anticipated futures for the two children.

This book is a Booker longlist nomination.  It is written in a very flat, unemotional way as that is the way that Klara, who is the narrator, views the world but which makes it more challenging for readers to engage with.  Ishiguru explores what artificial intelligence will mean for our world when humans are perhaps not needed to run things.  What will that mean for relationships and for the economy?  Will humans come to be seen as replaceable commodities?  Can a child be replaced by an artificial friend for those who can't have children?  There are lots of questions to ponder yet the unemotional narration makes it more difficult for readers to embrace this work.  This book is recommended for readers of literary fiction.

The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency by Alexander McCall Smith

 

Mma Ramotswe has the life she has always imagined.  As a young girl she made some rash decisions that brought pain and grief into her life.  But after her beloved father died and left her some money, she has gotten her life back on track and done exactly what she has always dreamed of doing.  She bought a house and a shop and has opened the only ladies' detective agency in Botswana.

Mma Ramotswe wasn't sure if there was really a need for a woman detective but she is pleased to see that cases show up as soon as she opens the door for business.  Some are trifling such as finding a lost dog.  There are always women who want to know if their husbands are faithful and men wanting to know the same about their wives.  There are parents who want to be sure their children are on the right path and sadly, parents whose children are missing.  There are insurance fraud cases and even murders to solve.

Mma Ramotswe goes about her business in a common sense manner.  She considers what is the most likely solution and then figures out how to prove what she suspects.  She has a network of friends who can help, from mechanics to lawyers to policemen.  She is not necessarily going to tell the police about her cases but may handle them discreetly.  All in all, she is a successful detective.

This is the first novel in what went on to become a successful series for Alexander McCall Smith. At this time, there are twenty-two novels in the series with the last being published in the last year.  Mma Ramotswe is a favorite with readers with her common sense solutions and her philosophy of life.  Readers will find comfort in this African cozy mystery series.  

Towns Without Rivers by Michael Parker

 

Reka Speight and her brother Randall are determined to see more of the world than their rural town of Trent in Eastern North Carolina.  Born into a poor family with a mother who died early, siblings who grew up and moved right into Trent adulthood and an alcoholic father, these two of the children yearn for something more.  Life isn't easy and Reka has just emerged from a five year prison sentence.  She stood by while her wealthy boyfriend overdosed and his father demanded justice.  Reka didn't have any money and her defense was minimal so she ended up with the blame for the man's death.

Now that Reka is out she is willing to do anything to move on.  When she is offered the chance to go out to the Midwest to sell books door to door she jumps at it; in the early 1960's this is still a viable job.  She does this for a while then continues drifting, ending up in Montana.  In the meanwhile, Randall has gone to Norfolk to live with an older brother and work in the shipyards.  But he yearns for Reka and although he doesn't know exactly where she is, Randall hits the roads determined to find her. Reka finds love along the way but it isn't an uncomplicated situation.  Will Reka and Randall find each other again and will they make their way out of poverty to find happier lives?

This is Michael Parker's second novel and it is a great one.  Parker is a writer who deserves a much wider audience and is local to me, working and writing at the University of North Carolina Greensboro.  I've read almost all of his novels over the years and have never read a bad one.  His strength is character portrayal and those in the South will immediately recognize Reka and Randall as true representations of those found in the region.  He uses these two characters to explore what makes life worth living and the struggles most of us have reaching a satisfactory life.  This book is recommended for readers of literary fiction.

Second Place by Rachel Cusk

 

M is a middle-aged woman, a writer with some small success.  She is living with her second husband, Tony, in the marshes of England in a remote location and her daughter has recently moved back home as well.  Surrounded by family, M should be happy but she feels that she is cut out for a more artistic life and that she needs inspiration.  While Tony was clearing their land, he finds a cottage which the couple sets up as their 'second place', somewhere they can invite guests.

M had admired the paintings of L, an artist who had been quite famous at one time but had now fallen into obscurity.  She invites him to come stay with them and is delighted when he agrees.  She imagines long talks with him and that his work will be reimagined and vibrant once more due to their location.  She sees herself as a patroness of the arts.

The first clue that things will not work out is on L's arrival.  Instead of coming alone, he arrives with a young woman with whom it is obvious he has a relationship.  It is obvious that the couple think little of M and Tony, believing more that they are gracing them with their company rather than feeling any gratitude.  L is interested in painting Tony and M's daughter but has no interest in M and seems to avoid her as much as possible.  This sets the stage for conflict between M and L, and between M and Tony as he tries to put his foot down on her behaviour.

This book has been nominated for the 2021 Booker Prize.  Rachel Cusk has a long history of writing awards including the Whitbread Award for First Novel and nominations for the Orange Prize, the Bailey Prize, the Giller Prize and others.  In this work, she explores the feelings of a middle-aged woman, someone whose first age of beauty has passed and who is working out what the rest of her life will be.  M is someone the reader will want to shake.  Her husband is caring and loving, his only thoughts to watch over her and protect her but M almost ignores him in her quest to become important to another man and to fulfill her expectations of being a patron of the arts.  Similarly, she isn't sure how to relate to her daughter and M's self-image can only be filtered through the thoughts and actions of those around her.  This book is recommended for readers of literary fiction.

The Edge Of The Chair edited by Joan Kahn

 

This is an older anthology of suspense stories from 1967.  It is an interesting mix with both fiction and nonfiction entries.  Authors include classic authors such as Alexander Pushkin, Ambrose Bierce, Harold Pinter, Antoine de Saint-Exupery, Graham Greene,Jack London, Ray Bradbury, Agatha Christie, Rudyard Kipling. Arthur Conan Doyle, William Faulkner, John Buchan. G.K. Chesterton, Guy de Maupassant and Dorothy Sayers.   

I had not heard of any of the true crime cases gathered here.  One in particular was of the story of an imposter claiming to be an escaped John Wilkes Booth.  The story he gave out was that he had escaped and come out West where he lived out his days.  There were many who believed in this story and only his death finally revealed the truth.

The Christie story, The Adventure Of The Clapham Cook, was another I had not read.  An undiscovered story by the grand dame of mystery is always an occasion to be savored.  Overall, although an older book, this was an anthology I enjoyed reading with its unique mix of fiction and nonfiction as well as the interesting and renowned mystery authors found here.  This book is recommended for short story mystery readers.

The Quiet Boy by Ben H. Winters

 

Jay Shenk is a small time lawyer, running his own firm.  He is generally a happy man, although he is a single parent to his adopted teenage son, Reuben, after the death of his wife.  When he hears about a medical injury to another teenage boy, he approaches the parents.  Wesley Keener, 16, hits his head in an accident at school.  At the hospital, the surgeons decide that he needs an emergency surgery to relieve the pressure of the bleed around his brain.  Although it is an emergency, it is a fairly routine surgery. But something goes wrong and Wesley never returns to himself.  Instead he is left a rambling wreck, a boy who incessantly paces in circles and gives no sign of recognizing anything or anyone.  Shenk sues the hospital and has hopes of a large settlement.  Reuben hears about the trial daily from his dad and goes to watch in the courtroom.  Although the doctors don't know what happened, Shenk finds an expert witness, Dr. Theresa Plieggi, who is sure she knows exactly what happens.

Fast forward ten years.  Shenk is still a lawyer but barely getting by.  He has never recovered financially or emotionally from the trial.  Wayne is the same, still pacing in endless circles.  Reuben is chopping vegetables in a restaurant.  Then Jay gets a call.  Richard Keener, Wayne's father, has been arrested for murder.  His victim was Theresa Plieggi.  Jay asks Reuben to help him find out what happened as the DA's office is trying the case as a death penalty case.  Reuben agrees although he doesn't feel qualified.  What he discovers brings up his greatest childhood fears as well as a reunion with Wayne's sister, Eve, who Reuben had a crush on.  Can Reuben find out what happened?

Winters has written a fascinating mashup of legal thriller, coming of age story and science fiction.   There are mystic underpinnings to what happened to Wayne a decade ago and a mysterious man who has haunted Reuben for years.  Although Jay is a prominent character and loveable, it is Reuben's story and quest.  This book is recommended for readers of literary fiction as well as science fiction.

Ariadne by Jennifer Saint

 

Ariadne is born on Crete, the daughter of King Minos and half-sister to the beast, the Minotaur.  Her mother is driven mad by the birth of the Minotaur so Ariadne's childhood is spent mostly with her younger sister, Phaedra.  King Minos delights in the Minotaur although it's existence is proof of his being cucockled.  He is able to extract a terrible revenge from Athens for the murder of one of his sons.  Athens is condemned to send fourteen of their youth to be slain by the Minotaur periodically, seven men and seven maidens.  After several years of this horrific event, the Athens prince, Theseus, volunteers to be one of the victims.  

Ariadne and her sister Phaedra are both fascinated by Theseus.  His beauty and his tales of heroism attract them and when he promises to marry Ariadne she agrees to help him slay the beast.  With her help he is able to do so and then he, his crew and Ariadne sail off.  He marries her on an island but when she awakes, she has been left behind to perish, his love merely a trick.

But life is not done with the daughters of King Minos.  Ariadne has landed on the island owned by the god Dionysus and over time the two fall in love, are married and have a family.  Phaedra is married off to cement a relationship with another kingdom.  The kingdom is Athens and her husband is Theseus who lets her believe that he saw her sister killed during their escape.  After being married to him Phaedra realises that he is a vain man only concerned about his adventures and legends.  When the two sisters are reunited a seed is planted that plays out in tragedy.

This is a debut novel.  Jennifer Saint was a high school English teacher and her love of language and writing leaps from the pages.  The narrator is Barrie Krinik, who is considered one of the best voice actors currently working and her narration is perfect.  Most readers will only have heard the story of the Minotaur and perhaps of Theseus.  Saint brings the women who lived in this story come to life, exposing their weaknesses and strengths and the reality they constantly faced of living in a man's world, prey to men's desires and wishes.  Readers who liked Circe will also like this novel.  It is recommended for readers of literary fiction and those interested in mythology.

Hot Stew by Fiona Mozley

 

Soho is a changing neighborhood in London.  These days it is home to those who don't have anywhere else to go.  There are drug addicts, prostitutes, unemployed and struggling workers.  But neighborhoods are ever changing and there are those who think Soho is due for gentrification and a makeover.

Agatha is one of those who want things to change.  She is the recipient of a huge fortune from a father she never met, her mother having married an elderly man with a fortune who died during her pregnancy.  Agatha owns a building in Soho that with its central location, she believes would be the perfect place for condos.  The sticking point is that the inhabitants of her building don't want to leave.

Precious and Tabitha are two of those inhabitants.  They are sex workers by choice and this has been their home for many years.  They share the building with a group of homeless people and drug addicts in the basement, a restaurant, and other people struggling on the margins of life.  They are determined not to be pushed out and Precious starts a protest and movement to fight Agatha.  There are other characters.  There is a former enforcer for Agatha's father.  There is an actor who isn't sure he wants to be one.  There is a man pining for his ex-girlfriend who has inherited wealth he tires not to use.  There is a struggling magician who makes his living with tawdry tricks in bars and a woman who is so far gone that few notice when she disappears.  Together they struggle to maintain their precarious hold on life in the only place they know.

Fiona Mozeley's first novel, Elmet, was a Booker Prize finalist.  As in that novel, this second one is concerned with the ideas of ownership of property and what becomes of those pushed out by the constant pursuit of profit.  The characters are finely drawn although some are mysterious and remote and the novel raises questions of social justice and the rights of those less blessed with money and power.  It also explores the thoughts of those engaged in sex work and whether such work is sometimes a valid choice.  This book is recommended for literary fiction readers.

Girl A by Abigail Dean

 

She was known as Girl A.  She was the one who set herself and her siblings free from the house of horrors they were confined in.  She was the one who scrapped her flesh raw to escape from the chains, broke a window cutting herself on the glass and jumped from the roof shattering her leg but managing to get to the road and help.  Her real name was Lex Gracie and there were seven siblings in the family, the family where her father went mad and her mother did nothing to help.

The story exploded in the press and everyone knew their story.  The children required extensive medical and dental care, the starvation taking its toll on their bodies.  Having lost both their parents that day as the police took over, once the medical world released them the children were split up and adopted out to separate families.  It was felt that it would be best if the children didn't interact but tried to adjust to a different life and forget the horrors.

Grown now, Lex has finally returned to England.  Her mother has died in prison and someone has to deal with the death and the small estate.  Lex has grown up to be a problem solver, a high flyer in a corporation that arranges company mergers.  She is the best suited to deal with the legal implications left behind.  Other siblings have not dealt with the past as well as she.  One is a lecturer who uses the past as a springboard for fame.  Others have turned to religion or spent their lives in mental care.  Some of the youngest ones don't even know who they are.  As Lex talked with each of her siblings, she finds that their memories don't always jibe and each person remembers events differently or has different pieces of the puzzle.  Can she construct a whole picture from the memories they all have?

This is a debut novel.  Abigail Dean is a lawyer and former bookseller.  The novel explores the meaning of family when family goes awry.  The headlines regularly note cases such as these where a parent goes mad and power hungry and sets up elaborate rules with corresponding punishments for those who live with them.  It is heartbreaking to realize how many people, especially children, are captured in situations where their basic human needs are held against them and their days a long story of horror and deprivation.  The reader will come to know the mechanisms the siblings use to accept their pasts and to put the story together from the shifting memories each child has.  This book is recommended for readers of family relationships.

The Never Game by Jeffrey Deaver

 

The news article catches Colton Shaw's eye.  A nineteen year old girl has gone missing, possibly kidnapped on her way home.  Shaw makes a living finding people for rewards.  Sometimes they are children, sometimes senior citizens with memory issues.  Often they are criminals that law enforcement needs to be found.  He makes contact with the girl's father and is hired to find her.  Although he gets almost no cooperation from the police when he shares his ideas with them, Colton is able to find the girl and bring her home safely.

But things aren't over in Silicon Valley.  Another man is kidnapped and this one isn't as lucky.  Shaw finds him also but he has been killed.  Now the police are willing to listen and Shaw goes into high gear.  It becomes evident that the kidnappings are tied to a video game.  Shaw meets a gamer named Maddie who serves as his entree into the gamer world; a world he isn't a part of at all.  Shaw was homeschooled by a survivalist family on a large forested compound.  Survival he understands; computer gaming not so much.  A female police sergeant becomes Shaw's partner as they rush to find the culprit before more victims are killed.

This is the first in the Colton Shaw series and a New York Times Book Review Top 10 Crime Novel Of The Year.  To this date, there are three books in the series.  Colton is a fascinating character although Deaver makes it clear the reader hasn't been given all of his secrets yet.  His background makes him perfect for finding those who are missing as he knows how to track and survive in any situation.  Readers will find the pace fast and there is a twist that most won't see coming.  This book is recommended for thriller readers.

Madam by Phoebe Wynne

 

Things couldn't be going better for Rose Christie.  Only 26, she has just been hired to head up the classics department at the prestigious Caldonbrae Hall school for young women.  In fact, she is the only new hire for many years and in her interview was told the school looked forward to her innovative views.

The school is supportive.  Rose is given an apartment and even her mother's care, who is confined to a nursing facility, is taken care of.  All she has to do is plan and deliver her lectures.  She finds the girls strangely unprepared and they talk quite a lot about her predecessor who left quickly with no word on her current whereabouts.  The students seem to think that the stories of the Greek and Roman women Rose lectures about, who are strong and can serve as role models, are irrelevant.

Then things slowly start to turn.  Rose is aware of whispers among the staff when she enters a room.  The office staff are, by turns, surly or impudent.  Rose is given tasks that don't seem to match her job description.  There are secrets everywhere.  Girls disappear without warning or notice. Rose starts to get anonymous letters telling her she doesn't belong there but it is soon apparent, she can't leave unless the school wants her to.  There are big secrets being kept and when Rose learns them, she knows she must do her best to change things.

This is a debut novel and has garnered a lot of buzz with accolades such as 'One of the 75 Debuts To Discover In 2021' by Goodreads and 'Best Debuts Of 2021' by Parade.  It has a gothic feel and champions women's rights and challenges the male patriarchy.  Nathalie Buscombe is the narrator for those listening to the novel and she does a perfect job of portraying a naive woman who comes to realize she has made a glaring career mistake and now must fight for her life.  This book is recommended for mystery readers.

The Coffinmaker's Garden by Stuart Macbride

 

Ash Henderson is no longer a Detective Inspector but he's still involved in crime.  These days, he's working with his friend and criminal profiler Alice to review cases and consult with the police.  But he hasn't really changed his focus or methods.  Ever since his own daughter was kidnapped and tortured to death, Ash has been full on set on catching serial killers by any means possible.

Ash discovers the lair of one such man.  Gordon Smith is an inoffensive man, always willing along with his wife to help with the care of children.  But what Ash and Alice find in his basement is a horror show that numbers over twenty victims.  Men, women, children.  Gordon wasn't picky.  The two are only able to retrieve the pictures Gordon had mounted before the entire house is swept off the cliff into the ocean in a storm.  

Of course, that's not the only case going on.  Crime rarely lets an investigator work on only one crime.  There is someone kidnapping and killing small boys, strangling them and leaving their parents to grieve for the rest of their lives.  Ash works with a new partner in the field, a beautiful woman DI who has a chip on her shoulder.  Can these crimes be solved before more killing occurs?

Stuart Macbride is one of my must-read authors.  This is the third book in the Ash Henderson series and readers can't help but cheer for him as he chases criminals while hiding his heart of gold.  The surrounding characters are always interesting and this one also has a dog for those who love their pets.  The action and pace is furious as event after event happens in breathtaking speed.  This book is recommended for mystery readers.

 

Sarah Champlin is a painter in 1924 Paris, about to have her first exhibition.  But her plans are put on hold when she receives a telegram that her older sister, Ada, has been found dead in Carmel, California.  Sarah drops everything and travels to the town which is known as a gathering place for artists.

The inquest declared Ada's death a suicide but Sarah doesn't believe that.  Ada was a force and she was about to have her greatest artistic triumph ever.  Ada's personal life was also blooming and Sarah doesn't believe she would leave it all behind.  But if it wasn't suicide then it must be murder.  Who would want to kill Ada?

Unfortunately, there are more than one suspect.  There is her agent, whom Ada had recently fired.  She had also fired her assistant, a young painter who has secrets of her own.  There was a handsome rich suitor who was a sailor as well as an actor who was another suitor.  Sarah encounters secrets and motives everywhere she looks and doesn't know who to trust.  Can she discover the truth and give Ada back her reputation?

Although I have obviously heard of Carmel, I never knew it's history as a place where women artists gathered to make their art.  The reader will learn about many topics in this novel.  There is the history of women artists, the abalone divers of Japanese heritage, the discrimination those Japanese people encountered as well as the effects of Prohibition and the constraints women encountered in everyday life.  The author's own aunt was Ada Belle Champlin who served as the inspiration for this novel.  This novel is recommended for readers of historical and literary fiction.

The Queen Of The Night by Alexander Chee

 

Lilliet Berne is born in the prairies of the United States.  When disease killed off all her family, she gets on a train and starts traveling. She ends up in Paris where she joins a circus as a gymnast on a horse, singing to entertain.  The crowds loved her. Soon, however, she ends up working as a prostitute to make ends meet.  There she meets a patron who becomes besotted with her, the tenor.  When he hears her sing he arranges for her to audition for the finest opera school but she is turned down.

Fleeing the tenor, she leaves again.  She ends up with a former opera singer who runs a school in Austria but soon the tenor shows up again.  Lilliet ends up working for the Empress as her wardrobe mistress and falls in love with a young composer.  But their love is not to be and soon she is back in Paris.  This time she is accepted at the opera school and soon she is the toast of the town.  

But one achievement escapes her.  The best divas have operas written exclusively for her.  When she is offered a script, she realizes that the new opera is the story of her life so far.  Who knows all her secrets?  As she attempts to find out, she ricochets between the man who is obsessed with her and the one she is obsessed with.  Will she find a happy life?

This novel gained great praise with honors like an NPR Best Book, an Indie Next Pick and a New York Times Book Review Editor's Choice.  Readers may pick up suggestions of Charles Dickens with an intricate plot and tons of characters with full backstories and will learn about topics such as the opera, the brothels of Paris, the French revolution and the Franco-Prussian war.  Throughout, Lillibet is an enterprising woman who does whatever it takes to make her way in a man's world.  This book is recommended for readers of literary fiction.

The Photographer by Mary Dixie Carter

 

Delta Dawn is the in crowd's child photographer.  No birthday party is complete without Delta's photographs of it.  She has the knack of catching a child in delight and if not, she is a master at Photoshop and can create a wonderful memory that never really happened.  Delta loves rubbing shoulders with the rich and famous although she knows she is regarded as a servant not a friend.

When she is hired to shoot the eleventh birthday party of Natalie Straub, it is just another job to her.  That is, until she arrives and meets the parents, Amelia and Fritz.  Delta loves everything about the Straubs' lives.  The residence is gorgeous as the Straubs are architects and designers.  Amelia is compelling and beautiful, Fritz a handsome man.  She is also drawn immediately to Natalie.  She would love to get to know the family better.

A lucky occurrence makes this possible.  Amelia and Fritz need a babysitter short term and Delta volunteers.  Soon she is babysitting frequently and finding ways to make herself useful such as running errands.  She listens to Natalie and sympathizes with Amelia and her quest to have another child.  She does whatever it takes to get closer to the family, including starting to date a family friend.  Soon Delta manages to come up with a plan that will make her indispensable forever.  What could go wrong?

This is a debut novel for Mary Dixie Carter and she also serves as the narrator.  Her background is in journalism and her work has appeared in publications such as Time, The Economist and various newspapers.  The novel masterfully introduces suspense as the reader peels back the layers and realizes that anything Delta says is not necessarily true but a statement carefully crafted to serve an end just as she crafts images to reflect desires.  This book is recommended for thriller readers.

The Last House On Needless Street by Catriona Ward

 

Needless Street is a dead end street, the houses older and neglected.  The last house is particularly descript.  Ted lives there, a lonely man with no friends.  His daughter Laura is there off and on.  Outside of that, there is his cat, Olivia.  Ted has lived there his whole life.  His father disappeared somewhere along the line and his mother died years ago.  Ted is a huge man, who often drinks too much.  His size and slovenliness puts off everyone so his life is solitary.  

Ted is suspected by many of being involved in the disappearance of various young girls who have gone missing in the vicinity.  One of those girls was Lulu.  Now Lulu's sister, Dee, has moved in next door and tells Ted they should be friends.  What is her plan?  Is Ted involved in the disappearances?

This is a psychological thriller with horror overtones.  Nothing is quite what it seems.  Why is Lauren sometimes there and sometimes not and where does she go when she is gone?  How has Dee determined that Ted is the one with the answers about Lulu's disappearance?  Why can't Ted remember things like other people can?  

Catriona Ward was born in the United States but lives in England.  Her books have won several British horror awards.  The slow unpeeling of Ted's story will horrify and surprise readers and the final story will be quite different from earlier expectations.  This book is recommended for thriller and horror readers.

The Girl Before by J.P. Delaney

 

The apartment is amazing.  Right in the heart of London yet surprisingly affordable.  It's a miracle of efficiency and smart technology, built on a minimalist plan.  But not just anyone can move in.  In order to rent it, tenants must be approved by the firm that built it and the architect, Edward.  

There are rules that must be agreed upon by those who rent.  Rules about keeping things cleaned and put away.  Rules about no pets or children.  Rules about agreeing to answer questions whenever the technology decides it's time to.  Those who are accepted seem to fit a pattern.  The women all have a tragedy in their backgrounds and are looking for a new start.

Emma had been traumatized in a break in at her former apartment.  She reported to the police that she had been terrorized and raped by the criminals.  Jane has also had a recent tragedy.  Her pregnancy had ended not in a baby to bring home and raise but in a stillbirth.  The two women share another characteristic.  They each fall in love with Edward and are soon under his control.  Jane is curious about her predecessor, Emma.  She knows Emma died in the apartment at the bottom of the stone stairs.  Was it the accident the police wrote it off as?

J.P. Delaney has written an intriguing mystery that has already been sold as a series on BBC One and HBO Max.  The novel is told in the alternating voices of Emma and Jane and the truth slowly emerges.  It has touchpoints in the author's own life and history.  He has also written under the name Jonathan Holt.  This book is recommended for mystery readers.

The Library Book by Susan Orlean

 

Susan Orlean has written a fascinating history of the Los Angles Public Library system.  The book uses an incident in 1986 when the biggest library fire in United States history occurred to serve as the focus.  The fire and its damage is extensively described along with the restoration efforts and the costs to restore the central library as a functioning organization.  There was a main suspect and she covers the investigation as well.

But outside of the fire, the LA library is a fascinating organization and Orlean covers those topics.  Readers learn about the origin of the library and the various head librarians that served over the years as the library grew and changed.  The myriad ways that libraries dissimilate information are explored as well as the services that libraries offer now.  The issues that libraries face such as the large homeless population that uses its services are covered.  Working conditions for library staff is a large issue that Orlean covers, along with the male/female ratio of librarians.  Library services in the electronic age are extensively covered.  She grew up with library trips with her mother being their favorite activity and her love of the library and all it offers is clear.

This book has garnered much praise.  It was a New York Times Notable Book in 2018 and a Washington Post Top 10 Book of the Year.  It was a pick of the Reese Witherspoon Book Club.  Orlean has been a staff writer at The New Yorker for many years and her books, which have been highly reviewed, are nonfictions on topics that catch her interest.  This book is recommended for nonfiction readers and anyone who has ever enjoyed a trip to their local library.  

The Craftsman by Sharon Bolton

 

Florence Lovelady is a new policewoman in Lancashire, a small village up North from where she grew up. She is low man on the totem pole and rooms with the local undertaker as does another policeman who doesn't have his own home.  She usually does routine tasks like checking out car accidents or cases of shoplifting but today is different.  Today a little girl is missing.

It turns out that this is the third child to go missing in Lancashire and none have been found.  Then the last girl, Patsy, is found by Florence and things are worse.  For Patsy is found in a casket, buried alive in the local graveyard and she died a horrific death.  Has this been the fate of the other two children?

The village is horrified and the press is going nuts.  Flo is brought up in the ranks to work on the case as something this big needs everyone.  Against her better judgement, she shares the techniques and insights she has, something a new recruit is never expected to do.  Is there a sexual sadist on the loose?  There are also rumors of witchcraft in this small village and an active coven.  Are the children sacrifices?

Sharon Bolton is a Mary Higgins Clark Award winner and one of the leading suspense authors in England.  She is a master of the shock the reader doesn't see coming and her books are fast paced.  This book, told from the time of the events and then thirty years later when the murderer has died and Florence returns to Lancashire to attend his funeral is intriguing and a great introduction to this author if the reader isn't familiar with her.  This book is recommended for mystery readers.

Couple Found Slain by Mikita Brottman

 

In 1992, Brian Bechtold shot and killed both his parents.  He was twenty-two years old and told the police he was taken over by devils.  Brian was found schizophrenic and not guilty by reason of insanity.  Since his trial, he has spent twenty-seven years in a mental hospital in Maryland.

Brian grew up in a dysfunctional family.  His parents had a loveless marriage and there were five children.  His father ignored the children and his mother was overwhelmed.  Both were physically and mentally abusive to the children.  

This book was written about Brian's time in the hospital.  Although he feels that he has not been ill for many years, he is caught in a cycle of misdiagnosis where if he talks about his feelings, he is considered paranoid and if he doesn't talk about them he is considered secretive.  Both options can lead to more restrictive medicine regimens and even being moved to more restrictive wards.  But Brian has not done himself any favors either.  Over the years, he has escaped in an attempt to be either shot and killed or transferred to prison.  He has attacked a staff member with a knife he constructed.  He has refused treatment for serious illnesses including cancer.  It leaves the reader sad for his life but able to understand the thoughts of the doctors who have kept him in the hospital all these years.

This book is written by Mikita Brottman.  She is a British American author who specializes in true crime fiction.  This book is different from many in the genre as it focuses not on the crime but its' aftermath.  The horrors of Brian's life in a mental hospital are portrayed although it feels like not enough weight is given to the views of the doctors.  I listened to this book and the narrators were good.  This book is recommended for true crime readers interested in causes of crime and what happens afterward.

Baltimore Blues by Laura Lippman

 

Tess Monaghan is at a crossroads.  Having lost her job as a newspaper journalist, she has been drifting for two years now, working temporary and part-time jobs to make ends meet while she decides what she wants to do with her life.  She has some constants and rowing is one of them.  Tess starts her mornings with a long rowing trip that carries over her skill as a college rower.  Her best friend in that world is Rock Paxton.  He is even more serious about rowing than Tess and works only to be able to afford to be on the racing circuit.  

One morning Rock has something he wants to discuss with Tess.  He has gotten engaged to Ava, a shallow woman Tess can't stand but who Rock adores.  But he has been worried about her movements lately and he wants to hire Tess to follow Ava and see if someone is bothering her.  Tess is taken aback.  She has no background in following people and she isn't really interested in doing so with Ava.  But she does think Ava is the wrong woman for Rock and she reluctantly agrees.  Once on the job, Tess quickly finds that Rock's suspicions are valid.  Ava appears to be having a relationship on the side with a lawyer in her firm, Michael Abramowitz, an older partner.  When Tess confronts Ava about it, Ava runs to Rock and the next thing Tess knows, Abramowitz is dead and Rock is in jail charged with the murder.

Now Tess has a reason to be an investigator.  She is sure that Rock isn't a murderer but the case against him couldn't be much stronger.  Can Tess find what really happened that night and who else might have wanted to kill Abramowitz?

This is the first novel in the Tess Monaghan story.  It is full of local Baltimore flavor which is the background of the author.  Tess is a strong and independent woman who won't be stopped once she decides to follow a path and there are lots of quirky and interesting secondary characters such as Tess's bookstore owning aunt and the men who are in her life.  This book is recommended for mystery readers.

The Temple House Vanishing by Rachel Donohue

 

Louisa never thought she'd find herself attending somewhere like Temple House School.  It is a boarding school for the daughters of rich and famous families and her family is neither rich nor famous.  What her family can be defined as is broken; her mother leaving to live with a new man and her father left behind unbelieving and depressed.  Louisa is a brilliant girl and she receives a scholarship to attend the school.

The Catholic school is foreign to Louisa.  She doesn't fit in with the other girls who look down on her.  She doesn't understand the nun's love of God and their dedication to a life of service.  But like calls to like and soon Louisa is best friends with Victoria, a longtime student who is a rebel.  Then there is Mr. Lavelle, the art teacher.

All the girls have a crush on Mr. Lavelle.  Young and good-looking, he thrives on the girls' attention and devotion.  He challenges the teachings of the school, asking the girls to think unconventionally and follow their dreams.  Victoria has a crush on him as does Helen, the head girl.  Both believe that he returns their love.  Louisa doubts that and her love is reserved for Victoria.  But it is Louisa and Mr. Lavelle that disappear the same night and are never found.  

The years pass and it is now twenty-five years since Louisa and Mr. Lavelle disappeared.  What happened that night?  Did the two run away together, the result of a secret affair?  Did Mr. Lavelle kill Louisa and hide her body?  The nation was obsessed with the case when it happened and now a young journalist is called on to review the case on the twenty-fifth anniversary.  Will she finally find out the secrets of Temple House?

Rachel Donohue is an Irish writer who is at the beginning of her career.  This novel is her first and it gained much attention, being nominated for awards such as the Best Newcomer Award in the Post Book Awards and she won the "New Irish Writer Of The Year" award.  The novel is gothic in feel.  It switches between the viewpoints of Louisa and the journalist, the old and the new versions of the story and leaves the reader to decide which story is the real one.  This book is recommended for readers of literary fiction.

The Plot by Jean Hanff Korelitz

 

Could there be a more obnoxious student and what did Jake Bonner do to be punished teaching him?  That was Jake's thought at the writing workshop he is teaching.  Jake had a great first novel and was seen as an up and coming writer.  His second novel was a disappointment and since then he has been stalled.  To make ends meet, he teaches at a college that runs workshops for aspiring writers.

When he has an individual coaching session with the student, Jake is struck again by his confidence and his inability to see why he made those around him uncomfortable.  The man is sure that he has a bestseller in him but that everyone else at the workshop is determined to steal his idea.  He shares a little of the plot with Jake and Jake immediately sees that the idea is a potential bestseller.  Jake is jealous that such an unlikeable person does indeed have a can't fail idea.  But that's life and after the workshop the man recedes into the distance, overshadowed by the next class of aspiring writers and the next and the next.

But somewhere deep in Jake's mind, the thought of that student and his story remains.  He keeps waiting to see the book published but it never is.  His own writing is going even more poorly.  Finally one night he looks up the student only to see that the man died soon after the workshop, his great idea for a novel having died with him.  But has that idea died?  Jake struggles with his conscience but then forges ahead writing the novel that the student never did.

Two years later, Jake's life is completely different.  The novel he wrote is an immediate and tremendous success, vaulting Jake to the top of the publishing world.  He is now married to Anna whom he met on a book tour at the radio studio where she was a producer.  The couple is happy and wealthy or at least until the day Jake opens an email.  When he reads it, his blood runs cold.  Someone is writing him accusing him of plagiarism and of stealing the idea of his bestseller.  There are hints of exposure but no demands to start.  Will Jake lose everything his novel has brought him?

This novel has received a ton of buzz. It has blurbs from authors such as Stephen King and Meg Abbott and was an Amazon 2021 Book of the Month pick.  The pace is brisk and the reader is swept along in Jake's story, interested in his success and then wondering who is threatening him and how that will play out.  The exploration of plagiarism and how an author can turn from a success to a pariah overnight is explored.  This book is recommended for readers of psychological thrillers.