01 Deadly Waters
Rebecca Sorley is a college student, and she's trying to get good grades, spend time with her friends--and keep an eye on her hot-tempered roommate, Ellie.
Ellie's sick of what many of her fellow female students put up with from young men who won't hear no and don't treat women with respect. Then some of their most offensive and reportedly abusive male classmates start turning up dead. It seems a vigilante killer is on the loose, taking justice into his or her own hands.
And it's starting to look to Rebecca as though Ellie might possibly be responsible. Could she--would she do such a thing?
I'm reading this book courtesy of NetGalley and Thomas & Mercer.
For my full review, see Deadly Waters.
02 Miss Graham's Cold War Cookbook
It's 1945. Edith Graham is a small-town schoolteacher who wants to do more: she wants to help the British Control Commission rebuild what they can in Germany after the war--and maybe even help them prosecute war crimes.
But because Edith has a degree in German (and a tenuous connection to a hunted war criminal), she's recruited by the Office of Strategic Services instead.
Edith comes up with a brazen way she can be both visible and invisible--by establishing her alter ego, cookbook author Stella Snelling, who writes a magazine cooking column--and include essential intelligence within her recipes and chatty notes.
World War II historical fiction, a tough female protagonist, a mission of uncovering war criminals in Nazi Germany, ordinary citizens being heroic in the name of justice, and an outlandish plan for a spy to hide in plain sight? Sign me up!
For my full review, see Miss Graham's Cold War Cookbook.
03 The Silent Companions
Elsie thought she married out of her hardworking life and into a life of wealth and leisure. But when her kind husband passes away suddenly just after the wedding, pregnant Elsie and her husband's tedious spinster cousin must head from London to the family's neglected country estate to bury him and set the house to rights.
Behind a door without a key that is sometimes locked and sometimes mysteriously not, a silent companion (a painting cut out and supported as a freestanding figure) waits, bearing a shocking resemblance to Elsie. Mysterious noises, inexplicable goings-on, haunting stories of the past, and the superstitious hatred of the village folk are beginning to make Elsie think something is not right at the house--and that maybe her husband's death wasn't natural at all.
This is a good old Victorian ghost story so far. I love it.
For my full review, see The Silent Companions.
What are you reading now?
One spooky suspense story, one World War II historical fiction title, and one combination: a spooky historical fiction book. This assortment feels like it suits the hints of fall we're getting around here lately.
What are you reading these days?