

Review of The Man Who Died Twice (Thursday Murder Club #2) by Richard Osman
Book two of the series sees our septuagenarian characters each trekking their own paths while working cooperatively to solve a new mystery. They show vulnerability and strength, use their instincts and smarts to outsmart criminals, and grow. I laughed while listening to this one; Osman's series has me hooked. Elizabeth, Joyce, Ron and Ibrahim are septuagenarians feeling let down after the thrills, danger, and success of their first solved mystery (related in The Thursday Murd
6 days ago


Review of First Lie Wins by Ashley Elston
Elston's first adult novel ticked all of my mystery-reading boxes: a con artist, fake identity, dangerous boss, complicated mark, trusty sidekick, clever maneuvering, and non-manipulative twists. I can't wait to read her next mystery. Evie Porter is embracing her current fake identity and getting closer to her mark Ryan--who she's lured into being her boyfriend. Now she awaits her mysterious boss Mr. Smith's instructions about the information he needs her to obtain to take do
7 days ago


Review of We Are All Guilty Here (North Falls #1) by Karin Slaughter
I like a story driven by a female investigaor of a main protagonist, and in this small-town mystery and tragedy, officer Emmy Clifton...
Oct 15


Review of The Hallmarked Man by Robert Galbraith
I feel compelled to see this series through to its end. The Robin-Strike tension is finally spoken aloud, although not resolved, and the...
Oct 9


Review of The Thursday Murder Club (Thursday Murder Club #1) by Richard Osman
I was delighted by the poignancy, humor, and layers in the first installment of this series of stories about sharp, disparate...
Sep 25


Review of The Fraud by Zadie Smith
Smith was inspired by the real-life Victorian England case of a cockney impostor attempting to wrest an inheritance from the nobility,...
Sep 24


Review of The Briar Club by Kate Quinn
The Briar Club employs nine points of view to tell the story of life in a female-only boarding house in 1950s, McCarthy-era Washington,...
Sep 23


Review of Kill for Me, Kill for You by Steve Cavanagh
I loved the twist, double-twist of my first Cavanagh mystery, and the story's revenge and renegade justice are layered with unexpected...
Sep 4


Review of Heartwood by Amity Gaige
Amity Gaige's Appalachian Trail-set novel offers several of my favorite elements: a Maine setting, a missing-person storyline, an...
Aug 13


Review of The Colony by Annika Norlin
Norlin draws the reader into the eerie heart of a small group living sequestered in the Swedish forest as they gradually fall into...
Aug 6


Review of The Summer Guests (Martini Club #2) by Tess Gerritsen
In the second installment of the series, retired CIA agents build stronger bonds with each other in rural Maine while assisting (and...
Jul 22


Review of An Unexpected Peril (Veronica Speedwell #6) by Deanna Raybourn
While Veronica and Stoker stay close to home while entering into danger and solving the mysteries in book six of this series, Raybourn...
Jul 10


Review of Etiquette & Espionage (Finishing School #1) by Gail Carriger
The first in the author's young adult steampunk Finishing School series offers wonderful, typically strong Carriger women with unique...
Jul 9


Review of Harmattan Season by Tochi Onyebuchi
I was taken with the premise of conflicts and mystery in a post-colonial West African city, but I didn't feel very connected to or...
Jun 10


Review of The Strange Case of Jane O. by Karen Thompson Walker
Walker offers an unreliable main protagonist, her dedicated new psychiatrist, increasingly inexplicable and complicated occurrences, and...
May 27


Review of I Who Have Never Known Men by Jacqueline Harpman
Harpman's slim novel poses a mysterious situation without promising concrete explanations. Our main protagonist knows little about her...
May 22


Review of Murder by Memory (Dorothy Gentleman #1) by Olivia Waite
The playful tone and clever main protagonist in Olivia Waite's science-fiction novella make for an appealing mystery and lay the...
May 13


Review of Wild Dark Shore by Charlotte McConaughy
Mysteries abound within McConaghy's Wild Dark Shore , but the story is largely an atmospheric story of isolation and loss set against the...
Apr 24


Review of Saltwater by Katy Hays
The glamorous setting of Capri is the star of Saltwater . I struggled to care about the characters' sense of life-and-death stakes...
Apr 17


Review of The Life We Bury (Joe Talbert #1) by Allen Eskens
The pacing of The Life We Bury built from slow and steady to a whirlwind. It always seemed clear that we would have clean resolutions to...
Apr 16
