Tag: book-reviews

After Midnight Daphne du Maurier

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As I began to think about books to review for the Fall and Halloween, I came across a book I never knew existed, After Midnight. Daphne du Maurier is famous for her dark story, Rebecca, but little did I know she was also known for her short scary stories such as The Birds and Don’t Look Now, which of course have been made into films. What also drew me to the book was the fact that the great Stephen King did the forward…that alone was an incredible essay in itself. And the book did not disappoint! It was one CHILLING story after another! Who knew?

Of course, many of us have seen The Birds, but the initial story itself is riveting. The reason for the birds never explained and the eeriness of it all on paper exceptional!

But there are twelve more stories in this edition each fascinatingly scary and dark.

The Blue Lenses describes a woman who has just had eye surgery and what happens during her recovery.

The Apple Tree gave me serious goosebumps. When a man who has just lost his wife (and seems a bit happy about it) decides to take down an apple tree on his property, well, things don’t go very well.

The Breakthrough is an incredible science-fiction like story in which two scientists attempt to discover what happens to a person after death…do they still have consciousness? Of course, remember, this is a book about being scared…

My favorite is The Alibi in which a man seems to lead a double life…to what end?

The other stories I leave for you to devour and use your imagination and draw your own conclusions as to what has just happened!

Not After Midnight, and yes, that too is one of the stories, is an absolute must for anybody who loves to be terrified at things that go bump in the night!

Thank you #NetGalley #Scribner #AfterMidnight #TheLateGreatDaphneduMaurier for the advanced copy.

Aftertaste by Daria Lavelle

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Aftertaste is an extraordinary novel which encompasses so many genres. It’s a ghost story, a love story, part science fiction but also with a mystery/suspense element. It’s also about food and loss and how sometimes the taste of something can bring up a memory of someone who has passed. It also explores how love can change a person as well as what someone in love would do for the person they love.

Kostya Duhovny’s father tragically dies when he is ten years old. It changes his life forever. His mother checks out of life and lays in bed, Kostya at his young age must fend for himself, sometimes barely eating and being constantly bullied by the other children.

One day when he goes to the local pool, he begins to get this sensation in his mouth of a particular food he and his father use to make together. He becomes aware that perhaps his father is trying to tell him something, but what? He can’t imagine.

Years go by and Kostya begins to get use to this sensation of taste. Always different, never the one he got from his father. Unable to understand why this is happening, waiting for something else to push him to what he needs to know, he continues with life and its struggles. And he truly struggles.

Until one-night years later when he is a bus boy at a bar and someone comes in, and he begins to get the taste for a particular drink. Kostya decides to make the drink and serve it to the person who has just come in. And then he knows what he is supposed to be doing with this gift. He is to reunite the dead with a person they are missing so they can have one last conversation.

Of course, needless to say this does not go over so well when he decides to start his own restaurant! When something happens to his best (and only) friend, he is devastated, but his aftertaste draws him to a girl. Someone whose sister has passed. While trying to help her, they fall in love.

But unbeknownst to either of them there are problems with this gift and the afterlife. Kostya gets himself in trouble in the present but also begins to cause havoc in life after death. Now unfortunately he is the only one who can stop this train wreck his life is on and the trajectory of the afterlife.

Aftertaste is a heartwarming tale with so much love and loss but yet beautiful in a way that cannot be described unless you read this moving, delicious story.

Published by Simon & Schuster

Five Found Dead by Sulari Gentill

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Five Found Dead is quite the mystery/thriller/whodunit with bodies which keep adding up and so many suspects your head will explode! On top of that we get to ride on the Orient Express…hmm…did someone else write a book about that train? Anyway, the story is unique, enjoyable and quite surprising!

Joe Penvale a writer and his sister Meredith a lawyer are twins. They have just boarded the famous train, the Orient Express. Joe who is a famous crime story author had recently completed treatment for cancer. Joe wants to begin a new novel, and Meredith just wants to relax because she was Joe’s caretaker during his cancer journey. Also, she wants to keep an eye on him to make sure he eats and drinks well with absolutely no libations!

Less than twenty-four hours later everything will change. Something has happened in Cabin 16G which is close to their cabin. There’s blood everywhere but shockingly no body! Both Joe and Meredith had seen the previous night a man enter the cabin. But now, he is missing.

As the passengers begin to congregate to swap stories as to what could have happened, they are hit with another emergency. Some of the passengers have tested positive for some illness and they must now be quarantined!

But lucky for them there seem to be a few criminal professionals on board, i.e. retired police, crime solvers and even a criminal podcast team who are friends of Joe’s. They are asked by the train manager if they would be able to try and figure out what happened. And just as they decide to go into the missing man’s cabin, they discover the steward who was guarding the room is dead!

As another person is discovered dead…and still no sign of the guest from the room, things begin to get even crazier when the train which is headed to Paris is told it must release the train which has the quarantined passengers if they want to get into the city! But if they do this what if the killer is living among them?

With everyone seeming to have alibis, Joe and Meredith race to discover who the killer could possibly be. What they all will discover is that deception and vengeance run deep; a masterful murder plan was created, and a mind-boggling conclusion which will knock your socks off! Five Found Dead will have you wanting to race to the end of the story and the bombshell ending!

Thank you #NetGalley #PoisenedPress #SulariGentill #FiveFoundDead for the advanced copy.

The Killer Question by Janice Hallett

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Pour yourself a beer and settle into a comfy chair for another funny, entertaining mystery by the master of using social media in her written books, Janice Hallett. In her unique writing style, email, text and notes, you will begin to explore the goings on in a small town and its pub life including their exciting and competitive trivia nights. With very quirky, some humorous and some shady characters, and a sudden murder to solve, your only job if you should accept it is to enjoy the ride!

Mel and Sue Eastwood own a pub called The Case is Altered in a small town in England. They run a popular trivia game each week. Through text we soon will discover that some teams are more competitive than others. There is also a bit of cheating which is tried, but the pub owners in the area try to keep each other abreast of who the other’s need to watch out for.

As is the case with one group who come in and try and start trouble in The Case is Altered. Mel will have none of it and immediately throws them out.

It also seems there is a new group called The Shadow Nights who have been coming around and they are beating all the other quizzers by a mile. None of the pubs can figure out how they are cheating.

They come to trivia night at The Case is Altered and needless to say, win so big it makes the other quiz teams reevaluate themselves. The Shadow Nights decide they like Mel and Sue’s pub and become regulars…and weekly winners.

But a dead body changes everything.

One of the men who came into the pub that Mel threw out is found dead in the water near the pub. It looks like someone murdered him. As the police begin to investigate it is discovered that Sue and Mel use to be police detectives, (as seen through chapters which go back to a particular case, they were in charge of years ago). This is information they never wanted anyone to know about their past for reasons unknown.

Another question… why is their nephew trying to sell a documentary about Sue and Mel’s lives to Netflix?

How on earth does all this come together and solve a murder?

Are you exhausted? Well don’t be!

The Killer Question will have you hooked from the first text, keep you laughing and intrigued and startled at the explosive outcome to the story!

Thank you #NetGalley #AtriaBooks #JaniceHallett #TheKillerQuestion for the advanced copy.

The Locked Ward by Sarah Pekkanen

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The Locked Ward is a shocking, twisted thriller with continued stunning revelations and you won’t be able to figure out who the real villain could possibly be. But rest assured as the story unfolds the exciting suspenseful ending will startle you.

Georgia Cartwright is successful in her own right as a party planner. She comes from a wealthy family and is locked in a psychiatric ward. She is accused of killing her sister Annabelle. Actually, Annabelle and Georgia never really got along. You see, Georgia was adopted and her sister and mother never let her forget that fact. But kill her sister? No. Strangely the only person she is requesting to see to get her out of this mess is someone she has never met.

As the news media runs wild with this story, a woman named Amanda Ravenal who owns a bar passed on to her by her father hears about the story and doesn’t make much of it. Until she gets a call about the accused murderess and is told she needs her to come to speak with her.

Why her? She agrees to meet Georgia and what she is told will change her life and everything she ever believed. She discovers they are twins who were separated at birth. Georgia needs Amanda to help her find out who killed her sister.

Shocked, Amanda goes down the rabbit hole of Georgia Cartwright’s life. And it is a bit disturbing. She also now must reevaluate her own parents who are both dead and who never told her she was adopted let alone had a sister, a twin no less. Is Georgia trying to use her? Why did her parents not tell her any of this? What secret were they holding?

The chapters flip from Georgia to Amanda and what they are separately doing and thinking. For Georgia it’s surviving the locked ward, for Amanda it’s trying to snoop on the Cartwright family to see what she can discover.

It seems both Georgia and her parents are hiding some things. Why? And where does Amanda fit in to all this?

Who’s telling the truth? Who killed Annabelle?

The Locked Ward is not only a can’t put down psychological thriller, but a fascinating study into the habits of twins who never knew the other existed. This was such an interesting perspective and a creative, fascinating plot twist. Oh, and the astonishing ending is everything!

Thank you #NetGalley #St.Martin’sPress #SarahPekkanen #TheLocked Ward for the advanced copy.

Here For A Good Time by Pyae Moe Thet War

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In this wonderfully creative romantic comedy/suspenseful thriller, Here for A Good Time gives the reader just that…a great, satisfying read! With many book genres meshed into an exciting, adorable suspense story set on a private isolated island, two roommates will experience every emotion known to mankind, fear, regret and of course love, just to name a few. Oh, and believe it or not, they are actually kidnapped!

Poe Myat Sabei is a writer, or in her words a won hit wonder. Her first, and only book was not only a bestseller, but also optioned by Netflix. Exciting right? Not to Poe who has not been able to write a single word in a very long time. Now unfortunately she has writer’s block, or I have no ideas block.

Zwe who is her best friend and roommate and is her encourager and motivator have been friends since college. His parents own a bookstore and although Zwe would love to try and get his PhD, he works at the store to help his aging parents.

So, Poe comes up with an idea for an exotic all-inclusive vacation on a private island figuring if she can convince Zwe to go with her not only will he be able to relax, but that’s all she will need to push her to come up with an idea and start writing again. He agrees to go, reluctantly.

But what happens next is astounding!

The serenity and excitement soon turn into a nightmare. They are suddenly kidnapped by a group of women with masks no less who want to take the island over. Why Poe and Zwe? Who are they? This was certainly not on the menu of activities they had signed up for!

Now they are dragged by these abductors and forced into their craziness as they begin the takeover. Once the kidnappers are finished with them, they are going to leave them to die! Unfortunately, at first Poe and Zwe begin to turn on each other as they start to rehash all of their lives’ misfortunes (and each other’s) and dissect what they both thought was a pretty solid relationship.

As it gets close to the end of the road (literally) and they realize just how much they mean to each other and need each other to figure out a way out of this situation, will they be able to keep their wits and come up with an idea to somehow con their abductors, or will they kill each other before they get killed?

Here For A Good Time is funny, gripping story with amazing twists and turns and a very satisfying ending.

Thank you #NetGalley #St.Martin’sPress #PyaeMoeThetWar #HereForAGoodTime for the advanced copy.

What About the Dead Bodies by Ken Jaworowski

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In this unique thriller, What About the Bodies, you will somehow fall in love with the three main characters, villains in their own right. With so much heart, promising futures and strength, if they can just make it through the next few days, you will suddenly find yourselves rooting for them and their happily ever after no matter what they have to do to get there, and boy let me tell you, it’s pretty deadly trying to get there.

Carla is a single mother whose son Olly, an MIT student has just admitted to her he has made a terrible mistake. Carla, a waitress her whole life has just finally been able to buy her own restaurant and begin to change their lives. Now, her future is unsure and no matter what she does this news will transform the trajectory of their lives.

Reed is a fifteen-year-old autistic boy whose mother has just died. Not well liked by anyone in the town, bullied his whole life, his only protector is now gone. His older brother who is married and has a young child wants him to move away to a different city; Reed is at a crossroads. Especially when he discovers that a promise he made to his mother went unfilled and he must somehow rectify the situation. He begins a long trek which will take him to many places in there small-town, meeting up with some shady characters but also some compassionate, caring folks.

Liz has always been a guitar player, writer and musician. She has just been let go of another music gig at another sleezy bar in the town. With a car ready to break down and less than one hundred dollars in her bank account and no money to pay her bills or fix her car she is at a crossroads in her life. Until she gets a phone call from Nashville which could possibly change her life. She just has to get there. But her car breaks down and her shady boyfriend, not boyfriend convinces her to go to an ex-con to fix it and now she’s in very big trouble.

You will become smitten with the characters as you watch these three lost souls whose lives will inevitably interconnect and feel their heartbreaks only intensify as they realize they are going to lose it all…their hope, their desire and their future. As for the dead bodies? Well, you will just have to read this fascinating story to find out about them.

Thank you #NetGalley #AtlanticCrime#KenJaworowski #WhatAboutTheDeadBodies for the advanced copy.

A Fashionably French Murder by Colleen Cambridge

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A Fashionably French Murder is filled with mystery, murder, intrigue, and Julia Child! In this installment we are also graced with another historical character, Christian Dior! Of course, the stories are fictional, but the plots are based on historical events which make them even more powerful.

As Tabitha Knight, an American in Paris and her beloved friend Julia Child once again find themselves in another messy murder (or two), the reader will laugh at the humor and salivate at the many dishes Julia is making. We also begin to see perhaps Tabitha’s changing style from an American to perhaps a Parisian.

Tabitha and Julia go to a private fashion showing and are so excited. All this is so new to Tabitha. But when she realizes she has forgotten one of her gloves and goes back, she finds more than her glove…a woman’s body…strangled with lace. The owner. When they call the police, she is very grateful her crush Inspecteur Ettienne Merveille, who unfortunately knows Tabitha’s track record for finding dead bodies is not the officer who responds.

As Tabitha searches for clues, and Merveille is put on the case, she discovers that there is a connection to the house of Dior with Christian Dior actually being a suspect. Of course this is impossible…right? In a rather shocking turn of events, Merveille decides Tabitha should assist with the case. Is he coming around? She does have a new hairstyle…

At the same time this is all going on the added stress of watching her grandfather and uncle open a restaurant eats away at her. They seem to be bickering all the time. Thank goodness for Julia who keeps them healthy by constantly bringing them food!

And then Tabitha stumbles upon another body! In another shop. Are the two murders connected?

As the murders are solved, we begin to see our lovable cast of characters beginning to become closer and some even changing. The American in Paris Series gets more cozy, more interesting and has even more twists and turns. A Fashionably French Murder is an enjoyable read, but even more because Cambridge sews real historic events into the plots in such clever ways. Bon appetite!

Thank you #NetGalley #Kensington #ColleenCambridge #AFashionablyFrenchMurder for the advanced copy.

I Am You by Victoria Redel

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I Am You is a passionately heartbreaking, complex love story set in the 1600’s in which two women’s lives one whose social status is higher, evolve and revolve around each other. Their need to be together prevails on so many different levels and yet they sometimes appear to be like oil and water, a desperate need to be separate. But in the end, they can’t resist the love and need they each feel which will last their whole lives. This wonderful story although fiction, is based on the real Maria van Oosterwijck, who was the only female painter at the time.

In Amsterdam, back in the 1600’s a young woman must disguise herself as a boy in order to survive in the house she is a servant. An orphan, she has nowhere to go. Her name is Gerta Pieters, but they all know her as Pieters, a young boy. Except for one person. The young daughter of the esteemed family suspects what Gerta is doing. Her name is Maria van Oosterwijck and she is a painter.

When it is decided that Maria must move for her career, she insists that Gerta accompany her as her servant. And thus begins the story of these two women as they try to exist in a male dominated society with Maria attempting to break through the men’s monopoly in art as a painter.

But their lives will become even more tangled as Maria treats Gerta as her servant but also her teacher and shows Gerta how to use colors and paint. But teacher and student become entangled even more so as they begin to get closer and fall in love.

As time goes on and Gerta’s progress in art begins to shine, Maria begins having physical problems which make her unable to work without Gerta’s help. But this must be kept hidden, as is most of their relationship. Gerta must hide her talent for the sake of her employee as well as their love story. Unfortunately, jealousy is a silent green-eyed monster.

Gerta finds it difficult to maneuver all the moving pieces of their complicated lives which is made even more complicated by Maria’s nephew who Gerta is resentful of and dislikes. But Maria too is envious as Gerta begins to become known in the art world.

I Am You is a mesmerizing love story, set in a time when this love could never be known, when a woman painter was unheard of and whose relationship was so much more than what anyone would ever have suspected. Where one of them begins, the other will be there with love and their secrets for an eternity.

Thank you #NetGalley #SJPLit #VictoriaRedel #IAmYou for the advanced copy.

Pre order now. Book comes out September 30.

The Busybody Book Club by Freya Sampson

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The Busybody Book Club is an enjoyable, cozy, funny mystery with so much heart and soul. You will fall in love with the characters, warts and all as they try and play amateur sleuths to solve a terrible crime, find a missing person, keep their community center open and most importantly learn so much about themselves and each other and the secrets they all carry that they will be friends for life.

Nova Davies has just moved from London to a little village with her fiancé. His parents live here, and they are staying with them until their wedding which is in just a few short weeks. Nova was fortunate enough to get a job working at the local community center thanks to her best friend. Although new at this job, she was a social worker back in London and is pretty good at handling people. Or so she thought.

On this night, the book club is gathering to discuss the book, Where the Crawdad Sings. The regulars are filing in. We have elderly Phyllis and her faithful companion Craddock, a bulldog. An Agatha Christie specialist, Miss Marple being her favorite, she would prefer to read something different. She is a bit of a curmudgeon. Then there is Arthur who is also elderly and takes care of his wife. He reads romance stories to her as she is blind. He enjoys getting out and the book club is one of his favorite activities. He sees the good in everyone and everything! Ash is a teenager who rather enjoys science fiction and is quite shy. Although he normally doesn’t participate, he’s trying to learn how to be more outgoing. There is a reason for this!

As they begin their discussion, a man walks in. He seems a bit sketchy. His name is Michael, and he seems nervous. Not really participating, he suddenly gets a text and shoots up and leaves. Needless to say, the group don’t know what to make of this.

The next day when Nova comes in she discovers someone last night stole the money which was set aside for the new roof for the community center. She realizes she accidentally left the office door unlocked. She is beside herself. And of course, they blame her.

Well, the book club group with Phyllis as their leader decide to investigate. They all believe it had to be Michael who stole the money. But when they finally find out where Michael lives, they discover he has disappeared, and his mother has been murdered.

Thus begins the most adorably well crafted, funny yet charming mystery. All of them trying to figure out who took the money and especially how to save Nova’s job. But be careful what you wish for because there are people who will try and stop them.

What they don’t realize is this mystery will not only bring The Busybody Book Club closer to each other but change their lives forever in the best way possible! The characters are entertaining, the mysteries a complete surprise! Hopefully they will be back to solve another whodunit!

Thank you #NetGalley #Berkley #FreyaSampson #TheBusybodyBookClub for the advanced copy.