Month: July 2024

I very much enjoyed the first title in this traditional mystery series and am happy to recommend this second entry. Readers who read the first book will be delighted to again meet up with the recurring characters although those who are new will not be lost.

A chef is murdered in the Christmas season. There are suspects and a connection to Saffron who was also in the first book. The Shell House Detectives will become involved. They are Ally, the widow of a police officer and Jayden a former city cop and new dad.

The Cornwall setting is evocative, the characters come to life and the story is good. Everything I look first in a traditional mystery is here. Highly recommended. I look forward to the next in the series which is already out.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Thomas & Mercer for this title. All opinions are my own.

Pub date: 17 October 2023

by joycesmysteryandfictionbookreviewsSeptember 2, 2018

I adored The Little Paris Bookshop with its story of how one can become isolated and yet have a richer and more meaningful life when moving beyond that unsatisfying safety. This is truly a beautiful and satisfying read.

From Amazon: “Monsieur Perdu calls himself a literary apothecary. (INTERJECTION BY ME…WHAT COULD BE BETTER?) From his floating bookstore in a barge on the Seine, he prescribes novels for the hardships of life. Using his intuitive feel for the exact book a reader needs, Perdu mends broken hearts and souls. The only person he can’t seem to heal through literature is himself; he’s still haunted by heartbreak after his great love disappeared. She left him with only a letter, which he has never opened.”

Will Perdu open the letter? If he does, what will this mean to him? Find out in this lovely book.  Highest recommendation by me!!

Our annual celebration of all things mystery! This year, we’ve lined up 10 rip-roaring tales for your reading pleasure.
— Read on www.bookpage.com/private-eye-july/

Meg Shaffer’s previous novel, The Wishing Game, was one of my favorite books last year. So, I was incredibly excited to receive an e galley of The Lost Story.

In this title, the author develops an imaginative story that pays homage to CS Lewis. Just as Lewis did, Shaffer creates an alternate and magical world populated by unique characters and situations. As in The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe, characters lives will be transformed.

Two boys, Rafe and Jeremy, disappeared only to miraculously return six months later. How did their relationship and lives fare after this? What happens to them and a young woman named Emily fifteen years later? No more plot reveals as readers will want to have their own experience while reading this.

Good and evil, many kinds of love, and adventure await in this highly recommended title. BookPage has given it a well deserved star review.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Random House Publishing-Ballantine Books for this title. All opinions are my own.

Pub date: 16 July 2024

An e book bargain

In The Thing He Told Me, Laura Dave offers a perfect and immersive novel. Readers, put this one on your list of summer musts!

When Hannah falls in love with Owen, she marries him and moves to California to live with him and his teen daughter, Bailey. Owen has deep computer knowledge and is involved in the launch of a software program that is primed to make investors lots of money. The program that Owen works on will help users to erase items from their public histories. Is there an irony in this being Owen’s work?

One day, Owen disappears. He leaves a note for Hannah asking her to protect daughter, Bailey. From what? Who? From here a brilliant story filled with slow burning suspense engrosses readers. No spoilers so no more here.

The characters in this book and their relationships are so very well portrayed. I felt as if I knew Hannah and Bailey and found myself rooting for their developing connection with one another. Will Hannah, Owen and Bailey be reunited?

What led Owen to run? Is Hannah correct to believe in him? Find out. I highly (!) recommend this one.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher. All opinions are my own.

A Novel

by Brenda Novak

The Bookstore at the Beach is the second title that I have read by Ms. Novak, following her earlier novel, One Perfect Summer. As was true of that book, this is a long (448 pages) story that is filled with plot and character.

Readers follow and get to know the lives, struggles and joys of three generations of women from one family. The oldest is Mary. She runs a bookstore in a small town and leads a fairly insular life. Mary is not a risk taker. Why? What happened to her in the past that formed her attitudes and character? No spoilers so you have to read the book to find out.

Next up is Autumn, Mary’s daughter. She has come with her two children to spend time with Mary over the summer. Readers learn early on that Autumn’s husband has been missing for nineteen months, most likely related to his travel in Ukraine. Should Autumn hold on to hope that he will come back or…should she again become involved with her high school crush who lives in the town where Autumn is summering?

Finally there is Taylor, Autumn’s daughter. She was feeling numb and engaged in sexual activity without using birth control. Is she pregnant? If yes, how will this define her life? There is also a strong plot line about Taylor’s friendship with Sierra as Taylor wonders if she is in love with her.

The author holds onto all of the many plot strands without losing any of them. She tells a story that has some depth and that held my interest.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this title. All opinions are my own.

In her novels, Fiona Davis brings the world of New York City to her readers. I have spent time at the Frick Mansion, the New York Public Library, the Chelsea Hotel and other locations with her as a guide. Each time Ms. David brings the landmark to life, sharing some of its history and mystique. This is exactly what she does in The Spectacular, where readers go to Radio City Music Hall and spend time with the famous Rockettes. As usual, Ms. Davis tells an involving story with not just the intriguing setting, but also good characters and an involving plot.

Readers get to know the members of the Brooks family. The father is a widower with a prosperous business and strong opinions. Judy is the less beautiful daughter, the one who works at her father’s company and seems to mostly do exactly what is expected. For her part, Marion is expected to be and do the same; she is supposed to marry the right sort of young man and he has just proposed to her early in the novel. However, Marion is more like her deceased mother who was artistic. Marion loves to dance and decides to take a chance, auditioning for the Rockettes. This decision to become a Rockette affects Marion’s family relationships. She wants their support but is not sure that she can count on them.

Marion also meets many new people, including Bunny (another dancer) and Peter, a psychiatrist, among others in her new life. Readers not only learn about these people, they also get to witness the grueling rehearsal schedule and indeed spectacular formations of the Rockettes.

At the same time there is a bomber in the city. How will that play at Radio City? What will be the impact on Marion and what role will take on in events?

The novel opens with Marion when she is older. It then goes back and takes readers on her journey. They will watch Marion as she faces real threats and emotional ones, all the while deciding what kind of life she wants for herself.

Here is yet another very good read by the author. Recommended for historical fiction and women’s fiction readers. It is a delight.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Penguin Group Dutton for this title. All opinions are my own.

FOUR STARS ****

Editorial Reviews

Review

“An engaging story…the novel is rich with historical details, and it comes most vividly to life in the passages about the Rockettes, with all the sweat, agony, and camaraderie that go into those miraculously perfect performances.” —Kirkus

“Davis masterfully draws Marion into the story, setting the scene for a cinematic conclusion. Readers will be attracted to the intriguing history and moved by Davis’ entrancing narrator.”
—Booklist

#WelcometoGloriousTuga #NetGalley

It is not easy to get to glorious Tuga. This fictional island is far from anywhere, takes a long sea (sick) journey to get to, and is often not accessible. It is a very distant (fictional) British outpost.

The islanders are descended from several families. Many have distinctive dimples. Some want to stay there, a few want to leave (and come back) and once in a while an incomer arrives.

In this story readers meet Charlotte Walker, a vet, who has traveled to Tuga where she plans to live for a year while studying a particular tortoise. She is escaping her London life and her demanding mother while hoping that, in Tuga, she may discover her father, advance her career and enjoy a new experience.

On the trip to Tuga, Charlotte meets Dan. He is a physician who has studied abroad and is returning to Tuga to take over his uncle’s practice. He and Charlotte spend a lot of time together on the trip out. Will they have a future?

These are only two of the many, many characters who populate this warm hearted story. It takes a bit to sort them all out but there is a helpful character list at the start of the novel. Get to know them, their stories, their interconnections, challenges and loves in these pages.

Many have already declared this to be a special book. I agree. I have read that it is the first in a trilogy.

It seems to me that one of the joys of being an author is that the writer can create an entire world, populate it how they want and decide the fates of their characters. Segal has done all of this in creating Tuga. I recommend enjoying a (virtual) visit there.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Ecco for this title. All opinions are my own.

Pub date: 02 July 2024

#TheSecretsofHartwoodHall #NetGalley

An e book bargain today

The cover of this book perfectly evokes it content and mood. I really like it.

Anyone who has read Jane Eyre will recognize some of the tropes of this story. While Jane’s story is unique, this title offers a lot of fun to those who enjoy Victorian Era inspired stories. I was also reminded of some of Mary Stewart’s books, especially Nine Coaches Waiting because of the governess.

First time author Katie Lumsden does a very good job of placing the reader in the time period and in that deserted manor house setting beloved by Gothic writers. Mrs. Eversham lives in this home with her son Louis. She hires Mrs. Lennox to be her son’s tutor. Off Mrs. Lennox goes traveling with her own backstory and secrets.

She arrives to a place that is in a rather bleak locale and has a number of servants including a gardener whom readers will want to watch. Some of the staff is frightened about occurrences that may be happening in the East Wing, the only area of the house that (of course) is off limits to Mrs. Lennox.

I found this story to be a lot of fun and would repeatedly promise myself “just one more chapter” before going on to do things that were calling for my attention. I liked the plot and the characters as well as the settings. It will be enjoyed by those who like historical fiction.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the Penguin Group/Dutton for this title. All opinions are my own.

This book was published in February 2023.

Editorial Reviews

Review

A SheReads Favorite Historical Gothic Mystery

“Who doesn’t love a cursed manor house in the remote English countryside, especially one with an entire abandoned wing? I’m looking forward to diving into this modern gothic that also promises some Lady Chatterly’s Lover action (there is a handsome gardener!).”
—CrimeReads

“[A] captivating debut. . . . Assured prose propels this well-crafted tale of family, friendship, and the cost of personal freedom. Fans of the great Victorian novels, in particular Jane Eyre, will have fun.”
—Publishers Weekly

“Debut author Lumsden masterfully creates a believable atmosphere of the age, where science and logic are served side by side with the supernatural in everyday life.”
—Booklist

An e book bargain today

#Lexington #NetGalley

This horse was named for the city where he was born but he became well known to those from many other areas. He was one of the greatest race horse EVER. Lexington also sired many other famous race horses.

This is the story of both a horse and his times. That time was the Civil War era. It is nonfiction that reads easily. Recommended to anyone interested in horses, history and/or a good story. Those who read Geraldine Brooks’s recent novel may also want to read this one. It is written by an author who understands horses.

Many thanks to Random House Publishing Group for this title. All opinions are my own.

Pub date: 11 July 2023

From the Publisher