Author: joycesmysteryandfictionbookreviews

Four stars ****

Not so long ago, I was transported to Paris and the world of Shakespeare & Co. in Ms. Maher’s last novel. This time, readers are placed firmly in the Chicago area in the early 1970s.

It is a time of upheaval and change, even as some cling to a more 1950s lifestyle. Readers are introduced to several main characters who live in the time period.

Veronica is a bit of a free spirit and a person who is involved in the social movements of the time. Most significantly, she becomes a part of the Jane network, providing safe, but illegal, abortion services.

Patty, a friend of Veronica’s growing up years, is more conservative. She is a traditional wife and mother who is concerned about her doctor husband’s recent lack of interest in her.

Siobhan is a newer friend of Veronica’s. The story opens as Veronica accompanies Siobhan to her illegal abortion. Siobhan is an artist who is separated/divorced from her professor husband Gabe. She is active in the Janes.

Margaret is a new Assistant Professor at the University of Chicago. She is finding her way and becomes friends with Phyllis. She also becomes involved with Gabe.

This is a rich historical novel that will remind readers of what life was like in the days before Roe v Wade, a time that we have now reentered. The author tells her story well and readers will become immersed in the lives of these fictional characters and the decisions that they make.

I highly recommend this one. It is being published at just the right time.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Berkley Publishing Group for this title. All opinions are my own.

From the Publisher

This series launch by Vanessa Lillie does not feel like the work of a beginner. It is beautifully plotted, has a wide variety of three dimensional characters, and brings its people and settings fully to life. Along with all of this, readers will deepen their understanding of the issues that faced the Cherokee people but historically and to this day.

Syd is a Cherokee woman who works for the Bureau of Indian Affairs. She has left the community where she grew up after a horrific home invasion and the death of her close friend. This character, Luna, is very much a presence in the book as Syd repeatedly hears her voice. In her current life, Syd is committed to her work and is in a relationship. Her wife very much wants to be a mother. Syd is not sure if she is up for this.

As this complex story opens, Syd has found a body in Rhode Island, most likely of a Narragansett woman. She is called back to her home community in mid stream when a case needs to be solved there. At the same time, Syd’s sister is missing. Her history includes addiction but would she have willingly abandoned her daughter?

Readers will turn the pages as they try to figure out what has happened to the people of this mystery and get to know Syd, her family and the others around her.. I recommend it very highly. It is atmospheric, suspenseful and (I would say) educational (as regards the treatment of the Cherokee and others.)

Fans of books as diverse as those by Carolyn Haines and Suzanne Chazin will, I think, enjoy this book very much. The writer is like Haines in that she has a ghost speaking to a character. Chazin is recalled because both she and Lillie have a deep understanding of communities and people of color who have not been treated fairly.

I will be most eager to read all of the books in this series as they are released. I hope that there will be many.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Berkley Publishing Group for this title. All opinions are my own.

Five stars *****

From the Publisher

FIVE STARS *****

This absolutely gorgeous, WWI-set, historical fiction title is one to savor and read at a leisurely pace. At 448 pages in length, it is one that requires the reader’s time.

Oxford, England-right before war (WWI) breaks out. Two sisters (twins), Peggy and Maude, live on a narrowboat on a canal. They work at the Oxford University Press putting together the books that will one day be read. The job is tedious but, in compensation, Peggy takes home any books with faults, adding to an already large home library.

Maude has an undiagnosed condition that seems somewhat like what today would be called autism. She requires much supervision from Peggy as the story opens. Maude seems content to live in the moment while Peggy is aware of the academic life in Oxford and deeply wishes that she could be part of it.

Oxford-war has begun. A group of Belgian refugees come to work at the press; each has her own backstory. Much attention is given to Lotte, someone who bonds with Maude. Wounded soldiers also come to town and Peggy begins to read to them.

This is how the novel begins; it slowly entrances the reader who wants to spend time in this community and its wide range of characters. There are those who live on the water, those who work in publishing, Gwen (who has the life that Peggy seems to want), the Belgians and many others. Spending time with all of them is a wonderful experience.

Highly recommended to historical fiction readers. They will want to know how the lives of the characters unfold in friendship, family, work and love.

As an aside, those who are interested in how books were actually made in the days long before a digital world, will learn a great deal here. These details enhanced the reader’s ability to enter the characters’ worlds.

Note that the author has written one previous novel; readers may well want to look for that one as well.

Here is what Library Journal concluded in a starred review:

VERDICT Highly recommended for readers who enjoy historical fiction about strong women, like the works of Kate Quinn, Beatriz Williams, and Laura Willig.

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

From the Publisher

This is the author’s second novel, following on the well regarded Violin Conspiracy. I very much enjoy that these are music based stories. Think the world of composing is quiet? Well, not exactly when it may turn out that someone who claimed authorship of some works, may have had no right to do so.

What did Josephine Reed compose in the 1930s? What was her relationship with another composer named Delaney? Why is one of Delaney’s relative contacting protagonist Bern Hendricks? Who else will be involved as things become complicated? Will wrongs be righted? What is the role of race in the story and its events? Read this enjoyable, thoughtful sophomore work by the author to find out.

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

Advance praise for Brendan Slocumb’s Symphony of Secrets

“Music lovers will revel in Symphony of Secrets, a novel that is at once a celebration of music and also a cautionary tale about legacy, privilege, and creative genius.” —Nita Prose, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Maid

“Absolutely brilliant! Once again, Slocumb’s consummate skills are on vivid display as he gives us a fascinating page-turner that slips back and forth in time and seamlessly blends a heart-pounding thriller, a heartfelt look at family and quiet heroism, and a searing exposé of issues stretching from deep in our country’s past to the very present. The ‘secret’ of his title is apt indeed. And as for the cast: nobody creates rich, fully formed characters like Brendan Slocumb. Some books we finish and move on. This one will stay with you long after you turn the final page.” —Jeffery Deaver, New York Times bestselling author of The Bone Collectorand Hunting Time

“A twisty, mesmerizing mystery—Brendan Slocumb’s writing is like music itself, dancing elegantly from the page.” —Danya Kukafka, bestselling author of Notes On An Execution

“With Symphony of Secrets, Slocumb has woven an incredible thriller about music, genius, history, and greed—and how easily innocent passion can turn to dangerous, deadly obsession. You won’t be able to put it down until the last note!” —Peng Shepherd, author of The Cartographers

A Novel

by Jane Harper

The e book is a bargain

Narrated by Stephen Shanahan

Australian author Jane Harper burst on the mystery/suspense world with her very first book, The Dry. She has gone from strength to strength since then. That first book and this one both feature Aaron Falk as the protagonist detective. I like spending time with him. I think my enjoyment was enhanced by hearing, rather than reading, this novel. Aaron and the other characters just came to life for me through the narrator’s voice.

A mother reportedly left her newborn baby at a festival just a year ago. Did she leave her child voluntarily… or not? What about all of the people that she, Kim, left behind? They include a teenage daughter with Kim’s first husband Charlie, and her second husband, as well as those around them.

Harper does an excellent job creating a setting and a story. Are the events of the story linked to the past of these family and friends? Readers/listeners will surely want to know.

I highly recommend this title. Harper is in a group with other deep favorites of mine like Louise Penny.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for this title. All opinions are mg own.

Pub date: 31January 2023

This collection focuses on the importance of all that can be done for the environment. Rather than being doom scrollers, the writers of this book present a more hopeful outlook.

I love that the authors begin by noting that anytime is a good time for a story. What could be more true. Reading is the perfect anytime, low tech activity for an adult to share with a child.

Included in this beautifully illustrated collection are stories from around the world, beginning with Indonesia and ending with Canada. Birds, beasts, water creatures are all here.

This is a good book for a home or pre-school or early elementary school library.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Quarto Publishing Group. All opinions are my own.

Four stars: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

A Novel

by Erika Robuck

Anyone who enjoys an engrossing cat and mouse thriller will enjoy Ms. Robuck’s newest book. It takes place in the 1920s.

On the one side, readers meet Marie. As is sometimes the case, she feels that she can do a job better than her husband, even as she has the responsibility of motherhood. There is lots of money to be made rumrunning and Marie wants in.

Of course, the government has concerns about the illegal activity. One of their weapons is Elizabeth. Like Marie, Elizabeth has domestic responsibilities. Nonetheless, she is driven to work with the Coast Guard. She has a great skillset including cryptanalysis.

Who will trick whom? Who will ‘win?’ Will justice be done? Will Marie escape detection? Read this entertaining novel, based on truth, to find out. It offers a fun escape to those who enjoy suspenseful historical fiction.

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

Pub date: 04 June 2024

From the Publisher

Before Covid I had never read a book by Ms. Novak. I started with One Perfect Summer and just kept going, also reading Summer on the Island, The Bookstore on the Beach, and When I Found You. All of these were enjoyable women’s fiction titles; each had a good setting storyline and characters. So, of course, I was eager to read this new book by the author.

The story takes place in a seaside community. Three friends grew up there. Ivy stayed and runs the library. Cam stayed; he became a talented architect. Ariana worked in New York in the publishing industry; she comes back to spend time with her grandmother.

The three all know of a tragic event that occurred when they were in high school. A girl went missing. What will be stirred up as events from the past spill into the present?

This book is a bit more of a mystery but retains many elements of the author’s talent for writing women’s fiction. I enjoyed this novel but did think that it had a bit of a slow start.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Harlequin Trade Publishing for this title. All opinions are my own.

From the Publisher

#TheWeddingPlanner #NetGalley

Danielle Steel has written an astonishing number of novels and shows no signs of slowing down. Her readers want exactly what she offers and they will be very happy with this new novel in my opinion.

It is a bit of a trope, the wedding planner with her own tricky love life. This is the case for Faith Ferguson. Her services are clamored for even as she has not yet found her own happy ending. Will she finally find her person? Read this one to find out and along the way meet clients, those who help weddings to be special and follow along with some complicated wedding planning.

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

Pub date: 02 May 2023

Erik Larson has a true talent for bringing history to life.  In prior books he has written about an American family in Hitler’s Germany (In the Garden of Beasts) and, in the Dead Wake about the crossing of the Lusitania, among others.  He is clearly well credentialed for writing about history and WWII.   As an added bonus, Larson’s books are not only informative, they are very readable.

I was quite excited to receive this title from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.  As can be seen from the title, this one is about Churchill and his circle during the time immediately after he became Prime Minister.

I have read several books on Clementine Churchill, both fiction and biography so was very interested in this book.  It did not disappoint.  It was wonderful to spend time with this man who was truly the right man for England’s difficult blitz years.  The book reads easily and tells the story of the country and also Winston and those who surrounded him, including his wife and children.  Readers also get to spend time in iconic locations, including Chequers.

This book is highly recommended for those interested in England, WWII abd a human and steadfast leader to whom we all owe much.

Again, many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this title in exchange for an honest review.