Joyce's mystery and fiction book reviews with some non-fiction too!

These two very different book bargains feature female protagonists as they deal with their lives in their historical periods.

Cocaine Blues is the first novel in the Phrynne Fisher series of mysteries.  The books are set in Australia in the 1920s.  Phrynne is an independent woman who solves cases with the help of a cast of repeating characters.  The books are fun.  Note:  the novels were made into a mystery series that I think might still be available through Acorn TV.  The TV series was good escapist fun.

From Publishers Weekly

Has everyone read Girl with a Pearl Earring by now?  If, by some chance, you missed the novel now is your chance.  It richly and luminously describes its time and place.  Vermeer and his maid are brought vividly to life.  This is a quiet novel but a good one.

From Publishers Weekly

If you enjoy watching The Crown or if you are curious about the life of Elizabeth II, this is a well-written and researched biography.  While over 700 pages long, it is still an easy read.  There are also lots of photos to enjoy.

Praise for Elizabeth the Queen

“An excellent, all-embracing new biography.”—The New York Times

“[An] imposing, yet nimbly written, biography [that] dwarfs the field . . . a most satisfying and enjoyable read, one to be savored at length.”—Minneapolis Star Tribune

“Fascinating . . . After sixty years on the throne, the monarch of Britain is better known for her poker face than for sly wit or easy charm. Yet in biographer Sally Bedell Smith’s Elizabeth the Queen, Her Majesty sparkles with both.”—More

“Smith breaks new ground, [with the cooperation of] more than two hundred people, [including] the Queen’s relatives and friends. . . . [A] smart and satisfying book.”—Los Angeles Times

“A fresh and admiring look at Elizabeth II, a woman whose life has been chronicled in numerous books, but perhaps never with such intimacy.”—Richmond Times-Dispatch

Every month I impatiently wait for news of new books in this series. This time I was delighted to see L.M. Montgomery as a subject. If anyone out there does not know, L.M. Montgomery wrote one of the (and my) most beloved childhood books, Anne of Green Gables. That story about an impulsive, loving young girl who brought new life to brother and sister, Matthew and Marilla, is full of the wonders of friendship, nature and life’s daily challenges. How did Miss Montgomery create the novel? This book explains that young Maud wrote a story of the childhood that she wished she had experienced. In doing so, she brought joy to countless children and the adults who read to them.

In this entry in the Little People, Big Dreams series, young readers will get to know Maud, understand her early years and see the spirit that moved her toward her dream of becoming a published author.

Read this book to a child you know and then, read or re-read the books that made Maud Montgomery a beloved resident of Prince Edward Island.

Thanks to NetGalley, the publisher and the author.

#LucyMaudMontgomery #NetGalley

See below for a link to another Anne book for young readers.

For lovers of Anne with an E (George)

From the book: “Bone on bone. It’s like the very core of us, the essence, is rubbing up next to the people who matter most. Who are as close to us as our own bones. And sometimes that can be painful. Painful and wonderful, both.” This truth is carefully explored in Julia Keller’s newest novel.

Each book in Julia Keller’s Bell Elkins series is “painful” yet “wonderful” to read. The recurring characters in the series have lives that have been filled with tragedies and difficulties, yet they persevere and try to do their best. In this latest entry, the writer delves more deeply into Bell’s story and also that of a deputy, Jake. It would include spoilers to say more but readers of the series will be interested to see what has happened and how they are coping.

The Bell Elkins books are definitely best read in order. The setting is West Virginia where drugs have ravaged the population. The stories are dark but with genuine humanity in them as well. In Bone on Bone, the effects of drugs on some of the more well off citizens are at the heart of the story. Yes, this is a mystery and there is murder but the worst offender is not the murderer but the easily available illicit substances. There are characters who wish the world was different and who long for lives in which they have more control. All are movingly portrayed.

I often love to escape when I read. This book does not provide a happy escape but it is SO worth reading. Thanks NetGalley, the publisher and the author for this brave novel.

Here are the American and British covers of the penultimate book in one of my very favorite series, the Jimmy Perez novels by Ann Cleeves.  I am so sad to know that the next book, Wild Fire, will be the final one.  In Cold Earth,  a mysterious woman is, yes, mysteriously murdered on the island.  She is discovered following a landslide and the funeral of a character from the first book, Black Raven.  Who was she?  What are her connections to Shetland and the people there? Who wanted her dead?  The plotting is intricate and the story is involving.  Jimmy and Willow, an investigator from off-island meet up again and the reader becomes involved in their relationship.  There are romantic developments for the under confident Sandy as well.  This book is definitely one to be savored.  If you have not read this series, do so.  The characters grow and develop and the reader cares  about them.  The books in order are:

• Raven Black (2006); Gold Dagger Award.
• White Nights (2008)
• Red Bones (2009)
• Blue Lightning (2010)
• Dead Water (2013)
• Thin Air (2014)
• Too Good To Be True (2016, novella)
• Cold Earth (2016)

Praise for Cold Earth:

“The stark Shetland landscape provides an atmospheric backdrop for Cleeves’s complex, relatable characters, especially Perez, a kind man dealing with his own tragic past.”―Publishers Weekly

“The Shetland Islands provide a stunningly atmospheric setting for the complicated hero [Perez]’s latest procedural, a challenge he meets with determination and more than a little angst.”―Kirkus Reviews

“Plenty of suspects on a remote Scottish island mixed with the high quality of Cleeves’s prose make this a solidly plotted whodunit for procedural and traditional mystery readers.”―Library Journal

If you are lucky enough not to know these books, there is a treat in store for you!

This book tells of a true life adoption story that is both fascinating and horrifying .  The joyous part is that two sisters, twins who were placed with different adoptive parents. reunite.  The tragic part has to do with how and why they were separated to begin with.  Pair reading this book with seeing the movie Three Identical Strangers.  Both have to do with the practices of the Louise Wise adoption agency in New York City.

A blurb:

“Identical Strangers has all the heart-stopping drama you’d expect. But it has so much more—the authors’ emotional honesty and clear-eyed insights turn this unique story into a universal one. As you accompany the twins on their search for the truth of their birth, you witness another kind of birth—the germination and flowering of sisterly love.”—Deborah Tannen, #1 New York Times bestselling author of You Just Don’t Understand

I really liked this book when I read it a few years ago.  I immediately read the next in the series as well.  As it was a little while ago and I don’t recall the details, I will quote from Booklist.

“When Troy Chance spots what she thinks is a small boy being tossed off the back of a passing ferry, she instinctively jumps into the icy waters of Lake Champlain. She rescues the youngster and discovers that his arms were bound with an adult sweatshirt. He’s incredibly frightened, speaks only French, and won’t tell her what happened. Troy determines that she will keep him safe rather than turn him over to the police. When he finally begins to confide in her, he tells a bizarre tale of being kidnapped, hearing his mother murdered by gunshot, and then being held for months. As Troy tracks down the boy’s father, she begins to question whether she will be able to let him go, since he has unleashed within her a maternal instinct she had no idea she possessed. In her debut, the first in a projected series, Henry proves herself to be a smooth and compelling storyteller. And her lead is highly appealing: an athletic, fiercely independent young woman who, like crime-fiction author Gillian Flynn’s feisty females, is capable of making delightfully acerbic observations. –Joanne Wilkinson””

A fun introduction to the basic moves of gymnastics.  Each move is compared to the way an animal moves; young folk can slither like a snake, for example.  The illustrations are vivid and multi-cultural. Children and their parents can enjoy this book together as they bend, stretch, jump and use up some energy.  A cute addition for a toddler’s bookshelf!

There are so many alphabet books for young children that parents are spoiled for choice. This one has a cute concept. The animals are not the most common ones so there is a little more surprise for the little learner. The book has bright, colorful illustrations that will engage youngsters. At the end, all of the animals are lined up for children to pick out and remember. This one is a good addition for early learners’ bookshelves.

#LittleConceptsAbcAnimals #NetGalley

Andrew and Briana Volk have authored a lavishly illustrated compendium of food facts, recipes and cocktails.  All are influenced by the state of Maine, the city of Portland and Briana’s Finnish ancestors.  There are recipes for dishes like salmon soup, smoked trout with deviled eggs, summer vegetable stew, pretzels, butterscotch buddino with pistachio praline, etc.  To this are added cocktails both cold and hot.  There are side treks to places like Mohegan Island and information on things like how to shuck oysters.  A great resource for interesting food and drink with a special shout out to Maine, one of my own favorite places.

#NorthernHospitalityWithThePortlandHuntAlpineClub #NetGalley