Here is another title in the series that began with Before the coffee gets cold. Those familiar with the books know what to expect.
For those who are new to the author, it is important to know that a unique cafe is featured. This spot helps select patrons to return to the past so long as they are ready to return within the proscribed time frame. It is critical that the rules are followed.
Four customers want to go back in time. For example, one is a daughter who pushed her father away.
Will these returns bring peace or resolution? Read this short collection to find out.
Many thanks to NetGalley and Harlequin Trade Publishing for this title. All opinions are my own.
Her distinctive prose and sharp eye were tuned to an outsider’s frequency, telling us about ourselves in essays that are almost reflexively skeptical. Here’s where to start.
— Read on www.nytimes.com/article/joan-didion-best-books.html
The Searcher…The Hunter. These linked and simply titled novels by Tana French are highly recommended. While The Hunter can be read without having read The Searcher, they are best as a pair (even if, for any reason, a reader picks up The Searcher second.)
These stories feel different from the author’s earlier Dublin Murder Squad books. I loved those and miss them but these two titles tell of new directions (and welcome ones) on French’s part.
Ardnakelty, the setting, a small, Irish, mostly farming community feels so real that a reader will believe that they could visit. It is a place with a population that includes some quirky characters.
Readers will get to know the most important characters well (although I think that some of the secondary characters sometimes were hard to keep track of). Among these are Trey. To me, she feels like a kindred spirit to Scout in Harper Lee’s book. Both have strong opinions and beliefs. Trey is a teen who has become close to Cal, initially despite herself. Cal is an incomer to Ireland. He has become a kind of mentor to Trey and their relationship has much meaning to both. Lena has become involved in a relationship with Cal though she does not want to marry. She also cares about Trey.
In this novel, Trey’s ne’er do well father, Johnny, is back from England. He has a grand scheme in mind. Readers can find out about this when the pick up the novel…and they should! How will Johnny’s arrival impact Trey who is just beginning to have some stability? Will there be a great deal of destruction?
This book, for me, was kind of a slow burn. I relished its pace however and was in no hurry to turn the last page.
It is very easy to recommend The Hunter. Its characters, setting and story are all memorable.
Many thanks to Penguin Group Viking and NetGalley for this title. All opinions are my own.
I have just begun reading this book which is gently provocative and inspiring. The author, ordained within the Episcopal Church, has left the ministry to begin teaching World Religion in a small, largely Christian college.
Written in a highly accessible, almost novelistic tone, Ms. Taylor introduces the reader to her students and their studies. She encourages the reader to think about the role of religion in our lives. Although I have not yet finished the book, I have the feeling that I will be savoring it right up to the end. This is a thoughtful and highly recommended read.
From Goodreads:
The renowned and beloved New York Times bestselling author of An Altar in the World and Learning to Walk in the Dark recounts her moving discoveries of finding the sacred in unexpected places while teaching the world’s religions to undergraduates in rural Georgia, revealing how God delights in confounding our expectations.
Barbara Brown Taylor continues her spiritual journey begun in Leaving Church of finding out what the world looks like after taking off her clergy collar. In Holy Envy, she contemplates the myriad ways other people and traditions encounter the Transcendent, both by digging deeper into those traditions herself and by seeing them through her students’ eyes as she sets off with them on field trips to monasteries, temples, and mosques.
Troubled and inspired by what she learns, Taylor returns to her own tradition for guidance, finding new meaning in old teachings that have too often been used to exclude religious strangers instead of embracing the divine challenges they present. Re-imagining some central stories from the religion she knows best, she takes heart in how often God chooses outsiders to teach insiders how out-of-bounds God really is.
Throughout Holy Envy, Taylor weaves together stories from the classroom with reflections on how her own spiritual journey has been complicated and renewed by connecting with people of other traditions—even those whose truths are quite different from hers. The one constant in her odyssey is the sense that God is the one calling her to disown her version of God—a change that ultimately enriches her faith in other human beings and in God.
It is easy to recommend this debut mystery and series starter. The investigator is a Black woman who has returned to her New Jersey community and childhood home. There are many unsettling things going on beneath the surface of her hometown. When Vandy becomes involved in an investigation, murder and more will happen and much will be exposed.
There are twists, a good plot and a look at some important issues in these pages. Murder in Queenstown is definitely worth adding to a reading list.
Many thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for this title. All opinions are my own.
Pub date: 16 July 2024
From the author:
Dear Reader: I am excited to welcome you to the world of Vandy Myrick, the private investigator who leads my new mystery, TROUBLE IN QUEENSTOWN (Minotaur Books, on Sale, July 16, 2024). The story follows a tangled case in which Vandy confronts the entrenched powers of her fictional New Jersey hometown to solve a racially charged murder. I invented Vandy and Queenstown to satisfy my longing for stories that reflected the people and places I knew best. After years of reading American and English masters of crime fiction, I wanted to write a PI mystery of my own. But I wanted to festoon my book with trappings not found on hard- boiled urban streets or in secluded country manors. And I wanted a modern hero who looked and sounded like people I’d grown up with. A woman of action to wrestle with power in defense of neighbors she believed in. To populate Queenstown, I dug into my own family for inspiration. My cousin, Esther Myricks, founded a small private security agency in the Bronzeville district of Chicago’s South Side in the 1970s. Our fathers were brothers, so as a child and teenager, I looked to Esther as an older role model. Esther, now in her mid-eighties, is smart, tough, funny, and determined. Her example of a Black woman tackling jobs in a rough neighborhood gave me the idea that I could accomplish whatever I set my mind to. Esther’s security agency focused on job verifications, property protection, insurance claims, and process serving. I’m pretty sure murder never crossed her docket. Vandy Myrick, the private investigator I created, treads a far grittier, violence-strewn path. But I endowed Vandy with other features directly mirroring the real-life model. Though Esther is tiny in stature, she has a room-commanding presence. When she speaks, even if it is a whisper, you best listen. And her sense of style made the most of her natural beauty. I remember she was the first adult in our family to wear an Afro and she did it with fierce grace. Even today, Esther drapes her still-slender figure with elegance. In the world according to Esther, sexy is the fused flip side of tough. Where did I find inspiration for Vandy’s sense of social mission? Directly from her namesake. For decades, Esther worked as a community activist and civic organizer, sometimes inside the fabled Democratic Party apparatus, sometimes outside its ranks. I borrowed Esther’s dedication to advocacy for the people of her neighborhood. In Vandy, this drive becomes a commitment to helping people whose voices are often dismissed. I had a blast filling Vandy Myrick with Esther Myricks’s warmth and energy. I hope my cousin Esther is proud of this creation she inspired. And I hope you have a good time reading about Vandy’s adventures. Enjoy the read! Delia TROUBLE IN QUEENSTOWN by DELIA PITTS On Sale: 07/16/24 · Fiction · Hardback: 978-1-250-90421-8· 320 pages · 6 ⅛” × 9 ¼” · $28.00/$37.00 Can. eBook: 978-1-250-90422-5 · $14.99/$16.99 Can. · Digital Audio: 978-1-250-35059-6 · $26.99
Discussion questions from the publisher:
1. In the novel’s first chapter, private investigator Vandy Myrick displays several distinctive personal traits that may help or hinder her investigation. What do you think of her physical toughness, her sarcasm, her teetotaling, her curiosity, and her daring willingness to plunge into untested situations? 2. What do Vandy’s interactions with her bartender friend Mavis; her boss, Elissa; and her father, Evander; reveal about Vandy’s upbringing and current status as the novel begins? 3. What were your first impressions of Vandy’s client, Leo Hannah? How did those initial views change as the story developed? What did you think of Leo by the end of the story? 4. In what ways is the community of Queenstown itself a character in the novel? How does the community’s long past remain alive in current relationships and events? 5. How do the themes of grief and resilience play throughout the sections of this book? Could you relate to the way Vandy handled loss and sorrow? 6. Fraught family dynamics are at the heart of relationships as the story unfolds. How do notions of pride, service, loyalty, parental duty, and secrets impact the families of Sam Decker, Josephine Hannah, Evander Myrick, Ingrid Ramírez, and Carlos Baca? 7. Vandy has complicated relationships with two brothers she has known since childhood, police chief Robert Sayre and nursing home attendant Keyshawn Sayre. What events cause her involvement with these men to shift as the novel unfolds? Did you sympathize with one brother more than the other? 8. Sam quotes Robert Frost’s poem, “Nothing Gold Can Stay,” at a crucial moment in the story. What themes of the novel are touched upon by this poem? 9. Independent business owners play pivotal roles in the novel as well as in the small community of Queenstown. How do Dr. Rajaram, the pharmacist, and hairdresser Antoine Edgar impact Vandy’s efforts to solve the case? 10. Racial tensions thread through the layers of this story, reflecting the ethnic makeup of Queenstown and the diversity of the cast of characters. What do we learn about the history of Queenstown that affects the current action? How does Vandy respond to minor and major instances of racial injustice as she pursues her case? Do you think the issues in Queenstown reflect wider concerns in the United States today?
Sam Decker is an outsider to the community, forced by circumstances to explore Queenstown’s ugliest corners. Did you identify with him?
Vandy has a set of strong women friends. Her bartender friend Mavis Jenkins, her boss, Elissa Adesanya; and her assistant, Belle Ames; form a circle of resilience that enfolds her. Even the teenager, Ingrid Ramírez, plays a crucial role. How do they help her at crucial times? Do you relate to the support they provide for her?
Did you find the resolution of Vandy’s case satisfying? Which characters changed the most over the course of the story? What do you hope will happen for the main characters going forward?
What challenges does Vandy face as the story ends? Do you think the twists in this case have helped her turn a new leaf? Do you think past habits and relationships will reemerge as she tackles future assignment.
TROUBLE IN QUEENSTOWN by DELIA PITTS On Sale: 07/16/24 · Fiction · Hardback: 978-1-250-90421-8· 320 pages · 6 ⅛” × 9 ¼” · $28.00/$37.00 Can. eBook: 978-1-250-90422-5 · $14.99/$16.99 Can. · Digital Audio: 978-1-250-35059-6 · $26.99
Praise:
“Offers EVERYTHING THAT FANS OF DETECTIVE FICTION are looking for. . . Pitts has written a strong narrative that ricochets from Vandy’s tragic past to her gutsy present, keeping readers totally engaged to the very last page…and eager for more.” —FIRST CLUE “A compelling mystery, FULL OF SIZZLE and HEART.” —STEPH CHA “Delia Pitts’s writing is EXPLOSIVE, ADDICTIVE, and DOWNRIGHT BEAUTIFUL, and her PI, Evander ‘Vandy’ Myrick, is perfection: fierce, sexy, self-aware, and as smart as a slap. GET THIS BOOK NOW.” —JESS LOUREY “VANDY MYRICK IS OFFICIALLY MY NEW FAVORITE PI. A character-driven, furiously entertaining mystery from the first page to the last. A fantastic start to a sizzling new series.” —JENNIFER HILLIER “Practically leaps off the page to grab you by the throat. What A MASTERFUL WRITER. What a ride, what a PI, what a book. Welcome to Queenstown, folks. More please!”
This is Fiona Davis’s third New York City based historical novel and it is a winner! I have not read her earlier books,The Address and The Dollhouse, but may well do so now. The Masterpiece has a dual narrative structure, one story is set in the 1920s-30’s and the other in the 1970s. The stories of Clara Darden and Virginia Clay overlap and intersect. Darden is an illustrator, teacher and painter in the earlier era while Virginia, a divorcee, begins working at Grand Central around the time when the landmark battle was underway. Each woman has a backstory, relationships and challenges, all of which are well depicted. Did you know that in the 1920’s there was an art school right in Grand Central? Did you know that Sargent was one of the founders? Are you interested in historical preservation? Do you enjoy a story with a plot twist? If you can answer yes to any, or all of these questions, I highly recommend this book.
This is Fiona Davis’s third New York City based historical novel and it is a winner! I have not read her earlier books,The Address and The Dollhouse, but may well do so now.
Joyce's mystery and fiction book reviews with some non-fiction too! 