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

#TheWidow #NetGalley

My thoughts:

Fans of John Grisham will, no doubt, be delighted to know that they can once again enter his world. Indeed, they will get to spend ample time there in this over 400 page book.

As always, the law is at the heart of the story. It is complicated however as, this time, it is the lawyer who is accused of murder. Who is he said to have killed and how does he come to be accused? Why? Who wants to see him found guilty of the crime? The pages will turn as readers wait to find out.

This novel is vintage Grisham. I suspect that readers will be riveted to its pages!

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

Pub date: 22 October 2025

From the Publisher:

Simon Latch is a lawyer in rural Virginia, making just enough to pay his bills while his marriage slowly falls apart. Then into his office walks Eleanor Barnett, an elderly widow in need of a new will. Apparently, her husband left her a small fortune, and no one knows about it.

Once he hooks the richest client of his career, Simon works quietly to keep her wealth under the radar. But soon her story begins to crack. When she is hospitalized after a car accident, Simon realizes that nothing is as it seems, and he finds himself on trial for a crime he swears he didn’t commit: murder.

Simon knows he’s innocent. But he also knows the circumstantial evidence is against him, and he could spend the rest of his life behind bars. To save himself, he must find the real killer….

“A captivating legal whodunit . . . [Grisham’s] nuanced portrait of Latch demonstrates his gift for constructing morally flawed yet sympathetic characters. The author’s fans will be galvanized by this impressive return to form.”—Publishers Weekly

About the Author

From Amazon

JOHN GRISHAM is the author of more than fifty consecutive #1 bestsellers, which have been translated into nearly fifty languages. His recent books include Framed, Camino Ghosts and The Exchange: After the Firm.

Grisham is a two-time winner of the Harper Lee Prize for Legal Fiction and was honored with the Library of Congress Creative Achievement Award for Fiction.

When he’s not writing, Grisham serves on the board of directors of the Innocence Project and of Centurion Ministries, two national organizations dedicated to exonerating those who have been wrongfully convicted. Much of his fiction explores deep-seated problems in our criminal justice system.

John lives on a farm in central Virginia.–This text refers to the hardcover edition.

by Jack Chesher

An e book bargain

#LondonAGuideforCuriousWanderers #NetGalley

Thinking of traveling to England’s capital? Are you just an armchair traveler? Want to get a unique take on London? Whichever applies, this book is a good guide.

Readers are offered four walks through London. The first goes from Tower Hill Station to Liverpool Street Station. Next is Tottenham Court Road Station to Trafalgar Square. Third is London Bridge Station to Borough Station. Finally, there is a walk from Westminster Station to Berkeley Square.

Each walk has a theme. For example, the first one focuses on London’s buildings. They go from Roman ruins to skyscrapers.

In the introduction, the author states that he wants to show explorers lots of hidden corners. He also want to provide an “ability to read London.” Sounds good.

This book has lovely illustrations, a plethora of sites to see, informative and brief descriptions, and maps to help on the way. Each site’s address is also provided.

Recommended for someone who has the time and inclination to explore an amazing city.

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

Pub date: 09 May 2023

#TheEssentialGuidetoWomensSleep #NetGalley

My thoughts:

Getting a good night’s sleep seems to pose an inordinate challenge for many. Ironically, something that is so important can also be quite difficult to achieve.

The subtitle of this book gives a good indication of its purpose. It is to support better sleep for women so they will feel better and be able to do all of the things that they need to over the course of the day.

This title covers many aspects of sleep from the “what, how and why” of sleep, to the sleep challenges that are posed by different life stages, to strategies for good sleep habits and more. There is much to learn.

This book leaves the reader with much to think about and some strategies. It is well written and worth a look. I think that it will be welcomed by those who are looking for some help for their nights.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Jessica Kingsley Publishers for this title. All thoughts are my own.

Pub date: 21 October 2025

From the publisher:

Maintaining good sleep is a crucial yet often underrated pillar of a person’s wellbeing and general health. Despite this, there is limited guidance on how and why the various phases women experience in their lifetime may impact their quality of sleep, and what can be done to improve it.

This practical and accessible guide for health professionals introduces the concept of female sleep health across the lifetime, including key stages such as menstruation, fertility, working life, birth, perimenopause, and menopause. It also addresses sleep disorders, pain, and the impact poor sleep may have on mental health.

Readers will benefit from practical and detailed strategies on improving sleep, guidance on sleep aides and technology, and signposts to when clinical intervention is needed.

A Novel

by Kate Quinn-an e book bargain

#TheBriarClub #NetGalley

To my mind, Ms.Quinn is a bit of a chameleon. Her latest novel, The Briar Club, felt quite different from say The Rose Code (a favorite of mine). That is not to say that I didn’t enjoy The Briar Club because I very much did.

A few things about the structure of the book:

The house gets some chapters as events unfold.

The story is told almost as a series of short stories with a section given to each of the main characters.

There are recipes from each of the main characters included.

As regards the story itself, which unfolds during the McCarthy era, right from the beginning readers know that there has been a murder. There may be more to come (no spoilers). Who was killed and why? Of course, readers want to know. They will keep turning the pages to find out.

The character who moves in to the house right at the beginning of the story seems to be the glue between characters. It is Grace March who draws everyone together and it is she who organizes the regular weekly tenant dinners. The residents who attend are quite different from one another. One character works at the National Archives, another is a mother with a young child, someone is more involved with the McCarthy hearings, an older woman was once an artist and is now down on her heels. These are just some of the women and all of them have backstories.

I would read anything by Kate Quinn and this book does nothing to change that opinion. I recommend it highly recommend it as do Library Journal and Publishers Weekly which both gave this a starred review. Readers will remember the women and events at Briarwood House.

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

Pub date: 09 July 2024

My thoughts:

#DidntYouUsetoBeQueenieB#NetGalley

Anyone who enjoys watching shows about food and chefs (there are so many!) will want to give this food and chef based story a look. It features two people who come together because of their cooking. Find out what brought them together and how each helps the other while also learning the characters’ back stories.

Readers will want the best for these two!

Many thanks to NetGalley and William Morrow for this title. All thoughts are my own.

Pub date: 15 April 2025

From the publisher:

Description

For everyone who loved The Bear! An utterly winning, crowd-pleaser of a novel about a disgraced celebrity chef, her striving protégé, and their path through the kitchen to redemption.

Regina Benuzzi is Queenie B—a culinary goddess with Michelin Star restaurants, a bestselling cookbook empire, and multimillion-dollar TV deals. It doesn’t hurt that she’s gorgeous and curvaceous, with cascading black hair and signature red lips.

She had it all. Until she didn’t.

After an epic fall from grace, Queenie B vanishes from the public eye, giving up everything: her husband, her son, and the fame that she’d fought to achieve. Her shows are in rerun, her restaurants still popular, but her disappearance remains a mystery to her legions of fans.

Local line cook Gale Carmichael also knows a thing or two about disaster. Newly sober and struggling, Gale’s future dreams don’t hold space for culinary stardom; only earning enough to get by. Broke at the end of the week, he finds himself at a local soup kitchen in one of the roughest parts of New Haven, Connecticut. But Gale quickly realizes that the food coming out of the kitchen is not your standard free meal—it is delicious and prepared with gourmet flair.

Gale doesn’t recognize Regina, the soup kitchen’s cranky proprietor, whose famous black mane is now streaked with gray. It’s been more than ten years since Queenie B vanished into her careful new existence. But she sees Gale’s talent and recognizes a brokenness in him that she knows all too well. The culinary genius in hiding takes him under her wing.

Teaching Gale, Regina’s passion to create is reignited, and they both glimpse a shot at the redemption that had always seemed out of reach. When Gale is chosen to compete on the hit cooking show, Cut!, it’s a turning point for them both.

It’s Gale’s time to shine. And that means Queenie B might just have to come out of hiding…

Editorial Reviews 

Review

“Charming…DeFino skillfully weaves Gale’s and Regina’s stories, revealing how both have sabotaged themselves out of a fear of losing control. It’s an immersive tour through the highs and lows of a chef’s life.” — Publishers Weekly

My thoughts:

The Memory Gardener was just the kind of book that I was looking for. I wanted something with a nice setting, good characters and some hope in the plot. Note that plots of the gardening as well as the fictional are a part of the story. There is also a bit of magical realism with the main character having a special connection to scents.

Lucy had fled her small hometown after a personal tragedy. She has been living a peripatetic existence since then working as a garden restorer but moving on as each project is completed. However, Lucy has returned home to her widowed father as the story starts.

Lucy finds an ad that leads her to her next position which is fixing the neglected gardens of a senior residence. Lucy believes that her deceased mom has led her here.

Both Lucy and the reader meet many of the residents and staff of the home where Lucy becomes a change agent. All of the characters also spend time with Lucy’s delightful dog named Gully.

Lucy has a gift for recognizing scents that bring back memories for people. This once backfired spectacularly so it is only with great caution that Lucy shares scents with some of the elderly at the home. For instance, Mr. Fitz reconnects with his love of taking photos after smelling something that leads to reminiscing.

In addition to the characters mentioned above, Lucy meets a young widower and his electively mute daughter. Gully and she connect. Readers will hope that Lucy and Adam do as well.

All seems to be going along nicely until Lucy learns why she is really at the home. Will things work out? Readers will definitely hope so.

Those looking for a gentle yet engaging read will, I hope, enjoy this title as much as I did.

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

Pub date: 25 November 2025

From the publisher:

Lucy Barnes is a gardener with an uncanny ability to know exactly which scent among her flowers will illuminate to a person a key from their past that might change their future. Sadly, after a tragedy ten years ago, she no longer uses her gift and has fled her hometown.

But six months after her mother’s death, Lucy awakens to find her mother’s unmistakable scent drifting over her, and she knows that she is being called home. And when a mysterious note leads her to take a job as the gardener at the Oceanview Home, a senior-living residence, Lucy finds herself wondering if there is more to her gift—and her mother’s past—than she ever knew.

Her work among the lush gardens of Oceanview Home soon awakens the entire community, unearthing memories that will forever change all who cross Lucy’s path. But not everyone is happy to see how her presence has transformed the Oceanview Home, and when a secret comes to light that threatens to shatter the entire community, the future suddenly looks uncertain. Have the memories that Lucy has unearthed awakened something wonderful…or are some memories better left buried?

About the Author

Meg Donohue is the USA TODAY bestselling author of You, Me, and the Sea; Every Wild Heart; Dog Crazy; All the Summer Girls; How to Eat a Cupcake; and The Memory Gardener. Her novels have been translated into Dutch, French, German, Italian, Polish, Portuguese, Spanish, and Turkish. Meg has an MFA from Columbia University and a BA from Dartmouth College. Born and raised in Philadelphia, she now lives in San Francisco with her husband, three daughters, and dog. She is working on her next novel. 

Cut to the chase…there is a rumor that Maria Capello cooked her husband in one of her recipes. Pretty gruesome, but did she? If you wonder, this may be the book for you.

Maria’s husband was a talented chef. His belongings were found along with a note, indicating the possibility of suicide. Did he kill himself, did Maria (as noted above) or did something else entirely happen? Turn the pages to find out.

Protagonist Thea had an absent mother and a father who came in and out of her life randomly. For a sense of security, Thea always watched Maria Capello’s cooking show. It offered comfort, taught her recipes, and even fostered an introduction to her husband.

Thea was on the verge of losing her job but, for some reason, Maria wants her to edit her new book. It is all very top secret. Thea does not know why she was chosen. Will she have been right to accept the job? It leads to her isolation on an estate.

In addition to the main story line, I liked how the author showed Thea’s home life with its daily relationship and parenting frustrations. I also liked how she made a Brooklyn neighborhood come to life.

All in all, worth a look for those who can take some horror. Not so sure for myself. Be aware that it becomes creepy.

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

Pub date: 05 August 2025

From the Publisher

Chloe has a lot on her plate. She has taken on the responsibility for her younger siblings and has therefore disrupted her career plans. Rather than being a full blown librarian, she works in a library doing a variety of more menial tasks.

One day, Chloe is asked to clean out the books that are to be discarded by the library. She makes a few finds while there. One is a trove of Harlequin romances that her friend wants for her grandmother (Chloe agrees to sneak them out). The other find is a former banned book that may be worth enough to make a difference for Chloe. She takes it.

Chloe later finds that this book has writing in the margins. Much as in The Book Swap, the messages have significance. Someone offers to buy the book; why does he especially want it?

How will lives change? Will characters grow? Find out in this story that takes place in more than one time frame.

I always am drawn to books about books so I was eager to read this one.

Many thanks to Sourcebooks Casablanca for this title. All opinions are my own.

Pub date: 30 April 2024

Over 300 Hearty Recipes for Every Season

by The Coastal Kitchen

#TheEncyclopediaofSoupsandStews #NetGalley

Here is a book that home cooks will enjoy as the weather gets colder. With more than 300 recipes, there is so much to choose from. Recipes are sorted by categories such as Pasta, Noodles & Dumplings; Vegetables; Poultry; Chilled Soups & Desserts, and more.

The photos made me hungry. The recipes seemed easy enough to follow. There is information on how long each one will take to prepare, ingredients are listed on the left hand side of the page, and the recipe is on the right.

Note too that there is much helpful information in the beginning section of the book.

This book will make a welcome addition to a cookbook shelf. It would also make a nice gift. At close to 500 pages, there is much to enjoy.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Cider Mill Press for this title. All opinions are my own.

Pub date: 11 November 2025

From the Publisher:

Unlock the hearty and comforting world of soups and stews with this encyclopedic cookbook.

This cookbook offers an extensive collection of 300+ nourishing recipes for every season. Dive into a rich tapestry of flavors, from classic favorites like French onion soup and beef stew to exciting new twists with spicy ramen bowls and creamy chowders. Perfect for both culinary novices and experienced chefs, these recipes come with easy-to-follow instructions and expert tips to ensure success in every bowl.

Inside you’ll discover:

• Over 300 recipes for soups and stews that span the globe
• Gorgeous full-color photographs to inspire your culinary creations
• Techniques for elevating your soups and stews to new levels of deliciousness

Whether you’re preparing a cozy weeknight dinner or a celebratory feast, this book will be your go-to guide for crafting meals that bring people together. Embrace the warmth and satisfaction of creating soul-soothing dishes with every recipe.

More From the Publisher:

He Saw the World in a Wave

by Susie Hodge

This series of books for children is published in conjunction with New York City’s Metropolitan Museum of Art. Each entry is beautifully illustrated and gives a sense of the artist’s spirit and sensibility. This time the artist featured is a well-known Japanese one.

Even as an adult who has taken art history classes, I learned new things in reading this title. For example, the artist changed his name many times, lived to a rather old age and was interested not only in Japanese art.

Children will learn that Hokusai was adopted, that he studied with many artists and that he constantly wanted to improve. They will see that he was an artist who developed his own style during a time when there was much conformity in Japan.

The author invites children in. She offers them art projects that they might want to explore. As in the other volumes, there are some special sections at the end of the book.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this enjoyable title. All opinions are my own.