What does it mean to be brave? Young listeners will learn that being brave doesn’t mean not being afraid. It means trying despite this and accepting that mistakes are an important part of life. Children find that it is more than okay to learn from what goes wrong. This is how we grow. The lesson is brought home through the adorable animal characters who try things out in these pages.
The message of this sweetly illustrated book is a good one for adults as well! So…enjoy this title with a young person in your life.
Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher. All opinions are my own.
The Hollywood spy is the tenth entry in Ms. MacNeal’s Maggie Hope historical mystery series. I have read all of the novels, starting with Mr. Churchill’s Secretary which was published in 2012. Maggie has had many adventures, relationships and heartaches over the course of the stories as she experiences WWII.
As is obvious from the tile, The Hollywood Spy takes place in California. There are cameo appearances by so many who lived there in the book; to name just a few there are Walt Disney, Howard Hughes, Lena Horne, Linus Pauling and many others.
Many locations also are brought to life. There are famous hotels, Disney Studios, Cal Tech, nightclubs, speakeasies and more. Each described location feels very authentic.
Maggie travels to California to help a very close friend (and former love), John Sterling, investigate the death of Gloria Hutton. As readers would expect, there are a number of suspects, everyone from the husband she is divorcing to those with whom she worked
Several other murders follow. Are these deaths connected to Gloria’s? If yes, how and why?
While everything just described is done very well and would be enough to lead me to encourage readers to buy this novel, that is not all that was outstanding. What I feel that the author did brilliantly was to describe the times. Note: they were ugly in many ways and bear a resemblance to some current times in America. (Think of the slogan America First, for one.)
The KKK features prominently in the story. The discrimination against Blacks and Hispanics is graphically portrayed. If readers are not aware of this part of the country’s history, it is something that they need to know about. There is surely much to be proud of in the U.S. but also injustices and they are seen here.
In my opinion, The Hollywood Spy may well be the author’s best book to date. I highly recommend it.
The author has included an extensive list of resources at the end of the novel. It will be most helpful for readers who want to further explore the period in which the story is set.
Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher. All opinions are my own.
Anna Lee Huber began a new series last year when This Side of Murder was published. In Treacherous is the Night, the second novel featuring Verity Kent, the author hits her stride.
The reader learns early on that Verity was an agent in La Dame Blanche, a resistance and intelligence group, during WWI. This story has to do with events that had their origin in that time.
At the beginning of the novel, Verity, although not a believer, attends a seance with a friend who hopes to contact her brother. For those who don’t know, attending seances was common after the war. The medium appears to channel an agent with whom Verity worked during the war. From this point on, the novel is a hunt for clues to find Emilie and to prevent a tragedy. While the reader assumes that, since this is a series, Verity will survive, the author should be credited for creating suspense in her narrative.
There is a reason to read the books in order. SPOILER: This has to do with what happened to Verity’s husband, something the reader learns in the first novel. However, if the reader is willing to move forward, there is no reason that this novel cannot be read first.
I gave This Side of Murder three *** and am happy to give the new novel four. I enjoyed spending time with the main characters in this book and look forward to meeting up with Verity, Sidney and the rest of the crew in the future.
#InvestigateReligionsSAMPLE #NetGalley Pub Date 18 Jun 2021
This sample is interesting and intriguing. It tells the story of some of the major world religions in a clever way. It should engage its young readers. For example, there is a section called “identity cards” with one for Abraham, Ishamael, Jesus, Mary and others. Along with age appropriate information, this book has inviting cartoon-like illustrations. It is a good guide for learning a bit about different faiths.
Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this title. All opinions are my own.
Rachel Joyce has mastered the art of writing fiction that is slightly quirky and is populated by characters about whom readers care. This was certainly true in the two books of this author that I previously read, The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry, and Miss Benson’s Beetle.
The Music Shop, which takes place in the late 80s, is another story that embraces characters with whom readers will enjoy spending time. Protagonist Frank’s music store has been a haven to those who are searching for just the right record. All seems to flow smoothly until one day Ilse comes in and asks Frank to teach her about music. But, Ilse is not like Frank’s other patrons. Where will their encounters lead? How will their encounters impact them? Readers will root for both as they find out.
Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this title. All opinions are my own.
Editorial Reviews
Review
“The Music Shop is an unabashedly sentimental tribute to the healing power of great songs, and Joyce is hip to greatness in any key. . . . [The novel] captures the sheer, transformative joy of romance—‘a ballooning of happiness.’ Joyce’s understated humor . . . offers something like the pleasure of A. A. Milne for adults. She has a kind of sweetness that’s never saccharine, a kind of simplicity that’s never simplistic. . . . I wouldn’t change a single note. Rachel Joyce, if music be the food of love, write on!”—Ron Charles, The Washington Post
“Rachel Joyce’s charming and deceptively simple fourth novel chronicles an offbeat love story between a mystery woman and an ardent, if lonely, collector and gently explores the power of memory and music and the certainty of change. . . . Love, friendship, and especially the healing powers of music all rise together into a triumphant crescendo. . . . This lovely novel is as satisfying and enlightening as the music that suffuses its every page.”—The Boston Globe
“Magnificent . . . If you love words, if you love music, if you love love, this [novel] will be without question one of the year’s best.”—BookPage (Top Pick in Fiction)
Are you a person who finds getting on an airplane to be an adventure or are you a nervous flyer? Either personality type may well be riveted by this thriller in which much of the action centers on a long haul flight from London to Sydney (20 hours in the air!). In some ways, the story is a take on a locked room mystery in that much of the action is confined to the plane and the stories of its passengers and crew. However, there is also backstory so some time is spent on the ground and with other characters.
The book’s protagonist, Mina, is on the flight when…a note is given to her. What does it say? How will it influence what she does? In order for there not to be spoilers, it is not possible to say more except that this is a story that may well put readers on the edges of their seats.
My only quibble with this story is that I did not absolutely love some of the characters and I don’t just mean the “bad” ones.. I do, though, admire Ms. Mackinstosh’s imagination and storytelling ability. Readers, remember that this is fiction!
Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this title. All opinions are my own.
A Distant Grave follows on the success of last year’s first in this series, The Mountains Wild. I wish that both books had slightly more engaging titles and covers as they deserve to be picked up and read. I gave a very favorable review to The Mountains Wild. Ideally, it should be read before A Distant Grave as otherwise there are some spoilers at thes beginning of the book. Readers who are fine with that can certainly start with this one though.
Maggie D’Arcy is again straddling two continents; part of this title takes place in North America (on Long Island) and part in Europe (Ireland). There are also sections that take place in Afghanistan. Each locale is fully brought to life.
Familiar characters from the first book abound; these include Maggie’s daughter, Lilly; her uncle, Frank; Irish boyfriend Conor and the many police and legal officers in both places. I enjoyed spending time with all of them.
Maggie’s case centers on the perplexing death of humanitarian aid worker, Gabriel who is murdered in Maggie’s neighborhood. There are many strands to his life and death. Does his demise have to do with his mother’s rebellious and independent nature that led her to be a single mother in conservative Ireland? Does it have to do with who Gabriel’s father was? Why was Gabriel’s Irish lawyer also murdered? What does the case have to do with Gabriel’s time in Afghanistan (if anything)? Are there connections between the murders and some of those with whom Maggie works in New York? What brought Gabriel to New York any way?
Readers can intuit that with all of these questions, finding the answers will make for an involving read. There is the added plus of the fully realized and engaging characters.
I highly recommend this title to those who enjoy mystery and suspense novels. Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher! All opinions are my own.
Fallen is the thirteenth entry in Ms. Castillo’s long running series of mysteries that take place among the Amish in Painters Mill, Ohio. This case feels personal to Inspector Kate Burkholder as she once babysat for the victim. As is true for Kate, Rachel left the Amish community to live her life differently. What brought her back to her childhood community? Who murdered her? Why? Was it because of some of her unsavory activities or something else? Readers will eagerly turn the page to find out.
Those who already know this series will excitedly fall on this latest entry in which the detective straddles two worlds. New readers may also read this one as their first novel by this author. They may then want to work their ways through the other twelve entries!
Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher. All opinions are my own.
Here is a new entry in a series that will inspire young kids and encourage them to realize their dreams. That is surely what happened for Mindy Kaling. As the author shows, from a young age, Mindy was interested in making people laugh. But…that was not enough. She also wanted to see people who looked like her reflected in the tv shows that they watched.
Readers will enjoy following Ms. Kaling as she achieves her goals. As is always the case with this series, there are some photos and a timeline at the back of the book. There are also suggestions for further research.
Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this title. All opinions are my own.
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Joyce's mystery and fiction book reviews with some non-fiction too! 