In this “irresistible, immersive, and completely unputdownable” (Ellery Lloyd, New York Times bestselling author) debut novel, a former antique hunter investigates a suspicious death at an isolated English manor, embroiling her in the high-stakes world of tracking stolen artifacts.
What antique would you kill for?
Freya Lockwood is shocked when she learns that Arthur Crockleford, antiques dealer and her estranged mentor, has died under mysterious circumstances. She has spent the last twenty years avoiding her quaint English hometown, but when she receives a letter from Arthur asking her to investigate—sent just days before his death—Freya has no choice but to return to a life she had sworn to leave behind.
Joining forces with her eccentric Aunt Carole, Freya follows clues to an old manor house for an advertised antiques enthusiast’s weekend. But not all is as it seems. It’s clear to Freya that the antiques are all just poor reproductions, and her fellow guests are secretive and menacing. What is going on at this estate and how was Arthur involved? More importantly, can Freya and Carole discover the truth before the killer strikes again?
My Thoughts
When I was a reference librarian, I adored Miller’s Guide to Antiques, so when I learned the author of this delightful mystery is part of the Miller family, it was a bonus reading experience!
Miller has delivered a clever mystery featuring two endearing and super-smart characters in Carole and Freya. The author does an excellent job with dialog, description, plotting and pacing although I admit I got a little irritated with the numerous references in the early chapters to the dirty deed done to Freya in Cairo. Just tell us what it was, for goodness sake! (I am an impatient reader sometimes!)
The deeper I got into the book, the more engrossed I became because the mysterious elements abounded! Observant readers will figure out at least two of the villains early on, but that won’t detract from the sheer pleasure of this delightful book. I hope this becomes a series with Carole and Freya going on all sorts of adventures.
Nicely done.
Publication Date: February 6, 2024 Published By: Atria Books Thanks to Netgalley for the review copy
NATIONAL BESTSELLER • A lyrical culinary journey that explores the hidden legacy of Black Appalachians, through powerful storytelling alongside nearly forty comforting recipes, from the former poet laureate of Kentucky. People are always surprised that Black people reside in the hills of Appalachia. Those not surprised that we were there, are surprised that we stayed.
Years ago, when O. Henry Prize-winning writer Crystal Wilkinson was baking a jam cake, she felt her late grandmother’s presence. She soon realized that she was not the only cook in her kitchen; there were her ancestors, too, stirring, measuring, and braising alongside her. These are her kitchen ghosts, five generations of Black women who settled in Appalachia and made a life, a legacy, and a cuisine.
An expert cook, Wilkinson shares nearly forty family recipes rooted deep in the past, full of flavor—delicious favorites including Corn Pudding, Chicken and Dumplings, Granny Christine’s Jam Cake, and Praisesong Biscuits, brought to vivid life through stunning photography. Together, Praisesong for the Kitchen Ghosts honors the mothers who came before, the land that provided for generations of her family, and the untold heritage of Black Appalachia.
As the keeper of her family’s stories and treasured dishes, Wilkinson shares her inheritance in Praisesong for the Kitchen Ghosts. She found their stories in her apron pockets, floating inside the steam of hot mustard greens and tucked into the sweet scent of clove and cinnamon in her kitchen. Part memoir, part cookbook, Praisesong for the Kitchen Ghosts weaves those stories together with recipes, family photos, and a lyrical imagination to present a culinary portrait of a family that has lived and worked the earth of the mountains for over a century.
My Thoughts
It’s not often I find a cookbook that is as much a story as a collection of recipes. Praisesong for the Kitchen Ghosts is such a book. Crystal Wilkinson writes a lovely, flowing memoir of her family as seen through the food they grew and consumed. Blending elements of a family scrapbook (snapshots of Wilkinson’s people likely taken with an old Kodak or Polaroid camera) are interspersed with fancier photos of the current finished recipes.
Some recipes are presented as they have been prepared in Wilkinson’s family for generations; others have been updated to include new ingredients and to accommodate new ways of eating for Wilkinson and her family. Each recipe is connected in specific ways to her family, ways which are communicated through gently told tales of her “kitchen ghosts” or all the women who came before her and inhabit her kitchen when she cooks.
Wilkinson’s earliest ancestors settled in Kentucky – those who were enslaved and those who were free. They grew up and worked the land on Indian Creek and reveled in the bounty that the land provided. Wilkinson provides a rare insight to the black folks who inhabited parts of Appalachia, especially the women who influenced her.
While the folkways and stories are unique to Wilkinson’s family, I recognized much of the food she writes about from stories told by my mother-in-law, a white woman who grew up in the hills of West Virginia. I read the section on poke to my husband, who educated me about the beautiful but poisonous plant last summer. Turns out his mother planted it on her farmland in western NY because it reminded her of home in West Virginia. The steps Wilkinson shares on how to safely handle and consume poke are identical to the process my mother-in-law used. Same thing for how to wash and cook greens.
General observation not really related to the book: As I’ve learned more about race in the last few years, I’ve observed that when it comes to food, we are very alike in our traditions and approaches to fixing things to eat. Wilkinson’s Chicken & Dumplings may be the closest I’ll come to replicating my MIL’s food. She, like Granny Christine, rarely cooked from recipes.
This is one of the most enjoyable, readable cookbooks I’ve read in years and I’ll be buying a copy for myself. I’m definitely making Jam Cake and caramel icing, although there are plenty of wonderful recipes to try.
“With Praisesong for the Kitchen Ghosts, Crystal Wilkinson cements herself as one of the most dynamic book makers in our generation and a literary giant. Utter genius tastes like this.”—Kiese Laymon, author of the Carnegie Medal-winning Heavy.
Publication Date: January 23, 2024 Published By: Clarkson Potter/Ten Speed Press Thanks to Netgalley for the review copy
Some people think foxes are similar to ghosts because we go around collecting qi, or life force, but nothing could be further than the truth. We are living creatures, just like you, only usually better looking . . .
Manchuria, 1908.
A young woman is found frozen in the snow. Her death is clouded by rumors of foxes involved, which are believed to lure people by transforming themselves into beautiful women and men. Bao, a detective with a reputation for sniffing out the truth, is hired to uncover the dead woman’s identity. Since childhood, Bao has been intrigued by the fox gods, yet they’ve remained tantalizingly out of reach. Until, perhaps, now.
Meanwhile, a family that owns a famous Chinese medicine shop can cure ailments, but not the curse that afflicts them—their eldest sons die before their twenty-fourth birthdays. Now the only grandson of the family is twenty-three. When a mysterious woman enters their household, their luck seems to change. Or does it? Is their new servant a simple young woman from the north or a fox spirit bent on her own revenge?
New York Times bestselling author Yangsze Choo brilliantly explores a world of mortals and spirits, humans and beasts, and their dazzling intersection. The Fox Wife is a stunning novel about a winter full of mysterious deaths, a mother seeking revenge, and old folktales that may very well be true.
My Thoughts
This is my first 5-star review in awhile. This book gets ALL the descriptors: mysterious, lovely, heartbreaking, satisfying, lyrical, deadly, and so many more.
Ah San (or Snow) and Tagtaa are characters I will remember for a very long time. Both driven by love for family and loyalty to friends and lovers, they drive this story forward as one seeks revenge and one seeks to protect. The complicated relationships that connect the two women and Bao are intricately plotted and beautifully rendered.
The writing here is some of the best I’ve read in a long time and the story grips you from the first page forward. I feel like this would be amazing in audiobook form and will look for that in the future.
I will be purchasing a print copy of this for my own shelves (which rarely happens!). Highly, highly recommended.
“Beware: once you start, you may not be able to put it down!” —Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni, author of Independence and The Last Queen
Publication Date: February 13, 2024 Published By: Henry Holt & Co. Thanks to Netgalley for the review copy.
A debut novel full of magic, adventure, and romance, The Book of Doors opens up a thrilling world of contemporary fantasy for readers of The Midnight Library, The Invisible Life of Addie Larue, The Night Circus, and any modern story that mixes the wonder of the unknown with just a tinge of darkness.
Cassie Andrews works in a New York City bookshop, shelving books, making coffee for customers, and living an unassuming, ordinary life. Until the day one of her favorite customers—a lonely yet charming old man—dies right in front of her. Cassie is devastated. She always loved his stories, and now she has nothing to remember him by. Nothing but the last book he was reading.
But this is no ordinary book…
It is the Book of Doors.
Inscribed with enigmatic words and mysterious drawings, it promises Cassie that any door is every door. You just need to know how to open them.
Then she’s approached by a gaunt stranger in a rumpled black suit with a Scottish brogue who calls himself Drummond Fox. He’s a librarian who keeps watch over a unique set of rare volumes. The tome now in Cassie’s possession is not the only book with great power, but it is the one most coveted by those who collect them.
Now Cassie is being hunted by those few who know of the Special Books. With only her roommate Izzy to confide in, she has to decide if she will help the mysterious and haunted Drummond protect the Book of Doors—and the other books in his secret library’s care—from those who will do evil. Because only Drummond knows where the unique library is and only Cassie’s book can get them there.
But there are those willing to kill to obtain those secrets. And a dark force—in the form of a shadowy, sadistic woman—is at the very top of that list.
My Thoughts
The early chapters in this mesmerizing book kept me glued to the pages. I was fascinated by the concept of the books, especially the Book of Doors. However, I put the book down after the introduction of “the woman” and the subsequent chapters that described her sociopathic, cruel behavior. The introduction of the woman and particularly what she did with the Book of Despair horrified me and I needed a break.
If you are a squeamish reader, this is your warning. The violence here is V.i.o.l.e.n.t.
When I came back, I waded through chapters that became increasingly challenging to keep straight. Make no mistake, this is a complex plot that requires close reading. The concept of the books was so intriguing that I was able to set aside several instances of irritating and insensitive dialog and description, which could be fixed with some editing. Considering I was reading an ARC, hopefully these things will be fixed in the final version.
There is some insight to the “why” of the cruelty and sociopathy at the end, but that part left me wondering if the final scene in NYC with Hugo and Rachel actually started the whole cycle all over again.
My prediction is that most readers will either love or hate this book. I’m in the middle – I am totally there for the Books, but less so for the humans in the story.
Publication Date: February 13, 2024 Published By: William Morrow Thanks to Netgalley for the review copy
A warm, inviting celebration of beloved keepsakes and the stories they hold.
A set of old apartment keys, a pair of worn running shoes, a declaration of love scribbled on a restaurant receipt. Beautiful stories that celebrate the power an object can hold are at the heart of The Heirloomist by photographer Shana Novak, creator of the project of the same name dedicated to documenting keepsakes and transforming them into uniquely meaningful works of art. The 100 objects featured here range from the everyday to the extraordinary. Treasured heirlooms to their owners, ordinary folks and cultural figures alike, they hold remarkable stories such as:
Nora McInerny on the fork that began her relationship with her late husband.
The sculpture that inspired Christy Turlington to fight for maternal healthcare.
The charm bracelet Nate Berkus gifted his daughter in stylish family tradition.
Rosanne Cash’s love for her children represented by baby shoes.
Andrew Zimmern’s inherited steel carving set that began a storied career in food.
Big or small, expensive or humble, we all have meaningful items with powerful messages behind them. Celebratory, sentimental, and bursting with heart, The Heirloomist offers a glimpse into the treasures we hold dear and how they inform the stories of our lives.
My Thoughts
The concept of heirlooms is something that has been top of mind for me in the last few years as my family has coped with multiple losses of our elders and kin. My home is currently filled with things that connect me to those who have gone before me, all of them keeping a story that is a thread of my past. Reading this incredibly tender and joyous work by Shana Novak has given me some ideas on how to share those stories with the younger generations in my family. While I understand that some of the things that have special meaning for me will not evoke the same memories for my children or nieces & nephews, many items hold the key to wonderful family stories.
Novak has carefully selected heirlooms and stories that reveal everything from secrets to prosaic moments in the past that shaped those featured in each section. This is a book to be savored and shared, and will undoubtedly get the reader to take stock of the memories and history they have shoved into the back of a long-forgotten closet. If anything, this book made me want to pull out my grandmother’s old silver, polish it up and place it in my every-day utensil drawer.
Highly recommended.
Publication Date: April 30, 2024 Published By: Chronicle Books Thanks to Netgalley for the review copy
New York Times bestselling author Rachel Hawkins returns with a twisted new gothic suspense about an infamous heiress and the complicated inheritance she left behind. THERE’S NOTHING AS GOOD AS THE RICH GONE BAD
When Ruby McTavish Callahan Woodward Miller Kenmore dies, she’s not only North Carolina’s richest woman, she’s also its most notorious. The victim of a famous kidnapping as a child and a widow four times over, Ruby ruled the tiny town of Tavistock from Ashby House, her family’s estate high in the Blue Ridge Mountains.
But in the aftermath of her death, her adopted son, Camden, wants little to do with the house or the money—and even less to do with the surviving McTavishes. Instead, he rejects his inheritance, settling into a normal life as an English teacher in Colorado and marrying Jules, a woman just as eager to escape her own messy past.
Ten years later, his uncle’s death pulls Cam and Jules back into the family fold at Ashby House. Its views are just as stunning as ever, its rooms just as elegant, but the legacy of Ruby is inescapable.
And as Ashby House tightens its grip on Jules and Camden, questions about the infamous heiress come to light. Was there any truth to the persistent rumors following her disappearance as a girl? What really happened to those four husbands, who all died under mysterious circumstances? And why did she adopt Cam in the first place? Soon, Jules and Cam realize that an inheritance can entail far more than what’s written in a will––and that the bonds of family stretch far beyond the grave.
My Thoughts
Holy hell!
Here’s the new Gone Girl for 2024 and it’s a DOOZY. Hawkins has delivered an unforgettable tale of suspense, family intrigue, deception, betrayal, and ultimately love (although love without trust). You will read this one in a single sitting, so arm yourself with plenty of tasty beverages and snacks and settle in for a bumpy ride.
There’s really nothing more to say about this fabulous story except get yourself a copy!
Publication Date: January 9, 2024 Published By: St. Martin’s Press Thanks to Netgalley for the review copy
I haven’t done a “Favorites of the Year” list in quite some time but I was reviewing my reading for 2023 and thought I’d talk a bit about some of my favorites. My lists tend to include books you won’t see on the “Best of” lists from the usual places, so I hope you find something you might have missed this year.
There’s a good bit of the Mystery/Suspense/Thriller genre, with a solid dose of fantasy & magical realism, and at least one “remarkable” children’s book.
The Twyford Code by Janice Hallatt is a very unusual book, with a good portion of it consisting of transcribed messages. This is a book where you really have to pay attention, but if you are a puzzle-lover, you will adore this book. I didn’t read anything else like it this year.
Emily Wilde’s Encyclopedia of Faeries by Heather Fawcett – I am usually not a fan of twee romantasy stories, but this one captured my attention because the female protagonist is strong, clever, and determined. This is a debut author I will follow, for sure. Well worth the time.
Other Birds by Sarah Addison Allen – Addison Allen’s previous books have hooked me with their gentle, sometimes raw, always honest stories of families, and this one is no different. Here, it’s mothers and daughters and the sometimes complicated relationships they share. Just a lovely, gentle book.
Spice Road by Maiya Ibrahim – hands down the best fantasy novel I read in 2023, and one I am hoping gets turned into a mini-series or film, it’s that good.
River Sing Me Home by Eleanor Shearer – This book has it all – rage, heartbreak, despair but also hope, love, and resilience – all driven by a mother’s unyielding love for her children. You won’t forget this one.
Last Remains by Elly Griffiths – I’ve been a fan of Griffiths “Ruth Galloway” books and this one is the last in that series. Griffiths does an outstanding job of tying up loose ends and ending the series in a very satisfying way. If you like British mysteries that are not filled with gore, I highly recommend the Galloway series.
Gospel of Orla by Eoghan Walls – This novella took me back to my mother’s death in 1984 and reminded me of all the feelings that consumed me at that time. A beautiful little book about grief and family dynamics.
Nic Blake and the Remarkables by Angie Thomas – Thomas successfully jumped genres with this, her first fantasy book for children. It’s full of appealing and powerful Black characters who I am sure have captured the hearts of middle grade readers everywhere.
Killing Me by Michelle Gagnon – This quirky murder mystery features one of the more unusual female protagonists and cast of characters I’ve ever come across. Read it in a day.
Lady in White by Zachary Finn – As a Rochester NY resident who grew up on the “White Lady of Durand Eastman Park” folk story, I had to include this one among my favorites this year. So good!
Red Rabbit by Alex Grecian – If Stephen King wrote The Sisters Brothers – I flew through this weird and wild mash up of the western and horror genres.
White Hare by Jane Johnson – This story has all the things that captivate me in a book: magical realism, plenty of folklore, colorful characters, secrets from the past, and complicated family relationships.
These are books I read in 2023, but some of them may have been published in other years. They are all worth your time!
Twelve years ago, eight friends ran an exclusive group at university: The Masquerade Murder Society. The mysteries they solved may have been grisly, and brilliantly staged, but they were always fictional—until their final Christmas Masquerade, when one of the group disappeared, never to be seen again.
Now our young, privileged cast of old university friends are summoned to the depths of Scotland for a Christmas-themed masquerade party. But all are hiding something deep below the surface that could make or break their careers. Charley is a struggling actress who has always been on the periphery of this high-flying group, but has decided to reunite with her frenemies on the promise of career help if she joins the old cast for one last weekend.
When they arrive each is assigned a new identity themed around the “Twelve Days of Christmas”—they become Lady Partridge or Mr. Gold; Lord Leapworth or Doctor Swan. The game begins, and it feels just like old times. Until the next morning, when Lady Partridge is found hanging—dead—from a pear tree.
It quickly becomes clear that in this game the murder will be all too real, and the story is bringing long-hidden secrets to the surface. Will Charley’s discerning eye and outsider status allow her to uncover the truth, or will she, too, fall prey to the murderer among them?
If the group hopes to win the game and survive until Christmas morning, they will need to face the truth about their history together and who they have become—and what really happened on that fateful night twelve years before.
My Thoughts
I listened to the audiobook version of this and found it riveting. The narrator was very good, and the reading nicely paced.
The story is cleverly plotted, although the use of the Twelve Days of Christmas started out as an interesting convention, but seemed a bit unnecessary and ultimately unrelated to the conclusion of the action. Even so, it added an unusual element to the overall story.
It’s the characters who shine throughout. Cordani has written a memorable set of characters you love to hate, and the narrator does a remarkable job of communicating their personalities through her voice, especially Dasha! The story flips back and forth from the present to the past, and Cordani manages to keep both plot lines well-planned, releasing little bits of information here and there leading up to the final screaming finish in the woods. I did wish at times that Charley had a little bit more backbone, but it’s clear that this group of people devoted themselves to tearing her down over the years, so her behavior and lack of action in some instances is totally understandable.
The setting at this remote, snowbound Scottish estate is right out of Agatha Christie and the Golden Age country house murder mysteries. Cordani is brilliant at setting the scene and using narrative description to build tension.
I’m on a Christmas murder mystery binge right now and this one is definitely recommended!
January 1918. Laura Iven was a revered field nurse until she was wounded and discharged from the medical corps, leaving behind a brother still fighting in Flanders. Now home in Halifax, Canada, Laura receives word of Freddie’s death in combat, along with his personal effects—but something doesn’t make sense. Determined to uncover the truth, Laura returns to Belgium as a volunteer at a private hospital, where she soon hears whispers about haunted trenches and a strange hotelier whose wine gives soldiers the gift of oblivion. Could Freddie have escaped the battlefield, only to fall prey to something—or someone—else?
November 1917. Freddie Iven awakens after an explosion to find himself trapped in an overturned pillbox with a wounded enemy soldier, a German by the name of Hans Winter. Against all odds, the two form an alliance and succeed in clawing their way out. Unable to bear the thought of returning to the killing fields, especially on opposite sides, they take refuge with a mysterious man who seems to have the power to make the hellscape of the trenches disappear.
As shells rain down on Flanders and ghosts move among those yet living, Laura’s and Freddie’s deepest traumas are reawakened. Now they must decide whether their world is worth salvaging – or better left behind entirely.
My Thoughts
I’ve been a fan of Arden’s work since I first read her Winternight Trilogy, which I wrote about here and here. While her previous work has been some of the best fantasy and horror I’ve read, she stretches way beyond those genres here in a book I can only describe as quietly incandescent.
The utter horror of World War I has been documented in so many ways that Arden doesn’t feel obligated to give a history lesson here. Instead, she examines the humanity (and inhumanity) experienced by average people caught up in situations too big and too awful to comprehend without going mad. She beautifully renders the utter heartbreak and the paralyzing fear experienced by soldiers, nurses, and doctors, juxtaposed with love, affection, friendship and the human capacity to just get on with it and worry about details later.
In Winternight, Arden wrote about a place called Midnight and the struggle between Chaos and Order. I recognized some aspects of both those things in some scenes here. The character of Faland reminded me a bit of The Bear – the bringer of chaos, the eater of souls – but the character here was developed in such a way that made me cringe but also want more. The concept that the war was so horrific, that it was murdering the old world and making way for the new, was so carefully balanced with the idea that it was also changing the nature of evil itself is one that has kept me thinking long after finishing the book.
I’m not often completely surprised at twists in a story, but the twist near the end of this one left me entirely nonplussed and drained. Arden’s treatment of relationships – brother & sister, mother and child, friend & enemy – is so intricate and beautiful that some scenes made me cry. That doesn’t often happen.
Despite the chaos and horror, the threads that pull it all together are love and madness. How can humans endure utter madness yet still find their way back to those who love them? How much can one person endure before they give up and what lengths would you go to in order to bring your loved one back from the brink?
This book comes out in early 2024 and I predict it will be on all the “Best of 2024” lists. It is a triumph for Katherine Arden and a gift to us all.
Publication Date: February 13, 2024 Published By: Random House Publishing Group; Ballantine; Del Rey Thanks to Netgalley for the review copy
In the far west of Cornwall lies the White Valley, which cuts deeply through bluebell woods down to the sea at White Cove. The valley has a long and bloody history, laced with folklore, and in it sits a house above the beach that has lain neglected since the war. It comes with a reputation and a strange atmosphere, which is why mother and daughter Magdalena and Mila manage to acquire it so cheaply in the fateful summer of 1954.
Magda has grand plans to restore the house to its former glory as a venue for glittering parties, where the rich and celebrated gathered for cocktails and for bracing walks along the coast. Her grown daughter, Mila, just wants to escape the scandal in her past and make a safe and happy home for her little girl, Janey, a solitary, precocious child blessed with a vivid imagination, much of which she pours into stories about her magical plush toy, Rabbit.
But Janey’s rabbit isn’t the only magical being around. Legend has it that an enchanted white hare may be seen running through the woods. Is it an ill omen or a blessing? As Mila, her mother, and her young daughter adjust to life in this mysterious place, they will have to reckon with their own pasts and with the secrets that have been haunting the White Valley for decades.
My Thoughts
This story has all the things that captivate me in a book: magical realism, plenty of folklore, colorful characters, secrets from the past, and complicated family relationships.
In addition, Johnson is an accomplished writer, equally skilled at narrative description, character and plot development, dialog, and scene setting. There are so many wonderful scenes in this book that I keep going back to re-read parts long after I finished reading.
There is a nice balance of good and evil presented here, both between Mila and her mother, who harbors a horrifying secret from her own past, and between Jack and the Vicar who are bound by an equally horrifying experience from their past.
Johnson capably moves the story along through Mila and Janey, who act as the fulcrum for resolution of both storylines. I was reminded of Eve Chase’s work as I was reading, but also of Kate Morton, M.J. Rose, and Kate Mosse.
Highly recommended.
For fans of Alice Hoffman and Kate Morton, The White Hare is a spellbinding novel about mothers and daughters finding a new home for themselves, the secrets they try to bury, and the local legends that may change their lives.
Publication Date: October 2022 Published By: Simon & Schuster
It's All About the Book 