Years ago Alex Marks escaped to New York City for a fresh start. Now, aside from trips to her regular diner for coffee, she keeps to herself, gets her perfectly normal copywriting job done, and doesn’t date. Her carefully cultivated world is upended when her childhood hero, Francis Keen, is brutally murdered. Francis was the woman behind the famous advice column, Dear Constance, and her words helped Alex through some of her darkest times.
When Alex sees an advertisement searching for her replacement, she impulsively applies, never expecting to actually get the job. Against all odds, Alex is given the position and quickly proves herself skilled at solving other people’s problems. But soon, she begins to receive strange, potentially threatening letters at the office. Francis’s murderer was never identified, turning everyone around her into a threat. Including her boss, editor-in-chief Howard Dimitri, who has a habit of staying late at the office and drinking too much.
As Alex is drawn into the details surrounding her predecessor’s murder, her own dark secrets begin to rise to the surface and Alex suddenly finds herself trapped in a dangerous and potentially deadly game of cat and mouse that takes her all the way from the power centers of Manhattan to Francis Keen’s summer house, where her body was found and where the killer may just be waiting for her.
My Thoughts
This is one of my few 5 star reads this year and it is spectacular!
This is a book full of tension that twists you up and an ingenious plot driven by a protagonist who alternately frustrates the hell out of you then has you pumping your hand in the air yelling “go girl!” Every character is well-developed and plays their part to perfection.
Maxwell perfectly blends the murder of Francis Keen with the dark, dark secret of Alex’s past, driving the story forward at breakneck speed.
A very nearly perfect book.
Publication Date: August 13, 2024 Published By: Atria Books Thanks to Netgalley for the review copy
The Haunting of Hecate Cavendish is book one in New York Times bestselling author Paula Brackston’s new, magic-infused series about Hecate Cavendish, an eccentric and feisty young woman who can see ghosts.
England, 1881. Hereford cathedral stands sentinel over the city, keeping its secrets, holding long forgotten souls in its stony embrace. Hecate Cavendish speeds through the cobbled streets on her bicycle, skirts hitched daringly high, heading for her new life as Assistant Librarian. But this is no ordinary collection of books. The cathedral houses an ancient chained library, wisdom guarded for centuries, mysteries and stories locked onto its worn, humble shelves. The most prized artifact, however, is the medieval world map which hangs next to Hecate’s desk. Little does she know how much the curious people and mythical creatures depicted on it will come to mean to her. Nor does she suspect that there are lost souls waiting for her in the haunted cathedral. Some will become her dearest friends. Some will seek her help in finding peace. Others will put her in great peril, and, as she quickly learns, threaten the lives of everyone she loves.
My Thoughts
Brackston’s latest appears to be the first in what promises to be an exciting series. While I’ve seen some reviewers complain about the end being unsatisfying, I found it quite the opposite – for me the end is a sort of gentle cliffhanger. No, the singular villain has not been revealed but that only serves to make me anticipate the future adventures of Miss Cavendish. And that definitely doesn’t mean that there’s a lack of a satisfying climax – in fact there are two very compelling scenes that lead to the end.
My previous reading of Brackston’s books led me to expect a slow burn of a story, and that’s what I experienced here. The story moves along at a gentle pace as Hecate navigates her new position as Assistant Librarian along with managing her mother’s ambition that she conform to society’s expectations of a young woman. Once the action starts, though, watch out. You’ll be turning pages as fast as you can read.
As a librarian, I connected right away with Hecate’s love of her new work. I enjoyed reading about her work and reveled in her discoveries. Additionally, I was delighted to find that the Hereford Mappa Mundi really exists and spent an enjoyable hour or so reading about it and exploring its images online.
This reader is definitely looking forward to more Hecate Cavendish.
Publication Date: July 23, 2024 Published By: St. Martin’s Press Thanks to Netgalley for the review copy
“Extraordinary…Reminds me of Donna Tartt’s 1992 debut, The Secret History…I was so thoroughly submerged in a rich fictional world, that for hours I barely came up for air.” – Maureen Corrigan, Fresh Air, NPR
When a teenager vanishes from her Adirondack summer camp, two worlds collide.
Early morning, August 1975: a camp counselor discovers an empty bunk. Its occupant, Barbara Van Laar, has gone missing. Barbara isn’t just any thirteen-year-old: she’s the daughter of the family that owns the summer camp and employs most of the region’s residents. And this isn’t the first time a Van Laar child has disappeared. Barbara’s older brother similarly vanished fourteen years ago, never to be found.
As a panicked search begins, a thrilling drama unfolds. Chasing down the layered secrets of the Van Laar family and the blue-collar community working in its shadow, Moore’s multi-threaded story invites readers into a rich and gripping dynasty of secrets and second chances. It is Liz Moore’s most ambitious and wide-reaching novel yet.
My Thoughts
I requested to review this book because of the location – a camp and community in the Adirondack Mountains in my home state of New York – and also because of my childhood fascination with sleep-away camp. The financial and social circumstances of my family were not those that made the possibility of sleep-away camp attainable, but that didn’t stop me from reading everything I could find about camp experiences, both good and bad. The mystery here is as bad as you can get – a camper disappears. And not just any camper, but the daughter of the wealthy family that owns the campground. The ensuing story covers the full-on search for the camper but also expands to recount the mystery surrounding the disappearance of the camper’s brother 10 years prior.
Told in short-form, alternating viewpoints, I admit I sometimes found it hard to keep everyone straight. However, the stories of two people provided the thread holding it all together – those of Judyta and Tracy, a rookie cop and the closest friend the lost camper had on-site. Their insights to both the camper and to the search process hold the story together.
Tbh, I have little sympathy for “poor-little-rich-girl” stories, but Moore does a decent job of humanizing the women in this story, especially Alice, TJ, and Barbara. I found the end very satisfying, for both plot lines – the death of Bear Van Laar and the disappearance of his sister Barbara. I found myself whipping through the final 20% of the story just to find out what happened.
Definitely recommended.
Publication Date: July 2, 2024 Published By: Penguin Group Riverhead Thanks to Netgalley for the review copy
Jane Eyre meets The Thirteenth Tale in this new modern gothic mystery from two-time Mary Higgins Clark Award–winner Carol Goodman, about a reclusive writer who is desperate to rewrite the past.
Losing yourself inside of a book can be dangerous. Not everyone finds their way out.
Agnes Corey, a junior editor at a small independent publisher, has been hired by enigmatic author Veronica St. Clair to transcribe the sequel to her 1993 hit phenomenon, The Secret of Wyldcliffe Heights. St. Clair has been a recluse since the publication of the Jane Eyre-esque book, which coincided with a terrible fire that blinded and scarred her. Arriving in the Hudson Valley at St. Clair’s crumbling estate, which was once a psychiatric hospital for “wayward women,” Agnes is eager to ensure St. Clair’s devoted fans will get the sequel they’ve been anticipating for the past thirty years.
As St. Clair dictates, Agnes realizes there are clues in the story that reveal the true—and terrifying—events three decades ago that inspired the original novel. The line between fact and fiction becomes increasingly blurred, and Agnes discovers terrible secrets about an unresolved murder from long ago, which have startling connections to her own life. As St. Clair’s twisting tale infiltrates Agnes’s psyche, Agnes begins to question her own sanity—and safety. In order to save herself, Agnes must uncover what really happened to St. Clair, and in doing so, set free the stories of all the women victimized by Wyldcliffe Heights.
My Thoughts
Carol Goodman never fails to deliver a riveting, complicated, and suspenseful story and she has succeeded admirably here. Goodman excels in writing complex relationships, often mother-daughter, that span generations, and the saga of Wyldecliffe Heights certainly provides plenty of family drama. There is the horrifying secret from the past, combined with the damaged younger protagonist, combined with the creepy history of the house as an asylum that all come together to create a story that doesn’t stop.
While there are nods to Jane Eyre and The Thirteenth Tale, this is an original and cleverly plotted story with a great twist at the end. This will appeal to fans of Simone St. James and Eve Chase, but also to Goodman’s legion of readers. Her books just keep getting better! I’ll be adding this to my recommended Spooky Season reads this year for sure.
Publication Date: July 30, 2024 Published By: William Morrow Thanks to Netgalley for the review copy
The deliciously twisty new locked room murder mystery from the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Guest List and The Paris Apartment.
It’s the opening night of The Manor, and no expense, small or large, has been spared. The infinity pool sparkles; crystal pouches for guests’ healing have been placed in the Seaside Cottages and Woodland Hutches; the “Manor Mule” cocktail (grapefruit, ginger, vodka, and a dash of CBD oil) is being poured with a heavy hand. Everyone is wearing linen.
But under the burning midsummer sun, darkness stirs. Old friends and enemies circulate among the guests. Just outside the Manor’s immaculately kept grounds, an ancient forest bristles with secrets. And the Sunday morning of opening weekend, the local police are called. Something’s not right with the guests. There’s been a fire. A body’s been discovered.
It all began with a secret, fifteen years ago. Now the past has crashed the party. And it’ll end in murder at…The Midnight Feast.
My Thoughts
Fans of domestic suspense will thoroughly enjoy this riveting story. Foley has crafted an irresistible narrative that blends the present day with a dark, dark past. Her cast of characters, especially Bella and Francesca, crawl out of the pages and into your brain until you can’t stop turning pages just to find out what happens.
What really hooked me here was the dual narrative of the secret-in-the-past plot line that binds Bella and Francesca and the creepy parallel story featuring a local legend of menacing birds. Twists and turns abound and I admit to a couple parts where I wanted to throw the book against the nearest wall because the tension was too much.
This will make a fantastic summer reading experience but I might recommend saving it for spooky season in the fall. It will definitely make my list of haunting reads in October.
Publication Date: June 18, 2024 Published By: William Morrow Thanks to Netgalley for the review copy
Step into the beguiling world of 1926 New York and discover the power of resilience, friendship, and love from award-winning author Jocelyn Green.
Elsa Reisner’s lifelong dream of working as an ornithologist at the American Museum of Natural History is fading as the job begins to drain her passion. But fate takes an unexpected turn when she is assigned to catalog the bequest of a recently deceased patron whose Gothic country mansion holds secrets and treasures waiting to be discovered.
As Elsa delves into her task, she forms an unlikely bond with the estate’s delightful gardener and her daughter, as well as an architectural salvage dealer who still bears scars from the Great War. Together, they embark on a thrilling treasure hunt for a missing relic intended to safeguard the servants’ futures before the estate is sold. At the same time, Elsa’s body seems to betray her with new symptoms from a childhood disease that isn’t through with her yet.
With the brooding veteran and her handsome colleague joining the search, Elsa must navigate the tangled web of secrets and hidden motives along with the changing state of her health. As her deadline looms ever closer, will she be able to secure a new life for her friends before the estate slips from their grasp?
My Thoughts
Reminiscent of the old gothic romances of the 70’s, The Hudson Collection features a plucky heroine who teams up with a damaged but noble man to aid a young girl and her family in danger of losing their home. Elsa is one of the most appealing heroines I’ve come across recently – smart, vulnerable, and very brave. The story is very well-developed with action starting almost immediately and not stopping until the very end.
The historical elements here are fascinating, with dives into New York’s elite society scene post World War I, the polio epidemic and the far-reaching effects of medical research, and post-war mental health challenges for returning soldiers. If you’re tired of blood-and-gore mystery & suspense novels that focus on the most horrifying aspects of the human psyche, this book is for you. It is a captivating, gentle mystery that keeps your attention page after page.
Recommended.
Publication Date: June 4, 2024 Published By: Bethany House Thanks to Netgalley for the review copy
So many deaths . . . An elusive shaman, a creature of the underworld, here to unleash evil or bring justice to the wronged?
San Francisco astrologer Julia Bonatti has been haunted for years by the hit and run death of her fiancé, Michael Sefton. The driver of the vehicle was never apprehended. The lone witness to the accident spoke to no one and now is dead. Even the cold case detective assigned to the case died before any resolution was found. Every time Julia thought she might be getting close to an answer, each clue led only to a dead end.
Michael, a graduate student, had just returned from an archeological dig in Guatemala when he was killed. But why did he mail his journal to Julia for safekeeping before his return home? What was he afraid of? Why did another graduate student fall to his death on that trip? And now, another man connected with that journey has been murdered closer to home. And the murderer hasn’t finished.
When Julia finally finds the courage to delve into the journal Michael sent to her years before, she learns of the undercurrents, jealousies and anger among members of the group. She begins to understand the pressure and fear her fiancé was coping with and his suspicions of their University mentor who was most likely engaged in unethical and illegal behavior.
But events soon take a darker turn when Julia finds a likeness of the Maya god Hunhau, god of death and the underworld, on her doorstep. A strange man covered with markings and tattoos keeps appearing to her but no one else seems to see him. With guidance from another professor, she’s introduced to a world she never knew existed.
Is the man she sees human? And is he under the sway of the Maya god of death?
Will he unleash evil or is he here to right a wrong done to his people?
Julia must move quickly or her death will be the next.
My Thoughts
Di Marco’s Zodiac series has become one of my favorites. It blends the complexity of astrological research with compelling plots and appealing characters to deliver a mystery just this side of the term “cozy.” There is plenty of humor and quirky characters to be sure, and not a lot of blood and gore, but the intricate nature of the plot is what nudges this out of the cozy category for me.
DiMarco has done her research and delivered a story that includes a fascinating look into Mayan culture while at the same time exploring the often complicated relationships among the humans filling out the story. This one is very satisfying as it brings some closure to Julia regarding the death of her fiancé, which I anticipate leading to some new and equally entertaining mysteries in Julia’s future. Will be recommending this one on my summer reading lists, for sure.
Book Details
Genre: Traditional mystery Published by: Indie Publication Date: May 6, 2024 Number of Pages:370 est ISBN: 979-8989009596 | eBook 9798989009589 Series: The Zodiac Mysteries, Book 5 Book Links:Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Goodreads
Connie di Marco is the author of the Zodiac Mysteries featuring San Francisco astrologer Julia Bonatti, a woman who never thought murder would be part of her practice. The Light Beside the Sea is the fifth novel in the series. Earlier books are The Madness of Mercury (Zodiac #1), All Signs Point to Murder (Zodiac #2), Tail of the Dragon (Zodiac #3), Enter a Wizard, Stage Left (an e-book prequel novella), and Serpent’s Doom (Zodiac #4).
Writing as Connie Archer, she is also the author of the national bestselling Soup Lover’s Mysteries from Penguin Random House: A Spoonful of Murder, A Broth of Betrayal, A Roux of Revenge, Ladle to the Grave and A Clue in the Stew. You can find her excerpts and recipes in The Cozy Cookbook and The Mystery Writers of America Cookbook. Visit her website at ConnieArcherMysteries.com. Facebook.com/ConnieArcherMysteries and X/Twitter@SnowflakeVT.
Connie is a member of the Mystery Writers of America, International Thriller Writers, Crime Writers Association (UK) and Sisters in Crime.
The theft of an immensely valuable, immensely ugly necklace is only the beginning of the intrigues and oddities at a country weekend at Hardy Hall where Teddy Quillfeather’s mother has sent her with strict instructions to select an eligible bachelor from a shortlist of aristocrats, eccentrics, and egos.
But when Teddy tries to set things right with her natural knack for applied shenanigans she instead uncovers countless connected, complex criminal conspiracies complicated by country house courtesies. It’s a comedy of manners and caper of manors and the only solution, if you’re Teddy Quillfeather, is obviously another heist…
Theodora ‘Teddy’ Quillfeather will be familiar to readers of the Anty Boisjoly Mysteries. Teddy is Anty’s cousin—an audacious and loquacious, stylish and coquettish stiletta of the golden age and very much a citizen in good standing of the Anty Boisjoly world of whimsy.
But Teddy is not a female Anty Boisjoly. Where Anty’s capricious, she’s mischievous, where Anty’s deductive, Teddy gets fully involved in the mystery as it unfolds, and as the locked room murder is to Anty Boisjoly the clever caper is to Teddy Quillfeather.
Indeed, there are no murders in Teddy Quillfeather Mysteries. Instead, Teddy takes a turn towards the manor house mystery of manners, to which she brings proactive problem solving that often sees her fully implicated in capers involving smooth swindles and highwire heists, sticky fingers and loaded dice, and dark horses running dodgy courses.
Clearly, she needs her own series to manage it all.
My Thoughts
The word to describe this thoroughly delightful book is madcap. From the first page on, I felt like I was part of a Golden Age country house mystery peopled with a witty, urbane cast of characters who move through life with the ease of the very wealthy.
I haven’t read the series from which this is a spin-off, but protagonist Teddy Quillfeather 100% deserves her own series. She is one of the most entertaining sleuths I’ve come across, and the author truly comes through with hilarious and well-written dialog that totally fits the character. While the plot that becomes a bit convoluted at the end, the story hangs together well.
Add this to the subgenre of cozies that feature smart-alecky, intelligent, and fearless female protagonists and start recommending it to your friends. I will!
Publication Date: May 24, 2024 Thanks to Book Sirens for the book
1798: A magical, dark adventure. Fourteen-year-old Pâtca, initiated in the occult arts, comes to Bucharest, to her uncle, Cuviosu Zăval, to retrieve the Book of Perilous Dishes. The recipes in this magical book can bring about damaging sincerity, forgetfulness, the gift of prediction, or hysterical laughter. She finds her uncle murdered and the book missing. All that Zăval has left her is a strange map she must decipher. Travelling from Romania to France and on to Germany to do so, Patca’s family’s true past and powers are revealed, as is her connection to the famous and sublime chef, Silica.
My Thoughts
Over the last few years, I’ve deliberately tried to widen my reading to include more translations and fiction from other parts of the world. What a treat it’s been to discover authors and stories new to me, very much like The Book of Perilous Dishes.
The translation here is extremely well-done, but it’s the story that shines with a beautiful use of language, a fascinating plot, and characters who are by turns terrible, silly, and enchanting people. Patca and Caterina are especially wonderful, although Cuviosu and Maxima piqued my curiosity as well.
To be sure there are some odd things that are not explained outright – what is it about Patca’s teeth and who, indeed, is Cat O’Friday?! – but keep reading and it all becomes clear. I understand this author is well known and loved in her native country and it’s easy to see why. I hope there is more of the author’s work to be translated!
Publication Date: February 2017; May 21, 2024 Published By: Neem Tree Press Thanks to Book Sirens for the book
London, 1945: Four adolescent orphans with a dark wartime history are squatting in a vacant Belgravia mansion—the owners having fled London under heavy Luftwaffe bombing. Psychologist and Investigator Maisie Dobbs visits the mansion on behalf of the owners and discovers that a demobilized soldier, gravely ill and reeling from his experiences overseas, has taken shelter with the group.
Maisie’s quest to bring comfort to the youngsters and the ailing soldier brings to light a decades-old mystery concerning Maisie’s first husband, James Compton, who was killed while piloting an experimental fighter aircraft. As Maisie unravels the threads of her dead husband’s life, she is forced to examine her own painful past and question beliefs she has always accepted as true.
The award-winning Maisie Dobbs series has garnered hundreds of thousands of followers, readers drawn to a woman who is of her time, yet familiar in ours—and who inspires with her resilience and capacity for endurance. This final assignment of her own choosing not only opens a new future for Maisie and her family, but serves as a fascinating portrayal of the challenges facing the people of Britain at the close of the Second World War.
My Thoughts
Another of my favorites comes to a close with Winspear’s final entry in the Maisie Dobbs series. As expected, the writing is exquisite and the characters richly drawn and developed. While there’s less of a mystery here and more tying up of loose ends, the story hangs together nicely and is peppered with references to earlier books and events. The last part of the story focusing on James Compton was wonderful to read and full of hope, which has been the red thread tying all of the Maisie books together.
While Maisie experienced some terrible things during this series, she always carried hope with her or found it again. The scenes described here of the devastation the British people faced after World War II are awful to read, but so important to the arc of Maisie’s story. Winspear takes Maisie back to Ebury Place, where it all began in that first book. Everything is different except Maisie’s capacity to believe in the goodness of people.
This series is a masterpiece and is one I will continue recommending for a long time to come.
A milestone in historical mystery fiction as Maisie Dobbs takes her final bow!
The Comfort of Ghosts completes Jacqueline Winspear’s ground-breaking and internationally bestselling series.
“An outstanding historical series.”—The New York Times
“Winspear is a brilliant writer, mixing the history and the mystery with the psychology of criminals and victims.”—The Historical Novel Society
Publication Date: June 4, 2024 Published By: Soho Press Thanks to Netgalley for the review copy
It's All About the Book 