Play the Game

Play the Game is a very well written YA mystery by Charlene Allen. Due out 31st Jan 2023 from HarperCollins on their Katherine Tegen imprint, it's 304 pages and will be available in hardcover, audio, and ebook formats. It's worth noting that the ebook format has a handy interactive table of contents as well as interactive links and references throughout. I've really become enamored of ebooks with interactive formats lately. 

This is a powerhouse of a YA coming of age novel. The writing is unvarnished and often emotionally raw. One of a trio of teenaged friends in NYC has been murdered in a racist attack. When the murderer is found dead in the same spot, evidence points at Jack, one of the two left behind. VZ, the third friend, has more than enough to deal with at the moment, still reeling and trying to process the loss of Ed, his best friend. He's also trying to navigate a crush at his job, keep his grades up, find his way with his family problems, as well as a last tribute to his friend, to finish writing the game Ed left behind and enter it into a game programming contest.

Much of the plot is given over to the process of restorative justice. It's a fascinating process and the author expends quite a lot of effort to make it relatable and understandable to the reading audience. The language is R-rated, and there is some frank discussion of gender identity and nonconformity, as well as light sexual content (nothing explicit). 

This is an important book, very well written and relevant. It would be a good choice for public and school library acquisition (with codicils for rough language), as well as for book club or classroom discussion. 

Four and a half stars. 

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.  

Death at the Dinner Party - Adam and Eve Mystery #2

 

Death at the Dinner Party is the 2nd Adam & Eve cozy cooking mystery by Emma Davies. Released 27th May 2022, it's 288 pages and is available in paperback, audio, and ebook formats. It's worth noting that the ebook format has a handy interactive table of contents as well as interactive links and references throughout. I've really become enamored of ebooks with interactive formats lately. For Kindle Unlimited subscribers, the whole series is currently included in the KU subscription library to borrow and read for free.

Introduced in book 1, Adam & Eve are an appealing duo of amateur sleuths who are (and remain) strictly platonic friends. There's a significant age gap between the two, with Fran (Eve), a caterer and event planner who is older (and wiser), complementing Adam's socially awkward younger worldview. He's a computer programmer and they make a good team. This installment sees the pair of them on-site for an ultra-exclusive house party in a Georgian mansion in Shropshire. When the host turns up dead, the duo are on site and ready to start making sense of the info they've discovered about the guests and their hosts. There are secrets and undercurrents aplenty, as they soon discover.

The unabridged audiobook has a run time of  8 hours and 29 minutes and is expertly narrated by Mira Dovreni. Ms. Dovreni has a classically trained, well modulated voice and does a good job with the wide range of characters of both sexes and ages. I found her accent unobtrusive after a few minutes. It was easy to concentrate on the story.

The language is clean (PG rated) and the violence is mostly off-scene. It's perfectly safe for work/commute reading and the resolution and denouement are well written and satisfying. Spelling and vernacular are British English, but won't present any problems at all for readers in context. With four excellent books extant in the series, it would be a good choice for a long weekend binge read. The mysteries are all self contained, so they can be read in any order, but are best in the order written.

Four stars. Very fun.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.  

Devil's Kiss: A Small Batch Mystery

Devil's Kiss is the first book in a new cozy series by Michelle Bennington. Released 31st May 2022 by Level Best Books, it's 278 pages and is available in paperback, audio, and ebook formats. It's worth noting that the ebook format has a handy interactive table of contents as well as interactive links and references throughout. I've really become enamored of ebooks with interactive formats lately. 

This is a small-town cozy mystery with a young ex-adjunct professor of English who has turned her back (at least temporarily) on academia to find a more lucrative job and expand her possibilities. She has a good support network including her maternal grandmother, friends, and a cordial relationship with her ex-husband. Her network also includes her best friend who helps her land a job at a local craft boutique distillery. Unfortunately, said friend dies under suspicious circumstances during her first day on the job.

The plot is a bit trope-y: main character Rook starts out jobless, broke, downtrodden, rudderless, and still emotionally dependent on her ex. She is, frankly, a bit of a doormat and is alternately browbeaten and run over by everyone she meets. The secondary characters are eccentric small town archetypes, including the requisite incompetent corpulent lazy small town sheriff who is eye-wateringly unprofessional and stubborn/stupid. 

The climax, denouement, and resolution are all self-contained in this book. The plotting is occasionally meandering, but not egregiously so. Some of the descriptive prose is a bit overblown and especially the passages dealing with the male characters ogling some of the female characters left me a bit cold. It's not over the top, but it was on the "bodice ripper" side of the spectrum. 

The unabridged audiobook format has a run time of 8 hours and 46 minutes and is capably narrated by Courtney Patterson. She does a good job with characters of a range of ages and both male and female. The story is set in Kentucky and she does a decent approximation of the local accents. Recording and production quality are high throughout the book.

Three and a half stars. Fans of Ellery Adams, Vicki Delany, and Kate Carlisle will likely enjoy this one. 

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.

Idle Gossip - Lillian Frost & Edith Head #5

 

Idle Gossip is the 5th historical Hollywood mystery featuring amateur sleuths Lillian Frost & Edith Head by Renee Patrick. Released 3rd May 2022 by Severn House, it's 224 pages and is available in hardcover, paperback, and ebook formats. It's worth noting that the ebook format has a handy interactive table of contents as well as interactive links and references throughout. I've really become enamored of ebooks with interactive formats lately. 

These are exceptionally well written historical mysteries which are engaging and entertaining. The gossip and intrigue between actors/actresses/studios/and luminaries of the golden age of "talkies" fairly leap off the page. The author has an excellent grasp of plotting and storytelling and the action flows smoothly. I didn't find my interest wandering and I wasn't yanked out of the story once by clunky or incomplete dialogue. The fictional story is woven so skillfully around a framework of actual historical events and people, that it's not always clear where truth shades into fiction.

Despite not being fast friends with gossip columnist Lorna, Edith & Lillian are prevailed upon to look into a murder which Lorna's assistant Sam is suspected of. Everyone has dirty secrets they don't want to see the light of day, and it's Edith & Lillian's job to figure out what they're hiding, whether it's relevant, and who's actually responsible for the murder. 

The mystery is self contained in this volume and it works very well as a standalone. The entire series is excellent, however, and highly recommended. With 5 books extant in the series, it would make an good choice for a binge/buddy read. 

Four and a half stars. Well worth a read.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.

Pretty Evil

 

Pretty Evil is a revenge thriller by Zoe Rosi. Due out 17th Jan 2023 from Amazon UK on their Thomas & Mercer imprint, it's 248 pages and will be available in paperback, audio, and ebook formats. It's worth noting that the ebook format has a handy interactive table of contents as well as interactive links and references throughout. I've really become enamored of ebooks with interactive formats lately. For Kindle Unlimited subscribers, this book is currently included in the KU subscription library to borrow and read for free. 

I've seen this touted as The Devil Wears Prada meets Dexter, and honestly, that's a pretty apt description. It's well written and the scenes are clearly (and explicitly) described and often unflinching. Content warnings include body horror, explicit non-consensual sexual assault, murder (obviously), predatory and explicit sex, etc. It is well written and the author has a good grasp of the craft of writing with regard to plotting, tension arc, characterisation, and the nuts-and-bolts of narrative. 

I enjoyed the high fashion descriptions of luxury brands and life in the fashion world more than main character Camilla's night-time predatory vigilante exploits. For readers who enjoy graphic anti-hero revenge vigilante thrillers, this will fill the bill. For readers who are sensitive to blood, gore, and violence, this will almost certainly be too much. Spelling and vernacular are British English, but probably won't pose problems in context for readers from the USA.

Four stars. As an aside, the book came out of trauma in the author's own past and might well be triggering and upsetting to readers who have experienced similar trauma or might be a therapeutic read, but something of which to be aware.The violence starts from page one. 

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.

Quick and Easy Electric Pressure Cooker Cookbook

Quick and Easy Electric Pressure Cooker Cookbook is a new tutorial guide and cookbook for the electric pressure cooker with recipes developed and curated by Barbara Schieving. Due out 24th Jan 2023 from Quarto on their New Shoe Press imprint, it's 144 pages and will be available in paperback and ebook formats. 

The electric pressure cooker is a kitchen machine which has honestly revolutionized food prep in most kitchens in the last 20 years. They're versatile, relatively inexpensive (even the ones with advanced features), and can cut cooking time significantly. The author is an undisputed expert in the field and has several cookbooks utilizing non-brand-specific pressure cookers. This one purports to be quick and easy. 

The book has a sensible and accessible layout: the introduction gives an overview over the features available and how the cooker does what it does and how to best utilize the machine's capabilities. The following chapters contain the recipes arranged by category: breakfast, sandwich wraps & more, soup, shortcut dinners, 30 minute meals, Sunday suppers, and desserts. Recipes are written with an introduction, ingredients in bullet lists in a sidebar, and are followed by step by step cooking directions. Ingredient measurements are given in imperial (American) units with metric in parentheses. (Yay!!). Most ingredients will be available at any moderately well stocked grocery store in North America. 

Roughly 25-30% of the recipes are accompanied by photographs. The food is well styled and serving suggestions are attractive and appropriate. Nutritional information is not provided. For strictly "from scratch" cooks, the author does make use of a large number of convenience foods and pre-mixes such at corn muffin mix, bottled barbecue sauce, canned tomatoes, premade stock, and frozen vegetables. 

I have generally used my pressure cooker to saute + cook dishes in some combination. The author writes many (most?) recipes with one or more extra steps requiring stove top or other pre-prep steps. For readers cooking for specialized diets, these recipes will -definitely- require some major reworks to be AIP, FODMAP, vegetarian, or other diet-compliant. 

Four stars, with the above codicils. There are a number of simple and appealing recipes here which are delicious and don't take much time, such as tamale pie (much like the "miracle bisquick cheeseburger pie) and the 3 ingredient pulled pork. Both were easy and quick to make. 

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.

The Devil You Know - Detective Margaret Nolan #3

The Devil You Know is the third procedural mystery featuring Detective Margaret Nolan by P. J. Tracy. Due out 17th Jan 2023 by Macmillan on their Minotaur imprint, it's 304 pages and will be available in hardcover, audio, and ebook formats. Paperback due out 4th quarter 2023. It's worth noting that the ebook format has a handy interactive table of contents as well as interactive links and references throughout. I've really become enamored of ebooks with interactive formats lately. 

This is a well engineered plot with several disparate threads entwining into a whole, including high profile Hollywood personalities and murder. All the characters seemed to be either irredeemably awful/shallow/predatory or irretrievably broken and suffering from PTSD/addiction/psychological problems (or a combination of all of the above). It makes for an often uncomfortably voyeuristic read in places.

The chapters are told in alternating third person and it's not always immediately clear which character is being written about without close attention. The prose is more intricate and flowery than is often the case with modern procedurals. It makes an interesting change from the usual. There are some content warnings, including addiction, sexual abuse (of a minor), and mentions of suicide and suicide ideation (brief mentions).

The mystery, resolution, and denouement are self contained in this volume, so it works fine as a standalone, with the codicil that there are developing relationships between the main and returning secondary characters. Readers reading the series out of order will encounter some spoilers for the earlier books. 

Four stars. It's a satisfying and well written somewhat gritty modern procedural. It's not at all derivative, but fans of Michael Connelly, Harlan Coben, and Robert Crais will find a similar feel. (Especially to Connelly's Bosch books). 

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.

Fireworks

Fireworks is a YA K-pop romcom by Alice Lin. Released 7th June 2022 by Penguin Random House on their Children's imprint, it's 320 pages and is available in paperback, audio, and ebook formats. It's worth noting that the ebook format has a handy interactive table of contents as well as interactive links and references throughout. I've really become enamored of ebooks with interactive formats lately. 

This is an engaging and well written role reversed teenaged Notting Hill redux. There's lots of angst and feelings and a diverting young romance. It's aimed at a young audience (circa 12-17 years old, presumably female) and despite the page count is a very quick read. Lots of info about K-pop and the music fandom included for verisimilitude.

It's not clear from any publisher promotional materials provided for review if the author plans a follow-up book. If the story isn't to be continued, readers might want to be aware that the ending is abrupt and there's no epilogue or clear resolution in the advance copy provided. Good story, precipitate ending.

Three and a half stars. 

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes. 

City of Orange

City of Orange is a standalone dystopian speculative fiction novel by David Yoon. Released 24th May 2022 by Penguin Random House on their Putnam imprint, it's 352 pages and is available in hardcover, audio, and ebook formats. It's worth noting that the ebook format has a handy interactive table of contents as well as interactive links. I've really become enamored of ebooks with interactive formats lately.

This is a very well written epic journey novel through an apocalyptic landscape. The protagonist is essentially a tabula rasa; no idea who he is, where he is, how he came to find himself there, or *why* he is there. The book follows his attempts to find a context in an nearly universally dire and dangerous environment. 

The author is a virtuoso wordsmith. The initial confusion and jerky / uneven narrative is *clearly* 100% intentional. After the first chapters (they're short), I found my pace in the book and it became engaging and transportive, if still quite often dark. I haven't seen other reviewers liken it to Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress, but there were a lot of parallels for me. 

This will be a divisive novel and it will garner a lot of antipathy as well as zealous support. I think it's a brilliantly written book, but not at all an easy read. It's not derivative and doesn't remind me of anything in my current memory, but fans of Station Eleven and The Road with a dash of Twilight Zone will feel right at home. I found the ending somewhat ambiguous. 

Four stars. 

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.

A Streetcar Named Murder - A New Orleans Mystery #1

A Streetcar Named Murder is the first book in a new cozy mystery series by T. G. Herren set in New Orleans . Released 6th Dec 2022 by Crooked Lane Books, it's 304 pages and is available in hardcover, audio, and ebook formats. It's worth noting that the ebook format has a handy interactive table of contents as well as interactive links. I've really become enamored of ebooks with interactive formats lately.

This is a light and often humorous cozy featuring an unwilling amateur sleuth who is in the process of figuring out her life and her place in it after a bereavement and empty-nest lifestyle change force her to re-examine her possibilities. She's young, under 40, and a recent totally unexpected bequest has turned her life upside and forced her to examine what she's going to do with the rest of her life, including her immediate future.

I was surprised how well rendered the (mostly female) characters were. The author has a definite knack with making them feel three dimensional and fairly believable. It's a light cozy, so there are over-the-top situations and dialogue, but despite the constraints of the genre, Mr. Herren manages to sneak some deeper thought provoking ideas into the story: self-determination & growth, found family, good people doing bad things out of love, amongst others. Additionally, it's absolutely *full* of minutiae about behind-the-scenes Mardi Gras culture and the workings of the different krewes who are part of the pageantry. The author seems to have a limitless knowledge of NOLA customs and it made for fascinating reading.

The book wasn't entirely archetypal: when the murder/crimes occured, the local police didn't immediately focus on railroading the protagonist in a wildly inappropriate persecution, the mystery is more linear and less "twisty" than many, and the story concentrated more on background world building and character development than red-herrings. I like this setting and the characters a lot and am looking forward to seeing what comes next.

Four stars. It will appeal to fans of Lauren Elliott, Vicky Delaney, and Ellie Alexander. 

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.

Rock Art for Beginners: Simple Techiques and Easy Projects for Transforming Stones into Art

Rock Art for Beginners is a tutorial and inspiration guide for painting in various styles on rock surfaces written and curated by F. Sehnaz Bac. Originally published in 2017 (as Art on the Rocks), this reformat and re-release from Quarto on their New Shoe Press imprint was released 10th Jan 2023. It's 96 pages and is available in paperback and ebook formats. 

The book has an accessible and fun "vibe" from start to finish. The art is exuberant and colorful. The tutorials are clear and very well photographed. The author begins with an introductory survey of tools, supplies, and some simple techniques such as rock selection and surface prep. The following tutorial chapters are arranged thematically: mandalas, patterns (hearts, flowers, petroglyphs, etc), animals, and nature. The instructions presuppose no prior experience at all on the part of readers, and all the instructions are clearly written and easy to understand. Each tutorial includes step-by-step photo directions which have understandable short captions. 

This is an upbeat and fun book which is encouraging and accessible. The rocks shown range from -very- simple to very very complex. It's not the execution which makes up the complexity, but the level of detail. Even the most complex designs will only require time and not advanced painting/artistic experience.

Four and a half stars. I really enjoyed this little book. This would be a superlative choice for public or school library acquisition, for activity groups, scouting type groups, maker's spaces, youth groups, home artist studios, and similar. 

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.

We Carry Their Bones: The Search for Justice at the Dozier School for Boys

We Carry Their Bones is a compelling and heartrending account of the notorious Dozier School for Boys by Dr. Erin Kimmerle. Released 14th June 2022 by HarperCollins on their William Morrow imprint, it's 256 pages and is available in hardcover, paperback, audio, and ebook formats. It's worth noting that the ebook format has a handy interactive table of contents as well as interactive links and references throughout. I've really become enamored of ebooks with interactive formats lately. 

The last few years have seen a number of apologies and (too late and too few) reparations for appalling crimes committed against children deemed unwanted, delinquent, poor, or the wrong ethnicity (Native and black). This is another such, from a forensic anthropologist who was engaged to excavate the remains (often unmarked and mixed up) from the Dozier school after the state of Florida wished to sell the land on which it once stood and which was blocked by relatives and survivors of the school's 110 year history. 

It's written as an exposé, and suffers a bit for the inflammatory outraged style of writing. The facts of the case are horrific enough, over the course of the school's history, likely over 100 students (and two members of staff) died or were killed while resident at, or escaping from, the school. It was in operation until 2011 and only closed after decades of serious and undeniable allegations of abuse, sexual and physical torture, and inhumane conditions. 

The book does include numerous photographs, charts, and facsimiles, but it is not annotated. The language is layman accessible and not rigorously academic, which is a positive feature, but some better annotation would have made the whole a more structured, less chaotic read. 

Four stars, a brutal and depressing read. I found myself outraged throughout most of the book by the disgusting cover-ups and official impediments to open investigation up to the absolute end. 

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.

A Malignant Death - Inspector Givens #5

A Malignant Death is the 5th Inspector Givens WW2 historical mystery by Charlie Garratt. Released 27th May 2022 by Sapere Books, it's 236 pages and is available in paperback and ebook formats. It's worth noting that the ebook format has a handy interactive table of contents as well as interactive links and references throughout. I've really become enamored of ebooks with interactive formats lately. For Kindle Unlimited subscribers, this book is currently included in the KU subscription library to borrow and read for free, as are the other books in the series.

This is an exceedingly well written and compelling series with very well developed and realistic characters. Set in 1940 in England, Givens and his wife have been forced to return to England from France as the war has made living there dangerous and impossible. He's called back into service to investigate the theft of military blueprints as well as the disappearance of his former boss in the police service. Although this is the 5th book in the series, the plot is self-contained in this volume, so it works well enough as a standalone. The characters do develop very well over the course of the series arc, and there are spoilers in this book which will make it more satisfying and cohesive if read in order.

The author does a good job of describing the racism and antisemitism of the day which can make for distressing (but realistic) reading. The characters are three dimensional and sympathetically and believably rendered. Of all the historical WW2 procedural series I've read, this is a perennial favourite and highly recommended.

Four and a half stars. Readers of Philip Kerr, John Lawton, and Alan Furst will find much to enjoy here.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.  

Manny Porter and the Yuletide Murder - Tinker Creek Series #2

 

Manny Porter and the Yuletide Murder is the second Tinker Creek mystery by D.C. Robeline. Released 13th Dec 2022 by Bold Strokes books, it's 236 pages and is available in paperback and ebook formats.  It's worth noting that the ebook format has a handy interactive table of contents as well as interactive links and references throughout. I've really become enamored of ebooks with interactive formats lately. 

This is a competently written and well plotted murder mystery romance featuring an investigative journalist and his circle of close friends. The plot includes industrial espionage, murder, and navigating personal and family relationships. Although it's a sequel with some of the same characters, the mystery and plot are self contained and it works perfectly well as a standalone. 

There is some sexual content; the main protagonist is a gay man in a relationship with another man. Another secondary character is their young friend and protege who is an intern at a high tech company who gets entangled in a murder investigation as the prime suspect. There are strong themes of justice, equity, found family, and anti-homophobia throughout. 

The book could have benefited from a more thorough editing process, though. One mistake would have taken about 30 seconds to fix and is more of a typo than a blunder. (Referring to a building whose shape was based on a water molecule which had one center hydrogen atom and 2 peripheral oxygen atoms). 

Three and a half stars. Well written and engaging with a satisfying solution and denouement. 

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes. 

Death at Beresford Hall - Adam and Eve Mystery #4

Death at Beresford Hall is the 4th Adam & Eve cozy cooking mystery by Emma Davies. Released 7th Dec 2022, it's 333 pages and is available in paperback, audio, and ebook formats. It's worth noting that the ebook format has a handy interactive table of contents as well as interactive links and references throughout. I've really become enamored of ebooks with interactive formats lately. For Kindle Unlimited subscribers, the whole series is currently included in the KU subscription library to borrow and read for free.

This is a fun and engaging cozy series. The author is experienced at her craft and quite adept at plotting and characterization. The mystery itself is well engineered and the clues are all "fair-play" and revealed slowly throughout the narrative. I was really engaged from the start with caterer Fran (her surname is Eve), and her erstwhile sidekick/young friend Adam, the socially awkward son of a former catering client. I found it charming and refreshing that they *are* friends and there's zero romance and never a hint of hanky-panky between Adam (he's 20something) and Fran (who's 40something and happily married).

This installment sees Fran entering a cooking show held in a stately home after another contestant suddenly quits, leaving a vacancy. Fran (and Adam) are really there undercover to investigate a series of ugly incidents aimed at the show's celebrity host, Miranda. When Miranda exits stage left, violently, with a cake slicer to the heart, it's up to Fran & co to get to the bottom of the murder without getting -eliminated- themselves. It's a holiday themed cozy set in a stately home and is enjoyable for those reasons alone, but Fran's talent at ferreting out secrets and motives make it a compelling read. 

The unabridged audiobook has a run time of  8 hours and 29 minutes and is expertly narrated by Mira Dovreni. Ms. Dovreni has a classically trained, well modulated voice and does a good job with the wide range of characters of both sexes and ages. I found her accent unobtrusive after a few minutes. It was easy to concentrate on the story.

The language is clean (PG rated) and the violence is mostly off-scene. It's perfectly safe for work/commute reading and the resolution and denouement are well written and satisfying. Spelling and vernacular are British English, but won't present any problems at all for readers in context. With four excellent books extant in the series, it would be a good choice for a long weekend binge read. The mysteries are all self contained, so they can be read in any order, but are best in the order written.

Four stars. Very fun.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.  

Winter's End - Alaska Wild #4

Winter's End is the 4th Alaska Wild thriller mystery by Paige Shelton. Released 6th Dec 2022 by Macmillan on their Minotaur imprint, it's 272 pages and is available in hardcover, audio, and ebook formats. It's worth noting that the ebook format has a handy interactive table of contents as well as interactive links and references throughout. I've really become enamored of ebooks with interactive formats lately. 

This is an engaging thriller/mystery series set in a very remote part of Alaska. Main protagonist Beth is a writer on the run to try to reclaim her security and heal herself from a violent abduction by a stalker fan. She's also the local reporter/news publisher and as such, something of a magnet for local happenings. The setting is beautifully drawn, stark and brooding. The plotting and tension arc never felt forced or too slow. The author is adept at her craft and the flashback interludes from Beth's point of view worked very well with the 1st person point of view. Although it's the 4th book in the series, it works very well as a standalone, and it's not necessary to have read the other books when picking this one up.

The language is slightly rough, but wasn't completely over the top or gratuitous. There is violence and psychological tension in the narrative, but again, I never felt the author threw it in without reason. There is potentially triggering trauma (the main character was abducted, held, and tortured for days which is mentioned several times in the story).

The unabridged audiobook version has a run time of 9 hours and 8 minutes and is capably narrated by Suzie Althens. She has a husky alto reading voice which suits the remote Alaskan setting and happily, her voice fades into the story and became unnoticeable to me after a chapter or so. She's adept with characters of both sexes and a wide range of ages, and the sound and production quality were high throughout the recording. I broke the book up in sessions synced between ebook and audio and found that functionality worked very well.

Four stars, an enjoyable and engaging read. With four books extant at this point, and a 5th due out in late 2023, it would make a good candidate for a binge/buddy read. Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.

One Down

 

One Down is a well written modern psychological thriller standalone by Diana Wilkinson. Due out 16th Jan 2023 from Boldwood Books, it's 377 pages and will be available in paperback, audio, and ebook formats. It's worth noting that the ebook format has a handy interactive table of contents as well as interactive links and references throughout. I've really become enamored of ebooks with interactive formats lately. For Kindle Unlimited subscribers, this book is currently included in the KU subscription library to borrow and read for free.

This is a gritty and tension filled thriller with an unreliable narrator in Amanda, a recovering alcoholic, who is convinced her husband is threatening her through the crosswords he sets as a cruciverbalist. Through flashbacks, he's shown to be a calculating merciless manipulator and Amanda has become isolated from any sort of support network except her AA support group. 

The author is quite adept at ratcheting up the tension unrelievedly throughout. For readers who enjoy crosswords and wordplay, this book is full of them. It bears mentioning that the book is set in, and the crosswords (and vernacular) are UK style (see book cover). For readers who are going the extra distance to figure the clues as they're presented in the book, they are different than many readers will be used to in North America. The author explains them in context in the text, but they're all what crossword solvers in the US refer to as "cryptic crosswords". 

Three and a half stars. This will definitely appeal to fans of psychological thrillers like Gone Girl, Rock Paper Scissors, and The Maidens.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.

 

Dead and Gondola - Christie Bookshop #1

Dead and Gondola is the first book in a new shopfront bookstore cozy series by Ann Claire. Released 1st Nov 2022 by Penguin Random House on their Ballantine imprint, it's 336 pages and is available in paperback, audio, and ebook formats. It's worth noting that the ebook format has a handy interactive table of contents as well as interactive links. I've really become enamored of ebooks with interactive formats lately.

This is a well written and engaging bookish cozy mystery set in ski country in Colorado. The amateur protagonists, sisters whose name is Christie, who own and manage a bookstore, are intelligent and believably rendered. The clues and mystery are fair play, and are self contained in this volume, so no cliffhangers or annoying "cheats" in the solution. (Which is more than can be said for the Grand Dame of Mystery, Agatha herself). They even have a shop cat named Agatha. 

The pool of suspects is small, and although the denouement and resolution are fairly easy to guess beforehand, they're well written and satisfying. It works perfectly well as a standalone, and is a nice lead-in to the next book in the series which is due out in 4th quarter 2023. The language is clean, and there's no graphic violence or sexual content. This would be a good choice for lovers of light cozies, the kind with whimsically eccentric small town characters, a town diner, a shop cat, and rural countryside. Readers who are fans of Diane Kelly and Laurie Cass will find a lot to like here.

Four stars. This will appeal to light cozy readers. 

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.     

The Hanging Tree

The Hanging Tree is the 21st Brother Athelstan medieval mystery by Paul Doherty from Severn House.  Released 7th June 2022, it's 224 pages and is available in hardcover and ebook formats. It's worth noting that the ebook format has a handy interactive table of contents as well as interactive links. I've really become enamored of ebooks with interactive formats lately. There are a number of historical mystery series set in the medieval period and the middle ages which have a permanent place on my "to be read" lists, and this one is in the top 5.

Brother Althelstan is called in to investigate yet another perplexing 'locked room' mystery, this time in an inaccessible tower.  Added into the mix are hangmen being murdered and dumped, stolen royal treasure, and skullduggery and political machinations, and Brother Athelstan and his investigative colleague, coroner Sir John Cranston, have more than enough to deal with.

Having read many of Mr. Doherty's other books, I was expecting a well crafted mystery.  Although it had been some years since I had read any of the other books in this series, it works perfectly well as a standalone.  The background for the characters is presented in a way that manages to convey all the necessary backstory without spoon-feeding readers already familiar with the setting and characters.

The plotting and dialogue are very well crafted and the entire book is beautifully researched and historically correct (at least to my layman's knowledge of the period).  I felt that the dialogue succeeded quite well in walking the fine line between being comprehensible to a modern audience and still maintaining a period flavor.

There are many subplots and subtly interwoven stories here and I wondered how Doherty would manage to tie them together, but he does manage (and satisfyingly).  For readers of a very sensitive nature, there are some quite unflinching descriptions of the less savory realities of living in a crowded, filthy, disease ridden area of the period. Not appetizing and realistically rendered in the book. The author has a definite talent for descriptive prose.

Four and a half stars. This is an invariably entertaining and engaging series and this is a worthy addition.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.

A Taste for Killing - A Bradecote and Catchpoll Investigation #10

 

A Taste for Killing is the 10th book in Sarah Hawkswood's medieval Bradecote & Catchpoll mystery series. Released 12th May 2022 by Allison & Busby, it's 352 pages and is available in paperback and ebook formats. It's worth noting that the ebook format has a handy interactive table of contents as well as interactive links. I've really become enamored of ebooks with interactive formats lately.

This is an intricately crafted and well engineered mystery. The author has wrapped it around a meticulous and accurate historical framework so well and seamlessly that it's not at all clear where real actual history shades over into fiction. The plot and background are self contained in this volume and it's not necessary to have read the previous books to keep up with the story here. The pacing is occasionally a trifle measured/slow, but I found the whole a delightful read. I never felt lost or confused; it works very well as a standalone mystery. 

It's set in 1145 so the investigation is different from modern procedurals. The language is fairly clean, and the prose is well written and I never found myself yanked out of the narrative by anachronistic or clumsy dialogue or historical mistakes (although I am NOT a historian). 

I would heartily recommend this one to readers of the historical murder mystery genre, especially fans of Sharon Kay Penman, Ellis Peters, Candace Robb, and Susanna Gregory (and similar). Fans of well written character driven mystery from any period will find much to enjoy here. Since there are now 10 books extant with an 11th due out in 2nd quarter 2023, it would make a fun buddy/bookclub/binge read for fans of the genre.

Four and a half stars. 

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.