Gave this one 100 pages and had to give up. Hated the characters, did not find much of anything to be plausible. I skipped to the end — and when I realized how the plot wrapped up I was grateful that I stopped reading when I did. Just didn’t work for me at all. Disappointing, because Alafair Burke is a good writer. Your mileage may vary!
Available July 2!
Thanks to Christina Alger, Penguin Group/Putnam, and Netgalley for providing me with a digital advance copy of this novel. Girls Like Us should be on the to-read list of all mystery lovers! I loved this book – a layered, beautifully written, complicated mystery that kept me guessing and hooked until the last page.
FBI Agent Nell Flynn is estranged from her father, a Long Island homicide detective. She hasn’t been back to her hometown in ten years, but she returns after her father’s sudden death, and finds herself pulled into an investigation of multiple murders. Was her father involved? Are the recent murders somehow related to the murder of her own mother, decades earlier?
I particularly enjoyed all of the strong, smart female characters in this novel. I was sorry for it to end! I look forward to reading more from this author in the future, and I hope this is the beginning of a new series.
Highly recommend!!
Thanks to Peggy Townsend, Thomas & Mercer, and Netgalley for providing me with a digital advance copy of this novel.
The Thin Edge is Peggy Townsend’s second novel featuring journalist Aloa Snow. This novel picks up shortly after the last one left off, and I was happy to fall back into the life of Aloa and her quirky cast of friends. Here, Aloa investigates the brutal murder of the wife of a former FBI agent, who has been rendered a paraplegic as the result of a tragic accident. I found this mystery interesting and the characters engaging. Townsend does a great job of describing San Francisco, and she creates characters (like Aloa’s older group of sidekicks) who are interesting, likeable, and believable. I didn’t enjoy this novel quite as much as the first one, See Her Run – I figured it out early on, and I found the side story involving the homeless murders distracting and not fully developed/explained. Still, I enjoyed this novel and would recommend it. This is a series to watch!
The Stillwater Girls, by Minka Kent
Thanks to Minka Kent, Thomas & Mercer, and Netgalley for providing me with a digital advance copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
Sisters Wren and Sage have lived off the grid with no knowledge of the outside world, until their mother leaves them to seek help for their younger sister and never returns. Nearing starvation and desperate as winter approaches, their situation becomes even more dire when a strange man breaks into the cabin. The sisters are forced to flee into the woods where they not only must face the unknown world, but also the revelation of devastating secrets.
Wow! I loved this book and devoured it in one day. Excellent storytelling, good writing, and a plot that did not disappoint. Highly recommend!
The Whisper Man by Alex North, available August 20, 2019
Thanks to Alex North, Celadon Books, and Netgalley for providing me with a digital advance copy of The Whisper Man. This is an excellent thriller — a multi-generational story of a small town trying to catch a serial killer, but also a study of father-son relationships and the ways in which those relationships dictate the future of both the parents and the children. Well done, engaging read. Highly recommend!
(Available August 6, 2019)
Thanks to Ruth Ware, Gallery/Pocket Books, and Netgalley, for providing me with a digital advance copy of The Turn of the Key. Rowan Caine takes a job as a nanny in an isolated Scottish house, which is rumored to be haunted. Will she be scared off like all of the previous nannies? Can she figure out what is really happening? I loved this book and devoured it in less than 24 hours. A Gothic Scottish setting, an old mysterious house, a secret garden, the possibility of ghosts in the attic – what more could one want? This book kept me guessing, and the writing was excellent. Highly recommend.