Tag: murder mystery

Book Review: Bad Like Us, by Gabriella Lepore

Image belongs to Inkyard Press.

Title: Bad Like Us
Author: Gabriella Lepore     
Genre: YA, mystery     
Rating: 3.8 out of 5 

Spring break is a vibe—until someone gets murdered.

Partying with popular classmates they barely know is not what Eva and her BFFs had in mind for their spring break. But things have been off ever since Miles’ academic career took a turn for the worse (they don’t talk about it), so a trip to a private beach lodge might be exactly what they need. And Eva won’t admit it, but the chance to reconnect with Colton is worth putting up with Piper’s constant livestreams to her thousands of “besties.”

At first, it’s all sand and waves, but tensions run high when an anonymous letter shakes up an already-flailing love triangle.

When someone turns up dead, Eva can’t even trust her closest friends—but she thinks she can trust Colton. As they get closer to the truth, they uncover secrets that upend everything they thought they knew about their fellow spring breakers.

Frankly, Piper got on my very last nerve, and I had trouble keeping the other characters—well, the female characters except Eva—straight. It was a little hard imagining all these parents being okay with their teenagers going off on their own, with no phone service, so that required suspending my disbelief quite a bit. Despite the subject matter, this felt like a fluffy, quick read, and would probably be a good weekend read.

Gabriella Lepore lives in Wales. Bad Like Us is her newest novel.

(Galley courtesy of Inkyard Press in exchange for an honest review.)

Book Review and Blog Tour: The Missing Witness, by Allison Brennan

Image belongs to Harlequin/MIRA.

Title: The Missing Witness
Author: Allison Brennan     
Genre: Mystery/thriller   
Rating:  4.5 out of 5

Detective Kara Quinn is back in Los Angeles to testify against a notorious human trafficker, finally moving past the case that upended her life. But when the accused is shot by a masked man in broad daylight, the chaotic scene of the crime turns up few reliable bystanders. And one witness—a whistleblower who might be the key to everything—has disappeared.

After the prosecuting DDA is stabbed to death, it’s clear that anyone who knows too much about the investigation is in danger, and tracking down the witness becomes a matter of life or death. With government corruption running rampant and someone on the inside trying to pin anything they can on Kara, she trusts nobody except FBI special agent Matt Costa and a handful of allies.

But when explosive secrets begin to surface within the LAPD and FBI, Kara questions everything she thought she knew about the case, her colleagues and the life she left behind months ago.

Now Quinn and Costa must race to find the missing witness and get to the bottom of the avalanche of conspiracies that has rocked LA to its core…before it’s too late.

I’ve really enjoyed the Quinn & Costa series, and I think this was my favorite so far. Kara actually showed a loot of character growth here and it was nice to see how she’s changed since the first back. Her going back to the scene of her past was interesting to watch—and seeing the ghosts from her past life as she interacted with the case that got her to the FBI Mobile Response team added a lot of depth to her character. I really enjoyed this, and stayed up until 2 a.m. binge-reading it.

 Allison Brennan is a bestselling author. The Missing Witness is the newest Quinn & Costa novel.

(Galley courtesy of Harlequin/MIRA in exchange for an honest review.)

Book Review: A Body at the Séance, by Marty Wingate

Image belongs to Bookouture and the author.

Title: A Body at the Séance   
Author: Marty Wingate     
Genre:  Mystery    
Rating:  4.2 out of 5

When a body turns up at a glamorous séance, Mabel Canning’s sleuthing skills are put to the test. Because it appears the victim died twice…

London, 1921: As a winter wind blows through the streets of London, Mabel Canning is hired by the Useful Women’s Agency to attend a séance at the home of famous medium Madame Pushkana. But when Mabel hears a choking noise and a loud thud, she quickly turns on the lights to find herself at the scene of a murder.

The victim is none other than Stamford Plomley, whose widow arranged the séance after he died in a fire eight months ago. How did he come back from the dead without a scorch mark on him? And could one of their assembled party of gentlewomen have killed him… again?

When Scotland Yard arrive, the police try to stop Mabel from interfering. But having just formed the London Ladies’ Murder Club, Mabel isn’t going anywhere. And with the help of former detective Park Winstone, she begins to piece together what really happened at the ghostly gathering.

But when Mabel receives a threatening letter warning her to stay away from the case, she realises the murderer may have another victim in mind. With time running out, will she hit a dead end? Or can she keep herself from becoming the next one to be sent to an early grave?

This was a fun read! I think I enjoyed this more than the first book in the series. The characters felt a little more real to me, especially Perkins:  I absolutely loved him and would like to see more of him. I didn’t have any idea who the murderer was, so that was a big surprise, and all of Mabel’s investigations were a lot of fun to read. This is a great series!

Marty Wingate is a bestselling author. A Body at the Séance is her newest novel.

(Galley courtesy of Bookouture in exchange for an honest review.)

Book Review:  Northwoods, by Amy Pease  

Image belongs to Atria Books.

Title: Northwoods   
Author: Amy Pease    
Genre: Thriller    
Rating:  4 out of 5

Eli North is not okay.

His drinking is getting worse by the day, his emotional wounds after a deployment to Afghanistan are as raw as ever, his marriage and career are over, and the only job he can hold down is with the local sheriff’s department. And that’s only because the sheriff is his mother—and she’s overwhelmed with small town Shaky Lake’s dwindling budget and the fallout from the opioid epidemic. The Northwoods of Wisconsin may be a vacationer’s paradise, but amidst the fishing trips and campfires and Paul Bunyan festivals, something sinister is taking shape.

When the body of a teenage boy is found in the lake, it sets in motion an investigation that leads Eli to a wealthy enclave with a violent past, a pharmaceutical salesman, and a missing teenage girl. Soon, Eli and his mother, along with a young FBI agent, are on the hunt for more than just a killer.

If Eli solves the case, could he finally get the shot at redemption he so desperately needs? Or will answers to this dark case elude him and continue to bring destruction to the Northwoods?

I wasn’t sure about this at first, mainly because reading in the POV of a self-destructive alcoholic is not pleasant, but Eli grew on me. The setting is dark, gritty, and a bit depressing, and the author portrays it well. I figured out a (sort-of) twist at the end before the reveal, but I still think it was pretty well-done. All in all, a strong debut novel with memorable characters. I’d definitely read more from this author.

Amy Pease lives in Wisconsin. Northwoods is her debut novel.

(Galley courtesy of Atria Books in exchange for an honest review.)

Book Review: A Body on the Doorstep, by Marty Wingate

Image belongs to Bookouture and author.

Title: A Body on the Doorstep  
Author:  Marty Wingate    
Genre: Mystery     
Rating:  4 out of 5

Fiercely independent Mabel Canning can’t wait to begin working for the Useful Women’s Agency. But when she discovers a body on her client’s doorstep, it’s time to add solving murders to her job description…

London, 1921: Mabel Canning is proud to be a modern woman working for the Useful Women’s Agency, carrying out tasks for gentlewomen from flower arranging to washing muddy dogs. But when she answers the door for wealthy widow Rosalind Despard, she almost chokes on her cucumber sandwich when she finds a soldier’s body on the doorstep.

As she offers tea to the policemen of Scotland Yard, Mabel can’t resist getting drawn into the investigation. Who was the mysterious dead man? And why was he holding a letter for Rosalind, written by her husband on the day he disappeared?

As Mabel hunts for clues, she joins forces with Rosalind’s handsome brother, former detective Park Winstone, and his adorable terrier, Gladys. But when Mabel suspects she is being followed, the detective duo know that time is running out before the killer strikes again.

As she investigates, Mabel discovers dusty old photographs that help her reveal the soldier’s true identity. But as she gets closer to uncovering the young man’s murderer, she knows she’s also one step closer to danger… Can she outsmart the killer and save Park and Rosalind before they also turn up dead as doornails?

Let’s be honest:  I could never work for the Useful Women’s Agency. Mabel is a better person than I am, because I would probably have had a breakdown after toting that heavy painting all over the house while that rich lady hemmed and hawed about where to hang it. That being said…I enjoyed this book. I like the set-up, and Mabel was a fun character. I like the cozy mystery feel to the story and world, set in the midst of London. That was a nice twist. I’m looking forward to reading the next book in this series very soon.

Marty Wingate is a bestselling author. A Body on the Doorstep is her newest novel.

(Galley courtesy of Bookouture in exchange for an honest review.)

Book Review:  Public Anchovy #1, by Mindy Quigley    

Image belongs to St. Martin’s Press.

Title: Public Anchovy #1
Author: Mindy Quigley   
Genre:  Mystery   
Rating:  4 out of 5

While Geneva Bay’s upper crust gets ready to party down at a Prohibition-themed fundraiser, pizza chef Delilah O’Leary is focused on seeing her struggling restaurant through the winter slow season. The temperature outside is plummeting, but Delilah’s love life might finally be heating up, as hunky police detective Calvin Capone seems poised to (finally) make a move.

But Delilah’s hopes of perfecting a new “free-from” pizza recipe for a charity bash are dashed when a dead body crashes the party. Soon, Capone, Delilah, and her entire staff are trapped in an isolated mansion and embroiled in a dangerous game of cat and mouse.

To catch an increasingly-desperate killer, Delilah will have to top all of her previous crime-solving accomplishments, and a few pizzas, too.

This is the first one of the Deep Dish Mysteries I’ve read, but I’d read the others. The descriptions of the food made me hungry! I loved the idea of a Prohibition-themed party—such vivid characters in that time period, and I love the fashion. I never truly figured out who the killer was, but to be honest, the secondary conflicts, like the Capone and Delilah interactions, interested me more. Great secondary characters here, making this a fun read, and the cats added another level of entertainment.

Mindy Quigley lives in Virginia. Public Anchovy #1 is her newest novel.

(Galley courtesy of St. Martin’s Press in exchange for an honest review.)

Book Review:  The Curse of Penryth Hall, by Jess Armstrong

Image belongs to St. Martin’s Press.

Title:  The Curse of Penryth Hall
Author:  Jess Armstrong   
Genre:  Mystery/thriller   
Rating:4.5 out of 5

After the Great War, American heiress Ruby Vaughn made a life for herself running a rare bookstore alongside her octogenarian employer and house mate in Exeter. She’s always avoided dwelling on the past, even before the war, but it always has a way of finding her. When Ruby is forced to deliver a box of books to a folk healer living deep in the Cornish countryside, she is brought back to the one place she swore she’d never return. A more sensible soul would have delivered the package and left without rehashing old wounds. But no one has ever accused Ruby of being sensible. Thus begins her visit to Penryth Hall.

A foreboding fortress, Penryth Hall is home to Ruby’s once dearest friend, Tamsyn, and her husband, Sir Edward Chenowyth. It’s an unsettling place, and after a more unsettling evening, Ruby is eager to depart. But her plans change when Penryth’s bells ring for the first time in thirty years. Edward is dead; he met a gruesome end in the orchard, and with his death brings whispers of a returned curse. It also brings Ruan Kivell, the person whose books brought her to Cornwall, the one the locals call a Pellar, the man they believe can break the curse. Ruby doesn’t believe in curses―or Pellars―but this is Cornwall and to these villagers the curse is anything but lore, and they believe it will soon claim its next Tamsyn.

To protect her friend, Ruby must work alongside the Pellar to find out what really happened in the orchard that night.

I liked Ruby a lot in this novel. She’s mostly very sure of herself, confident, and capable. She’s spunky, and I like her attitude. I also enjoyed Ruan a lot, the inscrutable, enigmatic Pellar. There were a lot of layers in this novel:  old relationships, memories, current relationships, changed people and friendships, the local culture, the murder mystery…

The author did an excellent job of weaving all these layers together into a rich tapestry of story. I never figured out who the killer was, and the reveal surprised me. I enjoyed this read, and wondering how everything was going to work itself out kept me reading far too late into the night.

Jess Armstrong lives in New Orleans. The Curse of Penryth Hall is her debut novel.

(Galley courtesy of St. Martin’s Press in exchange for an honest review.)

Book Review: When I’m Dead, by Hannah Morrissey   

Image belongs to St. Martin’s Press/Minotaur Books.

Title:  When I’m Dead     
Author: Hannah Morrissey   
Genre: Thriller    
Rating: 3.0 out of 5

On a bone-chilling October night, Medical Examiner Rowan Winthorp investigates the death of her daughter’s best friend. Hours later, the tragedy hits even closer to home when she makes a devastating discovery—her daughter, Chloe, is gone. But, not without a trace.

A morbid mosaic of clues forces Rowan and her husband to question how deeply they really knew their daughter. As they work closely to peel back the layers of this case, they begin to unearth disturbing details about Chloe and her secret transgressions…details that threaten to tear them apart.

Amidst the noise of navigating her newfound grief and reconciling the sins of her past, an undeniable fact rings true for Rowan: karma has finally come to collect.

I’m not sure why I decided to read this after I DNFed the first book in the series, but I did. I wanted to DNF this for the first third of the book, and probably should have, as I just didn’t care for the characters. Man, the setting here is so absolutely bleak and depressing and the characters are, too. This was an okay read, but I wasn’t a fan of the characters.

Hannah Morrissey lives near Milwaukee.  When I’m Dead is her newest novel.

(Galley courtesy of St. Martin’s Press/Minotaur Books in exchange for an honest review.)

Book Review: The Unmaking of June Farrow, by Adrienne Young    

Image belongs to Random House/Ballantine.

Title: The Unmaking of June Farrow    
Author: Adrienne Young    
Genre:  Mystery, fantasy   
Rating:  4.5 out of 5

In the small mountain town of Jasper, North Carolina, June Farrow is waiting for fate to find her. The Farrow women are known for their thriving flower farm—and the mysterious curse that has plagued their family line. The whole town remembers the madness that led to Susanna Farrow’s disappearance, leaving June to be raised by her grandmother and haunted by rumors.

It’s been a year since June started seeing and hearing things that weren’t there. Faint wind chimes, a voice calling her name, and a mysterious door appearing out of nowhere—the signs of what June always knew was coming. But June is determined to end the curse once and for all, even if she must sacrifice finding love and having a family of her own.

After her grandmother’s death, June discovers a series of cryptic clues regarding her mother’s decades-old disappearance, except they only lead to more questions. But could the door she once assumed was a hallucination be the answer she’s been searching for? The next time it appears, June realizes she can touch it and walk past the threshold. And when she does, she embarks on a journey that will not only change both the past and the future, but also uncover the lingering mysteries of her small town and entangle her heart in an epic star-crossed love.

I’m a huge fan of this author’s YA books. I wasn’t quite such a fan of her first adult novel, but this one was so good! I was just as confused as June during parts of this, and my mind was spinning, trying to figure out what, exactly, was going on. The women in the Farrow family are such strong characters, and all of them fascinated me. I can’t imagine having to make the choices June had to make. This was an excellent read, and I read it straight through in one sitting.

Adrienne Young is a bestselling author. The Unmaking of June Farrow is her newest novel.

(Galley courtesy of Random House/Ballantine in exchange for an honest review.)

Book Review: The Bone Hacker, by Kathy Reichs  

Image belongs to Scribner.

Title: The Bone Hacker    
Author: Kathy Reichs   
Genre:  Thriller
Rating: 4 out of 5 

Called in to examine what is left of a body struck by lightning, Tempe traces an unusual tattoo to its source and is soon embroiled in a much larger case. Young men – tourists – have been disappearing on the islands of Turks and Caicos for years. Seven years ago, the first victim was found in a strange location with both hands cut off; the other visitors vanished without a trace. But, recently, tantalizing leads have emerged and only Tempe can unravel them.

Maddeningly, the victims seem to have nothing in common – other than the strange locations where their bodies are eventually found, and the fact that the young men all seem to be the least likely to be involved in foul play. Do these attacks have something to do with the islands’ seething culture of gang violence? Tempe isn’t so sure. And then she turns up disturbing clues that what’s at stake may actually have global significance.

It isn’t long before the sound of a ticking clock grows menacingly loud, and then Temper herself becomes a target.

This was a solid thriller read, as the Temperance Brennan books usually are. The opening scene was quite dramatic and hooked me in, although it had very little to do with the rest of the story. I enjoyed the setting of Turks and Caicos, although I felt the setting was left pretty hazy, and I didn’t get a feel for it or the culture there, which would have been fascinating. All in all, a solid read, and I finished the book in one sitting.

Kathy Reichs is a bestselling author. The Bone Hacker is her newest novel.

(Galley courtesy of Scribner in exchange for an honest review.)