Tag: mystery

Two Days Gone, by Randall Silvis

two-days-gone
Image belongs to Sourcebooks Landmark.)

Randall Silvis is the award-winning author of more than a dozen novels, a play, a screenplay, and numerous essays. His newest novel is Two Days Gone.

Thomas Huston is a best-selling author, a respected professor, and an involved family man. He’s invested in the community, and people love him. So, when everything changes in an instant, and his wife and three kids are found brutally murdered and he vanishes—making him the prime suspect—detective Ryan DeMarco wants to know why:  why would this man, who seems to have everything, suddenly snap?

DeMarco knows Huston, and doesn’t believe the man capable of the brutal murders. But if Huston is innocent, where is he? Why is he hiding? And what did he uncover while researching his newest novel? The questions far outnumber the facts as DeMarco races the clock to uncover the truth about the life of Thomas Huston.

Two Days Gone has the lyrical feel of literary fiction, yet it’s also a murder mystery. Thomas Huston is an enigma; driven and loving in his life “before,” haunted and determined in the “after.” The characters live and breathe on the page, and had me up late into the night to see where the story was headed.

(Galley provided by Sourcebooks Landmark.)

Lone Wolf, by Sara Driscoll

lone-wolf
Image belongs to Kensington Books.

Sara Driscoll is the pseudonym of writers Jen J. Danna and Ann Vanderlaan. They write the Abbott and Lowell Forensic Mysteries, and their new series, FBI K-9s. The first book in the series is Lone Wolf.

Meg and Hawk, a black lab, are part of the FBI’s K-9 unit, called out to disasters to search and rescue anything from a missing person, a criminal, or a body. When they’re called to bombing site at a government building on the National Mall, they find themselves searching for victims in the rubble of a mad bomber’s first target.

Their actions earn them the name “heroes,” and, as the bomber escalates, they are called to more disaster scenes in a desperate search for clues to the bomber’s identity. Because the attacks are spiraling out of control, and they’re sure the bomber has an even bigger target in mind, one that will tear the country apart with fear. It’s up to Meg and Hawk, and the rest of their team, to stop the disaster before it happens.

Lone Wolf contains some scenes that are hard to read, especially for those who can still picture the devastating scenes of 9-11. Meg is a great character, with a tenacious will that makes her fun to read, and the action in this novel never lets up. This series is sure to be a must-read.

(Galley provided by Kensington Books via NetGalley.)

One Was Lost, by Natalie Richards

one-was-lost
Image belongs to Sourcebooks Fire.

Natalie Richards used to work in a boring office cubicle before she discovered the art of making things up and became a young adult author. Her newest novel is One Was Lost.

Sera did not want to go on her senior camping trip, but she didn’t have a choice. She especially didn’t want to go with Lucas, with whom she has a history. But there she was, hiking through the woods with a group of teenagers, and the only thing she has in common with them is this stupid trip.

Until the group is split in two, and her group wakes up groggy and disoriented, with words scrawled on their wrists. Their supplies are gone. Their chaperone is unconscious. And they find four dolls acting out a murder…four dolls dressed exactly like them. Someone stalks them in the woods, and since Sera has the only positive word on her wrist, soon everyone is suspicious of her. They have to get out of the woods before someone else winds up hurt or dead, but their stalker is always one step ahead.

So, this book….I’m a bit of a chicken sometimes, and this book creeped me out several times. Things kept getting worse for Sera and her friends, and the setting was spooky enough to make me swear off camping in the woods. Like, forever. I never did figure out what was going on, right up until the action-packed ending. One Was Lost kept me flipping pages until I finally found out what was going on.

(Galley provided by Sourcebooks Fire via NetGalley).

Unfolding, by Jonathan Friesen

unfolding
I do not own this image. Image belongs to Blink.

 

Jonathan Friesen is a former teacher’s pet who wrote his first novel while his students were working. Unfolding is his newest novel.

Jonah has a tough life in tiny Gullary, Oklahoma. He has a debilitating physical condition and epilepsy, which keeps him on the outside of many things. His parents are distant. He’s in love with his next-door neighbor, the troubled Stormi, deposited here as an infant when a tornado touched down. The same tornado that destroyed the Supermax prison where Jonah now works—the only employee—as an occasional tour guide and the caretaker for the prison’s solitary inmate, the mysterious Tres.

Stormi is carefree and vibrant, everything Jonah wishes he could be. She’s also different, a difference the town notices when she senses things before they happen, averting tragedy—or not. When Stormi senses she should leave town to find safety, Jonah is drawn in her wake as they struggle to find out the truth behind what happened in Gullary so long ago, and left the town scarred and harboring a darkness Jonah can only imagine.

This book. I couldn’t put it down. Seriously. I would have finished it in one sitting except I’m not independently wealthy and had to go to work. From the opening sentence to the final line, I was completely spellbound. Jonah is a fantastic character:  he’s physically struggling, but emotionally strong, and this story is so firmly in his viewpoint I felt like I was experiencing every stumble and seizure. Stormi is full of life and mystery, and their interactions leap off the page. You should definitely read this!

(Galley provided by Blink via NetGalley.)

Labyrinth Lost, by Zoraida Cordova

labyrinth-lost
I do not own this image. Image belongs to Sourcebooks Fire.

According to her website, Zoraida Cordova says, “(I) write YA Urban Fantasy about mermaids and other things that go bump in the night. I also write about 20-something-year-old-girls searching for love and the meaning of life. I often wish my life were a cross between Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Sex and the City. I’m a contributing writer to Latinos in Kid Lit because #WeNeedDiverseBooks.” Her newest novel is Labyrinth Lost.

Alex is a bruja in a family of powerful witches. But Alex doesn’t want her powers. She wants to be normal. She’s hated magic for years, ever since it made her father disappear. Instead of a Quinceañera, Alex prepares for her Death Day:  the most important event in a witch’s life, and her one chance to get rid of her magic.

But the curse she performs during the ceremony goes wrong, and her entire family disappears, leaving her alone and with all of their magic. Nova is the only one she can turn to, a brujo with ambitions of his own. They must travel to Los Lagos, a land in-between two places that makes Wonderland look like a cartoon fairy tale.

The characters in Labyrinth Lost are so vivid they almost step off the page. The magic system is unique (with a hint of the feel of voodoo). Alex is conflicted over her heritage, but not her love of her family, and she grows so much in this book. There are a few twists in the book that will catch the reader by surprise.

 

(Galley provided by Sourcebooks Fire via NetGalley.)

Tracing the Bones, by Elise A. Miller

tracing-the-bones
I do not own this image. Image belongs to SparkPress.

Elise A. Miller is a fitness instructor and a writer of both fiction and essays. Her first novel, Star Craving Mad, was first published in 2004. Tracing the Bones is her second novel.

Eve Myers is a housewife haunted by her husband’s long-ago affair. She has two kids, chronic back pain, and scribbles story ideas on scraps of paper as she drifts numbly through her monotonous life. Until a new family moves into the house next door.

Now Eve is obsessed with beautiful life coach Anna and sexy alternative healer Billy. Anna has abilities Eve never imagined, and Billy is haunted by a dark, troubled past. While Eve starts healing sessions with Billy, tragedy strikes, drawing Eve into a tangled web of suspicion and sending her marriage careening towards a precipice of mistrust and betrayal.

Tracing the Bones is a compelling, intriguing story about flawed characters and their struggles. I understood—and sympathized—with Eve’s pain as well as her curiosity. The aftermath of tragedy, and Eve’s ever-deepening involvement in the darkness offered her a chance at resolution and redemption. I enjoyed this book very much.

(Galley provided by SparkPress via NetGalley.)

What I Read in July

Seems like I didn’t do a whole lot of reading in July.

Lady Midnight, by Cassandra Clare. (Loved it!)

chronicles

Chronicles of a Last Summer, by Yasmine El Rashidi. (Read to review.)

and I darken

And I Darken, by Kiersten White. (Read to review.)

The Dragon Round

The Dragon Round, by Stephen S. Power. (Read to review.)

an elegant facace

An Elegant Facade, by Kristi Ann Hunter. (Read to review.)

Far from the Madding Crowd, by Thomas Hardy. (My classic for the month. This one was so-so to me.)

Daring Greatly, by Brune Brown. (My spiritual book for the month.)

Trixie Belden and the Mystery Off Old Telegraph Road, by Kathryn Kenny. (This one was from my TBR pile. I loved this series when I was younger, and it’s interesting to re-read them now. So…innocent.)

 

What I Read (in May)

Yeah, it’s been a while since I posted anything but a book review. I’ll work on that this week. Promise. Right now, here’s what I read in May. (Quite a few books as a reward for living through the semester.)

  • The Cresswell Plot, by Eliza Wass (for review.)
  • Fried Chicken and Gravy, by Sherri Schoenborn Murray. (This was actually a really cute, sweet book. I enjoyed it.)
  • The Scarlett Pimpernel, by Emmuska Orczy. (No idea why I’d never read this, but it was great.)
  • Close Enough to Hear God Breathe, by Greg Paul.
  • Smoke, by Dan Vyletea (for review.)
  • A Trail of Fire, by Diana Gabaldon. (Love these books.)
  • The Raven King, by Maggie Stiefvater. (Fantastic author. Fantastic series. Sad it’s over.)
  • Blue Lily, Lily Blue, by Maggie Stiefvater
  • My Best Friend’s Exorcism, by Grady Hendrix (for review).
  • Someone Else’s Love Story, by Joshilyn Jackson
  • Mug Shot, by Caroline Fardig (for review).
  • Anything You Want, by Geoff Harbach (for review).
  • Echoes of Silence, by Elana Johnson (for review on Amazon).
  • A Drop in the Ocean, by Jenni Ogden (for review, plus author interview).
  • The Never-Open Desert Diner, by James Anderson (for review).
  • Jackson’s Trust, by Violet Duke (for review).
  • Gods in Alabama, by Joshilyn Jackson (Re-read and remembered how fantastic this book is.)
(I do not own this image. Image belongs to Disney Book Group.)
(I do not own this image. Image belongs to Doubleday.)
(This image does not belong to me. Image belongs to Quirk Books.)
Jenni Ogden, author of A Drop in the Ocean
(I do not own this image. Image belongs to Loveswept.)
(I do not own this image. Image belongs to Crown Publishing.)
(I do no own this image. Image belongs to Random House/Alibi.)
(This image does not belong to me. Image belongs to She Writes Press.)
(I do not own this image. Image belongs to Sourcebooks Fire.)

 

 

Mug Shot, by Caroline Fardig

Mug Shot cover
(I do no own this image. Image belongs to Random House/Alibi.)

 

Caroline Fardig is the bestselling author of the Java Jive Mysteries series, as well as the Lizzie Hart series. Her newest novel, Mug Shot, is the second book in the Java Jive Mysteries.

Life has been super busy for Juliet Langley since taking over the management of her best friend Pete’s coffeehouse. Working every day doesn’t leave much time for romance, and Juliet throws herself into getting ready for the Holiday 5k fundraiser organized by Pete’s rich, snobby girlfriend. Since Cecilia is in charge, Juliet knows everything has to be perfect, and she makes sure it is. Until she stumbles over Cecilia’s body the morning of the event.

When Pete is arrested for the murder, Julia sets out to find out who the real killer is, defying her ex-boyfriend, a local Lothario, and her friend Savannah’s good-intentioned “help” to do so. But the real conflict is with Nashville’s high society upper class, who all seem to think Pete is guilty. Juliet is not above upsetting a few grande dames to clear Pete’s name. She just has to solve the puzzle before she becomes the next target.

Mug Shot lets the reader get to know Juliet just a bit better, and the high spirits continue as the mystery deepens. The characters are entertaining and lively, with lots of antics and bad luck to keep the reader hooked.

(Galley provided by Random House/Alibi via NetGalley.)

 

The Never-Open Desert Diner, by James Anderson

desert diner
(I do not own this image. Image belongs to Crown Publishing.)

 

James Anderson was born in Seattle and raised in the Pacific Northwest. He has worked in publishing, logging, and commercial fishing. The Never-Open Desert Diner is his debut novel.

Ben jones lives a simple life. He’s a truck driver, working Route 117 in a remote area of Utah, where most of the residents want to live off-grid and disappear from the world. Ben is barely scraping by, on the verge of losing his truck and his business, as well as the service he provides for the reclusive inhabitants of 117.

Then one day, Ben sees a woman named Claire playing the cello in an abandoned house off 117, and his entire world changes. Strangers appear on 117:  a woman who’s a little too polished for his neck of the woods, a reality television producer who wants to ride along with Ben. A friend of his turns up missing. Something is going on around Route 117, and Ben needs to find out what it is before someone gets hurt. Then there’s Walt Butterfield, owner of the Well-Known Desert Diner, which hasn’t opened in years. Walt knows more about what’s going on than he’s letting on, and Ben is determined to find out what it is, no matter what.

The Never-Open Desert Diner is a mystery novel, but the real focus is the quirky, unforgettable characters that live on the pages. Ben’s “boring” life merely serves as a foil for the vivid people that inhabit this desolate patch of desert.

(Galley provided by Crown Publishing via NetGalley.)