Great start to a series I will continue

The Cracked Spine by Paige Shelton
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I read the most recent in the series first (prone to this as I discover many series late in the game). I enjoyed that one so much I decided to go to the start.

I really enjoy the characters Shelton has created. This first mystery was a good one, and many of the characters in the most recent one, were with Delaney from the start of her Scottish adventure.

I did have to put aside the implausibility of her finding this interesting opportunity in Edinburgh, right after being laid off from a job in Kansas, but that's the beauty of fiction. When it is well done, you go with it.

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An easy read

The Truth about the Devlins by Lisa Scottoline
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

The premise was great, and I rooted for TJ throughout. However, I didn't quite buy the resolution. I am not writing any spoilers with my next bit, but in case some people feel they are I will hide it. (view spoiler)[Right away the reader knows John is up to no good. TJ makes many boneheaded decisions despite this. Throughout TJ is easily the fall guy, and folks buy into his relapsing readily without any direct evidence.

The family is hard to like, and it's really hard to believe them coming together in the end. The mom's excuses, John being a truly awful person and the dad being blind to it all. Gabby of course was decent, but I think she could have confided in TJ sooner. Regarding non family members, Stan's overreaction at the funeral etc. seems over the top. This whole turn of easily thinking TJ is a drunk ruining everything for Stan was hard to believe, unless Stan was part of the scam which he ends up not being.
It is clear TJ is a truly likeable guy (I mean quickly adopting the medically needy cat should have been a sign of innocence) based on his office interactions, and how people greet him who haven't seen him in a bit. So again, I didn't quite buy the family's supposedly being great when they quickly feel he relapsed, without any direct knowledge. (hide spoiler)]
I finished because I wanted TJ vindicated, but couldn't decide if this was a 2 or a 3 It is probably a 2.5 in all fairness, but that balance between ok and I liked it is somewhat nuanced. I went with a 2 because "it was OK" is a better way of saying what I felt about this book.

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Each related narrative was great

Weyward by Emilia Hart
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Three related women share their stories (various generations including one from the 1600's). Interesting stories, often grim. Great writing and a compelling plot. I find bugs creepy, but this made me think a bit more highly of them. Though I am sure if I see one or two suddenly near me, I will probably jump.

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Still enjoying this series

Decaffeinated Corpse by Cleo Coyle
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I have started this series from the beginning, after initially reading the latest, #20. It has been fun to go back to see where the characters started.

This, book 5, was better than the previous 4 in terms of the mystery and the solution.

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Beautiful book, but you'll need kleenex

Lenny Marks Gets Away with Murder by Kerryn Mayne
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Received this ARC from NetGalley. I absolutely loved this book. I loved Lenny, and many of the other characters. Of course there are awful characters too, but they were described perfectly.

I loved Malcolm the dog, Scrabble games with Monica, the word play Lenny does. She came to life for me. I feared for her, rooted for her, and was ultimately happy for her. This does deal with memory issues and trauma. It is heartbreakingly sad, but also uplifting.

I think it will be published in July, 2024

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Another Amnesia trope

Listen for the Lie by Amy Tintera
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Another book where the main character isn't sure if she murdered someone or not. An odd trope that has recently gotten more popular, or I have just discovered a few of these recently.

This was a decent one, with plausible suspects including the main character. Her sarcastic humor has helped her a bit as she reluctantly agrees to participate in a cold case podcast (I honestly thought to be a cold case it needed to be longer than 5 years, and not sure why the investigation didn't really seem to occur when it happened. I mean like seriously, that part was not explained at all. Everyone thinks it's her, but no arrest? Okay, maybe, but no explanation, no police reports, in fact Ben the podcaster doesn't ever interview anyone from the police dept)

The setting is a small town in Texas. The only notable thing about this particular small town is that affairs seem to take place constantly. It was actually pretty ridiculous to discover how many people had affairs and who they had them with. This was the main motive for the various red herrings, and I didn't buy it. But who knows, maybe a lot of people have that kind of energy and magnetism to have a ton of partners.

Overall I liked it because it kept me wanting to find out the truth, and the snarky humor helped as well.

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Cute Cozy

Ill-Fated Fortune by Jennifer J. Chow
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This has a fun premise for a cozy mystery series. The characters are engaging, and the mystery was decent (though I had guessed an odd aspect to it, but thought it was too odd to be plausible). (view spoiler)[the bit about concrete being used in the fortune cookies hit me due to her fortune about suffocating in concrete, but really thought that was too crazy to be actually used. I would think it would cause even more harm to customers than it did with that party of Moana's (hide spoiler)]

I liked the focus on her friend Kelvin, the shops nearby and her family.

Will read the second one when it comes out.

p.s I received this as an ARC from NetGalley, and happy to have read it earlier than my hold at the local library would have allowed.

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Best of 3

The House of Last Resort by Christopher Golden
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This makes a trio in terms of recently read books dealing with haunted houses.
One I gave a 3 to, primarily due to the narrative voice and humor
The 2nd I gave a 2 since it was just ok, the major flaw being no true explanation or world building.

This one gets a 4 from me because there was an explanation, and world building. I also appreciated that the couple told their friends about the odd things happening in their house. It seemed realistic that they would tell people versus keeping it quiet. This also allowed them to have friends doing their best, in the end, to assist them (I won't share here how succesful this was or wasn't).

I haven't read previous books by this author, but he is on my radar now.

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Will start the series from the beginning

Fateful Words by Paige Shelton
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Started this series with this book, and enjoyed it so much will read the series from the start.
The characters were engaging, the red-herrings believable, and the solution made sense.

There's one aspect that conceivably could create a plausible follow-up, since with a couple of characters questions remain, but not sure if this is how she leads into each new book of this series.

Another reason to read the full series, and why I enjoyed this book so much, is that Edinburg is on my travel bucket list. I loved getting glimpses of the city via this book.

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Great story telling, but that ending....

The Bee Sting by Paul Murray
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

The writing is incredible. A true master class in character develpment. Cass's voice is amazing, as is PJ's. Murray is incredibly skilled at writing from the perspective of a child and a teen.

I honestly can't say much about the plot as I fear writing anything will ruin the storyline for others.

I also enjoyed the narratives from Dickie and Imelda, but was blown away by Cass's and PJ's in terms of an adult male writing them.

This is my first book by Murray, and at some point I will read his others.

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Learned a bit

There Will Be Fire: Margaret Thatcher, the IRA, and Two Minutes That Changed History by Rory Carroll
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I somehow wasn't aware of this particular bombing, that came close to harming Thatcher. This was during the time of The Troubles. An interesting narrative, that highlights what happened in Brighton in 1984, and details some other aspects of that time-frame.


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Just an ok read

The New Couple in 5B by Lisa Unger
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

I am sitting here debating whether this is a 2 or a 3. I went with a 2 because it was "just ok" for me. I liked some aspects. It gives off a bit of a creepy vibe that kept me reading and waiting for some thrills, but overall it didn't add up for me.

I honestly had issues with people's ages, and while it could make sense in a paranormal way perhaps, there was absolutely no explanation for characters to have been a certain age in 1963 (at the youngest 22 perhaps up to 30ish), and apparently robust and fighting off others on the rooftop in the current day and time. And Lillian's age was really confusing. Flirting and possibly dating Chad as if she and Rosie are the same age, yet she was a child in 1963?

At one point I thought we were going with a vampire story, but that didn't come to pass.

I don't mind paranormal, but I do need a bit more world building in that area to explain what caused various elements of the story.

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Continues the great legacy of MHC

It Had to Be You by Mary Higgins Clark
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

MHC was my go to mystery author in HS (possibly MS), after a slew of Nancy Drew books when younger. Alafair Burke does a great job of continuing MHC's legacy.

I loved the set-up of this book, and rooted for many of the characters. The red herrings were great, causing me to go back and forth with who I felt was guilty.

The only quibble I had was it seemed like it would have been harder than it seemed here, for the guilty to keep the secret for as long as they did.

I received this as an arc from NetGalley

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