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Review

Revenge, Served Royal

by Henrietta Thornton

I confess, I don’t know where to start this review, there’s so much to the novel that will draw in readers. Should I mention that Regency era-set novels are usually romances, so a mystery that unfolds in the era is a particular treat? Or maybe that the main character, Lady Petra—in her third series outing here—wears lock picks and a dagger beneath her gowns? (Feisty!) How about the baking competition that will attract lovers of The Great British Bake Off and cozies featuring baking? Well, I’m still no closer to an answer, but I will say that readers should pick this up and be ready for delicious treachery, lies, and scandal when everyone who’s anyone in Regency Britain descends on Windsor Castle. They’re excited for a week of diversion that includes a competition to decide the best cook in any aristocratic house in the kingdom. Lady Petra’s stint as a judge is interrupted by the murder of one of the other judges and the sleuthing is on. Try Connally’s previous works in the series (All’s Fair in Love and Treachery; Act Like a Lady, Think Like a Lord) while waiting for this one.

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Review

The Intruder

by Henrietta Thornton

Casey just wanted a quiet life in the New Hampshire woods. That’s mostly what she’s got, despite the neighbor that seems a bit off and the icky landlord whose suggestive comments she could do without. When a massive storm bears down, her cabin’s failing roof is a worry but turns out to be the least of her problems. Then she sees someone outside. It’s a teenage girl who’s been hiding in the garden shed, and when Casey tries to help her, Casey soon becomes captive in her own home while the storm rages. The girl, who seems enraged at Casey for reasons that are a mystery to readers and the hapless captive alike, is ready to make this night a violent one. Alternating with that story is the tale of Ella, a girl who lives with her abusive, hoarder mother, and her desperation to escape that life and the bullying at school. McFadden brings her usual tight plotting and twists to this massively absorbing work of psychological terror, which will be a winner with her fans and all who enjoy a tense, character-driven read.

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Review

How to Commit a Postcolonial Murder

by Willy Williams

“The Ayyars dipped into our lives like a tea bag into the whiteness of a porcelain cup. They muddied the water and made our house feel small….” In the summer of 1986, tween narrator Georgie Ayyar Creel; her sister, Agatha Krishna; and their amma (mother) welcome newly arrived relatives from India to their cramped home in rural Wyoming. Moving into Agatha Krishna’s bedroom are Vinny Uncle, Amma’s beloved but useless younger brother, whom she has not seen in 14 years since marrying geologist Richard Creel; Auntie Devi, Vinny’s bossy wife; and their son, Narayan. Tensions quickly arise, and so does the sexual abuse when their uncle targets Agatha and then Georgie: “Vinny Uncle made us shadow people.” Forced into silence by their abuser, the sisters decide he must die. The accidental death of a cat provides the murder weapon and sets the siblings’ deadly plot into motion. This highly original debut novel by the author of the award-winning short story collection Cowboys and East Indians is a darkly funny coming-of-age tale with a touch of murder and a haunting twist. Celebrating girlhood and sisterhood in the 1980s, it’s also a touching portrait of Indian-American teens, caught between cultures, in the American West.

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Review

Sugar and Spite

by Brian Kenney

Fortunately for M.C. Beaton (aka Marian Chesney) fans, this sixth Agatha Raisin novel created since Beaton’s demise, and written by R. W. Greenby, provides all the fun they are looking for. Mrs. Bloxby, the Vicar’s wife, convinces Agatha to attend a lecture by the Carsely Ladies Society to be delivered by three bird watchers (they call themselves twitchers). Agatha expects a dull evening but it turns out to be quite the opposite as a local farmer breaks up the lecture and threatens the women for trespassing on his land, and then the trio of twitchers ends up having a full-on war among one another. The next day, Agatha learns that one of the women has been discovered dead, and the rather dumb police chief insists it isn’t murder. So off we go, as Agatha takes up the search for the murderer, using the staff of her detective agency, friends, and inside knowledge from the police themselves. A pleasure, but brace yourself for a very surprising ending.

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Review

What about the Bodies?

by Henrietta Thornton

Their messiness portrayed with cringe-inducing accuracy, hapless characters strive to survive what life throws at them—and it’s a lot—in Edgar-nominated Jaworowski’s latest. Reed, a young man who’s autistic, has just lost the person at the center of his life. He wants to do the right thing, and…kind of…wants to do what his brother, who is his guardian, asks, but surely a little excursion to keep a promise won’t hurt anyone. Then there’s Billy, another resident of Locksburg, PA, who needs his single-mother’s help to hide one of the bodies of the title. It’s not a fresh body, leading to some gruesome scenes but mostly to edge-of-your-seat moments as the two struggle to stop their lives from sliding even deeper into darkness. Trying to escape the town is Liz, a musician who’s taken up with a local bad boy who, you guessed it, gets both of them into trouble just as she’s on the brink of getting out. These all-too-realistic lives collide in a memorably character-driven story whose dialog—especially that of Liz—will make readers laugh even as they despair that anything can ever go right in Locksburg. Plenty of readers love a small-town thriller and this one’s just the ticket.

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Review

The Mysterious Case of the Missing Crime Writer

by Brian Kenney

Considering the title, you could be forgiven for thinking this is a frothy, fun-filled mystery akin to Only Murders in the Building. And while there is some droll humor here, this book also tackles serious social issues, including domestic violence and a murder that reverberates through the decades. The plot is both simple (Elín S. Jónsdóttir, a famous, older, mystery writer disappears) and complex (she has many friends who would be willing to help her vanish). But what’s the motive? That question lies in the hands of young detective Helgi Reykdal, who should be familiar to many readers from Jónasson’s Death at the Sanatorium. The two books share much in common, including multiple timelines and a rapid pace that keeps the readers on their toes. As the onion gets peeled, and the pieces start to fall apart, the book becomes increasingly transparent. Exhilarating and gripping; fans of Agatha Christie and Nordic Noir will find much to enjoy here.

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Review

Everyone a Stranger

by Jeff Ayers

Virginia Abrams lives in Washington, D.C., in 1943, and her husband has died overseas in the Pacific. The son of a prominent Senator attacks her, resulting in an unwanted pregnancy. When the son dies, his powerful parents decide to keep Virginia quiet by arranging to have her killed. Barely escaping, Virginia hops on a train and ends up on the other side of the country in Seattle. Under the identity of Ginny Moore, she rents an apartment and secures a job as a personal secretary to a well-established mystery author. But she can’t escape the feeling that the senator’s henchman will find her. When a young mom who looks almost identical to Ginny dies in what seems like an accidental fall, she starts to question everyone around her. Can anyone be trusted? At the height of WWII, when spies and traitors lurk around every corner, the paranoia escalates above a 10 in O’Brien’s latest thriller. In a story that feels like O’Brien traveled back in time and stole the manuscript straight from Alfred Hitchcock’s desk, Ginny’s struggle to find solace will have readers keeping their lights on while reaching for tissues. Everyone a Stranger is arguably the author’s best novel to date.

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Review

The Botanist’s Assistant

by Danise Hoover

Margaret, large, 50ish, probably neurodivergent, is a remarkably good assistant in a university lab doing botanical research into possible cancer cures. The bottom drops out of her world when she discovers the body of her beloved boss, Dr. Deaver, in his office, quite dead. In true scientific fashion, she notices the small details that no one else, especially the bumbling campus police, takes account of. Her comments are quickly dismissed and she is pressed into rewriting an important grant application to credit someone who deserves no credit at all. There are deans grasping for academic glory, scientists looking to make big bucks, and only Margaret who wants to know the truth. She finds a friend in Joe, a new custodian whose personality seems out of keeping with his job. Together they work to discover what is truly going on, and not only find a murderer, but also save the cutting-edge research study. Margaret is a delight, and the situation requires her to open herself to friends and new possibilities. The ending leaves the possibility for more from Margaret and Joe, which would be a fine addition to the genre.

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Review

The Vanishing Place

by Henrietta Thornton

There’s no horror here but plenty of scares as nine-year-old Effie must parent her siblings in her family’s freezing shack in the western New Zealand bush. With the nearest town, Koraha, six hours walk through dense forest, Mum with a new baby and Dad mostly off hunting and fishing, it’s all Effie can do to keep the little ones fed and warm. The new baby, the fourth child and named four, heralds a much harder chapter for the family, one that ultimately sees Effie living as an adult in Scotland. She’s compelled to return to New Zealand when reports reach her that a little girl—unknown to Effie but looking exactly like her—has shown up in the town, injured and starving. Who she is and what happened in the past is a twist-filled saga that drops readers right into the dangerous landscapes that are both the New Zealand wilderness (“an unforgiving thing that would eat them up”) and the off-off grid family. One to remember, and a must for fans of Barbara Kingsolver’s Poisonwood Bible and Alisa Alering’s Smothermoss.

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Review

Death on Dickens Island

by Danise Hoover

Tiny Dickens Island, located in the sound between Connecticut and Long Island, has a small permanent population composed of families in the midst of some sort of feud or another. Delia has come back after years of living in Manhattan to take up her role as mother to teenage Connor and part manager of the family’s general store. She’s inherited her grandmother’s house and for now is loving being back, though is unsure of her maternal success. Connor finds a secret room in grandma’s house with old books and what may be a pirate map. Delia encounters grandma’s ghost, who visits the room occasionally and offers a unique perspective on island history. The map is stolen by local miscreants and doesn’t lead to treasure but rather to a long-buried body that brings old scandals to the present. With logic, the help of an old love, and grandma’s ghost, Delia puts much of the puzzle together, leading to a solution to the murders and to some of the family feuds. An enjoyable, sandy cozy with the author’s promise of more to come from Dickens Island.

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