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Review

Reckless Girls

by Brian Kenney

Lux McAllister is eager to get out there and explore the world. She’s lost her lousy job cleaning hotel rooms in Hawaii, is still mourning her mother’s death, and fears that her boyfriend, Nico, is getting too comfortable to leave. So when Brittany and Amy, best friends from college, hire Nico to sail them to an incredibly remote island in the South Pacific, she’s game. After all, what could go wrong? Pretty much everything, it turns out. After surviving a horrific storm, they finally get to Meroe Island, and are indeed dazzled by its beauty. But they’re also surprised to discover another ship anchored off the beach, with two occupants, Jake and Eliza, who are rich, friendly, and more than willing to share their wine cellar. The six of them live out their Robinson Crusoe fantasies until things begin to fray. And Meroe Island, famous for its history of shipwrecks and murder, begins to live up to its reputation. Reckless Girls builds slowly while we are treated to lots of backstory, but that’s OK. The characters are compelling, the set up is worth it, and once the suspense starts we are 100 percent in. For fans of Ruth Ware and Lisa Jewell.

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Review

The Secret in the Wall

by Henrietta Thornton

Many of us grew up on a strict diet of Nancy Drew. For nostalgia in the same vein but grittier, try 12-year-old sleuth Antonia Grizzi, who’s been raised on Gilded Age San Francisco’s streets, and it shows. She’s now the “ward” of Inez Stannart, a single woman who wants to remain so. The two are perfectly matched as companions, but Antonia can’t bring herself to trust Inez, or anyone, completely. When demolition in a building Inez has bought reveals a dead man and a cache of gold coins, she and Antonia each determine to solve the mystery of who he is and what happened—solo. By playing in the house, the little girl gets deep into its secrets, while her guardian looks further afield, including in the investigation a handsome local who just might make her abandon the going-it-alone plan. Exciting switches in perspective quickly advance the plot while accessible but atmospheric dialog and cultural touchpoints impart a vivid sense of the time. Readers will want more from Parker; also try Erin Lindsey’s Rose Gallagher Mystery series.

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Review

The Other Me

by Henrietta Thornton

When struggling artist Kelly enters an art gallery bathroom on her birthday, she turns into a different version of herself. In this life she’s no longer single, but is married to Eric, who is waiting outside for her. Her tattoos have vanished, and she never went to art school. Bewildered as to which existence is real, she plays along. Memories from this life’s past suddenly appear, along with a returning, comfortable attraction toward Eric, who, in the other life, she turned down when he asked her out in high school. Over time, odd moments tell Kelly that the new life might be no more stable than the old—her tattoos flash back onto her skin at times, for example—and she discovers that some in her new life might know what’s going on. A stellar choice for book groups and classes on ethics, this debut brings up a wealth of questions about possibilities other than the linear progression of life that we take for granted, and about the wisdom of trying to start over. Kelly and Eric’s insta-relationship is a mind-bender of its own, the does-he-know and does-he-know-that-I-knows perhaps reminding readers of the mysteries in any partnership. Sure to be a hot title this fall.

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Review

Silent Parade

by Brian Kenney

This big, complex, sprawling, novel—complete with a large cast and plenty of backstory—is perfect for when you need to lose yourself for a few days. At the center of the book is the murder of Saori Namiki, a talented young woman who is about to launch her musical career. Jump three years to the present, when her remains are discovered in the rubble of a burnt-out shanty. Finding her murderer would seem impossible, but a similar death over 20 years ago helps Chief Inspector Kusanagi identify the killer, only to see him released for lack of solid evidence. But if the legal system won’t punish the murderer, Saori’s friends, family, and fiancé are more than willing to step up, and an immensely complex scheme is created to do away with the man. As the story unfolds, we are privy to the same information Kusanagi has, keeping the reader in an ongoing state of anxiety. But the real fun in this book is the return of Detective Galileo, last seen in the first book in the series, The Devotion of Suspect X. Physics professor by day, police consultant by night, Galileo enters near the book’s conclusion to upend everything we have come to believe, creating a new narrative that is oh so very satisfying

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Review

Something’s Guava Give

by Brian Kenney

Right on the heels of the first book in the series, It Takes Two to Mango, ex-New Yorker Plum Lockhart is trying to make a go of life on the Caribbean island of Paraiso. Having set up her own agency to rent vacation homes, she’s struggling to succeed, when she gets a call from Gerald, a former publishing buddy in New York. He wants her to look after an heiress, Arielle, his boss’s daughter, who’s vacationing on the island and gotten into a scrape with the law. Plum doesn’t have a choice, as she owes Gerald for a major profile he published about her new company. But just 24 hours after she saves Arielle—who’s accused of stealing from other guests—the poor little rich girl is found murdered. There’s a lot for readers to appreciate here, from a wonderful cast including a Keith Richards-like rock star, a reclusive billionaire, and a couple of B-list celebrities to Plum’s in-your-face, confrontative, New York City style. Add a budding romance with the dishy Juan Kevin Munoz, head of security at the nearby resort, and you have a series that cozy readers will want to return to again and again.

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Review

The Warriors

by Henrietta Thornton

Defense lawyer Raquel Rematti, whose arguments are used as law school how-tos, has met the first client she truly hates, Angela Baldesteri, a former First Lady and current senator. Angela might be lying on the stand in her trial on fraud and tax evasion charges and seems determined to alienate the judge. Raquel is torn. She could lose her license if she fails to rein in Angela’s behavior, but it’s hard to find a more high-profile client. Meanwhile, outside forces frighten her into staying: she’s followed in the street by men who claim to be FBI but aren’t; a former drug-dealing client targets a member of the jury and even the lawyer’s loved ones; and the body count starts to climb. Batista (Manhattan Lockdown) skillfully intertwines psychological and legal drama here, with the protagonist struggling to best an adversarial client while fighting against those who will do anything to keep the senator in the upcoming presidential race. The cutthroat politics and shadowy money behind super PACs also feature heavily. Trial lawyer Batista’s fast-paced read is a must for fans of John Grisham and Scott Turow.

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Review

April in Spain

by Henrietta Thornton

John Banville invites us into the inner lives of Irish people and, through their loves and struggles, creates a composite view of modern Ireland. This eighth in the series named for retired medical examiner Quirke sees him reluctantly vacationing in Spain with his wife, Evelyn, a psychiatrist whose quiet love for Quirke is a highlight of the book. When an injured Quirke visits an ER, the Irish doctor who treats him is strangely familiar and later, at a thank-you meal she obviously loathes attending, behaves bizarrely. Back in Ireland, Quirke’s daughter, Phoebe, will frustrate readers through her relationship with superior-acting, controlling Paul. When Phoebe joins Quirke to tackle the mystery surrounding the Irish doctor, she sidesteps Paul and his aloofness only to face something much more sinister (warning: sexual abuse is involved though not graphically described). Love and fear are wonderfully juxtaposed here, and those who enjoy reading the former should try Irish author Donal Ryan’s The Spinning Heart. Fans of the more dangerous elements should be steered toward the Sean Duffy novels by Northern Ireland’s Adrian McKinty.

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Review

Where There’s a Will

by Henrietta Thornton

Rowland “Rowly” Sinclair and his wealthy Australian artist friends live a life of leisure except for solving crime; in this 11th outing (after A Testament of Character, 2020), they’re taking a languid trip through Asia, stopping at British Colonial outposts that allow them to remain of the empire even on the road. Their frivolities are ended when Rowly’s friend Danny Cartwright is murdered in Boston and Rowly announced as the surprise executor of Danny’s will. What they find stateside is a greedy family waiting for the will to be read and long-simmering anger that Danny, who was gay, had any say in their family’s fortune. The will doesn’t go the Cartwrights’ way, causing danger for Rowly and friends as well as some of the best writing of the book as Gentill portrays the loyalty and love—some of it less unrequited than previously—among this gang of affable eccentrics. Be aware that a past attempt at gay conversion therapy is described “off stage.” Gentill’s fans will be delighted with this latest installment; it’s also a great readalike for Amanda Allen’s Santa Fe Revival Mystery series, which too features an artist sleuth

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Review

The Day He Left

by Henrietta Thornton

The straight and not-so-straight lines connecting people and events, thoughts and dreams, form the framework of Weisel’s second book, after The Silenced Women (2021). The story starts with the disappearance of Paul Behrens, a staid middle-school teacher who leaves a message stating that allegations about him and a student aren’t to be believed. When a parent who shouldn’t be at the school is seen leaving Paul’s classroom, and the teacher’s brain-damaged veteran brother tells police that Paul is in the ocean, things rapidly turn scary. While puzzling over the head-scratching case, which enmeshes multiple families, betrayals, and secrets, police officer Eden Somers learns that a serial killer she pursued in the past has her home address and other personal details. Both cases, and the related victims, perpetrators, and investigators—especially the melancholy, philosophical Lieutenant Mahler—will keep readers wondering why love so often goes wrong and how split-second decisions can reverberate far beyond their origins. Philosophy gives way to a lengthy, gripping chase that leaves questions open for the next installment. Mahler will remind Donna Leon’s fans of Detective Brunetti, and those readers should try Weisel’s thoughtful series.

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