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Book of the Week

Review

Alter Ego

by Henrietta Thornton

Comics-creator Segura is back with another mystery that takes a penetrating look at the comics industry, particularly its treatment of women creators. In Secret Identity, the 1975-set prequel to Alter Ego, Carmen Valdez was a struggling artist at Triumph, a small comics publisher. She was promised by a male coworker that if she wrote a new female character, the Legendary Lynx, he would pretend he was the lone creator and reveal her work once the character was successful. You can imagine how that went, only add some murder to the shadiness to get the full picture. This book is set in the present and finds another Cuban American woman artist, Annie Bustamante, going through career struggles. She’s had some success, and she longs to bring back the Lynx, even drawing the character in her spare time. When she’s approached by the son of Triumph’s previous owner to bring the character to the big screen and more, she’s nervous that he’s clueless and she has a hard time getting real details on the project. But when, like Carmen before her, she encounters far more sinister elements of the business, including messages from someone only calling themselves Apparition, things turn very scary. There’s no need to read the previous book to enjoy this one, but readers should grab both for an immersive look at this industry, the muddled ego/fear feelings it engenders, and a great set of murder mysteries.

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Review

Passiontide

by Brian Kenney

A brilliant novel, at turns passionate and bold, deeply unsettling yet often wonderfully humorous, set on the small Caribbean island of St. Colibri. It’s the evening before Ash Wednesday when a young woman is discovered murdered, lying in a public park under a cannonball tree. Talented Sora Tanaka was one of the many pan players who came to the island for Carnival—in her case from Japan—to perform in a steel-pan competition. There is nothing surprising about Sora’s murder, in fact so many women have been killed on the island that there is even a police unit dedicated to solving their killings (OMWEN, the Office of Murdered Women). But for some reason Sora’s brutal killing sparks an outcry from women that evolves into a full-scale revolution, attracting thousands of women to occupy a downtown square, igniting the fight against the patriarchy, domestic violence, and international femicide. Eventually their protests reverberate across the world and are covered everywhere from CNN to the BBC. Much of this story is told through the lives of four women, including a leader of sex workers on the island and even, shockingly enough, the wife of the Prime Minister. Roffey is a genius at dialing down the story—focusing on one character or a couple—then ramping it up to depict huge crowd scenes. This book is a wonderful reminder of why I read crime fiction; it belongs in the collection of every public library.

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Review

Christmas at Glitter Peak Lodge

by Willy Williams

Traumatized by a Himalayan avalanche that nearly killed her and that took the life of a close friend, renowned climber Ingrid Berg has returned to the charming Norwegian mountain hotel that has been her family’s home for 130 years. Putting away her crampons and ice ax, the 33-year-old has taken over managing Glitter Peak Lodge from her octogenarian grandmother. Christmas is coming, and it’s make-or-break time for the financially struggling inn. For the first time in years, the lodge will be open through tne New Year. “We will both continue the traditions of the past and introduce new ones,” Ingrid optimistically tells her staff. But as the days count down to Christmas Eve, Ingrid finds running the business as challenging as climbing Heaven’s Horn, the peak that looms over the hotel and the nearby village of Dalen. And strange things are happening, from last-minute cancellations to a noisy, late-night drive-by car parade of local teens. Is someone trying to sabotage Ingrid’s holiday plans to force her to sell the lodge? And is there a connection to the long-ago disappearance of a young bride? As old secrets are gradually revealed, Ingrid also finds her bruised heart opening up to a childhood sweetheart. With its 24 chapters organized like an advent calendar for daily reading, Johnsen’s second novel and first to be translated into English is a delightful, warm-hearted cozy about the healing power of family and community. Its magical winter setting; appealing, colorful characters; fascinating details on Norwegian Yuletide traditions; and recipes for such regional specialties as Pinnekjøtt (smoked lamb ribs) and krumkaker (cone-shaped Christmas cookies) will have readers booking their next holiday vacation at Glitter Peak Lodge.

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Review

Listen to Your Sister

by Henrietta Thornton

Calla, 25, has carried her family forever—they’re a “collectively forked tongue, sharp and dangerous”—and their endless needs drag her from the better life she was building. She’s now a fretful, parenting-advice-reading mom to her lovable but wayward younger brother Jamie, 16. Their father is dead; their mean, drunken mother took off; and middle child, Dre, is no help, despite swearing that if Calla became Jamie’s guardian, he’d be there for them. “Redneck Amish Mormons would be better guardians than you,” says Jamie, in one of the book’s many grimly funny moments, and the pinnacle of his unthinking rejection is driving to a Black Lives Matter protest with a group of friends—when he promised Calla he’d stay home—to give the protesters some illicit help. Jamie has been experiencing bizarre moments, such as when his hand dissolves into a girl’s face and he can feel her insides; more of the same happens at the protest, but no excuses can help Jamie with the law when he’s Black and the protest gets violent. Things are simultaneously going monumentally wrong for Dre, who now must also dodge the police; Calla is once again on the hook to save her brothers from themselves. This is where fear and body horror meet hope and love, the siblings’ lengthy battle for one another stretching their emotional and physical limits and revealing their true selves in all their fury and strength. Debut author Viel really brings the horror here, it’s not for the squeamish at all, but those who can brave this epic fight will be rewarded with a story to remember.

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Review

The Rivals

by Brian Kenney

The many fans of Jane Pek’s first book, The Verifiers, will be thrilled to get their hands on this new novel featuring the indomitable Claudia Lin. In this darker and tougher novel, with a robust comic streak and a deep foray into technology—featuring synths, the scary new generation of bots—Claudia can’t help but employ some espionage tropes as she investigates a corrupt matchmaking firm with the help of a corporate whistleblower. But there is plenty else to distract Claudia. Her family is falling apart at a prodigious rate; she is barely speaking to any of them. Romantic tensions are growing between Claudia and not one but two women, one of whom is the ever soignée Becks, Claudia’s one-time boss and major crush. Questions about sexual identity are sending these 20-somethings spinning in and out of the proverbial closet. While Inspector Yuan, a character created by Claudia, provides plenty of maxims throughout the text. Lots of fun, but also some real terror, in what is a brilliant depiction of New York City.

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Review

The Last One at the Wedding

by Brian Kenney

I’m going to call it like it is: this is one of the best books of the year. Frank Szatowski—widower, UPS deliverer, and all-around good guy—gets a call from his daughter, mid-twenty-something Maggie, inviting him to her wedding in rural New Hampshire. The two have been estranged for several years, so this invite is a big deal for Frank, who brings along his sister (she’s practically Maggie’s mother). But from the moment they arrive at the incredibly lavish estate, nothing is what they expect. Maggie, it turns out, is marrying into a vastly rich tech family—think the Dells—and Frank’s attempts to connect to Maggie’s new family only succeed in making both him and the family members increasingly suspicious. Son-in-law Aidan Gardner is a recluse, accused by the locals of murder; Mom is hiding up in the main house, a drink- and drug-addled shadow of a woman; Dad is a complete control freak who enforces his own time system (seriously); and Maggie is the cheerleader, backing the families’ crazy decisions. Frank’s dialog—both internal and external—is one of the joys of the book, and Frank keeps discovering new forms of evil, like so many nesting Babushka dolls, as he investigates the Gardners. But will he be able to convince his daughter to leave? Strong characterization, a fascinating environment, and a good wallop of suspense makes for one compelling read. Relish it.

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Review

A Grim Reaper’s Guide to Catching a Killer

by Brian Kenney

Middle-aged, mid-divorce (although she is still in love with her husband), and mid-pregnancy, Kathy Valence is a no-nonsense, shoot-from-the-hip type of character. She keeps busy working for S.C.Y.T.H.E. (Secure Collection, Yielding, and Transportation of Human Essences), helping transport the souls of the recently departed on to their next phase, until the soul of one of her clients, hip and happening 17-year-old DJ Conner, gets misplaced. Conner insists he was murdered by someone at S.C.Y.T.H.E., and that it is up to Kathy to track down the murderer and find Conner’s soul. All within forty-five days, or else he’ll become a ghost, destined to wander the Earth (no pressure!). What’s so lovely here are the overlapping needs of the characters. Kathy, whose fears and anxieties hold her back from accepting love. Simone, Kathy’s husband, whose only desire is to be allowed to love Kathy and their baby. And Conner, who wants to identify his murderer, be saved by Kathy, and find the love he missed on Earth. Poignant and pleasing, this successful supernatural mystery will long be remembered.

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Review

Bad Liar

by Henrietta Thornton

I could have sworn that Tami Hoag had an Oprah Book Club pick years ago. That’s what spurred me to pick this up–I usually like Oprah’s picks, and if one of those authors has something new, I’m intrigued. It seems I was wrong, but the happy mistake led me to meet the steadfast Sheriff’s Office Detective Annie Broussard and watch her doggedly investigate three maybe-interlinked crimes in her small south Louisiana town. Local fishermen find a body in the water, its face shot off. There are soon two possibilities as to whom it could be, as two local men are found to be missing. One, Marc Mercier, is a former high-school football star in a town where the sport is everything, who’s returned from time away to his doting mother’s embrace. His Yankee wife is none too happy to be stuck in “Ass Crack, Louisiana,” and might be getting “comforted” by a suave coworker. Also nowhere to be found is Robbie Fontenot, a doctor’s son who has gone off the rails due to Oxycontin addiction. His own doting mother believes he’s on the mend and is desperate for someone to care about where he could be, but not having much luck till she storms the sheriff’s office and meets Annie. Rural loyalties, mothers’ love, sibling rivalries, a hefty dose of Cajun language and slang (glossary provided), and swampy humidity steaming off the pages combine to make a memorable and affecting read. Oprah, take note!

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Review

Rough Pages

by Brian Kenney

The third volume in Rosen’s Evander Mills series is the most powerful to date, going deeper into the community “Andy” Mills has created for himself while taking on the power of secrecy in post-World War II San Francisco. Former cop, currently a PI—without the documentation—Andy is called upon in this book to locate Howard Salzberger, a queer bookseller who has a little brown book that documents all of his customers, and who has loose ties to Andy. Howard has a book he is planning to sell—perhaps about the Mafia?—when he suddenly disappears. While this is historical fiction, set in the ’50s, readers of Rough Pages will surely reflect on the harassment and persecution of librarians, teachers, and students who seek or make available LGBTQ content in present-day America.

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Review

Death at the Sign of the Rook

by Brian Kenney

The five novels featuring former police officer Jackson Brodie—this would be the sixth—are each a bit idiosyncratic. But Atkinson’s many fans need to brace themselves for this title, a delightful, cozyish homage to the Golden Age of Detective Fiction. We start out at a Murder Mystery Weekend in Rook Hall, “a country house hotel located within Burton Makepeace House, one of England’s premier stately homes.” Dowager Marchioness Lady Milton and her hateful offspring have already auctioned off most of the artwork, commercialized what they could, and sold the remaining cottages. Back to Jackson, hired by a brother and sister to track down their mother’s carer, who disappeared with a Renaissance portrait—artist and provenance unknown—shortly after their mother died. There are some extraordinary similarities, not in the art itself, but between how the Renaissance work, and a Turner painting that went missing from Burton Makepease House several years back, were stolen. Which is how Jackson ends up at the Mystery Weekend. This book dazzles in three ways. One, the interior monologues—Atkins goes deep into the lives of many of the characters—are just brilliant. Two, the dialogue is terrifically clever, with the aristocrats in particular pulling no punches. Three, the gathering for Mystery Weekend brings together all manner of participants, from the vicar to a California cardiologist to an army major to a couple of corpses, in an evening that turns out to be as dark as it is comic. And did I mention the snowstorm that traps them all in Burton Makepeace House?

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