Category Archives: Rated B

March 26, 2022 · 12:01 am

Review: The Goodbye Coast by Joe Ide

Title: The Goodbye Coast by Joe Ide
Publisher: Mulholland Books
Genre: Contemporary, Mystery
Length: 351 pages
Book Rating: B

Complimentary Review Copy Provided by Publisher Through NetGalley

Summary:

Raymond Chandler’s iconic detective, Philip Marlowe, gets a dramatic and colorful reinvention at the hands of award-winning novelist Joe Ide

The seductive and relentless figure of Raymond Chandler’s detective, Philip Marlowe, is vividly re-imagined in present-day Los Angeles. Here is a city of scheming Malibu actresses, ruthless gang members, virulent inequality, and washed-out police. Acclaimed and award-winning novelist Joe Ide imagines a Marlowe very much of our time: he’s a quiet, lonely, and remarkably capable and confident private detective, though he lives beneath the shadow of his father, a once-decorated LAPD homicide detective, famous throughout the city, who’s given in to drink after the death of Marlowe’s mother.

Marlowe, against his better judgement, accepts two missing person cases, the first a daughter of a faded, tyrannical Hollywood starlet, and the second, a British child stolen from his mother by his father. At the center of COAST is Marlowe’s troubled and confounding relationship with his father, a son who despises yet respects his dad, and a dad who’s unable to hide his bitter disappointment with his grown boy. Together, they will realize that one of their clients may be responsible for murder of her own husband, a washed-up director in debt to Albanian and Russian gangsters, and that the client’s trouble-making daughter may not be what she seems.

Steeped in the richly detailed ethnic neighborhoods of modern LA, Ide’s COAST is a bold recreation that is viciously funny, ingeniously plotted, and surprisingly tender.

Review:

The Goodbye Coast by Joe Ide is a clever mystery which features a re-imagined Philip Marlowe set in modern day Los Angeles.

Private Detective Philip Marlowe reluctantly takes has-been actress Kendra James’ case. Although her husband Terry’s murder is still unsolved, Kendra wants Marlowe to find her runaway stepdaughter, Cody.  The seventeen-year-old young woman is surprisingly easy to locate and Marlowe convinces his alcoholic father, Emmet to temporarily take her in.

Marlowe then takes on a second case when he agrees to help British professor Ren Stewart locate her young son Jeremy. Her son’s father failed to bring him back to her after a custodial visit. Ren knows he is somewhere close by and she urges Marlowe to follow every lead they find. Marlowe is intrigued by Ren and sometimes goes against his better instincts while investigating her case.

The Goodbye Coast is a multi-layered detective mystery that is quite atmospheric. Marlowe is a solitary figure with a complex relationship with his father. Emmet is still grieving the loss of his beloved wife and his future with the police department is in jeopardy due to his drinking. The storyline is a bit convoluted and pits Marlowe against dangerous Armenian and Russian criminals. Despite occasionally uneven pacing, Joe Ide brings this engaging mystery to an action-filled conclusion.

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Filed under Contemporary, Joe Ide, Mulholland Books, Mystery, Rated B, The Goodbye Coast

March 7, 2022 · 12:01 am

Review: The Christie Affair by Nina de Gramont

Title: The Christie Affair by Nina de Gramont
Publisher: St. Martin’s Press
Genre: Historical (20s), Mystery
Length: 320 pages
Book Rating: B

Complimentary Review Copy Provided by Publisher Through NetGalley

Summary:

Why would the world’s most famous mystery writer disappear for eleven days? What makes a woman desperate enough to destroy another woman’s marriage? How deeply can a person crave revenge?

In 1925, Miss Nan O’Dea infiltrated the wealthy, rarefied world of author Agatha Christie and her husband, Archie. In every way, she became a part of their life––first, both Christies. Then, just Archie. Soon, Nan became Archie’s mistress, luring him away from his devoted wife, desperate to marry him. Nan’s plot didn’t begin the day she met Archie and Agatha.

It began decades before, in Ireland, when Nan was a young girl. She and the man she loved were a star-crossed couple who were destined to be together––until the Great War, a pandemic, and shameful secrets tore them apart. Then acts of unspeakable cruelty kept them separated.

What drives someone to murder? What will someone do in the name of love? What kind of crime can someone never forgive? Nina de Gramont’s brilliant, unforgettable novel explores these questions and more.

Review:

The Christie Affair by Nina de Gramont is a clever historical mystery that reimagines Agatha Christie’s unexplained eleven-day disappearance in 1926.

Famed mystery writer Agatha Christie leaves home one evening and seemingly vanishes into thin air. Police quickly located her prize automobile and the car’s location raises questions about suicide. When this theory is disproven, large search parties begin looking for the missing author. The newspapers feverishly cover the story, other mystery authors try to solve the mystery and people who dabble in the paranormal attempt to find her.  The publicity pays off when someone recognizes her and calls the police to reveal her whereabouts: a spa hotel in Harrogate.  In The Christie Affair, Nina de Gramont offers an imaginative scenario for Agatha Christie’s still puzzling disappearance.

Agatha is married to Colonel Archie Christie and they are the parents of a darling seven-year-old daughter. He is a businessman and Agatha’s star is rising as a successful mystery author.  The night  she vanishes coincides with Archie informing her of his plans to divorce her. He is having an affair with Nan O’Dea and he plans to marry her after their divorce is final. After dropping the bombshell news on Agatha, Archie and Nan depart for a  weekend party at a friend’s home. Meanwhile, later that evening, Agatha leaves and vanishes for eleven days.

Nan is in her twenties and through a series of intriguing flashbacks, her sweet yet ultimately doomed romance with Irishman Finnbarr Mahoney is revealed. Nan lives in England but her father is from Ireland and it is while visiting her uncle that she meets Finnbarr.  Their budding romance is interrupted by World War I and after his return, Finnbarr’s bout with the Spanish Flu.

Inspector Frank Chilton, who is also a WWI veteran, is called out of retirement to help look for Agatha. He is a kind man who is also struggling with the aftermath of the war. By sheer coincidence, Frank stays at the same hotel where Nan is staying. A bit of drama interrupts his search when a newly married couple dies under suspicious circumstances while honeymooning at the hotel.

The Christie Affair is a captivating historical mystery with an ingenious plot. The characters are well-rounded with relatable strengths and weaknesses. The story unfolds from Nan’s perspective and she is a surprisingly sympathetic character. The storyline weaves back and forth in time and after a bit of a slow start, the pacing gradually picks up steam. With truly jaw-dropping revelations and stunning plot twists, Nina de Gramont brings this brilliant novel to a superb conclusion.

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Filed under Historical, Historical (20s), Mystery, Nina de Gramont, Rated B, Review, St Martin's Press, The Christie Affair

March 3, 2022 · 12:01 am

Review: Notes on an Execution by Danya Kukafka

Title: Notes on an Execution by Danya Kukafka
Publisher: William Morrow
Genre: Contemporary, Fiction
Length: 316 pages
Book Rating: B

Complimentary Review Copy Provided by Publisher Through Edelweiss

Summary:

In the tradition of Long Bright River and The Mars Room, a gripping and atmospheric work of literary suspense that deconstructs the story of a serial killer on death row, told primarily through the eyes of the women in his life—from the bestselling author of Girl in Snow.

Ansel Packer is scheduled to die in twelve hours. He knows what he’s done, and now awaits execution, the same chilling fate he forced on those girls, years ago. But Ansel doesn’t want to die; he wants to be celebrated, understood.

Through a kaleidoscope of women—a mother, a sister, a homicide detective—we learn the story of Ansel’s life. We meet his mother, Lavender, a seventeen-year-old girl pushed to desperation; Hazel, twin sister to Ansel’s wife, inseparable since birth, forced to watch helplessly as her sister’s relationship threatens to devour them all; and finally, Saffy, the detective hot on his trail, who has devoted herself to bringing bad men to justice but struggles to see her own life clearly. As the clock ticks down, these three women sift through the choices that culminate in tragedy, exploring the rippling fissures that such destruction inevitably leaves in its wake.

Blending breathtaking suspense with astonishing empathy, Notes on an Execution presents a chilling portrait of womanhood as it simultaneously unravels the familiar narrative of the American serial killer, interrogating our system of justice and our cultural obsession with crime stories, asking readers to consider the false promise of looking for meaning in the psyches of violent men.

Review:

Notes on an Execution by Danya Kukafka is a bleak yet incredibly fascinating novel.

Ansel Packer is a serial killer whose execution is twelve hours away. As time ticks down, he has plans to thwart his fate. He is good-looking and charming but there is a darkness underneath the façade he presents to the world. Ansel knows he is different and he has carefully studied other people and he knows how he is supposed to react in most situations. But has Ansel managed to fool everyone whose path he has crossed?

Lavender is Ansel’s mother whose decisions as a teenager turned out very differently than expected. Moving in with her boyfriend, she is isolated and frightened by the man she lives with. Ansel is their first child and Lavender tries her best to protect him from his father’s violence. When she gives birth to their second child, Lavender makes the best decision she can for herself and her children.

Hazel is Ansel’s sister-in-law and she does not understand what her intelligent, beautiful twin sister, Jenny, sees in him. Ansel’s grand gesture at the family’s first meeting sets Jenny’s future with him. Hazel and Jenny are very different yet growing up, they are very close. As their lives diverge in adulthood, Hazel witnesses her vibrant sister slip away after her marriage. Is there any chance she can save her sister from Ansel?

Homicide Detective Saffron “Saffy” Singh is obsessed with the three murders committed by Packer. Over the course of several years, she revisits the still unsolved case although she is certain she knows that Ansel is their killer. Saffy has unique insight into Packer but she is unable to find evidence to link him to the killings. She refuses to give up on finding justice for his victims but a decision Saffy makes will eventually come to haunt her.

Notes on an Execution is a reflective novel with a unique storyline. The characters are well-drawn but not all of them are relatable or easy to like. The narration rotates between four distinct perspectives that add depth to the storyline.  Danya Kukafka brings this atmospheric novel to a satisfying conclusion.

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Filed under Contemporary, Danya Kukafka, Fiction, Notes on an Execution, Rated B, Review, William Morrow

March 1, 2022 · 12:03 am

Review: The Night Shift by Alex Finlay

Title: The Night Shift by Alex Finlay
Publisher: Minotaur Books
Genre: Contemporary, Mystery, Suspense
Length: 320 pages
Book Rating: B

Complimentary Review Copy Provided by Publisher Through NetGalley

Summary:

From the author of the breakout thriller Every Last Fear, comes Alex Finlay’s electrifying next novel The Night Shift, about a pair of small-town murders fifteen years apart—and the ties that bind them.

“The night was expected to bring tragedy.” So begins one of the most highly-anticipated thrillers in recent years.

It’s New Year’s Eve 1999. Y2K is expected to end in chaos: planes falling from the sky, elevators plunging to earth, world markets collapsing. A digital apocalypse. None of that happens. But at a Blockbuster Video in New Jersey, four teenagers working late at the store are attacked. Only one inexplicably survives. Police quickly identify a suspect, the boyfriend of one of the victims, who flees and is never seen again.

Fifteen years later, more teenage employees are attacked at an ice cream store in the same town, and again only one makes it out alive.

In the aftermath of the latest crime, three lives intersect: the lone survivor of the Blockbuster massacre who’s forced to relive the horrors of her tragedy; the brother of the fugitive accused, who’s convinced the police have the wrong suspect; and FBI agent Sarah Keller who must delve into the secrets of both nights—stirring up memories of teen love and lies—to uncover the truth about murders on the night shift.

Twisty, poignant, and redemptive, The Night Shift is a story about the legacy of trauma and how the broken can come out on the other side, and it solidifies Finlay as one of the new leading voices in the world of thrillers.

Review:

The Night Shift by Alex Finlay is an intriguing mystery set in a small town.

In Linden, NJ, 1999 ends in tragedy. Four people are dead following a murder at the local Blockbuster video store. Ella Monroe is the lone survivor and fifteen years later, her life intersects with the only survivor of a similar attack at the local ice cream shop. Ella is a counselor who is asked to assist teenager Jesse Duvall who is traumatized in the aftermath of the killings. The only suspect in the Blockbuster murders is Vince Whitaker and he has been missing since he was released for lack of evidence. Is it possible that Vince has recreated his earlier murders? If so, why?

Ella might be a counselor but she has never quite recovered from what happened to her. She self-medicates in very unhealthy ways but she is dedicated to helping other trauma survivors. So, when asked by a friend to help, Ella tries to get Jesse to open up to her. The teenager is in foster care and new to Linden and she has yet to make any friends. Jesse is tough and not exactly willing to reveal much information, but what she does tell Ella makes it clear the two sets of murders are connected.

FBI Agent Sarah Keller teams up with local police Detective Atticus Singh to take a second look at the Blockbuster case. Hopefully fresh eyes will help uncover any threads that might have been overlooked in the earlier investigation. Sarah and Atticus discover new details that will eventually lead them to Public Defender Chris Ford who is very interested in finding a mystery vlogger who films his travel adventures.

The Night Shift is a fascinating mystery that is quite gripping. The characters are vibrantly developed and very relatable. The storyline is well-developed but the pacing is a little slow until after the half-way point. The small-town setting adds tension to the unfolding story as do the interconnected relationships. Although the murderer’s identity is easy to guess, there are plenty of unexpected twists and turns.  Alex Finlay brings this suspense-laden mystery to an exciting, edge of the seat conclusion.

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Filed under Alex Finlay, Contemporary, Minotaur Books, Mystery, Rated B, Review, Suspense, The Night Shift

February 21, 2022 · 12:01 am

Review: Wolf Hollow by Victoria Houston

Title: Wolf Hollow by Victoria Houston
Lew Ferris Mystery Series Book One
Publisher: Crooked Lane Books
Genre: Contemporary, Mystery
Length: 282 pages
Book Rating: B

Complimentary Review Copy Provided by Publisher Through NetGalley

Summary:

Murder stalks the Wisconsin northwoods in a gripping novel from the author of the acclaimed Loon Lake mysteries.

It’s mid-May in the tiny northwoods Wisconsin town of Loon Lake, and the fish are biting. Walleye’s not the only thing on the hook. There are rumors that a precious vein of nickel and copper is buried on the property of wealthy Grace McDonough, and the drilling is about to begin. But not if environmentalist Pete Ferris can help it.

When Grace’s 24-year-old son, Noah, is caught in a sordid sex crime, police chief Lew Ferris makes the arrest. But a day later, Lew is stricken when her brother Pete turns up dead, a bloody pry bar found in the woods nearby. Then, Grace’s body is discovered in a car at the bottom of a river–and Noah has vanished. Lew puts out a statewide APB, but before long, Noah is also found murdered on the McDonough property.

It’s beginning to look like mother and son were killed by the same person. And when Lew learns that her brother had planned to file a lawsuit to prevent drilling for the sulfide mine, a key piece of the puzzle suddenly falls into place.

Lew is beginning to close in on the truth. But has the killer set his bait again, angling for his biggest catch yet?

Review:

Wolf Hollow by Victoria Houston is an engaging small-town mystery. This first installment in the Lew Ferris Mystery series is a continuation of the Loon Lake Mystery series, but it can be read as a standalone.

Police Chief Lewellyn “Lew” Ferris is busy with her campaign for Sheriff when her beloved brother Pete is murdered. He and a group of activists have been working to prevent a mining company from destroying the nearby rivers. Lew’s investigation is interrupted by the discovery of landowner Grace McDonough’s body. Then Grace’s son Noah also turns up dead. Lew cannot help but suspect the three deaths are connected but will she unmask the killer before he/she strikes again?

Loon Lake, Wisconsin is a close-knit community that relies on tourism to keep it afloat. If the mining company purchases the land and begins mining, the residents fear the environmental damage will destroy the nearby rivers and lakes. Lew has her work cut out for her as she investigates the recent murders. She is also mourning the loss of her beloved brother while also trying to stay out of his recent widow’s way. Lew relies on her trusted circle of friends to help her throughout the investigation.

With an idyllic setting and small-town charm, Wolf Hollow is an inviting cozy mystery with an appealing cast of characters. Lew is no stranger to loss and she does not let her grief prevent her from investigating the spate of murders. She has an excellent support system to assist her both personally and professionally. The search for the murderer(s) is interesting and Lew follows the evidence where it leads her. With clever twists and turns, Victoria Houston brings this intriguing mystery to a satisfying conclusion.

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Filed under Contemporary, Crooked Lane Books, Lew Ferris Series, Mystery, Rated B, Review, Victoria Houston, Wolf Hollow

January 31, 2022 · 12:01 am

Review: The Family You Make by Jill Shalvis

Title: The Family You Make by Jill Shalvis
The Sunrise Cove Series Book One
Publisher: William Morrow Paperbacks
Genre: Contemporary, Romance
Length: 383 pages
Book Rating: B

Complimentary Review Copy Provided by Publisher Through Edelweiss

Summary:

Beloved New York Times bestselling author Jill Shalvis begins a new series—Sunrise Cove—set near beautiful Lake Tahoe, with a heartwarming story of found family and love.

During the snowstorm of the century Levi Cutler is stranded on a ski lift with a beautiful stranger named Jane. After strong winds hurl the gondola in front of them into the ground, Levi calls his parents to prepare them for the worst…but can’t bring himself to say goodbye. Instead, wanting to fulfill his mother’s lifelong wish, he impulsively tells her he’s happily settled and Jane is his girlfriend—right before his phone dies.

But Levi and Jane do not.

Now Levi’s family is desperate to meet “The One.” Though Jane agrees to be his pretend girlfriend for just one dinner, she’s nervous. After a traumatic childhood, Jane isn’t sure she knows how to be around a tight-knit family that cherishes one another. She’s terrified, and a little jealous. But an unexpected series of events and a host of new friends soon show Jane that perhaps this is the life she was always meant to have.

As Jane and Levi spend more time together, pretend feelings quickly turn into real ones. Now all Jane has to do is admit to herself she can’t live without the man she’s fallen in love with and the family she has always dreamed of.

Review:

The Family You Make by Jill Shalvis is a cute fake relationship romance.

Levi Cutler loves his quirky family but he does not fit in with them.  They run a sporting goods store near Lake Tahoe and he prefers to work with data and computers. Levi lives in San Francisco but he is currently  in Sunrise Cove on a rare visit back home when he finds himself in a freak snowstorm on top of a ski slope. He shares a gondola with traveling nurse Jane Parks and he tries his best to reassure her when their situation becomes dangerous. Afterward, Levi talks Jane into being his pretend girlfriend for an upcoming family event. As they spend time together, he realizes his feelings for her are deepening into love. But will Levi convince Jane to put down roots with him?

Jane is content to never settle in one place for very long. The only town she has any ties to is Sunrise Cove and she returns every winter. She rents a room from her best friend, Dr. Charlotte Dixon, who understands what motivates Jane’s continually roaming. Jane’s tumultuous childhood left an indelible mark and she closely guards her heart. Despite her reservations about her unexpected time with Levi, she enjoys his company. As their relationship takes a serious turn, will Jane give love a chance?

The Family You Make is a heartfelt romance with a wonderful small-town atmosphere. Levi and Jane are well-rounded appealing characters who are absolutely perfect for each other. The storyline is engaging but the pacing is slow to gain momentum. A lovely secondary story arc with Charlotte and Levi’s best friend Dr. Mateo Moreno adds dimension to the plot. The Sunrise Cove series is off to an entertaining beginning that old and new fans of Jill Shalvis are sure to enjoy.

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Filed under Contemporary, Jill Shalvis, Rated B, Review, Romance, The Family You Make, The Sunrise Cove Series, William Morrow Paperbacks