Marilyn's bookshelf: all en-US Wed, 23 Apr 2025 21:26:17 -0700 60 Marilyn's bookshelf: all 144 41 /images/layout/goodreads_logo_144.jpg <![CDATA[Suitable for Framing (Callie Cassidy Mysteries #1)]]> 56568212
Callie Cassidy is no stranger to dead bodies. Two decades as a photojournalist on a big-city newspaper landed her face to face with so many of them that her colleagues dubbed her Queen of the Dead. Now, Callie believes her days of hanging out with cadavers are behind her. With her lovable golden retriever Woody in tow, she has returned in disgrace to Rock Creek Village, Colorado, where she licks her wounds in a cabin on her parents� Rocky Mountain ski resort property. But when her mother persuades her to abandon her fetal position beneath the quilts and take a photography gig at the Snowflake Swirl winter ball, Callie’s foray back into the real world lands her smack in the middle of town drama.

Before the first partygoer arrives, Callie stumbles across a deadly scene. A former classmate, one of the “mean girls� from high school, lies lifeless on her office floor. Another woman from Callie’s past crouches above the body, holding a bloody letter opener. The conclusion is obvious—at least to rookie detective Raul Sanchez. But Callie believes there’s more to the picture. With the help of an adopted stray cat named Carl, whose investigative skills may rival her own, Callie sets out to find the real murderer. Because unless she, her pets, and a quirky group of villagers can solve the mystery, Callie’s photos won’t be the only thing being framed.]]> 293 Lori Roberts Herbst 173625930X Marilyn 5 4.55 Suitable for Framing (Callie Cassidy Mysteries #1)
author: Lori Roberts Herbst
name: Marilyn
average rating: 4.55
book published:
rating: 5
read at: 2025/04/23
date added: 2025/04/23
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Dead Water (Roderick Alleyn, #23)]]> 24969381 A spring may have healing properties--but the controversy over it may have harmful results--in a witty mystery by a Mystery Writers of America Grand Master.

The elderly Emily Pride is perfectly pleased to have inherited an island, even if her starchy pragmatism is ever-so-faintly appalled by the island's "Pixie Falls" spring and its reported miraculous healing properties. Really, the locals' attempts to capitalize on the "miracles" are entirely too tacky--Ye Olde Gift Shoppe, the neon signs . . .not on Miss Emily's watch, thank you. Of course, the locals are not exactly thrilled to give up their trade. Pixie Falls may be merely be known for healing warts, it's true, but you take your shillings where you can find them. Could their frustration have bubbled up into murderous rage? Inspector Alleyn will have to sort it out. And this time, it's personal.

"It's time to start comparing Christie to Marsh instead of the other way around." --New York Magazine

"A peerless practitioner of the slightly surreal, English-village comedy-mystery." --Kirkus Reviews

"The nonpareil among criminal investigators." --The New York Times]]> 252 Ngaio Marsh 1631940252 Marilyn 4 4.29 1963 Dead Water (Roderick Alleyn, #23)
author: Ngaio Marsh
name: Marilyn
average rating: 4.29
book published: 1963
rating: 4
read at: 2025/04/10
date added: 2025/04/10
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Plain Jane: Brunettes Beware (Harbinger Mystery, #1)]]> 10083127
A city paralyzed by a serial killer stalking the night, taking a most gruesome trophy.
The only standing in the murderer's way is an FBI profiler...recently released from a mental institution.

Plain Jane combines the swift action of Patterson with the macabre of Harris.

Just remember to keep the lights on when reading this one!]]> 360 Cristyn West Marilyn 5 3.62 2010 Plain Jane: Brunettes Beware (Harbinger Mystery, #1)
author: Cristyn West
name: Marilyn
average rating: 3.62
book published: 2010
rating: 5
read at: 2025/03/29
date added: 2025/03/29
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[A TOPAZ TRAP: THE KAREN McLAREN COSY MYSTERY SERIES BOOK 1]]> 228173191 A cosy mystery perfect for fans of Sally Smith, Steve Higgs, LJ Ross, Robert Thorogood, and Richard Osman.

When she relocates to Spain’s Costa del Sol, Karen McLaren turns her back on an unfaithful husband and a long teaching career. She arrives at the Club Britannia complex for the over-60s carrying many plans for her future�

…finding herself making inquiries about the tragic death of a magician isn’t one of them.

Though local police have declared the event an accident, Karen is unconvinced. Helped by an eclectic group of the resort’s residents, Karen discovers a real talent for investigating. Her sharp intellect, and the expert lip-reading skills a progressive hearing loss has forced her to develop allow her to follow a trail of clues. She realises that what appeared to be an unfortunate accident is actually something far more complex.

But things are not easy. The police don’t take kindly to an amateur gang of expat detectives treading on their turf. And with every twist and turn, Karen and her friends are hampered by false leads and deliberate deceptions.

How did a simple retirement plan of fine wine and Spanish sunshine grow so complicated?

Author this cosy mystery does not contain any gore, violence, or profanity. Nor does it contain any scenes of an explicit nature.

Although books featuring Karen McLaren can be read in any order, A Topaz Trap is the first book in the series. If you enjoy cosy mysteries, then this is definitely the book for you!]]> 174 CLARA SEACROFT Marilyn 0 currently-reading 3.67 A TOPAZ TRAP: THE KAREN McLAREN COSY MYSTERY SERIES BOOK 1
author: CLARA SEACROFT
name: Marilyn
average rating: 3.67
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/24
shelves: currently-reading
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Death in the English Countryside (Murder on Location #1)]]> 204250616
Location scout and Jane Austen aficionado, Kate Sharp, is thrilled when the company she works for lands the job of finding locations for a new film adaptation of Pride and Prejudice, but then her boss fails to return from a scouting trip to England. Kate travels to England to salvage the company's reputation.

Things go from bad to worse when Kate arrives in Nether Woodsmoor, a quaint village of golden stone cottages and rolling green hills, only to find no trace of her boss. Even the rumpled, easygoing local scout they consulted, Alex, doesn’t know where he might be.

Increasingly worried about her boss and with an antsy director waiting for updates about the preproduction details, Kate embarks on a search that includes a pub-crawl and cozy cottages as well as stately country manors. But with no sign of her boss, she begins to suspect that the picturesque village and beautiful countryside may not be as idyllic as they seem.

Death in the English Countryside is the first installment of the popular Murder on Location cozy mystery series from USA Today bestseller Sara Rosett.]]> 422 Sara Rosett Marilyn 4 4.24 2014 Death in the English Countryside (Murder on Location #1)
author: Sara Rosett
name: Marilyn
average rating: 4.24
book published: 2014
rating: 4
read at: 2025/03/21
date added: 2025/03/21
shelves:
review:

]]> The Note 18873711 Please be The Note has been entirely re-edited and re-published in July of 2013Nora Williams discovers her husband of forty-four years stroke-ridden and comatose in their home in rural New York. In his pocket she finds the cause--a blackmail note.Robert's in a medically induced coma in the ICU, unable to speak. Nora, devastated by her husband's condition, and shocked by the allegations written in The Note, is now faced with the daunting task of uncovering the truth behind her husband's past. But the investigation becomes pitted between Nora's denial and her daughter's persistence to unearth the facts. They will soon discover, hidden within the decades of deception, there is a secret so powerful it could tear the entire family--apart!]]> 336 Richard Rudomanski Marilyn 4 3.72 2011 The Note
author: Richard Rudomanski
name: Marilyn
average rating: 3.72
book published: 2011
rating: 4
read at: 2025/03/09
date added: 2025/03/09
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Come Shell or High Water (Haunted Shell Shop Mysteries Book 1)]]> 199390639 When widowed folklorist Maureen Nash visits a legendary North Carolina barrier island shell shop, she discovers its resident ghost pirate and the mystery of a local’s untimely death . . . As a professional storyteller, Maureen Nash can’t help but see the narrative cues woven through her life. Like the series of letters addressed to her late husband from a stranger—the proprietor of The Moon Shell, a shop on Ocracoke Island, off the coast of North Carolina. The store is famous with shell collectors, but it’s the cryptic letters from Allen Withrow, the shop’s owner, that convince Maureen to travel to the small coastal town in the middle of hurricane season. At the very least, she expects she’ll get a good story out of the experience, never anticipating it could end up a murder mystery . . . Ěý In Maureen’s first hours on the storm-lashed island, she averts several life-threatening accidents, stumbles over the body of a controversial Ocracoke local, and meets the ghost of an eighteenth-century Welsh pirate, Emrys Lloyd. To the untrained eye, all these unusual occurrences would seem to be random misfortunes, but Maureen senses there may be something connecting these stories. With Emrys’s supernatural assistance, and the support of a few new friends, Maureen sets out unravel the truth, find a killer, and hopefully give this tale a satisfying ending . . . while also rewriting her own.]]> 302 Molly MacRae 1496744292 Marilyn 5 4.13 2024 Come Shell or High Water (Haunted Shell Shop Mysteries Book 1)
author: Molly MacRae
name: Marilyn
average rating: 4.13
book published: 2024
rating: 5
read at: 2025/02/02
date added: 2025/02/19
shelves:
review:
COME SHELL OR HIGH WATER, the debut novel of Molly MacRae's Haunted Shell Shop Mysteries is utterly delightful. Newly widowed Maureen Nash arrives at Ocracoke Island in time for a hurricane that knocks her unconscious right after she stumbles over a dead body. She comes to in the home of Glady and Burt, two eccentric but charming elderly siblings. Maureen soon learns that the dead man, Allen Withrow, was murdered and she's under suspicion. Allen owned a shop called The Moon Shell that's haunted by a centuries-old pirate named Emrys. With the help of her three new friends, Maureen finds Allen's murderer as well as the reason why he'd been writing to her husband. An enjoyable cozy read!
]]> <![CDATA[Breaking the Dark (Marvel Crime, #1)]]> 201306695 In her most imaginative novel yet, #1 New York Times bestselling author Lisa Jewell (None of This Is True) launches the Marvel Crime series of thriller books for adults with an original story starring the private detective Jessica Jones.

Meet Jessica Jones: Retired super hero, private investigator, loner. She tried her best to be a shiny spandex crimefighter, but that life only led to unspeakable trauma. Now she avoids that world altogether and works on surviving day-to-day in Hell’s Kitchen, New York.

The morning a distraught mother comes into her office, Jessica would prefer to nurse her hangover and try to forget last night’s poor choices. But something about Amber Randall’s story strikes a chord with her. Amber is adamant that something happened to her teenage twins while they were visiting their father in the UK. The twins don’t act like themselves, and they now have flawless skin, have lost their distinctive tics and habits, and keep talking about a girl named Belle. Amber insists her children have been replaced by something horrible, something “perfect.�

Traveling to a small village in the British countryside, Jessica meets the mysterious Belle, who lives a curiously isolated life in an old farmhouse with a strange woman who claims to be her guardian. Can this unworldly teenager really be responsible for the Randall twins� new personas? Why does the strange little village of Barton Wallop seem to harbor dark energies and mysteries in its tight-knit community?

A mother’s intuition is never wrong. And Jessica knows that nothing in life is perfect—not these kids, not her on-again, off-again relationship with Luke Cage, and certainly not Jessica herself. But even as she tries to buy into the idea that better days are ahead, Jessica Jones has seen all too clearly that behind every promise of perfection trails a dark, dangerous shadow.

Breaking the Dark, the first book in the brand-new Marvel Crime series, introduces fans to a grittier, street-level side of the Marvel Universe, and will continue with original novels featuring fan-favorite characters like Luke Cage, written by S.A. Cosby, and Daredevil, written by Alex Segura.]]> 384 Lisa Jewell 1368090125 Marilyn 5 enjoyed-it-of-course 3.61 2024 Breaking the Dark (Marvel Crime, #1)
author: Lisa Jewell
name: Marilyn
average rating: 3.61
book published: 2024
rating: 5
read at: 2025/02/16
date added: 2025/02/16
shelves: enjoyed-it-of-course
review:
I love all of Lisa Jewell's novels, and Breaking the Dark is no exception. It is, however, different in that this novel includes other-worldly elements. In this series debut, PI Jessica Jones while very human where her emotions and life-style are concerned, has special powers that readers don't get to witness until the end of the book. A wealthy divorcee has hired to learn why her teenaged twins have changed dramatically since spending a month in England with their father. Jessica goes to England and discovers a diabolical plot to bring perfection to thousands of people at the cost of sacrificing a few. Newly pregnant, Jessica has to stop this plan before it goes viral. Highly recommended.
]]> <![CDATA[The Hazelbourne Ladies Motorcycle and Flying Club]]> 196845474 Major Pettigrew's Last Stand

It is the summer of 1919 and Constance Haverhill is without prospects. Now that all the men have returned from the front, she has been asked to give up her cottage and her job at the estate she helped run during the war. While she looks for a position as a bookkeeper or—horror—a governess, she’s sent as a lady’s companion to an old family friend who is convalescing at a seaside hotel. Despite having only weeks to find a permanent home, Constance is swept up in the social whirl of Hazelbourne-on-Sea after she rescues the local baronet’s daughter, Poppy Wirrall, from a social faux pas.

Poppy wears trousers, operates a taxi and delivery service to employ local women, and runs a ladies� motorcycle club (to which she plans to add flying lessons). She and her friends enthusiastically welcome Constance into their circle. And then there is Harris, Poppy’s recalcitrant but handsome brother—a fighter pilot recently wounded in battle—who warms in Constance’s presence. But things are more complicated than they seem in this sunny pocket of English high society. As the country prepares to celebrate its hard-won peace, Constance and the women of the club are forced to confront the fact that the freedoms they gained during the war are being revoked.

Whip-smart and utterly transportive, The Hazelbourne Ladies Motorcycle and Flying Club is historical fiction of the highest order: an unforgettable coming-of-age story, a tender romance, and a portrait of a nation on the brink of change.]]> 432 Helen Simonson 1984801317 Marilyn 5 enjoyed-reading-this-book The time and place are England after World War Two. Constance Haverhill is staying at the Meredith Hotel in Hazelbourne, acting in the role of companion to an elderly wealthy friend of the family, when she meets modern, vivacious Poppy Wirrall. Poppy is wearing trousers. She asks Constance to lend her a skirt so they will be allowed to have tea on the Palm Terrace. Poppy introduces Constance to a new world where young women run a taxi service and learn to fly planes. Constance is attracted to Poppy's brother, who has lost a leg in the war and has been refused a position in the bank that his father started because seeing him might upset some patrons.
This book has everything—the effects of the war, friendship, betrayal, class distinction, ageism, and romance. Highly recommended!]]> 3.84 2024 The Hazelbourne Ladies Motorcycle and Flying Club
author: Helen Simonson
name: Marilyn
average rating: 3.84
book published: 2024
rating: 5
read at: 2025/02/13
date added: 2025/02/13
shelves: enjoyed-reading-this-book
review:
This was one of the best books I've read in a long time. I'm not crazy about the title, and the beginning was a bit slow, but once I got into the book I couldn't put it down.
The time and place are England after World War Two. Constance Haverhill is staying at the Meredith Hotel in Hazelbourne, acting in the role of companion to an elderly wealthy friend of the family, when she meets modern, vivacious Poppy Wirrall. Poppy is wearing trousers. She asks Constance to lend her a skirt so they will be allowed to have tea on the Palm Terrace. Poppy introduces Constance to a new world where young women run a taxi service and learn to fly planes. Constance is attracted to Poppy's brother, who has lost a leg in the war and has been refused a position in the bank that his father started because seeing him might upset some patrons.
This book has everything—the effects of the war, friendship, betrayal, class distinction, ageism, and romance. Highly recommended!
]]> All the Colors of the Dark 215153740
When the daughter of a wealthy family is targeted, the most unlikely hero emerges—Patch, a local boy, who saves the girl, and, in doing so, leaves heartache in his wake.

Patch and those who love him soon discover that the line between triumph and tragedy has never been finer. And that their search for answers will lead them to truths that could mean losing one another.

A missing person mystery, a serial killer thriller, a love story, a unique twist on each, Chris Whitaker has written a novel about what lurks in the shadows of obsession and the blinding light of hope.]]> 597 Chris Whitaker 0593798880 Marilyn 0 currently-reading 4.44 2024 All the Colors of the Dark
author: Chris Whitaker
name: Marilyn
average rating: 4.44
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/22
shelves: currently-reading
review:

]]> Long Island (Eilis Lacey, #2) 199896995
Eilis Lacey is Irish, married to Tony Fiorello, a plumber and one of four Italian American brothers, all of whom live in neighboring houses on a cul-de-sac in Lindenhurst, Long Island, with their wives and children and Tony’s parents, a huge extended family that lives and works, eats and plays together. It is the spring of 1976 and Eilis, now in her forties with two teenage children, has no one to rely on in this still-new country. Though her ties to Ireland remain stronger than those that hold her to her new land and home, she has not returned in decades.

One day, when Tony is at his job and Eilis is in her home office doing her accounting, an Irishman comes to the door asking for her by name. He tells her that his wife is pregnant with Tony’s child and that when the baby is born, he will not raise it but instead deposit it on Eilis’s doorstep. It is what Eilis does—and what she refuses to do—in response to this stunning news that makes Tóibín’s novel so riveting.

Long Island is about longings unfulfilled, even unrecognized. The silences in Eilis� life are thunderous and dangerous, and there’s no one more deft than Tóibín at giving them language. This is a gorgeous story of a woman alone in a marriage and the deepest bonds she rekindles on her return to the place and people she left behind, to ways of living and loving she thought she’d lost.]]> 300 Colm Tóibín 1476785139 Marilyn 4 3.77 2024 Long Island (Eilis Lacey, #2)
author: Colm TĂłibĂ­n
name: Marilyn
average rating: 3.77
book published: 2024
rating: 4
read at: 2025/01/19
date added: 2025/01/19
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[City Under One Roof (Cara Kennedy, #1)]]> 60818877 320 Iris Yamashita 0593336682 Marilyn 3 3.81 2023 City Under One Roof (Cara Kennedy, #1)
author: Iris Yamashita
name: Marilyn
average rating: 3.81
book published: 2023
rating: 3
read at: 2025/01/14
date added: 2025/01/17
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Hazelbourne Ladies Motorcycle and Flying Club]]> 196839661 Major Pettigrew's Last Stand

It is the summer of 1919 and Constance Haverhill is without prospects. Now that all the men have returned from the front, she has been asked to give up her cottage and her job at the estate she helped run during the war. While she looks for a position as a bookkeeper or—horror—a governess, she’s sent as a lady’s companion to an old family friend who is convalescing at a seaside hotel. Despite having only weeks to find a permanent home, Constance is swept up in the social whirl of Hazelbourne-on-Sea after she rescues the local baronet’s daughter, Poppy Wirrall, from a social faux pas.

Poppy wears trousers, operates a taxi and delivery service to employ local women, and runs a ladies� motorcycle club (to which she plans to add flying lessons). She and her friends enthusiastically welcome Constance into their circle. And then there is Harris, Poppy’s recalcitrant but handsome brother—a fighter pilot recently wounded in battle—who warms in Constance’s presence. But things are more complicated than they seem in this sunny pocket of English high society. As the country prepares to celebrate its hard-won peace, Constance and the women of the club are forced to confront the fact that the freedoms they gained during the war are being revoked.

Whip-smart and utterly transportive, The Hazelbourne Ladies Motorcycle and Flying Club is historical fiction of the highest order: an unforgettable coming-of-age story, a tender romance, and a portrait of a nation on the brink of change.]]> 423 Helen Simonson 1984801325 Marilyn 5 4.22 2024 The Hazelbourne Ladies Motorcycle and Flying Club
author: Helen Simonson
name: Marilyn
average rating: 4.22
book published: 2024
rating: 5
read at: 2025/01/09
date added: 2025/01/09
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Mysterious Bookshop Presents the Best Mystery Stories of the Year: 2024 (Best Mystery Stories)]]> 209410021 Anthony Horowitz selects and introduces the best mystery stories from the past year, under the auspices of the world’s oldest mystery fiction specialty bookshop.


From a pool of over 3,000 considered stories published last year—anything that touched on crime, mystery, and suspense, from venues as disparate as The Strand Magazine, Dark Yonder, Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine, The Bellevue Literary Review, and more—these are the twenty best, selected by series editor Otto Penzler and guest editor Anthony Horowitz.


The tales included cover a range of styles, highlighting the diversity of subjects and forms comprising the genre we call mystery fiction. Featuring a mixture of household names, masters of the short form, and newcomers to the field, the collection offers a variety that promises something for every reader. And it’s all capped off by a vintage story from the first half of the previous century, sourced directly from the rare book room at the Mysterious Bookshop, the oldest mystery fiction specialty store in the world.


Authors



Ace Atkins
Michael Bracken
Fleur Bradley
Shelley Costa
Doug Crandell
Jeffery Deaver
Brendan DuBois
John Floyd
Nils Gilbertson
Peter Hayes
Shells Legoullon
Victor Methos
Leonardo Padura
Dan Pope
Annie Reed
Cameron Sanders
Anna Scotti
Archer Sullivan
Andrew Welsh-Huggins
Stacy Woodson
]]> 391 Anthony Horowitz 1613165617 Marilyn 0 currently-reading 4.02 The Mysterious Bookshop Presents the Best Mystery Stories of the Year: 2024 (Best Mystery Stories)
author: Anthony Horowitz
name: Marilyn
average rating: 4.02
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/12/20
shelves: currently-reading
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Live, Local, and Dead (Vermont Radio Mystery #1)]]> 57696295 Death waits for snowman in Nikki Knight's new Vermont-based cozy series, perfect for fans of Connie Archer and Mary Kennedy.

In a fit of anger, radio DJ Jaye Jordan blows a snowman's head off with a Revolutionary War-style musket. But the corpse that tumbles out is all too human. Jaye thought life would be quieter when she left New York City and bought a tiny Vermont radio station. But now, Edwin Anger--the ranting and raving radio talk show host who Jaye recently fired--lies dead in the snow. And the Edwin Anger fans who protested his dismissal are sure she killed him.

To clear her name, Jaye must find the real killer, as if she doesn't have her hands full running the radio station, DJing her all-request love song show, and shuttling tween daughter Ryan to and from school. It doesn't make matters easier that the governor--Jaye's old crush--arrived on the scene before the musket smoke cleared. Fortunately, Jaye has allies...if you count the flatulent moose that lives in the transmitter shack, and Neptune, the giant gray cat that lives at the station.

If Jaye can turn the tables on the devious killer, she and the governor may get to make some sweet, sweet music together. But if she can't, she'll be off the air...permanently.
]]> 304 Nikki Knight 1643859463 Marilyn 5 4.20 2022 Live, Local, and Dead (Vermont Radio Mystery #1)
author: Nikki Knight
name: Marilyn
average rating: 4.20
book published: 2022
rating: 5
read at: 2024/12/10
date added: 2024/12/10
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Kula (Surfing Detective Mystery, #3)]]> 10095089 Despite his qualms, Kai would seem a natural for the case, since the golden retriever named Kula is a famous surfing dog. Yet the PI knows nothing about finding missing pets. But he does know where to find help—Maile Barnes, an ex-K9 cop and kindred spirit with the keys to unlock the dark underworld of animal theft in the islands.Ěý

Then a questionable tip takes Kai to a late-night rendezvous, his tipster winds up dead, and the detective himself becomes a suspect. Can he clear his name and find the murderer before he strikes again? The PI tracks the illusive retriever from Oâ€ahu to the Big Island to Maui, but the killer is one step ahead—other players linked to the dog’s disappearance keep turning up dead.Ěý

Is a ghost from Barry Buckingham’s past behind the murders? Or is Kai’s client just a misunderstood man with a lost pet? To solve this third case in the Surfing Detective series, Kai Cooke must do what he never does—take on a partner. Teaming up with the headstrong K9 cop is his only shot to liberate the famous surfing dog, who is somehow always at the center of this mystery.]]> 267 Chip Hughes Marilyn 5 3.95 2010 Kula (Surfing Detective Mystery, #3)
author: Chip Hughes
name: Marilyn
average rating: 3.95
book published: 2010
rating: 5
read at: 2024/11/23
date added: 2024/11/23
shelves:
review:

]]> Mad Honey 60214567 464 Jodi Picoult 1984818392 Marilyn 5 4.20 2022 Mad Honey
author: Jodi Picoult
name: Marilyn
average rating: 4.20
book published: 2022
rating: 5
read at: 2024/11/15
date added: 2024/11/15
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Study Guide for Murder (Master Class #2)]]> 216912000 Frankenstein and Hamlet. But violence follows her from the mean streets of her childhood home to the manicured lawns of suburbia when Elliot Tumbleson’s head has an unfortunate and deadly encounter with a golf club. Her golf club.

A second murder, a case of mistaken identity, and a rollicking trip back to her childhood home all point to one prime suspect in each crime. Liz embarks upon a double investigation of homicides past and present, using her gift for literary theory to unearth clues that she finds as compelling as forensic evidence. But the killers, like her students, don’t always read to the end.
]]> 293 Lori Robbins Marilyn 5 4.23 Study Guide for Murder (Master Class #2)
author: Lori Robbins
name: Marilyn
average rating: 4.23
book published:
rating: 5
read at: 2024/11/09
date added: 2024/11/09
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Yom Killer (Rabbi Aviva Cohen Mystery, #3)]]> 202377094 A New Jersey rabbi’s mitzvah for her mother leads her to investigate a shady hospital in this cozy mystery by the author of Unleavened Dead.

Rosh Hashanah has just ended, and Rabbi Aviva Cohen is exhausted. She should get started on her preparations for Yom Kippur, but there’s a family emergency. Her mother was found unconscious at her assisted living facility in Boston and is now in the hospital. When Aviva arrives, she is desperate to learn if this was an accident or if her mother was attacked, but with unsure doctors and her mother in a coma, there’s no way to get a clear answer.

The rabbi’s only choice is to investigate, but that won’t be easy with her bossy sister and her lovelorn ex-husband in tow. And yet Aviva manages to uncover an unsettling conspiracy at the hospital involving fraud and possibly murder. Aviva better pray she doesn’t wind up in the hospital herself—or worse yet—the morgue.Ěý

“A witty, engaging mystery and fun read!� —Amy M. Bennett, author of the award-winning Black Horse Campground mysteries

Ěý“The best in this series. As usual, Rabbi Aviva Cohen is feisty, honest, and funny. The author’s experience ministering to the elderly is apparent. This cozy rings true.â€� —J. L. Greger, author of the award-winning Science Traveler medical mystery thrillers

“If I’m ever in trouble, forget the marines. Send in the rabbi! In Yom Killer you’ll have a great time watching Rabbi Aviva Cohen shedding light on the shadiest hospital in New England. This is Schneider’s best yet.� —Robert Lopresti, award-winning author of Greenfellas]]> 315 Ilene Schneider 1504089251 Marilyn 5 4.28 Yom Killer (Rabbi Aviva Cohen Mystery, #3)
author: Ilene Schneider
name: Marilyn
average rating: 4.28
book published:
rating: 5
read at: 2024/10/30
date added: 2024/10/30
shelves:
review:

]]> The Bird Hotel 62357986 Enter the magical world of La Llorona withĚýNew York TimesĚýbestselling author Joyce Maynard.
Ěý
After a childhood filled with heartbreak, Irene, a talented artist,Ěýfinds herself in a small Central American village where she checks into a beautiful but decaying lakefront hotel called La Llorona at the base of a volcano.Ěý
Ěý
The Bird HotelĚýtells the story of this young American who, after suffering tragedy, restores and runsĚýLa Llorona. Along the way we meet a rich assortment of characters who live in the village or come to stay at the hotel. With a mystery at its center and filled with warmth, drama, romance, humor, pop culture, and a little magic realism,ĚýThe Bird HotelĚýhas all the hallmarks of a Joyce Maynard novel that have made her a a leading voice of her generationĚý
Ěý
The Bird HotelĚýis a big, sweeping story spanning four decades, offering lyricism as well as whimsy. While the worldĚýNew York TimesĚýbestselling authorĚýJoyce Maynard brings to life on the page is rendered from her imagination, it’s one informed by the more than twenty years of which she has spent a significant amount of her time in a small Mayan indigenous village in Guatemala.Ěý]]> 457 Joyce Maynard 1956763740 Marilyn 5 4.30 2023 The Bird Hotel
author: Joyce Maynard
name: Marilyn
average rating: 4.30
book published: 2023
rating: 5
read at: 2024/09/29
date added: 2024/09/29
shelves:
review:

]]> Monogamy 53507736 A brilliantly insightful novel, engrossing and haunting, about marriage, love, family, happiness and sorrow, from New York Times bestselling author Sue Miller.

Graham and Annie have been married for nearly thirty years. A golden couple, their seemingly effortless devotion has long been the envy of their circle of friends and acquaintances.

Graham is a bookseller, a big, gregarious man with large appetites—curious, eager to please, a lover of life, and the convivial host of frequent, lively parties at his and Annie’s comfortable house in Cambridge. Annie, more reserved and introspective, is a photographer. She is about to have her first gallery show after a six-year lull and is worried that the best years of her career may be behind her. They have two adult children; Lucas, Graham’s son with his first wife, Frieda, works in New York. Annie and Graham’s daughter, Sarah, lives in San Francisco. Though Frieda is an integral part of this far-flung, loving family, Annie feels confident in the knowledge that she is Graham’s last and greatest love.

When Graham suddenly dies—this man whose enormous presence has seemed to dominate their lives together—Annie is lost. What is the point of going on, she wonders, without him?

Then, while she is still mourning him intensely, she discovers that Graham had been unfaithful to her; and she spirals into darkness, wondering if she ever truly knew the man who loved her.]]> 352 Sue Miller 0062969676 Marilyn 5 enjoyed-it-of-course 3.77 2020 Monogamy
author: Sue Miller
name: Marilyn
average rating: 3.77
book published: 2020
rating: 5
read at: 2020/07/10
date added: 2024/09/27
shelves: enjoyed-it-of-course
review:
A thoughtful, well-written novel about a loving marriage, its intricacies that includes the couple's relationship with an ex-spouse.
]]> <![CDATA[Murder in First Position (On Pointe #1)]]> 56027695
New York City police detective Jonah Sobol fixes upon Leah as the prime suspect. After all, she was the one who found the body, she had the most to gain from Arianna’s death, and it was her name Arianna whispered, just before she died.

Leah is desperate to clear her name, and she begins her own investigation, collaborating with her best friend and her ballet coach. As the three dancers sort through backstage intrigues, attempted blackmail, and a tangle of romantic liaisons, the noose around Leah’s neck grows tighter.

Ballet, with its merciless discipline, is all Leah has ever known. Is that enough to keep her one step ahead of the police—and the killer?]]> 0 Lori Robbins Marilyn 5 enjoyed-reading-this-book
Merged review:

When I was in elementary school, I wanted to be a ballerina and a writer. While I did become an author, Lori Robbins managed to become both. I just finished reading her MURDER IN THE FIRST POSITION: AN ON POINTE MYSTERY and loved it! Prima ballerina Leah Siderova is recovering from an injury and no longer has top billing. Another dancer, Arianna Bonneville, is getting the roles and attention that Leah used to. When Arianna is found murdered with Leah next to the body, the police regard her as Suspect Number One. They are even trying to link her to other murders that occurred earlier in the year when the company was performing in Paris. Leah is shunned by her fellow dancers who believe she's a murderer. Despite suffering panic attacks, she questions people who have turned their back on her in hopes of discovering evidence that will clear her name. A wonderful read told by an author who knows the ballet world intimately. I've just ordered MURDER IN SECOND POSITION.]]> 4.04 Murder in First Position (On Pointe #1)
author: Lori Robbins
name: Marilyn
average rating: 4.04
book published:
rating: 5
read at: 2022/05/16
date added: 2024/09/08
shelves: enjoyed-reading-this-book
review:
When I was in elementary school, I wanted to be a ballerina and a writer. While I did become an author, Lori Robbins managed to become both. I just finished reading her MURDER IN THE FIRST POSITION: AN ON POINTE MYSTERY and loved it! Prima ballerina Leah Siderova is recovering from an injury and no longer has top billing. Another dancer, Arianna Bonneville, is getting the roles and attention that Leah used to. When Arianna is found murdered with Leah next to the body, the police regard her as Suspect Number One. They are even trying to link her to other murders that occurred earlier in the year when the company was performing in Paris. Leah is shunned by her fellow dancers who believe she's a murderer. Despite suffering panic attacks, she questions people who have turned their back on her in hopes of discovering evidence that will clear her name. A wonderful read told by an author who knows the ballet world intimately. I've just ordered MURDER IN SECOND POSITION.

Merged review:

When I was in elementary school, I wanted to be a ballerina and a writer. While I did become an author, Lori Robbins managed to become both. I just finished reading her MURDER IN THE FIRST POSITION: AN ON POINTE MYSTERY and loved it! Prima ballerina Leah Siderova is recovering from an injury and no longer has top billing. Another dancer, Arianna Bonneville, is getting the roles and attention that Leah used to. When Arianna is found murdered with Leah next to the body, the police regard her as Suspect Number One. They are even trying to link her to other murders that occurred earlier in the year when the company was performing in Paris. Leah is shunned by her fellow dancers who believe she's a murderer. Despite suffering panic attacks, she questions people who have turned their back on her in hopes of discovering evidence that will clear her name. A wonderful read told by an author who knows the ballet world intimately. I've just ordered MURDER IN SECOND POSITION.
]]> A Murder of Principal 209329066 A MILLION STORIES BEYOND THE FLAGPOLE
R.J. Stoker’s student-centered change agenda touches off fireworks within the school community and leads to a chain of events that must be broken. Can the new assistant-principal-turned-sleuth, Sally Pearce, find the truth and save the school—and herself—before it’s too late?

"Danger, betrayal, and murder roam the halls of Lincoln High. Teeming with territorial power plays, both in the classrooms and on the streets, A Murder of Principal is an intriguing mystery, cleverly penned with the knowledge and experience only a true educational insider can deliver."�Bruce Robert Coffin, award-winning author of the Detective Byron Mysteries]]> 302 Saralyn Richard Marilyn 0 5.00 2021 A Murder of Principal
author: Saralyn Richard
name: Marilyn
average rating: 5.00
book published: 2021
rating: 0
read at: 2024/08/16
date added: 2024/08/16
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Temporary Detective (Isobel Spice #1)]]> 13629109
Think breaking into show business is hard? Try landing a temp job without office skills. That’s the challenge facing aspiring actress Isobel Spice when she arrives in New York City, fresh out of college and deficient in PowerPoint. After being rejected by seven temp agencies for her lack of experience, Isobel sweet-talks recruiter James Cooke into letting her cover a last-minute vacancy at a bank. New to his own job, and recently sober, James takes a chance on Isobel, despite his suspicion that she’s a trouble-magnet. His misgivings are borne out by lunchtime, when she stumbles across a dead secretary in a bathroom stall. With her fingerprints on the murder weapon, Isobel sets out to prove her innocence by investigating the crime herself. While learning to juggle phone lines and auditions, she discovers an untapped talent for detective work—a qualification few other office temps, let alone actresses, can claim.

Please note: this is a contemporary cozy with an edge; contains some adult language.]]> 280 Joanne Sydney Lessner Marilyn 5 3.45 2010 The Temporary Detective (Isobel Spice #1)
author: Joanne Sydney Lessner
name: Marilyn
average rating: 3.45
book published: 2010
rating: 5
read at: 2024/07/11
date added: 2024/07/11
shelves:
review:

]]> A Very Woodsy Murder 200488161 “Recovering TV sitcom writer Dee Stern leaves behind punchlines for peril in a delightful whodunnit set at a remote motel in rural California that mixes a perfect cocktail of gut-busting one-liners with heart-stopping suspense!� —Lee Hollis, Author of Death of a Clam Digger

New motel owner Dee Stern has checked out of the familiar comforts in the Studio City and checked in to the quaint village of Foundgold. Running a rustic getaway in the woods sure beats LA traffic—until murder ruins the peace and quiet . . .

Down-on-her-luck sitcom writer Dee Stern is flipping the script. Twice divorced and wasting her talents on an obnoxious kids� show, the lifelong Angeleno embraces the urge to jump in her car and keep driving. It's a road trip with no destination—until she pulls into a mid-century motel filled with cobwebs and retro charm. Nestled in the shadow of a national park, it’s a time capsule of a place that, like her, could use some work. So, in the most impulsive move of her life, Dee teams up with best friend, Jeff Cornetta—who happens to be her first ex-husband—to transform the aging ranch into the Golden Motel-of-the-Mountains, a hiker’s oasis on the edge of the wilderness . . .

But Dee and Jeff soon realize there couldn’t be two people more unprepared for the hospitality business. There’s also the panic-inducing reality of prowling bears and a general store as the only shopping spot for miles. Living and working in the middle of nowhere takes some getting used to—especially when a disrespectful guest ends up murdered! Now, with the motel duo topping the suspect list, Dee must steer clear of a meddling park ranger, face her past in show biz, and determine if the killer is a local or tourist. Because as she quickly finds out, there are many things worse than a one-star review.

“Ellen Byron combines a witty and resourceful heroineĚýwith a dream, a shabby motel in a spectacular setting, a host of interesting characters, and a puzzling murder that hits a little too close to home in this delightfully quirky, clever, and laugh-out-loud mystery that delivers a hefty dose of nostalgic charm. Byron's A Very Woodsy Murder will leave readers clamoring for another visit to the Golden Motel.â€� —Darci Hannah, Author of Murder at the Blarney Bash]]> 288 Ellen Byron 1496745353 Marilyn 0 to-read 3.37 2024 A Very Woodsy Murder
author: Ellen Byron
name: Marilyn
average rating: 3.37
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/07/10
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Dying for a Date (Laurel McKay Mysteries, #1)]]> 18683557 "Cindy Sample knows how to weave a story that satisfies and excites. Time literally flew by as I turned the pages...simultaneously harrowing, exciting, tender, and uplifting, a true who-done-it combined with a romance that will warm the heart and sheets."
-Long and Short Reviews

WOULD DATING BE THE DEATH OF HER?
Unsure if she is looking for Mr. Right, or Mr. Every Other Saturday Night, divorced mother of two, Laurel McKay reluctantly joins THE LOVE CLUB, a popular local dating service. Dressed to kill, she meets bachelor number one at a trendy restaurant. But the date is a bust, literally, when the guy decides Laurel is dessert, and she breaks his nose with her cell phone. It gets even worse when the man is found murdered the next morning, and Laurel has his blood on her clothes.

Despite her now being a person of interest to the police, Laurel bravely ventures out on date number two. When that unlucky bachelor disappears during dinner, Laurel's only alibi is a bottle of Dom Perignon. The sexy investigating detective thinks she's innocent and is worried she may be the next target. That's more than enough motivation for Laurel to find a murderer determined to kill her social life--before dating becomes a dead end she can't escape.]]> 254 Cindy Sample 0989834409 Marilyn 5 4.16 2010 Dying for a Date (Laurel McKay Mysteries, #1)
author: Cindy Sample
name: Marilyn
average rating: 4.16
book published: 2010
rating: 5
read at: 2024/06/30
date added: 2024/06/30
shelves:
review:

]]> The Paris Widow 198264654 A dream vacation turns deadly when secrets from the past catch up to a married couple in Paris in this new edge-of-your-seat thriller from USA Today bestselling author, Kimberly Belle.

When Stella met Adam, she thought she had finally found a nice, normal guy—a welcome change from her previous boyfriend and her precarious jetsetter lifestyle with him. But her secure world comes crashing down when Adam goes missing after an explosion in the city square. Unable to reach him, she panics.

As the French police investigate, it’s revealed that Adam was on their radar as a dealer of rare and stolen antiquities with a long roster of criminal clients. Reeling from this news, Stella is determined not to leave Paris until she has the full story. Was Adam a random victim or the target of the explosion? And why is someone following her through the streets of Paris?

An irresistible, fast-paced read set in some of Europe’s most inviting locales, The Paris Widow explores how sinister secrets of the past stay with us—no matter how far we travel.]]> 304 Kimberly Belle 0778307972 Marilyn 5 enjoyed-it-of-course 3.62 2024 The Paris Widow
author: Kimberly Belle
name: Marilyn
average rating: 3.62
book published: 2024
rating: 5
read at: 2024/06/16
date added: 2024/06/16
shelves: enjoyed-it-of-course
review:
I loved The Paris Widow, a novel of suspense and intrigue. Newlyweds Stella and Adam are enjoying a wonderful day in Paris until Adam returns to the square where they'd been sitting to retrieve sunglasses just as a bomb goes off. Is Adam dead? Stella wonders as she uncovers her husband's secret life that strangely converges with an event in her own past. Fast-paced yet introspective, The Paris Widow kept my interest from the first page to the last.
]]> Sibling Revelry 22734338
They soon find themselves on a wild journey from the streets and sewers of Paris to the casinos in Nice and the wharf in Barcelona before everything comes to a shocking conclusion in a bullring in Spain.
]]> 432 Terry Sykes-Bradshaw Marilyn 5 4.50 2014 Sibling Revelry
author: Terry Sykes-Bradshaw
name: Marilyn
average rating: 4.50
book published: 2014
rating: 5
read at: 2024/06/06
date added: 2024/06/06
shelves:
review:

]]> Moonflower Murders 56920869 They are calling her because she owned the publishing house that published Conway's book and she has successfully solved a previous case similar to this.]]> Anthony Horowitz Marilyn 5 enjoyed-it-of-course ]]> 4.14 2020 Moonflower Murders
author: Anthony Horowitz
name: Marilyn
average rating: 4.14
book published: 2020
rating: 5
read at: 2021/02/01
date added: 2024/05/13
shelves: enjoyed-it-of-course
review:
I enjoyed this rather complicated murder mystery, especially because the sleuth is an editor who must search for clues to a murder in a mystery she had edited. There's a book within a book and a long list of possible suspects. What fun!

]]> <![CDATA[Murder at the Manor (Tommy & Evelyn Christie, #1)]]> 54798335 Downton Abbey crossed with Murder, She Wrote...set in a Yorkshire village!

Evelyn Christie has resigned herself to another long, boring weekend at Hessleham Hall, the home of her husband, Tommy's, family. However, it turns out to be anything but dull when his uncle, the Earl of Northmoor, is shockingly murdered!

Evelyn must use all of her sleuthing knowledge, gained whilst she was a member of the Police force during the war, to find out who the murderer is before the bungling local police force decide the Earl was bumped off so Tommy could inherit his title.

If you enjoy the glamour of bygone eras like 1920s Downton Abbey and gentle, cozy mysteries set in the English countryside then you will love this new series.]]> 203 Catherine Coles 1838441166 Marilyn 3 4.04 2020 Murder at the Manor (Tommy & Evelyn Christie, #1)
author: Catherine Coles
name: Marilyn
average rating: 4.04
book published: 2020
rating: 3
read at: 2024/04/25
date added: 2024/04/25
shelves:
review:

]]> Ant Farm (Seamus McCree #1) 35846798
But the deadly picnic outside Chillicothe, Ohio, isn't the only treacherous investigation facing Seamus; he also worms his way into a Cincinnati murder investigation when the victim turns out to be a church friend's fiancé.

While police speculate this killing may have been the mistake of a dyslexic hit man, Seamus uncovers disturbing information of financial chicanery, and by doing so, puts his son in danger and places a target on his own back. Can Seamus bring the truth to light, or will those who have already killed to keep their secrets succeed in silencing a threat once more?]]> 388 James M. Jackson 1943166188 Marilyn 5 4.20 2015 Ant Farm (Seamus McCree #1)
author: James M. Jackson
name: Marilyn
average rating: 4.20
book published: 2015
rating: 5
read at: 2024/04/25
date added: 2024/04/25
shelves:
review:

]]> On Turpentine Lane 38233174 320 Elinor Lipman Marilyn 5 3.77 2017 On Turpentine Lane
author: Elinor Lipman
name: Marilyn
average rating: 3.77
book published: 2017
rating: 5
read at: 2024/03/31
date added: 2024/03/31
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Keep Your Family Close (Detective Honeywell Mystery #2)]]> 150697042 392 Annette Dashofy 0008579814 Marilyn 0 currently-reading 4.30 Keep Your Family Close (Detective Honeywell Mystery #2)
author: Annette Dashofy
name: Marilyn
average rating: 4.30
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/03/22
shelves: currently-reading
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Overdue or Die (The Haunted Library Mysteries, #7)]]> 122753708 Carrie Singleton has a wedding to plan, a killer to catch, and a conspiracy to uncover in this charming seventh novel of Agatha Award-nominee Allison Brook’s Haunted Library mysteries.

Carrie Singleton has more than her fair share on her plate: her job at the Clover Ridge Library, preparing for her wedding to Dylan Avery, and hoping that the local art gallery doesn’t steal away one of her part-time employees. Her fiancé Dylan accompanies her to the beautiful home of Victor Zalinka—art collector and successful businessman—to select paintings for an art show at the library. While Carrie muses that Victor's home would be the perfect wedding venue, Dylan spots a forgery among the paintings in Victor's collection.

Then Martha Mallory is found murdered in her art gallery. With the assistance of Evelyn, the library ghost; the resident cat, Smoky Joe; and the office manager of Dylan’s private investigation company, Carrie comes up with a suspect list long enough to rival the size of an encyclopedia. During her investigation, Carrie stumbles across a terrible truth: Martha’s murder was part of something far bigger and more dangerous than she could have ever imagined. And it all leads back to the art gallery.

How far will Carrie go to find the killer and uncover the truth? If the killer finds her first—will Carrie finally be taken out of circulation?]]> 304 Allison Brook Marilyn 0 3.95 2023 Overdue or Die (The Haunted Library Mysteries, #7)
author: Allison Brook
name: Marilyn
average rating: 3.95
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at: 2024/03/16
date added: 2024/03/16
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Milford Elementary: Book One in the Gwendolyn Strong Small Town Cozy Mystery Series]]> 62799973 One deceased groom-to-be. One dead-end clue. One last chance at redemption. Gwendolyn Strong feels lost outside the classroom. And at loose ends after retiring, the ex-kindergarten teacher longs for the excitement her stable marriage and yoga sessions can’t provide. So the spirited fifty-something leaps into action when a former student takes his life on the eve of his wedding day.

Skeptical that he died by his own hand, Gwendolyn teams up with her elderly mentor and true-crime addict daughter to scour the small town for clues while dodging the dismissive cops. But when her prime suspect turns up fatally crushed in a freak accident, she fears a cunning culprit could be pulling some murderous strings.

Can Gwendolyn solve the case before her name is next on the hit list? Milford Elementary is the nail-biting first book in the Gwendolyn Strong Small Town Cozy Mystery Series. If you like whip-smart heroines, buried secrets, and gripping suspense, then you’ll love J A Hoda’s masterful whodunit.]]> 206 J A Hoda Marilyn 5 4.16 Milford Elementary: Book One in the Gwendolyn Strong Small Town Cozy Mystery Series
author: J A Hoda
name: Marilyn
average rating: 4.16
book published:
rating: 5
read at: 2024/03/03
date added: 2024/03/03
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[It Takes a Coven (Witch City Mystery, #6)]]> 35263191 There’s a new witch-hunt in Salem, Massachusetts . . .

When Lee Barrett joins a former student’s bridal party as maid of honor, she expects cake tastings and dress fittings. But wedding planning becomes more peculiar than Lee’s scrying talents could ever predict. There’s a magical baker, a best man with a checkered past, and a talking crow named Poe as the ring bearer. There’s also a kindly old man dead under his apple tree—one of a series of unexplained deaths hanging over the Wiccan community . . .

With witches dropping dead before they even come out of the proverbial broom closet, Lee’s best friend, River, fears she might have somehow unleashed a terrible curse on the city. Now, aided by Poe and her clairvoyant cat, Lee sets out to investigate. Are lives being claimed by vengeful supernatural forces—or by something more shocking? She soon discovers, casting light on the wicked truth can be one killer commitment . . .Ěý

]]> 347 Carol J. Perry 1496707206 Marilyn 5 4.04 2018 It Takes a Coven (Witch City Mystery, #6)
author: Carol J. Perry
name: Marilyn
average rating: 4.04
book published: 2018
rating: 5
read at: 2024/03/03
date added: 2024/03/03
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Dial M for Meow (Bookshop Kitties Mysteries Book 1)]]> 63271465
But when Christy reaches her aunt's bookshop, instead of small town hospitality she finds a dead body! Even worse, her aunt is passed out in the corner, hands covered in blood. The dead woman is an old frenemy of her Aunt Betty, and while Christy knows her aunt is innocent, the local detective isn't so sure. With Milton and Pearl prowling for clues, Christy is determined to find the real killer and clear her aunt's name... before her story ends in tragedy!]]> 263 Ruth J. Hartman Marilyn 0 currently-reading 4.18 Dial M for Meow (Bookshop Kitties Mysteries Book 1)
author: Ruth J. Hartman
name: Marilyn
average rating: 4.18
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/01/30
shelves: currently-reading
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Welcome Home to Murder (Hometown Mysteries Book 1)]]> 61204039
With her fawn boxer dog, Vince, in tow, Tessa falls into the unsettlingly familiar small town life, helping out in her family's general store and her feisty Aunt Edna's auto body shop. But her peaceful homecoming is suddenly shattered when the dead body of a crooked con man turns up in her aunt's shop, and the police have some serious questions for the family. To make matters worse, the sheriff in charge just happens to be Tessa's ex-boyfriend... and things did not end well between them all those years ago. When it comes out that the con man was trying to get his hands on the family business, Tessa knows they're in trouble.

With her family in danger of being dragged away in handcuffs, Tessa becomes a woman on a mission to find the con man's killer. Between a slew of suspects, a meandering moose, and a handsome newcomer with his eye on Tessa, she has her work cut out for her. But when the killer changes tactics—putting everything her family holds dear in jeopardy—Tessa begins to realize what home really means to her. Can she be the hero for her hometown once again... before it's too late?]]> 291 Rosalie Spielman Marilyn 5 4.38 2022 Welcome Home to Murder (Hometown Mysteries Book 1)
author: Rosalie Spielman
name: Marilyn
average rating: 4.38
book published: 2022
rating: 5
read at: 2024/01/15
date added: 2024/01/15
shelves:
review:

]]> The Female Persuasion 35480518 New York Times-bestselling author of The Interestings, comes an electric novel not just about who we want to be with, but who we want to be.

To be admired by someone we admire—we all yearn for this: the private, electrifying pleasure of being singled out by someone of esteem. But sometimes it can also mean entry to a new kind of life, a bigger world.

Greer Kadetsky is a shy college freshman when she meets the woman she hopes will change her life. Faith Frank, dazzlingly persuasive and elegant at sixty-three, has been a central pillar of the women’s movement for decades, a figure who inspires others to influence the world. Upon hearing Faith speak for the first time, Greer—madly in love with her boyfriend, Cory, but still full of longing for an ambition that she can’t quite place—feels her inner world light up. And then, astonishingly, Faith invites Greer to make something out of that sense of purpose, leading Greer down the most exciting path of her life as it winds toward and away from her meant-to-be love story with Cory and the future she’d always imagined.

Charming and wise, knowing and witty, Meg Wolitzer delivers a novel about power and influence, ego and loyalty, womanhood and ambition. At its heart, The Female Persuasion is about the flame we all believe is flickering inside of us, waiting to be seen and fanned by the right person at the right time. It’s a story about the people who guide and the people who follow (and how those roles evolve over time), and the desire within all of us to be pulled into the light.]]> 454 Meg Wolitzer 1594488401 Marilyn 0 3.55 2018 The Female Persuasion
author: Meg Wolitzer
name: Marilyn
average rating: 3.55
book published: 2018
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2023/12/25
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Last List of Mabel Beaumont]]> 148516779 The list he left had just one item on it. Or, at least, it did at first�

Mabel Beaumont’s husband Arthur loved lists. He’d leave them for her everywhere. â€Remember: eggs, butter, sugarâ€�. â€I love you: today, tomorrow, alwaysâ€�.

But now Arthur is gone. He died: softly, gently, not making a fuss. But he’s still left her a list. This one has just one item on it though: â€Find Dâ€�.

Mabel feels sure she knows what it means. She must track down her best friend Dot, who she hasn’t seen since the fateful day she left more than sixty years ago.

It seems impossible. She doesn’t even know if Dot’s still alive. Also, every person Mabel talks to seems to need help first, with missing husbands, daughters, parents. Mabel finds her list is just getting longer, and she’s still no closer to finding Dot.

What she doesn’t know is that her list isn’t just about finding her old friend. And that if she can admit the secrets of the past, maybe she could even find happiness again�

A completely heartbreaking, beautiful, uplifting story, guaranteed to make you smile but also make you cry. Perfect for fans of My Name is Ove, Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine, and The Keeper of Stories.]]> 314 Laura Pearson 1785136054 Marilyn 5 4.03 2023 The Last List of Mabel Beaumont
author: Laura Pearson
name: Marilyn
average rating: 4.03
book published: 2023
rating: 5
read at: 2023/11/27
date added: 2023/11/27
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Sue Ellen Learns to Dance and Other Stories]]> 13022909 203 Judy Alter 0999037129 Marilyn 5 3.73 2006 Sue Ellen Learns to Dance and Other Stories
author: Judy Alter
name: Marilyn
average rating: 3.73
book published: 2006
rating: 5
read at: 2023/09/25
date added: 2023/11/21
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Murder in Old Bombay (Captain Jim and Lady Diana Mysteries, #1)]]> 49127434
But in a land of divided loyalties, asking questions is dangerous. Captain Jim's investigation disturbs the shadows that seem to follow the Framji family and triggers an ominous chain of events. And when lively Lady Diana Framji joins the hunt for her sisters� attackers, Captain Jim’s heart isn’t safe, either.

Based on a true story, and set against the vibrant backdrop of colonial India.]]> 389 Nev March 1250269547 Marilyn 5 enjoyed-reading-this-book 3.65 2020 Murder in Old Bombay (Captain Jim and Lady Diana Mysteries, #1)
author: Nev March
name: Marilyn
average rating: 3.65
book published: 2020
rating: 5
read at: 2023/11/21
date added: 2023/11/21
shelves: enjoyed-reading-this-book
review:

]]> Year of Wonders 4965
Through Anna's eyes we follow the story of the fateful year of 1666, as she and her fellow villagers confront the spread of disease and superstition.

As death reaches into every household and villagers turn from prayers to murderous witch-hunting, Anna must find the strength to confront the disintegration of her community and the lure of illicit love.

As she struggles to survive and grow, a year of catastrophe becomes instead annus mirabilis, a "year of wonders."

Inspired by the true story of Eyam, a village in the rugged hill country of England, Year of Wonders is a richly detailed evocation of a singular moment in history. ]]> 304 Geraldine Brooks 0142001430 Marilyn 5 4.00 2001 Year of Wonders
author: Geraldine Brooks
name: Marilyn
average rating: 4.00
book published: 2001
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2023/11/11
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Deep Dark Secrets (Deep Lakes Cozy Mystery Series Book 1)]]> 53108521 215 Joy Ann Ribar Marilyn 4 3.93 Deep Dark Secrets (Deep Lakes Cozy Mystery Series Book 1)
author: Joy Ann Ribar
name: Marilyn
average rating: 3.93
book published:
rating: 4
read at: 2023/10/08
date added: 2023/10/08
shelves:
review:

]]> Baggage 58645141
There is absolutely no logical reason why I am here. The life trajectory my nationality and class and circumstances portended for me was not even remotely close to the one I now navigate. But logic is a science and living is an art.

The release I felt in writing my first memoir, Not My Father’s Son, was matched only by how my speaking out empowered so many to engage with their own trauma. I was reminded of the power of my words and the absolute duty of authenticity.

µţłÜłŮâ€�

No one ever fully recovers from their past. There is no cure for it. You just learn to manage and prioritize it. I believe the second you feel you have triumphed or overcome something � an abuse, an injury to the body or the mind, an addiction, a character flaw, a habit, a person � you have merely decided to stop being vigilant and embraced denial as your modus operandi. And that is what this book is about, and to remind you not to buy in to the Hollywood ending.

Ironically maybe, much of Baggage chronicles my life in Hollywood and how, since I recovered from a nervous breakdown at 28, work has repeatedly whisked me away from personal calamities to sets and stages around the world. It is also about marriage(s): starting with the break-up of my first (to a woman) and ending with the ascension to my second (to a man) with many kissed toads in between! But in everything, each failed relationship or encounter with a legend (Liza! X Men! Gore Vidal! Kubrick! Spice Girls!), in every bad decision or moment of sensual joy I have endeavored to show what I have learned and how I’ve become who I am a happy, flawed, vulnerable, fearless middle-aged man, with a lot of baggage.]]> 272 Alan Cumming 0062435809 Marilyn 0 4.12 2021 Baggage
author: Alan Cumming
name: Marilyn
average rating: 4.12
book published: 2021
rating: 0
read at: 2023/09/25
date added: 2023/09/25
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[All Booked Up (A Basil and Hortense Killingsley Mystery)]]> 17373115 Basil is as indefatigable as he is eccentric. He will not rest until he finds the book and proves to all concerned that he is not imagining things. But more than Basil’s (considerable) ego is involved here: it is not just any book that is missing, but a 1495 Wynkyn de Worde edition of Ranulf Higden’s Policronicon, a book of historical and literary significance that is crucial to Basil’s research.

As Basil and his equally formidable wife, Hortense, are busy searching the Smedley for clues, members of the staff keep turning up murdered, more books mysteriously appear on the shelves, and a rich donor gets more than he bargained for in library operations.
But even the cleverest criminal is no match when the Killingsleys, with uncanny common sense and humor, apply their scholarly wits to matters odd and lethal.]]> 187 Terrie Curran Marilyn 5 3.07 1987 All Booked Up (A Basil and Hortense Killingsley Mystery)
author: Terrie Curran
name: Marilyn
average rating: 3.07
book published: 1987
rating: 5
read at: 2023/09/25
date added: 2023/09/25
shelves:
review:

]]> Missed Cue 184820867
Meantime, there’s Caitlin’s hot mess of a personal life. She has a bad habit of getting involved with married men. She knows it’s wrong, so why does she keep entangling herself in unhealthy relationships? She’s finally decided to go into therapy to find out.]]> 264 Lynn Slaughter Marilyn 5 enjoyed-reading-this-book 4.51 Missed Cue
author: Lynn Slaughter
name: Marilyn
average rating: 4.51
book published:
rating: 5
read at: 2023/09/16
date added: 2023/09/16
shelves: enjoyed-reading-this-book
review:
Caitlin O'Connor and her partner Stan have been brought in to solve the death of a ballerina who dropped dead during a dress rehearsal. Was Lydia Miseau suddenly taken ill or had she been murdered? When Caitlin and Stan finally find evidence that Lydia was in fact murdered, they search for the killer among the many people who might have had reason to kill her. I enjoyed reading about the many aspects of Caitlin's life—coping with Stan's drinking, her attempts to disentangle herself from her married lover who happens to be the medical examiner, and her therapy sessions where she discusses her problem—as she and Stan solve this murder and another they're sure is related to Lydia's. A wonderful beginning to a new series. I look forward to the next Caitlin O'Connor mystery.
]]> Someone Else's Shoes 62971668 A story of mix-ups, mess-ups and making the most of second chances, this is the new novel from #1 New York Times bestselling author Jojo Moyes, author of Me Before You and The Giver of Stars.

Who are you when you are forced to walk in someone else’s shoes?

Nisha Cantor lives the globetrotting life of the seriously wealthy, until her husband announces a divorce and cuts her off. Nisha is determined to hang onto her glamorous life. But in the meantime, she must scramble to cope--she doesn’t even have the shoes she was, until a moment ago, standing in.

That’s because Sam Kemp � in the bleakest point of her life � has accidentally taken Nisha’s gym bag. But Sam hardly has time to worry about a lost gym bag--she’s struggling to keep herself and her family afloat. When she tries on Nisha’s six-inch high Christian Louboutin red crocodile shoes, the resulting jolt of confidence that makes her realize something must change—and that thing is herself.

Full of Jojo Moyes� signature humor, brilliant storytelling, and warmth, Someone Else’s Shoes is a story about how just one little thing can suddenly change everything.]]> 438 Jojo Moyes 1984879294 Marilyn 5 enjoyed-it-of-course 3.88 2023 Someone Else's Shoes
author: Jojo Moyes
name: Marilyn
average rating: 3.88
book published: 2023
rating: 5
read at: 2023/09/07
date added: 2023/09/14
shelves: enjoyed-it-of-course
review:
What I love about Jojo Moyes' novels is that regardless of the topic I feel good when I turn the last page. This is especially true of Someone Else's Shoes. After a session at the gym, Sam and Nisha end up taking home the wrong bag of clothing. Sam ends up with Nisha's sexy red Louboutins and Nisha with Sam's boring pumps. Both women have serious problems. Nisha's rich amoral husband has cut her off without a dime. Sam has a boss who bullies her and a husband who's too depressed to look for a job. How the two women not only improve their situations but learn to recognize and make use of their strengths is pure delight. Highly recommended.
]]> <![CDATA[Watching Glass Shatter (Perceptions of Glass #1)]]> 36383506
Watching Glass Shatter is the 1st book in the Perceptions of Glass contemporary fiction, family drama series. Currently, there are two available, with a third planned in the future. Chapters switch POV between Olivia and each son, revealing different personalities, voices, and struggles not unlike many of us in life. You'll undoubtedly love some members of this family and experience a fiery angst for others. But in the end, it will tug at all of your emotions.

â…â…â…â…â� - "Cudney’s debut novel is both atmospheric and contemplative, and delivers a gut punch of family angst, devotion, and heartbreaking love."

â…â…â…â…â� - "The plot is well-thought out and intricately and methodically crafted. The execution is great, especially the last several chapters are stunningly beautiful. An astounding read."

â…â…â…â…â� - "A wonderful novel that I highly recommend to anyone."]]> 287 James J. Cudney Marilyn 4 4.16 2017 Watching Glass Shatter (Perceptions of Glass #1)
author: James J. Cudney
name: Marilyn
average rating: 4.16
book published: 2017
rating: 4
read at: 2023/08/07
date added: 2023/08/07
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Peril on the Page (Open Book Mysteries #3)]]> 58266333
Penelope Parish is ready to close the book on her amateur sleuthing—from now on, The Open Book’s writer-in-residence will be sticking to villains of the fictional variety while she puts the final touches on her new novel. But when an author is murdered inside the bookshop, all of Upper Chumley-on-Stoke goes on high alert.

Now it’s up to Pen and the quirky citizens of Chumley to stop a killer and protect the charming British town she’s begun to call home.]]> 316 Margaret Loudon 0593099311 Marilyn 5 4.34 2022 Peril on the Page (Open Book Mysteries #3)
author: Margaret Loudon
name: Marilyn
average rating: 4.34
book published: 2022
rating: 5
read at: 2023/07/17
date added: 2023/07/17
shelves:
review:

]]> The Golden Couple 57693416 The next electrifying novel from the #1 New York Times bestselling author duo behind The Wife Between Us.

Wealthy Washington suburbanites Marissa and Matthew Bishop seem to have it all—until Marissa is unfaithful. Beneath their veneer of perfection is a relationship riven by work and a lack of intimacy. She wants to repair things for the sake of their eight-year-old son and because she loves her husband. Enter Avery Chambers.

Avery is a therapist who lost her professional license. Still, it doesn’t stop her from counseling those in crisis, though they have to adhere to her unorthodox methods. And the Bishops are desperate.

When they glide through Avery’s door and Marissa reveals her infidelity, all three are set on a collision course. Because the biggest secrets in the room are still hidden, and it’s no longer simply a marriage that’s in danger.]]> 329 Greer Hendricks 125027320X Marilyn 5 enjoyed-it-of-course 3.94 2022 The Golden Couple
author: Greer Hendricks
name: Marilyn
average rating: 3.94
book published: 2022
rating: 5
read at: 2023/06/25
date added: 2023/06/25
shelves: enjoyed-it-of-course
review:
I enjoyed this fast-paced psychological suspense novel told from a few POVs. What I especially liked was that the authors did not abruptly end the novel with the revelation of the villain. There's a nice short section that ties up even more of the mystery and lets us know how the surviving characters move on.
]]> <![CDATA[Snuffed Out (Magic Candle Shop #1)]]> 60089850
30-year-old fraternal twins Tabby and Sage Winslow own The Book and Candle Shop in Savannah. Sage is hot-headed and impulsive while Tabby is calm and collected, making them the perfect partnership. When one of their customers is found murdered, from a blow to the head, that partnership is put to the test.

Blithe McAdam had been seen in a heated argument with shop clerk Gerard, which immediately makes him suspect number one. The twins are convinced of Gerard’s innocence and start digging into Blithe’s past. But no one is cooperating. The neighbor who found the body isn’t talking, medical examiner Quig won’t give any details about the autopsy, and nasty rumors begin surfacing about the drowning of Blithe’s father years earlier—evidence that could seal Gerard’s fate.

Tabby and Sage dig desperately for the truth. But it’s not only their friend who’s in peril. With the clock ticking, the twins find themselves in the grip of an unseen and deadly energy that has seeped into their midst—and in the sights of a ruthless killer.]]> 304 Valona Jones 163910206X Marilyn 5 enjoyed-reading-this-book 3.54 2023 Snuffed Out (Magic Candle Shop #1)
author: Valona Jones
name: Marilyn
average rating: 3.54
book published: 2023
rating: 5
read at: 2023/06/18
date added: 2023/06/25
shelves: enjoyed-reading-this-book
review:
I enjoyed this delightful debut of a new paranormal series.
]]> <![CDATA[The Gallery of Beauties (Venice Beauties,#1)]]> 61043094 378 Nina Wachsman Marilyn 5 4.11 2022 The Gallery of Beauties (Venice Beauties,#1)
author: Nina Wachsman
name: Marilyn
average rating: 4.11
book published: 2022
rating: 5
read at: 2023/05/29
date added: 2023/06/21
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[A Treasure to Die For (A Seaside Cove Bed & Breakfast Mystery, #1)]]> 35973008
Local eyebrows go up when eight friends come searching for a 16th Century Spanish galleon. After all, everybody knows there’s no such thing as Spanish gold off this part of the California coast.

The group’s visit turns ugly when a killer strikes and leaves Seaside Cove Bed & Breakfast owner Rick Atwood with a trunkful of questions. Who murdered one of his guests? Will his precocious ten-year-old daughter stop interfering in his investigation? And can he squelch the latest town gossip? Which is, of course, can Rick and his daughter do what the cops can’t and solve the crime?]]> 229 Terry Ambrose Marilyn 0 4.02 A Treasure to Die For (A Seaside Cove Bed & Breakfast Mystery, #1)
author: Terry Ambrose
name: Marilyn
average rating: 4.02
book published:
rating: 0
read at: 2023/06/04
date added: 2023/06/04
shelves:
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]]> <![CDATA[Proof of Life (Beyond the Veil #2)]]> 57805836 284 Sheila Lowe 1970181206 Marilyn 0 4.47 Proof of Life (Beyond the Veil #2)
author: Sheila Lowe
name: Marilyn
average rating: 4.47
book published:
rating: 0
read at: 2023/05/27
date added: 2023/05/27
shelves:
review:

]]> Late Bloomers 61151272 An Indian American family is turned upside down when the parents divorce thirty-six years into their arranged marriage� in this witty, big-hearted debut.

I have a soft spot for underdogs. And late bloomers. You've told me a lot of things about yourself, so let me tell you something about me.

After thirty-six years of a dutiful but unhappy arranged marriage, recently divorced Suresh and Lata Raman find themselves starting new paths in life. Suresh is trying to navigate the world of online dating on a website that caters to Indians and is striking out at every turn--until he meets a mysterious, devastatingly attractive younger woman who seems to be smitten with him. Lata is enjoying her newfound independence, but she's caught off guard when a professor in his early sixties starts to flirt with her.

Meanwhile, Suresh and Lata's daughter, Priya, thinks her father's online pursuits are distasteful even as she embarks upon a clandestine affair of her own. And their son, Nikesh, pretends at a seemingly perfect marriage with his law-firm colleague and their young son, but hides the truth of what his relationship really entails. Over the course of three weeks in August, the whole family will uncover one another's secrets, confront the limits of love and loyalty, and explore life's second chances.

Charming, funny, and moving, Late Bloomers introduces a delightful new voice in fiction with the story of four individuals trying to understand how to be happy in their own lives--and as a family.]]> 368 Deepa Varadarajan 059349802X Marilyn 4 3.72 2023 Late Bloomers
author: Deepa Varadarajan
name: Marilyn
average rating: 3.72
book published: 2023
rating: 4
read at: 2023/05/07
date added: 2023/05/07
shelves:
review:
Suresh and Lata Raman, newly divorced after thirty-six years of marriage, find themselves struggling with new situations and new relationships. Both their two grown children have secrets that impact their lives. Everything comes to a head at Suresh's birthday party where emotions are bared and all four members of the Raman family gain the necessary insight to move on in positive directions.
]]> <![CDATA[Murder Under a Red Moon (Bangalore Detectives Clubu #2)]]> 60760946 The latest novel in the acclaimed Bangalore Detectives Club series finds amateur sleuthĚýKaveri Murthy uncovering a new murderĚýduring the blood moon eclipse.

When new bride Kaveri Murthy reluctantly agrees to investigate a minor crime to please her domineering mother-in-law—during the blood moon eclipse, no less—she doesn't expect, once again, to stumble upon a murder.

With anti-British sentiment on the rise, a charismatic religious leader growing in influence, and the fight for women's suffrage gaining steam, Bangalore is turning out to be a far more dangerous and treacherous place than Kaveri ever imagined—and everyone's motives are suspect.

Together with the Bangalore Detectives Club—a mixed bag of street urchins, nosy neighbours, an ex-prostitute, and a policeman's wife� Kaveri once again sleuths in her sari and hunts for clues in her beloved 1920s Ford.

But when her life is suddenly put in danger, Kaveri realizes that she might be getting uncomfortably close to the truth. So she must now draw on her wits and find the killer . . . before they find her.]]> 300 Harini Nagendra Marilyn 5 4.11 2023 Murder Under a Red Moon (Bangalore Detectives Clubu #2)
author: Harini Nagendra
name: Marilyn
average rating: 4.11
book published: 2023
rating: 5
read at: 2023/05/05
date added: 2023/05/07
shelves:
review:
I thoroughly enjoyed this second mystery in Harini Nagendra's series. Set in Bangalore, India, in the 1920's, Kaveri Murthy has a new mystery to solve: who murdered her mother-in-law's cousin's husband? The pace never lets up, resulting in a thoroughly enjoyable read. I'm looking forward to Book Number Three.
]]> Plainsong (Plainsong, #1) 6336901 320 Kent Haruf Marilyn 0 4.20 1999 Plainsong (Plainsong, #1)
author: Kent Haruf
name: Marilyn
average rating: 4.20
book published: 1999
rating: 0
read at: 2023/05/05
date added: 2023/05/05
shelves:
review:

]]> The White Lady 61346151
A reluctant ex-spy with demons of her own, Elinor finds herself facing down one of the most dangerous organized crime gangs in London, and exposing corruption from Scotland Yard to the highest levels of government.

Post-World War II Britain, 1947. Forty-one-year-old “Miss White," as Elinor is known, lives in a village in Kent, England, so quietly and privately as to seem an enigma to her fellow villagers. Well she might, as Elinor occupies a "grace and favor" property, a rare privilege offered to faithful servants of the Crown for services to the nation. But the residents of Shacklehurst have no way of knowing how dangerous Elinor's war work had been, or how deeply their mysterious neighbor continues to be haunted by her past.

It will take the child of Jim Mackie, a young farmworker and his wife, Rose, to break through Miss White's icy demeanor—but Jim has something in common with Elinor. He, too, is desperate to escape his past. When the powerful Mackie crime family demands a return of their prodigal son for an important job, Elinor assumes the task of protecting her neighbors, especially the bright-eyed Susie, who reminds her of the darkest day of her life.

Elinor’s wartime training and instincts serve her well, but as she endeavors to neutralize the threat to Jim, Rose and Susie Mackie, she is rapidly led along a tunnel of smoke and mirrors in which former wartime colleagues � who know the truth about what happened in 1944, and the terrible event that led to her wartime suicide attempt � are compromised by more powerful influences.

Ultimately, Elinor will hold a gun to the head of a Mackie crime lord to uncover the truth behind the family's pursuit of Jim, and in doing so, reveal the far-reaching tentacles of their power—along with the truth that will free Elinor from her past.]]> 321 Jacqueline Winspear 0062867989 Marilyn 5 enjoyed-it-of-course 3.89 2023 The White Lady
author: Jacqueline Winspear
name: Marilyn
average rating: 3.89
book published: 2023
rating: 5
read at: 2023/04/19
date added: 2023/04/20
shelves: enjoyed-it-of-course
review:
I've read the entire Maisie Dobbs series by Jacqueline Winspear, and so I am familiar with the author's style and subject matter. I thoroughly enjoyed this novel about a British woman who has been emotionally scarred by her actions as an operative in both World War One and Two. Elinor White is virtually a recluse and living a quiet life when she learns that a neighboring young family is being abused by the husband's criminal family as they try to force him to rejoin their ranks. As Elinor goes to their defense, she learns about past betrayals and what really happened when an operation failed, enabling her to move on with her life. What I especially liked about this book was The White Lady, Elinor White—an admirable yet vulnerable character who manages to settle some scores without trying to resolve larger matters well beyond her control.
]]> <![CDATA[A Welsh Murder Mystery Box Set #1�4 (WISE Enquiries Agency #1-4)]]> 60473741
BOOK 1: THE CASE OF THE DOTTY DOWAGER
Henry Twyst, eighteenth Duke of Chellingworth, is convinced his mother is losing her marbles. The dowager claims to have seen a corpse on the dining room floor, but all she has to prove it is a bloodied bobble hat. Henry hires the women of the WISE Enquiries Agency. The duke wants the strange matter explained. But the truth of what happened at the Chellingworth Estate is more complex, dangerous, and deadly, than anyone could have foreseen . . .

BOOK 2: THE CASE OF THE MISSING MORRIS DANCER
Henry, eighteenth Duke of Chellingworth, is about to marry Stephanie Timbers in a grand ceremony at his Welsh estate. But one of the Morris dancers, who must lead the wedding party through the village, is missing. Along with the troupe’s kit of exquisite sixteenth-century silver bells and engraved sticks. Can the ladies of the WISE Enquiries Agency track him down and save the day?

BOOK 3: THE CASE OF THE CURIOUS COOK
Henry, eighteenth Duke of Chellingworth, is terribly worried about some water damage to the priceless books in his library and hires a local book restorer to tackle the repairs. Meanwhile, strange shenanigans are going on at his book shop and Dowager Duchess Althea brings the case to the women of the WISE Enquiries Agency. They come across a valuable book of miniatures which seems to be the work of a famous local artist, who was murdered by her own brother. The WISE women are on the case � and nothing will get in their way . . .

BOOK 4: THE CASE OF THE UNSUITABLE SUITOR
Successful businessman and charmer Huw Hughes has his sights set on Annie. But Huw has been widowed three times and the other women of the WISE Enquiries Agency want to know why. Mavis and Carol have to work with Dowager Duchess Althea Twyst to ensure their unsuspecting friend Annie’s safety . . . and possibly protect the lives of other villagers. And of course all this mustn’t disrupt the Duke’s annual croquet tournament! Someone seems to want it to turn out very nasty indeed.]]> 1108 Cathy Ace 1804051950 Marilyn 5 4.51 A Welsh Murder Mystery Box Set #1–4 (WISE Enquiries Agency #1-4)
author: Cathy Ace
name: Marilyn
average rating: 4.51
book published:
rating: 5
read at: 2023/04/17
date added: 2023/04/17
shelves:
review:

]]> The Mitford Affair 60604163 From New York Times bestselling author Marie Benedict—she'll have to choose: her country or her sisters?

Between the World Wars, the six Mitford sisters dominate the English political, literary, and social scenes. Though they've weathered scandals before, the family falls into disarray when Diana divorces her husband to marry a fascist leader and Unity follows her sister's lead, inciting rumors that she's become Hitler's own mistress.

Novelist Nancy Mitford is the only member of her family to keep in touch with Diana and Unity after their desertion, so it falls to her to act when her sisters become spies for the Nazi party.

Probing the torrid political climate of World War II and the ways that sensible people can be sucked into radical action, The Mitford Affair follows Nancy's valiant efforts to end the war and the cost of placing loyalty to her country above loyalty to her family.]]> 352 Marie Benedict 1728229367 Marilyn 4
While I enjoyed reading THE MITFORD AFFAIR from Nancy, Diana, and Unity's varied perspectives, I felt an element was missing. Though based on real people, The Mitford Affair is a novel and Nancy is our protagonist. Yet, she comes across as passive, both in her dealings with her marriage and her parents. And while she agrees to keep tabs on Diana and Unity for Winston Churchill, she delays in handing over evidence vital to her country's safety and future because it will reflect badly on Diana. Of course this might be exactly what really happened, a problem when creating a novel based on historical figures. Perhaps including more information about the Mitford parents and how they raised their children might have given us a better understanding of why the three sisters turned out as they did.
]]> 3.60 2023 The Mitford Affair
author: Marie Benedict
name: Marilyn
average rating: 3.60
book published: 2023
rating: 4
read at: 2023/03/27
date added: 2023/03/27
shelves:
review:
Like Marie Benedict, I have been fascinated by the Mitford family. I've read several books by them and about them. I knew about Diana and Unity's ties to Hitler, but I was unaware that Nancy had played an important part in exposing Diana Mosley's actions, which if continued unchecked, might very well have changed the outcome of World War Two.

While I enjoyed reading THE MITFORD AFFAIR from Nancy, Diana, and Unity's varied perspectives, I felt an element was missing. Though based on real people, The Mitford Affair is a novel and Nancy is our protagonist. Yet, she comes across as passive, both in her dealings with her marriage and her parents. And while she agrees to keep tabs on Diana and Unity for Winston Churchill, she delays in handing over evidence vital to her country's safety and future because it will reflect badly on Diana. Of course this might be exactly what really happened, a problem when creating a novel based on historical figures. Perhaps including more information about the Mitford parents and how they raised their children might have given us a better understanding of why the three sisters turned out as they did.

]]> <![CDATA[Murder in Second Position (On Pointe #2)]]> 59706667
It wasn't her fault someone killed the autocratic director of American Ballet Company. And it wasn't her job to find the killer.
After all, if she were going to kill someone, it would have been the woman who's been relentlessly trolling her on social media.

And that's where things get complicated. Because when dancers say "ballet can be murder" they don't mean it literally.

Most of the time.]]> 295 Lori Robbins Marilyn 5 4.50 Murder in Second Position (On Pointe #2)
author: Lori Robbins
name: Marilyn
average rating: 4.50
book published:
rating: 5
read at: 2022/06/19
date added: 2023/03/19
shelves:
review:

]]> The Guest List 52656911
The bride � The plus one � The best man � The wedding planner � The bridesmaid � The body

On an island off the coast of Ireland, guests gather to celebrate two people joining their lives together as one. The groom: handsome and charming, a rising television star. The bride: smart and ambitious, a magazine publisher. It’s a wedding for a magazine, or for a celebrity: the designer dress, the remote location, the luxe party favors, the boutique whiskey. The cell phone service may be spotty and the waves may be rough, but every detail has been expertly planned and will be expertly executed.

But perfection is for plans, and people are all too human. As the champagne is popped and the festivities begin, resentments and petty jealousies begin to mingle with the reminiscences and well wishes. The groomsmen begin the drinking game from their school days. The bridesmaid not-so-accidentally ruins her dress. The bride’s oldest (male) friend gives an uncomfortably caring toast.

And then someone turns up dead. Who didn’t wish the happy couple well? And perhaps more important, why?]]> 319 Lucy Foley Marilyn 5 3.82 2020 The Guest List
author: Lucy Foley
name: Marilyn
average rating: 3.82
book published: 2020
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2023/03/14
shelves:
review:
I LOVED listening to The Guest List. I couldn't wait to reach the end, yet was sorry when the adventure was over. I think the audio version was especially wonderful because I got to hear the various voices of several members of a wedding party that takes place on an island. We find out what these characters think, feel, and their impact on one other as the tension builds and builds. Brilliant plotting; well-drawn characters; original.
]]> <![CDATA[Murder in an Irish Village (Irish Village Mystery, #1)]]> 25810243 A little slice of Heaven on the Emerald Isle�
Ěý
In the small village of Kilbane, County Cork, Ireland, Natalie’s Bistro has always been a warm and welcoming spot to visit with neighbors, enjoy some brown bread and tea, and get the local gossip. Nowadays twenty-two-year-old Siobhán O’Sullivan runs the family bistro named for her mother, along with her five siblings, after the death of their parents in a car crash almost a year ago.
Ěý
It’s been a rough year for the O’Sullivans, but it’s about to get rougher. One morning, as they’re opening the bistro, they discover a man seated at a table, dressed in a suit as if for his own funeral, a pair of hot pink barber scissors protruding from his chest.
Ěý
With the local garda suspecting the O’Sullivans, and their business in danger of being shunned—murder tends to spoil the appetite—it’s up to feisty redheaded Siobhán to solve the crime and save her beloved brood.]]> 334 Carlene O'Connor 1617738441 Marilyn 5 enjoyed-it-of-course 3.68 2016 Murder in an Irish Village (Irish Village Mystery, #1)
author: Carlene O'Connor
name: Marilyn
average rating: 3.68
book published: 2016
rating: 5
read at: 2023/02/20
date added: 2023/02/20
shelves: enjoyed-it-of-course
review:
A charming cozy mystery set in a small Irish village. When their parents die in a car accident, Siobhan O'Sullivan gives up her college aspirations to take care of her young siblings and run the family bistro. When the body of a villager turns up in the bistro, their older brother is a suspect. Amid an array of secrets and a cast of eccentric characters, Siobhan discovers who really killed the victim.
]]> <![CDATA[The Bangalore Detectives Club (Bangalore Detectives Club, #1)]]> 59435984
When clever, headstrong Kaveri moves to Bangalore to marry handsome young doctor Ramu, she's resigned herself to a quiet life.

But that all changes the night of the party at the Century Club, where she escapes to the garden for some peace and quiet—and instead spots an uninvited guest in the shadows. Half an hour later, the party turns into a murder scene.

When a vulnerable woman is connected to the crime, Kaveri becomes determined to save her and launches a private investigation to find the killer, tracing his steps from an illustrious brothel to an Englishman's mansion. She soon finds that sleuthing in a sari isn't as hard as it seems when you have a talent for mathematics, a head for logic, and a doctor for a husband . . .

And she's going to need them all as the case leads her deeper into a hotbed of danger, sedition,Ěýand intrigue in Bangalore's darkest alleyways.]]> 352 Harini Nagendra Marilyn 5 enjoyed-reading-this-book
A man is murdered while the Murthys are attending a dinner at an exclusive club and Kaveri starts to investigate. She is worried that the man who delivers their milk may be involved and wants to find out why he's suddenly treating his family harshly. As Kaveri uncovers secrets, she's happy to discover that Ramu thinks very much as she does. He wants her to continue her studies. What's more, he respects her desire to uncover the mysteries and works with her to find the murderer.

I look forward to reading the next book in the series.
]]> 3.62 2022 The Bangalore Detectives Club (Bangalore Detectives Club, #1)
author: Harini Nagendra
name: Marilyn
average rating: 3.62
book published: 2022
rating: 5
read at: 2023/02/01
date added: 2023/02/15
shelves: enjoyed-reading-this-book
review:
I loved The Bangalore Detective Club, which takes place in colonial India in the early 1920's. Newly-married Kaveri Murthy is adjusting to life in her new home ruled by her conservative mother-in-law. She continues to study math in secret and hopes to somehow get her university degree. And she is happy with Ramu, her doctor husband, whom she is first getting to know.

A man is murdered while the Murthys are attending a dinner at an exclusive club and Kaveri starts to investigate. She is worried that the man who delivers their milk may be involved and wants to find out why he's suddenly treating his family harshly. As Kaveri uncovers secrets, she's happy to discover that Ramu thinks very much as she does. He wants her to continue her studies. What's more, he respects her desire to uncover the mysteries and works with her to find the murderer.

I look forward to reading the next book in the series.

]]> <![CDATA[Eastwind Witches Cozy Mysteries (Eastwind Witches #1-6)]]> 58027440
Team up with Nora Ashcroft, a psychic witch who's just getting used to her powers, and her snarky hellhound familiar, Grim, as they solve Eastwind's toughest, hairiest, and twistiest crimes... all while trying to keep the lights on at the local all-night diner.

Included in this box set:
Crossing Over Easy (Book 1)
Death Metal (Book 2)
Third Knock the Charm (Book 3)
Queso de los Muertos (Book 4)
Psych-Out (Book 5)
Gone Witch (Book 6)]]> 1047 Nova Nelson Marilyn 4 4.59 Eastwind Witches Cozy Mysteries (Eastwind Witches #1-6)
author: Nova Nelson
name: Marilyn
average rating: 4.59
book published:
rating: 4
read at: 2023/02/13
date added: 2023/02/13
shelves:
review:

]]> Death Takes a Bath 63883549
When Maddie McGuire gets an archeology internship at the Roman Baths in England, she assumes everything will go her way. After all, it always has. But her first week turns from a princess fairytale into a nightmare when a human ear lands on her doorstep. The only bonus of the ordeal is meeting young constable Edward Bailey. Their budding friendship is a source of comfort, except when rules get in the way.

Throwing her attention into her internship, she vows to forget anything ear related. The Roman Baths are the perfect escape, except for her aristocratic coworker Simon Pacock who sabotages her every move. And he only becomes more aggressive when she discovers a dead body at the Baths, both ears intact.

As the danger ratchets higher, Maddie must use her wits and knowledge to come out of this ordeal alive.]]> 350 Sharon Lynn Marilyn 4 4.15 Death Takes a Bath
author: Sharon Lynn
name: Marilyn
average rating: 4.15
book published:
rating: 4
read at: 2023/02/13
date added: 2023/02/13
shelves:
review:

]]> Lessons in Chemistry 58065033 390 Bonnie Garmus Marilyn 5 enjoyed-reading-this-book 4.23 2022 Lessons in Chemistry
author: Bonnie Garmus
name: Marilyn
average rating: 4.23
book published: 2022
rating: 5
read at: 2023/01/05
date added: 2023/01/05
shelves: enjoyed-reading-this-book
review:
Elizabeth Zott is a brilliant young woman determined to have a career as a chemist. But these are the Fifties and Sixties and predatory and sexist men stand in her way. However, she falls in love with a famous scientist who loves her and supports her work. Then tragedy strikes. But Elizabeth Zott is strong and resilient. When she recovers from her grief, she follows her own path which leads to an unusual career. Peopled with zany characters and heartwarming despite its exploration of gritty topics, this is a novel not to be missed. In ways it reminds me of The World According to Garp.
]]> The Personal Librarian 55333938 This is a previously-published edition of ISBN 9780593101537.

The remarkable, little-known story of Belle da Costa Greene, J. P. Morgan's personal librarian—who became one of the most powerful women in New York despite the dangerous secret she kept in order to make her dreams come true, from New York Times bestselling author Marie Benedict and acclaimed author Victoria Christopher Murray.

In her twenties, Belle da Costa Greene is hired by J. P. Morgan to curate a collection of rare manuscripts, books, and artwork for his newly built Pierpont Morgan Library. Belle becomes a fixture on the New York society scene and one of the most powerful people in the art and book world, known for her impeccable taste and shrewd negotiating for critical works as she helps build a world-class collection.

But Belle has a secret, one she must protect at all costs. She was born not Belle da Costa Greene but Belle Marion Greener. She is the daughter of Richard Greener, the first Black graduate of Harvard and a well-known advocate for equality. Belle's complexion isn't dark because of her alleged Portuguese heritage that lets her pass as white—her complexion is dark because she is African American.

The Personal Librarian tells the story of an extraordinary woman, famous for her intellect, style, and wit, and shares the lengths to which she must go—for the protection of her family and her legacy—to preserve her carefully crafted white identity in the racist world in which she lives.]]> 341 Marie Benedict Marilyn 5 enjoyed-reading-this-book
A marvelous novel about a remarkable woman.
]]> 3.98 2021 The Personal Librarian
author: Marie Benedict
name: Marilyn
average rating: 3.98
book published: 2021
rating: 5
read at: 2023/01/05
date added: 2023/01/05
shelves: enjoyed-reading-this-book
review:
This historical novel about Belle da Costa Greene, J. P. Morgan's personal librarian who was instrumental in making important acquisitions for the Pierpont Morgan Library, was one of the best books I read in 2022. Educated at Princeton, Belle was beautiful and intelligent. She quickly established her place in the social world of the rich and famous as well as in the auction houses that her new position required. No one in Belle's new life knew she was a black woman passing as white. If her secret were to come out at this time of great prejudice, she would lose her position as Morgan's personal librarian. Belle could not let this happen for as much as she loved her work, the salary it brought supported her mother and four siblings, all of whom were passing as white—something her father, a Harvard graduate, could not abide.

A marvelous novel about a remarkable woman.

]]> <![CDATA[Molded 4 Murder (Sophie Kimball Mystery #5)]]> 43197868 A view to a kilnĚýâ€�
Ěý
Sophie “Phee� Kimball enjoys working as a bookkeeper for a private investigator. If only her mother Harriet could enjoy her retirement at Sun City West in Arizona—instead of constantly getting involved with retirees being prematurely put out to pasture. This time Quentin Dussler, a prominent member of the clay sculpting club, was found dead, clutching a piece of paper scrawled with Phee’s mother’s name.
Ěý
Terrified she’s been targeted by assassins, Harriet begs Phee to investigate. What Phee uncovers is a complicated scheme that only the most diabolical of murderers would ever devise. And as she chisels away at confusing clues and potential suspects, Phee unearths something far more precious and valuable than she could imagine. Eager for answers, she takes a bold step—placing herself in the crosshairs of a stonefaced killerĚýâ€�
Ěý
Praise for the Sophie Kimball Mysteries
Ěý
“A witty adventure that will leave you laughing out loud.�
—Stephanie Blackmoore, author of the Wedding Planner Mystery Series, on Booked 4 Murder

Ěý “Fun characters, a touch of humor, and a great mystery, the perfect combination for a cozy.â€�
—Lena Gregory, author of the Bay Island Psychic Mysteries, on Ditched 4 Murder]]> 273 J.C. Eaton 1496719913 Marilyn 4 4.48 2019 Molded 4 Murder (Sophie Kimball Mystery #5)
author: J.C. Eaton
name: Marilyn
average rating: 4.48
book published: 2019
rating: 4
read at: 2023/01/05
date added: 2023/01/05
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Murder in Third Position: (On Pointe Mystery #3)]]> 63257944
The dancers were unanimous in their dislike of Maurice, and they eagerly anticipated his departure. What they didn’t foresee is that he would exit in a body bag, and not on a nonstop flight to LA.

Leah doesn’t want to get involved in the ensuing murder investigation, but when suspicion falls upon Tex, her dance partner and friend, she has no choice but to act. She enlists the Choreographers of Crime for help, but it’s her life, her career, and her complicated romance with homicide detective Jonah Sobol that’s on the line.

With opening night less than a week away, and the future of American Ballet Company hanging in the balance, can Leah save Tex in time to save the show?]]> 298 Lori Robbins Marilyn 5 4.15 Murder in Third Position: (On Pointe Mystery #3)
author: Lori Robbins
name: Marilyn
average rating: 4.15
book published:
rating: 5
read at: 2022/12/15
date added: 2022/12/17
shelves:
review:
I love this series that centers around a ballet company based in Manhattan. In Murder In Third Position, Leah Siderova is cast as the Sugar Plum Fairy in "The Nutcracker" and leery about having to dance on a platform she doesn't consider safe. Then the set designer is murdered, another death follows, and a third victim in injured. Leah and her Choreographers of Crime pals set about finding the killer before he or she strikes again. Chockful of zany characters and insights into a ballerina's life, this fast-paced mystery is a delightful read. Can't wait to read the next book in the series.
]]> The Bad Daughter 35276499 What first appears to be a random home invasion reveals a family's dark secrets in this domestic ticking-clock suspense from the New York Times bestselling author of See Jane Run.

A hostile relationship with her sister and a complicated past with her father's second wife have kept Robin estranged from her family for many years. But when her father's new family is attacked in their house, with her father and his wife in critical condition in the hospital, she returns home determined to put her experience as a therapist to use to help mend fences and care for her young stepsister, who survived the attack relatively unscathed. It looks like a random robbery gone awry, but as Robin spends more time with her family members, she learns they all had their secrets -- and one of those secrets may have put them all in horrible danger.]]> 368 Joy Fielding 0399181539 Marilyn 4 4.04 2018 The Bad Daughter
author: Joy Fielding
name: Marilyn
average rating: 4.04
book published: 2018
rating: 4
read at: 2022/10/10
date added: 2022/10/10
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[A Margin for Murder (Beyond the Page Bookstore Mystery, #8)]]> 58652243 In the riveting new mystery from the USA Today bestselling author, a murder and a missing first edition of Robert Louis Stevenson’s A Child’s Garden of Verses send rare bookstore owner Addie Greyborne on an investigation to challenge even the most distinguished of bibliophiles�

Addie leaves her Greyborne Harbor bookstore, Beyond the Page Books and Curios, in the capable hands of her assistant while she travels to the neighboring town of Pen Hollow to attend a book sale at a library that is closing due to lack of funding. But the real find is a bookmobile bus, which she’s excited to refit as a traveling bookstore to hit all the summer festivals. The bookmobile also holds a surprising treasure: several classic first editions and an early edition of Robert Louis Stevenson’s A Child’s Garden of Verses.

But before the bookmobile can be delivered to Addie, a fatal car crash occurs. When an autopsy reveals poison in the victim’s system and the first editions go missing, it’s up to Addie to determine what would drive someone to murder. If she’s not careful, however, she may be the next one to be dead on arrival…]]> 320 Lauren Elliott 1496735137 Marilyn 0 to-read 3.99 2022 A Margin for Murder (Beyond the Page Bookstore Mystery, #8)
author: Lauren Elliott
name: Marilyn
average rating: 3.99
book published: 2022
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2022/09/21
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Elements of Submission 57937925
Wilhelmina Green is the lawyer of choice for sexual predators and murderers. Her latest victory, the acquittal of a U.S. senator, has made Mina a media sensation. Escaping the attention, she secretly takes her next tombstoning dive into Australian waters. The risk of a solo jump at dawn serves as her punishment and atonement for releasing guilty men into the world.

CEO Jonathon Thomas Heun, suspected of a brutal murder, hires Mina to represent him. His seductive world of wealth and power soon draws her in as they work to uncover evidence of Jonathon's innocence. Mina senses he's keeping part of himself closed off from the world. And from her.

Dark fantasies of fear, pain and passion haunt Mina's dreams and leave her breathless. No man has ever seemed capable of having her—possessing her—in this way. Until Jonathon.

Is he a killer? Or the one she's been waiting for?

Elements of Submission is the first book in the Elements of Power series and follows Mina's dark journey into sexual submission, as Jonathon's past catches up with him.]]> 275 Karissa Knight 173685240X Marilyn 5 enjoyed-reading-this-book 3.88 Elements of Submission
author: Karissa Knight
name: Marilyn
average rating: 3.88
book published:
rating: 5
read at: 2021/09/03
date added: 2022/08/20
shelves: enjoyed-reading-this-book
review:
As a defense attorney, Wilhelmina Green has had to represent some reprehensible characters. Obliged to defend wealthy Jonathon Thomas Heun, she discovers she is attracted to this handsome dynamic man. While she worries that he may have killed a few people, she's eager to take part in his exciting way of making love. While I'm not a fan of erotica, I enjoyed the storyline of this well-written mystery.
]]> The Night She Disappeared 55922299
One year later, a writer moves into a cottage on the edge of the woods that border the same estate. Known locally as the Dark Place, the dense forest is the writer’s favorite area for long walks and it’s on one such walk that she stumbles upon a mysterious note that simply reads, “DIG HERE.�

Could this be a clue towards what has happened to the missing young couple? And what exactly is buried in this haunted ground?]]> 416 Lisa Jewell 1982137363 Marilyn 5 enjoyed-reading-this-book 4.05 2021 The Night She Disappeared
author: Lisa Jewell
name: Marilyn
average rating: 4.05
book published: 2021
rating: 5
read at: 2022/07/13
date added: 2022/07/13
shelves: enjoyed-reading-this-book
review:
I loved this pyschological thriller about a young couple that disappears after a night out on the town. Masterly told from several points of view, Lisa Jewell introduces us to characters who might know what actually happened to Talullah and Zack. Kim, Talullah's mother, is happy to babysit her grandson, knowing that Zack is planning to ask Talullah to marry him. But a good deal is going on in her daughter's life that Kim knows nothing about. A year passes and someone leaves clues about the missing teenagers that Sophie, a cozy mystery author new to the area, picks up and tracks down. Moving back and forth in time, from one character to another, we get a solid picture of what actually happened. A wonderful ending and an added twist in the Epilogue make this a very satisfying read. Highly recommended.
]]> <![CDATA[One Coffee With (Sigrid Harald, #1)]]> 10767055 196 Margaret Maron Marilyn 5 3.95 1981 One Coffee With (Sigrid Harald, #1)
author: Margaret Maron
name: Marilyn
average rating: 3.95
book published: 1981
rating: 5
read at: 2022/07/09
date added: 2022/07/12
shelves:
review:
I enjoyed this clever mystery that takes place in the art department of a university.
]]> Love Marriage 59366233
As the wedding day draws near, misunderstandings, infidelities, and long-held secrets upend both Yasmin’s relationship and that of her parents, a “love marriage,� according to the family lore that Yasmin has believed all her life.

A gloriously acute observer of class, sexual mores, and the mysteries of the human heart, Monica Ali has written a riveting social comedy and a moving, revelatory story of two cultures, two families, and two people trying to understand one another.]]> 432 Monica Ali 1982181478 Marilyn 5 3.78 2022 Love Marriage
author: Monica Ali
name: Marilyn
average rating: 3.78
book published: 2022
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2022/06/29
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Death in a Pale Hue (Art Center Mysteries, #1)]]> 60915259 I will show them success. Thirty-year-old artist Jill Madison repeats this mantra when she returns to her small hometown to restart her life. Hired to manage a new community art center, she vows to make it successful so the people of her town will have what she did not have—an education in the arts. She no sooner accepts the job than a burglar makes off with an irreplaceable sculpture and an uninvited corpse is discovered in the basement. Investigating places Jill right in the path of a murderer.

How will she keep her job, run her first big event, and escape a killer who plans to paint her out of the picture permanently?]]> 280 Susan Van Kirk 1685121276 Marilyn 5 enjoyed-reading-this-book
]]> 4.32 2022 Death in a Pale Hue (Art Center Mysteries, #1)
author: Susan Van Kirk
name: Marilyn
average rating: 4.32
book published: 2022
rating: 5
read at: 2022/06/11
date added: 2022/06/11
shelves: enjoyed-reading-this-book
review:
A stolen sculpture and the discovery of a corpse threaten to prevent Jill Madison from opening her newly created art center. A cast of zany characters make this a rollicking adventure of a spirited new series.


]]> The Woman Next Door 40409231
But one day an unforeseen event forces the women together. And gradually the bickering and sniping softens into lively debate, and from there into memories shared. But could these sparks of connection ever transform into friendship? Or is it too late to expect these two to change?]]> 290 Yewande Omotoso Marilyn 4 enjoyed-reading-this-book ]]> 3.64 2016 The Woman Next Door
author: Yewande Omotoso
name: Marilyn
average rating: 3.64
book published: 2016
rating: 4
read at: 2022/05/30
date added: 2022/06/09
shelves: enjoyed-reading-this-book
review:
Hortensia, a black woman, and Marion, a white woman, are neighbors in a well-to-do section of Cape Town, South Africa. Both are in their early eighties and have had successful professions, though Marion's architectural career was cut short when she started having babies. Hortensia's brusque manner is her way of keeping people at a distance. But circumstances throw them together and they grow closer, sharing home truths and revealing less than happy aspects of their lives. Poignant without being sentimental.

]]> After She's Gone 44639773
Psychological profiler Hanne Lagerlind-Schön and her partner, investigator Peter Lindgren are invited to the small, sleepy industrial town of Ormberg to investigate a cold case: ten years earlier a five-year-old girl's remains were found in a cairn near the town.

But when a recurring memory problem resurfaces, Hanne struggles to keep track of the case. She begins keeping a diary, noting down everything she is likely to forget to keep up appearances so she doesn't lose her job.

When the body of a woman is found at the cairn and one of Hanne's shoes is found nearby covered in the victim's blood, can Hanne's diary hold the key to what happened? How does this new murder connect to their old one?

How can you put together what happened when the pieces keep fading away?]]> 400 Camilla Grebe 1785764705 Marilyn 5 enjoyed-it-of-course 3.76 2017 After She's Gone
author: Camilla Grebe
name: Marilyn
average rating: 3.76
book published: 2017
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2022/06/03
shelves: enjoyed-it-of-course
review:
I love Swedish mysteries and AFTER SHE'S GONE is one of the reasons why. Told from multiple points of view, this well-crafted psychological mystery concerns three murders. Malin Brundin, a new police investigator, is sent to her small hometown to investigate the cold case of a murdered child that two other police officers were looking into. Hanne, a profiler in the early stages of dementia, is found injured and unable to remember what happened to her and her partner and lover, who is missing. Also missing is Hanne's notebook that contain her case notes and reminders of everyday life that now help her get through the day. Jake, a fifteen-year-old boy, has discovered the notebook while wearing a sequined dress. Reading the notebook, he helps unravel the murders that have taken place over the years.
]]> The Overnight Guest 60164470 A woman receives an unexpected visitor during a deadly snowstormĚýin this chilling thriller fromĚýNew York TimesĚýbestselling author Heather Gudenkauf

She thought she was alone�

True crime writer Wylie Lark doesn’t mind being snowed in at the isolated farmhouse where she’s retreated to write her new book. A cozy fire, complete silence. It would be perfect, if not for the fact that decades earlier, at this very house, two people were murdered in cold blood and a girl disappeared without a trace.

As the storm worsens, Wylie finds herself trapped inside the house, haunted by the secrets contained within its walls—haunted by secrets of her own. Then she discovers a small child in the snow just outside. After bringing the child inside for warmth and safety, she begins to search for answers. But soon it becomes clear that the farmhouse isn’t as isolated as she thought, and someone is willing to do anything to find them.]]> 316 Heather Gudenkauf 0778311937 Marilyn 5 enjoyed-it-of-course ]]> 4.01 2022 The Overnight Guest
author: Heather Gudenkauf
name: Marilyn
average rating: 4.01
book published: 2022
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2022/05/07
shelves: enjoyed-it-of-course
review:
Two seemingly unconnected stories develop and converge in this fast-paced thriller. One involves a car accident on a snowy night; the other revolves around two murders and the disappearance of two teenagers several years earlier.

]]> The Paris Apartment 58468990 From the New York Times bestselling author of The Guest List comes a new locked room mystery, set in a Paris apartment building in which every resident has something to hide�

Jess needs a fresh start. She’s broke and alone, and she’s just left her job under less than ideal circumstances. Her half-brother Ben didn’t sound thrilled when she asked if she could crash with him for a bit, but he didn’t say no, and surely everything will look better from Paris. Only when she shows up � to find a very nice apartment, could Ben really have afforded this? � he’s not there.

The longer Ben stays missing, the more Jess starts to dig into her brother’s situation, and the more questions she has. Ben’s neighbors are an eclectic bunch, and not particularly friendly. Jess may have come to Paris to escape her past, but it’s starting to look like it’s Ben’s future that’s in question.

The socialite � The nice guy � The alcoholic � The girl on the verge � The concierge

Everyone’s a neighbor. Everyone’s a suspect. And everyone knows something they’re not telling.]]> 360 Lucy Foley 0063003058 Marilyn 5 enjoyed-it-of-course 3.62 2022 The Paris Apartment
author: Lucy Foley
name: Marilyn
average rating: 3.62
book published: 2022
rating: 5
read at: 2022/05/07
date added: 2022/05/07
shelves: enjoyed-it-of-course
review:
Jess has come to Paris to stay at her brother's apartment, but Ben is nowhere to be found. Where can he be? As she gets to know the people who live in the building and Ben's colleague and uncovers their secrets, she wonders if one of them murdered her brother.
]]> <![CDATA[A Dream of Death (Kate Hamilton Mysteries, #1)]]> 43208609 This atmospheric debut mystery “is a Scottish delight that will keep you on your toes� with its riveting blend of real history, island legend, and unforgettable characters (Carlene O’Connor, USA Today–bestselling author of the Irish Village mysteries). On a remote island in Scotland, an American antiques dealer a brutal killing staged to recreate a centuries-old unsolved murder.Autumn has come and gone on Scotland’s Isle of Glenroth, and the islanders gather for the Tartan Ball, the annual end-of-tourist-season gala. Spirits are high until an unexpected turn of events takes the floor.A recently published novel about island history has brought hordes of tourists to the small Hebridean resort community. On the guest list is American antiques dealer Kate Hamilton. Kate returns reluctantly to the island where her husband died, determined to repair her relationship with his sister, proprietor of the island’s luxe country house hotel, famous for its connection with Bonnie Prince Charlie.Kate has hardly unpacked when the next morning a body is found, murdered in a reenactment of an infamous unsolved murder described in the novel—and the only clue to the killer’s identity lies in a curiously embellished antique casket. The Scottish police discount the historical connection, but when a much-loved local handyman is arrested, Kate teams up with a vacationing detective inspector from Suffolk, England, to unmask a killer determined to rewrite island history—and Kate’s future.]]> 324 Connie Berry 1683319885 Marilyn 0 4.23 2019 A Dream of Death (Kate Hamilton Mysteries, #1)
author: Connie Berry
name: Marilyn
average rating: 4.23
book published: 2019
rating: 0
read at: 2022/04/27
date added: 2022/04/27
shelves:
review:

]]> Two Nights in Lisbon 58772746
You think you know a person . . .

Ariel Pryce wakes up in Lisbon, alone. Her husband is gone―no warning, no note, not answering his phone. Something is wrong.

She starts with hotel security, then the police, then the American embassy, at each confronting questions she can’t fully answer: What exactly is John doing in Lisbon? Why would he drag her along on his business trip? Who would want to harm him? And why does Ariel know so little about her new―much younger―husband?

The clock is ticking. Ariel is increasingly frustrated and desperate, running out of time, and the one person in the world who can help is the one person she least wants to ask.

With sparkling prose and razor-sharp insights, bestselling author Chris Pavone delivers a stunning and sophisticated international thriller that will linger long after the surprising final page.]]> 436 Chris Pavone 0374604762 Marilyn 5 3.62 2022 Two Nights in Lisbon
author: Chris Pavone
name: Marilyn
average rating: 3.62
book published: 2022
rating: 5
read at: 2022/03/19
date added: 2022/03/21
shelves:
review:
I enjoyed this novel of suspense. Ariel accompanies her husband on a business trip to Lisbon. The following morning he's gone and she receives a ransom note from his kidnappers. Before long she's being tailed by the Lisbon Police and CIA officers. A tense, multi-layered plot that ends with a final surprise.
]]> <![CDATA[In Love: A Memoir of Love and Loss]]> 58065372 This powerful memoir by New York Times bestselling author Amy Bloom is an illuminating story of two people whose love leads them to find a courageous way to part--and of a woman's struggle to go forward in the face of loss.

Amy Bloom began to notice changes in her husband, Brian: He retired early from a new job he loved; he withdrew from close friendships; he talked mostly about the past. Suddenly, it seemed there was a glass wall between them, and their long walks and talks stopped. Their world was altered forever when an MRI confirmed what they could no longer ignore: Brian had Alzheimer's disease.

Forced to confront the truth of the diagnosis and its impact on the future he had envisioned, Brian was determined to die on his feet, not live on his knees. Supporting each other in their last journey together, Brian and Amy made the unimaginably difficult and painful decision to go to Dignitas, an organization based in Switzerland that empowers a person to end their own life with dignity and peace.

In this heartbreaking and surprising memoir, Bloom sheds light on a part of life we so often shy away from discussing--its ending. Written in Bloom's captivating, insightful voice and with her trademark wit and candor, In Love is an unforgettable portrait of a beautiful marriage, and a boundary-defying love.]]> 240 Amy Bloom 0593243943 Marilyn 5 enjoyed-reading-this-book 4.22 2022 In Love: A Memoir of Love and Loss
author: Amy Bloom
name: Marilyn
average rating: 4.22
book published: 2022
rating: 5
read at: 2022/01/31
date added: 2022/03/14
shelves: enjoyed-reading-this-book
review:
Amy Bloom's beloved husband Brian Ameche has Alzheimer's and has decided to end his life with dignity before the disease robs him of all cognitive powers. Dignitas, the organization that will undertake this transformation,, is located in Zurich, Switzerland. But first Brian must undergo psychological interviews to verify that this is what he wants and he is capable of making this decision. Bloom shares with us their powerful love story, a later-in-life relationship of two people from very different backgrounds who fall in love and share a wonderful life together until Brian falls ill. Heartwarming without being depressing.
]]> <![CDATA[The Gladstone Bag (Kelling & Bittersohn, #9)]]> 18912312 On an island of misfit artists, it’s Aunt Emma’s turn to play detective

Though a few years past sixty, Sarah Kelling’s Aunt Emma is as vigorous as a girl of twenty-two. She sings, she dances, and when the local fire department needs a fundraising boost, she’s happy to jump out a window for charity. This summer, she decamps to Maine, to beat the heat at an island retreat for artists and great thinkers. There are writers, painters, a psychic, and a historian, and their company promises to be great fun—until a few of them go treasure-crazy.ĚýSensible people have long dismissed rumors of the Pocapuk Island treasure as myth, but artists are seldom sensible. When their rampant digging stirs up buried trouble, it leads to theft, drugging, and a murder. And although Sarah and her husband Max give investigative advice by phone, it’s up to Aunt Emma to save the islanders from themselves.]]> 312 Charlotte MacLeod 1453278613 Marilyn 0 4.32 1990 The Gladstone Bag (Kelling & Bittersohn, #9)
author: Charlotte MacLeod
name: Marilyn
average rating: 4.32
book published: 1990
rating: 0
read at: 2022/01/31
date added: 2022/02/09
shelves:
review:

]]> Count the Ways 55177032 In her most ambitious novel to date, New York Times bestselling author Joyce Maynard takes on the story of a family from the hopeful early days of young marriage to parenthood, divorce, and its costly aftermath—to illuminate how the mistakes of parents are passed down through generations to fester, or to be healed.Ěý

After falling in love in the last years of the 1970s, Eleanor and Cam follow their dream of raising three children on a New Hampshire farm. Theirs is a seemingly idyllic life of summer softball games and Labor Day cookouts, snow days and skating on the pond. But when a tragic accident permanently injures the family’s youngest child, Eleanor blames Cam. Her inability to forgive him leads to a devastating betrayal: an affair with the family babysitter that brings about the end of their marriage.

Over the decades that follow, the five members of this fractured family—and the many others who make up their world—make surprising discoveries and decisions that occasionally bring them together, and often tear them apart. As we follow the family from the days of illegal abortion and the draft through the early computer age, the Challenger explosion, the AIDS epidemic, the early awakenings of the #MeToo era, and beyond, through the gender transition of one of the children and another’s choice to cease communication with her mother, we witness a family forced to confront essential, painful truths of its past and find redemption in the face of unanticipated disaster.

With endearingly flawed characters and a keen eye for detail, Joyce Maynard transforms the territory she knows best—home, family, parenthood, love, and loss—into the stuff of a page-turning thriller. In this achingly beautiful novel, she reminds us how great sorrow and great joy may coexist—and frequently do.

Ěý]]> 464 Joyce Maynard 006239827X Marilyn 5 enjoyed-it-of-course
What's so special about this novel is seeing how the divorce impacts Eleanor, Cam and their children; how it shapes their lives and their relationships with one another. There are estrangements; allegiances are forged and broken as each of them becomes a person true to him or herself. The ending is touching—a poignant final note to a wonderful book.
]]> 4.15 2021 Count the Ways
author: Joyce Maynard
name: Marilyn
average rating: 4.15
book published: 2021
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2022/02/08
shelves: enjoyed-it-of-course
review:
COUNT THE WAYS is a beautifully written novel about a marriage, a divorce and what happens after. Eleanor's self-absorbed parents are killed when she's young. Left on her own at an early age, she falls prey to a friend's older brother. Some years later she marries Cam, a man who, while handsome and loving, makes no attempt to earn a living. At first, Eleanor is deliriously happy. She's content to be the main breadwinner in the family and adores being intensely involved in the lives of their three young children. Then tragedy strikes, the marriage sours and divorce follows.

What's so special about this novel is seeing how the divorce impacts Eleanor, Cam and their children; how it shapes their lives and their relationships with one another. There are estrangements; allegiances are forged and broken as each of them becomes a person true to him or herself. The ending is touching—a poignant final note to a wonderful book.

]]> <![CDATA[A Waffle Lot of Murder (All-Day Breakfast Café Mystery, #4)]]> 50516653 For diner owner Gia Morelli, her seasonal fall menu calls for two main ingredients—maple syrup and murder . . .
Ěý
While the first hints of autumn grace Boggy Creek, Florida, Gia misses the colorful harvest traditions she left behind in New York. On a scramble to make new fall memories—and promote her irresistible pumpkin spice waffles—things take a dark turn when she gets roped into the Haunted Town Festival, a spooky celebration held on deserted farmlands. The desolate area conjures plenty of eerie vibes at night, but Gia and her best friend, Savannah, are nearly frightened to death upon the discovery of the event organizer’s body buried in the nearby woods. More alarming, the local rumor mill says the woman’s shady dealings may have egged someone into sending her to an early grave. Now, there’s no shortage of creepy clues to feast on as Gia and her pals try to stop a killer with a very scary appetite . . .
Ěý
Praise for Lena Gregory
Ěý
“Hold on to your plates for this fast-paced mystery that will leave you hungering for more!�
�J.C. Eaton, author of the Sophie Kimball Mysteries, on Scone Cold Killer
Ěý
“Family secrets, old mansions, and a growing list of murder victims—these elements and more blend together to make an intriguing as well as entertaining cozy mystery.�
�RT Book Reviews on Occult and Battery
Ěý
“As breezy and salty as a gust of wind off the chilly bay waters.�
—Juliet Blackwell, New York Times bestselling author of the Witchcraft Mysteries on Death at First Sight
Ěý
“An intriguing opening to a fun new series.�
—E. J. Copperman, national bestselling author of the Haunted Guesthouse Mysteries on Death at First Sight
]]> 271 Lena Gregory 1516110455 Marilyn 0 4.09 A Waffle Lot of Murder (All-Day Breakfast Café Mystery, #4)
author: Lena Gregory
name: Marilyn
average rating: 4.09
book published:
rating: 0
read at: 2021/06/04
date added: 2022/01/29
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Steamed Open (Maine Clambake Mystery #7)]]> 39700036 Ěý Beachcombers, lighthouse buffs, and clammers are outraged after Frick puts up a gate in front of his newly inherited mansion. When Julia urges him to reconsider, she’s the last to see him alive—except the person who stabs him in the neck with a clam rake. As she pores through a long list of suspects, Julia meets disgruntled employees, rival heirs, and a pair of tourists determined to visit every lighthouse in America. They all have secrets, and Julia will have to work fast to expose the guilty party—or see this season’s clam harvest dry up for good. Ěý Praise for Iced Under Ěý “Ross knows her Maine coast and her snowstorms. Both provide an atmospheric backdrop for a cozy that . . . picks up its pace when its focus returns to the living and the newly dead.â€� —Kirkus Reviews]]> 274 Barbara Ross 149671797X Marilyn 0 4.43 2018 Steamed Open (Maine Clambake Mystery #7)
author: Barbara Ross
name: Marilyn
average rating: 4.43
book published: 2018
rating: 0
read at: 2022/01/29
date added: 2022/01/29
shelves:
review:

]]> The Last Thing He Told Me 58744977 Protect her. Despite her confusion and fear, Hannah Hall knows exactly to whom the note refers—Owen’s sixteen-year-old daughter, Bailey. Bailey, who lost her mother tragically as a child. Bailey, who wants absolutely nothing to do with her new stepmother. As Hannah’s increasingly desperate calls to Owen go unanswered, as the FBI arrests Owen’s boss, as a U.S. Marshal and federal agents arrive at her Sausalito home unannounced, Hannah quickly realizes her husband isn’t who he said he was. And that Bailey just may hold the key to figuring out Owen’s true identity—and why he really disappeared.

Hannah and Bailey set out to discover the truth. But as they start putting together the pieces of Owen’s past, they soon realize they are also building a new future—one neither of them could have anticipated.]]> 306 Laura Dave Marilyn 5 3.75 2021 The Last Thing He Told Me
author: Laura Dave
name: Marilyn
average rating: 3.75
book published: 2021
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2022/01/03
shelves:
review:

]]> A Slow Fire Burning 56213354
Look what you started.]]> 307 Paula Hawkins 073521123X Marilyn 5 3.45 2021 A Slow Fire Burning
author: Paula Hawkins
name: Marilyn
average rating: 3.45
book published: 2021
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2022/01/03
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Plot (The Book Series, #1)]]> 55315487 Jean Hanff Korelitz’s The Plot is a psychologically suspenseful novel about a story too good not to steal, and the writer who steals it.

Jacob Finch Bonner was once a promising young novelist with a respectably published first book. Today, he’s teaching in a third-rate MFA program and struggling to maintain what’s left of his self-respect; he hasn’t written—let alone published—anything decent in years. When Evan Parker, his most arrogant student, announces he doesn’t need Jake’s help because the plot of his book in progress is a sure thing, Jake is prepared to dismiss the boast as typical amateur narcissism. But then . . . he hears the plot.

Jake returns to the downward trajectory of his own career and braces himself for the supernova publication of Evan Parker’s first novel: but it never comes. When he discovers that his former student has died, presumably without ever completing his book, Jake does what any self-respecting writer would do with a story like that—a story that absolutely needs to be told.

In a few short years, all of Evan Parker’s predictions have come true, but Jake is the author enjoying the wave. He is wealthy, famous, praised and read all over the world. But at the height of his glorious new life, an e-mail arrives, the first salvo in a terrifying, anonymous campaign: You are a thief, it says.

As Jake struggles to understand his antagonist and hide the truth from his readers and his publishers, he begins to learn more about his late student, and what he discovers both amazes and terrifies him. Who was Evan Parker, and how did he get the idea for his “sure thing� of a novel? What is the real story behind the plot, and who stole it from whom?]]> 320 Jean Hanff Korelitz 125079076X Marilyn 4 3.75 2021 The Plot (The Book Series, #1)
author: Jean Hanff Korelitz
name: Marilyn
average rating: 3.75
book published: 2021
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2022/01/03
shelves:
review:

]]> The Good Sister 53137974 An alternate cover edition of ASIN B08BYCWK6T can be found here.

Sally Hepworth, the author of The Mother-In-Law delivers a knock-out of a novel about the lies that bind two sisters in The Good Sister.

There's only been one time that Rose couldn't stop me from doing the wrong thing and that was a mistake that will haunt me for the rest of my life.

Fern Castle works in her local library. She has dinner with her twin sister Rose three nights a week. And she avoids crowds, bright lights and loud noises as much as possible. Fern has a carefully structured life and disrupting her routine can be...dangerous.

When Rose discovers that she cannot get pregnant, Fern sees her chance to pay her sister back for everything Rose has done for her. Fern can have a baby for Rose. She just needs to find a father. Simple.

Fern's mission will shake the foundations of the life she has carefully built for herself and stir up dark secrets from the past, in this quirky, rich and shocking story of what families keep hidden.]]> 309 Sally Hepworth 1250120950 Marilyn 5 4.11 2020 The Good Sister
author: Sally Hepworth
name: Marilyn
average rating: 4.11
book published: 2020
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2022/01/03
shelves:
review:

]]> The Maidens 45300567
Mariana Andros is a brilliant but troubled group therapist who becomes fixated on The Maidens when one member, a friend of Mariana’s niece Zoe, is found murdered in Cambridge.

Mariana, who was once herself a student at the university, quickly suspects that behind the idyllic beauty of the spires and turrets, and beneath the ancient traditions, lies something sinister. And she becomes convinced that, despite his alibi, Edward Fosca is guilty of the murder. But why would the professor target one of his students? And why does he keep returning to the rites of Persephone, the maiden, and her journey to the underworld?

When another body is found, Mariana’s obsession with proving Fosca’s guilt spirals out of control, threatening to destroy her credibility as well as her closest relationships. But Mariana is determined to stop this killer, even if it costs her everything—including her own life.]]> 337 Alex Michaelides 1250304458 Marilyn 3 3.61 2021 The Maidens
author: Alex Michaelides
name: Marilyn
average rating: 3.61
book published: 2021
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 2022/01/03
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[A Fatal Overture (An Ella Shane Mystery)]]> 58935168 Ěý
New York City, 1900. Renowned opera singer and theatre company owner Ella may have both much to gain and much to lose by getting engaged to her courtly long-distance love, Gil Saint Auburn. But there’s little time for romance or resolutions with Gil’s aristocratic mother and aunts visiting Greenwich Village—especially when the ladies discover a dead man in the bathtub of their hotel suite.
Ěý
The victim’s disturbing background and subsequent demise at the elegant Waverly Place Hotel leave the group puzzled beyond the obvious certainty of an unnatural death. Adding to the confusion and mounting fear, danger explodes through Ella’s close-knit circle after a friend makes a stunning confession and Gil becomes a fresh target for violence.
Ěý
Now, with a London tour run fast approaching, prenuptial worries weighing heavily on her heart, and an intricate Joan of Arc aria to rehearse, can Ella decide what she’s willing to sacrifice before confronting a relentless criminal bent on watching her entire life go up in smoke?
Ěý]]> Kathleen Marple Kalb Marilyn 5 enjoyed-it-of-course ]]> 4.06 A Fatal Overture (An Ella Shane Mystery)
author: Kathleen Marple Kalb
name: Marilyn
average rating: 4.06
book published:
rating: 5
read at: 2021/12/24
date added: 2021/12/26
shelves: enjoyed-it-of-course
review:
Diva Ella Shane is thrown into another murder mystery when her beau's mother and two aunts cross the ocean to make her acquaintance. The owner of the hotel where they are staying is found murdered in their suite and Ella's friend, a journalist posing as a maid, claims that she murdered the man when he was making unwanted advances. Ella knows that her friend is lying to protect some poor innocent victim and does her best to convince her friend to tell the truth. Meanwhile, Ella and Gil, her British duke, have become secretly engaged and are working out a legal document regarding their future. Determined to keep her freedom as a well-known opera singer, Ella insists on having the right to one more annual engagement in the U. S. than Gil will agree to. Will this impasse stand in the way of their future as a married couple? A delightful addition to this series abounding with charming characters that offers a bird's eye view of the New York Gilded Age.

]]> Chanukah Guilt 40696499
Schneider succeeds in blending the complex life of a congregational spiritual leader with that of first-rate detective, family member, confidant, friend, human being and even yenta (nosy body). � San Diego Jewish World
]]> 280 Ilene Schneider Marilyn 5 enjoyed-reading-this-book 4.26 2007 Chanukah Guilt
author: Ilene Schneider
name: Marilyn
average rating: 4.26
book published: 2007
rating: 5
read at: 2021/12/11
date added: 2021/12/19
shelves: enjoyed-reading-this-book
review:
I thoroughly enjoyed reading CHANUKAH GUILT. Rabbi Aviva Cohen officiates at the funeral of a wealthy unpopular man with two ex-wives and a mistress who believes he was murdered. Then one of his daughters tells Aviva that her father died because of her. Aviva doesn't think this is so, but when she also dies, supposedly by commiting suicide, Aviva is riddled with guilt. Sge starts snooping around, intent on finding find out if both father and daughter were murdered. A feisty sleuth with a great sense of humor.
]]> What Child Is This 42129078 Christmas during World War II is a time for small miracles in this bittersweet short story by the New York Times bestselling author of The Tuscan Child and In Farleigh Field.

Jack and Maggie Harris are adrift on ravaged streets during the London Blitz. Their home is gone. They have nowhere to go and nothing left to lose. With only the memories of their greatest loss—the death of their child during a Christmas years before—Jack and Maggie settle in a seemingly deserted mansion for the night.

Inside they find shelter, warmth, and a bit of cheer. They also discover a surprise. Now, in the darkest of times, the unexpected compassion of strangers will make this Christmas one to remember forever.

]]> 55 Rhys Bowen 1542003776 Marilyn 5 4.00 2018 What Child Is This
author: Rhys Bowen
name: Marilyn
average rating: 4.00
book published: 2018
rating: 5
read at: 2021/12/12
date added: 2021/12/12
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Accidental Alchemist (An Accidental Alchemist Mystery, #1)]]> 55957391
When Zoe Faust--herbalist, alchemist, and recent transplant to Portland, Oregon--begins unpacking her bags, she can't help but notice she's picked up a stow a living, breathing, three-and-half-foot gargoyle. Dorian Robert-Houdin is no simple automaton, nor is he a homunculus; in fact, he needs Zoe's help to decipher a centuries-old text that explains exactly what he is. Zoe, who's trying to put her alchemical life behind her, isn't so sure she can help. But after a murder victim is discovered on her front porch, Zoe realized she's tangled up in ancient intrigue that can't be ignored.

Includes recipes!]]> 335 Gigi Pandian 1938213130 Marilyn 5 4.25 2015 The Accidental Alchemist (An Accidental Alchemist Mystery, #1)
author: Gigi Pandian
name: Marilyn
average rating: 4.25
book published: 2015
rating: 5
read at: 2021/11/19
date added: 2021/11/19
shelves:
review:
A delightful read! I look forward to reading more books in this series.
]]> <![CDATA[Under Lock & Skeleton Key (Secret Staircase Mystery, #1)]]> 57693382 Under Lock & Skeleton Key layers architecture with mouthwatering food in an ode to classic locked-room mysteries.

An impossible crime. A family legacy. The intrigue of hidden rooms and secret staircases.

After a disastrous accident derails Tempest Raj’s career, and life, she heads back to her childhood home in California to comfort herself with her grandfather’s Indian home-cooked meals. Though she resists, every day brings her closer to the inevitable: working for her father’s company. Secret Staircase Construction specializes in bringing the magic of childhood to all by transforming clients� homes with sliding bookcases, intricate locks, backyard treehouses, and hidden reading nooks.

When Tempest visits her dad’s latest renovation project, her former stage double is discovered dead inside a wall that’s supposedly been sealed for more than a century. Fearing she was the intended victim, it’s up to Tempest to solve this seemingly impossible crime. But as she delves further into the mystery, Tempest can’t help but wonder if the Raj family curse that’s plagued her family for generations—something she used to swear didn’t exist—has finally come for her.]]> 343 Gigi Pandian 1250804981 Marilyn 0 to-read 3.50 2022 Under Lock & Skeleton Key (Secret Staircase Mystery, #1)
author: Gigi Pandian
name: Marilyn
average rating: 3.50
book published: 2022
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2021/11/16
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Apples Never Fall 56143578 #1 New York Times Bestseller
A Peacock Original TV Series–Streaming Soon

From #1 New York Times bestselling author Liane Moriarty comes a novel that looks at marriage, siblings, and how the people we love the most can hurt us the deepest

The Delaney family love one another dearly—it’s just that sometimes they want to murder each other . . .

If your mother was missing, would you tell the police? Even if the most obvious suspect was your father?

This is the dilemma facing the four grown Delaney siblings.

The Delaneys are fixtures in their community. The parents, Stan and Joy, are the envy of all of their friends. They’re killers on the tennis court, and off it their chemistry is palpable. But after fifty years of marriage, they’ve finally sold their famed tennis academy and are ready to start what should be the golden years of their lives. So why are Stan and Joy so miserable?

The four Delaney children—Amy, Logan, Troy, and Brooke—were tennis stars in their own right, yet as their father will tell you, none of them had what it took to go all the way. But that’s okay, now that they’re all successful grown-ups and there is the wonderful possibility of grandchildren on the horizon.

One night a stranger named Savannah knocks on Stan and Joy’s door, bleeding after a fight with her boyfriend. The Delaneys are more than happy to give her the small kindness she sorely needs. If only that was all she wanted.

Later, when Joy goes missing, and Savannah is nowhere to be found, the police question the one person who remains: Stan. But for someone who claims to be innocent, he, like many spouses, seems to have a lot to hide. Two of the Delaney children think their father is innocent, two are not so sure—but as the two sides square off against each other in perhaps their biggest match ever, all of the Delaneys will start to reexamine their shared family history in a very new light.]]> 467 Liane Moriarty 1250220254 Marilyn 4 enjoyed-reading-this-book 3.69 2021 Apples Never Fall
author: Liane Moriarty
name: Marilyn
average rating: 3.69
book published: 2021
rating: 4
read at: 2021/11/03
date added: 2021/11/05
shelves: enjoyed-reading-this-book
review:
I enjoyed listening to this book as I love all of Liane Moriarty's books. However, I felt this one could have been trimmed. A woman close to seventy disappears and everyone wonders what happened to her. Was she murdered? Did her husband kill her? We meet the Delaneys and their four children along with other important characters in their lives. The denouement in a fun surprise, but I didn't much care for the very last part of the book.
]]>