Tag: Mystery

Kate’s Review: “Murder and Mamon”

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Book: “Murder and Mamon” (Tita Rosie’s Kitchen Mysteries #4) by Mia P. Manansala

Publishing Info: Berkley, September 2023

Where Did I Get This Book: I received an eARC from NetGalley.

Where You Can Get This Book: WorldCat.org | Amazon | Indiebound

Book Description: When murder mars the grand opening for Lila Macapagal’s aunties’ new laundromat, she will have to air out all the dirty laundry in Shady Palms to catch a killer…

Lila Macapagal’s godmothers April, Mae, and June—AKA the Calendar Crew—are celebrating the opening of their latest joint business venture, a new laundromat, to much fanfare (and controversy). However, what should’ve been a joyous occasion quickly turns into a tragedy when they discover the building has been vandalized—and the body of Ninang April’s niece, recently arrived from the Philippines, next to a chilling message painted on the floor. The question is, was the message aimed at the victim or Lila’s gossipy godmothers, who have not-so-squeaky-clean reputations?

With Ninang April falling apart from grief and little progress from the Shady Palms Police Department in this slippery case, it’s up to Lila and her network to find justice for the young woman.

The Calendar Crew have stuck their noses into everybody’s business for years, but now the tables are turned as Lila must pry into the Calendar Crew’s lives to figure out who has a vendetta against the (extremely opinionated yet loving) aunties and stop them before they strike again.

Review: Thank you to NetGalley for sending me an eARC of this novel!

We are so close to Autumn, or at least to that point in Autumn when you feel a chill in the air and smell leaves and woodsmoke. For horror fans like me that means I immediately think of scary stories, but I also kind of associate Autumn and Fall aesthetic with cozier literature. So it’s appropriate that one of the cozy mystery series I follow has a new book out, and it’s the one with recipes I can experiment with as the weather starts to cool down! That’s right, the next book in Mia P. Manansala’s “Tita Rosie’s Kitchen Mysteries” series, “Murder and Mamon”, has arrived! And I was super glad to have it on my Kindle for the first chillier days of Fall.

We are still following the pretty familiar formula of the other “Tita Rosie’s Kitchen Mysteries” books, but when it comes to a cozy mystery series that’s usually what’s to be expected. Lila is still in Shady Palms, running her coffee shop with her friends, and dealing with the kooky ins and outs of her family and extended family, all while a murder takes place and she finds herself in need of solving it. It’s still pretty enjoyable and engaging, as Lila is a fun protagonist and amateur sleuth who has fallen into the role pretty comfortably over the past few books. I like that she has found her footing, and that we are no longer dealing with love triangles for her or other pot stirring just to have some personal drama along with the crime she is after, and I like seeing her interact with our cast of characters whether they are good friends, frenemies, or people we have seen before in other cases but have fallen to the wayside in favor of newer plots. It really makes you feel like you are getting to know the small town and the people who live there.

That said, I do think that the mysteries are starting to get a little bit repetitive. This time the central mystery involves a close family member of Lila’s, as it’s now her godmothers, The Calendar Crew as they are known, that are connected to the crime, as their laundromat is the crime scene and Ninang April’s niece is the victim. It definitely makes sense for Lila to have investments in the cases when it’s people close to her that are involved, but we are running low on family members who are at stake, and I’m hoping Manansala starts to branch out a bit as the series goes on. It also probably didn’t help me that I don’t particularly care for the Calendar Crew in general, as it feels to me like their catty and gossipy behavior is always written off as more endearing than toxic. So that may be more reflective of my own preferences. But I will say that there has been a perfect set up to get Lila to perhaps have an in to becoming more of a sleuth when her immediate family isn’t involved, so I have hope that there will be a bit of that in future books.

And once again: we have recipes!! I know that it’s expected now that cozy mysteries centering around food have recipes, but I am always going to highlight this part of these books because WOW do they still sound amazing. Hell, all of the food parts of this book sound amazing, and Manansala really knows how to describe food and beverage in ways that make me very, very hungry.

“Murder and Mamon” continues the adventures of Lila Macapagal and the eccentric town of Shady Palms. The territory feels a bit well worn now in some regards, but I still enjoyed this new entry in this cozy mystery series.

Rating 6: This series remains charming and entertaining, with another engaging mystery with kooky and fun characters. I’m hoping the next outing branches out from the formula a bit next time, however.

Reader’s Advisory:

“Murder and Mamon” is included on the Goodreads list “Cozy Mysteries 2023 New Releases”.

Previously Reviewed:

Serena’s Review: “Murder at Midnight”

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Book: “Murder at Midnight” by Katharine Schellman

Publishing Info: Crooked Lane Books, September 2023

Where Did I Get this Book: ARC from the publisher!

Where Can You Get this Book: WorldCat.org | Amazon | IndieBound

Previously Reviewed: “The Body in the Garden” and “Silence in the Library” and “Death at the Manor”

Book Description: Perfect for fans of Deanna Raybourn and Ashley Weaver, when a body is found shot to death after an unexpected snowstorm, Lily Adler quickly realizes that some people will stop at nothing to bury their secrets this holiday season.

Regency widow Lily Adler is looking forward to returning to Hertfordshire to spend time with the family of her late husband. She is also excited that Captain Jack Hartley, her friend and confidante, will be visiting his own family after a long voyage at sea. With winter quickly approaching, Lily is most excited at the prospect of a relaxing and enjoyable Christmastide season away from the schemes and secrets she witnessed daily in London.

At a neighborhood ball, she soon becomes reacquainted with a friend of her late husband, Peter Coleridge, a wealthy man who not only manages Irish investments, but also a fund that most of the locals of Hertfordshire take part in. There, she also learns Jack’s sister, Amelia, is the subject of much of the neighborhood gossip—although Amelia refuses to explain if there is any truth to it. For a brief moment, Lily wonders if she ever really left London.

When a snowstorm forces several guests, including both the Adlers and the Hartleys, to stay the night, Lily quickly deduces that all is not well this holiday season. In the morning, a maid discovers the body of a guest in the poultry yard, shot to death—and he is the same man that is scandalously linked to Amelia.

Lily accepts the offer to assist in the investigation, but will she find more than what she bargained for the more she digs? Or will she herself be buried deep within the snow?

Review: Time for another historical mystery review! At this point, I’m really only up-to-date with this series and Sherry Thomas’s “Charlotte Holmes” series. There’s just not enough time in the day to get to all of the books I want, and, unfortunately when push comes to shove, I’ll often prioritize SFF over historical fiction and mysteries. But I do seem to be able to manage to keep up with these two series. I was particularly interested in this latest Lily Adler book due to the fact that while I had enjoyed all of the books up to that point, I had real problems with the latest one. So in my mind, the quality of this latest book would be really telling for my continued enjoyment of the series! And I’m happy to report that while we may not have recaptured the highs of the first book or two, this one is a solid entry in the series and enough of a return to form to ensure my continued reading of these books.

There was a lot to like in this new Lily Adler book. For one thing, I really love this style of mystery, where a large group of suspects (and victims!) are trapped in a location together and must solve a murder. The format allows for a large cast of characters, tons of red herrings that are believable, and much emphasis placed on interpersonal relationships, something that I always focus on in my reading. I also enjoyed the exploration of the group dynamic, which we see done expertly here. As Lily and her companions go longer and longer trapped together in this house, we see the breakdown of conventions and norms, the reduction of individuals to their more basic instincts, and the tendency for people to circle the wagons and “other” anyone who doesn’t fit within strict definitions of right and wrong. For her part, Lily Adler sweeps through these tensions with grace and a practical eye for how these dynamics can relate to guilt and innocence, misplaced fear or rightfully felt concern to hide one’s involvement in a crime. I also really enjoyed the fact that while I was able to piece together some clues to the mystery, there were many other twists and turns that I didn’t spot coming!

I also really enjoyed the continued interpersonal and romantic dynamics. In the previous book, a new love interest was introduced, and while I didn’t have any issues with this character on his own, I was already firmly in the corner of Lily and Jack. So of course I was beyond pleased when Jack himself returned in this book and played a fairly central role. But I also was surprised by how much I enjoyed the continued exploration of Lily’s relationship with this other suitor. The relationship took a few surprising turns, and I was impressed by the way the author used this relationship to highlight the true choices that women faced in this time, even when partnered to a good man by every definition.

I also really enjoyed meeting some new characters, notably Jack’s younger sister Amelia who plays a central role in this story. We also get some POV chapters from her, which I very much enjoyed. Fans of the series are sure to enjoy this one!

Rating 8: All in all, this was an excellent entry in the series. I was glad to see the return of fan favorite characters, and was pleased to see an improvement in the mystery itself.

Reader’s Advisory:

“Murder at Midnight” can be found on this Goodreads list: Historical Mystery 2023

Kate’s Review: “Missed Cue”

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Book: “Missed Cue” by Lynn Slaughter

Publishing Info: Melange Books, August 2023

Where Did I Get This Book: I received an ARC from the publisher.

Where You Can Get This Book: Amazon

Book Description: When ballerina Lydia Miseau dies onstage in the final dress rehearsal of Romeo and Juliet, homicide detective Caitlin O’Connor is faced with the most complicated case of her career. She strongly suspects that someone murdered the ballerina, and her investigation uncovers several people close to the star who had reasons to kill her. But the autopsy reveals no apparent cause of death. If Lydia Miseau was murdered, who did it, and how?

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.

Review: Thank you to Melange Press for sending me an ARC of this novel!

This is going to sound really sick, but if I am being honest and vulnerable, I am almost always going to be totally interested in a mystery or thriller or what have you if it involves a dead ballerina. As someone who has always been clumsy and on the, shall we say, more ample side, ballet was NEVER going to be in the cards for me. But I have always been SO interested in ballet as a medium and as a culture that could be rife with drama due to competitive and cutthroat undertones. So when I was offered “Missed Cue” by Lynn Slaughter, I was pretty intrigued. I had read another book by Slaughter (“Deadly Setup”) and had enjoyed it for the most part, so I was more than happy to give her another go, especially since this time it involved a dead ballerina and a complicated female detective.

As a concept I thought that “Missed Cue” was compelling. We all know that I do have a soft spot for crime procedurals, and I did enjoy the character of Detective Caitlin O’Connor with her skills as a competent detective as well as a bit of a mess in her personal life. It may be a bit of an old reliable character trope in many a detective procedural of someone who is great at their job but a bit bad at recognizing their own emotional pitfalls, but it works for the character and I’m not sick of it yet! Caitlin is not only having to deal with a strange and complicated new case, she is also dealing with some fallout from an affair she had with a married colleague, and ALSO dealing with her partner dealing with his own messed up personal life that is leaking into their partnership, and it makes for some interesting beats that can tie into the mystery at hand. I do think that it felt like at times that were were jumping into a characterization that was already halfway through its journey, as at times I was thinking ‘are there previous books that set up these dynamics and plot points and relationships?’ when, in fact, there are not. And this made it feel like some of the things presented weren’t as realized as they could have been.

I thought the mystery was pretty well developed, with some good suspects with understandable motives, and some fairly well done misdirections to boot. While it was mostly from a third person POV involving Caitlin, there were occasional insights into other characters where we would get their perspectives in certain moments that served to either give more clues that Caitlin wouldn’t have, or to muddy the waters a bit. I think that, like with the characterizations mentioned above, there could have been some expansion on the mystery and the details of everything, as as it was it was very straightforward and linear in how it all unfolded. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but it does leave me wanting more.

The most interesting and effective part of the story for was actually the moments that we got to see Caitlin in therapy. It is so rare, at least in my experience, in procedurals to see characters, protagonists or not, getting mental health help, even if they desperately need it. And seeing Caitlin in her sessions as she works through some of her issues, whether it’s bad choices she’s made or anxieties about her partner and her love life, was a refreshing addition to the story. It added another dynamic to the story, and it felt pretty original and interesting.

So overall, “Missed Cue” is pretty solid. A thriller with some curveballs and some unexpected upending of tropes thanks to the hard boiled detective actually trying to better herself. It’s nice seeing that kind of thing in a genre where damaged characters are the norm.

Rating 7: A solid thriller with a compelling plot, but I would have loved for the mystery to have more drawn out complexities.

Reader’s Advisory:

“Missed Cue” isn’t on any Goodreads lists as of now, but it would fit in on “Women Who Solve Crimes”.

Kate’s Review: “What Never Happened”


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Book: “What Never Happened” by Rachel Howzell Hall

Publishing Info: Thomas & Mercer, August 2023

Where Did I Get This Book: I received an ARC from the publisher via Spark Point Studio.

Where You Can Get This Book: WorldCat.org | Amazon | Indiebound

Book Description: Colette “Coco” Weber has relocated to her Catalina Island home, where, twenty years before, she was the sole survivor of a deadly home invasion. All Coco wants is to see her aunt Gwen, get as far away from her ex as possible, and get back to her craft—writing obituaries. Thankfully, her college best friend, Maddy, owns the local paper and has a job sure to keep Coco busy, considering the number of elderly folks who are dying on the island.

But as Coco learns more about these deaths, she quickly realizes that the circumstances surrounding them are remarkably similar…and not natural. Then Coco receives a sinister threat in the mail: her own obituary.

As Coco begins to draw connections between a serial killer’s crimes and her own family tragedy, she fears that the secrets on Catalina Island might be too deep to survive. Because whoever is watching her is hell-bent on finally putting her past to rest.

Review: Thank you to Thomas & Mercer and Spark Point Studio for sending me an ARC of this novel!

We are once again in a situation where a new to me author’s new book showed up in my inbox, this time in the form of “What Never Happened” by Rachel Howzell Hall. I am pretty sure that I hadn’t heard of Hall until I read about this book, and the description was enough to catch my eye and reel me in. I mean, the very idea of an obituary writer having to deal with a sinister mystery in her day to day life is just eye grabbing, right? I didn’t really know what to expect, but dove on in, and for the most part was pretty happy with what I found!

As a thriller it has a lot of good to great elements. I liked the character of Coco for the most part, with her return to Catalina Island in the midst of a divorce a good plot device that lends room to explore the many things that have made her a complex and damaged person. I found her to be pretty believable in her caginess, and I found the small town hiding darkness under a veneer of community to be well done. There are a few different mysteries at hand, whether it’s who is sending Coco threatening messages in the mail, to what is happening to a number of elderly women on the island whose deaths are ruled accidents or natural (when they are very potentially NOT), to who killed Coco’s family when she was younger and living on Catalina in the house she has returned to. It’s a lot of balls to juggle, but I did feel like Hall juggles them pretty well and manages to make decent connections as the story goes on. There is also the very real aspect of Coco being one of the few Black people in the community, and the way that her race others her, and in other ways puts a target on her back. Whether it’s microaggressions, general ignorance, or outright hostility, it adds another dimension to the thriller elements at hand.

But here is what worked best for me in this book: Hall uses the COVID 19 pandemic, specifically the early days of complete disarray, confusion, fear, and lockdowns, to create a very unique locked room mystery as Coco is not only on an isolated island that is hiding sinister secrets, but is now potentially going to be cut off because of spreading illness. Now that we are in a less acute phase of this pandemic I’m more able to tackle books and media that uses it as a theme, and what I liked about this is that while it certainly isn’t centered (like in the fun thriller “56 Days”), it makes for a plausible and familiar tension that makes Coco all the more isolated and closed off in a potentially dangerous place, whether it’s because of her history, her investigation, or her race. It also really captured those first weeks of the pandemic, and how disbelief feels like it completely shifted seemingly overnight into ‘oh shit this is really happening’. It’s never heavy handed and doesn’t feel overdone, but it’s present enough that it really gave me the willies because man. THAT was a trip.

I do think, however, that the pacing was a little off. Mostly because I found it sometimes felt a bit draggy in the middle. I’m not sure if it was that there were a lot of working parts that had to be addressed or that some of the investigations and inner thoughts of Coco were a little circular, but I do think that the middle could have been tightened up just a bit. Once we got towards the climax it really picked up, though, and a fair number of the reveals made it feel like it was worth the wait.

“What Never Happened” is a solid thriller with some creative locked room elements and always (sadly) relevant notes about racism, small town facades, and who gets to be seen as a victim by greater society.

Rating 7: An enticing thriller that tackles trauma, small town secrets, and the ever present spectre of racism in America, “What Never Happened” is a claustrophobic read.

Reader’s Advisory:

“What Never Happened” is included on the Goodreads list “Mystery/Thriller/Detective Books Featuring and Written by Black Women: Part 6”.

Kate’s Review: “Harvest House”

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Book: “Harvest House” by Cynthia Leitich Smith

Publishing Info: Candlewick Press, April 2023

Where Did I Get This Book: The library!

Where You Can Get This Book: WorldCat.org | Amazon | Indiebound

Book Description: Deftly leading readers to the literary crossroads of contemporary realism and haunting mystery, Cynthia Leitich Smith revisits the world of her American Indian Youth Literature Award winner Hearts Unbroken. Halloween is near, and Hughie Wolfe is volunteering at a new rural attraction: Harvest House. He’s excited to take part in the fun, spooky show—until he learns that an actor playing the vengeful spirit of an “Indian maiden,” a ghost inspired by local legend, will headline. Folklore aside, unusual things have been happening at night at the crossroads near Harvest House. A creepy man is stalking teenage girls and young women, particularly Indigenous women; dogs are fretful and on edge; and wild animals are behaving strangely. While Hughie weighs how and when to speak up about the bigoted legend, he and his friends begin to investigate the crossroads and whether it might be haunted after all. As Moon rises on All Hallow’s Eve, will they be able to protect themselves and their community? Gripping and evocative, Harvest House showcases a versatile storyteller at her spooky, unsettling best.

Review: One of the most confounding book moments of 2023 thus far was I was having a hell of a time remembering a certain book that ran across my timeline. I am the kind of person who, when I see a book in passing that sounds interesting but doesn’t REALLY process in my brain so well, tells myself that SURELY I don’t need to make note of said book, because surely I will remember it. That’s what happened with “Harvest House” by Cynthia Leitich Smith. I saw it on Goodreads, thought ‘oh that sounds neat’, and then kept scrolling… and couldn’t remember it for a good long while. But eventually I did find it and tossed it on my request list, post haste! A Halloween haunted house attraction mixed with an actual ghost story with themes of Indigenous issues in the United States sounded really promising. The latter part of that description worked well, but the former? Not as much as I had hoped.

Like most of the time I will start with the things that did work. I really appreciated how Smith brings up themes of racism and appropriation towards and from Indigenous groups in American society, especially within a Halloween context. Lord knows every year the message ‘my culture is not a costume’ is ever relevant as you see people STILL dressing up in offensive Indigenous stereotypes and using imagery that is important to the culture said people are not a part of. I liked that our protagonist Hughie was grappling with this while volunteering at a town haunted house attraction, that wants to use a local legend of the ghost of an Indigenous girl as one part of the experience, as well as an ‘Indian burial ground’. Hughie is deeply uncomfortable with this, and his boss, Ms. Fischer, just doesn’t understand why these depictions are offensive and insensitive, and this part of the book is a great way to work through why these things are as such. I also kind of liked that Ms. Fischer, while completely clueless, wasn’t a moustache twirling villain, as it approaches the topic in a way that shows that sometimes this kind of racism comes from ignorance as opposed to malevolence, but still needs to be called out. The more contemporary YA elements of this book really clicked with me.

But here is the flip side of all that. I definitely picked this book up in part because I like books that have relevant things to say when it comes to social issues, but I ALSO picked it up because it sounded like it was going to be, ultimately, a ghost story with some horror-centric moments that weave in and out with the messages at hand. But unfortunately, I didn’t feel like the horror elements of “Harvest House” were prevalent enough. We do get some good first person perspective moments from Celeste, the ghost of an Indigenous young adult who is haunting The Crossroads, but it took until probably the last fifth of the book for there to be actual solid interactions between the ghost moments and Hughie. We do get a second hand account of another character encountering something strange at the Crossroads (with description of an online video), but it doesn’t last long, and then there are no more ghostly interactions until much later. It just didn’t feel like there was enough horror throughout the novel. I would say that perhaps removing the ghostly stuff and just stuck with the mystery about what happened at the Crossroads as the sole focus, but even that was abruptly wrapped up in one scene which felt more like an afterthought than anything else. I really just wanted more.

So while I really liked the social justice themes that were in this book, “Harvest House” felt less like a horror novel and more like a contemporary story with some supernatural stuff tacked on. A bit of a disappointment on the horror front, but still a read with some important points to make.

Rating 6: I liked the themes and I liked the messages about racism, appropriation, and misogyny, but for being a horror story it didn’t have the amount of horror that I would have liked.

Reader’s Advisory:

“Harvest House” is included on the Goodreads list “BIPOC Boy MC in YA Fantasy/SciFi/Mystery”.

Kate’s Review: “Dark Spaces: Good Deeds #1”


This post may contain affiliate links for books we recommend.  Read the full disclosure here.

Book: “Dark Spaces: Good Deeds #1” by Che Grayson & Kelsey Ramsay (Ill.)

Publishing Info: IDW, May 2023

Where Did I Get This Book: I received an eARC from the publisher.

Where You Can Get This Book: Comixology

Book Description: Scott Snyder’s Dark Spaces anthology line returns with an all-new story and creative team! In search of a fresh start, teenager Cheyenne Collins and her mother, Rebecca, move to St. Augustine, Florida, where they cross paths with Jean McKnight, a disgraced big-city journalist determined to pay her dues and rebuild her career, starting with a fluff piece on the town’s upcoming 450th anniversary celebration.

When the quaint community’s festivities give way to bloodshed and Cheyenne is the sole witness, Jean begins an investigation and the women find themselves at the heart of a supernatural conspiracy linked to St. Augustine’s colonial past. Together, they vow to expose the town’s historical sins, but the deeper Jean digs, the less clear it Who is Cheyenne Collins, and when does a quest for truth become a thirst for vengeance? Rising talents Che Grayson ( Urban Legends) and Kelsey Ramsay (Joan Jett and the Black Hearts, I Love Rock-n-Roll) team up for an eerie historical thriller about obsession, power, and redemption in Dark Spaces: Good Deeds!

Review: Thank you to IDW for sending me an eARC of this comic!

It is VERY rare that I review a comic in its single issue release format, as I much prefer to have the full story context in place in volume form. Volumes usually contain an arc within a story, or if its a limited series it can be contained in a full on graphic novel in one sitting. But when IDW sent me an email and some promotional pages for “Dark Spaces: Good Deeds #1” by Che Grayson, I was intrigued enough that I decided to take a chance on a single issue review series. Weird small town secrets, an eager to prove herself reporter, and something odd going on, all while simmering in a dark colonial past that leaks into the present? Oh yeah, this has the potential to be great, and “Good Deeds #1” is a great start!

We have a solid set up for our first issue, which is laying the groundwork for what is to come. The first storyline is that of Rebecca and her teenage daughter Cheyenne, who have recently moved to St. Augustine, Florida. They have bought an old abandoned diner, sold to them by a local named Mr. Foster, and they want to start over after having moved around a lot. The other thread is that of Jean, a journalist who, due to an unnamed mistake, has led her to lose credibility in the journalism community. So when she is offered a job to write a puff piece about the anniversary of the founding of St. Augustine, she takes the offer, and expects to have an easy, if not super satisfying, story to help rebuild her career. We have this well done juxtaposition of Jean meeting with the town leaders, who are bragging about how wonderful their community is, with new girl Cheyenne being bullied as an outsider by her very insular new class mates. Grayson, as I said, is laying a lot of groundwork here, and they do a very good job of showing the spun facade of the town the leaders want to present to Jean, all while weird and disturbing things are happening to Cheyenne at the hands of the townspeople. We don’t know what the issues with the townsfolk are and why they are being so secretive, and the unease builds and settles in in a very creepy way.

And then we get a whole other question by the end of the issue (no spoilers here!), that ties back to Cheyenne and Rebecca. Because the citizens of St. Augustine aren’t the only ones being a little bit cagey. I love the way that Grayson peels this back as well, and it feels done in a very deliberate way while happening all within the limited pages of a single issue comic. The climax of this issue alone is enough to make me want more, but there have been so many well placed questions as well as interesting characters that I am definitely hooked and wanting more. Especially since you can tell that there are going to be some complexities as to what is going on with this community, as it boasts of it’s colonial past while hostility is being thrown towards POC outsiders.

And finally, I really liked the artwork for this! Kelsey Ramsay makes good use of color, and I liked how some of the art is designed in a way that looks realistic, but also a bit odd and strange when it fits the scene.

(source: IDW)

All in all, “Dark Spaces: Good Deeds #1” is off to a promising and solid start! I will definitely be checking out where this goes next, as there are many questions I need to know the answer to.

Rating 8: A tantalizing and creepy start to what is sure to be a dark and layered series, “Dark Spaces: Good Deeds #1” has me hooked.

Reader’s Advisory:

“Dark Spaces: Good Deeds #1” isn’t on any Goodreads lists yet, but it would fit in on “Superheroes, Comics, and Social Justice” (admittedly we are early in the story so broader themes aren’t quite as clear yet).

Kate’s Review: “The Only One Left”


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Book: “The Only One Left” by Riley Sager

Publishing Info: Dutton, June 2023

Where Did I Get This Book: I received an eARC from NetGalley.

Where You Can Get This Book: WorldCat.org | Amazon | Indiebound

Book Description: “At seventeen, Lenora Hope Hung her sister with a rope“

Now reduced to a schoolyard chant, the Hope family murders shocked the Maine coast one bloody night in 1929. While most people assume seventeen-year-old Lenora was responsible, the police were never able to prove it. Other than her denial after the killings, she has never spoken publicly about that night, nor has she set foot outside Hope’s End, the cliffside mansion where the massacre occurred.

“Stabbed her father with a knife, Took her mother’s happy life“

It’s now 1983, and home-health aide Kit McDeere arrives at a decaying Hope’s End to care for Lenora after her previous nurse fled in the middle of the night. In her seventies and confined to a wheelchair, Lenora was rendered mute by a series of strokes and can only communicate with Kit by tapping out sentences on an old typewriter. One night, Lenora uses it to make a tantalizing offer—”I want to tell you everything”.

““It wasn’t me,” Lenora said. But she’s the only one not dead“

As Kit helps Lenora write about the events leading to the Hope family massacre, it becomes clear there’s more to the tale than people know. But when new details about her predecessor’s departure come to light, Kit starts to suspect Lenora might not be telling the complete truth—and that the seemingly harmless woman in her care could be far more dangerous than she first thought.

Review: Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with an eARC of this novel!

One of my literary time stamps during the year is that if it’s summer, Riley Sager will probably have a book coming out. I have been reading Sager since his debut thriller “Final Girls”, and have found all of his thrillers to be very, very entertaining with a lot of well done twists and shocks that catch me off guard a good amount of the time. I’m always on the look out for his new titles, and when I saw “The Only One Left” pop up on NetGalley I immediately requested it, thinking about how summer was on the way. The description is a bit retro with an 80s setting, with some Lizzy Borden and “Dolores Clairborne” vibes, all of which just snags my attention. And like all Sager books, it’s another twisted winner.

“The Only One Left” is a thriller that unravels the mystery through multiple avenues and perspectives. Our first perspective is that of Kit, a newly reinstated caregiver whose suspension has put her on thin ice with her company and her father. She is assigned to care for a notorious recluse named Lenora Hope, who is believed to have killed her entire family in 1929 (but never charged due to lack of evidence), but is now wheelchair bound, paralyzed, and unable to speak due to a number of strokes. Facing few employment choices, Kit goes to live at the Hope estate, which is isolated on some cliffs above the Atlantic Ocean. As Kit cares for Lenora, and gets to know the staff and learn the history of the Hope family, she wonders if Lenora is who everyone thinks she is.. or if she’s much worse. The other perspective is the writings of Lenora, who is writing what happened to her in the months leading up the murders. There are so many smaller mysteries intertwined with the bigger overarching mystery, with questions about Kit as a caregiver, questions about what the strange noises she hears at night are, questions about why the staff has stayed for so long, and questions about what happened to the former caregiver, who seemingly ran off in the night. With so many mysteries, there are bound to be hits and misses, and while I guessed a few of the surprises and reveals, I was also completely caught off guard by others. Sager knows how to divert attention, knows how to distract the reader, and knows how to bring together so many threads that seemingly have no meaning, only for them to be significant and surprising.

In addition I really enjoyed how we had two unreliable in their own ways perspectives, whether it’s disgraced caregiver Kit, or potential murderer Lenora, and the suspense builds up in a consistent and well paced way that had my head swimming at times. I loved getting into both their heads through their perspectives, and really liked how I would be thinking one truth about each of them one moment, and then second guessing myself another moment. Even the supporting characters in both perspectives would surprise me, as they felt like they had their own secrets to discover, while also being interesting and complex in their own right. And being significant in ways I never could have guessed until the very moment of reveal!

One quibble I did have with this book was that Sager does the thing that I don’t care for, and completely shifts the ending in last couple of pages in a way that changes everything for one last big twist. You all know that this kind of story choice just drives me nuts, and while Sager opts to do it in a way that isn’t as nihilistic as other authors have approached such a ninth inning twist, it still felt a bit too far. We had a pretty good ending in place. To totally upend the conclusion always feels hollow to me, even if it is a bit more of a positive surprise. On top of that it’s very much a telling versus showing reveal, and that can work sometimes, but as a giant info dump to completely change the conclusion it just adds to my frustration.

Overall, I love having a new Riley Sager to read every summer, because his books always entertain and find ways to surprise me. “The Only One Left” is another fun thriller that you can take to the pool or the beach and have an enjoyable reading experience!

Rating 8: Another entertaining thriller from Riley Sager just in time for vacation season! The end feels a little bit tacked on, but generally it’s an enjoyable and twisty tale.

Reader’s Advisory:

“The Only One Left” isn’t on many Goodreads lists as of now, but it would fit in on “What A Strange Family”.

Kate’s Review: “A Botanist’s Guide to Flowers and Fatality”

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Book: “A Botanist’s Guide to Flowers and Fatality” by Kate Khavari

Publishing Info: Crooked Lane Books, June 2023

Where Did I Get This Book: I received an eARC from NetGalley.

Where You Can Get This Book: WorldCat.org | Amazon | Indiebound

Book Description: 1920s London isn’t the ideal place for a brilliant woman with lofty ambitions. But research assistant Saffron Everleigh is determined to beat the odds in a male-dominated field at the University College of London. Saffron embarks on her first research study alongside the insufferably charming Dr. Michael Lee, traveling the countryside with him in response to reports of poisonings. But when Detective Inspector Green is given a case with a set of unusual clues, he asks for Saffron’s assistance.

The victims, all women, received bouquets filled with poisonous flowers. Digging deeper, Saffron discovers that the bouquets may be more than just unpleasant flowers— there may be a hidden message within them, revealed through the use of the old Victorian practice of floriography. A dire message, indeed, as each woman who received the flowers has turned up dead.

Alongside Dr. Lee and her best friend, Elizabeth, Saffron trails a group of suspects through a dark jazz club, a lavish country estate, and a glittering theatre, delving deeper into a part of society she thought she’d left behind forever.

Will Saffron be able to catch the killer before they send their next bouquet, or will she find herself with fatal flowers of her own in Kate Khavari’s second intoxicating installment.

Review: Thank you to NetGalley for sending me an eARC of this novel!

It’s about a year since I reviewed the first Saffron Everleigh mystery, “A Botanist’s Guide to Parties and Poisons”, and I can tell you that I am still not really a plant person. It took me forever to get my act together this Spring when it comes to clearing my landscaping of refuse, so my bleeding heart wasn’t as, uh, hardy as I had hoped it would be, and the weeds have already taken over. But real life green thumb problems aside, I’m still very much into plant nerd Saffron and her love for various kinds of flora, and therefore I knew that I wanted to read her second adventure, “A Botanist’s Guide to Flowers and Fatality”! So back to post WWI England we go, with high hopes of deadly plants and Interwar sensibilities!

I am still really enjoying the time period and societal placement of this book. Post WWI London remains a setting that is rich with possibilities, and this time Khavari has implemented a device that I have a personal connection to: floriography! For those who are unfamiliar, floriography, or language of the flowers, is the Victorian social practice of using flowers to communicate feelings and intentions. When I worked at a Victorian Historic House in St. Paul, one of the tours I gave was all about sexuality and romance during this time period, and I talked about floriography in courtships. In “A Botanist’s Guide to Flowers and Fatality”, Saffron is brought into a murder investigation by Detective Inspector Green when bouquets of poisonous flowers are found at all the victims homes. It’s such a great way to make Saffron needed as not only a civilian, but also as a woman, and it’s such a great hook as a puzzle piece to the murder mystery. We also see the way that Saffron has to navigate her role as an amateur detective in this setting, facing a lot of issues not limited to misogyny and expected gender roles, and how she has to utilize her new academic partner, Michael Lee, in her works both at the university (where they are investigating plant poisoning reports throughout the countryside for research) and in the criminal investigation, because him being a man (a very smart and capable man, but no more so than Saffron herself) can open doors a bit easier than she alone can. I really liked Lee as a character, his sarcasm and wit egging Saffron on and leading to some fun moments of banter and sexual tension (we’ll be talking more on that in a bit), and I did like that while being a new member to the story he felt like he fit in almost immediately. His role both at the University parts of the book as well as the criminal parts rounded her out really well and complemented her without constraining her.

The mystery was also pretty well done. I loved seeing Saffron and Lee have to go into unseemly JAZZ CLUBS and have to wrangle with the idle rich and their COCAINE HABITS, and I loved the deadly bouquets and the undercover hijinks they have to get into to get to the truth. Given that this is solidly a cozy mystery series (ha, of the two of us it’s probably surprising that I’m the one covering the two cozy mystery series on the blog), it never goes into very suspenseful territory, as you generally know that Saffron is going to figure it all out and probably come out unscathed, and it’s never TOO gruesome. But that doesn’t mean that Khavari’s mystery is dull by any means, and I thought that there were well done red herrings and well executed ‘ah ha!’ moments.

I will say that there was one aspect that didn’t quite work for me that kind of brought down the rest of the book in some ways: we find ourselves in a bit of a love triangle with Saffron. Our first suitor is Alexander, her partner in detection from the first book, who has gone on the Amazon expedition mentioned in that novel. Saffron has been exchanging letters with him while he’s on the trip. The other, of course, is the aforementioned Lee, her new partner in detection who is pretty much the opposite of Alexander in all ways. Where Alexander is brooding, Lee is extroverted and vivacious. Where Alexander is earnest, Lee is sardonic and a bit of a bad boy. It’s a trope we have seen many times in a love triangle, and I was kind of bummed to see Saffron thrust into this when she is so much more interesting on her own and doesn’t need romantic conflict (some of which, on Alexander’s side, felt very out of character and made him pretty unlikable, at least to me) to buoy up her story.

So, aggravating love triangle aside, I did enjoy “A Botanist’s Guide to Flowers and Fatality”. It continues to represent the time and place in an enjoyable way, and Saffron Everleigh is still a fun and engaging heroine!

Rating 7: A fun new adventure for tenacious detective Saffron Everleigh, with interesting new characters and deadly flowers abound.

Reader’s Advisory:

“A Botanist’s Guide to Flowers and Fatality” is included on the Goodreads lists “Historical Mystery 2023”, and “Cozy Mysteries 2023 New Releases”.

Previously Reviewed:

Kate’s Review: “Bad Summer People”

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Book: “Bad Summer People” by Emma Rosenblum

Publishing Info: Flatiron Books, May 2023

Where Did I Get This Book: I received an eARC from the publisher via NetGalley.

Where You Can Get This Book: WorldCat | Amazon | Indiebound

Book Description: A whip-smart, propulsive debut about infidelity, backstabbing, and murderous intrigue, set against an exclusive summer haven on Fire Island. None of them would claim to be a particularly good person. But who among them is actually capable of murder?

Jen Weinstein and Lauren Parker rule the town of Salcombe, Fire Island every summer. They hold sway on the beach and the tennis court, and are adept at manipulating people to get what they want. Their husbands, Sam and Jason, have summered together on the island since childhood, despite lifelong grudges and numerous secrets. Their one single friend, Rachel Woolf, is looking to meet her match, whether he’s the tennis pro-or someone else’s husband. But even with plenty to gossip about, this season starts out as quietly as any other.

Until a body is discovered, face down off the side of the boardwalk.

Stylish, subversive and darkly comedic, this is a story of what’s lurking under the surface of picture-perfect lives in a place where everyone has something to hide.

Review: Thank you to Flatiron Books and NetGalley for sending me an eARC of this novel!

Summer is finally here, and for some people that means getting to the beach and reveling in the sand, sun, and surf. While my summer travels aren’t taking me to such a place, I do know a few people who may be going to Fire Island this summer, though more in the capacity that many people think of Fire Island. Honestly, before “Bad Summer People” by Emma Rosenblum ended up in my hands I, too, thought of Fire Island as predominantly a place for the LGBTQIA+ community to party hard. But apparently it’s also a spot where the wealthy and entitled elites also like to spend the summer months. And in this book, those wealthy and entitled elites might just end up murdered amongst all their secrets and lies. And you know what? SIGN ME UP TO READ ALL ABOUT IT!

The mystery is presented right away at the top of the book. A body is found in the sand in a posh Fire Island community called Salcombe. We don’t know who they are, we don’t know how they got there, and we immediately jump back to the start of summer and start to meet our cast of characters, all of whom could be victims or suspects based on the secrets, backstabbing, and resentment and malice that they all feel towards each other. I liked the set up of having different third person perspective chapters of the various players, as they all have unique insights into not only how the mystery is slowly going to come together, but also into their own parts to play in the overall question as to what happened. Like so many suds filled thrillers before it, we get twists, we get turns, some are revealed more deftly than others, and the red herrings and clues pile up at breakneck pace. You add in a bunch of poisonous people who we could either take or leave in terms of their survivability and it’s the kind of book that reads super fast and keeps the reader mostly engaged. It’s at times a little predictable, and at times it’s pretty familiar with it’s tropes and plot reveals, and that these reveals mean for the identity of the victim found at the top of the narrative.

And to be fair, this is definitely more focused on the interpersonal drama and backstabbing than it is the mystery. But that didn’t stop me from having a hell of a fun time whilst reading it. I love me soap opera drama nonsense, and “Bad Summer People” delivered a whole lot of it. We get into the minds of a number of people in Salcombe, from the nasty queen bees of the summer community to outsiders desperate to be insiders to more seasoned residents who are more removed from the dramatics, and they all have a nasty bite that reads like guilty pleasure fun. Whether it’s Lauren, the most popular mom in a dying marriage who starts to seek out attention elsewhere, or Jen, the well loved wife of the community’s golden boy who has some darkness she’s always hidden, or Robert, the new tennis instructor who is desperate to be a part of the wealthy elites, all of our characters are kind of assholes, but it’s really entertaining seeing them all spiral as the summer goes on. Sure, there’s the question of whose body is found on the beach at the start and how it got there, but that sometimes feels a bit incidental. Because of that this may not be the BEST fit for people who are in it for the thriller aspects of the mystery. But for people like me, who also love watching people be dicks to each other on the page, it’s a quick, breezy jaunt, and the perfect beach read.

“Bad Summer People” was lots of fun and would be a great book to take on a beachy trip this summer! Hopefully you won’t be getting into the shenanigans that these characters stumble into, however.

Rating 7: Sudsy and indulgent with some good twists and turns, “Bad Summer People” is a fun and wicked whodunnit that revels in its soap and drama.

Reader’s Advisory:

“Bad Summer People” is pretty new and not on many Goodreads lists right now, but it would definitely fit in on “Beachy Reads”.

Kate’s Review: “The Quarry Girls”

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Book: “The Quarry Girls” by Jess Lourey

Publishing Info: Thomas & Mercer, November 2022

Where Did I Get This Book: The library!

Where You Can Get This Book: WorldCat | Amazon | Indiebound

Book Description: Minnesota, 1977. For the teens of one close-knit community, summer means late-night swimming parties at the quarry, the county fair, and venturing into the tunnels beneath the city. But for two best friends, it’s not all fun and games.

Heather and Brenda have a secret. Something they saw in the dark. Something they can’t forget. They’ve decided to never tell a soul. But their vow is tested when their friend disappears—the second girl to vanish in a week. And yet the authorities are reluctant to investigate.

Heather is terrified that the missing girls are connected to what she and Brenda stumbled upon that night. Desperately searching for answers on her own, she learns that no one in her community is who they seem to be. Not the police, not the boys she met at the quarry, not even her parents. But she can’t stop digging because she knows those girls are in danger.

She also knows she’s next.

Review: I had to wait a LONG time to get “The Quarry Girls” by Jess Lourey from my library. I saw it in passing at some point but didn’t look too much into it, but once I realized that it takes place in Minnesota, that explained a few things. Local author, local interest, that always hypes up the library patron community. I had heard some good things, and jumped in expecting a fairly straight forward and run of the mill mystery, so imagine my surprise when it took me totally off guard and really, really got under my skin. This is the kind of thriller that doesn’t just have a good atmosphere and pace, it’s also the kind that feels super, super real in the most upsetting ways. But that’s what makes it stand out so much.

The mystery itself is haunting and suspenseful. Heather is a teenage girl living in St. Cloud, Minnesota in the late 1970s. A local waitress goes missing, her absence first dismissed as a case of a runaway or a flighty girl off on an adventure, and Heather tries not to worry. She runs with her friend group, best friends Maureen and Brenda by her side, and tries not to fret about the cool older man her guy friends have started hanging out with, lest they think she’s a baby. But then her friend Maureen goes missing too, and Heather is convinced that it has to do with something that she and Brenda saw one night shortly before. I loved the slow build up on this mystery, with Heather trying to find clues as to what happened to Maureen (a girl with a ‘reputation’ and therefore dismissed as another runaway, but we are going to get into all THAT in a bit) and has to break out of her anxious, shy self to try and help her friend. I loved watching her find various clues and insights, and how those clues and insights start to point to an even bigger, more encompassing, and more disturbing mystery at hand. As Heather starts to realize that things she thought were true are false, and that there are people she thought she could trust, but actually can’t, it makes for a slow burn and dread building mystery that kept me hooked and terrified for this literal teenager just trying to help her friend.

And that touches on the bigger themes of this book, specifically the fact that in greater society, sometimes women are victims and sometimes men are either enablers and abusers themselves, and we don’t necessarily REALLY know all sides of a person, even when we care about them or trust them. Heather has many men in her life, whether it is her District Attorney father who has been placing a lot of responsibility on Heather after her mother had a mental breakdown (which had devastating effects on Heather, but also has a hidden backstory), or the Sheriff in town who may be hiding his own corruption and culpability when it comes to Maureen, or childhood guy friends that Heather thought she knew, but have started becoming more aggressive, or demanding, or cruel. As Heather starts to learn things about Maureen, things that others deem ‘wild’ or ‘bad girl’, and tries to piece things together, she starts to learn things about all these boys and men, and it’s very hard to watch her have to learn some really difficult truths. That isn’t to say that there isn’t hope here. Because once Heather learns things she never wanted to know, she can start to learn how to fight back. But growing up too fast always has a cost.

And now I need to talk about the setting of this book because as a Minnesotan I am obligated to gush about a well done book that takes place in my home state. And man oh MAN does Lourey hit the nail on the head when it comes to Minnesota culture and location (which makes sense since she spent a good amount of time in St. Cloud and is currently living in Minneapolis). I’ve been to St. Cloud maybe three times in my life, but it’s a bit notorious to those Minnesotans who live outside of it for a number of negative reasons. The first is it has a reputation for being incredibly racist. The second is that various cogs in the Stearns County law enforcement machine have come under fire for corruption and incompetence (the Jacob Wetterling case is one of the most infamous examples. If you want a good resource on how badly Stearns County fucked this case up for twenty plus years, seek out the “In the Dark” Podcast, Season 1. Your blood will boil). When I started reading I wondered if Lourey was going to tap into some nostalgia about 1970s St. Cloud, but it became quite clear quite quickly that nope, this was going to dive head first into the toxicity of the community, and how misogyny of the 1970s (which still permeates today), of small town look away culture, and general ‘not my business’ sensibilities of Minnesota ‘nice’ combined to create a tragic story that felt very, very real. There are also fun moments of Minnesota in here, though, which didn’t make it all about the very true faults of Minnesota culture. Whether it was references to how we love festivals in summer due to long ass winters, or a trip to Valley Fair, or the weird quirk that a Minnesotan canNOT be the last person taking an item of food from a shared plate, these fun bits were VERY on point and very amusing.

I really loved “The Quarry Girls”. It broke my heart many times but also gave me a little hope beyond the darkness. I need to go back and read more stuff by Jess Lourey, this was just great.

Rating 9: A searing, heartbreaking thriller about small town secrets, violent misogyny, and having to grow up too fast under horrible circumstances while trying to persevere, “The Quarry Girls” is emotional, raw, and yet somehow hopeful.

Reader’s Advisory:

“The Quarry Girls” is included on the Goodreads lists “Best Modern Mystery, Crime Fiction”.