3.5 stars rounded up to 4
This was a pretty good mystery/thriller that involves two best friends and their summer at a high-end holiday home in a small town in Italy. Emily is a successful author of a cozy mystery series going through a painful and expensive divorce. She has recently recovered from a mysterious illness and is going through a bad case of writer’s block. Her best friend Chess is a successful self-help author and influencer.
Continue reading “The Villa by Rachel Hawkins”
This is a very good contemporary fiction/mystery/thriller set in India. Geeta’s dead-beat husband left her five years ago. She didn’t kill him, but everyone thinks she did. Since then, she’s taken out her nose ring (become a widow) and made a life for herself selling hand-made jewelry. The inhabitants of her small village scorn Geeta, gossip about her, and the children are afraid of her. While this would make some women sad, Geeta relishes in her freedom.
Continue reading “The Bandit Queens by Parini Shroff”
This is a good first book in the reverse harem, enemies to lovers, dark romance series. I haven’t read many dark romance books, or any cartel books, so this is all new to me. I enjoyed the author’s world building which made it easier for me to understand the setting and circumstances of the characters.
Continue reading “Queen of Nothing (Reina del Cartel, #1) by Santana Knox”
This was an intense YA mystery/thriller about six friends headed to spring break that get trapped in an RV in the middle of nowhere by a sniper intent on learning one of their secrets. The story is told from the perspective of Red. Her mother, a police officer, was executed on the job 5 years ago and her father succumbed to alcoholism. This, as well as having little to no money, set her apart from other teens. Her best friend Maddie and a few others, however, have her back and make sure that she’s not left out.
Continue reading “Five Survive by Holly Jackson”
This was an interesting mystery involving a dysfunctional family, a 5 star hotel in the country and a snow storm. What more do you need for dark family secrets to come out and someone to commit murder?
Continue reading “The Christmas Party by Mikayla Davids”
This is a pretty good historical fiction mystery set in Victorian London. Flottie is the teenage housemaid for Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson. She occasionally assists Mrs. Hudson, the cook, and Holmes in his investigations. This time, Flottie helps solve a 23 year old mystery of the missing solid gold Christmas canary that belonged to a wealthy family and was handed down over the generations. It was displayed as the Christmas tree topper every year, until it was mysteriously stolen during a house party.
Continue reading “Mrs. Hudson and the Christmas Canary (Holmes and Hudson #6) by Martin Davies”
I’ve been a bit ambivalent about the author’s previous books, but I enjoyed this one. It’s a good mystery/thriller that kept my attention and kept me reading late into the evening. Amelie is a young woman that is used to struggling to survive. Down to her last few dollars, she befriends a group of wealthy women and begins working as a housekeeper and cook for one of them. This brings her into contact with Jed Hawthorne, a wealthy billionaire. Before she understands what’s she gotten herself into, she’s married to Jed and forced to be his perfect trophy wife. Then one night Amelie is snatched from her bed and wakes up in a pitch-black room with no idea where she is. The captors don’t speak and she doesn’t know why she’s taken, or why she feels safer with the captors than she does with her husband.
Continue reading “The Prisoner by B.A. Paris”
This is another fun and exciting Elvis Cole mystery/thriller. This time, Elvis is hired by a mother desperate to find her son Josh, a controversial podcaster. She thinks he’s in mortal danger, and although she’s quirky and has a flock of professional bodyguards following her around, Elvis takes the case. And the cash. As Elvis starts to look into the son’s life, he once again attracts danger and enlists the help of his buddy Joe Pike to watch his back.
Continue reading “Racing the Light (Elvis Cole and Joe Pike #19) by Robert Crais”
This is a good locked-door mystery set in an alternative universe England where King Edward VIII did not abdicate and marry an American divorcee. In this story, his lineage sits on the throne. As the story begins, King Eric has required his immediate family attend Christmas as Balmarol and he’s sent all of the staff away, except his chef Jonathon and his head security officer. During an after dinner speech, King Eric begins to speak, begins choking, and falls to the ground. Moments later, he’s dead. Each member of the family has motive and opportunity, is keeping secrets, and they’ve elected the chef to investigate the murder.
Continue reading “A Murder at Balmoral by Chris McGeorge”
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