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Nerd Girl Loves Books

Book recommendations and short reviews just for you!

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Crime

The Widows’ Pact by J.L. Cole

Rating: 4 out of 5.

This is a slow burn story about two widows, 50 years apart in age. Evelyn is a 71 year old spunky, nosy busybody who isn’t afraid to dispense her opinion about someone else’s life. Evelyn is a recent widow & she befriends 27 year old Lena, who is also a recent widow. Lena is everything Evelyn is not. She is meek, mild, & numbly stumbling through life after the sudden death of her husband. As the two women strike up an unlikely friendship, we begin to learn more about each woman’s life. Lena begins to realize that her marriage wasn’t as idyllic as she thought, & that if she has any chance of a happy life, she needs to deal with her tragic past.

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A Bitter Remedy (The Oxford Mysteries #1) by Alis Hawkins

Rating: 4 out of 5.

This is a twisty, engrossing historical fiction mystery/thriller set in 1881 Oxford that captured my attention from the start. The author developed two great characters in Basil Rice, an intelligent, nervous Jesus College fellow with a secret to hide (he’s gay), & Rhiannon “Non” Vaughan, a wickedly smart, fearless, outspoken, determined young Welsh woman newly admitted to university lectures at Jesus College.

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What Have We Done by Alex Finlay

Rating: 3 out of 5.

This was a fun, twisty mystery about three adults that grew up together in an abusive group home. After several kids went missing the group home was shut down and they all went their separate ways. All three became successful but troubled adults and had no contact with each other until someone started trying to kill them. They eventually get together to solve the mystery, causing them to re-live some of the trauma they endured growing up.

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How I’ll Kill You by Ren Destefano

Rating: 4 out of 5.

What the heck did I just read??? I finished the book a few days ago and had to just sit with it for awhile before I could write my review. The book is a a fascinating mystery/thriller/romance that I couldn’t stop reading it.

Sissy is one of a set of identical triplets. They were abandoned when they were newborns and lived their youth in separate foster homes until they aged out. Fiercely protective of each other, once they were free of the system they were determined to never be separated again. No matter what. When Iris is hurt by her boyfriend and kills him in a fit of rage, Sissy steps in to clean up the scene and the triplets’ plan to love men and leave them….dead, is born.

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The Writing Retreat by Julia Bartz

Rating: 3 out of 5.

3.5 stars

This was a dark mystery/thriller centered around five women’s attendance at a writing retreat with a famously reclusive writer. Once at the retreat location, they discover they need to complete an entirely new novel during their stay. They are given a strict writing schedule and seemingly impossible daily deadlines, but if they succeed, the winner will get a seven figure publishing deal and the mentor’s stamp of approval. It’s every woman for herself – until they start to die.

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A Dangerous Education by Megan Chance

Rating: 4 out of 5.

I really enjoyed this historical fiction mystery thriller set at a boarding school for troubled girls in the 1950s during the Cold War & McCarthy hearings. Rosemary is a teacher at the school & despite warnings from other teachers, & her own instincts, she gets close with a trio of cunning girls who run the school. Just before going to teach the girls, Rosemary discovers that one of the three girls is the daughter she was forced to give up when she was 17 years old. Everyone is damaged in one way or another, & the choices they make have devastating consequences.

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Shadows in the Aftermath by Marianne Scott

BOOK FEATURE

Genre: Suspense, Thriller

Pages: 336

Publisher: FriesenPress

I’m pleased to be part of the Love Book Tours book tour for this book.

Here is a synopsis:

Ruby Draker has found new strength, and is ready to move on after Felix Szabo devastated the Draker estate in Nice, France. Three Drakers are dead leaving Ruby in grief and with thoughts of revenge. The Drakers are a family built of survivors; each rescued from Felix Szabo, a psychopath, who sought to murder his former agents at the CIA whom he believed betrayed him. The Drakers’ sole mission is to stop Szabo from adding more victims to his list, and although he also perished during the invasion, his legacy continues to haunt them. When the Drakers learn that Robert Draker, presumed dead since the shoot-out at Robert’s farmhouse, may be alive and at a rehab clinic in Portland, Maine, the Drakers know it could be a set up, but they have no choice but to try to find him and bring Robert home.

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A Killing of Innocents (Duncan Kincaid & Gemma James, #19) by Deborah Crombie

Rating: 4 out of 5.

This is a very good mystery/thriller set in London following the investigation of Scotland Yard detectives into the murder of a young medical resident. As they look into the victim’s personal life, another stabbing occurs, putting the City in a panic. This is the 19th book in the series, but can be read as a stand alone. I admit I was a bit lost on most of the character interplay and their personal lives, but there is enough back story that I got the basics of what was going on. Even though I wasn’t familiar with the characters, I still got caught up in what they were going through and liked them.

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Mission in Malmo (Inspector Anita Sundstrom #9) by Torquil MacLeod

Rating: 3 out of 5.

This is a pretty good mystery/thriller set in Sweden. It’s book 9 of a series, but can be read as a stand alone. I’m sure I missed some nuances regarding the characters and their interactions, but there was enough information to provide me a good idea of what was what. The story is told in two different time periods. The first part of the story is told in 2006 while the main character, Anita, is a detective in the Criminal Investigation Squad. As one of only two women in the unit, the women are thought of as less capable and are treated unequally, especially by Chief Inspector Erik Moberg. The team is tasked with tackling the aftermath of an armed robbery at a cash handling facility in Malmö. The raid left one security guard dead and there was no sign of the stolen millions. The team eventually thinks they’ve solved the crime, but aren’t able to convict who they believe is the mastermind of the operation.

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