Category: Reviews

Posted in Reviews

Review of How to Solve Your Own Murder by Kristen Perrin

Posted on by Debbie

*Note: This book was an advanced reader’s copy from Net Galley. It will be published on March 26, 2024, and is available for pre-order on Amazon at https://www.amazon.com/How-Solve-Your-Own-Murder-ebook/dp/B0C9H7L37X/

****4 stars

When Annie’s Great Aunt Frances, whom she hasn’t seen in years, dies, Annie is surprised to learn that she’s been invited to the reading of the will instead of her mother. Francis led a strange life, believing a fortune she received from a fortune teller when she was in her teens that predicted her murder. Shortly after that time, one of her three closest friends, Emily, disappeared. Was her disappearance so long ago connected to Frances’ death that turns out to be the murder she believed would end her life? Annie, a relative, and a detective take on this case after Frances’ will challenges them to solve her murder using clues Frances herself discovered.

With interesting characters and several twists, this was an enjoyable read.

Posted in Reviews

Review of The Good Left Undone by Adriana Trigiani

Posted on by Debbie

***5 Stars

This was my first book by popular author, Adriana Trigiani. I read it for a book club and now I know why she’s so popular. The story centers on a family of jewelers, the Cabrelli’s, and 81-year-old Matelda, who lives in the Italian town of Viareggio. Matelda has children, grandchildren, and a husband. The book starts on Matelda’s 81st birthday where she reflects on her life and realizes she hasn’t shared her family history with her relatives. She wants to do this before she dies.

Matelda recalls her mother, Domenica, who was a nurse during World War II. Domenica grew up with Silvio who had no father and was ostracized by the town. After an incident where he was accused of stealing a map of a treasure from the library, his mother left Viareggio with him. Domenica didn’t see him again until he’d returned to town during a fair, and she discovered he was engaged.

Domenica’s story continues when she is sent to a nunnery in France because she’s given out birth control information which went against the church’s teachings. While she decides not to become a nun, she meets a Scottish sailor during her time in France and falls in love with him. As Matelda shares her mother’s story with her family, they learn more about their ancestors and the trials they faced during the war in several countries and how they made it back to Italy and Viareggio.

I enjoyed this book and hope to read more by the author. It took me a little time to get into the story, but once I did, it kept me reading. The only difficulty I had was keeping up with all the characters and a few of the foreign phrases. I appreciated the fact that the main character was a senior and recommend this book to anyone who likes to read about family relationships, romances, and history.

Posted in Reviews

Review of Spells for Forgetting by Adrienne Young

Posted on by Debbie

***** 5- stars

Emery and August grew up on the island of Saoirse along with Lily and Dutch. August’s family owned the orchard that was central to the island’s economy. When a fire breaks out and nearly destroys it and Lily is murdered after the high school graduation party, the island residents including August’s uncle, the police chief, accuse him of killing her.

When the story opens, August is returning to the island with his mother’s ashes after they left fourteen years ago. He mentions that he did something terrible, and we wonder if he really did kill Lily. As he meets up again with Emery, his high school sweetheart who is now seeing Dutch, old feelings reunite, but things have changed. Emery can no longer trust him, although she still loves him.

As the book progresses, we learn of the supernatural elements on the island and how Emery’s grandmother and Lily’s grandmother practice witchcraft.

I enjoyed this book after reading an advanced reader’s copy of The Unmaking of June Farrow, also by this author that I found even better. If you like mysteries with supernatural elements, you’ll enjoy both these books.

 

Posted in recipes, Reviews, Romances

Review of The Recipe Box by Viola Shipman

Posted on by Debbie

*****5 stars

This is a feel-good book, a sweet romance, and a collection of baking recipes. The story features a baker, Sam, who leaves her family’s Michigan orchard for a job in New York City. Deciding not to take her boss’ demands anymore, she quits and returns home to take a time out and also attend the 100th anniversary party of the orchard and her grandmother’s 75tyh birthday.

Each section of this book includes a recipe that connects with the storyline of that section. There are flashbacks told by the women in her family that show Sam how they’ve created a history and traditions with their baking that’s shared by recipes in a recipe box passed down through the generations.

When it’s time for Sam to decide whether to return to New York and accept a promising baking position or stay at the family orchard, she’s also faced with dealing with her feelings about a promising relationship with Angelo, a man she left behind in New York, who comes to the orchard to visit her.

I recommend this book to those who enjoy family-centered stories. I was surprised to learn that the book was written by a man who used his grandmother’s name as a pen name. Her recipe box inspired the story, and the recipes included are some of hers and family friends.

Posted in Reviews

Review of The Unmaking of June Farrow by Adrienne Young

Posted on by Debbie

*Note: This book was an advanced reader’s copy from Net Galley. It will be published on October 17, 2023, and is available for pre-order on Amazon at https://www.amazon.com/Unmaking-June-Farrow-Novel-ebook/dp/B0BP67CX8Y

****5 stars

Mystery, romance, time-travel. This book has it all. If I could give it more than five stars, I would. I loved it and couldn’t stop reading. I was sorry when I finished. Although I found a few of the time-travel elements regarding the years and events confusing, the characters were well-depicted, and the writing was excellent.

Abandoned by her mother at seven-months old, June Farrow is raised by her grandmother. When she’s an adult, she learns that the women in her family all go mad. After her grandmother dies, having exhibited the strange behavior that signals the Farrow women’s mental illness, she receives a letter her grandmother sent before her death. In the letter is a photo of her mother and father, but the year it was taken is 1912. Thus follows June’s journey back through time via a red door, the opportunity to learn what really happened to her mother, and the chance to choose her own destiny.

There are many twists along the way. A wonderful read. This was my first by this author, and I hope to read many more.

 

 

Posted in Reviews

Review: This is How We End This by R. J. Jacobs

Posted on by Debbie

*** 3 stars

Graduate students in the Hull University psychology department in North Carolina are working on a research project involving dishonesty. When one of them is killed and then their professor, a female detective with a troubled past becomes involved in the case along with campus security.

The premise of this book was good. However, I was able to guess the killer quite early in the story. The characters had their own personalities and hidden agendas which added interest but lacked cohesiveness.

If you enjoy academic mysteries and have a hard time guessing who-dun-it, you might want to give this a try.

Posted in Reviews

Review of The Measure by Nikki Erlick

Posted on by Debbie

***** 4 stars

This book reminded me of the pandemic because it featured a premise of a world-changing event. One morning, people all over the world who were over 21 years old received anonymous boxes that contained strings of various lengths. The longer the string, the longer their lives. When the strings are examined and found to be accurate, data is collected and a site created to narrow down the age at which a person will die.

This story follows a few key characters who deal with the knowledge the strings portend. Some refuse to open their boxes. Others, make decisions based on the length of their strings. A politician running for president tries to uproot another by revealing that he’ll live longer than his competition. A soldier switches his string with his friend after the military is only allowing long stringers to enter active combat. Support groups for short stringers are formed. One of them includes a man who finds a letter in the classroom where the group is held and begins writing back to an anonymous writer named A.

As we follow these people and how their lives are affected by the strings, we contemplate the idea of what we would do differently if we knew how long we’d live and how the world would react. I found the premise interesting and understood why the origin of the strings was never revealed, whether they were sent by God or some supernatural force, but I was hoping for a better ending. Even so, I recommend that readers give this unique debut novel a try.

Posted in Reviews

Review of Dark Matter by Blake Crouch

Posted on by Debbie

***** 5 stars

Do you ever regret the choices you’ve made in life? Most of us do. For Jason, a college professor in Chicago who is happily married to Daniela and has a teenage son, his regrets turn dangerous. Before he married, he was a research physicist working on a special project. He gave that up to spend time with his family. The night he celebrates his friend and colleague’s science award, he’s accosted by a masked man who drugs him and disappears. When he wakes, he finds his world has changed. Daniela is no longer his wife, and he has no son.

This book features twists and turns and plenty of action as Jason discovers the reason he was abducted and his fight to get back the life he chose.

I enjoyed the story and recommend it to readers who like a mind-bending tale, part psychological, part scientific.

 

 

Posted in Reviews

Review of The Diamond Eye by Kate Quinn

Posted on by Debbie

****5 stars

I read this book for a book club and thoroughly enjoyed it. It wasn’t what I expected because I seldom read historical fiction and a story about a Russian female sniper during World War II didn’t seem like something that would interest me. Nevertheless, I found it riveting. I found it hard to believe it was based on the true story of a woman named Lyudmila (Mila) Pavlichenko.

Although parts of the book were sad, the story overall was one of hope and persistence. There were also a few amusing scenes, one involving Eleanor Roosevelt and the stitching of a dress for Mila when she came to the United States after being invited to the White House as a heroine with a tally of over three-hundred kills of Hitler’s soldiers.

While the author mentions in her notes that she took a few liberties with the story, she tried to keep to the research she found from Mila’s diaries and other sources. During World War II when Germany invaded Russia, the Soviets recruited both men and women into the army, but few women served on the frontlines. The reason Mila was chosen to do so was because she’d already been trained in shooting and was adept at it. After becoming pregnant at 15 by a man who left her and her son, she was working in a library and writing her thesis when war broke out. Leaving her friends and family, she joined the cause.

The rest of the book is an absorbing read. I kept turning the pages as Mila headed a battalion, was injured several times, and fell in love with a man she couldn’t marry because her husband wouldn’t make their divorce final. As the main narrative unfolds, Mila’s U.S. tour and a danger off the battlefield is introduced.

I highly recommend this read.

Posted in Reviews

Review of The Villa by Rachel Hawkins

Posted on by Debbie

****4 stars

The main character of this novel, Emily, the author of a cozy mystery series, is in trouble. She’s been sick for months with a mysterious illness. Her husband has cheated on her, and they are in the midst of a divorce. Her best friend, Chess, a popular non-fiction self-help author, wants to help her. She suggests a summer away at a villa in Italy. Emily wants to go but becomes hesitant after learning that the villa was the scene of a murder that took place in the 1970’s of a musician who stayed there with his girlfriend and some friends. Despite Emily’s concerns, she takes the trip.

At the villa, Emily researches the murder. She becomes so wrapped up in it that she starts to write another book based on her findings and puts aside the cozy mystery she’s late in submitting to her publisher. When Chess learns what Emily is working on, she offers to co-write the book. Emily doesn’t want her to do that.

As Emily makes further discoveries into that old murder and sees similarities between her and Mari Godwin, the woman whose boyfriend was killed and who wrote a bestselling book after the murder, she believes the book Mari wrote holds a clue to what really happened that summer night at the villa.

Further revelations serve as plot twists to the novel which features flashbacks to the time of the murder. I felt the main plot of this gothic-like tale focused more on the friendship between Emily and Chess and how staying at the villa changes them. Without revealing the ending and the twists, the story kept me intrigued but seemed to lack the punch I expected. I’d still recommend it as a read for those who enjoy books that include flashbacks and eerie settings. I also found the descriptions of the authors and their writing process interesting because I write both cozy mysteries and other genres.