Month: October 2018

Cuckoo by Sophie Draper

There’s a stranger in your home…

Or is there?

Coming back to her childhood home in Derbyshire for her step-mother, Elizabeth’s funeral, Caro is happy to see her sister who has been out of touch for a long time.

When she is told that the house and everything her father had was left to her and her sister. When her sister tells her she has no interest in any of it and wants Caro to have it all. Coming off a bad break up it seems perfect for her to live in the house and have a new start.

But as Caro begins to go through and sort out all of Elizabeth’s belongings, things start getting weird. Is there a ghost in the house or is someone trying to harm her? The trouble is Caro can’t remember a lot of her childhood and what she is about to find out will shock her to her core!

This was one twisty, wicked good tale! Even I wasn’t sure who the bad people were.

Well Done! 5*

Netgalley/November 29th 2018 by Avon UK

Let me say that this has been one of the hardest secrets I’ve had to keep! When a publisher emails you that you can’t show the title, the story and that you can not even talk about it until Halloween! Oh how happy I was to hear from her today! So here it is!

WREATH BETWEEN THE LINES ( A COOKBOOK NOOK MYSTERY) by DARYL WOOD GERBER

Wreath Between the Lines (A Cookbook Nook Mystery 7)

This is the 7th in the Cookbook Nook Series

Jenna Hart is back along with all of our favorite characters.

While Jenna and her staff are decorating the Nook for all of the special events for the holidays, it is beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

With her sister in town with her daughter and husband staying at her dad’s home it looks like everyone will be home for the holidays.

Only there is something off with her oh so pulled together sister and her husband. And in the midst of trying to figure that one out, Jake, who has the best ever Christmas display in town and is also an old friend of the family, goes out for pizza and comes home to a dead friend.

This is probably one of my favorites in the series. Everyone is holding a secret. But only one of them is a killer. And Jenna knows it isn’t Jake, but can she find out who wants him dead and why?

Leave it to Jenna and her friends to have everything wrapped up by Christmas Eve. You won’t want to miss this one. Surprises are around every corner! Oh! And there are recipes…lots of them!

Well Done!

Netgalley/ November 8th 2018 by Beyond the Page

 

LOST LAKE by EMILY LITTLEJOHN

Lost Lake (Detective Gemma Monroe, #3)

Detective Gemma Monroe #3

An enthralling, atmospheric new novel from the author of acclaimed debut Inherit the Bones, featuring Colorado police officer Gemma Monroe.

Lost Lake. A beautiful hidden gem close to the small town of Cedar Valley, Colorado. The history of the lake and the history of the town are closely linked. A beautiful place, popular with campers and hikers in the summer. In the winter it’s a very different and unsettling place.

It’s early spring now and Detective Gemma Monroe has responded to a missing person report at the lake.

Two couples have camped overnight and in the morning one of the girls is missing. Sari Chesney is also the assistant curator at the town’s museum and now she and the founding fathers diary are missing. Are the two connected?

When the bodies begin to pile up Gemma isn’t sure who to believe. It seems the tiny town is bursting with secrets and even someone in the department is leaking info to the local paper.

With so many different mysteries to solve, will our Gemma pull through in the end or will this one be the end of her?

I am a fan of the series and this was a really good one with murder, supernatural vibes, and a great group of suspicious characters!

Well Done!

 

Netgalley/November 6th 2018 by Minotaur Books

Midsummer Mayhem by Marty Wingate

Midsummer Mayhem (Potting Shed Mystery #7)

A Potting Shed Mystery #7

Pru Parker, gardener extraordinaire, is in the thick of things again.

The entire town is excited about the news of an outdoor performance to be put on at a beautiful local estate with gardens to die for. Literally.

Pru is to be the plant set director and along with her helper, Hal, she hopes to do the play justice and keep the actors from destroying the gardens. Which is the reason the normal gardener for the estate abruptly quit!

As she races from one errand to another, she creates scenes for each act of the play, A Midsummer Night’s Dream. When one of the actors is found dead among bees, everyone becomes a suspect.

Pru’s hubby, DI Christopher Pearse is on the case and is hoping Pru can ferret out any gossip or clues from the cast. The only problem is they all seem suspect! Secrets abound and Pru may not live to see the play!

A lovely cozy series that I hope to read more of!

Netgalley/November 6th 2018 by Alibi

 

 

Song of the Damned (A Phineas Fox Mystery) by SARAH RAYNE

Song of the Damned: A Musically-Inspired Mystery

A macabre liturgy. A mysterious carving. An intriguing 200-year-old mystery for music researcher Phineas Fox to solve. 

Phineas Fox is one of my favorite characters, as is the lovely Arabella. When Phin is asked to authenticate an opera by the head of Cresacre Abbey School, Arabella is excited as she was once a student there and has heard all of the theories of the missing nuns.

The more Phin digs into the opera and the men who wrote it, he finds that the events that happened centuries ago may still be deadly today.

As Arabella tries to visit one of her old classmates, Olivia Tolliver, she feels something is off. Why has Olivia become reclusive and maybe a bit nuts? Does it have anything to do with what is hidden in the basement?

This was told in present time as well as the 1790’s through the diaries of a Sister Cecilia, one of the nuns who supposedly disappeared and a man who is a mystery to all of them.

Historical Mystery Fiction or whatever genre you would like to put on this one, this author never disappoints. I would highly recommend this one!

Netgalley Reviews/ November 1st 2018 by Severn House Publishers

A THOUSAND DOORS, AN ANTHOLOGY EDITED BY J.T.ELLISON

A Thousand Doors: An Anthology of Many Lives

The day Mia Jensen died, she finally got to live.

Mia Jensen is not having a good day. Her life hasn’t turned out the way she thought and now she is lying on her kitchen floor, dying. Stabbed by her husband.

But in those moments she is allowed to see her own What if? moment. And to do that Ellison has brought in a group of authors that are nothing short of brilliant! What if she had chosen to be a mother? A politician’s wife? Would she have chosen a different path?

This is one of those pieces of work that come along and leaves you thinking about every life choice you have ever made. And what would you do if you had the chance for a do over?

Each story tells a different path and outcome. I have no idea how all of these authors come together and speak with the same voice. I have never read anything like this and it is just a brilliant idea and body of work. And yes I’ve used the word brilliant more than once. I find myself wandering around my house thinking, ” That was bloody brilliant!” and this is not something I normally do. I’m jaded. I’ve read it all. Except this.

Very Well Done All Of You!

Netgalley/ November 5th 2018 by Two Tales Press

THE SAVAGE SHORE by DAVID HEWSON

The Savage Shore

A Nick Costa Italian Mystery

Detective Nic Costa finds himself a stranger in a strange land when he’s sent to infiltrate the mob in a remote part of southern Italy. 

Nic Costa is one of my favorite detectives. Now he has been sent undercover to the Calabrian coast to pose as a long-lost family member of the ‘Ndrangheta, or the Mob. One of the biggest leaders wants to retire. He wants to flip and give them an even bigger fish, The Butcher of Palermo.

While his team impatiently waits Nic jumps in and becomes a mobster. The team is suspicious of the entire operation and each other. Some things just aren’t adding up and when the time comes to carry out their plan will they be walking into an ambush?

The descriptions of the country are so detailed and beautiful I wanted to go there myself. And even though you think you know what’s going on, in the end you don’t.

I can’t wait for the next Nic Costa book. So happy to have read this one that kept me captivated. It was like the Mafia meets the Illuminati!

Well Done!

Netgalley/ November 01, 2018 Severn House/Creme de la Creme

 

NEW BOOKS OUT TODAY!

American Judas by [Dubrow, Mickey]    Seth and Maggie Ginsberg do their best to navigate an oppressive theocracy where fundamental Christianity is the only legal religion, and abortion, homosexuality, and adultery are outlawed. When a co-worker outs Seth as a Jew, Seth escapes to Mexico, while Maggie is sent to a Savior Camp. American Judas is a dystopian tale about a young couple’s life after opportunistic U.S. politicians abolish the wall of separation between Church and State.

Ernest Hemingway: Artifacts From a Life by [Katakis, Michael]

Beautifully designed, intimate and illuminating, this is the story of American icon Ernest Hemingway’s life through the documents, photographs, and miscellany he kept, compiled by the steward of the Hemingway estate and featuring contributions by his son and grandson.

Dear Santa: A Novel by [Naigle, Nancy]

From USA Today bestselling author Nancy Naigle, Dear Santa is a heartwarming Christmas story about finding your passion for life and love.

House of Gold by [Solomons, Natasha]

From the New York Times bestselling author of The House at Tyneford, an epic family saga about a headstrong Austrian heiress who will be forced to choose between the family she’s made and the family that made her at the outbreak of World War I.

Fun reading all of them. And they all debut today!

xx Patricia

 

INHERIT THE WOOL by Betty Hechtman

Inherit the Wool (A Yarn Retreat Mystery Book 6)

This is the 6th book in the Yarn Retreat Mysteries.

Casey is hosting a retreat this time at the request of an old college friend, Vanessa. The odd ball little group of friends they were in college included being Ballarinas. Yes this is a made up game but it was better than gym class.

Casey hasn’t really kept up with anyone from college, but if Facebook is to be believed, all of them have successful and happy lives. Casey worries that the Vista Del Mar resort may be a bit too rustic for these ladies. She’s right. No cell service or internet seems to be the biggest complaint.

Until one of them turns up dead and Casey calls on her old friend Frank for some advice as well as Det. Theo, who is one of my favorite characters. Did someone in her group murder Vanessa?

There are all types of misdirection going on here and while I had a suspicion from the beginning, I didn’t have it all until the end.

Let’s just say that no one was what they seemed and everyone had motive.

Good series with lots of knitting and baking going on. Recipes and a knitting project are included.

Well Done!   Netgalley/BeyondThePagePublishing    Out Now!

 

 

 

HOUSE of GOLD by Natasha Solomans

House of Gold

Such is the power and wealth of the Goldbaums that on dull days, it’s said, they hire the sun just for themselves.

This story is  loosely based on the Rothschilds, one of the oldest and wealthiest families in the world.

It’s 1911 and Greta Goldbaum is set to be married off to her cousin in the English branch of the family to a man she has never met. The Goldbaum family has branches in Vienna, Paris and England and nothing happens without their knowledge and their money.

Their marriage if off to a rocky start and Greta is miserable. She’s young and wants to run around in her bare feet and dig in the dirt, which horrifies her family and her husband.

When in 1914 an Austrian Crown Prince is murdered by Serbians, throwing everyone into WWI. This is when Greta begins to see the world for what it  is.

I really enjoyed the historical aspects of this. It was really well done.

What I didn’t care for was the pages of family drama. There was quite a bit that could have been just left out. For me it’s a like not a love.

Netgalley/

October 23rd 2018 by G.P. Putnam’s Sons