ARC Review: The Antique Hunter's Guide to Murder by C. L. Miller

The Antique Hunter's Guide to Murder
Author: C. L. Miller
Publication: Atria Books (February 6, 2024)

Description: In this irresistible and thrilling debut novel, a former antique hunter investigates a suspicious death at an isolated English manor, embroiling her back in the dangerous world of tracking stolen artifacts.

What antique would you kill for?

Freya Lockwood is shocked when she learns that Arthur Crockleford, antiques dealer and her estranged mentor, has died under mysterious circumstances. She has spent the last twenty years avoiding her quaint English hometown, but when she receives a letter from Arthur asking her to investigate—sent just days before his death—Freya has no choice but to return to a life she had sworn to leave behind.

Joining forces with her eccentric Aunt Carole, Freya follows clues and her instincts to an old manor house for an advertised antiques enthusiast’s weekend. But not all is as it seems. It’s clear to Freya that the antiques are all just poor reproductions and her fellow guests are secretive and menacing. What is going on at this estate and how was Arthur involved? More importantly, can Freya and Carole discover the truth before the killer strikes again?

My Thoughts: Freya Lockwood is entering a time of change in her life. Her daughter has gone off to college in the US and her ex-husband is pressing her to sell the family home. Then she receives a letter from Arthur Crockleford, her estranged mentor from the time she worked with him as an antiques hunter, which brings her back to the village and life she led more than twenty years earlier.

When Arthur dies in what looks like an accident in his antiques shop, Freya is called back home to support her Aunt Carole in her grief and maybe get a glimpse of what her new future will be. She is immediately involved in Arthur's business and soon becomes convinced that his death was not the accident it seemed. 

She and Carole are given a letter Arthur left in case of his death which contains clues that the two of them can decipher to find out what happened and what secrets Arthur was holding. They find themselves attending an antiques weekend at a local manor and find themselves mixing with a variety of suspicious characters. 

Since the story is told from multiple viewpoints, we have the opportunity to know more about each character's agenda than Freya and Carole do. However, the viewpoints are obscure enough that the reader isn't sure who the good guys and the bad guys are or even if there are any good guys. 

As Freya unravels the clues to a tragic episode in her past, she is also reclaiming it and paving the way for her new future. It was intriguing watching a woman who let her husband belittle her and damage her self-esteem find her way to reclaim it as she solves Arthur's murder. 

This is a first novel and has some strong and weak points. I was engaged with Freya's characters and her struggles and was glad to see a smart and adventurous woman rebuilding herself. 

Favorite Quote:

"Up you go, darling." Carole nudged my shoulder.

"I'm not a performing monkey," I replied.

"I know that and it's quite disappointing. If you were, we would've already had the keys in our hands."

I received this one in exchange for an honest review from NetGalley. You can buy your copy here.

ARC Review: Dream Town by Lee Goldberg

Dream Town
Author: Lee Goldberg
Series: Eve Ronin (Book 5)
Publication: Thomas & Mercer (January 16, 2024)

Description: A gated dream town for the megarich becomes a murderous nightmare in a riveting Eve Ronin thriller by #1 bestselling author Lee Goldberg.

Hidden Hills is a private celebrity enclave of white picket fences and horse trails that seems to exist in a dreamworld. But when reality superstar Kitty Winslow is killed within their gates and corpses are found in the vast state park outside them, LASD detective Eve Ronin realizes there is a deadly, razor-thin line between what’s real and what’s imagined.

Eve discovers that Kitty’s surreal on- and off-camera life, a blur of fact and fantasy, shockingly mirrors her own as she struggles to investigate the killings, wade into a music industry war, and battle a vicious Chilean gang―all while her life is being turned into a fictional cop show directed by her estranged father.

Eve’s grip on reality and the case is strained to the breaking point as the slayings continue, the media frenzy reaches a fever pitch, and the only inescapable truth she can see is death…and it’s coming for her.

My Thoughts: Eve Ronin is the youngest homicide detective in the history of the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department. Social media exposure and a kind of blackmail got her the job, but with the help of her partner veteran Duncan Pavane, she has grown into her role. 

In her fifth adventure, she is investigating the death of a reality TV star apparently murdered in a home invasion for her jewelry, including her new engagement ring, by Chilean crime tourists. The deaths occurred in an exclusive and wealthy enclave named Hidden Hills where everyone has a horse, and no one locks their doors. 

While Eve and Duncan are investigating the murder, the first episodes of the television program based on Eve's life and career are being shot. Her deadbeat dad is directing and her mother who has hung around the edges of television as an extra has a small speaking part. Eve finally caved into allowing the show when she needed money which has allowed her to purchase her own home in an exclusive enclave. She got a really good deal because the home was once a crime scene for another murder Eve and Duncan solved. 

Eve and Duncan spend a lot of time in Hidden Hills looking into things and Eve runs afoul of the Sherrif's deputy assigned to the enclave who runs it like an Old West town. Meanwhile her boyfriend who is a forensic anthropologist is called in to examine some bones just outside the enclave. He discovers that the first group of bones were those of young South American men, but the second set was something else. 

Throw in a famous rapper named LilGlok9 who was once a member of the Cryps, is a neighbor, and has a reason to hate the victim and the victim's fiancé who is a former child star hoping to make the transition to adult roles and you have a mystery that combines Hollywood fantasy with the gritty reality of Southern California.

I have been enjoying this series. Eve is a complicate character who is self-assured and determined. Duncan is a great sidekick too. Fans of strong female characters and the glitz and glamor of Hollywood will enjoy this one. 

Favorite Quote:

"So I have to prove myself here now, too."

"No, you don't," Eve said. "You have the job, so do it and don't look back. Do it the way you believe it should be done. Don't let anybody or anything stop you. That way, if you succeed or fail, you'll know it was because of choices you made, not somebody else."

"Does that attitude work?"

"It does for me," Eve said. "And if you want to be true to my character, you'll have to adopt it, too, at least whenever you're wearing that badge."

I received this one in exchange for an honest review from NetGalley. You can buy your copy here.

ARC Review: Deadly Tides by Mary Keliikoa

Deadly Tides
Author: Mary Keliikoa
Series: A Misty Pines Mystery (Book 2)
Publication: Level Best Books (October 24, 2023)

Description: A missing surf legend. Waterlogged clues. Can he trust his gut instincts to end the wave of murder?

Sheriff Jax Turner is learning to live again. Holding tight to the hope of reconciling with his FBI agent ex-wife, the wary man is determined to keep his focus on his coastal Oregon community. And after a concerned brother requests a welfare check, Jax is troubled to find the absent surf shop owner's tracks lead to a pool of blood.

Now investigating a potential homicide, Turner chases a tip from his former spouse about a severed foot found on the beach. But when a torrent of leads links the victim to a politician's son, a jealous competitor, and a get-straight program for youth, the steadfast lawman fears layers of lies and secret agendas will keep him from stopping a vicious killer.

Can he unravel the fatal agenda before he's the next corpse to wash ashore?

If you like flawed heroes, gritty crimes, and dark twists and turns, then you'll love Deadly Tides, the chilling second book in Mary Keliikoa's Misty Pines Mystery Series.

My Thoughts: Both Sheriff Jax Turner and his ex-wife FBI agent Abby Kanekoa are still dealing with the death of their young daughter Lulu from leukemia a few years earlier. Lulu's death cost them their marriage though Jax is still hoping to reconcile. He's finally coming out of the black hole that Lulu's death put in his life. But work problems including conflicts with one of the City Council are causing new stress. And when a local surf legend goes missing except for one foot, tensions rise.

Abby is not only dealing with the loss of her child and her marriage but she is dealing with her mother's early onset Alzheimer's disease. Dora has taken to walking away from the assisted living facility where she lives adding more stress to Abby's life. When she finds her mother on the beach on afternoon, Dora is cradling a foot in a track shoe. 

This isn't the only foot that has shown up along the Pacific Coast. But identifying the foot's owner leads Abby and her partner to another missing person's case. Could it be connected to Jax's missing person case? There are similarities which cause Jax and Abby to have to work together despite their differences. 

This was an engaging story damaged but healing main characters. I enjoyed the small coastal town setting. And even though my suspicions about the identity of the killer were correct, I enjoyed watching Jax and Abby's journey to the solution. 

Favorite Quote:

"How long have you worked for Terry?" Jax said.

"Couple of years."

"Good guy to work for?"

"Checks don't bounce."

Not a ringing endorsement. Did his own deputies think the same of him?

I received this one in exchange for an honest review from NetGalley. You can buy your copy here.

ARC Review: I Did It for You by Amy Engel

I Did It for You
Author: Amy Engel
Publication: Dutton (July 25, 2023)

Description: A twisty thriller from the beloved author of The Familiar Dark, in which a woman returns to the town where her sister was murdered and finds a presumed copycat on the loose

It’s been fourteen years since Greer Dunning’s older sister, Eliza, was murdered, and Greer’s family has never been the same. And now there’s been a similar killing in Greer’s small Kansas hometown. A copycat, according to the authorities, but Greer is convinced there is more to the story. That Eliza’s murderer had help all those years ago.

So Greer returns home after more than a decade away, desperate to answer the questions that have haunted her for years. And in her drive to uncover the truth, she forms a bond with the unlikeliest of allies. One that puts her in grave danger, as almost everyone in her small town becomes a suspect.

At once a riveting mystery and a deep exploration of guilt, loss, and the ways in which a violent murder transforms both the family of the victim and the family of the killer, I Did It For You will keep readers captivated through the very last page.

My Thoughts: Greer Dunning's older sister Eliza and her boyfriend were murdered when Greer as fourteen. Even though the killer was quickly caught, the nightmare hasn't ended even fourteen years later. Her family fell apart with her dad taking to drinking and her mother to cleaning and neither seemed to have time for Greer. 

Greer had some support from her best friends Cassie and Ryan but she still left her small Kansas hometown as soon as she graduated high school. She has made a sort of shallow life for herself in Chicago where she works as a middle school guidance counselor.

When she hears that another teenage couple has been killed in the same way Eliza and her boyfriend were, Greer decides that she has to go home and face up to all that she lost. She can't believe that these new killings aren't related to the previous ones despite the killer having been executed in prison. Greer always felt there was more to the story and that the killer didn't work alone. 

Her friends are there to support her. In fact, Cassie never left and Ryan is back home after a divorce. But Greer ends up teaming up with Dean who was the older brother of the young man who was convicted of murdering her sister and her sister's boyfriend. Dean has questions and his own share of guilt about the way things turned out during the first trial. As the two investigate, they gradually unearth secrets in the town and buried in Greer's memory. 

This was an excellent thriller with a twisty plot. It was also an in-depth depiction of the grief and guilt that surrounds this sort of tragedy. I found it very moving. 

Favorite Quote:

"Here's what I do," she said. "Every day I look around and tell myself to find three things, just three, to be thankful for. They can't be anything too far off, no being thankful for Christmas in June. They've gotta be something near, something you can touch. But it doesn't matter how small they are or how stupid the might sound to someone else. Even on my worst days, I can always find three."

I received this one in exchange for an honest review from NetGalley. You can buy your copy here.

ARC Review: Not by Blood by Chris Narozny

Not by Blood
Author: Chris Narozny
Publication: Crooked Lane Books (July 18, 2023)

Description: In the tradition of Harlan Coben and Karin Slaughter comes Chris Narozny’s Not by Blood, a tense and twisty debut thriller about the extraordinary measures one woman will take to save her family.

When Tina Evans gets a call from her brother in the middle of the night, she doesn’t think much of it; she’s been fielding distress calls from Bill for the last twenty years, ever since the day their father killed their mother.

At first, this call seems just like all the others: Bill’s holed up in a Brooklyn drug den and needs her to come rescue him. But when Tina gets there, her brother’s nowhere to be found. Instead, she discovers the body of a private detective hidden in the junk heap out back. He’s been shot to death, and his gun is missing from its holster.

Tina’s about to dial 911 when she receives a three-letter text message from a number she doesn’t recognize: “Shh...”

Tina doesn’t believe in coincidence—the death of this detective and her brother’s disappearance must be related. But how? Could it be her father pulling the strings from his prison cell? And is she willing to risk her own freedom—and her life—to uncover the truth?

My Thoughts: NOT BY BLOOD was a twisty thriller told in the first person by Tina Evans. The story starts with a phone call from her drug addict brother asking for her help. By the time she gets to his flop, Bill is missing but the body of a private detective is there for her to find. Calling 911 isn't an option until she finds out where her brother is and what his role was in the scene she walks in on. 

Before she can decide what to do, she gets a text that just says Shhhh... Next there is a phone call telling her that her philanthropist husband has been hit by a car and is in surgery. She goes home, drops her six-year-old with her foster brother, and heads off to the hospital where she is confronted by a police detective who wants to know where she was and what she knows about her husband's accident. 

She lies and then begins a marathon search for her brother which involves contacting her father who has been in prison for the past twenty years convicted of murdering his wife over a dime bag of drugs. 

This twisty tale is full of all sorts of secrets from one her husband has never told her to what really happened when her mother died. Tina keeps discovering that those she thought she knew the best were still managing to hide major things from her. 

Tina was an interesting character. She was an EMT, her brother's would-be savior, the wife of a millionaire, and so many more things. She was also locked into her past traumas even though she thought she had moved on. 

Fans of twisty psychological suspense will enjoy this story. 

Favorite Quote:

How many times can you rescue a man who just keeps hurling himself back in the water?

I received this one in exchange for an honest review from NetGalley. You can buy your copy here.

ARC Review: Dead Man's Wake by Paul Doiron

Dead Man's Wake
Author: Paul Doiron
Series: Mike Bowditch Mysteries (Book 14)
Publication: Minotaur Books (June 27, 2023)

Description: Game Warden Mike Bowditch's engagement party is interrupted by the discovery of a gruesome double murder in this new thriller from Edgar Award-winning author Paul Doiron.

On the evening of their engagement party, Maine Game Warden Investigator Mike Bowditch and Stacey Stevens witness what seems to be a hit-and-run speedboat crash on a darkened lake. When they arrive at the scene, their spotlight reveals a gruesome sight: a severed arm floating just beneath the surface. As day breaks, the warden dive team recovers not one but two naked corpses: a dismembered man and the married woman with whom he was having an affair. Mike begins to suspect the swimmers' deaths were not a senseless accident but a coldly calculated murder.

Meanwhile, the hunt is on for the mysterious boater. Suspects abound on the lake, nicknamed "Golden Pond,” including the violent biker husband of the murdered woman who may have taken vengeance on his wife and her paramour; a strange woman who claims to have witnessed the crash, but then changes her story; a very aggressive realtor and his wife who were determined to catch trespassers; and the lake’s earnest young constable whose eagerness to help may hide darker motives.

Alone among his fellow officers, Mike starts to sense the involvement of a trained marksman, smarter and more dangerous than any enemy he has ever faced before. As Mike and Stacey get closer to identifying the killer, their own lives are suddenly on the line as they confront a lethal killer who plans to silence them forever. The finale is a tour de force of drama and suspense.

My Thoughts: This is the fourteenth Mike Bowditch mystery, but the first that I have read. Mike and his fiancé Stacey are celebrating their engagement with her parents and his stepfather and wife when they hear a crash out on the lake. Since his future father-in-law is a retired warden and he currently works as a Warden Investigator for the State of Maine, they borrow his stepfather's pleasure barge to go out onto the lake and see what happened.

They were dismayed to find a severed arm. Calling in reinforcements including a cadaver dog who can scent bodies under water, they discover not one but two bodies. The man is the husband of the owner of the small island near where the accident happened, and the woman is the wife of the leader of a local motorcycle gang. Autopsies show that both were murdered and Mike is on the case along with the local police. 

Mike's task is to find the boat that hit the man and then left the scene of the crime. Between on over-eager lake constable and a witness who keeps changing her story, Mike has a lot to investigate. 

This story was entertaining. I enjoyed getting to meet Mike. I liked the setting of the story which is the lake the movie On Golden Pond was based on. I liked the information about law enforcement in Maine. 

Favorite Quote:

"There's always another emergency coming around the bend. People will continue to commit crimes or get lost in the woods. More boats will crash or overturn in rapids. And we'll need to shift our resources to deal with the new crisis. Sometimes I think working in law enforcement is like sailing a leaky boat. You can bail and bail, but there will always be more water coming in."

I received this one in exchange for an honest review from NetGalley. You can buy your copy here.

ARC Review: Downfall by Mark Rubenstein

Downfall
Author: Mark Rubernstein
Publication: Oceanview Publishing (April 4, 2023)

Description: First, his doppelganger is killed—then it’s his father. Rick Shepherd is being stalked by a murderer.

When Rick Shepherd, a physician, approaches his office on a busy Manhattan street, he finds police cars, an ambulance, and crime scene technicians. He soon learns a passerby was shot three times in the back, murdered at the front door to Rick’s office.

Later that evening while watching the local news, Rick and his fiancee, Jackie, see a photo of the victim—to their horror, the deceased looks identical to Rick.

Two nights later, while making a house call in a Brooklyn apartment building, Rick’s 64-year-old father is shot and killed in the exact same way. Detectives Art Nager and Liz Callaghan are assigned the case, and they launch an investigation. There are no clues leading to the perpetrator.

Even more ominously, someone has been calling Rick and Jackie’s apartment and hanging up. Whoever is targeting Rick must have murdered his father, and they now have Rick in their crosshairs. Nager and Callaghan seem to be making no progress with their investigation. Rick’s quest for the truth draws him into a labyrinth of secrets, past tragedies, and the agonizing pain of lives shattered by a single event. Can he make it out before he meets the same fate as his father?

My Thoughts: This multi-viewpoint mystery centers around the death of a 64-year-old doctor who was making a house call. It also includes the death of a man outside a doctor's office. Both methods of murder - three shots in the back - are the same. 

Dr. Rick Shepherd and his fiancée are watching TV when they see a picture of the man who was shot outside Rick's office and are dismayed to learn that he looked very much like Rick. When Rick's father is killed the same way, Rick feels that there has to be a connection. He's wondering is someone is also targeting him. He's had a high frequency of hang-up calls on his phone lately.

Detectives Art Nager and Liz Callaghan have the case of the death of Rick's father and are busy looking into his life to find out who wanted him dead. They are also building a relationship with each other despite their trainer/trainee relationship and complicated pasts. 

The killer also has a viewpoint as we see him planning his kills and learn something about his past. 

This was a pretty introspective mystery with all the characters spending a lot of time reflecting on their past experiences. Fans of the introspective will be the best audience for this one. 

Favorite Quote:

Only a few days ago, Rick could never have imagined his father being murdered while he wonders if he's in some maniac's crosshairs.

When is murder part of anyone's life?

I received this one in exchange for an honest review from NetGalley. You can buy your copy here.

ARC Review: Blind Spots by Thomas Mullen

Blind Spots
Author: Thomas Mullen
Publication: Minotaur Books (April 4, 2023)

Description: Seven years ago, everyone in the world went blind in a matter of months. Technology helped people adjust to the new normal, creating a device that approximates vision, downloading visual data directly to people’s brains. But what happens when someone finds a way to hack it and change what people see?

Homicide detective Mark Owens has been on the force since before The Blinding. When a scientist is murdered, and the only witness insists the killer was blacked out of her vision, Owens doesn’t believe her―until a similar murder happens in front of him. With suspects ranging from tech billionaires to anti-modernity cultists―and with the bodies piling up―Owens must conduct an investigation in which he can’t even trust his own eyes.

Thomas Mullen, the acclaimed author of Darktown and The Last Town on Earth, delivers an unputdownable crime novel about one man's search for truth in a world of surveillance and disinformation that’s all too recognizable.

My Thoughts: In a dystopic future seven years after all the humans on Earth went blind, Homicide Detective Mark Owen is trying to solve the murder of a scientist. Technology has created Vidders which allow those who can afford the devices to see.  But the only witness to the crime insists the killer was blacked out of her vision. Something that is supposed to be impossible.

As Mark deals with this mystery, he is also being called to testify before the Truth Committee which is looking into the events of The Blinding and how the police reacted when they were the first to get the new Vidders. 

Mark doesn't see the point of the whole commission. He believes that he and his fellow officers did the best they could under horrible circumstances. He's also still dealing with the apparent suicide of his wife who was a visual artist. 

This story had intriguing worldbuilding along with an engaging mystery. I liked the characters and was swept along trying to solve the mystery.

Favorite Quote:

The reality, he likes to say, is that organizations are comprised of people, and people are deeply flawed. That's it, end of conspiracy theory. You want a perfect government or perfect company, staff it with perfect people. Best of luck finding them.

I received this one in exchange for an honest review from NetGalley. You can buy your copy here.

ARC Review: Red Queen by Juan Gomez-Jurado

Red Queen
Author: Juan Gomez-Jurado
Publication: Minotaur Books (March 14, 2023)

Description: Introducing Antonia Scott―the most compelling and original detective since Lisbeth Salander―in Juan Gómez-Jurado's Red Queen, the #1 international award-winning bestseller & thriller that has taken the world by storm.

Antonia Scott―the daughter of a British diplomat and a Spanish mother―has a gifted forensic mind, whose ability to reconstruct crimes and solve baffling murders is legendary. But after a personal trauma, she's refused to continue her work or even leave her apartment.

Jon Gutierrez, a police officer in Bilbao―disgraced, suspended, and about to face criminal charges―is offered a chance to salvage his career by a secretive organization that works in the shadows to direct criminal investigations of a highly sensitive nature. All he has to do is succeed where many others have failed: Convince a recalcitrant Antonia to come out of her self-imposed retirement, protecting her and helping her investigate a new, terrifying case.

The case is a macabre, ritualistic murder―a teen-aged boy from a wealthy family whose body was found without a drop of blood left in it. But the murder is just the start. A high-ranking executive and daughter of one of the richest men in Spain is kidnapped, a crime which is tied to the previous murder. Behind them both is a hidden mastermind with even more sinister plans. And the only person with a chance to see the connections, solve the crimes and successfully match wits with the killer before tragedy strikes again...is Antonia Scott.

My Thoughts: Two unique detectives take on a difficult case. Jon Guiterrez is a disgraced cop. He was filmed planting drugs in a pimp's car and now faces potential criminal charges. He's approached by a man who calls himself Mentor who will make everything go away if he just does one small favor for him.

Antonia Scott has a gifted forensic mind, but a personal tragedy caused a mental breakdown. Now all she does is spend nights in hospital with her comatose husband and days in her empty apartment. Jon has to convince her to take a case assigned by Mentor.

The body of a young boy has been found drained of blood and posed in his parents' house in an exclusive and very secure neighborhood of Madrid. He had been kidnapped and a demand was made to his mother who runs one of Europe's largest banks. When the demand wasn't met, the boy was killed. There is a lot of pressure to cover up the crime.

Then the daughter of the world's richest man is kidnapped, and another demand is sent to her father. Her father isn't going to meet the demand which leaves Antonia and Jon just a few days to find and rescue her. But the regular police don't want to cooperate since they are led by a real glory hound who sees solving the case as the road to fame and promotion he desperately wants.

Not only are Jon and Antonia avoiding notice from the villains, but they have to avoid the police too. Antonia's keen observation skills and unconventional mind help them discover clues that the police don't. But the villain has a new plan in mind: kidnap Antonia's four-year-old son. 

I enjoyed this story which was translated from the Spanish and is the start of a trilogy very popular in Spain. The characters of Jon and Antonia were very complex and nuanced. The mystery was both gritty and involved. I'm looking forward to reading more about these two unconventional detectives. 

Favorite Quote:

I'll catch whoever did this to you, she tells the boy in the photo.

As these words take shape in her mind, she immediately regrets them. But there's no way she can go back on them now. That's the problem with promising things to the dead.

It's harder to apologize when you fail. 

I received this one in exchange for an honest review from NetGalley. You can buy your copy here.

ARC Review: The Villa by Rachel Hawkins

The Villa
Author: Rachel Hawkins
Publication: St. Martin's Press (January 3, 2023)

Description: From New York Times bestselling author Rachel Hawkins comes a deliciously wicked gothic suspense, set at an Italian villa with a dark history, for fans of Lucy Foley and Ruth Ware.

As kids, Emily and Chess were inseparable. But by their 30s, their bond has been strained by the demands of their adult lives. So when Chess suggests a girls trip to Italy, Emily jumps at the chance to reconnect with her best friend.

Villa Aestas in Orvieto is a high-end holiday home now, but in 1974, it was known as Villa Rosato, and rented for the summer by a notorious rock star, Noel Gordon. In an attempt to reignite his creative spark, Noel invites up-and-coming musician, Pierce Sheldon to join him, as well as Pierce’s girlfriend, Mari, and her stepsister, Lara. But he also sets in motion a chain of events that leads to Mari writing one of the greatest horror novels of all time, Lara composing a platinum album––and ends in Pierce’s brutal murder.

As Emily digs into the villa’s complicated history, she begins to think there might be more to the story of that fateful summer in 1974. That perhaps Pierce’s murder wasn’t just a tale of sex, drugs, and rock & roll gone wrong, but that something more sinister might have occurred––and that there might be clues hidden in the now-iconic works that Mari and Lara left behind.

Yet the closer that Emily gets to the truth, the more tension she feels developing between her and Chess. As secrets from the past come to light, equally dangerous betrayals from the present also emerge––and it begins to look like the villa will claim another victim before the summer ends.

Inspired by Fleetwood Mac, the Manson murders, and the infamous summer Percy and Mary Shelley spent with Lord Byron at a Lake Geneva castle––the birthplace of Frankenstein––The Villa welcomes you into its deadly legacy.

My Thoughts: The Villa is a modern Gothic which tells two parallel stories. Emily and Chess have been friends since elementary school, but life has set them on different paths. Emily writes cozy mysteries and Chess is a social media star with a string of successful self-help books. After Emily goes through a mysterious illness which causes her husband to leave her and demand divorce, Chess suggests that they spend the summer in Italy at a villa which was once the scene of a murder.

Paralleling the present story is one written by Mari in 1974 as she recounts her time at the villa which results in her writing one of the best-selling horror novels of all time, her stepsister Lara writing a major Grammy winning album, and her boyfriend Pierce being brutally murdered. 

At first, it looks like the girls were just hangers-on. Noel Gordon was a rock star looking for some new music to revitalize his career. He thinks Pierce might give him the spark he needs. It was a summer of sex, drugs, and rock-n-roll, but Mari still found the time to write the novel that made her famous with its own parallels to things that happened that summer.

Emily becomes intrigued with Mari's story and the events of the long-ago summer. Her latest cozy gets set off to the side as she begins to write her own version of that story, but Chess has a wrench to throw in. She wants to get away from her self-help image and co-write the story with Emily.

I enjoyed the twists and turns of this wonderful story. It was filled with lots of surprises and parallels and secrets and intrigue. 

Favorite Quote:

This is, she knows, how Pierce thinks. Nothing in life is too hard or too ugly, everything can be worked out. 

But only because the rest of them bear the hard and ugly bits for them.

I received this one in exchange for an honest review from NetGalley. You can buy your copy here.

Book Review: Saint's Gate by Carla Neggers

Saint's Gate
Author: Carla Neggers
Series: Sharpe & Donovan (Book 1)
Publication: Mira Books (August 23, 2011)

Description: Mystery and intrigue abound as an unlikely pair of FBI agents team up to solve this nail-biting murder from New York Times bestselling author Carla Neggers.

Emma Sharpe is summoned to a Maine convent, partly for her FBI art crimes work, partly because of her past with the Order. At issue is a mysterious painting of Irish lore and Viking legends. But when the nun who contacted her is murdered, it seems legend is becoming deadly reality.

Colin Donovan is one of the FBI’s most valuable deep-cover agents. Back home in Maine after his latest mission, a contact clues him into an intrigue of murder, international art heists and long-held secrets that is too tempting to resist. As danger spirals ever closer, Colin is certain of only one thing—Emma Sharpe is at the center of it all.

My Thoughts: The first Sharpe and Donovan mystery was an entertaining story with fascinating characters. 

The story begins when Emma Sharpe is called to the Convent of the Joyful Heart at the request of Sister Joan. The convent specializes in art restoration and other artistic endeavors. Emma herself was a novice there for three years before leaving to join her family's business tracking down art thieves and then later joining the FBI to do the same sort of work. 

Sister Joan doesn't tell Emma what she wants. She finds a gate she thought open locked and goes to get a key to let Emma in. Before she can return, someone kills her by hitting the back of her head. Emma feels guilty that she didn't accompany Sister Joan on the key hunt and is confused about what Sister Joan wanted to show her. 

A novice named Sister Cecelia saw someone in the garden but didn't recognize the person. She does indicate that there was a painting in Sister Joan's studio that is now missing. 

Colin Donovan is an FBI agent from nearby Rock Point who is home for some downtime recovering from an undercover assignment - though his family believes he's a desk jockey. Emma's boss contacts him to look after Emma who is actually a desk jockey. Colin would rather be kayaking or camping but he's curious about Emma who provided some key information that helped finish up his last case.

Both Emma and Colin are great characters. They are both independent and smart. Emma has some concerns that her past as an almost-nun will cause her colleagues to look at her differently and Colin does some teasing about it. 

The story quickly becomes more complicated as details of the missing painting are discovered with connections to Emma's grandfather. There is also a new priest Finian Bracken who has come from Ireland to fill in for the local priest's sabbatical who has an interesting backstory of his own and who provides clues that help solve the crime.

I enjoyed the growing relationship between Colin and Emma. I liked the Maine and Ireland settings. I liked learning more about Emma's family and their business. The story had nicely building tension as the clues were gathered and the villain was unmasked. 

This is the first of a nine book series. I reviewed the third and fourth books back in 2013 and 2014 and had the first two on my TBR mountain since then so that I could catch up. Looks like I have quite a few more to read and am looking forward to it. 

Favorite Quote:

"Your brothers think you're a desk jockey FBI agent. At least, they pretend to. I actually am a desk agent. I like my desk."

"It's nice and neat, like your apartment."

"I don't think well in clutter. Some things come more easily to me than others. I have to train hard to stay on top of my kick-ass game."

"But you can kick ass?"

She took no offense. "Well enough. And I can shoot."

"Good. We like FBI agents who can shoot."

I bought this one September 18, 2013. You can buy your copy here.

ARC Review: Gone By Morning by Michele Weinstat Miller

Gone By Morning
Author: Michele Weinstat Miller
Publication: Crooked Lane Books (August 10, 2021)

Description: New York City in June is no joke--and as a wave of violence engulfs the sweltering city, an even greater danger looms in this riveting thriller for fans of Iris Johansen and Tess Gerritsen.

As the heat rises on a New York summer, a suicide bomb set off in a Times Square subway station nearly claims the life of 68-year-old ex-madam Kathleen. Then a woman is brutally murdered, her body dumped on a marshy beach in Queens. The woman, Sharon, was last seen by 26-year-old Emily--a Deputy Press Officer working at City Hall--getting into a car in front of the building where she and Kathleen both live in far upper Manhattan.

Emily requests an autopsy report from the Chief of the NYPD, but she doesn't realize the gravity of using her position to gain information. Things turn deadly when a bomb is planted in her building, gutting it with a raging fireball. Kathleen, Emily, and Emily's two-year-old daughter, Skye, barely escape with their lives.

Could Kathleen's criminal history be at the heart of the violence? If Emily can't help her, Kathleen could spend the rest of her life in prison. And when Emily discovers a shocking connection between herself and Kathleen, the stakes become impossibly high.

By the time Emily realizes she's in grave danger, it may be too late. She's beyond the reach of the cops, of City Hall, of her family...and a killer is closing in fast.

My Thoughts: The story begins with a 68-year-old woman named Kathleen riding on a New York City subway. She receives a text alert telling her that CNN has reported a bomb in the subway system. She's close to where the bomber has set off the bomb, killing himself and at least 48 other people. She escapes and ends up walking seven miles home to her apartment in a building she owns.

The bombing sets up a flurry of investigations to determine the bomber's name, motive and if he was working alone. Once identified as Jackson Mattingly they mystery only deepens. He doesn't seem to have any motive for his actions.

Emily Silverman is one of the mayor's press secretaries. She also lives in the building Kathleen owns with her almost-three-year-old daughter Skye. Unknown to her is the fact that Kathleen is her grandmother who has manipulated events through a fake Facebook friend to get Emily her job at City Hall and her apartment in order to get to know her granddaughter and great-granddaughter. 

Kathleen was convicted of manslaughter and spent some years in prison. She and her husband were both drug addicts. She is the one who brought her husband the drugs that killed him. After getting out of prison there weren't a lot of job opportunities which led her to become a madam. She is now many-years retired. She lost her daughter Lauren through all of the events of her trial and incarceration, Lauren, who had drug problems of her own, felt abandoned and has spent the past thirty years with very mixed feelings about the woman she wrote out of her life.

Now, it seems that the past has made a reappearance when one of the women who worked for her asked to see her but never arrived only to be found murdered and dumped at a b each famous as a dumping ground for prostitutes. Emily was a witness to the woman's near arrival at Kathleen's when she saw the woman get into a car outside the apartment building. The police seem to have written off what looks like the death of one more prostitute but Emily and Kathleen begin to investigate.

Then a lawyer who was also a former client of Kathleen's first tells Kathleen to back off the investigation and then is supposed to have committed suicide. This leads Kathleen to believe that there is more to know about her friend's past and the mysterious Client 13 who was the only thing they had in common.

After an arson attack on her building which nearly costs Kathleen, Emily and Skye their lives, police arrest Kathleen for being the arsonist. Her bank accounts have been drained and evidence is discovered that she's the one who started the fires as a way of claiming the insurance. All she and Emily know is that there is a powerful and connected enemy out there who doesn't want his secrets revealed.

The story is told from multiple viewpoints including both Kathleen and Emily and also Jackson Mattingly and the mysterious hidden figure who is at the center of the events. Lauren's husband Carl who is an FBI Agent currently on medical leave fighting MS and Lauren herself get chances to be viewpoint characters. 

I really enjoyed this twisty tale about the past coming to haunt the present, about the hidden parts of wealth and politics, and about secrets. It was filled with so much tension that I needed to sometimes put it down and walk away to decompress. Fans of intense mysteries will enjoy this one. 

Favorite Quote:

Still, he wasn't overly concerned. If there was one piece of wisdom to take away from Game of Thrones, it was that you weren't truly rich unless you were rich with an army. And he had an army.

I received this one in exchange for an honest review from NetGalley. You can buy your copy here.

ARC Review: Quiet in Her Bones by Nalini Singh

Quiet in Her Bones
Author: Nalini Singh
Publication: Berkley (February 23, 2021)

Description: In this gripping thriller set in New Zealand, New York Times bestselling author Nalini Singh takes you into the twisted world of an exclusive cul-de-sac located on the edge of a sprawling forest.

My mother vanished ten years ago.
So did a quarter of a million dollars in cash.
Thief. Bitch. Criminal.
Now, she's back.
Her bones clothed in scarlet silk.

When socialite Nina Rai disappeared without a trace, everyone wrote it off as another trophy wife tired of her wealthy husband. But now her bones have turned up in the shadowed green of the forest that surrounds her elite neighborhood, a haven of privilege and secrets that’s housed the same influential families for decades.

The rich live here, along with those whose job it is to make their lives easier. And somebody knows what happened to Nina one rainy night ten years ago. Her son Aarav heard a chilling scream that night, and he’s determined to uncover the ugly truth that lives beneath the moneyed elegance…but  no one is ready for the murderous secrets about to crawl out of the dark.

Even the dead aren’t allowed to break the rules in this cul-de-sac.

My Thoughts: Novelist Aarav Rai is back living at his childhood home after a car accident the damaged his foot, lungs, and brain. He's not happy to be there. His mother Nina disappeared ten years earlier and his childhood was filled with fights between his parents. He seems to remember hearing a chilling scream when she left home that night but doesn't remember anything else.

Then the unthinkable happens, his mother's car is found off the road in the bush and her bones are in it. Aarav is determined to find out what happened to his mother that night and has a wonderful pool of suspects in the rich enclave where they live. But his injuries which include memory loss and migraines don't make his investigation easy. And he's also supposed to be working on his second novel...

The Cul-de-Sac where they live is filled with people who knew Nina and some of them had reasons to hate her. Nina Rai was a loving mother but she also drank too much and could be quite cruel. Aarav is having nightmares that seem like shards of memory that make him think that he might have had something to do with his mother's death though he isn't willing to believe that.

The story was an intriguing thriller made even more complex by the memory issues the Aarav is having which include hallucinations. Since he is the viewpoint character, we share in his confusion as he looks into the lives of his neighbors to try to discover who murdered his mother. We also gradually learn about his car accident and other events in his life. 

Fans of atmospheric thrillers will enjoy this intriguing story. I especially enjoyed the scenery and culture of New Zealand that were essential elements of the story.

Favorite Quote:

Politeness is a good thing; it works to keep people outside, keep them talking--and keep them from looking too deep. People tell me all kinds of things because I'm polite and empathic.

I received this one in exchange for an honest review from NetGalley. You can buy your copy here.

Book and Audio Review: The Bone Jar by S. W. Kane

The Bone Jar
Author: S W Kane
Narrator: Matthew Lloyd Davies
Series: Detective Lew Kirby (Book 1)
Publication: Thomas & Mercer (July 1, 2020)
Length: 327 p.; 9 hours and 3 minutes

Description: Two murders. An abandoned asylum. Will a mysterious former patient help untangle the dark truth?

The body of an elderly woman has been found in the bowels of a derelict asylum on the banks of the Thames. As Detective Lew Kirby and his partner begin their investigation, another body is discovered in the river nearby. How are the two murders connected?

Before long, the secrets of Blackwater Asylum begin to reveal themselves. There are rumours about underground bunkers and secret rooms, unspeakable psychological experimentation, and a dark force that haunts the ruins, trying to pull back in all those who attempt to escape. Urban explorer Connie Darke, whose sister died in a freak accident at the asylum, is determined to help Lew expose its grisly past. Meanwhile Lew discovers a devastating family secret that threatens to turn his life upside down.

As his world crumbles around him, Lew must put the pieces of the puzzle together to keep the killer from striking again. Only an eccentric former patient really knows the truth—but will he reveal it to Lew before it’s too late?

My Thoughts: This first book in the Detective Lew Kirby series has him trying to figure out who killed an elderly retired nurse and left her body in the abandoned ward she supervised in the Blackwater Asylum.

The case has Kirby looking into events that happened more than 50 years earlier. Who wanted Ena Massey dead? And, how did they get her into the abandoned asylum. Kirby interviews a former patient who has been squatting in a caretaker's cottage on the grounds long enough to have earned squatter's rights. He also interviews the developer who wants to turn the property into luxury living spaces and those he has hired to guard the grounds. 

Kirby learns that there are a number of urban explorers who have made all sorts of visits to the Blackwater Asylum over the years including one young woman whose sister died there accidentally some five years earlier. Connie Darke has wanted to find out who was with her sister ever since the accident happened. She and her sister's boyfriend Ed are trying to solve that mystery when Ed himself goes missing. 

Then there is the adjoining property that was recently inherited by an heir from Australia who also has ties to the events at Blackwater Asylum.

While juggling his investigation, Kirby is also dealing with some problem that his mother is having that he fears is early-onset dementia. 

The story is nicely twisty and told from a variety of viewpoints including Kirby, Connie Darke, and Raymond who is the former patient turned landowner. As I listened and read this one, I was impressed by the variations and accents that Matthew Lloyd Davies used. I was also glad that I could follow along or check on parts of the story in the Kindle book because I'll admit that this Minnesota gal had trouble understanding some of the accents. 

Favorite Quote:

Over the years, Raymond had developed a strong sixth sense: trespassers, unwanted visitors, urban explorers, vandals, whatever you wanted to call them--he always knew when they were here. Over the past few months, however, someone else had been visiting regularly, and he'd seen them again last night.

I bought this one. You can buy your copy here.

Friday Memes: A Perfect Eye by Stephanie Kane

Happy Friday everybody!

Book Beginnings on Friday is now hosted by Rose City Reader. The Friday 56 is hosted at Freda's Voice. Check out the links above for the rules and for the posts of the participants each week. Don’t dig for your favorite book, the coolest, the most intellectual. Use the CLOSEST.

Beginning:

It began on a Saturday morning walk when she was five, right after her mom died. Like musical chairs, he suddenly stopped. Tell me what you see, Lily. A house with a fence. What else? A truck. What color? Red.

Friday 56:

"What happened next?"

"'Rosie's the real expert,' our guy says. 'If he says it's modern, who am I to disagree?' Case didn't even reach the jury. The U. S. Attorney blamed us, then bitched about being micromanaged from D.C."

This week I am spotlighting The Perfect Eye by Stephanie Kane. I was approached by a publicist to read and review this one. Here is the description from Amazon:

Some are born with a perfect palate, others with perfect pitch. Lily Sparks was born with a perfect eye. As Conservator of Paintings at the Denver Art Museum, she uses her keen visual powers to restore masterpieces and detect what's authentic and what is not. When the museum's billionaire benefactor is brutally murdered and Lily is dragged into the case, the grisly tableau stuns her: it's the human embodiment of the museum's prized landscape by famed Impressionist Gustave Caillebotte

Lily comes to believe the Caillebotte was forged and the killer is a painter the art world spurned. But this knowledge comes at a terrible cost. As she confronts where art ends and fraud begins, she must face the deceptions in her own past.

ARC Review: Stolen Things by R. H. Herron

Stolen Things
Author: R. H. Herron
Publication: Dutton (August 20, 2019)

Description: A sensational crime, a missing teen, and a mother and daughter with no one to trust but each other come together in this shocking debut thriller by R. H. Herron.

“Mama? Help me.”

Laurie Ahmadi has worked as a 911 police dispatcher in her quiet Northern California town for almost two decades, but nothing in her nearly twenty years of experience could prepare her for the worst call of her career—her teenage daughter, Jojo, is on the other end of the line. She is drugged, disoriented, and in pain, and even though the whole police department springs into action, there is nothing Laurie can do to help.

Jojo, who has been sexually assaulted, doesn’t remember how she ended up at the home of Kevin Leeds, a pro football player famous for his work with the Citizens Against Police Brutality movement, though she insists he would never hurt her. And she has no idea where her best friend, Harper, who was with her earlier in the evening, could be.

As Jojo and Laurie begin digging into Harper’s private messages on social media to look for clues to her whereabouts, they uncover a conspiracy far bigger than they ever could have imagined. With Kevin’s freedom on the line and the chances of finding Harper unharmed slipping away, Laurie and Jojo begin to realize that they can’t trust anyone to find Harper except themselves, not even the police department they’ve long considered family . . . and time is running out.

My Thoughts: Police dispatcher Laurie Ahmadi lives a parent's worst nightmare when she answers a 911 call and hears her daughter asking for help. JoJo is sixteen, she's been sexually assaulted and drugged, when she awakens in the house of pro football player Kevin Leeds. Laurie rushes to the scene, sure that Kevin is the one who raped her daughter. But JoJo is equally sure that he did not.

Kevin and JoJo became friends while they were volunteering for CapB - Citizens Against Police Brutality. JoJo has kept this secret from her police dispatcher mother and police chief father who have both told her to stay away from CapB. JoJo is also keeping secret that she and former friend Harper Cunnigham have rekindled their friendship.

While the body of Kevin's friend Zachary Gordon is stashed in a closet just feet away from where JoJo was, Harper is missing. With a blank space in her memory where the past evening should be, JoJo doesn't know how they got to Kevin's and where Harper could be.

The stress of the evening has caused Omar Ahmadi to have a heart attack which leaves no one to help Laurie investigate to find Harper and find out what happened to JoJo. Her investigation leads to all sorts of secrets and corruption in their police department and Laurie, JoJo, and Kevin are on their own because they don't know who can be trusted in the police department. Even Omar isn't in the clear!

This was a pulse-pounding, fast-paced thriller with intriguingly human characters. I couldn't put it down!

Favorite Quote:

"I'll help you kill him. If you need me to." Sarah cleared her throat. "Of course, let me state for the record that I'm joking."

Laurie knew she wasn't. "Thanks, friend."

I received this one in exchange for an honest review from Edelweiss. You can buy your copy here.

Friday Memes: Stolen Things by R. H. Herron

Happy Friday everybody!

Book Beginnings on Friday is now hosted by Rose City Reader. The Friday 56 is hosted at Freda's Voice. Check out the links above for the rules and for the posts of the participants each week. Don’t dig for your favorite book, the coolest, the most intellectual. Use the CLOSEST.

Beginning:

No one ever called 911 because they were having a great day.

Well, sometimes Jocko Smith did, but he was a local drunk who didn't get along with his therapist, and 911 was free.

Friday 56:

White girl hurt, another one missing, black guy dead, infamous black superstar athlete at the middle of all of it -- it was on the front page of every local paper now, and by tomorrow it would hit the major media channels.

This week I am spotlighting a thriller I got from Edelweiss. Stolen Things is R. H. Herron's debut novel. Here is the description from Amazon:

A sensational crime, a missing teen, and a mother and daughter with no one to trust but each other come together in this shocking debut thriller by R. H. Herron.

“Mama? Help me.”

Laurie Ahmadi has worked as a 911 police dispatcher in her quiet Northern California town for almost two decades, but nothing in her nearly twenty years of experience could prepare her for the worst call of her career—her teenage daughter, Jojo, is on the other end of the line. She is drugged, disoriented, and in pain, and even though the whole police department springs into action, there is nothing Laurie can do to help.

Jojo, who has been sexually assaulted, doesn’t remember how she ended up at the home of Kevin Leeds, a pro football player famous for his work with the Citizens Against Police Brutality movement, though she insists he would never hurt her. And she has no idea where her best friend, Harper, who was with her earlier in the evening, could be.

As Jojo and Laurie begin digging into Harper’s private messages on social media to look for clues to her whereabouts, they uncover a conspiracy far bigger than they ever could have imagined. With Kevin’s freedom on the line and the chances of finding Harper unharmed slipping away, Laurie and Jojo begin to realize that they can’t trust anyone to find Harper except themselves, not even the police department they’ve long considered family . . . and time is running out.

FP/TT: Shadow Girl by Gerry Schmitt

Every Tuesday Diane at Bibliophile by the Sea posted the first paragraph of a book she is reading or planning to read. In 2018, Vicki from I'd Rather Be at the Beach is taking over this meme.

Here's mine:

Mom Chao Cherry hunched forward in a broken wicker chair and stared anxiously across the Mississippi River toward the University of Minnesota campus. Almost unrecognizable as a wealthy khunying from Bangkok, she wore a polyester blouse and baggy pants, cheap rubber flip-flops, and carried an eight ball of cocaine in her handbag. Only her red lacquered nails, edged in twenty-four karat gold, hinted at her ridiculous wealth.

 

Link up here. It is very easy to play along:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers! Everyone loves Teaser Tuesday.

Here's mine:

"Look, I don't need to tell you this is high profile. The university has already beefed up security and we've got some heavy hitters looking over our shoulders. More than that, we've got and anxious public thinking that ISIS is on our doorstep. Let's leave no stone unturned."

This week I am spotlighting Shadow Girl by Gerry Schmitt. This book is from my TBR pile. Here is the description from Amazon:

The brutal murder of a business tycoon leaves Afton Tangler and the Twin Cities reeling, but that’s just the beginning of a gruesome crime spree...

Leland Odin made his fortune launching a home shopping network, but his millions can’t save his life. On the list for a transplant, the ailing businessman sees all hope lost when the helicopter carrying his donor heart is shot out of the sky.

Now with two pilots dead and dozens injured, Afton Tangler, family liaison officer for the Minneapolis Police Department, is drawn into the case. As she and her partner investigate family members and business associates, whoever wants Leland dead strikes again—and succeeds—in a brazen hospital room attack.

The supposedly squeaky clean millionaire has crossed the wrong person—and she’s not finished exacting her revenge. The case explodes into an international conspiracy of unbridled greed and violence. And as Afton gets closer to unearthing the mastermind behind it, she gets closer to becoming collateral damage...