The French Braid by Anne Tyler

Anne Tyler has concocted a beautiful metaphor about just what a family is: The French Braid. The explanation comes late in the book, but it is so on target. This is a funny and a poignant novel, just what is expected in a Tyler work.

Readers meet the Garretts, and their story starts unfolding in the summer of 1959. No surprises that they live in Baltimore, but as the children grow up, they branch out to other parts of the Northeast.

The parents Robin and Mercy have similar but diverging goals in life. Robin wants a home; Mercy wants a second life after raising her family. Daughters Alice and Lily are complete opposites in personalities. Son David wants to distance himself from family for reasons the parents and sisters do not understand.

As life goes on through the decades, the shape of the Garrett family changes, grows, backs up, starts anew. Parents grow old, marriages come and go, children are added to the family, and they grow up as well.

The novel has it all: humor, heartache, success, failure…an imitation of life for sure. It has been called “classic Anne Tyler,” while I would call it Anne Tyler at her very best.

Anne Tyler won the Pulitzer Prize in 1988 with the novel Breathing Lesson. Her books, always witty and engaging, never disappoint.

My review will be posted on Goodreads starting December 22, 2021.

I would like to thank Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group  and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC in return for an objective review.

 

 

Lorraine Hansberry: The Life Behind A Raisin in the Sun by Charles J. Shields

While Lorraine Hansberry lived only  34 years, her play A Raisin in The Sun has had a lasting impact on the American theatre. In Lorraine Hansberry: The Life Behind A Raisin in the Sun by Charles J. Shields, the author chronicles the life of the playwright and activist. Called “the most widely anthologized, read, and performed play of the American stage,” students across America were led to believe that Hansberry based her famous play on her own life. Well, she did, kind of.

Actually, her father Carl Hansberry was a bit of a scoundrel. Yes, the Hansberrys were not welcome in a white neighborhood, but they had their real home in a black neighborhood, while they masqueraded in this second home.  This episode was part of a scheme to drive whites away so Carl could purchase property cheaply and  could start chopping up floors, turning apartments into one-room “kitchenettes” to make more money for the landlord, which eventually he became. About 10% of the book covers his moneymaking slumlord schemes, which projected the Hansberrys into the middle class. He also became so enamored with suing other folks that the Chicago branch of the NAACP began backing away from him after he threatened to sue Goldblatt’s department stores.

No doubt legitimate Raisin stories happened due to restrictive covenants designed to keep black homeowners out of white neighborhoods, but Raisin was not truly the Hansberry situation. The wealth generated with Hansberry Sr.’s property speculation schemes enabled the lifestyle that Lorraine was able to enjoy including some college attendance and a regular check from her widowed mother to help support Lorraine’s New York City lifestyle. Besides playwriting, she kept her day job writing for and performed a number of other duties for a newspaper called Freedom.

The biography broadens the scope of Lorraine’s life from the sliver as playwright that students in America learned when studying Raisin to all her activities in social causes. She campaigned for Progressive Party candidate Henry A. Wallace and  had close Communist ties, which caused J. Edgar Hoover and the FBI to keep an eye on her for fear she would become, “in the language of counterintelligence, a ‘present danger.’” By the end of her short life, Lorraine would have thousands of pages in her FBI dossier.

Regarding her personal life, Shields takes a hard look at the man Lorraine married, Bobby Nemiroff, a Jewish-Russian activist, a Communist card-carrying one. Shields described their marriage as a codependency. He was Lorraine’s best friend, her critic, and her promoter. They would remain tied even after their divorce, and he went on to manage her estate after her death.

Charles J. Shields is the author of two biographies about Harper Lee, one for adults, Mockingbird: A Portrait of Harper Lee, and for young readers, I Am Scout: The Biography of Harper Lee. He is known for his well-documented biographies.

My review will be posted on Goodreads starting December 16, 2021.

I would like to thank Henry Holt & Company and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC in return for an objective review.

Nine Lives by Peter Swanson

 Imagine getting a list of nine names, one being your own. Just names. Nothing else. You might toss it. You might set it aside. But you might not jump to the conclusion that these are Nine Lives to be ended. The latest psychological thriller by Peter Swanson includes one FBI agent on the list, Jessica Winslow, and before long, she starts putting clues together.

The first to die is an old man who retains an aging family inn, which he uses as his personal watering hole. Once a heralded vacation spot for families, the inn is a shell of what it used to be, but it is on the beach in the small town of Kennewick, Maine, which is handy for the killer who drowns the first victim.

Since the list of nine is found near the body, the investigation begins, with the FBI getting involved, deeply involved since one of their own is on the list. Meanwhile, another person on the list is shot in the back. So far, investigators have learned from the listees that none of them even  know each other.

What is the connection then? Is it a perfectly random list? Is there some connecting thread all the detectives are missing? Are they looking for a crazed serial killer? Per usual, the author keeps everyone guessing before planting the twist he has come to be known for.

Peter Swanson writes novels, short stories, poetry, and features. His work has been printed in Asimov’s Science Fiction, The Atlantic Monthly, Measure, The Guardian, The Strand Magazine, and Yankee Magazine. The Girl with a Clock for a Heart, his debut novel, is still my personal favorite. Swanson lives in Somerville, Massachusetts, with his wife and their cat.

My review will be posted on Goodreads starting December 10, 2021.

I’d like to thank William Morrow and Custom House and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC in return for an objective review.

The Christie Affair by Nina de Gramont

 Does The Christie Affair by Nina de Gramont, refer to the actual affair Agatha Christie’s husband Archibald had with Nancy Neele, fictionalized as Nan O’Dea in the book, or does it refer to the 11-day disappearance of the crime novelist that she was never able to explain? Whichever, the book reimagines that famous vanishing from the point of view of the mistress.

Nancy/Nan wormed her way into the Christies’ lives by befriending both the wife and the husband, much like Pauline Pfeiffer did with Hadley and Ernest Hemingway...and in the same year, 1925. Both women became the mistress before being able to assert Mrs. before the famous last names. Agatha and Nancy met while working on a committee to design and organize a children's section of the 1925 British Empire Exhibition in Wembley.

The distress caused by Nancy/Nan’s luring away Agatha’s husband is thought to be the impetus for Agatha to disappear for 11 days, which was a mystery that fascinated readers of her work. Her husband was even a suspect in the possible murder of “the lady novelist,” who had not yet reached a high level of fame. On the other hand, Agatha spent little time on this episode of her life in her autobiography other than to call it a case of temporary amnesia.

While at times de Gramont seems to borrow from the movies and other stories about this time in Agatha’s life, the author takes the plot to where it has never gone before, hinted at in the opening line, “A long time ago in another country, I nearly killed a woman.” Not only is this work of historical fiction a look at what happened to Agatha during the time she seemed to have evaporated from her life, it is also a murder mystery with a subplot about poor pregnant unmarried girls in Ireland, what happened to their babies, and the thirst for revenge and resolution for these women.

Nina de Gramont is an associate professor of creative writing at the University of North Carolina Wilmington.  The author of a collection of short stories, Of Cats and Men, she has written three adult novels as well as several YA novels under the pen name Marina Gessner.  She lives in coastal North Carolina with her daughter and her husband, the Pushcart Prize-winning writer David Gessner.

My review will be posted on Goodreads starting November 28, 2021.

I’d like to thank St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC in return for an objective review.

The Good Son by Jacquelyn Mitchard

 “I was picking my son up at the prison gates when I spotted the mother of the girl he murdered.”

So begins The Good Son by Jacquelyn Mitchard. Thea Demetriou, a college professor, must help her son Stefan reintegrate into society after he served his time in prison for the manslaughter of Belinda McCormack, the girl he loved, while finding her own way to love and forgive him after such a heinous action. Stefan had never even had so much as a speeding ticket, had never been a rebellious teen, so how can she reconcile that with a young man who could murder his girlfriend?

One thing that softens the blow for his family is that Stefan was out of his mind on drugs that night he bashed in Belinda’s head. He does not remember one thing about this episode, but he was the only one with her, and the murder weapon is covered in his fingerprints. He took full responsibility for the murder, pleading guilty. After his release from prison where he was a model prisoner, he struggles with how to go on with his life, deal with his guilt, redeem his reputation, and find a way forward when so many doors will now be closed to him, a convicted felon.

Jill, Belinda’s mother, has found her next steps by forming an activist group against domestic abuse in their town, intimating that Belinda’s relationship with Stefan was abusive. Thea knows only a loving relationship between Stefan and Belinda who met when they were five-years-old and had been best friends ever since, which makes the murder even more puzzling. Jill has campaigned steadily the past three years against Stefan and could be the force behind some of the things happening to the family, including daily protestors, a stalker, and an ugly word painted on their garage door.

While Stefan struggles with his demons, Thea and her husband Jep must deal with the fallout. People are up in arms that this young man murdered his girlfriend and is home after time served in a five-year sentence. Thea and Jep have lived through some ugly episodes while Stefan was in prison, and now they must protect him as best they can as the situation heats up with his release.

Thea is still dealing with a worrisome caller who tells her she knows what happened the night in question as she was there. Thea tries to shrug her off as just another nutcase harassing the family, but this girl is persistent. Could she really have been there at Belinda’s when this terrible incident happened? What knowledge could she have that might help or hurt Stefan? What starts off as a story of love and redemption turns into a thriller as Thea is determined to find out what happened that night.

Jacquelyn Mitchard’s first novel, The Deep End of the Ocean, was made into a feature film produced by and starring Michelle Pfeiffer. Mitchard writes for both adult and young adult readers. The author, who grew up in Chicago, now lives in Wisconsin.

My review will be posted on Goodreads starting November 24, 2021.

I’d like to thank MIRA/Harper Collins and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC in return for an objective review.

Christmas in Peachtree Bluff by Kristy Woodson Harvey

 

Christmas in Peachtree Bluff, fourth in the series,  by Kristy Woodson Harvey continues the story of the three Murphy daughters – Caroline, Sloane, and Emerson -- and their families along with their mother Ansley’s. All have gathered for Thanksgiving in the home Ansley shares with her second husband Jack in Peachtree Bluff, Georgia. Ansley and Jack are preparing to leave on a vacation to Australia, while the other families are going to Caroline’s place in New York.

But what if Caroline’s daughter Vivi – who is going through the terrible teens made worse by the divorce of her parents – went to Australia with her grandparents? Would that give Vivi a chance to reset her anger and get a better perspective about the divorce caused by her father’s womanizing? It sure would give Caroline a break from a disrespectful, troubled daughter for a while.

Ansley and Jack are agreeable to the plan, and Vivi is delighted…right up to the moment she has a conversation with Jack that causes her to run away, just hours before they should head for Atlanta to depart for Australia. Time is of the essence as a predicted Hurricane Pearl is headed toward Peachtree Bluff, although Ansley insists it is not likely to do anything but head out to sea. However, Grandma plans and Moms Nature laughs as they must evacuate within the next couple of hours or be confined to the island.

Where could Vivi be as most everything has been boarded up on the island? How can they find her in time to evacuate Peachtree Bluff? If they cannot leave the island, how will they shelter without having provisioned for a hurricane? How will Caroline take the news that her only daughter is missing?

Readers of the series will enjoy this next episode of this strong, loving family as they pull together to resolve these complications so they can have Christmas in Peachtree Bluff.

Kristy Woodson Harvey is a North Carolina writer of contemporary fiction. She lives with her family in Beaufort. Besides this series, she writes standalone novels, and her next one, The Wedding Veil, comes out in March, 2022.

My review will be posted on Goodreads starting November 22, 2021.

I’d like to thank Gallery Books and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC in return for an objective review.

Mercy by David Baldacci

 

Mercy by David Baldacci is the long-awaited conclusion to the four-book search for FBI agent Atlee Pine’s twin sister who was kidnapped when the pair was six years old from their home in Andersonville, Georgia. Atlee does not know that her sister Mercy has survived kidnapping and torture, creating a new life for herself as Eloise Cain because she cannot recall anything but fragments of her life before the abduction 30 years ago.

On the bookshelves November 16, 2021, this thriller leads Atlee to Asheville, North Carolina, where she is on the trail of psychopath Desiree Atkins, who gave Mercy the name Rebecca and held her captive for 10 years, making her a slave in the household and abusing her with cigarette burns, knife carvings, and pin stabs before Rebecca escaped the shack in which she was imprisoned.

Atlee caught a break in her search for Mercy in Book 3 when she learned the identity of Mercy’s kidnapper, and she is on leave from her job and following that lead with her assistant Carol Blum. Meanwhile, Eloise has been surviving by her wits and brawn as she has been moving around the country taking any job she can get from truck-lift operator to security guard to a mixed martial arts challenger.

When Mercy-turned-Rebecca-turned Eloise hears on the radio that Rebecca Atkins is an FBI person of interest, Eloise begins to double down on her efforts to disappear because she fears that she will be arrested for the murder of Atkins’ husband who she knocked out while escaping her chamber of horrors. Little does Eloise know that along the way she has made another enemy who puts a plan into action to take her out because she killed his brother while defending a woman during a domestic dispute.

Those who have followed this long road to Mercy with Atlee through the three previous novels will not be able to put this volume down until they learn the outcome of Atlee’s quest to find out what happened to her sister.

David Baldacci’s debut novel, Absolute Power in 1996, became a popular movie starring Clint Eastwood. A former lawyer, Baldacci has published more than 40 novels for grownups over the last 25 years.

My review will be posted on Goodreads starting November 4, 2021.

I would like to thank Hatchette Book Group, Grand Central Publishing. and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC in return for an objective review.

 

The Magnolia Palace by Fiona Davis

 

Fiona Davis, “biographer” of famous buildings in New York City, has done it again with her latest historical fiction, The Magnolia Palace, which will be published on January 25, 2022. This time, the Frick House is front and center of the novel about the mansion that was destined to house an art museum and the mysteries that occurred there.

The storyline follows two characters on two timelines, typical of Davis’ work. Lillian Carter, a character based on a real and much sought-after model of the early 1900s who was the muse for many New York landmarks, turned to the job of the private secretary for the daughter of Henry Clay Frick, an industrialist and art patron who had the Frick House constructed and furnished with artworks with the intent of the home becoming an art museum upon his death.

Lillian became a key player in a love triangle, a missing diamond, and a possible murder before she mysteriously disappeared in 1919. Nearly 50 years later, British model Veronica Weber is on assignment in New York when she becomes trapped in the Frick House during a snowstorm that has knocked out the power.

Working with Joshua Lawrence, an archival intern who was also trapped that night, Veronica uncovers clues to a treasure hunt that leads them to one answer to the mysteries of the Frick House. An improbable encounter with the elderly Ruth Clay Frick in the museum sends the three – Ruth Veronica, and Joshua -- on the trail to solving a decades old murder and finding out what happened to Lillian.

Fiona Davis is a Canadian-born author who has developed a specialty in writing historical fiction set in famous buildings in New York City. She began her career in NYC as an actress. Upon earning a master’s at Columbia Journalism School, her writing career has embraced both journalism and fiction.

My review will be posted on Goodreads starting November 2, 2021.

I would like to thank Dutton, an imprint of Penguin Random House, and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC in return for an objective review.

 

The Last House on the Street by Diane Chamberlain

 

North Carolina author Diane Chamberlain wraps a mystery in historical fiction as she interweaves the stories of two women, Kayla Carter and Ellie Hockley, in her latest novel The Last House on the Street, hitting shelves on January 11, 2022.

Kayla is hesitating about moving into the house she and her husband designed in Shadow Ridge Estates in Round Hill, North Carolina, because he died in an accident during the construction of the home. Adding to her concern is a visit to her workplace by a strange woman who warns Kayla that she is “Thinking about killing someone.”

Down the road from Shadow Ridge, Ellie returns to her family home after decades of estrangement from her mother and brother. She fled to California in 1965 after her experience in a project to register black voters in the South led to harm for herself and others as well as opposition from her parents, her brother, her best friend, and her boyfriend.

In a small-world moment, Kayla learns that her father Reed had once been Ellie’s boyfriend. Ellie downplays that relationship as she seems to hold a grudge against Reed. What really happened to Ellie during her voter registration experience? How might Reed have been involved in Klan activity in 1965? Does the last house on the street hold the answers? A startling climax will be the impetus for some devastating revelations as well as some heartfelt healing.

Diane Chamberlain has created an intriguing story about two women who are dealing with major transitions in their lives. With a master’s degree in clinical social work from San Diego State University, Chamberlain was a hospital social worker and a psychotherapist in private practice before she turned to a writing career. Last House is her 30^th novel.

 

 

The Boys: A Memoir of Hollywood and Family by Ron Howard and Clint Howard

 

When I started to read The Boys: A Memoir of Hollywood and Family by Ron Howard and his brother Clint Howard, I couldn’t help but hear in my head “Da-da-dah, DAH-da-da-da, DAH-da-da-da,” the famous whistled theme song from “The Andy Griffith Show.”

Released October 12, 2021, this memoir chronicles their lives thus far through their upbringing by parents Jean and Rance Howard as the “boys” captivated TV viewers in Griffith’s show as well as Gentle Ben and Happy Days in the 1960s and 1970s to today’s highly successful filmmaker that Ron is and the constant character actor that Clint is.

While many child stars were crippled by the way show business treated them once they outgrew their cute kid selves, Ron and Clint claim it was their parents' solid, down-to-earth parenting that allowed them to blossom as the men they are today.

Ronny, as he was known as in the credits as a child actor, describes how Mayberry was an idealized version of Mount Airy, North Carolina, as Andy Griffith remembered it. He shares that Griffith wanted his show “to counteract Hollywood’s prevailing stereotypes of southerners” that were showcased in “The Beverly Hillbillies” and “Petticoat Junction.”

Clint tells some behind-the-scenes stories of incidents involving animals like Bruno who played the bear Gentle Ben, including practices that wouldn’t be allowed in today’s more enlightened times like removing teeth and claws.

The “boys” come clean that life was not always roses without thorns as Ron endured bullying when on hiatus from his stint as Opie when he returned to public school and dealt with some disillusionment with Hollywood when he wasn't picked up right away for another juicy part at the conclusion of his Mayberry years. Clint experienced a downfall as the “family dopehead,” saying he “spent the majority of my teenage years learning how to catch a buzz;” unfortunately his drinking and smoking led to alcoholism and drug addiction.

All in all, their story is a warm tribute to their close family and a big thank you to their late parents for not only allowing them to become child actors but also for balancing their work life with opportunities to just be children. Admirers of the work of Ron and/or Clint Howard will find time well spent with this memoir.

The Replacement Wife by Darby Kane

 What infuriates Elisa Wright the most about her brother-in-law Josh is that he has begun dating again even though his fiancée has been missing for seven months in The Replacement Wife by Darby Kane.

Josh maintains that Abby left him, practically abandoned him at the altar, but Elisa is not buying that because Abby was her friend, who would not have disappeared without a trace if she was just breaking up with Josh. Besides, Josh has one dead wife to his name. Wait, make those two dead wives, reveals Elisa’s husband Harris when he is forced to come clean about his beloved brother’s marital history.

Elisa’s feeling that Josh is a murderer is almost enough to knock her off balance when she has already had a horrible trauma in her life. Last year she witnessed the murder of her boss and was grazed by a bullet herself. She is fragile enough dealing with the post-trauma of that incident let alone being devastated about Abby’s disappearance.

Elisa’s resurging panic attacks and a strange illness cause Harris to believe that his wife is headed for a full-blown breakdown. How can he prove to his wife that Josh is not a murderer? How can he convince her to go back to her therapist for help before all of this impacts their marriage and family further?

Darby Kane is a former divorce lawyer turned author who debuted her first novel Pretty Little Wife in 2020. The Replacement Wife is due out on December 28, 2021.

Wish You Were Here by Jodi Picoult

 

When bibliographies are compiled with titles of novels about the coronavirus pandemic, Wish You Were Here by Jodi Picoult will be on that list. While most Americans were “stranded” at home, Diana O’Toole embarked on a vacation alone to the Galápagos, and now she is stranded on an island as the world shuts down.

Worse, there is scanty means for correspondence, banking, accommodations, and supplies on the island. Because she is now no longer a tourist but “one of them,” a family takes her in to their home, where she slowly develops a relationship with a troubled teen, Beatriz. In this island paradise, Diana is soon swept off her feet by Gabriel, the teen’s father. Why is she suddenly becoming unfaithful to her boyfriend of four years, surgical resident Finn Colson, who is stuck in New York attempting to save lives? Will this tropical island become her home and her future? But then a near drowning changes everything.

As usual, Jodi Picoult’s latest tale is well researched and well written as readers have come to expect. This book is a mini lesson in the flora, fauna, and history of the setting.  Known for her O. Henry-like twist at the end of her novels, she does not wait that long in this one to turn the story upside down. Her notes at the end of the book are illuminating as to her experience during the start of the pandemic, telling readers how she came out of her writing paralysis. Picoult lives with her husband in New Hampshire.

My review will be posted on Goodreads starting October 8, 2021.

I would like to thank Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC in return for an objective review.

 

 

 

The Dark Hours by Michael Connelly

 At the intersection of “defund the police” and the “coronavirus pandemic” is hardworking Los Angeles Police Detective Renée Ballard trying to solve a murder case -- maybe two of them -- as well as catching a tag-team rapist duo dubbed the Midnight Men in Michael Connelly’s latest police procedural, The Dark Hours.

Hampered by masking, social distancing, and colleagues who are just trying to “call it in” during the days until retirement or a career change, Ballard turns to her unofficial mentor, Harry Bosch, Connelly’s well-known, now retired, LAPD detective. When Ballard finds a murder book was last checked out to Bosch, she turns to him to help her connect the clues in a murder that happened on New Year’s Eve to an unsolved murder Bosch investigated while still on the force. Trouble is Bosch did not sign out the murder book although he still has his own notes to consult for recall.

While Ballard finds little help from her burned out coworkers, some of whom she does not trust, Bosch is ready to offer her backup on all three cases as he is bored sitting home avoiding the virus. Soon the two investigators start drilling down into the evidence as they attempt to solve both his cold case and her midnight murder case. As Ballard draws nearer to solving the cases, the hassle from “the Brass” about involving Bosch and other tactics finds her questioning her own future with the department. Will she have to go rogue to catch the Midnight Men?

This is the fourth Connelly book featuring Ballard, a cop who is known for her risky and unauthorized actions. However, Ballard continues to show she is a gifted and talented investigator who could be a catalyst for important change within the police department.

After Michael Connelly spent three years covering crime in Los Angeles, he wrote his first novel featuring Harry Bosch, The Black Echo, which he based partly on a true crime. Connelly was the man behind the series “Bosch” on Amazon Prime and is integral in bringing a Bosch spin-off coming to Amazon-owned IMDB streaming service.

My review will be posted on Goodreads starting October 6, 2021.

I would like to thank Little, Brown and Company, the Hatchette Book Group, and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC in return for an objective review.

 

 

The Judge’s List by John Grisham

While the FBI theorizes that most serial killers take their victims at random, The Judge’s List, the latest by master crime thriller writer John Grisham being published October 19, contains the names of all those people in his 40-some years who have wronged a judge in fictional Chavez County, Florida.

Slaying his tormentors in Tennessee, South Carolina, Georgia, North Carolina, Arkansas, Mississippi, and Florida, His Honor Ross Bannick meticulously uses gloves and may have altered his fingerprints, leaves no prints, hairs, fibers, or blood behind, and knows forensics, police procedure, and law.

So far, according to her sleuthing, Jeri Crosby, the daughter of one of Bannick’s victims, has theorized the man has taken eight lives over 23 years in seven Southern states, one of them being Florida. Because attorney Lacy Stoltz has successfully investigated one crooked judge in her job at the fictional Florida Board on Judicial Conduct (FBJC) as detailed in Grisham’s The Whistler, she becomes the recipient of all the documentation that Jeri has collected.

 

Once Crosby files a complaint with the FBJC, Stoltz and her team dishearteningly begin the investigation from their office in Tallahassee because theories are one thing, proof is another. The case hinges on proof, of which there is none, until the Mississippi investigation yields a partial thumb print. However, the investigators cannot subpoena a warrant to search unless they get the FBI to convince a federal magistrate to issue a search warrant. They cannot arrest Bannick until there is a match of prints or some other proof.

 

Stoltz and her team are a step ahead with knowing the identity of the killer judge, but how will they prove the case with no evidence? How will they stay off the judge’s list as they close in on him?

John Grisham first blew readers away with A Time to Kill, which began the path that would make him king of the modern legal thriller. He knows of what he writes having worked 60–70-hour weeks in a Mississippi law practice. The Judge’s List is Grisham at his finest.

My review will be posted on Goodreads starting September 29, 2021.

I would like to thank Doubleday Books and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC in return for an objective review.

 

The Duchess by Wendy Holden

In The Duchess by Wendy Holden, the author gives a sympathetic telling of Wallis Simpson’s life before she met the Prince of Wales up to the time of his abdication of the throne. In alternating chapters, Holden leads the reader through the pomp and circumstance of his lying-in state through his funeral. While many books give us the story of their life together, this novel bookends their life with the before the marriage and after the death of the former King.

A pitiful picture of Mrs. Simpson is fleshed out with stories of abuse and depravity at the hands of her first husband, Earl Winfield Spencer Jr. Because of the “scars” of that marriage, she never consummates her second marriage, which is to Ernest Simpson, who eventually takes a lover as his wife begins her affair with the Prince of Wales.

Furthermore, readers are revealed the nearly poor Simpsons trying to keep up with the aristocrats who finally befriend them after the prince shows favor for Wallis. In this telling, Wallis is never after the prince for herself but just taking care of him until he finds a suitable wife. She believes they can never marry as she would be twice divorced.

This story of Wallis Simpson is quite different from those that portray her as a woman with an agenda to marry a king despite her tawdry background. Even in this telling, Simpson never quite understands the negative attitude the royals, other than the Prince of Wales, display toward her.

Readers who have enjoyed such programs as the award-winning The Crown will no doubt be interested in this different telling of the life of Wallis Simpson.

Wendy Holden is a British writer who is now working on a book about the early life of Diana, Princess of Wales.

The Stolen Hours by Allen Eskens

 

Imagine a lazy Susan offering of mysteries centered in a fictional community within Hennepin County, Minnesota, in which there are recurring characters with one always being prominently featured. In the case of Allen Eskens’ latest novel, The Stolen Hours, Lila Nash is front and center dealing with the prosecution of a man who may have not only raped and attempted to murder a young woman, but who also may be tied to a series of murders that have occurred over the last half dozen years.

Gavin Spenser, a seemingly wealthy photographer, is the suspect who appears to enjoy his investigation because he has so tediously plotted his deception of the police. Once called “retarded” by his late stepfather, Spenser has left no detail exposed in covering his criminal actions, or so he thinks.

Haunted by her own victimization eight years ago, Nash is determined to trap Spenser in his web of deceit. Not only is she up against an evil defendant, but she is also thwarted in her attempts to prosecute Spenser by her new boss, a man she took down in court when she was a law student working with her teacher to solve another case a couple of years ago.

While Nash works with two police investigators to link the latest crime to prior incidents with the same modus operandi, she realizes there is a connection to her own unsolved case. When the whole prosecution of Spenser is blown up when the prime witness becomes unavailable, Nash plots a strategic but dangerous solution to bring about justice for all. Eskens’ fans will not want to miss this thriller.

I first fell for Allen Eskens’ writing with the unforgettable debut novel, The Life We Bury, which is being developed into a feature film. Eskens grew up in the hills of central Missouri. He lives with his wife in Cleveland, Minnesota, where he retired after practicing criminal law for 25 years.

My review will be posted on Goodreads starting September 17, 2021.

I would like to thank Mulholland Books and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC in return for an objective review.

 

Apples Never Fall by Liane Moriarty

 

In Apples Never Fall by Liane Moriarty, the Delaneys are a tennis family in Sydney, Australia. Meet Mom Joy, Dad Stan, and Amy, Logan Troy, and Brooke. But that was the past: Mom and Dad have since sold the business, and none of the children play competitively anymore. Instead, the adult children are balancing, how much do they tell the police about their parent’s relationship now that Joy has gone missing?

Adding to the mystery is a stranger named Savannah who had shown up on the Delaney’s doorstep months ago, and Joy and Stan had taken her in after hearing her domestic abuse story. But how much of her story is true? What are their parents thinking taking in this person?

When Joy is missing, Savannah cannot be found by the police for questioning. And because it’s “always the husband,” Stan finds himself having to defend himself. Whether the children tell the police all they know remains to be seen as is a surprising twist in the end.

Liane Moriarty, an Australian author, has seen two of her previous novels show up as televisions series: Big Little Lies and Nine Perfect Strangers. Her story-telling style seems to play well with major scripts and big stars like Reese Witherspoon and Nicole Kidman.

My review will be posted on Goodreads starting September 13, 2021.

I would like to thank Henry Holt & Company and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC in return for an objective review.

 

Once Upon a Wardrobe by Patti Callahan

 

Author Patti Callahan has long wondered about the origin of the world of Narnia of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, and she explores this curiosity in her new book, Once Upon a Wardrobe. In this novel, Callahan creates the back story by exploring the early life of the Ireland native, author C.S. Lewis.

To tell this story set in December of 1950 in Worcester, England of how Narnia came to be, Callahan has created a brother and sister, George and Megs Devonshire. Eight-year-old George has a heart condition that could end his life at any time. Megs is a student at Somerville College, part of Oxford University, where Lewis teaches. George charges Megs with finding out, “Where did Narnia come from?” From the author’s imagination is not an answer George wants to accept.

Megs starts to hang out around the author’s home in hopes of catching him long enough to find out the answer. Instead, the author’s brother invites her into their home so she can ask Lewis her important question. Soon, Megs becomes a regular visitor to the Lewis home where she is entertained with stories about the brothers’ childhoods. She shares these stories with George when she returns home to Worcester regularly instead of staying in Oxford.

Megs and George put together the pieces of the Lewis brothers’ lives shared in story-form to figure out some answers for themselves. Fans of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe as well as of Callahan’s books will be sure to add this enchanting tale to their to-be-read pile.

This is Callahan’s second book about C.S. Lewis as she wrote Becoming Mrs. Lewis in 2018 about his wife, Joy Davidman. A former pediatric nurse, Callahan is a co-creator and co-host of the weekly podcast Friends and Fiction on Facebook.  She is a full-time author, wife, and mother of three with homes in both Alabama and South Carolina.

My review will be posted on Goodreads starting August 31, 2021.

I would like to thank Harper Muse, an imprint of HarperCollins Focus LLC, and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC in return for an objective review.

 

His Loving Wife by Miranda Smith

 

His Loving Wife by Miranda Smith should come with a warning: Reader, do not start unless you have the time to read it to the very end because this thriller begs no interruptions! The novel will be out October 4, 2021.

Kate Brooks grew up in the mountains of North Carolina but nothing in her upraising prepared her for a home invasion. The plot is boosted forward as Kate and her husband Andrew and children Willow and Noah are attempting to heal from that trauma months ago by renting a vacation home on the ocean.

Even though she tries, Kate cannot relax because she sees her intruder everywhere. Worse, she knows him, a guy named Paul who she dated in college. He’s out now on bail, and Kate is afraid for herself and her family. But even in jail, Paul is still reaching out, still threatening her. How is he able to do that? Who is helping him? This reader stayed up until the wee hours to find out those answers.

This psychological thriller is recommended to those readers who enjoyed novels like Gone Girl and The Girl on the Train.

Miranda Smith has worked as a staff writer at a local newspaper and as a high school English teacher. She writes domestic and psychological suspense books about complicated women, dark impulses, and Southern settings. She lives in East Tennessee with her husband and three children. Her other books include Not My Mother, The One Before, What I Know, and Some Days are Dark.

My review will be posted on Goodreads starting August 31, 2021.

I would like to thank Bookouture and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC in return for an objective review.

 

The Book of Magic by Alice Hoffman

 Readers who have been under the spell of the Owens family of the Practical Magic series are in luck as Alice Hoffman is bewitching readers with the final book in the series, The Book of Magic.

In her 2020 novel Magic Lessons, she outlined the centuries-old curse on the family to its source by telling the story of Maria Owens, the matriarch of the line.  The curse is on love and has continued for 300 years, but Jet Owens is about to spell out an action that will undo it as she faces her last seven days on earth.

Jet confides in her sister Franny about the deathwatch beetle now shadowing Jet. In the meantime, an accident has caused the love of one of their great-niece’s to be in a coma, an obvious playing out of the curse. Jet has left Franny a note about a book Jet found hidden in the library that will break the curse, but the book and the note have fallen into the hands of great-niece Kylie Owens by accident.

Sally, Kylie and Antonia’s mother, has long protected her daughters from the truth about their family. When she learns Kylie has fled to Europe to find out more information as she looks for a way to end the curse to save her boyfriend Gideon’s life, Sally, her sister Gillian, Aunt Franny, and Franny’s long-lost brother Vincent head first to Paris and then London to rescue Kylie from things she does not understand and help her undo the curse.

Unfortunately, reversing the 300-year-old curse will require a sacrifice: a life for a life. The path to freeing the Owens from the curse is tangled as the group enlists a professor/writer to help find Kylie in England, the home of Maria Owens three centuries ago.

Alice Hoffman has written these final two books as a response to her readers who thirsted for more. “My readers sent me back to the world of Practical Magic,” she said in an interview in the Library Journal. “I had so many letters and messages asking for more, and after writing The Rules of Magic, which takes place in the 60s and 70s, I decided to go all the way back, to the original Owens ancestor, Maria Owens. I’m always interested in how the past influences the present, who the ghosts in the nursery are, who has influenced us, even if we never knew them.” In addition to the Practical Magic series and other novels, she writes short stories. Born in New York, Hoffman lives in Boston.

My review will be posted on Goodreads starting August 20, 2021.

I would like to thank Simon & Schuster and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC in return for an objective review.

The Santa Suit by Mary Kay Andrews

 

In Mary Kay Andrews’ novella, The Santa Suit, Ivy Perkins is looking for a fresh start after a divorce from a cheating husband…and best friend. In her mind’s eye, she pictures an old, white farmhouse will be the foundation to her new beginning. She buys such after seeing it, The Four Roses, on the Internet. It’s more rundown than the photo indicates, but Ivy is up for the challenge, starting with painting some rooms.

Her friendly neighborhood realtor, Ezra, is always willing to lend a hand, and before long, he has a crush on Ivy, who does her best to discourage him…for a while.

When clearing out the closet, she discovers an old Santa suit that the previous owner used to don to entertain the children during the small North Carolina town’s Christmas stroll. Ivy finds a note in a pocket of the old suit from a little girl wanting Santa to bring her father home from Viet Nam for Christmas. Intrigued, Ivy begins to ask around town about the little girl, and while on this mission, she starts making friends.

Just in time for the holidays, The Santa Suit will warm hearts as Ivy warms hers and untangles the mystery of the little girl’s note to Santa.

Mary Kay Andrews, the Queen of Summer Reads, has provided readers with a holiday novella. Andrews, a pseudonym for Kathy Hogan Trocheck, is one of the authors I follow faithfully. A former journalist, she is based in Atlanta with her own hideaway on Tybee Island.

My review will be posted on Goodreads starting July 27, 2021.

I would like to thank St. Martin's Publishing Group and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC in return for an objective review.

 

When Ghosts Come Home by Wiley Cash

 

When Ghosts Come Home by Wiley Cash is a page-turner of a novel. One night in October of 1984, Sheriff Winston Barnes and his wife are startled from their sleep by what sounds like a low-flying plane at a nearby airfield. When he goes to investigate, he finds a large airplane sitting sideways on the runway with no crew or cargo as well as a local man lying dead in the grass near the plane.

On this coastal island of North Carolina, rumors begin to fly as the sheriff investigates the mystery of the plane and the murder. Because the dead man is the son of a local civil rights leader, unresolved race relations heat up in the town.  The widow’s home is attacked by a mob with the Confederate flag flying that throws something through a window and threatens the life of her brother. The civil rights leader demands more from the sheriff than he can deliver legally.

On the home front, the sheriff’s wife is battling cancer, and their grown daughter has returned home after the death of her child. The sheriff is up for re-election within a week, and the support for the office seems to be behind his opposing candidate, Brad Frye, a known bigot, with even Barnes’ deputies showing divided loyalty. The sheriff really needs to bring this investigation to a satisfying resolution if he has any hope of retaining the office.

Complicating the investigation is the arrival of the FBI, ready to take over the case. With all resources stretched to the limit, Sheriff Barnes must balance work and home and keep the racial tensions from erupting while figuring out the right thing to do as all the pieces come together in this tension-filled narrative.

Wiley Cash teaches fiction writing and literature at the University of North Carolina-Asheville, where he serves as Alumni Author-in-Residence. The best-selling author of The Last Ballad, A Land More Kind than Home, and This Dark Road to Mercy, he lives in North Carolina with his wife and daughters.  

My review will be posted on Goodreads starting July 26, 2021.

I would like to thank William Morrow and Custom House and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC in return for an objective review.