Month: December 2019

Emily Littlejohn: Shatter the Night

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I am smitten with this series, now four books in.  Slight spoiler:  Detective Gemma Monroe is planning her wedding to Brody, father of baby Grace.  This is more or less background, however, as Gemma deals with a car bombing that takes place in the first chapter.  Set during Halloween, this novel is atmospheric and embraces the fear inherent in Halloween, rather than the cute ghostie trick or treating aspect of this now huge holiday.  Littlejohn goes back to the root: scary things that go bump in the night.  In this case, literally, an explosion. read more

Snowy Mysteries: Enjoy the Season

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A list of snowy mysteries to help you enjoy the winter….

The SnowmanFirst up, of course, Jo Nesbo’s creepy The Snowman (2010), finds Inspector Harry Hole chasing down someone who buries bodies inside snowmen.  You may never, ever look at a snowman the same way again.  Ignore the bad movie – pick up this great read and be completely immersed.

Camilla Lackburg’s The Ice Princess (2008) finds writer Erica returning to her tiny Swedish hometown when a friend is found dead and frozen in his bathtub, wrists slashed.  To process what has happened, she begins a memoir, and finds herself solving a crime.  Atmospheric, full of well drawn characters, and yes, creepy as all heck. read more

Book Club read: The Stranger Diaries

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Our next book club will meet on Thursday, January 16, 6 p.m. at the Grand Traverse Pie Company, 291 N. Zeeb Rd.  We’ll be disussing Elly Griffiths’ stand alone, The Stranger Diaries, a gothic style ghost story set in present day Britain on the grounds of a slightly creepy old school.  Griffiths introduces three strong female characters who share narrative duties.  Clever, hard to put down & beautifully written.  Purchase a copy on the website here. In February, we’ll be reading The Life We Bury by Alan Eskens, date to be announced.  All are welcome at book club! read more

Tasha Alexander: In the Shadow of Vesuvius

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This novel is available January 7, 2020.  You can pre-order it on this website.

There’s always a moment in a Tasha Alexander book where I give a little yip of joy.  Be it a ghost ballerina or a lovingly described Worth dress (there’s a beauty in this book), in this outing, it was the body hidden in plain sight amongst all the others in Pompeii.  When a fresher corpse is noticed by Lady Emily and her husband as having the wrong sideburns and the discovery was made, I could not have been happier. read more

If you liked Knives Out….

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If you enjoyed the new film Knives Out, and are craving a bit more fun, check out some of these great titles that have a similar dysfunctional family stuck in a big house vibe, often with a sidebar of humor or satire (or both).

A Fatal Winter, G.M. Malliet.  In Malliet’s second novel, the delicious sleuthing vicar, Max Tudor, is dispatched to the home of Lord Footrustle to assist with funeral arrangements, but by virtue of a snowstorm, gets stuck in the middle of a dysfunctional family, all of whom seem to have had a reason for desiring the death of their patriarch.  And it’s all the dead man’s fault, really, as the lonely Lord had invited his far flung family members to join him for Christmas.  While this novel was written in 2012, it hews closely to the golden age parameters established so long ago, and so enjoyably, by Agatha Christie. While definitely tongue in cheek, Malliet breaths true life into her characters and her stories are wickedly clever. read more

Darcie Wilde: And Dangerous to Know

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This review comes to us courtesy of long time Aunt Agatha’s book club member and friend, Vicki Kondelik.  This novel will be published on December 31, 2019 and is available for pre-order.

And Dangerous to Know is the third in a series by Darcie Wilde (a pseudonym for Sarah Zettel) set in Regency England and featuring Rosalind Thorne, a gentlewoman living in reduced circumstances after her father abandoned his family because he was heavily in debt.  I have not read the previous two, but this book made me want to go back and read them.  It stands on its own very well, and I was able to gather all the information I needed about Rosalind’s background. read more