Reviews

Alyssa Maxwell: Murder at the Elms

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Gilded Newport #11

Murder at the Elms is the eleventh book in Alyssa Maxwell’s Gilded Newport series, featuring intrepid newspaper reporter Emma Cross, who solves mysteries among Newport’s elite.  Emma is a poor relation of the Vanderbilts, so she is intimately familiar with the high society of Newport, while at the same time having sympathy for the working class.  This is the first book I had read in the series, so I don’t know the details of Emma’s life and upbringing, but from the hints that are given in this novel, it sounds like her branch of the family fell on hard times, and she grew up in an area of Newport that was relatively far from the Gilded Age mansions.  When this book begins, in 1901, she is newly married to newspaper heir Derrick Andrews, and together they own the Newport Messenger.  From what I gather, Derrick’s family objected to his marrying her, I assume because she was a poor relation.  But at the same time some of the working-class people among whom she grew up have rejected her because of her wealthy relations.  So, Emma has a foot in both worlds, without really feeling a part of either. read more

Kirsty Manning: The Paris Mystery

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Charlotte James #1

Following a massive upheaval in her life, Charlotte “Charlie” James moves to 1938 Paris to take a new job at The Times as a correspondent. Kirsty Manning’s debut novel, The Paris Mystery, follows Charlie as she gets settled in the city of love. With help from her new glamorous friend, the paper’s receptionist Violet, Charlie puts on a glittering dress and sets out to make friends with Lady Eleanor Ashworth.

Lady Ashworth is a philanthropic, wealthy woman, whose main interest is in making things beautiful. She and her husband, Lord Ashworth, a British blueblood, run with a crowd of the French elite, including military men, designers, and financiers. Charlie’s first assignment is covering one of Lady Ashworth’s lavish parties, a circus themed affair for the cream of society. But things don’t go as planned, and a rich but unpleasant investor turns up dead. read more

September Book Club: A is for Alibi

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We’ve been reading classics for book club lately, recently checking out Robert B. Parker’s The Godwulf Manuscript and Tony Hillerman’s Dance Hall of the Dead.  On Sunday, September 17 at 2 p.m. we’ll meet in person, and on Wednesday, September 20 at 7 p.m. we’ll meet on zoom.  Message us on facebook or twitter for a zoom link, or email us at store (at) auntagathas.com.  We’ll be reading Sue Grafton’s groundbreaking and beloved classic, A is for Alibi, published in 1982.  Contemporary review from Kirkus: read more

Rhys Bowen: The Paris Assignment

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Rhys Bowen is one of the best in the biz when it comes to narrative – I think her closest peer may be Harlan Coben.  With both writers, picking up one of their books means you will be subsumed by exquisite storytelling that’s impossible to look away from. Rhys Bowen trends more toward historical fiction rather than Coben’s domestic suspense model, so if that’s your jam, you can’t go wrong nabbing a copy of her latest book, The Paris Assignment.

The story begins in 1931 Paris, when young Sorbonne students Madeline Grant and Giles Martin meet.  Madeline is shy and sheltered, and Giles, the son of French nobility, is at home in Paris.  Madeline, at the Sorbonne for a semester away from her English college, hadn’t even dared to leave her hostel when Giles scoops her up and introduces her to the world of coffee shops, politics, friends, and fine food.  Well, you may guess where this is going – it’s 1931, but – it’s Paris! – and before long Madeline is pregnant.  Giles marries her, despite being disowned by his family, and the only support they have left is Madeline’s elderly French aunt. read more

Jessica Ellicott: Murder at a London Finishing School

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Beryl & Edwina #7

Jessica Ellicott’s seventh book in her Beryl and Edwina post WWI series, Murder at a London Finishing School, takes the titular heroines on a tour of their past. Both attended Miss Dupont’s Finishing school – it’s where they met – but neither had the best time of their lives there. Daring Beryl was far from suited to the stuffy conventions of the place, and shy Edwina was often homesick. The two were pretty unlikely to ever attend a reunion, pay a nostalgic visit, or, as neither have children, send a daughter of their own to the school. read more

Darci Hannah: Murder at the Pumpkin Pageant

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Beacon Bakeshop #4

For those of us who prefer the cooler autumn months, picking up a copy of Murder at the Pumpkin Pageant by Darci Hannah is a good way to put the summer on pause. This is the fourth book of her Beacon Bakeshop Mystery series. It takes place during Halloween, and  baker and amateur sleuth Lindsey Bakewell has the pumpkin spice everything in full swing. Her bakery is inside the local old lighthouse in Beacon Harbor, Michigan. While it had to undergo many renovations to be bake-shop ready, the biggest trademark of the lighthouse remains: the ghost of the late lighthouse keeper Captain Willy Riggs. Everyone in town knows Captain Riggs haunts the lighthouse, and even creates “ghost lights” that seem to always harbinger some fatal danger. While Lindsey is a firm believer in her ghostly roommate, she is not so keen on the town seeing her bakery as a local haunted hot spot. read more

Lee Hollis: Death of a Clam Digger

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Hayley Powell #16

Who could have expected to find the next take on Romeo and Juliet to be found in Death of a Clam Digger by Lee Hollis? Two families, the Leightons and the Barns, have been in a business-based war for years. In fact, the book opens with a massive fight between the two matriarchs of each family on the shoreline. Both the Barns and the Leighton families provide seafood staples to local restaurants, including our heroine Hayley Powell’s. Her own establishment is conveniently called Haley’s Kitchen and is a favorite town hangout, beloved by locals and tourists alike. She gets her seafood from her best friend Mona Barns, and her establishment is a favorite of the patriarch of the Leighton family Lonnie Leighton. read more

Ellery Adams: Murder in the Book Lover’s Loft

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Book Retreat #9

Murder in the Book Lover’s Loft by Ellery Adams is the dramatic story of Jane Steward on another adventure, and this time it takes her to the North Carolina coast. The trip is to be a romantic and relaxing getaway for her and her fiancé Edwin, as well as give them a chance to visit longtime friend Olivia in her home town. It also will allow Jane to take a break from the secret library that she is in charge of protecting, along with her team at Storyton Hall. However, things don’t exactly go as planned. read more

Vicki Delany: Steeped in Malice

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Tea by the Sea #4

Steeped in Malice opens with Lilly Roberts on a mission to get her tea house, Tea by the Sea, some additional tea cups and saucer sets from a local antique sale. A Peter Rabbit themed tea set in a wicker basket causes her to bring home a lot more than she bargained for. Specifically, it causes a very irate and rude woman named Kimberly to come storming into her place of business, demanding to buy the basket and tea set back, and oddly enough she seems primarily interested in the basket. After much harassment, Lilly finally decides that surrendering the basket would be less trouble in the long run. When she does, however, Kimberly doesn’t take it, instead extracting an envelope from its lining and leaving. read more

Naomi Hirahara: Evergreen

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Japantown #2

The follow up to Hirahara’s spectacular Clark and Division finds the Ito family, released from detention camp and the follow up resettlement in Chicago, back in 1946 Los Angeles.  After the Japanese were sent to camps, their homes and businesses were taken over, and they’ve returned to try and build up their lives again.  Our heroine, Aki, works as a nurse’s aide and is waiting for her husband Art to return from the war.  She and her parents have found a small home to rent which the two couples will share. read more