Little Bandaged Days
Little Bandaged Days is the story of a mother’s slow descent into madness. The inevitability of the conclusion just fills the reader with dread throughout the entire book. The mother had issues after her first daughter’s birth. “I didn’t have a job, not anymore. Afterwards, after E was born, afterContinue Reading
Hot Stew
Hmmm…Hot Stew is the perfect title for this book. It has two completely different plots that are rubbing uncomfortably together like too tight shoes on bare feet. The first story is a brothel that is fighting gentrification in Soho, London. I liked the strong female prostitutes. There were no victimsContinue Reading
Creative Crochet Projects
There are twelve Creative Crochet Projects included in this book. They range from practical scarves, cowls and beanies to a whimsical owl wrap. However, the six kid’s projects are the most amusing. Two mufflers convert into hamburgers and hot dogs. A swarm of bees fly over your sleeping baby. EverythingContinue Reading
The Perfect Daughter
Four-year-old Penny is found alone in a park by Grace. Grace feels a connection to Penny and eventually adopts her. She appears to be The Perfect Daughter to join Grace’s family of her husband and two older boys. But something is different with Penny, who is ultimately diagnosed with DissociativeContinue Reading
The Last Thing to Burn
In The Last Thing to Burn, Thanh Dao and her sister Kim-Ly are smuggled into the UK by shipping container from Vietnam. They promised before leaving to pay off their transportation costs over ten years. After that, they would both be free of work obligations. However, after a couple ofContinue Reading
The Kindred Spirits Supper Club
In The Kindred Spirits Supper Club, Sabrina has an unusual talent—she can see ghosts. Luckily, it only occurs in her hometown in the Wisconsin Dells. Unfortunately, after being fired from her Washington D.C. journalism job, she is forced to move back in with her parents. However, things are looking upContinue Reading
When a Stranger Comes to Town
When a Stranger Comes to Town nothing good happens, at least in these nineteen varied tales. The book has many familiar names among its authors. Michael Connelly, Joe R. Lansdale, Lisa Unger, Michael Koryta. Alafair Burke and Joe Hill are some of the best known. As with all short storyContinue Reading
Knitted and Knifed Review and Giveaway
My Review In Knitted and Knifed, Tessa is recovering from a painful divorce by moving back to her New Zealand hometown. She is running her recently deceased grandmother’s yarn shop. When she finds the town’s new pop-up shop owner dead with a knife in his back, her brother, who isContinue Reading
Jackpot
Who hasn’t wondered how it would feel to hit the Jackpot? Whether through the lottery or stock options, with great wealth comes great responsibility (or anguish according to this book). The rich, it turns out, really are different… but not necessarily happier. Jackpot investigates every aspect of what great wealthContinue Reading
Autopsy
Autopsy describes “Life in the trenches with a forensic pathologist in Africa”. It is surprisingly boring. However, I can see its usefulness to mystery writers. The author describes both the best and the worst ways to die. There are also some ways that I had never heard about before. BellyContinue Reading
The Sign of Death
Lady Amy and Lord William are back in The Sign of Death, the second book in the Victorian Book Club cozy mystery series. It’s 1891 and William’s man of business is dead. Of course, the bumbling police zone in on William as their number one suspect. So, mystery book authorContinue Reading
The Good Sister
Rose has always been The Good Sister, covering up the difficulties caused by her twin sister, Fern. Fern is grateful. So, Fern decides to give her sister the one thing she can’t make herself—a baby. Fern is not “neuronormal”. She is upset by loud noises, colorful environments, and strong smells.Continue Reading
At Any Cost
How can you and your children escape your abusive husband who appears increasingly unhinged? Unfortunately for Shele, the answer was being bludgeoned to death in her own bathtub. Shele had tried everything legally possible to escape At Any Cost. Nothing worked in this harrowing true crime tale. Shele’s story isContinue Reading
Hollywood Eden
From Dawn to Dusk of the 1960s, Hollywood Eden details the stories of famous California beach bands like Jan and Dean and The Mamas and the Papas. It includes their optimistic beginnings through their worst moments. Not exactly California Dreamin’ by the end. Hollywood Eden is a well-researched look backContinue Reading
Deadly Editions
Deadly Editions is another great addition to the Scottish Bookshop cozy mystery series. This time Delaney is on a scavenger hunt for a signed first edition of The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. The prize? A bibliophile’s entire book collection in her will. The challenge? A serialContinue Reading
Hillbilly Epicurean
Well, that was different (in a mostly good way)! Hillbilly Epicurean is set in a bizarre governmental agency, the Chimerical Research Division. The Division looks for anomalous occurrences in reading materials both non-fiction and fictional. Denver, an entitled rich boy, is forced to work for the Division by his fatherContinue Reading