May 8, 2020

Sunday Salon: Three Reviews

I have finished three paper books recently, very different from each other but enjoyable in their own way. 


Five Days
Five Days by Douglas Kennedy, April 2012, Atria Books
Genre: contemporary fiction, romance, family drama

Laura and Richard are both in unsatisfactory marriages and they also have troubled sons going through personality and personal crises. When the two both visit Boston for five days for a conference and for business, they meet while at the same hotel and romantic sparks begin to fly as they discover how alike they are.

Laura and Richard reveal their secrets  to each other - their pasts, their unhappy present, and what they envision their future to be. We wait to see how this will unfold.

The romantic and the realistic come together as the novel focuses on these two personalities, how they handle the limits they have put on themselves, and their wish to change their lives.
I rated this four stars.



Singapore Sapphire (Harriet Gordon Mystery #1)
Singapore Sapphire by A.M. Stuart, a Harriet Gordon Mystery, August 2019, Berkley
Genre: historical fiction, mystery

The first in an historical mystery series set in early 20th century Singapore.

Harriet Gordon arrives in Singapore from England in 1910 to join her headmaster brother Julian after leaving England in disgrace, having served time in jail as an arrested suffragette. 
She gets a job as a typist with Sir Oswald Newbold, an explorer, who is writing his memoirs. When Harriet finds Sir Oswald murdered and his manuscript missing, she becomes involved in solving the crime, working with Inspector Robert Curran.

The investigation centers around people connected to a Burmese exploratory trip  and the Hotel Van Wijk, whose missing employee is also murdered.

Historically interesting for  atmosphere, setting, and time, the novel is a kind of police procedural in colonial Singapore.
I gave this five stars.


A Good Marriage
A Good Marriage by Kimberly McCreight, May 5, 2020, Harper
Genre: mystery, legal thriller, family drama 

A corporate lawyer is coerced into defending a former law school classmate, who has been accused of the murder of his wife. The plot involves other couples in an upper scale community in Brooklyn, couples who are connected through their children's local school.

The novel looks at four different families in total, each with their own dynamic. Two of the families seem ideal, but the couples are interconnected in more ways than being parents of children in the same school.

The solution to the mystery murder comes as a surprise. A good story is revealed slowly through the eyes of the women in the families, including the point of view of the murder victim. An unusual and entertaining family mystery and legal thriller.  I gave this five stars.


Thanks to the publishers for the above galleys for an objective review


Current ebooks:

Good Dogs Don't Make It to the South Pole

Good Dogs Don't Make It to the South Pole 



The Florios of Sicily

The Florios of Sicily

The Night Bird (Frost Easton, #1)

The Night Bird


Reading from my shelves:

The Silent Dead (Reiko Himekawa, #1)
The Silent Dead by Tetsuya Honda, May 2016, Minotaur Books
Genre: thriller, police procedural, crime fiction
Setting: Tokyo

Reiko, age 29, is a lieutenant in the Tokyo police force, handling a bizarre set of murders, and being a target of the killer as well.

What are you reading this week?

Memes: The Sunday Post hosted by The Caffeinated Bookreviewer. Also,  It's Monday: What Are You Readingand Sunday Salon

7 comments:

  1. Your books are a nice variety, aren't they? I seem to do best these days when I read stories about people in terrible predicaments. It makes the troubles we are facing seem a little easier to deal with, somehow.

    I hope you enjoy all your new books, and I hope you have a good week.

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  2. I've seen A Good Marriage a lot and it sounds like a great read. The cover of Singapore Sapphire is gorgeous, I may read it just for the cover. Have a great week of reading.

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  3. Nice variety of books. I liked Singapore Sapphire when I read a review copy. Come see my week here. Happy reading!

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  4. So many good books it is going to be hard to choose which to read first.

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  5. I’d like to read the Reiko Himekawa series, hopefully they will translate more.

    Wishing you a great reading week, stay well x

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  6. I recently downloaded A Good Marriage, and can't wait to read it! Enjoy your week.

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  7. Ooo, I want to try The Silent Dead. Happy reading.

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I appreciate your comments and thoughts...

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