Arrived in the mailbox
Publication; March 5, 2024; Soho Crime ARC
The sole witness at a crime scene speaks only English, and ex-NYPD detective turned amateur chef Nico Doyle is summoned by the local carabinieri to help. Setting in Gravigna, Italy.
I've read two of the three previous books in the series: Murder on the Vine and A Bitter Taste of Murder. Loved the Tuscan countryside, characters, and food.
Currently reading:
The Nature of Disappearing by Kimi Cunningham Grant, Publication: June 18, 2024; Minotaur, NetGalley
The title of the book caught my attention. A wilderness guide in Idaho teams up with an ex to find their missing/disappeared friend who had been on a mountain trek with her boyfriend.
Enjoying the writing, nature setting, and the character of tracker Emlyn, This suspense story is moving along very well so far.
See my review
Next on my reading list
A follow up novel to Days at the Morisaki Bookshop, to be released July 2, 2024, Harper Perennial, NetGalley
I have been enjoying several Japanese contemporary novels set in and around bookshops.
Description: Satoru, with Takako’s help, must choose whether to keep the bookshop open or shutter its doors forever. Making the decision will take uncle and niece on an emotional journey back to their family’s roots and remind them again what a bookstore can mean to an individual, a neighborhood, and a whole culture.
And now for something completely different:
Butter: A Novel of Food and Murder by Asako Yuzuki, publication April 16, 2024; Ecco, NetGalley
The cult Japanese bestseller about a female gourmet cook and serial killer and the journalist intent on cracking her case, inspired by a true story. I'm as interested in her food as I am in why she offs her diners.
Gourmet cook Manako Kajii sits in the Tokyo Detention House convicted of the serial murders of lonely businessmen, whom she is said to have seduced with her delicious home cooking. Kajii refuses to speak with the press, until journalist Rika Machida writes a letter asking for her recipe for beef stew, and Kajii can’t resist writing back. Inspired by the real case of a convicted con woman and serial killer—the “Konkatsu Killer”—Asako Yuzuki’s Butter is a vivid, unsettling exploration of misogyny, obsession, romance, and the transgressive pleasures of food in Japan.
What are you reading this week?
Memes: The Sunday Post hosted by The Caffeinated Bookreviewer. Also, It's Monday: What Are You Reading, and Sunday Salon, Stacking the Shelves, Mailbox Monday
