Just finished
The Last Days of Kira Mullan, by Nicci French. March 2025, William Morrow, NetGalley
Chef and restaurant owner Nancy North had a psychotic breakdown that has her at the mercy of her boyfriend, Felix, who is determined to run all aspects of her life from then on. No one believes her when she insists that downstairs neighbor Kira was murdered and had not committed suicide as ruled by the police.
I liked all aspects of the personality and character of Nancy, who fights for her independence and for her mental health, at the same time determined to see that Kira's death is seen for what it is. Together with detective Maud, the female investigator who is overlooked in her department, the two women dominate the story as two people who become friends, both fighting for their rights to be heard and to be given their due in their respective lives.
The ending is realistic, especially for Maud, whose outcome was nevertheless a bit disappointing for me. Overall, another good psychological mystery by Nicci French.
Reading about Vietnamese families
The Family Recipe by Carolyn Huynh, April 1, 2025, Atria Books, NetGalle
Genre: family drama, Vietnamese
Description: "a family dramedy about estranged siblings competing to inherit their father's Vietnamese sandwich franchise and unravel family mysteries. These mysteries begin to unravel along the way as they learn the real intention behind the inheritance scheme."
I read the previous book by the author, The Fortunes of Jaded Women, about a group of Vietnamese women whose personalities it was hard to believe at the time. But since the author is from the Vietnamese community, there must be some truth to the portrayals, however humorous.
Description: "a family of estranged Vietnamese women who experiences mishaps and unexpected joy after a psychic makes a startling prediction about their lives.
It started with their ancestor, Oanh, who dared to leave her marriage for true love—so a fearsome Vietnamese witch cursed Oanh and her descendants so that they would never find love or happiness, and the Duong women would give birth to daughters, never sons."
A humorous novel of family superstitions and family matters.
Forgot to mention, after reading books in French, I'm now reading books in Spanish - all on my Kindle of course, with its built in dictionary aids. I took only high school Spanish, but my first attempt at reading a long novel in Spanish is going pretty well.
El Amante Japones (The Japanese Lover) by Isabel Allende, May 2015.
Language: Castilian Spanish
What are you reading/watching this week?
