The Child by Fiona Barton: Review

The Child by Fiona Barton, June 27, 2017, Berkley

Genre: psychological thriller, suspense

The Child by Fiona Barton

Book description: 

"As an old house is demolished in a gentrifying section of London, a workman discovers a tiny skeleton, buried for years. For journalist Kate Waters, it s a story that deserves attention. She cobbles together a piece for her newspaper, but at a loss for answers, she can only pose a question: Who is the Building Site Baby?  As Kate investigates, she unearths connections to a crime that rocked the city decades earlier." (publisher)

Book beginning:

Emma

March 20, 2012

My computer is winking at me knowingly when I sit down at my desk. I touch the keyboard, and a photo of Paul appears on my screen. It's the one I took of him on our honeymoon, eyes full of love across a table in the Campo Dei Fiori. I try to smile back at him but as I lean in, I catch a glimpse of my reflection in the screen and stop. I hate seeing myself without warning. Don't recognize myself sometimes. You think you know what you look like and there is this stranger looking at you. It can frighten me.

My comments: 
I read and enjoyed the author's previous novel, The Widow, which was almost a purely psychological study in the setting of a mystery. The Child is more plot centered, with an intriguing twist at the end. The action however was a bit slow for a suspense novel and it did not have the fiercely character-driven aspect of The Widow.

I enjoyed it however, and can recommend both books, both as stand-alone novels.

Page 56:
She had already looked at the messages on her phone, but she hoped that in the ten minutes since she'd last glanced at them, there'd have been some reaction to the baby story.

Memes: The Friday 56. Grab a book, turn to page 56 or 56% of your eReader. Find any sentence that grabs you. Post it, and add your URL post in Linky at Freda's Voice. Also visit Book Beginning at Rose City Reader.

Thanks to the publisher for a review copy of this book. 

Sunday Salon: On the Cozy Side

Visit The Sunday Post hosted by The Caffeinated Bookreviewer. Also visit It's Monday, What Are You Reading? hosted by Book Date , and Stacking the Shelves by Tynga's Reviews..

After four days of rain, today was gloriously sunny and pleasantly cool. I even spent dusk and early evening in the yard, and happily there were no mosquitoes to ruin the evening!

A few new cozy mysteries on the shelf:

On Her Majesty's Frightfully Secret Service by Rhys Bowen, August 1, 2017, Berkley Books

Wrong Side of the Paw by Laurie Cass, July 27, 2017, Berkley

Dressed to Confess by Diane Vallere, August 1, 2017, Berkley

Chime and Punishment: A Clock Shop Mystery by Julianne Holmes, August 1, 2017, Berkley

I am still reading Skeleton God by Eliot Pattison and The Bookshop at Water's End by Patti Callahan Henry and have a few ebooks as well on my reader.

After downsizing by giving many boxes of books to charity and friends, I now have book shelf to spare, thank heavens.

How is your summer?

Wilde Lake by Laura Lippman: Book Beginning

Memes: The Friday 56. Grab a book, turn to page 56 or 56% of your eReader. Find any sentence that grabs you. Post it, and add your URL post in Linky at Freda's Voice. Also visit Book Beginning at Rose City Reader.

Wilde Lake by Laura Lippman, February 14, 2017, William Morrow, a modern day twist of To Kill a Mockingbird. 

Book beginning:
When my brother was eighteen, he broke his arm in an accident that ended in another young man's death. I wish I could tell you that we mourned the boy who died, but we did not. He was the one with murder in his heart and, sure enough, death found him that night. Funny how that works. 

It happened at the lake. Wilde Lake....

Page 56:
Summer, usually our dullest season, flew after we met Noel. 

I plan to read the book late summer, when this takes place! By the way, it's on Stephen King's list of books to read this summer! See his list of new book recommendations. 

The Bookshop at Water's End by Patti Callahan Henry: Book Feature

The Bookshop at Water's End by Patti Callahan Henry, July 11, 2017, Berkley
Genre: contemporary, women's fiction

Description: The women who spent their childhood summers in a small southern town discover it harbors secrets as lush as the marshes that surround it...

Bonny Blankenship's most treasured memories are of idyllic summers spent in Water's End, South Carolina, with her best friend, Lainey McKay. Until the night that Lainey's mother disappeared.

Now, in her early fifties, Bonny is desperate to clear her head after a tragic mistake threatens her career and her marriage crumbles. With her troubled teenage daughter, Piper, in tow, she goes back to the beloved river house, soon joined by Lainey and her two young children. They reunite with bookshop owner Mimi, who is tangled with the past and its mysteries. As the three women cling to a fragile peace, buried secrets and long ago loves return like the tide. (Goodreads)

My take: A book for summer -  an idyllic setting, with mysteries from the past to unravel and problems of the present to resolve. 

Sunday Salon: Downsizing

Thanks to Meryl Zegarek and Rachel Hundert for a review copy of Salt Creek, a debut novel by Lucy Treloar, published February 28, 2017 by Picador Australia. This is an historical novel about the Finch family who move from Adelaide, Australia during hard times to a remote part of the South Australian coast. The award-winning book covers "colonialism, race relations, social expectations on women, love, family, and duty."

My recent five-star reads, ebooks in different genres:

Behold the Dreamers by Imbolo Mbue, August 23, 2016, Random House. A novel of a Cameroon immigrant family to Harlem and their search for a place to call home. See my goodreads comments/review.

The Runaway Wife by Elizabeth Birklund, a dreamy tale of a runaway wife, told in poetic language and set in a magical and often dangerous place, the high, rocky Swiss Alps in autumn-winter. 

Woof and Arf, two Bowser and Birdie novels by Spencer Quinn, feature an 11-year-old girl and her dog Bowser who have adventures while solving mysteries in the swampy lands of Louisiana. 

I am now reading a lucky find at the library:

Skeleton God by Eliot Pattison is the 9th in the Inspector Shan mystery series set in remote Tibet. It depicts Tibetans under Chinese rule, the cultural and political clashes that can occur, and also has an intriguing murder mystery plot. Unusual places and circumstances. 

I have been giving dozens of my books to charity and a box of them to my neighbor! I am trying to downsize without feeling as if I am giving away my most cherished possessions.  

The weather is wonderful today, but we are prepping for four days of storms next week! 

What are you reading this week?

Visit The Sunday Post hosted by The Caffeinated Bookreviewer. Also visit It's Monday, What Are You Reading? hosted by Book Date 

It's Monday: Here's What I'm Reading

Visit It's Monday, What Are You Reading? hosted by Book Date 

Today feels like a Friday, as I know we have another holiday tomorrow! Happy Fourth of July!

I finished reading Murder in Saint-Germaine by Cara Black and have a brief review/commentary on goodreads. I also finished Betrayal at Iga by Susan Spann, an historical mystery set in 16th century Japan. I will have a review on an online book tour the end of this month.

E-books: Reading Behold the Dreamers by Imbolo Mbue, a borrow from the library.

Behold the Dreamers by Imbolo Mbue, August 23, 2016, Random House.
This is a timely novel about a Cameroon immigrant in New York trying to get his green card for himself and his wife and child. He is lucky enough to get a job as a chauffeur to a Wall Street bigwig, but this is just before the stock market and banking crash that could affect his employer. down the road. It's an easy and interesting read so far.

 Three Souls by Janie Chang is also on my ereader. A young woman, recently deceased, returns to memories of her life to reach an understanding that will ease her into the afterlife. With the help of three souls - scholarly, romantic, and wise - she relives the past. I am eager to learn more about 1935 Shanghai, a time of turmoil and war that changed China forever. 

Also on my ereader is The Runaway Wife by Elizabeth Birklund, a lighter read.

"Three beautiful French sisters entrust an American hiker with the mission of rescuing their mother high in the Alps." But no one is sure she wants to be found! Sounds like a fun novel.

What's on your reading list this week?

Sunday Salon: Weeding and Reading

Slow reading last week as I finished only two short books:

Arf (Bowser and Birdie #2)

April 26, 2016, Scholastic Press

by Spencer Quinn 

A very cute mystery for young readers and not so young readers as well, anyone who loves dogs. The story is narrated by the dog Bowser who is the faithful companion and protector, as he styles himself, of eleven-year-old Birdie, who lives with her mom and grandma near a bayou in Louisiana.

When someone breaks into their house under very mysterious circumstances, Bowser is on the alert.

A Separation by Katie Kitamura, published February  7, 2017.

A psychological study, character-oriented, in a slow moving novel of decision and resolve, and finally indecision. 

A young woman is sent by her mother-in-law to find the woman's husband who has gone to a remote corner of Greece on business. He seems to have disappeared, but the young woman does not inform her mother-in-law that she agrees to find her son in order to ask for a divorce. 

No new books came in the mail, but I have downloaded ebooks and borrowed hardcovers from the library.

Other books:
I am almost finished with Murder in Saint-Germaine by Cara Black, a mystery set in Paris, one of  the best so far in the series, I think.

The weather was so good yesterday, we spent time relaxing in the backyard, weeding, reading, and drinking iced tea and that new coffee I found recently. 

Visit The Sunday Post hosted by The Caffeinated Bookreviewer. Also visit It's Monday, What Are You Reading? hosted by Book Date