Sunday Salon: Three Reviews

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

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 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 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:

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

Good Dogs Don't Make It to the South Pole 




The Florios of Sicily

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

The Night Bird

Reading from my shelves:

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 Reading, and Sunday Salon

Sunday Salon: What I've Been Reading During Lock Down

I've been reading more recently, especially ebooks from the library, Netgalley, Amazon Unlimited, and books from my shelves.  Here are some of the books, mostly mystery, but a few historical fiction, travel fiction, and contemporary fiction.

For details on these books, click on my reviews on Goodreads. 

Have you been reading more, or less, during this stay-at-home period?

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

Sunday Salon: Self-Isolation Reading

I've been doing a lot more reading during self isolation, since I have someone else to do the shopping for the house. Ha!

New book:

The Big Lie by James Grippando, February 25, 2020, Harper

Genre: political thriller, suspense

About: As the Electoral College battle for the White House lands in a Florida courtroom, Miami attorney Jack Swyteck has never felt farther from the truth.

Currently reading: 

Sherlock Holmes: A Scandal in Japan by Keisuke Matsuoka, April 30, 2019, Vertical

Genre: mystery set in Japan

Source; library book 

About: Where did Sherlock Holmes go during his famous disappearance between his death at Reichenbach Falls and reappearance in Baker Street, three years later? God of mystery Keisuke Matsuoka contends that it was in the Far East in Japan, to be exact.

Finished reading: 

The Prisoner's Wife by Maggie Brookes, May 26, 2020, Berkley

Genre: historical fiction

Source; NetGalley ebook

Based on a true story as related by a soldier in WWII, the author has filled in the details that are missing in this story about a Czech girl who runs off with a British POW, disguising herself as a boy/man in order to stay with her man all through his ordeals as a German prisoner of war.

The true story focuses on the details of the Czech girl's deception and how she could pull it off in spite of all the odds, living in camps populated by male war prisoners. It also includes the Long March, of  Allied and British prisoners, from Poland to Germany, which I was interested to learn about.

As part of WWII literature, and based however roughly on facts, the book is of importance to a fuller story of WWII.

Thief River Falls by Brian Freeman,  Feb ruary 1, 2020, Thomas & Mercer

Genre: thriller, mystery

Source; Kindle Unlimited ebook

A thriller with a very big twist at the end that I did not see coming.

 Unusual, but pretty good reading, about a woman who must protect a young boy who show us at her door, apparently being hunted by crooked police and police officials. 

How the Penguins Saved Veronica by Hazel Prior, June 16, 2020, Viking

Genre: contemporary fiction

Source; ebook

This novel reminded me very much of  the plot of  the book and movie, Where Did You Go, Bernadette?  

How the Penguins Saved Veronica is about an 85 year old woman who becomes intrigued by the penguins in Antartica and decides to do something drastic about it.  A very light read, enjoyable. 

I loved the author's previous book, Ellie and the Harpmaker, a romance that was unusual in plot and characters.

What books have you chosen to read?

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

Sunday Salon: New Books

Two new mystery novels:

A Stroke of Malice by Anna Lee Huber, April 7, 2020, Berkley

Lady Kiera Darby and her husband Sebastian Gage are looking forward to relaxing with new friends at an exciting yearly soiree, but...they soon have to solve a murder.

Setting: Scotland,  1832

Gone with the Whisker by Laurie Cass, March 31, 2020, Berkley

A friendly feline and a feisty librarian merrily roll along in the newest Bookmobile Cat mystery

Location: Chilson, Mich. 

Currently reading:

Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel Garcia Marquez

Murder in Aix by Susan Kiernan-Lewis

What books have you chosen to read?

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

Sunday Salon: Reading about Provence, and Love in the Time of Cholera

Murder in Aix, 2013 publication, Kindle edition

I am now on #5 of the Maggie Newberry Mystery series 

Murder in Aix,

set in the south of France. Maggie's husband is a vineyard owner and a chef and she has become a writer in addition to being an amateur sleuth. I love the settings of the books, which includes her husband's house and vineyard in a small Provence village. There are 17 books in the series. I'm on the 5th. 

The only other mystery series I've followed and read faithfully are by Swedish writer, Viveca Sten, and British writer, Elly Griffiths.  And of course, North America's Louise Penney. Look them up!

These and other books should keep me occupied during my social distancing during the time of coronavirus. By the way, I'm also reading 

Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel Garcia Marquez,  published 2003, set in Colombia, South America at the turn of the 19thth century. 

A love story like no other, they say, made more poignant because of the dire circumstances.

What books have you chosen to read?

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

Sunday Salon: Mysteries set in France and England

Finished reading: 

Murder a la Carte by Susan Kiernan-Lewis, July 2011, San Marco Press

Genre: cozy mystery set in France

Source: Amazon Unlimited ebook

Maggie accompanies her French chef boyfriend, Laurent, to France to look at a house and vineyard he has inherited in a tiny village there. She discovers that the property has a gory history, and that previous foreign owners had been shot at the house and a local man imprisoned for the crime.

When another foreigner, an American, is killed during a harvest party at the house, Maggie questions whether she wants to stay or not in France and try to get along with very  secretive and close-knit villagers.

The setting in a small town in rural France, with village life, customs, and food is very much an integral part of this interesting mystery novel.

Submitted for the

European Reading Challenge hosted by Rose City Reader

Currently reading: 

Death at High Tide by Hannah Dennison, #1 in the Island Sisters Mystery series

Publication: August 18, 2020; Minotaur Books 

Genre: cozy mystery set on Scilly Islands, off the coast of Cornwall, England

Source: Amazon Unlimited ebook

Evie and her sister Margot believe that Evie has inherited a house on an island off of Cornwall, and travel there to scout it out. They have to deal with the current owner/residents, however, who have no idea that the property may now belong to one of the sisters. Murder and mayhem follow, with Evie as a suspect. 

I'm enjoying this so far - with the rocky island setting as a big draw, as much as the unpredictable story line and well drawn characters.

I'm on a cozy binge this winter!

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

Book Review: Al Dente's Inferno by Stephanie Cole

Al Dente's Inferno by Stephanie Cole, Tuscan Cooking School Mystery #1, Berkley
Genre: cozy mystery set in Tuscany, Italy
Source: review copy from publisher

I loved the descriptions and setting of an olive farm and house in Tuscany, with an American woman, Nell, who comes to Italy to form a cooking school for a famous Italian chef.

Nell is surprised by the sudden appearance of her ex-boyfriend, a filmmaker who is supposed to make a documentary on the house and planned school. A dinner to promote the cooking school and the chef admits several distinguished members of the public to the house. A murder that later occurs has everyone puzzled and distraught, and Nell decides to not leave Italy until she has solved the crime and put the house, its chef, and its occupants back in order.

I enjoyed reading this book, its characters and setting, and the writing which seems to not follow the rote pattern that we find in many cozy mysteries.

                                                                       

Book beginning:

Twenty minutes after the train deposited me on a warm, deserted platform on Camucia-Cortona, Italy, I was still waiting for my ride. 

Page 56:

"...That woman is key to this whole operation, Nell. It's not Pop, it's not me, and it's not you."

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

Submitted for the 

European Reading Challenge hosted by Rose City Reader