The Last Mile (Blood Ties #2) by Kat Martin (2023)

 

Abigail “Abby” Holland, the granddaughter of legendary treasure hunter King Farrell, has inherited a map from King that he claims will lead to the gold for which he spent the last 10 years of his life searching. When someone breaks into Abby’s house looking for the map, Abby is even more convinced her grandfather was on to something. Abby contracts with another professional treasure hunter, Gage Logan, to help her find the treasure. Their quest leads them into the Superstition Mountains with danger following and then to Mexico where their biggest obstacle is the government and the cartels.

Abby is a beautiful woman who knows what she wants so expect a lot of conflict between Abby and Gage. Gage is your typical tall, dark and handsome male with a phobia about commitment. Mention of the sexual tension between the two characters gets a bit monotonous and distracts from the story.

Kat Martin is one of my go-to authors. Her books have never disappointed and this one does not either, although it is not one of her best. The “Blood Ties” series follows the three Logan brothers but can be read as standalone novels.

4.04 stars on Goodreads, 4.4 on Amazon

The Exchange: After the Firm by John Grisham (Firm #2) (2023)

 

Every time I read a John Grisham novel I am reminded of why I enjoy them so much. They are well written, fast paced, and engaging stories and The Exchange: After the Firm is no exception. The story begins 15 years after The Firm. Mitch and Abby McDeere now live in Manhattan with their where twin sons, Carter and Clarke. Mitch is a partner in the largest law firm in the world and Abby edits cookbooks.

When a mentor in the firm’s Rome office asks Mitch to go to Libya to negotiate the settlement of a lawsuit between a Turkish construction company and Gaddafi’s Libyan government Mitch, who is always looking for the next adventure, says yes. He also agrees to take his mentor’s daughter, an associate in the firm’s London office. When things go very wrong and the mentor’s daughter is kidnapped by terrorists, Mitch finds himself in the middle of the a high-stakes hostage negotiation that endangers everyone around him.

Some of the reviews I’ve read complained about the frequent mention of Mitch’s air travel, meals, etc. but I found the everyday minutia of life an interesting contract to the stress of the main event.

Although The Exchange is considered a sequel to The Firm, having read The Firm is not a prerequisite to enjoying this story.

3.72 stars on Goodreads, 4.0 on Amazon

The Antique Hunter's Guide to Murder by C.L. Miller ) (Antique Hunter's Guide to Murder #1) (2024)

 

Freya Lockwood hasn’t been back to her hometown of Little Meddington in 20 years but that changes when her Aunt Carole calls to tell her that her dear friend and Freya’s former mentor in the antiques trade, Arthur Crockleford, has died under suspicious circumstances. Freya had cut all contact with Arthur since an “incident” 20 years prior so is reluctant to answer her aunt’s request for help in proving he was murdered. This “incident” is mentioned often in the first part of the book but the facts are a long time coming. I’m sure this is meant to build the suspense but I found it irritating.

Arthur owned an antique store but his real work was as an antique hunter, tracking down stolen antiques and returning them to their rightful owner. The reader meets him in the prologue as he is preparing for his eventual murder. He leaves a series of clues for Carole and Freya which lead them to an Antiques Enthusiast Retreat, planned by Arthur who warns his betrayer will be watching their every move.

At Copthorn Manor where the event takes Freya is sure the antiques in the house are reproductions and senses that Arthur had his reasons for sending her there – reasons connected to the events that led to her rift with Arthur.

Freya and her “woo is me” attitude was tiring but resolves itself by the end of the book.  The most interesting character was eccentric Aunt Carole, a former actress. Both will return in the second book in the series, Death on the Red Sea, due out in February 2025.

The author is the daughter of the late Judith Miller, a former expert on “Antiques Roadshow” and served as an editorial assistant for Miller’s Antiques Price Guide.

3.5 stars on Goodreads, 4.0 on Amazon

This book is not available at EPL. Ask any of the reference librarians to get it for you from an area library.

The Wharton Plot by Mariah Fredericks (2023)

 

I was so looking forward to this Mariah Frederick offering as I loved her Jane Prescott series (see Blog entry dated Jan 23, 2021.) However, I was disappointed. I found the text difficult to read, too bogged down with details of things I didn't feel did anything to advance the story . Or maybe it was simply because Edith Wharton was not the most likable character. The story combines two historic facts, the murder of David Graham Phillips and a dinner Edith Wharton attended with Henry James, and two other close friends at the Belmont Hotel. 

When the story opens Edith Wharton is stranded at the Belmont Hotel in New York City with her mentally unstable husband Teddy, laminating the changes in the city and anxious to return to Paris. When meeting with her publisher, Edith is introduced to fellow author David Graham Phillips whom she declares “absolute twaddle”. When Phillips  is murdered the following day, which happens to be Edith’s birthday, she finds herself intrigued and attends his funeral. When the victim’s sister asks Edith to advocate for the publishing of Phillips final manuscript, Edith decides she can uncover the murderer. The police play no role in the novel as Edith does it all on her own.

If you are an avid mystery fan I would not recommend this. Edith Wharton as a detective does not ring true. What the book does well though is depict New York City and the lifestyle of the upper class during the Gilded Age.

3.57 stars on Goodreads, 4.1 on Amazon

Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt (2022)

 

If you are a regular reader of this blog, you know I have a thing about books with animals in them. I have never read about a Giant Pacific Octopus before so I couldn’t help but pick this one up.

Tova is a seventy-year-old woman who knows all about grief having lose her only child when he was a teenager (labeled a suicide) and recently her husband. To keep herself busy she takes a night job at the Sowell Bay Aquarium cleaning. This is where she meets Marcellus, the aquarium’s octopus.

To Marcellus, the aquarium is a prison where he has been held since he was taken from the ocean as a young octopus. The story begins on Marcellus’ 1,299^th day of captivity. He knows he is nearing the end of his life, not only because his body is failing but the sign posted outside his tank says his breed have a lifespan of four years or 1,460 days.

Giant Pacific Octopuses are remarkably bright creatures and Marcellus is no exception. He and Tova form a special bond when Tova safes his life. As Marcellus learns Tova’s story he realizes he knows the truth of what happened to her son and is determined to share it with her. How you ask? You’ll need to read the book.

The story is told from the point of view of its three characters; Marcellus, Tova, and 30-year-old Cameron who can’t hold on to a job. It is not until halfway through the book that his role in the story makes any sense.

I was sad when the story reached its natural conclusion. I would have liked to stayed in the world where animals and humans understand and help each other a little longer. Remarkably Bright Creatures is Van Pelt’s debut novel.

4.41 stars on Goodreads, 4.6 on Amazon

The Bright Spot by Jill Shalvis (Sunrise Cove #5) (2024)

 

The Bright Spot takes place in a town called Sunrise Cove near Lake Tahoe but the story itself is a ray of sunshine.  The heroine, Luna Wright, knows nothing about her biological family and never really fit in with her adopted family but she feels totally at home at the Apple Ridge Farm which she runs with her motley crew.  The future of her family and her home is threatened when the owner Silas dies suddenly and Luna discovers a large balloon payment is due to investors in two months.  Although Silas leaves 50% of the farm to Luna, the other half is left to investment manager, Jameson Hayes.

Of course, the two couldn’t be more different.  Luna leads with her heart and Jameson is guided by his spreadsheets but the two must work together to save the farm and the livelihood of the people they have grown to love.

The romance between Luna and Jameson follows the standard formula but the story is also about learning to trust and accepting who you really are.  Comic relief is provided by the abandoned farm animals housed at the farm, particularly Dammit Ziggy, or DZ, a baby goat with a pajama wardrobe and mother issues.

4.2 stars on Goodreads, 4.6 on Amazon

 

The Inheritance Games / The Hawthorne Legacy / The Final Gambit / The Brothers Hawthorne by Jennifer Lynn Barnes (Inheritance Games #1-4) (2020 - 2023)

 

Although classified as Young Adult, this four-book series will appeal to all ages. Avery Grambs is a 17-year-old high school student dreaming of a better life for herself and her older sister. Everything changes when she discovers the eccentric billionaire Tobias Hawthorne, a man she has never met, has left his entire fortune to her rather than his daughters and grandsons. There is a catch however. She must live in Hawthorne House with the entire Hawthorne clan for one full year.

Avery soon learns Tobias was a master of games and manipulation. Riddle upon riddle, secret upon secret, nothing is as it appears to be at Hawthorne House. To understand her role in the billionaire’s final game and why she’s the recipient of his bequest, Avery must piece together clues left throughout the massive estate full of hidden passages, secret compartments, and underground tunnels. In order to do so, Avery must turn to the four Hawthorne grandsons who have been solving their grandfather’s puzzles all their lives. Even though one of them may be trying to kill her.

The romance in the books is definitely geared to the young adult reader but is easy to overlook because the rest of the story is so good. The first three volumes cover Avery’s adventures while she waits for her inheritance.  The fourth book is considered part of the series but Avery's year is up by the end of the third. If you are not ready to leave Avery and the Hawthorne grandsons just yet, The Brothers Hawthorne continues the story with the focus on Grayson and Jameson. The storyline didn’t hold me like the first three books.

4.54 stars on Goodreads, 5 on Amazon

Drowning: The Rescue of Flight 1421 by T. J. Newman (2023)

 

If you’re looking for an adventure to keeps you on the edge of your seat, this is the book for you. T. J. Newman, a former flight attendant, proves she knows her stuff by writing a fast-paced novel about doomed commercial flight 1421 and the desperate efforts of the various rescue teams up top to save the passengers.

Soon after takeoff from Hawaii, flight 1421 loses an engine and all power, crashing into the ocean, and sinking to the bottom with 12 passengers aboard. They find themselves 200 feet below the surface, waist-deep in water, and with 6.5 hours of air remaining. Two of the trapped passengers, Shannon and Will Kent, are the daughter and soon to be ex-husband of the head of one of the aforementioned dive teams.

Up on the surface, Chris Kent is desperate to save her family. There is no procedure for a rescue like this; there has never been a need for one. There is however a proven method for rescuing sailors from a sunken submarine, but the one-of-a-kind vessel used for the rescue is waiting for a replacement part. Chris, the leader of an elite dive team and a civilian has a plan to adapt the vessel to use with the plane, but the Navy and the Coast Guard will only agree to her plan as a last-ditch effort.

Will, an engineer by trade and first officer, now caption, Kit Callahan work together to keep the passengers safe while waiting for their rescue. Will knows that Chris’ plan will work and all three must work together to bring Chris’ plan to reality.

The book is emotional and tense from the beginning but Newman ups the ante in the last couple of chapters. For those of you of a certain age, the story is reminiscent of 1970’s disaster movies. I felt like I was right there with all the characters both on the plane and above. I highly recommend the read.

Warner Brothers has purchased the movie rights to Drowning and release is planned for 2024. The movie adaptation of Newman’s first novel, Falling, was released in 2021.

4.2 stars on Goodreads, 4.5 on Amazon

These Still Black Waters by Christina McDonald (Jess Lambert #1) (2023)

 

Neve Maguire and her 16-year-old daughter Ash have moved to Black Lake where Neve had spent her summers as a child but never returned after a traumatic incident occurred there 20-years before. Neve appears to have everything, but a violent home invasion has left her wanting a fresh start. On their first night at the house, Neve spots her childhood friend, Bailey Nelson standing in the rain starring in the window. The next day Bailey’s body is discovered in the lake, killed much earlier the previous day.

Jess Lambert is the detective assigned to the case and she's desperate to prove to her male collegiates she can still do the job. A tragic car accident in which Jess’s daughter Isla lost her life, has left Jess in constant pain, walking with a limp, and requiring the assistance of a cane to get around. What no one knows is that Jess sees and talks to Isla’s ghost. Neve sees her too.

When Jess interviews Neve, every instinct tells her Neve is hiding something. The discovery of the body links the two women together as secrets from the past and present are revealed through the alternating narratives of Neve, Jess and “the killer”.

3.91 stars on Goodreads, 4.0 on Amazon

This book is not available at EPL. Ask any of the reference librarians to get it for you from an area library.

The Wings of Poppy Pendleton by Melanie Dobson (2023)

 

In this dual timeline story, a little girl goes missing from Koster Isle in 1907 and in 1992 a journalist teams up with a woman living on the inland to find out what happened to her and save the life of another young girl.

On the eve of her fifth birthday in 1907, Poppy Pendleton is nowhere to be found in her family’s castle on Koster Isle in the St. Lawrence River. The grounds are searched but neither she or her body are ever found. Poppy has simply disappeared without a trace.

Eighty-five years later Chloe Ridell is living on Koster Isle in the shadow of what is left of Pendleton Castle, having inherited the island from her grandparents. She also inherited their candy store across the river in Clayton, New York and it struggling to keep her grandparent’s legacy a float. When returning from work one evening Chloe finds a young girl seeking shelter with her. Emma is full of secrets, as is every character in the book, even Chloe’s grandparents.

At the same time Chloe is searching for Emma’s family, a journalist arrives intent on solving the mystery of Poppy’s disappearance in time for what would be Poppy’s 90^th birthday and needs Chloe’s help.

The chapters of the book move from one character to the other but I never found the story hard to follow. The mystery builds as new characters are added to the story and it is up to the reader to put the pieces together. The book begins a little slowly and it takes a while to get to the actual disappearance but I soon found that I had to have the answers.

Dobson is a Christian writer and it is reflected in her story.

4.3 stars on Goodreads, 4.5 on Amazon

Starter Villain by John Scalzi (2023)

 

Villain (n)  A professional disrupter, not necessarily evil. Services are available by subscription.

I am frequently drawn to a book by its cover and more often than not, the inside cover confirms I want to read it. Villian Starter was one such book. Who wouldn’t want to read about super intelligent cat spies who can talk and dolphins threatening to go on strike? 

Charlie Fitzer's life is going nowhere fast. The former business reporter turned substitute teacher is divorced and living in his deceased father’s house which his siblings want to sell out from under him. All Charlie wants to do is buy the downtown pub and live a quiet life with his cat. Everything changes when his billionaire uncle Jake, last seen when Charlie was five years old, dies and leaves his supervillain business (complete with island volcano lair) to Charlie. Unfortunately, Charlie also inherits uncle Jake's enemies who now want to kill him.

After his house is blown up, Charlie moves to the volcano lair and is guided in his new life by Mathilda Morrison, his uncle’s right-hand woman, now his. It's up to Charlie to win the war his uncle started against the other supervillains. But first he must attend the mysterious Lombardy Convocation, a consortium of all supervillains. And there are also labor negotiations with the Cetacean Association of the Americas, Chapter One.

The book is very well written and hard to put down. The whole thing is absurd but it’s a vastly entertaining read. I highly recommend it.

4.3 stars on Goodreads, 4.6 on Amazon

How to Say Goodbye by Wendy MacNaughton, (2023)

 

In her book, Wendy McNaughton, a former Artist-in-Residence at a San Francisco hospice, has written and illustrated a beautiful book offering insight based on personal experience and the “the five things” she learned from a professional caregiver. The result is a very easy to read book on the many ways to say goodbye when a loved one is dying.

4.41 stars on Goodreads, 4.4 on Amazon

Buried In Books (Bibliophile Mystery #12) by Kate Carlisle (2018)

 

Who doesn't love a cozy mystery? Brooklyn Wainwright is a bookbinder and restorer and has a habit of stumbling across dead bodies in libraries or library adjacent buildings. In this installment Brooklyn is presenting at the National Library Association’s annual conference in her hometown. San Francisco. And she’s getting married that Saturday to the handsome British security officer introduced in the first book of the series.

At the conference Brooklyn reconnects with her two best friends from college whom she hasn’t seen or spoken to in 20 years, since Brooklyn was caught in the middle of Heather and Sara’s competition for the same man. At a surprise wedding shower during the conference, both Heather and Sara present Brooklyn with rare first editions of The Three Musketeers and The Blue Fairy Book.

The mystery in this story doesn’t come into play until more than a third of the way through the book. One of the two friends is found dead under a pile of books in the basement of the conference hotel and Brooklyn discovers that one of the books she received is a forgery. Was her murdered friend involved in the forgery scheme? How about the boyfriend, now husband, whom Heather never trusted? And just who is trying to take the book from Brooklyn?

If I had one criticism for this book, it would be the overuse of terms of endearment.  It got a little repetitive.

Recipes for the food served at the wedding appear at the back of the book.

The 17^th book in the series, The Twelve Books of Christmas, is scheduled to be released later this year.  All the books are available within the library cooperative.  Ask a Reference Librarian for help in getting the titles not in the EPL collection.

4.11 stars on Goodreads, 4.6 on Amazon