Maggie

really well-written and character relationships were true to life and honest. A long ago murder of two locals is solved in a surprisingly way that dovetailed with what we knew about the players yet an ending I didn't anticipate until almost near the end. Highly recommended.

This author lured me away from the opening pages into her imagined world where dead girls come alive, where evil men are punished, and where, gathered around a crackling fireplace in an English inn with tankards of ale, pleasant company, and hospitable hosts, great tales are told. Reminiscent of both Chaucer and Dickens, Once Upon a River is a sweeping epic of a fairy tale, with richly painted characters – from an abused farmgirl who longs to run away to a wealthy couple grieving the kidnapping of their child to an intelligent, caring father trying to make contact with his wayward son. Add in a nurse who's on the scene when the drowned child is brought to the inn alongside an itinerant photographer, a world in the 1870's which is awakening to the writings of Charles Darwin and the dawning of psychiatry, and not only a prescient fortune-teller but a wise pig, and you've got yourself enough wonder, mystery, emotion, and intrigue to propel you through the 460 pages of this epic, lyrical, and ultimately uplifting novel. Highly recommended and unlike anything else you will read this year.

I would give this six stars if I could. Every bit as good as The Dry, which I also loved. A true mystery paired with atmospheric descriptions that put you right in the dusty, dry, arid ranch land of Australia, smack in the middle of two generations of troubled family dynamics. Nathan is the POV character who is living alone on the neighboring property, estranged from his son and his community. The nearby ranch is the old family homestead where his brothers Cameron and Bub, Cameron's wife Ilse and two daughters, his mother Liz and his uncle Harry reside. When Cameron is found dead from the heat far from his car and in the shadow of a local legend's grave, everyone is confounded about what happened. It's not until the final pages that Harper gives us the answer, but not before she's skillfully layered in the family's history and the interweavings of long-buried secrets as well as current-day jealousies and resentments. Bravo.

I couldn't keep all the plot threads straight on this one. Everyone was so inter-connected and the names and identities started to get so convoluted, I felt like I should make a chart to keep everyone straight - Robin and Renee and Nikki, but also Summer and Quentin and Rex and Jenny and april and Gabriel and Elizabeth and Karen and Eric, and wait, wasn't there another girl named Kimmy? My head was spinning by the end and nothing seemed to make a lot of sense from a psychological standpoint even though it did make the plot twisty-turny. It's well - written but for me, too many people (actually basically all the characters) aren't who they seem and there are so many coincidences, it spoiled my enjoyment. I give a writer one big coincidence, usually at the beginning to set the plot in motion - after that, I want events to follow logically.

So eloquently written. So much here to mull over as a beginning writer.

Kept my attention, although the POV character was hard to like - too hard drinking, cheating on her husband, self-centered. But no way is this correctly marketed as a “thriller”. It's a intricate picture of a woman changing her life but aside from a few dark moments, readers expecting a “twisty, turny” psychological suspense will be disappointed.

This was an excellent read - it's hard to believe this is a debut novel because the writing is clear, concise, yet also nuanced. The plot pulls you through the story but the character of Laura Chambers is another of the real draws - I'm glad to see the tag line says #1, meaning hopefully there will be more, because I'd love to read them. The ending scene is harrowing and unexpected. Bravo!

A lot of books in the last few years have been touted as the next Gone Girl. In my opinion, this one came as close as any I've read. I enjoyed the back and forth between the detectives working the case and the husband and wife involved in the main plot. A very good read.

I've read a couple of Jackson's previous novels but this one takes her in a different direction into psychological suspense and it's a winner. Pitting two strong-willed female characters against each other in a high-stakes cat-and-mouse game that leads to fireworks, secrets hidden and then revealed, blackmail, and betrayal. As always, Jackson's characters are finely-crafted and her writing flows, but this time it's wrapped arond a fast-paced ever-changing plot that had me reading well into the wee hours.

Unlike a lot of other readers, I haven't read any previous Maggie Hope books and this is the eighth in the series, so I came with no knowledge of the character or the previous WWII adventures she'd had. That left me scrambling a bit as I tried to piece together Maggie's relationships with people back in London and how her backstory fit into this one. But that was a minor complaint and really, just left me hungry to read the previous novels.
I love locked-room mysteries (in this case a remote castle on the western slopes of Scotland) so that added to my enjoyment as I tried to figure out who among the eleven British SOE agents sequestered there (because of what they knew) was murdering the others one by one. (and yes, it's similar to Christie's And Then There Were None in that respect). I did find myself questioning early on the premise that the British government would actually imprison valuable agents in the middle of a crucial war, only to find in an author note at the end that yes, this type of facility actually did exist.
The plotting was spot-on, although in the early stages, I had a bit of trouble keeping all the various characters straight. And the settings—both the horrendous weather that keeps help from arriving and provides serious obstacles to Maggie communicating to her possible helpmates, as well as the creepy Scottish castle with its turrets, taxidermy heads, and hidden passages—lent an added layer to the mysterious goings-on. The most enjoyable part of the book was trying to figure out the “who” but the backstory of the previous residents of the castle lent an interesting air of foreboding to the remote setting.
I would definitely read earlier books in the series as Maggie Hope seems to be a resourceful, intelligent, and empathetic character, who reminded me of Maisie Dobbs, one of my favorite heroines. Plus I'm a sucker for WWII stories of female bravery and ingenuity.

If you love Scottish romance, welcome to your new guilty pleasure

Prideful Lucy FitzHarris, desperate to marry into English nobility, is instead promised to hot-headed Alex Sinclair, an old family friend and future Laird of Balforss in the Scottish Highlands. Though their initial meetings are fraught with animosity, nevertheless they are inexplicably drawn to each other and within days, realize not only their lust but their true affection for each other. Their almost-couplings before they take their vows was steamy to say the least; the heat between these two almost burned through the page.

But when Lucy spots Alex in a compromising situation with his former love, she puts herself and the entire Sinclair clan at risk by fleeing the estate and walking into the hands of the Sinclair's sworn enemy. Despite to rescue her, Alex must use not only his brawn but his brain and the loyalty and bravery of his entire family to trace her whereabouts. Meanwhile Lucy, resourceful and wily, works desperately to find a way to escape.

I loved not only the sexy interactions between the two main characters but the well-developed cast that surrounded them: Laird John and his wife Flora, a mature couple who model what a successful marriage can be; Declan and Magnus, two strong-willed and valiant cousins, Hercules the pipsqueak of a doggy and Lucy's loyal companion, even Peter, the adorable young groom striving to be more.

Authentic dialogue and customs blend seamlessly in this fast-paced romantic tale, laced with historical details from food, to clothing, to the historical true history of clan wars and its effect on tenant farmers. If you love Regency romance, Scottish Highland stories, or just want to settle back in a comfortable chair in front of the fire and eavesdrop on a hot sexy romance, pick up Jennifer Trethewey's debut novel and then recommend it to your friends. My guess is this won't be the last we hear from the Highlanders of Balforss.

A complex, layered, and exceedingly well-written novel with lots of facets including the opiod crisis and how it's effecting rural New England, women's role in marriage vs. the man's, atmospheric gritty creepy dread as Kay, the mother and a former overseas journalist, delves into a mystery of the house she's rented for the summer and, in doing so, puts herself in peril. Very honest and real depiction of a mother and her love/hate feelings toward her children, her absent husband, as she slowly goes a little mad in the evocative rural Vermont setting. The ending was not what I expected, but it made sense and lent a grace note to a terrific novel. Parts of this make for difficult reading as Finn deals with child neglect, drug use, and murder, but ultimately, she has written a gem.

What an intriguing concept - fashioning a locked door mystery at a dark sky retreat. I'm a sucker for “college chums gather together again but they're keeping a secret” and also for a woman restarting her life after a painful tragedy so this rang all my bells. Good pacing, rich characters, and such a touching, sad backstory to Eden's marriage that it truly touched my heart. I know Rader-Day doesn't usually do sequels but I'd love to catch Eden in a future book of hers.

Wow, what a ride - it never let up. It truly kept me on the edge of my sheet the whole time. The tension never flagged. Almost purely plot except for Darby and Jay, who were more well developed but it wasn't necessarily a character novel, so much as an action one and from that viewpoint, it more than succeeded. I found myself wondering what I would do in the same circumstances.

Alison Gaylin managed to do everything right in this book, in my opinion. Fascinating set of characters, several POV's but each added tremendously to the over-all understanding of the story. I went back and read the first 50 pages after reading the whole to look for how she dropped the subtle breadcrumbs that would tie things up at the end. Masterful.

how well I remember being in my mid-twenties and desperate to find a female role model to pattern my career after. This is the story of another young woman who finds her mentor is not the icon of virtue she imagined and must come to terms with that. There's also a strong sub-plot of female friendship which I loved. Wolitzer is at the top of her game here.

I cannot say enough good things about this book. It deserves all the accolades it's received. I was so-so on Ng's first novel (Everything I knew Told you) but this one is much richer, complex, and nuanced. Mia is such a complete and well imagined character-it is extremely difficult to describe a visual artist and their work but Ng has succeeded here so well that I could actually see in my mind the collage pieces that Mia created. Each of the characters- all five teenagers and all four mothers were richly drawn so that we understood their motivations, their fears, their flaws, what it would feel like to be them. Bel Canto remains my favorite book of all time but this one has taken slot #2. And as a writer, I was also intrigued by how many “rules” she broke - no back story? This book is over 300 pages long and only the first and last chapters (approximately 17 pages) are NOT the story of what happened in the past. There's head hopping, there's tons of adjectives and “ing” words and yet - and yet- I could not stop reading and I never wanted it to be over.

A bit wordy in spots and not much of a real mystery but I did love the narrator/woman detective as a character and liked her growth arc

A few quibbles (see below) but this did keep me turning pages. Tension galore as you read to see if Joan can save herself and her 4-year old son from being killed by two young gunman shooting people for sport at a zoo. Along the way they meet two other people who are also trapped inside who wind up providing invaluable help. Read this in one day (only 275 pages) and it's definitely one to check out.

My quibbles were (1) a third gunman (Destin) is seemingly behind the rampage but he never makes an appearance which made him seem superfluous - why even mention him if we never encounter him? (2) the setting is a zoo yet the author makes almost no use on any of the animals. It would have been interesting to see a lion or rhino escape, perhaps kills one of the perpetrators? (3) what in the world took the police so long to arrive?

I thought this one was even better than Girl On A Train, more subtle, more evocative, less straight narrative, though it still wove together a whole group of characters whose stories were intertwined.

4.5 rounded up. A few blips toward the end when things got confusing but all in all, a great suspense novel and the kickoff to a wonderful career.

A perfectly crafted psychological mystery. Lots of twists and turns such that you're never quite sure who to believe until very near the end. The premise hooked me - a daughter whose mother wrote a spectacularly successful horror novel 40 years ago is given a healthy advance to write a tell-all book about her prickly relationship with that mother and also the story behind the thinly-veiled true account of a murder on which the famous book is based. Recommended for fans of tales like all the GIRL books. An easy read - devoured it in one day.

Chloe Benjamin has pulled off a hat trick. She tells us early on what is going to happen to these four siblings, yet we can't tear our eyes away from the page, perhaps hoping against hope that fate will not win and free will triumph. I heard her speak about this book two years ago and read it shortly after but am just now taking the time to post a review. It has lingered in my mind all this time, its blend of urgency and sensitivity resonating with me. Her prose is gorgeous, the plot fascinating, but it's the four characters who will win your heart and stay with you. Highly recommended

What a mind-bender! thoroughly enjoyed examining all the assumptions I carry around about gender because of how deftly Alderman created characters and situations that mirrored/fun mirrored our own societal events. And the ending was perfect.

Fabulous writing, a subject ripped from the headlines, a surprising but not unexpected ending. So well-written, I've ordered three more of Bohjalian's previous books to read.