A Slash of Emerald by Patrice Mcdonough (Historical Mystery)

This Victorian London mystery really grew on me with its abundance of female characters pursuing professions and activities still unusual at the time (1867). Julia Lewis is a doctor and medical examiner who is called on to do post-mortems on women and to inspect suspected prostitutes for venereal disease (!) I love the historical note that Julia — trained in the US — is able to practice medicine in Britain (where medical schools do not admit women) though a loophole: Parliament added doctors with foreign degrees to the medical register in 1858 without specifying that they had to be men. Absolutely delightful piece of (real world) trivia! She is paired with the rather open-minded Inspector Tennant in this second installment of the Dr. Julia Lewis Mysteries.

This episode centers on the art world of Victorian England, the narrative flowing between competition for the Royal Academy’s annual exhibition and the frustrations of the female artists who wish to pursue art as a profession, rather than a genteel pastime. I enjoyed the fully fleshed out setting which opened an entire world of models, studios, galleries, technique, and inspiration with just enough well-researched detail. I particularly enjoyed the comment of one artist who pointed out that the best models were actresses who were able to channel the painter’s intention while posing.

Decent writing, strong women characters, and full marks for an historical setting that is detailed, interesting, and accurate. I’m going back to read book number one!

Thank you to Kensington and NetGalley for providing an advance copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. The book will be published on February 25th, 2025.

Rabbit Moon by Jennifer Haigh (Literary Fiction)

Writing: 5/5 Plot: 4/5 Characters: 5/5

When red haired, six-foot tall Lindsey Litvak is slammed by a hit and run driver in Shanghai, her suspension between life and death is a shock for her family and friends, each of whom reflects on how this completely unforeseen point was reached. Her (bitterly) divorced parents — Aaron and Claire — who race across the world in a panic; her ethnically Chinese adopted sister Grace, now stuck in a Quaker summer camp that she hates while her parents abandon their homes; her secretive and stylish gay best friend Johnny, who fades into the background as the Americans march in; and even the apartment building manager who knew more about her situation than he lets on.

Backcasting through time, pieces of history help us to understand how the intersections between lives were set into motion, eventually crashing into the blunt trauma of the accident. The writing is excellent, full of small reflections and insight on the part of each character. Themes around cultural differences, coming-of-age stories, sexual predators, multi-cultural adoption, queerness, and all the various influences that shape a person permeate the novel.

Quotes:

“The Quaker camp, which Grace hates, looks like a penal colony and is priced like a five–star resort.”

“When disaster strikes, Claire can always be counted on to lose her shit, her anguish eclipsing the original crisis in its demands for attention and care. If the house burst into flames, Claire’s distress would demand the firefighters’ full attention. It would be unforgivable, an act of monstrous insensitivity, to put out the fire first.”

“Since earliest childhood, Lindsay has drawn up language like a cut flower and water.”

“Efficient sleeping is Aaron’s superpower. He can fall asleep at will – anytime, anywhere — and wake on time without setting an alarm. His consciousness operates on a toggle switch: the two settings are wide-awake and dead asleep, with nothing in between.”

“In those moments Lindsay was the whole world to him, the center of the known universe. The feeling was intoxicating. She would chase it for the rest of her life.”

“His skepticism was infectious; it made believing sympathetic. Eventually, Claire surrendered to it. Exhibiting a striking lack of foresight, she neglected to cultivate a relationship with God, to pray or fast or do any of the things a person would do if she actually believed. Now, in her hour of need, she feels unable to ask for blessings.”

Thank you to Little, Brown and Company and NetGalley for providing an advance copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. The book will be published on April 8th, 2025.

I Leave It Up to You by Jinwoo Chong (Literary and Multicultural Fiction)

Writing: 4/5 Characters: 5/5 Plot: 5/5

Loved this unusual book about family, culture, relationships, and … Korean style sushi — all told in a heartfelt, reflective, and often humorous style.

Jack Jr. wakes up from a nearly two year coma to a fair amount of confusion and a deeply interrupted life. So interrupted that his job, apartment, and husband seem to have all disappeared while his family — whom he hadn’t spoken to in years — seems reluctant to give him the information he needs. What follows is a kind of coming-to-age-redux story, as he in many ways has to start over again — forced to revisit familial relationships and previous life choices.

I loved the characters — all deeply drawn, realistic, and appealing (to me); I loved the personal and insightful description of working the sushi restaurant — everything from the creative new dishes to the “fish run” at o’dark thirty AM; and I really loved the clashes between cultural, familial, and internal expectations — also know as “family dynamics.”

I gobbled it up.

Thank you to Ballantine Books and NetGalley for providing an advance copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. The book will be published on March 4th, 2025.

You Must Remember This by Kat Rosenfield

Writing: 5/5 Plot: 4.5/5 Characters: 5/5

When Mimi, elderly and suffering from dementia, comes back to the family home (Whispers) in Bar Harbor for Christmas, the family knows it will be for the last time — she will either be gone or completely lost in the past by the following year. But they didn’t expect it to happen so quickly: somehow escaping the house, Mimi goes walking on the ice surrounding the estate in the middle of the night and freezes to death. What sounds like a simple accident evolves into a bit of a mystery and an ongoing hash of family dynamics both past and present.

The characters were both interesting and surprising, especially as they shifted in the eyes of the narrator — Mimi’s granddaughter, Delphine. Del who is also living in Whispers after (spectacularly) blowing up her life in New York City. Del loves hearing Mimi’s stories, and I loved hearing them too. The shifts and connections between past and present bring surprises both in plot and in our perceptions of character.

I’m a big fan of Rosenfield’s columns on various aspects of culture — she goes deep and original. I always find her interesting and most often agree with points made that I hadn’t even considered before. I had no idea she wrote novels and am finding her characterization and plot points to be fully steeped in her cultural acumen and clear writing style. She’s very good at essence! Time to go seek out earlier books — I love discovering a new novelist!

Great for fans of Carol Goodman.

Two Times Murder by Adam Oyebanji (Mystery)

Writing: 4/5 Plot: 4.5/5 Characters: 4.5/5

Greg Abimbola is a multi-racial Russian with British citizenship who is trying to stay under the radar by teaching Russian at a small private school in Pittsburgh. But the book would be pretty dull if he managed to achieve that goal! He’s got an interesting and twisted history that unwinds slowly in response to the events brought to his doorstep despite his reluctance to accept them. There are several independent but connected plot lines — an apparent suicide, an unidentified body tossed in the river, and a DEI triggered clash at a neighboring elite school — all leading down some pretty engrossing paths. The writing is clean, the characters are diverse (in more than color) and have depth that is both quirky and sometimes inspiring, and I appreciated the (fairly) unbiased inclusion of a specific instantiation of the DEI/woke culture war.

This is the second book in the “Quiet Teacher” series. I look forward to reading future installments and will try to go back and catch up on whatever I have missed. I’ve seen the series labeled as “Agatha Christie meets John le Carre” and that’s not a bad tag line!

Thank you to Severn House and NetGalley for providing an advance copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. The book will be published on November 5th, 2024.

The Frozen River by Ariel Lawhon (Historical Fiction)

Writing: 4.5/5 Characters: 5/5 Plot: 5/5

1789 — Hallowell, Maine. Midwife and healer Martha Ballard — 54 and unusually tall for a woman — is called to attend the fresh body of a man pulled from the ice. She recognizes the man at once — a thoroughly unpleasant man recently accused of participating in the rape of the local pastor’s wife. Thus launches the story of Martha, the town, and various ideas about the pursuit of justice across a period of approximately a year, with parallel leap backs for key pieces of context.

This is a phenomenal story in every dimension — a gripping plot, well-fleshed characters full of life, propulsive writing (impossible to put down) and a complete immersion in the specifics of an historical time and place. At no point did I forget that I was in the late 18th century in a small New England town — small details continually reinforced the setting and I didn’t notice any modern sensibilities sneaking in (I am so vigilant on that front).

While the story was compelling all on its own, I loved the fact that she took the time to explore the characters and their relationships and the way they evolved amid the very real context of the times. I also loved the many bits of history that were tossed in — history like the laws requiring a midwife to ask unmarried women to identify the father while in the throes of labor on the assumption that the circumstances would force out the truth. Also, the fines and punishments laid on both for the “transgression.” Hint: the punishment for the woman was far harsher. I should quickly add that although there were some truly despicable men in this story, most of the men were decent, good and held women in good esteem. This is not a male-bashing recounting of life 200 years ago.

I was quite surprised to find out that most of the plot actually happened. I was thinking to myself that it was a little over the top but that I enjoyed it anyway, but it wasn’t over the top of reality in any case! This piece of biographical fiction (a new term for me) was about the very real Martha Ballard as documented in her diary (unusual for a woman of that age as most were illiterate) and Laurel Thatcher Ulrich’s Pulitzer Prize winning history book based on the same . No wonder the details were so persuasive! The author’s note very clearly identified the (small) fictional additions and modifications.

Highly recommended.

Three Days in June by Anne Tyler

Writing: 5/5 Plot: 4/5 Characters: 5/5

The eponymous three days span the wedding of Gail and ex-husband Max’s only daughter, Debbie. A quick 176 pages manage to encompass the potential perils of Debbie’s marriage and the complete history of Gail and Max’s complex and misunderstood relationship. Deeply character driven — I love that I was so interested in every single character even though I didn’t really like that many of them. To be clear, none of the characters were “bad” people, just mildly irritating and not my types!

The blurb labels Gail as “socially awkward” and that is certainly true, but more to the point, Gail never really seemed to understand herself, especially in relation to others. As the history is retold — in concise, clear, essential prose — we the reader gain the insight that Gail never had, until in a clarifying moment, she finally does. It is brilliantly done.

Read in one sitting — the prose just kept propelling me forward.

Thank you to Knopf and NetGalley for providing an advance copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. The book will be published on February 11th, 2025.

A New Lease on Death by Olivia Blacke (Mystery)

A nicely written and engaging murder mystery starring an unusual detection team: Cordelia Graves — a recently deceased woman coming to terms with navigating the world in her new state — and her new “roommate,” 20-year old Ruby Young — an annoyingly perky young woman who is hell on (Cordelia’s beloved) houseplants. When the body of the neighbor across the hall turns up in the snow wearing pajama bottoms and fuzzy socks, both women are concerned that the police just don’t seem terribly interested. In order to team up, however, Ruby needs to know that Cordelia exists and then they need to work out some way of communicating as ghostly Cordelia is invisible and silent to live ears.

The pacing could have been tighter, and the “ghostly” ideas were not terribly original but they were executed quite well. I liked the alternating POVs between the two leads and their engagement and developing friendship under such unusual circumstances. It was easy to read and I was satisfied with the resolution, though it did get a bit repetitive at times. A little cliffhanger at the end ensures there will be a second in the series. All told a light, fun read.

Don’t be confused by the author — in all honesty I selected this book because I thought it was by Olivie Blake of the Atlas series, but it is instead by Olivia Blacke. Looks very similar at a glance!

Thank you to Minotaur Books and NetGalley for providing an advance copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. The book will be published on October 29th, 2025.

Stars Over Sunset Blvd by Susan Meissner (Historical Fiction)

This is the story of the long friendship between two very different women. Alabama born and bred Violet Mayfield, has fled from the home she loved when her dream of being a wife and mother is dashed. Audrey Duvall is desperate to restart a career that was dashed by the introduction of the talkies. They meet as secretaries on the set of Gone With the Wind in Los Angeles, 1938. The book follows the two of them to the ends of their lives, embedding the complexities of real relationships and the many emotional and moral issues that populate any thinking person’s life: honesty and fear, suspicions and jealousies, loyalty and deep connection. The audiobook reader was fine — a little too slo for my taste.

Susan Meissner is one of my favorite writers. She writes the kind of historical fiction that I love — plumped full of historical detail that awakens fascination — in this case, the movie set of Gone With the Wind. Full of every kind of detail — the technical work, the movie stars, the voice coaching (to make the British actors sound Southern), the filming of epic scenes such as the fall of Atlanta. If you’ve ever seen the movie (and if you haven’t, my goodness!) you’ll be spellbound by all that went into it. At the same time, Meissner writes the kind of human-centered novels that I like — full of thoughtful characters whose interior lives we access as they make their way through a life full of desires, setbacks, regrets, opportunities, and insights. And these are “regular” lives — no giant melodramatic events, but plenty of relatable experiences and thoughts. Her settings often include the kinds of ethical dilemmas we all face, along with the individual choices and the (often predictable and yet somehow surprising) fallout. Because that’s the thing about ethical dilemmas — there are no obviously right answers so some negative fallout is guaranteed.

On a deeper level, I initially felt a lot of judgement about one of the characters — I did not like her. Meissner managed to turn her behavior into something that could be understood (if not applauded), forgiven, and relationship deepening. It’s so easy to immediately judge and so difficult to try to understand. It was inspiring to watch the two continuing their friendship even when one or the other was feeling angry, resentful, or jealous. I was also impressed by some deeply felt and well articulated views on love and why people don’t need reasons to love someone and about recognizing the “brokenness” or maybe “incompleteness” of being young and how you choose to stay close to someone despite irritations, betrayals, and misunderstandings. That understanding, remorse, and a willingness for honesty can mend and make stronger any relationship. Surprisingly insightful.

Looking forward to Meissner’s next book (which I think is due out next March!)

Fog City by Claire M Johnson (Historical Mystery)

I loved this first episode of a new crime noir series starring a hard boiled detective’s equally hard boiled secretary who takes over for her boss when he goes on an extended bender. 1930s San Francisco where a wealthy elite doesn’t even give a nod to Prohibition, and absolutely everyone seems to be running their own con. A banker’s (second) wife comes to the agency to ask for help in locating her errant stepson. In no time we’re whirling about in opium dens, speakeasies, fancy restaurants, and police cells trying to get to the bottom of a widely expanding set of dead bodies. I loved the supporting cast (many of whom I look forward to meeting again in future books) — all fully fleshed out, non dull, people with distinct and intriguing personalities, and I loved that there were plenty of opportunities for philosophical discussions on evil vs “regular” sin and morality in general. The style (and environs) reminded me of Dashiell Hammett at his best — with the clever substitution of the substituting secretary. Plenty of great male characters, by the way, and full acceptance of what women were able (allowed) to do at the time. I always like stories where some group has difficulty getting things done because of social conventions but they get on and do it anyway without bothering to whine about it 🙂
A great surprise read for me!

Thank you to Level Best Books and NetGalley for providing an advance copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. The book will be published on July 30th, 2024