#BookReview To Die For by David Baldacci @davidbaldacci @GrandCentralPub #DavidBaldacci #The620ManSeries #ToDieFor #GCPInsider

#BookReview To Die For by David Baldacci @davidbaldacci @GrandCentralPub #DavidBaldacci #The620ManSeries #ToDieFor #GCPInsider Title: To Die For

Author: David Baldacci

Series: The 6:20 Man #3

Published by: Grand Central Publishing on Nov. 12, 2024

Genres: Mystery/Thriller

Pages: 432

Format: Hardcover

Source: Grand Central Publishing

Book Rating: 9/10

From #1 New York Times bestselling author, David Baldacci, the 6:20 Man returns, this time sent to the Pacific Northwest to aid the FBI in a case that gets more complicated with the more questions Devine asks—and he’s about to come face-to-face with his nemesis, the girl on the train.

Travis Devine has become a pro at adapting to any situation to accomplish the mission set in front of him. Whether it’s a high-powered corporate setting or small-town community, Devine will become the man for the job. His time as an Army Ranger and on the financial battlefields of Wall Street gave him the skills he needed, and he’s put them to good use. But this time it’s not his skills that send him to Seattle to aid the FBI in escorting orphaned, twelve-year-old Betsy Odom to a meeting with her uncle, who’s under investigation for RICO charges. Instead, he’s hoping to lie low and keep off the radar of an enemy that he evaded on a train in Switzerland and who has been after him ever since—the girl on the train.

But as Devine gets to know Betsy, questions begin to arise around the death of her parents. Betsy is adamant that they had never used drugs, but the police in the small rural town where they died insist the Odoms died of an overdose. Devine starts digging for answers, and what he finds points to a conspiracy bigger than he could’ve ever imagined. The question is, how do Betsy, her uncle, and various government agencies all fit into it.

It might finally be time for Devine and the girl on the train to come face-to-face, and when that happens, Devine is going to find himself unsure of who are his allies and who are his enemies. And in some cases, they might well be both.


Review:

Action-packed, menacing, and intricate!

In this gripping third instalment in the 6:20 Man series, To Die For, Baldacci has written an adrenaline-pumping thriller that now sees Ex-Army Ranger Travis Devine heading to Seattle to investigate the strange deaths of a husband and wife that has not only caught the attention of multiple government agencies but seems to have familial ties with a large racketeering organization.

The writing is descriptive and tight. The characters are astute, tenacious, and crafty. And the plot keeps you on the edge of your seat with its intense, exhilarating chapters that submerge you, page after page, into a world full of danger, deception, secrets, lies, corruption, power, violence, manipulation, malevolence, and murder.

Overall, To Die For is another cleverly woven, sinister, highly entertaining thrill ride by Baldacci with a good sense of urgency, great characterization, and a brisk pace that’s an absolutely fabulous addition to the 6:20 Man series that shouldn’t be missed.

This book is available now.

Pick up a copy from your favourite retailer or one of the following links.

             

 

 

Thank you to Grand Central Publishing for gifting me a copy in exchange for an honest review.

 

About David Baldacci

David Baldacci is a global #1 bestselling author, and one of the world’s favorite storytellers. His books are published in over 45 languages and in more than 80 countries, with over 130 million worldwide sales. His works have been adapted for both feature film and television. David Baldacci is also the cofounder, along with his wife, of the Wish You Well Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to supporting literacy efforts across America. Still a resident of his native Virginia, he invites you to visit him at DavidBaldacci.com and his foundation at WishYouWellFoundation.org.

Photograph by Allen Jones.

#BookReview Shell Games by Bonnie Kistler @BonMot101 @harperbooks #ShellGames #BonnieKistler #HarperBooks

#BookReview Shell Games by Bonnie Kistler @BonMot101 @harperbooks #ShellGames #BonnieKistler #HarperBooks Title: Shell Games

Author: Bonnie Kistler

Published by: Harper Books on Nov. 19, 2024

Genres: Mystery/Thriller

Pages: 320

Format: Paperback

Source: Harper Books

Book Rating: 8.5/10

A dazzling thriller about a young woman whose fabulously wealthy mother might be the victim of an elaborate con or might be losing her mind––and the daughter can’t tell where the truth lies.

Julie’s mother Kate is a force of nature––a glamorous woman of seventy, a self-made real estate developer, a grande dame in Florida society, and a power broker in Florida politics. It wasn’t easy for Julie to grow up in the shadow of such a dynamo, but she loves her mother, and she and her husband Eric are thrilled when Kate marries her long-lost high school sweetheart, a salt-of-the-earth man named Charlie.

But their storybook romance ends abruptly. On their wedding night, Kate calls the police in hysterics to report that Charlie just confessed to a notorious unsolved crime from decades before. 

Charlie says she imagined it. Eric says that Kate has dementia. And the FBI says that Charlie couldn’t possibly have committed that crime.

Julie doesn’t know what to believe. Is her brilliant mother losing her mind? Or is sweet, lovable Charlie gaslighting Kate to gain control of her fortune?

As Julie tries to navigate through this maze of paranoia and mind games, cracks start to develop in her own marriage as it seems that Eric is keeping secrets . . .

Set against a backdrop of rampant development and devastating climate change, Shell Games is a psychological thriller that will make your head spin and the pages turn as you wonder exactly who is doing what to whom.


Review:

Cunning, edgy, and mysterious!

Shell Games is a fast-paced, menacing tale that takes you into the lives of a handful of people, including Julie Hoffman, a young woman whose life gets turned upside down when her mother is found dead, and it quickly becomes apparent that everyone around her seems to have something to hide.

The prose is brisk and tight. The characters are multilayered, wary, and secretive. And the plot is a simmering, ominous tale full of twists, turns, deception, manipulation, friendship, family, lies, tension, death, and unease.

Overall, Shell Games is a devious, intense, eerie tale by Kistler that kept me guessing from the very first page and left me entertained, satisfied, and extremely surprised.

 

This novel is available now.

Pick up a copy from your favourite retailer or from one of the following links.

             

 

 

Thank you to Harper Books for gifting me a copy in exchange for an honest review.

 

About Bonnie Kistler

Bonnie Kistler is the author of The Cage and Her, Too. A former Philadelphia trial lawyer, she was born in Pennsylvania and educated at Bryn Mawr College and the University of the Pennsylvania Law School. She and her husband now live in southwest Florida and the mountains of western North Carolina.

#BookReview The Christmas Countdown by Holly Cassidy @PenguinRandomCA #TheChristmasCountdown #HollyCassidy #PenguinReads

#BookReview The Christmas Countdown by Holly Cassidy @PenguinRandomCA #TheChristmasCountdown #HollyCassidy #PenguinReads Title: The Christmas Countdown

Author: Holly Cassidy

Published by: Penguin Canada on Oct. 8, 2024

Genres: Contemporary Romance

Pages: 320

Format: Paperback

Source: Penguin Random House

Book Rating: 8/10

From the author of The Christmas Wager comes a charming holiday rom-com about a young, recently heartbroken woman who is tasked by her sister to complete Advent calendar challenges in the lead up to Christmas to reignite her belief in herself, the holidays, and love again.

She’s given up on love and Christmas…but fate has other plans.

All Callie wants for Christmas is to hibernate. She’s still reeling from being dumped by her childhood sweetheart, and under no circumstances will she go home for the holidays considering her ex will be right next door with his new, perfect partner. Callie is officially in grinch mode, but her meddling sister, Anita, won’t let her give up on life, love, and Christmas quite so easily.

Anita stages a Christmas intervention for Callie with a homemade Advent calendar challenge—cheerful tasks to push Callie out of her comfort zone and into the holiday spirit, inspired by a childhood tradition. Callie reluctantly plays along, but when she comes face-to-face with a charming baker who just might be the spoonful of sugar she needs, her strict rules on love and the holidays are tested.

As they strike a deal to do the activities together, could the twenty four little doors on Callie’s Advent calendar not only open up one, but two closed-off hearts?


Review:

Amusing, sweet, and delightfully festive!

The Christmas Countdown is a cosy, heartwarming holiday read that takes you into the life of Callie, an intelligent young woman whose sister is determined to help her get out of her funk of being dumped by creating an advent calendar extraordinaire that’s bursting with nostalgia, special tasks and lots of interesting challenges for her to complete.

The prose is warm and light. The characters are lonely, friendly, and thoughtful. And the plot is a cute, engaging tale full of friendship, family, romance, workplace drama, tender moments, self-discovery, merry preparations, and love.

Overall, The Christmas Countdown is a fun, uplifting, adorable wintery treat by Cassidy that  left me yearning for snowflakes, decorated trees, twinkling lights, and scrumptious treats.

 

This novel is available now.

Pick up a copy from your favourite retailer or from one of the following links.

         

 

 

Thank you to Penguin Random House Canada for gifting me a copy in exchange for an honest review.

 

About Holly Cassidy

Holly Cassidy is the pen name for internationally bestselling author Hannah Mary McKinnon. Her suspense novels include The Neighbors, Her Secret Son, Sister Dear, You Will Remember Me, Never Coming Home, The Revenge List, and Only One Survives (coming July 2024). McKinnon was born in England, grew up in Switzerland, and now lives in Ontario, Canada with her husband and three sons. The Christmas Wager was her first novel writing as Holly Cassidy.

Photo by Robert McKinnon

#BookReview The Forgotten One by Catherine Bybee @CatherineBybee @AmazonPub #TheForgottenOne #TheHeirsSeries #CatherineBybee #Montlake

#BookReview The Forgotten One by Catherine Bybee @CatherineBybee @AmazonPub #TheForgottenOne #TheHeirsSeries #CatherineBybee #Montlake Title: The Forgotten One

Author: Catherine Bybee

Series: The Heirs #2

Published by: Montlake Romance on Nov. 12, 2024

Genres: Contemporary Romance

Pages: 384

Format: Paperback

Source: Amazon Publishing, OTRPR

Book Rating: 9/10

New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Catherine Bybee spins a dazzling tale of long-lost relatives, overnight riches, and unexpected romance in the dramatic second book of The Heirs series.

Sarah McNeilly is a rare find in the tabloid industry. She won’t ignite gossip. She finds the truth. And for once, that’s what her boss wants. With her job on the line, Sarah’s latest assignment is to identify the elusive “Maximillian Smith,” unearth his connection to the billionaire Stone family, and dig up some dirt.

Yesterday Max was an ordinary workingman, concerned with little more than the price of gas. Now he suddenly has a family, jaw-dropping wealth, and an avid (if clumsy) reporter on his trail. With the press threatening to destroy his new life, he needs to release his real story strategically, and Sarah is the key—not to mention an adorable yet invaluable resource for finding his mother.

As Max and Sarah team up to peel back the ugly layers of Max’s past, they stumble heart-first into their fiery attraction. But when their research threatens their newly built trust, it’s their future that is on the line.


Review:

Absorbing, spicy, and heartfelt!

The Forgotten One is a sweet, uplifting tale that takes us into the lives of Maximillian Smith, a down-to-earth guy with a rough past who is still coming to grips with his newly inherited wealth, and Sarah McNeilly, a tabloid reporter who is determined to uncover the truth and write pieces that are meaningful and honest regardless of what her boss would prefer.

The writing is smooth and sincere. The characters are hardworking, passionate, and stubborn. And the plot is an engaging, hopeful tale full of family, drama, disappointments, tender moments, palpable chemistry, expectations, revelations, friendship, and love.

Overall, The Forgotten One is a warm, charming, addictive read by Bybee that can definitely be picked up as a standalone novel, but as someone who absolutely adores this Heirs series, I highly recommend you read them all.

 

This novel is available now.

Pick up a copy from your favourite retailer or from one of the following links.

     

 

 

Thank you to Amazon Publishing for gifting me a copy in exchange for an honest review.

 

About Catherine Bybee

Catherine Bybee is a New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and USA Today bestselling author of twenty-five books that have collectively sold more than three million copies and have been translated into twelve languages. Raised in Washington State, Bybee moved to Southern California in hopes of becoming a movie star. After growing bored with waiting tables, she returned to school and became a registered nurse, spending most of her career in urban emergency rooms. She now writes full-time and has penned the Not Quite series, the Weekday Brides series, and the Most Likely To series.

#BookReview April Storm by Leila Meacham @harperbooks #AprilStorm #LeilaMeacham #HarperBooks

#BookReview April Storm by Leila Meacham @harperbooks #AprilStorm #LeilaMeacham #HarperBooks Title: April Storm

Author: Leila Meacham

Published by: Harper Books on Nov. 12, 2024

Genres: Mystery/Thriller

Pages: 256

Format: ARC, Paperback

Source: Harper Books

Book Rating: 8.5/10

A seemingly perfect suburban housewife is being pursued by a private detective . . . and hunted by a murderer in this riveting, much-anticipated posthumous novel from the beloved author of Roses and Dragonfly.

Katherine Walker enjoys an enviable life. Her husband is an accomplished doctor, her children are bright and successful, and she devotes herself to charity work that uplifts her Suburban Colorado community. Settling into a new year, her life couldn’t be better. . .

Until April.

For Katherine, April has always rained trouble—but this time may be even stormier than the fraught past she’s trying to overcome. Already distraught over the child she miscarried in this same cursed month many years ago, the emotionally fragile woman isn’t ready to consider the overwhelming evidence that someone may be trying to take her husband—and her life.

Featuring the complex characters and powerful storytelling that are the beloved hallmarks of Leila Meacham’s novels beginning with her breakout debut Roses, April Storm is a page-turning triumph that caps a remarkable literary career.


Review:

Intricate, compelling, and sharp!

April Storm is a captivating, suspenseful tale that takes us into the life of devoted wife and mother Kathryn Walker as her life suddenly gets turned upside down when it quickly becomes apparent that someone is watching her every move and is more than willing to do whatever it takes, even resort to murder, to be rid of her forever.

The writing is sharp and tight. The characters are vulnerable, troubled, and multilayered. And the plot is an ominous, twisty tale filled with manipulation, familial drama, deception, lies, jealousy, obsession, secrets, revelations, mayhem, and murder.

The passing of Leila Meacham in September 2021 was a tremendous loss for the literary world, and it’s an honour to be able to read anything she wrote. April Storm is not the typical novel we’ve seen from Meacham in the past several years, as she swept us away into stories taking place in the past, such as Dragonfly and Roses. Still, it is nevertheless a clever, tortuous, cunning page-turner that kept me guessing from the very first page and ultimately left me surprised, satisfied, and thoroughly entertained.

 

This novel is available now.

Pick up a copy from your favourite retailer or from one of the following links.

             

 

 

Thank you to Harper Books for gifting me a copy in exchange for an honest review.

 

About Leila Meacham

Leila Meacham (1938–2021) was a writer and former teacher from San Antonio, Texas, who came to writing later in life. Her many successful novels include the bestselling Roses, Somerset, Tumbleweeds, and Dragonfly.

Photograph by Marie Langmore/Langmore Photography.

#BookReview A Grim Reaper’s Guide to Catching a Killer by Maxie Dara @PenguinRandomCA #AGrimReapersGuideToCatchingAKiller #MaxieDara #PenguinReads

#BookReview A Grim Reaper’s Guide to Catching a Killer by Maxie Dara @PenguinRandomCA #AGrimReapersGuideToCatchingAKiller #MaxieDara #PenguinReads Title: A Grim Reaper's Guide to Catching a Killer

Author: Maxie Dara

Series: S.C.Y.T.H.E. Mystery #1

Published by: Berkley on Oct. 1, 2024

Genres: Mystery/Thriller

Pages: 352

Format: Paperback

Source: Penguin Random House

Book Rating: 8/10

Sometimes it takes working with the dead to start living.

Kathy Valence is forty-two, mid-divorce, and pregnant with her ex’s baby. She’s also a modern-day grim reaper employed by S.C.Y.T.H.E. (Secure Collection, Yielding, and Transportation of Human Essences), but frankly that’s the easiest part of her life right now. Or at least it was, until her latest client’s soul goes missing.

When she finally tracks down seventeen-year-old Conner Ortiz, he angrily denies he died of natural causes, despite what his file says. He insists that someone at S.C.Y.T.H.E. murdered him, and he demands Kathy find out who and why.

Kathy has only forty-five days to figure out what happened to Conner and help him move on before the boy’s soul is doomed to roam the Earth as a ghost forever. She’s forced to rely on the help of her retired mentor, her almost ex-husband—and some sneaky moves by Conner himself. This is the wildest case of her career. . .and one wrong move could cost Kathy her job, not to mention her life.


Review:

Unique, lighthearted, and entertaining!

A Grim Reaper’s Guide to Catching a Killer is a well-paced, amusing murder mystery that takes you into the life of Kathy Valence, a middle-aged woman and S.C.Y.T.H.E. employee who, in the middle of a divorce and suddenly pregnant, has her day job go a little off track when a soul she is sent to retrieve goes missing, and someone at the company may have had something to do with it.

The writing is light and witty. The characters are inquisitive, impulsive, and endearing. And the plot is a well-paced, zany whodunit full of amateur sleuthing, red herrings, misdirection, mishaps, suspects, deduction, supernatural phenomena, and a touch of the unexpected..

A Grim Reaper’s Guide to Catching a Killer is the first book in the S.C.Y.T.H.E. Mystery series, and if you’re a fan of cosy mysteries, this novel won’t disappoint. It’s a fun, quirky, entertaining read by Dara, and I look forward to reading whatever she spooks up next.

 

This novel is available now.

Pick up a copy from your favourite retailer or from one of the following links.

         

 

 

Thank you to Penguin Random House Canada for gifting me a copy in exchange for an honest review.

 

About Maxie Dara

Maxie Dara is a writer and actor from Ontario, Canada. She has been a freelance journalist focusing on the local arts and culture scene for more than five years, with bylines in publications such as Hamilton Magazine and Beyond James, among others. She is also a two-time award-winning playwright, taking home the Best of Fringe award at the 2017 Hamilton Fringe Festival for the musical comedy This Is Not a Musical: The Musical! and the 2020 Torpedo Prize for her play Alone Together, a pandemic drama. Maxie knew she wanted to be a writer at the age of seven, when she first fell in love with the written word. She also wanted to be a mermaid but has mostly focused on the writing side of things.

#BookReview A Very Bad Thing by J.T. Ellison @AmazonPub @FireflyDist #AVeryBadThing #JTEllison #Thomas&Mercer #FireflyDist

#BookReview A Very Bad Thing by J.T. Ellison @AmazonPub @FireflyDist #AVeryBadThing #JTEllison #Thomas&Mercer #FireflyDist Title: A Very Bad Thing

Author: J.T. Ellison

Published by: Thomas & Mercer on Nov. 1, 2024

Genres: Mystery/Thriller

Pages: 495

Format: ARC, Paperback

Source: Firefly Distributed Lines

Book Rating: 8.5/10

From New York Times bestselling author J.T. Ellison comes a taut thriller about one author at the pinnacle of her career, whose past threatens to destroy everything she has—and everyone she knows.

A great writer knows when to deliver a juicy plot twist. But for one author, the biggest twist of all is her own murder.

With twenty hit titles, and a highly anticipated movie tie-in, celebrated novelist Columbia Jones is at the top of her game. Fans around the world adore her. But on the final night of her latest book tour, one face in the crowd makes the author collapse. And by the next morning, she’s lying dead in a pool of blood.

Columbia’s death shocks the world and leaves Darian, her daughter and publicist, reeling. The police have nothing to go on—at first. But then details emerge, pointing to the author’s illicit past. Turns out many people had motive to kill Columbia. And with a hungry reporter and frustrated cop on the trail, her secrets won’t stay buried long. But how many lives will they shatter as the truth comes out?


Review:

Crafty, intricate, and suspenseful!

A Very Bad Thing is an engrossing, ominous tale that transports you into the lives of a handful of characters whose lives are turned upside down when the sudden suspicious death of a highly successful writer causes long-buried secrets to finally come to light.

The prose is tight and intense. The characters are secretive, ruthless, and driven. And the plot unravels quickly into a gripping tale full of twists, turns, lies, deception, power, corruption, revelations, ambition, and violence.

Overall, A Very Bad Thing is a cunning, entertaining, tortuous tale by Ellison that is a highly satisfying read and an eerie reminder of just how far some people are willing to go for revenge and retribution.

 

This novel is available now.

Pick up a copy from your favourite retailer or from one of the following links.

     

 

 

Thank you to Firefly Distributed Lines for gifting me a copy in exchange for an honest review.

 

About J.T. Ellison

J.T. Ellison began her career as a presidential appointee in the White House, where a nuclear physicist taught her how to obsess over travel itineraries and make a seriously good pot of Earl Grey, spawning both her love of loose leaf and a desire for control of her own destiny. Jaded by the political climate in D.C., she made her way back to her first love, creative writing. More than 20 novels later, she is an award-winning New York Times and USA Today bestselling author with thrillers published in 27 countries and 15 languages. She is also the EMMY-award winning cohost of A WORD ON WORDS, a literary interview TV show. She lives in Nashville with her husband and two small gray minions, known as cats in some cultures. She thinks they’re furry aliens.

Photograph courtesy of Author's Goodreads Page.

#BookReview The End and the Beginning by K. J. Holdom @SimonSchusterCA #KJHoldom #TheEndAndTheBeginning #SimonSchusterCA

#BookReview The End and the Beginning by K. J. Holdom @SimonSchusterCA #KJHoldom #TheEndAndTheBeginning #SimonSchusterCA Title: The End and the Beginning

Author: K. J. Holdom

Published by: Simon & Schuster Canada on Nov. 5, 2024

Genres: Historical Fiction

Pages: 352

Format: ARC, Paperback

Source: Simon & Schuster Canada

Book Rating: 9/10

At the start of the war, eight-year-old Max Bernot lives with his sister and parents in Lauterbach, Saarland, a narrow strip of territory between the French and German defence lines. His German father, Anton, and his French mother, Marguerite, do their best to shield Max and his sister, Anna, from Nazi violence, but in late 1944, their beloved godfather is executed in their garden by the SS, and Max, now thirteen, is conscripted in the Volkssturm. Less than a month later, Max flees a Hitler Youth camp in Bavaria with his best friend, Hans. His mission: to return home and tell his mother the truth about his godfather’s murder As he escapes, he sends postcards to his family that trace his fraught journey across a country in its death throes.

Unbeknownst to Max, his mother is trapped in the German interior, coerced into working for a fanatical Nazi officer. Desperate to escape and reunite her family, Marguerite must first protect Anna from the sinister attentions of their captor, who could hold information on Max’s whereabouts even as Allied planes circle closer.

Deftly interweaving the wartime stories of Max and Marguerite, The End and the Beginning maps the loss of innocence of a generation of children raised in the shadow of the Reich and follows the fate of one family, neither wholly French nor entirely German, who find themselves on the wrong side whichever way they turn.


Review:

Poignant, thought-provoking, and moving!

The End and the Beginning is predominantly set in Germany from January to May 1945 and is told from two different perspectives; Marguerite, a French mother living with her family in Saarland on the Germany-France border who, after her cousin is murdered, her husband is arrested, and her son is sent away to fight, spends her days working for a vicious Nazi while doing whatever she can to protect her daughter and locate her son, and Max Bernot, a thirteen-year-old boy who, after being conscripted to participate in the Hitler Youth Program, decides to escape as soon as he has the opportunity in order to make his way home.

The prose is eloquent and expressive. The characters are courageous, vulnerable, and resilient. And the plot is a heart-wrenching, absorbing tale about life, love, loneliness, friendship, familial relationships, heartbreak, pain, war, loss, grief, guilt, hope, loyalty, and survival.

Overall, The End and the Beginning is an atmospheric, touching, beautifully written novel by Holdom that transports you to another time and place and immerses you so thoroughly into the personalities, feelings, and lives of the characters you can’t help but be affected. It is undoubtedly one of my favourite reads of the year that does an incredible job of highlighting the indomitable spirit of humanity to survive, endure, conquer, and continue to love in even the harshest of environments and situations.

 

This novel is available now.

Pick up a copy from your favourite retailer or from one of the following links.

        

 

 

Thank you to Simon & Schuster Canada for gifting me a copy in exchange for an honest review.

 

About K. J. Holdom

K.J. Holdom is a New Zealand writer who lives in Auckland. A former journalist, she holds a master’s in creative writing from the University of Auckland, where she won the 2018 Master of Creative Writing Prize for best manuscript. The End and the Beginning is her first novel.

Photo © Frances Oliver

#BookReview The Paris Maid by Ella Carey @GrandCentralPub #TheParisMaid #EllaCarey #GCPInsider

#BookReview The Paris Maid by Ella Carey @GrandCentralPub #TheParisMaid #EllaCarey #GCPInsider Title: The Paris Maid

Author: Ella Carey

Published by: Grand Central Publishing on Oct. 8, 2024

Genres: Historical Fiction

Pages: 288

Format: Paperback

Source: Grand Central Publishing

Book Rating: 8.5/10

In this heart-shattering WWII novel set during the Nazi occupation of Paris, a brave young woman pays a terrible price to save those she holds most dear. 

Louise Basset works as a housemaid at The Ritz Hotel, home to the most powerful Nazis in France. As she changes silk sheets and scrubs sumptuous marble bathtubs, she listens and watches, reporting all she can to the Resistance. The only secret she never tells is her own.

Everything changes for Louise when a young Allied pilot, hunted by the Nazis, is smuggled into the hotel. As he and Louise share a small carafe of red wine hidden amongst her cleaning bottles, she feels her heart begin to open. But what might happen if Louise finally confides in someone?

Years later, her granddaughter Nicole looks up at the ornate façade of the infamous Paris hotel. She is reeling from her recent discovery: a black and white photograph of her grandmother as a young woman, head shaved, branded a traitor. Devastated by her new legacy just as she’s about to start a family of her own, Nicole begins to search for answers.

When a French historian reveals that Louise once went by a different name, Nicole realizes there is more to her grandmother’s story. Was the woman who taught Nicole so much about family and loyalty a resistance fighter, or will her granddaughter have to live with the knowledge that she is descended from a traitor? And will Nicole be able to finally move forward with her life if she can uncover the truth?


Review:

Captivating, immersive, and sincere!

The Paris Maid is a sentimental, engaging tale predominately set in France during the early 1940s, as well as present day, that takes you into the lives of two main characters. Louise, a hardworking maid who, through courage and determination, uses her job at the Nazi-occupied Ritz Hotel to help the resistance as much as she possibly can; and Nicole, a young woman who, after seeing a photo from the war of her late grandmother labelled as a traitor and sporting a shaved head, decides to embark on a journey to Paris to unravel the secrets from the past and discover the true history of this woman who meant so much.

The prose is eloquent and rich. The characters are tenacious, resilient, and determined. And the plot is a touching tale about life, loss, family, secrets, separation, desperation, regret, grief, love, tragedy, survival, friendship, and the horrors of war.

Overall, The Paris Maid is a lush, intriguing, absorbing tale by Carey that does a lovely job of blending historical events with palpable emotion and thought-provoking fiction.

 

This novel is available now.

Pick up a copy from your favourite retailer or from one of the following links.

     

 

 

Thank you to Grand Central Publishing for gifting me a copy in exchange for an honest review.

 

About Ella Carey

Ella Carey is a writer and Francophile who claims Paris as her second home. Her previous books are Paris Time Capsule and The House by the Lake, and her work has been published in the Review of Australian Fiction. She lives in Australia with her two children and two Italian greyhounds.

Photo by Alexandra Grimshaw.

#BookReview Whispers of the Dead by Lin Anderson @PGCBooks @panmacmillan #RhonaMacLeod #LinAnderson #WhispersOfTheDead #PGCBooks

#BookReview Whispers of the Dead by Lin Anderson @PGCBooks @panmacmillan #RhonaMacLeod #LinAnderson #WhispersOfTheDead #PGCBooks Title: Whispers of the Dead

Author: Lin Anderson

Series: Rhona MacLeod #18

Published by: Pan Macmillan on Oct. 1, 2024

Genres: Mystery/Thriller, Police Procedural

Pages: 400

Format: Hardcover

Source: Publishers Group Canada

Book Rating: 9/10

A gangland slaying. A missing movie star. When an actor goes missing in Glasgow, the clue to his whereabouts could be in the film script itself. Whispers of the Dead is a gripping new thriller from Lin Anderson.

In the dead of night, a man’s body is found strapped to a chair in Glasgow’s Elder Park, his identity unknown. As forensic scientist Rhona MacLeod examines the scene, the violence on display suggests a gangland feud could be the cause. At the post-mortem, a bullet engraved with a snake’s head is found in the man’s stomach, lending weight to the theory.

Elsewhere in the city, a major Hollywood movie is being filmed. But shooting comes to a standstill when its lead actor is reported missing. As the news spreads, Police Scotland believe the two cases may be connected.

DS Michael McNab thinks the key to finding those responsible could be the film itself. A storyline playing out in real-life on the streets of Glasgow with a killer intent on revenge at any cost. A vendetta which must be paid in blood.

Though they can be enjoyed in any order, Whispers of the Dead is the eighteenth book in the Rhona MacLeod series.


Review:

Sophisticated, gritty, and menacing!

Whispers of the Dead is a well-paced, engrossing police procedural that sees forensic scientist Rhona Macleod and her team tangled up in two new complicated cases involving what appears to be a vicious gang-style killing of a man who may have seen or said too much and a missing Hollywood movie star.

The prose is sinister and tight. The characters are layered, troubled, and intelligent. And the plot is an intricate, intense tale full of secrets, surprises, community, suspects, deduction, corruption, manipulation, trauma, deception, violence, murder, and the loss of innocence.

Overall, Whispers of the Dead is another ominous, atmospheric, devious addition to the Rhona MacLeod series by Anderson that ultimately left me captivated, disturbingly entertained, and undoubtedly confident that there’s a lot more crime still to take place on the streets of Glasgow.

 

This book is available now.

Pick up a copy from your favourite retailer or from one of the following links.

        

 

 

Thank you to PGC Books for gifting me a copy in exchange for an honest review.

 

About Lin Anderson

Lin Anderson is a Scottish author and screenwriter known for her bestselling crime series featuring forensic scientist Dr Rhona MacLeod. Four of her novels have been longlisted for the Scottish Crime Book of the Year, with Follow the Dead being a 2018 finalist. Her short film River Child won both a Scottish BAFTA for Best Fiction and the Celtic Film Festival’s Best Drama award and has now been viewed more than one million times on YouTube. Lin is also the co-founder of the international crime writing festival Bloody Scotland, which takes place annually in Stirling.