Category: Mystery/Thriller

#BookReview Finlay Donovan Digs Her Own Grave by Elle Cosimano @ElleCosimano @MinotaurBooks @StMartinsPress #MinotaurInfluencers #FinlayDonovanDigsHerOwnGrave #FinlayDonovan #ElleCosimano

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#BookReview Finlay Donovan Digs Her Own Grave by Elle Cosimano @ElleCosimano @MinotaurBooks @StMartinsPress #MinotaurInfluencers #FinlayDonovanDigsHerOwnGrave #FinlayDonovan #ElleCosimano Title: Finlay Donovan Digs Her Own Grave

Author: Elle Cosimano

Series: Finlay Donovan #5

Published by: Minotaur Books on Mar. 4, 2025

Genres: Mystery/Thriller

Pages: 320

Format: Hardcover

Source: Minotaur Books

Book Rating: 9/10

Finlay Donovan may have skeletons in her closet . . . but at least there’s not a body in her backyard.

Finlay Donovan and her nanny/partner-in-crime, Vero, have not always gotten along with Finlay’s elderly neighbor, Mrs. Haggerty, the community busybody and president of the neighborhood watch. But when a dead body is discovered in her backyard, Mrs. Haggerty needs their help. At first a suspect, Mrs. Haggerty is cleared by the police, but her house remains an active crime scene. She has nowhere to go . . . except Finlay’s house, right across the street.

Finlay and Vero have no interest in getting involved in another murder case—or sacrificing either of their bedrooms. After all, they’ve dealt with enough murders over the last four months to last a lifetime and they both would much rather share their beds with someone else.

Review:

Compelling, mysterious, and witty!

In this fifth instalment in the Finlay Donovan series, Finlay Donovan Digs Her Own Grave, we head back to Virginia and into the lives of mystery writer Finlay Donovan and her sidekick/nanny Vero Ruiz as they find themselves once again entangled in a police investigation when her ex-husband is suddenly arrested for the murder of a man whose body is found buried in a neighbours backyard.

The writing is light and fun. The characters are anxious, creative, and spontaneous. And the plot is a captivating, amusing mix of outrageous mishaps, humorous hijinks, snappy dialogue, familial drama, intrigue, suspense, friendship, mayhem, amateur sleuthing, and tender moments.

Overall, Finlay Donovan Digs Her Own Grave is an addictive, charming, entertaining tale by Cosimano that is another fabulous addition to this much-loved, enjoyable, highly successful, hilarious series.

 

This book is available now.

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

          

 

 

Thank you to Minotaur – St. Martin’s Press for gifting me a copy in exchange for an honest review.

 

About Elle Cosimano

ELLE COSIMANO is an award-winning author. Her YA debut, Nearly Gone, was an Edgar Award finalist and winner of the International Thriller Award. Her novel Holding Smoke was a finalist for the International Thriller Award and the Bram Stoker Award. Her essays have appeared in The Huffington Post and Time. Elle lives in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia with her husband, two sons, and her dog. Finlay Donovan Is Killing It is her adult debut.

Photo by Powell Woulfe Photography.

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#BookReview The Nothing Man by Catherine Ryan Howard @BlackstoneAudio #CatherineRyanHoward #TheNothingMan #BlackstonePublishing #BlackstoneInfluencer

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#BookReview The Nothing Man by Catherine Ryan Howard @BlackstoneAudio #CatherineRyanHoward #TheNothingMan #BlackstonePublishing #BlackstoneInfluencer Title: The Nothing Man

Author: Catherine Ryan Howard

Published by: Blackstone Publishing on Aug. 04, 2020

Genres: Mystery/Thriller

Pages: 288

Format: Hardcover

Source: Blackstone Publishing

Book Rating: 9/10

At the age of twelve, Eve Black was the only member of her family to survive an encounter with serial attacker the Nothing Man. Now an adult, she is obsessed with identifying the man who destroyed her life.

Supermarket security guard Jim Doyle has just started reading The Nothing Man–the true-crime memoir Eve has written about her efforts to track down her family’s killer. As he turns each page, his rage grows. Because Jim’s not just interested in reading about the Nothing Man. He is the Nothing Man.

Jim soon beings to realize how dangerously close Eve is getting to the truth. He knows she won’t give up until she finds him. He has no choice but to stop her first …

Review:

Unsettling, intricate, and gripping!

The Nothing Man is a skillfully plotted, sinister tale that takes you into the life of Jim Doyle, an elderly security guard who appears to be an honest, loyal, happily married father of one, but behind that reluctant smile lies a depraved secret and a dark impulse to stalk, violate, and murder that only a few know about, most of whom are already dead, except for the one all those years ago who he mistakenly let get away.

The writing is sharp and crisp. The characters are secretive, cunning, and vulnerable. And the plot, using a story within a story, builds quickly, creating intensity and suspense as it unravels all the relationships, motivations, personalities, deception, and devious behaviours within it.

Overall, The Nothing Man is a fast-paced, unnerving, impressive tale by Howard that does an exceptional job of eerily reminding us that even the most heinous of evil often live comfortably amongst us, merely hidden behind masks of normality.

 

This novel is available now.

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

        

 

 

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

 

About Catherine Ryan Howard

Catherine Ryan Howard is an internationally bestselling crime writer from Cork, Ireland. Her work has been shortlisted for the Mystery Writers of America Edgar Award for Best Novel, the Crime Writers Association (UK) John Creasey/New Blood and Ian Fleming Steel Dagger Awards, and the An Post Irish Crime Fiction Book of the Year multiple times. Her novels had been included in the New York Times Best Thrillers of the Year, the Washington Post’s Best Mysteries and Thrillers of the Year, and the New York Public Library’s Best Books for Adults. Obsession, the TV adaptation of Catherine’s fifth novel, the number one bestseller 56 Days, will debut exclusively on Amazon Prime Video. She lives in Dublin.

Photo by Bríd O’Donovan.

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#BlogTour #BookReview Falls to Pieces by Douglas Corleone @dougcorleone @OverTheRiverPR @AmazonPub #FallsToPieces #DouglasCorleone #thomasandmercer #OTRPR

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#BlogTour #BookReview Falls to Pieces by Douglas Corleone @dougcorleone @OverTheRiverPR @AmazonPub #FallsToPieces #DouglasCorleone #thomasandmercer #OTRPR Title: Falls to Pieces

Author: Douglas Corleone

Published by: Thomas & Mercer on Apr. 1, 2025

Genres: Mystery/Thriller

Pages: 285

Format: Paperback

Source: Amazon Publishing, OTRPR

Book Rating: 7.5/10

A mother and daughter in hiding are threatened by more than secrets and lies in a twisting novel of paranoia, revenge, and psychological suspense by bestselling author Douglas Corleone.

For two years, Kati Dawes and her teenage daughter, Zoe, have lived off the grid in Hawaii, hiding from a past Kati must forget as if her life depends on it. New names. Anonymous online presence. So far, safe. Until Kati’s fiancé, attorney Eddie Akana, disappears along a popular hiking trail in a Maui national park. Now all eyes are on Kati. Exposure can make a woman with so many secrets very paranoid.

Eddie’s law partner, Noah Walker, is doing everything he can to protect his new client from the press that’s hovering like a vulture and the authorities whose suspicions about Kati―and the disappearance―are rising. Then suddenly, Zoe goes missing as well. Kati will risk anything to find her. But the worst is still to come. Because Kati’s not the only one with secrets. And buried among them is a twist she never saw coming.

Review:

Simmering, sinister, and edgy!

Falls to Pieces is an ominous, twisty tale that sweeps you away to Hawaii and into the life of Kate Dawes, the mother of a teen daughter who, after fleeing an abusive husband and changing her name, finds her world turned upside down again when her new boyfriend, a local beloved lawyer goes missing, and the publicity surrounding his disappearance brings all his secrets to light as well as her own.

The prose is crisp and tight. The characters are secretive, persuasive, and vulnerable. And the plot is a complex, menacing tale of family, friendship, deception, lies, drama, manipulation, secrets, revelations, suspicious personalities, violence, and murder.

Overall, Falls to Pieces is a suspenseful, compelling, intense tale by Corleone that isn’t incredibly fast-paced but which, ultimately, does a remarkable job of highlighting that people aren’t always who they seem.

 

This novel is available now.

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

     

 

 

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

 

About Douglas Corleone

Douglas Corleone is the international bestselling author of Gone Cold, Payoff, and
Robert Ludlum’s The Janson Equation, as well as the acclaimed Kevin Corvelli novels,
the Simon Fisk international thrillers, and the stand-alone courtroom drama The
Rough Cut. Corleone’s debut novel, One Man’s Paradise, won the 2009 Minotaur
Books/Mystery Writers of America First Crime Novel Award and was a finalist for
the 2011 Shamus Award for Best First Novel. A former New York City criminal
defense attorney, Corleone now resides in Honolulu, where he is currently at work
on his next novel.

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#BookReview The Ice Retreat by Ruth Kelly @ruthywriter @PGCBooks @panmacmillan #TheIceRetreat #RuthKelly #PGCBooks

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#BookReview The Ice Retreat by Ruth Kelly @ruthywriter @PGCBooks @panmacmillan #TheIceRetreat #RuthKelly #PGCBooks Title: The Ice Retreat

Author: Ruth Kelly

Published by: Pan Macmillan on Jan. 21, 2025

Genres: Mystery/Thriller

Pages: 400

Format: Paperback

Source: Publishers Group Canada

Book Rating: 8/10

From bestselling author Ruth Kelly, The Ice Retreat is a spine-tingling thriller set in the world of controversial wellness treatments. Perfect for fans of Lisa Jewell and Sarah Pearse.

HEALER?

Meet Hollie Jenson, presenter of the smash-hit docu-series Bad Medicine, which exposes the perils of extreme therapies. Her next a new retreat run by wellness guru Ariel Rose, who claims to have discovered the secret to healing pain through her three-day ice rebirth treatment.

LIAR?

Acting on a mother’s plea to find her son, who vanished soon after his stay, Hollie ventures into the Swiss mountains where the retreat occupies a former observatory. There she will search for the boy, and hopes to expose Ariel as the charlatan she believes her to be.

KILLER?

As the isolation of the valley sets in, Hollie finds herself in an increasingly dangerous situation. There is much more to the retreat than meets the eye, and she must confront explosive secrets from her own past if she is to ever make it out alive . . .

Review:

Ominous, sinister, and intense!

The Ice Retreat is an eerie, suspenseful tale that takes us into the life of Hollie, a young investigative journalist who, after a desperate mother asks her for help to find her missing son, travels to Switzerland to uncover what’s really going on at a wellness retreat that seems too good to be true.

The prose is sharp and crisp. The characters are secretive, determined, and multilayered. And the plot, using a past/present, back-and-forth style, builds and unravels quickly into a foreboding tale of lies, secrets, abuse, deception, drama, manipulation, desperation, experimentation, and murder.

Overall, The Ice Retreat is another dark, taut, unnerving thriller by Kelly that did a wonderful job of keeping me mystified, surprised, and guessing from start to finish while at the same time reminding me that everything is not always what it seems.

 

This novel is available now.

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

         

 

  

 

Thank you to Publishers Group Canada for gifting me a copy in exchange for an honest review.

 

About Ruth Kelly

Ruth Kelly is an award-winning journalist who has ghosted a string of Sunday Times top ten bestsellers - most recently The Prison Doctor, which sold over 250,000 copies, and The Governor, which went straight in at number one on the Amazon charts and number five in the Sunday Times bestseller list. The Villa is Ruth's debut thriller. She's drawn inspiration from her years working as a reporter for national newspapers as well as her experience writing for TV shows, most notably with Endemol, the creators of the original reality show Big Brother.

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#BookReview Broken Country by Clare Leslie Hall @SimonSchusterCA #BrokenCountry #ClareLeslieHall #SimonSchusterCA

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#BookReview Broken Country by Clare Leslie Hall @SimonSchusterCA #BrokenCountry #ClareLeslieHall #SimonSchusterCA Title: Broken Country

Author: Clare Leslie Hall

Published by: Simon & Schuster on Mar. 4, 2025

Genres: Historical Fiction, Mystery/Thriller

Pages: 320

Format: Paperback

Source: Simon & Schuster Canada

Book Rating: 10/10

“The farmer is dead. He is dead, and all anyone wants to know is who killed him.”

Beth and her gentle, kind husband Frank are happily married, but their relationship relies on the past staying buried. But when Beth’s brother-in-law shoots a dog going after their sheep, Beth doesn’t realize that the gunshot will alter the course of their lives. For the dog belonged to none other than Gabriel Wolfe, the man Beth loved as a teenager—the man who broke her heart years ago. Gabriel has returned to the village with his young son Leo, a boy who reminds Beth very much of her own son, who died in a tragic accident.

As Beth is pulled back into Gabriel’s life, tensions around the village rise and dangerous secrets and jealousies from the past resurface, this time with deadly consequences. Beth is forced to make a choice between the woman she once was, and the woman she has become.

A sweeping love story with the pace and twists of a thriller, Broken Country is a novel of simmering passion, impossible choices, and explosive consequences that toggles between the past and present to explore the far-reaching legacy of first love.

Review:

Poignant, mysterious, and beautifully written!

Broken Country is a tragic, moving, emotionally-charged novel that transports you to North Dorset between 1955 and 1968 and immerses you into the ongoing, entangled relationships between the hardworking, reliable Johnson family and the privileged, affluent Wolfe family, complete with all the powerful emotions, long-buried secrets, and unimaginable tragedy that has tied them together for almost fifteen years.

The prose is lyrical and expressive. The characters, including all the supporting characters, are complex, conflicted, and scarred. And the plot is a compelling, sobering tale of life, loss, family, friendship, grief, guilt, denial, secrets, reflection, self-preservation, love, and redemption.

Overall, Broken Country will make you think, it will make you sad, and it will resonate with you long after the final page. It’s an impactful, enthralling, powerful tale by Hall that uses extraordinary character development to weave a combination of an impressive, intricate mystery and a heartbreaking, bittersweet love story, all steeped in an abundance of tragedy and pain.

 

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 Clare Leslie Hall

Clare Leslie Hall is a novelist and journalist who lives in the wilds of Dorset, England, with her family. She’s the author of Broken Country, Pictures of Him, and Days You Were Mine.

Photograph by Oli Green.

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#BookReview Jane and Dan at the End of the World by Colleen Oakley @BerkleyRomance @PenguinRandomCA #JaneAndDanAtTheEndOfTheWorld #ColleenOakley #Berkley #BerkleyPartner #PenguinReads

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#BookReview Jane and Dan at the End of the World by Colleen Oakley @BerkleyRomance @PenguinRandomCA #JaneAndDanAtTheEndOfTheWorld #ColleenOakley #Berkley #BerkleyPartner #PenguinReads Title: Jane and Dan at the End of the World

Author: Colleen Oakley

Published by: Berkley on Mar. 11, 2025

Genres: Contemporary Romance, Mystery/Thriller

Pages: 368

Format: Hardcover

Source: Berkley Publishing

Book Rating: 9/10

Date night goes off the rails in this hilariously insightful take on midlife and marriage when one unhappy couple find themselves at the heart of a crime in progress, from the USA Todaybestselling author of The Mostly True Story of Tanner & Louise.

Jane and Dan have been married for nineteen years, but Jane isn’t sure they’re going to make it to twenty. The mother of two feels unneeded by her teenagers, and her writing career has screeched to an unsuccessful halt. Her one published novel sold under five hundred copies. Worse? She’s pretty sure Dan is cheating on her. When the couple goes to the renowned upscale restaurant La Fin du Monde to celebrate their anniversary, Jane thinks it’s as good a place as any to tell Dan she wants a divorce.

But before they even get to the second course, an underground climate activist group bursts into the dining room. Jane is shocked—and not just because she’s in a hostage situation the likes of which she’s only seen in the movies. Nearly everything the disorganized and bumbling activists say and do is right out of the pages of her failed book. Even Dan (who Jane wasn’t sure even read her book) admits it’s eerily familiar.

Which means Dan and Jane are the only ones who know what’s going to happen next. And they’re the only ones who can stop it. This wasn’t what Jane was thinking of when she said “’til death do us part” all those years ago, but if they can survive this, maybe they can survive anything—even marriage.

Review:

Quirky, funny, and suspenseful!

Jane and Dan at the End of the World is a humorous, compelling read that transports you to California and into the lives of Jane Brooks, a struggling mystery writer, and her husband Dan, a somewhat successful podiatrist, whose lives get turned upside down when a terrorist group storms the swanky restaurant they won a reservation to, hold them hostage similarly to a way Jane previously wrote about in her one failed book, leaving their anniversary dinner in shambles and Jane’s request for a divorce on a temporary pause.

The prose is sharp and witty. The characters are relatable, stressed, and multilayered. And the plot unravels quickly into a riotous yet thrilling tale filled with marital drama, criminal intentions, secrets, tricky situations, spirited hijinks, danger, and hilarious mishaps.

Overall, Jane and Dan at the End of the World is a fresh, charming, laugh-out-loud funny mystery by Oakley that kept me amused and entertained from the very first page. It’s escapism at its very best, and I would, hands down, love to see it as a movie.

 

This novel is available now.

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

         

 

 

Thank you to Berkley Romance for this free copy in exchange for an honest review.

 

About Colleen Oakley

Colleen Oakley’s novels BEFORE I GO and CLOSE ENOUGH TO TOUCH have been named best books by People Magazine, Us Weekly, Library Journal, and Real Simple, and both were long-listed for the Pat Conroy Southern Book Prize. Formerly the editor-in-chief of Women’s Health & Fitness and senior editor of Marie Claire, her articles and essays have been featured in The New York Times, Ladies’ Home Journal, Women’s Health, Redbook, Parade, Marie Claire and Martha Stewart Weddings. She lives in Atlanta with her husband, four kids and the world's biggest lapdog, Bailey. Her third novel YOU WERE THERE TOO will be published by Berkley/Penguin in January 2020.

Photograph courtesy of Author's Goodreads Page.

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#BookReview Count My Lies by Sophie Stava @SimonSchusterCA #CountMyLies #SophieStava #SimonSchusterCA

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#BookReview Count My Lies by Sophie Stava @SimonSchusterCA #CountMyLies #SophieStava #SimonSchusterCA Title: Count My Lies

Author: Sophie Stava

Published by: Scout Press on Mar. 4, 2025

Genres: Mystery/Thriller

Pages: 336

Format: Paperback

Source: Simon & Schuster Canada

Book Rating: 8.5/10

A read-in-one-night suspense thriller narrated by a compulsive liar whose little white lies allow her to enter into the life and comfort of a wealthy married couple who are harboring much darker secrets themselves. For the millions of us still chasing those gone girls, this is perfect for fans of Lisa Jewell, Lucy Foley, and Laura Dave.

Sloane Caraway is a liar.

Harmless lies, mostly, to make her self-proclaimed sad, little life a bit more interesting.

So when Sloane sees a young girl in tears at a park one afternoon, she can’t help herself—she tells the girl’s (very attractive) dad she’s a nurse and helps him pull a bee stinger from the girl’s foot.

With this lie, and chance encounter, Sloane becomes the nanny for the wealthy, and privileged Jay and Violet Lockhart. The perfect New York couple, with a brownstone, a daughter in private school, and summers on Block Island.

But maybe Sloane isn’t the only one lying, and all that’s picture-perfect harbors a much more dangerous truth. To say anything more is to spoil the most exciting, twisty, and bitingly smart suspense novel to come out in years.

The thing about lies is that they add up, form their own truth and a twisted prison of a world. And in Count My Lies, Sophie Stava spins a breakneck, unputdownable thriller about the secrets we keep, and the terrifying dangers that lurk just under the images we spend so much time trying to maintain.

Careful what you lie for.

Review:

Intricate, ominous, and riveting!

Count My Lies is a highly suspenseful, character-driven thriller that takes you into the life of Sloane Caraway, a young woman whose obsessive compulsion to lie, snoop, and emulate may finally have caught up with her when she ingratiates herself with the wealthy Lockhart’s, who seem to have a lot of devastating, destructive, damaging secrets of their own.

The writing is tight and intense. The characters are complex, secretive, and troubled. And the plot is a devious, sinister tale full of twists, turns, lies, deception, manipulation, suspicions, revelations, mayhem, obsession, violence, and familial drama.

Overall, Count My Lies is a clever, tortuous, unnerving tale by Stava that kept me guessing from the very first page and was deliciously surprising, relentless and absolutely bursting with misdirection.

 

This novel is available in paperback 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 Sophie Stava

Sophie Stava received her BA in English literature from UC Santa Barbara. She currently resides in Southern California with her family.

Photograph by Alison Bernier.

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#BookReview Chain Reaction by James Byrne @JByrnemystery @MinotaurBooks @StMartinsPress #JamesByrne #ChainReaction #DezLimerick #MinotaurInfluencers

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#BookReview Chain Reaction by James Byrne @JByrnemystery @MinotaurBooks @StMartinsPress #JamesByrne #ChainReaction #DezLimerick #MinotaurInfluencers Title: Chain Reaction

Author: James Byrne

Series: Dez Limerick #3

Published by: Minotaur Books on Jan. 28, 2025

Genres: Mystery/Thriller

Pages: 400

Format: Hardcover

Source: Minotaur Books

Book Rating: 9/10

Dez Limerick, a man of many skills and a murky past, faces the impossible—a skilled, deadly opponent who anticipates his every move.

Desmond Aloysius Limerick (“Dez” to his friends and close personal enemies) is a man with a shadowy past, certain useful hard-won skills, and, if one digs deep enough, a reputation as a good man to have at your back. He was trained as a “gatekeeper”—he can open any door, keep it open as long as necessary, and control who does—and does not—go through. Now retired from his previous life, Dez still tries to keep his skills up to date.

Knocking around the country, picking up the occasional gig as a guitarist, Dez is contacted by a friend in urgent need of his musical skills. At his behest, Dez flies to the East Coast to a gig at the brand new massive complex, the Liberty Center. But he’s barely landed before he finds himself in the midst of a terrorist attack, a group has taken over the whole center and thousands of hostage lives are in danger. With the semi-willing help of a talented thief, Dez takes on the impossible task of outfighting and outwitting a literal army. But that’s just the beginning, as Dez learns he was actually lured there under false pretenses, by someone who knows more about Dez, his past and his skills than any living person should.

Review:

Thrilling, suspenseful, and twisty!

Chain Reaction is a tight, menacing tale that takes you back into the life of ex-mercenary Desmond Aloysius Limerick as he finds himself once again caught up in a world of terror when his invitation to perform a gig at the Liberty Center goes immediately sideways.

The writing is compelling and edgy. The characters are sly, secretive, and resourceful. And the plot is an intense, sinister tale filled with twists, turns, mayhem, coercion, politics, power, obsession, lies, secrets, drama, revenge, and murder.

Overall, Chain Reaction is an action-packed, intricate, riveting tale by Byrne, and as a huge fan of this unlikely hero who oozes sex appeal, danger, and charisma, all I can say is I WANT MORE!

 

This novel is available now.

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

         

 

 

Thank you to St. Martin’s Press – Minotaur Press for gifting me a copy in exchange for an honest review.

 

About James Byrne

JAMES BYRNE is the pseudonym for an author who has worked for more than twenty years as a journalist and in politics. A native of the Pacific Northwest, he lives in Portland, Oregon.

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#BookReview The Queens of Crime by Marie Benedict @StMartinsPress #TheQueensofCrime #MarieBenedict #StMartinsPress #SMPInfluencers

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#BookReview The Queens of Crime by Marie Benedict @StMartinsPress #TheQueensofCrime #MarieBenedict #StMartinsPress #SMPInfluencers Title: The Queens of Crime

Author: Marie Benedict

Published by: St. Martin's Press on Feb. 11, 2025

Genres: Historical Fiction, Mystery/Thriller

Pages: 320

Format: Hardcover

Source: St. Martin's Press

Book Rating: 8.5/10

From the New York Times bestselling author of The Mystery of Mrs. Christie—a thrilling story of the five greatest women writers of the Golden Age of Mystery and their bid to solve a real-life murder.

London, 1930. The five greatest women crime writers have banded together to form a secret society with a single goal: to show they are no longer willing to be treated as second class citizens by their male counterparts in the legendary Detection Club. Led by the formidable Dorothy L. Sayers, the group includes Agatha Christie, Ngaio Marsh, Margery Allingham and Baroness Emma Orczy. They call themselves the Queens of Crime. Their plan? Solve an actual murder, that of a young woman found strangled in a park in France who may have connections leading to the highest levels of the British establishment.

May Daniels, a young English nurse on an excursion to France with her friend, seemed to vanish into thin air as they prepared to board a ferry home. Months later, her body is found in the nearby woods. The murder has all the hallmarks of a locked room mystery for which these authors are famous: how did her killer manage to sneak her body out of a crowded train station without anyone noticing? If, as the police believe, the cause of death is manual strangulation, why is there is an extraordinary amount of blood at the crime scene? What is the meaning of a heartbreaking secret letter seeming to implicate an unnamed paramour? Determined to solve the highly publicized murder, the Queens of Crime embark on their own investigation, discovering they’re stronger together. But soon the killer targets Dorothy Sayers herself, threatening to expose a dark secret in her past that she would do anything to keep hidden.

Inspired by a true story in Sayers’ own life, New York Times bestselling author Marie Benedict brings to life the lengths to which five talented women writers will go to be taken seriously in the male-dominated world of letters as they unpuzzle a mystery torn from the pages of their own novels.

Review:

Mysterious, atmospheric, and entertaining!

The Queens of Crime is a menacing, action-packed tale that takes you back to London during 1930 and into the lives of five of the most successful female crime writers of the time, including Dorothy L. Sayers and Agatha Christie, as they join together to solve the murder of a young British nurse who vanished without a trace one day while on holiday with a friend in France.

The prose is descriptive and light. The characters are independent, intelligent, and intuitive. And the plot is a well-paced, captivating tale full of red herrings, amateur sleuthing, dangerous endeavours, deduction, secrets, deception, and female friendships.

Overall, The Queens of Crime is a cosy, enjoyable, satisfying tale by Benedict inspired by real-life historical figures that I devoured from start to finish and is the perfect choice for anyone who prefers their mysteries set in historical times.

 

This novel is available now.

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

         

 

 

Thank you to St. Martin’s Press for gifting me a copy in exchange for an honest review.

 

About Marie Benedict

Marie Benedict is a lawyer with more than ten years' experience as a litigator at two of the country's premier law firms and Fortune 500 companies. She is a magna cum laude graduate of Boston College with a focus on history and a cum laude graduate of the Boston University School of Law. She is the author of New York Times bestseller The Only Woman in the Room, Carnegie's Maid, The Other Einstein, and Lady Clementine. She lives in Pittsburgh with her family.

Photograph courtesy of Author's Goodreads Page.

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#BookReview I Died for Beauty by Amanda Flower @BerkleyPub @PenguinRandomCA #IDiedForBeauty #AnEmilyDickinsonMystery #AmandaFlower #Berkley #BerkleyPartner #PenguinReads

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#BookReview I Died for Beauty by Amanda Flower @BerkleyPub @PenguinRandomCA #IDiedForBeauty #AnEmilyDickinsonMystery #AmandaFlower #Berkley #BerkleyPartner #PenguinReads Title: I Died for Beauty

Author: Amanda Flower

Series: An Emily Dickinson Mystery #3

Published by: Berkley on Feb. 25, 2025

Genres: Historical Fiction, Mystery/Thriller

Pages: 352

Format: Paperback

Source: Berkley Publishing

Book Rating: 8/10

When a blaze takes both a neighbor’s home and his life, Emily Dickinson and her maid Willa have a burning desire to crack the case in this new historical mystery from Agatha Award–winning author Amanda Flower.

Amherst, 1857. The Dickinson family braves one of the worst winters in New England’s history. Trains are snowbound and boats are frozen in the harbor. Emily Dickinson and her maid, Willa Noble, have never witnessed anything like it. As Amherst families attempt to keep their homes warm, fears of fire abound.

These worries prove not to be unfounded as a blaze breaks out just down the street from the Dickinson in Kelley Square, the Irish community in Amherst, and a young couple is killed, leaving behind their young child. Their deaths appear to be a tragic accident, but Emily finds herself harboring suspicions there may be more to the fire than meets the eye. Emily and Willa must withstand the frigid temperatures and discover a killer lurking among the deadly frost.

Review:

Mysterious, atmospheric, and entertaining

In this latest novel by Flower, I Died for Beauty, we head back to 1857, where poet Emily Dickinson and her maid/sidekick Willa Noble now find themselves tangled up in a tragic investigation into a house fire that may not have been as accidental as it first appeared and which ultimately left two people dead and one little girl orphaned.

The writing style is fluid and light. The characters, including the intelligent, independent heroine, are well-developed, complex, and intriguing. And the plot is a well-paced, engaging whodunit full of twists, turns, amateur sleuthing, red herrings, suspects, customs, tradition, deduction, and danger.

Overall, I Died for Beauty is a cosy, enjoyable, satisfying tale by Flower that I thoroughly enjoyed and which is undoubtedly another wonderful addition to the Emily Dickinson Mysteries.

 

This novel is available now.

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

         

 

 

Thank you to Berkley for this free copy in exchange for an honest review.

 

About Amanda Flower

Amanda Flower is the USA Today bestselling and Agatha Award-winning mystery author of over forty novels, including the nationally bestselling Amish Candy Shop Mystery Series, Magical Bookshop Mysteries, and, written under the name Isabella Alan, the Amish Quilt Shop Mysteries. Flower is a former librarian, and she and her husband, a recording engineer, own a habitat farm and recording studio in Northeast Ohio.

Photo by David M. Seymour

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