Source: Minotaur Books

#BookReview The Shadow Girls (Natalie Lockhart #4) by Alice Blanchard @AliceBooks333 @MinotaurBooks @StMartinsPress #AliceBlanchard #TheShadowGirls #MinotaurInfluencers #SMPInfluencers

categories: 9/10, Book Review, Mystery/Thriller
#BookReview The Shadow Girls (Natalie Lockhart #4) by Alice Blanchard @AliceBooks333 @MinotaurBooks @StMartinsPress #AliceBlanchard #TheShadowGirls #MinotaurInfluencers #SMPInfluencers Title: The Shadow Girls

Author: Alice Blanchard

Series: Natalie Lockhart #4

Published by: Minotaur Books on Jul. 25, 2023

Genres: Mystery/Thriller

Pages: 320

Format: ARC, Paperback

Source: Minotaur Books

Book Rating: 9/10

Someone is playing deadly games. Lieutenant Luke Pittman lies in the hospital in a coma after being attacked by one of their own. Veronica Manes, Burning Lake’s most respected modern-day witch, is dead, her murder left unsolved. Natalie Lockhart has become embroiled in a case with threads that become increasingly difficult to untangle.

Now, a new horror is uncovered, one that shocks the town as never before, and the dark, shadowy path forward for Natalie is paved with challenges that haunt her past―Veronica’s unsolved case. Her sister’s traumatic murder. The long-lost disappearance of her old best friend. Natalie’s obsession with finding the truth leads to a twisted, elemental struggle between good and evil―and nothing will ever be the same again.

The woods have secrets.

The trees are carved with curses.

There’s something wicked in Burning Lake.

Review:

Mesmerizing, dark and spine-chilling!

The Shadow Girls is an unpredictable, sinuous thrill ride that takes us back to Burning Lake, NY, where Detective Natalie Lockhart and her team now find themselves not only keeping their fingers crossed that Lt. Pittman will quickly awake from his coma but also investigating the death of a local employee of Murray’s Halloween Costumes, Randolph Holmes, who unbeknownst to most, seems to have had a penchant in the past for kidnapping, confining, and murdering young girls.

The writing is seamless and fluid. The characters are tough, determined, and flawed. And the engrossing plot is a tightly-paced, ominous tale full of twists, turns, surprises, violence, manipulation, depravity, and murder.

Overall, The Shadow Girls is a highly entertaining, gripping, eerie thriller by Blanchard that highlights her exceptional ability to write police procedurals that have well-drawn characters and disturbingly realistic storylines. It is the fourth novel in the Natalie Lockhart series, and if you’re not already reading this series, you really should be!

 

This book 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 Books for gifting me a copy in exchange for an honest review.

 

About Alice Blanchard

Alice Blanchard is an award-winning author. She has received a PEN Award, a New Letters Literary Award, a Centrum Artists-in-Residence Fellowship, and a Katherine Anne Porter Prize for Fiction. Her debut novel, Darkness Peering, was a New York Times' Notable Book and a Barnes & Noble Best Mystery book. Her work has been published in 17 countries.

Photo Credit: DH Dowling.

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#BookReview A Stolen Child by Sarah Stewart Taylor @SSTaylorBooks @MinotaurBooks @StMartinsPress #MinotaurInfluencers #AStolenChild #SarahStewartTaylor #MaggieDArcy #SMPInfluencers

categories: 8.5/10, Book Review, Mystery/Thriller
#BookReview A Stolen Child by Sarah Stewart Taylor @SSTaylorBooks @MinotaurBooks @StMartinsPress #MinotaurInfluencers #AStolenChild #SarahStewartTaylor #MaggieDArcy #SMPInfluencers Title: A Stolen Child

Author: Sarah Stewart Taylor

Published by: Minotaur Books on Jun. 20, 2023

Genres: Mystery/Thriller

Pages: 384

Format: Paperback

Source: Minotaur Books

Book Rating: 8.5/10

Sarah Stewart Taylor is known for her atmospheric portrayal of an American detective in Ireland, and her critically acclaimed series returns with A Stolen Child.

After months of training, former Long Island homicide detective Maggie D’arcy is now officially a Garda. She’s finally settling into life in Ireland and so is her teenage daughter, Lilly. Maggie may not be a detective yet, but she’s happy with her community policing assignment in Dublin’s Portobello neighborhood.

When she and her partner find former model and reality tv star Jade Elliot murdered—days after responding to a possible domestic violence disturbance at her apartment—they also discover Jade’s toddler daughter missing. Shorthanded thanks to an investigation into a gangland murder in the neighborhood, Maggie’s friend, Detective Inspector Roly Byrne, brings her onto his team to help find the missing child. But when a key discovery is made, the case only becomes more confusing—and more dangerous. Amidst a nationwide manhunt, Maggie and her colleagues must look deep into Jade’s life—both personal and professional—to find a ruthless killer.

Review:

Meticulous, sinister and sharp!

In this fourth instalment in the Maggie D’Arcy series, A Stolen Child, we head back to Dublin where former Long Island Detective and now Garda police officer Maggie D’Arcy finds herself working once again with DI Byrne as a part-time detective when she suddenly becomes immersed in a tricky investigation involving a murdered model, a missing toddler, a father with something to hide, and a few family members who don’t seem to be as concerned or helpful as one would expect them to be.

The writing is seamless and precise. The characters are flawed, diligent, and persistent. And the plot is a menacing tale full of twists, turns, deception, mayhem, lies, secrets, suspicious personalities, revelations, familial dysfunction, mental illness, and murder.

Overall, A Stolen Child is an ominous, sophisticated, entertaining tale by Taylor that had just the right amount of mystery, intrigue, atmosphere, and intensity to keep me engaged from start to finish and left me, a huge fan of this series, more than satisfied and eager for more.

 

This book 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 Sarah Stewart Taylor

Sarah Stewart Taylor grew up on Long Island and was educated at Middlebury College and Trinity College, Dublin. She lives with her husband and three children on a farm in Vermont where they raise sheep and blueberries.

Sarah is the author of THE MOUNTAINS WILD, an atmospheric thriller about a Long Island homicide detective named Maggie D'Arcy who returns to Ireland twenty-three years after the unsolved disappearance of her beloved cousin Erin in the Wicklow Mountains. When a young woman disappears and new evidence from Erin’s case is found, Maggie will have to uncover the truth about the Irish man she's never stopped loving and, in order to help Irish police save the missing woman, the truth about who Erin was and what happened to her.

It will be published by Minotaur Books on June 23, 2020.

Sarah is also the author of the Sweeney St. George mystery series, about an art historian who studies funerary art, "the art of death," from Minotaur Books. The first book in the series, O’ Artful Death, was nominated for an Agatha Award for Best First Novel.

Her non-fiction has been published in The Washington Post, The Boston Globe, and many other publications.

Photograph courtesy of Author's Goodreads Page.

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#BookReview Speak of the Devil by Rose Wilding @Rose_Wldng @MinotaurBooks @StMartinsPress #SpeakoftheDevil #RoseWilding #MinotaurInfluencers #SMPInfluencers

categories: 8/10, Book Review, Mystery/Thriller
#BookReview Speak of the Devil by Rose Wilding @Rose_Wldng @MinotaurBooks @StMartinsPress #SpeakoftheDevil #RoseWilding #MinotaurInfluencers #SMPInfluencers Title: Speak of the Devil

Author: Rose Wilding

Published by: Minotaur Books on Jun. 13, 2023

Genres: Mystery/Thriller

Pages: 304

Format: Hardcover

Source: Minotaur Books

Book Rating: 8/10

All of us knew him. One of us killed him…

Seven women stand in shock in a seedy hotel room; a man’s severed head sits in the centre of the floor. Each of the women – the wife, the teenager, the ex, the journalist, the colleague, the friend, and the woman who raised him – has a very good reason to have done it, yet each swears she did not. In order to protect each other, they must figure out who is responsible, all while staying one step ahead of the police.

Against the ticking clock of a murder investigation, each woman’s secret is brought to light as the connections between them converge to reveal a killer.

A dark and nuanced portrait of love, loyalty, and manipulation, Speak of the Devil explores the roles in which women are cast in the lives of terrible men…and the fallout when they refuse to stay silent for one moment longer.

Review:

Dark, intricate, and engrossing!

Speak of the Devil is a layered, unsettling tale that sweeps you away to Newcastle, England and into the life of DI Nova Stokoe, a young police inspector who suddenly finds herself embroiled in a complex murder investigation involving the decapitated head of an esteemed scientist and a suspect list that includes seven local women all who at some time were a victim of his manipulation, deviance, gaslighting, betrayal, violence, or cruelty, and thus all with a motive for his murder.

The writing is brisk and tight. The characters are secretive, cunning, and vulnerable. And the plot, told from multiple perspectives, builds quickly creating intensity and suspense as it unravels all the personalities, motivations, relationships, deception, and devious behaviours within it.

Overall, Speak of the Devil is, ultimately, a story of lies, revelations, secrets, deception, betrayal, manipulation, mayhem, depravity, hatred, vengeance, violence, and murder. It’s a clever, sinister, solid debut by Wilding that certainly kept me thoroughly engrossed from start to finish.

 

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 Books for gifting me a copy in exchange for an honest review.

 

About Rose Wilding

ROSE WILDING is a crime writer from the north of England. She studied at the University of Manchester, University of Sunderland, and Towson University. When not murdering fictional people, she can usually be found drinking coffee, reading feminist sci-fi, or posting more pictures than anyone needs of her two chihuahuas on Instagram. Speak of the Devil is her debut novel.

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#BookReview Murder at Haven’s Rock by Kelley Armstrong @KelleyArmstrong @MinotaurBooks @StMartinsPress #MurderatHavensRock #KelleyArmstrong #HavensRock #HavensRockNovels #MinotaurInfluencers #SMPInfluencers

categories: 9/10, Book Review, Mystery/Thriller
#BookReview Murder at Haven’s Rock by Kelley Armstrong @KelleyArmstrong @MinotaurBooks @StMartinsPress #MurderatHavensRock #KelleyArmstrong #HavensRock #HavensRockNovels #MinotaurInfluencers #SMPInfluencers Title: Murder at Haven's Rock

Author: Kelley Armstrong

Series: Haven's Rock #1

Published by: Minotaur Books on Feb. 21, 2023

Genres: Mystery/Thriller

Pages: 352

Format: ARC, Paperback

Source: Minotaur Books

Book Rating: 9/10

New York Times bestselling author Kelley Armstrong’s Rockton Novels had one of the most unique towns in crime fiction. Murder at Haven’s Rock is a spinoff, a fresh start… with a few new dangers that threaten everything before it even begins.

Haven’s Rock, Yukon. Population: 0

Deep in the Yukon wilderness, a town is being built. A place for people to disappear, a fresh start from a life on the run. Haven’s Rock isn’t the first town of this kind, something detective Casey Duncan and her husband, Sheriff Eric Dalton, know first hand. They met in the original town of Rockton. But greed and deception led the couple to financing a new refuge for those in need. This time around, they get to decide which applicants are approved for residency.

There’s only one rule in Haven’s Rock: stay out of the forest. When two of the town’s construction crew members break it and go missing, Casey and Eric are called in ahead of schedule to track them down. When a body is discovered, well hidden with evidence of foul play, Casey and Eric must find out what happened to the dead woman, and locate the still missing man. The woman stumbled upon something she wasn’t supposed to see, and the longer Casey and Eric don’t know what happened, the more danger everyone is in.

Review:

Menacing, atmospheric, and absorbing!

Murder at Haven’s Rock is a dark, intricate tale that takes us back to the Yukon, where Casey Duncan and Sheriff Eric Dalton have begun building a new community, a hidden refuge surrounded by miles of forest that they’re hoping will escape the pitfalls, deception and danger that began to ravage their last home of Rockton but their not the only ones staking a claim to this rugged wilderness and before the final building is complete workers will start to go missing, bodies will begin to surface, and greed will once again rear its ugly head.

The prose is brisk and tight. The characters are secretive, troubled, and multilayered. And the plot is an intense, gripping tale full of twists, turns, surprises, secrets, suspects, malevolence, deduction, revelations, lies, desperation, avarice, violence, and murder.

Kelley Armstrong is the author of one of my all-time favourite mystery series, Rockton, so when I heard she was writing a spinoff series, I was super excited, and Murder at Haven’s Rock did not disappoint. It’s a suspenseful, eerie, action-packed read by Armstrong and a fantastic start to what is sure to be another must-read series for me.

 

This novel is available now.

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

         

 

 

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

 

About Kelley Armstrong

Kelley Armstrong has been telling stories since before she could write. Her earliest written efforts were disastrous. If asked for a story about girls and dolls, hers would invariably feature undead girls and evil dolls, much to her teachers' dismay. All efforts to make her produce "normal" stories failed.

Today, she continues to spin tales of ghosts and demons and werewolves, while safely locked away in her basement writing dungeon. She's the author of the NYT-bestselling "Women of the Otherworld" paranormal suspense series and "Darkest Powers" young adult urban fantasy trilogy, as well as the Nadia Stafford crime series. Armstrong lives in southwestern Ontario with her husband, kids and far too many pets.

Photograph by Kathryn Hollinrake.

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#BookReview Finlay Donovan Jumps the Gun by Elle Cosimano @ElleCosimano @MinotaurBooks @StMartinsPress #MinotaurInfluencers #FinlayDonovanJumpsTheGun #FinlayDonovan #ElleCosimano

categories: 8.5/10, Book Review, Mystery/Thriller
#BookReview Finlay Donovan Jumps the Gun by Elle Cosimano @ElleCosimano @MinotaurBooks @StMartinsPress #MinotaurInfluencers #FinlayDonovanJumpsTheGun #FinlayDonovan #ElleCosimano Title: Finlay Donovan Jumps the Gun

Author: Elle Cosimano

Series: Finlay Donovan #3

Published by: Minotaur Books on Jan. 31, 2023

Genres: Mystery/Thriller

Pages: 304

Format: Hardcover

Source: Minotaur Books

Book Rating: 8.5/10

Author and single mom Finlay Donovan has been in messes before―after all, she’s a pro at removing bloodstains for various unexpected reasons―but none quite like this. When Finlay and her nanny/partner-in-crime Vero accidentally destroyed a luxury car that they had “borrowed” in the process of saving the life of Finlay’s ex-husband, the Russian mob did her a favor and bought the car for her. And now Finlay owes them.

Mob boss Feliks is still running the show from behind bars, and he has a task for Finlay: find and identify a contract killer before the cops do. The problem is, the killer might be an officer themself.

Luckily, hot cop Nick has just been tasked with starting up a citizen’s police academy, and combined pressure from Finlay’s looming book deadline and Feliks is enough to convince Finlay and Vero to get involved. Through firearm training and forensic classes (and some hands-on research with a tempting detective), Finlay and Vero use their time in police academy to sleuth out the real contract killer to free themselves from the mob’s clutches―all the while dodging spies, confronting Vero’s past, and juggling the daily trials of parenthood.

From USA Today bestseller and Edgar-Award nominee Elle Cosimano, comes Finlay Donovan Jumps the Gun—the highly anticipated, hilarious, and heart-pounding next installment in the beloved Finlay Donovan series…

Review:

Sassy, amusing, and unpredictable!

Finlay Donovan Jumps the Gun is a mysterious, captivating read that transports you back into the lives of romantic suspense author and mother of two Finlay Donovan and her partner in crime Veronica Ruiz as they find themselves once again reluctantly messed up in the world of crime when Russian mobster Feliks Zhirov continues to pressure them to identity the online contractor killer EasyClean before his case goes to trial and their amateur sleuthing leads them to a member of the Fairfax County PD and a placement in the citizen’s police academy run by the delectable Detective Nicholas Anthony.

The prose is light and fun. The characters are stressed, resourceful, and clumsy. And the plot is a spirited, action-packed tale full of life, love, family, friendship, parenthood, lies, secrets, tricky situations, humorous hijinks, danger, and a dab of romance.

Overall, Finlay Donovan Jumps the Gun is another cute, comical, outlandish addition to the Finlay Donovan series by Cosimano that had just the right amount of zany antics and entertaining storyline to keep me engaged and laughing from start to finish.

 

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 Devil You Know by P. J. Tracy @MinotaurBooks @StMartinsPress #TheDevilYouKnowBook #PJTracy #MinotaurInfluencers #SMPInfluencers

categories: 8/10, Book Review, Mystery/Thriller, Police Procedural
#BookReview The Devil You Know by P. J. Tracy @MinotaurBooks @StMartinsPress #TheDevilYouKnowBook #PJTracy #MinotaurInfluencers #SMPInfluencers Title: The Devil You Know

Author: P. J. Tracy

Series: Detective Margaret Nolan #3

Published by: Minotaur Books on Jan. 17, 2023

Genres: Mystery/Thriller, Police Procedural

Pages: 304

Format: Hardcover

Source: Minotaur Books

Book Rating: 8/10

LAPD Detective Margaret Nolan returns in The Devil You Know, the next book in the series where P. J. Tracy “seems to have found her literary sweet spot” (New York Times Book Review).

Los Angeles has many faces: the real LA where regular people live and work, the degenerate underbelly of any big city, and the rarified world of wealth, power, and celebrity. LAPD Detective Margaret Nolan’s latest case plunges her into this insular realm of privilege, and gives her a glimpse of the darkness behind the glitter.

The body of beloved actor Evan Hobbes is found in the rubble of a Malibu rockslide a day after a fake video ruins his career. It’s not clear to Nolan if it’s an accident, a suicide, or a murder, and things get murkier as the investigation expands to his luminary friends and colleagues. Meanwhile, Hobbes’ agent is dealing with damage control, his psychotic boss, and a woman he’s scorned. But when his powerful brother-in-law is murdered, he and Nolan both find themselves entangled in a scandalous deception of deadly proportion that shakes the very foundation of Hollywood’s untouchables.

Review:

Tense, captivating, and mysterious!

The Devil You Know is a scheming, twisty tale that sweeps you away to the glitz and glamour of Hollywood, where deception is rife, tensions are running high, everyone has a hidden agenda, and despicable behaviour, backstabbing, partying, sex and murder seem to always be on the table.

The writing is crisp and tight. The characters are ambitious, self-obsessed, and ruthless. And the plot is an enticing mix of lies, secrets, duplicity, infidelity, manipulation, mayhem, vengeance, and murder.

Overall, The Devil You Know is another entertaining, enjoyable, satisfying addition to the LAPD Detective Margaret Nolan series by Tracy that does a wonderful job of reminding us that revenge is best served cold.

 

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 Books for gifting me a copy in exchange for an honest review.

 

About P. J. Tracy

P. J. Tracy is the pseudonym of Traci Lambrecht, bestselling and award winning author of the Monkeewrench series. Lambrecht and her mother, P. J., wrote eight novels together as P. J. Tracy before P. J. passed away in 2016. Lambrecht has since continued the Monkeewrench series solo. She spent most of her childhood painting and showing Arabian horses, and graduated with a Russian Studies major from St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minnesota, where she also studied voice. She now lives outside Minneapolis.

Photo by Pamela Stege.

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#BookReview Of Manners and Murder by Anastasia Hastings @MinotaurBooks @StMartinsPress #MinotaurInfluencers #DearMissHermione #OfMannersandMurder #AnastasiaHastings #SMPInfluencers

categories: 8/10, Book Review, Historical Fiction, Mystery/Thriller
#BookReview Of Manners and Murder by Anastasia Hastings @MinotaurBooks @StMartinsPress #MinotaurInfluencers #DearMissHermione #OfMannersandMurder #AnastasiaHastings #SMPInfluencers Title: Of Manners and Murder

Author: Anastasia Hastings

Series: Dear Miss Hermione #1

Published by: Minotaur Books on Feb. 7, 2023

Genres: Historical Fiction, Mystery/Thriller

Pages: 304

Format: ARC, Paperback

Source: Minotaur Books

Book Rating: 8/10

Of Manners and Murder is the first in the delightful new Dear Miss Hermione mystery series from Anastasia Hastings.

1885: London, England. When Violet’s Aunt Adelia decides to abscond with her newest paramour, she leaves behind her role as the most popular Agony Aunt in London, “Miss Hermione,” in Violet’s hands.

And of course, the first letter Violet receives is full, not of prissy pondering, but of portent. Ivy Armstrong is in need of help and fears for her life. But when Violet visits the village where the letters were posted, she finds that Ivy is already dead.

She’ll quickly discover that when you represent the best-loved Agony Aunt in Britain, both marauding husbands and murder are par for the course.

Review:

Atmospheric, mysterious, and delightfully entertaining!

Of Manners and Murder is a playful, engaging tale set in England during 1885 that features Violet Manville, a spirited bluestocking who, after her Aunt Adelia heads to the Continent on vacation leaving her in charge of the “Dear Miss Hermione” column, finds herself embroiled in a murder mystery with the most unusual suspects after travelling to Willingdale to meet up with a young woman who wrote to her in fear for her life only to discover when she arrives there that she’s already dead.

The writing style is light and witty. The characters are intelligent, adventurous, and intriguing. And the plot is a well-paced, compelling whodunit full of red herrings, amateur sleuthing, tricky situations, awkward moments, deduction, danger, attraction, and a touch of romance.

Of Manners and Murder is the first book in the Dear Miss Hermione series, and if you love historical mysteries/romances, this novel won’t disappoint. It is an amusing, enjoyable, cosy read that is the first novel I’ve read by Hasting but undoubtedly won’t be my last.

 

This novel is available February 7, 2023.

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

            

 

 

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

 

About Anastasia Hastings

ANASTASIA HASTINGS is a penname for Connie Laux who has, over a thirty-year career, published 65 novels in a number of different genres and under a number of names.

She began her career writing historical romance, and has also written contemporary romance, YA, and a children's book. Over fifteen years ago, she set her sights on writing in her favorite genre, mystery, and since then has published 30+ mysteries for Minotaur and Penguin Random House.

As Kylie Logan, she wrote the Jazz Ramsey books for Minotaur as well as a number of cozy mysteries for Berkley, including the League of Literary Ladies series, the Ethnic Eats series, and the Button Box mysteries. She's also written the Haunted Mansion mysteries as Lucy Ness and the Love is Murder mysteries (set in a romance bookstore) as Mimi Granger. As Casey Daniels, she authored the Pepper Martin mysteries, a series in which she put her knowledge of old cemeteries and the paranormal to good use.

She is a Sherlock Holmes devotee, a Victorian England aficionado, and she enjoys learning about history as it applies to the everyday lives of the people who lived it. Connie learned to love mysteries at an early age thanks to her dad who was a Cleveland Police detective. He not only introduced her to the Holmes stories, he took her along on his days off and they went in search of stolen cars.

Connie lives outside of Cleveland with her husband, David, and her Airedale, Eliot Ness, who is a ribbon-winning show dog when he's outside and a couch potato when he's home.

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#BookReview All the Dangerous Things by Stacy Willingham @svwillingham @MinotaurBooks @StMartinsPress #AllTheDangerousThings #StacyWillingham #MinotaurInfluencers #SMPInfluencers

categories: 9/10, Book Review, Mystery/Thriller
#BookReview All the Dangerous Things by Stacy Willingham @svwillingham @MinotaurBooks @StMartinsPress #AllTheDangerousThings #StacyWillingham #MinotaurInfluencers #SMPInfluencers Title: All the Dangerous Things

Author: Stacy Willingham

Published by: Minotaur Books on Jan. 10, 2023

Genres: Mystery/Thriller

Pages: 336

Format: ARC, Paperback

Source: Minotaur Books

Book Rating: 9/10

One year ago, Isabelle Drake’s life changed forever: her toddler son, Mason, was taken out of his crib in the middle of the night while she and her husband were asleep in the next room. With little evidence and few leads for the police to chase, the case quickly went cold. However, Isabelle cannot rest until Mason is returned to her—literally.

Except for the occasional catnap or small blackout where she loses track of time, she hasn’t slept in a year.

Isabelle’s entire existence now revolves around finding him, but she knows she can’t go on this way forever. In hopes of jarring loose a new witness or buried clue, she agrees to be interviewed by a true-crime podcaster—but his interest in Isabelle’s past makes her nervous. His incessant questioning paired with her severe insomnia has brought up uncomfortable memories from her own childhood, making Isabelle start to doubt her recollection of the night of Mason’s disappearance, as well as second-guess who she can trust… including herself. But she is determined to figure out the truth no matter where it leads.

Review:

Sophisticated, twisty, and riveting!

All the Dangerous Things is a highly suspenseful, character-driven thriller that takes you into the life of Isabelle Drake, a young mother who has barely slept a wink in the last year since her worst nightmare came true and her son was abducted during the night but who now at her wit’s end is willing to accept any help she can get to discover what really occurred even if it means working with the meddling true-crime podcaster Waylon Spencer and confronting a past she would much rather stay hidden.

The writing is precise and brisk. The characters are complex, secretive, and troubled. And the plot ratchets up the intrigue quickly as it twists, turns and unravels all the personalities, motivations, actions, and relationships within it.

Overall, All the Dangerous Things, at its core, is a novel about family, friendship, fear, secrets, manipulation, red herrings, revelations, childhood trauma, kidnapping, and motherhood. It’s a fast-paced, gripping, uniquely-written tale that highlights everything is not always as it seems and is a real page-turner you certainly don’t want to miss.

 

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 Books for providing me with a copy in exchange for an honest review.

 

About Stacy Willingham

STACY WILLINGHAM, author of A Flicker in the Dark, worked as a copywriter and brand strategist for various marketing agencies before deciding to write fiction full time. She earned her BA in Magazine Journalism from the University of Georgia and MFA in Writing from the Savannah College of Art & Design. She currently lives in Charleston, SC with her husband, Britt, and Labradoodle, Mako.

Photo by Mary Hannah Harte.

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#BookReview The Lindbergh Nanny by Mariah Fredericks @MariahFrederick @MinotaurBooks @StMartinsPress #TheLindberghNanny #MariahFredericks #MinotaurInfluencers #SMPInfluencers

categories: 8.5/10, Book Review, Historical Fiction, Mystery/Thriller
#BookReview The Lindbergh Nanny by Mariah Fredericks @MariahFrederick @MinotaurBooks @StMartinsPress #TheLindberghNanny #MariahFredericks #MinotaurInfluencers #SMPInfluencers Title: The Lindbergh Nanny

Author: Mariah Fredericks

Published by: Minotaur Books on Nov. 15, 2022

Genres: Historical Fiction, Mystery/Thriller

Pages: 320

Format: eBook, Paperback

Source: Minotaur Books

Book Rating: 8.5/10

Mariah Fredericks’s The Lindbergh Nanny is powerful, propulsive novel about America’s most notorious kidnapping through the eyes of the woman who found herself at the heart of this deadly crime.

When the most famous toddler in America, Charles Lindbergh, Jr., is kidnapped from his family home in New Jersey in 1932, the case makes international headlines. Already celebrated for his flight across the Atlantic, his father, Charles, Sr., is the country’s golden boy, with his wealthy, lovely wife, Anne Morrow Lindbergh, by his side. But there’s someone else in their household—Betty Gow, a formerly obscure young woman, now known around the world by another name: the Lindbergh Nanny.

A Scottish immigrant deciphering the rules of her new homeland and its East Coast elite, Betty finds Colonel Lindbergh eccentric and often odd, Mrs. Lindbergh kind yet nervous, and Charlie simply a darling. Far from home and bruised from a love affair gone horribly wrong, Betty finds comfort in caring for the child, and warms to the attentions of handsome sailor Henrik, sometimes known as Red. Then, Charlie disappears.

Suddenly a suspect in the eyes of both the media and the public, Betty must find the truth about what really happened that night, in order to clear her own name—and to find justice for the child she loves.

Review:

Captivating, atmospheric, and immersive!

The Lindbergh Nanny is a fascinating, absorbing novel set in the early-1930s that sweeps you away to New Jersey and into the life of Betty Gow, a Scottish immigrant whose life is irrevocably changed when, after being hired by aviator Charles Lindbergh and his wife, heiress Anne Morrow Lindbergh to be the caregiver for their first child, Charles Lindbergh Jr., she becomes one of the prime suspects in his kidnapping when it becomes apparent that the twenty-month-old toddler was abducted through a window she left open.

The prose is smooth and fluid. The characters are multi-layered, secretive, and troubled. And the plot builds nicely to create tension and suspense as it unravels all the histories, motivations, personalities, and relationships within it.

Overall, The Lindbergh Nanny is an insightful, well-written, tragic tale by Fredericks based on real-life events that does an exceptional job of highlighting her impressive research and knowledge into what is undoubtedly one of the most famous kidnapping cases of all time.

 

This novel is available November 15, 2022.

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

            

 

 

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

 

About Mariah Fredericks

Mariah Fredericks was born and raised in New York City, where she still lives with her family. She is the author of several YA novels. Death of an American Beauty is her third novel to feature ladies' maid Jane Prescott.

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#BookReview Secrets of the Nile by Tasha Alexander @talexander @MinotaurBooks @StMartinsPress #SecretsoftheNile #TashaAlexander #LadyEmilyAshtonMysteries #MinotaurInfluencers #SMPInfluencers

categories: 8.5/10, Book Review, Historical Fiction, Mystery/Thriller
#BookReview Secrets of the Nile by Tasha Alexander @talexander @MinotaurBooks @StMartinsPress #SecretsoftheNile #TashaAlexander #LadyEmilyAshtonMysteries #MinotaurInfluencers #SMPInfluencers Title: Secrets of the Nile

Author: Tasha Alexander

Series: Lady Emily Ashton Mysteries #16

Published by: Minotaur Books on Oct. 4, 2022

Genres: Historical Fiction, Mystery/Thriller

Pages: 320

Format: ARC, Paperback

Source: Minotaur Books

Book Rating: 8.5/10

In a brilliant homage to Agatha Christie, critically acclaimed author Tasha Alexander sends Lady Emily to Egypt during British colonial rule to investigate a crime that leads back to the era of the Pharaohs.

Lord Bertram Deeley, a renowned amateur British collector of antiquities is entertaining his closest friends at a lavish cruise up the Nile to his home at Luxor when he suddenly collapses after offering a welcome toast, a victim of the lethal poison cyanide. Who amongst this group of his nearest and dearest would want to kill their generous host: an archeologist whose dig Deeley was funding until he suddenly withdrew support? A powerful politician whose career Deeley had secretly destroyed? A dyspeptic aristocratic English spinster whose hired travelling companion seems determined to protect her employer? Or even the formidable Mrs. Hargreaves, Lady Emily’s mother-in-law, who may have spurned the advances of Lord Deeley when they were both younger? A key clue may lie with several ancient ushabtis, exquisite three-thousand-year-old sculptures that played a role in yet another murder in Ancient Egypt, a crime with a very real link to Lord Deeley’s death. Lady Emily and Colin gather their suspects together to reveal the identity of a killer whose motive is as shocking as it is brilliant.

Review:

Mysterious, atmospheric, and entertaining

In this latest novel by Alexander, Secrets of the Nile, we head to 1904, where at the invitation of antiquities collector Lord Deeley, Lady Emily, her husband, her mother-in-law, and her stepdaughter travel to Egypt to enjoy some culture and history only to find themselves immediately embroiled in a clue-like murder mystery when at the dinner on the first evening their host winds up dead, and all the friends and acquaintances surrounding him seem to have had more than one motive for murder.

The writing style is vivid 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, Secrets of the Nile is a cosy, enjoyable, satisfying tale by Alexander that I thoroughly enjoyed, and which is without a doubt another wonderful addition to the Lady Emily Ashton Mysteries.

 

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 Books for providing me with a copy in exchange for an honest review.

 

About Tasha Alexander

TASHA ALEXANDER is the author of the New York Times bestselling Lady Emily mystery series. The daughter of two philosophy professors, she studied English literature and medieval history at the University of Notre Dame. She and her husband, novelist Andrew Grant, live on a ranch in southeastern Wyoming.

Photo Credit: Charles Osgood

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