12.30.2020 - What Could Be Saved

Many thanks to NetGalley and Atria Books for gifting me a digital ARC of this beautifully-written family saga by Liese O'Halloran Schwarz.  5 stars!

Told in dual time periods, we see the Preston family (dad Robert, mom Genevieve, kids Beatrice, Phillip, Laura) having moved to Bangkok in 1972 for Robert's job, supposedly working on building a dam.  We experience what is was like for them, moving from Washington DC to this foreign country during a time when the Vietnam War was raging.  We get a glimpse into what it was like for the servants, especially the women, who worked for the Preston's and other ex-pat families.  Both Robert and Genevieve are keeping many secrets - what are they actually doing during the day?  And the children are raised free-range with the servants doing much of the childrearing and transportation duties.  When Phillip goes missing, their entire world changes.

In 2019, we see Laura and Bea still navigating their sibling stories and living out their assigned roles - Bea as the bossy one in charge and Laura, the baby, never quite growing up.  Mom Genevieve is still in their family home but with dementia issues.  An email makes its way to Laura from a stranger in Bangkok, saying that Phillip is living there in a home owned by her father and he must leave immediately.  Is it really Phillip after all this time?  Where was he and what happened?

I loved the beautiful writing in this book and was transported into other worlds while reading it.  Sometimes in dual time period novels, I prefer one setting to the other and am anxious to get back to it.  In this book, I thought both were so intriguing and wasn't anxious for either to end.  This is mainly a book about family dynamics, especially between siblings, but it is so much more than that.  There's the mystery of Phillip intertwined through all the pages as well as all the secrets being kept.  I loved the backstories of the servants and their customs and beliefs.  Highly recommended!

12.26.2020 - Not My Boy

 

Many thanks to NetGalley and Sourcebooks Landmark for gifting me a digital ARC of this intriguing family drama/mystery by Kelly Simmons.  4.5 stars rounded up!

Hannah is newly divorced with a young son, Miles.  Desperate to get Miles away from issues at his school, she moves into a carriage house next door to her sister, Hillary, and her family, husband Ben and daughter Morgan.  The sisters have always been very close and mom, Eva, lives close by as well providing support and babysitting.  Hannah is looking forward to the cousins growing up next door to each other.  But fitting into the wealthy community isn't as easy as Hannah thought it would be.  When a young girl in the community goes missing, people start looking towards Miles.  Hannah will do anything to protect her boy, even casting the police's eyes towards her brother-in-law.  But everyone is keeping secrets here.

I really raced through this book to see how it would all play out.  Simmons has crafted a well-written novel to keep you guessing and to draw you into these characters.  I absolutely adored Eva and her comments about growing older, being mom and grandparent to such different personalities, and her role in all their lives.  What would we do to protect those we love?  

12.23.2020 - Dog Flowers

Many thanks to NetGalley and Random House for gifting me a digital ARC of this memoir by Danielle Geller.  3.5 stars.

"You're an alcoholic," grandma would tell me, even when I was very young.  "You just haven't had your first drink."  This pretty well sums up the cycle of alcoholism, abuse and mental illness in this story.  When Danielle's mother is dying in a Florida hospital from alcohol withdrawal, Danielle travels there and collects a few boxes of family material that her mom had saved.  She tries to put together the picture of her family history from these documents, traveling back to the Navajo reservation where her mom was raised.  We also see how Danielle's dad came in and out of her life, bringing abuse, neglect, and trouble along with him.

This was a difficult book for me to read.  The generational cycles of alcoholism combined with horrible choices, mental illness and abuse are well laid out.  However, the book went between the present as Danielle was exploring her family history to the past, but it wasn't always sequential or easy to follow.  For example, one chapter would have her sister homeless and addicted to drugs; the next, she'd be in her home with a job.  I never quite understand how or when that happened.  Also, and this could definitely be an ARC issue, the footnotes didn't seem to make sense with the spot they were listed.   Danielle had a great heart and wanted to help everyone, which also caused her to be an enabler - although that certainly isn't an easy line to straddle.  The fact that Danielle made it out of this family a contributing citizen is certainly a bright spot in this tale.

12.17.2020 - The Wife Upstairs

Many thanks to NetGalley and St Martin's Press for gifting me a digital ARC of this thriller by Rachel Hawkins - 5 stars for a book that is hard to put down and filled with twists and turns.  5 stars!  It's a retelling of Jane Eyre but it's been so long since I read that book that I have no recollection except for the names Jane and Mr. Rochester.

Jane has recently moved to Birmingham, AL, escaping from her past with a new name.  She's trying to make ends meet, living in a squalid apartment with an equally squalid roommate, John.  She gets a job walking dogs for the wealthy housewives living in Thornfield Estates.  It's there that she meets Eddie Rochester.  Eddie's husband, Bea, and her best friend and neighbor, Blanche, had a boating accident at their lake home and both are missing and presumed dead.  Soon the relationship between Eddie and Jane deepens and she is living with him., adding much to the rumor mill of the housewives in the development.  But none of these characters are who they say they are.

I don't want to give too much away - the title already gives lots of clues!  But this is a wonderfully-written twisty tale to curl up with during the current snowstorm and get lost in the world of the rich and famous.  The story gives us different viewpoints as well as glimpses of the past, but the author makes things easy to follow, titling the chapters with the character's name to help keep things straight.  Not all of these characters are likable but you'll be rooting for Jane, even when she makes questionable decision.  Great read!

12.15.2020 - The Butterfly House

 

Many thanks to NetGalley and Gallery/Scout Press for gifting me a digital ARC of this second in the Korner/Werner Danish police procedural series by Katrine Engberg - 5 stars for a great book that leaves me anxious for the next ones to be translated into English!

This book finds Anette Werner home on maternity leave - struggling with her new baby and missing her old life, including her job as detective.  Her partner, Jeppe Korner, is temporarily living with his mom after his divorce and secretly dating a coworker, Sara.  The team is thrust into a series of horrific murders - three bodies bled out and left in fountains to die.  Their investigations lead them to look at The Butterfly House, a residential home for the treatment of mentally-disturbed teenagers.  

There are so many different suspects in this book - I questioned everyone and was still surprised at the end!  I love both of these main characters that we met in The Tenant as well as many of the supporting characters, including another repeat from the first book, Esther.  There's a lot going on in this book but the author is very skilled at keeping things flowing with just enough information to keep you guessing.  This is a highly recommended series to start reading!

12.13.2020 - We Thought We Knew You

Many thanks to NetGalley and Kensington Books for the opportunity to read this true crime book by M. William Phelps.  Fascinating look into the mind of a criminal!  5 stars.

In Upstate NY, Mary and Bill Yoder ran a chiropractic/healing clinic.  Bill was semi-retired but Mary was still actively seeing patients; they were planning a big vacation.  When Mary came home from work deathly ill and had to be rushed to the hospital the next day, no one knew what was happening to make this very healthy woman suddenly be on the brink of death.  When she died and it was determined she was poisoned, the family and community were shocked.  Everyone loved Mary.  But evil was at play and it would take sharp detective and prosecutor work to solve the case.

I am a big fan of true crime stories and this one was written perfectly - we got to see how things progressed in real time as well as the recent past leading up to the events.  This story really showcases the diligent work that police officers, detectives, lab personnel and district attorneys put in to solve a case and see that justice is done.  This story was also made into a Dateline episode which I'm anxious to watch, especially after reading the end notes by the author.

Highly recommended for true crime fans.

12.11.2020 - No Woods So Dark As These

 

Many thanks to NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press for gifting me a digital ARC of the latest book in the Ryan DeMarco series by Randall Silvis.  This is one of my favorite series so you need to start from the beginning and read them!  4.5 stars!

Former Sergeant DeMarco and his girlfriend Jayme are still recovering physically and emotionally from their last case.  They are hoping to just lie low and recover, dreaming of exotic locations to travel and get away.  But they are called in to help investigate some brutal murders nearby and they can't resist the opportunity to help.  They are required to have a trooper with them, so we meet Detectives Flores.  Another new character, a journalist, Chase Miller, is along for the ride as well.  

This installment was a tad slower than the others, mostly with the characters continuing to go over their past traumas as well as waxing poetically about their love for each other.  But I'm totally invested in these characters so that's okay.  But that ending - or more like a cliffhanger - please don't keep me waiting to find out what happens next!

12.4.2020 - An Accidental Life

Many thanks to NetGalley and Matcha Publishing for gifting me a digital ARC of this debut novel by Chelsea Cannon - 4 stars!

Margaret was 17 years old when William Hill asked her to marry him.  She had planned on going to college to be a nurse but that wasn't her passion; reading and literature were but her family would never pay for an education to study those subjects.  Margaret said yes to William and put the rest of her dreams in the past.  Life was good as long as she fell into her role as housewife and mother to their two children, but Margaret never felt complete.  When she had the chance to take a college course in literature, it changed her life in ways she never could have imagined and put her in a position of keeping secrets from her family. But secrets always come to light.

Full disclosure - I requested this book from NetGalley solely because it takes place in Saratoga Springs NY where I live - who doesn't love to read a book with such a familiar setting?  I didn't have high expectations but was pleasantly surprised how easy it was to get lost in this book.  In begins in the 1970s when women were still not as free to explore options other than marriage and babies, especially when that's all they ever knew.  But denying your hopes and dreams is never a good plan and can only lead to heartache.  I enjoyed watching Margaret mature and own her life.

12.2.2020 - Take it Back

Many thanks to NetGalley and St Martin's Press for gifting me a digital ARC of this book by Kia Abdullah - 5 stars!  

Zara was a high-powered attorney, working for a top firm, when she walked away to do something more meaningful with her life.  She now works at Artemis House representing rape victims.  Her new client, Jodie, is a teenage girl with a disfiguring condition similar to the Elephant Man.  She is accusing 4 boys from her school for raping her after a party.  No one except for Zara believes her - her mom and best friend ridicule her for the allegations - you would want to rape her?  The four boys, all Muslim, maintain their innocence although their stories change a bit as evidence is brought forward.  Zara finds herself in an uncomfortable and unsafe position - while she has always fought against the cultural notion of an arranged marriage and the man having total control, she wasn't prepared for an entire community to rally against her, calling her a traitor for representing the white girl against the good Muslim boys.

This is a gripping courtroom thriller that will definitely keep you guessing until the last page and you'll continue to think about it after that!  I kept flip-flopping on who was telling the truth and feeling for both sides.  This book feels ripped out of the headlines of racial inequality and crowd vigilantes.  I see that there is another book coming featuring Zara - please sign me up for that one - can't wait to read more about her!