7.31.2022 - Alias Emma

 

Many thanks to NetGalley and Penguin Random House Ballantine Books for gifting me a digital ARC of this wonderful debut book by Ava Glass - 5 stars!

Emma Makepeace is a spy, working for The Agency, on her first big mission.  She must track down and convince an innocent doctor, wanted by the Russian government, to come with her to MI6 to safety.  Michael, a doctor, doesn't want to go with her or believe he's threatened.  But convincing him is just the first hard task.  She must somehow bring him in while avoiding all the CCTV cameras in London because they've been hacked and the Russians chasing them.

This book is apparently the first in a series starring bad-ass Emma.  I loved her character and was rooting for her as I raced through this book.  This was a perfectly executed spy thriller that kept me intrigued as Emma and Michael raced through London, using only her skills and wit.  In between, you'll learn about Emma's past and why she's so driven to right the wrongs in the world.  It was all such fun too - I can't wait to read more.  Move over, James Bond!

7.30.2022 - The Stepson

 

Many thanks to NetGalley and Dreamscape Media for gifting me an audio ARC of this psychological thriller by Jane Renshaw and wonderfully narrated by Mhairi Morrison, Katherine Littrell and Joshua Manning - 4 stars!

Lulu, a psychotherapist, rather quickly married Nick after a chance meeting.  Nick has a troubled past; his entire family (dad, mom and baby stepsister) disappeared when he was a teenager and he was sent away to boarding school.  So Lulu is understanding when he is scared of losing her and tends to be too controlling.  Lulu decides that Nick needs to confront his demons and they travel back to where he grew up, only to have another person go missing.

The story is told from 2 POVs - Maggie (Nick's stepmom) back in 1997 and Lulu in 2019.  While there weren't a lot of twists and turns in this one, this was a well-written thriller that kept me intrigued.  The cast of narrators was excellent and helped up the tension of the book.  

7.29.2022 - A Tidy Ending

 Many thanks to NetGalley and Scribner for gifting me a digital copy of the latest novel by Joanna Cannon - 5 stars!

Linda lives a quiet life, working at a charity shop, going home to boring husband, Terry.  But she wishes for the kind of life she glimpses in the catalogs that arrive in the mail addressed to the former owner, Rebecca.  Linda becomes quite obsessed with Rebecca and the life she lives.  Meanwhile, Terry starts acting odd - coming home late, being mysterious, right when girls go missing in the neighborhood.

Wow - this book was so good!  Told in the first person perspective of Linda, both in the past and in the present when she is in a mental health facility, you will laugh at the dark humor and feel for Linda as she copes with her past and tries to make a better life for herself.  Go into this one as blind as possible because it will be worth it!  

7.27.2022 - Long Gone

 

Many thanks to NetGalley, St Martin's Press Minotaur Books and Dreamscape Media for gifting me both a digital and audio ARC of the second book in the Detective Annalisa Vega series by Joanna Schaffhausen, audiobook perfectly narrated by Kelsey Navarro - 4.5 stars!

Detective Vega is trying to get her life back after turning in her ex-cop father for a murder.  She is at odds with her family and her coworkers don't trust her.  When fellow detective Leo Hammond turns up dead, she has nothing to lose by looking into his death and his past.  Annalisa thinks that Mo Bocks, a suspect in a cold case, may have something to do with it.  Mo is also dating Annalisa's best friend, so no one is happy with her investigations.  But there may be more than hard feelings coming Annalisa's way.

I loved falling back into the Chicago PD detective squad world with Annalisa and her partner and ex-husband, Nick.  While you should definitely read the first in this series, the author gives plenty of back story to catch you up if you read it as a stand alone.  This one is a bit complicated, with multiple investigations going on, including old cases, but it's another great police procedural and mystery.  Annalisa is a wonderful character, always following her strong moral compass.  I alternated between the audio, which was narrated so well, and the digital book because I needed to know how it was all going to end!  Can't wait for more books in this series!

7.26.2022 - The Couple at Number 9

 

Many thanks to Harper Collins/Harper Perennial for gifting me a digital ARC of the new book by Claire Douglas - 4.5 stars rounded up!

Young couple Tom and Saffron, who is newly pregnant, move into a house given to them by their mother, Lorna, who inherited from her mother, Rose.  Tom and Saffron are excited about the house and are busy making changes, including an addition to the kitchen which required excavation.  When two bodies are found buried in the yard, everything changes.  The bodies appear to have been buried over 30 years.  The person with the most knowledge would be Rose, but she is currently in a care home with dementia.  

What a great story, told from multiple POVs and timelines, as the mystery deepens around who the bodies are and how they got there.  The fact that Rose had dementia made easy answers out of the question, so the reader, along with the characters, have to do some detective work.  One of the best parts for me was the personal interaction between the characters - there are lots of back stories explored and relationships between couples and parents are intriguing.  Lots of twists but all perfectly executed!

7.24.2022 - The New Neighbor

 

Many thanks to NetGalley and Random House Ballantine Books for gifting me a copy of the latest novel by Karen Cleveland - 4 stars.

Beth seems to have it all - a job she loves as a CIA analyst, 3 children doing well, and the perfect house on a cul-de-sac with neighbors who have watched their children grow up.  But when Beth and her husband, Mike, return from dropping their youngest off at college, Mike tells her he's moving out on his own rather than to the apartment they were planning to share after their house sold.  Then at work, she's suddenly transferred from her long-time job to a teaching position.  Beth has spent her career searching for The Neighbor, an Iranian intelligence threat, and now she feels that the woman who bought her house might be who she has been searching for.  And her job change won't affect her search.

You kind of have to suspend belief as you read this book - Beth suddenly becomes suspicious of everyone and takes all kinds of chances to prove her changing theories.  People are quick to dismiss her because of her sudden life changes and far-fetched thoughts.  But with a cul-de-sac of suspects, it was still a good thriller with an ending that surprised me.  

7.24.2022 - Dirt Creek

 

Many thanks to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for gifting me an audio ARC of this debut mystery novel by Hayley Scrivenor, wonderfully narrated by Sophie Loughran - 4.5 stars!

In a small Australian town, during one of the hottest springs, young Esther disappears as she walks home from school.  Her best friend, Ronnie, is determined to find out what happened to her.  Detective Sergeant Sarah Michaels arrives in town to investigate the disappearance, which soon focuses on one person.  But everyone in this small town is keeping secrets.

What a wonderful debut!  This is a coming-of-age story, focusing on Esther, Ronnie, Lewis, but also voiced by a collective "we" of unnamed children.  It's also the story of how our past colors our future and our decision making.  One of the best themes to me was judgment - it's so easy for us as a society to judge others when, if truth be known, with one decision we could be one of the judged.  There were plenty of suspects in this crime and I never suspected the way it would turn out.  I loved how the author wrapped things up in the end, giving us a glimpse of the future of the characters.  Can't wait to read more from this author!