Category: Audio Books

Cozy Mystery Reads: Italian Chef Mysteries series by Catherine Bruns

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Catherine Bruns is a USA Today Bestselling author of many cozy mystery series: Cookies & Chance Mysteries, Cindy York Mysteries, Italian Chef Mystery, High Heels Mystery, and Maple Syrup Mystery series. She is also a contributor to the Aloha Lagoon Mystery series. Catherine is a member of the Mystery Writers of America and Sisters in Crime. She is also a former newspaper reporter and press release writer. She began writing when she was eight. Catherine currently lives in upstate New York with her family.

The Italian Chef Mystery series is the series of hers that I discovered while shelving new mystery titles. It’s engaging and relatable, while also containing mysteries that aren’t easy to solve. Penne Dreadful is the first in the Italian Chef Mysteries. Italian recipes are included at the end! (Major plus if you like to cook or if all the food talk in this series makes you hungry!)

Tessa Esposito is a local Italian chef. While she has worked in a handful of restaurants, she’s most known for her love of cooking for her family and friends. It doesn’t hurt that she has also won awards and accolades for her sauce. Eventually Tessa wants to open a restaurant of her own with her husband, but she knows that it will be longer down the road. Life, however, has other plans for Tessa and her family.

After her husband Dylan’s fatal car accident, Tessa is struggling to find her way. It’s been hard to get back into the swing of everyday life without her partner. When her cousin Gino, a local police detective, knocks on the door with news, she discovers that Dylan’s death wasn’t the accident that they all thought it was. They need Tessa to help them figure out why someone would have wanted to kill her husband.

Confused and desperate to find out what happened to Dylan, Tessa starts working at Dylan’s favorite local pizza parlor, Slice. Hired as the new chef, Tessa relishes her new role cooking and starts to find herself again. Slice was the last place that Dylan was seen before he died. Tessa believes that something shady is happening behind the scenes at Slice, something that only becomes more apparent the longer she works there. The more she investigates, the more secrets she finds. Tessa may be finding answers to some questions, but at what cost?

This book is also available in the following format:

Italian Chef Mystery series

  1. Penne Dreadful (2019)
  2. It Cannoli Be Murder (2020)
  3. The Enemy You Gnocchi (2021)

Romance Reads: Kiss Quotient series by Helen Hoang

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Helen Hoang is a New York Times bestselling author of the Kiss Quotient series: The Kiss Quotient, The Bride Test, and The Heart Principle. While these books are considered a series, they are loosely connected and do not require you to read the previous books in order to understand the later books. These books are also steamy romance reads. Helen has been obsessed with romance books since eighth grade. She currently lives in San Diego with her family.

What drew me to Helen Hoang’s novels is her relationship with Autism Spectrum Disorder. In 2016, Helen was diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder, specifically what was previously known as Asperger’s syndrome. In each of her books, at least one of the main characters is diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder. Helen’s knowledge of this disorder is clearly present when she writes each of those characters and how they interact with the world.

The Kiss Quotient is the first book in this series. Stella Lane loves math. She believes that math is the only thing that makes the universe make sense. In her job, Stella comes up with algorithms to predict customer purchases. Her job gives her more money than she knows what to do with, but unfortunately doesn’t help her at all in the dating department. You see, Stella has Asperger’s syndrome. She doesn’t necessarily want to date, but recognizes that she needs practice. She is wealthy and successful, but one-on-one interactions with people are awkward for her.

Wanting to get more practice, Stella decides to hire a professional, escort Michael Phan. She wants Michael to teach her how to be a good girlfriend and comes up with a detailed lesson plan of what she wants to learn. Michael has mounting bills and a hard rule that he doesn’t take repeat customers. When Stella presents him with an unconventional proposal, he decides that he can’t turn her down. What starts as a no-nonsense partnership starts changing when they fall into a pattern. Michael and Stella spend more time together, learning more about each other as they work through Stella’s list. Stella starts to grow on Michael, while Stella learns that love isn’t something that can be quantified.

These titles are also available in large print, as OverDrive eBooks, and as OverDrive eAudiobooks. Visit our catalog to find those other formats!

Kiss Quotient Series

  1. The Kiss Quotient (2018)
  2. The Bride Test (2019)
  3. The Heart Principle (2021)

Cozy Mystery Reads: Finlay Donovan series by Elle Cosimano

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Elle Cosimano is an Edgar-nominated and award-winning author of four young adult novels. Her debut adult novel is the first in the Finlay Donovan series, Finlay Donovan is Killing It, which has been described as a contemporary mystery series. This first title was featured in People Magazine and was also highlighted as one of the New York Public Library’s Best Books of 2021. The second book in this series Finlay Donovan Knocks ‘Em Dead will be released in February 2022.

The first in the Finlay Donovan series, Finlay Donovan is Killing It, introduces Finlay, her family, and her life to readers in a funny, engaging manner unlike anything I had read before. The premise was entertaining from page 1, plus Finlay read as a relatable character just trying to make it through the day alive and mostly unscathed. This novel is fast-paced and portrays a mother who doesn’t have it all together, yet her kids end up surviving. Finlay is an authentic character living in a messy life just trying to make it through motherhood one day at a time.

Finlay Donovan has it under control – well, for the most part. Her life has changed drastically from where she imagined herself to be, but she’s managed to keep her two kids alive and fed. Recently divorced, Finlay is a stressed out mom of two and a struggling novelist. Her writing isn’t going well, her ex-husband has fired their nanny (WITHOUT telling her), and her kids seem determined to cause as much chaos as possible. Case in point: her four-year-old daughter decided to give herself a haircut and had a meltdown that was only solved when Finlay duct-taped her hair back onto her head(because that’s what daddy would have done and he can fix anything). She may look ridiculous, but hey, the kid stopped screaming.

At a meeting with her agent over lunch, Finlay discusses the plot of the new suspense novel she has been working on and how bad writing is going so far. She just can’t seem to find a way to write yet another book about a murder, even though she has already been given (and spent) part of her advance. As she is preparing to leave, Finlay realizes that another lunch-goer has misheard her and has assumed that she is a contract killer. Finlay inadvertently accepts the offer to get rid of this woman’s problem husband. The money she offers certainly can help her pay some of her bills. What follows is a series of mishaps, bungles, and wrong place/wrong time situations that show Finlay that real life crime is way more complicated that just writing about it ever will be. Finlay finds herself entangled in a murder investigation and the money quickly becomes not worth it if it means she will be in prison, separated from her kids for good.

Finlay Donovan series:

  1. Is Killing It (2021)
  2. Knocks ‘Em Dead (2022)

The Guilt Trip by Sandie Jones

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“There’s only one defining juncture that, depending on which path you take, will determine the rest of your life.” – Sandie Jones, The Guilt Trip

The Guilt Trip is the story of friends and the secrets kept between them. Rachel and Noah met at university and have been friends ever since. Twenty years later, they are now married to other people. While the two once thought they may have ended up together, life proved differently. Rachel is now married to Jack and the two have a son. Noah is married to Paige and those two have a daughter. Jack’s brother Will is engaged to marry Ali, a younger impulsive, gorgeous woman. They are to be married in Portugal. All six friends are heading to Portugal for the two’s impending destination wedding weekend.

As each couple arrives in Portugal, they bring secrets. They may be staying at a gorgeous villa atop a cliff, but darkness has settled into their relationships. Rachel wants to get to know her future sister-in-law Ali better, but Ali seems to only want to get to know Jack better. She is constantly seeking his attention and trying to have alone time with him. The longer they are together, the more Ali begins to grate on everyone’s nerves. Paige, Rachel’s best friend, thinks Ali is becoming increasingly childish and attention-seeking. Jack is also not fond of Ali. He tenses up whenever she is around. Jack is also consistently finding more to argue with Noah, Paige’s husband and Rachel’s friend, about.

Everything tilts wrong when Rachel finds out a shocking secret about Ali. The longer the wedding weekend progresses, the more secrets begin to leak from each of them. Each secret has the power to weaken and possibly destroy a different relationship. What started out as a joyous happy weekend could prove to be deadly for those involved instead.

This book is also available in the following formats:

The Night Swim by Megan Goldin

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To tell you the truth, I don’t get how we can almost unanimously agree that murder is wrong, yet when it comes to rape some people still see shades of gray.  – Megan Goldin, The Night Swim

Megan Goldin’s latest The Night Swim is a psychological thriller that covers a controversial trial in a small town. Content warning: this book talks about rape, violence, sexual assault, sexual battery, murder, and domestic violence.

Rachel Krall is a true crime podcast host. She has become a common household name after a previous season set an innocent man free. The attention this garnered her has been both positive and negative. Some of the public also see her as the last hope of those seeking justice, constantly wanting her attention.

For her third season, Rachel has come to the small town of Neapolis to cover a controversial trial pitting a local golden boy against a young girl. This rape trial has torn the town apart. A swimmer on track to compete at the Olympics has been accused of raping the young granddaughter of the police chief. Rachel need this latest season to be a success, so she throws herself into the investigation and attends every day of the trial.

Rachel’s concentration is derailed when she finds a note under her car windshield asking for help. Thinking it was a one-off, Rachel continues her investigation into the trial. More mysterious letters keep showing up asking Rachel to find out what really happened to the writer’s sister twenty-five years ago. Officially Jenny Stills drowned, but the writer insists that she was actually murdered. Despite the pressures of the podcast weighing on her, Rachel can’t stop her desire to look into Jenny’s case. The more questions she asks, the more non-answers she receives. No one wants to dig up the past. Rachel’s investigation into Jenny’s case takes a turn when she realizes that both the present trial and the past mystery are connected. What she discovers could have devastating consequences for all involved.

This book is also available in the following formats:

Searching for Sylvie Lee by Jean Kwok

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“In love and life, we never know when we are telling ourselves stories. We are the ultimate unreliable narrators.” – Jean Kwok, Searching for Sylvie Lee

Searching for Sylvie Lee is a mysterious suspenseful drama that tugs at the complicated lives of three women – two sisters and their mother. Every person in this story is full of secrets – some more deadly than others.

Sylvie is the beautiful and successful older daughter. She can do no wrong. Sent to the Netherlands by her parents when she was a baby, Sylvie spent the first nine years of her life living separate from her family. Sylvie is heading back to the Netherlands to visit her dying grandmother who raised her. Now Sylvie has vanished.

Amy is the baby of the Lee family. She looks up to her older sister Sylvie. Sylvie may be seven years older, but she basically raised Amy. The younger sibling who never quite measures up to her sister, Amy is trying to figure out what to do with her life. She has dropped out of college and moved back into her parents’ tiny apartment. When Amy learns that Sylvie is missing, she will do whatever it takes to find her. It is time for her to step up and help Sylvie. The more she explores Sylvie’s disappearance, the more secrets she discovers.

Ma is broken. When she moved to the United States from China, she and Pa were newly immigrated and too poor to raise their eldest daughter Sylvie. They made the difficult decision to send her to the Netherlands to be raised with family. She was only supposed to be there for a little while, but it was nine years before Sylvie brought home to help take care of Amy. Their relationship has been a bit strained as a result, but Ma loves Sylvie and Amy.

When Sylvie disappears, the whole family is thrown. She is the solid middle of their family that they all revolve around. They have to find her. She wouldn’t just disappear without letting one of them know.

This book is also available in the following formats:

Dark Roads by Chevy Stevens

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Chevy Stevens’ latest novel Dark Roads is a dark and unsettling novel. It tells the stories of the missing and the dead, those left behind and those struggling to prove the truth.

Women have been going missing for years in British Columbia. The Cold Creek Highway runs almost five hundred miles through the wilderness in British Columbia. Locals pass warnings to women who decide to travel along the highway. Hitchhiking is strongly discouraged, but both motorists and hitchhikers alike have been disappearing for decades. No one has been brought to justice and women continue to live in fear.

Hailey McBride and her family have lived in Cold Creek for years. Her father instilled in her many truths: how to respect the wilderness, survive the land, and to, most importantly, never travel the highway alone. After he died, Hailey spiraled out of control. Stuck living with her aunt, her young cousin, and her aunt’s police officer husband, Hailey yearns for some normalcy. Her aunt’s husband wants to control Hailey. He keeps showing up wherever she is, issues vague threats, and gives off strong menacing vibes. Hailey starts traveling the highway alone to hangout with friends. Soon she becomes overwhelmed with everything and decides to vanish into the mountains with the help of her friend. Hailey hopes that the locals will believe she left town, but rumors start spreading that she was instead taken by the highway killer.

Flash forward a year – Beth Chevalier arrives in Cold Creek. Her sister Amber, who was friends with Hailey, was found murdered in Cold Creek and Beth needs closure. Beth starts waitressing at the local diner, just like Amber had done. Beth needs answers, but as she begins digging, the truth she seeks puts her in incredible danger. If Beth isn’t careful, she could end up a victim of the highway killer too.

This book is available  in the following formats:

Best Sellers Club January Authors: Beverly Lewis and J.A. Jance

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Want the hottest new release from your favorite author? Want to stay current with a celebrity book club? Love nonfiction? You should join the Best Sellers Club. Choose any author, celebrity pick, and/or nonfiction pick and the Davenport Public Library will put the latest title on hold for you automatically. Select as many as you want! If you still have questions, please check out our list of FAQs.

New month means new highlighted authors from the Best Sellers Club! January’s authors are Beverly Lewis for fiction and J.A. Jance for mystery.

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Our January fiction author is Beverly Lewis. Lewis was born in Lancaster, Pennsylvania – the heart of Amish country. She started writing short stories and poetry when she was nine. Before she became an author, Lewis worked as a schoolteacher and a musician. Her first book was published in 1993, a children’s chapter book. Her first adult fiction was the trilogy entitled The Heritage of Lancaster County. She specializes in tales of Plain country life. She has written over 80 books, many of them award-winning. Lewis is known for writing both inspirational and historical romance.

Lewis’s newest book is The Beginning, published in September 2021.

Curious what this book is about? Check out the following description provided by the publisher:

Susie Mast’s Old Order life in Lancaster County’s Hickory Hollow has been shaped by events beyond her control, with the tragic deaths of her Dat and close-in-age brother casting a particularly long shadow. Now twenty-two, Susie remains unmarried despite her longtime affection for friend Obie Yoder. Believing Obie might never show romantic interest in her, Susie accepts Del Petersheim’s invitations–it is only after Obie leaves to take an apprenticeship that Susie realizes her mistake.

Unfortunately, Susie’s cares are soon multiplied due to her mother’s worsening health and her younger sister’s desire for answers about her adoption. Once again, Susie faces the possibility of loss. Will family secrets and missed opportunities dim Susie’s hopes for the future? Or is what seems like the end only the beginning?

This book is also available in the following format:

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Our January mystery author is J.A. Jance, a New York Times bestselling author. Jance is well-known for writing the J.P. Beaumont series, the Joanna Brady series, the Ali Reynolds series, and five connected thrillers about the Walker family. She has also written a poetry volume, as well as other collections she co-wrote with other writers. Jance started writing in 1982. Her first book, a slightly fictionalized story of a series of murders that happened in Tuscon in 1970, was never published. Soon after her agent told her she thought tat Jance was a better fiction wrter than non-fiction, and thus the first Detective Beaumont book, Until Proven Guilty, was born. She likes to say that her everything in your life is usable as a writer. Her books and life history certainly mirror that sentiment. Jance primarily writes mysteries.

Jance’s latest book is Nothing To Lose, book 25 in the J.P. Beaumont series. This book is set to be published on February 22, 2022.

Curious what this book is about? Below is a description provided by the publisher.

The newest thrilling Beaumont suspense novel from New York Times bestselling author J. A. Jance, in which Beaumont is approached by a visitor from the past and finds himself drawn into a missing person’s case where danger is lurking and family secrets are exposed.

Years ago, when he was a homicide detective with the Seattle PD, J. P. Beaumont’s partner, Sue Danielson, was murdered. Volatile and angry, Danielson’s ex-husband came after her in her home and, with nowhere else to turn, Jared, Sue’s teenage son, frantically called Beau for help. As Beau rushed to the scene, he urged Jared to grab his younger brother and flee the house. In the end, Beaumont’s plea and Jared’s quick action saved the two boys from their father’s murderous rage.

Now, almost twenty years later, Jared reappears in Beau’s life seeking his help once again—his younger brother Chris is missing. Still haunted by the events of that tragic night, Beau doesn’t hesitate to take on the case. Following a lead all the way to the wilds of wintertime Alaska, he encounters a tangled web of family secrets in which a killer with nothing to lose is waiting to take another life.

This book is also available in the following format:

The Personal Librarian by Marie Benedict and Victoria Christopher Murray

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Marie Benedict is a master writer of historical fiction. She is one of my favorites as she writes historical novels that focus on women. (Marie Benedict is actually a pseudonym used by Heather Terrell.) A list of her novels can be found below at the end of this review.

Her latest published novel, written with Victoria Christopher Murray, is The Personal Librarian. This novel tells the story of Belle da Costa Greene, JP Morgan’s personal librarian. Belle grew to be an incredibly important and powerful woman in New York City, despite the fact that she was hiding a  secret that had the power to destroy her life and the lives of people in her family.

In her twenties, Belle was hired by J. Pierpont Morgan to curate his massive collection of rare manuscripts, books, and artwork. He had recently built the Pierpont Morgan Library and needed someone to organize its works. Belle and JP Morgan worked together for years to create a library that would hold up to his legacy. She traveled the world and became known for her impeccable taste, as well as her shrewd and unique ways to negotiate for works that both Morgan and Belle wanted to add to their world-class collection.

Belle had a major secret though. She is actually Belle Marion Greener, the daughter of Richard Greener, who was the first Black graduate of Harvard and was a well-known advocate for equality. Belle instead passes as white, by saying that she has Portuguese heritage. She doesn’t have Portuguese heritage though, as Belle is African American. Her mother’s decision to have her family pass as white tore her marriage apart, wreaking havoc on the small semblance of normalcy that they had created for their family.

The Personal Librarian tells the story of Belle, a woman well known for her intellect and style, but whose secret led her to carefully craft the white identity that let her have the lifestyle she desired. She spent her life walking a tightrope that could have snapped at any moment. Belle’s legacy lives on in this novel created by Benedict and Murray.

This book is also available in the following formats:

Marie Benedict’s other novels are listed below as well as who they are about:

  • The Other Einstein – Mileva Maric, Albert Einstein’s first wife, a woman who was a physicist
  • Carnegie’s Maid – Clara Kelley, lady’s maid in Andrew Carnegie’s household
  • The Only Woman in the Room  – Hedy Lamarr: inventor, screen star, and scientist
  • Lady Clementine – Clementine Churchill, Winston Churchill’s wife
  • The Mystery of Mrs. Christie  – Agatha Christie’s mysterious eleven day disappearance in 1926
  • Her Hidden Genius – to be published in January 2022, which tells the story of British scientist Rosalind Franklin who discovered the structure of DNA. Her research was used without her permission by Crick & Watson to win the Nobel Prize.

Cul-de-sac by Joy Fielding

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Joy Fielding is a new author to me – I have never read anything written by her before, but she is fairly popular with patrons at the library. Her latest title Cul-de-sac is a twisty psychological suspense thriller that focuses on secrets hidden within one community.

At the end of a quiet suburban cul-de-sac live five families. Someone in this cul-de-sac will be shot dead in the middle of a hot July night. Who is responsible? What drove them to murder? What secrets live in each of the five houses?

Maggie and Craig are recent arrivals to Florida. Maggie is a jumpy perfectionist, while her husband Craig could never quite be what she needed. They packed up their two kids and moved from California to Florida hoping for a new start. Maggie wants to leave behind the bad memories that destroyed their perfect California lives, but she finds that even sunny Florida can’t fully dispel the shadows she sees lurking everywhere.

Nick is a respected oncologist. His wife, Dani, is a successful dentist. Even though she is a doctor in her own right, others look down at her and treat her as just Nick’s wife. Dani and Nick have their own deep secrets that they have even managed to hide from their two children for years.

Julia is an elderly widow. Her son and his fourth wife want her to sell her house and move into an assisted care facility. To combat this, Julia’s troubled grandson has recently moved in to help her, much to her son’s chagrin. Her grandson’s bad habits have followed him to Julia’s house though.

Olivia and her husband Sean are going through a rough patch. Sean recently lost his job at a prestigious advertising agency, meaning that Olivia has had to find a job to support the family. Sean resents his wife, has started drinking heavily, and his depression is getting worse. Despite searching for a job, he is unable to find one. He spirals out of control, leading to increasingly violent fantasies.

Aiden and Heidi are newlyweds. They recently moved into their house, which Aiden’s mother purchased for the two. Their marriage is already floundering and is made even worse by Aiden’s mother’s constant intruding. Heidi has repeatedly expressed her displeasure to Aiden, but he is reluctant to stop her since his mother controls all of the money.

Each house has their own secrets, while each also has access to guns. This makes for a deadly combination. Someone will not survive the night.

This book is also available in the following formats: