Category: Books

83 Days in Mariupol: A War Diary by Don Brown

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“When…there are explosions, you understand that your life is simply…not worth anything.”
― Don Brown, 83 Days in Mariupol: A War Diary: A Graphic Novel

What do you consider to be history? Is it something that happened decades or centuries ago? Or something that happened last week? History is defined as the study of past events. The study of history also includes how those past events influence current and future events. Anything that has happened before the present is considered history, even if it was just yesterday, a couple weeks ago, or a couple years ago.

This discussion of when is something considered history happened when a friend saw I was reading 83 Days in Mariupol: A War Diary written and illustrated by Don Brown. This devastating and violent read attempts to capture the complexities of the war in Ukraine with emphases on the 83 day, February 2022 through May 2022, siege of the coastal city of Mariupol by Russian forces. For 83 days, civilians were driven to basements and cellars while two armies battled in the streets. Without food, water, lights, or heat, civilians dodged the shells, bullets, and death raining down on this coastal town. No one was exempt from death or injury. With homes and businesses destroyed and minimal medical supplies, these brave people stayed to defend their city from Russian forces. Some believed that Russian forces would overtake Ukraine in only a few days, but Mariupol managed to hold out for 83 days before surrendering. 83 Days in Mariupol discusses, from the points of view of multiple people, how the city and those involved endured this siege and the great cost they paid. I highly recommend this read as this event happened in the not distant past and has repercussions for current events. This story of unwavering survival and heroism against unimagined cruelty highlights how the consequences of this siege and the actions of a few will reshape global politics for years to come.

Murder Runs in the Family by Tamara Berry

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On the run from an ex, former private investigator in training Amber Winslow flees to her estranged grandmother’s house in Tamara Berry’s latest mystery, Murder Runs in the Family. This book combines elements of detective fiction and cozy mysteries to tell the story of found family and the road to forgiveness.

After a blow up with her ex-boyfriend, Amber impulsively heads to Arizona and the retirement community where her estranged grandmother lives. Growing up, Amber’s mother had nothing positive to say about her grandmother and forbid contact between them. It’s a shock when Amber runs to her grandma in her time of need, given all she knows is the woman’s name and where she is currently living. After sneaking into Seven Ponds and dropping in on her grandma, Amber is ready to learn more about Grandma Jade and what caused the massive family fallout.

Before Amber can start quizzing Jade, she is introduced to Jade’s friends and their quirky habits. They each have their own reasons for living at Seven Ponds, but they are all deeply connected. One morning, all of their lives are changed when they learn that one of their friends has been found dead in the group’s podcast studio. That’s right – Jade and her friends are responsible for a successful true crime podcast! Their friend’s death shocks everyone, especially Amber when the authorities are quick to focus on Jade as the murderer. Amber may not know her grandmother well, but there’s no way this eccentric woman would be a murderous villain. Putting her private investigator skills to use, Amber and the other podcast members work to prove Jade’s innocence.

This is a delightfully quirky cozy mystery full of compelling elements. Each character has their own independent backstory that eventually weaves into the plot, while the physical place, the retirement community itself, also plays a role. Bonus: there is a lost tortoise with an adorable name! I hope that the author decides to turn this into a series.

Online Reading Challenge – July

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Welcome Readers!

This month the Online Reading Challenge is focusing on domestic fiction, also known as domestic realism. This genre focuses on everyday lives of ordinary people, particularly the domestic sphere that focuses on families and communities. It strives to show a realistic portrayal of ordinary life in a straightforward way. Our main title for July is All This Could Be Yours by Jami Attenberg. Here’s a quick summary from the publisher:

“If I know why they are the way they are, then maybe I can learn why I am the way I am,” says Alex Tuchman of her parents. Now that her father, Victor, is on his deathbed, Alex—a strong-headed lawyer, devoted mother, and loving sister—feels she can finally unearth the secrets of who Victor is and what he did over the course of his life and career. (A power-hungry real estate developer, he is, by all accounts, a bad man.) She travels to New Orleans to be with her family, but mostly to interrogate her tight-lipped mother, Barbra.

As Barbra fends off Alex’s unrelenting questions, she reflects on her tumultuous life with Victor. Meanwhile Gary, Alex’s brother, is incommunicado, trying to get his movie career off the ground in Los Angeles. And Gary’s wife, Twyla, is having a nervous breakdown, buying up all the lipstick in drugstores around New Orleans and bursting into crying fits. Dysfunction is at its peak. As family members grapple with Victor’s history, they must figure out a way to move forward—with one another, for themselves, and for the sake of their children.

All This Could Be Yours is a timely, piercing exploration of what it means to be caught in the web of a toxic man who abused his power; it shows how those webs can entangle a family for generations, and what it takes to—maybe, hopefully—break free. With her signature “sparkling prose” (Marie Claire) and incisive wit, Jami Attenberg deftly explores one of the most important subjects of our age. – Ecco

Looking for some other domestic fiction? Try any of the following.

As always, check each of our locations for displays with lots more titles to choose from!

The Secret Lives of Church Ladies by Deesha Philyaw

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One of my favorite novels of recent years is The Final Revival of Opal and Nev by Dawnie Walton. It is Walton’s only novel as of this blog post publishing. While trying to find out if she’s published any short stories, I found out she hosts a podcast “Ursa Short Fiction” with Deesha Philyaw. While the podcast does not publish new episodes regularly, and there hasn’t been a new episode since March 2025, the back episodes are worth a listen. The co-hosts interview authors about their experiences publishing in short fiction.

That is the roundabout way Deesha Philyaw and her short story collection, The Secret Lives of Church Ladies, got on my radar. If I were a better short story collection reader, I would use this space to write about the overarching themes that are developed throughout the course of the book. Instead, I will just say that I found each story stands on its own with thought-provoking characters making decisions and taking actions that contribute to the push and pull between their own desires and the expectations their community places on them. Readers will find themselves reflecting on the drive and motivation of each character they meet.

Here is a snapshot of what each story is about:

Eula – Two women, friends since high school, meet at a hotel on the New Year’s Eve of 2000.

Not-Daniel – A man and woman find comfort in each other in the parking lot of a hospice center while their mothers are dying inside.

Dear Sister —A woman writes her long-lost sister on behalf of her other sisters to inform the sibling their father has died. (My favorite piece in the collection.)

Peach Cobbler — A girl, Olivia, observes her mother make peach cobbler weekly for a local pastor with whom she is having an affair. As a teenager, Olivia tutors and develops a crush on the pastor’s son.

Snowfall — A lesbian couple from the South struggle to feel at home in a Midwestern college town.

How to Make Love to a Physicist — A high school arts teacher meets a physicist at a conference and their love blossoms.

Jael — A teenager burns down the house of an older man taking advantage of her friend. The grandmother tells her side of the story in alternating sections.

Instructions for Married Christian Husbands — A woman writes out how to be a good affair partner.

When Eddie Levert Comes — A neglected daughter contends with her mother’s dementia where the mother believes her one-time lover, a popular musician, is coming to visit.

Inspired by Austen

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Are you a Jane Austen fan? Do you like books inspired by Jane Austen? If so, we have a great list for you! I have gathered a list of books inspired by Jane Austen (think Emma, Pride and Prejudice, Persuasion, or Sense and Sensibility) that were published in 2023, 2024, and 2025. This is by no means a complete list of all books inspired by Jane Austen! If you’re looking for more or have a favorite that you would like to share, let us know in the comments.

As of this writing, all titles are owned by the Davenport Public Library. Descriptions are provided by the publisher.

Emma of 83rd Street by Audrey Bellezza

In this witty and romantic debut novel, Jane Austen’s Emma meets the misadventures of Manhattan’s modern dating scene as two lifelong friends discover that, in the search for love, you sometimes don’t have to look any further than your own backyard.

Beautiful, clever, and rich, Emma Woodhouse has lived twenty-three years in her tight-knit Upper East Side neighborhood with very little to distress or vex her…that is, until her budding matchmaking hobby results in her sister’s marriage—and subsequent move downtown. Now, with her sister gone and all her friends traveling abroad, Emma must start her final year of grad school grappling with an entirely new emotion: boredom. So when she meets Nadine, a wide-eyed Ohio transplant with a heart of gold and drugstore blonde highlights to match, Emma not only sees a potential new friend but a new project. If only her overbearing neighbor George Knightley would get out of her way.

Handsome, smart, and successful, the only thing that frustrates Knightley more than a corked whiskey is his childhood friend, Emma. Whether it’s her shopping sprees between classes or her revolving door of ill-conceived hobbies, he is only too happy to lecture her on all the finer points of adulthood she’s so hell-bent on ignoring. But despite his gripes—and much to his own chagrin—Knightley can’t help but notice that the girl next door is a woman now…one who he suddenly can’t get out of his head.

As Emma’s best laid plans collide with everyone from hipster baristas to meddling family members to flaky playboy millionaires, these two friends slowly realize their need to always be right has been usurped by a new need entirely, and it’s not long before they discover that even the most familiar stories still have some surprises. – Gallery Books

Good Fortune by C.K. Chau

A whip-smart and charming debut novel that brilliantly reimagines Pride and Prejudice, set in contemporary Chinatown, exploring contemporary issues of class divides, family ties, cultural identity, and the pleasures and frustrations that come with falling in love.

When Elizabeth Chen’s ever-hustling realtor mother finally sells the beloved if derelict community center down the block, the new owners don’t look like typical New York City buyers. Brendan Lee and Darcy Wong are good Chinese boys with Hong Kong money. Clean-cut and charismatic, they say they are committed to cleaning up the neighborhood. To Elizabeth, that only means one thing: Darcy is looking to give the center an uptown makeover.

Elizabeth is determined to fight for community over profit, even if it means confronting the arrogant, uptight man every chance she gets. But where clever, cynical Elizabeth sees lemons, her mother sees lemonade. Eager to get Elizabeth and her other four daughters ahead in the world (and out of their crammed family apartment), Mrs. Chen takes every opportunity to keep her investors close. Closer than Elizabeth likes.

The more time they spend together, the more conflicted Elizabeth feels…until a shocking betrayal forces her to reconsider everything she thought she knew about love, trust, and the kind of person Darcy Wong really is. – HarperVia

Just as You Are by Camille Kellogg

The only thing worse than hating your boss? Being attracted to her.

Liz Baker and her three roommates work at the Nether Fields, a queer magazine in New York that’s on the verge of shutting down—until it’s bought at the last minute by two wealthy lesbians. Liz knows she’s lucky to still have a paycheck but it’s hard to feel grateful with minority investor Daria Fitzgerald slashing budgets, cancelling bagel Fridays, and password protecting the color printer to prevent “frivolous use.” When Liz overhears Daria scoffing at her listicles, she knows that it’s only a matter of time before her impulsive mouth gets herself fired.

But as Liz and Daria wind up having to spend more and more time together, Liz starts to see a softer side to Daria—she’s funny, thoughtful, and likes the way Liz’s gender presentation varies between butch and femme. Despite the evidence that Liz can’t trust her, it’s hard to keep hating Daria—and even harder to resist the chemistry between them.

This page-turning, sexy, and delightfully funny rom-com celebrates queer culture, chosen family, and falling in love against your better judgment. – Dial Press Trade Paperback

Meet the Benedettos by Katie Cotugno

An A-list movie star moves to Los Angeles—next door to a family of five eligible sisters—in this irresistible novel where The Kardashians meets Pride and Prejudice, from the NYT bestselling author of Birds of California

Every family is complicated, and the Benedettos are no exception. A few years after a reality TV show skyrocketed them to pop-culture fame, the five twentysomething sisters are living together in their parents’ crumbling McMansion, nearly broke and teetering towards rock-bottom. Lilly, the sensible second-eldest sister, is all too aware that her family is viewed as a spectacle, but she’s focused on holding herself and her family together, and unlike her siblings she tends not to care what the world thinks.

The Benedettos’ fortunes finally appear to be brightening when Charlie Bingley, the dashing star of Captain Fantastic, moves into their Los Angeles neighborhood with his friend Will Darcy in tow. It isn’t long before Charlie falls for the warm and lovely eldest sister, June. Lilly has no such luck: the arrogant and judgmental Will Darcy, a man plagued by his own private demons, seems ready to clash with her at every turn–yet the two can’t seem to stay away from each other. And while the Benedettos’ matriarch sets to work encouraging a potential match between Charlie and June, there are plenty of others in the community who are determined to steer these eligible young men away from a ridiculous family of reality show has-beens… – Harper Perennial

Much Ado About Nada by Uzma Jalaluddin

A sparkling second-chance romance inspired by Jane Austen’s Persuasion…

Nada Syed is stuck. On the cusp of thirty, she’s still living at home with her brothers and parents in the Golden Crescent neighbourhood of Toronto, resolutely ignoring her mother’s unsubtle pleas to get married already. While Nada has a good job as an engineer, it’s a far cry from realizing her start-up dreams for her tech baby, Ask Apa, the app that launched with a whimper instead of a bang because of a double-crossing business partner. Nothing in her life has turned out the way it was supposed to, and Nada feels like a failure. Something needs to change, but the past is holding on too tightly to let her move forward.

Nada’s best friend Haleema is determined to pry her from her shell…and what better place than at the giant annual Muslim conference held downtown, where Nada can finally meet Haleema’s fiancé, Zayn. And did Haleema mention Zayn’s brother Baz will be there?

What Haleema doesn’t know is that Nada and Baz have a past—some of it good, some of it bad and all of it secret. At the conference, that past all comes hurtling at Nada, bringing new complications and a moment of reckoning. Can Nada truly say goodbye to once was or should she hold tight to her dreams and find their new beginnings? – Berkley

Once Persuaded, Twice Shy: A Modern Reimagining of Persuasion by Melodie Edwards

This modern reimagining of Persuasion is full of witty banter, romantic angst, and compelling characters as it captures the heart of the classic Jane Austen novel.

When Anne Elliott broke up with Ben Wentworth, it seemed like the right thing to do . . . but now, eight years later, she’s not so sure.

In her scenic hometown of Niagara-on-the-Lake, Anne is comfortable focusing on her successful career: filling her late mother’s shoes as town councilor and executive director of her theater company. She certainly keeps busy as the all-around wrangler of eccentric locals, self-centered family members, elaborate festivals, and the occasional attacking goose. But the more she tries to convince herself that her life is fine as is, the more it all feels like a show—and not nearly as good as the ones put on by her theater company. She’s the always responsible Anne, always taken for granted and cleaning up after other people, and the memories of happier times with Ben Wentworth still haunt her.

So when the nearby Kellynch Winery is bought by Ben’s aunt and uncle, Anne’s world is set ablaze as her old flame crashes back into her life—and it’s clear he hasn’t forgiven her for breaking his heart. A joint project between the winery and Anne’s theater forces both Ben and Anne to confront their complicated history, and as they spend more time together, Anne can’t help but wonder if there might be hope for their future after all. – Berkley

Puck & Prejudice by Lia Riley

From the author of Mister Hockey comes a sizzling marriage of convenience romance between a pro hockey player who accidentally travels back in time to Regency Era England and the brazen contemporary of Jane Austen he just can’t help but fall for…

It is a truth universally acknowledged that a modern single man in possession of a hockey jersey may be exactly what a Regency woman needs to avoid the shackles of marriage…

Goalie for the Austin Regals, Tucker Taylor is benched due to health issues. So he decides to visit his sister in England. But an accidental plunge into an icy pond thrusts him back to 1812 where he comes face to face with a captivating blue-eyed woman who regards him as if he’s grown two heads.

Lizzy Wooddash dreams of a life surrounded by books, engaging conversation, the presence of literary icons like Jane Austen, and… nary a husband in sight. But in Regency England, only widows like her cousin Georgie enjoy freedom and solitary pursuits, unencumbered by expectations. The only way to quickly become a widow is by marrying a dying man or killing a perfectly healthy one, neither of which Lizzy desires.

A visitor from the future might just be the husband of her dreams. Once married, they can figure out how to return Tucker to his proper time, and his absence—aka death—will make Lizzy the widow she always dreamed of becoming. Yet as sparks ignite, they soon realize that matters of the heart rarely adhere to carefully laid plans. Can their love stand the test of time, or will Lizzy get exactly what she wanted…as well as a broken heart? – Avon

Sex, Lies and Sensibility by Nikki Payne

Two sisters roll up their sleeves to run a dilapidated inn but must learn to work with the locals in this deliciously spicy novel inspired by Sense and Sensibility.

There’s never a good time to learn you are your father’s secret child—especially not at the reading of his will. With their father’s affairs laid bare and Nora’s sensible reputation in tatters due to a viral video scandal, she and her free-spirited sister have nothing left but a rustic inn in the middle of nowhere and each other. What’s more, they need to revamp the inn before Labor Day or they lose it all. Nora hasn’t even knocked the traveling dust off last season’s designer boots when she’s confronted with three problems:

1. She really should have watched more HGTV.
2. She hasn’t seen another Black person for miles.
3. A tall, dark stranger has already staked a claim on their property.

Native Abenaki eco-tour guide Ennis “Bear” Freeman has seen hapless tourists come and go. When he spots two pampered city girls at his unofficial headquarters, he expects them to catch a flight out of the inhospitable coastal Maine backwoods within a week’s time. But Nora, turns out, is made of sterner stuff. And as she rolls up her sleeves to breathe new life into the inn, she unwittingly reignites a flood of emotions inside of Bear that he had very intentionally suppressed.

Their connection is electric, their desire palpable. But Bear’s silence about his mysterious past might turn out to be the one thing that sends Nora packing. – Berkley

What My Bones Know: A Memoir of Healing from Complex Trauma by Stephanie Foo

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“Trauma isn’t just the sadness that comes from being beaten, or neglected, or insulted. That’s just one layer of it. Trauma also is mourning the childhood you could have had. The childhood other kids around you had. The fact that you could have had a mom who hugged and kissed you when you skinned your knee. Or a dad who stayed and brought you a bouquet of flowers at your graduation. Trauma is mourning the fact that, as an adult, you have to parent yourself. You have to stand in your kitchen, starving, near tears, next to a burnt chicken, and you can’t call your mom to tell her about it, to listen to her tell you that it’s okay, to ask if you can come over for some of her cooking. Instead, you have to pull up your bootstraps and solve the painful puzzle of your life by yourself. What other choice do you have? Nobody else is going to solve it for you.”
― Stephanie Foo, What My Bones Know: A Memoir of Healing from Complex Trauma

Published in February 2022, What My Bones Know: A Memoir of Healing from Complex Trauma by Stephanie Foo discusses complex PTSD and the uphill battle for a diagnosis and treatment. Stephanie, a journalist and former radio producer for This American Life, details her journey to diagnosis, the roadblocks she hit, and how she was able to reclaim her agency from the trauma she faced as a child. This book was powerful and hopeful, while at times completely devastating. Stephanie acknowledges at the beginning that this book may be difficult for some to get through and gives permission for those readers that need to to skip ahead as much as they need. What My Bones Know is a brave memoir that isn’t afraid to stare down the tough parts of the past in order to find a way to help the present.

As an adult, Stephanie had all the looks of success: her dream job at This American Life and a loving, supportive boyfriend. Even though she had all this, behind the scenes Stephanie was a mess. She found interactions with others to be difficult, often crying at her desk every morning and suffering from debilitating panic attacks, alternating with intense bouts of anger. What was causing this behavior? Stephanie sought out help from a therapist and was eventually diagnosed with complex PTSD, a condition that results from trauma that happens continuously over many years. This diagnosis didn’t immediately switch a flip in Stephanie, leading her to be instantly cured. Instead she found herself looking for ways to heal through research and interviews with experts.

As a child, Stephanie suffered years of neglect as well as physical and verbal abuse at the hands of her parents, which led to both of her parents abandoning her when she was a teenager. Stephanie always believed that she had dealt with her feelings regarding those situations and that she had ‘moved on’, but when examining her complex PTSD diagnosis, she realizes that her past was creeping into her present with the potential to destroy her career, her relationships, and her health. Her journey to healing was made difficult by lack of resources and limited study of complex PTSD, so Stephanie decided to treat her diagnosis as she would treat a new job: she would do her own research and conduct her own interviews. In this memoir, Stephanie seeks out experts in the field, travels to her California hometown to interview friends, and flies back to Malaysia where she was born to question her relatives. She tried new therapies, investigates the wider influence of immigrant trauma on families and communities as a whole, and looks into how trauma slides through generations, impacting those not yet born. Throughout her journey, Stephanie documents her ups and downs, highlighting how she has changed through the years, while also acknowledging that everyone’s journey will differ through their own individual processes of discovery.

“Being healed isn’t about feeling nothing. Being healed is about feeling the appropriate emotions at the appropriate times and still being able to come back to yourself. That’s just life.”
― Stephanie Foo, What My Bones Know: A Memoir of Healing from Complex Trauma

Do Your Worst by Rosie Danan

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“…I don’t owe you a career you admire or a partner you approve of. I need you to hear me, really hear me, when I say that I’m through having my life measured and weighed against your ambition.”
― Rosie Danan, Do Your Worst

Riley Rhodes is an American occult expert, aka curse breaker, wanting to turn her family’s supernatural gifts into a legitimate business. Her clients in the past have been small, but when she is hired to break the curse on an infamous Scottish castle, Riley can’t help to get her hopes up. She usually works alone, relying on internet research and her grandma’s journals. Her choice of career as a curse breaker has the ability to put people on edge, especially the skeptics who think she exists to swindle people out of their hard-earned money. When Riley arrives in town, she meets a handsome stranger at the local pub, who matches her banter and knows how to kiss. Starting the next day at work sleep-deprived after thinking of the stranger all night, imagine Riley’s surprise when the stranger ends up working at the same site as her.

Clark Edgeware is hoping for professional redemption. His last archaeological project ended in scandal, leading Clark to rely on his father’s good name to land this latest job. He may be disgraced, but when he learns that someone else has been hired, particularly a self-proclaimed ‘curse breaker’, Clark is livid. He cannot have this charlatan ruining his chance to get back in the good graces of the world of archaeology. He tried to get Riley fired, but unfortunately for him, she overhears and decides to get even. All Clark wants to do is avoid her, but that is not to be so.

Riley needs Clark’s help researching the curse, while Clark discovers that Riley has an annoyingly easy ability to find artifacts, despite the fact that he has been searching the castle for way longer than she has. Riley has high hopes that the curse will work its magic and scare Clark away from the castle, and from her, but sadly the two of them keep finding themselves in closer and closer proximity. The two have an undeniable attraction though, one they can’t seem to avoid. Teaming up to break this curse might end up breaking the two of them.

This was a fantastic romance read with some of my favorite tropes: forced proximity, enemies to lovers/enemies with benefits, instant lust, and opposites attract, to name a few. Do Your Worst, while not the spiciest book I have read, does have some spice on the page (this is definitely NOT a closed-door romance). The spice was well-written, but the instant love/attraction did seem a bit too instantaneous to me. All in all, I did enjoy the plot, but would have loved more information about the world of curse breaking as a whole.

“We all hurt the ones we love,” he said, softly, pointedly. “It’s why we must learn to make amends.”
― Rosie Danan, Do Your Worst

Holler: A Graphic Memoir of Rural Resistance by Denali Sai Nalamalapu

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Holler: A Graphic Memoir of Rural Resistance by Denali Sai Nalamalapu is the illustrated stories of six changemakers who are fighting for their communities and the planet. This debut graphic memoir focuses on the Mountain Valley Pipeline in Appalachia and the actions of six frontline resisters, while also contributing to the history of climate justice. The people interviewed in this graphic memoir paint a portrait of the diversity of people and places in Appalachia.

Denali Nalamalapu has interviewed six ordinary people who, through their own unique circumstances, have become resistors to the Mountain Valley Pipeline. The MVP covers approximately 300 miles from northwestern West Virginia to southern Virginia with the developers hoping to expand even further in the future. Her cast includes a teacher, a single mother, a nurse, an organizer, a photographer, and a seed keeper. Each shares their motivations for joining the fight against the MVP, as well as their different methods of resistance. Standing up for what you love, fighting for what’s right, and working together as a community highlight how everyday resistance can make a difference.

Holler highlights the importance of standing up when the world would rather you stay quiet and accept what they want you to. What stuck with me were the various ways that each person chose to resist. Their paths to activism were different, but they highlight how small actions can have a large impact.

Start a New Mystery Series

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While most mystery series do not have to be read in order, many mystery readers prefer to start at the beginning and follow the main characters through the growth of their mystery solving skills. Below you will find a few newer titles that are number one in a forthcoming mystery series, owned by the Davenport Public Library at the time of this writing. Descriptions are provided by the publisher.

Knife Skills by Wendy Church, The Shadows of Chicago series. Sagarine Pfister is a great cook but has been blacklisted by almost every restaurant in Chicago. When she finds the head chef of a below-average restaurant dead in a walk-in freezer, the owner, Russian gang boss Anatoly Morzov, offers her the head chef job. While the Chicago PD searches for a killer, the FBI pressures Sagarine to inform on the gang. As Sagarine becomes more deeply involved with the gang and one of Morzov’s lieutenants, the FBI’s demands put her at increased risk of discovery. She has to make a decision about where her loyalties lie as she finds herself running for her life.

Murder by cheesecake by Rachel Ekstrom-Courage, A Golden Girls cozy mystery. When Dorothy’s obnoxious date is found dead in a hotel freezer, it not only ruins a gorgeous cheesecake but threatens the elaborate St. Olaf-themed wedding Rose is hosting.

 

 

 

 

Midnight Streets by Phil Lecomber, A Piccadilly noir novel. When Cockney private detective George Harley saves a young girl’s life on a dark London night in 1929, he doesn’t realize it marks the beginning of an investigation which will change his life forever. The incendiary novel which inspired the girl’s abduction also seems to be linked to a series of grisly murders that are taking place on Harley’s patch. Set during the Golden Age of Crime Fiction, Harley’s world is a far cry from the country house of an Agatha Christie whodunnit.

 

Murder at Gulls Nest by Jess Kidd, Nora Breen investigates. The first in a cozy mystery series about a former nun who searches for answers in a small seaside town after her pen pal mysteriously disappears. Haunted by a line in her friend’s letter, Nora Breen asks to be released from her vows and arrives at Gulls Nest, a charming hotel in Gore-on-Sea in Kent. A seaside town, a place of fresh air and relaxed constraints, is the perfect place for a new start. Nora hides her identity and pries into the lives of her fellow guests. But when a series of bizarre murders rattles the occupants of Gulls Nest it’s time to ask if a dark past can ever really be left behind.

The Expectant Detectives by Kat Ailes, Expectant detectives. The Expectant Detectives is first in a delightful new mystery series following a group of pregnant women who meet at a prenatal class and team up to solve the murder of someone in their village.

 

 

 

 

I Only Read Murder by Ian Ferguson & Will Ferguson, Miranda Abbott mystery. Miranda Abbott, once known for the crime-solving, karate-chopping church pastor she played on network television, has hit hard times. She’s facing ruin when a mysterious postcard arrives, summoning her to Happy Rock, a small town in the Pacific Northwest. In dire straits, she signs up for an amateur production at the Happy Rock Little Theater. On opening night, one of the actors is murdered, live, in front of the audience. Now everyone is under a cloud of suspicion, including the town doctor, the high school drama teacher, an oil-stained car mechanic, an elderly gentleman who may have been in the CIA — and Miranda herself. Clearly, the only way to solve this mystery is for Miranda to summon her skills as television’s Pastor Fran.

Every Time I go on Vacation, Someone Dies by Catherine Mack, The vacation mysteries. All that bestselling author Eleanor Dash wants is to get through her book tour in Italy and kill off her main character, Connor Smith, in the next in her Vacation Mysteries series — is that too much to ask? Clearly, because when an attempt is made on the real Connor’s life Eleanor’s enlisted to help solve the case. Contending with literary rivals, rabid fans, a stalker, and even her ex, Oliver, theories are bandied about, and rivalries, rifts, and broken hearts are revealed.

Pictures of You by Emma Grey

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“The endless, haunting, unchangeable dance of all that was said and unsaid as life pushes you further from the opportunity you lost to make things right.”
― Emma Grey, Pictures of You

Emma Grey’s newest novel, Pictures of You, is a dual narration from the view points of Evie and Drew as they work to figure out their new normal in the wake of a tragic accident. While trying to figure out how I wanted to review this book, I realized that this would have to be vague as the premise of this book relies on readers going in a bit blind.

Imagine waking up in the hospital and having absolutely no idea how you ended up there. This is what happens to Evie Hudson. Desperately wanting to get back to normal, Evie’s instincts tell her to reach out to the people that she can remember, only to find that their contact information has disappeared from her phone. What happened to her? A tragic accident must have been the cause, but why can’t Evie remember? And where are her family and friends? Why aren’t they at her bedside? And why is her life so different than how she thought it would turn out? Evie must work through her shocking present to figure out what went so wrong in her past.

This is a romance with some mystery elements, full of twists and turns that will have you almost needing to take notes to follow along with the story (in a good way). As I mentioned earlier, this novel is told from two separate points of view: Evie and Drew. In addition to being told from their points of view, this is also dual timeline, flashing back and forth between the present and the past, following each characters’ life decisions and highlighting their changing relationship dynamics (I warned you this would be vague). Trigger warnings: mental abuse, narcissism, and toxic relationships. While I enjoyed how deep this book went, there were times when I needed to step away and take a breath. The plot and storylines were well-developed, but at times I felt like the main problems would be solved if they simply talked openly face-to-face. I’m still glad I read it!