Tag: investigation

A Slow Fire Burning by Paula Hawkins

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‘She felt quite light-headed. Low blood sugar, maybe, or perhaps it was the dizzying effect of watching her horizons, narrowed for so long, expanding once again.’

Paula Hawkins’ latest thriller A Slow Fire Burning is a book that messes with your mind, but in a good way. Hawkins has written a book that talks about how far someone is willing to go to find peace (or revenge).

Someone has been killed. A young man was found gruesomely murdered in his London houseboat. When the authorities start investigating, questions begin to mount surrounding three women who knew him and the others living in his periphery.

Laura is a troubled young woman who was the last person seen both with the victim and in his home. Their one-night stand was fraught with violence, something that Laura admits to the police when questioned. Laura was in a devastating car accident when she was young that left her hot-tempered, rash, and dangerous. Others judge her, something that has left Laura living as a loner.

Miriam knows all too well about how easy it is to get caught in the wrong place at the wrong time. As the person who lives in the houseboat next to the dead man, Miriam has a unique insight into his life, plus she’s nosy. She also knows that just because she saw Laura leaving the houseboat covered in blood, that doesn’t mean she killed him. Miriam has been taken advantage of one too many times, so she will do whatever it takes to clear Laura of any wrongdoing.

Carla’s nephew was just brutally murdered. Her sister died in an accident eight weeks earlier. So much tragedy in such a short amount of time has left her completely stricken and at a loss. Carla no longer trusts anyone and views those around her as damaged creatures. All she wants is peace. Or does she?

Others circulate behind the scenes: Carla’s husband Theo and the women who lives next door to the deceased man’s mother. Everyone in this story is filled with resentment. While their reasons may be varied, they all desire to right the wrongs perpetrated against them. Their journeys to revenge will lead them to peace or destruction, risks they are all willing to take.

This book is also available in the following formats:

The Sun Down Motel by Simone St. James

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I’m not a spooky book person: hauntings, ghosts, unexplained mysteries keep me up all night. I decided to be brave and try The Sun Down Motel by Simone St. James, even though the reviews I read described mysterious happenings throughout the book. It was worth it (and the many positive reviews didn’t let me down)!

The Sun Down Motel tells the story of secrets. A rundown roadside motel in Fell, New York has been the scene of many unexplained happenings. What’s even more chilling is that the city of Fell has a high number of young girls who have mysteriously disappeared without a trace. One of these missing girls is Viv Delaney.

Viv moved to Fell in 1982. She is desperate to move to New york City, but in order to help pay for it, she finds herself working as the night clerk at the Sun Down Motel. She was only supposed to be passing through Fell – not staying to work. The more she works at the motel, the more Viv realizes that something isn’t quite right there. Something haunting and scary has taken over the Sun Down Motel. What’s even scarier: they are determined to get Viv’s attention no matter what.

Flash forward to Fell in 2017. Carly Kirk has been consumed by the story of her Aunt Viv, who disappeared under mysterious circumstances while working the night shift at the Sun Down. Viv disappeared before Carly was even born, yet her disappearance has cast a shadow over her life. Determined to finally find some answers, Carly decides to move to Fell and visit the motel where her aunt spent her last known moments. Once she steps foot at the Sun Down Motel, Carly quickly realizes that nothing has changed since 1982. The more she investigates what happened to her aunt, the more Carly realizes that both the town of Fell and the Sun Down Motel are ripe with secrets. Soon Carly finds herself wrapped up in the same haunting and scary mysteries that consumed her aunt back in 1982. Carly needs answers though and will stop at nothing to find out what really happened to Viv all those years ago.

This book is also available in the following formats:

Careful What You Wish For by Hallie Ephron

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Hallie Ephron is known for writing mystery and suspense novels. Her newest novel Careful What You Wish For is her latest offering.

Emily Harlow is a professional organizer. She loves to help people declutter their lives which is a bit ironic because Emily’s own life is a complete mess. Her husband is a hoarder. He has filled their basement, attic, and garage with all of the treasures that he has found at different yard and estate sales. Emily and her husband have an understanding though that she will not touch his finds. This marriage compromise is slowly making Emily’s life more stressful as his belongings spread throughout more of the house.

Desperate to get back to some sort of normalcy, Emily is relieved when she has two new clients sign up. One is an elderly widow finally ready to clear out her house of any reminder of her husband. Said husband also left behind a storage unit that the wife had no idea existed. Emily’s other new client is a young wife who wants to get rid of all of her belongings that have been sitting in the garage ever since she moved in with her husband. You see, her husband didn’t allow any of her belongings into the house. At all.

After the initial meetings, Emily discovers that both of her new clients are hiding something. The mess Emily finds herself in has the power to destroy her life. She must get creative in order to find her way out or she may lose her marriage, her job, or even her life.

This book is also available in the following formats:

Allegedly by Tiffany D. Jackson

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Tiffany D. Jackson is the master of soul searching young adult fiction. Her first young adult novel, Allegedly, was published in 2017. This novel is based on a story that was in the headlines years ago that caught the author’s attention.

Allegedly tells the story of Mary B. Addison. She killed a baby. Allegedly. After the police were called and she was brought in for an interview, Mary didn’t say much. In fact, she didn’t talk. Mary’s situation was very much a trial by media. Since little was being said about the circumstances surrounding the baby’s death, the media drew their own conclusions. A white baby had died while under the care of a black woman and her daughter. The woman went to church while her daughter was only nine-years old. Mary went to trial. The public and the media had all but convicted Mary of the crime and the jury sentenced her.

Mary was sent to baby jail for six years before being placed in a group home. She never came out and said what actually happened, so her fellow prisoners and jailers all treated her as if she was guilty. The group home is bad. Mary lives in a state of constant fear and the other girls who live there constantly torment her. The women in charge of the home degrade the girls and treat them badly.

The only bright spot in her life is Ted. Since Mary is in a group home, she is able to leave for certain things: one of them being her assignment to work at a nursing home. It is at that nursing home that she meets Ted. He sees her for who she really is: a young woman in desperate need for kindness. Ted also doesn’t know Mary’s dark past and she isn’t quite sure when, or even if, she should tell him until she discovers that she is pregnant. With the state threatening to take away her baby, Mary needs to get the truth out about what happened the night the baby died. She won’t lose her baby over something that she didn’t do. In order to prove her innocence, Mary has to fight. She also has to get her Momma to tell the truth.

You see, no one but Mary knows the real Momma. Momma puts up a huge front and since the baby died, she has been born again. She has written out the nasty story of what Mary did and is working to start anew. Mary must get her to acknowledge the truth of what happened that night if she has any hope of keeping her baby and staying with Ted.

This book is also available in the following formats:

Grown by Tiffany D. Jackson

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Yo, Malcolm X said it best. ‘The most disrespected person in America is the Black woman. The most unprotected person in America is the Black woman. The most neglected person in America is the Black woman. – Tiffany D Jackson, Grown

Sometimes a book breaks your heart, but you need to share it with others. Grown by Tiffany D. Jackson was a brutal, raw, heartrending, but necessary read, telling the story of so many Black girls that are trapped in a system of violence, abuse, misogyny, manipulation, and rape culture perpetuated by men who are consistently protected by the people surrounding them. This book was hard for me to read, as most of Tiffany D. Jackson’s books are, but it’s an essential read to spread awareness and inspire change.

Enchanted Jones wakes up in a room with a painful headache. She has no idea where she is. Her vision is still blurry. There are red pools all over the floor, the walls, the furniture. Why would someone pout beet juice everywhere? Wait. That’s not beet juice. That’s blood. This isn’t her house. She slowly remembers that this place belongs to Korey. Korey. He is going to be so angry with her when he sees this mess. Wait! Who is that lying covered in beet juice? That’s Korey. And that’s not beet juice. He’s not moving. He’s not breathing. Someone’s knocking on the door. She’s going to be in so much trouble.

Flash back.

All Enchanted wants is to be a singer. She’s only 17, but she knows college isn’t for her. She wants to sing. Her parents aren’t so sure. But ever since she sang those old songs with her grandmother when she was young, Enchanted has known this is what she needs to do. She has the voice and the talent. She just needs a break.

Miracles do happen. Or that’s what Enchanted thinks when she goes to a singing competition and meets the famous R&B singer Korey Fields. Korey sees her potential and wants to help her succeed. He offers to give her free singing lessons. Korey wants her to join his world tour. He’ll help her record an album. Enchanted finally has what she wants within her reach.

Enchanted feels like she’s living a fairytale dream. Her parents and friends are more skeptical. They don’t understand why Korey Fields, a 28 year old man, would be interested in her, a 17-year old girl still in high school. Korey begins to act possessive around Enchanted and despite her friend Gabby’s warning that she should get away from him, she wants desperately to keep him in her life.

Enchanted loves Korey. He’s her whole world. Korey believes in her. She wants to sing. She wants to feel beautiful and loved. She wants Korey’s support and approval because he is already established in the music industry and has the power to give her everything she has ever wanted. He loves her. What does it matter if the Korey she thought she knew has different sides she’s not 100% comfortable with? She still loves him.

Until she doesn’t. She needs to get out. Her fairytale love has turned into a nightmare that she can’t escape from. Korey is no longer showering her with love and affection. He’s manipulative, obsessive, abusive and keeps her captive in the house. He tells her lies about her loved ones, pushes on her insecurities, and sends her to her limits. Korey mentally and physically abuses Enchanted, leaving her desperate to escape.

This book is powerful. It shook me to my core. Jackson has written a shocking, twisted, breathtaking book giving voice to people who are afraid to talk about the traumatic experiences that they had endured in the past or may still be enduring.

This book is also available in the following formats:

The Other Mrs. by Mary Kubica

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Sometimes a change of scenery is necessary to get your life back on track. Other times, it can end up completely derailing the precious balance that you have. Mary Kubica’s latest book, The Other Mrs., talks about the balance between family and work, new and old.

Sadie and Will Foust have the perfect life. Well, at least they used to. Having started their family in Chicago, they always imagined staying there forever. When Sadie finds out that Will is having an affair and when her older son has issues at school, they decide they need to move. Uprooting their family from Chicago to a tiny island off the coast of Maine, the Foust family is ready to start over.

Having only lived in this small town for a few weeks, Sadie is shocked when their neighbor Morgan Baines is found dead in her home down the street. Crime doesn’t happen on the island. The murder shocks the small town, but Sadie takes it extra hard. She never imagined the horrors of Chicago would follow them to Maine, but it seems that they did. Sadie is on edge.

Searching for any clues as to what happened to Morgan, Sadie is dismayed to discover that suspicion has been cast onto her family. As the new family in town, Sadie can’t understand why people believe that anyone in her family would have anything to do with Morgan’s death. Wanting to clear her family, Sadie starts digging into what really happened that night. The more she uncovers, the more uncomfortable and uneasy she feels about the truth. If anyone finds out what actually happened, her life would be destroyed. Sadie has to decide what she’s going to do with the information she discovers.

This book is also available in the following formats:

Virtual Book Club – June 17th

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Have you joined our Virtual Book Club yet? Every Wednesday at 2pm central time, we discuss a new book! Using GoTo Meeting, patrons are able to practice social distancing while still participating in a book club through the library. On Wednesday, June 17th, we will be discussing Conviction by Denise Mina.

Conviction by Denise Mina is a 2019 piece of murder mystery detective fiction that was the December 2019 pick for Reese Witherspoon’s book club. Curious what the book is about? Check out the following blurb from the publisher:

A true crime podcast sets a trophy wife’s present life on a collision course with her secret past in this “blazingly intense” Reese Witherspoon book club pick and New York Times Best Crime Novel of the Year (A. J. Finn).
The day Anna McDonald’s quiet, respectable life exploded started off like all the days before: Packing up the kids for school, making breakfast, listening to yet another true crime podcast. Then her husband comes downstairs with an announcement, and Anna is suddenly, shockingly alone.
Reeling, desperate for distraction, Anna returns to the podcast. Other people’s problems are much better than one’s own — a sunken yacht, a murdered family, a hint of international conspiracy. But this case actually is Anna’s problem. She knows one of the victims from an earlier life, a life she’s taken great pains to leave behind. And she is convinced that she knows what really happened.
Then an unexpected visitor arrives on her front stoop, a meddling neighbor intervenes, and life as Anna knows it is well and truly over. The devils of her past are awakened — and they’re in hot pursuit. Convinced she has no other options, Anna goes on the run, and in pursuit of the truth, with a washed-up musician at her side and the podcast as her guide.
Conviction is “daredevil storytelling at its finest” (NPR’s Fresh Air), a breathtaking thriller from one of the most “superbly talented” writers of our time (Hank Phillippi Ryan, bestselling author of Trust Me).

This book is also available in the following formats:

To join the book club, follow the link below! We will be using GoTo Meeting for this program.

Please join my meeting from your computer, tablet or smartphone.

https://global.gotomeeting.com/join/224067037

Access Code: 224-067-037

You can also dial in using your phone.

United States: +1 (646) 749-3112

New to GoToMeeting? Get the app now and be ready when your first meeting starts:

https://global.gotomeeting.com/install/224067037

The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle by Stuart Turton

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Stuart Turton’s debut novel, The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle, is a twisty book that requires readers to pay close attention to what’s happening in order to catch the murderer.

Evelyn Hardcastle is going to be killed tonight. This isn’t the first time she’s been killed though and it probably won’t be the last.

Evelyn’s parents have invited the same people who were at their house for a weekend nineteen years ago back to their house for a party to celebrate the return of their daughter Evelyn from Paris. Why the nineteen year gap? Nineteen years ago to the day, their son Thomas was murdered by the lake near Blackheath, their home. Seldom returning to Blackheath, this party is a reunion for all.

The party is meant to be a celebration, but as the clock strikes 11:00pm, Evelyn is killed by the reflecting pool as fireworks explode overhead. As one of the guests brought to Blackheath eventually realizes, that is not the first time Evelyn will be killed and it won’t be the last. Until he can solve her murder and until he delivers the name of the murderer to an interested party, this guest is destined to repeat the day of Evelyn’s death over and over.

How is this possible, you may ask? This book isn’t your typical murder mystery. The main character repeats the same day eight times. If he doesn’t solve the crime by the end of the eighth day, his memory is wiped and he begins the loop again. Every day, he is told that if he brings the name of the murderer to a person waiting at the edge of the lake at 11pm, he will finally be allowed to leave Blackheath. He must fight against many forces beyond his control in order to stay alive. He only has 24 hours in each host, but if he is killed in a host before his 24 hours are up, he bounces to the next host. As each day begins anew, he wakes up in the body of a different guest with the task to solve Evelyn’s murder. He finds himself struggling against the hosts he has inhabited and also against the people working to stop him from ever leaving Blackheath.

This high concept murder mystery is certainly not for the faint of heart. Like I mentioned before, readers must pay attention to what is happening in the book in order not to be lost amidst the many shifting plot lines. Read this book and let me know what you thought! I’m curious what others think of the plot structure and the many twists and turns.

This book is also available in the following formats:

Believe Me by JP Delaney

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Have you ever read a book where you were consistently confused about what is real and what isn’t?  I felt that way all through JP Delaney’s newest book, Believe Me. Just when I thought I knew what was going on, a twist would come from out of nowhere and I would be back at square one, trying to figure out what was happening.

Believe Me by JP Delaney tells the story of a young actress desperate for money. Claire is a struggling British actress who, through a series of nasty circumstances, finds herself living in New York without a green card. Not sure what else to do and needing money and a job, Claire becomes resourceful in order to find work. Since she is an actress, Claire eventually finds employ working as a decoy for a firm of divorce lawyers. Her job is simple: she has been hired to entrap straying husbands. She is to get close, but not too close, in order for him to proposition her, while she stays slightly aloof. The firm needs evidence of their straying, but they must not be coerced.

Claire’s newest job seems straight-forward: the client warns her to be careful and is insistent that Claire doesn’t fall for any of her husband’s tricks. Claire’s meeting with the client’s husband hadn’t gone as well as she had hoped which frustrated them all. Moving on, Claire is surprised when that wife ends up violently murdered and the cops are convinced that the husband is to blame.

The cops decide to take advantage of Claire’s lack of a green card and her prior association with the suspect. They entreat Claire to use her acting skills and her work as a decoy to hopefully lure the husband unto a confession.

This seems like an easy job to Claire. After all, she is paid to lure men into propositioning her. How hard could it be to lure a man into confessing? Claire takes on a new identity and voice that the police feel will catch the killer’s eye. The closer she gets to the target though, the more Claire wonders if she is actually the decoy or the prey. Is she the hunter or the one being hunted? The further she gets into the investigation, the more questions are raised.

The twist at the end of this novel hit me so hard that 1) I audibly gasped and drew the attention of everyone in the grocery store around me and 2) I had to rewind and listen to the ending multiple times before I fully understand what was going on. I love when books do this to me. Read this book and let me know what you think!

This book is also available in the following formats:

Mistress by James Patterson

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James Patterson is an author that I recently started listening to quite frequently. One of my favorite things about James Patterson’s books is that he partners with a lot of different authors. Those partnerships mean that all of his books have a distinct feel to them and are not formulaic. With every Patterson book I pick up, I know I’m going to get something unique. I really enjoy that.

 Mistress by both Patterson and David Ellis was my latest listen and I enjoyed it. When this book first started, it instantly reminded me of You by Caroline Kepnes, a book I blogged about back in March. Both books begin with a noticeable creep factor. Mistress starts with the main character Ben breaking into a woman’s apartment and rummaging through her belongings. My mind instantly went, “Oh no! We’ve got another obsessed kidnapper/stalker love story.” I braced myself for that inevitability and kept reading. Boy, was I wrong! This book may seem like a creepy stalker story, but Ben is way more complex than I initially thought.

Ben is consumed by his obsessions and his racing thoughts. He may seem like he’s got it all together, but once you’ve been around him for a while, you notice that he has four major obsessions: motorcycles, movies, presidential trivia(which he spouts out frequently thanks to his father) – and the beautiful woman whose apartment he was in named Diana Hotchkiss. When Diana is found dead outside of her apartment shortly after Ben leaves it, Ben’s obsession spirals out of control. He must find out what really happened to this beautiful woman who was the love of his life.

While Ben digs into Diana’s death, the truth of his life begins to leak out. The origins of his obsessions, how he makes his living, and his reasons for behaving the way that he does all start to be revealed.  Ben discovers that Diana has been leading a double life, something that he never expected and she never mentioned. He doesn’t know how to handle that information. The more secrets he uncovers, the more he realizes that he really didn’t know Diana. Someone doesn’t want Ben digging into Diana’s life and sets out to stop him. Ben has to decide what he’s willing to risk to find out the truth about Diana and what he is going to do to ensure that he and his sources stay safe and, most importantly, alive.

I’m glad I decided to stick with this book. I was tempted to give up at the beginning because I assumed I knew what the book was going to be about, but I was wrong. Part of my enjoyment of this book was the narrator. He did an excellent job describing Ben’s eccentricities and differentiating between the present and past. James Patterson has yet to let me down!

This book is also available in the following formats: