Tag: murder

Online Reading Challenge – October Wrap-Up

- Stephanie Leave a comment

Hello Fellow Challenge Readers!

How did your reading go this month? Did you read something set in Iceland that you enjoyed? Share in the comments!

I read our main title: Burial Rites by Hannah Kent. Initially I was wary of this book. I thought it was going to be hard for me to get through given the ‘Note on Icelandic Names and Pronunciation’ at the beginning and the map that confused me even more. (Now I realize those two items highlighted how well-researched this book is.) The more I read though, the more I found myself wanting to ignore my responsibilities and only read this book. I can’t pinpoint when it hooked me, but once it did, I was enthralled. Bonus: this book was based on a true story – the story of the last woman to be executed in Iceland. For more information about the true story, the author discusses it at the end of the book.

“To know what a person has done, and to know who a person is, are very different things.”
― Hannah Kent, Burial Rites

The above quote is the epitome of Burial Rites by Hannah Kent. In 1829 Iceland, Agnes and two others were convicted of a brutal double murder on a remote homestead. The judicial system, as it was at the time, ordered Agnes to be housed with a family on their small family farm. She is to stay there until her execution, receiving spiritual guidance from an assistant minister assigned to help in her final days.

Her hosts are naturally horrified when they learn that they are to house a murderer. Being forced to share a small space with her and to sleep and eat next to her is disastrous. The monetary compensation they are given isn’t even worth it in their eyes, but they are not given a choice as to whether or not they will house Agnes. They avoid Agnes at first, but when the assistant minister, Toti, shows up, they are forced to confront their feelings. Toti is the only one who tries to understand her, even though she is reticent to discuss religion with him. As Agnes’ execution date looms closer, the family learn more about Agnes and the truth of what happened the night two people were murdered.

This book is set against Iceland’s stark landscape. The language is beautifully written, showcasing to reader the hardships that farmers were facing at that time. The author also discusses what it’s like to face a death sentence. Agnes starts this story stoic, determined to face her death with dignity, but the closer her death becomes, the more her resolve cracks. She begins to open up, giving readers, and the people around her, a rare glimpse at her truth.

I hope you enjoyed traveling to Iceland with me this month! In November, we’re headed to Africa.

Love Everlasting Volume 1 by Tom King

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Love Everlasting: Volume One is a graphic novel that was published in 2023. It contains Love Everlasting #1-5 and was written by Tom King, artist Elsa Charretier, colorist Matt Hollingsworth, letterer Clayton Cowles, and editor Marla Eizik. This book caught my eye as the cover reminded me of Jamie S. Rich and Joelle Jones’s Lady Killer. (The familiar cover is Issue #1 and an image can be found on the Dark Horse website.)

‘Love is everlasting.’ That is what Joan Peterson is told immediately before she is murdered. Shocking, right?! In Joan’s world though, being murdered is a frequent occurrence. She has been caught in a never-ending cycle of deadly romance for as long as she can remember. After each death, Joan wakes up in another timeline with a new, yet somehow the same, problem: a man wants to marry her. Every time she falls in love, says yes to marriage, she is dramatically torn from that world and catapulted into another one with more disastrous love on her horizon. Joan is confused about how she even started on this path, wanting to break free, but unsure of how. Readers are at a loss right alongside her. Towards the end of this first volume, Joan starts her journey to escape this maddening cycle of love and death. Will she escape? Only time will tell.

Murder Your Employer: The McMasters Guide to Homicide by Rupert Holmes

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“When a man dies from a bullet entering his chest, it’s a homicide.
When a man dies from a meteorite landing on his head, it’s a tragedy.
Don’t use bullets. Use meteorites
Don’t commit a homicide. Commit a Tragedy.
-Guy McMaster”
― Rupert Holmes, Murder Your Employer: The McMasters Guide to Homicide

While reading review journals, I stumbled upon Murder Your Employer: The McMasters Guide to Homicide by Rupert Holmes. My first question: Is this the Rupert Holmes who write ‘Escape (The Pina Colada Song)‘? Answer: it IS the same Rupert Holmes! My second question: what type of book is this? This is the first volume in new mystery series by Holmes. I was intrigued from the start and couldn’t wait to get my hands on a copy.

The McMasters Conservatory for the Applied Arts is not your traditional college. You see, no one knows where it is located and they don’t advertise for students like other colleges do. This clandestine, secret college focuses on the art of murder, which isn’t exactly something they wish to be widely known. McMasters does count among their alumni some very powerful people in government, politics, law enforcement, corporations, etc. Its prestigious students spend their time learning how to best ‘delete’ their victim. (‘Delete’ being the McMasters term for murder).

Students selected to attend McMasters must go through a screening process that includes a necessary outline for the ethical reasons they have for wanting to eliminate someone. Their proposed victim must deserve this deadly fate. Once accepted, students are taught a wide range of homicidal arts, giving them a well-rounded knowledge of how to delete their victim in case their murderous graduation thesis necessitates a change. They are charged to get away with the perfect murder. If they fail, deletion is their own fate. Outside of classes, students may find themselves the practice target of a classmate. Students are encouraged to practice their skills on their classmates, although they are warned to stop before completion of their practice deletion. Points are awarded for succeeding, while points are deducted from the practice victim for not being vigilant enough.

Readers are privy to the lives of three McMasters students – Cliff, Gemma, and Dorie – as they traverse their way through their studies on their quests to perfecting their mandatory graduation thesis of deletion of their employer. All three must plan and execute the perfect murder, as well as get away with the crime. Their victim: someone whose deletion will make the world a better place to live for many others.

This first introduction to the world of McMasters was an utter delight. Each character presented has their own reasons for why they want to commit murder. You follow their journeys from their arrivals at McMasters, through their studies, and then their release back into the real world where they attempt to complete their deletion thesis. Holmes has written a tongue-in-cheek story full of murder and adventure told from multiple viewpoints that leave you wondering what the actual truth is.

This title is also available as a Libby eBook.

“After all, when the behavior of another person leaves you no choice but to kill them, their murder is simply involuntary suicide.”
― Rupert Holmes, Murder Your Employer: The McMasters Guide to Homicide

Mystery Reads: Coffeehouse Mystery series by Cleo Coyle

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“Coffee makes a sad man cheerful, a languorous man active, a cold man warm, a warm man glowing. It awakens mental powers thought to be dead, and when left in a sick room, it fills the room with a fragrance…. The very smell of coffee terrorizes death.”
― Cleo Coyle, On What Grounds

Ten years ago, Clare Cosi left her job managing the historic Village Blend coffeehouse in New York City. She moved to the quieter suburbs to raise her daughter. These quieter spaces are starting to bother Clare, so when the owner of Village Blend calls and proposes that Clare come back to manage the coffeehouse, she is intrigued. Soon Clare is moving back to New York City, right in the action and ready to serve up coffee.

Clare has scored the spacious rent-free apartment located right above Village Blend. Bringing her last bit of belongings to her new place early one morning, Clare is shocked to see that Village Blend is closed and locked when it should be open, serving customers. Angry that her new assistant manager is slacking on the job, Clare walks into the coffeehouse to find coffee grounds all over and her employee gravely injured. The arrival of the police and their subsequent ruling that this whole incident was an accident rubs Clare the wrong way. She isn’t convinced, despite their certainty, that her employee was clumsy enough to fall down the stairs. Clare begins an investigation of her own, determined to uncover the truth.

This series has been on my to-read list for quite a while. I took a risk and decided to read the first. While not a coffee drinker, I did find myself enjoying all of the coffee making tips and recipes that the author sprinkles throughout the book. I was pleasantly surprised with the plot. It wasn’t the best cozy mystery start to a series that I’ve read, but it also wasn’t the worst! I’m excited to see where the second book takes me.

This title is also available as a Libby eBook.

“As the 1902 coffee almanac put it, ‘When coffee is bad it is the wickedest thing in town; when good, the most glorious.”
― Cleo Coyle, On What Grounds

Coffeehouse Mystery series

  1. On What Grounds (2003)
  2. Through the Grinder (2004)
  3. Latte Trouble (2005)
  4. Murder Most Frothy (2006)
  5. Decaffeinated Corpse (2007)
  6. French Pressed (2008)
  7. Espresso Shot (2008)
  8. Holiday Grind (2009)
  9. Roast Mortem (2010)
  10. Murder by Mocha (2011)
  11. A Brew to a Kill (2012)
  12. Holiday Buzz (2012)
  13. Billionaire Blend (2013)
  14. Once Upon a Grind (2014)
  15. Dead to the Last Drop (2015)
  16. Dead Cold Brew (2017)
  17. Shot in the Dark (2018)
  18. Brewed Awakening (2019)
  19. Honey Roasted (2022)
  20. Bulletproof Barista (2023)

Vera Wong’s Unsolicited Advice for Murderers by Jesse Q Sutanto

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“In her experience, it’s best to nod and agree with what people say before doing exactly what you wanted from the very beginning.”
― Jesse Q. Sutanto, Vera Wong’s Unsolicited Advice for Murderers

Jesse Q Sutanto proves herself a master of character sketches in Vera Wong’s Unsolicited Advice for Murderers. Instead of telling her story from one character’s perspective, Sutanto has crafted five characters to share secrets from their own points of view: Sana, Riki, Julia, Oliver, and the title-mentioned Vera Wong. This is a story of found family and the love, friendship, and kindness that can be spread by serving tea.

Vera Wong is a lonely shopkeeper, well really a lonely little old lady, who lives above her tea shop in San Francisco’s Chinatown. Her shop, aptly named Vera Wong’s World-Famous Teahouse, sadly isn’t doing as well as she would hope. She only has one customer. Her husband is dead and her son Tilbert hardly ever visits. Granted, Tilly is a successful lawyer, but that doesn’t mean he can’t answer her daily texts. She is his mother after all!

Vera enjoys nothing more than designing new tea combinations and trying to figure out just what Tilly is doing that is more important than talking to his mother.  That and waking up at 4:30am and starting her day by going on a power walk. One morning, Vera discovers a dead man lying in the middle of her tea shop. Vera calls the cops, but not before tidying up the shop and investigating the area around the body for clues. When the police show up, the detectives don’t inspire much confidence, leading Vera to decide that she could do a better job than the police and will solve this murder herself! After all, Vera loves her police shows. She is also a Chinese mother who can sniff out guilt just by looking at a person. This shouldn’t be a problem at all. Vera has this all under control.

This title is also available in large print and as a Libby eBook.

The Golden Spoon by Jessa Maxwell

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“Baking, very much like life, is about formulating the best possible outcome with the variables you are given.”
― Jessa Maxwell, The Golden Spoon

Jessa Maxwell’s novel The Golden Spoon is a mix of Clue and the Great British Baking Show. This book is a baking show with murder – it was practically tailor made for me! Jessa Maxwell is actually the pseudonym for cartoonist and illustrator Jessica Olein, whose work can be found in The New Yorker, The New York Times, and others. The Golden Spoon is her first novel.

Betsy Martin is a celebrity baker. In an effort to bring in money to keep her family home, Grafton Manor, in working order, Betsy created Bake Week over ten years ago. Every year, a group of six bakers descend on Grafton for a competition held in a tent on the lawn. They compete for the title of American’s best baker, a cookbook deal, the coveted Golden Spoon, plus other perks. Once filmed, the show streams online for all to see. While Betsy is grateful for the money the show brings in, it still barely covers the manor’s upkeep, plus she has to deal with the crew and bakers crawling all over her family home. It’s almost not worth it, especially with the changes happening this season.

For ten years, Betsy has hosted Bake Week by herself. Now the producers have decided they need fresh blood in the form of a younger, more popular cohost: Archie Morris, an award-winning baker and host of the show Cutting Board. Betsy is less than thrilled. She dislikes Archie and all he represents. Watching him interact with the bakers confirms her distaste. As Bake Week progresses, each baker’s personality presents itself. The commonality between all present, besides their love of baking, is their ability to keep secrets.

While I enjoyed this novel, I did find myself blindly trusting that all of the characters were telling the truth – should not have done that! This is a hodge podge of unreliable narrators that the author has woven together with subtle hints about their actual truths. Each chapter is told from the point-of-view of a different character. For the whole chapter, readers see what that character is thinking and how they are reacting to each presented scenario. This story was engaging, while the characters have fleshed out backstories. This isn’t a light and fluffy book as it does dig into the dark side of baking competitions (and there’s the pesky murder). All in all, a good read if you’re a fan of multi point-of-view novels. Here’s hoping there’s a sequel!

This title is also available in large print, Libby eAudiobook, and Libby eBook.

New, and, True Crime

- Lynn Leave a comment

It’s summer time and there’s an explosion of new crime books. Check out these new titles:

Angel Makers: Arsenic, a Midwife, and Modern History’s Most Astonishing Murder Ring by Patti McCracken

They called her Auntie Suzy: a pleasant, friendly woman who acted as a midwife in a village in Hungary a century ago. Most readers, even devoted fans of true crime, have probably never heard of her. And yet she was the leader of a ring of women who committed dozens, maybe hundreds, of murders over a period of perhaps 15 years. This is journalist McCracken’s first book, and it is simply excellent. The storytelling is dramatic and compassionate; unlike works of crime nonfiction that relate facts at a journalistic remove, this book feels like it was written by someone who cares deeply about the victims of the crimes. There are a lot of mysteries surrounding this story: for example, there are conflicting accounts of how the “murder ring” was uncovered, and the total number of victims remains uncertain. Historical accounts conflict with one another. As much as it is possible to do so a century later, McCracken separates the wheat from the chaff and arrives at a representation of events that seems to tell the real story of the crimes—both who committed them, how they did it (distilling arsenic from flypaper), and how Auntie Suzy and her gang were finally apprehended.   From Booklist Online

Tangled Vines: Power, Privilege, and the Murdaugh Family Murders by John Glatt

The horrific double homicide may have thrown the South Carolina low country into an unflattering national spotlight, but the murders of Maggie and Paul Murdaugh are but two in a series of tragedies. At the center is Maggie’s husband and Paul’s father, Alex, a former lawyer descended from a long line of South Carolina prosecutors. Investigative journalist and veteran true-crime author Glatt (The Doomsday Mother, 2022) tells the story, from the first Murdaugh solicitors to hold office through Alex’s 2023 trial, including the several deaths in Alex’s orbit: Stephen Smith, his son Buster’s classmate, who was found dead under suspicious circumstances in 2015; longtime housekeeper Gloria Satterfield, who died after allegedly tripping and falling on the Murdaugh’s property in 2018; Mallory Beach, Paul’s 19-year-old friend, who was killed in a 2019 boating accident while Paul was driving drunk. And of course, the 2021 shooting deaths of Maggie and Paul on the family hunting property. Adding to the horror, Alex all the while was stealing millions from his clients’ settlements, including from the sons of his deceased housekeeper. With the flurry of recent coverage, including Netflix and Dateline documentaries, readers will be swept up in this account of the circumstances that enabled such tragedies.  From Booklist Online

Devil’s Coin: My Battle to Take Down the Notorious Onecoin CryptoQueen  by  Jennifer McAdam

McAdam, with journalist coauthor Thompson, tells the incredible journey of how she, a Scottish grandmother and the daughter of a coal miner, went from cryptocurrency fraud victim to a champion for herself and the millions of others who were deceived by OneCoin, losing their savings for a total of $27 billion worldwide. Her memoir is both a cautionary tale and a story of endurance in the pursuit of justice. Readers will come to understand McAdam’s health conditions as well as her fascination with OneCoin’s founder, Ruja Plamenova Ignatova, who would later be convicted for fraud. McAdam relates how she worked with law enforcement to uncover the scandal, weathered death threats, and continued to tell her own story and push for awareness in the media. Readers interested in true-crime tales of deception and scams, cryptocurrency, and blockchain technology will find this book fascinating as it unfolds McAdam’s point of view on the personal and worldwide impact of the OneCoin scandal. From Booklist Online

What the Dead Know: Learning about Life as a New York City Death Investigator by Barbara Butcher

Butcher’s life is right out of a novel, and a best-seller at that. She was one of the first women to be hired as a medicolegal investigator in New York City, spending over two decades in the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner. She battled alcoholism and depression before and during her career as well as the fraught interpersonal dynamics that come from being a gay woman in an overwhelmingly male profession and still managed to rise in the ranks and become one of the most trusted voices in her field. There’s even her mystery-series, protagonist-ready name. And, after reading What the Dead Know, readers will wish that Butcher would turn to mystery writing. The book is part memoir, part crime—or more specifically death—procedural. She shares specific cases from her long career, chronicling the range of death scenes she encountered, from the many suicides to front-page-ready double murders. The chapters that follow the complicated nature of her job following the 9/11 attacks are especially harrowing and emotionally resonant. Butcher’s relaxed writing style allows her to show off her engaging personality, which often lends moments of humor despite the heavy topic, making this a recommended addition to any public-library collection.  From Booklist Online

More Than You’ll Ever Know by Katie Gutierrez

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“When we’re shocked someone isn’t who we thought they were, it’s usually not because they hid it so well—more like, the closer we are to a person, the less clearly we see them.”
― Katie Gutierrez, More Than You’ll Ever Know

My latest read was a book that caught my attention because of the cover and then hooked me completely with the synopsis. More Than You’ll Ever Know by Katie Gutierrez tells the story of a woman leading a double life, her exposure after one husband murders the other, and the true-crime writer who stumbles upon the story and becomes obsessed with figuring out the truth. This was a dream book for me.

Cassie Bowman is a true crime writer. She spends her days looking up crimes and writing up articles for a popular blog. One day, she comes across the story of Lore Rivera, a woman who was married to two men at once, until one day in 1986, when one of them found out about the other and murdered him. Lore was living a secret double life that ended in a tragic murder. While the story is fascinating, that wasn’t what caught Cassie’s attention. She wants to know more about Lore. After all, Cassie’s past was full of family tragedy. She wants to know how Lore kept up with the lies, how she balanced two full lives, and most of all, what really happened that disastrous day.

Cassie starts researching, reaching out to family members. When she approaches Lore, she’s surprised to find that Lore is willing to talk. She wants to finally tell her story, to set the record straight about what really happened, to detail her reasons. Lore’s tale begins with a dance which led to an affair, a marriage, and a murder. Lore isn’t telling her secrets for free though. For every question she answers, she demands something in return from Cassie. Soon Cassie is spilling her own deep, dark secrets whether she wants to or not. As her investigation continues, Cassie realizes that Lore may be hiding what actually happened the night of the murder. The truth may end up being messier than she thought, leading both women to have to decide if they can trust the other with the truth.

As Cassie says in the book, it’s usually the men who do the crime and the women who pay for it. This time, Lore was the one who set the crimes in motion. The news usually focuses on men as the perpetrators, so reading about a, albeit fictional, woman who did the crime was a nice break. Seeing the story play out from multiple different viewpoints also let me feel like I might eventually learn the truth, while also seeing the motivations for why people behaved the way that they did.

“History is written by those who have power and want to keep it.”
― Katie Gutierrez, More Than You’ll Ever Know

This title is also available as a Libby eBook and in large print.

Murder Book: A Graphic Memoir of a True Crime Obsession by Hilary Fitzgerald Campbell

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I am a lover of true crime. This isn’t much of a surprise to my family and friends. For years, true crime has taken over the media I consume(podcasts, tv shows, movies, books, etc). When I stumbled upon Murder Book: A Graphic Memoir of a True Crime Obsession by Hilary Fitzgerald Campbell, I knew this was something I needed to read. I wasn’t disappointed.

Hilary Fitzgerald Campbell is obsessed with true crime. Ever since she can remember, true crime has been prevalent in her life. Hilary believes that she inherited her interest in crime from her mother, but has questions about the psychology surrounding why people find true crime to be so entertaining. In her quest to answer that question, Hilary examines her past, does research, and starts combining what she learns into this graphic memoir. Hilary talks about high profile cases(Zodiac, Ted Bundy, etc) that impacted her life and moves onto other not as high profile cases and the often overlooked victims that are also etched into her memory (Anne Marie Fahey for example). For those of us that enjoy true crime, Hilary also lists authors she loves, the crime shows she watches, and the podcasts she listens to. This graphic novel made me feel normal – she outlines her obsession of love and true crime, while also saying that outsiders may see some weirdness in people loving/enjoying true crime. This is definitely an unconventional book/topic, but there is an audience who will appreciate it.

While I enjoyed this graphic novel, it does jump around a lot (the author acknowledges this). It didn’t bother me much as it made sense to me and followed the jumpy way my own brain works. Reading about how the author tries to figure out why she loves true crime and why she started down this path made me think about why I too love true crime. Hilary highlighted some cases that I hadn’t heard about and some that I had already explored. It was validating to read something that talked about my own anxieties, love of true crime, etc.

Your Guide to Not Getting Murdered in a Quaint English Village by Maureen Johnson and Jay Cooper

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As a lover of cozy mysteries, true crime, and Lifetime original movies, I like to think that I pay attention to my surroundings (my family may disagree…). Whenever I’m reading or watching something where someone is trying to solve a murder (or a new person comes to a mysterious town), I frequently find myself mumbling, ‘Don’t do that! That’s not going to end well…’ Imagine my curiousity when I found Your Guide to Not Getting Murdered in a Quaint English Village written by Maureen Johnson and illustrated by Jay Cooper. This is a guidebook full of dark and sarcastic humor all about how to avoid a gruesome death in innocent-looking bucolic English villages, or ‘English Murder Villages’ as the book calls them.

First off, let’s talk about the illustrations. They are absolute perfection, an Edward Gorey-esque set of drawings with only red pops of color to draw your eye to elements of death and murder. Without these illustrations, the book wouldn’t be complete. The illustrations and text perfectly compliment each other.

This book is written from the perspective of an author who wants to warn people of the dangers of visiting English Murder Villages. She wants you to not stray from the big towns as venturing off the beaten path will lead to your inevitable and premature death. As a way to help you survive, she has compiled lists of people and locations to be careful of in the village and the manor.  There’s really no safe space, but forewarned is forearmed. This book is full of nods to classic British crime tropes, which I adored. If you have seen/read any Miss Marple, Murder She Wrote, Agatha Christie, or watched/read any cozy mysteries, you may enjoy this death-laden trip through the English countryside (and may pick up some handy tricks to stay alive along the way)!