The Storm

The Storm was just published a week or so ago on January 6, 2026. I selected the book as my first entry for this year's Calendar of Crime Reading Challenge. The book is a suspense thriller told in a dual timeline that unravels a decades old murder mystery tied to a hurricane. 

The publisher's summary:  

Simple

St. Medard’s Bay, Alabama is famous for three things: the deadly hurricanes that regularly sweep into town, the Rosalie Inn, a century-old hotel that’s survived every one of those storms, and Lo Bailey, the local girl infamously accused of the murder of her lover, political scion Landon Fitzroy, during Hurricane Marie in 1984.

When Geneva Corliss, the current owner of the Rosalie Inn, hears a writer is coming to town to research the crime that put St. Medard’s Bay on the map, she’s less interested in solving a whodunnit than in how a successful true crime book might help the struggling inn’s bottom line. But to her surprise, August Fletcher doesn’t come to St. Medard’s Bay alone. With him is none other than Lo Bailey herself. Lo says she’s returned to her hometown to clear her name once and for all, but the closer Geneva gets to both Lo and August, the more she wonders if Lo is actually back to settle old scores.

As the summer heats up and another monster storm begins twisting its way towards St. Medard’s Bay, Geneva learns that some people can be just as destructive―and as deadly―as any hurricane, and that the truth of what happened to Landon Fitzroy may not be the only secret Lo is keeping…

 

I stumbled over the first couple of chapters because the story is narrated by the way people talk, not the way they would write. I adjusted though. August was a dull character but Lo more than made up for him. At age 60, Lo is still attractive with a vibrant personality. How she viewed this old hometown of hers was interesting to read about. Her perception of the changes and the things that did not change were what pushed the plot forward. In the beginning I thought Geneva was the main character since she owned the hotel but Lo was the character that was the most prominent. She is the one that all of the other characters responded to. 

The setting was well described. It was a southern Alabama beach where residents are always looking at the sky in fear of another hurricane arriving on their shores. Thunder, lightning and rain made everyone nervous. You can feel the fear and the tension in them. In this respect, I would call the book an atmospheric mystery. I have never enjoyed an atmospheric story before but The Storm pulled me in. The characters spoke southern, yes it's a language, but it made following the mystery more difficult for me. I was looking for the promise in the summary that a hurricane murder mystery would be solved but my reading speed was sidelined by all of the southernisms. 

The history of the prior hurricanes in Alabama were recited by the characters but Hurricane Marie was one that they only discussed in whispers. This hurricane was the worst and the death of the governor's son Landon Fitzroy made it all the more dramatic.

The Storm was an interesting mystery but a very slow read. 3 out of 5 stars.

The Quiet Wife

The Quiet Wife was published in January 2023. It was written by one of my favorite authors so I had high expectations for this book. It was fantastic!

The publisher's summary:

At 36, Katie Cope isn’t where she thought she’d be. Somehow the things she was supposed to have slipped by. Her dream of being a journalist was reduced to writing pop culture pieces. Her dream of being a mother stalled in a faltering marriage. And when her husband sells his business, reaching success she never has, she feels more pressed than ever to make something of her life.

When she discovers a disturbing connection between a wealthy housing project in the Colorado mountains and missing girls, she knows she might have a chance at a big story. But after joining the community, what she sees in her neighbor’s windows and the strange footsteps in the snow that come out of the woods and linger at her backdoor have her wondering if the success is worth her safety.

Something is fatally wrong in the mountains of Carson’s Pass, and when she realizes her own past might have everything to do with the vanished girls, she must risk going missing herself to find out what.

This story is a slow burn. In fact, I was rather bored until page 70 when Katie finds a secret room behind a wall. The developer had a reputation for building secret tunnels behind the walls of homes that he built. 2 girls had gone missing years earlier from houses that he constructed. Katie and her best friend Miranda came to Carson’s Pass to determine whether the homes in this development had secret tunnels. They planned in taking photos of these spaces and sending them to a journalist friend back in San Diego. While in the secret room Katie found a box filled with photos of young girls. She was shocked to discover a picture of her friend Claire, who it was assumed killed herself in the Colorado mountains. 

This story was so eerie it could have been written by Alfred Hitchcock. Toward the end I felt like I was in the Twilight Zone when what was real became unreal. I had goosebumps. Aside from the initial chapters the book was perfectly plotted. The pace was fast but at the end it was racing to the finish line. It was very rewarding. This author is well known for his psychological thrillers but The Quiet Wife may be one of his best. 

The characters were well drawn. The story is told from Katie's perspective. She is somewhat estranged from her family. Katie wants to avoid her prevocative sister but finds herself inviting her sister to family events. The relationship with her husband was hard to decipher. Both of them wanted to reconcile but not really. They thought it would be the right thing to do but their hearts are not in it. Katie is obviously the "quiet wife" but she has started to express her feelings more. No one cares though. Secondary character Phillip Pope, the developer of Carson’s Pass, is the primary villain of the book. There has been alot of gossip about him for years because of the missing girls. Some went missing from houses that he built in Colorado and no can figure out how anyone could have taken them. 

I cannot say enough good things about the book but because the opening was slow I am rating it 4 out of 5 stars.

2026 Calendar of Crime Reading Challenge

Sign-ups are open for the 2026 Calendar of Crime Reading Challenge. The challenge will be hosted once again by the My Reader's Block blog. This is one of my favorite challenges as I have found new authors (to me) that I enjoy. 

 

The Rules

1. The challenge runs from January 1 to December 31, 2026. All books should be read during this time period. You can sign up at any time. If you have a blog, please post about the challenge. Then sign up via the challenge post form and please make the url link to your challenge post and not your home page. If you don't have a blog, links to an online list (Goodreads, Library Thing, etc.) devoted to this challenge are acceptable OR you may skip that question.

2. All books must be mysteries. Humor, romance, supernatural elements (etc.) are all welcome, but the books must be mysteries/crime/detective novels first.

3. Twelve books, one representing each month, are required for a complete challenge. 

4. To claim a book, it must fit one of the categories for the month you wish to fulfill. Unless otherwise specified, the category is fulfilled within the actual story. for instance, if you are claiming the book for December and want to use "Christmas" as the category, then Christmas figure in some in the plot. 

5. Books may only count for one month and one category, but they may count for other challenges. If it could fulfill more than one category or month, then you are welcome to change it at any time prior to the final wrap-up.

6. Books do not have to be read during the month for which they qualify. So--if you're feeling like a little "Christmas in July" (or May or...), then feel free to read your book for December whenever the mood strikes.  Whew!  This is freeing.

7. A wrap-up post/comment/email will be requested that should include a list of books read and what category they fulfilled. [Example: January: The House of Sudden Sleep by John Hawk (original pub date January 1930)]

8. The headquarters link in the left-hand sidebar of the challenge post will be updated in January for 2026 for easy access to this original challenge post, monthly review link-ups, and the final wrap-up. 

9. If you post on Facebook, Instagram, or other social media to log a book, please use this hashtag: #CalendarOfCrime2026.