Book Cover of the Month: April

Lemon Curd Killer had my favorite book cover for this month. Doesn't it look inviting? It makes me pine for afternoon tea but, of course, a tea that someone else makes for me. The yellow color of the table is what I like the most. Yellow is my favorite color and seeing a table of sweets in yellow is appealing. 

I was unable to determine who designed the cover. What I did find was a blog post concerning Penguin vintage book covers and a 2016 book called Classic Penguin Cover to Cover by Paul Buckley. Buckley is the creative director for Penguin who published the book and he has a large staff of designers and art directors that work on the jackets and covers for sixteen imprints within the Penguin Random House publishing group. I will most likely get this book as book cover design is a new interest for me.

The Rail Splitter

I received a copy of John Cribb's The Rail Splitter from the Early Reviewer's Group at Librarything. As you would expect from the title, it is a historical fiction novel about Abe Lincoln. It tells about his journey from his youth living in a log cabin to his candidacy for the Presidency.

The publisher's summary:

The story begins with Lincoln’s youth on the frontier, where he grows up with an ax in one hand and book in the other, determined to make something of himself. He sets off on one adventure after another, from rafting down the Mississippi River to marching in an Indian war. When he is twenty-six, the girl he hopes to marry dies of fever. He spends days wandering the countryside in grief. A few years later, he purchases a ring inscribed with the words “Love Is Eternal” and enters a tempestuous marriage with Mary Todd.
 
Lincoln literally wrestles his way to prominence on the Illinois prairies. He teaches himself the law and enters the rough and tumble world of frontier politics. With Mary’s encouragement, he wins a term in the US Congress, but his political career falters. They are both devastated by the loss of a child. As arguments over slavery sweep the country, Lincoln finds something worth fighting for, and his debates with brash rival Stephen Douglas catapult him toward the White House.
 
Part coming-of-age story, part adventure story, part love story, and part rags-to-riches story, The Rail Splitter is the making of Abraham Lincoln. The story of the rawboned youth who goes from a log cabin to the White House is, in many ways, the great American story. The Rail Splitter reminds us that the country Lincoln loved is a place of wide-open dreams where extraordinary journeys unfold.

I loved this book! It was a page turning exploration of Lincoln's life. I wondered as I read whether the story would be as interesting if it was not about Lincoln. I couldn't figure that out because Lincoln is such a beloved figure in America that it doesn't matter. I also wondered what parts of the story were historical and what parts were fiction. Obviously, Lincoln's work history was true. I am wondering whether the social aspects of the story were true. The author tells us in the Acknowledgments that he found information about Lincoln's social life in the Abraham Lincoln Museum in Springfield, Illinois. 

One thing that surprised me was that Lincoln's bouts of depression and anxiety began in early childhood. I had always thought that the depression began while he was in the White House. However, he had an episode of delirium that lasted 3 days before he was even 18. Later in life he tried hard not to give in to these impulses. It would be interesting what diagnosis today's psychologists would come up with. I am sure the death of his mother when he was young was a factor but I have never heard any commentary on this subject.

The book does not tell us why Abe left home at 18 but if you really think about it, there had to be trouble at home. The book shows Abe having a good relationship with his step-mother. That leaves his father Thomas as the source of the family feud. Lincoln couldn't wait to get away so this relationship had to be tense. 

Wife Mary appears sympathetic until she reaches her 50s, around the time her husband is being considered to be a candidate for the Presidency. She has become a nag and has violent arguments with Abe. She even hit him with a piece of wood on his nose,causing it to bleed. Since I am female, my mind automatically goes to menopause as the cause of her outbursts. Again, I have never heard any realistic reasons ever being given for her mental disorder.

You will not be able to put this book down. I highly recommend it and am rating it 5 out of 5 stars.

Stacking the Shelves #24

I have already been thinking about what I want to read in May. Finding books for the Monthly Key Word Reading Challenge is always difficult. I believe that I have found a great choice for the challenge with Stolen in the Night. Patricia McDonald's psychological thriller was published late last year and I have just ordered a copy for my Kindle. 

This thriller is about Tess DeGraff who was nine years old and on a camping trip in New Hampshire with her family when a stranger kidnapped and killed her sister Phoebe. Thanks to Tess's eyewitness testimony, a man named Lazarus Abbott was arrested and convicted for the heinous crime. But twenty years later, a test reveals that Abbott's DNA does not match that of Phoebe's murderer. Driven by her fear that she may have sent an innocent man to his death, Tess and her adopted son, Erny, return to the New Hampshire town in which it all happened years ago. While Tess's family stands by her account of the crime, nerves are frayed throughout Stone Hill, NH and others in town accuse her of lying and view her as a murderer. 

In a race against time to untangle the truth about her sister's murder, Tess encounters an anti-death penalty lawyer, Ben Webster, who infuriates her but who also might open her eyes and her heart; a biased police chief related to the Abbotts; and an unknown killer who has Tess and Erny in his sights. 

I haven't read Patricia MacDonald is a long time and am excited to read this novel. What books are you interested in reading?

Follow You Home

Follow You Home is an eerie psychological thriller by Mark Edwards that was published in 2015. I selected it for the What's in a Name Reading Challenge and, boy, am I glad that I did. It was fantastic.  The story begins with Brits Daniel Sullivan and Laura Mackenzie traveling to Romania at the end of a two month trip through Europe.  Planning to marry and have children, they decide that they should have one last holiday together before family issues come in the way. They have already visited Spain, France, Italy, Greece, Hungary and Belgium and want to see Eastern Europe as a contrast to the traditional European sites. Daniel is an app developer and Laura works in marketing for a children's charity. After boarding a train to Romania, the couple meets Ion and Alina. Alina is a comic writer and Ion, well, he is a professional bully. When Ion convinces them to take a nap in a sleeping car that is unused, they wake up to find that their passports, credit cards, and phones are missing from their bags. Soon they are confronted by a train conductor who is checking tickets. After explaining that they were robbed, the conductor throws Daniel, Laura and Alina off the train. The terror begins but when the return to London, Daniel and Laura are emotionally unable to even mention what happened after they were let off that train in Breva, Romania. Laura begins to see ghosts and is the first to realize that something evil followed them home.

This is an atmospheric thriller. We don't know what actually happened in Breva until the midway point of the story when Daniel finally tells his psychologist what happened. I expected the couple to have seen something pretty horrific in order to substantiate their diagnoses of PTSD and Daniel's excessive drinking. Laura began seeing ghosts, something that she also dealt with in childhood. While it was bad, I expected more. The eerie atmosphere begins when they get home and Laura starts seeing Alina, who was killed in Breva, and other men whose faces they both remember seeing in Breva. Daniel believes that every person he tells about the horror he experienced is being murdered and he feels that all these events are connected. His psychologist is killed in a fire and his best friend kills himself one night when he was should actually be happy about getting a record contract. Connected? Maybe. I don't want to be a spoiler.  

I thought this was a fantastic story.  It kept my interest from the first pages all the way to the end. I am rating it only 4 out of 5 stars because I wanted the Breva horror show to be more dramatic.

The Cursed Heir

The Cursed Heir is the 2nd book in author Heather Atkinson's Alardyce House series. The series takes place in Edinburgh during the Victorian Era and in this installment of the series the family has gathered to celebrate the engagement of Alardyce House heir Robert to his childhood sweetheart Jane. For his mother Amy the moment is marred by the darkness she sees in Robert, a darkness that his biological father  Matthew had. Matthew was a criminal who beat and killed women and was hung for his crimes. Amy wants to prevent her son from the noose. However, reports are emerging about Robert beating female household staff. Amy fears that the streets of Edinburgh are not safe when Robert is in town. To make matters worse, the increasing distance between him and his step-father Henry threatens the peace of Henry's marriage to Amy. The only question is whether this most cursed heir will ruin the family's reputation forever or will a mother's love save them all.

This was an exciting page turner with alot of plot twists. The reader never knows when Robert is going to strike again or when other characters will prevent him from obtaining access to girls that he is interested in. The story begins several years after the first book ends. Since the family relationships are complex, I recommend that you read The Missing Girls of Alardyce House first. Even though I read the first book month or two ago, I found it difficult in the beginning to remember who hurt who previously.  While I loved The Cursed Heir, I think that The Missing Girls of Alardyce House was better.  Cursed Heir had less action but more family drama. The story ended with an unresolved cliff-hanger that won't be resolved until the third book of the series, His Fatal Legacy begins.  His Fatal Legacy was published last month on March 20, 2023.  I will be reading it next month.

4 out of 5 stars.

Clerical Errors

Dr. Diane M. Greenwood is the author of Clerical Errors. She describes herself as a low level ecclesiastical civil servant and is the retired diocesan director of education in Rochester. She wrote this series between 1991 and 1999. Her books span a time of turmoil in the Church of England when the issue of ordaining women as priests was debated. Clerical Errors was her first novel.

The story opens with Julia Smith sitting peacefully in the Medewich Cathedral after a job interview at the diocesan office when she hears a loud scream coming from the chapel. The housekeeper, Mrs. Sprigg, has found the severed head of a young vicar assigned to the cathedral in the baptismal font. Deaconess Theodora Braithwaite, the main character, and Julia look into the murder and other unusual incidents at the cathedral along with the help of Ian Caretaker who is, of course, the caretaker.

I found the book difficult to read. The writing seemed awkward as though it had been written in another era. However, the book was written in the 1990s. The plot was also difficult to follow. While Julia and another character named Dhani solved most of the mysteries, main character Theodora is the one who came up with the resolution of the murder toward the end of the story. Many of the clues that Theodora figured out were not mentioned in the story, which was odd. What I did enjoy was the Anglican Church setting. It was not enough, though, to carry the story.

The Path of the Crooked

The Path of the Crooked is a charming Christian cozy mystery. It is the first book in the Hope Street Church Mystery Series by Ellery Adams. It was originally published under the pen name Jennifer Stanley but the author revised the story and has published it under the pen name Ellery Adams. There were only three books in the original series and I am not sure whether she will continue to write novels for the series.

The main character is Cooper Lee. She is a copy machine repairman who has recently been dumped by her boyfriend of five years. While repairing a copier at a client's office Cooper meets Brooke Hughes, a member of the Hope Street Church. The two ladies have a short conversation wherein Brooke gives Cooper a church brochure and invites her to church. Cooper accepts the brochure and leaves.

Later that evening she considers whether to visit the church on the next Sunday. Her family sees the brochure and asks her if she will go. They also are devout Christians who hope Cooper will return to church after a several year absence. When she visits Hope Street Church a few weeks later Cooper meets the members of the Sunrise Bible Study group. During that initial meeting the news broke that Brooke Hughes had been murdered. Brooke's husband Wesley had been arrested for the murder and the group cannot believe that he killed his wife. They begin their own investigation hoping that they can free Wesley Hughes.

I absolutely loved this story. There were plenty of clues for the group to follow up on. I was surprised that the police did not play much into the investigation but perhaps they will in future installments of the series. The pace was perfect, not too fast and not too slow. The characters were memorable. Each Bible study member were quirky characters that made the sleuthing entertaining. Savannah is legally blind and is the leader of the group. Nathan is a love interest for Cooper. TV meteorologist Bryant, realtor Trish, Jake and Quinton complete the group. It was fascinating that the group did the sleuthing together. I have never read a book where there was more than one amateur sleuth. However, in this instance, it works. Cooper's family was also memorable. Her mother is constantly cooking and baking for people in need and reading about her foods made me hungry. There are recipes of hers at the back of the book. Cooper's sister Ashley is also quirky. Ashley is an overbearing lover of fashion, expensive restaurants and is a social climber. Cooper herself is interesting. She is a smoker who dresses in a masculine style and is fine to be by herself alot. All of these folks will contribute to fantastic storylines in the future.

The Path of the Crooked was an excellent read and I highly recommend it. 5 out of 5 stars.

Six Feet Deep Dish

Six Feet Deep Dish is the first book in a new cozy mystery series by Mindy Quigley. The main character is Delilah O'Leary and and she has just opened up a new pizzeria in Geneva Bay, Wisconsin. Funded by her rich fiance Sam Van Meter, Delilah is realizing her lifetime dream of owning a restaurant. To help her out is sous chef Sonya Dokter, a sassy, plus size woman who likes rockabilly fashion. The police detective is Al Capone's great-grandson Calvin Capone. A few other characters who work at the pizzeria round out the characters. 

Just after the restaurant's soft opening, Delilah's fiance dumps her and leaves her with their plus size cat Butterball. Delilah and Sam are polar opposites with Delilah being a type A person and Sam being laid back. Her aunt Biz and her caretaker Jeremy join the crowd on opening night. However, early in the evening Jeremy wheels Aunt Biz outside for some fresh air. Soon Delilah and her diners hear a gunshot and run outside. There they find Jeremy's body and a gun in Aunt Biz's hand. Aunt Biz denies killing Jeremy but doesn't know what happened. Detective Capone opens an investigation and threatens to run the new restaurant to the ground while pursuing Aunt Biz. In order to save her aunt, Delilah has to find out the identity of the killer.

This is an excellent start to a new series. There are several quirky characters to base future stories on. Sonya is always going to be the comedian with sassy remarks. I am going to love her the most. Detective Capone is a little stiff but I am certain that he will mellow out and probably be a love interest for Delilah. Daniel the bartender is a kayaker and Melody is the sacharine sweet hostess. Rabbit has just been released from jail and begged for a job to support his family. He's the dishwasher. I can think of many scenarios for future stories from this gang.

I love the pizzeria, Geneva and Chicago settings. Lake Geneva, Wisconsin is a well known weekend getaway for Chicagoans. The Chicago setting comes into play because Delilah decorated her restaurant with posters of Chicago mobsters. These settings alone will offer the author many plot premises.

The Six Feet story was well paced with plenty of twists and turns. I thoroughly enjoyed the novel and am rating it 5 out of 5 stars.

Can't Wait Wednesday #23

Can't-Wait Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted at Wishful Endings, to spotlight and discuss the books we're excited about that we have yet to read. Generally they're books that have yet to be released. It's based on Waiting on Wednesday, hosted by the fabulous Jill at Breaking the Spine.

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I am looking forward to the April 25 release of Colleen Cambridge's Mastering the Art of French Murder. It the first book in a new series, An American in Paris Murders. The book features Julia Child's fictional best friend Tabitha Knight. Upon arrival in Paris for an extended stay with her French grandfather, she meets his neighbor Julia Child and learns how to cook. Tabitha also tutors Americans in the French language, visits the markets and samples Julia's homework from the Le Cordon Bleu cooking school. One awful December day the two of them find a body in the cellar of Julia's building. The murder weapon is a knife that was taken from Julia's kitchen. I think that this is going to be a fantastic series and I am excited about reading Mastering the Art of French Murder.

The Papal Assassin's Curse

The Papal Assassin's Curse is the third book in a new series by S. J. Martin. Called the Papal Assassin's Series, the stories take place in the early Middle Ages in France and Rome. It was published on March 26, 2023.

The publisher's summary:

Piers De Chatillon, antihero, paid assassin, wealthy and powerful, now seems to have everything.  A beautiful, loving wife, thriving twin boys and the friendship of some of the most feared warriors in Europe.  Nonetheless, he has made dozens of enemies along the way, and one of them is prepared to risk everything to destroy him.

Europe in 1096 was a turbulent place.  Duke Robert's invasion of England has failed and he is trying to hold on to Normany while both of his brothers plot to take it.  Piers De Chatillon, as Papal Envoy, is trying to steer a ship through these troubled waters just as his uncle, Pope Urban, calls for a crusade to liberate the Holy Land. Duke Robert foolishly leads this crusade leaving Normandy in the hands of his brother, William Rufus.  At the same time, Chatillon receives an assassination request that shocks him.  He is offered a fortune to kill a king.

Meanwhile, Yusuf Ibn Hud, known as Sheikh Ishmael, one of he most brutal and feared pirates in the Mediterranean, is launching a plan to tear the hears out of Chatillon's world.  The pirate intends to snatch Pier's wife and children while Piers is on his way to Rome with the Crusaders.  Will Pier's friend, Edvard, and the Irish warlord, Finian Ui Neil be able to stop them, or will Chatillon lose everything?

This installment of the series was fantastic. Chatillon's wife and two sons are kidnapped by the Shiek Ismael at the beginning of the second third of the story and are to be sold as slaves. The Shiek's men separate Chatillon's wife Isabella from her sons and they travel in different directions on the European continent so as to impede efforts by Chatillon to save them. The chase was riveting and I think I felt as much fear as Isabella. My imagination went wild because I could see myself in her shoes. There are several maps at the back of the book of France and ports in the Mediterranean. It would have been helpful to place them at the beginning of the book because I didn't know they were there until I finished the book. 

The first third of the book was about Chatillon's friend and Irish warrior Finian Ui Neill. Finian's relative Padraig comes to visit and brings along Pierre. Padraig is friendly with Chatillon's wife and children but Pierre is anti-social and quick tempered. He is only allowed to stay with the family because he is with Finian's cousin.  I did not know where the story was going until Isabella was kidnapped. Looking back, it seems odd that so many pages were devoted to Padraig and Pierre's visit. 

The story ended with a cliffhanger and we won't know the outcome of the kidnapping until The Papal Assassin's Wrath is published in June 2023. I am way too excited for this release. 

The Flame Tree

The Flame Tree is the first book in a duology set in Hong Kong during WWII.  I was attracted to the book because of its beautiful cover and also because the setting was in China. I love reading asian fiction. However, this book was not as interesting to me as other asian fiction novels that I have read.

The publisher's summary:

In the spring of 1939, dashing young William Burton and the beautiful Constance Han set sail from London on the same ocean liner to Hong Kong. Romance blossoms while they enjoy games of deck quoits and spend sultry tropical evenings dancing under the stars. Connie is intrigued by Will’s talent for writing poetry, and she offers to give him Cantonese lessons to help him with his new job— a cadet in the colonial service.

But once in Hong Kong, Connie is constrained by filial duty towards her Eurasian parents, and their wish for her to marry someone from her own background. She can't forget Will however, and arranges to meet him in secret under the magnificent canopy of a flame of the forest tree— where she fulfills her promise to teach him to speak Chinese. Before too long, trouble looms as Japanese forces gather on the border between Hong Kong and mainland China. Will joins a commando group tasked with operating behind enemy lines, and Connie becomes involved in the fight against local fifth columnists.

When war breaks out, they find themselves drawn into a wider conflict than their battle against prejudice. Can they survive and achieve a future together? Or do forces beyond their control keep them forever apart?

The first half of the book was about Will and Connie's relationship. The second half was more war story with the author giving us a full account of the Japanese invasion of Hong Kong. I got bored reading about Will's military activities. When the plot returned to him and Connie, I became interested in the book again.  

The title of the book comes from the name of the tree under which Will and Connie would secretly meet in the botanical gardens. They were hidden from view when they sat under it which was important to Connie because her reputation would have been destroyed if people knew she was seeing a European man. Her marriage prospects would have taken a nose dive.  After a year of weekly secret meetings, Connie fell madly in love with Will and the relationship turned physical. She agreed to ask her father if they could marry, knowing he would day no. At this point, the Japanese invaded Hong Kong and the story switched from a romance to a war story.  

I enjoyed the Hong Kong setting. I felt that I was alongside Will as he experienced new places in the city. As he found delight in the culture,  I felt it too. Each restaurant and home that he visited was a new experience for him and I couldn't help but want to have that experience myself. 

I am not sure how to rate The Flame Tree. I only liked half of it but I am interested in reading part 2 of the duology, mainly to see what happens with Will and Connie.  I am giving it a 3 out of 5 stars.

Barnstormers

Barnstormers was published in Summer and Fall of 2022 as a 5 part Comixology Original. It was written by Scott Snyder with Tula Lotay drawing the scenes. Barnstomers is an adventure and romance story that is set in 1923. The barnstormer era in American history had WWI pilots offering civilians joyrides in the sky for a small fee. One of those pilots was Preston Pike, who has flown his way across the U. S. Southeast scrounging for customers. When a telephone operator tells him that there will be a big crowd waiting for him in nearby Barnville, Preston races over.  Instead of eager clientele, he finds himself crashing into a wedding and the bride to be decides to make a getaway in Preston's plane. Along the way, the two of them bond and become romantic with each other.

This was an enjoyable story that is quick to read.  I thought it was awesome that the bride decided to bail on her wedding. She had an arranged marriage with a man she did not love and when the plane crashes into the reception area she believes it is a sign to run. The style of the illustrations is modeled after adventure comics from the 1920s which I thought was fitting. The bright colors used by Dee Cunniffe gave the story a relaxed feel.

The final issue will not be released until tomorrow, April 4, 2023. 

Letters of Trust

Letters of Trust is the first book in The Friendship Letters duology by Wanda Brunstetter. The series features Doretta Schwartz as the letter writer. Doretta has always loved writing and receiving letters and she believes that letter writing could be a ministry for her. 

The publisher's summary:

Life is good on their Pennsylvania Amish farm for newlyweds Vic and Eleanor Lapp—until the day Vic’s youngest brother drowns in their pond and Vic turns to alcohol to numb the pain. Things get so bad that Vic loses his job and their marriage is coming apart. Eleanor is desperate to help her husband and writes letters to her friend, Doretta, living in Indiana for advice. The trust Eleanor places in her friend and the gentle words she receives in return are a balm for even darker days to come.

There wasn't much action in this novel. At the conclusion of the first third of the book I found myself questioning what was the point of this novel. Then Vic's brother Eddie died and the pace picked up little. This story has a simple plot though that is centered around character growth, not actual plot action. 

The author tackles grief, alcoholism and depression here. These are not normal plots for Amish fiction but it shows how the genre has grown over the years. It was obvious how the story would end but I enjoyed the ride. The reader sees first hand how an unexpected death within a family affects each family member. For Vic Lapp it meant becoming addicted to alcohol. He used beer to ease the pain he felt from his young brother's death. 

Eleanor seemed like a doormat to me. She was too sweet and easy going given the poor treatment that she received from her husband. She reminded me of the wives of the fundamentalist polygamy sects in the western states who are trained to "keep sweet."  When Eleanor finally got angry I was so happy.

I prefer stories with more action and am only rating the book 3 out of 5 stars.