Semiretired mob guy Eddie DeCooch is caught trafficking contraband cigarettes through Trenton, New Jersey. When DeCooch fails to show for a court appearance, bond enforcement agent Stephanie Plum is assigned the task of finding him and dragging his decrepit ass back to jail. Not such an easy job, it turns out, since DeCooch has learned a lot of tricks over the years and isn't afraid to use his gun. He's already shot Loretta Ricci, an innocent old lady, and left her for worm food in his shed. He wouldn't mind shooting Stephanie next.
Likeable losers (and Steph's former high school classmates) Walter "MoonMan" Dunphy and Dougie "The Dealer" Kruper have inadvertently become involved with DeCooch. They've gotten sucked into an operation that is much more than simple cigarette smuggling and holds risks far greater than anyone could have imagined.
When Dougie disappears, Steph goes into search mode. When Mooner disappears, she calls in the heavy artillery and asks master bounty hunter Ranger for help. Ranger's price for the job? One night with Stephanie, dusk to dawn. Not information she wants to share with her sometime live-in roommate, vice cop Joe Morelli,
A typical dilemma in the world of Plum.
And on the homefront, Stephanie's "perfect" sister, Valerie, has decided to move back to Trenton, bringing her two kids from hell with her. Grandma Mazur is asking questions about being a lesbian, and Bob, the bulimic dog, is eating everything in sight--including the furniture.
Agony in Amethyst is the 5th installment of the Harriet Gordon cozy mystery series. The series takes place in Singapore during the 1920s. It will be published later this year in October. When the 4th installment came out last year the author announced that it would be the last novel in the series. I love this series so I am thrilled that there is another book to read.
Per the publisher, our protagonist Harriet Gordon faces uncertainty in her budding relationship with Robert Curran, who has just returned from months in Kuala Lumpur. Curran's expected promotion turns sour when the position is given to an old adversary from his Scotland Yard days. The arrival of the Colonial foreign secretary, Sir Henry Cunningham, revives memories of one of Curran's unresolved cases. The death of a schoolgirl at a lavish ball, hosted by the Governor in honour of the visitor, brings Curran into direct conflict with his new superior officer. When he confides his suspicions to Harriet, she inadvertently betrays his trust, threatening his already shaky career.
October seems so far away! I cannot wait to get hands hands on this book.
1950. Thousands of Yemeni Jews have immigrated to the newly founded Israel in search of a better life. In an overcrowded immigrant camp in Rosh Ha’ayin, Yaqub, a shy young man, happens upon Saida, a beautiful girl singing by the river. In the midst of chaos and uncertainty, they fall in love. But they weren’t supposed to; Saida is married and has a child, and a married woman has no place befriending another man.1995. Thirty-something Zohara, Saida’s daughter, has been living in New York City—a city that feels much less complicated than Israel, where she grew up wishing that her skin was lighter, that her illiterate mother’s Yemeni music was quieter, and that the father who always favored her was alive. She hasn’t looked back since leaving home, rarely in touch with her mother or sister, Lizzie, and missing out on her nephew Yoni’s childhood. But when Lizzie calls to tell her their mother has died, she gets on a plane to Israel with no return ticket.Soon Zohara finds herself on an unexpected path that leads to shocking truths about her family—including dangers that lurk for impressionable young men and secrets that force her to question everything she thought she knew about her parents, her heritage, and her own future.
I wish I could say that I enjoyed the story. It is heavy on culture but light on action. Knowing nothing about the Yemeni culture, I found it impossible to pick up on the cues the author gave. There were many, many of these cultural cues for characters who were American, Israeli and Yemeni. I could not keep them straight. I must wonder, though, if the translation is the reason I was unable to become interested in the story.
The characters, too, had difficulty communicating with each other. Everyone seemed to be estranged from each other. They were a dull lot. There was a lot of information on Yemeni songs and poetry which I normally would enjoy but for some reason, bored me. I cannot quite finger the exact reason for my disconnect with the book, but suffice to say that because I received it from Net Galley, I read the entire book. It is my practice to stop reading a novel if I cannot become interested by page fifty. I have done my duty.
1 out of 5 stars.
The publisher's summary:
Olivia Andrews is locally famous for her blog and podcast, “Forget Me Not: A Crime Victim’s Storyboard,” which is dedicated to telling the stories of victims of crime. Now, she has a stunning story to tell about a decades-old murder mystery involving a prominent citizen of Pecan Springs—someone who isn’t the man everybody thinks he is. But she is killed by a hit-and-run driver while she’s out jogging early one morning. Was it an accident—or something else? Her sister wants to know.
And Olivia’s friend China Bayles also wants to know, urgently. Who is the prominent citizen Olivia was about to expose? How did he manage to get away with murder twenty years ago? Did he kill Olivia to keep her from revealing his secret? What is local lawyer Charlie Lipman trying to hide? And when there’s another murder . . . well, it has to be a part of the same story, doesn’t it? And so does the scrapbook a cousin has compiled to honor the memory of one of the victims and make sure she won’t be forgotten. It might hold the answer—except that the one person whose face China wants to see has been scissored out of every photo.
What I love about this series is that once you start reading you don't notice how far into the story you have read until about halfway through it. The first person narrative as well as China's personality keep you reading without even noticing the time. This series always focuses on an herb with chapter intros giving a factoid about that particular herb. In this novel, the author has focuses on the coffee bean because it helps with memory and the title is about not forgetting. I loved reading the little known facts about coffee and caffeine such as the fragrance of coffee comes from over 800 aromas. The darker the roast of the bean, the easier it is to detect them by scent. Rosemary is another memory enhancing herb that was featured.
The setting is a small town in Texas called Pecan Springs. China's narrative comes from her Texan heritage with plenty of southern colloquialisms. The characters all reflect this heritage but each are unique. China is a former attorney who runs an herb and catering business. Her best friend Ruby is a clairvoyant but also her business partner. Ruby's psychic abilities are showcased in the story. The author mentioned that former Enron CEO Jeffrey Skilling lived nearby in the River Oaks community before he went to prison and that Senator Ted Cruz also lived there. I found it amusing and liked that she made them a part of the setting.
A new character, Olivia Andrews, is detailed from what people have said about her after her demise. She was killed early on from a hit and run "accident." Olivia is an interesting character. She is a former journalist who had been writing a true crime blog and podcast. The crimes that she featured on her blog were taken from obscurity but she brought them back to life with her unique way of thinking. Secondary characters such as China's husband and the friendly local police chief were not involved in the investigation and were barely mentioned in the book. Police Chief Sheila Dawson's contribution to the story dealt only with how she was handling being a new mother. Sheila's new life as a mother is the only character growth in the book but we only read these great stories from Susan Wittig Albert for her ability to write a fun mystery. This one had more twists than we usually see from Albert, most likely because China had three murders to solve.
Forget Me Never is a fun and fast read. Cozy fans will want to read it. 5 out of 5 stars.
Reims, France, 1805: Barbe-Nicole Clicquot has just lost her beloved husband but is determined to pursue their dream of creating the premier champagne house in France, now named for her new identity as a widow: Veuve Clicquot. With the Russians poised to invade, competitors fighting for her customers, and the Napoleonic court politics complicating matters she must set herself apart quickly and permanently if she, and her business, are to survive.
In present day Chicago, broken from her divorce, Natalie Taylor runs away to Paris. In a book stall by the Seine, Natalie finds a collection of the Widow Clicquot’s published letters and uses them as inspiration to step out of her comfort zone and create a new, empowered life for herself. But when her Parisian escape takes a shocking and unexpected turn, she’s forced to make a choice. Should she accept her losses and return home, or fight for the future she’s only dreamed about? What would the widow do?
There’s only one thing more dangerous than family secrets.Since her police-officer husband Eric’s mysterious murder, Carly Harris has been struggling to support herself and their infant son. Her career as an antique dealer isn’t sustainable, nor is her dream of becoming a novelist. So when her grandmother proposes she and her two sisters restore the family’s large Beaufort home and turn it into a bed-and-breakfast, she immediately gets to work clearing out the house. In the process, she uncovers a family secret that Eric kept hidden. And an heirloom that the wrong person wouldn’t hesitate to kill for.Homicide detective Lucas Bennett isn’t his neighbor’s biggest fan, not since she broke his brother’s heart years ago. But when Carly turns to Lucas for help, believing she’s found a lost Fabergé egg that would be worth millions and that could put her family’s lives in danger, he can’t help but get involved. Soon, they’re entangled in a mystery with threads that lead all the way to the Russian mafia. Lucas has gotten in deep, and while he trusts his ability to keep Carly and her family safe, he begins to realize he’s vulnerable to an unexpected kind of danger. And he’s helpless to stop the freefall. As they continue working closely together, Carly and Lucas realize they may have found something more precious than gold. Yet it’s only a matter of time before Carly—or, worse, someone she loves—gets hurt.
I LOVED this story. I was unable to put it down until I finished reading. With a gripping start, the quick pace was maintained throughout the book. Several murders took place in the beginning that were later found to be connected but the connections were not revealed until the end.
Some papers and a gem were discovered by Carly as she went through her grandmother's chest. The papers revealed that Grandma had been adopted and that she had a twin. This was news to Grandma. Carly also found a toy that had been painted red. After cleaning it up, a gleaming white object was revealed. While she wondered if it was a Faberge egg that had been missing for decades, law enforcement was skeptical. However, neighbor Lucas, a police officer, is given two weeks by his boss to follow these leads. Unfortunately, every time he visits anyone who might be able to help him he finds their dead bodies. Lucas has also been searching for Grandma's twin. The twin has a common surname and finding the right person won't be easy.
Halfway through the novel we discover that Carly's husband Eric, a deceased police officer, had been unfaithful. He had gotten a neighbor pregnant. The neighbor gave birth to a daughter just six weeks before Carly had Noah. I thought he was a saint up until this point. Scum! Eric knew that there was a valuable Faberge egg in his attic but whether he told anyone else was unknown until the end of the story.
Fragile Designs was a fabulous story. While it is a contemporary romance story it is also Christian fiction. I highly recommend the book to cozy, mystery and Christian fiction fans. 5 out of 5 stars.
I selected this book for the Clock Reading Challenge. For this challenge I need to pick books with the numbers 1 through 12 in the title. I am supposed to impose the book cover onto a clock face where the corresponding numbers are placed. When I figure that out, I will post an image.
Six Days Spent is the 6th installment of Luana Ehrlich's Mylas Grey mystery series. The story opens when private investigator Mylas Grey gets a call from the wife of a high-profile Pentagon official. He assumes that it’s about their appointment with him to discuss a possible stalker. It’s not. It’s about her husband who has just been murdered. Mylas agrees to investigate the murder. When Mylas discovers that he has two viable suspects, he’s forced to spend several days piecing together the evidence to unmask the real killer. Installment 6 of the Mylas Grey Mystery Series is a clean, faith-filled mystery, filled with unforeseen decisions, intriguing suspects, and romance.
During the first half of 2024 I have read 12 of Erhlich's novels. They come from 2 different series. To say that I need a break is an understatement. It has been difficult to write reviews because I cannot come up with anything new to talk about. Yes, I enjoyed them but they all seem so similar. Next month I will begin reading a few of Janet Evanovich's novels for the clock challenge.
Six Days Spent has a simple plot. There are no huge surprises or plot twists. Character development is prominent. We see Mylas and his girlfriend Whitney moving toward a further commitment. We see as well how Mylas leans on God on a daily basis and waits to hear from Him on what he should do in any given situation.
This was a short but sweet story. I am rating it 3 out of 5 stars.
London, 1945: Four adolescent orphans with a dark wartime history are squatting in a vacant Belgravia mansion—the owners having fled London under heavy Luftwaffe bombing. Psychologist and Investigator Maisie Dobbs visits the mansion on behalf of the owners and discovers that a demobilized soldier, gravely ill and reeling from his experiences overseas, has taken shelter with the group.Maisie’s quest to bring comfort to the youngsters and the ailing soldier brings to light a decades-old mystery concerning Maisie’s first husband, James Compton, who was killed while piloting an experimental fighter aircraft. As Maisie unravels the threads of her dead husband’s life, she is forced to examine her own painful past and question beliefs she has always accepted as true.The award-winning Maisie Dobbs series has garnered hundreds of thousands of followers, readers drawn to a woman who is of her time, yet familiar in ours—and who inspires with her resilience and capacity for endurance. This final assignment of her own choosing not only opens a new future for Maisie and her family, but serves as a fascinating portrayal of the challenges facing the people of Britain at the close of the Second World War.
It's a shame that I began reading the series with the final book because I liked it enough to want to read more. In fact, I most likely will at least read the first couple of books in the series. There are three mysteries that need to be resolved in the story: did a controversial landowner die by murder or suicide, what happened to the four teenage squatters, and whether a decades-old adoption could be successfully traced. The pace was slow and I was tempted to skip pages. However, I would have missed key resolutions concerning character relationships had I done so. I am glad that I continued reading because the characters were charming examples of the typical Englishmen that I am used to seeing from British authors. I loved the British setting and learned alot about the post WWII life for the Londoners who basically had to rebuild many parts of their city. Of course, those quirky characters say much about this country too.
A relaxing read. 3 out of 5 stars.
Reims, France, 1805: Barbe-Nicole Clicquot has just lost her beloved husband but is determined to pursue their dream of creating the premier champagne house in France, now named for her new identity as a widow: Veuve Clicquot. With the Russians poised to invade, competitors fighting for her customers, and the Napoleonic court politics complicating matters she must set herself apart quickly and permanently if she, and her business, are to survive.
In present day Chicago, broken from her divorce, Natalie Taylor runs away to Paris. In a book stall by the Seine, Natalie finds a collection of the Widow Clicquot’s published letters and uses them as inspiration to step out of her comfort zone and create a new, empowered life for herself. But when her Parisian escape takes a shocking and unexpected turn, she’s forced to make a choice. Should she accept her losses and return home, or fight for the future she’s only dreamed about? What would the widow do?
I absolutely LOVED this novel! It is equally as good as the other two books that I read about Widow Clicquot. The story is told in alternating perspectives and time periods. Barbe-Nicole Clicquot lived during the 1800s in France and Natalie lives in the present era in Chicago. I have found in the past that when there are dual narratives, one seems to be much better than the other. Here we have two equally compelling narratives. When one chapter ended, I groaned. However, when the next chapter ended I groaned again.
I loved that as Natalie's story was told, she kept a biography of Clicquot in her bag. She referenced it as she hit lows in her post-divorce vacation in France. Madame Clicquot inspired her to live differently than she had before. In the past Natalie always served others. She began to put herself first by being as bold as Madame Clicquot was. I myself was inspired by Natalie's musings over how to change her life by acting as Clicquot did. I, too, am in a transition period as Natalie. One of the sayings that she especially loved from Clicquot was her definition of strength. Madame Clicquot thought that strength was a series of choices. It is not a state of mind. I like this definition!
During Natalie's stay in Paris she meets two people who swindle her out of her money and assets. Believing that these two are not connected to each other, Natalie fell prey to a wine fraud scheme and was questioned by the police. After reviewing the biography Natalie found a way to get her money back that was ingenious. It was risky because the police would then assume that she was involved in the fraud from the beginning. She wasn't. However, Madame Clicquot took huge risks with her business in order to be on top of the champagne business. We all know how successful she was.
The Champagne Letters is a must read. I recommend that you pre-order the book. Amazon will allow you to do so even though the publication date is six months away. I assume that other booksellers will offer pre-sales too. 5 out of 5 stars.
As a child in Beijing in the 1970s, Lai lives with her family in a lively, working-class neighborhood near the heart of the city. Thoughtful yet unassuming, she spends her days with her friends beyond the attention of her parents: Her father is a reclusive figure who lingers in the background, while her mother, an aging beauty and fervent patriot, is quick-tempered and preoccupied with neighborhood gossip. Only Lai’s grandmother, a formidable and colorful maverick, seems to really see Lai and believe that she can blossom beyond their circumstances.But Lai is quickly awakened to the harsh realities of the Chinese state. A childish prank results in a terrifying altercation with police that haunts her for years; she also learns that her father, like many others, was broken during the Cultural Revolution. As she enters adolescence, Lai meets a mysterious and wise bookseller who introduces her to great works—Hemingway, Camus, and Orwell, among others—that open her heart to the emotional power of literature and her mind to thrillingly different perspectives. Along the way, she experiences the ebbs and flows of friendship, the agony of grief, and the first steps and missteps in love.A gifted student, Lai wins a scholarship to study at the prestigious Peking University where she soon falls in with a theatrical band of individualists and misfits dedicated to becoming their authentic selves, despite the Communist Party’s insistence on conformity—and a new world opens before her. When student resistance hardens under the increasingly restrictive policies of the state, the group gets swept up in the fervor, determined to be heard, joining the masses of demonstrators and dreamers who display remarkable courage and loyalty in the face of danger. As 1989 unfolds, the spirit of change is in the air. . .Drawn from her own life, Lai Wen’s novel is mesmerizing and haunting—a universal yet intimate story of youth and self-discovery that plays out against the backdrop of a watershed historic event. Tiananmen Square captures the hope and idealism of a new generation and the lasting price they were willing to pay in the name of freedom.
The book has been described by the publisher as autobiographical fiction. Yes, the author is also the main character. Her life story is given but she has added some fictional details. I cannot tell what part is fiction and what part is true. I wonder whether this was done to prevent her name from being disclosed and putting her and her family in danger today from Chinese leaders. All we know is that she is married with two children and lives in the UK. The author's name is a pseudonym.
This is not a political book. We read toward the end why Lai joined the demonstrators. She was concerned about being censored. The book is mainly about her life beginning in primary school, then high school and then college. Lai spent most of her time reading in her bedroom when she was not at school so there isn't any information on what it was like to live in China during this time period, the 1970s. She did not have a lot of friends. There were five friends that she played with while they were in primary school. However, she only continued to see one of them while she was in high school. Of course, she falls in love with him. Gen is somewhat detached from her and she does not know why. They come from different backgrounds. Gen's parents hold government positions. Lai's father was a mapmaker and her mother was a housewife. Lai was close to her grandmother who was an odd character. You never knew what she was going to do or say. Grandma could be crude and lewd.
The events at Tiananmen Square were described toward the end of the book. The reader hears about the political views of the student leaders of the protests. Lai does not follow all of their viewpoints but is concerned that she cannot speak freely. The protests began on May 4, 1989. May 4 is the anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China. We read about some of those protests but when May 30 rolls around, we read in detail what happened each day, through June 4, as the protestors stood their ground in Tiananmen Square. Lai was there on each of those days and could describe what happened from the protestors' perspective. The events of June 3 are heart wrenching. Lai was part of the crowd that the Army fired upon, killing hundreds of students. On June 4 her best friend stood in front of a tank, preventing it from moving. It is interesting that this person, known to the world as Tank Man, was actually a woman. I would love to know if the gender of this person was fiction or not. There is a famous photo of Tank Man that was taken by a photographer who was standing on the balcony of his hotel room. Look it up if you haven't seen it.
I loved this book. After finishing it, I researched the protests and found the names of the student leaders on Wikipedia. I researched them also and found out that all of them were able to get away from the police and ended up in either Taiwan or the U. S. There were other student leaders whose names we do not know. One of their mothers has founded a group to identify them and locate their bodies, if possible.
I am rating this book 10 out of 5 stars! It is that awesome. If you haven't read the book yet, you should get a copy. It is a must read.
