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Mysteries

I used to be a big mystery reader, but over the years I kind of lost interest in mysteries. There were a few series that I remained loyal to, but there were lots that fell by the wayside. Unfortunately many of my favourite series are no longer around as the authors have passed away. Good- bye’s had to be said to Amelia Peabody, Kinsey Milhone and Jim Qwilleran. I still read and can’t wait for the latest adventures of Kate Shugak , Anna Pigeon and Eve Dallas. However, lately I’ve been reading some new series…I’ll give you the first book in the series…hope you like them too.

THE UNQUIET DEAD By: Ausma Zehanat Khan

Ausma Zehanat Khan is a Canadian author and this was her debut novel. Christopher Drayton may have really been Lieutenant Colonel Drazen Krstic of the Bosnian Serb Army – a war criminal who was involved in the 1995 massacre at Srebrenica. Esa Khattak and Rachel Getty from Toronto Community Policing Section are asked to look into his apparent fall at the Scarborough Bluffs.

An extremely difficult novel to read, as there are many sections and descriptions devoted to what went on in former Yugoslavia during the war. As difficult as it was to read, it was even harder to put down. I’m definitely going to read more of Ms Khan’s novels…I believe they’re all mysteries surrounding real historical events.

A MERCIFUL DEATH By: Kendra Elliot

FBI Agent Mercy Kilpatrick was born and raised in Eagle’s Nest, Oregon, by preppers: those who plan for TEOTWAWKI (the end of the world as we know it). She left many years ago and hasn’t been back since or spoken to anyone in her family in many, many years. Now, however someone is killing preppers and stealing their weapons. Sent by the FBI to help the local law enforcement, she is now forced to confront her family and the secret that tore them apart all those years ago.

Interesting premise, and I really enjoyed this novel…..have already put in a request for book 2 at the library.

A MURDER IN TIME By: Julie McElwain

FBI Agent Kendra Donovan’s latest mission goes terribly wrong and most of her team are killed. After she recovers from her injuries she finds out that the government plans on letting the man responsible go free. This she can’t condone, so she travels to England to do what she feels is right. Undercover at Aldridge Castle her mission once again doesn’t work out the way she intends and she somehow finds herself transported back in time to 1812. Murder seems to follow her everywhere as a serial killer is at large at the castle and Kendra intends to stop him.

THE CROSSING PLACES By: Elly Griffiths

Forensic Archaeologist Ruth Galloway lives near Norfolk, England and teaches at the nearby university. When a set of children’s bones are found on a deserted beach Detective Chief Inspector Harry Nelson calls on her to see if she can determine how old they are. Detective Nelson is still looking for a girl who went missing a decade ago and is hoping that maybe these are her bones.

There are some interesting characters in this series. I picked up her novel The Stranger Diaries and LOVED IT…then found out she had written this series…had to give it a try….glad I did.

 Currently Reading: A Dying Fall by Elly Griffiths and The Zig Zag Girl by Elly Griffiths

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Recursion by Blake Crouch

Barry resists the urge to run. Of course he’s heard of False Memory Syndrome, but he’s never known or met someone with the affliction. Never breathed the same air.

She says, “Just so you know, my primary goal is to help people. I want to find a way to save memories for deteriorating brains that can no longer retrieve them. A time capsule for core memories.”

She fixes her stare on him. “Can this procedure – dying in the deprivation tank as a memory reactivates – actually alter the past?”

“I didn’t mean for the chair to become what it became. It’s not only destroyed my life, now it’s destroying the lives of others.”

               Dear Helene – On April 16, 2019, the world will remember a memory chair you created. You have 33 years to find some way to stop this from happening. You are the only one who can stop this from happening…

It seems impossible, sitting out here all alone in the perfect stillness, that the rest of the world is going to pieces. Stranger still that it’s all because of a chair accidentally created by the woman he loves.

Will you know me? Will you believe me? Will you love me?

Another crazy, hard to put down, science fiction masterpiece by Blake Crouch.

Previously Reviewed: Dark Matter

Currently Reading: Sorcery of Thorns by Margaret Rogerson and The Cat of the Baskervilles by Vicki Delany

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Last Girl Lied To by L.E. Flynn

People detach themselves from the past when they decide to end their lives. But they were all wrong. Maybe Trixie clung to the past, to Toby, like a barnacle. Maybe she wasn’t ending her life so much as starting a new one.

Fiona changed her whole life for Trixie. When Trixie’s disappearance is ruled a suicide Fiona is sure that Trixie is still alive. Fiona spends most of her senior year of high school doing everything possible to prove that Trixie would not leave her that way, that she would disappear willingly before she would complete suicide. A mesmerizing look at teenage life and the power one girl can have on another. Sad, so sad.

I still see her a hundred times a day, in a hundred different girls on the street, in the mall, everywhere. She’s every girl with short blond hair and a lip ring. She’s every girl with long brown hair and a collarbone that juts out. She’s every girl with a cigarette, every girl in denim cutoff shorts. She’s every laughing girl, every crying girl, every girl standing by herself, every girl in a hurry with her head down. She’s everywhere and nowhere, just like she was the whole time I knew her.

Currently Reading: The Field Guide to the North American Teenager by Ben Philippe and The House at Sea’s End by Elly Griffiths

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The Lightkeeper’s Daughters by Jean E. Pendziwol

I stand up, collect the journals, and stack them on the table. I’m about to retie the fabric, but I don’t. I can’t. Instead I look at them, the years piled one on top of the other. One of them holds my dragonfly, the dragonfly that’s connected to my past, my memories, drawn in pencil and pressed like a leaf between the pages of a book that was meant to hold the memories of someone else.

Emily and Elizabeth Livingstone grew up on a small island in Lake Superior. Morgan Fletcher was raised by her grandfather until his death and is now living in foster care. When Morgan starts reading the journals of Elizabeth’s father to her at the care home where she lives they uncover secret after secret.  

Quite the remarkable novel…lots of information about lightkeepers in the early 1900’s. I kept trying to guess the ending……wrong every time!!

Currently Reading: The Others by Jeremy Robinson and Last Girl Lied To by L.E. Flynn

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Hope and Other Punch Lines by Julie Buxbaum

The picture of Baby Hope being saved on her first birthday as the South Tower of the World Trade Center collapses behind her is famous. Everyone in the world seems to know Baby Hope and in Abbi Hope’s small town she can’t escape being the ‘baby’ that survived. How will people react when they find out that she has 9/11 syndrome…as Abbi has developed a cough and she is sure that she is dying. All she wants is one summer of anonymity. So she takes a job as a summer camp counselor a couple of towns away where she is sure no one will know who she is.

Time is still confusing and slippery. Based on some unexpected medical developments, there’s a good chance I’m running out of it. But for the next blissful eight weeks, I am going to be just Abbi Goldstein. I’ll get to make little kids laugh and not a single stranger cry.

Nick has been obsessed with the Baby Hope picture his whole life. Everyone in that picture survived 9/11 except his dad. Nick is convinced that his father is still alive; that because Nick was sick as a baby his father decided to leave after that day instead of going home. When he meets Abbi (Baby Hope) at camp he begs her to help him interview everyone from the Baby Hope picture hoping that someone will know what happened to his dad.

“Did you know?” I ask, my voice so flat it’s like it’s been run over. Too many emotions and thoughts. Only choice I have is to power down. “Did you?”

This book is a work of fiction…there is no Baby Hope picture, but there is 9/11 syndrome and there are survivors with stories like the ones that Nick and Abbi interview in this novel. Sad at times and funny at other Ms Buxbaum does a great job telling a wonderful story around a very difficult subject. I loved it!

.Previously Reviewed: Tell Me Three Things and What to Say Next

Currently Reading: The Janus Stone by Elly Griffiths and Storm and Fury by Jennifer L Armentrout

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Mourning Has Broken by Erin Davis

We are members of a club with dues so high you never, ever want to pay them, but now we’re members for life. And we found ourselves invited to join an especially elite chapter of the club: the one for parents who have lost their only child.

On May 11, 2015 the life of Erin Davis, well known and much loved Toronto radio broadcaster changed forever. Erin and her radio partner Mike Cooper were in Jamaica with CHFI listeners doing a radio show when Erin and her husband Rob got the news that their only child Lauren had died in her sleep. Lauren a radio broadcaster herself in Ottawa had left behind a loving husband and 7 month old son. A short month after the tragedy Erin returned to work where she stayed on the air for a further 18 months before she retired from the radio station she’d called home for many, many years. Erin and Rob then moved to British Columbia to try to find a way to move forward with their lives. This is their story.

This book was so sad, but so inspirational as well. As a mother myself all I could think when reading it was – there but for the Grace of God go I.

 Currently Reading: The Crossing Places by Elly Griffiths and Storm and Fury by Jennifer L Armentrout

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Autopsy of a Boring Wife by Marie-Renee Lavoie

When he told me he could no longer keep his promise, I came undone. With just a few words, I lost my bearings. And during that dizzying descent into hell, everything I grabbed for purchase slipped from my fingers. 

When Diane’s husband Jacques leaves her after 25 years of marriage Diane is shattered. What follows is sad and heart breaking and laugh-out-loud funny. One of the best reads this year!

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The Lovely and the Lost by Jennifer Lynn Barnes

Cady had made a difference for me. Silver had made a difference for me. I’d spent years throwing everything I had into learning search and rescue, because if I could someday do the same for someone else, then maybe I could prove, even just to myself , that I was worth it.

That I’d deserved to be saved. That I was good.

Bella has been missing in the Sierra Glades National Park for over 48 hours. Bales Bennet enlists the help of his estranged daughter Cady along with her children Jude and Kira and their friend Free to help with the search and rescue mission. The three teens are only months away from being certified.

For Kira, this is more than a rescue mission…this mission stirs up memories of when she was a child missing herself in the mountains. As Kira becomes fanatical about finding Bella she starts having more and more fllashbacks. What really happened when she was little.....will she finally remember!

 Never met a Jennifer Lynn Barnes book that I didn’t just love….this one was no exception.

Previously Reviewed: Little White The Long Game and The Fixer

Currently Reading: I, Richard by Elizabeth George and The Stranger Diaries by Elly Griffiths

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Verity by Colleen Hoover

A mother wouldn’t write that about herself-about her daughters-if it weren’t the truth. A mother who never had those feelings or thoughts would never even dream of them. I don’t care how good of a writer Verity is; she would never compromise herself as a mother by writing something so horrid if she didn’t actually experience that.

Colleen Hoover usually writes heart-breakingly sad novels where you sob your way through most of the book. Her writing tears your heart into pieces before it slowly puts it back together again. By the end of the story you’re an emotional wreck.

THIS IS NOT THAT TYPE OF NOVEL!! This novel was erotic at times, chilly and creepy a lot of the time and where I was never ever sure where it was heading. I most certainly knew that I should not read it before going to bed (I did anyways).At the end of this novel I was an emotional wreck, but for a totally different reason. But, I’ve got to say…..I LOVED THIS BOOK!

Lowen has been hired by Jeremy Crawford to finish his wife’s series of novels that she can’t do as she’s in a coma after a serious car accident. Verity and Jeremy also recent lost their twin daughters in two separate accidents. While doing research for Verity’s novels Lowen comes across a manuscript that Verity wrote that is unbelievable to read. As she reads chapter after chapter and as disturbing things start to happen at the Crawford house, Lowen starts to have lots and lots of questions about Verity.

Previously Reviewed: Lots

Currently Reading: The Rain Watcher by Tatiana de Rosnay and Aurora Rising by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff

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A Rogue By Any Other Name by Sarah MacLean

As though he’d conjured her up, suddenly she was there, her voice rising from outside the door. “You may attempt to stop me with your silence and your...enormity...but make no mistake about it. I will enter that room!”

My new favourite romance author! This is the first book of Ms MacLeans that I’ve read, but it most definitely won’t be the last. And YA! she has lots!

When Lord Bourne compromises the virtue of Lady Penelope he does so to force her to marry him, so that the land that was stolen from him years ago will be returned. However, he gets so much more than he bargained for!

It’s the journey that can make or break a romance novel.....you always know how they’re going to end. This one was witty and steamy and full of passion. She has me hooked and more than ready for One Good Earl Deserves A Lover.

Currently Reading: Verity by Colleen Hoover and Four Dead Queens by Astrid Scholte

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A Murder in Time by Julie McElwain

Some things weren’t so different in this time line. In fact, some things, she thought, never changed. Like murder. And monsters.

“You’re wrong, you know,” she said solemnly. “We should be afraid…because it’s going to happen again.

FBI Agent Kendra Donovan has gone rogue. After a disastrous mission where half her team were killed she finds herself at Aldrich Castle in England where she plans to kill the man responsible. Things again go wrong…..but this time she finds herself in 1812. A secret passage through the castle walls sent her tumbling back in time, where a serial killer is just getting started!

If you can buy the time travelling (which I can – hello OUTLANDER!!) then if you like a good murder mystery (which I do) you should love this novel. A Twist in Time, Caught in Time and Betrayal in Time are also in the series. I can’t wait to read them all.

Currently Reading: Daisy Jones & The Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid and A Rogue By Any Other Name by Sarah Maclean

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Sherwood by Meagan Spooner

He asked her nothing else. He didn’t ask how she’d done it or why. He didn’t ask who else knew. He didn’t ask her whether there were others who followed her, or where she kept her disguise. He did not even ask her to stop being Robin Hood.

OMG - I LOVED THIS BOOK! Ms Spooner did an outstanding job with her retelling of Robin Hood. This version has Lady Marian taking on the cloak of Robin of the Hood. A great adventure tale with a bit of romance as well. Superb!!

Previously Reviewed: Lots

Currently Reading: Daisy Jones & The Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid and A Rogue By Any Other Name by Sarah Maclean

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Me for You by Lolly Winston

Bee wouldn’t be there when he got home. It wouldn’t be as though one of them had merely gone on a business trip and now they each brimmed with stories to share. Bee was never coming back. Rudy was a widower. He wasn’t sure what other definitions applied to him now.

As the anniversary of Bee’s death approaches Rudy suddenly can’t seem to manage. He spends days in bed, calls in sick to work and can’t make himself eat. His daughter suggest a stay in the hospital under doctors care might make him feel better. This novel was a sweet,sad and yet uplifting look at how death and grief affects us all differently.

Lolly Winstons books are always about grief in one form or another. Good Grief was her first novel and one of the few books I reread this year. It was sad and funny and heartbreaking all at the same time. I loved both of them.

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The Ravenmaster: My Life with the Ravens at the Tower of London by Christopher Skaife

Why are there ravens at the Tower in the first place? Where do our myths and superstitions about the birds come from? How do I care for them? What do I feed them? Who gets to name them? What happens to them when they die? How and why do they stay at the Tower?

Quite a fascinating look at one of the oldest landmarks in Britain and the history behind the ravens that inhabit it. Mr. Skaife was witty and knowledgeable and wrote an altogether great read.

Currently Reading: Wild Justice by Kelley Armstrong and Untouchable by Jayne Ann Krentz

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The Waning Age by S. E. Grove

And every once in a while you hear of children who somehow, unpredictably and defying any kind of pattern, fade late. At age eleven. Or twelve. Fourteen is the latest I’ve heard of. They always fade eventually, but they linger. When a child fades late, it means there’s something different about him. That he feels emotion for longer. And if he feels emotion for longer, that means maybe something about his brain is resisting the fade. And if he’s resisting the fade, that means he might keep resisting. Maybe he’ll get to fifteen. Or sixteen. Maybe he won’t fade at all. And that…..Well, that would be a game changer.

Natalia’s brother Cal is ten and showing no signs of fading. Even though she faded years ago, she loves her brother. When he’s kidnapped by RealCorp, the world’s largest producer of emotion drugs, she knows she’ll do anything to get him back.

Interesting and scary look at a future that quite possible could happen! Yikes!

Currently Reading: Made to be Broken by Kelley Armstrong and The Dead Queens Club by Hannah Capin

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Really! Imagine that....my kids and I are very intelligent! Previously, only we thought so.

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Reads of 2019

Looking for something good to read….here’s a few suggestions. I’ve read them all this year, everyone was good in its own way. I think there’s something for everyone on this list!

The Suspect by Fiona Barton – two girls go missing in Thailand – for reporter Kate Waters (The Widow and The Child) this case is going to hit very close to home. Glad I didn’t read this while my son and his girlfriend were in Thailand!

Two Can Keep a Secret by Karen McManus – YA mystery by the author of One of Us is Lying. Wonder what Three will get us?

Come Find Me by Megan Miranda – YA mystery – also writes adult mystery – I love them all!

Wrecked (IQ #3) by Joe Ide – Mystery series set in LA with a private investigator like no others.

California Girls by Susan Mallery – Women’s contemporary fiction – always a great read.

The Long Sunset by Jack McDevitt – Another Priscilla Hutchins novel – Science fiction like no one else can do it.

The Undying (Unearthed #2) by Amie Kaufman and Meagan Spooner – YA science fiction – superb!

Record of a Spaceborn Few by Becky Chambers – Science fiction tale of life after Earth – this was the third in her Wayfarers series. I’m certainly sad to see it end.

Connections in Death by JD Robb – 48th novel starring Eve Dallas and Roarke – That is crazy! They’re still good and I’m still reading them!

The Naturals and Killer Instinct by Jennifer Lynn Barnes – YA fiction – books 1and 2 in this series about gifted teenagers helping the FBI track down the worst of the worst! I love them!

Watcher in the Woods by Kelley Armstrong- This is her 4th mystery set in Rockton – a small, very remote place in the Yukon. It’s always a good day when you can pick up a Kelley Armstrong book. She has many different series, they’re all great. I’ve read them all and highly suggest you do as well.

Currently Reading: All In (Naturals #3) by Jennifer Lynn Barnes and The Golden Tresses of the Dead by Alan Bradley