A Stitch in Time by Kelley Armstrong

 Do you know Kelley Armstrong's books? I went to Audible to look for the another series by this author and listen to the next book in the Rockton series or maybe start the Haven's Rock series. 

This book came up first when I put in the name of the author and it really intrigued me. It has lots of elements that I like in a mystery.

A Stitch in Time

About: "Thorne Manor has always been haunted… and it has always haunted Bronwyn Dale. As a young girl, Bronwyn could pass through a time slip in her great-aunt's house, where she visited William Thorne, a boy her own age, born two centuries earlier. After a family tragedy, the house was shuttered and Bronwyn was convinced that William existed only in her imagination.

Now, twenty years later Bronwyn inherits Thorne Manor. And when she returns, William is waiting.

William Thorne is no longer the boy she remembers. He’s a difficult and tempestuous man, his own life marred by tragedy and a scandal that had him retreating to self-imposed exile in his beloved moors. He’s also none too pleased with Bronwyn for abandoning him all those years ago.

As their friendship rekindles and sparks into something more, Bronwyn must also deal with ghosts in the present version of the house. Soon she realizes they are linked to William and the secret scandal that drove him back to Thorne Manor. To build a future, Bronwyn must confront the past."

I like stories about time travel. Loved the movie Somewhere it Time. Outlander although I have not finished the series - so long. I like books about the Victorian time period. I like a few ghosts. I wanted to go back in time when I was a kid reading books about stories set in the 1800's.  (I now realize I would probably only make it about two hours in that time. ha)

The story has a lot going on but it is easy to follow. Bronwyn inherits the house in current time. She is a widow at the age of 38. She goes to sleep and wakes up in the past. She realizes she is with William and basically is freaked out and jumps back to her time. She then remembers how to go back, and when William sees her he runs from her. There is a ghost that is threatening her. Well downright scaring her. In her own time, she talks to a woman named Freya whom her family knew when Bronwyn was girl. Bronwyn's uncle died suddenly back then, Bronwyn seemed to have a nervous breakdown with talk about ghosts and her mother had her committed. Freya says she isn't mentally ill and helps her to confront the ghost etc. 

There are lots of secrets about the Thorne family and stories about William: a fiance that disappeared, a sister that disappeared, a little boy that disappeared, all either ran away or fell into the bog. 

The story is about Bronwyn and William rekindling their childhood romance and Bronwyn trying to solve the mystery of what happened to the fiance, sister and little boy in order to clear William's name. 

I really liked it. Good mystery. 

There are four books in the Stitch in Time series; more time travel, cold cases and ghosts. Each book focuses on different characters from the first book. I plan to put them on my every growing list. 

Kelley Armstrong has written 13 series. Many are paranormal. But the Rockton series and Haven's Rock (spinoff of the Rockton series) are about a female detective Casey Duncan and and Sheriff Eric Dalton. It is listed as a police procedural. I have read the first book in the series, City of the Lost. These two series were recommended by a book friend whose recommendations are always good.

Kelley Armstrong is on my list of authors I want to read more of.

https://www.kelleyarmstrong.com/books/

The Book of Cold Cases by Simone St. James

 Well, it's January in Texas. The anything can happen month for weather, and it appears that is about to happen. Another polar vortex. Three in three years I believe. Sigh. I have been here 38 years and I don't remember these cold events being this cold or lasting this long. I guess it is the climate change.

For our January Mystery Book Club, we read The Book of Cold Cases by Simone St. James. 

You may have read other books by this author. The Sundown Motel. The Broken Girls. There are others. I have read The Broken Girls and it was very good. If you like a little spookiness in your mysteries, give this author a try.

About: "In 1977, Claire Lake, Oregon, was shaken by the Lady Killer Murders: Two men, seemingly randomly, were murdered with the same gun, with strange notes left behind. Beth Greer was the perfect suspect--a rich, eccentric twenty-three-year-old woman, seen fleeing one of the crimes. But she was acquitted, and she retreated to the isolation of her mansion.

Oregon, 2017. Shea Collins is a receptionist, but by night, she runs a true crime website, the Book of Cold Cases--a passion fueled by the attempted abduction she escaped as a child. When she meets Beth by chance, Shea asks her for an interview. To Shea's surprise, Beth says yes.

They meet regularly at Beth's mansion, though Shea is never comfortable there. Items move when she's not looking, and she could swear she's seen a girl outside the window. The allure of learning the truth about the case from the smart, charming Beth is too much to resist, but even as they grow closer, Shea senses something isn't right. Is she making friends with a manipulative murderer, or are there other dangers lurking in the darkness of the Greer house?"

Shea is a woman who has a fascination with true crime. She is also a woman trying to put her life back together. When Beth comes into the doctors office where Shea works, everyone knows Beth immediately. She is a local celebrity but not for a good thing. As above, she was accused of murdering a man when she was 23. And maybe more than one man. Shea and Beth, meet. Shea wants to tell Beth's story and Beth agrees. Once in the mansion where Beth lives alone, Shea notices some strange things. Everything is as it was in 1977. Even the magazines are from 1977. There are some strange occurrences when Shea is there but Beth doesn't act like there is anything unusual. Is Beth trying to scare her? Does someone else live there after all? The more Shea finds out, the more questions there are.

We also meet the detective that was on the case in 1977 who provides valuable information. Shea has a detective friend in 2017, that helps her with research for her cases she researches for her website. There is a story to tell about Beth and her family, and in the end, Shea is able to do it. 

The author did a good job of distracting me from what may be going on, and what happened, with a ghostly twist. If you like mysteries with maybe a ghost, maybe not, I think you will like this book. Everyone one in the MBC finished the book and seemed to like the story, despite some saying they don't like books with ghostly things. (As a person who in 7th grade read every ghost story in the school library that year, I don't quite understand. It's like people who say chocolate is too rich. Huh?) But several even said they would read another book by this author, which says it really was a good read.

All in all a thumbs up.

Rock Paper Scissors by Alice Feeney

 Happy New Year! So far so good.

Here is the first book I have finished for 2024. I listened to it as an audio book. 

About: "Things have been wrong with Mr and Mrs Wright for a long time. When Adam and Amelia win a weekend away to Scotland, it might be just what their marriage needs. Self-confessed workaholic and screenwriter Adam Wright has lived with face blindness his whole life. He can’t recognize friends or family, or even his own wife.

Every anniversary the couple exchange traditional gifts – paper, cotton, pottery, tin – and each year Adam’s wife writes him a letter that she never lets him read. Until now. They both know this weekend will make or break their marriage, but they didn’t randomly win this trip. One of them is lying, and someone doesn’t want them to live happily ever after.

Ten years of marriage. Ten years of secrets. And an anniversary they will never forget."

This is definitely a psychological thriller. I don't want to say too much because I don't want to give anything away. To sum it up, people in the story are not what or who I thought they were. The people in the story are not who or what the characters thought they were either. The story is somewhat spooky, very suspenseful and at times I wasn't sure I could continue with it. Nothing terribly gory or too much swearing or that sort of thing. Just gave me a bad feeling. Yet it was like that saying, " like watching a train wreck and you can't look away." There were times I actually gasped and said "what? No..."

I wasn't that happy with the ending. It is similar to many plots right now of couples behaving badly. In this story though, who is the couple and who is the bad person? Or who isn't a bad person. It will keep you guessing.

Let me know what you think.