Never Try To Catch a Falling Knife by Skye Alexander

One of my book friends is an acquaintance of Skye Alexander who writes a mystery series about an entertainer in the 1920's turned amateur sleuth named Lizzy Crane. I have had the book on my "TBR" list and read it recently. I enjoyed it! 

About: "In the summer of 1925, ambitious and beautiful New York jazz performer Lizzie Crane and her troupe land a plum job that could give them their big career a week-long engagement celebration for the daughter of a wealthy (and shady) industrialist to a Russian count. But Lizzie barely has time to enjoy her good luck––which includes the amorous attentions of the heir to her employer’s vast fortune––before the group’s saxophonist is stabbed to death. The local police suspect her and her musician friends and place them under house arrest, where they’re at the mercy of the very people who have the most to lose if the murder is solved. As Lizzie delves into her slain colleague’s mysterious past, she discovers secrets worth killing to protect and risks her own life in the process."

The setting of this first book, made me think of Downtown Abby. Although this is set in Ipswich Massachusetts, not England, it is set at the estate of a wealthy family. Everything is very proper and planned. There's fancy dress for the entire week of planned entertainment and fancy food. I liked the time period. There are fun colloquialisms in the conversation of the characters. Lizzie is very much a modern thinking woman for the times, not agreeing with the idea of finding a "suitable" husband for a daughter as in this high society family. She senses there is something off about this engagement and is it tied to the murder of the troupe's saxaphone player? Although the local authorities worn Lizzie off, she of course continues to pry. 

I thought the story moves along well. As I said, I liked the time period. I would call it a historical cozy mystery. There are funny likeable characters. The end sets you right up for book two.

There are three more books in the series: What the Walls Know (sounds intriguing), The Goddess of Shipwrecked Sailors and  Running in the Shadows. Book two takes place at a castle in Gloucester Ma. The third and fourth books take place in Salem. All look like they may have a vibe I may like.

Skye Alexander has written many other books also. 

Find Skye and her books at:

https://www.simonandschuster.com/authors/Skye-Alexander/2137649846

Check out Lizzie Crane!

The 6:20 Man by David Baldacci

 Well our "false fall" is over and we are back to summer. Ugh. I was hoping to back here sooner but here I am.

For September, the Mystery Book Club read The 6:20 Man, book one in a new series by David Baldacci. It was published in June of  2022 actually. We have read the first books in two of his other series, The Memory Man and the Mercy series, and those were well liked.

About:  "Every day without fail, Travis Devine puts on a cheap suit, grabs his faux-leather briefcase, and boards the 6:20 commuter train to Manhattan, where he works as an entry-level analyst at the city’s most prestigious investment firm. In the mornings, he gazes out the train window at the lavish homes of the uberwealthy, dreaming about joining their ranks. In the evenings, he listens to the fiscal news on his phone, already preparing for the next grueling day in the cutthroat realm of finance.

Then one morning Devine’s tedious routine is shattered by an anonymous email: She is dead.

Sara Ewes, Devine’s coworker and former girlfriend, has been found hanging in a storage room of his office building—presumably a suicide, prompting the NYPD to come calling on him. If that wasn’t enough, Devine receives another ominous visit, a confrontation that threatens to dredge up grim secrets from his past in the Army unless he participates in a clandestine investigation into his firm.

This treacherous role will take Travis from the impossibly glittering lives he once saw only through a train window, to the darkest corners of the country’s economic halls of power…where something rotten lurks. And apart from this high-stakes conspiracy, there’s a killer out there with their own agenda, and Devine is the bullseye. "

I thought it was a good read. It is very fast paced and kept my attention. Travis is likeable. He is working as an investment analyst but only to please his parents, even at this stage in his life. He is renting a house with three other people, who were unknown to him prior to moving to this house. There are two young women, one is studying to be a lawyer and one is building a "unique" online dating service. The one other man is a person from Russia who is a professional hacker. He actually adds levity to the story. The roommates all plate a part in the story. 

After being approached by a special branch of the government, Travis agrees to help them investigate what is going on at his company. They suspect an illegal money scheme. Oh, and if he doesn't help them, he will be sent to prison for something that happened when he was in the Army. 

Our discussion of the book was good. Everyone at the book club that night, are big fans of Baldacci. Some loved the book and read it in just a few days. Some felt parts of the book were over the top. But as one person pointed out, Baldacci is great at diversions for the reader. Overall I enjoyed it.

There are two more books in the series:

Book 2 is The Edge was published November 2023: "The 6:20 Man is back, dropped by his handlers into a small coastal town in Maine to solve the murder of a CIA agent who knew America’s dirtiest secrets—can Travis Devine uncover the truth before his time runs out?"

Book 3 is To Die For and will be released November 12, 2024. "... the 6:20 Man returns, this time sent to the Pacific Northwest to aid in a complicated FBI case—and he’s about to come face-to-face with his nemesis, the girl on the train. "