Reading List for 2023

As promised, I am sharing our Mystery Book Club reading list for the first six months of 2023. 

January:

The Plot – Jean Hanff Korelitz

Jean Hanff Korelitz’s The Plot is a psychologically suspenseful novel about a story too good not to steal, and the writer who steals it.

February: The Violin Conspiracy – Brendan N.  Slocumb

A mystery about a Black classical musician whose family heirloom violin is stolen on the eve of the most prestigious classical music competition in the world.

March: The Lost Apothecary – Sarah Penner

A female apothecary secretly dispenses poisons to liberate women from the men who have wronged them - setting three lives across centuries on a dangerous collision course.

April: Conviction – Denise Mina (Anna and Fin book #1)

Conviction is the compelling and unique new thriller from multiple award-winner and author of The Long Drop, Denise Mina.

May: Northern Spy – Flynn Berry

The acclaimed author of Under the Harrow and A Double Life returns with her most thrilling novel to date: the story of two sisters who become entangled with the IRA.

June: Award Nominated/Winning Books of 2023

It's a tradition of the Mystery Book Club to choose a book or two or three that have either won an award in 2023 or is nominated for an award. That gives everyone a chance to choose a book they are excited about and we walk away with a great list of books for us mystery lovers.

We find out books at the website Stop You/re Killing Me. Check it out sooner if you are not familiar with it, It's a great source for all books mystery.

Stop, You're Killing Me! (stopyourekillingme.com)

I will post what the members of the MBC thought about each book after each meeting. Let me know what you think of the books too,

Merry Christmas 

&
Happy New Year all! 

Lost Girls of Willowbrook, City of the Lost, House on Warwick Pond, House on Whitmore Road

 Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, Happy Holidays!!

Taking a few minutes to catch you up on what I have read this month. You know, it is busy in December whether it is work things "due" by the end of the year, family get togethers, club get togethers. Fun but busy.

The Zoom event with Louise Penny was fun. Hillary Clinton actually interviewed Louise Penny. They talked about the latest book: A World of Curiosities. There was also two special guests. One was a lady whom a character in the book is based on. As a college student, she was a victim of a school shooting. A gunman came into the Engineering classroom and made the male students leave the room and proceeded to shoot the female students. This person survived. Her name in the book is her real name. There was also an appearance by Alfred Molina and how he came to play Armand Gamache in the Amazon Prime series Three Pines. I really enjoyed the presentation.

Here are the books I have read or listened to in December: a historical mystery/thriller, mystery/thriller and two short cozy paranormal mysteries.

The Lost Girls of Willowbrook by Ellen Marie Wiseman (historical mystery/thriller)

About: "Fact, fiction, and urban legend blend in this haunting story about a young woman mistakenly imprisoned at Willowbrook State School, the real-life institution later shuttered for its horrendous abuses.

Sage Winters always knew her sister was a little different even though they were identical twins. They loved the same things and shared a deep understanding, but Rosemary—awake to every emotion, easily moved to joy or tears—seemed to need more protection from the world.

Six years after Rosemary’s death from pneumonia, Sage, now sixteen, still misses her deeply. Their mother perished in a car crash, and Sage’s stepfather, Alan, resents being burdened by a responsibility he never wanted. Yet despite living as near strangers in their Staten Island apartment, Sage is stunned to discover that Alan has kept a shocking secret: Rosemary didn’t die. She was committed to Willowbrook State School and has lingered there until just a few days ago, when she went missing.

Sage knows little about Willowbrook. It’s always been a place shrouded by rumor and mystery. A place local parents threaten to send misbehaving kids. With no idea what to expect, Sage secretly sets out for Willowbrook, determined to find Rosemary. What she learns, once she steps through its doors and is mistakenly believed to be her sister, will change her life in ways she never could imagined."

It was a good thriller but some parts were pretty hard to read. Definitely a page turner. Willowbrook was a state school for children with mental disabilities in New York from 1947-1987. It was under investigation for conditions and questionable medical practices. Geraldo Rivera did an expose on it in 1972 which eventually led to its closure. Many parts of this story are in the book but the story about Sage and Rosemary is fictitious...I hope.

I see six books by this author. They all sound very good and are standalones. They are historical fiction with some mystery.

Books Archive - Ellen Marie Wiseman

City of the Lost by Kelley Armstrong (mystery thriller, crime) Rockton/Casey Duncan #1

There are seven books in this series. I listened to the audio book.

About: "Casey Duncan is a homicide detective with a secret: when she was in college, she killed a man. She was never caught, but he was the grandson of a mobster and she knows that someday this crime will catch up to her. Casey's best friend, Diana, is on the run from a violent, abusive ex-husband. When Diana's husband finds her, and Casey herself is attacked shortly after, Casey knows it's time for the two of them to disappear again.

Diana has heard of a town made for people like her, a town that takes in people on the run who want to shed their old lives. You must apply to live in Rockton and if you're accepted, it means walking away entirely from your old life, and living off the grid in the wilds of Canada: no cell phones, no Internet, no mail, no computers, very little electricity, and no way of getting in or out without the town council's approval. As a murderer, Casey isn't a good candidate, but she has something they want: She's a homicide detective, and Rockton has just had its first real murder. She and Diana are in. However, soon after arriving, Casey realizes that the identity of a murderer isn't the only secret Rockton is hiding—in fact, she starts to wonder if she and Diana might be in even more danger in Rockton than they were in their old lives."

I liked the story. All of the characters in Rockton are there to not be found, mostly because of something they did that wasn't good. And some are still behaving badly. This book was also a "page turner". There are some murders taking place that are pretty gruesome. There is also some language. Just in case that isn't your kind of book. Good cliff hanger which makes me want to read more in the series.

Here is the link to Kelley Armstrong's page: Rockton – Kelley Armstrong

The House on Whitmore Road (Witch's Creek Book 1} by Sharon Michaels (cozy paranormal story)

About: 

"A short read paranormal cozy mystery with a touch of later in life romance.
Take a…
A heartbroken retired rock and roll superstar looking for peace and quiet.
A workaholic CEO who had no choice but to take an early retirement.

Mix in…
A quirky small town with a secret past.
Strange things that go bump in the night.
Angry witches, a couple of helpful shapeshifters and rumors of a buried treasure.

And You’ve Got…
An unpredictable adventure that will warm your heart and have the hair on the back of your neck standing on end, all at the same time!

*****
The House on Whitmore Road is a cozy mystery without a murder. It has suspense and a "what's going on here" factor. The mystery is more about finding answers than finding dead bodies. There’s also a sweet clean later in life romance that will have you cheering for the mature main characters.

This is a short read book you can probably read in an hour to ninety minutes.

There’s a bit of cliff hanger at the end, but this book is a standalone. The House on Warwick Pond is the second book in the series."

Sharon writs short books that can be read in 60-90 minutes. Sometimes after I read a couple of dark mysteries, I like to change it up and read a cozy. I won this book and the next in a Facebook group giveaway. Fun story. Just the ticket after the two above books.

The House on Warwick Pond (Witch's Creek Book 2) by Sharon Michaels

About: 

"A short read paranormal cozy mystery with a touch of later in life romance.

Take a…

Newly married couple looking to peacefully begin their happily ever after.

Quaint small town where shovels glow in the dark and angry witch’s like to dig up trouble.

Mix in…

A whinny witch who wants what she wants and doesn’t care who gets hurt.

A race to find a secret journal filled with dangerous curses and spells.

Unfinished business between two quarreling strong-willed sisters.

And You’ve Got…

Alice and Preston caught in the middle of Glenda and Polly’s bitter battle as magical spells and wicked curses fly in all directions.

Will anyone come out the victor or will the quaint town of Witch’s Creek be destroyed forever?

*****

The House on Warwick Pond is a cozy mystery without a murder. It has suspense and a "what's going on here" factor. The mystery is more about finding answers than finding dead bodies. This story will have you cheering for the mature main characters.

This is a short read book you can probably read in an hour to ninety minutes.

The House on Warwick Pond – the final book in this two book short read series."

Good wind up to the story of Alice and Preston and their life in Witch's Creek.

Sharon doesn't just write paranormal cozies. She also writes The Oscar the Doxie Detective series and Pam and Paul Bigelow Cozy Mystery Novellas. Both feature amateur sleuths of a certain age.She also wrote a Christmas Cozy series.

Here is a link to Sharon's website: Home - Bestselling Author Sharon Michaels (sharonmichaelsauthor.com)

I am going to share the Mystery Book Club reading list in the next few days in case you want to read along. I have seen several requests on FB book clubs asking what other book clubs are reading. It was interesting to find that about have of the MBC members want to continue as read along members. We have had pretty good attendance this year but several of the regulars before Covid were missing. When I reached out to see if they wanted to continue to receive the reading list, they did. 

Louise Penny Zoom event

 New Year's Resolution: do more blog posts.

Meanwhile, do you know about the Barnes and Noble sponsored Zoom event coming up with Louise Penny? One of my Mystery Book Club members thankfully saw the information on this event.

It is a chat with Louise Penny featuring her next book,  A World of Curiosities. The book will be out tomorrow! 11/29/22

About: "It’s spring and Three Pines is reemerging after the harsh winter. But not everything buried should come alive again. Not everything lying dormant should reemerge.

But something has.

As the villagers prepare for a special celebration, Armand Gamache and Jean-Guy Beauvoir find themselves increasingly worried. A young man and woman have reappeared in the Sûreté du Québec investigators’ lives after many years. The two were young children when their troubled mother was murdered, leaving them damaged, shattered. Now they’ve arrived in the village of Three Pines.

But to what end?

Gamache and Beauvoir’s memories of that tragic case, the one that first brought them together, come rushing back. Did their mother’s murder hurt them beyond repair? Have those terrible wounds, buried for decades, festered and are now about to erupt?

As Chief Inspector Gamache works to uncover answers, his alarm grows when a letter written by a long dead stone mason is discovered. In it the man describes his terror when bricking up an attic room somewhere in the village. Every word of the 160-year-old letter is filled with dread. When the room is found, the villagers decide to open it up.

As the bricks are removed, Gamache, Beauvoir and the villagers discover a world of curiosities. But the head of homicide soon realizes there’s more in that room than meets the eye. There are puzzles within puzzles, and hidden messages warning of mayhem and revenge.

In unsealing that room, an old enemy is released into their world. Into their lives. And into the very heart of Armand Gamache’s home."

The online event is Monday December 5th at 6 p.m. CST. Here is the link to register. With the fee, you will receive a hard copy of the book. No it will not be signed.

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/bn-virtually-presents-louise-penny-discusses-a-world-of-curiosities-tickets-429339023577

I am attending in addition to a couple of the MBC members. I can't wait!

And don't forget! Three Pines debuts on Amazon Prime Friday December 22

I am attending in addition to a couple of the MBC members. I can't wait!

See you there.

Falling by T.J. Newman

Oops! I forgot to hit "go" on this post. So here it is.

Our November Mystery Book Club selection was Falling by T.J. Newman.

About: "You just boarded a flight to New York.

There are one hundred and forty-three other passengers onboard.

What you don’t know is that thirty minutes before the flight your pilot’s family was kidnapped.

For his family to live, everyone on your plane must die.

The only way the family will survive is if the pilot follows his orders and crashes the plane.

Enjoy the flight."

It seemed unanimous. This book was a very fast pace and suspenseful read. Most read it in a day or two, not being able to put it down.

More about the plot: The pilot of a plane going from Los Angeles to New York, receives a private message from a man saying the pilot needs to decide between crashing the plane as he instructs, or to loose his family. The man is holding the pilot's family hostage in their home. Tied and gagged are his wife, 10 year old son and his wife is allowed to hold the baby, 10 months old. There is an unidentified person on board that will insure the goal is met. The pilot also will be instructed to throw some cannisters of gas into the cabin at some point. And they have a new destination, Washington D.C. On board is a seasoned flight attendant and family friend, Jo, another seasoned attendant x and a new flight attendant. Should the pilot let them in on what is happening? He has been warned not to or else.

The book takes place over several hours on a flight between L.A. and the East Coast and all that evolves.

The story really is riveting. It gave us all new insight and admiration into pilots and attendants.

T.J. Newman has a contract for another book and I am looking forward to it. It is reported that Universal has bought the rites for a movie. No time line on that.

About the author: 

T.J. Newman, a former bookseller turned flight attendant, worked for Virgin America and Alaska Airlines from 2011 to 2021. She wrote much of Falling on cross-country red-eye flights while her passengers were asleep.

The MBC recommends it!

Because I Could Not Stop For Death by Amanda Flower

 Do you know Amanda Flower and her books? Amanda writes a variety of mysteries. I have read one of her Magical Mystery books entitled Death and Daisies and enjoyed it. 

I follow Amanda on social media and found she had written a historical mystery featuring Emily Dickinson. I love that time period and the idea of a famous writer featured in the book, so I got a copy of the book when it recently came out. 

About: Because I Could Not Stop for Death

 

"Emily Dickinson and her housemaid, Willa Noble, realize there is nothing poetic about murder in this first book in an all-new series from USA Today bestselling and Agatha Award-winning author Amanda Flower.

January 1855 Willa Noble knew it was bad luck when it was pouring rain on the day of her ever-important job interview at the Dickinson home in Amherst, Massachusetts. When she arrived late, disheveled with her skirts sodden and filthy, she'd lost all hope of being hired for the position. As the housekeeper politely told her they'd be in touch, Willa started toward the door of the stately home only to be called back by the soft but strong voice of Emily Dickinson. What begins as tenuous employment turns to friendship as the reclusive poet takes Willa under her wing.

Tragedy soon strikes and Willa's beloved brother, Henry, is killed in a tragic accident at the town stables. With no other family and nowhere else to turn, Willa tells Emily about her brother's death and why she believes it was no accident. Willa is convinced it was murder. Henry had been very secretive of late, only hinting to Willa that he'd found a way to earn money to take care of them both. Viewing it first as a puzzle to piece together, Emily offers to help, only to realize that she and Willa are caught in a deadly game of cat and mouse that reveals corruption in Amherst that is generations deep. Some very high-powered people will stop at nothing to keep their profitable secrets even if that means forever silencing Willa and her new mistress...."

I really loved this book. The mystery was very good. I liked the relationship between Willa and Emily. Although they are maid and employer (from a very prominent family) Emily encourages and joins Willa to find out what really happened to her brother. The slavery issue of the time plays a big part in the story and it is interesting for find out more about the North vs. the South, the underground railroad (which I was fascinated with as a child) and other politics of the time are touched upon.  The story also shows women being strong and independent, something frowned upon in that time period. Plenty of tension with a few dangerous near misses! All and all I recommend this book if you like historical fiction and strong women characters. 

About Amanda Flower: http://www.amandaflower.com/

Amanda has written five different series: Amish Mysteries, Children's Mysteries, Magical Mystery Series, Contemporary Series and now Historical Mysteries. 

"Amanda Flower is a USA Today bestselling and Agatha Award-winning author of over thirty-five mystery novels. Her novels have received starred
reviews from Library Journal, Publishers Weekly, and Romantic
Times, and she had been featured in USA Today, First for Women, and Woman’s World. She currently writes for Penguin-Random House (Berkley), Kensington, and Sourcebooks. In addition to being a writer, she was a librarian for fifteen years. Today, Flower and her husband own a farm and recording studio, and they live in Northeast Ohio with their five adorable cats, Editors Cheeps and Tummy and Studio Cats Cheddar, Dr. Z, and Fender."

Amanda has a very active, fun Facebook group, not only sharing information about her latest writings and book signings, but sharing pictures of the farm where she and her husband are building a house, her five cats, three of which are rescues from the farm and fun impromptu Live chats about life on the farm. Amanda also has an Etsy shop with jewelry and bookmarks and Amanda's Flower Shop (Zazzle) where she offers t-shirts and cups.  Currently if you order any two items from the Flower Shop, you will receive a free signed novel by Amanda Flower. 

https://www.etsy.com/shop/AmandaFlowerDesigns

https://www.zazzle.com/store/amanda_flower_shop

The Tenant

 For our travel month with the Mystery Book Club, we read mysteries set in Scandinavia. We had an especially hot summer here and we thought the setting might cool us off.

I read The Tenant by Katrine Engberg. It is book one in the Korner and Werner series.

About:  When a young woman is discovered brutally murdered in her own apartment, with an intricate pattern of lines carved into her face, Copenhagen police detectives Jeppe Korner and Anette Werner are assigned to the case. In short order, they establish a link between the victim, Julie Stender, and her landlady, Esther de Laurenti, who’s a bit too fond of drink and the host of raucous dinner parties with her artist friends. Esther also turns out to be a budding novelist—and when Julie turns up as a murder victim in the still-unfinished mystery she’s writing, the link between fiction and real life grows both more urgent and more dangerous.

But Esther’s role in this twisted scenario is not quite as clear as it first seems. Is she the culprit—or just another victim, trapped in a twisted game of vengeance? Anette and Jeppe must dig more deeply into the two women’s pasts to discover the identity of the brutal puppet-master pulling the strings in this electrifying literary thriller."

I really liked this book. It was definitely a fast pace thriller. The relationship between the two detectives, Jeppe Korner and Anette Werrner is interesting. There is some tension that makes it "interesting." Very clever plot with the crime following a book that a group of three are writing together like a writing club online. Lots of potential quirky characters that will keep you guessing.

A couple of the other members of the MCB read this book and liked it also. One person read book four, The Harbor. While she really enjoyed the book, she went back and read book one and recommends that you read this series in order. The Tenant gives you background information on Korner and Werner that is good to know.

There are five books in this series.

You can read about the author and the other books here:

https://www.simonandschuster.com/authors/Katrine-Engberg/158550112

Murder at the Mena Mena House

 I did read books this summer and will share a few. 

For our July Mystery Book Club meeting we read:

Murder at the Mena House (A Jane Wunderly Mystery #1) by Erica Ruth Neubauer

About: "Well-heeled travelers from around the world flock to the Mena House Hotel--an exotic gem in the heart of Cairo where cocktails flow, adventure dispels the aftershocks of World War I, and deadly dangers wait in the shadows . . .

Egypt, 1926. Fiercely independent American Jane Wunderly has made up her mind: she won't be swept off her feet on a trip abroad. Despite her Aunt Millie's best efforts at meddling with her love life, the young widow would rather gaze at the Great Pyramids of Giza than into the eyes of a dashing stranger. Yet Jane's plans to remain cool and indifferent become ancient history in the company of Mr. Redvers, a roguish banker she can't quite figure out . . .

While the Mena House has its share of charming guests, Anna Stainton isn't one of them. The beautiful socialite makes it clear that she won't share the spotlight with anyone--especially Jane. But Jane soon becomes the center of attention when she's the one standing over her unintentional rival's dead body.

Now, with her innocence at stake in a foreign country, Jane must determine who can be trusted, and who had motive to commit a brutal murder. Between Aunt Millie's unusual new acquaintances, a smarmy playboy with an off-putting smile, and the enigmatic Mr. Redvers, someone has too many secrets. Can Jane excavate the horrible truth before her future falls to ruin in Cairo . . . and the body count rises like the desert heat?"

This was a good book that reminded me of an Agatha Christie story such as Death on the Nile. The setting was interesting with descriptions of the pyramids, the upscale hotel that is the setting and what it must have been like to live in a desert in a time without air conditioning!. Good mystery. The mysterious Mr. Redvers. Is he a good guy or a bad guy? Everyone in the book club liked this book and several went on to read additional books in the series. 

There are three more books in the series: 

Murder at Wedgefield Manor

Danger on the Atlantic

Intrigue in Istanbul 

https://www.ericaruthneubauer.com/

Next time: The Tenant