Cartwheel

Cartwheel
by Jennifer duBois
Published by Random House
384 pages
Genre: fiction, mystery
Thanks to NetGalley and edelweiss for the preview
4.5 / 5


Earlier this year, I read and loved (LOVED, I tell you) Dangerous Girls, which was sort of a mashup between the Amanda Knox and Natalee Holloway stories. Now comes Cartwheel, which so clearly takes inspiration from Amanda Knox's murder trial that the author wrote a disclaimer at the start of the novel.

After five weeks studying abroad in Argentina, Lily Hayes is quite certain that she and roommate Katy Kellers will never be besties. She's also certain that her host family hates her. What she isn't so sure about is how she feels about mysterious neighbor Sebastien Le Comte, whom she's dating and kind of likes, but whose eccentricities are more than she cares to withstand.

Another thing she knows is that she did not murder Katy Kellers.

Lily's family is also certain that she is not the murderer, as is Sebastien. The prosecutor, however, is very, very certain that she did.

Told from the perspectives of Lily, her professor father Andrew, her younger sister, Sebastien, and the prosecutor, Jennifer duBois expertly crafts a story that keeps us wondering if Lily might just be the killer. Her behavior is certainly Knoxian; she does a cartwheel shortly after discovering Katy's body, and she and Sebastien are seen on security footage purchasing condoms. Is that how a bereaved roommate would act? Lily herself is almost preternaturally unlikable. She is selfish, self-centered, flaky, and not nearly as intelligent as she thinks she is. She doesn't like Katy because the girl has perfect teeth and is "boring." She pursues Sebastien, albeit not terribly aggressively, but doesn't really care for him. But she is lost and fragile, and you find yourself reluctantly - VERY reluctantly - hoping she is innocent.

The likability factor of the characters in this book is fairly dim. Andrew wants to believe in his daughter, yet he doesn't seem to know how to parent her. He spares no times for younger daughter Anna and doesn't appear terribly guilty over it, and his relationship with his ex-wife is as seamless as he can make it. Anna seeks solace in running, the metaphor for which is plain. She wants to escape her family and her jailbird older sister, about whom her feelings are ambivalent at best. Anna would like to see Lily freed, even if she believes Lily has it in her to kill someone. Prosecutor Eduardo thinks himself an upright, ethical man, yet he relies too heavily on his instincts and too lightly on facts. He wants Lily found guilty, and when another character does not believe her to be so, Eduardo does not care. He thinks Lily did it, so it must be true.

Then there is Sebastien. I think we're supposed to pity him, an immensely wealthy orphan of two international assassins. (For reals.) But he's so weird and odd that we can't empathize with him. He rarely leaves his home, and when he develops feelings for one of the American students next door to him, we feel tremendous discomfort at watching him try to woo her. He does not think Lily is a murderer, and in his own awkward way he tries to help her. But his quirks are too extreme.

The thing is, this book is good. I hated having to put it down, and even if I didn't like the characters, I didn't want to stop reading about them. The ending comes in a rush, and that, in fact, is the only complaint I have. I couldn't figure out why duBois suddenly races through the conclusion after having unfolded her story with steady, sold pacing.

Read it. It's good storytelling.

The Infatuations

The Infatuations
by Javier Marías
Published by Knopf
352 pages
Genre: literature, mystery
Thanks to edelweiss for the preview.
3.5 / 5


Do you people watch? I love to, which perhaps speaks to some sort of voyeuristic trait. But I do. I like to watch people and imagine what their lives are like.

So does María Dolz, who frequents the same cafe for breakfast every morning. She becomes enthralled with a couple she sees there regularly, nicknaming them The Perfect Couple. When the husband is brutally murdered, María feels for his widow, and even a bit for herself. She will miss seeing The Perfect Couple.

One day when the widow appears at the cafe, María approaches her to offer her condolences. She is invited to the widow's home and there meets two men, including the attractive Javier. When she bumps into him later, they begin to see each other. María falls in love, even as she suspects that Javier loves the widow Luisa. She becomes convinced that he is waiting for Luisa's grief to pass and views María as nothing more than a dalliance. She contents herself with this, though, happy to have what time she can with him.

When María happens to overhear a conversation relating to Luisa's husband's death, she begins to wonder if it was as accidental as it appeared.

There is a bit of a mystery here - who killed Luisa's husband and why - but the greater story is that of María. She debases herself in a way by allowing herself to have sex with Javier even though she believes he is in love with Luisa. She behaves with him the way she believes he behaves with Luisa: quietly adoring, devoted, and hopefully indispensable.

María works for a publisher, and as a woman immersed in books, she crafts a lot of dialogue in her head. Pages of this book are devoted to discussions María imagines people having, just as she imagines Javier's love for Luisa. When she overhears the conversation that appears to imply that Luisa's husband was murdered on purpose, is her interpretation correct, or is this something else she imagines? Javier directs her to a Balzac book that he wants her to read, and that begins to color María's perceptions as well. She seems like someone who categorically cannot think for herself. She's too busy thinking like a character in a book.

But what if all of those things she imagines are true? How then would we adjust our opinion of her?

This book unfolds really, REALLY slowly. There are the imagined conversations and imagined confrontations. María lives in her head quite a bit, and since she's the one telling us this story, she forces us to live there too. There were times I wanted to shout, "Hurry up, already!"

The other issue is that María is not all that likable. She thinks so little of herself that she continues her sexual relationship with Javier even though she thinks he loves another and even though he contacts her only when it suits him. She allows him to direct their relationship completely. When she later contemplates marriage, she again diminishes herself, noting that she is in her thirties and opportunities might be running out. María's life is all about settling, whether for what she thinks she deserves or for what she imagines to be best for herself.

You need a lot of patience to read this book, and for the most part, it's worth it. The ending goes out with a íquiet whimper rather than something more vociferous, which, while frustrating, suits Mara and stays true to who she is.

The question becomes whether María grows in the book. Does she? Or does she stay stagnant? If she doesn't, why not? Why does it seem that the events we read about leave her utterly unchanged? It is that fine point that makes me rate this book as average. I can accept the slow pacing and the ambivalent ending. But María needs to change. She needs to be more dynamic.

Winter Chill

Winter Chill
by Joanne Fluke
Published by Kensington
352 pages
Genre: mystery
Thanks to NetGalley for the preview
5 / 5


When you read as much smut as I do (and bless you, Tiffany Reisz, Sylvia Day, Jessica Hawkins, and others for the services you provide), you occasionally need a bit of a palate cleanser, which for me comes in the form of mysteries. I love a good mystery, even when they make me feel dumb for not anticipating whodunit (and I'm looking at YOU, Dangerous Girls). Let me just say that this book rattled my chains a whole, whooooole lot.

When Dan takes his young daughter on a routine snow mobile ride, neither he nor his wife Marian anticipate anything other than Dan and Laura returning home, full of raucous stories about the fun they had. So when the police show up in Marian's driveway, she knows something horrific has occurred. Horrific, indeed: Laura is dead and Dan is paralyzed.

Marian and Dan survive their grief in different ways, and while Dan knows that his paralysis is a burden, he nonetheless worries about Marian. She will sit in Laura's room and weep. Marian also gets liquored up at a party and does something stupid, and while Dan is angry with her, he knows that the snow mobile accident renders him somewhat mute when it comes to judgment. He tries to assuage Marian's grief as best he can, but he soon discovers that his efforts are a terrible idea.

Meanwhile, the residents in their small Minnesota town appear besieged: more children start to die, more neighbors. Was that snow mobile accident truly an accident, or is there a serial killer in their midst?

Dan thinks he knows who the killer is, but is he right? Or do he and Marian have to understand that just because they want something to be true does not mean that it actually is?

Let me just tell you that the ending will give you chills. And not just because it occurs in the midst of a Minnesota winter. Chills, people. CHILLS.

Joanne Fluke crafts an excellent mystery. In fact, this is as much a character study as a mystery, which is one of Fluke's strengths as a writer. She lets her story unfold slowly and carefully, and if it feels too slow at the start, perhaps it's because we readers need to understand the numbing grief of Dan and Marian. We get to know their friends and coworkers, and we feel the immeasurable sadness that envelops them as they attempt to resume their lives after Laura's death. As the body count rises, the pacing amps up in intensity, and we feel their terror, especially Dan's when he believes he knows who's behind the deaths.

An excellent mystery.

Complete Me

Complete Me (The Stark Trilogy)
by J. Kenner
Published by Bantam
322 pages
Genre: erotica; romance; mystery
Thanks to NetGalley for the preview
4 / 5


This is the third book of a trilogy, so here is a big fat warning for you: this review will contain spoilers from the first two books.

Oh, Damien Stark. You hot, hot, HOT man, you. So tortured, so gorgeous, so successful and rich and sexually sublime. Where are you in my life?

When we first met Damien in Release Me, he was a mysterious former tennis prodigy turned corporate superstar. He sees Nikki Fairchild across the room at a party he's hosting and he instantly is drawn to her. Those of us reading the book perhaps wondered why; Nikki's fine and all, a former pageant queen, but is she worthy? Of Damien Stark? Uh, no.

But as we get to know our happy couple into Claim Me, we could start to see the attraction. Both Nikki and Damien suffered abuse, albeit in very different forms. Nikki was used by her mother for pageant fame and success, forced into being someone she wasn't. Damien's abuse was physical and at the hands of his coach. Both reacted by needing control: for Nikki, it comes in the form of cutting herself; for Damien, it is manifested in his need for BDSM. They recognize this in each other and it cements their bond.

And now we come to the end of the trilogy, where we must face Damien's murder charges in Germany, onslaughts from a mysterious source, and Damien and Nikki's continuing need for each other and a "normal" relationship.

The plot is serviceable. We get caught up in the mystery surrounding Damien's court case, and by now we are fully invested in his and Nikki's relationship. We even like her more, if for no other reason than Damien does. His need for her is so immense that it almost overwhelms us, not to mention her. To her credit, Nikki occasionally is mystified by Damien's obsession with her. We hear ya, sister. However, even I can concede that she's good for him. She understands him the way he needs to be understood; she knows what he doesn't say as much as what he does, and she translates his facial expressions and small gestures.

Yes, there are some overwrought moments. We've come to expect those from this series. Nikki is a pageant queen from Texas, and if it's possible to overreact to something, she might just do it. Some of her problem-solving skills frustrate us to distraction, even as we know that she means well. She really does.

The mystery occasionally feels forced, as if Kenner thinks she needs it in order for us to keep reading. That part could have been better written, although let's be honest. We don't read these for the mystery hooks, do we?

Now, the sexy times. Girls, strap on your vibrators, because there is some super scorching headboard rockin' going on here. Damien doesn't just know how to bed a woman, he knows how to talk about it. His words get you as ready as anything he does with his hands and lips. And other things. The best part is that sex for Damien is a way to connect with Nikki and the way he knows to show her that he loves her. So her pleasure - how she feels when he's with her - is his priority.

Too bad he's a fictional fantasy, right?

Dangerous Girls

Dangerous Girls
by Abigail Haas
Published by Simon Pulse
400 pages
Genre: mystery, New Adult, literature
Thanks to edelweiss for the preview
5 / 5


Faithful readers, you need to give me a moment or two to collect myself, because this book - THIS BOOK.

Crikey.

I don't know how to discuss it without giving away things, so if you want to go in completely clean and know nothing, then quit reading now, go buy a copy, and come back. Seriously. I want everyone who reads this book - and that better be ALL OF YOU - to come back and discuss it in the Comments Section. I haven't wanted to talk about a book this much since Gone Girl.

I will warn you before I get to anything that is seriously spoiler-ish. Otherwise, there may be a few mild spoilers contained herein.

Do you find yourself getting caught up in televised court cases, particularly the armchair analysts who proclaim they can read body language of the jurors (or even the defendant) and whose opinions influence ours? Even dangerously so? And what about those defendants? What do we make of them? How can we tell if they're truly innocent or guilty? Or could it be that they fall in that nebulous area of "not guilty"?

Abigail Haas tells the story Anna Chevalier and a group of fellow high school seniors, students at a hoity-toity Boston private school, who head to Aruba for spring break. It's their last vacation together before college, and the kids just want to cut loose and have some fun. As we get to know them, though, we discover that they tend to be the cutting loose and having fun sort of crowd, so Aruba seems almost superfluous.

But anyway.

While there, Elise, Anna's best - and I mean BEST - friend gets murdered, and the police start looking at Anna and her friends. They ultimately charge Anna and her boyfriend Tate, and Anna begins to fight for her freedom. She quickly realizes that everyone, including, apparently, Tate, thinks she's guilty of murdering her bestie. But Anna resolutely professes her innocence. She is determined to be found innocent, even in the face of an increasingly large mountain of evidence against her.

When we read books that are narrated by a character, we have to ask ourselves if the narrator is reliable or not. Agatha Christie addressed this in The Murder of Roger Ackroyd, when we found out that our narrator withheld important information from us. It is crucial that we believe Anna. She needs us to believe in her innocence. If she can't convince us, how can she convince the judge? But even though she is the narrator, Anna's is not the only perspective we have. We also get transcripts of news shows that analyze everything about Anna, from her in-court demeanor to how she acted after learning of Elise's murder, to even how she appears when walking in the prison yard. But can we take them seriously? I mean, we all saw those photos of Amanda Knox canoodling with her boyfriend after the two supposedly committed murder. Amanda says they were comforting each other during a stressful time. The TV shows said it was proof of callousness. We have to believe Anna. We simply must.

The problem is that Anna is not all that likable. Really, no one is in this book, aside from Anna's father and legal team. Neither Anna nor any of her friends are what you'd call "good people." They are spoiled, self-involved, over entitled teenagers who are selfish to a fault. This actually helps us believe Anna, though, because she knowingly reveals herself, including her considerable arsenal of negative characteristics. She is, in a word, a bitch. A very big one. Her friendship with Elise is all consuming to her; Elise sort of rescues Anna, and Anna's gratitude is complete. But it's also reciprocated. Elise is as obsessed with Anna as Anna is with her. When Anna begins dating Tate, it naturally creates friction. I thought this was exceptionally well done by Abigail Haas, who nails the teen angst and jealousy that abound when one friend falls in love and the other does not.

Anna unfolds her story with flashbacks, including the first day she meets Elise. We see the progression of their friendship, as we also see the progression of Anna's trial. She is stunned that people believe she murdered a girl whose friendship was her life. We feel for her when she is betrayed, we become increasingly anxious as the trial progresses, desperate for Anna to be found innocent.

The thing is, there are no innocent people here. Even Anna seems to recognize that. She acknowledges that everyone played a part in Elise's death, even if they didn't kill her. As she tells her story, Anna - perhaps unwittingly - puts her and her friends' lifestyle and mores under inspection. Weren't they asking for trouble, to some extent? As Anna observes about another character, all that perfection has to go somewhere, doesn't it? What happens when it becomes too much, when the effort to keep everything the way you want it proves futile?

Do you find out whodunit? Yes, you do. Will you be surprised? Let me just say that there are a few plot twists, but if you read carefully, one of them won't shock you, but another one (or two) could. As for the identity of the murderer, clues are dropped. But I think you will be shocked at who it is.

And that's when I want you to come back and discuss. Please tell me. Did you see? Did you know? And do you think that there was a certain relationship there?

I really liked this one, kids. I really, really did. It isn't perfect - there are a couple of gaps and some consistency issues - but it will grip you by the throat and not let up until you turn the last page.

Secret Sister

Secret Sister
by Emelle Gamble
Published by Marsha Nuccio
Genre: literature; mystery
Thanks to NetGalley for the preview
3.5 / 5


Two women are such good friends - have been forever - that they call each other their "secret sister." But one horrific day, they are in a car accident and one of the women dies. How does her secret sister recover? How does she go on?

One thing you learn in this book is that there are different types of survival. Roxanne drives the car that kills Cathy (whose last name is Chance ... I mean ... grab that frying pan and beat yourself over the head with it), so she bears some survivor's guilt. Roxanne lost all memory of the crash, as well as chunks relating to her life; she doesn't even remember her own name. She has to survive that, as does her mother, who is forced to adjust to a daughter who does not recognize her. Nick Chance, Cathy's husband, must survive the loss of his wife. The women's friend Bradley must survive the physical loss of one friend and the emotional loss of the other. Even Cathy's dog faces questions of survival.

This is sort of two books in one. In the first part, Roxanne must come to terms with the accident. There are mysteries afoot: Roxanne must come to terms with the accident, she needs to try and recoup her lost memories, and she needs to make sense of the flashes of what she does remember. Her memories are confusing and unsettling. Once she does, the second half kicks in, and we have Roxanne's attempt to regain her lost life.

The narration comes from the perspectives of Roxanne, Cathy, and Nick. At various times, you will hate one or all three of them. These are some self-involved people, and sometimes while reading this book, I wanted to quit and go read about people I like. But I kept reading. The story seeps into you, and you find yourself wanting to know what happens next. What is up with those memories Roxanne has? And as the memories clarify, more questions are asked. You will want to know the answers.

There is some romance here, and even some sexy times. Don't get too excited, though. The true romance is the friendship between Roxanne and Cathy, and the sexy times are not wildly explicit.

I will not give away much about this book, nor should you go looking for spoilers before reading it. You will want to enjoy the plot twists (even if you see one of them coming), and you will want to enjoy the wild ride(s). At the end, you will have some questions. The ending is not as neat as it appears, and you will find yourself asking "what if ..."

It's a good book, even if the characters are occasionally annoying.

P.S.: the cover for this book is atrocious. For reals. Publishers, you need to fix that, post haste.

The Abomination: Book One in the Carnivia Trilogy

The Abomination: Book One in the Carnivia Trilogy
by Jonathan Holt
Published by Harper
448 pages
Genre: fiction; mystery
Thanks to edelweiss for the preview
5 / 5

Jonathan Holt, where have you been all my life? And when are you going to write another book?

First, I suppose, we should discuss your debut novel. I really enjoyed it, every intricate, detailed page. I love the characters you created, although I will tell you that I have some - shall I say - questions pertaining to Aldo Piola. I'm sure you understand what they are.

But I've gotten ahead of myself.

I like the setting you chose. Venice. So rich with possibility, so ripe for crime, secrecy, and passion, right? You don't just have Venice around, you use Venice. She is as much a character as Kat, Holly, or Daniele. Or Aldo ... You also educate us a little about the city. I found it interesting that you so rarely allude to gondolas or the canals; instead, you focus on the water as a source - or conduit - of death and crime. The canals that are so breathlessly romanticized in film and literature are here stripped of that sheen and examined with a dispassionate eye.

Your story is gripping, fast-paced, entertaining, and even educational. I like how it starts off with a fisherman fearing for his life, then moves into a murder investigation of a woman dressed as a priest, and then morphs into an investigation into a prostitution ring filtering from Croatia into Italy. Against these big issues, though, you have small, personal stories. Kat and Aldo's pursuit of truth in the face of corruption. Holly's fears of being branded a whistle blower combating with her inability to ignore crimes potentially committed by her own country. And Daniele. I liked him so much. His website, Carnivia, is a fascinating creation, especially given his background of having been kidnapped as a young child and his need to solve puzzles. I like how Carnivia, with its absolute secrecy, is the piece that brings Kat, Holly, and Daniele together. There is a murder to be solved, yes, but there are other puzzles to be solved. What role does the Mafia play? What about the American government?

In fact, I'm glad this is the first of a series, because I'm not ready to say good-bye to Daniele. I like how Holly saw through him and accurately pinpointed his motivation for creating Carnivia. It's little personal details like that that make this such a superb novel. Or Kat's reaction to seeing what anonymous people say about her online. I like how she questions it based not on a "this is how it's done in Italy" position but rather "this is how it shouldn't be done to women." I like how she and Holly stood up for themselves, each in her own way.

For a novel packed with so many characters and so much detail and action, you might assume it would feel unwieldy. It should be difficult to know the characters as well as we do. But neither is the case. The story is far more straightforward than it appears, largely because you stick to the principal that we cannot stop future crimes until we account for those from the past. You do an excellent job of presenting fully realized characters. The only stereotype or flat character is Avvocato Morcello, right down to his greasy hair.

I hope people read this book, I truly do. It's an excellent mystery, fast-paced and loaded with action and characters we enjoy.

Now, about the next installment in the trilogy. When can we expect that?

Levitating Las Vegas

Levitating Las Vegas
by Jennifer Echols
Published by Pocket Star
326 pages
Genre: young adult; new adult; romance; adventure
Thanks to edelweiss for the preview
3 / 5

A few years ago, I happened upon a book written by Jennifer Echols. Going Too Far was its name, and I enjoyed it a great deal. Since then I've gobbled up Love Story, Forget You, and Such a Rush. She creates real characters, puts them in real situations, and then helps them get out with some dignity. In fact, I think that's what I like most about how she writes: her characters may be teens and college kids, but she treats them with respect and dignity.

I love her books.

But I did not love this one.

Holly and Elijah have known each other since they were kids. At one point, they tried to date, but their parents intervened, claiming that each had an illness that could cause harm to the other. They take the same medication to "cure" them, and so far it appears to have worked. The two believe their parents. After all, it can't be normal to be able to levitate things, as Holly can do, or read minds, like Elijah.

When they are twenty-one, their paths cross again. They try to avoid each other, but they can't. Elijah has a greater urgency for connecting with her because his medication - their medication - has run out. If there isn't any more for him, there won't be any more for Holly. What horrible calamities will they cause? What havoc will be wreaked upon them?

Oh, and all the while, they are being chased by some bad guys.

The story is far-fetched, but that isn't the problem with it. As I read this book, I kept asking myself why I didn't like it. Holly is interesting. Elijah is sweet and adorable. They can do nifty things (I'd sure love to be able to lift a broom just by thinking about it) and they seem like good kids. So what's the problem? The bad guys? The chase sequence that comes later in the book?

I decided that there is just too much going on here, and at times it feels as if Jennifer Echols herself couldn't decide what book she wanted to write. A young adult romance? Believe me, this one is a bit more adult than not, largely because her characters are older. Is it a spy caper? An examination of the dangerous patina of Las Vegas? The disconnect that kids feel with their parents? The struggle we face for independence when we're in our early twenties?

I'm not sure. And worse, I don't think Jennifer Echols is, either. All of those things go on in this book, and none of them very effectively. Just when it starts to get its footing and find its identify, off it heads in a different direction. Perhaps that's by design, because it mirrors Holly's and Elijah's experiences. And do not even get me started on the "ending." Clearly there will be another one, to which I want to say to Echols, "Please. No."

I gave this three stars because when it's good, it's good. I really wish I could have given it five. I certainly expected to do so, based on its author alone.

The Longings of Wayward Girls

The Longings of Wayward Girls
by Karen Brown
Published by Washington Square Press
336 pages
Genre: women's fiction; mystery
Thanks to edelweiss for the preview
4 / 5


Children can be cruel, cruel beings whose meanness knows no bounds. We realize this, of course, those of us who emerged from our childhoods without inflicting too much damage on others or ourselves. But sometimes, we merely think we survived. All it takes is something that trips our memory to remind us that our suffering continues.

Such is the case with Sadie, a beautiful blonde daughter of a beautiful blonde mother. Sadie knows she is prettier than other kids, and she uses this as a weapon against them. She does have some friends, but we quickly realize that they are friends because they fear her more than out of any true affection. When Sadie begins picking on an unfortunate classmate, her friends follow along. One day, Sadie decides to play what appears to be a harmless prank on the girl, but it quickly turns dangerous when the girl disappears.

Twenty years later, Sadie remains gloriously blonde and gloriously aloof, still living in her hometown, married to a handsome man and mother to two beautiful children. From all appearances, Sadie is happy and has achieved something, although she currently is beset with grief over a miscarriage. But that awful day still lurks in her mind, try as she does to make it disappear.

Also involved in Sadie's childhood was Ray Filley, a neighbor boy on whom Sadie had a fierce crush. Ray moved away years earlier, but his reappearance triggers Sadie's memories. It also triggers the teenage lust she felt for him, and the two begin circling each other.

The mystery hooks you: what happened to that missing girl? But there are so many layers to this novel that the mystery almost becomes secondary. In fact, there are three different story lines taking place in three different time periods. There is the modern-day Sadie, the wife and grieving mother who watches her nicely constructed life disintegrate in a cloud of dis-fulfillment and dissatisfaction. There is twelve-year-old Sadie in 1979, perched on the edge of her teenage years, trying to understand her mother and her feelings about Ray. Then there is Sadie in 1972, the year the little girl went missing. What role did Sadie play? How did that Sadie set up 1979 Sadie? How did her past create the woman she is now?

You need to be patient with this book because it does not unfold quickly. In fact, the 1979 thread seems superfluous at first. What's so important about this year? As Brown begins to reveal secrets, the three stories come together, and Sadie becomes fully realized, fully developed, and very human. We become entangled in her travails and trajectories. We want to protect her even as we want to hold her accountable. She shocks us, but she does not repel us.

One thing Brown does very well is create mood and atmosphere. We are right back in 1972, feeling shag carpeting under our toes. We are in the small Connecticut town with Sadie and her friends, and we find ourselves as drawn to Ray as Sadie is. We also join her in the present, reacting with her to Ray's reappearance and her sadness over the miscarriage. Brown's writing latches onto us like quicksand, pulling us deeper and deeper into the story.

Give this one a chance. Don't expect it to be resolved quickly or neatly. Roll along with it, enjoy it, and experience it.

Reconstructing Amelia

Reconstructing Amelia
by Kimberly McCreight
Published by Harper
400 pages
Genre: mystery; general fiction
Thanks to edelweiss for the preview
5 / 5


Before you read this review, go ahead and order the novel. Run to your local bookstore, click on the purchase icon online, check it out from the library. Regardless, get yourself a copy. I'll wait till you come back.

Okay, so you have your copy. You might want to pay your bills, use the restroom, and say bye to your family because you will not come up for air until you are finished reading.

It's that good.

Single mother Kate is in the midst of a huge career changing meeting when she receives a phone call from her daughter Amelia's swanky Brooklyn private school. Amelia has been suspended for cheating. Kate is shocked and promises to be there quickly to retrieve her daughter, who cannot leave until her mother picks her up. But as happens in life, one thing leads to another, leads to another, and Kate runs late. By the time she arrives at the school, Amelia is dead, having jumped off the roof.

Aside from her obvious grief and shock, Kate spirals into orbit. She wants to know why. Why did Amelia kill herself? They were so close, this mother and daughter, weren't they? Weren't they? Didn't Kate know everything about her daughter? Sure, sacrifices were made along the way; you don't cultivate a successful career without foregoing some family time. But still. Kate was always there for Amelia when it mattered. Right? Right? 

Kimberly McCreight layers her novel with several mysteries. The central question - why did Amelia kill herself - almost becomes the least important. We want to know who Amelia's father is. We want to know why Amelia's best friend seems bitter and angry toward her. We want to know what the school is covering up. We want to know what happened on that roof.

Kate's intrigue increases when she begins receiving mysterious texts. Reading through Amelia's cell phone and emails, she begins to fill in some of the blanks. We as readers also get into Amelia's head, as McCreight tells the story from both Kate's and Amelia's points of view. Amelia helps us see what Kate misses, which makes our empathy with Kate all the more intense. We feel Kate's frustration and pain; we want to help her understand her daughter.

It would be one thing if Kate was the only character fully developed. But Amelia is, too. Nothing about either rings false. We may not agree with Kate's reasons for concealing the identity of Amelia's father, but we understand why she does it. We certainly relate to Amelia's high school agonies, both with her bestie and with her first love. Those friends of hers? We know them. We went to high school with people just like them. When Amelia reacts as we would have reacted, it makes her that much more important to us, which in turn strengthens our bond with Kate. It is a testament to McCreight that she gives us characters we not only like but know.

There may not be many moments you don't see coming, but the tension and intrigue build to such a degree that you will be hard pressed to put down this book. You want questions answered, just as you want Kate to find peace. And Amelia too, for that matter.

I could not stop thinking about this book when I finished it, and I find myself missing Kate. If that isn't an indication of an author's work done well, I can't think of what is.

The Fetish Box Part III: What Remains

The Fetish Box Part III: What Remains
by Nicole Camden
Published by Pocket Star
81 pages
Genre: erotica, mystery
Thanks to edelweiss for the preview
3 / 5 


The three Fetish Box books are only about 75 pages each, which makes you wonder why they were split up into a trilogy of novellas. That question becomes even more confounding because of the third and (mercifully) last book in the series.

Mary and John continue their relationship, each having fallen in love with the other. Max still circles around, and Mary is still attracted to him. The sex shop remains under siege, and Mary continues to learn about the woman who was her mother.

Our merry trio needs to discover who is behind the attacks on the shop, as John and Mary's feelings for each other continues to grow.

The problem with these three books is that independently, they are so slight as to be dull. You can't find a rhythm reading just one, and the plot is so insignificant as to render it worthless. Together, though, they do make for a more interesting reading experience. That isn't to say that they are all that good; they aren't, really. The sex scenes are nicely written, but the characters don't hold up. There are too many questions, beginning with why Mary is so quick to have sex when she comes to town. Nor do we really get a full picture of Mary's mother.

There are better books out there. Read one of those.

Stolen

Stolen
Shiloh Walker
Published by Ballantine
400 pages
Genre: mystery; erotica; romance
Thanks to edelweiss for the preview
3.5 / 5 cupcakes


If you want to go some place where you are not likely to be found, you might want to try Earth's End, Alaska. That's what Shay Morgan determines when she decides to escape a torturous, abusive life in Arizona. The good news about Earth's End is that Elliot Winter is there ... and Elliot Winter is HOT.

Shay lives alone and pens novels under the pseudonym of Shane Neill, whom many assume is a man. Despite having dated Elliot, she never let him in on the whole Shane Neill thing - and Elliott owns a bookstore. In fact, it was Shay's inability to let Elliott in to her life that caused their break up.

Now, however, Shay needs him, even if she doesn't realize it herself. The book opens with her returning home after spending three weeks in the hospital for injuries sustained in an accident. She has scarce memory of what got her there, and even scarcer memory of her childhood As the book unfolds, we discover that someone is pretending to be Shane Neill and that even Earth's End is not far away enough.

There is the mystery part of this story - who is pretending to be Shay's alter ego and why - and there is the romance. When Elliot and Shay reconnect, they do so passionately. Each has trust issues; Shay is not the only one who has had a rough go, and Elliot's problems continue to haunt him. Thanks to her history, Shay needs a man who moves with a slow hand, and Elliot, who loves her desperately, wants to be that man. By the time the headboard rockin' begins, we have waited for it, and the payoff is HOT. Elliot knows what to do, girls. He knows where to go, how to get there, and what to do upon arrival (and departure).

As the mystery deepens, so do Elliot's and Shay's feelings. But you cannot forget that each has endured a sort of trauma, so nothing will come easily for these two.

Much about this book is very good. Shay and Elliot's relationship moves realistically, and you can't help but like the two of them. The mystery is not as difficult to uncover as it should be; what becomes a greater mystery is the "why" question, but even that is solved fairly easily. The sex scenes are good, if not too few in number (yes, that old complaint again). I guess my biggest issue with this book is the ease with which some of the problems are dispatched.

Still, though, part of the mystery is strong, and those sex scenes are hot. And that counts for something, non?

Every Breath You Take

Every Breath You Take
M. K. Gilroy
Published by Worthy Publishing
365 pages
Genre: mystery
Thanks to NetGalley for the preview.
3.5 / 5 cupcakes


Sometimes a girl has to do what a girl has to do. In Detective Kristen Conner's case, she has to go undercover as an escort. For this pants and sensible shoes loving girl, having to deck herself out in tight jeans, high heels and fashionable hairdos is akin to selling a chunk of her soul. But she is a professional and holds the law in high regard, so she does it, because she wants to find a killer.

This is largely a mystery, and it refers to Cuts Like a Knife, the first book in what appears to be a series. You don't have to read the first one, though, to understand this one. I think it might help you understand some of the interpersonal dynamics, but it is not necessary.

In the case of the mystery, we have a wealthy, spoiled, debauched man with a fondness for escorts turn up dead. Someone killed him, but who? It appears there are several likely candidates, and Kristen must figure out who dun it. Eliminating one suspect invariably leads to discovering a new one, as motives become apparent. The mystery has a good hook and will keep you turning the page, even if the outcome is not wholly surprising.

In addition to trying to find the killer, though, this is also the story of a young woman's personal growth. Kristen has two sisters, one married with children and the other a gorgeous, popular news correspondent. Despite having a solid career, Kristen nonetheless is trying to find her place in the world. She is not married, has no children, and neither of those situations appears likely to change in the near future. Her previous boyfriend had a brother who kidnapped her sister. There is a man, but he's an FBI man and does not live in Chicago. He comes to visit Kristen, and we hold our breath, waiting to see if she even knows how to have a relationship.

Then there is Kristen's family, a tight knit, faith-oriented bunch who supports each other. As Kristen coaches her niece's soccer team, we get to see her where she feels most comfortable. When she is challenged, whether by players' parents or another coach, she reacts with strength and composure. The same holds true for her personal life.

Despite the sordidness of the crime, this is a fairly tame book. We don't get down and dirty in the escort business, nor do we see much more than kissing exchanged between Kristen and her man friend. That's fine and all - there is a definite Christian undertone to this book - but it makes it feel a little sterile. A little artificial. Kristen is pretending to be an escort. She fancies a man. We expect her to want to kiss men or to play a role. She doesn't.

There are some loose ends, which obviously opens us up to a third book. That's a good thing, because I want to continue to get to know Kristen Conner. She is an interesting character, if not a little too good at times, and she's sympathetic. She needs another book about her.

Shadow Valley

Shadow Valley
by Kate Sherwood
Published by Carina Press
122 pages
Genre: mystery, romance
Thanks to NetGalley for the preview
4 / 5 cupcakes


Poor Megan Archer. She succumbed to weakness and had an affair with the governor of Montana, but the word got out. So now she's been exiled to Shadow Valley, under the auspices of investigating why the town seems to turn a blind eye to its growing marijuana problem.

Lucky Megan Archer. When her car slips on ice and caroms down an embankment, she is submerged in the water, headed for certain death. Thanks to the incredibly hot and luscious Joe Cody, however, she is rescued.

Sort of.

Megan quickly realizes that her new job is nothing but a dead end. The locals may deal in the old Mary Jane, but surely there are bigger fish to fry. Like, say, meth dealers or something. But when it appears that the drug dealers are in collusion with members of the police department, Megan's job takes on a whole different sheen.

Meanwhile, there is Joe Cody. As in "member of the biggest pot dealing family in town" Joe Cody.

He and Megan instantly are drawn to each other, and this being a small town, their paths cross several times. After a particularly erotic interlude in the forest, Megan has some decisions to make. Does she believe in Joe, or does she believe the rumors? And if there is a leak in the police department, who is it?

This is a mystery and a romance, with a few bursts of hot headboard rocking. Joe is a walking fantasy, and when he shows an interest in Megan, you want to smack her in the back of the head and propel her into his arms. Fortunately in Joe's case, he's every bit as talented in the bedroom as he is in saving Megan's life.

Not that we get a whole lot of lovin', touchin' and squeezin', but what we do see leaves no doubt in our mind.

And, yes, it would have been nice to have a little more sexy times.

The story will keep you turning the pages. Is Joe innocent, or is he manipulating Megan? And who is causing trouble in the police department? What will happen to Joe and Megan?

This isn't a book that will set the world on fire, and you might find it a little forgettable after you finish it. But while you read it, you will enjoy every page. It's a good story with a hot hero.

Champagne: The Farewell

Champagne: The Farewell
by Janet Hubbard
Published by Poisoned Pen
250 pages
Genre: mystery; romance
Available on Amazon.com
Thanks to NetGalley for the preview
4 / 5 cupcakes


You know those days when you are in the mood to waste a few hours on something fun and frivolous? Sometimes, you just want - you need - to escape for a little bit into a book that asks no more from you than to simply read and enjoy.

That is Champagne: The Farewell.

Max Maguire is a lieutenant in the New York police force, and when her best friend Chloé invites Max to her French countryside wedding, Max packs up and heads to Europe. Shortly after arriving, she meets Oliviér, a judge, and the two instantly are drawn to each other. But just as the two start to enjoy their own version of a wedding dance, they get interrupted. Léa, Chloé's cousin, has been murdered. And thus begins the mystery portion of this mystery-romance.

Max and Oliviér set out to discover whodunit, albeit with neither terribly excited about working with the other. Max prefers to work alone, and Oliviér does not understand Max's propensity to use intuition when it comes to crime solving.

Our dynamic duo faces a host of prospective bad guys, both together and separately they interpret clues and identify the culprit. There are some red herrings, but if you pay attention, you will know who it is before they do.

The romance here is fairly tame, but it's sweet and fun. Max and Oliviér court each other, with her just as aggressive as he is. The sex scenes are very mild (almost too mild), which makes this book a fun, inoffensive choice.

Just like its namesake, this is a bubbly, intoxicating story with a romance and mystery that hooks you. Be warned, however: the characters drink a LOT of champagne, and you might find yourself craving some.

Broken Harbor

Broken Harbor
by Tana French
Published by Viking Adult
464 pages
Available on Amazon.com
Thanks to NetGalley for the preview
4 / 5 cupcakes


Pat and Jenny Spain have everything: good looks, well-paying jobs, two beautiful children, and now their dream home. Except that one gruesome night, a horrific tragedy occurs, and Jenny is the only member of her family still alive.

Enter Mick Kennedy, otherwise known as Scorcher, the detective called to the scene of the crime. Mick notices some odd things about the Spain home: the plethora of baby monitors, for one, and the holes in the wall, for another. And what's with that weird trap in the attic door?

Tana French takes us through a few possible options for "who done it," each as convincing as the next. Mick has his choice, while his partner Richie believes a different person is guilty. As the two go through the evidence, they alternate between affirming their belief of the guilty party and denying it.

Meanwhile, Mick has to deal with personal issues. Broken Harbor, the area where the Spains lived (and died) has significance for Mick, as it is where his mother took her life. Mental illness is never too far away, because Mick's younger sister Dina struggles with it; her instability causes him great anxiety and forces him to confront a heartbreaking moment from his childhood.

As far as the mystery is concerned, Tana French keeps us guessing. You will believe Mick, you'll believe Richie, and you may even form your own opinions. When the truth comes out, you won't feel cheated, which is the sign of a well conceived whodunit.

There is a lot - and I do mean a LOT - of talking in this book. Mick and Richie have long discussions, Mick and Dina chat for pages, other cops and investigators talk. Yap, yap, yap, yap, yap. Some of those conversations slow the tale's progression, bogging us down in unnecessary information. On the plus side, each character is fully presented; you will love and hate them in equal measure. Each of us has some guilt and innocence within us, French seems to say, sort of an angel on one shoulder and a devil on the other. Whether we lean one way or the other depends on our weaknesses. In some cases, that weakness is fragile mental health. In others, it's pride.

This is a good, engrossing mystery. I hadn't read any of French's books previously - Mick was first introduced in Faithful Place - and enjoyed "meeting" her.

The Line Between Here and Gone

The Line Between Here and Gone
Andrea Kane
Published by Harlequin MIRA
Available on Amazon.com.
400 pages
Thanks to NetGalley for the preview.
4 / 5 cupcakes


What would you do if your month old infant faces a life threatening illness for which his only possible chance at survival is a bone marrow transplant with his father as the donor, only the father is missing? What would you do? You would do anything to save your child, wouldn't you?

Amanda Gleason sure would.

In Andrea Kane's wonderful The Line Between Here and Gone, Amanda faces this awful situation. Her baby son is battling one awful illness after another, and he desperately needs a bone marrow transplant in order to survive. Amanda is not a candidate, but the doctor believes Paul, the baby's father, would be. Unfortunately, he is gone - assumed dead, although his body was never found. Then one day, a friend sends Amanda a picture of someone who looks an awful lot like Paul on a street in Washington, DC. Amanda takes the photo to Forensic Instincts, an unconventional group of investigators, and begs them to help her find out what happened to her baby daddy. The group agrees.

There are a LOT of twists and turns to this story, but they are easy to follow (thank you, Andrea Kane). There is nothing so convoluted here that you cannot figure out what is happening, and even with all of the characters and plot twists, you are as emotionally invested as the Forensics Instincts people, who feel the clock ticking. FI's Casey Woods is so frantic that she tries to enlist the aid of her FBI boyfriend:

"It might involve a crime family as well as a national politician. We don't know. We will know, because we wouldn't have it nay other way. But an infant's life is on the line. We don't have the luxury of time. And you have the ability and resources to accelerate the process. So anything you could find out would be crucial to our search for Paul Everett." 

In addition to the mystery and suspense, there are some romantic entanglements as well. Casey begs her boyfriend for help, but he can't breach the FBI. Two of FI's staffers are attracted to each other, but reluctant to act upon it. If it seems like this would be distracting in a tense thriller, you're wrong. The romance helps lighten a very heavy book. Any time a baby's life hangs in the balance, you are in for a rough time.

This is a really good book, folks. It hooks you immediately and you will not be able to stop until you find out what happened to Paul and why. And, of course, you will want to know what happens to Amanda's baby. It isn't perfect - there are a couple of twists that are not fully or well explained - but it's good.

Dead Scared

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Dead Scared
S. J. Bolton
Published by Minotaur Books
Available June 5, 2012
384 pages
Available on Amazon.com
Thanks to NetGalley for the preview.
4 / 5 cupcakes


I really liked this book, but it frustrated me. Bolton does so many things well - creates characters we care about, crafts a suspenseful atmosphere and mood, keeps us turning the pages. But there are some issues here, and those are what cause me to give this four cupcakes, rather than five.

Dead Scared is the follow up to Now You See Me, but you can read this without having read its predecessor (I did, although I will say I am intrigued by what the first book might have included). Lacey Flint - evidently not her real name, and while we are told that she can't tell us her real name, we are not told why - is in her late twenties but can pass for five or so years younger. Based on that, her superiors (including Mark Joesbury, who is or is not a prospective love interest - he and Lacey seem to dance around that idea) send her undercover to Cambridge to see what she can find out about a rash of suicides. She is not to investigate; she just needs to gather information.

Well, you can't keep a good DC down, so naturally Lacey begins to investigate. And here is where the plot becomes a wee tad convoluted. Okay, a LOT convoluted.

First, there is a school psychiatrist, Evi Oliver, who is physically disabled (which is another mystery of sorts) and who counseled some of the girls who killed themselves. Evi herself is being attacked by Forces Unknown: she receives frightening messages written on her bathroom mirror, hears strange noises, and seems to be spied upon.

Then we have Nick Bell, the doctor treating one of the girls who attempted suicide. Is he a good guy, or is he up to no good?

The story skips back and forth across time, going into the heads of characters whose identities are revealed in the book's final act. This background intel helps us understand why the bad guys do what they do and what the girls think and feel as they kill themselves. It's eerie and disturbing, to say the least.

There are red herrings GALORE here, so don't get attached to someone you think might be the villain. Some of the "gotchas" are a little far fetched, but some make you think, "Oh, now I get it." Those are the good ones.

As for Lacey and Mark, we want more of them. They spend very little time together, and that's frustrating. We need to see them work more as a team. Lacey sends email reports to Mark, and those moments are when we connect with him, because he is kept on the fringes of this novel (and that's why I want to read the first one - I hope to get to know Mark better).

Bolton peppers the book with some humor and a little romance, here and there. Lacey's initial exposure to Oxford is humorously detailed:  "He'd taken pity on me earlier as I'd stood at the painted-arched doorway, feeling like an extra in a Harry Potter movie in my borrowed gown."

Dead Scared will keep you on the edge of your seat, furiously turning pages to find out the villain's identity. We also want to know what happens to Evi, who is beset upon by all manner of sadness and struggles. And Lacey, who, at the start of the book, appears to be about to jump to her death.

This is a good mystery that could have been told more effectively. The jumps in time and perspective get jumbled, and you have to make a HUGE leap to accept what has been happening to these girls. It's a little too fantastical to believe. Still, though, it's good. And I do like Lacey and Mark - I just want more of them together.

Little Night

Little Night
Luanne Rice
Published by Pamela Dorman Books
Available June 5, 2012
336 pages
Available on Amazon.com.
Thanks to NetGalley for the preview.
3 / 5 cupcakes


Let's say your sister is married to a man who hurts her. Not only does he physically abuse her, he isolates her from her sister and parents. He is hateful. And let's say that one day you go visit your sister and her two children, and one of the children says that Daddy sometimes hurts Mommy. So you beg your sister to leave - you will protect her and the children. Just as you're leaving, here comes the husband. He clamps his hand around your sister's throat and throws her against a wall. What do you do?

In the case of Clare Burke, she attacks her brother-in-law. Unfortunately, she doesn't kill him. She merely hurts him, and has to spend two years in prison for assault. When she gets out, she has Paul, the love of her life, as well as her job. For the ensuing eighteen years, she lives. Perhaps not with great joy or fulfillment, and certainly with no relationship with her sister Anne. And then one day, Anne's daughter, Grit, shows up on Clare's doorstep. Grit has her own sadnesses and secrets, and as the two women grow closer, they help each other heal from the hurts imparted by Anne. They also come to believe that Anne is in New York as well.

This is a pretty simple story of several complex characters, especially Clare, Grit and Anne. Luanne Rice keeps a good pace and creates sympathetic characters in Clare, Grit and Paul. (Oh, Paul - I love him. He's just a good guy, and you don't often come across fictional men who are purely good.) Anne is not so sympathetic, although I think we are supposed to empathize with her. But I didn't. Perhaps that is due to insufficient explanation of why she allowed her husband to cut her off from her sister and parents. And Frederik, the husband. He is almost a caricature of the Angry, Abusive Spouse.

Fortunately, though, we have Clare. There are blanks where she is concerned; she alludes to the terrors of prison life, but aside from a weight gain and poor skin, we are told nothing about it. She distances us from that experience, but perhaps that's how she survived the experience. I don't think it's an accident that Clare spends her life following birds: this is a woman who knows what it's like to be caged in and what it's like to be set free. That she wants to believe that an extinct bird continues to exist makes sense. She wants to know that her sister, extinct to Clare for twenty years, is alive and well.

Paul, who has loved her since high school, believes Clare is worth fighting for and will do anything to make her happy. But first he needs to convince Clare that she deserves to be happy.

Love and hope. For Clare they hadn't gone together in years. Her skin rippled. Paul was somewhere in the park. She knew the way an owl, gliding low over hills, senses her mate without hearing his call. He'd be doing his Urban Park Ranger duties, along the way keeping watch for the Whekau. Although he didn't believe in the bird the ay she did, he had his own reasons for wishing a vanished species could someday come back.

Luanne Rice takes some shortcuts in this book, not just with Anne and Frederik, but with Grit as well. Grit is able to pull herself together with alarming alacrity, which is frustrating because Grit, of all people, ought to need more time. In fact, the treatment of Grit is the reason I can't give this book more than three cupcakes. I feel cheated by her rapid healing.

Yet I do think Little Night is a good book. Not great, not fabulous, but good. It is a very quick read, and Clare is worth getting to know.

Beneath the Shadows

Beneath the Shadows
Sara Foster
Published by Minotaur Books / St. Martin's Press
Available June 5, 2012
320 pages
Available on Amazon.com.
Thanks to NetGalley for the preview.
4 / 5 cupcakes

I loved this book.

Mysteries are so much fun to read, IF they are done correctly. If you know whodunit before the hero, or if you are left with no surprises, then the mystery is dull and pointless. But if you are kept guessing, and if the resolution makes sense, then the mystery is beautifully crafted. And that's what Sara Foster has done here.

Grace, her husband, Adam, and their baby daughter Millie return to Adam's grandparents' cottage in North Yorkshire. Adam wants them to escape from the hurly burly of London, and since the cottage is paid for, they can downsize and reconnect with simplicity. But shortly after they move, Adam takes Millie for a walk and never returns, although Millie is left in her stroller on the front porch.

A year later, Grace and Millie return to the cottage, after living in France with her parents. Grace wants answers - what happened to Adam? - and she needs some sort of closure. She begins having strange nightmares, and as the locals fill her with tales of ghosts, she becomes increasingly unsettled. Why does the grandfather clock - the "heart" of the cottage, as Adam said his grandfather called it - periodically stop ticking? What are those weird noises she hears? Why do some people stare at her?

And, most importantly, how can she make peace with Adam's absence? She goes through old papers and photographs, desperate to solve the mystery of Adam.

She had to summon all her will power to swallow the emotion that began to rise in her throat. She searched their faces for some clue that their love story was destined to end abruptly, that they weren't as happy as she had imagined - but all she could see was joyful smiles and laughter. That night, as they had gone to sleep in a four-poster bed, Adam had whispered his love in her ear, telling her he'd had the greatest day of his life. And when he'd first held Millie in his arms he'd promised he would do everything possible to protect his family. He'd said it with such gravitas ... Too much gravitas? How would she ever know? Could she really live the rest of her life with all this doubt? But what choice had he left her?

The answers will not come easily to Grace, either because she asks the wrong questions or because those who might help her refuse to do so. As with much of life, Grace comes to understand that figuring out what happened to Adam is just one mystery to solve. There are others, and the thing about secrets is that those who try to keep them do not want you to find them out.

Sara Foster does a fine job of crafting this story. She keeps you guessing from page to page, and the answers do not come easily or conveniently. There is nothing cheap in the resolution to this book, and for that, I doff my wig in gratitude. I admit to a few remaining questions, but not for major plot threads.

This may not be a great beach read, in that you don't want to put it down when you need to roll over and burn your back side, but it's great for a rainy, dreary summer day. In fact, that may be the perfect ambience for this gripping mystery.