en-US Tue, 08 Apr 2025 06:13:04 -0700 60 144 41 /images/layout/goodreads_logo_144.jpg 51684874 256 Mary Kelly 1728219973 Donna 0 3.83 1961
author: Mary Kelly
name: Donna
average rating: 3.83
book published: 1961
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/08
shelves: to-read, mysteries, mysteries-classic
review:

]]> 802001 182 Georges Simenon 0156028484 Donna 5 3.97 1955
author: Georges Simenon
name: Donna
average rating: 3.97
book published: 1955
rating: 5
read at: 2025/03/27
date added: 2025/04/07
shelves: mysteries, mysteries-classic, mysteries-international, mysteries-police-pi-forensics
review:
Another classic and another slim volume. It is amazing how a good writer can pack a complex story into a short space. Highly recommended.
]]> 24611547 A 50th-anniversary edition of the pioneering novel featuring African American police detective Virgil Tibbs—with a foreword by John Ridley, creator of the TV series American Crime and Oscar-winning screenwriter of 12 Years a Slave
��
“They call me Mr. Tibbs�� was the line immortalized by Sidney Poitier in the 1967 Oscar-winning movie adaptation of In the Heat of the Night, which won the Edgar Award for Best First Novel and the Crime Writers�� Association Gold Dagger Award and was named one of the 100 Favorite Mysteries of the 20th Century by the Independent Mystery Booksellers Association.��Now fans of classic crime can rediscover this suspense-filled novel whose hero paved the way for James Patterson’s Alex Cross, George Pelecanos’s Derek Strange, and other African American detectives.

A small southern town in the 1960s. A musician found dead on the highway. It’s no surprise when white detectives arrest a black man for the murder. What is a surprise is that the black man—Virgil Tibbs—is not the killer but a skilled homicide detective, passing through racially tense Wells, South Carolina, on his way back to California. Even more surprising, Wells’s new police chief recruits Tibbs to help with the investigation. But Tibbs’s presence in town rubs some of the locals the wrong way, and it won’t be long before the martial arts–trained detective has to fight not just for justice, but also for his own safety.

For more than sixty-five years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,500��titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the��series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date��translations by award-winning translators.]]> 176 John Dudley Ball 0143107747 Donna 5 4.09 1965
author: John Dudley Ball
name: Donna
average rating: 4.09
book published: 1965
rating: 5
read at: 2025/02/26
date added: 2025/04/07
shelves: mysteries, mysteries-classic, mysteries-police-pi-forensics
review:
So much in such a slim volume. Yes, it is a murder mystery but there is layer upon layer of prejudice, stereotypes, preconceived ideas, and eventually maybe a bit of enlightenment. A highly recommended classic.
]]> 195888486
As Nonna Maria's longtime friend and sometimes colleague, Captain Murino of the Ischian caribineri never wanted to see harm brought to the doorstep of everyone's favorite espresso-brewing, counsel-giving amateur sleuth. But when you live a long life, you're bound to make a few enemies. And when those enemies come calling, you have to rely on friends. Faced with an assassin seeking revenge for a decades-old grudge, Captain Murino has no choice but to turn to Maria, who must use all her neighborly resources, clever faculties, and web of connections to save him from his perilous predicament.

On the other side of the island, a second mystery begins to unfold from the deathbed of another of Maria's old friends, when he hands his granddaughter a yellowed map and tells her of a treasure to be found in one of Ischia’s secret caverns, known as the Magician’s Cave. There are traps and pits. There will be others with sinister motives who will do all they can to make the treasure their own. But this map is a guide—the only gift he has to give. When the granddaughter needs help cracking the code, she turns to her grandfather's most trusted Nonna Maria.

From battling foes in medieval castles to exploring the notorious caverns where smugglers hid their goods, Nonna Maria and her friends—some old, some new—embark on their most swashbuckling adventure yet.]]> 288 Lorenzo Carcaterra 0593499212 Donna 0 3.89
author: Lorenzo Carcaterra
name: Donna
average rating: 3.89
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/07
shelves: currently-reading, mysteries, mysteries-cozy-traditional, mysteries-international
review:

]]> 22716386 Blithe Spirit—Flavia will do anything, even take to the skies, to land a killer.]]> 352 Alan Bradley 0385344066 Donna 0 4.20 2014
author: Alan Bradley
name: Donna
average rating: 4.20
book published: 2014
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/07
shelves: currently-reading, audiobooks, mysteries, mysteries-historical, mysteries-other
review:

]]> 203036905 ‘Poetic and Forsyth provides a captivating glimpse into the life of one of Ancient Rome's greatest writers.�� Steven Veerapen, author of the Simon Danforth Mysteries

9 CE.

Rome’s celebrated love poet Ovid finds himself in exile, courtesy of an irate Emperor, in the far-flung town of Tomis.

Appalled at being banished to a barbarous region at the very edge of the Empire, Ovid soon discovers that he has a far more urgent - and potentially perilous - issue to address. A killer is at large in Tomis.

Somebody is slaughtering animals in a parody of ritual, and the Governor’s advisor Marcus Avitius is under pressure to apprehend the perpetrator.

Romans are held in low esteem by the local populace, however, and assistance is hard to come by. When the killer progresses from animal to human victims, Avitius reluctantly allies himself to the mercurial, tipsy Ovid.

It seems that Ovid has an inexplicable link to the murderer too, with his poetry providing the timetable by which the killer works.

After a secret visit from the elite Praetorian Guard, Ovid realises he is in mortal danger in Tomis. If he doesn’t follow the Emperor’s line, more than just his freedom is at risk.

With Avitius distracted by the demands of the Governor, Ovid becomes a target for dark forces at work in Tomis - and in Rome.

Recommended for fans of Steven Saylor, Lindsey Davis and Simon Scarrow.

Fiona Forsyth studied Classics at Oxford before teaching the subject for 25 years. Fiona is also the author of the Lucius Sestius Mysteries.

Praise for Fiona

‘Fiona Forsyth weaves together the various strands of this gripping tale with an expert hand. The result is an impressively authentic historical setting full of utterly believable ancient Roman characters involved in an increasingly tense mystery. Brilliantly done.�� Peter Tonkin

'Tightly-written, well-researched, fast-moving, and showing an excellent eye and ear for character and dialogue. A joy to read.' David Wishart

'Beautifully written and utterly absorbing, Forsyth has created a stunning depiction of the end of the republic and birth of the Roman Empire.' Jemahl Evans

‘Forsyth weaves fact and fiction to produce a page-turning mystery and insight into the end of the Republic.�� Richard Foreman]]> 283 Fiona Forsyth Donna 0 4.49
author: Fiona Forsyth
name: Donna
average rating: 4.49
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/07
shelves: to-read, mysteries, mysteries-historical, mysteries-international
review:

]]> 372713 245 Donna Leon 0871139189 Donna 4 mysteries, audiobooks 3.84 2004
author: Donna Leon
name: Donna
average rating: 3.84
book published: 2004
rating: 4
read at: 2025/04/06
date added: 2025/04/07
shelves: mysteries, audiobooks
review:

]]> 217388191 The queen of Roman crime gives us her most gripping case yet.

Ten years after the eruption of Vesuvius, the surrounding countryside lies buried and barren. But the destroyed cities and luxury villas on the Bay of Naples are not utterly lost.

Flavia Albia and her husband Tiberius Manlius are tasked with restoring one villa and identifying any surviving remains.

What they unearth is beyond disturbing. When the volcano erupted some people were left to their fate here, unable to escape. They included the previous owner, Publius Primus - laid out carefully and covered by falling ash.

Was Primus murdered? And, if so, why? Can Flavia Albia solve the mystery?

There Will Be Bodies looks beyond the well-known tragic events to what must have happened afterwards. It is the most intriguing crime novel of Lindsey Davis's long and celebrated career.]]> 368 Lindsey Davis 1250906733 Donna 0 to-read 4.50
author: Lindsey Davis
name: Donna
average rating: 4.50
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/07
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 205899901 An extraordinary new novel set in the world of John le Carré's most iconic spy, George Smiley, written by acclaimed novelist Nick Harkaway

It is spring in 1963 and George Smiley has left the Circus. With the wreckage of the West’s spy war with the Soviets strewn across Europe, he has eyes only for a more peaceful life. And indeed, with his marriage more secure than ever, there is a rumor in Whitehall—unconfirmed and a little scandalous—that George Smiley might almost be happy.

But Control has other plans. A Russian agent has defected, and the man he was sent to kill in London is nowhere to be found. Smiley reluctantly agrees to one last simple interview Szusanna, a Hungarian émigré and employee of the missing man, and sniff out a lead. But, as Smiley well knows, even the softest step in the shadows resounds with terrible danger. Soon, he is back there, in East Berlin, and on the trail of his most devious enemy’s hidden past.

Set in the missing decade between two iconic instalments in the George Smiley saga, The Spy Who Came in from the Cold and Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, Nick Harkaway’s Karla’s Choice is an extraordinary, thrilling return to the world of spy fiction’s greatest writer, John le Carré.]]> 320 Nick Harkaway Donna 4 3.99 2024
author: Nick Harkaway
name: Donna
average rating: 3.99
book published: 2024
rating: 4
read at: 2025/04/06
date added: 2025/04/06
shelves: mysteries, mysteries-thrillers-espionage
review:

]]> 218695923 Mary Russell’s allegiances are tested by the reappearance of her long-lost uncle—and a tantalizing case not even Sherlock Holmes could solve.

When Mary Russell was a child, she adored her black-sheep Uncle Jake. But she hasn’t heard from him in many years, and she's assumed that his ne’er-do-well ways had brought him to a bad end somewhere—until he presents himself at her Sussex door. Yes, Jake is back, and with a load of problems for his clever niece. Not the least of which is the reason the family rejected him in the first he was involved—somehow—in the infamous disappearance of the Irish Crown Jewels from a secure safe in Dublin Castle.

It was a theft that shook a government, enraged a King, threatened the English establishment—and baffled not only the Dublin police and Scotland Yard, but Sherlock Holmes himself. And now, Jake expects Russell to step into the middle of it all? To slip away with him, not telling Homes what she’s up to? Knowing that the theft—unsolved, hushed-up, scandalous—must have involved Mycroft Holmes as well?

Naturally, she can do nothing of the sort. Siding with her Uncle Jake, even briefly, could only place her in opposition to both her husband-partner, and to his secretive and powerful brother. She has to tell Jake no.

On the other hand, this is Jake—her father’s kid brother, her childhood hero, beloved and long-lost survivor of a diminished family.

Conflicting loyalties and international secrets, blatant lies and blithe sounds like another case for Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes.]]> 336 Laurie R. King 059387398X Donna 0 to-read 4.50 2025
author: Laurie R. King
name: Donna
average rating: 4.50
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/05
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 62980107 288 C. Daly King 1613164157 Donna 0 3.19 1932
author: C. Daly King
name: Donna
average rating: 3.19
book published: 1932
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/03
shelves: to-read, mysteries, mysteries-classic, mysteries-historical
review:

]]> 94351
Death in the Andes is both a fascinating detective novel and an insightful political allegory. Mario Vargas Llosa offers a panoramic view of Peruvian society, from the recent social upheaval to the cultural influences in its past.]]> 322 Mario Vargas Llosa 057117549X Donna 0 3.72 1993
author: Mario Vargas Llosa
name: Donna
average rating: 3.72
book published: 1993
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/03
shelves: to-read, mysteries, mysteries-international, mysteries-other
review:

]]> 58437970 Pesticide is Switzerland’s answer to Scandinavian noir. Fresh and oh so readable, you won’t want to put it down."
--James W. Ziskin, author of the award-winning Ellie Stone mysteries

Bern, Switzerland—known for its narrow cobblestone streets, decorative fountains, and�� striking towers. Yet dark currents run through this charming medieval city and beyond, to the idyllic farmlands that surround it.

When a rave on a hot summer night erupts into violent riots, a young man is found the next morning bludgeoned to death with a policeman’s club. Seasoned detective Giuliana Linder is assigned to the case. That same day, an elderly organic farmer turns up dead and drenched with pesticide. Enter Giuliana’s younger—and distractingly attractive—colleague Renzo Donatelli to investigate the second murder. Giuliana’s disappointment that they’re on two different cases is tinged with relief—her home life is complicated enough without the risk of a fling.

But when an unexpected discovery ties the two victims into a single case, Giuliana and Renzo are thrown closer together than ever before. Dangerously close. Will Giuliana be able to handle the threats to her marriage and to her assumptions about the police? If she wants to prevent another murder, she’ll have to put her life on the line—and her principles.

Combining suspense and romance, this debut mystery in the Polizei Bern series offers a distinctive picture of the Swiss. An inventive tale, packed with surprises, it will keep readers guessing until the end.]]> 358 Kim Hays 1645060462 Donna 0 3.99
author: Kim Hays
name: Donna
average rating: 3.99
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/03
shelves: to-read, mysteries, mysteries-international, mysteries-police-pi-forensics
review:

]]> 145624751 Brendan Holmes, Margaret Marple and Auguste Poe run the most in-demand private investigation agency in New York City.

The three detectives make a formidable team, solving a series of seemingly impossible crimes which expose the dark underbelly of the city - from a priceless art theft, high-stakes kidnapping and a decades-old unsolved murder, to a gruesome subterranean prison and corruption and bribery at the highest levels of power.

But it's not long before their headline-grabbing breakthroughs, unconventional methods - and untraceable pasts - attract the attention of the NYPD and the FBI.

After all, it's no surprise that there's a mystery or two to unravel in the city that never sleeps . . . not least, who really are Holmes, Margaret and Poe?]]> 352 James Patterson 0316405191 Donna 4 3.86 2024
author: James Patterson
name: Donna
average rating: 3.86
book published: 2024
rating: 4
read at: 2025/04/02
date added: 2025/04/02
shelves: mysteries, mysteries-humorous, mysteries-police-pi-forensics, audiobooks
review:

]]> 52458503 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?]]> 281 Erica Ruth Neubauer 1496725859 Donna 3 3.69 2020
author: Erica Ruth Neubauer
name: Donna
average rating: 3.69
book published: 2020
rating: 3
read at: 2025/03/26
date added: 2025/04/02
shelves: mysteries, mysteries-cozy-traditional, mysteries-international
review:
2.5 rounded up. Trying to follow in the footsteps of Agatha Christie and Elizabeth Peters (Amelia Peabody series) is certainly challenging and I'm not sure this quite makes the mark. Lightly entertaining.
]]> 127975990 A sharp, savvy mystery about an autistic editor who inherits a crumbling English estate, only to find herself at the center of a murder investigation when a family portrait vanishes and a dead body turns up.

Jo Jones has always had a little trouble fitting in. As a neurodivergent, hyperlexic book editor and divorced New Yorker transplanted into the English countryside, Jo doesn’t know what stands out more: her Americanisms or her autism.

After losing her job, her mother, and her marriage all in one year, she couldn’t be happier to take possession of a possibly haunted (and clearly unwanted) family estate in North Yorkshire. But when the body of the moody town groundskeeper turns up on her rug with three bullets in his back, Jo finds herself in potential danger—and she’s also a potential suspect. At the same time, a peculiar family portrait vanishes from a secret room in the manor, bearing a strange connection to both the dead body and Jo’s mysterious family history.

With the aid of a Welsh antiques dealer, the morose local detective, and the Irish innkeeper’s wife, Jo embarks on a mission to clear herself of blame and find the missing painting, unearthing a slew of secrets about the town—and herself—along the way. And she’ll have to do it all before the killer strikes again…]]> 336 Brandy Schillace 1335014039 Donna 3 3.57 2024
author: Brandy Schillace
name: Donna
average rating: 3.57
book published: 2024
rating: 3
read at: 2025/03/23
date added: 2025/04/02
shelves: mysteries, audiobooks, mysteries-cozy-traditional, mysteries-police-pi-forensics
review:
2.5 stars rounded up. There is a lot to like in this book but it did feel a bit like 2 stories forced together into one book and honestly, the story line with Det. MacAdams and the murder of the handy man was much more interesting than the mystery of the painting. Still they came together in the end with a bit of a Hallmark movie damsel in distress conclusion.
]]> 222376507 The Killing Stones marks the eagerly awaited return of Ann Cleeves' beloved detectives from the Shetland series, and a gripping new investigation with a stunning new setting, from the New York Times bestselling author and creator of three iconic detectives beloved in TV and DI Jimmy Perez (the Shetland series), DI Vera Stanhope, and DI Matthew Venn (The Long Call).

It's been several years since Detective Jimmy Perez left Shetland. He has settled into his new home in Orkney, the group of islands, off the northern coast of Scotland, with his partner Willow Reeve and their growing family. One stormy winter night, his oldest and closest friend, Archie Stout, goes missing. Ever the detective, Perez catches a boat to the island of Westray, where Archie worked as a farmer and lived with his wife and children.

But when he arrives he finds a shocking Archie's body, on an archaeological dig site and an ancient Westray story stone with precise spirals carved into it beside him, the clear murder weapon. The artifact, taken from a nearby museum, seems to suggest a premediated murder.

But Perez is so close to the case that he struggles to maintain an objective distance from the potential suspects. He finds it difficult to question Archie's wife, whom he's known for years. Rumors swirl about the dead man's relationship with a young woman new to the island, an artist. With each new lead, the case becomes more twisted and Perez wonders if he will ever find out what happened in his friend's final days.]]> 384 Ann Cleeves 1250357284 Donna 0 to-read 4.00 2025
author: Ann Cleeves
name: Donna
average rating: 4.00
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/01
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 223641077
Maggie Hope has come a long way since she was Mr. Churchill’s secretary. In the face of tremendous danger, she’s learned��espionage, sabotage, and reconnaissance.��But things are different now that she has��so��much to lose,��including��the possibility of a family with John Sterling,��the��man��who’s��long held her heart.

British Intelligence has ordered Maggie to��assassinate��Werner��Heisenberg, the��physicist��who may deliver a world-ending fission bomb for she’s��shaken by the assignment.��An assassination��is unlike anything she’s ever done. How can��the Allies��even be sure��Nazi Germany has a bomb? Determined to gather more information, Maggie travels to Madrid, where��Heisenberg is visiting for��a lecture.

At the same time,��couturier��Coco Chanel has requested a meeting with��the undercover agent. Chanel, a spy in��her own right,��with ambiguous loyalties, is meeting with the British Ambassador��in Madrid—and has requested Maggie��join them.��And��Chanel��provides��the perfect cover for Maggie’s��trip to Spain.��The two��play��cat and mouse as Maggie tries to get a better understanding of Heisenberg. But��the most shocking curveball is��from��the most intimate Maggie’s own mother��has kept��a hand in the war—and has secrets of her own to share.

Maggie desperately wants to find her��“happily-ever-after,”��but as the war reaches a fever pitch, the stakes��keep rising. Now,��more than ever, the choices��she makes will reverberate around the globe, touching everyone she loves—with fateful implications for the future of the free world.]]> 304 Susan Elia MacNeal 0593157001 Donna 0 to-read 5.00 2024
author: Susan Elia MacNeal
name: Donna
average rating: 5.00
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/01
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 216895124 For fans of Anthony Horowitz, Tana French, and Sally Rooney, a wonderfully original, genre-breaking literary debut from Ireland that’s an homage to the brilliant detective novels of the early twentieth century, a twisty modern murder mystery, and a searing exploration of grief and loss.

A group of friends gather at an Airbnb on New Year’s Eve. It is Benjamin’s birthday, and his sister Abigail is throwing him a jazz-age Murder Mystery themed party. As the night plays out, champagne is drunk, hors d’oeuvres consumed, and relationships forged, consolidated or frayed. Someone kisses the wrong person; someone else’s heart is broken.

In the morning, all of them wake up—except Benjamin.

As Abigail attempts to wrap her mind around her brother’s death, an eminent detective arrives determined to find Benjamin's killer. In this mansion, suddenly complete with a butler, gardener and housekeeper, everyone is a suspect, and nothing is quite as it seems.��

Will the culprit be revealed? And how can Abigail, now alone, piece herself back together in the wake of this loss?

Gripping and playful, sharp and profoundly moving, Fair Play plumbs the depths of the human heart while subverting one of our most popular genres.


]]> 288 Louise Hegarty 0063360551 Donna 0 to-read, mysteries 3.11
author: Louise Hegarty
name: Donna
average rating: 3.11
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/30
shelves: to-read, mysteries
review:

]]> 55836539 A literary master across genres, award-winning author Chris Offutt's latest novel, The Killing Hills, is a compelling, propulsive thriller in which a suspicious death exposes the loyalties and rivalries of a deep-rooted and fiercely private community in the Kentucky backwoods.

Mick Hardin, a combat veteran now working as an Army CID agent, is home on a leave that is almost done. His wife is about to give birth, but they aren't getting along. His sister, newly risen to sheriff, has just landed her first murder case, and local politicians are pushing for city police or the FBI to take the case. Are they convinced she can't handle it, or is there something else at work? She calls on Mick who, with his homicide investigation experience and familiarity with the terrain, is well-suited to staying under the radar. As he delves into the investigation, he dodges his commanding officer's increasingly urgent calls while attempting to head off further murders. And he needs to talk to his wife.

The Killing Hills is a novel of betrayal--sexual, personal, within and between the clans that populate the hollers--and the way it so often shades into violence. Chris Offutt has delivered a dark, witty, and absolutely compelling novel of murder and honor, with an investigator-hero unlike any in fiction.]]> 240 Chris Offutt 0802158412 Donna 0 3.71 2021
author: Chris Offutt
name: Donna
average rating: 3.71
book published: 2021
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/26
shelves: to-read, mysteries, mysteries-police-pi-forensics
review:

]]> 214151304 Emma Donoghue, the “soul-stirring�� (Oprah Daily) nationally bestselling author of Room, returns with a sweeping historical novel about an infamous 1895 disaster at the Paris Montparnasse train station.

Based on an 1895 disaster that went down in history when it was captured in a series of surreal, extraordinary photographs, The Paris Express is a propulsive novel set on a train packed with a fascinating cast of characters who hail from as close as Brittany and as far as Russia, Ireland, Algeria, Pennsylvania, and Cambodia. Members of parliament hurry back to Paris to vote; a medical student suspects a girl may be dying; a secretary tries to convince her boss of the potential of moving pictures; two of the train’s crew build a life away from their wives; a young anarchist makes a terrifying plan, and much more.

From an author whose “writing is superb alchemy�� (Audrey Niffenegger, New York Times bestselling author), The Paris Express is an evocative masterpiece that effortlessly captures the politics, glamour, chaos, and speed that marked the end of the 19th century.]]> 288 Emma Donoghue 1668082799 Donna 0 to-read, historical-fiction 3.34 2025
author: Emma Donoghue
name: Donna
average rating: 3.34
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/26
shelves: to-read, historical-fiction
review:

]]> 9231999 ��é�ٱ𳦳پ��Dz� inspired Claire’s unusual practices. Claire also has deep roots in New Orleans, where she was mentored by Silette’s student the brilliant Constance Darling—until Darling was murdered. When a respected DA goes missing she returns to the hurricane-ravaged city to find out why.]]> 273 Sara Gran 0547428499 Donna 4 3.68 2011
author: Sara Gran
name: Donna
average rating: 3.68
book published: 2011
rating: 4
read at: 2025/02/10
date added: 2025/03/24
shelves: mysteries, mysteries-police-pi-forensics, mysteries-other
review:
Off beat and unconventional just barely describes private investigator Claire DeWitt. Set in New Orleans in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina she uses all her conventional skills and unconventional (think, I Ching and dreams) skills to find a missing person and set a few lost souls on a better path.
]]> 220271960 The first in a brand-new crime thriller series from Edgar nominee and Pulitzer Prize–winning author Bryan Gruley. Feisty defence attorney, Devny Payne faces off against veteran detective, Garth Klimmek as they work to solve a vicious double homicide in their small, icy town of Bitterfrost.

Thirteen years ago, former ice hockey star Jimmy Baker quit the game after almost killing an opponent. Now, as the Zamboni driver for the amateur team in his hometown of Bitterfrost, Michigan, he’s living his penance. Until the morning he awakens to the smell of blood . . .

Jimmy soon finds himself arrested for a brutal double murder. The kicker? He has no memory of the night in question. And as the evidence racks up against him, Jimmy’s case is skating on thin ice. Could he have committed such a gruesome crime?

As his defence attorney, Devyn Payne and prosecuting detective Garth Klimmek race to uncover the truth, time is running out for Jimmy. Because all he can really be sure of is that he is capable of taking a life. The question is, in his blacked-out state, did he take two?

This gritty drama is the first in the Bitterfrost series, perfect for fans of Dennis Lehane!]]> 336 Bryan Gruley 1448315409 Donna 0 4.09
author: Bryan Gruley
name: Donna
average rating: 4.09
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/20
shelves: to-read, mysteries, mysteries-police-pi-forensics
review:

]]> 23014714
A summer hit in its original German, Death in Pont-Aven introduces readers to the enigmatic Commissaire Dupin, an idiosyncratic penguin lover and Parisian-born caffeine junkie whose unique methods of detection raise more than a few eyebrows. It is a book so atmospheric readers will immediately want to wander through the village’s narrow alleyways, breathe in the Atlantic air and savour Brittany’s seaside specialty dishes. Death in Pont-Aven is a spellbinding, subtle and smart crime novel, peppered with cryptic humour and surprising twists.]]> 320 Jean-Luc Bannalec 1250061741 Donna 4 3.54 2012
author: Jean-Luc Bannalec
name: Donna
average rating: 3.54
book published: 2012
rating: 4
read at: 2025/03/18
date added: 2025/03/19
shelves: mysteries, mysteries-international, mysteries-police-pi-forensics, mysteries-translations
review:

]]> 17910554 From award-winning author Alan Bradley comes the next cozy British mystery starring intrepid young sleuth Flavia de Luce, hailed by USA Today as “one of the most remarkable creations in recent literature.��

Eleven-year-old amateur detective and ardent chemist Flavia de Luce is used to digging up clues, whether they’re found among the potions in her laboratory or between the pages of her insufferable sisters�� diaries. What she is not accustomed to is digging up bodies. Upon the five-hundredth anniversary of St. Tancred’s death, the English hamlet of Bishop’s Lacey is busily preparing to open its patron saint’s tomb. Nobody is more excited to peek inside the crypt than Flavia, yet what she finds will halt the proceedings dead in their tracks: the body of Mr. Collicutt, the church organist, his face grotesquely and inexplicably masked. Who held a vendetta against Mr. Collicutt, and why would they hide him in such a sacred resting place? The irrepressible Flavia decides to find out. And what she unearths will prove there’s never such thing as an open-and-shut case.]]> 416 Alan Bradley 038534404X Donna 4 4.25 2013
author: Alan Bradley
name: Donna
average rating: 4.25
book published: 2013
rating: 4
read at: 2025/03/14
date added: 2025/03/15
shelves: audiobooks, mysteries-cozy-traditional, mysteries
review:

]]> 44526568 Laurie R. King's New York Times bestselling series featuring Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes is "the most sustained feat of imagination in mystery fiction today" (Lee Child)!

The last thing Mary Russell and her husband, Sherlock Holmes, need is to help an old friend with her mad, missing aunt. Lady Vivian Beaconsfield has spent most of her adult life in one asylum after another, since the loss of her brother and father in the Great War. Although her mental state seemed to be improving, she's now disappeared after an outing from Bethlem Royal Hospital . . . better known as Bedlam.

Russell wants nothing to do with the case--but she can't say no. To track down the vanished woman, she must use her deductive instincts and talent for subterfuge--and enlist her husband's legendary prowess. Together, the two travel from the grim confines of Bedlam to the murky canals of Venice--only to find the shadow of Benito Mussolini darkening the fate of a city, an era, and a tormented English lady of privilege.

Praise for Island of the Mad

"Full of lush details and clever twists."--Booklist

"Once again validates Laurie R. King as the preeminent Holmes writer working today."--Bookreporter

"A truly memorable mystery . . . Laurie King brings her always amazing imagination to the page to enthrall readers, as only she can do."--Suspense Magazine

"Superb . . . shocking . . . Come for the mystery, stay for the sightseeing, the gibes at fascism, and the heroine's climactic masquerade as silent film star Harold Lloyd." --Kirkus Reviews

"There's no shortage of entertainment. . . . If you are a fan of the series, you won't be disappointed!"--San Francisco Book Review

"Well-plotted . . . This ranks as one of the better recent installments in this popular series."--Publishers Weekly]]> 320 Laurie R. King 0804177988 Donna 0 to-read 4.03 2018
author: Laurie R. King
name: Donna
average rating: 4.03
book published: 2018
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/15
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 32026038
In a devastating instant, everything changes. And afterward, a pool of blood stains the floor, the smell of gunpowder hangs in the air, and most shocking of all: the grim clues point directly to Clara Hudson. Or rather, the woman she was before Baker Street.

Now, to uncover the truth, a frantic Sherlock Holmes must put aside his anguish and push deep into his housekeeper's secrets - to a time before her deception, before her crimes were buried. There is death here, and murder, and trust betrayed. And nothing will ever be the same.]]> 416 Laurie R. King 0804177929 Donna 0 to-read 4.22 2016
author: Laurie R. King
name: Donna
average rating: 4.22
book published: 2016
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/15
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 40030239 The three-time Edgar Award–winning Grand Master of Mystery serves up a dangerous case of mistaken identity in “the best spy comedy I have ever read�� (The New York Times). �� J. Eugene Raxford is not what anyone would call a debonair man of action. He has no class, no skills, and all the physical prowess of a napping tree sloth. James Bond would think twice before letting him park the Aston Martin. �� Though he is a devoted pacifist, Raxford is also—thanks to a tragically consequential typo—the supposed leader of a half-baked and violent radical organization. That’s why the FBI wants him to go undercover and spy on the consortium of real-life terrorists and deadly assassins. �� Now, with the help of his girlfriend—who is even more clueless than he—Raxford is about to enter a realm of danger and deception unlike any he has ever imagined. And the safety of the entire world depends on his every move. �� “If the suspense doesn’t kill you, the laughter will.�� —The Atlanta Journal-Constitution �� “Inventive��.��.��. Wholly delightful.�� —The New York Times �� “No writer can excel Donald E. Westlake��.��.��. but he has excelled himself��.��.��. If you miss it, you’ll regret it.�� —Los Angeles Times ��Praise for Donald E. Westlake “Westlake has no peer in the realm of comic mystery novelists.�� —San Francisco Chronicle ��]]> 234 Donald E. Westlake 1504051610 Donna 0 3.85 1966
author: Donald E. Westlake
name: Donna
average rating: 3.85
book published: 1966
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/15
shelves: to-read, mysteries-classic, mysteries, mysteries-humorous
review:

]]> 221441038
Massachusetts, 1836. Young, brazen, beautiful, and unapologetically brilliant, Margaret Fuller accepts an invitation from Ralph Waldo Emerson, the celebrated “Sage of Concord,�� to meet his coterie of enlightened friends shaping a nation in the throes of its own self-discovery. By the end of her stay, she will become “the radiant genius and fiery heart�� of the Transcendentalists, a role model to young Louisa May Alcott, an inspiration to Nathaniel Hawthorne and his scandalous Scarlet Letter, a friend to Henry David Thoreau as he ventures into the woods of Walden Pond . . . and a muse to Emerson himself. But Margaret craves more than poetry and interpersonal drama, and she finds her restless soul in need of new challenges and adventure.

And so she charts a singular course against a backdrop of dizzying historical drama: From Boston, where she hosts a women-only literary salon for students like Elizabeth Cady Stanton; to the editorial meetings of The Dial magazine, where she hones her pen as its co-founder; to Harvard’s library, where she is the first woman to study within its walls; to the gritty New York streets where she spars with Edgar Allan Poe and reports on the writings of Frederick Douglass. Margaret defies conventions time and again as an activist for women and an advocate for humanity, earning admirers and scathing critics alike.

When the legendary Horace Greeley offers an assignment in Europe, Margaret again makes history as the first female foreign news correspondent, mingling with luminaries like Frederic Chopin, Walt Whitman, George Sand, and more. But it is in Rome where she finds a world of passion, romance, and revolution, taking a Roman count as a lover—and sparking an international scandal. Evolving yet again into the roles of mother and countess, Margaret enters a new fight for Italy’s unification.

With a star-studded cast and epic sweep of historical events, this is a story of an inspiring trailblazer, a woman who loved big and lived even bigger—a fierce adventurer who transcended the rigid roles ascribed to women, and changed history for millions, all on her own terms.]]> 432 Allison Pataki 0593600258 Donna 0 to-read 4.20 2024
author: Allison Pataki
name: Donna
average rating: 4.20
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/14
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 815856 A.D. 663

Early in his career, Judge Dee visits a senior magistrate who shows him a beautiful lacquer screen on which a scene of lovers has been mysteriously altered to show the man stabbing his lover. The magistrate fears he is losing his mind and will murder his own wife. Meanwhile, a banker has inexplicably killed himself, and a lovely lady has allowed Dee's lieutenant, Chiao Tai, to believe she is a courtesan. Dee and Chiao Tai go incognito among a gang of robbers to solve this mystery, and find the leader of the robbers is more honorable than the magistrate.

"One of the most satisfyingly devious of the Judge Dee novels, with unusual historical richness in its portrayal of the China of the T'ang dynasty."-��New York Times Book Review

"Even Judge Dee is baffled by Robert van Gulik's new mysteries in The Lacquer Screen. Disguised as a petty crook, he spends a couple of precarious days in the headquarters of the underworld, hobnobbing with the robber king. Dee's lively thieving friends furnish some vital clues to this strange and fascinating jigsaw."-��The Spectator

"So scrupulously in the classic Chinese manner yet so nicely equipped with everything to satisfy the modern reader."-��New York Times

Robert Van Gulik (1910-67) was a Dutch diplomat and an authority on Chinese history and culture. He drew his plots from the whole body of Chinese literature, especially from the popular detective novels that first appeared in the seventeenth century.

]]> 183 Robert van Gulik 0226848671 Donna 0 4.06 1962
author: Robert van Gulik
name: Donna
average rating: 4.06
book published: 1962
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/13
shelves: to-read, mysteries-classic, mysteries-international, mysteries-historical
review:

]]> 16156099 480 Andrew Taylor 0007213514 Donna 4 3.63 2013
author: Andrew Taylor
name: Donna
average rating: 3.63
book published: 2013
rating: 4
read at: 2025/03/12
date added: 2025/03/13
shelves: mysteries, mysteries-historical, mysteries-thrillers-espionage
review:

]]> 123089643 320 Franco Lucentini 1913394905 Donna 3 3.47
author: Franco Lucentini
name: Donna
average rating: 3.47
book published:
rating: 3
read at: 2025/03/12
date added: 2025/03/13
shelves: mysteries, mysteries-international, mysteries-translations
review:

]]> 181037562
December 1903: While Wilbur and Orville Wright’s flying machine is quite literally taking off in Kitty Hawk, North Carolina with its historic fifty-seven second flight, their sister Katharine is back home in Dayton, Ohio, running the bicycle shop, teaching Latin, and looking after the family. A Latin teacher and suffragette, Katharine is fiercely independent, intellectual, and the only Wright sibling to finish college. But at twenty-nine, she’s frustrated by the gender inequality in academia and is for a new challenge. She never suspects it will be sleuthing��

Returning home to Dayton, Wilbur and Orville accept an invitation to a friend’s party. Nervous about leaving their as-yet-unpatented flyer plans unattended, Wilbur decides to bring them to the festivities . . . where they are stolen right out from under his nose. As always, it’s Katharine’s job to problem solve—and in this case, crime-solve.

As she sets out to uncover the thief among their circle of friends, Katharine soon gets more than she bargained She finds her number one suspect dead with a letter opener lodged in his chest. It seems the patent is the least of her brothers�� worries. They have a far more earthbound concern—prison. Now Katharine will have to keep her feet on the ground and put all her skills to work to make sure Wilbur and Orville are free to fly another day.]]> 288 Amanda Flower 1496747666 Donna 0 3.84 2024
author: Amanda Flower
name: Donna
average rating: 3.84
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/10
shelves: to-read, mysteries, mysteries-historical
review:

]]> 177188926
Nestled in the hills of West Virginia lies White Sulphur Springs, home to the Greenbrier Resort. Long a playground for presidents and film stars, the Greenbrier has its own gravitational pull. Over ten decades, four generations of the Zelner family must grapple with their place in its shadow . . . and within their own family.

In 1942, young mother Sylvia is desperate to escape her stifling marriage, especially when it means co-running Zelner’s general store with her husband. When the Greenbrier is commandeered for use as a luxury prison, Sylvia finds her fidelity strained and her heart on the line.

Seventeen years later, Sylvia’s daughter, Doree, struggles to fit in, eagerly awaiting the day she’ll leave for college and meet a nice Jewish boy. But when a handsome stranger comes to town and her brother Alan’s curiosity puts him and Sylvia at risk, Doree is torn between loyalty and desire.

An immersive family saga rich with historical detail, In the Shadow of the Greenbrier explores the inevitable clash between past and future and the extraordinary moments in ordinary lives.]]> 400 Emily Matchar 0593713966 Donna 0 to-read, historical-fiction 3.78 2024
author: Emily Matchar
name: Donna
average rating: 3.78
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/10
shelves: to-read, historical-fiction
review:

]]> 60784568
Red Queen is the first book in a trilogy that has sold over 2 million copies in Spain, sold to seventeen countries, and is the basis of an Amazon streaming series to debut in 2023.

Antonia Scott—the daughter of a British diplomat and a Spanish mother—has a gifted forensic mind, whose ability to reconstruct crimes and solve baffling murders is legendary. But after a personal trauma, she's refused to continue her work or even leave her apartment.

Jon Gutierrez, a police officer in Bilbao—disgraced, suspended, and about to face criminal charges—is offered a chance to salvage his career by a secretive organization that works in the shadows to direct criminal investigations of a highly sensitive nature. All he has to do is succeed where many others have failed: Convince a recalcitrant Antonia to come out of her self-imposed retirement, protecting her and helping her investigate a new, terrifying case.

The case is a macabre, ritualistic murder—a teen-aged boy from a wealthy family whose body was found without a drop of blood left in it. But the murder is just the start. A high-ranking executive and daughter of one of the richest men in Spain is kidnapped, a crime which is tied to the previous murder. Behind them both is a hidden mastermind with even more sinister plans. And the only person with a chance to see the connections, solve the crimes and successfully match wits with the killer before tragedy strikes again...is Antonia Scott.]]> 384 Juan Gómez-Jurado 1250853672 Donna 0 3.96 2018
author: Juan Gómez-Jurado
name: Donna
average rating: 3.96
book published: 2018
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/08
shelves: to-read, mysteries, mysteries-police-pi-forensics, mysteries-translations
review:

]]> 215748809 An atmospheric, haunting novel about a family of bootleggers, their troubled history,��and the land that binds them.

The Sawbrooks have lived on prime real estate on the lakes of Michigan since before there was prime real estate. A family of smugglers and bootleggers, every man, woman, and child in each generation has been taught to navigate the nooks and crannies��of the rivers and highways that flow in and out of Canada. The hidden routes are the family's legacy.

But today, the Sawbrooks are deeply fractured, and the money that's sustained the family is running out. Edward, the Sawbrook patriarch, is dying from cancer, and his wife,��Rhoda,��is bitterly��disappointed in her three adult children. The eldest daughter, Lucy, is now a park ranger, working to federally protect the land against her mother’s will; the middle son, Buckner, hasn’t been the same since he came back from the army��suffering from alcoholism; and the youngest daughter, Jewell, is wasting her potential as a card player and��bartender.

When Jewell is asked to commit a crime for a major insurance payout, she agrees, eager for the cash, but too late,��she realizes that that the boat she torched wasn't empty...

Together,��the Sawbrooks will have to contend with the old, familial ways and the new, shifting world, and face��each other—and their pain-filled past—to smuggle one more thing through and out of their land to��safety.]]> 288 Travis Mulhauser 1538767988 Donna 0 to-read 3.67
author: Travis Mulhauser
name: Donna
average rating: 3.67
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/08
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 2370057 256 Freeman Wills Crofts 0701206055 Donna 4 3.58 1924
author: Freeman Wills Crofts
name: Donna
average rating: 3.58
book published: 1924
rating: 4
read at: 2025/03/06
date added: 2025/03/08
shelves: ebook, mysteries, mysteries-classic, mysteries-police-pi-forensics
review:

]]> 280990 288 Ngaio Marsh 0006512356 Donna 3 3.80 1940
author: Ngaio Marsh
name: Donna
average rating: 3.80
book published: 1940
rating: 3
read at: 2025/03/07
date added: 2025/03/08
shelves: mysteries, mysteries-classic, mysteries-police-pi-forensics, audiobooks
review:

]]> 222419283
It’s 1965 and teenage Frances Adams is at an English country fair with her two best friends. But Frances’s night takes a hairpin turn when a fortune-teller makes a bone-chilling prediction: One day, Frances will be murdered. Frances spends a lifetime trying to solve a crime that hasn’t happened yet, compiling dirt on every person who crosses her path in an effort to prevent her own demise. For decades, no one takes Frances seriously, until nearly sixty years later, when Frances is found murdered, like she always said she would be.
��
In the present day, Annie Adams has been summoned to a meeting at the sprawling country estate of her wealthy and reclusive great-aunt Frances. But by the time Annie arrives in the quaint English village of Castle Knoll, Frances is already dead. Annie is determined to catch the killer, but thanks to Frances’s lifelong habit of digging up secrets and lies, it seems every endearing and eccentric villager might just have a motive for her murder. Can Annie safely unravel the dark mystery at the heart of Castle Knoll, or will dredging up the past throw her into the path of a killer?
��
As Annie gets closer to the truth, and closer to the danger, she starts to fear she might inherit her aunt’s fate instead of her fortune.]]> 384 Kristen Perrin 0593474023 Donna 0 to-read 3.85 2024
author: Kristen Perrin
name: Donna
average rating: 3.85
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/06
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 25323038 Then a shocking murder in a midnight garden changes everything.
Headstrong Cassandra Blaine is supposed to marry into the Austrian nobility in one of those arranged matches like Consuela Vanderbilt’s still popular with wealthy American parents eager for titles and impoverished European nobility who have them to offer. But Cassandra is murdered, and her former lover, the dashing Hungarian Endre Molnár, is the prime suspect. Taken with the young man and convinced of his innocence, Edna begins investigating with the help of Winifred and two avant-garde Hungarian artists. Meanwhile possible war with Serbia is the topic of the day as Archduke Franz Ferdinand prepares to head to Sarajevo. While the world braces for disaster, Edna uncovers the truth –and it scares her.]]> 278 Ed Ifkovic 1464200483 Donna 0 3.61 2015
author: Ed Ifkovic
name: Donna
average rating: 3.61
book published: 2015
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/05
shelves: to-read, mysteries, mysteries-international, mysteries-historical
review:

]]> 127279000 What if you thought you murdered your best friend? And if everyone else thought so too? And what if the truth doesn't matter?

Lucy and Savvy were the golden girls of their small Texas town: pretty, smart, and enviable. Lucy married a dream guy with a big ring and an even bigger new home. Savvy was the social butterfly loved by all and, if you believe the rumors, especially popular with the men in town. But after Lucy is found wandering the streets, covered in her best friend Savvy’s blood, everyone thinks she is a murderer.

It’s been years since that horrible night, a night Lucy can’t remember anything about, and she has since moved to LA and started a new life. But now the phenomenally huge hit true crime podcast Listen for the Lie and its too-good looking host, Ben Owens, have decided to investigate Savvy’s murder for the show’s second season. Lucy is forced to return to the place she vowed never to set foot in again to solve her friend’s murder, even if she is the one who did it.

The truth is out there, if we just listen.]]> 352 Amy Tintera 1250880319 Donna 4 4.07 2024
author: Amy Tintera
name: Donna
average rating: 4.07
book published: 2024
rating: 4
read at: 2025/02/23
date added: 2025/03/03
shelves: mysteries, mysteries-thrillers-espionage
review:
A 3.5 rounded up to a 4. It does fall into the current fad of 30 somethings who drink too much and are good at making bad decisions but..... the handling of memory loss after post traumatic brain injury gave it some more depth of character to Lucy.
]]> 139175 196 M.C. Beaton 0312970625 Donna 3 3.75 1999
author: M.C. Beaton
name: Donna
average rating: 3.75
book published: 1999
rating: 3
read at: 2025/02/28
date added: 2025/03/03
shelves: audiobooks, mysteries, mysteries-cozy-traditional, mysteries-humorous
review:
One of the earlier books in this fun series and it is showing its age a bit but it is still a fun escape with Agatha, especially when the audiobook is read by Penelope Keith.
]]> 206549834 Two brothers in dire straits, living on the edge of Yellowstone, agree to a desperate act of survival.

In an aging timber house hand-built into the Absaroka-Beartooth mountains, two brothers are struggling to keep up with their debts. They live off the grid on the fringe of Yellowstone, surviving after the death of their father. Thad, the elder, is more capable of engaging with things like the truck registration and the medical bills from their father’s fatal illness and the tax lien on the cabin their grandfather built, while Hazen is... different, more instinctual, deeply attuned to the natural world. Desperate for money, they are approached by a shadowy out-of-towner with a proposition and agree to attempt a heist of natural resources from Yellowstone, a federal crime. Beartooth is a fast-paced tale set in the grandeur of the American West.]]> 256 Callan Wink 1954118023 Donna 0 to-read 3.71 2025
author: Callan Wink
name: Donna
average rating: 3.71
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/01
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 221508547 #1 New York Times bestselling author Michael Connelly introduces a new cop relentlessly following his mission in the seemingly idyllic setting of Catalina island.

#1 New York Times bestselling author Michael Connelly introduces a new cop relentlessly following his mission in the seemingly idyllic setting of Catalina island.

Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Detective Stilwell has been “exiled�� to a low-key post policing rustic Catalina Island, after department politics drove him off a homicide desk on the mainland. But while following up the usual drunk-and-disorderlies and petty thefts that come with his new territory, Detective Stilwell gets a report of a body found weighed down at the bottom of the harbor—a Jane Doe identifiable at first only by a streak of purple dye in her hair. At the same time, a report of poaching on a protected reserve turns into a case fraught with violence and danger as Stilwell digs into the shady past of an island bigwig.

Crossing all lines of protocol and jurisdiction, Stilwell doggedly works both cases. Though hampered by an old beef with an ex-colleague determined to thwart him at every turn, he is convinced he is the only one who can bring justice to the woman known as “Nightshade.�� Soon, his investigation uncovers closely guarded secrets and a dark heart to the serene island that was meant to be his escape from the evils of the big city.

Propulsive and atmospheric, Nightshade launches a brand new character into the Connelly universe, and proves without question that Michael Connelly is “the undisputed master of the modern crime novel�� (Real Book Spy).]]> 352 Michael Connelly 0316588482 Donna 0 4.13 2025
author: Michael Connelly
name: Donna
average rating: 4.13
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/01
shelves: to-read, mysteries, mysteries-police-pi-forensics
review:

]]> 217432789 Murder links past and present once again in this mind-boggling metafictional mystery from��Anthony Horowitz—another tribute to the golden age of Agatha Christie featuring detective Atticus Pund and editor Susan Ryland, stars of the New York Times bestsellers Magpie Murders and Moonflower Murders.

Editor Susan Ryeland has left her Greek island, her hotel, and her Greek boyfriend Andreas in search of a new life back in England.

Freelancing for Causton Books, she’s working on the manuscript of a novel, Pund’s Last Case, by a young author named Eliot Crace, a continuation of the popular Alan Conway series. ��Susan is surprised to learn that Eliot is the grandson of legendary children’s author Marian Crace, who died some fifteen years ago—murdered, Elliot insists, by poison.

As Susan begins to read the manuscript’s opening chapters, the skeptical editor is relieved to find that Pund’s Last Case is actually very good. Set in the South of France, it revolves around the mysterious death of Lady Margaret Chalfont, who, though mortally ill, is poisoned—perhaps by a member of her own family. But who did it? And why?

The deeper Susan reads, the more it becomes clear that the clues leading to the truth of Marian Crace’s death are hidden within this Atticus Pund mystery.

While Eliot’s accusation becomes more plausible, his behavior grows increasingly erratic.. Then he is suddenly killed in a hit-and-run accident, and Susan finds herself under police scrutiny as a suspect in his killing.

Three mysterious deaths. Multiple motives and possible murderers. If Susan doesn’t solve the mystery of Pund’s Last Case, she may well be the next victim.]]> 592 Anthony Horowitz 0063305704 Donna 0 to-read 4.47 2025
author: Anthony Horowitz
name: Donna
average rating: 4.47
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/02/25
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 213974078 From critically acclaimed author Nicole Galland, a vibrant and thought-provoking historical tale of love, political intrigue, and gender-swapping set in the theatre world of Elizabethan London.

Alexander “Sander�� Cooke is the most celebrated “boy player�� in the Chamberlain’s Men, William Shakespeare’s theatre company. Indeed, Sander’s androgynous beauty and deft portrayal of female roles have made him the toast of London, and his companionship is sought by noblewomen and -men alike. And yet, now at the height of his fame, he teeters on the cusp of adulthood, his future uncertain. Often, he wishes he could stop time and remain a boy forever.

Joan Buckler, Sander’s best friend, also has a dream. Though unschooled, she is whip-smart and fascinated by the snippets of natural philosophy to which she’s been exposed. And while she senses that Sander’s admiration for her is more than mere friendship, Joan’s true passion is knowledge, something that is nearly impossible for her to attain. As a woman, she has no place in the intellectual salons and cultural community of the day; only in disguise can she learn to her heart’s content.

Joan’s covert intellectual endeavors, coupled with Sander’s theatrical triumphs, attract the attention of none other than Francis Bacon: natural philosopher and trusted adviser to Queen Elizabeth. It is through their connection with Bacon—one of the greatest minds of their time—that their lives will be changed forever as they become embroiled in an intricate game of political intrigue that threatens their very survival.

Brimming with heart, curiosity, and rich historical detail,��Boy��offers an intimate glimpse of the moral complexities of a singular artistic era, and the roles we all choose to play on the world’s stage.]]> 352 Nicole Galland 0063342855 Donna 0 to-read, historical-fiction 3.98 2025
author: Nicole Galland
name: Donna
average rating: 3.98
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/02/23
shelves: to-read, historical-fiction
review:

]]> 216740422 A lively, accessible survey of literary censorship through the ages.

The freedom to read is under attack. There are, today, more efforts to ban books from libraries than ever before. The supposed "dangers" posed by books including The Handmaid's Tale, Gender Queer, Huckleberry Finn, and the works of Dr. Seuss—leading children down a path of sexual deviance, or harming them with racist language or non-inclusive narratives—fuel the puritanical zeal of De Santis Republicans and progressive educators alike. On Book Banning argues that today's culture warriors proceed from a misunderstanding of literature as instrumental to the pursuit of their ideological agendas. In treating libraries as sites of contagion and exposure, censors are warping our children's relationship with literature and teaching them that the solution to opposing viewpoints is cancellation or outright expurgation.

On Book Banning provides a lively, accessible survey of literary censorship through the ages—from the destruction of libraries in ancient Rome, to the Catholic Church's attempts to tamp down religious dissent and scientific innovation, to state-sponsored efforts to suppress LGBTQ literature in the 1980s and beyond. Throughout, Ira Wells demonstrates how today's book bans stem from the ineradicable human impulse toward social control. In a whistle-stop tour of landmark legal cases, literary controversies, and philosophical arguments, we discover that the freedom to read and publish is the aberration in human history, and that censorship and restriction have been the rule. At a moment in which our democratic institutions are buckling under the stress of polarization, On Book Banning is both rallying cry and guide to resistance for those who reject the conflation of art and propaganda, for whom books remain sacred vessels of our shared humanity, and who will always insist upon reading for ourselves.]]> 184 Ira Wells 1771966637 Donna 0 to-read, non-fiction 4.46
author: Ira Wells
name: Donna
average rating: 4.46
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/02/23
shelves: to-read, non-fiction
review:

]]> 215363302
The bright, courageous boy Alma knew could never have murdered anyone. But she barely recognizes the man Asku has become, cold and embittered at being an outcast in the white world and a ghost in his own. Her lawyer husband, Stewart, reluctantly agrees to help defend Asku for Alma’s sake. To do so, Alma must revisit the painful secrets she has kept hidden from everyone—especially Stewart.

Told in compelling narratives that alternate between Alma’s childhood and her present life, Between Earth and Sky is a haunting and complex story of love and loss, as a quest for justice becomes a journey toward understanding and, ultimately, atonement.]]> 352 Amanda Skenandore 149675526X Donna 0 to-read 4.36 2018
author: Amanda Skenandore
name: Donna
average rating: 4.36
book published: 2018
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/02/21
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 203578851 Fresh off his career-changing standalone co-written with Icelandic PM, Reykjavík, #1 Icelandic bestseller Jonasson presents a riveting new thriller spinoff from The Darkness, soon to be a TV series. 1983 At a former sanatorium in the north of Iceland, now a hospital ward, an old nurse, Yrsa, is found murdered. Detective Hulda Hermannsdottir and her boss, Sverrir, are sent to investigate her death. There, they discover five the chief physician, two junior nurses, a young doctor, and the caretaker, who is arrested following false testimony from one of the nurses, but subsequently released. Less than a week after the murder, the chief physician, is also found dead, having apparently fallen from a balcony. Sverrir, rules his death as suicide and assumes that he was guilty of the murder as well. The case is closed. 2012 Almost thirty years later, Helgi Reykdal, a young police officer, has been studying criminology in the UK, but decides to return to Iceland when he is offered a job at the Reykjavik police department—the job which detective Hulda Hermannsdottir is about to retire from. He is also a collector of golden age detective stories, and is writing his thesis on the 1983 murders in the north. As Helgi delves deeper into the past, and starts his new job, he decides to try to meet with the original suspects. But soon he finds silence and suspicion at every turn, as he tries to finally solve the mystery from years before.]]> 320 Ragnar Jónasson 1250770769 Donna 3 3.58 2019
author: Ragnar Jónasson
name: Donna
average rating: 3.58
book published: 2019
rating: 3
read at: 2025/02/19
date added: 2025/02/19
shelves: audiobooks, mysteries, mysteries-international, mysteries-police-pi-forensics
review:

]]> 15814401
With the help of her new assistant, Claude, Claire follows the clues, finding hints to Paul’s fate in her other cases—especially that of a missing girl in the gritty 1980s East Village and a modern-day miniature horse theft in Marin. As visions of the past reveal the secrets of the present, Claire begins to understand the words of the enigmatic French detective Jacques Silette: “The detective won’t know what he is capable of until he encounters a mystery that pierces his own heart.�� And love, in all its forms, is the greatest mystery of all—at least to the world’s greatest PI.

An addictive new adventure featuring an irresistible heroine.]]> 280 Sara Gran 0547429339 Donna 0 3.77 2013
author: Sara Gran
name: Donna
average rating: 3.77
book published: 2013
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/02/18
shelves: to-read, mysteries, mysteries-other, mysteries-police-pi-forensics
review:

]]> 402739
He's not perfect, however; he occasionally makes mistakes. Like accepting a paid assignment from a total stranger to retrieve a particular item from a rich man's apartment. Like still being there when the cops arrive. Like having a freshly slain corpse lying in the next room, and no proof that Bernie isn't the killer.

Now he's really got his hands full, having to locate the true perpetrator while somehow eluding the police -- a dirty job indeed, but if Bernie doesn't do it, who will?]]> 293 Lawrence Block 0060582553 Donna 4 3.82 1977
author: Lawrence Block
name: Donna
average rating: 3.82
book published: 1977
rating: 4
read at: 2025/02/15
date added: 2025/02/18
shelves: mysteries, audiobooks, mysteries-humorous
review:
Having recently read one of the later ones in this series I thought I would go back to where it all started. Thoroughly enjoyed the escapades of this lovable gentleman burglar Bernie.
]]> 216269061 In New York Times–bestselling author Anthony Horowitz’s ingenious fifth literary whodunit in the Hawthorne and Horowitz series, Detective Hawthorne is once again called upon to solve an unsolvable case—a gruesome murder in an idyllic gated community in which suspects abound

Riverside Close is a picture-perfect community. The six exclusive and attractive houses are tucked far away from the noise and grime of city life, allowing the residents to enjoy beautiful gardens, pleasant birdsong and tranquility from behind the security of a locked gate.

It is the perfect idyll until the Kentworthy family arrives, with their four giant, gas-guzzling cars, a gaggle of shrieking children and plans for a garish swimming pool in the backyard. Obvious outsiders, the Kentworthys do not belong in Riverside Close, and they quickly offend every last one of their neighbours.

When Giles Kentworthy is found dead on his own doorstep, a crossbow bolt sticking out of his chest, Detective Hawthorne is the only investigator that can be called on to solve the case.

Because how do you solve a murder when everyone is a suspect?]]> 432 Anthony Horowitz 0063305658 Donna 0 to-read 4.15 2024
author: Anthony Horowitz
name: Donna
average rating: 4.15
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/02/18
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 211003726
New York City, 1911. Edith Wharton, almost equally famed for her novels and her sharp tongue, is bone-tired of Manhattan. Finding herself at a crossroads with both her marriage and her writing, she makes the decision to leave America, her publisher, and her loveless marriage.

And then, dashing novelist David Graham Phillips—a writer with often notorious ideas about society and women’s place in it—is shot to death outside the Princeton Club. Edith herself met the man only once, when the two formed a mutual distaste over tea in the Palm Court of the Belmont hotel. When Phillips is killed, Edith's life takes another turn. His sister is convinced Graham was killed by someone determined to stop the publication of his next book, which promised to uncover secrets that powerful people would rather stayed hidden. Though unconvinced, Edith is curious. What kind of book could push someone to kill?

Inspired by a true story, The Wharton Plot follows Edith Wharton through the fading years of the Gilded Age in a city she once loved so well, telling a taut tale of fame, love, and murder, as she becomes obsessed with solving a crime.]]> 304 Mariah Fredericks 125037135X Donna 0 to-read 3.00 2024
author: Mariah Fredericks
name: Donna
average rating: 3.00
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/02/16
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 24192
The jury is behaving strangely, and at least one juror is convinced he's being watched. Soon they have to be sequestered. Then a tip from an anonymous young woman suggests she is able to predict the jurors' increasingly odd behavior.

Is the jury somehow being manipulated, or even controlled? If so, by whom? And, more importantly, why?

From the Trade Paperback edition.]]> 464 John Grisham 0385339690 Donna 4 mysteries, mysteries-other 4.03 1996
author: John Grisham
name: Donna
average rating: 4.03
book published: 1996
rating: 4
read at: 2025/02/13
date added: 2025/02/14
shelves: mysteries, mysteries-other
review:

]]> 207300960 416 Rachel Kushner 1982116528 Donna 3 3.35 2024
author: Rachel Kushner
name: Donna
average rating: 3.35
book published: 2024
rating: 3
read at: 2025/02/07
date added: 2025/02/13
shelves: mysteries-thrillers-espionage, mysteries, mysteries-international, mysteries-other
review:
Really more like 3.5 stars. This is a very unusual but very interesting book. Thought provoking and open ended. I would not really call this a thriller as some descriptions have labeled it as there is very little action until the very end.
]]> 380564 350 Lawrence Block 0061030988 Donna 4 3.78 2001
author: Lawrence Block
name: Donna
average rating: 3.78
book published: 2001
rating: 4
read at: 2025/02/05
date added: 2025/02/13
shelves: audiobooks, mysteries, mysteries-humorous
review:
3.5 stars on plot, 4 stars on entertainment value. Gentleman burglar is certainly a good description for Bernie. There are a few improbable occurrences in the plot but it all comes out in the end with Bernie on top.
]]> 213454429
When a steel industry executive is found dead in a burning BMW, the death is quickly dismissed as a tragic accident. After another nearly identical accident occurs, criminal inspector Eva Nyman receives a letter that reveals details of an upcoming, and much more vicious, attack, leading her to believe that these are a deliberate series of murders, possibly even a case of climate terrorism.

In the letter Eva recognizes a phrase that was often used by her disgraced former boss, Lukas Frisell, who went off the grid after botching a kidnapping investigation. Eva cannot believe that Frisell is responsible for the murders, but evidence keeps pointing toward him. And as her new team, NOVA, races to uncover the murderer before more people die, Eva is reluctant to disclose her suspicions regarding her old boss.

As further bombings targeting public places begin, countless lives rely on NOVA’s ability to find out who’s behind it all and put a stop to the terror. The killer is out there somewhere, but all they have to go on is a cryptic letter and a strange symbol that keeps appearing everywhere they turn: a circle within a circle.]]> 320 Arne Dahl Donna 0 3.98 2023
author: Arne Dahl
name: Donna
average rating: 3.98
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/02/11
shelves: to-read, mysteries, mysteries-international, mysteries-police-pi-forensics, mysteries-thrillers-espionage
review:

]]> 22551874 From the author of Slow Horses and soon to be an Original Series from Apple TV+ starring Emma Thompson and Ruth Wilson.

CWA Gold Dagger winner Mick Herron's debut novel introduces Sarah Tucker, whose search for a missing child unravels a murderous conspiracy.

When a house explodes in a quiet Oxford suburb and a girl disappears in the aftermath, Sarah Tucker—a young married woman, bored and unhappy with domestic life—becomes obsessed with finding her. Accustomed to dull chores in a childless household and hosting her husband’s wearisome business clients for dinner, Sarah suddenly finds herself questioning everything she thought she knew as her investigation reveals that people long believed dead are still among the living, while the living are fast joining the dead. What begins in a peaceful neighborhood reaches its climax on a remote, unwelcoming Scottish island as the search puts Sarah in league with a man being hunted down by murderous official forces.]]> 368 Mick Herron 161695583X Donna 0 to-read 3.68 2003
author: Mick Herron
name: Donna
average rating: 3.68
book published: 2003
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/02/10
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 211004897 Head Cases follows an enigmatic group of FBI agents as they hunt down a murderer seeking his own justice in this electrifying—and commercial—series debut.

FBI Agent Gardner Camden is an analytical genius with an affinity for puzzles. He also has a blind spot on the human side of investigations, a blindness that sometimes even includes people in his own life, like his beloved seven-year-old daughter Camila. Gardner and his squad of brilliant yet quirky agents make up the Patterns and Recognition (PAR) unit, the FBI’s hidden edge, brought in for cases that no one else can solve.

When DNA links a murder victim to a serial killer long presumed dead, the team springs into action. A second victim establishes a pattern, and the murderer begins leaving a trail of clues and riddles especially for Gardner. And while the PAR team is usually relegated to working cold cases from behind a desk, the investigation puts them on the road and into the public eye, following in the footsteps of a killer.

Along with Gardner, PAR consists of a mathematician, a weapons expert, a computer analyst, and their leader, a career agent. Each of them must use every skill they have to solve the riddle of the killer’s identity. But with the perpetrator somehow learning more and more about the team at PAR, can they protect themselves and their families…before it’s too late?

With an enigmatic case that will keep readers on the edge of their seats and a thoroughly engaging ensemble cast, John McMahon’s Head Cases is a triumph.]]> 341 John McMahon 1250348293 Donna 0 4.00 2025
author: John McMahon
name: Donna
average rating: 4.00
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/02/07
shelves: to-read, mysteries, mysteries-police-pi-forensics
review:

]]> 212294441 “A stone-cold banger of a novel—a twisty journey through Silicon Valley’s dark side, wrapped in a stunning mystery package with some wild surprises along the way.”—Blake Crouch, New York Timesbestselling author of Dark Matter

Don’t call me a fixer. This isn’t HBO.

In her job as unofficial “problem solver�� for Silicon Valley’s most ruthless venture capitalist, Mackenzie Clyde’s gotten used to playing for high stakes. Even if none of those tech-bro millions she’s so good at wrangling ever make it into her pockets.

But this time, she’s in way over her head—or so it seems.

The lightning-rod CEO of tech’s hottest startup has just been murdered, leaving behind billions in “dead money�� frozen in his will. As the company’s chief investor, Mackenzie’s boss has a fortune on the line—and with the police treading water, it’s up to Mackenzie to step up and resolve things, fast.

Mackenzie’s a lawyer, not a detective. Cracking this fiendishly clever killing, with its list of suspects that reads like a who’s-who of Valley power players, should be way out of her league.

Except that Mackenzie’s used to being underestimated. In fact, she’s counting on it.

Because the way she sees it, this isn’t an investigation. It’s an opportunity. And she’ll do anything it takes to seize it.

Anything at all.

Featuring jaw-dropping twists and a wily, outsider heroine you can’t help rooting for, Dead Money is a brilliant sleight-of-hand mystery. Written by a longtime insider, it is also a dead-on snapshot of the Valley’s rich and famous—and a glimpse at the darkness lurking behind the tech world’s cheery facade.]]> 416 Jakob Kerr 0593726707 Donna 0 4.01 2025
author: Jakob Kerr
name: Donna
average rating: 4.01
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/02/07
shelves: to-read, mysteries, mysteries-thrillers-espionage, mysteries-police-pi-forensics
review:

]]> 6477443 272 Jon A. Jackson 0802136028 Donna 0 3.98 1995
author: Jon A. Jackson
name: Donna
average rating: 3.98
book published: 1995
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/02/06
shelves: to-read, mysteries-police-pi-forensics, mysteries-humorous
review:

]]> 243400
A long line had formed for the standing-room-only section of the Woffington Theatre. London’s favorite musical comedy of the past two years was finishing its run at the end of the week. Suddenly, the line began to move, forming a wedge before the open doors as hopeful theatergoers nudged their way forward. But one man, his head sunk down upon his chest, slowly sank to his knees and then, still more slowly, keeled over on his face. Thinking he had fainted, a spectator moved to help, but recoiled in horror from what lay before him: the man in the queue had a small silver dagger neatly plunged into his back. With the wit and guile that have made Inspector Grant a favorite of mystery fans, the inspector sets about discovering just how a murder occurred among so many witnesses, none of whom saw a thing.]]> 255 Josephine Tey 0684815028 Donna 0 3.76 1929
author: Josephine Tey
name: Donna
average rating: 3.76
book published: 1929
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/02/04
shelves: to-read, mysteries, mysteries-classic, mysteries-police-pi-forensics
review:

]]> 213243921 A remote Scottish island hides shocking secrets in this page-turning debut mystery laced with dark folklore.

An island lost in time. A cryptic, pagan past. Some secrets should stay buried.

Eilean Eadar is a barren, windswept rock inhabited by a few hundred humans and sheep. Until now, the island was best known for the unsolved mystery of the three lighthouse keepers who vanished back in 1919. But when a young man is found dead at the base of the same lighthouse, two detective inspectors are sent from Glasgow to investigate.

Georgina ‘George�� Lennox is finally back from leave after a devastating accident and happy to be on the case with her partner, Richie Stewart. That is, until she meets the hostile islanders who seem determined to thwart their investigation, and their enigmatic, omnipresent priest who inserts himself into every interview. Then there’s Richie, who just wants to close the case and head home to his family. He doesn’t see that there is something off about the island and its tiny community. He hasn’t heard the wolves howling or seen the dark figures at their window at night. He’s too busy watching George as if waiting for her to break.

With the dark secrets of Eilean Eadar swirling around them, George and Richie must decide who to trust and what to believe as they spin closer to the terrible truth. Laced with Scottish legend, yet sharp and modern in voice, The Wolf Tree announces a spellbinding new voice in crime and mystery fiction.]]> 336 Laura McCluskey 0593852540 Donna 0 3.77 2025
author: Laura McCluskey
name: Donna
average rating: 3.77
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/02/04
shelves: to-read, mysteries, mysteries-international, mysteries-police-pi-forensics
review:

]]> 41150342 First comes love, then comes murder.

In a London slowly recovering from World War II, two very different women join forces to launch a business venture in the heart of Mayfair--The Right Sort Marriage Bureau. Miss Iris Sparks, quick-witted and impulsive, and Mrs. Gwendolyn Bainbridge, practical and widowed with a young son, are determined to achieve some independence and do some good in a rapidly changing world.

But the promising start to their marriage bureau is threatened when their newest client, Tillie La Salle, is found murdered and the man arrested for the crime is the prospective husband they matched her with. While the police are convinced they have their man, Miss Sparks and Mrs. Bainbridge are not. To clear his name--and to rescue their fledging operation's reputation--Sparks and Bainbridge decide to investigate on their own, using the skills and contacts they've each acquired through life and their individual adventures during the recent war.

Little do they know that this will put their very lives at risk.]]> 320 Allison Montclair 1250178363 Donna 0 3.90 2019
author: Allison Montclair
name: Donna
average rating: 3.90
book published: 2019
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/02/04
shelves: to-read, mysteries, mysteries-cozy-traditional, mysteries-historical
review:

]]> 211004066 International bestselling author Jean-Luc Bannalec's Commissaire Georges Dupin and his team head to Breton paradise in An Island of Suspects.

An August heat wave has all of Brittany in its grasp, and the only chance to cool down for Commissaire Georges Dupin is his daily swim in the ocean. Until one morning his routine is interrupted because a body has been found in the harbor with clear signs of foul play. Patric Provost was from one of the long-established families on the island of Belle-Île, Breton's biggest and most famous island. Provost owned and operated a company dealing in an island delicacy: the famous Belle-Île-sheep. As Bretons say, the sheep season themselves while they're eating, grazing on salty, iodine-rich meadows, full of wild herbs, directly by the ocean. In Dupin's culinary ranking, this lamb comes right behind entrecôte. And that's saying something.

Dupin has barely stepped foot on the utopia-like island before it comes to light that Provost was not well liked. And someone was blackmailing him for one million euros, the deadline for payment the night before Provost's body was caught on the buoy. Everyone on the island has a motive. Any one of them could be the killer.]]> 320 Jean-Luc Bannalec 1250893119 Donna 0 to-read 3.97 2023
author: Jean-Luc Bannalec
name: Donna
average rating: 3.97
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/02/04
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 91661 384 Laurie R. King 0553381520 Donna 4 4.06 1994
author: Laurie R. King
name: Donna
average rating: 4.06
book published: 1994
rating: 4
read at: 2025/02/02
date added: 2025/02/03
shelves: mysteries, mysteries-historical, audiobooks
review:

]]> 209285622 Two detectives: one human, one AI. And a case that will test them both.

Kat Frank knows all about loss. A widowed single mother, Kat is a cop who trusts her intuition, honed through years of on-the-beat police work. Picked to lead a pilot program that has her paired with Lock, an AIDE (Artificially Intelligent Detective Entity)—a hologram that is activated by a device on Kat’s wrist—Kat’s gut reactions about people and motives come up against Lock’s statistical calculations and data analysis that can be devised in seconds.

But as the two missing person’s cold cases they are reviewing suddenly become active, Lock is the only one who can help when the case begins to target Kat personally. AI versus human experience. Logic versus instinct. With lives on the line, can the pair work together to solve the mystery in time?

A dazzling debut from an exciting new voice, In the Blink of an Eye asks us what we think it means to be human.]]> 432 Jo Callaghan 0593736834 Donna 4 4.03 2023
author: Jo Callaghan
name: Donna
average rating: 4.03
book published: 2023
rating: 4
read at: 2025/01/13
date added: 2025/02/02
shelves: mysteries, mysteries-other, mysteries-police-pi-forensics
review:
Interesting take on AI and law enforcement. There have been a few TV shows over the years that have explored the use of intense technology (early AI) but in this book the "AI" has been given more human characteristics and a holographic human form to interact with both the police and the general public. The actual crime the police were looking into was interesting on its own but how Lock became part of the team was thought provoking.
]]> 43426115 Secretaries turned spies, love and duty, and sacrifice—inspired by the true story of the CIA plot to infiltrate the hearts and minds of Soviet Russia, not with propaganda, but with the greatest love story of the twentieth century: Doctor Zhivago.

At the height of the Cold War, two secretaries are pulled out of the typing pool at the CIA and given the assignment of a lifetime. Their mission: to smuggle Doctor Zhivago out of the USSR, where no one dare publish it, and help Pasternak's magnum opus make its way into print around the world. Glamorous and sophisticated Sally Forrester is a seasoned spy who has honed her gift for deceit all over the world--using her magnetism and charm to pry secrets out of powerful men. Irina is a complete novice, and under Sally's tutelage quickly learns how to blend in, make drops, and invisibly ferry classified documents.]]> 349 Lara Prescott 0525656154 Donna 3 3.64 2019
author: Lara Prescott
name: Donna
average rating: 3.64
book published: 2019
rating: 3
read at: 2025/01/03
date added: 2025/02/02
shelves: historical-fiction, audiobooks
review:
I enjoyed this book mostly for the depiction of the life and struggles of Boris Pasternak and his muse Olga and her family. The story line of the fledgling CIA typists was interesting but the characters seemed wooden.
]]> 217387878 For the first time in print, Skin and Bones features a collection of eight gripping original short stories in the bestselling Mike Bowditch series―including one brand new, never-before-published story―from Edgar-award nominated author Paul Doiron.

In THE BEAR TRAP, legendary Maine woodsman and bush pilot Charley Stevens tries to convince young Mike of the dangers awaiting rookie game wardens.

RABID draws Mike into the story of a gruesome case involving a bat with rabies from his Charley Steven’s past (2019 Edgar award nominee for Best Short Story).

When a visiting hunter goes missing in the middle of a snowstorm, a young Charley Stevens sets off to rescue him―but begins to suspect the man may not want to be found in BACKTRACK.

In THE IMPOSTER, Mike is confronted with a baffling case of stolen identity when he discovers a dead body whose driver’s license claims he is none other than Mike Bowditch himself.

Mike tracks down a sinister prowler who turns a couple's dream vacation home into a nightmare in THE CARETAKER.

An investigation into the killing of a bald eagle in SKIN AND BONES unearths an old case of a missing young man whose physically abusive brother might have murdered him.

In SNAKEBIT, Mike must hunt down a killer who uses the unlikeliest of murder weapons: rattlesnakes.

(Brand New!) Mike suspects there’s more to a grisly murder-suicide than meets the eye in SHEEP’S CLOTHING.

Critically acclaimed for his brilliant crime novels, Paul Doiron proves he is also the master of short story in Skin and Bones.]]> 368 Paul Doiron 1250382122 Donna 0 to-read 4.36
author: Paul Doiron
name: Donna
average rating: 4.36
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/02/02
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 220458654
After their recent adventures in Transylvania, Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes look forward to spending some time getting to know Holmes' son, the artist Damian Adler, and his family. But when they arrive at Damian’s house, in a small village south of Paris, they discover that the Adlers have fled from a mysterious threat.

Holmes takes off in pursuit, leaving Russell, who has been slowed down by a recent mishap, to explore the empty house. In Damian’s studio, she discovers some newly-arrived crates that are packed with sketch-books, letters, and memorabilia somehow linked to an earlier generation of French artists, Holmes�� grand-uncle, Horace Vernet. It’s an odd mix of treasures and clutter, including a velvet-lined box holding a tarnished silver lamp with a rotating shade and dozens of strips of paper. On each strip is a sequence of fifteen progressing figures, which dance into motion when the shade is an antique, charming, yet highly sophisticated form of zoetrope.

Deeper down in the same crate is what Russell suspects to be an old journal, although it is written in a nearly impenetrable code language. Intrigued, and trying hard to ignore her anxiety about Holmes, she sets about deciphering the intricate cryptograph. There appear to be fifteen entries. Each, she slowly discovers, is built around an image. The first? A child, bundled into a carriage by her abductor, watches her weeping yet unprotesting mother recede from view.

The decoding is slow, painstaking work, and each revelation leaves Russell with more questions than it answers. Who is this young woman who moved from France to India and then all over the world? What does she have to do with Damian Adler, and the threat that came first to his village, then into the house itself?

The secrets of the past are clearly reaching into the present. And it is increasingly urgent that Russell figures out how the journal and lantern are related to Damian—and possibly to Holmes himself.

Could there be things about his own history that even the master detective has not yet perceived?]]> 320 Laurie R. King 0593496612 Donna 0 to-read 3.78 2024
author: Laurie R. King
name: Donna
average rating: 3.78
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/02/02
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 215808190
The follow-up to The Murder of Mr. Ma, this historical adventure-mystery is perfect for fans of Laurie R. King and the Guy Ritchie Sherlock Holmes films.

London, 1924. Following several months abroad, Judge Dee Ren Jie has returned to the city to foil a transaction between a Russian diplomat and a Japanese mercenary. Aided by Lao She—the Watson to his Holmes—along with several other colorful characters, Dee stops the illicit sale of an extremely valuable “dragon-taming�� mace.

The mace’s owner is a Chinese businesswoman who thanks Dee for its retrieval by throwing a lavish dinner party. In attendance is British banking official A. G. Stephen, who argues with the group about the tenuous state of Chinese nationalism—and is poisoned two days later. Dee knows this cannot be a coincidence, and suspects Stephen won’t be the only victim. Sure enough, a young Chinese communist of Lao’s acquaintance is killed not long after—and a note with a strange symbol is found by his body.

What could connect these murders? Could it be related to rumors of a conspiracy regarding the Chinese Eastern Railway? It is once again all on the unlikely crime-solving duo of Dee and Lao to solve the case before anyone else ends up tied to the rails.]]> 304 John Shen Yen Nee 1641296607 Donna 0 to-read 4.04 2025
author: John Shen Yen Nee
name: Donna
average rating: 4.04
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/02/02
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 212249370 A vivid, visceral portrait of ten weeks in the life of Leon Trotsky, by the New York Times bestselling author of The Company

On Saturday, January 13, 1917, an ocean liner docks in New York Harbor. Among the disembarking emigrants is one Lev Davidovich Bronshtein—better known by his nom de guerre, Leon Trotsky. Bronshtein has been on the run for a decade, driven from his beloved Russia after escaping political exile in Siberia, his companion and two sons in tow. He lives and would die for a worker’s revolution, at any cost—but is he ready to become an American? In the weeks leading up to the February Revolution that will see Lenin’s Bolsheviks in power, Bronshtein haunts the streets, newspaper offices, and socialist gathering places of New York City, wrestling with the difficult questions of his personal revolutionary ideology, his place in his own family, his relationship to Lenin, and, above all, his conscience.

Master of espionage fiction Robert Littell brings to fictional life the ten weeks the world-famous revolutionary spent in the Bronx in this extraordinary meditation on purpose, passion, and the price of progress.]]> 208 Robert Littell 1641296860 Donna 0 to-read, historical-fiction 3.78 2025
author: Robert Littell
name: Donna
average rating: 3.78
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/02/01
shelves: to-read, historical-fiction
review:

]]> 222214310 “[A]n immersive historical novel in which social constructions of race impact politics on a grand scale.�� �� Foreword Reviews

“[A] descriptive, engaging thriller set in the dark alleys of New York’s Chinatown more than a hundred years ago.�� �� Asian Review of Books

New York City, 1907.

Archana Morley knows what it’s like to be an outsider. As a woman journalist from India making her way through the cutthroat world of tabloid newspapers, she’s always on the lookout for untold stories.

In the aftermath of a bloody shooting in Chinatown, Archana finds her most challenging subject—the dreaded gangster Mock Duck. But she realizes that things are not as they seem when the mayor declares Chinatown must be demolished, and the authorities raid Mock’s home and tear apart his family. She embarks on a quest for the truth that leads her from gritty alleys to the back-room politics of City Hall and beyond.

Inspired by real events, No.10 Doyers Street is a gripping novel of New York City on the cusp of modernity, as seen through a unique immigrant perspective.

“Radha Vatsal has impressed me with her precise and astute observations and rich detail for some time, and her upcoming book shows Vatsal at the top of her game.��
�� CrimeReads

“[A]n engrossing read about the erasure of people and their homes and culture in the name of so-called progress.��
�� Historical Novel Society

"This book begins with heartbreak and ends up being an extremely deft portrait of the way politics work ... Archie and the story of a bursting New York City is indelible." �� Aunt Agatha's
]]> 273 Radha Vatsal Donna 0 4.42
author: Radha Vatsal
name: Donna
average rating: 4.42
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/02/01
shelves: to-read, historical-fiction, mysteries-historical, mysteries
review:

]]> 218569838 Set in Renaissance-era Florence, this ravishing debut reimagines the intersecting lives of three ambitious young men—a banker, a priest, and a gay painter named Leonardo.


Leonardo da Vinci, twelve years old and a bastard, leaves the Tuscan countryside to join his father in Florence with dreams of becoming a painter. Francesco Salviati, also a bastard and scorned for his too-dark skin, dedicates himself to the Catholic Church with grand hopes of salvation. Towering above them both is Lorenzo de�� Medici, barely a man, yet soon to be the patriarch of the world’s wealthiest and most influential bank. Each is, in his own way, a son of Florence. Each will, when their paths cross, shed blood on Florence’s streets.


Brash and breathtaking, this lush historical drama explores the dangerous pursuit of artistic and political achievement—especially at a time when “florenzers,�� or gay men such as Leonardo, were often persecuted. Mining the origins of one of history’s finest artists and the city where he came of age, Florenzer introduces an enthralling new voice in fiction.]]> 368 Phil Melanson 1324095032 Donna 0 to-read, historical-fiction 4.48 2025
author: Phil Melanson
name: Donna
average rating: 4.48
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/02/01
shelves: to-read, historical-fiction
review:

]]> 192723716
“I didn’t kill her. I had the thought, the idea. What’s the saying? The road to heaven is paved with bad intentions?��

Police academy burnout turned private eye Patrick Bird works divorce cases, using his camera to catch the unfaithful and the lonely looking for love in rented rooms. But his easy routine is shattered by a new case involving a missing girl.

Sixteen-year-old Abbie Linklater hasn’t been home for three days. Her mother believes Abbie’s getting an abortion. Her twin brother thinks she’s studying at the library. Her best friend couldn’t care less. Her father has no idea; he just wants her home without involving the police.

Before the sun sets on the first day of his investigation, as Bird roams the streets of Toronto looking for the runaway, he’s caught a drifter prowling in the Linklater’s backyard, stumbled into a creepy church with a belligerent minister, sparred with the client, been hit by a car, and discovered some loose ends in a bank robbery gone wrong a decade earlier.

And that was before he found the body.]]> 304 Alexis Stefanovich-Thomson 1459753720 Donna 0 3.77 2024
author: Alexis Stefanovich-Thomson
name: Donna
average rating: 3.77
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/02/01
shelves: to-read, mysteries, mysteries-police-pi-forensics, mysteries-historical
review:

]]> 200488149
1940: Weeks after the evacuation of Dunkirk, Germany is poised to invade a near-defenseless Britain. To safeguard the Crown Jewels from the Nazis, Winston Churchill devises a daring gamble to have them shipped overseas. The priceless artifacts will be secretly removed from the Tower of London and driven north to Scotland by two operatives posing as a young married couple, to be taken from there to Canada.

Caitrin Colline—a Welsh coalminer’s daughter and an ardent socialist—will play the wife of Lord Marlton, Hector Neville-Percy. A less likely couple is at first difficult to imagine. Yet Caitrin’s bold, streetwise confidence and sharp wits complement Hector’s social ease and connections, essential to a second part of their uncovering Nazi sympathizers within the highest ranks of Britain’s aristocracy.

Battling enemies within and without, Caitrin wonders if anyone in their circle can be trusted—even her partner. And when unexpected events catapult her into a life-or-death chase across the continent, the morale of a nation and the fate of Europe itself in the balance.]]> 304 David Lewis 149674909X Donna 0 3.80 2024
author: David Lewis
name: Donna
average rating: 3.80
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/02/01
shelves: to-read, mysteries, mysteries-cozy-traditional, mysteries-historical, mysteries-police-pi-forensics, mysteries-thrillers-espionage
review:

]]> 213570828 ��
1613: ��King James �� sixth of Scotland, first of England, son of Mary, Queen of Scots - has unified both countries under one crown. But the death of his eldest son, Henry, has plunged the nation into mourning, as the rumours rise the prince was poisoned.
��
Andrew Logan’s heard the rumours, but he’s paid them little heed. As one of the King’s Messengers he has enough secrets to guard, including his own. In these perilous times, when the merest suggestion of witchcraft can see someone tortured and hanged, men like Andrew must hide well the fact they were born with the Sight.
��
He’ll need all his gifts, though, when the king sends Andrew north to find and arrest Sir David Murray, once Prince Henry’s trusted courtier, and bring him a prisoner to London to stand trial before the dreaded Star Chamber.
��
A story of treachery, betrayal and love��
��

Praise for The Vanished

‘Fascinating and immersive�� I love a novel that deals with the many ways in which people keep their secrets’�� DIANA GABALDON

‘A hugely engrossing book and a complete world created’�� IAN RANKIN

‘The Vanished Days is an absolute tour de force of historical storytelling, tender and dramatic, gripping and authentic. Kearsley manages effortlessly to balance the epic sweep of the drama with telling moments of gentle characterization, all delivered in pitch-perfect style. I thoroughly enjoyed a perfect escape in these dark days’�� JANE JOHNSON , author of The Salt Road and The Tenth Gift
��
‘An engrossing and deeply romantic novel of Scotland’s Jacobite rebellion’�� RACHEL HORE

‘This novel tells of a tender love story set amid the Jacobite rebellion. For readers unfamiliar with the twists and turns of this period of Scottish history, author Kearsley provides a helpful map, along with rich details of the protagonists. Courage in this era lies not in acts of heroic daring, but in steadfast pursuit of truth and justice. Perfect for fans of Diana Gabaldon’s Outlande r�� WOMAN & HOME
��
��]]> 352 Susanna Kearsley 149268905X Donna 0 to-read 4.20 2024
author: Susanna Kearsley
name: Donna
average rating: 4.20
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/02/01
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 199646597
Last year, Juniper saw the 1,200-year-old Book of Kells in Ireland. She learned how their bejeweled covers were stolen centuries ago, never to be seen again. So how could they have ended up in Rose Mallow, a small Chesapeake Bay town? Being Jewish, the Book of Kells might not be her sacred text, but as a rare books librarian, the ancient book is still sacred to her, making it important to Juniper to find out the truth.

Rose Mallow is the same place where Juniper used to summer with her sister Azalea and their grandmother Zinnia, known as Nana Z. Ever since Nana Z passed away, Juniper’s avoided returning, but her curiosity is greater than her grief, so she heads down in her vintage convertible with her rescue dog Clover.

Juniper discovers that her sister Azalea has transformed their grandmother’s Queen Anne style mansion into the Wildflower Inn, backing up to the Chesapeake Bay. Although Juniper isn’t much of a cook, Azalea has kept their grandmother’s legacy alive, filling the house with the smells of East European Jewish treats, like sweet kugels and tzimmes cake. Will coming back here feel like returning home or fill Juniper with a deeper sorrow? Can she apologize to her sister for not being there when she was needed most?]]> 226 Daphne Silver Donna 2 3.79 2023
author: Daphne Silver
name: Donna
average rating: 3.79
book published: 2023
rating: 2
read at: 2025/01/25
date added: 2025/01/31
shelves: audiobooks, mysteries, mysteries-cozy-traditional
review:
I have to admit that cozy mysteries are not necessarily my favorite genre but I do like something lighter between the heavier, deeper, crime fiction. This was OK but it had very little to do with the Book of Kells and was mostly about Juniper's personal life. I also thought there were way too many characters and subplots which seemed like set ups for future novels.
]]> 10305247
When a brutal murder on the island bears the hallmarks of a similar slaying in Edinburgh, police detective Fin Macleod is dispatched north to investigate. But since he himself was raised on Lewis, the investigation also represents a journey home and into his past.

Each year the island's men perform the hunting of the gugas, a savage custom no longer necessary for survival, but which they cling to even more fiercely in the face of the demands of modern morality. For Fin the hunt recalls a horrific tragedy, which after all this time may have begun to demand another sacrifice.

The Blackhouse is a crime novel of rare power and vision. Peter May has crafted a page-turning murder mystery that explores the darkness in our souls, and just how difficult it is to escape the past.]]> 386 Peter May 1849163847 Donna 0 4.07 2009
author: Peter May
name: Donna
average rating: 4.07
book published: 2009
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/31
shelves: to-read, mysteries, mysteries-police-pi-forensics
review:

]]> 219293007
But then a murder case falls into his lap while his protege is on holiday in Spain. A carjacking gone wrong and the death of a solitary, middle-aged painter. But something's not right, and as Duffy probes he discovers the painter was an IRA assassin. So, the question becomes: Who hit the hitman and why?

This is Duffy's most violent and dangerous case yet and the whole future of the burgeoning "peace process" may depend upon it. Based on true events, Duffy must unentangle parallel operations by the CIA, MI5 and Special Branch. Duffy attempts to bring a killer to justice while trying to keep himself and his team alive as everything unravels around them. They might not all make it out of this one.

[b]New York Times bestselling author Adrian McKinty continues the Edgar Award-winning Sean Duffy series with Hang on St. Christopher.[/b]]]> 306 Adrian McKinty Donna 0 to-read 4.40 2020
author: Adrian McKinty
name: Donna
average rating: 4.40
book published: 2020
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/26
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 44034500 Catastrophic spring flooding, blistering attacks in the media, and a mysterious disappearance greet Chief Inspector Armand Gamache as he returns to the Sûreté du Québec in the latest novel by #1 New York Times bestselling author Louise Penny.

It's Gamache's first day back as head of the homicide department, a job he temporarily shares with his previous second-in-command, Jean-Guy Beauvoir. Floodwaters are rising across the province. In the middle of the turmoil, a father approaches Gamache, pleading for help in finding his daughter.

As crisis piles upon crisis, Gamache tries to hold off the encroaching chaos, and realizes the search for Vivienne Godin should be abandoned. But with a daughter of his own, he finds himself developing a profound, and perhaps unwise, empathy for her distraught father.

Increasingly hounded by the question, how would you feel..., he resumes the search.

As the rivers rise, and the social media onslaught against Gamache becomes crueler, a body is discovered. And in the tumult, mistakes are made.

In the next novel in this "constantly surprising series that deepens and darkens as it evolves" (The New York Times Book Review), Gamache must face a horrific possibility, and a burning question.

What would you do if your child's killer walked free?]]> 437 Louise Penny 1250066212 Donna 5 4.20 2019
author: Louise Penny
name: Donna
average rating: 4.20
book published: 2019
rating: 5
read at: 2025/01/23
date added: 2025/01/24
shelves: mysteries, mysteries-police-pi-forensics, audiobooks
review:

]]> 214384566 You always know the truth. You just pretend you don't...
1963: At the stark and isolated modernist mansion of controversial political philosopher Richard Acklehurst, the glittering annual New Year party has not gone quite as planned. Considered a genius by some, and something far darker by others, by the end of the evening Acklehurst will be dead in mysterious circumstances, casting a long shadow over the lives of his teenage daughters, Aisling and Stella.
1999: Richard Acklehurst's remains are defiled in the country graveyard where they have lain undisturbed for over thirty years, forcing his daughters to return to their childhood home where they must finally confront the complex and dark dynamic at the heart of their family.

Moving from the West of Ireland to Dublin, London, Florence and back, The Glass House is a captivating and compelling tale of two sisters and their secrets, of love, regret and vengeance.]]> 276 Rachel Donohue 1838956921 Donna 0 to-read, mysteries-historical 3.62
author: Rachel Donohue
name: Donna
average rating: 3.62
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/23
shelves: to-read, mysteries-historical
review:

]]> 214151956 A gripping and electric thriller, where the grim horrors of Nazis in America collides with the manufacturing of the suburban dream—from a brilliant new voice in crime fiction.

On a fall night in 1954, in working-class Lindenhurst, Long Island, a woman goes alone to a bar filled with German speakers who’ve finished their shifts at different jobs—some at a groundbreaking new project run by a man named Leavitt. They are gathered to listen to the first game of the World Series between the New York Giants and the Cleveland Indians at the Polo Grounds. The game would make the history books because of “The Catch�� at the outfield wall by Willie Mays.

But Lindenhurst's new chief of police, Paul Beirne, can't think about baseball. Still struggling with the demons from his time as a POW in Japan during the war, he gets the call that a woman's mutilated body is found in a field north of Lindenhurst, near where a new cemetery is being constructed to accommodate the growing suburbs. There hasn’t been a murder in the village in decades, and on top of this horrific crime, there is a suspicious accident on the railroad tracks.

Paul turns to his friend Doc, a Holocaust survivor and who, like Paul, suffers from the horrors of his past. But Paul has personal horrors, too, that are outside the purview of war. Or so he thinks. In stark contrast to the whitewashed ideal Leavitt and others in Lindenhurst are trying to create, an evil as taken root in Lindenhurst. What Paul and Doc uncover will lead Paul to another murder, one committed two decades before, as past and present, family and world war, collide in this intense and thrilling debut from a Pulizter Prize-winning writer.]]> 320 Steve Wick 1639368159 Donna 0 3.41
author: Steve Wick
name: Donna
average rating: 3.41
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/23
shelves: to-read, mysteries, mysteries-historical, mysteries-police-pi-forensics, mysteries-thrillers-espionage
review:

]]> 62955752 Introducing Will Somers, the king's jester but nobody's fool in this exuberant, intriguing and thoroughly entertaining mystery set in Tudor England �� the first in a new series from the author of the critically acclaimed Crispin Guest Medieval Noir series.




1529, London.��Jester Will Somers enjoys an enviable position at the court of Henry VIII. As the king's entertainer, chief gossip-monger, spy and loyal adviser, he knows all of the king's secrets �� and almost everyone else's within the walls of Greenwich Palace.

But when Will discovers the body of Spanish count Don Gonzalo while walking his trusted sidekick Nosewise in the courtyard gardens, and a blackmail note arrives soon after demanding information about the king, is one of his own closely guarded secrets about to be exposed? Trouble is afoot at the palace. Are the king's enemies plotting a move against him? Will must draw on all his wit and ingenuity to get to the bottom of the treacherous and deadly goings-on at the court before further tragedy strikes . . .]]> 217 Jeri Westerson 1448309883 Donna 0 3.67
author: Jeri Westerson
name: Donna
average rating: 3.67
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/21
shelves: to-read, mysteries, mysteries-historical
review:

]]> 211025447 From the bestselling author of In the Blink of an Eye comes a gripping thriller that pits algorithms versus experience, logic versus instinct, and one undetectable killer versus two extraordinary detectives.

When the body of a man is found crucified at the top of a hill in the British midlands, AIDE Lock—the world’s first AI Detective—and Detective Kat Frank are thrust into the spotlight as they are given their first live case. When a second body is found the police issue an extraordinary warning to local males aged between 30 and 40 years old:

�� Avoid drinking in pubs
�� If you must go to a pub, do not leave alone
�� And definitely do not leave a pub with a stranger

With the national media and local men in an uproar, Kat and Lock have to combine their instincts and algorithms to catch the killer before they can strike again.]]> 400 Jo Callaghan 0593736850 Donna 0 4.16 2024
author: Jo Callaghan
name: Donna
average rating: 4.16
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/19
shelves: to-read, mysteries, mysteries-police-pi-forensics, mysteries-other
review:

]]> 199793420
Tattooed, pierced, and a bit of a mess, Maggie Moore is a surprising genius when it comes to words, a savant able to solve any linguistic puzzle. The top student in her forensic linguistics class, she’s tapped by local police to use her skills to decipher harrowing notes left by a stalker-turned-rapist—and succeeds brilliantly.

But when the daughter of a local mayor is abducted, Maggie isn’t sure she’s the right person to help the police solve the crime. Given what happened to her best childhood friend, Maggie just might be too close to this one.

Yet she knows the authorities in this rural south-Central Florida town cannot crack the case without her special skill. Along with her new best friend, a detective Jackson, Maggie begins to analyze the texts, emails, and verbal tics of various suspects . . . and comes to a disturbing conclusion that will rock this small community.]]> 256 Stella Sands 0063345307 Donna 4 3.40 2024
author: Stella Sands
name: Donna
average rating: 3.40
book published: 2024
rating: 4
read at: 2025/01/18
date added: 2025/01/18
shelves: mysteries, mysteries-other, mysteries-police-pi-forensics
review:

]]> 219301062 From the Barry Award nominee and Ngaio Marsh Award winner, a new thriller bringing danger ever closer to Hana Westerman

When Detective Inspector Jaye Hamilton stops at an Auckland liquor store for a bottle of champagne, it is supposed to be his daughter Addison has just gotten engaged. Instead, he is suddenly gunned down at the register by a balaclava-clad assailant in what appears at first to be a random act. The getaway car is quickly recovered, containing the cell phone of a young Māori man, Toa Davis, who is immediately the object of an all-out police search.

Jaye’s ex-wife, former Māori detective Hana Westerman, asks in on the investigation. Her instincts suggest that the vehicle was meant to be found, and that Jaye had been targeted. The gun used in the assault is distinctive, and she learns that a local gang leader, Erwin Rendall—who had threatened Hana in the past—owns such a weapon. When Davis turns up dead, the hunt for Rendall is on. Yet when Rendall slips through the dragnet and escapes the country, and in the wake of Jaye’s death, Hana decides to rejoin the force, acknowledging that she has unfinished business still.

Skillfully plotted, inviting readers ever further into the appreciation of Māori culture, and with vibrant characters determined to overcome tragedy with resolve, Carved in Blood takes Michael Bennett’s highly-praised series to new heights.]]> 384 Michael Bennett 0802164544 Donna 0 to-read 3.76
author: Michael Bennett
name: Donna
average rating: 3.76
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/17
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 26631720
Detective Harry Virdee should be at home with his wife. Impending fatherhood should be all he can think about but he’s been suspended from work just as the biggest case of the year lands on what would have been his desk. He can’t keep himself away.

Determined to restore his reputation, Harry is obliged to take to the shadows in search of notorious ex-convict and prime suspect, Lucas Dwight. But as the motivations of the murder threaten to tip an already unstable city into riotous anarchy, Harry finds his preconceptions turned on their head as he discovers what it’s like to be on the other side of the law…]]> 320 A.A. Dhand 0593076656 Donna 0 3.86 2016
author: A.A. Dhand
name: Donna
average rating: 3.86
book published: 2016
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/16
shelves: to-read, mysteries, mysteries-police-pi-forensics
review:

]]> 217223453 Highly acclaimed��New York Times��bestseller Laura Lippman returns with an irresistible mystery featuring Muriel Blossom, a former private investigator and middle-aged widow whose vacation on a Parisian river cruise turns into a deadly international mystery…that only she can solve.��

Mrs. Blossom is not the kind of woman to play the lottery. She is practical, a devoted grandmother, and has a knack for blending into the background, which was an asset during her days assisting private investigator Tess Monaghan. But when Mrs. Blossom finds a winning ticket in a parking lot, everything changes...including Mrs. Blossom. She is determined to see the world that sometimes feels as if it’s passing her by.

But when Mrs. Blossom booked her cruise through France on the MS Solitaire, she did not expect to meet Allan on her transatlantic flight. He is the first man who’s sparked something inside her since her beloved husband passed.

She also didn’t expect Allan to be found, dead, twenty-four hours later in Paris, a city he wasn’t supposed to be in.

Now Mrs. Blossom doesn’t know who to trust on board the ship, especially when a new, mystifying man, Danny, keeps popping up around every corner, always present when things go awry. He claims that Allan was involved in the transport of a stolen, precious piece of art, and he’s convinced that Mrs. Blossom knows more than she lets on, regarding both the artifact and Allan’s murder.

Mrs. Blossom’s questions only increase as the cruise sails down the Seine. Why does it feel like she is being followed? Who was Allan, and why was he killed? Most alarmingly, why do these mysterious men keep flirting with her?

What follows is a charming one-of-a-kind mystery from one of��Time magazine’s “essential crime writers of the last 100 years.�� The perfect combination of cozy and thrilling, this novel and the delightful Mrs. Blossom are sure to be unforgettable.]]> 272 Laura Lippman 0062998102 Donna 0 to-read 3.62 2025
author: Laura Lippman
name: Donna
average rating: 3.62
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/15
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 213623895
The victim is Charlotte Blake, a celebrated professor of art history from Oxford who spends her weekends in the same seaside village where Gabriel once lived under an assumed identity. Her murder appears to be the work of a diabolical serial killer who has been terrorizing the Cornish countryside. But there are a number of telltale inconsistencies, including a missing mobile phone. And then there is the mysterious three-letter cypher she left behind on a notepad in her study.

Gabriel soon discovers that Professor Blake was searching for a looted Picasso worth more than a $100 million, and he takes up the chase for the painting as only he can—with six Impressionist canvases forged by his own hand and an unlikely team of operatives that includes a world-famous violinist, a beautiful master thief, and a lethal contract killer turned British spy. The result is a stylish and wildly entertaining mystery that moves at lightning speed from the cliffs of Cornwall to the enchanted island of Corsica and, finally, to a breathtaking climax on the very doorstep of 10 Downing Street.]]> 416 Daniel Silva 006338440X Donna 0 to-read 4.10
author: Daniel Silva
name: Donna
average rating: 4.10
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/14
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 32739413 Perfect for readers of The Secret Life of Bees and The Help, a perceptive and searing look at Apartheid-era South Africa, told through one unique family brought together by tragedy.

Life under Apartheid has created a secure future for Robin Conrad, a nine-year-old white girl living with her parents in 1970s Johannesburg. In the same nation but worlds apart, Beauty Mbali, a Xhosa woman in a rural village in the Bantu homeland of the Transkei, struggles to raise her children alone after her husband's death. Both lives have been built upon the division of race, and their meeting should never have occurred... until the Soweto Uprising, in which a protest by black students ignites racial conflict, alters the fault lines on which their society is built, and shatters their worlds when Robin's parents are left dead and Beauty's daughter goes missing.

After Robin is sent to live with her loving but irresponsible aunt, Beauty is hired to care for Robin while continuing the search for her daughter. In Beauty, Robin finds the security and family that she craves, and the two forge an inextricable bond through their deep personal losses. But Robin knows that if Beauty finds her daughter, Robin could lose her new caretaker forever, so she makes a desperate decision with devastating consequences. Her quest to make amends and find redemption is a journey of self-discovery in which she learns the harsh truths of the society that once promised her protection.

Told through Beauty and Robin's alternating perspectives, the interwoven narratives create a rich and complex tapestry of the emotions and tensions at the heart of Apartheid-era South Africa. Hum if You Don't Know the Words is a beautifully rendered look at loss, racism, and the creation of family.]]> 432 Bianca Marais 0399575065 Donna 0 to-read, historical-fiction 4.17 2017
author: Bianca Marais
name: Donna
average rating: 4.17
book published: 2017
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/14
shelves: to-read, historical-fiction
review:

]]> 213870090 A thrilling reimagining of the world of Dickens, as seen through the eyes of the infamous Jacob Fagin, London’s most gifted pickpocket, liar, and rogue.

Long before Oliver Twist stumbled onto the scene, Jacob Fagin was scratching out a life for himself in the dark alleys of nineteenth-century London. Born in the Jewish enclave of Stepney shortly after his father was executed as a thief, Jacob and his open-minded mother, Leah, are each other’s whole world. But Jacob’s prospects are forever altered when a light-fingered pickpocket takes Jacob under his wing and teaches him a trade that pays far better than the neighborhood boys could possibly dream.

Striking out on his own, Jacob familiarizes himself with London’s highest value neighborhoods while forging his own path in the shadows. But everything changes when he adopts an aspiring teenage thief named Bill Sikes, whose mercurial temper poses a danger to himself and anyone foolish enough to cross him. Along the way, Jacob’s found family expands to include his closest friend, Nancy, and his greatest protege, the Artful Dodger. But as Bill’s ambition soars and a major robbery goes awry, Jacob is forced to decide what he really stands for—and what a life is worth.

Colorfully written and wickedly funny, Allison Epstein breathes fresh life into the teeming streets of Dickensian London–reclaiming one of Victorian literature’s most notorious villains in an unforgettable new adventure.]]> 336 Allison Epstein 0385550707 Donna 0 to-read, historical-fiction 4.18 2025
author: Allison Epstein
name: Donna
average rating: 4.18
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/13
shelves: to-read, historical-fiction
review:

]]> 215805799 A clever, transporting murder mystery, The Gatsby Gambit explores a world of class, money, glamour, and foul play—and reimagines some of America’s most beloved literary characters

Greta Gatsby has at last graduated from her stifling finishing school, is on the brink of turning twenty-one, and hopes to finally have her own legendary summer with her brother and guardian, Jay, at his West Egg mansion.��Orphaned along with him some years before the war, Greta has seen her fortunes rise on the high tide of his entrepreneurship, even as she has remained in the shadows of his life—too young to join his late-night soirees or infamous summer parties and too shy to trade banter and barbs with his cadre of new friends.

Jay’s wish for her has been to shake off their new-money stain and gain a level of social acceptance he’s never quite enjoyed. She’s simply looking forward to reconnecting with him and embracing life as a modern young woman. She arrives at West Egg with a fresh and daring new bob hairdo to find Daisy and Tom Buchanan also summering at the mansion, along with Nick Carraway and Jordan Baker. And it’s hard to be noticed when the luminous and multifaceted Daisy Buchanan is in the same room.��

But when one of their guests is murdered, Greta turns sleuth as the veil is lifted on Gatsby’s household and its inhabitants, including its staff. Tightly plotted, with thrilling prose and sensuous detail, this homage to and reinvention of a world American readers have lionized for generations ultimately reveals the secrets and lies that perpetuate the romantic notion that being rich is the answer to all of life’s problems.

Like the Enola Holmes series and The Christie Affair, The Gatsby Gambit is designed to bring new readers into the world of the original, iconic novel, as well as delight fans with its clever secrets and reverence for all things Gatsby.]]> 368 Claire Anderson Wheeler 0593831632 Donna 0 to-read 3.80 2025
author: Claire Anderson Wheeler
name: Donna
average rating: 3.80
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/13
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 214537819 Lawrence Wright at the height of his powers. Centering around the newfound—and forced—relationship between an American/Palestinian FBI agent and a hardline Israeli cop, working together uneasily to solve the murder of the Israeli police chief in Gaza. Moving, thrilling, with extraordinary scope, it does for Palestine and Israel what Gorky Park did years ago for Russia. In the vein of LeCarré and Graham Greene, this is the rare novel that manages to entertain, educate, and deeply move the reader.

Tony Malik is a half-Irish, half-Arab New York based FBI agent, specializing in money flowing from drug and arms deals. The novel opens in shocking fashion, with Malik seriously injured by a terrorist-planted bomb. During his lengthy recuperative process, his life changes radically. A long-term relationship ends, and his job is on the verge of being taken away from him. During this period he learns more about his roots and becomes interested in his father's past and family - his father came to America years ago from Palestine. He decides to make a trip to his father's homeland to attend the wedding of his niece, whom he has never met. As a result of his plans, he is given a simple assignment by his boss at the FBI, partly to see how well he can still do his job. That simple assignment becomes extremely complicated.

As soon as he arrives in Gaza, the Israeli police chief overseeing the area is murdered. Malik is at first a suspect. Then, due to his superior investigative skills, he is invited into the Israeli investigation, seeking the murderer. At the center of this novel is Malik's relationship with Yossi, the hardline anti-Arab Israeli police officer leading the investigation. They must learn to trust each other because, as they move closer to solving the case, they realize there is no one else they can trust on either side.

Extraordinary three dimensional characters populate this Yossi's daughter, studying in Paris, trying to escape the violence that surrounds her in Israel; Malik's niece, whose wedding and life are shattered by the murder; her fiancé, a peacenik whose existence is complicated by the fact that his cousin is high up in the Hamas command; religious leaders on both sides; corrupt Israeli cops; Palestinians thirsting for violence against Israel; Israelis determined to crush the Palestinians. Lawrence Wright brings a��wide and complicated tapestry to life, one that culminates��on October 7��with the deadly Hamas attack on Israel. But he has written more than just a thriller, or even just an examination of all these complicated lives. He has written a novel that manages to explore and explain much of the devastating history that encompasses the relationship between Israel and Palestine—and shows it to us in a way that poignantly reveals the tragic human scale that is involved.]]> 448 Lawrence Wright 0593537831 Donna 0 4.12 2025
author: Lawrence Wright
name: Donna
average rating: 4.12
book published: 2025
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/01/13
shelves: to-read, mysteries-international, mysteries-thrillers-espionage
review:

]]> 215362022 When a drug kingpin discovers his numbers are down in the upper northeast, he sends a malevolent force, known only as "The Man," to investigate. At the same time, Babs's youngest daughter, Sis, has gone missing, which doesn't seem like a coincidence. In twenty-four hours Sis will be found dead, and the whole town will seek shelter from Babs’s wrath.]]> 368 Ron Currie Jr. 0593851668 Donna 0 4.07
author: Ron Currie Jr.
name: Donna
average rating: 4.07
book published:
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/01/13
shelves: to-read, mysteries-thrillers-espionage
review:

]]> 216247561 How did a young Parisienne mother, celebrated for her beauty and glamour, come to lead the largest spy network in France? A powerful, heartbreaking historical novel by the New York Times bestselling author

Morocco, 1928. Eighteen-year-old Frenchwoman Marie-Madeleine is not the kind of woman who goes through life sitting down, something her new husband can attest. Her unconventionalities - rally car driving, flying planes and dabbling in intelligence work for the government - earn her a reputation, but she knows who she is at an adventurer.

Paris, 1938. As Europe teeters on the brink of war, a chance encounter with a mysterious man codenamed Navarre turns Marie-Madeleine's life upside down. Recruited to help build a resistance network known only as Alliance, she conceals her identity - and gender - as she navigates a perilous double life away from her children and the man she loves. Capture and death are only a heartbeat away.

Bestselling Australian novelist Natasha Lester passionately brings to life the true story of one of history's unsung Marie-Madeleine Fourcade, the only woman to lead a resistance network in WWII France. Her story is one of epic love, tragic loss and magnificent leadership.

Praise for the immersive, impeccably researched novels of Natasha

'A beautifully written historical novel that will have you wiping away tears' Woman's Day

'Page-turning . . . Rich with intrigue and laced with secrets' The Australian Women's Weekly

'A master storyteller' Daily Telegraph

'A sweeping story of love, betrayal and one woman's struggle to find her place in the world. Engrossing and beautiful' TANIA BLANCHARD

'Thrilling' RUTH DRUART

'Held held me enthralled from the first page' CHRISTINE WELLS]]> 448 Natasha Lester 0593726537 Donna 0 to-read 4.55 2025
author: Natasha Lester
name: Donna
average rating: 4.55
book published: 2025
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/01/13
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 211953352 To find a missing young woman, the new tribal marshal must also find herself. At rock bottom following her daughter’s murder, ex-Chicago detective Carrie Starr has nowhere to go but back to her roots. Starr’s father never talked much about the reservation that raised him, but they need a new tribal marshal as much as Starr needs a place to call home. In the last decade, too many young women have disappeared from the rez. Some dead, others just�� gone. Now, local college student Chenoa Cloud is missing, and Starr falls into an investigation that leaves her drowning in memories of her daughter—the girl she failed to save. Starr feels lost in this place she thought would welcome her. And when she catches a glimpse of a figure from her father’s stories, with the body of a woman and the antlers of a deer, Starr can’t shake the feeling that the fearsome spirit is watching her, following her. What she doesn’t know is whether Deer Woman is here to guide her or to seek vengeance for the lost daughters that Starr can never bring home.]]> 336 Laurie L. Dove 0593816102 Donna 0 to-read, mysteries 3.56 2025
author: Laurie L. Dove
name: Donna
average rating: 3.56
book published: 2025
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/01/13
shelves: to-read, mysteries
review:

]]> 216522751 “Abbi Waxman is both irreverent and thoughtful.”��#1 New York Times bestselling author Emily Giffin

A cranky former actress teams up with her Gen Z sobriety sponsor to solve the murder that threatens to send her back to prison in this dazzling new mystery novel from the USA Today bestselling author of The Bookish Life of Nina Hill.

When Julia Mann, a bad-tempered ex-actress and professional thorn in the side of authority, runs into Natasha Mason at an AA meeting, it’s anything but a meet-cute. Julia just found a dead body in her swimming pool, and the cops say she did it (she already went to jail for murder once, so now they think she’s making a habit of it). Mason is eager to clear Julia’s name and help keep her sober, but all Julia wants is for Mason to leave her alone.

As their investigation ranges from the Hollywood Hills to the world of burlesque to the country clubs of Palm Springs, this unconventional team realizes their shared love of sarcasm and poor life choices are proving to be a powerful combination. Will secrets from their past trip them up, or will their team of showgirls, cat burglars, and Hollywood agents help them stay one step ahead? Are dead piranhas, false noses, and a giant martini glass important clues or simply your typical day in Los Angeles? And will they manage to solve the crime before they kill each other, or worse, fall off the wagon? Trying to keep it simple and take it easy is one thing—trying to find a murderer before they kill again is a whole other program.]]> 400 Abbi Waxman 0593816676 Donna 0 to-read 4.10 2025
author: Abbi Waxman
name: Donna
average rating: 4.10
book published: 2025
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/01/13
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 216724314 304 Anne Hillerman 0063344793 Donna 0 to-read 3.94 2024
author: Anne Hillerman
name: Donna
average rating: 3.94
book published: 2024
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/01/13
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 217245548 Another instant classic from Carl Hiaasen—laugh-out-loud funny, tackling the current chaotic and polarized American culture (following in the path of Squeeze Me), with two wonderful new Hiaasen heroes

“The afternoon of September first, dishwater-gray and rainy, a man named Dale Figgo picked up a hitchhiker on Gus Grissom Boulevard in Tangelo Falls, Florida. The hitchhiker, who reminded Figgo of Danny DeVito, asked for a lift to the interstate. Figgo said he’d take him there after finishing an errand.��

Thus begins Fever Beach, with an errand that leads—in pure Hiaasen-style—into the depths of Florida at its most a sun-soaked bastion of right-wing extremism, white power, greed, and corruption. Figgo, it turns out, is the only hate-monger ever to be kicked out of the Proud Boys for being too dumb and incompetent. On January 6, 2021 he thought he was defacing a statue of Ulysses S. Grant, but he wound up spreading feces all over a statue of James Zacharia George, a Civil War Confederate war leader.

Figgo's already messy life is about to get more complicated, thanks to two formidable adversaries. Viva Morales is a newly transplanted Floridian, a clever woman recently taken to the cleaners by her ex-husband, now working at the Mink Foundation, a supposedly philanthropical organization, and renting a room in Figgo’s apartment because there’s no place else she can afford. Twilly Spree has an anger management problem, especially when it comes to those who deface the environment, and way too many inherited millions of dollars. He's living alone a year after his dog died, two years after he sank a city councilman’s party barge, and three years after his divorce.

Viva and Twilly are plunged into a mystery—involving dark money and darker motives—they are determined to solve, and become entangled in a world populated by some of Hiaasen’s most outrageous Claude and Eletra Mink—billionaire philanthropists with way too much plastic surgery and a secret right-wing agenda—and Congressman Clure Boyette—who dreams of being Florida’s (and maybe America’s) most important politician. The only things standing in his way are his love for hookers and young girls, and his total lack of intelligence. We meet Noel Kristianson—a Scandinavian agnostic injured when Figgo thinks he’s aJewish threat to humanity and runs him over with his car; Jonus Onus—Figgo’s partner in white power idiocy; and many, many more. Hiaasen ties them all together and delivers them to their appropriate fates, in his wildest and most entertaining novel to date.]]> 384 Carl Hiaasen 0593320948 Donna 0 to-read 4.02
author: Carl Hiaasen
name: Donna
average rating: 4.02
book published:
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/01/13
shelves: to-read
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