The Bookseller

The Bookseller by Tim Sullivan
3/18/25; 368 pages
Aria & Aries
DS Cross Series #7

The Bookseller by Tim Sullivan is a highly recommended procedural and the seventh book in the series featuring DS George Cross.

Torquil Squire is the 90 year-old owner of Squires Rare Books in Bristol. The family business is currently ran by his son Ed, with assistants Sam and Persephone (Percy). When Torquil heads to London for the day to attend a rare book auction, he returns in the evening to find his son, Ed, dead and Percy locked in the bathroom upstairs. DS George Cross and his partner DI Josie Ottey are called in to investigate and must figure out who would want to kill Ed and how the business of rare and antique books works.

George Cross is neurodivergent. He is a tenacious, brilliant, and insightful investigator who is also socially awkward and struggles following social cues. On the job his differences make him a formidable investigator who can follow and catch clues others might miss. At the same time as the murder investigation is underway George's father, Raymond has a brain tumor diagnosis. He has a stroke during surgery and is now facing a longer recovery. His father's situation makes George consider retiring from the force to care for his dad.

For those who enjoy following the clues in detailed, intricate procedurals, The Bookseller would be a good choice. This is part of a series though it can still be enjoyed as a standalone novel. However, it is easy to see where reading the previous books in the series would be beneficial. It did seem a little long and drawn out at times. Thanks to Aria & Aries for providing me with an advance reader's copy via NetGalley. My review is voluntary and expresses my honest opinion.

Strangers in Time

Strangers in Time David Baldacci
4/15/25; 448 pages
Grand Central Publishing

Strangers in Time David Baldacci is a descriptive, very highly recommended character driven historical fiction set in 1944 London during WWII.

Thirteen-year-old Charlie Matters lives with his grandmother, his only surviving relative. He's dropped out of school and spends his days using his wits to make money or steal what he can. When he notices through a window some biscuits on a plate and money in a cash drawer at a book store called The Book Keep, Charlie rushes in, steals the food and money, and runs. Later circumstances lead to him returning the money to the store owner, widower Ignatius Oliver.

Fifteen-year-old Molly Wakefield has just returned to London after spending years in the countryside. When she arrives home the only person there is her nanny. She learns her mother has been hospitalized and her father is gone. She meets Charlie on the streets and asks him to help her find the building where her father is supposed to be working, but he's not there. Later, Molly meets Ignatius when looking for Charlie and as bombs wreak havoc on the city, the three forge a relationship.

The characters are richly drawn and depicted as fully realized, complicated individuals with flaws and strengths. The setting is also skillfully descriptive of place and time. All the characters are struggling with personal battles while a battle is literally going on around them, exposing everyone to potential death. The overwhelming sense of anxiety and the hustle for survival, as well as their tenacity, is clearly depicted in bomb-shattered London.

Strangers in Time moves at a fast pace and will hold your complete attention right to the end. The detailed, descriptive writing helps to vividly bring the characters and the setting to life. There are several plot twists, threats, mysteries, and surprises incorporated into the narrative along the way. Generally I'm not a huge fan of historical fiction, but this novel is excellent, compelling, and thoroughly enjoyable.

Readers who enjoy well-written historical fiction should definitely read Strangers in Time. Thanks to Grand Central Publishing for providing me with an advance reader's copy via NetGalley. My review is voluntary and expresses my honest opinion.

Ruth Run

Ruth Run by Elizabeth Kaufman
4/15/25; 304 pages
Penguin 

Ruth Run by Elizabeth Kaufman is a highly recommended cross-country pursuit following a cybercriminal on the run and the government agency looking for her.

Ruth, 26, designed a hacked firewall microchip that is used in many banking systems that allows her to skim money from the banks. She has amassed more than $250 million when an alarm goes off one night alerting her that someone has accessed part of her system. She goes on the run with a bag full of cash as Mike along with others, all agents with an unnamed government agency, chase her.  Along the way she meets an eccentric cast of characters.

The narrative is presented from two points-of-view, Ruth and Mike. Ruth is an interesting character. Obviously she's intelligent, but she also grew up poor and will do whatever it takes to get by, including forgoing any gratification right now for future benefits. She is obsessed with good food and fantasizes about what she will be able to enjoy in the future. Never having money, not really knowing how much she would need, and now on the run, she reflects that perhaps she should have been satisfied with less money and left her life of crime earlier. 

Mike thinks he has a connection with Ruth. He has been stalking her for seven years, but there are others who are also obsessed with her. Her pursuers from the agency are all of dubious integrity.

Ruth Run moves at a fast-paced throughout. It is a compelling and sometimes humorous novel with an interesting plot. I was engrossed right to the end and cheering Ruth on as she eluded capture. The actual ending, however, was a problem for me. No spoilers, but it involves a bad choice that almost knocked two stars off my rating. 

Thanks to Penguin for providing me with an advance reader's copy via NetGalley. My review is voluntary and expresses my honest opinion.

Enough Is Enuf

Enough Is Enuf: Our Failed Attempts to Make English Easier to Spell by Gabe Henry
4/15/25; 304 pages
HarperCollins

Enough Is Enuf: Our Failed Attempts to Make English Easier to Spell by Gabe Henry is a very highly recommended, brief and humorous account of the 500-year history of the various movements to simplify the spelling of English words.

"There's a reason spelling bees are only common in English speaking countries: English spelling is absurd." 
This is a sentiment I'm well acquainted with as someone who was out on the first round of my 6th grade spelling bee. I celebrated when spell check came into our lives. As Henry points out, there are two problems: English has 44 sounds but only 26 letters and every sound in English has 4 ways of spelling it. Anyone who has ever taught a child to read understands how complicated it is. A study showed that it takes children take 2-3 times longer to grasp English spelling.

Enough Is Enuf focuses on the linguistic history and other factors that have contributed to the complexity of spelling and those who promoted changing it. Over the years there have been numerous who attempted to simplify spelling including, in part, a 12th century monk named Ormin, John Cheke, Ben Franklin, Noah Webster (who smuggled in dozens of simplifications such as colour to color in his dictionary), Mark Twain, Melvill Dewey, Eliza Burnz, C. S. Lewis, George Bernard Shaw, Charles Darwin, Theodore Roosevelt, U2, Prince, and Def Leppard, and, currently, textspeak.

I was engrossed, informed, and entertained throughout this historical look at those who tried to reform the spelling of the English language. He honestly points out that one drawback to any simplify spelling movement is who really wants to learn how to read all over again? Included at the end is an abbreviated dictionary of simplified spelling based on Noah Webster's writing,  a section called "Muzik and Liriks," notes, and an index.

Enough Is Enuf is a well-written, well-researched, and entertaining history. Thanks to HarperCollins for providing me with an advance reader's copy via NetGalley. My review is voluntary and expresses my honest opinion.

Coram House

Coram House by Bailey Seybolt
4/15/25; 320 pages
Atria Books 

Coram House by Bailey Seybolt is a highly recommended atmospheric mystery inspired by a true story.

Writer and recent widow Alex Kelley accepts the opportunity to be the ghost writer for a true crime story following unsolved mysteries at an abandoned orphanage in Vermont. The orphanage called Coram House is located on the shores of Lake Champlain. Years previously a settlement was made for the adult survivors for the abuse they received there. Now the detective who as in charge of the case wants to publish a book about it and he will pay Alex to write it.

Once Alex arrives in Vermont, she brings the many boxes of files, interviews, etc. about the case to her rented residence and she begins the discovery process. What captures her attention is the 1968 disappearance of nine-year-old Tommy. Some survivors say he ran away but it is also said that a nun drowned him. There are other conflicted accounts of abuse inflicted on the children. As Alex begins investigating and interviewing people,  she discovers a woman's body in the lake, and she know it was not an accident.

This is a slow-burning, atmospheric tale so don't expect heart-stopping action along the way. Along with being atmospheric, it is also a very descriptive novel. It will hold the attention of readers who enjoy procedurals and investigative novels where information is slowly and carefully exposed and revealed while connections are made.

Actually, my appreciation of the novel increased while reading. The final chapters and the surprising twist raised my rating. Early on, between the slow pace, constant bottles of wine being consumed, and the endless descriptions of the cold weather I wasn't feeling very interested. (It's Vermont in the winter, most readers will understand winter.)

None of the main characters are especially sympathetic or likeable. Alex's husband died recently, so there is some sympathy for her grief. She also has tenacity in following the trail of information she's on even when others are trying to discourage her focus on it. Included between chapters are transcripts of testimony from the adult survivors.

This is a debut mystery that shows some promise for future novels. Thanks to Atria Books for providing me with an advance reader's copy via NetGalley. My review is voluntary and expresses my honest opinion.

What Remains of Teague House

What Remains of Teague House by Stacy Johns
4/8/25; 432 pages
Poisoned Pen Press

What Remains of Teague House by Stacy Johns is a recommended mystery and dysfunctional family drama.

When the Rawlins family matriarch Val unexpectedly passes, all three adult children, Jon, Sandra, and Rob, rush home. Val’s younger sister, Phil, has been caring for her sister for years and also lives at the house. When Sandra and Jon find a finger sticking out of the freshly disturbed ground at what was a pet cemetery on their land, the police are called. They discover five bodies. The most recent one was Gayle Bethested, a local teacher and mother. The other bodies appear to be older. Are the bodies connected to their father’s suicide years earlier or is something else going on?

The narrative introduces all the siblings and their complicated relationships in short chapters. Jon recently lost his wife and Sandra has been helping him care for his son. Robby's marriage is on shaky ground due to his serial philandering, including an affair with Gayle. The relationship between Val and Phyllis is also developed starting when they were teens in 1972 and follows them into Val's marriage. Added into the mix is private detective Maddie Reed, who believes her missing foster sister may be one of the victims.

They are all grieving the death of their mother but it becomes clear that she really was lost to them long before, even before their fathers death. Adding to the menacing tone of the narrative are the bodies found on the land, questions about who could be responsible, and murky memories from their childhood. There are plenty of dark secrets in the house, including secret hiding spots. And they all have their own secrets they are keeping hidden while trying to untangle who could be responsible for the bodies buried on their land. And why is Aunt Phil so anxious to leave on her cruise soon after the funeral?

The plot is very slow moving and flipping between the multiple points-of-view doesn't work well as the complications increase. At some point, I began to lose patience with the slow reveal of more and more intricate clues, switching between points-of-view, and little to tie everything together, especially when one early clue made it clear who they should be looking for. By the time the final denouement arrived, I just felt relieved a conclusion was reached. Thanks to Poisoned Pen Press for providing me with an advance reader's copy via NetGalley. My review is voluntary and expresses my honest opinion.

Nothing Left to Lose

Nothing Left to Lose, or, How Not to Start a Commune by Jeff Richards
4/8/25; 272 pages
Circuit Breaker Books

Nothing Left to Lose, or, How Not to Start a Commune by Jeff Richards is a so-so memoir set in the midst of counterculture life in the 60's. As a young college men Jeff Richards and his friend Rick Sager decide to start a commune out in the Rocky Mountains. What follows is a whole series of adventures, communes, drugs, sex, and road trips as they wandering back and forth across the country.

This is Richard's story, but it is one that has been told before and presented better. While reading, the narrative felt unorganized, muddled, and disjointed. Yes, those feelings likely are a reflection of the times and the experiences, but once I finished reading Nothing Left to Lose I just felt sad.

This is recommended for readers who appreciate memoirs about the 60's counterculture. Thanks to Circuit Breaker Books for providing me with an advance reader's copy via NetGalley. My review is voluntary and expresses my honest opinion.