You Are Here

You Are Here by Karin Lin-Greenberg
5/2/23; 304 pages
Counterpoint

You Are Here by Karin Lin-Greenberg is a highly recommended character study set in a closing mall.

A dying shopping mall is the setting for this character study of five individuals who all have connections to the mall. Tina Huang, is the last remaining stylist at a Sunshine Clips. She always wanted to be an artist. Jackson Huang is Tina's nine-year-old son who comes to the salon every day and is secretly teaching himself magic tricks. Ro Goodson is a cantankerous elderly woman and Tina's last remaining regular customer. Ro has the gift of always saying the wrong thing. Ro's next-door neighbor, Kevin, is the manager of the bookstore and stalled on finishing his dissertation. He built a tiny house in his mother-in-laws backyard for his family. Ro judges him harshly. Maria is a high school senior who works at a chicken place and wants to be an actress. She is friends with Jackson.

What follows is a portrait of this diverse group of people that follows their daily lives along with their dreams. All of these characters are portrayed as distinct, fully realized, realistic individuals with strengths, dreams, and flaws. Chapters are told through the point-of-view of individual characters and this is what moves the plot along. You Are Here, however, is much more a character driven novel than a plot heavy narrative. Events happen that involved each character, including life changing events, but the main focus is the inner monologue of these individuals reacting to the events around them.

The chapters are all connected, but they also feel like individual stories collected together to make a novel. The first part of the novel is heavy on the character development with events advancing a connection to all of them in the plot, beyond the mall closing, happening later. I appreciate and relish excellent character development, which is present throughout the novel. You Are Here will be engaging and enjoyed by those who admire strong character development.

Disclosure: My review copy was courtesy of Counterpoint via Edelweiss.

We Love to Entertain

We Love to Entertain by Sarah Strohmeyer
4/25/23; 368 pages
HarperCollins

We Love to Entertain by Sarah Strohmeyer is a recommended psychological thriller.

Holly Simmons and Robert Barron are on the property rehab show To the Manor Build  and hoping to win the grand prize with their hilltop estate in Snowden, Vermont. Erika Turnbull is Robert’s assistant, who is efficient and secretly in love with him. When Holly and Robert go missing hours after their livestreamed "flash" wedding, Erika is a suspect. Erika's mother who is also the town clerk, Kim, is not about to let anything happen to her daughter and she becomes a detective to find out what really happened.

There are plenty of twists and the plot is entertaining, but you also have to suspend some disbelief in order to fully enjoy the turns the plot takes. It's been awhile since I watched any reality TV, and the narrative kind of confirmed why. While the interesting and enjoyable narrative will keep you reading, the characters are a little less compelling.  The story is told mainly through chapters from the point-of-view of Erika and Kim. Neither character really captured my interest so I relied on the plot alone for the entertainment. This is a twisty tale that will likely appeal to many readers.

Disclosure: My review copy was courtesy of HarperCollins via NetGalley.

Seven Girls Gone

Seven Girls Gone by Allison Brennan
4/25/23; 448 pages
MIRA Books
Quinn & Costa Thriller #4

Seven Girls Gone by Allison Brennan is a very highly recommended procedural and the fourth novel in the Quinn and Costa Series. This is an excellent series and I fully recommend fans of procedurals start it asap.

Seven young women have gone missing in the small bayou town of St. Augustine, Louisiana, over three years. Police detective Beau Hebert cares deeply, but it seems that corruption runs deep in the Parish police department. Beau calls in his friend former Navy SEAL Michael Harris who is part of the FBI Mobile Response Team. Michael arrives with LAPD officer Kara Quinn to Broussard Parish. Beau is concerned that witnesses are being silenced or intimidated and he needs help. Michael has the Mobile Response Unit, under the direction of Special Agent Mathias Costa (Matt),following him to Louisiana, along with analyst Ryder Kim, forensic specialist Jim Esteban, and white-collar crimes expert Zack Heller. 

The intricate plot unfolds with many different aspect of the investigation being closely scrutinized. It is a detailed, layered, and complicated plot as the clues are uncovered and the group discovers connections and suspects beyond the small town. The pace was fast and then picks up momentum as the number of suspects builds. The writing is masterful and the case is unique.

Having followed the whole series, I am invested in these characters and find them fully realized, well-developed characters. The relationship between the team members flourishes and they are becoming a cohesive, dedicated unit with each of them performing an essential role in the case. The personal relationship between Costa and Quinn slowly continue. Kara Quin is a great character.

This is becoming a solid, reliably favorite series. The series includes The Third to Die, Tell No Lies, The Wrong Victim, and Seven Girls Gone. I think it would still be enjoyable as a stand alone procedural, but knowing the whole backstory does provide extra depth and context. Each case is wrapped up at the end of the novel.

Disclosure: My review copy was courtesy of MIRA Books.

The Last Remains

The Last Remains by Elly Griffiths
4/25/23; 368 pages
Mariner Books
Ruth Galloway Series #15

The Last Remains by Elly Griffiths is a highly recommended mystery/procedural and the fifteenth novel in the Ruth Galloway series.

When builders discover a human skeleton, forensic archeologist Dr. Ruth Galloway is called in to examine the bones. It is immediately determined that they are modern and identified as the remains of Emily Pickering, a Cambridge University archaeology student who went missing in 2002 while on a field trip to the Neolithic flint mines in Grimes Graves. Suspicion falls on individuals participating in field trip, including Ruth's friend, Cathbad.

Complicating matters is the threatened closure of the archeology department at the University of North Norfolk where Ruth works. Her relationship with DCI Harry Nelson, with whom she shares a young daughter, is experiencing ongoing complications as he hints that he wants her to move in with him. She has her reasons to be reluctant to take this step.

The Last Remains is well-written and the plot is compelling and interesting. Personally, I would beseech authors to edit out the covid and masking references. Just no. All it did was become a distraction.

Admittedly, this is the first Elly Griffiths novel I have read, so I didn't have all the background and history with the characters that other readers have experienced. They certainly came to life in this fifteenth addition to the series, but I did feel like I was missing some key information and didn't care so much about the relationship as the mystery. Keep that in mind when you read The Last Remains. You can certainly read it as a stand-alone, but I think it would give you an even more satisfying experience if you read the previous novels.

Disclosure: My review copy was courtesy of Mariner Books.

The Last Word

The Last Word by Taylor Adams
4/25/23; 352 pages
William Morrow

The Last Word by Taylor Adams is a highly recommended thriller about repercussions over a one star book review.

Trying to forget a terrible event from five months earlier, Emma Carpenter and her golden retriever Laika, are staying in an old home on Strand Beach off the Washington coast. She is spending her time reading inexpensive e-books and occasionally taking walks. There is some contact from a distant with the old man next door, Deek. It is Deek who suggests she reads Murder Mountain, a serial killer novel by H.G. Kane. This turns out to be a horrendous book which Emma gives a one star review, after which the author quickly asks her to take to review down. The two counter back and forth, with Emma refusing to take down the bad review. This is followed by what seems to be the author targeting her as his next murder victim and inspiration for a new novel.

It is best to jump into this fictional world with few expectations and keep reading past the beginning, even when you are silently thinking, "Really, Really?" It gets better. All your predictions and expectations are going to fall around your feet like confetti. The structure of The Last Word totally switches up all expectations.

The pace begins quick and careens to a breakneck speed. Facts change and actions are swift in this deadly game of cat and mouse. But who is who? Yes, it is tense, dangerous, and suspenseful, but there is also some real entertainment and, dare I say it, fun in this fight for her life, or his life.

Wildly entertaining, over-the-top at times, ridiculous, and heart-stopping. Throw all expectations out the window while reading and simply enjoy the roller coast.

Disclosure: My review copy was courtesy of William Morrow.

Small Mercies

Small Mercies by Dennis Lehane
4/25/23; 320 pages
HarperCollins

Small Mercies by Dennis Lehane is a very highly recommended, brutal crime thriller set in 1974 Boston during a time of racial tension over school busing. Another excellent novel that is now on my list of the best novels of the year.

Mary Pat Fennessey lives in the projects of the Irish American section of Boston called “Southie.” It's 1974 during a time of social unrest after the courts have ordered busing to desegregate schools. Mary Pat isn't as concerned over that as much as she is over the fact that Jules, her seventeen-year-old daughter, hasn't come home after a night out with friends. As she begins asking questions and searching for her daughter, she learns that a young Black man is found dead after apparently being struck by a subway train. As Mary Pat begins to ask questions, Jules friends claim she was walking home around Midnight, but it also is clear that they are hiding something. What follows is a story of a mother's revenge, violence, Irish mobs, and hate.

As a tough as nails Southie, Mary Pat was raised to fight back. She uses all her instinctive intelligence, building maternal rage, and street fighting instincts while looking for Jules and extracting revenge against those involved. She is not a likable character, but she is portrayed as a fully realized complicated person who has nothing left to lose. She already lost her son to heroin. All she had left was her daughter and she will risk everything for the answers she seeks.

Homicide officer Bobby Coyne is on the case, but his investigation reaches a stand-still. Then, after Mary Pat takes matters into her own hands, he can only stand back and follow the results of her action. During this same time, tensions are rising and it appears violence might break out in the neighborhood over the integration of their schools.

Small Mercies is a gripping, realistic, and complex novel that is filled with tension and violence in a realistic setting. The pace is fast and many of the details are tragic. As expected from all Lehane novels, the writing is excellent. It is impossible to put Small Mercies down once you start it.

Disclosure: My review copy was courtesy of HarperCollins via Edelweiss.

With My Little Eye

With My Little Eye by Joshilyn Jackson
4/25/23; 336 pages
William Morrow 

With My Little Eye by Joshilyn Jackson is a very highly recommended, excellent novel of psychological suspense. As expected, I love With My Little Eye just as I have loved every book Jackson has written. This will be one of my top books of the year.

Meribel Mills is in her forties and a single mom raising Honor, her twelve-year-old daughter who is on the spectrum. Her claim to fame was a sitcom, Belinda’s World, she was in twenty years ago. Now she is considered a B-list actress, but she still has acting offers. She also has an obsessive stalker she calls Marker Man because he sends creepy letters written in fruit-scented marker. When she discovers that he has been in her home, she accepts a role in a TV series that requires her to move from Los Angeles to Atlanta.

Now in Atlanta, Meribel should feel safe, but she is still receiving forwarded letters from Marker Man. She also has a sensation that someone is watching her, following her. Could it be Marker Man, someone from her past, or a new stalker? Who can she trust?

Jackson is always an exceptional writer who knows how to tell a detailed, fast-paced story with intelligence and humor that will hold your attention throughout. Meribel narrates most of the novel at the beginning but Honor and other voices are added later. It is compelling to hear these different narrators, which add complexities and depth to the plot, while increasing the tension, suspense, and sense of foreboding. As the  complicated plot unfolds, there are several suspects that emerge.

Both Meribel and Honor are wonderful, fully realized characters who experience growth personally and in their relationships. Jackson excels at portraying the relationship between Meribel and Honor, while also capturing Honor's voice. There are a wide variety of characters and each of them is carefully crafted as unique characters with secrets.

The twists at the ending were heart-stopping and full of tension. I enjoyed the final denouement and felt like it was a smart way to end the novel. With My Little Eye is another exceptional novel by Joshilyn Jackson.

Disclosure: My review copy was courtesy of William Morrow via NetGalley.