The Rubicon women are an interesting mix and although they have not spent much time together that is about to change. Grandma has just gotten a cancer death sentence and doesn't have any other choice than to head to the tiny town on the ocean where her daughter and granddaughter can care for her. Life gets more exciting when teenage Jack finds a dead body while leading a kayak tour and Beth, her mom loses a patient which might be connected. The three decide to find the killer or killers themselves which seems easier on the tv detective shows than it is in reality. Jack is one tough girl who is passionate about her back door habitat just like her single parent mom who was also raised by her self-made real estate mogul single mom. This debut is not quite cozy, not quite dark and grizzly but a nice balance of family drama, loyalty and a solid murder mystery laced with danger. 4 stars
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The author set out to write not just another haunted house story and she succeeded. There aren't that many horror tales that made me laugh at the same time I was being scared silly but this gets a big ole checkmark in both boxes. Margaret is a very patient woman who loves her home even though every September the walls drip blood, wailing and screams go on all night, there is a monster in the basement and lots of limbless children underfoot not to mention the little boy who bites unless he is reunited with his mom's bones. She has most of it under control and as long as she follows the rules she can get past the unpleasantness. Her one neighbor is understanding, the ghost housekeeper always has a cup of tea and dinner at the ready and she really doesn't understand why her husband couldn't hack it and left. It is about to get more intense now that their daughter is coming for a visit during September on a mission to find her father. As expected things get out of control and all the juggling is taking a toll on Margaret's sanity. You will fall for this tough no nonsense homeowner who just wants to live blissfully in the house she loves even with its quirks. 4 fun scary stars
This is a story told in two parts, a famous inheritance trial in Victorian London and the lives of several famous literary figures from the time.
The first half centers on the author William Ainsworth and his housekeeper Mrs. Touchet. Eliza Touchet does not suffer fools and she tries to protect her cousin and employer from critics and others as the family falls into financial ruin. The second part of the story centers around the trial of a man who came out of the woodwork to claim a hefty inheritance and the young Jamaican man who is the star witness. Mrs. Touchet is front and center and makes her feelings concerning social justice, colonialism and abolishing slavery known. The short chapters come fast and furious and deal with multiple time periods narrated by Mrs. Touchet. There is a lot going on in this historical look at the ins and outs of Victorian England. 3 1/2 stars Yara is a Palestinian American. She is an educated professor who teaches art as well as caring for her two young daughters, husband and the mountain of housework. Her life is not perfect but much better than her mother and grandmother's life was. Yara is swimming in guilt because she wants more out of life than a few classes, raising her children alone and a few words shared with her husband over the tv at night. She is on a mental tightrope that is about to snap and throw her off and then she loses her job and her family and husband are blaming her for their dissatisfaction and it isn't getting any better. A friend and a therapist slowly help her to see the life she wants and deserves is within reach. Childhood trauma, cultural divides , demands from family and the guilt over not being able to do it all are central themes here. Once again we have a personal, deep story of a woman being pulled in several directions trying to honor the traditional roles while forging ahead searching for a bit of independence and self worth. Yara's journey into her past to understand where she is going is a universal story that will resonate with many readers as well as her fans from her first book, A WOMAN IS NO MAN.
4 stars I enjoy when an author revisits a character whose story isn't ready to be finished yet and Holly Gibney was one of those characters. Holly is a private detective and while she herself is very private ,she is very good at reading people and seeing things that others miss. There are some random people who have gone missing and Holly has been looking for one of them. As she falls down the rabbit hole and the killer kidnappers get bolder Holly's true strengths come to the surface. This is classic Stephen King who has the ability to scare us silly with bad people who might just be someone we would pass on the street. His villains do not always wear a sign marking them as such and we worry that this might just be the end of the characters we grow fond of. Thank you to the author for showing his genius once again. 4 stars
Grace is having a really bad day -a total meltdown after a bad year. Looking back on her life at 45 she feels loss - of her career, of her daughter and of her marriage. She used to be amazing but has felt lately like she is failing at everything. As she makes her way to her teenage daughter's birthday party with her gift of an amazing cake and an apology we see the day start to go as sideways as the icing on the cake. Every mother with a teenage daughter, every woman of a certain age who is looking back wanting the world to see them as they used to and every woman dealing with hormone swings and body changes will see something of themselves in this book. There are some very serious issues that are addressed here as well concerning her daughter's secret boyfriend and the loss of a young child and mental health issues. We are all in Grace's corner even when you can't possibly think her day can get any worse. I listened to the audiobook of this and the tension is spot on. 3 1/2 stars
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