Evie and her new boyfriend Ryan are in love but Evie seems to always be looking over her shoulder and doesn't give up too many details about herself. There is another side of her and this is just another job for Mr. Smith. Complications arise (as they always do) and Evie (who is really Lucca) must fight or take flight once again. This is full of complicated identities, false clues and a hazy good guy or bad guy outlook with a blockbuster ending. It was just a job where only bad guys got hurt until she met a good guy. Fans of grifter tales and Killing Eve will find joy. 4 stars
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Rachel Hawkins pulls no punches in the saga of battling relatives and potential heirs to a doomed house and legacy of either really bad luck or just plain evil. Cam is a quiet bartender and his wife a schoolteacher living modestly in Colorado when Cam is summoned back to the North Carolina family he worked so hard to get away from. His mother Ruby has died and left her entire estate to him leaving out her sister, niece and nephew. Bad blood runs deep and there is plenty of mean intentions in the McTavish family as well as a few bodies. Interspersed in the family drama that Cam and Jules find themselves in are a pack of damaging letters written by Ruby that catalogue her interesting life and bad luck with husbands. Even up to the end this whodunnit leaves us wondering who is a hero, who is a villain, who is innocent and who deserved what they got. Fans of wealthy damaged families like those found in SUCCESSION, KNIVES OUT or stories of black widow wives will find much to love. 4 stars The discovery of a hidden painting beneath a bargain leads Luke and his girlfriend Alexis back into the shady side of Nazi stolen art, questionable collectors and a variety of government agencies. As if the chase to recover the painting isn't enough the back story of Vincent Van Gogh's tragic life and untimely death alerting us to yet another mystery and the abundance of armchair travel nuggets about Amsterdam, small French towns and Paris will keep you entertained and intrigued. This art lesson becomes dangerous as the people involved are very violent and don't want to be found not to mention that we are not always sure who the good guys and who the bad guys are. The author is clearly well versed in the art world as he has spent years as an amateur art forger and like his other books, this has been well researched. A bit of Dan Brown ancient secrets and Daniel De Silva art historian mystery with the high stakes European chase and danger of a Robert Ludlum spy novel will please a variety of readers.
4 stars Olivia is on a luxury expedition cruise to Antarctica with her art broker boyfriend. There are a couple of majors snags right from the beginning - her boyfriend never gets on the ship leaving Olivia to handle the egos of the potential art buyers at the onboard auction , communication with the shore is sketchy or worse and she is on board with a killer and she seems to be the target. A tale of extreme travel and outdoor adventure in exotic locations combined with a twisty murder mystery is what Amy McCulloch excels at. There is a lot going on and all moving at a frantic pace guaranteed to get your heart rate up. The loose ends do get tied up at the end in an unlikely but tidy bow. Fans of her other adventure tales or the Alaska series by Paige Shelton will enjoy this. 3 1/2 stars
A young woman is in a self induced sleep which she has been in since the night of the double murder of her colleagues and friends four years prior. Is she the cold hearted killer or the victim of a sleepwalking nightmare? Anna is transferred to a special sleep clinic where specialist Ben Prince will attempt to revive her so she can stand trial. If he is successful it will means accolades for him but it will also mean heartache for Anna and her family. Is there someone else pulling the puppet strings? We follow the past through Anna's diary as well as from Dr. Prince. This twisty thriller is reminiscent of a Hitchcock masterpiece as seen in the small screen of the mind's eye. Unreliable narrators, hidden agendas and a criminal mind at work that will delight readers of THE SILENT PATIENT and THE WOMAN IN THE WINDOW while giving us an opportunity to play armchair detective. 4 1/2 stars
Evie and her new boyfriend Ryan are in love but Evie seems to always be looking over her shoulder and doesn't give up too many details about herself. There is another side of her and this is just another job for Mr. Smith. Complications arise (as they always do) and Evie (who is really Lucca) must fight or take flight once again. This is full of complicated identities, false clues and a hazy good guy or bad guy outlook with a blockbuster ending. It was just a job where only bad guys got hurt until she met a good guy. Fans of grifter tales and Killing Eve will find joy. 4 stars
Life was hard for settlers in Maine in 1789 and women knew this all too well. Disease, crop failure, childbirth or the whims of men plagued women young and old. Martha Ballard is a respected midwife who up until now has been the medical authority for the village. She is there for births, sickness, death and accidents all of which she diligently records in her journal. When she is summoned to help with a boat accident and to record a death of a man found trapped under the ice she fears that her findings will put her family at risk. Not everyone is eager to hear the truth especially the legal authority in town and the men who may be responsible for the death and a rape coverup. It takes great strength to stand by her convictions and that is what she does even if her family will be harmed. Gentle storytelling blended artfully with the violence of the harsh New England landscape and vicious treatment of women at the hands of powerful men. Historical fiction that will appeal to readers of Greer Macallister and Alice Hoffman.
4 1/2 stars We are back in rough but beloved Benedict Alaska where Beth has been outed about being in witness protection, dealing with her renegade mom and newly reunited dad and still trying to write a book or two. She and her boyfriend Tex are on a sightseeing trip when they rescue a kidnap victim and once again danger lurks everywhere (and not just from the bears). Benedict is dealing with a potential kidnapping spree with Beth at its center. I love this series for the unusual location, lovable characters who are not the standard next door neighbors and the fact that everyone has a secret and reason to hide in remote Alaska. While you don't need to read all the books in this semi-cozy series, this is the fifth one and I strongly suggest you read the first book THIN ICE to gain insight into the characters. 4 stars
Ruby Vaughn is asked to deliver a set of books to a Pellar (folk healer) who happens to live where her ex lover and former best friend Tamsyn resides with her family. The trip starts to go badly when she is invited to dine at her friend's manor home and her husband the Lord ends up dead. The village happens to be very superstitious and dead certain in the belief that Ruby is a witch and has reawakened the curse. Thankfully Ruan the Pellar intercedes and together they try to find the real killer . All the classic gothic elements are here - small rural village with a crumbling manor house whose Lord has fathered half the village, a rampant curse and post war trauma and lots of people with a score to settle. Readers of Agatha Christie , Sophie Hannah and classic whodunnits will adore Ruby and this debut. 4 stars Vivian is a theater critic in New York which is not an easy nor without stress but her troubled past is wiggling its way into her present that alcohol and pills can't stop. When a man who interviewed her for his thesis turns up missing Vivian gets pulled into a strange search for him and an acting role she may regret taking. The more clues she turns up the darker and stranger his disappearance gets. Dark and intoxicating as watching a Hitchcock film alone this is a back alley tale that pulls you in from the first few pages before plunging in the knife. A landscape of late night theater, smoky bars and random sex with strangers that is narrated by a voice that you don't quite trust. There is a reason critics are anonymous. This will appeal to those of us who crave murder mysteries that allow us to live vicariously through the troubled characters without having to suffer the consequences or take risks. 4 stars
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