thoughts on books

Category: Mystery

  • julie chan is dead by liann Zhang

    Well this one was coo-coo-ka-kooky- choo!
    First half book: 5 stars
    Second half book: 3 stars

    I don’t want to say a lot about the 2nd half because I love to keep my reviews spoiler free.

    Julie Chan is a supermarket employee who is living paycheck to paycheck and not much going on in her life. Typically, her workplace puts her in a position to have no choice but to steal from them and then threaten to fire her. She is a pitiable individual. Julie is an identical twin, she and Chloe were separated at the age of 4. After a car accident killed their parents, Julie is taken in by their greedy, rude aunt. Chloe is adopted by racist white people who are rich and will use her as an exploitation device.

    Still, Julie has it worse. Due to Chloe’s privilege- and also likely her extroversion- she is a successful and rich influencer. When she is found dead, Julie takes her phone (Face ID works!) and completely takes over her identity. Will she be found out? Can she infiltrate into the influencer world by studying the people Chloe is following and her DMs? Some of this is easy, and others, not so much.

    This book is making a point to compare social media and influencing to being in a cult like mentality. That the collective internet thinks they know you and they don’t. That all of us, to some extent, curate our identities into an online brand. In a way, I am doing it right now, by writing this review. It gives you a lot to think about. The second half will tell you how Chloe died and will unite the social media Chloe with the real world Julie. The reader will find themselves rooting for her.

    Again, the second half takes a turn. It is much darker and more disturbing. If you like the themes and exploring how celebrity and wealth change people, and you like a roller coaster dark thriller, you will probably love this book.

    Thanks to Netgalley and Atria books for recommending this ARC to me. I am grateful that I got to be one of the first people to read this talented new debut author. Book to be published April 29, 2025

  • I might be in trouble by daniel aleman

    Why should gay men be kept out of the mystery/thriller genre? Why shouldn’t we have a good chat and mouse mystery in which the main character is in the LGBTQ community, who has a great community and comedy of errors? Daniel Aleman’s book is a fun, normal-person-finds-themselves-in-a-crazy-situation dark comedy. David Alvarez is knd of desperate, he misses “the one that got away,” he can’t get an idea to write about that will be as good as his previous work, and the world is closing in on him. He only finds solace from his loneliness in matching with other gay men in NYC on Grindr, with mixed results. And then things get a lot worse. He meets a seemingly great silver fox and has an amazing night, only to wake up and find him dead next to him in bed.

    But does he alert the authorities? No, he tells his agent Stacey, and they decide to haul the corpse all around Manhattan in a “Weekend at Bernie’s” type fantasy that has twists and turns and they figure out who this body used to be.

    It is a crazy premise and this is kind of the definition of “dark comedy.” The dead body is just unlikable enough for us to not care that much that he is dead. We are more worried about David and Stacey and will they be able to get out of this unscathed. We shake our heads at them but we want them to solve the mystery (is it a mystery, really? or more of an identity crisis?)

    This is probably unlike anything else you have read this year. Kooky and fun. Thanks to Netgalley and Grand Central Publishing for the ARC in exchange for an honest review. Book is available now where books are sold.

  • one in four by lucinda berry

    This book definitely takes a turn. The first 25% revolves around a murder/accidental death of a celebrity in a sober house. This has multiple POV and the main character is the therapist and sober coach that is working with the houseguests, Dr Laurel Harlow. She watches the security tape that sees Maddie; a young g Disney star, have a seizure and bleed furiously to the point of death.

    The police investigate as a possible murder and soon they see Laurel as a suspect. Laurel has been sober since she was 23 and has some sad and traumatic stories that happened to her while she was drinking in her early 20’s. She doesn’t believe in AA, how convenient, she prefers the brand of sobriety that has associated profit.

    I don’t want to include spoilers in this review, but the blurb really doesn’t describe it appropriately. I will just say this is dark. Lots of betrayal. Not the most satisfying ending. Personally I feel like some of the narratives around sobriety are harmful here.

    Thanks to NetGalley and the published for an ARC in exchange for an honest review. Book to be published May 13, 2025.

  • how to seal your own fate by kristen Perrin

    The second installment in the Castle Knoll Files series is much like the first- class warfare, historical murder mystery, police procedural. For fans of Tana French, only without the length. How to Seal Your Own Fate is a faster paced, deep mystery of questioning and generational secrets. Annie Adams lives in Castle Knoll and learns that Peony Lane, the local fortune teller, is now dead. Peony has an interesting past and even a former identity. Annie looks into the death to see if there was someone trying to cover up a murder from the 1960’s. Set in a lovely English village, this quaint small town setting is perfect for- while not exactly a closed room mystery- a small town has that vibe as the story unfolds. 

    I found this to be a suspenseful story with a satisfying ending. I normally find procedural mysteries to be a bit tedious, but this is readable and engaging. The characters fell a bit flat for me, as the conversation seemed stilted and somewhat boring. This is a good mystery that will not take long to read and will hold your attention until the very last page.

    Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review. Book to be published April 29, 2025.

  • deadly animals by marie tierney

    I’d almost call this debut interesting. Ava is a precious and bright but poor young girl that finds 2 dead bodies. She calls in anonymous tips to the police. The police are the opposite chapters and work through additional murders. I enjoyed the character of Ava, she was so brave and smart. The murders themselves are described in a very creepy and gross way. I listened on audiobook and had a hardcover library copy, I found it difficult to follow on audiobook but easier in reading. My main criticism is that the book went on a while, it was long and descriptive and I maybe could have just skipped the middle 100 pages.

  • the survivors by caroline mitchell

    This was a kidnapping/birth origin mystery/thriller with mainly female characters.

    Maura- a middle aged lady who is somewhat odd and keeps to herself. She lives alone on a big cliff that has had multiple fatal accidents. She is always the first on the scene.

    Finn- Maura’s niece, who is bringing her baby girl and coming to visit. But she gets in an accident (this is obviously a very dangerous hill)

    Catherine- the other driver in the accident- another single mom with another 2 month old infant girl.

    That’s kind of coincidental, right?

    And so the blurb tells you that both mothers and one baby survives. And you can probably see the first twist coming, no?

    Anyway, the twists and turns in this felt laborious to me. The ending and many of the “secrets” seemed vaguely misogynistic. I do like a mystery with twists and turns but these big reveals at the end kind of felt like whiplash.

    I did like the narrator, the audiobook was well acted and kept my interest, but the story was not my favorite. Perhaps I will try a different one by this author.

    Thanks to @netgalley and @brillianceaudio for the audiobook ARC in exchange for an honest review. Opinions are my own.

  • the usual family mayhem by helenkay dimon

    A funny and engaging cozy mystery for fans of The Maid and Vera Wong. We love funny women solving mysteries.

    In an impulsive moment, Kasey pitches her DC consulting firm on buying and flipping a pie shop run by grandmas in Winston Salem. She doesn’t mention that it’s HER grandma. Or that they are wholly uninterested in selling. But naturally they send her to NC for two weeks to “seal the deal.” Kasey’s grandmother Mags and her partner Celia run the pie shop, and often see Celia’s nephew and Kasey’s long term crush, Jackson.

    That is when she notices that bad men have mysteriously died after their wives get a pie delivery.

    A charming mystery with a dash of romance, it was easy to love these characters. Although the author has many spicy romances, the romance in this book is “fade to black,” so to not take away from the lighthearted tone of the rest of the book. It’s very easy to know who to root for and root against, getting to know the motivations of the characters was a delight.

    If you like lighthearted mysteries with strong female leads about correcting injustice, this is a great title for you.

    Thanks to @netgalley and @avonbooks for the ARC. Book to be published March 10, 2025.

  • mirror me by Lisa Williamson rosenberg

    This book was totally crazy. I think I liked it a lot, but I think it will stay with me for awhile. I am writing this as I finished it, but the last 50 pages haven’t hit me yet. It takes a TURN.

    Eddie is a young man with Dissociative Identity Disorder. He is also adopted. He is also bi-racial, his biological father was black and biological mother was Swedish. This has a heavy theme and symbolism about identity. I listened to the audiobook which I thought may be difficult to follow but it was not, at all. The audiobook narrator did a wonderful job of voicing his different personalities and inner dialogue.

    He also has kind of thing for his brother’s fiancé, Lucy. I didn’t love the narrator’s voice for Lucy. Side note: As a woman I absolutely HATE when the men in my life repeat what I said back to them in a “mocking” tone, I find it completely unnecessary and misogynistic. And because of this I usually have a hard time with male narrators switching voice to a female character. But honestly, what are you going to do. But I digress.

    The story is fascinating; it’s the definition of unreliable narrator.

    But the last few turns- wow. I wasn’t even close. I guarantee it will surprise you.

    Thanks to @netgalley and @brilliancepublishing for the audio ARC. Opinions are my own.

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  • parents weekend by Alex findlay

    In the typical style of Alex Findlay, this is a fast paced mystery/thriller set in a private expensive west coast college during parents weekend. A student has been found dead, drowned in the ocean near campus. The parents descend upon the college for the weekend; most of them are one-dimensional unlikable and annoying caricatures.

    This is a common style of mystery- the “five” end up missing and unreachable, the police, an FBI agent and all the parents go looking for them and to figure out how they can help.

    The climax/ending seemed very rushed and wrapped up all the storylines really abruptly. I can say I liked this book, but I didn’t love it. Honestly the problem with Parents Weekend is that it has entirely too many characters. Five college kids and a menagerie of parents. It was just too many. It was difficult for the author to really develop any of the characters so they ended up flat, and there just wasn’t time for any development or good background information.

    If you are caught between audiobook and physical book, I wouldn’t recommend audio because it will be difficult to keep everyone straight.

    This could be a good, quick read for someone looking for an exciting story. The best part took place at a FedEx hub. I worked at FedEx for 18 years so this scene was pretty perfect and capture the culture of FedEx and transportation culture in general. I actually scoured the acknowledgment to see if Alex Findlay thanked someone I know, he had to have done research.

    Thanks to @netgalley and @minotaur_books for the ARC. Book to be published 5/6/25.

  • the silent watcher by victor methos

    A thoughtful, slow burn mystery thriller from a legal POV. Creepy and disturbing at times, the reader is brought into the murder slowly and ask questions along with Piper, a guardian ad litem, which is a lawyer representing children. Typically these types of lawyers deal with a lot of custody disputes, but this is a story of a mass murder at a home where a young girl – Sophie- was the only survivor by jumping out the window.

    The story’s characters have very symbolic names- Sophie means wisdom. Piper makes me think of the Pied Piper who led all the children out of the country. The detective she worked with is Lazarus, symbolic of being risen from the dead or a second chance at life. The judge in the case is Hope, which speaks for itself. The audiobook narrator is good with a nice speaking voice and easy to follow over audio. Some books are difficult over audio but I found this to be very engaging and kept my interest.

    Thanks to @netgalley and @brilliancepublishing for the audio ARC in exchange for an honest review. Book published December 1, 2024.

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