BOOKS & BLOG: January 29, 2025

by | Jan 29, 2025 | 2025, Blog Posts, On Television

  • Trouble Island, Sharon Short
  • Tangled Up In You, and The Paradise Problem, Christina Lauren
  • Lamb, Christopher Moore
  • Swordcrossed, Freya Marske
  • Buried Deep and other stories, Naomi Novik
  • How to Solve Your own Murder, Kristen Perrin
  • Finding Mr. Write, Kelley Armstrong
  • The Serial Killer Guide to San Francisco, Michelle Chouinard
  • The Reaper, Jackson P. Brown
  • A Daughter of Fair Verona, Christina Dodd
  • Death at the Sign of the Rook, Kate Atkinson
  • Bride, Ali Hazelwood

Sharon Short’s Trouble Island is an historical mystery, I suppose, but it’s a lot of other things, too. Set during Prohibition on a small island in Lake Erie, it’s the story of Aurelia, who has inadvertently become an indentured servant of the wife of mobster. Aurelia wants to escape, but to do that alive a lot of things have to happen . . .and she can’t wait for everyone to die.

Christina Lauren is actually two women, but under any name this is a brand you can absolutely trust. Lauren’s modern romances are exceptionally well written, with vivid characters that would make good friends. These two books are quite different. Tangled is about a home schooled girl who goes to a modern college and meets a very worldly upperclassman, and Paradise is about a marriage of convenience (cheap college housing) that turns into something else when Anna, who has just lost her job, is requested by her ‘fake’ husband to attend a family wedding . . . because West’s family has no idea it’s been a marriage in name only.

Lamb is a very funny book about the life of Biff, Jesus’s best friend. Biff is the kid who doesn’t make good grades and doesn’t have a driving force to go anywhere in life. But he’s a great best friend and game for any adventure, because he’s so easily led. You won’t ever read another book like this: Christopher Moore has an endless imagination.

Freya Marske’s Swordcrossed is a m/m romance with some really nifty world building. In Marske’s world, a professional swordsman is hired as best man, and Mattinesh Jay, whose family business is hanging together by a thread, has to hire one who comes cheap: red-haired newcomer Luca Piere. Jay does not exactly want to marry, but his family has to have the money. Impulsively, he tells Luca he wants to have sword lessons . . . and you can guess the result. Make no mistake, this is a very satisfying story.

Buried Deep is a collection of Naomi Novik’s short stories. I felt despair after I finished it. I will never write a short story as good as Novik’s.

How to Solve Your Own Murder is really excellent book. Great Aunt Frances Adams has believed since she was a girl that she would be murdered (gypsy prophecy). When she does die, her descendants gather for the will reading, only to find they have to play a game under Frances’s conditions to find out what they will receive. Annie Adams, the protagonist, really needs the money and reassurance; luckily for her, she’s an excellent puzzle solver. But of course, someone wants her to die.

Finding Mr. Write is the most lighthearted book Kelley Armstrong has ever written . . . but it contains some painful truths about the publishing world. On a whim, Daphne McFadden submits her book under a man’s name, to have this often-rejected novel snapped up to become a best seller. Now she has to tour . . . but her readers expect to meet a man. Daphne finds her public persona in Chris Stanton, who is actually an accountant living in Vancouver. Chris is a hunk, and a very nice person underneath his “channeling a hunky writer” character. They start off on exactly the wrong foot, and there are many further complications . . . but it’s all good fun.

Michelle Chouinard’s The Serial Killer Guide to San Francisco really hits all the marks for a successful mystery. Capri Sanzio, who makes a living doing serial killer tours (in SF, of course), is herself the granddaughter of a notorious serial killer. And Capri’s former mother-in-law is the victim of a copycat killer. Not surprisingly, Capri becomes a suspect. Very clever book.

I was lucky enough to get an advance reading copy (ARC) of Jackson P. Brown’s Reaper.  Amy, an empath, glimpses the ”becoming” of Gerald, a supernatural assassin. Gerald is not human, but Amy is, and as Gerald begins to introduce her to his world, in a London most people never see, Amy faces danger and adventure.

 A Daughter of Fair Verona is based on what the life of Romeo and Juliet’s daughter might be like. At first I thought this was a terrible idea, but the more I read the more I enjoyed the premise. Rosaline is one of seven children, and Romeo and Juliet are still in love. But all those children need protecting and marrying off, and Rosaline must wed. The rest of the book is the coming of age of the impetuous Rosaline amid the politics of Verona. Christina Dodd’s book is really enjoyable.

I am a stanch Kate Atkinson fan, and Death at the Sign of the Rook did not disappoint me in the least. Ex-police Jackson Brody, now a private eye, is called in to investigate a stolen painting. Of course it’s not straightforward, and of course Brody uncovers a much more complicated plot. Atkinson is a master a drawing complications together and unravelling them. Don’t miss this book.

Bride is Ali Hazelwood’s novel about the marriage of a high-ranking Vampyre councilman to the alpha of a were pack. To say the bride and groom don’t trust each other is an understatement. Misery Lark has her own agenda in agreeing to the marriage, and it’s fair to say Lowe Morland has his own secrets, too. But Misery’s opinion of her husband begins to change, and she proves her worth in his eyes, too. But what about their separate goals?

BLOG:

I had plenty of time to immerse myself in books following my foot surgery, and I probably watched five seasons of Top Chef. I am out of the wheelchair and kind of lumbering around on my soft foot cast. I start physical therapy this week. Life is looking up.

This new year, I anticipate going to a new convention in Knoxville (details to come), ThrillerFest in NYC, DragonCon in Atlanta, and Bouchercon in New Orleans. There will be more information about all of these later, when I get my panel assignments

Now I have a short story to finish and a book to complete, something completely different. It’s always exciting to write about new people and places.  I’ll tell you more about it as soon as it’s set in my mind.

I have a huge TBR pile, which makes me happy and safe. No matter what the weather or my health does, I’ll have books! I hope you all do, too. Please let me know via my website or on Facebook if you enjoy some of the books I recommend.

Charlaine Harris

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