by Susan Elia MacNeal Overall: Don’t think there’s anything left to write about WWII? Think again! Susan Elia MacNeal’s Mother Daughter Traitor Spy sheds some light on a relatively unexplored area: Nazi spies and activists in California during the 1940s. Veronica, who’s just graduated from college in New York, and her widowed mother Violet decideContinue reading “Mother Daughter Traitor Spy”
Author Archives: Liz Helfrich
Stormsilver
by Raven McGory Overall: A jam-packed dark fantasy romance set in modern-day Washington, DC. Except instead of congressmen, lawyers, and lobbyists, the characters are gods, demons, grim reapers, and wolves (OK, I admit there might be a little overlap in those two categories). Young, a dragon god who’s been demoted to demon status, spends hisContinue reading “Stormsilver”
Thistlefoot
by GennaRose Nethercott Overall: I went into this book hoping for an offbeat fairytale retelling with Night Circus vibes, compelling characters, and strange magic, and this book delivered in spades. Thistlefoot takes the Baba Yaga folk tales as its jumping-off point: Isaac and Bellatine Yaga, estranged adult siblings with strange abilities, receive a cryptic noteContinue reading “Thistlefoot”
All Dressed Up
by Jilly Gagnon Overall: A solid whodunit set in an isolated hotel in the present day. Becca is expecting a fun 20s-themed weekend and an opportunity to reconnect with her husband Blake after recent tensions in their marriage. It turns out he’s actually signed them up for an immersive murder mystery experience, supposedly as aContinue reading “All Dressed Up”
The House with the Golden Door
by Elodie Harper Overall: This is the second book in the Wolf Den trilogy, so if you haven’t read Wolf Den, PLEASE don’t read any further to avoid spoilers! I’ll wait. Ready? The reader returns to ancient Pompeii in The House With the Golden Door to find Amara a free woman installed in her ownContinue reading “The House with the Golden Door”
The Murder of Mr. Wickham
by Claudia Gray Overall: Calling all Jane Austen fans! What a fun concept for a book: collect many of the principal characters from Austen’s novels, put them all in a house party at Donwell Abbey, and then kill off the villainous Mr. Wickham. Whether you love Elizabeth and Darcy, Emma and George Knightley, Marianne andContinue reading “The Murder of Mr. Wickham”
The Paris Library
by Janet Skeslien Charles Overall: what an incredible love letter to libraries, books, and readers everywhere. The Paris Library moves back and forth in time between Paris in the late 1930s and 1940s and Montana in the 1980s. In Paris, the main character and primary narrator is Odile, a young Frenchwoman who gets her dreamContinue reading “The Paris Library”
The Last Thing He Told Me
by Laura Dave Overall: I enjoyed this thriller centered on the relationship between a mother and her teenage stepdaughter a lot more than I anticipated! Hannah and Owen have only been married for a year when Owen disappears, leaving Hannah marooned on their houseboat (or “floating home”) in Sausalito with Owen’s daughter Bailey. The question,Continue reading “The Last Thing He Told Me”
The Wintringham Mystery
by Anthony Berkeley Overall: Originally published in the 1920s as an English newspaper serial, The Wintringham Mystery contest invited readers to submit their solutions to win cash prizes. This book’s claim to fame is that it stumped everyone, even Agatha Christie. I came across it at my local independent bookstore, which has been featuring allContinue reading “The Wintringham Mystery”
A History of Wild Places
by Shea Ernshaw Overall: I went into A History of Wild Places blind – I hadn’t even read the synopsis. I’m not sure what I was expecting, but it wasn’t exactly this book. It begins conventionally enough for a supernatural thriller, with a detective (Travis) who can learn about people’s past history by touching objectsContinue reading “A History of Wild Places”
Liz Helfrich 