What I read on my summer vacation

Disappointingly, I only completed six books during the ten days of my trip this year.  And while that may seem like a lot, I would like to point out that I'm quite a fast reader, and really wasn't doing much else.  

Oh, and I must mention the wonderfulness of being able to download e-books from the library no matter where I am!

In any case, here they are, in the order I read them, with mini-reviews.


Hooked on Ewe (Scottish Highlands Mystery #2) by Hannah Reed (Berkley Prime Crime mass market paperback, 7  July 2015).

Eden Elliott never thought she'd be so busy living in the "quiet" highlands of Scotland.  Apart from trying to finish her romance novel, and assisting her friend Vicki with her skein-of-the-month club, she's volunteered to help out with the annual sheepdog trials. On top of that, the local police inspector recruits her as a special constable.  

Based in a place I'd love to visit, this charming story is perfect airplane reading.



FTC Full Disclosure: Many thanks to the publisher for sending me a review copy  of the book.



As Night Falls by Jenny Milchman (Ballantine Books hardcover, 30 June 2015).


Sandy Tremont has built a good life with her family.  Even though her daughter is exhibiting the classic signs of being a difficult teenager, her marriage is happy and her career is successful.  

But one dark, cold winter's night, her safe home is invaded by two escaped prisoners who terrorize her family and expose a past she'd thought was buried forever.  

Milchman is a gifted storyteller, and the story was so absorbing I found myself shivering from the cold while sitting near a beach in July.   

FTC Full Disclosure: Many thanks to the publisher and Edelweiss for the digital galley.



Still Alice by Lisa Genova (Pocket Books mass market paperback, 16 December 2014).


The story of a linguistics professor who suffers from rapidly progressing early-onset Alzheimer's disease, this was perhaps not the best choice for a vacation read, because it's so heart-wrenching.   

This book affected me deeply.  Not only did I not want to put it down, it through me into a moody funk for the day-and-a-half I was reading it.  All the praise it's received is well-deserved. 



FTC Full Disclosure: I purchased this book.


Cold Mourning (Stonechild & Rouleau #1) by Brenda Chapman (Dundurn Press trade paperback, 10 February 2014).

The first book in a series about a police officer who leaves an isolated northern Ontario village to join a special crimes unit in Ottawa.  Kala Stonechild's first task is to find vanished businessman Tom Underwood in time for him to spend Christmas with his family.  
She must deal with not only with being the only the only female in the unit, but being of First Nations descent, but she's smart and resourceful.

Her supervisor, Jacques Rouleau has to deal with a tough investigation as well as his own boss who wants to get rid of the unit.  

This is a compelling, well-constructed mystery that was perfect for the Canadian part of me.

FTC Full Disclosure: I purchased this book.


A Northern Light by Jennifer Donnelly (HMH BFYR hardcover, 3 April 2003).


I found this on a recommended list of books about strong young women.  This young adult story about 16-year-old Mattie Gokey, who helps support her poverty-stricken family upstate New York.

Mattie befriends a young woman who is a guest at the Adirondack hotel where she works. Grace leaves a bundle of letters with her before going on boating trip with her fiancé, asking Mattie to burn them. When Grace's body is found in the lake, Mattie reads the letters to try to determine what happened.  

Based on a true story, this is not just an intriguing mystery but a realistic portrayal about life and feminism in the early 20th Century.

FTC Full Disclosure: I borrowed this e-book from my local library.



The Missing Place by Sophie Littlefield (Gallery Books trade paperback, 14 October 2014).

My admiration of Sophie Littlefield's skill as a storyteller grows with every book of hers that I read.  

Here, we meet two mothers whose sons have disappeared from an oil rig they are working on in North Dakota.  Colleen is a well-to-do Bostonian, and Shay is a working class woman from California, but they are both certain that there is something fishy going on.  Nobody from the oil company will speak to them, and the local police say their hands are tied.  

Not just a great mystery, this is a fascinating exploration of the relationship between two very different women.  

(Like As Night Falls and Cold Mourning, this also takes place in the winter, which to me, made it a perfect summer read.)

FTC Full Disclosure: I purchased this book.

All good things...

You may have been wondering why I haven't posted since the end of June.

I've been in St. Lucia for the past several days.

The resort we're at has a full slate of activities and classes every day, so one can keep busy with yoga, Pilates, golf, hiking or various water sports.  I've done yoga, both gentle and not-so. 

I've been Hobie Cat sailing with my husband, and I've walked on the beach.  (Walking on sand is very good exercise, really!)

  

A view of the resort from the Hobie Cat.

There are chaise longues and umbrellas on the beach, with flags beside the chairs, that one can flash if desperately in need of a towel or a cold, frosty drink.  Lying in the sun is not my thing, but I did plant myself in a chair for half an hour yesterday, just so I could put up a flag and order an iced tea.  

The view from our room.

I've finished five books since we arrived here 9 days ago.

But sadly, today is our last full day here.  We must leave tomorrow morning, and return to cooking our own meals, washing dishes, and making beds.

I am sorry to be leaving, but I'm looking forward to sleeping in my own bed and having a whole house to live in, not just a room that doesn't quite have enough closet space for two.  

Sleeping in my own bed will be wonderful, too.  

What are you doing this summer?

Mysteries to watch for this summer

Somebody I Used to Know by David Bell (NAL trade paperback, 7 July 2015).

When Nick Hansen sees the young woman at the grocery store, his heart stops. She is the spitting image of his college girlfriend, Marissa Minor, who died in a campus house fire twenty years earlier. But when Nick tries to speak to her, she acts skittish and rushes off.

The next morning the police arrive at Nick’s house and show him a photo of the woman from the store. She’s been found dead, murdered in a local motel, with Nick’s name and address on a piece of paper in her pocket.

Convinced there's a connection between the two women, Nick enlists the help of his college friend Laurel Davidson to investigate the events leading up to the night of Marissa’s death. But the young woman’s murder is only the beginning...and the truths Nick uncovers may make him wish he never doubted the lies.

****

The Kill (Maeve Kerrigan #5) by Jane Casey (Minotaur hardcover, 2 June 2014).

Detective Maeve Kerrigan is away for a colleague's wedding, and she's enjoying an excuse to spend a beautiful fall weekend relaxing in the English countryside. It's a much-needed break from the grit and grime of her daily life on the London police force. But even at a wedding, the job is never far away.

Midway through the reception, Maeve and her abrasive but loyal partner on the police force, DI Josh Derwent, are called back to London. A fellow policeman has been murdered, in a compromising position in a public park at night. And when Maeve and Derwent arrive to speak with the victim's family, his wife and daughter are surprisingly cold and reticent, which adds further layers of complexity to an already delicate investigation. And Maeve knows the victim and his family aren't the only ones with things to hide: the dark secret that her boss, Superintendent Godley, has been keeping for years is threatening to blow up in his face, and if that happens, they'll all be caught in the aftermath.

****

Murder at Barclay Meadow by Wendy Sand Eckel (Minotaur hardcover, 28 July 2015). 

Rosalie Hart's world has been upended. After her husband confesses to an affair, she exiles herself to her late aunt's farmhouse on Maryland's Eastern Shore. With its fields untended and the house itself in disrepair, Barclay Meadow couldn't be more different than the tidy D.C. suburb she used to call home. Just when Rosalie feels convinced things couldn't get any worse, she finds a body floating in her marsh grasses. When the sheriff declares the death an accident, she becomes suspicious. The dead girl, Megan, reminds her of her own daughter, and she feels a responsibility to find out the truth.

Rosalie confides her doubts to her friends in her creative writing class, and they ask to join her investigation, beginning the search in earnest. Meanwhile, Rosalie works on restoring Barclay Meadow to its former glory-- with help from the rugged Tyler Wells, a farmer who once leased the land. When Rosalie discovers her aunt's favorite bread recipe on a yellowed index card, she begins baking, and with her deep love for nourishing others rekindled, she starts to feel alive again. But as she zeroes in on the truth about what happened to Megan, she begins getting ominous threats. Determined to get justice for Megan and protect the new home she's begun to build for herself, Rosalie races to catch the killer.

****

No Other Darkness (Marnie Rome #2) by Sarah Hilary (Penguin trade paperback, 18 August 2015).

Detective Inspector Marnie Rome and her partner Detective Sergeant Noah Jake are investigating the recent discovery of two dead boys in a bunker beneath a London garden. 

Terry and Beth, under whose garden the bodies were discovered, have two children of their own, and are also fostering a difficult boy named Clancy, who reminds Marnie of her foster brother Stephen, who murdered her parents. 

Is Marnie’s past blinding her to the truth? Only one thing is certain: when Terry and Beth’s biological children vanish, Marnie can’t waste a moment finding them.

****

As Night Falls by Jenny Milchman (Ballantine hardcover, 30 June 2015).

Sandy Tremont has always tried to give her family everything. But, as the sky darkens over the Adirondacks and a heavy snowfall looms, an escaped murderer with the power to take it all away draws close.

In her isolated home in the shadowy woods, Sandy prepares dinner after a fight with her daughter, Ivy. Upstairs, the fifteen-year-old—smart, brave, and with every reason to be angry tonight—keeps her distance from her mother. Sandy’s husband, Ben, a wilderness guide, arrives late to find a home simmering with unease.

Nearby, two desperate men on the run make their way through the fading light, bloodstained and determined to leave no loose ends or witnesses. After almost twenty years as prison cellmates, they have become a deadly team: Harlan the muscle, Nick the mind and will. As they approach a secluded house and look through its windows to see a cozy domestic scene, Nick knows that here he will find what he’s looking for . . . before he disappears forever.

****

Freedom's Child by Jax Miller (Crown hardcover, 2 June 2015).

Freedom Oliver has plenty of secrets.  She lives in a small Oregon town and keeps mostly to herself.  Her few friends and neighbors know she works at the local biker bar; they know she gets arrested for public drunkenness almost every night; they know she’s brash, funny, and fearless.  

What they don’t know is that Freedom Oliver is a fake name.  They don’t know that she was arrested for killing her husband, a cop, twenty years ago.  They don’t know she put her two kids up for adoption.  They don’t know that she’s now in witness protection, regretting ever making a deal with the Feds, and missing her children with a heartache so strong it makes her ill.

Then, she learns that her daughter has gone missing, possibly kidnapped.  Determined to find out what happened, Freedom slips free of her handlers, gets on a motorcycle, and heads for Kentucky, where her daughter was raised.  As she ventures out on her own, no longer protected by the government, her troubled past comes roaring back at her: her husband’s vengeful, sadistic family; her brief, terrifying stint in prison; and the family she chose to adopt her kids who are keeping dangerous secrets. 

****

The Fraud (Carter Ross #6) by Brad Parks (Minotaur hardcover, 7 July 2015).

A rash of carjackings terrorizing Newark become newsworthy when one such theft ends in the murder of a wealthy banking executive. The affable, wisecracking Ross is assigned the story, but he's weary of only writing about victims of crime who happen to be rich and white. To balance his reporting, he finds a Nigerian immigrant of more modest means who was also killed during a recent carjacking.

When it turns out the two victims knew each other, sharing an unexplained round of golf at a tony country club shortly before their deaths, Carter is plunged onto the trail of a deadly band of car thieves that includes a sociopathic ex-convict. When his unborn child is put in harm's way, it becomes more than just a story for Carter. And he'll stop at nothing to rescue the baby-even if it costs him his own life.

****

In the Dark Places (Inspector Banks #22) by Peter Robinson (William Morrow hardcover, 11 August 2015).

It’s a double mystery: Two young men have vanished, and the investigation leads to two troubling clues in two different locations—a scorched van and a peculiar bloodstain in an abandoned airport hangar.

As Banks and his team scramble for answers, the inquiry takes an even darker turn when a truck careens off an icy road in a freak hailstorm. In the wreckage, rescuers find the driver, who was killed on impact, as well as another body—a body that was dead well before the crash.

Snow falls. The body count rises. And Banks, perceptive and curious as ever, feels himself being drawn deeper into a web of crime, and at its center something—or someone—dark and dangerous lying in wait.

Teen Tuesday

Summer releases I'm looking forward to:

Don't Ever Change by M. Beth Bloom (HarperTeen hardcover, 7 July 2015).

Eva has always wanted to write a modern classic—one that actually appeals to her generation. The only problem is that she has realized she can't "write what she knows" because she hasn't yet begun to live. So before heading off to college, Eva is determined to get a life worth writing about.

Soon Eva's life encounters a few unexpected plot twists. She becomes a counselor at a nearby summer camp—a job she is completely unqualified for. She starts growing apart from her best friends before they've even left for school. And most surprising of all, she begins to fall for the last guy she would have ever imagined. But no matter the roadblocks, or writer's blocks, it is all up to Eva to figure out how she wants this chapter in her story to end.

****

Hide and Seek (Jess Tennant #3) by Jane Casey (St. Martin's Griffin hardcover, 25 August 2015).

It's Christmastime in Port Sentinel, the tiny English town where Jess Tennant has been living for more than a year now. Jess wasn't sure how she felt about moving to Port Sentinel when her mom dragged her there right in the middle of high school, but even Jess has to admit the town has completely outdone itself for the holidays. There's a Christmas market complete with a mini ice-rink and fairy lights, and the bare trees stand stark against the sky. 

But for Gilly Poynter, one of Jess's classmates, the Christmas season is anything but magical. She's disappeared, leaving behind only her diary and a lot of questions. Has she run away from her unhappy home, or has something more sinister happened? And will Jess be able to find her before it's too late?

****

No Such Person by Caroline B. Cooney (Delacorte Press hardcover, 14 July 2015).

Miranda and Lander Allerdon are sisters. Miranda is younger, a dreamer, and floating her way through life. Lander is older, focused, and determined to succeed. As the girls and their parents begin another summer at their cottage on the Connecticut River, Miranda and Lander’s sibling rivalry is in high gear. Lander plans to start medical school in the fall, and Miranda feels cast in her shadow.

When the Allerdons become entangled in an unimaginable tragedy, the playing field is suddenly leveled. As facts are revealed, the significance of what has happened weighs heavily on all. How can the family prepare for what the future may hold? 

****

From Where I Watch You by Shannon Grogan (Soho Teen hardcover, 4 August 2015).

Sixteen-year-old Kara is about to realize her dream of becoming a professional baker. Beautifully designed and piped, her cookies are masterpieces, but also her ticket out of rainy Seattle—if she wins the upcoming national baking competition and its scholarship prize to culinary school in California. Kara can no longer stand the home where her family lived, laughed, and ultimately imploded after her mean-spirited big sister Kellen died in a drowning accident. Kara’s dad has since fled, and her mom has turned from a high-powered attorney into a nutty holy-rolling Christian fundamentalist peddling “Soul Soup” in the family café. All Kara has left are memories of better times.

But the past holds many secrets, and they come to light as Kara faces an anonymous terror: Someone is leaving her handwritten notes. Someone who knows exactly where she is and what she’s doing. As the notes lead her to piece together the events that preceded Kellen’s terrible, life-changing betrayal years before, she starts to catch glimpses of her dead sister: an unwelcome ghost in filthy Ugg boots. If Kara doesn’t figure out who her stalker is, and soon, she could lose everything. Her chance of escape. The boy she’s beginning to love and trust. Even her life.

****

Damage Done by Amanda Panitch (Random House BFYR hardcover, 21 July 2015).

22 minutes separate Julia Vann’s before and after.

Before: Julia had a twin brother, a boyfriend, and a best friend.

After: She has a new identity, a new hometown, and memories of those twenty-two minutes that refuse to come into focus. At least, that’s what she tells the police.

Now that she’s Lucy Black, her fresh start has attracted the attention of one of the hottest guys in school. And someone much more dangerous. She thought her brother’s crimes were behind her. But now she’s being forced to confront the dark secrets she thought were safely left behind. How far will Julia go to keep her slate clean?

One thing is clear: The damage done can never be erased. It’s only just beginning. . . 

****

Con Academy by Joe Schreiber (HMH BFYR hardcover, 4 August 2015).

It's his senior year and Will Shea has conned his way into one of the country's most elite prep schools. But he soon runs into Andrea, a fellow con-artist. With the school not big enough for the both of them, they make a bet that whoever can con Brandt Rush, the richest, most privileged student in the school out of $50K, gets to stay at the school. Will starts setting up his con (an online poker scam) with his uncle who's one of the best grifters in the business, but also with the unwanted help of his father...

The plot thickens as Will starts falling for fellow student Gatsby, and some of Will's lies start to catch up with him.

****

The Creeping by Alexandra Sirowy (Simon & Schuster BFYR hardcover, 18 August 2015).

Twelve years ago Stella and Jeanie vanished while picking strawberries. Stella returned minutes later, with no memory of what happened. Jeanie was never seen or heard from again.

Now Stella is seventeen, and she’s over it. She’s the lucky one who survived, and sure, the case is still cloaked in mystery—and it’s her small town’s ugly legacy—but Stella is focused on the coming summer. She’s got a great best friend, a hookup with an irresistibly crooked smile, and two months of beach days stretching out before her.

Then along comes a corpse, a little girl who washes up in an ancient cemetery after a mudslide, and who has red hair just like Jeanie did. Suddenly memories of that haunting day begin to return, and when Stella discovers that other red-headed girls have gone missing as well, she begins to suspect that something sinister is at work.

And before the summer ends, Stella will learn the hard way that if you hunt for monsters, you will find them.

****

Six Impossible Things by Fiona Wood (Little Brown BFYR hardcover, 11 August 2015).

1. Kiss Estelle.

2. Get a job.

3. Cheer my mother up.

4. Try not to be a complete nerd/loser.

5. Talk to my father when he calls.

6. Figure out how to be good.

Nerd-boy Dan Cereill is not quite coping with a whole heap of problems, including a reversal of family fortune, moving, new-school hell, a mother with a failing wedding cake business, a just-out gay dad, and a massive crush on Estelle, the girl next door. His life is a mess, but for now he's narrowed it down to just six impossible things....