The Gift from Aelius by Michael Colon #BookReview #Post-ApocalypticScienceFiction

Book Blurb:

In the not-too distant future, A191, a Codex with artificial intelligence, feels like a misfit in Paradise, a walled city in the middle of an endless desert where humans imprisoned his race long ago. He’s not like the others of his kind; he longs to meet humans and make peace with them so man and Codexes can be reunited in the world. These thoughts and feelings are not allowed in Paradise; he risks banishment to the desert by the Overseer A. I. who rules by fear and force. Complicating matters, A191 has a glitch in his programming that conjures up a human boy named Aelius who tells him to go to Old Haven where he will find freedom. However, he’s drafted into a rebellion against the Overseer, and as Paradise enforcers close in with orders to terminate him, he escapes the city to wander the desert in search of humans. The journey reveals the truth about his existence, the Overseer’s lies, and the consequences of mankind’s untethered technology.

His Review:

Could the beginning of the decline of mankind be at hand? This is an ongoing theme in this book by Michael Colon. The book explores the development of various robots and other artificial life forms. The central character is a robot who does not follow the norms or codes of society. He and others of his generation are policed by robotic law enforcement that looks to eradicate any non-conforming life forms in society.

The Utopia of the story has an assembly of police groups who arrest the aberrant bots and then disassemble them. Piles of dismembered parts litter various areas in the city. Of course, with every attempt at weeding out the undesirables, further deviants continue to surface. Squads of the robot police scour the cities for those who do not conform to their laws. (Sounds very similar to some of the problems around the world with wars between societies.)

My appreciation for the story is enhanced by the development of some of the current technologies being utilized for the benefit of mankind. The reduction in various industries of manual labor being replaced by automated systems is the foundation of the scenario in this tome. Read and enjoy this topical, controversial contemporary narrative. 4 stars – CE Williams

Many thanks to the author and publisher for providing me with the opportunity to read and review this book. Any opinion expressed here is my own.

Rosepoint Publishing: FourStars

Book Details:

Genre: Post-Apocalyptic Science Fiction, Literature & Fiction
Publisher: TWB Press
ISBN-13: 978-1959768739
ASIN: B0DLJCC1SL
Print Length: 188 pages
Publication Date: October 29, 2024 – Just released!
Source: Author

Title Link(s):

Amazon-US | Amazon-UK | Kobo

Autumn reading time

Allied Flames: The Knocknashee Series Book 6 by Jean Grainger #BookReview #TuesdayBookBlog #WWIIHistoricalFiction

The Knocknashee Story

in Historical British & Irish Literature

Book Blurb:

After years of letters and missed chances, Grace Fitzgerald and American journalist Richard Lewis have finally confessed their love. Though the world is at war, their bond feels certain and unshakable. But when Richard and Jacob’s plane is shot down over occupied France in 1943, Grace’s world is thrown into turmoil.

Invited to Savannah by Richard’s family, Grace is drawn into their refined yet uneasy world—a stark contrast to her humble life in Ireland. With Richard missing and every sign pointing to tragedy, Grace refuses the luxury of despair. Some things are simply to be borne.

Amid secrets, divided loyalties, and the unrelenting shadow of war, Grace must summon all her quiet strength to endure what cannot be changed. Love may not conquer fate—but it can outlast it.

Allied Flames is the sixth book in the bestselling Knocknashee Series

My Review:

After the apparent loss of Richard in Book 5, Grace goes into deep grieving, embarrassingly more so than the loss of her late husband. Everything, including Richard’s own family, who have invited her to Savannah to join their memorial, points to his irretrievable loss.

But if that is true, why can’t she shake the feeling that he is not well and truly gone? (Isn’t it the hope we all hold that it can’t really be true and we’re simply waiting for proof?)

But devastated or not, she must go on, and does so grudgingly with the help of friends and the community. Wrestling with the invitation to the memorial, she is determined not to go and finds herself doing it anyway. Richard’s family lovingly accepts her into their fold while her (ex-) father-in-law seeks his daughter and her adopted family in a separate thread.

(Yes, it’s a complex story with a number of threads and though Book 6 is beautifully written and compelling, you would probably do best to start with Book 1 if you haven’t already.)

The characters have all earned a place in your heart at this point, and it’s gratifying to be able to follow their lives and those of the village inhabitants. Meanwhile, the author paints a grisly picture of war-torn France and the desperate situation there. Can’t say much more than that. You’ll understand when you read it.

A Grainger book breathes the myths, history, and Irish lives into her emotional and heart-filled narrative’s characters. She is quite the storyteller—maybe it’s that ingrained Irish blarney?—and her stories are compelling and enriching.

Many thanks to the author for providing me with the opportunity to read and review this installment of the series. The thoughts expressed here are my own.

Rosepoint Rating: Four point Five Stars

Book Details:

Genre: Historical British & Irish Literature, Historical Irish Fiction, World War II Historical Fiction
ASIN: B0FCLD5RC3
Print Length: 335 pages
Publication Date: October 13, 2025
Source: Author

Title Link(s):

Amazon-US | Amazon-UK | Barnes & Noble | Kobo

The Author: Jean Grainger is a USA Today bestselling author with over 100,000 5* reviews of historical and contemporary Irish fiction. She is acclaimed for her authentic portrayal of Irish life and history. Born in Cork, she draws from her experience as a history lecturer, teacher, and tour guide to craft characters that feel like friends, and sometimes foes. Grainger’s works span multiple series and standalone novels, covering significant periods in recent Irish history, but told from the perspective of families, the humans behind the headlines. Her stories often intertwine historical events with personal journeys, exploring themes of family, friendship, and human resilience. Grainger’s writing style, characterized by its warmth and authenticity, has earned her comparisons to renowned Irish authors like Maeve Binchy. Her dedication to research and character development has resulted in a loyal readership who feel deeply connected to her stories and characters.

I appreciate you!

Parents Weekend: A Novel by Alex Finlay #BookReview #psychologicalthriller

Book Blurb:

From the bestselling author of If Something Happens to Me, comes one of the year’s most anticipated thrillers.

In the glow of their children’s exciting first year of college at a small private school in Northern California, five families gather over dinner and cocktails for the opening festivities of Parents Weekend. As the parents stay out way past their bedtimes, their kids—five residents of Campisi Hall—never show up to dinner.

At first, everyone thinks they’re just being college students, irresponsibly forgetting about the gathering or skipping out to go to a party. But as the hours tick by and another night falls with not so much as a text from the students, panic ensues. Soon the campus police call in reinforcements. Search parties are formed. Reporters swarm the small enclave. Rumors swirl and questions arise.

Libby, Blane, Mark, Felix, and Stella—The Five, as the podcasters, bloggers, and TikTok sleuths soon call them—come from very different families. What drew them out on that fateful night? Could it be the sins of their mothers and fathers come to cause them peril—or a threat to the friend group from within?

Told from each family’s point of view—and marking the return of FBI Special Agent Sarah Keller from Every Last Fear and The Night Shift—Parents Weekend explores the weight of expectation, family dysfunction, and those exhilarating first days in the dorms when friends become family.

His Review:

Parents are going to be spending a weekend with their students at Santa Clara University. There are five families with varying levels of enthusiasm waiting to join their offspring. The festivities begin but there is a problem, where are the students?

The book examines each of the families and their inter-reactions and expectations.

The event falls apart because none of the students show up at the event. At first, it is considered a college prank but then one of the students’ bodies is found drowned in a cave near the ocean. All the adults become frantic. Are the students OK?

The book is very well written but the format of the story left me flummoxed. The author presented each of the different families’ perspective and point of view. I found myself torn wanting a more consistent dialogue regarding each of the families. I was left wanting answers before a second set of family attitudes were presented.

Because there are five families with ten adults each having their own issues, I could not maintain a logical thread in my reading. Therefore, for me, the story fell through the cracks in the narrative. 4 stars – CE Williams

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with the opportunity to read and review this book. Any opinion expressed here is my own.

Rosepoint Publishing: Four Stars

Book Details:

Genre: Psychological Thrillers, Suspense Thrillers
Publisher: Minotaur Books
ISBN: 1250360722
ASIN: B0DBVV6PMG
Print Length: 308 pages
Publication Date: May 6, 2025
Source: Publisher and NetGalley

Title Link(s):

Amazon-US | Amazon-UK | Barnes & Noble | Kobo

The Author: Alex Finlay is the bestselling author of several acclaimed novels, including the 2021 breakout EVERY LAST FEAR, the 2022 GoodReads Choice nominee for Best Mystery & Thriller, THE NIGHT SHIFT, the 2023 LibraryReads Hall of Fame recipient, WHAT HAVE WE DONE, and his latest 2024 release, USA TODAY bestseller, IF SOMETHING HAPPENS TO ME. His novels regularly appear on best-of-the-year lists and have been translated into twenty-four languages and are sold around the world. Alex’s books are optioned for film and television, and EVERY LAST FEAR is in development for a major series. Alex lives in Washington, DC and Virginia, where he is at work on his next novel.

Have a Great Sunday

Book graphic banner by Canva.com AI

Rosepoint Reviews – January Recap – Catch the winter reading bug, not the flu

#Rosepoint Reviews - January recap

January is a catch-up month around here, packing holiday decorations away, doing some cleaning, updating blog folders (and Challenge page) to 2025, and doing some general website housekeeping. I took a hard look at my challenges and signed up for the same few, but reduced goals this year. Just too much always going on to keep up and I’d dearly love to do some AI graphics.

After looking at WP templates and formats, it would appear I am pretty well stuck with the same one as I still don’t want to try the block editor again and so many of the templates only work with the block editor. As is, I’m finding problems with my widgets, the blocks interfering with spacing and I’m blocked from linking both Twitter feed and Instagram. Still, I want to update the look somewhat with whatever additional resources I have.

Decided I would continue to try for posts on Tuesday and Thursday—Sunday if the CE has a review available. Felt like our stats were dropping and I went in to get an average number of reviews per month, but last January 2024 (not counting bookish posts), we posted ten reviews. So then looking at all months and tallying the average, discovered that between the two of us, we are generally running about 11.33/books/mo. Maybe not fewer then, just a shift in where we are getting the books and an increase in audiobooks equal to the decrease in digitals.

I mentioned AI graphics before and looking at different apps and free downloads, found more than I thought available. I played around with the free version of Freepik, but the free version is very limited and doesn’t make sense to pay for the little I’d use. Between the two, the AI graphics on Canva (again my free version) offers greater diversity and is more user friendly. Still, one can always resort to Google Gemini 2.0 which creates limited graphics as well as text.

I’m using Goodreads to mine the opportunity for good audiobooks, as well as your suggestions, and books sourced at NetGalley, author and publisher requests, and my well-stocked library.

We managed thirteen reviews between us in January that included seven audiobooks. These links on titles are to our reviews that include purchase or source information.

Rosepoint Reviews - January Recap

The God of the Woods by Liz Moore (audiobook)
Downstate: A Novella by Jeffery Deaver (CE review)
History’s Pages: The Knocknashee Story by Jean Grainger (5 stars)
The Burning and The Lost Coast by Jonathan and Jesse Kellerman (audiobooks)
To Catch a Thief by David Dodge (CE review)
All We Thought We Knew by Michelle Shocklee
Half Moon Bay by Jonathan and Jesse Kellerman (audiobook)
A Measure of Darkness by Jonathan Kellerman and Jesse Kellerman (audiobook)
The Crossing Places: The First Ruth Galloway Mystery by Elly Griffiths
A Dead Draw by Robert Dugoni (CE review)
The Investigator by John Sandford (audiobook)

Favorite Book of the Month

No question this month, All We Thought We Knew by Michelle Shocklee left me breathless and satisfied. I recommended it to the CE and he burned through it in a couple days. No doubt this would make a super selection for any book club.

Favorite for January – All We Thought We Knew

My Reading Challenges page…My Goodreads Challenge is currently at 18 of a 2025 goal of 125. No, keeping up with my Challenge page wasn’t a New Year’s resolution. I’ll get to it…
by and by.

Welcome to my new subscribers! So glad you joined our group. I hope all my readers are finding some amazing books to spend some quality hot chocolate, fireplace time with!

Favorite Books of 2022 – eBooks and Audiobooks

It is always a challenge to pick out our favorite reads of the year and 2022 had many. I’ve narrowed it down to twelve once again, one in each month.

As always, these are a mix of Indie authors, favorite authors, as well as bestselling authors and cover a good range of genres including domestic drama, historical fiction, suspense, and thrillers. And I do so love audiobooks as well as eBooks.

Listed by month, thinking next year I’m going to note my No. 1 pick in the monthly recaps, hopefully to make a year-end wrap-up easier. Links on titles are my full review and pics are links to Amazon (US).

Jan – The Golem and the Jinni by Helene Wecker. Yes! An audiobook narrated by George Guidall (one of my favorite narrators). It’s an immersive fantasy brought to life with characters that create an enchanting tale of the ancient arts and magic. It’s way outside my normal reads as #HistoricalFantasy published in April, 2013. So why did I fail to give it my coveted five stars? I disliked what happened to one of the main characters. Ya gotta listen to it—or read it—your choice. My 4.5 stars

Feb – The Lincoln Highway by Amor Towles. No. 5 on the Amazon Charts the week I reviewed—yes—another audiobook! I adored this book! Right up until the end. Another sabotage with my happy ending. This #ComingofAge – #HistoricalFiction was released on October 5, 2021 and got a lot of attention. It should have. Right up to the end (sob). Still, it’s one you shouldn’t miss. My 4.5 stars

Mar – Poison Pen by Sheila Lowe. (Claudia Rose Forensic Handwriting Mysteries Book 1). The CE gave this one five stars in March, Reading Ireland Month, and I included it here as I read a number of Irish authors, all of whom were good. A #domesticthriller released on February 22, 2021, the CE noted it was a fascinating study of handwriting analysis—a unique plot device. His 4.5 stars

Apr – The Lost by Jeffrey B Burton. A Mace Reid K-9 Mystery. I had to include one of my favorite doggy stories and this is a sweet one. Vira is a cadaver dog almost on a paranormal level with her handler, Mace Reid. It’s a fast-paced and well-plotted #animalfiction released on June 28, 2022. My 4.5 stars

May – The Physicists’ Daughter by Mary Anna Evans. A big reading month and this #historicalmysteries captured the CEs attention and kept it. He noted it was well written and he could not put it down. (I believe it—he burned through it.) His 4.5 stars

Jun – Before We Were Yours by Lisa Wingate. OMG, this Goodreads Choice Award Winner also got five full stars from me. Loved it! Authentic, emotional (I listened to the audiobook), and as my heart rose and sank throughout this unputdownable narrative could find no reason to shave a half-star. Published in June 2017, a #fictionsagas #literaryfiction, it is indeed a beautiful #historicalfiction. 5 stars!

Jul – Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus. Another audiobook takes the month as a #HumorousLiteraryFiction.This NY Times bestseller and a book club pick is a cerebral argument for the ability of women to expand beyond the “big three” for women (teacher, nurse, secretary—now called Adminstrative Assistant—no additional pay). It attains that lofty five star peak, also showing as No. 20 on the Amazon Charts the week I reviewed. In the early 60s, this brainiac woman wants to be a chemist (gasp!). The author does it up right, although it definitely garnered a lot of criticism. My 5 stars

Aug – The Lindbergh Nanny by Mariah Fredericks. The CE was very impressed with this #HistoricalBiographicalFiction and gave it five stars. So many tidbits included that he notes is very well written and “has some literary license” to support the final court decision. A very well known and tragic case in our history that led to the creation of the Lindbergh (kidnapping) Law. His 5 stars

Sept – The Dutch House by Ann Patchett an Amazon Editors’ pick for Best Literature & Fiction. Another audiobook and I’d be willing to bestow an honorary Audie for Tom Hanks’ narration. Heavy family dynamics, abandonment, love, loss, redemption. A #literaryfiction and my 5 stars. But, also vying for that 5 star mention are Painting with Fire by Amanda Hughes and The Quarryman’s Girl by Melanie Forde both by favorite authors of mine and whose works continue to be top drawer. You can’t go wrong with any of these September reads. All my 5 stars (Unusual, huh?)

Oct – Her Deadly Game by Robert Dugoni. A CE review, his turn for a Robert Dugoni book and how can you go wrong with that? You can’t and he gave it 5 stars. He says the novel contains a myriad of legal wrangling and is engaging and entertaining. Dugoni books are consistently fresh and well-crafted with relatable, well-developed characters. #legalthrillers His 5 stars

Nov – Hang the Moon by Jeannette Walls. A unique look at the 20s and Prohibition whose main character is a woman—and a strong, savvy, and smart one at that. Loved the atmospheric narrative with themes of religious passion, bootlegging, and gang wars. (Guess nothing changes, huh?) #biographicalhistoricalfiction My 4 stars. (Loved the book, wasn’t keen on the ending, but can still recommend.)

Dec – Swamp Story by Dave Barry. This is a case of an ugly cover but winning the month for the content of the book. Perhaps the cover is meant to convey this is not going to be a serious book. It’s the epitomy of #darkhumor and it’s hilarious, tongue-in-cheek rapid fire snark, twists, unique atmospherics, and an outrageously imaginative plot. That’s Dave Barry for you. So funny I had the CE read it. We both agreed. It’s a solid 5 stars and heartily recommended.

Obviously, not all the monthly favorites were five stars but still impressed us. So, in looking over this list, a strong pattern is becoming obvious. We are definitely leaning to #historicalfiction and #audiobooks. It’s another argument for just how many sub-genres fall under the general historical fiction category.

Reads by Genre

Do any of the above grab your interest? Read it already? Disagree with our reviews? I’d love to know and always welcome your comments!

Rosepoint Recommended-5 Stars

The Physicists’ Daughter by Mary Anna Evans #BlogTour #BookReview #Giveaway

The Physicists’ Daughter by Mary Anna Evans

I am delighted today to provide a review for you at my blog stop for The Physicists’ Daughter by Mary Anna Evans on the Great Escapes Virtual Book Tour.

Scroll down to enter your chance to win the Giveaway!

Book Details

The Physicists’ Daughter: A Novel
Historical Fiction
Poisoned Pen Press (June 7, 2022)
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 352 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1464215553
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1464215551
Digital ASIN ‏ : ‎ B09TGB4BVK

Book Blurb

The Nazis are no match for the physicists’ daughter.

New Orleans, 1944

Sabotage. That’s the word on factory worker Justine Byrne’s mind as she is repeatedly called to weld machine parts that keep failing with no clear cause. Could someone inside the secretive Carbon Division be deliberately undermining the factory’s war efforts? Raised by her late parents to think logically, she also can’t help wondering just what the oddly shaped carbon gadgets she assembles day after day have to do with the boats the factory builds…

When a crane inexplicably crashes to the factory floor, leaving a woman dead, Justine can no longer ignore her nagging fear that German spies are at work within the building, trying to put the factory and its workers out of commission. Unable to trust anyone—not the charming men vying for her attention, not her unpleasant boss, and not even the women who work beside her—Justine draws on the legacy of her unconventional upbringing to keep her division running and protect her coworkers, her country, and herself from a war that is suddenly very close to home.

His Thoughts

Justine Byrne was taught welding, trained by her parents. She knew things that most Americans could only dream of. She was given a job at Higgins Industries Carbon Division. She and the people in the division were making parts designed by others that they never saw assembled into anything. Justine’s parents had been killed because of the technology they helped develop.

Justine is young and lovely and two suitors are attempting to win her heart. One is a spy placed by Germany prior to WW II. The Higgins Plant was hidden in the bayous of southern Louisiana. There was an airfield next to the plant where the top-secret parts were made.

Supervisors at the plant were men with infirmities that kept them from being enlisted in the military. They were usually self-important oofs who lorded over everyone, particularly the women. They made life miserable for the better-looking girls.

Saboteurs were sent in by the Nazi’s to find out what was being made at the plant and also to slow or stop production. This was extremely unusual for a young lady during the war. Parts that were broken in the fabrication were quickly welded by her and production continued.

This tale of the valiant efforts by women hired in all war industries, showed the ability of women to do jobs formerly only held by men. The women were being paid more than they had ever been paid before, the same wage as a man doing the same work. Six, ten to twelve-hour days, left them only Sundays to rest and prepare for the following week. The book is very well written and I could not put it down! 4.5 stars – CE Williams

Giveaway

Sign up for your chance to win (3) Winner’s Choice Print or Kindle Copy plus a Starbucks Gift Card – U.S. only in this Rafflecopter giveaway.

About The Author: Mary Anna Evans is the author of The Physicists’ Daughter, the first in her series of WWII-era historical suspense novels featuring Rosie-the-Riveter-turned-codebreaker Justine Byrne. Her thirteen Faye Longchamp archaeological mysteries have received recognition including the Benjamin Franklin Award, a Will Rogers Medallion Award Gold Medal, the Oklahoma Book Award, and three Florida Book Awards bronze medals. She is an associate professor at the University of Oklahoma, where she teaches fiction and nonfiction writing, including mystery and suspense writing. Her work has appeared in publications including Plots with Guns, The Atlantic, Florida Heat Wave, Dallas Morning News, and The Louisville Review. Her scholarship on crime fiction, which centers on Agatha Christie’s evolving approach over her long career to the ways women experienced justice in the twentieth century, has appeared in the Bloomsbury Handbook to Agatha Christie (coming September 22, 2022), which she co-edited, and in Clues: A Journal of Detection. She holds an MFA in creative writing from Rutgers-Camden, and she is a licensed Professional Engineer. She is at work on the second Justine Byrne novel, The Physicists’ Enigma.

Author Links

Website: https://maryannaevans.com/

Twitter: @maryannaevans

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MaryAnnaEvansAuthor

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/maryannaevans/

BookBub: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/mary-anna-evans

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/12395.Mary_Anna_Evans

Purchase Links:

Bookshop IndieBound Barnes and Noble Amazon Booksamillion Nook Kindle Kobo

Thank you for visiting my stop on the tour!

Thanks to Great Escapes Virtual Book Tours for the opportunity to read and review this cozy mystery!

Bayou Book Thief (A Vintage Cookbook Mystery 1) by Ellen Byron – #BlogTour #BookReview #Giveaway

Bayou Book Thief by Ellen Byron

I am delighted today to provide a review for you at my blog stop for Bayou Book Thief by Ellen Byron on the Great Escapes Virtual Book Tour.

Scroll down to enter your chance to win the Giveaway!

Book Details

Bayou Book Thief (A Vintage Cookbook Mystery)
Cozy Mystery
1st in Series
Setting – New Orleans Louisianna
Publisher ‏ : ‎ Berkley (June 7, 2022)
Mass Market Paperback ‏ : ‎ 304 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0593437616
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0593437612
Digital ASIN ‏ : ‎ B09FPJHVGK

Book Blurb

A fantastic new cozy mystery series with a vintage flair from USA Today bestselling and Agatha Award–winning author Ellen Byron.

Twenty-eight-year-old widow Ricki James leaves Los Angeles to start a new life in New Orleans after her showboating actor husband perishes doing a stupid internet stunt. The Big Easy is where she was born and adopted by the NICU nurse who cared for her after Ricki’s teen mother disappeared from the hospital.

Ricki’s dream comes true when she joins the quirky staff of Bon Vee Culinary House Museum, the spectacular former Garden District home of late bon vivant Genevieve “Vee” Charbonnet, the city’s legendary restauranteur. Ricki is excited about turning her avocation – collecting vintage cookbooks – into a vocation by launching the museum’s gift shop, Miss Vee’s Vintage Cookbooks and Kitchenware. Then she discovers that a box of donated vintage cookbooks contains the body of a cantankerous Bon Vee employee who was fired after being exposed as a book thief.

The skills Ricki has developed ferreting out hidden vintage treasures come in handy for investigations. But both her business and Bon Vee could wind up as deadstock when Ricki’s past as curator of a billionaire’s first edition collection comes back to haunt her.

Will Miss Vee’s Vintage Cookbooks and Kitchenware be a success … or a recipe for disaster?

My Thoughts

It’s difficult to leave an old favorite like the Cajun Country Mystery series behind when the author pulls the plug and begins a new series.

But if we must, at least we get to enjoy her new series set in Louisiana, as the author favors us with the sounds, scents, and majesty that is the local mystic of New Orleans.

Ricki (Miracle Fleur di Lis James-Diaz) has returned to New Orleans where she was born after suffering the loss of her husband and a scandalous end to a job n LA in which she was a naïve and innocent pawn.

She has landed a position with the Bon Vee Culinary House Museum where she creates a gift shop containing vintage cookbooks and kitchenware. Unfortunately, a trunk containing a donation of vintage cookbooks turns out to contain a body instead. The body is that of a former Bon Vee employee fired for being a book thief and all-round scoundrel.

Becoming a little put off by the local detective, Ricki begins using her tracking skills to investigate on her own.

“NOPD stands for ‘Not Our Problem, Dude.’”

Ricki is a smart woman, although deemed less than confident after her recent losses, and treads lightly. There are some wonderfully diverse support characters, from Madame to Lyla and Cookie, the latter “a recovering children’s librarian.”

Little sub-plots or threads take the story in different directions and introduce the reader to some interesting practices in the book world. Lyla becomes a suspect, but then there are several lesser characters also vying for the position and it’s difficult to nail down who among them has the greater reason for offing not one, but a second, victim. Ricki’s imagination tends to go wild with motives most of which are tossed immediately.

The red herrings were narrowed and fed into the conclusion, which settled most of any loose threads remaining, and I must admit I was surprised by the culprit. As in most cozy mysteries, there is a fostering romance and one big thread strongly hinted that will be carried forward. It’s a douzy.

Also, as in many cozy mysteries, appropriate recipes, in this case vintage southern recipes are shared after the epilogue with this note that gave me a chuckle:

“Onions, celery, and peppers are affectionately known as the “holy trinity” in Cajun and Creole cooking.”

Giveaway

Sign up for your chance to win (1) PRINT COPY – Bayou Book Thief (A Vintage Cookbook Mystery) by Ellen Byron (U.S. Only) Rafflecopter giveaway

Ellen Byron - author — Ellen Byron – author

About The Author: Ellen’s Cajun Country Mysteries have won the Agatha Award for Best Contemporary Novel and multiple Lefty Awards for Best Humorous Mystery. Bayou Book Thief will be the first book in her new Vintage Cookbook Mysteries. She also writes the Catering Hall Mystery series under the name Maria DiRico.

Ellen is an award-winning playwright, and non-award-winning TV writer of comedies like Wings, Just Shoot Me, and Fairly Odd Parents. She has written over two hundred articles for national magazines but considers her most impressive credit working as a cater-waiter for Martha Stewart. An alum of New Orleans’ Tulane University, she blogs with Chicks on the Case, is a lifetime member of the Writers Guild of America and will be the 2023 Left Coast Crime Toastmaster. Please visit her at https://www.ellenbyron.com/

Newsletter: https://www.ellenbyron.com/

Thank you for visiting my stop on the tour!

Thanks to Great Escapes Virtual Book Tours for the opportunity to read and review this cozy mystery!

The Physicists’ Daughter by Mary Anna Evans – #BookReview – #historicalmysteries

The Physicists’ Daughter by Mary Anna Evans

Book Blurb:

New Orleans, 1944.

Raised by her late parents to think logically, she also can’t help wondering just what the oddly shaped carbon gadgets she assembles day after day have to do with the boats the factory builds. When a crane inexplicably crashes to the factory floor, leaving a woman dead, Justine can no longer ignore her nagging fear that German spies are at work within the building, trying to put the factory and its workers out of commission.

Unable to trust anyone—not the charming men vying for her attention, not her unpleasant boss, and not even the women who work beside her—Justine draws on the legacy of her unconventional upbringing to keep her division running and protect her coworkers, her country, and herself from a war that is suddenly very close to home.

His Review:

Justine Byrne was taught welding, trained by her parents. She knew things that most Americans could only dream of. She was given a job at Higgins Industries Carbon Division. She and the people in the division were making parts designed by others that they had never seen assembled into anything. Justine’s parents had been killed because of the technology they helped develop.

Saboteurs were sent in by the Nazi’s to find out what was being made at the plant and also to slow or stop production. This was extremely unusual for a young lady during the war. Parts that were broken in the fabrication were quickly welded by her and production continued.

This tale of the valiant efforts by women hired in all war industries showed the ability of women to do jobs formerly only held by men. The women were being paid more than they had ever been paid before, the same wage as a man doing the same work. Six, ten to twelve-hour days, left them only Sundays to rest and prepare for the following week. The book is very well written and I could not put it down! 4.5 stars – CE Williams

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with the opportunity to read and review this book.

Rosepoint Publishing: Four point Five Stars

Book Details:

Genre: Historical World War II Fiction, World War II Historical Fiction, Historical Mysteries
Publisher: Poisoned Pen Press
ASIN: B09TGB4BVK
Print Length: 345 pages
Publication Date: June 7, 2022
Source: Publisher and NetGalley
Title Link: The Physicists’ Daughter [Amazon]

Mary Anna Evans - author — Mary Anna Evans

The Author: I’m the author of the upcoming historical suspense novel THE PHYSICISTS’ DAUGHTER and the award-winning Faye Longchamp archaeological mysteries. My thriller, WOUNDED EARTH, is available in print, ebook, and audiobook editions.
I’m a university professor of writing, and I’m also a chemical engineer by training and license, with a degree in engineering physics thrown in for spice. This background came in handy while writing THE PHYSICISTS’ DAUGHTER, which features Justine Byrne, who works at a Rosie-the-Riveter-type job during World War II. I like to describe Justine like this: “The Nazis are no match for the physicists’ daughter.” As for the protagonist of my archaeological mysteries, I’d say, “Faye Longchamp digs up trouble.” If you like strong, smart, independent female protagonists, I think you might like Justine and Faye.
My other fiction includes several short stories, available separately as ebooks, and as a collection in both ebook and print form, called JEWEL BOX: SHORT WORKS BY MARY ANNA EVANS. YOUR NOVEL, DAY BY DAY: A FICTION WRITER’S COMPANION is available for novelists in both ebook and print form.
I am a co-editor with Dr. JC Bernthal of an upcoming book on the bestselling novelist of all time, the BLOOMSBURY HANDBOOK TO AGATHA CHRISTIE. It is very much a labor of love to the Queen of Mystery.
I enjoy reading, writing, teaching, gardening, spending time with my family, cooking, and playing my 7-and-a-half-foot-long monster of a grand piano. For more information on my work, visit http://www.maryannaevans.com.

Rosepoint Publishing