#mystery – Rosepoint Publishing

Finlay Donovan Digs Her Own Grave: A Novel by Elle Cosimano #AudiobookReview #TuesdayBookBlog

Best Books of the Year So Far 2025

Book Blurb:

Finlay Donovan and her nanny/partner-in-crime, Vero, have not always gotten along with Finlay’s elderly neighbor, Mrs. Haggerty, the community busybody and president of the neighborhood watch. But when a dead body is discovered in her backyard, Mrs. Haggerty needs their help. At first a suspect, Mrs. Haggerty is cleared by the police, but her house remains an active crime scene. She has nowhere to go . . . except Finlay’s house, right across the street.

Finlay and Vero have no interest in getting involved in another murder case—or sacrificing either of their bedrooms. After all, they’ve dealt with enough murders over the last four months to last a lifetime and they both would much rather share their beds with someone else.

When the focus of the investigation widens to include Finlay’s ex-husband, Steven, though, Finlay and Vero are left with little choice but to get closer to Mrs. Haggerty and uncover her secrets . . . before the police start digging up theirs. But who will solve the mystery first?

A Macmillan Audio production from Minotaur Books.

My Review:

It’s been a year since I read Finlay Donovan Rolls the Dice and now here we are with Book 5 of the quirky, irreverent series featuring a writer (Finlay) who’s hit the wall and is usually frantically trying to stall her New Jersey(?) editor while she comes up with something. Her best friend, Vero, has a dubious background and often times comes up with slightly illegal solutions to Finlay’s current problems.

And Finlay seems to have them. Usually of her own making.

She has two little ones and miraculously manages all the mischief-making without involving the young and innocent.

Finlay and Vero (who was originally supposed to help her manage the babies, the house, and be a quasi-assistant), are of similar age and persuasion. They are young, smart, and independent. Their dialogue is fast, snarky, and very contemporary.

I was hooked by the first installment and read each one since. I found a few over the top for me but came back for more anyway. This one includes an old lady (good old Mrs. Haggerty—the neighbor—save me from the narrator’s switch in voice—so annoying).

The plot, however, is clever, twisty, and humorous and I found it fast and fun. Just the right amount of romance (Finlay has a hot cop boyfriend and Vero also a new love interest), sexual innuendo, and trash talk. For the most part, the narrator does a credible job with the switch in voices and situation. Gotta run to keep up!

Enjoy something modern, engaging, and entertaining? If you haven’t already, might try this one.

I downloaded a copy of this audiobook from my local well-stocked library. These are my honest thoughts.

Rosepoint Publishing: Four Stars

Book Details:

Genre: Humorous Fiction & Satire, Women Sleuth Mysteries, Humorous Fiction
Publisher: Macmillan Audio
ASIN: B0D3622PF1
Listening Length: 9 hrs 11 mins
Narrator: Angela Dawe
Publication Date: March 4, 2025
Source: Local Library (Audiobook Selections)
Title Links: Amazon-US
Amazon-UK
Barnes & Noble
Kobo

The Author: Elle Cosimano is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author, an International Thriller Award winner, and an Edgar® Award nominee. Her acclaimed young adult novels include Nearly Gone, Holding Smoke, The Suffering Tree, and Seasons of the Storm. Elle’s debut novel for adults, Finlay Donovan Is Killing It, kicked off a witty, fast-paced contemporary mystery series, which was a PEOPLE Magazine Pick and one of New York Public Library’s Best Books of 2021. In addition to writing novels for teens and adults, her essays have appeared in The Huffington Post and Time. Elle lives with her husband and two sons in Virginia. You can learn more about her at her website: http://www.ElleCosimano.com.

Photo courtesy of Holly Virginia Photography

Happy Listening!

Downstate: A Novella by Jeffery Deaver #BookReview – Kindle Singles: Mystery, Thriller & Suspense

Special Agent Constant Marlowe Book 2

in Mystery

Book Blurb:

Special Agent Constant Marlowe pursues a lead to rural Illinois and finds a hornet’s nest of conspiracy in a pulse-pounding novella by New York Times bestselling author Jeffery Deaver, where nothing is what it seems.

Special Agent Constant Marlowe is in pursuit of “Mr. X,” a key player in organized crime. Her mission is to collar him and flip him into a cooperating witness. The only problem? Marlowe doesn’t know who he is or even what he looks like. It doesn’t help that the trail has led her to a farming community in the nether land of Downstate, those stretches of Illinois where endless fields of late-season corn block the truth…and any sign of coming threat. When Marlowe stumbles on a teenage boy’s convenience store robbery, she suddenly finds herself in the crosshairs of a conspiracy that shatters the illusion of a sleepy small town.

His Review:

Rows of corn over 6 feet high as far as the eye can see. This is the location Constant Marlowe finds herself in. She wants to transport a criminal from Plains, Illinois to Chicago. The sheriff of the county does not want his prisoner to leave Plains but has other plans for him. Therefore, he rejects Constant Marlowe’s transfer request.

Tyson Barth was a local gangster that Constant Marlowe wanted to bring down. One of his warehouses gave Constant a lead to the town of Plains. Could this be the repository site for illegal drugs coming into the state and particularly into the greater Chicago area? And did it seem a larger than normal number of young ladies seemed to disappear periodically from the Plains area?

Constant arrests a young Hispanic male after he steals some gift cards and leaves a convenience store with a blatant disregard for authority. She is aware the young man is also connected with some gangsters in Northern Illinois but the local sheriff insists the arrest is his and should be attributed to his office. The obvious facts in the case do not seem to matter!

This tome has some very interesting twists and also points to unlawful activities in downstate Illinois. The plot is interesting and the book is well written. Enjoy! 4.5 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 point Five Stars

Book Details:

Genre: Kindle Singles: Mystery, Thriller & Suspense, Crime Fiction, Mystery
Publisher: Amazon Original Stories
ASIN: B0DBW2V11C
Publication Date: January 14, 2025
Source: Publisher and NetGalley

Title Link(s):

Amazon-US | Amazon-UK

The Author: Jeffery Deaver is an international number-one bestselling author. His novels have appeared on bestseller lists around the world. His books are sold in 150 countries and translated into over twenty-five languages. He has served two terms as president of Mystery Writers of America, and was recently named a Grand Master of MWA, whose ranks include Agatha Christie, Ellery Queen, Mary Higgins Clark and Walter Mosely.

The author of over forty novels, three collections of short stories and a nonfiction law book, and a lyricist of a country-western album, he’s received or been shortlisted for dozens of awards. His “The Bodies Left Behind” was named Novel of the Year by the International Thriller Writers association, and his Lincoln Rhyme thriller “The Broken Window” and a stand-alone, “Edge,” were also nominated for that prize. “The Garden of Beasts” won the Steel Dagger from the Crime Writers Association in England. He’s also been nominated for eight Edgar Awards by the MWA.

Deaver has been honored with the Lifetime Achievement Award by the Bouchercon World Mystery Convention, the Strand Magazine’s Lifetime Achievement Award and the Raymond Chandler Lifetime Achievement Award in Italy.

His book “A Maiden’s Grave” was made into an HBO movie starring James Garner and Marlee Matlin, and his novel “The Bone Collector” was a feature release from Universal Pictures, starring Denzel Washington and Angelina Jolie. Lifetime aired an adaptation of his “The Devil’s Teardrop.” NBC television recently aired the nine-episode prime-time series, “Lincoln Rhyme: Hunt for the Bone Collector.”

You can find out more about Jeffery on his website http://www.jefferydeaver.com, Facebook page facebook.com/JefferyDeaver, and follow him on Twitter @JefferyDeaver.

Have a good week!

The God of the Woods: A Novel by Liz Moore #Audiobook #FamilyLifeFiction

#11 this week

Goodreads Choice Award Winner for Readers’ Favorite Mystery & Thriller (2024)

Book Blurb:

ONE OF THE NEW YORK TIMES’S NOTABLE BOOKS OF 2024
A NEW YORK TIMES BEST THRILLER OF 2024
A NEW YORK TIMES BEST CRIME NOVEL OF 2024
PEOPLE MAGAZINE’S #1 BOOK OF THE YEAR
A NEW YORK PUBLIC LIBRARY TOP 10 PICK OF 2024
ONE OF NPR’S “BOOKS WE LOVE” 2024
ONE OF TIME MAGAZINE’S “100 MUST-READ BOOKS OF 2024”

When a teenager vanishes from her Adirondack summer camp, two worlds collide

Early morning, August 1975: a camp counselor discovers an empty bunk. Its occupant, Barbara Van Laar, has gone missing. Barbara isn’t just any thirteen-year-old: she’s the daughter of the family that owns the summer camp and employs most of the region’s residents. And this isn’t the first time a Van Laar child has disappeared. Barbara’s older brother similarly vanished fourteen years ago, never to be found.

As a panicked search begins, a thrilling drama unfolds. Chasing down the layered secrets of the Van Laar family and the blue-collar community working in its shadow, Moore’s multi-threaded story invites readers into a rich and gripping dynasty of secrets and second chances. It is Liz Moore’s most ambitious and wide-reaching novel yet.

My Review:

Longer doesn’t always equate with better.

I’m the salmon battling up the river and over all the fish ladders as this novel appears to have done quite well and as usual I wasn’t all that thrilled.

While it started out with a hook and sparked my interest, the further I got into it, the less compelled I was to continue.

A seventeen-year-old girl disappears from summer camp and in the search for her the reader is introduced to myriad characters and their own POVs. Unfortunately, many times it is also the cause of timeline switches which disrupted the train of thought, derailed the plot line for me while I tried to digest the new time, the character in that time frame, and how they related to poor Barbara Van Laar whose family owns the camp.

Her brother disappeared from the same camp fourteen years previously. Yeah, now introduce a subplot. Why and how did he disappear?

What began as a nice pace became a slow burn, a mystery, that the longer the search, the more characters, timeline switches, and dysfunctional family memories are shared, the less I cared about any of them.

While there are some truly badass women, they are countered by milksops. My favorite character is TJ. She is smart, solid, and doesn’t let the money power behind the Van Laars lessen her authority. When it’s time for Alice’s POV (she is such a mess), I just want to slap her up the side of the head and tell her to shut up.

Well, are they ever going to find her? I don’t know—did you successfully navigate the twists and turns that lead nowhere? There is an interesting writing style, you can’t say the characters are not fully developed, but the atmosphere of the woods and the camp gets depressingly descriptive at times. Short chapters and slow passages kept me reading when I’d hit another interesting advance to the storyline. It was touch and go.

Perhaps better for you if you enjoy slow burn mysteries and character driven timeline switches. In any case, maybe that denouement will catch you by surprise. By that time though it just seems obvious.

I received an audiobook of this title from my local library that in no way influenced this review. These are my honest thoughts.

Rosepoint Rating: Four Stars

Book Details:

Genre: Family Life Fiction, Literary Fiction, Psychological Thrillers
Publisher: Riverhead Books
ISBN-10: ‎ 0593418913
ISBN-13: ‎ 978-0593418918
ASIN: B0CL1YQLB5
Print Length: 490 pages
Publication Date: July 2, 2024
Source: Library

Title Link(s):

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

The Author: Liz Moore is the author of five novels: The Words of Every Song, Heft, The Unseen World, the New York Times-bestselling Long Bright River, and The God of the Woods. A winner of the 2014 Rome Prize in Literature, she lives in Philadelphia and teaches in the MFA program in Creative Writing at Temple University.

12 Coffins by Lewis Pennington #BookReview #Crime & MysteryScienceFiction

Rosepoint Rating: Five Stars

Book Blurb:

Brothers Cody and Drew Edwards and their gang of mischievous friends are looking for excitement in their sleepy little southern town through games of make-believe and even fake seances. It is only when they venture into a supposedly haunted coffin factory that they get more than they had hoped for. When they discover that lying in the coffins grants them paranormal abilities, they begin a mysterious journey involving murder, deceit, and greed along with the power to prevent one of the nation’s most devastating events. Determined to use their power for good, they realize that every action they take is accompanied by harrowing consequences. In this crucible of danger and discovery, family bonds and friendships are tested, and true strength of character is revealed. The stakes couldn’t be higher, but neither could their determination.

My Review:

Hoo boy! I opened a whole new genre for myself this time, not just a YA but a Teen & Young Adult Paranormal & Urban Fantasy. That’s a mouthful, huh? but this book, as weird as the plot is, plays with your mind, conjures visions, and reminds you even if not male, what it was like to be a youngster with boundless imagination.

I loved the boys, particularly the older boy, Drew. He was the perfect big brother to Cody but it was Cody’s POV that powered the storyline. Opening with the solemn funeral procession for Kennedy, Cody sets the stage for the modest beginnings of their youth with their grandmother while their widowed mother studied to become an anesthetist. A lovely property with neighbor kids about their age formed a powerful bond back when the kids played outside together until called for supper.

It was a sad time for the nation and made a profound impact on the kids. So it’s perfectly plausible that the kids might incorporate the newly discovered “Fletcher and Son Coffin Company during the time the schools were closed in their daring plans. And, learning something about Drew, might also be possible, given his bravado, that Drew might challenge himself (with his neighbor gang as witnesses) to enter the building…late at night.

Not just Drew, there are more support characters you come to love, Mr. Merriweather for one (though the Capuchin monkey not so much). There are bad guys who are sincerely bad.

I can’t say too much more about the well-plotted and paced tale, just to say that it’s full of suspense, fun, and mystery. Sweet the clever and calm way he deals with his young and sincere brother with the brash idea.

The CE read The Memory Stones, the author’s time travel fiction back in June of 2021 and said, “The characters are engaging, endearing, and feel real” and I totally concur. A totally different kind of read for me, but a sweet one. You don’t have to be a teen to enjoy this one, just let your inner child or imagination connect.

I received a complimentary review copy of this book from the author that in no way influenced this review. These opinions are my own.

Book Details:

Genre: Crime & Mystery Science Fiction, Teen & Young Adult Paranormal & Urban Fantasy eBooks, Paranormal Suspense
Publisher: Silver Lining Publishing
ASIN: B0CYXSKD6F
Print Length: 322 pages
Publication Date: June 13, 2024
Source: Author

Title Link(s):

Amazon-US | Amazon-UK

The Author: Lewis Pennington graduated from East Carolina University in Greenville, North Carolina with a degree in Graphic Design and Marketing. Upon graduation, he moved to New York City where he began his career with the now-defunct Science Fiction Magazine Omni Magazine. After decades of navigating through the corporate marketing maze, he is now focusing on his next chapter in life–providing readers with inspirational fiction. Lewis and his family live in Asheville, North Carolina. [Goodreads]

Website

https://lewispennington.com/

https://www.goodreads.com/chrispennington

Have a great day!

The Mystery Writer by Sulari Gentill – #BookReview – #TuesdayBookBlog

Best Mystery, Thriller and Suspense

Book Blurb:

From 2023 Edgar Award nominee and bestselling author Sulari Gentill comes a literary thriller about an aspiring writer who meets and falls in love with her literary idol—only to find him murdered the day after she gave him her manuscript to read.

When Theodosia Benton abandons her career path as an attorney and shows up on her brother’s doorstep with two suitcases and an unfinished novel, she expects to face a few challenges. Will her brother support her ambition or send her back to finish her degree? What will her parents say when they learn of her decision? Does she even have what it takes to be a successful writer?

What Theo never expects is to be drawn into a hidden literary world in which identity is something that can be lost and remade for the sake of an audience. When her mentor, a highly successful author, is brutally murdered, Theo wants the killer to be found and justice to be served. Then the police begin looking at her brother, Gus, as their prime suspect, and Theo does the unthinkable in order to protect him. But the writer has left a trail, a thread out of the labyrinth in the form of a story. Gus finds that thread and follows it, and in his attempt to save his sister he inadvertently threatens the foundations of the labyrinth itself. To protect the carefully constructed narrative, Theo Benton, and everyone looking for her, will have to die.

My Review:

Well, phooey. Yes, I’ve read this author before, with mixed results, but thought I’d try this one. There were reviews that mentioned The Woman in the Library—read it—but preferred Where There’s a Will.

For some reason, this one started out slow for me. Theo Benton gives up on college in Australia to move to Lawrence Kansas where her attorney brother Gus lives. Surprise, surprise, he wasn’t expecting her but appears to accept her with open arms and support her new desire to be a writer. To that end, he recommends she find an internet case where other writers may congregate.

That works, as eventually she meets Dan Murdoch, who turns out to be a bestselling author and he seems willing to mentor her. Yeah. Uh huh. I thought I could see where this was going—he had hit a wall(?) and her book premise sounded good. But then, he turns up murdered.

Whoa. I did not see that coming.

In the meantime, we’ve gotten to know Gus and his friend Mac. Mac’s family is off the rails, the plot veers the same direction, and Gus will lose his legal position, his rep, his income; good grief—talk about collateral damage.

I had problems with Theo from the beginning. She seemed a privileged princess and thank heaven for a brother who was willing to sacrifice. The boys circle the wagons when the police like Gus for the crime. Theo is trying to figure out what and why Murdoch was killed and there are jumps in the timeline that lost me as to purpose. The storyline takes another totally unexpected twist. The one character I really enjoyed was Horse—and his scenes provided humorous moments.

Somehow the story becomes so complex with conspiracy theories and doomsday preppers it just lost me in connection and believability. A weird one off.

Noted it was a final manuscript, it had numerous typos and missing words. These were intended to be corrected prior to release.

I received a complimentary review copy of this book from the author and publisher through @NetGalley that in no way influenced this review. These are my honest thoughts.

Rosepoint Rating: Three Stars

Book Details:

Genre: Mystery, Thriller & Suspense Literary Fiction, Murder, Murder Thrillers
Publisher: Poisoned Pen Press
ISBN: 1761152238
ASIN: B0C5K294D6
Print Length: 388 pages
Publication Date: March 19, 2024
Source: Publisher and NetGalley

Title Link(s):

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

The Author: After setting out to study astrophysics, graduating in law and then abandoning her legal career to write books, Sulari now grows French black truffles on her farm in the foothills of the Snowy Mountains of NSW. Sulari is author of The Rowland Sinclair Mystery series, historical crime fiction novels (eight in total) set in the 1930s. Sulari’s A Decline in Prophets (the second book in the series) was the winner of the Davitt Award for Best Adult Crime Fiction 2012. She was also shortlisted for Best First Book (A Few Right Thinking Men) for the Commonwealth Writers’ Prize 2011. Paving the New Road was shortlisted for another Davitt in 2013.

[Goodreads] Sulari lives with her husband, Michael, and their boys, Edmund and Atticus, on a small farm in Batlow where she grows French Black Truffles and refers to her writing as “work” so that no one will suggest she get a real job.

Hello Spring

Tangled Webs by Maria McDonald – #BookReview – #TuesdayBookBlog

A spellbinding new historical psychological mystery

Book Blurb

Two women take drastic action to protect the life they’ve built, in this gripping new novel set in early twentieth-century Belfast by the author of The Devil’s Own.

Jane Best and Agnes Williams are known in Belfast for taking in lodgers at Riverdale House, the business they started together after losing their husbands in the Anglo-Zulu War. For forty years, they’ve welcomed young women in need of a respectable place to stay in the city—including unfortunate cases like young Iris Seoin, who’s come here to get away from her abuser.

When a man shows up at the lodging house looking for Iris, he experiences a flash of recognition. He knows these two. He knows their past. And he knows what they’re hiding.

For Jane and Agnes, everything is at stake. But if they succeed in burying this blackmailer, will their secret stay buried with him?

My Review

Jane Best and Agnes Williams both experience the death of their husbands. While they had two very different backgrounds, neither could return to their former lives and agree on a new location with a business they could use to generate income as well as a stable home.

Each have their areas of expertise and soon they own and operate a safe lodging residence for ladies. Against the odds, however, an uncouth man from their former lives recognize them. What follows is a suspense-driven, well plotted mystery set in the latter 19^th century Ireland.

“…Home Rule means Rome Rule.”

I enjoyed the early account of their experience and later the struggle to create their lodging house. The antagonist is just nasty enough to stack the tension. Support characters and descriptions of the area and time create authenticity.

Several twists come as a surprise and plot re-direction. The prose provides light-hearted insight to the circumstances while the background turns darker.

A quick and easy read that adds spice to the suspense and generates the need to know more. Recommended!

Book Details

ASIN: ‎ B0CDCPFG9M
Publisher‏ : ‎ Bloodhound Books
Publication date‏ : ‎ September 1, 2023
Print length ‏ : ‎ 322 pages
Genre: LGBTQ+Genre Fiction, Lesbian Fiction
Source: Author
Title Link: A Superior Death [Amazon]

Rosepoint Publishing: Four points

The Author: Originally from Belfast, Maria McDonald lives in Kildare, with her husband Gerry.

Maria is an avid reader who loves to write but only indulged in her passion for writing fiction after retirement. Since then, her short stories and articles have been published in Woman’s Way and Ireland’s Own, as well as numerous anthologies; Intermissions, Grattan Street Press Melbourne; Same page anthology, University College Cork; Fragments of Time, Amber Publishers. Maria is a founder member of Ink Tank Writing Group, based in Newbridge library and contributed to their anthologies, Timeless in Kildare and Let Me Tell You Something.

#TuesdayBookBlog

The Mountains Wild: A Mystery by Sarah Stewart Taylor- #Audiobook Review – #ThrowbackThursday

Best Mystery, Thriller & Suspense

Book Blurb:

In a series debut for fans of Tana French and Kate Atkinson, set in Dublin and New York, homicide detective Maggie D’arcy finally tackles the case that changed the course of her life.

Twenty-three years ago, Maggie D’arcy’s family received a call from the Dublin police. Her cousin Erin has been missing for several days. Maggie herself spent weeks in Ireland, trying to track Erin’s movements, working beside the police. But it was to no avail: No trace of her was ever found.

The experience inspired Maggie to become a cop. Now, back on Long Island, more than 20 years have passed. Maggie is a detective and a divorced mother of a teenager. When the Gardaí call to say that Erin’s scarf has been found and another young woman has gone missing, Maggie returns to Ireland, awakening all the complicated feelings from the first trip. The despair and frustration of not knowing what happened to Erin. Her attraction to Erin’s coworker, now a professor, who never fully explained their relationship. And her determination to solve the case, once and for all.

A lyrical, deeply drawn portrait of a woman – and a country – over two decades – The Mountains Wild introduces a compelling new mystery series from a mesmerizing author.

A Macmillan Audio production from Minotaur Books

My Review:

This is a story told in a dual line 23 years apart. The storyline is told by Maggie, who in 2016 travels to Ireland after their call to her uncle regarding new information on the disappearance of her cousin Erin, missing since 1993.

Not like Maggie didn’t do this in 1993 when Erin first went missing, but this time she goes back with her experience as a mature and successful, well-known Long Island police detective. Things have certainly changed in their quaint Irish community and the descriptions of the countryside and people provide a colorful mind video.

Of course, having been to Ireland before, Maggie fondly remembers Connor, with whom she was not at the time destined to complete a romantic affair. This time, she’s left behind a daughter with her ex in the US in the hope of finally getting to the truth.

Turns out, the mystery is a slow burn while Maggie sifts through clues and in the meantime relates lovely little tidbits about the area and the people. Character-driven with obligatory twists. The switching of timelines, however, listening to the audiobook while multi-tasking can be confusing.

The reader/listener does get to know Maggie and really, she didn’t grab me. Nor, for that matter did Connor, and I was a bit appalled at her cavalier attitude toward her ex. Connor’s situation is a great deal more serious with his ex.

She is constantly mistaken for her cousin, which I thought stretched credibility. She is there as a civilian but tends more the detective than the relative. She discovers layers of coverup, backstory no one wanted.

Perhaps, in part, because I was listening, not reading, I missed a few of the loose threads tied in conclusion (although I must say, the narrator did a great job). It, as the rest of the low-key narrative, slipped in explanation for me and the episode ended. Maybe I missed something? I felt like it and wasn’t wholly satisfied.

I downloaded a copy of this audiobook from my local well-stocked library. These are my honest thoughts.

Book Details:

Genre: International Mystery & Crime, Police Procedural Mysteries
Publisher: Macmillan Audio
ASIN: B082VMB63Q
Listening Length: 10 hrs 49 mins
Narrator: Marisa Calin
Publication Date: June 23, 2020
Source: Local Library (Audiobook Selections)
Title Link: The Mountains Wild [Amazon]

Rosepoint Publishing: Three point Five Stars

The Author: Sarah Stewart Taylor grew up on Long Island and was educated at Middlebury College and Trinity College, Dublin. She lives with her husband and three children on a farm in Vermont where they raise sheep and grow blueberries.

Sarah is the author of the Sweeney St. George series and the Maggie D’arcy series. The first Maggie D’arcy mystery, THE MOUNTAINS WILD, was nominated for the Dashiell Hammett Prize and was on numerous Best of 2020 lists. The new Maggie D’arcy novel, A STOLEN CHILD, will be out on June 20, 2023. [Bio and photo – Goodreads]

Follow her at http://www.sarahstewarttaylor.com/

The Narrator: Marisa Calin grew up in Bath, England, trained at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York and is an Audie, Odyssey, Audiofile Earphones Award winning and SOVAS nominated audiobook narrator. She’s had an Audible Best Audiobook of the Year, an Apple Books Must-Listen audiobook of the month, starred reviews in Publishers Weekly and School Library Journal, and books on YALSA’s Amazing Audiobooks of the year list. You can listen to extracts of some of those books here.

She wrote, produced and appears in her first feature, A Million Happy Nows, with her company, Perfect Features, which went on to win nineteen awards on the festival circuit, including Best First Feature at Outfest. Find more at amillionhappynows.com.

Her debut Young Adult novel, Between You & Me, published in 2012 by Bloomsbury, was named a Kirkus Reviews’ Best Book of 2012, recieved a Kirkus star for “books of exceptional merit”, was selected for the American Library Associations’ 2013 Rainbow Book List of quality books with authentic LGBT content, and was chosen as a Kobo dazzling debut.

She lives in New York City. [Courtesy Marisa Calin website]

#ThrowbackThursday

The Devil’s Own: A tantalizing historical mystery by Maria McDonald – #BookReview – #TuesdayBookBlog

Rosepoint Rating: Five Stars

Book Blurb:

A set of century-old diaries found in an attic draws an Irish couple into a tale of murder and madness, in this absorbing new suspense.

After forty years in the Irish army, Brian is looking forward to retiring and spending time with his wife—though he worries about adjusting to civilian life. While clearing the attic before they move house, he makes a discovery: three journals dating back to the early twentieth century.

One was written by Arthur, an ex-Connaught Ranger; another by Arthur’s wife, Edith, a colonel’s daughter; and the third by Henry, a British soldier and Arthur’s best friend.

Brian and his wife are soon engrossed in reading the diaries and following the intertwined stories of these three people from the past. But it soon becomes chillingly clear that these diaries contain more than the daily adventures of ordinary lives. Because one of the three is a killer . . .

My Review:

Well, how much fun was this?

This is one of those that I continued to read, fascinated, while my breakfast cereal became soggy.

A dual timeline novel that begins approximately 1880 to 1924 and the other present day. The main POV is that of Brian, retiring after spending forty years in the Irish army. His wife is thrilled with the new digs they’ve planned for years and eagerly looking forward to retiring with her hubby. It’s when Brian tackles the attic of the home previously occupied by myriad military families that he discovers journals hidden in a covered chest that date back a century where the real mystery suspense begins.

Brian and Jean become engrossed in reading what must have been the separate diaries of Arthur and his wife Edith, and that of Henry, Arthur’s best friend. The journals, however, turn rather dark and Henry’s diary becomes shocking.

The journals take turns as the narrative progresses through the story of Arthur as an orphaned child and his eventual history with the Connaught Rangers. Edith has given up being the privileged child of an officer stationed in India at the Curragh Camp with all the privileges attendant to the British military of the time. Their union is marred by Arthur’s drinking encouraged by his army buddy Henry.

I loved the chapters with Arthur and Edith; Henry’s chapters turn grisly as he describes his exploits. The descriptions of the bases or camps are vivid with detail and include interesting tidbits of military life of the time. The characters are fully developed and evoke immersion into the storyline, creating a bond between both the current angst-filled Brian and the tragedy of Edith’s marriage.

So engrossing the laying out of the backstory of the individuals, it’s easy to be fully invested in them by the time the well-plotted and paced storyline plays out. I suspicioned Henry’s story early on, but the novel is so absorbing I had no problem burying myself in the pages in a race to the conclusion.

Gripping, it is indeed tantalizing and a particularly satisfying read. As with most journeys, the fun is not always in the destination—it’s the ride.

I previously read Charlie Mac back in May 2018 and enjoyed it. The author outdid herself this time–loved it. I received a complimentary review copy of this book from Bloodhound Books and the author that in no way influenced this review. These are my honest thoughts. This is one that will make my suggested favorites list for #readingirelandmonth in March.

Book Details:

Genre: Historical Thrillers, Psychological Fiction
Publisher: Bloodhound Books
ASIN: B0BQ6LP15Y
Print Length: 348 pages
Publication Date: January 11, 2023
Source: Bloodhound Books and the author