​Where They Found Her
by Kimberly McCreight

4.3 out of 5.0 stars

Beautifully written psychological suspense. My favorite type and I was not disappointed. The story was well thought out. The characters were formed well. 

I guess my "favorite" suspense novel would involve someone there that is in a position to solve a crime - I just realized this! Maybe my favorite is a "police procedural suspense novel" but enough about me...
 
I mean someone in a department, a police personnel, a detective, someone that isn't just thrown into the story and solves the crime because they must. Now, I know McCreight's main character, Molly, had help and ended up being more involved than anyone around her. And she is a journalist at a newspaper. But I just wanted her to be able to have a bigger picture. 

I'm not going to write with spoilers but I will say that any twist - and they were numerous - were a surprise and totally valid. The story was so unique and it amazes me every time that there is an author who can even think this up.

I will put Kimberly McCreight on my list of must-read-everything-the-author-has-written list and I'm excited to do so. 

The characters that I was most taken by were Sandy and Molly. So grounded and described so thoroughly, like I almost knew them. And wanted to. That is special writing. 

Bravo and thank you. 

About the author at goodreads.com:

Born in The United States, September 20
Website http://www.kimberlymccreight.com
Twitter kimmccreight
Genre Literature & Fiction, Mystery & Thrillers, Young Adult
Influences Sue Miller, Donna Tartt, Tom Perrotta, Virginia Woolf, Tana French, [a ...more

Kimberly McCreight is the New York Times bestselling author of Reconstructing Amelia, which was nominated for an Edgar, Anthony and Alex award. She attended Vassar College and graduated cum laude from the University of Pennsylvania Law School. She lives in Brooklyn with her husband and two daughters. You can find her on Facebook, Twitter and at kimberlymccreight.com

​Butchers Hill
by Laura Lippman
4 of 5 stars 

And she does it again. Laura Lippman is so good at this!

I have grown to love Tess Monaghan. No matter what I thought the first couple times around, now I get it. I get her. I think she is an amazing character ... she is basically color blind while living in a tough city that has been shaped by race. She is tough, says what she means, totally walks the walk. Yet, she is somehow quite insecure also, I think. She cares what people think (some of them, mostly family); she still doesn't go against her authority figures in her family; she carries a gun yet I'm not sure I would trust her with it. 

The story is filled with complex characters as always. It was a tiny convoluted in a few places, but the writing is so good I didn't feel thrown by it. The novel was written quite a while ago - 1998 - and I'm just thrilled that there are many Tess books to follow. I have not read them in order and so I do know that Tess grows up and gets to be a smarter private detective. Which is good because I do get frustrated at her naivety at times. I mean she blindly walks in to situations that have me surprised she's still around!

This book ended how I would have wanted. But no spoilers...suffice it to say, it was a fair ending although there were many deaths that I wish did not have to happen. I do question her basing the events on a loyalty that I just don't know is realistic. But it is also something I cannot judge because I've never been a foster child; never depending on my siblings for my life; never made promises based on a fear deep down in a place I literally probably don't have. 

Lippman's characters are always so well described that I continue to picture them in my imagination. But so clearly that I feel like I know the beautiful African American woman in the classy, matching outfits; the gentleman in his one brown suit and Panama hat in hand. Great detail! 

Laura Lippman is truly one of the best in her genre and I have not yet, not even once, been disappointed by her thrillers. I look forward to the next one!

About Laura Lippman from her website at http://www.lauralippman.net/

"Laura Lippman's stories  aren't just mysteries; they are deeply moving explorations of the human heart. She is quite simply one of the best crime novelists writing today." –Tess Gerritsen

Laura Lippman was a reporter for twenty years, including twelve years at The (Baltimore) Sun. She began writing novels while working full-time and published seven books about “accidental PI” Tess Monaghan before leaving daily journalism in 2001. 

Her work has been awarded the Edgar®, the Anthony, the Agatha, the Shamus, the Nero Wolfe, Gumshoe and Barry awards.

She also has been nominated for other prizes in the crime fiction field, including the Hammett and the Macavity. She was the first-ever recipient of the Mayor’s Prize for Literary Excellence and the first genre writer recognized as Author of the Year by the Maryland Library Association. Ms. Lippman grew up in Baltimore and attended city schools through ninth grade.

After graduating from Wilde Lake High School in Columbia, Md., Ms. Lippman attended Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism. Her other newspaper jobs included the Waco Tribune-Herald and the San Antonio Light.

Ms. Lippman returned to Baltimore in 1989 and has lived there since. She is the daughter of the late Theo Lippman Jr., a Sun editorial writer who retired in 1995, and Madeline Mabry Lippman, a former Baltimore City school librarian. Her sister, Susan, is a local bookseller.




​Her latest post:

• There's not enough bandwidth in the world. https://t.co/HAoc3WWwjJ
  6 hours ago

What Remains of Me
by Alison Gaylin
4 of 5 stars

8/15/17

Excellent, face-paced thriller full of twists that the reader is inclined to go along with. To a point. And then in the last 50 pages of the book, this went from a 5 to a 4-star. I just couldn't do them all. But I wanted to. I mean ... spoilers

Spoilers: I mean why did their NEIGHBOR in Joshua Tree need to be a friend from high school (okay, a class bully)? Why did Vee need to be the LOVER of her MOTHER? Why did it need to be her best friend - oh and wait - half sister that was the killer of her twin sister? It was maddening! Just totally maddening! Because the book was so incredibly good. I will read whatever Gaylin writes, but this just threw me. Why did her locket need to be hidden in a space that she wouldn't have found had she not broken in to her ex-friend's home? Why did McFadden have to die at her hands and then Sterling have to call her before he died? Any ONE of these things would have held my interest; two would have made the book exceptional. But all of them? It feels like the writer lost confidence in just her skills as a storyteller of this wonderful twisty tale she'd woven. Bummer.

End of spoiler...But besides a bummer I'll say now that I would read anything that Alison Gaylin writes! What a great talent for weaving a psychological thriller. This is the reason I read. Truly. Even with its faults, although by mentioning "faults" I'm sure my opinion will not be shared with the majority, but even with these, excellent read.

About the author from Goodreads.com

Born The United States 
Website http://www.alisongaylin.com/
Genre Mystery & Thrillers

Alison Gaylin is a journalist who has covered the arts and entertainment for more than fifteen years. Her first novel, HIDE YOUR EYES, debuted in March, 2005 with nearly a quarter of a million copies in print and was nominated for the prestigious Edgar Award for a first novel. The sequel, YOU KILL ME, was published in 2006 to rave reviews. Her first hardcover, TRASHED, out in September 2007, launched NAL's new Obsidian imprint. Alison lives in upstate New York with her husband, young daughter and old dog. 

Series:
* Samantha Leiffer Mystery 
* Simone Glass Mystery

The Sixes
Kate White
3.5 (I tentatively gave it a 4.0)

Very, very good suspense book. I think I'll do this whole thing as spoilers. But if you haven't read it yet and you like suspense, read it. You may decide Kate White is a new favorite...

Spoilers... 
I really liked - almost loved - this book. But I felt how I do during many psychological thrillers: the author sort  of gives up a bit and decides the plot is complex and tricky (and until they give up, it's amazing!) But I feel like they've given us what they can and don't try even harder. 

To Kate White's credit, I was convinced the killer could have been one of a half dozen people. To still fee like this 3/4 of the way through a book is a good sign. Really good. 

Here are my observations: 

- First, I'm happy that Alexis didn't have to die. Although I find it interesting that she was never brought up again since it was a pivotal moment - Phoebe's trip out to see her "a few hours away".

- I feel like I'm being sold though on the dumber part of Phoebe - like she is supposedly such an intelligent woman so why doesn't she realize that EVERYONE should be making her suspicious (Mark cuz he's secretive and a jackass; Glenda because she's not who she used to be; Duncan because he lies more often than he's honest; the due who finally is guilty because he's all of a sudden the most helpful, nicest guy in town; the reporter from the paper cuz he's a total prick; The female teachers, the head of campus security, the cops ... everyone.I get it! That's what kept me hooked not knowing who it could be but I would have loved to put faith in to Phoebe and had her on to someone at least.

-Sad that Hutch had to die because he was honestly the good guy

- How can Phoebe KEEP GOING BACK TO THAT HOUSE? I mean COME ON! She would go to a hotel, go anywhere but that dreadful shit hole that she just waits for someone to invade. By just the second time, that story was tired. 

- I wanted to know the connection between Hutch's backyard and the road ... like someone's house was off of it; it felt unsettled to me. 

- So how did Mark actually know enough about the Fortunes to leave that message? Glenda said she never told him.
​
- Speaking of Glenda. A role model to be sure toward the beginning of the book but by the end? Come on, she's going to hang out with Mark who - and this is hers/Phoebe's thoughts - he ignores his young child, slept with a co-ed, held a gun to MURDER Glenda's BFF. You're gong to tell me she still sees something in him? NO, NO, NO.

- Someone call the cops for fucks sake. I got so tired of hearing everyone say, "let's hold off", "let's wait until..." etc. Red Flag! 

- And the fact that everyone that had authority to tell Phoebe to stay off the case, DID. And then why didn't she? She was like a Nancy Drew pest by the end. (And I love Nancy Drew, but now I understand why everyone thought she was meddling.)

- Kudos to Kate White for details like Duncan shaving his beard so OF COURSE we were waiting for someone to identify him at the Cat Tails as a guy with a beard! I was waiting for that through 90% of the book! :) 

- Did anyone think the girl at the end - Jen? - was trying to use Phoebe as her 5th circle (4th?) victim? The one where she was to find someone and use them to get something. Yes, of course we were to think this. 

- What about the pink scarf of the Sixes member? Was it stolen? Or not? I got confused. 

- And why have the doctor at all? That seems pretty weak that he was our link to Mark being a shady drug dealer and thus the thing tying the whole drug ring in. That seems like lazy writing. Or, you've got EVERYTHING else why get all tied up in the details kind of thing, you know? 
</spoiler>

But, all in all, great read. I couldn't stop turning page, I was scared and disturbed and still am thinking about the book a day after putting it down. What else could I want? 

Great job, Kate White, and I have a couple more of her books on my shelf: [book:Eyes on You|18634982] and [book:Hush|6939794] that I'm looking forward to! 

from Goodreads about the author: 

Born in The United States 
Website http://www.katewhite.com
Twitter katemwhite
Genre Mystery & Thrillers
URL https://www.goodreads.com/KateWhite

Kate White is the New York Times bestselling author of nine works of fiction: six Bailey Weggins mysteries and five psychological thrillers, including the most recent, The Wrong Man, and the upcoming The Secrets You Keep (March ‘17). For fourteen years she was the editor-in-chief of Cosmopolitan magazine, and though she loved the job (and the Cosmo beauty closet!), she decided to leave in late 2013 to concentrate full time on being an author and speaker.

Her books have received stand-out reviews from many publications and she has been covered everywhere from The Today Show to The New York Times. Her debut Bailey Weggins mystery, If Looks Could Kill, was named as the first Reading with Kelly Rippa selection and soon shot to number one on Amazon. She is published in 18 countries around the world. Her next Bailey Weggins mystery will debut in October 2017. 

Kate is also the editor of the recently released Mystery Writers of America cookbook, a selection of recipes from the field’s top-selling authors.

Like many mystery writers, Kate fell in love with the genre after reading her first Nancy Drew book, The Secret of Redgate Farm, and she still admires the cliffhanger chapter endings the series is known for.

In addition to writing mysteries and thrillers, Kate is the author of several very popular career books, including I Shouldn’t Be Telling You This: How to Ask for the Money, Snag the Promotion, and Create the Career You Deserve and Why Good Girls Don’t Get Ahead but Gutsy Girls Do.

The Art of Hiding
by Amanda Prowse
3 stars (barely) of 5 

After reading the other reviews here, I feel like I read a different book. 

I feel like I plodded through an entire novel of whining. I mean really fantastically written whining. But I don't see the point. 

Perhaps this 'women's fiction' or 'contemporary fiction' and I was waiting for a twist or a moment of excitement or not knowing what was going to come next. If you are also looking for those things, then this isn't the book for you. However, if you want slight drama and the story of a woman who was rich, then all of a sudden wasn't rich, then struggled, then her boys - especially the one - complain in a big way... I can't even correctly complain about the book because it just held nothing for me. 

Let's get back to the writing style and the words. Because Amanda Prowse writes gorgeously. Truly. Every bit of the book I could imagine and see the surroundings. And I  have never been anywhere even like her rich or poor town. So bravo to her for that, she could write amazing suspense novels (if that were her thing). And if it ever is, I hope I learn of it, because I would read anything she put out. 

The book overall was just simply too whiny. And then disappointing when I realized it would end without anything actually happening to Nina. I mean she became poor because her husband had lied about his finances. It wasn't that he was cheating on her, he wasn't doing anything but protecting her. So if I want to read about someone losing their money that way, I'll pick up the local paper. 

I do not like leaving reviews like this, especially when the book was given to me as an ARC. But this time it fell way short. :( But I do want to say thank you to NetGalley and Amanda Prowse for an ARC of this novel in exchange for this honest review.

Born The United Kingdom 
Website http://www.amandaprowse.org
Twitter MrsAmandaProwse
Genre Fiction

Amanda Prowse was a management consultant for ten years before realising that she was born to write. Amanda lives in the West Country with her husband and their two teenage sons.