Living in a small rural town can have its challenges. Inter-related families, the stress of keeping small businesses and farms working, and the threats that some people see to their ‘traditional’ ways of life. Sometimes it takes a newcomer to town to sort through the complexities and offer a different way of looking at the […]

The Woman in the Library is a book within a book – or is there another one as well? It’s a confounding story because I was never really sure what to believe compared to what the author wanted me to believe. That’s what makes it so appealing. The story begins when a woman’s scream shatters […]

Why do I often discover a new-to-me series in book three? I guess it’s a test of the story, that it can be read as a stand-alone rather than needing to start at the beginning of the series so I understand the backstory. Veronica Blackstone is a writer for hire. She writes advertising copy, love […]

Detective Emilia Hart becomes involved in a case where a high-profile man is shot. When more bodies of men continue to turn up murdered in a similar style, she identifies a link between the victims: they had all been perpetrators of violence against women or children. While working the case and juggling her complex personal […]

Oh, Elizabeth Zott, how I wish I had met you. Impossible, you may say, Elizabeth Zott is a fictional character. She can’t be known outside Lessons in Chemistry, the life-affirming novel that shows us we all have the ability to change ourselves – and the world around us – if we try. I disagree. I’ve […]

Even after many books, the characters and storylines in this series are still able to hold my interest. That’s no mean feat for Cold, Cold Bones, the 21st story about forensic anthropologist, Temperance Brennan. Tempe’s daughter Katy has left the army for civilian life but that doesn’t prevent Tempe from worrying about her (as mothers […]

To state up front: I don’t know anything about how eBooks are priced or why the prices change from one day to the next. I’m a reader and have never been involved in publishing a book. To an outsider, though, some pricing seems inexplicable. I read book three of a cosy mystery series recently and […]

It can be challenging to read a book that’s third in a cosy mystery series when you haven’t read the first two. Surprisingly, this wasn’t the case with Bound by Murder because there was just enough backstory mentioned to understand the current situation. In fact, the backstory made me immediately want to read the first […]

People who write books that are published – aka ‘authors’ – usually have to work hard to spread the word about their books. It is hard work, performing in front of an audience whose members may or may not have read the current book. Thankfully, I’ve never been in this situation because I’ve never written […]