The Body in the Kelp by Katherine Hall Page

 

Reviewed by Jeanne

Faith Fairchild, her minister husband Tom, and toddler Ben are spending the summer on Sanpere, an island in Maine.  Faith finds herself enjoying her time at the beach, especially as there are two enthusiastic teenage babysitters who adore following Ben around.  Faith’s friend Pix, who encouraged the visit, has introduced her around so she’s gathered a circle of acquaintances.  There’s also very fresh seafood, including clams and lobster which caterer Faith finds most appealing.

Less appealing is finding a body on the beach, even more so when it turns out that it’s someone Faith knows.

This was my first Faith Fairchild mystery but it certainly won’t be my last!  Page writes with verve, going from marvelous descriptions of place to Faith’s somewhat cynical sense of humor.  She also keeps the action moving with disagreements about a surprising inheritance and the lure of hidden treasure, possible mythical but one can always dream. For me, the book is a delight; I enjoy the humor and the descriptions of Sanpere are so vivid that I can almost smell the sea. Looking at some of the title descriptions, this is one of the series that recognizes the passage of time: by The Body in the Web (2024) Ben is off to college.  (Body in the Kelp came out in 1991.)

Faith is neither foolhardy nor overly cautious.  She has an appealing no-nonsense attitude that bodes well for the long haul as a sleuth. The style reminds me of two of my favorite authors, Jill Churchill and Lea Wait, so I am thrilled to have a new author to add to my list. Since there are 26 books in the series, I will no doubt be entertained for quite some time!

Nevermore: Secret Societies, Devil’s Bones, Six Feet Deep Dish

 

Nevermore: Secret Societies, Devil’s Bones, Six Feet Deep Dish

 

Reported by Rita

 

 

The Little Book of Secret Societies: 50 of the World's Most Notorious Organizations and How to Join Them by Joel Levy

History is riddled with mysteries surrounding secret societies. Nearly all civilizations have at some point been the home to these shadowy groups. Meeting behind closed doors and saying nothing of what goes on inside, suspicion shrouds their every move. Should we be afraid of the Freemasons? How powerful were the Illuminati? When people say that world affairs are shaped by these subversive organizations, should we really believe them?

From college fraternities like the Skull and Bones, to religious movements like the Templars, Joel Levy examines 50 of the most infamous secret societies from throughout history. Balancing the historical claims with more skeptical viewpoints, here is all the evidence you need to decide for yourself exactly how suspicious you should be.

 

This was a quick, fun read - really interesting.      - KM      4 stars

 

The Devil's Bones (Body Farm Series #3) by Jefferson Bass

A burned car sits on a Knoxville, Tennessee hilltop, a woman's lifeless, charred body seated inside. Forensic anthropologist Bill Brockton's job is to discover the truth hidden in the fire-desecrated corpse. Was the woman's death accidental . . . or was she incinerated to cover up her murder? But his research into the effect of flame on flesh and bone is about to collide with reality like a lit match meeting spilled gasoline. The arrival of a mysterious package--a set of suspiciously unnatural cremated remains--is pulling Brockton toward a nightmare too inhuman to imagine. And an old nemesis is waiting in the shadows to put him to the ultimate test, one that could reduce Brockton's life to smoldering ruins. 

I really enjoyed it. Having lived in Knoxville, it was fun to recognize the areas described in the book.      - CD      5 stars

 

Six Feet Deep Dish by Mindy Quigley

When, right before opening her new gourmet deep-dish pizzeria in Geneva Bay, Wisconsin, Delilah O'Leary is dumped by her fiancée and her aunt is accused of murder, she must save her pie-in-the-sky ambitions before they can even get off the ground.

 

This was a fun and cute mystery. I will probably read more in the series.     - MH        4 stars

 

Others Books Mentioned:

 

 

Best Wishes, Warmest Regards: The Story of Schitt's Creek by Daniel Levy, Eugene Levy, Catherine O'Hara (Contributor)

Girl in the Blue Coat by Monica Hesse

Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston

Patient Zero: A Curious History of the World's Worst Diseases by Lydia Kang

The Lower River by Paul Theroux

One Thousand White Women: The Journals of May Dodd (One Thousand White Women, #1) by Jim Fergus

Chemistry and Other Stories by Ron Rash

Anam Cara: A Book of Celtic Wisdom by John O'Donohue

 

 

New Books:

 

Let's Call Her Barbie by Renee Rosen

The Mysterious Death of Junetta Plum by Valerie Wilson Wesley

Wolf Hour by Jo Nesbo

Before It's Gone: Stories from the Front Lines of Climate Change in Small-Town America by Jonathan Vigliotti

The Great Shadow: A History of How Sickness Shapes What We Do, Think, Believe, and Buy by Susan Wise Bauer

Declaring Independence: Why 1776 Matters by Edward J. Larson

Death Scene by Carol J. Perry

 

Reviewed by Jeanne

Salem is all agog at the filming of a new movie, set partly in Salem and utilizing some of the City’s iconic sites, such as the Witch House for some of its scenes.  The stars are the current hot Hollywood couple, Diana Diamond and Lamar Faraday, though the gossip is that off-screen they loathe each other despite the on-screen chemistry. Lee Barrett, programming director at WICH-TV, is getting many, many orders from her boss about coverage and program tie-ins for the station which has Lee juggling even more tasks than usual.

Things don’t lighten up, either.  Diana Diamond turns up dead, in the latest of a series of mishaps for the film, leaving a lot of uncertainty about people and projects.  Lee’s husband, Detective Pete Mondello, is investigating but it turns out that Diana had a lot of enemies on set.  He may need more than a little help from Lee, her Tarot-reading friend River, and even Lee’s Aunt Ibby to solve this mystery.

This is the fourteenth book in the series but Perry always does a stellar job of introducing her characters and getting readers up to date.  I love that she does so in a very straightforward manner instead of trying to coyly slide facts in.  I love the characters (for the most part; I tolerate Pete) and I like that Perry doesn’t indulge in a lot of personal drama among her cast.  I’m looking for a mystery and not a soap opera.  I also greatly appreciate how Perry keeps the story moving, even when Lee isn’t actively investigating. There’s always something interesting going on to keep me turning pages.

The Salem setting is a big draw as well.  Books that give me a good sense of place get gold stars in my book, and I like the touches of the supernatural that crop up.  O’Ryan, Lee’s “gentleman cat,” is much more than he seems and Lee herself will see visions in reflective surfaces, though interpreting these visions is another problem altogether.

There’s also the appeal of a “behind the scenes” look at a TV studio, eschewing the glitz and glamor to presenting professionals hard at work.

While I felt the culprit in this entry was pretty easy to spot, I still enjoyed the visit with Lee and company. I also really liked the one bit of a twist at the end, which I think some readers would call most implausible but the groundwork had been well laid. While this may not be the best in the series, I consider it a keeper on my crowded bookshelves.

Can you tell this is one of my favorite series?

There’s one more book in this Witch City series before Perry moves on to the Wicked Salem series featuring Aunt Ibby and her friends.  Here’s hoping that Lee and River will also drop by! (And yes, I already have it on pre-order.)

New Fiction in April!

 

Baldacci, David  Hope Rises

Bannalec, Jean-Luc The Secrets of the Abbey

Chiaverini, Jennifer The Patchwork Players (Elm Creek Quilts)

Chu, John  The Subtle Art of Folding Space

Dailey, Janet  Kill for a Million

Graves, Sarah  Death by Chocolate Ladyfingers

Hannon, Irene Harbor Pointe

Harper, Jane Last One Out

Harris, C.S.  When the Wolves Are Silent (Sebastian St. Cyr)

Hepworth, Sally  Mad Mabel

Horowitz, Anthony A Deadly Episode (Hawthorne and Horowitz)

Hunter, Denise  More Than Friends

Jones, Sandie Killing Me Softly

Klune, TJ  We Burned So Bright

Mack, Catherine  This Weekend Doesn’t End Well for Anyone (Vacation Mysteries)

Michaels, Fern  The Final Storm

Novak, Brenda  Meet Me in Italy

Patterson, Susan & James The Mother-Daughter Book Club

Perrin, Kristen How to Cheat Your Own Death

Perrotta, Tom  Ghost Town

Perry, Devney  Rites of the Starling  (Shield of Sparrows)

Preston, Douglas  Paradox (Cash & Colcord)

Quinn, Spencer  Cat on a Hot Tin Woof (Chet and Bernie)

Richardson, Kim Michele  The Mountains We Call Home: The Book Woman’s Legacy

Rose, Karen Family Lies (San Diego Case Files)

Sandford, John Revenge Prey

Semple, Maria  Go Gentle

Shaffer, Meg  The Book Witch

Smiley, Jane Lidie: The Further Travels and Adventures of Lidie Newton: A Novel

Straub, Emma  American Fantasy

Steel, Danielle  A Woman’s Place

Sutanto, Jesse  Ms. Mebel Goes Back to the Chopping Block

Nevermore: Hullabaloo in the Guava Orchard, A Death in the Family, Near Witch

 

Nevermore 3-3-26

Reported by Rita

 

Hullabaloo in the Guava Orchard by Kiran Desai

After years of failure at school, failure at work, and spending his days dreaming and singing to himself, it does not seem as if Sampath Chawla is going to amount to much. Then Sampath climbs a guava tree, and becomes unexpectedly famous as a hermit.

This book was funny and mysterious with a strange ending.    - AH    5 stars

 

The Near Witch by Victoria Schwab

The Near Witch is only an old story told to frighten children. If the wind calls at night, you must not listen. The wind is lonely, and always looking for company. There are no strangers in the town of Near. These are the truths that Lexi has heard all her life. But when an actual stranger, a boy who seems to fade like smoke, appears outside her home on the moor at night, she knows that at least one of these sayings is no longer true. The next night, the children of Near start disappearing from their beds, and the mysterious boy falls under suspicion. As the hunt for the children intensifies, so does Lexi's need to know about the witch that just might be more than a bedtime story, about the wind that seems to speak through the walls at night, and about the history of this nameless boy.

Too unbelievable. I'm glad I read it, but I probably won't read anymore books by this author.     - MH     3 stars

 

A Death in the Family by James Agee

Published in 1957, two years after its author's death at the age of forty-five, A Death in the Family remains a near-perfect work of art, an autobiographical novel that contains one of the most evocative depictions of loss and grief ever written. As Jay Follet hurries back to his home in Knoxville, Tennessee, he is killed in a car accident--a tragedy that destroys not only a life but also the domestic happiness and contentment of a young family. A novel of great courage, lyric force, and powerful emotion, A Death in the Family is a masterpiece of American literature.

This book was not an easy read, but I thought it was magnificent and very touching. I loved it!      - DC     5 stars

 

Other Books Mentioned:

Bad Science by Ben Goldacre

Fresh Air Fiend: Travel Writings – Paul Theroux's Literary Memoir from Five Continents on Becoming a Stranger by Paul Theroux

Under the Tulip Tree by Michelle Shocklee

The Librarian Spy by Madeline Martin

A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith

Rough Sketches: Short Stories of a Traveling Artist by Don Andrews

Tangle All Around: Our Art, Our Journey by Alice Hendon

The Great Contradiction: The Tragic Side of the American Founding by Joseph J. Ellis

The Award by Matthew Pearl

My Sister, the Serial Killer by Oyinkan Braithwaite

The Amalfi Curse by Sarah Penner

 

 

New Books: 

How to Build Your Very Own Little Free Library: 11 Mini Structures You Can Build by Little Free Library by Philip Schmidt

The Central Appalachians: Mountains of the Chesapeake by Mark Hendricks

99 Ways to Die: And How to Avoid Them by Ashely Alker

The Little Book of Secret Societies: 50 of the World's Most Notorious Organizations and How to Join Them by Joel Levy

Death Through a Dark Green Glass by Julia Buckley

 

Reviewed by Jeanne

As an assistant to romantic suspense author Camilla Graham, Lena London has had a lot of new experiences—not all pleasant.  The upcoming event seems poised to be one of the most memorable, however: it’s a puzzle competition between four best-selling mystery novelists. PR genius Sasha Hardwick has devised a murder mystery game to be held in her beautiful estate.  Whichever one of the four authors solves the mystery first gets bragging rights.  It’s a scheme designed to fuel interest in all the authors’ work as well as raise some funds.  It’s all be very well planned, except for the real dead body that turns up. 

This is the sixth book in the Writer’s Apprentice series, but you need not have read any of the others.  This is my favorite book in the series, partly because it can be read as a standalone.  The earlier books were closely linked by plot, so those need to be read in order.  The books feature likeable characters, romantic elements, and clever plots.  I especially enjoy the little sequences where Lena and Camilla talk about writing, not just plotting but symmetry, atmosphere, and setting:  things a reader can take for granted but which can make or break a book.  Buckley takes these things seriously, which means I can always count on her for an enjoyable read.

I also liked that this series pays tribute to the great writers of romantic suspense:  Mary Stewart, Daphne du Maurier, Phyllis Whitney, etc. and hopefully introducing them to a new generation of readers.

The series in order:

A Dark and Stormy Murder

Death in Dark Blue

A Dark and Twisting Path

Death Waits in the Dark

Death with a Dark Red Rose

Death Through a Dark Green Glass

A Grim Reaper’s Guide to Cheating Death by Maxie Dara

 

Reviewed by Kristin

Nora Bird has always been cautious in life. She and her twin brother Charlie lost their parents in an accident when they were six. Nora knows exactly how dangerous life is, and she is well prepared for almost any emergency that might come up. Choking? Nora knows the Heimlich maneuver. Fire? Nora has several routes out of the building. Poison? Nora probably knows all the antidotes you might possibly need.

Charlie, on the other hand, is a little more laid back. He’s more likely to accept rides from suspicious looking strangers and take in stray animals, no matter whether rabies or bird flu is in the offing.

Nora is such an expert on death that she was a natural fit for a career at S.C.Y.T.H.E., Secure Collection, Yielding, and Transportation of Human Essences. She’s an administrative assistant, but she sees every file that goes out to the various agents tasked with escorting newly departed souls to the afterlife. One morning, she sees that Charles Ezra Bird is due to be collected at 11:15 a.m. after a car accident.

Charles Ezra Bird. Charlie.

Nora grabs the file and runs.

Once she has convinced Charlie of the extreme urgency of her mission, Nora leads them off to try to escape death. But, wait! After 11:15 a.m. passes uneventfully and Nora takes a second to breathe, the cause of death in Charlie’s file changes: Choking. (Charlie, put down those Doritos!)

With visions of black clad S.C.Y.T.H.E. agents chasing after them, Nora does her absolute best to protect her brother. They travel to a remote location where they find more than they expected. And yes, the cause of death keeps changing, as Charlie and Nora have more close calls than one might expect on their twenty-sixth birthday.

This was a delightful mystery that kept me guessing to the very end. Plus, there is a foul mouthed parrot named Jessica to add even more comic relief. This is the second in the series, following A Grim Reaper’s Guide to Catching a Killer, but each book has a different S.C.Y.T.H.E. employee as the protagonist, so they can definitely be read as stand-alones. I look forward to the next book due out in November 2026, A Grim Reaper’s Guide to Living Twice.