Nevermore: Listen for the Lie, Abraham’s Curse, The Crooked Cross

 

 

Listen for the Lie by Amy Tintera won rave reviews from one of our club members, who listened to the audio version while on a trip.  Lucy Chase’s complicated life just got a bit more complicated: she’s been fired from her job.  Her boss says that the company is downsizing but Lucy knows that is just a cover for the real reason: that a lot of people think Lucy murdered her best friend.  Now a true crime podcaster is dredging it all up again, and it may be time for Lucy to find the truth: is she a murderer or not?

Our next reviewer was interested in the arguments raised by religious scholar Bruce Chilton in Abraham’s Curse, which examines the themes of violence in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.  Chilton, who is also an Episcopal priest, begins with how the story of Abraham and Isaac is perceived and presented, and how that influences each religion.

The Crooked Cross by Sally Carson tells the story of a family in Germany during in the early 1930s.  High inflation and high unemployment are taking a toll; Lexa’s brother finds purpose in joining the Nazis, while her fiancé Moritz is facing discrimination because he is Jewish.  Published in 1934, the book has been recognized for how well it described and even predicted the rise of Nazism.  Our reader had high praise for the book and lamented the fact that Carson died in 1941, so didn’t see the end of the war. The Crooked Cross  was republished in 2024, and the second volume in the trilogy, The Prisoner, will be re-printed in 2026. 

Other books recommended included Whale Days by Billy Collins (our reader said she didn’t know you could learn so much from poems!); Underwater Dogs, which are photos of dogs, well, under water; The Women by Kristin Hannah; and our newest and youngest reviewer praised Confessions of a Class Clown by Arianne Costner.

New Books in December!

 

Armitage, Rebecca  The Heir Apparent

Arnaldur, Indridason  The Quiet Mother (Det. Konrad)

Atkins, Ace  Everybody Wants to Rule the World

Battles, Brett  Stuart Woods’ Blown Away (Teddy Fay)

Black, Cara  Huguette

Clipston, Amy  The Lighthouse at the Cove

Cornwell, Bernard  Sharpe’s Storm:  Richard Sharpe and the Invasion of Southern France, 1813

Kingfisher, T. The Snake-Eater

Klassen, Julie  Whispers at Painswick Court

Ledwidge, Michael Closing Time (Michael Gannon)

McDermid, Val  Silent Bones (Karen Pirie)

Mitchard, Jacquellyn  The Birdwatcher

Munier, Paula The Snow Lies Deep  (Mercy Carr)

Nelson, P.J.  All My Bones (Old Juniper Bookshop Mystery)

Patrick, Phaedra The Time Hop Coffee Shop

Patterson, James  The Last Days of Marilyn Monroe: A Thriller

Pearl, Matthew  The Award

Sanderson, Brandon Tailored Realities  (short fiction)

Snelling, Lauraine At Morning’s Light (Home to Green Creek)

Stewart, Jack  W.E.B. Griffin Direct Action (Presidential Agents)

Van Dyken, Rachel  Fallen Gods

 

Nonfiction

Amen, Daniel G. Change Your Brain, Change Your Pain:  Breaking the Doom Loop to Heal Chronic Physical and Emotional Pain

Weir, Alison  Queens at War:  England’s Medieval Queens

Missing Sister by Joshilyn Jackson

This book won't be published until March 3, 2026, but you can put the book on reserve now!

Reviewed by Kristin

Penny is a rookie cop, motivated into the career by the loss of her twin sister Nix five years earlier. At her very first murder scene in an Atlanta suburb, she not only recognizes the male victim as someone who hurt Nix and helped to create the downward spiral which led to her death, Penny then practically stumbles across a blonde woman holding a bloody box cutter.

When the woman cryptically says that the events of the night were all about sisters, Penny is taken aback and allows the woman to flee. Not exactly proper cop behavior, but Penny needs to find out how this murder is connected to Nix.

Penny discovers a slow burn trail of clues which takes the reader through many twists and turns. I didn't see the end coming, although of course I second guessed whether I should have. In this kind of domestic suspense, everyone is a suspect.

Jackson is brilliant at taking the plot in unexpected directions, while maintaining believability in the end. Every time I read one of her books, I feel that she really understands human nature in all its various possibilities. People are complex, and Jackson's characters are multi-dimensional in all the right ways.

I read this as an advanced reader copy (ARC) ebook, and I will look for the audiobook when it is available. Jackson usually narrates her own audiobooks in her distinctive but not overwhelming Southern accent, which I find wonderfully entertaining.

Thanks to Joshilyn Jackson and William Morrow for the ARC allowing me the intense excitement of reading my favorite author’s latest work months early, in exchange for an honest review!

Nevermore Books: November 17, 2025

 

Paper Girl: A Memoir of Home and Family in a Fractured America by Beth Macy

 

The Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo

  

A History of Present Illness by Anna DeForest

 

All But My Life: A Memoir by Gerda Weissmann Klein

 

 

Follow Me to Alaska: A true story of one couple's adventure adjusting from life in a cul-de-sac in El Paso, Texas, to a cabin off-grid in the wilderness by Ann Parker

 

When You Are Engulfed in Flames by David Sedaris 

Sleep by Honor Jones

 

 

The Last Gentleman Adventurer: Coming of Age in the Arctic by Edward Beauclerk Maurice

 

Alice I Have Been by Melanie Benjamin 

The Borrowed Life of Frederick Fife by Anna Johnston

Artifact by Gigi Pandian

 

Reviewed by Jeanne

Professor Jaya Jones has found her niche as a tenure-track history professor in California, but her life is about to get a bit more complicated.  Shaken by the news that former boyfriend Rupert has died in a car accident in Scotland, she arrives home to find a package containing a heavy gold anklet with a large ruby.  It’s obviously very old, and appears to be Indian.  But it’s the note that throws her for a loop:  it’s from Rupert.  He says that he’s sending her the item for safekeeping because there’s no one else he can trust.

The postmark is the same day as his fatal accident—if it was an accident.

The trouble is that Jaya’s expertise isn’t Indian history, but rather the East India Company and colonial India.  She’s going to have to find someone else who knows about Indian history, specifically jewelry, to figure out exactly what Rupert has sent her and if it got him killed.

With a possible killer on the loose, Jaya accepts the help of graduate student Lane Peters whose specialty is Indian art. But like Rupert, Jaya has to ask herself the question:  who can I trust?

I started reading Gigi Pandian with her delightful Secret Staircase Mystery series, and soon discovered that she had other books.   Jaya Jones was her first series and Artifact is the first book in that series.  Like some of her other heroines, Jaya is mixed race: part Asian Indian and part European as is Pandian herself.  It makes for an interesting cultural backdrop, which I enjoyed, and plays into the mystery too. Jaya is big-hearted, action-oriented, and deeply loyal, not to mention smart and brave.

The mystery is fast paced, with a lot of twists and turns as Jaya drops everything and heads to the UK to try to find out not only what happened to Rupert but how he came across such an unusual and valuable artifact.  It’s obvious that Pandian knows the territory well, both the historical and geographic.  While there were a few plot threads I may have had doubts about, it didn’t stop me from having a lot of fun with this book. I also was aware that this was not only a first in series book, but a debut novel.  With that in mind, I felt she handled a complex plot and characters quite well. It’s quite the page turner.

 I’ll be reading more of Jaya’s adventures as well as dipping into another of her series about an alchemist.

The Panda of Death by Betty Webb

 

Reviewed by Jeanne

Zookeeper Theodora “Teddy” Bentley has settled into her life with her new husband, Sheriff Joe Rejas, his two young children, and Joe’s mother, Colleen.  Then a number of events disturb the calm waters of happy matrimony:  first, a man is found dead near Teddy’s boat in the marina.  He turns out to be the scriptwriter for a local children’s TV show connected to the zoo where Teddy works.

The second disturbance is more personal, when a young man claiming to be Joe’s son turns up at the house.

Naturally, Joe doesn’t want Teddy to do any snooping into the suspicous, but that becomes harder when Joe’s newly discovered son is accused of the murder.

I have enjoyed all the previous entries in this series, and this one is no exception.  I’m drawn to the series because of all the information about the various animals and zoo-keeping; it’s like getting a behind the scenes peek at what goes on.  Webb tends to spotlight less showy animals rather than elephants or tigers, giving the reader a greater appreciation for some fascinating animals.  (After the first book, my interest in anteaters was piqued, and now I make it a point to visit them at the zoo.) The reader learns about some of the animals—Poonya the red panda is the featured animal this time—and has a mystery to solve to boot.  Webb is a long time zoo volunteer so her books have the ring of truth. 

And let me say that I adore Poonya!

Teddy is a fun character and Webb makes it easy for readers to root for her.  With a glamorous mother who despairs of at her daughter’s choice of career (and wardrobe and living on a boat and everything else), an imperious aunt, Teddy always has to stand her ground or be turned into a debutante. Later in the series, we’re introduced to Joe’s mother Colleen who is an Irish delight; she figures in this story and is the catalyst for discovering Joe’s teenaged son.

While there are character developments during the series, you don’t necessarily have to read these in order to enjoy.

The books in order are:

The Anteater of Death

The Koala of Death

The Llama of Death

The Puffin of Death

The Otter of Death

The Panda of Death

These are all the books to date, but though Webb has seemingly turned her attention to a new series, fans can still hope to see more of Teddy and friends in the future.

Nevermore Books

 With the recent Tuesday holidays, Nevermore had had a forced hiatus.  Here are some of the books they were reading the last time they met:

Twice by Mitch Albom

 

Mailman: My Wild Ride Delivering the Mail in Appalachia and Finally Finding Home by Stephen Starring Grant

 

The Judge's List by John Grisham

 

The Ministry of Time by Kaliane Bradley

 

The English Problem by Beena Kamlani

 

Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl by Harriet A. Jacobs

 

Five Epic Disasters (I Survived True Stories #1): Volume 1 by Lauren Tarshis

 

Heartwood (a Read with Jenna Pick) by Amity Gaige

 

The Original Daughter by Jemimah Wei

 

The Borrowed Life of Frederick Fife by Anna Johnston

 

Books Can Be Deceiving by Jenn McKinlay