The Collector of Dying Breaths by M.J. Rose

4.0 out of 5 stars - Compelling, fascinating, historical fiction with a supernatural element and a theme centering on the subject of reincarnation.

This conclusion to the trilogy featuring mythbuster and perfumer Jac L’Etoile brings closure to a very entertaining series, but I must say that I'm sad to see it end. I especially enjoyed the descriptions of life and times in the 1500s from the point of view of René le Florentine and learning about the machinations of Catherine de Medici and her court in France. In addition, I learned quite a bit about the art of perfumery (and poisoning) then and now.

Though I do not believe in reincarnation or ghosts, I do firmly believe in the concept of the soul -- however I have not yet decided what I personally feel happens to it when a person dies. This novel provides so much for discussion and I think book groups would love talking about all three of the novels because of the many controversial and thought-provoking philosophies. Each reader might think, if only for a moment...what if?  And, how much of the supernatural could be real? Do we really understand all that IS in the world and space we occupy?

I'll be recommending it. I loved the whole 3-book series. Would love seeing this as a movie! I would suggest that the series be read in order as the character of Jac develops over the course of her exploits and that is what makes the apparent end to her story all the more satisfying.

Thank you to NetGalley and Atria books for the ARC ebook! I'd love to own a set of hardcovers as the artwork is beautiful on the dust jackets -- evokes the whole mood of each book! I have no clue which was my favorite of the three!

#1 The Book of Lost Fragrances
#2 Seduction: A Novel of Suspense
#3 The Collector of Dying Breaths

Before I Wake C.L. Taylor

3.0 out of 5 stars -- A coma, a secret, an unreliable and perhaps unstable narrator...

Charlotte Jackson, 15-year-old daughter of Susan and Brian Jackson, lies unresponsive and comatose in a hospital bed after stepping in front of a bus. Though her physical injuries are resolving and though CT scans and MRIs show her brain function as normal -- Charlotte has not woken up after 6 weeks. At first, Brian comes up with many possible causes of Charlotte's accident but Susan becomes convinced it was a suicide attempt after finding Charlotte's diary with the chilling entry; "This secret is killing me."

Desperate to find out what drove Charlotte to want to kill herself, and realizing that she has become estranged from her teenaged daughter, Susan throws herself into trying to uncover this secret. As Susan tries to contact Charlotte's friends and reconstruct her activities in the days leading up to the event, she is confronted with her own past and memories of a monster she had thought she'd left far behind. Susan, victim of an old boyfriend named James, suffered the kinds of abuse that left her with post traumatic stress and she's had episodes of instability and a "nervous breakdown" in her history to the point of needing medication and long term therapy. When Susan's behavior becomes increasingly disturbing and she reports that James has sent subtle messages to her, no one takes her seriously. Has James found her at last and how can Susan protect her daughter before he destroys them both.

Interspersed with Susan's diary entries from 20 years in the past, the narrative weaves a tale that makes the reader both sympathetic to and suspicious of Susan. As she delves deeper into Charlotte's life, she's met with resistance and scorn as she tries to find out the secret that made Charlotte feel her life was not worth living. Throughout all, Susan seems to be determined but often a bit off the rails. As she becomes increasingly erratic, Brian tries to be supportive but believes she needs to go back on her medication and return to therapy. Susan is convinced, however, that Charlotte is in extreme danger from the man that Susan had herself escaped -- the obsessive sadist, James.

I enjoyed this psychological thriller, reading it over the course of a couple of hours. It was predictable in the way that novels involving unreliable narrators tend to be but having the glimpses into Susan's backstory did provide the tension and the motive for what follows. It begs the question, just what would a mother do to protect her daughter and how far would she go to find out those secrets?

Thank you to NetGalley and SOURCEBOOKS Landmark for the e-book ARC to review.

Under Your Skin by Sabine Durrant

3.0 out of 5 stars "Assume nothing. Believe no one. Check everything."

Psychological thriller with a first person stream of consciousness point of view.

Gaby Mortimer, a well-known daytime television program co-host, finds a dead body on a morning run. Soon she's hauled in for questioning by the police who consider her a suspect in the murder. The dead woman, Ania Dudek, has been strangled and it seems that she has ties to the Mortimer household.

Is Gaby being framed for this crime? And, if so, who really killed Ania? Was it Philip Mortimer, Gaby's husband, who seems to have an airtight alibi but who has to go to Singapore on business just as the police haul Gaby in for interrogation and then keep her until she makes bail. Their marriage seems to be floundering. Is it Marta, nanny to Gaby's daughter, Millie? She's a bit brusque and secretive. Or perhaps it is Gaby's stalker who's been leaving odd gifts for awhile now. There are many possible other suspects, but DI Perivale and his partner PC Morrow seem convinced that they have Gaby pegged.

After Gaby is let go from her job due to all the negative publicity, and her life starts to fall apart, she meets a sympathetic journalist, Jack Hayward, who wants to help her clear her name and get a great exclusive story. The two begin their own investigation and start to uncover the secrets and the motive.

I enjoyed this novel though I found Gaby to be a somewhat unsympathetic character -- she seems so passive and unreliable that I wanted to shake her into opening her eyes. The pacing was well done, the reveal slow enough to keep me turning the pages so quickly that I read this novel in a single sitting. The conclusion hits just the right note.

Comparisons aside, it stands alone on its own merits, and anyone who likes a good psychological suspense thriller will enjoy it.

Thank you to NetGalley and Atria Books for the e-book ARC to review.

Wolf (#7) by Mo Hayder

"I know because you and I? We are the same person."

This is so close to being a full 5 stars for me -- but that is a rating I only give books that live on in my mind long after I've turned the final pages. Wolf may end up being one of those, and if so, I'll adjust that later. This novel is the 7th in the Detective Jack Caffery series and it's a winner!  Do not read this unless you have read the previous 6 books so that you get the full impact of the character of Jack and what all he has gone through to this point.

Super fantastic suspense thriller chiller -- this was so creepy and good that I could not bear to put the book down even to watch the Olympics last evening. I read it cover to cover, sitting down with it after dinner, and then finishing the last few words at nearly midnight.

The narrative is told from alternating points of view and involves several plot lines, some continuing from the beginning of the series as Jack wrestles with his personal demons while also trying to solve what, at first, seems to be the pointless exercise of finding the owners of a little dog that the Walking Man has been entrusted with. Jack only agrees to do this so that the Walking Man will tell him what happened to Jack's brother Ewan who disappeared from his London home when he was just a boy -- taken by a pedophile and never found.

Meanwhile, a wealthy family is battling terror as they are held hostage and tortured in their large secluded hilltop mansion - The Turrets. Oliver and Matilda  Anchor-Ferrers, in their sixties, are spending a holiday in Somerset Mendips, down from their man residence in London, as he is recovering from valve replacement surgery. They've brought their daughter, Lucia, with them as she is back living with her parents after her latest failure in work and relationships. She's completely broken and has been in and out of therapy because of a horrible event that occurred 15 years prior -- the murder of a young couple in the woods nearby. The perpetrator, Minnet Kable, was found, confessed and is behind bars in a secure facility but Lucia will never recover from the trauma -- for the young murdered man had once been her boyfriend. Who are these men that have invaded their home and taken them prisoner -- what do they want?

The writing is fabulous and the reader feels the threat mounting. Trying, in vain, to figure out where this is going and why -- pointed first one way and then another. Impatient to get the answers, but relishing the way the author draws out the emotions as events spiral toward their eventual very perfect conclusion. What a great novel and I highly recommend it to anyone who has been following this series and to any reader wanting a suspense thriller that gives them shivers and just might interfere with a good night's sleep and give a haunting dream or two.

Thank you to NetGalley and Atlantic Grove for the e-book ARC to review.

Poppet (#6) by Mo Hayder

This 6th novel in the thriller series doesn't fail to provide suspense as it takes us even deeper into the character of Detective Jack Caffery.

Someone or something is stalking the patients who reside on the Beechway High Secure mental health unit. After several unexplained deaths that might have been suicide, the residents there are twitchy and the staff often too scared to come into work for the night shifts. AJ LeGrande, newly promoted head nursing coordinator, is worried about them all but especially about a patient, Isaac Handel, who had been held there since he committed a heinous crime as a juvenile. Issac, through the intervention of clinical director Melanie Arrow, has just been released back into the community. Is he behind the strange goings on? A murderer once again at-large with perhaps a vendetta to settle? He has a fetish -- little dolls referred to as "poppets" and a deep interest in voodoo.

Meanwhile, Flea Marley and Jack continue their dance around for a solution to the missing Misty Kitson case from a previous book.

This is nice and dark and delightfully suspenseful as multiple plot lines and points of view converge. I really enjoy this series and any new reader really should read the other previous books before tackling this one!
I'm getting ready to start the next one right away!

Series titles, in order:
Birdman
The Treatment
Ritual
Skin
Gone
Poppet
Wolf

Don't Talk to Strangers by Amanda Kyle Williams

Fast-paced and engrossing, this third book in the Keye Street series is one any lover of suspense thrillers must read! 

Keye Street, disgraced and fired former FBI profiler, has her own private firm dealing with assorted investigations as well as tracking down bail jumpers and serving subpoenas. This time, she's asked to consult on a possible serial murder case in the small town of Whisper, Georgia. The body of a 13-year-old girl has been found deep in the woods in a National Park -- right next to another body of a girl approximately the same age who had been reported missing 11 years previously. With no obvious connection between the victims who did not know each other, Keye and Sheriff Ken Meltzer see some clear evidence that these murders are related and that it might be the work of the same killer.  As they pursue their investigation, the secrets of this small town are given up one by one. When they finally seem to be closing in, another young female victim is abducted. Can they find this sadistic psychopath before she too is murdered?

Nonstop action with a very believable and flawed female protagonist! Even though the reader might make the obvious jump to the identity of the serial killer, the path to the exposure is well-paced and it is impossible to put this book down until the unmasking.

I think it's very important to have read the previous books before opening this one as the character of Keye Street develops over the course of the narratives in each. She's a recovering alcoholic and totally self-destructive, but her mistakes and her relentless pursuit of insight make her a heroine to root for despite some of her missteps. More than a little insecure and afraid of commitment, she is slowly finding her way.  I look forward to the next installment in this series!

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group - Bantam Dell for the ARC ebook to review!

Previous titles in this series:

The Stranger You Seek: A Novel by Williams, Amanda Kyle (Aug 30, 2011)

Stranger in the Room: A Novel by Williams, Amanda Kyle (Aug 2, 2012)

Above by Isla Morley

"Freedom...Its other name is Choosing."

Abduction and Apocalypse - a story of "survival, resilience, and hope."

First off, this novel has little to no similarity to either ROOM or to THE LOVELY BONES. To compare them is to do all of the very different stories an injustice. Start with an open mind.

Blythe is just 16 years old when she is kidnapped and taken down below ground into an abandoned missile silo in Kansas by a disaster survivalist who has created an impenetrable bunker deep in the bowels of the earth. Dobbs Hordin met Blythe when he was working in the Eudora high school library and abducts her while she is walking home from a town celebration. He's completely convinced that armegedon is imminent and has made complex and complicated plans for survival and for propagating the species afterwards. The first part of the book deals with Blythe's life while imprisoned in the silo. Every day and each event that Blythe endures in the dark and stale compartments below the Kansas plain is one of self-sacrifice and infused with desperation for freedom and return to the family and life she knew before. Dobbs makes frequent missions outside of their compound and returns with supplies and news -- but he is not to be trusted so Blythe has no way to know what is really going on in the world above. Blythe struggles as she is first required to be Dobbs's mate and then to raise a child. She tries to stay alive and mentally intact through her memories but all she can think of is getting OUT.

That day of emancipation comes after 17 years in captivity and what she finds when she and Adam open the doors of the silo is not at all what she had prayed for, hoped for, or imagined it would be. The last parts of the book deal with Blythe and Adam as they come face to face with a changed world and try to reconcile all that happened and forge a new existence. To discover that to live might just take more than to survive the worst.

The book is set in current day but sometimes the character of Blythe didn't ring true when compared to teenagers I know -- she seemed much more old-fashioned -- which was sort of off putting. There are serious religious overtones at times in the writing, though the apocalypse isn't suggested to be a punishment, but definitely it is has heavy social commentary. Sometimes the internal dialog that Blythe has with herself seems a stream of consciousness blathering that occasionally went on too long and the reader indeed gets the message that this is not the world whose memories kept Blythe  going and to which she wanted to return. Yes, there were deaths and changes. Many stereotypical characters that will be recognized by anyone who reads post-apocalyptic fiction -- the good guys and the bad guys.

Overall, I enjoyed the story. I think it's one that all ages will devour -- it would make a great movie!  Lots of good points for discussion in a book club and I'm definitely going to recommend it to young adult readers as well.

Thank you to NetGalley and Gallery, Threshold, Pocket Books for the ARC e-book to review.

When the Cypress Whispers by Yvette Manessis Corporon

3.0 out of 5 stars - Greek mythology come to life in this romantic tale set on the magical island of Erikousa, off the coast of Greece.

Daphne, a young widow with a little daughter, was raised in the Greek ways by her parents and beloved Yia-yia. She alternated between time in New York wit her hard-working parents and summers on the island with her grandmother.  Now after years of struggle away in America setting up her famous restaurant, and with her parents also dead, Daphne feels the call to return to Erikousa to be married there. She's found a new man and she's ready to share the memories and the island with her daughter and fiance. She returns to the idyllic place to relive some of the happy moments she experienced there and to spend time with her aging Yia-yia. Though they've remained in contact through the intervening years, Daphne senses that there are still things that her grandmother has to tell her. Even though it seems that Daphne has achieved her dreams, is it possible that her soul is centered on the island and that it's time to find out if she is ready again for love.

The novel is replete with details about Greek island life, customs and food. The reader can taste the meals, smell the herbs and flowers, and see the beauty  of the isolated island where not much has changed to modern times. Yia-yia has more than nourishment for the body to give her beloved granddaughter -- she has a last lesson to teach and a very big secret to share.

Women looking for a predictable romance set in Greece will enjoy this book.

Amazon Vine ARC.

The Possibilities by Kaui Hart Hemmings

4.5 out of 5 stars - "You can't compare pain and rank heartache. Pain is pain is pain. There is no precise measurement. No quarter cup."

What a marvelous book - an exploration of grief and stream of consciousness beauty of a story with prose that resonates for anyone who has suffered a loss!

Sarah St. John had a son, Cully, who recently died in an avalanche. She's paralyzed by so many conflicting emotions as she forces herself to get up each morning and deal with the devastation Cully left behind. Knowing and not knowing so many things about him, she's searching for any explanation or reason to still be alive -- for how can you be a mother if you have no child? If motherhood didn't define her, what did? Sarah reluctantly returns to her job and tries to live amiably with her dad who had moved in with her and Cully years ago. It doesn't seem that either will reach any sort of equilibrium as each is still reeling from everything that happened that brought them to this place and time. Breckenridge is a lovely, historical place that is home to both of them, but neither can reconnect with their joy of being a part of it anymore. Lyle tries to meet his needs by buying stuff he doesn't need off the home shopping channel and Sarah spends a lot of time enjoying her wine and arguing with her best friend, Suzanne. As time goes by, Sarah must face the fact that Cully had a hidden life of his own -- it wasn't intentional, it was just that he was growing up, moving into adulthood, and becoming the man he would become. Except he didn't "become" -- he died.

Sarah never married Cully's father, Billy, but discovers that the two had been seeing each other. In fact, there's even more incredible shock when a girl she's never met appears on her doorstep claiming that she's pregnant with Cully's child. The interactions that follow between them all and pregnant Kit are totally heartwarming, funny, and poignant. Decisions must be made and none are easy. Reading this novel is a journey in self-discovery.

This book will be a hit with book clubs for many reasons -- and there is so much here to love, to quote, and to discuss. I'll be recommending it highly.

Thank you to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for the e-book ARC to review.

Doing Harm by Kelly Parsons

4.5 out of 5 stars - Fast-paced and exciting medical thriller!

Dr. Steve Mitchell is chief resident in surgery at University Hospital in Boston. He's in line for consideration of an appointment to the faculty of this institution after graduation if he just stays on course and works hard. He's flying high until he has a VERY BAD week and things start to spiral downhill rapidly. He makes some serious errors in judgment and is investigated by the safety committee of the hospital. He may even get fired as things go from bad to worse. It seems that someone is killing his patients and has issued a challenge to Steve: stop me if you can!

Loved this novel -- one of the best medical suspense stories that I've read in ages! It was original and quite a roller coaster ride. I simply could NOT put it down and stayed up way late into the night because I had to know what happened. I'm sure I might be in the minority, but I enjoyed every single minute detail about the surgical procedures, medical treatment and care, and the diseases and problems the patients had.

The flawed and all-too-human protagonist vs a completely unusual foe -- bravo for a fresh medically focused thriller by an author whose work I'm going to seek out again! I can tell you that the author not only knew medicine, but also wrote very well.

POSSIBLE SPOILER(The psychopath reminded me of Gretchen Lowe in the series by Chelsea Cain.)

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the opportunity to read and review this ARC ebook. 

Mind of Winter by Laura Kasischke

3.0 out of 5 stars - Dark and disturbing...

This unusual psychological drama takes place over the course of a single Christmas day as the increasingly unreliable narrator, Holly, is set to prepare a dinner for guests that end up unable to come for the feast due to a severe winter storm that blankets the Michigan area in a huge amount of snow. Holly is not alone at home, however -- her adopted 15-year-old daughter, Tatiana, is asleep when husband and father, Eric, leaves for the airport to pick up his parents before the storm hits. The reader immediately knows that something is not quite right about Holly when the phrase: "Something had followed them home from Russia," is repeated so often in her thoughts as to become more annoying than chilling. A bit later, it comes clear that something is also a bit off with Tatiana - a beautiful "Jet Black Rapunzel" whom Holly and Eric had brought back and adopted from Pokrovka Orphanage #2 in Siberia.

The twisting tale has flashbacks that reference Holly's medical issues and childhood and to her and Eric's visits to Russia during the adoption process. She's quite quickly painted as being a bit unstable with a huge propensity for denial. Tatiana is particularly difficult throughout the day as Holly continues to prepare the meal, and secrets that Holly has locked away inside her winter mind start to affect and disorder thoughts and behavior. Just what happened at the orphanage 13 years ago -- and exactly what is going on there in the cozy house between mother and daughter on this Christmas day?

I found the ending both somewhat predictable and also surprising. The writing is a cross between prose and poetry and I read the book in a matter of a couple of hours but had to go back and reread several sections just to make sure I "got" it all. There are some unresolved issues, however, but those dangling ends probably can best be left to the reader's imagination. Enjoy!

I selected this book because I had read and enjoyed two of this author's other novels: The Raising: A Novel and In a Perfect World: A Novel.

Amazon Vine ARC

One Plus One by Jojo Moyes

4.0 out of 5 stars - "Life was a series of obstacles that just had to be negotiated, possibly through sheer act of will." Jess is a single mom to an unusual pair of children: Goth Nicky and Geeky Tanzie. After her depressed husband left to get himself together, she takes whatever jobs she can find to make ends meet but still is falling behind. A chance encounter with Ed Nicholls, co-owner of a software development company, and a man about to be indicted for insider trading, turns her busy life around -- but not in the way anyone expected. This is the kind of novel that you know in advance is going to have a happy ending -- but even so, you don't mind getting there after all. Despite its predictability and saccharine conclusion, the story provides laughs, sighs, and the type of insights that you get with the wisdom of experience. Mistakes made and lessons learned. Definitely it is chick lit, with a degree of sentimentality and a huge measure of romance, but I enjoyed the book anyway! Thank you to NetGalley and PENGUIN GROUP Viking for the ebook ARC to review.

Innocence by Dean Koontz

2.5 out of 5 stars - "Depart, impious one, depart, accursed one, depart with all your deceits." Addison Goodheart is said to be an abomination who lives alone beneath the city, hidden in an old bomb shelter. He spends his days quietly down under while roaming the uptop world at night -- to gather supplies, food, thrift store clothing. One night, while exploring the library, he meets a girl who appears to be just as broken and damaged as he is. Her name is Gwyneth and they instantly become friends. (Oh wait, it was love at first sight.) After establishing some ground rules - she is not to look at him and he is not to try to touch her - they embark on a series of missions during a winter snowstorm that has nearly shut down the city. These activities require that Addison trust Gwyneth as their purpose becomes more clear. First, I must say that I have read almost every Koontz novel ever written, and there are many I really enjoyed, especially his earliest ones. I have noticed, however, that Koontz tends to write as if he wants to impress the reader with his vocabulary and long detailed descriptions of scenery, weather, etc. None of which add to the story or advance the plot. The narrative in Addison's point of view goes back and forth in time (painfully, tediously) as the reader slowly gets more details about him and his life. The meandering doesn't create suspense, just irritation. When (most) all is finally revealed and the whole point of the story becomes known, the denouement is totally unexpected and not necessarily in the good way of a thriller. During the course of the story, the reader is treated to what I imagine are the author's own viewpoints on religion, humanity, the nature of evil, and the nature of innocence or purity. I'm sure a book club could pick up on any of these themes and have quite a discussion if the members are inclined to the debates. I was disappointed by the turn taken and the ultimate conclusion to yet another TEOTWAWKI novel. I received this book as an ARC in a LibraryThing early reviewers giveaway.

Gemini by Carol Cassela

4.0 out of 5 stars - Medical drama, mystery and love story...

Dr. Charlotte Reese, an intensivist, is on duty at Beacon Hospital near Puget Sound when an unidentified woman is admitted to the ICU -- the victim of a vehicular hit and run. Severely injured and unresponsive, the Jane Doe begins to consume Charlotte's thoughts and life. Who is this woman and why has no one reported her missing? Since there is no family to give medical directive, the hospital executives and legal team step in to assume responsibility. Meanwhile, in her personal life, Charlotte, is conflicted over her relationship with Eric as it seems to be going nowhere.

Flashback to a small town near Olympic National Park where Raney, 13 years old and living with her grandfather, meets Bo, a twelve year old boy who is visiting for the summer. The shift in perspective and time was disconcerting until this second story's connection became obvious.

Throughout the rest of the narrative, this changing point of view provided the backstory that ultimately connects to the present day and current situation with all the characters. The conclusion is predictable and mostly satisfying though I found it ultimately quite heartbreaking.

I have read Cassella's two previous books (Oxygen and Healer) and was so excited to see a new one. The writing is beautiful and a smooth blend of scientific fact, philosophy, religious speculation, discussion of ethical issues, and an exploration of love in its many forms. The female characters are multidimensional and believable. I would have preferred more medical focus and a more linear tale by a single narrator, but the construction of the story does work when it converges. The author provides many subjects for discussion and debate so it would be a great choice for a book club.

This book was an ARC and reviewed for Amazon Vine.

The Book of Someday by Dianne Dixon

4.0 out of 5 stars "Some people are defined by what they're looking for. Others by what they're hiding."

Typically I don't care for a book with an ambiguous ending; I feel frustrated that there is no conclusion and no logical completion of a story arc. In the case of this book, however, I found it to be perfect.

Three women, seemingly unconnected, are searching for a sense of love and belonging. Their poignant stories of longing and a sense of "aloneness" streams across their collective consciousness. The narrative is told in the alternating viewpoints of Olivia (Livvi), Micah, and AnnaLee from 1986 to present day. The main theme of the book is love -- in all its forms -- the love that exists (or doesn't) between family members, between a man and a woman, and between mother and child. Throughout the perspectives of each is this sense of foreboding as the reader feels that there is a sinister hidden truth in their stories that will propel the women to a cataclysmic revelation.

Livvi is a writer who felt unloved and unwanted by her father and stepmother and who finally meets the man who can give her everything she's missed -- or can he? Micah, a famous photographer, is dealing with a death sentence in the face of a cancer diagnosis but her internal demons ask if she should bother to try to save herself because of a horrendous crime she committed years ago. AnnaLee, who was forced to give up her dreams when a horrific accident destroyed her ability to dance, is married to a man who has intellect but no courage -- can she help him be the man he needs to be to save her and their child? Each story is heartbreaking in its earnestness and each woman feels the pain of the circumstances that ultimately bring them together in a fascinating tale of sorrow and loss. The reader is drawn to each woman in this deftly drawn tale where there are more questions than answers. Why and how are they affected by the photograph of the woman in the silver dress and the pearl-button shoes?

I loved the story. It is a very fast-paced novel with characters that tug at heartstrings without feeling melodramatic or manipulated. This novel would provide great topics for a book club discussion and I recommend it!

Thank you to NetGalley and SOURCEBOOKS Landmark for the e-book ARC to review.

Love Story with Murders by Harry Bingham

3.0 out of 5 stars - This is the second novel in the series following "Talking to the Dead" featuring protagonist Detective Constable Fiona Griffiths. I didn't enjoy this as much as the first book - the pace was slower and the overall plot of the story was a bit confusing and less interesting to me.

The setting is Wales, and it's very cold when Fi and her partner receive a call to pick up some strange "rubbish" at the end of a long day. What they find is a leg with a high heel on it, packaged and frozen in the garage chest freezer of a recently deceased old woman. Shortly after, body parts of another person are found scattered throughout the area - but this one's parts are male. Two murders -- both involving dismemberment -- are they related? The case takes Fiona and her boss Inspector Watkins off on several other tangents including illegal arms dealing. The reader needs to pay close attention to all the details as the investigation probes many angles and Fiona experiences several harrowing incidents, including an attempt on her life.

Still unsolved is the central mystery -- who is Fiona Griffiths and where did she come from? She suffers from a rare mental disease but is getting better. But the book still leaves a lot of loose ends and her character is not as fully developed as she seems to be a cross of several other memorable "off" characters in recent crime fiction. The people around her and with whom she is involved don't really get much fleshing out and seem one-dimensional: the loving boyfriend, the boss who likes her, the dad with a gangster-like past.

Not sure I'll move on to another book in the series, but definitely Fiona is a complex character with lots of room to grow.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group - Bantam Dell for the ebook ARC to review.

Talking to the Dead by Harry Bingham

4 out of 5 stars - Trust reason, not feelings... This novel, the first in a series, introduces an unusual protagonist Detective Constable Fiona Griffiths. She's a rookie on assignment in South Wales when a prostitute and her 6-year-old daughter are found dead in a squat there. What's unusual about the case is that a debit card belonging to a millionaire who died in a plane crash is found in the squalor. In an interesting twist, Fiona begins to feel that this murder is related to an embezzlement investigation she is concurrently working on. Drawn especially to the dead child, Fi goes out on a limb seeking answers for the victims and ultimately for herself. For, you see, she suffers from a very rare psychiatric condition that she and others refer to as her two years of "breakdown." I found this to be a very fast-paced and compelling read. I am enjoying getting to know Fi and her family and colleagues. There's a bit of a surprise at the end that didn't really ring true (would parents really keep that sort of secret from a traumatized child who had a breakdown like that?), but other than that I find the portrayals intriguing and interesting. I'm off to start book two in the series!   (Library Book)

The Supreme Macaroni Company

Life, love and family...Italian style!, January 3, 2014

This third book in the series, after Very Valentine: A Novel and Brava, Valentine: A Novel, is definitely not a stand-alone so you will most certainly need to have read those others prior to starting it to get the full scope of the trilogy. This one was not as happy and fun for me, it didn't create the same mood and feelings that the previous books had. In fact, it was very sad. I had enjoyed the other books because of the connection they provided to my own memories of family and food and work. I always felt that Trigiani had the uncanny ability to make me taste the food, see the sights, smell the scents, and touch the fabric of the materials used in creation of the shoes. I truly reveled in the details of the wonderfully chaotic and mostly happy life led by Valentine Roncalli and her large Italian clan. I wish this had ended differently.

Overall, I enjoyed the series despite not ever really liking the main character, Valentine Roncalli, since most of the time I just wanted to shake her and tell her to stop being so self-centered and single-minded. I eventually developed some empathy for her and grew to admire her struggles to save the Angelini Shoe Company and continue the family legacy.

This series is one any fan of Trigiani's work won't want to miss. It was a sentimental and moving story of a very interesting family business and their interwoven lives.

Amazon Vine ARC

Happy 2014!

4.0 out of 5 stars -- It amazes me how I ended up liking this series even though I can't honestly say that I really like the character of Valentine Roncalli! Most of the time I want to shake her, but I usually end up empathizing with her struggles and challenges. This series continues where the first book left off as Valentine's grandmother and mentor in the shoe company marries her love and moves to Italy leaving Valentine her business, her building, and the chance to make Angelini Shoes grow and prosper. The trouble starts when dear Gram designates Alfred, Valentine's older know-it-all brother, as Valentine's partner in the business. They've never gotten along -- he even tried to get Gram to sell the building, but there they are left, stuck trying to turn a profit together in a bad economy.

The other difficulty is that Valentine has met a man -- and since she has some trust issues, she can't commit to him because she has come to believe that men can't be faithful.

Meanwhile there's a lot of fun in this huge Italian family with their squabbles and foibles -- some truly memorable characters.

I loved the descriptions of the food, the scenery, and the details about making shoes. I do have a minor complaint -- I don't speak Italian and it irritates me when I have to stop to look up words in the online translator! And yes, I have to do that because I want to know, not guess.

I'm off to start the last in the series! Enjoy!

(Library Hardcover)

The Signature of All Things by Elizabeth Gilbert

3.0 out of 5 stars - "Anything less than a fight for endurance is a refusal of the great covenant of life."

I started out really liking this book! Set in the early 1800s, the story focuses on Alma Whittaker, the daughter of a self-made wealthy entrepreneur who is born in and lives on a huge estate in Philadelphia, PA. To me, these first chapters were extremely absorbing and fast paced as the reader hears how Henry made his fortune and about his household. Alma's parents were not exactly gushing over their little newborn girl, but during her young years they both nurtured her development of a consuming passion for knowledge and she was allowed access to every part of the activities around the estate.

Midway through, the book fell flat, especially when circumstances call Alma to travel to Tahiti. The rambling about her time there, the long treatises on religion, mysticism, spiritual, supernatural, etc., just didn't absorb me and I didn't really find it interesting. Then there was the really tedious part about her thesis writing (think: Darwin)... I was not sure if I was reading a novel or a textbook at some points. I just wanted Alma's story, not a professional scientific paper! There are huge segments of the book devoted to botanical detail as well.

The story ends with Alma in Holland as an elderly scholar, The Curator of Mosses (her passion).

Overall, the story was interesting, but I really felt like I was getting a lot of lectures in some parts of it. Alma was a very interesting character with a quite unusual life for the time period. She certainly was not a typical female (some of those scenes in the binding closet got really old hearing about). The supporting cast of characters provided not much more than short term foils for Alma as she pursues her dreams and passions but never gets the one thing she really wanted == love of a man. She also falls a bit short in getting the academic respect she so craves, hesitating to publish her thesis, and living in relative obscurity despite her vast knowledge.

Overall, the book had some great writing. The research on the science was very obviously deep and well done. I think a large part of it could be excised without damaging the main story, but I'd recommend it to a serious book club who would love to discuss many of the circumstances that Alma faces.

Thank you to NetGalley and Viking for the ebook ARC to review.