Not a Word by Linwood Barclay

 Fast-paced domestic mystery thriller.

The book opens on a disturbing crime scheme when Reece visits his parents’ home and finds his father and mother dead in their bed. The situation collapses into complete chaos when Reece gets a phone call from his actual mother — who is alive and entirely unaware of the tragedy. What looks like a murder-suicide at first soon becomes something quite different as devastating secrets and lies are revealed. 

There’s a lot going on in this story that is told from multiple points of view and shifts in the timeline. Definitely a lot of drama and trauma as family history is unearthed. Every time I thought I knew who had done what to whom, I was course corrected with the next revelation. I’d like to say I was drawn in and hooked by the many characters, but that would not be true as I never really took to any of them. This family was too much a mess and though there was a lot of angst expressed, the resolutions left a lot to be desired. Certainly many characters to loathe. I was a bit disappointed by how it all played out with the climax and conclusion. It also seemed that there were so many coincidences that kept me suspending disbelief. I did enjoy it, however.

I was able to listen to the audio book while also following along in the e-book, both provided by the publishers. The narrators, Nan McNamara and Jonathan McClain did a great job handling all the different character voices. As always, listening while reading helps to create a really immersive experience that makes me enjoy the book even more. 

This is a standalone that is not part of any series.

Genre and tags: murder, whistleblower, secrets and lies, family drama, trauma, drug addiction

Heart of Glass by Jennifer Hillier

 A deliciously dark, addictive read with fabulous twists.

In the small town of Seaside, Washington, 25 years have passed since the Carnival Killer admitted to murdering 5 women, including teenager Lorelei Glass. That admission sealed away a nightmare for her best friends, Barb and Nicolette. 

Now, Barb works as a local reporter while secretly posting on a trashy celebrity gossip blog targeting the hit reality show Trophy Wives. Unknown to her readers, one of the show’s stars, Cole Lennox, is actually Nicolette who fled Seaside decades ago to reinvent herself and  set up a new life. Their separation ends after the Carnival Killer recants his confession for Lorelei’s murder, and a new body washes up along the coast. 

There’s a lot going on in this novel, and no spoilers, but the hits just keep on coming. Eventually the truth of what happened on that fateful summer night comes to light. 

I just could not put this down and so read it in a single sitting today. It’s slick, razor-sharp and it so cleverly fuses small town noir with the glossy, voyeuristic world of reality television. It’s a psychological thriller with a dark mystery that has such flawed and compelling characters. We see the messiness of teenage friendships — the insecurity, jealousy, and lingering guilt — and how it projects into their adult lives. The pacing is relentless as it alternates between the original summer tragedy and the present-day drama trauma. 

I did not read Wonderland, the first book that is set in Seaside but that is a companion more than a first of a series. I also listened to the bonus chapter that featured the serial killer Sam Figg.

I was able to listen to the audio book while also following along in the e-book ARC, both provided by the publishers. The narrators, Brittany Pressley, January LaVoy, Eunice Wong, Ferdelle Capistrano, and Chris Brinkley, were — for the most part — absolutely amazing. I did, however, hate the voice of Kylie Kuhl and can’t find any information to indicate which narrator voiced that character. The others did a great job bringing all the emotion and drama to life and definitely enhanced my enjoyment of the book. I highly recommend listening if you get the chance. 

This is a companion to Wonderland but it’s not necessary to have read it in order to enjoy this one.

Genre and tags: so much going on here: sexual assault, pedophilia, trauma, friendship, murder, teen pregnancy, reality shows, domestic violence and abuse, kidnapping

Error in Diagnosis by Gary Birken (Jack Wyatt #1)

 Thoroughly absorbing medical thriller that relies on clinical detail and diagnostic problem solving at her than emotional theatrics.

Dr. Jack Wyatt, a famed neurologist, is called to consult when an epidemic of severe, atypical neurological symptoms starts to affect pregnant patients across the United States. Partnering with Dr. Madison Shaw, a perinatologist, he tries to find the cause and hopefully a treatment for a newly identified fatal condition termed Gestational Neuropathic Syndrome or GNS. As the body count rises and panic spreads through the medical community and into the highest levels of government, the duo races against time to create a team that will try to pinpoint the source of this outbreak and stop an unimaginable crisis. 

This was very fast paced and it was obvious the author had a medical background. Lots of all the fantastic details I love such as realistic hospital protocols, laboratory work, and epidemiological tracking. It seemed technically accurate in the ways that matter and the disease affecting women and their unborn babies made it feel urgent. I’d love to read another in this series.

I was able to listen to the audio book provided by the publisher while also following along in the e-book. The narrator, Eric Jason Martin, did a fantastic job of voicing all the characters. I appreciated the different tones and accents of the male and female characters. His dramatic flair was spot on. The production definitely enhanced my enjoyment of the book.

This is the first in a medical thriller series. 

Genre and tags: pregnant women, neurological illness, medical thriller

The Secrets We Hide by Karin Slaughter (North Falls #2)

 Fast-paced procedural focused on town dynamics and local corruption.

This sequel takes us back to North Falls, Georgia. Sheriff Emmy Clifton and her sister, former federal agent Jude archer, respond to a shooting on the way back from their mother’s funeral. Inside, former police officer Alison Vickery lies dead in her kitchen while her severely insulted teenage daughter, Mandy, falls through from the attic and is taken away by ambulance. Allison’s husband is missing, and since he was known to be abusive, the town assumes a domestic homicide. As Emmy digs into th crime scene, however, she discovers buried secrets, historical patterns of abuse that are familiar to her own situation, and extensive corruption that points to a far more complex sequence of events. 

Though the plot moves quickly, the whole investigation quickly becomes extremely complex and convoluted. There is so much going on it’s hard to keep up. It is also difficult because there are so many characters to keep track of. We focus on physical evidence and timeline reconstruction and trace Allison’s activities before her murder. All the while, the relationship issues between Emmy and Jude are looming large — will the truth out? I was impatient for the truth to be told and alas, it doesn’t happen (sorry spoiler). I felt the weight of all the family drama and trauma going on in the background during the whole investigation. I wasn’t shocked at the revelations and I sort of feel that there wasn’t quite enough weight given to the perpetrator’s guilt in the end. I think there’s a lot rotten in that small town and brushing one more death under the rug isn’t going to provide the clean up the place needs. I’m thinking there will be another installment that I will definitely read, but I do like when justice is served and I didn’t quite feel that it was in this one.

I was able to listen to the audio book while also following along in the e-book ARC provided by the publisher. The narrator, Kathleen Early, did a fantastic job of voicing the characters and creating an intense environment that heightened the immersive experience. The production definitely enhanced my enjoyment of the book. 

This is the second book in a series that should be read in order.

Genre and tags: police procedural, murder, domestic violence and abuse, small towns, criminals, family trauma and drama

The Unknown by Riley Sager

 Skip this one.

A feature film recreating strange events that happened in 1926 on New Avalon, a remote island on Lake Faraday in Vermont, is about to start production. The cast is gathered on the island for a weeklong immersion rehearsal complete with period costumes and no phones. Shortly after arrival, a medical emergency leaves them without communication to the mainland. Members of the cast begin disappearing one by one. 

This book collapses under the weight of an absurd premise, thin characterization, and nonsensical logic. The cast of characters makes so many illogical choices solely to drag out the mystery and results in them being artificial rather than believable. I think I should have left this unfinished as I started disliking it almost immediately. I never connected with Marin Keene as the main character and I found the plot so overwhelmingly contrived as to border on ridiculous. I don't care about the author writing female POV and supposedly, according to other reviews, getting it so terribly wrong. What I did mind was how he used it to justify revenge murder. Another episode in the whole saga about how women are and will forever be victims of men. 

What could have been a tight dual-timeline thriller devolved into an unconvincing sequence of cheap misdirection and a convoluted setup of motives. The twists were beyond all. It was so frustrating and I am so mad I wasted my time. I won't say it's the worst book I've ever read but it's very close. 

 I have to comment on the audio book that I listened to while also reading along in the e-book ARC provided by the publisher. There were three narrators, Maggie Grace, Patricia Santomasso, and Erin Lin. I had to turn it off half way through as the voices of these women made a bad story even worse. All of them had overly breathy tones and some really heavy and unnatural choppy stops and then a very rapid run that disrupted the rhythm and messed up the pacing. Their overly dramatic performances really created a sense of melodrama more than tension. I do not recommend. 

This is a standalone and not part of any series.

Genre and tags: Hollywood, assault, murder, psychological trauma, multiple personalities 

Murder in a Yorkshire Village (Kitty Underhay #24) by Helena Dixon

 

The 24th installment is a straightforward Golden Age whodunit centered on a local crime during a village event.

In 1938, Kitty and her husband, Matt Bryant, travel from Devon to rural Yorkshire to visit Matt’s parents. Their stay is already a bit rocky and takes a turn for the worse when they attend the village’s annual bicycle race. While out walking the dog, Kitty finds one of the racers dead in a ditch alongside his damaged bike. The homicide victim is none other than Inspector James Lewis’s disreputable brother! Apparently he’s made quite a mess of things between being the fiancé of one local girl and having an affair with a married woman. In fact, Bradley Lewis had his greedy fingers in a lot of schemes. When a second person turns up murdered, Kitty and Matt must work with James Lewis and the local constabulary to figure out who has killed them and why. 

Another entertaining episode in the lives of Kitty and Matt. The story relies on the typical classic cozy elements such as secret affairs, local rivalries, and overlapping motives among the suspects in a small village. Not as dramatic as other cases, it’s a solid functional entry in the series. What’s interesting is that Matt and Kitty seem more like friends and partners rather than a newlywed, madly in love married couple. They do a lot of walking, talking, and eating. 

Thank you to Bookouture and NetGalley for this e-book ARC to read and review. I do like the series and have read them all, in order, and plan to continue. 

Blog Tour 8-18-26

Genre and tags: cozy mystery, golden age, murder, whodunit

In the Dark Places (DI Vincent Swann#1) by Helen H. Durrant

 A straightforward, plot-driven British procedural.

Detective Inspector Vincent Swann transfers to a new police unit in Manchester. His first major assignment with the team begins with the discovery of a murdered young woman in a skip. She has been beaten so badly that her identity is a mystery. In addition, pram tracks nearby indicate that a child may have been on the scene. Once the team knows this woman's name, they are faced with some real issues as she was the wife of one of the two main gangsters in town and they have to determine if this incident was retaliation or the start of a war between the Pikes and the Fishers. Instead, they find that there is someone else involved and other dynamics at work.

This was a well written and complicated homicide procedural with lots of red herrings and suspects. The story follows standard investigative protocols, following forensic evidence, timeline reconstructions, and witness interviews without straying into dramatics. The characters, especially Vincent Swann and fellow DI Kat Jardine (both vying for promotion within the unit), were well developed and quite interesting. Opposites in many ways, Vincent private and reserved as well as antisocial, and Kat, who is much more outgoing and definitely equal to the tasks, find their way as they navigate the twists and turns the case takes. The pace was steady and maintains a grounded focus as they work.

I was able to listen to the audio book while also following along in the e-book ARC, both provided by the publisher. The narrator, Orlando Wells, did a fine job of voicing all the characters though this definitely would have benefited with a female actor to take on the roles of those women characters. His voice matched the pacing and was appropriately dramatic. This created a nice immersive reading experience that I recommend.

This is the first in a new series.

 Genre and tags: British police procedural, murder, rival gangs, drugs, child abduction, family problems