Murder by Moonrise (Dr. Julia Lewis #3) by Patrice McDonough

 This third in the Dr. Julia Lewis mystery series finds her and Inspector Richard Tennant connected to several incidents involving the British Royal Family and some of their staff and servants. It starts when a young servant of Princess Louise is found dead on the Isle of Wight. The maid is found to be pregnant when Julia performs her autopsy. Julia’s examination proves the cause of death was murder. As Tennant and Scotland Yard try to find the killer, yet more murders occur that appear to be linked and this discovery leads the investigating Tennant to uncover a Fenian plot targeting Queen Victoria. It seemed a rather convoluted plot using both real and fictional characters. The threads tying everything together took a while to pull in. 

I really enjoy this series and I hope to read further installments. I really like Julia and am happy that she and Richard have finally declared their intentions. I hope there are future cases that the pair will work in the late 1800s London setting. I enjoyed this story but noted that it focused more on the police and conspiracy themes than the medical situations that I prefer. Although Julie was called to attend members of the Royal Family, she didn’t do much real doctoring in the book. Or not nearly as much as I would have liked. 

I was able to listen to the audio book while also following along in the e-book ARC, both provided by the publishers. The narrator, Marian Hussey, did an admirable job of handling the British and Irish accents as well as the different tones of male and female characters. She has a very expressive voice and spoke clearly which was necessary to follow the complex plot and the very large cast of characters in the story. I find that a good narrator definitely enhances my enjoyment of a book.

This is the third in the series that should be read in order.

Genre - historical fiction, British Royal Family, woman physician, Scotland Yard, murder, Fenian plot

It’s Not Her by Mary Kubica

 This is both mystery and domestic drama.

Courtney Gray’s family vacation at a Wisconsin lake resort turns into a nightmare when she finds her brother and sister-in-law brutally murdered in their cottage. While her nephew, Wyatt, is found upstairs in his room unharmed, her 17-year-old niece, Reese, has disappeared.

The story alternates between Courtney’s frantic search in present time and Reese’s perspective in the days leading up to brutal crime. 

Fully of really icky people, terrible behavior, and a definite need to suspend disbelief at times, the book mostly suffered from a bloated teenage narrative with its typical angst, inappropriate use of social media, drama, and a super sketchy romance. I didn’t like the flip between the adult and teen points of view and never have been a fan of a mystery where an amateur protagonist is off trying to solve the case. Courtney spends a lot of time doing things she shouldn’t and the author throws up a lot of red herrings on the way to what I’d call a ridiculous ending. Come on. Sometimes there is just that twist too far. 

I was able to listen to the audio book while also following along in the e-book ARC provided by the publisher. The narrators, especially the females, were just too melodramatic and theatrically overwrought. I almost stopped listening because it got on my nerves, but stayed on til the end.

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

Genre and tags: mystery, dual perspective that ultimately reads more like YA due to teenager point of view, murder, missing persons 

Alibi by Accident (Verona Montero #1) by Kayleigh Suggett

 I found this debut quite entertaining and laugh out loud funny.

This first in the Verona Montero series is silly and exaggerated camp at times, but turns out to be a cozy murder mystery that takes a sharp turn. 

Verona Montero is an irreverent and foul-mouthed private investigator (insists on the term private dick) who is hired by a client (Miami) to find proof that her billionaire husband, Javier, is cheating. Miami's goal is to overcome the strict prenup agreement and get herself a massive divorce settlement. Javier is a huge jerk so there's no love lost there. Before Verona can get the proof, Javier is found murdered in Greece and of course the wife is the main suspect. Verona jets of to Mykonos to see what she can find out and discovers that he was a nasty man who probably deserved his fate. An unfortunate twist, however, is that an innocent man has been arrested. 

This is not deep nor probably very accurate in the portrayal of lawyers and private detectives, but it was fun to read and I needed something to make me laugh after a run of more serious reads. I do think I will read the next in the series because I just have to know if Verona's obsession, a divorce attorney named Quentin, will ever take her out of the friend zone. 

I was able to listen to the audio book while also reading along in the e-book ARC, both provided by the publishers. The narrator, Carlotta Brentan, did a great job of voicing all the characters including the various accents required. She brought the story to life and definitely enhanced my enjoyment of the book. 

This is the first in a new series.

Genre and tags - cozy murder mystery, infidelity, sexual assault, murder, private investigators, romance, funny, lots of f-bombs 

None Left to Tell by Noelle Ihli

 Absolutely devastating and searing historical fiction novel rooted in real events.

It will be a minute before I forget the story of “The Mountain Meadows Massacre.” I was not familiar with this terrible slaughter and its coverup and need to come to grips with the violence perpetrated on the members of the wagon train headed to California from Arkansas in 1857.

The author writes with the authority of someone raised in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and is a descendant of families involved in the massacre. I think this connection makes the book even more powerful. It was many years before most of the truth of that attack was revealed, and there are still attempts to cover up details today.

The story is told from the perspectives of 3 women who belonged to the three main groups involved. The Mormons (under the direction of Brigham Young), a local Indian tribe (it still is unclear which tribe actually was involved), and a wagon train of families from Arkansas. The Baker-Fancher wagon train consisted of approximately 120-150 people. Only 17 children (all under the age of 7) were spared and only because they were thought too young to remember. 

My heart totally aches thinking of all that happened leading up to the moment in the meadow when one man’s voice was the signal to start the carnage. I cannot even imagine the horror. And, I’m so glad that some involved felt enough guilt to come forward with the truth despite the Morman leadership demanding oaths of secrecy. 

As it is based on a true story, it’s hard to stay objective, and the worst part is knowing that only one person was actually punished. Ah the powerful men justifying their deeds in the name of religion. When all the time it was misguided vengeance. 

If you’ve the stomach for it, this was a riveting read. 

I tried to listen to the audio book while also following along in the e-book, but I did not care for the overly dramatic, breathy voice of the narrator, Lisa Cordileone. Especially when she sang or did the voices of the children, so i finally just deleted it and returned to the library. 

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

Genre and tags: historical fiction, true event. Meadows Massacre, wagon train, murder, Mormons

How to Get Away with Murder by Rebecca Philipson

 This debut thriller is so convoluted and twisty that it will take a close analysis for any reader to figure out the whole of it before the final reveals. Definitely a book that can’t be skimmed if you want to understand the whole picture of this book within a book.

DI Samantha Hansen is coming back to her job at Scotland Yard after suffering a breakdown when she’s thrown into a murder investigation. The victim is a 14-year-old schoolgirl with some disturbing items at the crime scene. One of those items is a book titled “How to Get Away with Murder” written by Denver Brady. Sam is assigned to the task of reading the book and finding the author. While Sam and her trainee are tracking down this info, the secondary narrative pops up in this dual perspective novel and it is actually the text of the manual in the voice of the author. It’s not too long in that Sam and TDC Adam Taylor are finding that the book is not exactly a diary, nor is most of it the truth. And what does this book and its author have to do with Charlotte Mathers, the dead girl. Who is Denver Brady and is he the serial killer he claims to be or is there a copycat at work. 

I don’t want to give any spoilers but this was very entertaining and clever. I loved trying to anticipate the answers and put the clues together as the investigation and action ensued. I liked the protagonist, Samantha Hansen, and some of the other characters in the book, particularly Adam Taylor. The writing was good and I had a great time putting the puzzle together. I wonder if we will see more of Sam or if this is the one and only. I’m not a huge fan of endless series so I’m fine with imagining how the rest of Sam’s life will play out. Definitely recommend this one to all crime fiction lovers. 

I was able to listen to the audio book while also reading along in the e-book ARC, both provided by the publishers. It was refreshing and fun. The narrators, Tamsin Kennard and Michael Geary, were fabulous in their roles and created unique voices and personalities for all the characters. This created a very immersive experience and definitely enhanced my enjoyment of the book.

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

Genre and tags: meta fiction, book within a book, crime fiction, police procedural, Scotland Yard, murder

Everyone in This Bank is a Thief (Ernest Cunningham #4) by Benjamin Stevenson

 When a small-town bank is held up, the suspects aren’t just the people in masks — it’s everyone inside, each harboring their own criminal secrets. This clever setup serves as a backdrop for a narrator who speaks directly to the reader, dissecting the rules of mystery writing while leading them through a maze of greed and petty local grudges. 

This 4th book in the series features amateur author and crime solver, Ernest Cunningham, and trades explosive action and police procedural for a sharp, cynical wit. The plot is like a logic puzzle and is quite convoluted since every person involved is a thief in one way or another. The moral and psychological weights of theft come into play along with the crimes themselves. And it’s not just stealing, it’s also murder. And crazy stuff like spontaneous combustion. 

The protagonist in this series isn’t a traditional hero but more an adherent to following the rules of detective fiction. Ernest is a self published author who comes from a family of criminals so he has a bit of a messy heritage. He breaks that fourth wall and talks to the reader by pointing out clues and other observations as he sees them during his investigation or observations. I had no idea where this one was going as it got more convoluted by the page and quite a list of characters to keep straight.

All comes together in the typical parlor room reveal where the logic is laid out and the killer is unmasked. Once again, the author follows the fair game rules. There was no way I could guess most of the revelations much less determine who did what to whom or why. 

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, Barton Welch, did a good job of capturing Ernest’s self aware, witty, and often conversational tone. He’s able to give unique personalities to his cast from the teenage gamer to the female security expert. Definitely enhanced my enjoyment of the book.

This is the 4th book in a series that should be read in order from the beginning.

Genre and tags: mystery, fourth wall, meta, murder, gold, thieves

The Quiet Neighbor by J.D. Barker and Adam Roach

 The price of a past you can’t outrun.

Successful lawyer, Cynthia Burrows, sees her life unravel when her 18-year-old daughter, Tori, disappears. Alerted when the school sends an excused absence text, Cynthia becomes alarmed and tries to find out why Tori is skipping school. Thinking it has to do with a boy she’s dating, Cynthia goes to where the boy works only to find that he hasn’t shown up for his job. Now on high alert, Cynthia checks the coffee shop’s camera feed and sees Tori leaving with an older man linked to a name from Cynthia’s past. The name is Alexander Beaufort, a serial killer, who forced Cynthia into witness protection decades ago.

Cynthia races to find Tori, aided by (how convenient) her best friend, FBI Agent Gabby, the only person who knows about Cynthia’s past. This is where the book starts to require an immense measure of suspension of disbelief. As Cynthia races from place to place trying to find Tori, the story flips back and forth in time to her childhood when she was Samantha. To save her daughter, she has to confront and reveal all of her buried trauma and the secrets she hid from everyone. 

The authors deliver a fast paced thriller, but the reader has to accept a lot of extraordinary coincidences and unbelievable allowances given to Cynthia who somehow is provided access to every crime scene and all of the investigation details. Journal entries written by an unknown person confessing homicidal urges are interspersed and, come on, I’d be amazed if someone did not figure out immediately who the author was. I had the twists and shocking revelations sussed out almost from the beginning. Also, I didn’t care much for the main characters and there were some questions unanswered at the end. 

It was a quick read over the course of an evening, and I have liked a lot of this author’s books in the past, but this one wasn’t as good. 

I was able to listen to the audio book while also following along in the e-book ARC, both provided by the publishers. The narrator, Morgan Halley, did a good job of voicing the characters who were mostly female so she changed her tone and accents enough to make them distinct. I always find that a good audio production enhances my enjoyment of a book, and this was no exception.

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

Genre and tags: suspense thriller, serial killer, witness protection, missing daughter, murder