Judge Stone by James Patterson and Viola Davis

 A gripping drama and thriller wherein the legal procedure provides the structure while Judge Mary Stone’s personal resilience provides the heart. 

In Union Springs, Alabama, respected Judge Mary Stone faces a devastating moral dilemma when a high profile case involving a minor’s abortion and a criminalized doctor lands in her courtroom. Balancing her role as a local farmer and a judge, she must navigate a volatile legal battle that forces her to choose between rigid statute and profound compassion, risking everything she holds dear to define justice in a deeply fractured community beset by protestors on both sides. 

Mary Stone really anchors the novel as a uniquely grounded protagonist. Her dual identity creates someone easily identified with as her personal history, family connection to the land, and her sharp legal mind make her extremely compelling. The courtroom scenes, the various characters and players, as well as the other events surrounding this huge case kept me absolutely riveted and I couldn’t put this book down. The drama was very high stakes as the topic of abortion is so very controversial and timely. The town and people are caught up in this firestorm both politically and legally. Definitely polarizing and the story demonstrates the high cost of legislation and rulings that make no exceptions. I felt all the emotions going through this traumatic ordeal. 

As usual, the pacing was excellent and the collaboration is so well done. I don’t know if this is being considered as the first in a series featuring this memorable character, but I welcome any future installment. I’m addicted to legal dramas and thrillers. 

I was lucky enough to be able to listen to the audio book while also following along in the e-book ARC, both provided by the publishers. The narrator, Viola Davis, is perfection. Her voice, her dramatic flair, and her talent just amplify the personality and gravitas of the main character. She transitions easily to voicing other characters as well and created a truly immersive experience that made me enjoy the book even more. Don’t miss this production! 

4+ stars

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

Genre and tags: legal dramas and thriller, rape, abortion, racial tension, trial, law 

Death Wasn’t Invited: June’s Journey tie in by Carlene O’Connor

 A must read for all June's Journey players and fans.

 

I have been playing the game, June’s Journey, since I was invited to the beta test over 7 years ago. My team and I have had many great times as we participate in all the game activities. Can’t wait to see how this story measures up to the characters we love and hate. 

I wanted to wait for the audio book to give a full review, but no ARC copies of that have been made available yet and I don’t think I can wait any longer as I want to post before the book goes on sale.

This was a cute historical cozy mystery set in Paris, 1922, when June Parker visits Paris and meets up with her old friend, Jack. When a pilot friend of Jack’s invites them out for an evening of celebration, they end up crashing a lavish engagement party on a riverboat. The couple are from wealthy Parisian families and this union is desirable for both. When Nate reveals his true purpose for coming aboard, Jack and June express dismay as they realize Nate doesn’t want the bride-to-be to marry because he is in love with her. Then, the lights go out and when they come back on, Nate is dead. 

Of course June, as all know her from the game, is an amateur detective and she’s determined to prove that Jack did not kill his friend despite his knife being the murder weapon. Although there are red herrings, the story line is fairly predictable. The best part of the book, however, is that the characters of June and Jack come from the June’s Journey universe and the pair act like they do in the game world. It was fun to read of their adventures in Paris in that time period. The way June manages to get the job done is amusing as you have to suspend a lot of disbelief. 

I think the audience for this book, the game players, will enjoy this mystery that reads like adult Nancy Drew. I’d like to thank Titan Books for the e-book ARC to read, review and recommend and wonder if there will be additional installments.

This is, so far, a standalone and is not part of a series.

Genre - cozy historical murder mystery set in Paris, 1922 and features characters from the game June’s Journey. 

Gone in the Night (Annalisa Vega #5) by Joann Schaffhausen

 This is the fifth installment in the Annalisa Vega series. It gets a little bogged down with too many subplots and a convoluted path to the conclusion.

Annalisa Vega, now a private investigator and heavily pregnant, is asked by her imprisoned brother, Alex, to help a fellow inmate named Joe Green. Joe was convicted of murdering his e-wife’s lawyer, but an anonymous letter suggests the eyewitness lied. During her investigation, Annalisa discovers that Joe has two other ex-wives — one who hates him and one who has vanished. Annalisa must determine if Joe is a victim of a frame up or if he’s really a dangerous killer. All of this while trying to stay on the good side of her husband, Nick Carelli, who originally put Joe Green in jail. 

There was almost too much going on in the story with tangents that pulled away from what ended up being a very predictable ending. The whole vigilante thing, the search for a missing engagement ring, the pregnancy, her sister-in-law’s upcoming wedding all distracted from the main narrative. The book seemed really long and it took me forever to finish as it just wasn’t holding my interest enough at times. Definitely you’ll want to read the series in order other wise you might be lost having missed all the backstory. I am not sure I really even like Annalisa as a character. And the competition with her husband doesn’t bode well for their relationship. I’ll still want to read the next.

I started out also listening to the audio book that I got from the library while reading along in the e-book ARC provided by the publisher. It was OK, but the narrator, Kelsey Navarro Foster, didn’t wow me enough to try to renew when the loan time ran out.

This is the 5th in a series that should be read in order from the beginning.

Tags and genre - police, private investigator, pedophile, kidnapping, vigilante murder, abused women, shelter

Murder at Sea (#23 Kitty Underhay) by Helena Dixon

Intrigue at sea when you join Matt and Kitty on a transatlantic voyage to the USA in 1938.

The Bryants are visiting Kitty’s cousin Lucy and her family when they get information that the man they’ve been seeking, Redvers Palmerston, has somehow fleeced Kitty’s cousin Hattie, and absconded, possibly to America along with his current “wife”. Then Matt gets a call from Whitehall. The brigadier asked him to board the same ship that Redvers has booked in order to connect with a German defector who has some information to pass along to the government. What a coincidence! And off they go.

This cozy mystery continues the long running search for Matt’s military acquaintance who has been implicated in several scandals including bigamy. The story becomes complicated as Matt and Kitty happen on not one, but two murders aboard the ship. The task to intercept the German adds another dimension to their journey but not much is really made of that except that they encounter another adversary. 

The main focus is always the details about the time and location as the historical details are of most interest to me. I am always surprised that Matt and Kitty only go first class so they experience all the luxuries of travel accommodations on their missions. One of the few series that I am scrupulous about following, I always enjoy the descriptions of clothes, social mores, activities, and interactions that the couple has with others. 

If you like descriptive cozy mysteries then you will appreciate these books. This is #23 and the installments should be read in order for most enjoyment.

Bookouture Blog Spot Tour for 2-24-2026

Genre - cozy mystery, historical, murder

Murder at 30,000 Feet by Susan Walter

 High altitude adrenaline shot!

A locked room mystery with the chaotic energy of a commercial airline flight. 

The plane to San Juan, Puerto Rico, is packed with a motley assortment of passengers. As long as you suspend disbelief that these people would all happen to be on the same jet at the same time, you will enjoy the ride. There are two sets of passenger groups that come from the same California town and know each other to some extent. The wedding party and the baseball team. In addition are some solo travelers that include a grieving mother. To top it off, one of the flight attendants is also from Crestwood. The coincidences are almost a bit too much. An undercover Federal Air Marshal is on what he imagines will be a routine trip leading to some fun with a new love once he gets to their destination. 

The action begins as soon as all are aboard the plane. Secrets are revealed creating a storm that mirrors the turbulent weather outside. A lightning strike disables the electronics and when the lights come back on, a boy from the baseball team finds a dead body in the rear lavatory. Carlos Renaldo is given the task of securing the scene, identifying the dead body, and questioning the passengers to find the killer. Unfortunately, the plane won’t make it to PR after all as it runs out of fuel and is forced to land on a deserted Caribbean island. As the investigation continues, it comes to light that this murder is only part of all that has gone wrong with this flight. 

This was just fast and fun and I read it in a single setting as it was hard to put down. The point of view shifts and there is some back and forth in time to set the stage for all that happened in the past leading to what is happening on the plane now. It kept me guessing and there was a twist that surprised me toward the end. I loved the flight details and the perspective from the cockpit as well. 

I was able to listen to the audiobook while also following along in the e-book ARC, both provided by the publisher. The narrator, Scott Brick, is phenomenal as ever and indeed always brings the story to the next level with his voice and skill. He’s adept at many accents and pitch so that the dynamics of his read bring the emotion and action to life. Totally recommend you listen to this if you can.

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

Genre and tags: locked room mystery, suspense, airplane flight, murder, other crimes

Good Intentions by Marisa Walz

 3.5 stars for this debut psychological thriller.

Be prepared to meet a really unreliable, narcissistic narrator in this drama about a woman whose obsessions take over to ruin her life. 

All was spectacular in Cady’s life. She had a wildly successful party planning business and was married to the man she’d loved since high school. Then tragedy struck when her twin sister, Dana, was killed in an accident. Grief has no timeline and no limits but Cady goes totally off the rails. Things fall apart slowly as Cady becomes fixated on a woman she had a brief interaction with in the Emergency Department on the day her sister died.

This was a quick read that sometimes veered into the need to suspend disbelief territory. Definitely entertaining as you try to guess what Cady is scheming and what her next plans might be. Her stalking of Morgan sometimes makes no sense. But Cady has this single minded obsession with trying to fix things and that means that she wants things to be the way she wants them as she has only the best of intentions. I was expecting some crazy twist but honestly, that ending was quite abrupt as well as bizarre and I didn’t like it. Anyway, Cady was not really a likable character in many ways and she left a lot of destruction in her wake. So much truth about her was missing since she was telling the story. 

I was able to listen to the audio book while also following along in the e-book, both provided by the publishers. The narrator, Brittany Pressley, did a good job for the female characters and she’s definitely got the dramatic flair that works well for this type of genre and story. I love being immersed in the story when the words and the voice work well.

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

Genre - domestic drama, psychological thriller, obsession, death and grief 

The Hospital at the End of the World by Justin C. Key

 "Not for the faint."

Speculative fiction looks at the possible direction of medical care.

In a near-future America, the Shepherd Organization has turned healthcare in to a cold, algorithmic commodity. AI dictates every diagnosis and treatment, leaving no room for human intervention or error. Pok, an aspiring medical student living in New York, has spent his life preparing to join this system alongside his father. When his applications to medical school are rejected, his world falls apart coinciding with his own father's sudden death.

Following a path his father had secretly set in motion, Pok flees the high tech surveillance of the North for New Orleans. The city, guarded by electromagnetic spires that block the Shepherd's reach,  is home to Hippocrates, the last medical school on earth that still practices human led medicine. But that special place and sanctuary comes with a price. As Pok struggles through the grueling medical school training, he discovers a terrifying new plague -- the Grips -- that specifically targets those who have spent their lives under AI. As more become infected and die, Pok must accept his own purpose and realize all that he is capable of when the truth about his origin and past are revealed. 

This plausible scenario was haunting and scary and I really enjoyed it. I love medical fiction, and this plunged deep into the big questions about what AI will do as it is increasingly integrated, or mandated, into our lives. Will human empathy and all the skills of a human physician be traded for an algorithm and efficiency. Who lives, who dies just a calculation. There is so much to think about within these pages and so it took me a lot longer to read this than a typical thriller of this type. It made me even more certain that restrictions and restraints need to be in place to prevent machine driven medical practice and care. 

A huge question raised by the author deals with the ethical questions. Definitely a must read for fans of speculative fiction who want a story that feels both like a warning and a tribute to the people who still believe in the human side of healing. 

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, James Fouhey, did a decent job, but it was a bit of a let down because he just didn't do women's voices well. As a result, the characters basically sounded the same without much differentiation. This production would definitely have benefited from a full cast, or at least a female voice. I always enjoy the immersive experience of listening and reading, and this would have been such a huge hit had the characters sounded more distinctly male or female.

This is a debut novel and I plan to read more from this author.

Genre - speculative fiction, medical care, AI, coming of age