Just Jennifer

13 Things Mentally Strong People Do: Take Back Your Power, Embrace Change, Face Your Fears and Train Your Brain for Happiness by Amy Morin (William Morrow)

Clinical social worker and psychotherapist Amy Morin offers a new take on the self-help genre by focusing on mental strength and the behaviors that cause us not to be mentally strong, along with strategies to change our behaviors in order to be mentally strong.  A checklist that accompanies each of the 13 “Don’ts” (which include: waste time feeling sorry for yourself, give away your power, dwell on the past, shy away from change and expect immediate results) to help narrow down which behaviors we most often engage in and exhibit, allowing readers to focus on areas where they feel they need more help.  Each chapter includes a brief anecdote or case study, the checklist, an explanation as to why we might engage in the specific behavior, why the behavior is a problem, more examples and some helpful illustrative points, ending with a list of “What’s Helpful” and one of “What is not Helpful”.  Morin focuses on developing a self-awareness and a consciousness that we are free to make our own choices and that often the “negative choices” seem easier, but in fact, take more energy than positive behaviors and choices once learned.  Commonsense advice and strategies presented in a clear, straight-forward manner make this book accessible and easy to navigate, allowing readers to focus on chapters pertinent to their current situation.  Take the How Mentally Strong Are You? quiz.  Click here for a clip from the audiobook or here for a video introduction to the book.

Just Jennifer

My Sunshine Away by M.O. Walsh (February 10, 2015)

A young boy’s teenage years, in fact, most of the teenage years of a group of children in a Baton Rouge, Louisiana neighborhood, are colored by the rape of one of the girls, a rape that goes unsolved.  The fourteen-year-old narrator has been in love with Lindy Simpson, the girl from across the street with long blonde hair and long legs from bicycle riding a track, for as long as he can remember.  Lindy has never returned his love and adoration, with the exception of the year immediately following the rape, as she turns to him with a strange type of friendship.  As the narrator relates his story to an unseen listener, he relives that summer with great detail including the fact that he was considered a suspect.  The narrator is determined to solve Lindy’s rape at all costs, so much so that his sister’s death and his parents’ subsequent divorce have very little effect on him and he almost misses his teenage years because of his obsession, first with Lindy and then with the crime.  This new voice in Southern gothic fiction details the atmosphere of a sultry Louisiana summer, captures the essence of being a teenage boy in love and is able to tell the story in retrospect with a feeling of immediacy when everything is new and unknown rather than with retrospection.  A haunting and tender coming of age story, when the rape is finally solved, it is more of a “huh” moment rather than an “aha” moment.   

Just Jennifer

Hush Hush by Laura Lippman (William Morrow, February 2015)

Ten years ago, Melisandre Harris Dawes parked her car with her two-month-old daughter in it and sat on the shores of the Patapsco River to wait for her to die.  Melisandre, after a mistrial, was found not guilty by reason of criminal insanity; she left the country and relinquished custody of her two surviving daughters to their father who has subsequently remarried and has a new baby boy.  Melisandre has returned to Baltimore hoping to reunite with her estranged daughters, now fourteen and seventeen, and plans for the reunion to be part of the documentary she is making.  Former reporter, now private investigator, Tess Monaghan has been hired to Tyner Gray, Melisandre’s attorney and Tess’s new uncle through marriage, to help set up security for Melisandre.  Tess, a relatively new mother, finds Melisandre repulsive and disturbing and security really isn’t her bailiwick, but she can use the business so agrees to take the job with the help of her new partner, retired Baltimore PD homicide detective Sandy Sanchez.  As Melisandre is by association, Tess’s client, Tess tries to understand the woman so she can best assess her security needs, but Tess just can’t seem to figure Melisandre out: was she truly insane ten years ago or was she just, as Tess feels she is now, a master manipulator who feels she is entitled to everything just because she wants it.  Now Melisandre finds herself under suspicion of murder again, but is she insane this time or just cold and calculating?  At the same time, Tess finds herself being stalked by someone who is increasingly angry and begin to reassess her and her family’s safety as she is continuously amazed by how much she can love her three-year-old daughter, yet how quickly she can become frustrated by her.

Tess is a wonderfully complex character and has grown and changed throughout this long running series.  Her daughter has a personality all her own and adds another dimension to Tess as she frustrates and delights.  Tess is no nonsense, but always professional which makes this assignment very difficult for her as she does not like her client, nor can she even understand neither her motives for anything nor her actions.  Punctuated by the interviews being conducted for the documentary Melisandre is funding, the story of her daughter’s death, subsequent mistrial and trial are revealed with details that cast doubt on everything and form a kaleidoscopic puzzle whose pieces do not fall into place until the final interview with Melisandre who may just not be as much of a monster as Tess would have liked her to be.

Disturbing, but wholly absorbing, this latest Tess Monaghan novel is another satisfying read for long time fans of the series as well as for readers just discovering this dynamic character for the first time.

Just Jennifer

Bones and All by Camille DeAngelis (St. Martin’s Press)

Maren Yearly is not your typical sixteen-year-old.  If you show her too much affection, she’ll eat you.  Her mother has tried to hide this secret, moving to a new state after each episode; when Maren turns sixteen, though, her mother leaves her with a birth certificate bearing the name of the father Maren never knew and several hundred dollars in cash.  Maren decides to search for her father, deep down inside knowing what she will find, but finding many surprises along her journey, including the fact that she is not alone with her proclivities and that eating comes in all forms and shapes and that maybe, just maybe, she is not as unusual as she thinks she is.  Maren’s trip to find her father is also one of self-discovery as she realizes she will have to live on her own as her own person and make her own way in the world.  This coming of age story is truly original and not nearly as gruesome as it sounds. Readers will root for Maren to find her family and some answers; their hearts will break as they realize that Maren will never be able to have “normal” relationships, but will cheer as she makes her own decisions, finds a life that suits her and is able to come to terms with her special personality traits.  

Just Jennifer

Dorothy Parker Drank Here by Ellen Meister (Putnam, February 24, 2015)

The second book to feature the acerbic wit and wisdom of Dorothy Parker not only lives up to its predecessor, it exceeds it in bringing to life this unforgettable character and all the elegance of mid-twentieth century around the fabled Round Table in the Algonquin Hotel.  In life (in the novel) Mrs. Parker signed Percy Coates’s guest book at the hotel, a book that once signed, offers the signee the chance to remain in this realm after their death, in corporal form if they wish as long as the book is kept open.  Over the years, Mrs. Parker has seen her friends and compatriots from Mr. Benchley to Groucho Marx stop for one last drink before heading to the white light, a fate which Mrs. Parker vociferously eschews.  Only Mrs. Parker has chosen to stay behind and now is getting lonely but knows where she might find a kindred spirit:  several floors up the reclusive author Ted Shriver is in hiding while he waits to dying from an operable brain tumor; if Mrs. Parker could just get Shriver to sign the book, she is certain she will have a companion for, well not quite life, but the in-between time.  Shriver was an ascending literary star in the 1970’s when a plagiarism scandal sent the author into hiding with nary a word of explanation, defense or apology.  Mrs. Parker isn’t the only one looking for an audience with Shriver, however: a young television producer, Norah Wolfe, is searching for a guest that will save her talk show from certain death and she is pretty sure that Shriver is that guest.  But, as with Mrs. Parker’s request to sign the guestbook, Shriver flat out refuses Norah but she is determined.  When she and Mrs. Parker meet, they each think the other will be the key to getting Shriver to agree to both their requests and the two form an unusual partnership that sends the pair chasing through Manhattan and into a dusty attic in Connecticut looking for the enticement Shriver needs to be agreeable.  But Shriver, and other players, have their own agendas and secrets to keep, sending things wildly out of control, leaving Norah fearful she will soon be with a job and Mrs. Parker facing eternity alone.  All the while Norah and Mrs. Parker are on their quest, another party is seeking to get her hands on the guestbook which could have devastating consequences all around were it to happen.

With uncanny accuracy, Ellen Meister captures not only the voice of Dorothy Parker but her fabled essence.  Tidbits about the famed Algonquin Round Table are liberally sprinkled throughout the narrative without disrupting the plot; she easily intersperses Mrs. Parker’s amazement at, and often contempt for, new developments since her heyday.  Norah’s number one motive is clearly saving the show and her job, but readers will quickly guess her ulterior motive in meeting Ted and will admire her restraint at keeping her personal secret while she tries to book Shriver on the show, a coup that will benefit many in addition to her.  Plenty of publishing lore, big egos and delicate personalities populate this delightful look at the Algonquin Hotel and its residents as Meister deftly combines legend and lore, fact and fiction past and present, bringing it all to life and rendered with a lot of love in all its many forms. 

Just Jennifer

A Small Indiscretion by Jan Ellison (Random House, January 27, 2015)

Annie Black has put her nineteenth winter, a winter spent with reckless abandon in London, far behind her.  Living in San Francisco, she is now almost forty years old, has a successful career and business as a lighting designer, is married and has three children.  An anonymous letter brings a photo in the mail one day, making Annie realize she hasn’t put things as far in the past as she thinks; there are things that happened that winter details about which she is still unsure.  Annie finds a strong pull back to London and back to a past that holds the secrets, some of which will help reveal recent events in Annie’s life, some of which will cause the life she has built to unravel at an alarming rate.  This family drama is written with more a sense of curiosity than urgency about Annie’s past; so much so that when a secret is revealed it is startling both to Annie and the reader.  Ellison has carefully crafted the details of both her narrative and her characters, even choosing Annie’s career as a lighting designer, someone who illuminates and sets the mood, even as she keeps herself and others in the dark about her past.  The narrative is effectively told in Jane’s alternating voices, first person for her time in London, but then directly addressing someone, telling them the story that has led to their present, almost as if it is a confession.  Annie’s story is compelling and addictive, Annie’s secrets shocking, their effects lasting, but perhaps not irreversible.  

Just Jennifer

The Life I Left Behind by Colette McBeth (Minotaur, February 24, 2015)

Six years ago, Melody Pieterson was a vibrant young woman until she was attacked and left for dead, her friend and neighbor David convicted of the crime.  Since then, Melody has become introverted, trusting no one, hiding behind locked doors and fences, from everyone, including and except herself.  Shortly after David is released from prison, another young woman is attacked in a similar way; but Eve Elliot was not as lucky as Mel (as she now calls herself).   Now Eve’s ghost remains and tells her story, alternating with Mel’s as the two young women form an unusual alliance to catch a killer.  As Mel learns more about Eve’s murder, she begins to think that David was not responsible for the attack on either woman, an idea that leaves her more unsettled than ever, but also oddly resolved to uncover the truth, something that Mel finds liberating as she finds her voice and herself once again.  Haunting and suspenseful, McBeth’s elegant storytelling is by twists and turns surprising, healing and redemptive and while some readers may see the end coming, McBeth makes the trip more than worth it.

Just Jennifer

Before He Finds Her by Michael Kardos (Mysterious Press, February 2015)

Melanie Denison has been living in the West Virginia trailer of her aunt and uncle for the past fifteen years, since the night her father Ramsey Miller killed her mother in the New Jersey shore town of Silver Bay; it was assumed that he meant to kill his daughter, then called Meg, who was rescued and swept off to live in the Witness Protection Program as Ramsey was never caught.  Melanie has never been allowed to do the things most children and teenagers do, including things as simple as school events and surfing the Internet.  As Melanie approaches her eighteenth birthday, she begins to year for things she considers to be “normal” and convinces her aunt and uncle to allow her to finish out her schooling at the public high school and then to attend the local community college.  In spite of, or perhaps due to, the sheltered life she has led, Melanie begins a relationship with a young teacher from the high school she graduated from, and becomes pregnant.  No longer wanting to live hidden in the shadows and not wanting her child to grow up the way she did, Melanie confides in Phillip and then sets out for Silver Bay to uncover the truth of what happened that night, almost daring her father to find her, not knowing the secrets that trouble her parents individually and as a couple, and not knowing the secrets she will be stirring up, but willing to take the chance if it means freedom for herself and her unborn child.

A tightly written plot, even as things unravel, that illustrates the closer someone is to a situation, the less clearly it can been seen and how easily people often take the word of someone they love at face value and how quickly all of that can fall apart.  Effectively told, the story of Ramsey Miller unfolds in two ways: from the stories told to Melanie, the truth she believes, and in flashbacks to the days leading up Allison Miller’s murder.  Pitch perfect writing, no detail overlooked or extraneous, make this not only a satisfying thriller, but a story of familial love, love of self and the families we create ourselves, and what happens when that love is used as a weapon of fear rather than an instrument of hope and encouragement. 

Just Jennifer

The Kind Worth Killing by Peter Swanson (William Morrow, February 2015)

In classic Hitchcock or Patricia Highsmith style, Peter Swanson’s sophomore offering (after The Girl with a Clock for a Heart) starts when two apparent strangers meet in the lounge at Heathrow airport, share some gin martinis and begin to plot a murder: Ted Severson thought he was happily married and that this beautiful wife Miranda loved him for more than his millions of dollars.  Not so, he learns when he sees Miranda and the general contractor who is building the Severson’s---at least Miranda’s---dream house in Maine, having sex while going over the plans.  Now Ted is angry, angry enough to tell Lily, the young woman he thinks he has just met for the first time, that he would like to kill his wife.  Lily takes Ted at this word and offers to help make Ted’s dream come true: but, as with many things in life, this is an offer that is too good to be true. Lily has a past---and present---full of secrets, secrets that Ted should have taken the time to learn before agreeing to let this beguiling young woman help set up a plot to murder his wife and starting to play her dangerous and deadly game.  With a plot as intelligent and graceful as Lily herself, readers will quickly find themselves down the rabbit hole, not sure where the next twist or turn is or when it will be coming.  As the plot unfolds, secrets are revealed and new plots begin to formulate inside the players’ heads----or do they? Have there been deeper, more devious plots all along?  Reality and opportunity soon become impossible to separate in this breathtaking journey.  Do not start this book unless you have plenty of time to see it through until the last surprising sentence that will leave evil grins on the faces of many.

Just Jennifer

A Murder of Magpies by Judith Flanders (Minotaur, February 2015)

Samantha “Sam” Clair is a seasoned London book editor with a wry, often sardonic, sense of humor.  She is not only a capable editor, but can handily deal with all the various personalities and egos she runs into from her steady stream of office assistants, many of whom have yet to master the vagaries of the alphabet enough to perform basic filing tasks, to Prima Donna authors and her colleagues, editors who consider their acquisitions far superior to Sam’s more commercial women’s fiction.  At forty, Sam’s personal life is as bland and banal as her work life is hectic and glamorous (not) save the occasional dinner party given by her unstoppable, unflappable mother, a high-powered attorney.  But all this changes when police officer Jake Field arrives at Sam’s office asking about a manuscript that may or may not be missing and that may or may not have been stolen from a courier who was killed in a hit and run.  Sam isn’t too interested in the whole thing at first, she never knows when manuscripts may arrive and there are most often enough multiple paper and electronic copies floating around that it wouldn’t make sense to try and steal one copy.  When she realizes that the manuscript in question is a scandalous tell-all about the life and murder---uncovering other illegal activities along the way---or a Spanish fashion designer, written by gossip monger and dirt digger extraordinaire Kit Lovell, who is also one of Sam’s favorite authors, Sam perks up.  There is a good deal in that manuscript that will open Kit, and in turn the publisher up to possible libel and slander suits, but Sam isn’t worried about that, Legal always vets everything carefully and will deal with that.  What does concern her is that Kit misses a meeting and seems to simply vanish into thin air.  Jake Field isn’t impressed at first as Kit is a bit of a flake (Sam once found six months’ worth of not listened to voice messages on his mobile phone) but Sam is adamant and using Kit’s book as a cover story but also as a road map, begins to follow Kit’s trail, a trail that leads her into corporate intrigue and corruption, government investigations and right into the hands of a crazed murderer.

Laugh aloud funny, Sam’s dry wit and wry observations coupled with her mother’s no nonsense approach---and arsenal of skeleton keys---and insider secrets from the publishing world, including a comedy of errors involving the misunderstood manuscript of one of Sam’s longtime authors, along with a smart, clever mystery, make this first novel from Victorian expert Judith Flanders a slam dunk for all mystery readers.