Sunrise Highway by Peter Blauner
The body of a young woman washes up on a beach in Far
Rockaway Queens setting NYPD Detective Lourdes Robles on the trail of a killer,
a trail that leads Lourdes back forth-years when a strong of murders began and
a young, now police chief, Joseph Tolliver, lies at a grand jury investigation
of the first murder to ensure the spin the local politicians want is put on
int. Lourdes is already under suspicion
of using police resources for her own purposes as she tries to locate her
younger sister who has been missing for over six months. Lourdes is not sugar coated in anyway, and
admits freely to her own faults and shortcomings. Knowing who has been pulling the strings for
over forty years, and know who is responsible for these murders that lead
straight to the police chief and his crew in the DA’s office, takes nothing
away from the plot as it weaves a trail from 1977 to 2012, just as Sandy was
beginning to wreak havoc, to 1982, to present day when all loose ends are more
than satisfactorily tied up.
Tell Me You’re Mine by Elisabeth Noreback
Swedish psychotherapist Stella Wildstrand is happily
married, has a son, and a thriving practice.
When a young woman, Isabelle Karlsson, is referred to her, Stella is
certain the university student is her infant daughter who has been missing,
presumed dead, for the last twenty years.
Isabelle is vulnerable after the recent death of her father, and having
to deal with her mother, Kersten, who borders on psychotic. Kersten is depressed, lonely, and angry with
the world. The narrative is told in
three parts, each one spiraling out of control more than the next, as each
woman hovers on the brink of her own reality.
A little far-fetched in places, this debut has an ultimately satisfying,
if somewhat creepy, conclusion.
Ninth Street Women by Mary Gabriel
Biographer Gabriel focuses on five early-to-mid-20th
century painters, who, some with the help of their artist husbands, were able
to bring their own form of abstract expressionism to the New York School of
Painters. Elaine de Kooning, Lee
Krasner, Grace Hartigan, Joan Mitchell, and Helen Frankenthaler, fought hard to
be taken seriously as artists in their own rights, even as their husbands and
lovers, including Willem de Kooning and Jackson Pollock, became household names
associated with the modern art movement.
Gabriel focuses not only on the women’s work and their relationships to
their partners, but also places into social context the women coming out of the
Great Depression and World War II ready to continue redefining their role as
wives, mothers, and women. Thoroughly
researches and detailed, this book will appeal not only to modern art
enthusiasts, but will find its place in women’s studies as well.
The Dinner List by Rebecca Serle
Many people fantasize about the five people, living or dead,
they’d invite to a dinner party. On
Sabrina’s thirtieth birthday, that list comes to live, literally, as she dines
with her best friend Jessica, from whom she has grown apart as Jessica’s life took
a more traditional trajectory after the roommates graduated college: marriage, house in the suburbs, and now a new
baby. Also present is Robert, the father
from whom Sabrina has been estranged since she was a young child; Tobias, the
great love of Sabrina’s life, a love that consumed the two of them to the point
of exclusion, unable to live with each other in the rest of the world. Originally on Sabrina’s list was Plato, but
during college she replaced him with Professor Conrad, her philosophy professor,
a man who unwittingly brought Sabrina and Tobias together a dozen years
ago. Rounding out the party is the ever
elegant Audrey Hepburn whose mere presence and observations add sparkle and
magic to the evening. Told in
alternating chapters between the party and Sabrina and Tobias’s relationship, a
portrait of a tumultuous, at times painful, relationship emerges. Interspersed are the details as to how and
why Sabrina’s relationships do not always survive intact. Slowly, Sabrina faces truths about her
family, her relationships, and herself, hoping to mend, heal, and love before
it is too late. This bittersweet
reflection is infused with just enough magic to offer hope.
Lies by T.M. Logan
Everything about Joe Lynch’s life appears to be average
until he becomes a suspect in his wife Mel’s best friend’s husband Ben’s
disappearance and probable death. Driving
his young son Wills home one evening, Wills spots his mother’s car pulling into
a hotel parking lot. Joe decides to
surprise Mel and follows her in. Joe
sees Mel and Ben arguing, confronts Benin the parking desk, a confrontation
that turns physical and ends with Ben on the ground unconscious. Joe confronts Mel who assures him her contact
with Ben is work related and nothing more.
Ben disappears and is presumed dead, Joe the primary suspect, though Joe
doesn’t think Ben is dead because Joe is being taunted and threatened through
his social media and is certain Ben is behind it. Realizing life as he knows it has been built
on lies, Joe begins to untangle the lies, expose Ben, and restore his life, but
what he finds is something he never suspected.
A taut cat and mouse game, the tension runs high as Joe tries to unravel
a web of deceit; though the ending is a surprise it feels rushed, abrupt, and a
little too unexpected to be completely satisfying.
A Borrowing of Bones by Paula Munier
Retired military police officer and Marcy Carr and
bomb-sniffing dog Elvis have both retired from the service following the death
of Marcy’s fiancé and Elvis’s handler Martinez.
Both still grieving for Martinez and the life they were going to have,
the pair spends much of their time hiking the woods of rural Vermont. One
morning Elvis finds an abandoned baby, what appears to be human bones, and
traces of explosives. Game Warden Troy
Warden and his companion, Newfoundland Suzie Bear, join Marcy and Elvis, to the
displeasure of the local police, to locate the baby’s mother and identify the
bones. The baby disappears from the hospital, reappears at Marcy’s house with
the mother, who claims to be on the run from the baby’s father who is an
artist, but also a political activist, possibly trying to live off the
grid. Fans of mysteries featuring dogs
will feel right at home, but the plot and characters are well-enough drawn to
entice many readers to this first book in a new series.
Cross Her Heart by Sarah Pinborough
Lisa is a 40-year-old single mother trying to live a quiet
life, out of the spotlight, raising her daughter Ava the best she can. As Ava turns sixteen, it becomes more
obvious that Lisa is on high alert, but for who and for what? Marilyn, Lisa’s best friend at work has her
own secrets hidden behind what appears to be a perfect marriage. As Lisa begins to live a little more, dating
a rich client, she lets her guard down a little; when her secret is revealed,
the twists don’t stop coming, weaving in and out of the stories of the three
women until a shocking picture is revealed.
The tropes are familiar, but the tension and stakes are high, leading to not one, but two surprising conclusions.
Diary of a Bookseller by Shaun Bythell
There is a remote town in Northern Scotland, Wigtown, which
is a destination for many book lovers.
Shaun Bythell is the current owner of the Book Shop, one of the largest
used bookstores in Scotland, and a keen observer of his eclectic customers and
staff. At the age of 31, twelve years
after first observing that the Book Shop would close in short order, Bythell
becomes its owner. Nearly 20 years later
the shop is still in business, and not only attracts local customers but
customers from around the world, along with internet sales. This day-to-day diary not only includes Bythell’s
wry observations of his staff and customers, anecdotes about what people are
looking for, but also a tally of online orders, books found, total customers,
and the total sales for the day. There
is a used bookstore in Wigtown that allows people to come and “be the owner”
for a time, but the wait list is several years long, so until then, book
fanciers will find much in these pages to enjoy and will find themselves
dipping into it over and over again.
Quotes from George Orwell’s essay “Bookshop Memories” can be found
interspersed and are right at home.
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