I loved Tess Gerritsen’s “The Spy Coast,” and her sequel, “The Summer Guests” makes this a series that is sure to be one of my favorites. There’s so much to enjoy—especially for readers of a certain age. We love reading about main characters who are our (Boomer) age. Main characters whose aches and pains might be there, but don’t stop us from enjoying life and doing our best to be active and actively participants in the world around us.
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The Missing Pages” by Alyson Richman is a perfect title for a novel about love, loss, and those who adore books. Bibliophiles are smitten by the scent of paper and ink; they love to sit in the peaceful silence of libraries and peruse vast selections of books; they love to meet other bibliophiles and talk books. And sometimes, as in this beautifully narrated story, they fall in love. There is much loss in these pages, but there is also much love.
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In her seventh book, “The Deadly Book Club,” author Lyn Liao Butler presents a thrilling murder mystery filled with likely suspects, all of whom might have had a reason to kill the victim. Five women, prominent book influencers, meet online once a month to talk business and books, drink cocktails, and dish dirt. During one meeting, when several of them happen to be in Hawaii, the screen freezes. But the audio continues, and those in the meeting hear bloodcurdling screams as one of them is surely being murdered.
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Author Paul Bradley Carr has written a scary novel called “The Confessions.” It will not make you jump out of your seat or scream. There’s no Count Dracula, no one-eyed monsters, no murderous criminals suddenly appearing behind their unwary victims. But “The Confessions” is more frightening than all those traditional horror tropes put together — because it demonstrates all too clearly the simple fact that we human beings are in the process of destroying ourselves. And reading this novel also makes clear that that simple fact is not a prediction, not an opinion. It is clear proof that our self-destruction is happening right now.
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Kids love reading about animals, and in these wonderful picture books, imaginations will take flight just like Seven, the magnificent pigeon in the first book. They will learn about the perfidy of fish in the brilliantly hysterical book about not trusting fish, “Don’t Trust Fish.” Snakes and dogs and small creatures round out the animals we meet in these charming picture books. And a nonfiction series, “Meet the Wild Things,” brings unusual animals to our attention.
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David Rosenfelt’s 32nd (!) Andy Carpenter Mystery novel, “And to All a Good Bite,” strikes again with classic suspense, violence, and Rosenfelt’s trademark humor. Attorney Carpenter’s first person narrative is typically and hilariously on display on virtually every page — even when violence is involved — and the dialogue is consistently equally funny, all of which leads to as enjoyable a mystery novel as you are likely to find. Anywhere.
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There are so many reasons to recommend “Other People’s Houses” by Clare Mackintosh; when a mystery features characters who are so likable and relatable that their situation and relationships become equally as important as the actual mystery, you know it’s going to be a winner. And on top of that, jumping in to read the third book in the series without having read the first two books did not feel as if anything was missing.
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A novel is at the heart of “The Lost Story of Eva Fuentes,” the lost story being a book that one of the main characters, Eva Fuentes, wrote; but this heartfelt story is really about many things. In it, author Chanel Cleeton creates three main characters who live at different times but all of whom share a deep, abiding love of books.
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Many readers hesitate to read a novel written in epistolary format, but with Virginia Evans’ remarkably capable writing, her debut novel, “The Correspondent,” is not only extremely emotionally resonant, its impact on readers is to have us contemplate and re-evaluate our lives: our regrets, our accomplishments, our achievements, and our failings. Just as the main character, Sybil Van Antwerp, keeps certain favorite books to read and reread, this is one volume that readers will be inclined to keep on their bookshelves, to visit again and again.
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When I read my first Katherine Center romcom, I realized that her novels are so much more than “just” about romance and falling in love, and her latest book, “The Love Haters,” exemplifies that concept perfectly. It’s certainly about two people falling in love, but it’s also about love in general—the not romantic kind—and it’s about learning to love ourselves. At times, especially in our picture-perfect social media culture, we feel that everything needs to be perfect, and how many of us are perfect?
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