In his new novel, “Bird of a Thousand Stories,” which is billed as young adult, but which all adults will find charming, Kiyash Monsef continues the story he began in “Once There Was.” It’s the tale of Marjan, who comes from a long line of Persian healers of fantastical animals. Marjan didn’t realize her talents until her father died, and those who needed her services came for her.
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“Cold As Hell” is a title that is extremely appropriate for Kelley Armstrong’s newest addition to her gripping “Haven Rock” series. Not only is the novel set in the Yukon in March, but there are events in the story that bring the title to mind as we read. “Cold As Hell” is the third book in this series, and while it could be read as a stand alone novel, there would be so much missing from the backstory that it makes more sense to either start with the first novel in the series, “Murder at Haven’s Rock,” or go back to the first novel in the previous series, “City of the Lost,” and read forward from there. That way you’ll be able to savor how Armstrong expertly develops the characters and uses the unique setting as almost another character, because it’s so much a part of each novel.
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Jess Armstrong’s newest mystery, “The Secret of the Three Fates,” continues the story of Ruby Vaughn, a transplant from New York to England. Ruby is no young simpering ingenue; she spent several years in the first world war helping wounded soldiers and facing the blood and trauma of battle. Now she calls Exeter home and lives with octogenarian Mr. Owen. She runs his bookstore and lives with him in his home. They have formed their own little family.
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In “All’s Fair in Love and Treachery,” author Celeste Connally follows up with a sequel to her first Regency era mystery “Act Like a Lady, Think Like a Lord.” There’s a lot to like in this clever novel filled with real historical facts, more than one murder to solve, a seductive romance, and plenty of royalty and intrigue. Lady Petra Forsyth is the daughter of a wealthy earl who allows her to run his estate and live her life on her own terms. Thus Lady Petra, while unmarried, is unencumbered by the usual restrictions placed on young single women.
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Brigid Kemmerer writes fabulous young adult action and fantasy novels, and her novel, “Destroy the Day,” is the last one in the “Defy the Night” trilogy. The novels in the trilogy are gripping, but we’ve had to wait two years for this last one in the series. A suggestion I would make is to reread the first two novels in the trilogy to really feel the whole emotional impact of this carefully written ending to the trilogy.
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Robert Dugoni has a new series out; it’s the Keera Duggan series, and the second mystery, “Beyond Reasonable Doubt” is a good one. In fact, it’s so good that if you read it and haven’t read the first book in the series, “Her Deadly Game,” you might want to go back and read that one. Main character Keera Duggan is a criminal defense attorney, and she works with her father in the family law firm. The first book tells us more about her backstory, but we know she began her law career as a prosecutor, then left after a misguided relationship with her superior went south.
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“Mouse & His Dog” by Katherine Applegate and Gennifer Choldenko follows “Dogtown” in the adventures of dogs at a private dog shelter called, of course, Dogtown, as narrated by the mouse who lives there. This mouse loves the dogs in Dogtown, and he desperately tries to find them homes before they end up on “the list.” In this beautifully written, touching novel that is both an ode to the joy of loving dogs and a plea to rescue one, we meet several dogs who are typical of dogs we might really meet in a shelter.
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Sophie Jordan is not only a prolific writer; her creativity spans genres. In this new romantasy series, “A Fire in the Sky,” she returns to a fantasy world filled with dragons, witches, and other magical creatures. The world that she creates will enchant new readers and bring back fond memories for those who have read the Firelight series that inspired her to create this prologue which is, due to some steamy scenes, very adult in nature. In this new series, dragons have disappeared from the skies of this alternate world, killed by mankind. And after the dragons were all slain, or so people thought, the people killed the witches. But as we find out in this story, and to our delight, not all dragons nor all witches were murdered.
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My niece told me she is reading to her baby in utero. I’m all for it. We know that children as young as infants benefit from hearing the sounds of parents reading or singing. The cadence of reading a book is soothing to young ones, and if the same books are read over and over, even before birth, then those books become familiar. Board books are a bit different. They are not written for the cadence or the pleasurable experience of reading out loud, but rather for the purpose of looking at the illustrations and enjoying the text. In these board book series, each group of board books has a special feature that makes the books important and ones that youngsters will enjoy.
From Peter Pauper Press comes a series of beautifully created lift-the-flap books that toddlers really love. They love the brightly colored illustrations, and they love getting to lift the flap to see what hides beneath. In “Peek-A-Bo Rainbow Colors” Bo, the adorable dog who is the main character, gets ready for a walk. It’s raining outside, but the cute pup goes into his closet to get his (red) rain gear. Then he heads to the cupboard to get (orange) dog snacks. His friend arrives for their walk, and behind the yellow front door, we see the other dog in his yellow coat and boots. The book ends with the sun coming out and, of course, a rainbow behind the cloud. In “Peek-A-Bo Bedtime” we see the same dog, Bo, getting ready for bed, with cabinets that open to reveal toothbrushes and dresser drawers that “open” to show their contents. One thing that must be mentioned is the quality of these books. The pages are sturdy, but so are the flaps. The colors are bright, and some of the books have gilt edging on the illustrations. I appreciate the text with declarative sentences followed by a question. It’s never too early to teach children the difference between a statement and a question!
In addition to the board books about colors and bedtime, there are two seasonal books, one for Christmas and one for Halloween. Young children won’t care that it may not be the right season for those books. They will just enjoy lifting the flaps. The artwork is really exceptional on the whole series, with the expressive dog (and cat) faces, the shiny glittery ink, and the many flaps to open. Two more books in the series will be released in the Spring of 2025.
Another delightful series specifically for very young children, infants and toddlers, is the series “What Does Baby See?” It’s part of the series “A First High-Contrast Book,” featuring board books in black and white. Research has proven that infants don’t see clearly, especially distances. They can focus best on objects that are between eight and fifteen inches away. That’s the perfect distance for showing them a book while reading to them! And while newborns prefer to look at faces over other shapes, they also see in black and white. They develop their color vision slowly at around four months. Since black and white contrasts are what infants want to focus on, books with that high contrast will help encourage brain growth as the baby’s retina sees the contrasting colors and sends visual signals to the brain. Combine that with the spoken text, and you are stimulating several areas of the baby’s brain effectively. This series promotes image recognition, word recognition, speaking skills (by hearing the words read), and motor skills (when the baby is old enough to help turn the pages).
The first book in this series is “What Does Baby See?” and it’s cleverly done, with not only each drawing in contrasting shades of black and white; each two-page spread features one page with a black background and a white and black object next to a page with a white background and a black object. There is a frog, a kitten, a flower, and an apple. One of the companion books, “What Does Baby See? Baby Animals,” shows different baby animals and has more text. The first question is, “Who does baby see in the jungle?” And then there is a tiger cub (with beautiful black and white stripes) and a gorilla baby. For “who does baby see in the Arctic?” we have a “penguin chick wobbling,” “a baby seal swimming,” a polar bear cub and a snowy owlet. The last book is “What Does Baby See? At the Sea,” and we not only have the same high contrast images, we also hear the sounds that might be heard at the ocean — the “Squawk-squawk” of the seagull and the “gurgle-gurgle” of the clownfish, to name a few of the sounds you’ll share with the baby.
All of these would be great gifts for new parents or grandparents.
Please note: This review is based on the final books provided by Peter Pauper Press, the publisher, for review purposes.
Fans of Julia Kelly’s historical fiction novels first met Evelyne Redfern in the historical mystery, “A Traitor in Whitehall,” wherein Evelyne is hired as a typist in the war department of the British government during WWII. There she stumbles upon a murder, and she and spy David Poole, who becomes her romantic interest, solve the crime. In this new mystery, “Betrayal at Blackthorn Park,” Evelyne has been through training to become part of a unit that is involved in spying. For her first assignment, she is given something rather innocuous, checking to see if there is any pilfering going on at Blackthorn Park, the site of clandestine testing of weapons for use in the war.
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As much as I adore Louise Penny’s novels, her Armand Gamache series, and as much as I loved “The Grey Wolf,” the novel we’ve waited two years to read, dare I admit that I’m furious? What she has done with this breathtaking novel that twists upon itself as much as the rivers and lakes in Québec do, is leave us with a cliffhanger. Now we must wait a year to find out what the next mystery will bring.
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In the latest mystery in the Mercy Carr series, “The Night Woods,” main character Mercy and her husband Troy have settled into their new historic home, Grackle Tree Farm, and are waiting for the birth of their first child. Mercy is restless, and as her delivery date nears, she worries more and more about being a mother. Will a baby change her? Will she be unable to continue working and solving murders? Will she be a decent mother? Will her baby be a dainty feminine girl with whom she will have nothing in common? (She’s hoping for a boy.)
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