Author: Lydia Y. Kang

Publisher: Lake Union

Release Date: September 18, 2018

Rating: 4 Stars

Reviewer: Jessica Higgins

A dark historical mystery that is perfect for fall reading!

Every era has a dark side and New York City in 1850 is no exception. People with abnormalities die all the time, but now people want to know more about these abnormalities, they want to dissect the people and see what made them occur.  In fact, there are plenty of people to pay nicely for such a body.  From aneurysms to blocked arteries to being born with multiple appendages, these are worth big money to explore and then display to the public.  Cora Lee is the only female resurrectionist and she plays the game well.  She stays one step ahead of those looking for bodies to purchase.  After all, she has to.  She was born with two hearts.

This was definitely a welcome change in my reading schedule. It was almost like a forced shift from light summer reading to a dark, fall read that keeps your mind spinning throughout the night.  This book just had a little bit of everything: grave robbing, freak show abnormalities, expected murders, and a cat and mouse game.  Kang always brings together a well told story that will keep the reader intrigued from beginning to end.  This story flowed better than some of her past books and kept me pretty well hooked throughout, which was probably the subject and timeframe of the story.  If you enjoy a little more on the darker side of a novel, give this one a try!

I received a complimentary copy of this title from the publisher. The views and opinions expressed within are my own.

Author: Kristina McMorris

Publisher: Sourcebooks Landmark

Release Date: August 28, 2018

Rating: 5 Stars

Reviewer: Jessica Higgins

A riveting tale of how everyday choices can have a massive ripple effect for those around us!

Ellis Reed has been working as a reporter in the social section of the Philadelphia Examiner in depression era 1931. He didn’t plan to have this gig; he hoped to be one of the top feature reporters, but he will take what he can get when so many people don’t have work or money.  In route back to Philadelphia from an assignment, he sees two kids on a porch with a sign indicating that they are for sale.  Troubled by the sight, Ellis takes out his camera and snaps a photo that will forever change his life.

Lily Palmer works at the Philadelphia Examiner as the chief’s assistant. When she collects the photos that Ellis Reed has developed, one photo of two boys for sale breaks her heart.  Recognizing the excellent shot, she slips this into the chief who calls Ellis in to write a feature to this story.  Even though this become Ellis’s big break, the consequences of the photo become devastating.  Lily is distraught by the role she has played in this and teams up with Ellis to try to right what has turned out so wrong.

This was an incredible story that I couldn’t put down. Even the synopsis had me hooked.  There is so much at work in this story.  Ellis is your typical hard working individual that never seems to get ahead.  He finally gets his big break and almost has it snatched away from him, but he still manages to get it, but he has to compromise his values to make it happen.  From there it becomes just a little bit easier to keep chipping away at those values until you find that your no better than the people in the story you’re writing about.  Once Ellis essentially hits rock bottom in his life, he realizes that the has to turn this back around and make some tough choices.

Lily in much the same way has made some past mistakes that she is making up for in life. Fortunately , she has a very supportive family to help her make her career dreams a reality.  She has an ulterior motive for helping Ellis throughout the story, but it is very understandable when it is revealed.   Ellis and Lily have an undeniable chemistry throughout the book that isn’t forced, more built up with tension as the reader continues through the story.

There is a mystery that surrounds this story that isn’t revealed until about halfway into the book. At that point, it just adds to the lure of the story and about doubles the reading pace because it’s so intriguing.  There is some very mild language throughout the book, but nothing that should sway any readers.  This is probably going to be my top pick for historical fiction this year by far!

I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher. The views and opinions expressed within are my own.

Author: Rachel McMillan

Series: Van Buren & DeLuca Mystery #1

Publisher: Thomas Nelson

Release Date: July 10, 2018

Rating: 4 Stars

Reviewer: Jessica Higgins

An intriguing historical mystery set in Boston’s North End in the 1930s. Could Van Buren and DeLuca be the next Sherlock & Watson?

Hamish DeLuca has fought bouts of nerves all his life. But after freezing up in the courtroom on his first case, he gets tired of feeling as thought his father is trying to protect him and buys a train ticket from Toronto to Boston to visit his cousin Luca Valari.  Lucas has a magnetic personality, yet a troublesome past.  Even so, he easily conjures influence and people invest in his ideas.  The newest one is to open up a new club in Boston called The Flamingo.  Luca believes it will be wildly successful and launch additional clubs across the county.  Hamish can’t help but get caught up in the excitement, but soon realizes that not everything in Luca’s life is as it seems.  People seem to be following him and claim that they will catch him.  But what could he be up to?

Regina Van Buren, or Reggie for short, is tired of living of the life that her parents have planned out for her. She is spontaneous and wants to become skilled at several things, not just being a high society housewife.  When her suitor suddenly announces their engagement without even asking, she slaps him across the face and takes off from New Haven to Boston.  There she quickly realizes that she may have bit off more than she can chew, but manages to find a boardinghouse and get work for a man named Luca Valari.  As a secretary, she takes phone calls from men that are trying to hunt him and tells them about the great Flamingo Club that will be opening soon.  She and Luca’s cousin Hamish quickly strike up a friendship over cannoli and begin to work together to determine what sort of business Luca is really in.  On the club’s opening night, one of the cigarette girls is found dead in the basement.  Although the police rule it as an accident, both Hamish and Reggie believe otherwise.  Can the solve both the mystery around Luca and who killed this poor girl?

It’s not often that I find a book that can actually transport me to the location of the setting. But this book did just that.  The descriptions that McMillan gave took me to Boston during the time frame when clubs were beginning to pop up all over the place.  I could see the Flamingo and walk along the cobble stones in the north end.  I cycled through Back Bay and felt the breeze off the water.  I also quickly related to Hamish through his personal struggles and could feel the same emotions as they were splashed across the pages.  However, I do wish there had been a third member of the detective group.  I have become accustomed to some enjoyable banter between characters and just didn’t feel it was quite there with Reggie and Hamish.  I’ve seen some authors throw in a another male character to the mix that breaks it up a bit between the romance and sleuthing and it works quite well.  Even so, this is definitely an interesting new series that I will be following.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher. The views and opinions expressed within are my own.

Author: Daniela Tully

Publisher: Thomas Dunne Books

Release Date: April 10, 2018

Rating: 4 Stars

Reviewer: Jessica Higgins

Intriguing past/present mystery mash up with a forbidden romance.

Maya Weisberg grew up in Germany and shared an intimate bond with her grandmother. When she took a trip over to the United States for a year, her grandmother disappeared a month into her trip, but her father never told her because she knew she would come back.  Feeling betrayed, she left Germany upon her return and never came back, until they found her grandmother’s remains.  To make matters more interesting, her remains were found about 70 miles north of where Maya was staying in New York when she disappeared.  Filled with remorse, Maya decides to make the trip back to New York to the Montgomery Resort close to where she was found.  While there, she discovers that her grandmother was murdered.  The Montgomery family that runs the resort is full of secrets and any one of them could be tied to her grandmother’s death.

I always enjoy a good past/present mashup that involves World War II Germany and this was no exception.  Throughout this book the characters are mysterious, treacherous, deceitful, and downright nasty.  But in the end it makes for a very intriguing mystery.  The whole Montgomery family itself could be its own book.  I enjoyed getting the read the backstory into the family history almost as much as the story itself.  It was easy to see that the author has had experience in the film industry as it almost played out like its own movie.  Add that it is a book clean of language or graphic sex and several readers will find it very enjoyable.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher. The views and opinions expressed within are my own.

Author: James Markert

Publisher: Thomas Nelson

Release Date: June 26, 2018

Rating: 5 Stars

Reviewer: Jessica Higgins

Beautifully written, yet mysterious novel of the Oklahoma Dust Bowl.

Just as the electricity was jolting into Jeremiah Goodbye in the electric chair, a tornado struck the prison freeing him and giving him a second chance at life. Penned as the coin flip killer after being convicted of the death of four men, Jeremiah spent three years in prison awaiting his turn to die.  After being released, his Oklahoma no longer looks like it did when he went into prison.  With the flip of his coin, he decides to return to his hometown of Nowhere to settle a score with his twin brother Josiah.  On the way, he rescues a young boy, Peter, being sold to feed a family.  Peter tags along with Jeremiah to Nowhere where the dusters have ravaged the town and the spirits of the people.  When a huge duster that becomes known Black Sunday hits the town, people start to speak the truth in their hearts, however ugly it may be.  Before long, it’s up to Jeremiah and Peter to become unlikely saviors for the town that cast him out three years ago.

I wasn’t sure what to expect when I picked up this book, but I enjoyed every minute of it. I’m a huge fan of history of the dust bowl, which may be because I live in the Texas panhandle, so I always read up on it every chance I get.  This book was beautifully written and carried a great message to all readers on kindness.  The book description made me think that I would be reading more about a mystery, and it was mysterious, but not in the ways that I originally thought it would be.  I really enjoyed getting to see the goodness come out of the main character and how it spread through an unlikely boy to all of the townsfolk.  It would be easy to give away the secrets of this book, but I would rather have people read it and find them for themselves.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher. The views and opinions expressed within are my own.