Here I've been, chugging along posting just one book review per week. I know that you know that's just the tip of the iceberg, although I do admit to reading much less when Denis was in the hospital and our niece Karen was here. So... it's time to do a little catching up.
These will be short reviews. I'll provide links to Amazon in each title in case you want to learn more about any of the books. Let's get started!
eISBN: 9781399707725
Hodder & Stoughton, Ltd. © 2025
eBook, 515 pages
Standalone Thriller
Rating: D+
Source: Net Galley
My Thoughts: This standalone thriller is a departure for one of my favorite authors.
Orianna Negi was convicted of murder at the age of seventeen. She's always maintained her innocence, even though she has dissociative amnesia. Released from prison on parole, she returns to Eden Falls to uncover the truth, no matter the cost.
At 515 pages, The Girl in Cell A needed some editing. There were too many twists, too many turns, too many about-faces, and the book's length gave me plenty of time to tire of them all. If I'd warmed up to Orianna, I might've enjoyed the book more, but she left me cold. So did the rich and powerful Wyclerc family. (I think I've reached my saturation point on entitled rich folk.) The only reason why I kept reading was to find out the truth. In that, I was just as stubborn as Orianna.
ASIN: B0CFFDRJRD
M.J. Lee © 2023
eBook, 287 pages
Genealogical Mystery, #10 Jayne Sinclair
Rating: B+
Source: Purchased from Amazon.
My Thoughts: M.J. Lee's genealogical mysteries consistently impress me. With his main character, Jayne Sinclair, he consistently centers engrossing mysteries around puzzles that can be unearthed when researching family history.
In The Irish Convict, Jayne is in lockdown in Australia, and she agrees to research a well-known family's history. It should be easy, but it isn't. I love watching this character uncover the truth. Having helped my grandmother and mother in researching our own family history, I also know that she's giving valuable tips to anyone who might want to do the same. As always, I'm looking forward to the next book in the series.
eISBN: 9780063281110
William Morrow © 2023
eBook, 304 pages
Multi-generational Fiction
Rating: B+
Source: Purchased from Amazon.
My Thoughts: A Council of Dolls covers almost two hundred years in the lives of Indigenous women, from the ancestral lands of the Lakota to twentieth-century Chicago. Readers learn of the lives of Sissy (born 1961), Lillian (born 1925), and Cora (born 1888) in part through the stories of the dolls they carried.
From life on their ancestral lands to Indian boarding schools to inner city Chicago, I found this book to be compulsive reading and, at times, emotionally draining.
eISBN: 9780593313800
Vintage Books © 2022
eBook, 336 pages
Amateur Sleuth, #1 Claudia Lin
Rating: C+
Source: Purchased from Amazon.
My Thoughts: Claudia Lin is used to disregarding the expectations of her domineering Chinese mother, and she's certainly used to keeping secrets from everyone in the family. A lifelong mystery reader, Claudia believes she's landed her ideal job with Veracity, a referrals-only online-dating detective agency. When a client vanishes, Claudia breaks protocol to investigate and uncovers personal and corporate deceit.
I liked Claudia well enough; she has a penchant for comparing things to various books that I found enjoyable ("That man is harder to read than Finnegan's Wake"). I also enjoyed the insider's look at online dating services. But... there was something about the book that just didn't make me want to read more.
eISBN: 9781399707671
Hodder & Stoughton © 2024
eBook, 359 pages
Historical Mystery, #5 Malabar House
Rating: B+
Source: Purchased from Amazon.
My Thoughts: After gunning down a man trying to assassinate the defense minister at a political rally, Detective Persis Wadia is tasked to hunt down the assassin's co-conspirators. Britain's MI6 immediately shunts her to the sidelines, but she rapidly picks up another case.
I really enjoy Khan's series set after India's Independence and the Partition. City of Destruction shows Persis learning a bit of spycraft as well as the relationship between Great Britain and India at this time. She's finally beginning to learn how to work as part of a team, but I am tiring of her knowingly running into danger without backup. Of course, this behavior can be laid at the feet of her fellow (male) officers, most of whom believe she has no business being there. This is a good, fast-paced read, even though it has a few too many (albeit excellent) similes.
eISBN: 9781728295466
Sourcebooks Landmark © 2025
eBook, 304 pages
Historical Fiction, Standalone
Rating: A
Source: Purchased from Amazon.
My Thoughts: This dual-timeline historical novel was a match made in heaven for me. Inspired by the life of paleoanthropologist Dr. Mary Leakey, Follow Me to Africa moves from 1930s London to the Serengeti plains of 1980s Tanzania.
Seventeen-year-old Grace Clark's mother just died, and now she's been sent to help a father she barely knows on an archaeological dig at Olduvai Gorge. Here she meets the indomitable Mary Leakey, a scientist and rebel. With the help of Lisa the cheetah, Mary encourages Grace to think for herself, to choose what she wants to do before someone else does it for her, and she's stuck in a life she doesn't want. The friendship between Mary and Grace, the archaeology, the wildlife... marvelous. (And the Author's Notes and bibliography are must-reads.) I hadn't read a book by Penny Haw before, but now I'll be looking for more.
Am I all caught up now? Ummmm... nope! But I will get there eventually. Promise!
Did I tempt you with any of these books? Have you already read any of them? Which ones? What did you think of them? Inquiring minds would love to know!
Yes, I was tempted by the Jayne Sinclair series and have just bought the first book. They look very good.
ReplyDeleteI want to read A Council of Dolls, Cathy. It sounds engrossing, if difficult to read at times. And it's so interesting that Khan went in a different direction with The Girl in Cell A. It doesn't sound like a book for me, but I give him credit for trying different things and 'branching out' as a write. And he is talented, in my opinion.
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