Survive the Night by Riley Sager

First Lines: Fade in. Parking lot. The middle of night. The middle of nowhere.

 

It's November 1991, and movie-obsessed Charlie Jordan has decided to quit her university studies and go home for good; however, this means using the campus ride board and accepting a ride from a complete stranger.

 

The complete stranger is Josh Baxter, who says he's going home to Ohio to care for his sick father. Charlie is going home because she can't overcome her grief and guilt over the murder of her best friend, Maddy, who was the third victim of the man known as the Campus Killer.

 

But the longer Charlie sits in the passenger seat, the more suspicious she becomes. There are too many holes in Josh's story about his father, and why he doesn't want her to see what's in the trunk of his car? As time passes and they travel further down a dark empty highway, Charlie becomes convinced that she's riding in a car with the Campus Killer.

 

Is Josh really the Campus Killer, or is Charlie's mistrust due to her movie-fueled imagination?

 

~

 

Riley Sager has created the perfect creepy scenario in Survive the Night. It's an homage to the movies-- in particular Hitchcock's Shadow of a Doubt (one of my favorites). A campus in fear of a serial killer, an incredibly risky mode of transportation, and a young woman who dons a red coat and begins a journey to her grandmother's house by getting in a car with someone who may be the Big Bad Wolf. When I put those last three things together, I have to admit that I smiled, and... in case you're wondering about campus ride boards, they did exist. That's how I got from Provo, Utah to Phoenix, Arizona (and back) one spring.

 

Charlie Jordan is a very unreliable narrator. She's been raised by her grandmother after the death of her parents in a car accident. She's overcome with grief over the murder of her best friend. She's on medication. When she becomes anxious, she starts playing what she calls "movies in her head," so dear reader, you're not always going to know if what she says is happening is really happening at all. One good thing about Survive the Night is that Charlie does come to a better awareness of herself throughout her experience. The question is, is she going to survive long enough to make use of her newfound knowledge?

 

I have a feeling that most of you are going to love this book. I know I almost did. But in the end, it fell a bit flat. Why? Because I started deducing too many of the twists before they happened, and that really takes the sparkle off a book like this. But even though Survive the Night did lose some of its shine for me, I still found a lot to appreciate. It's going to be interesting to see what Sager comes up with next.  

 

Survive the Night by Riley Sager

ISBN: 9780593183168

Dutton Books © 2021

Hardcover, 336 pages

 

Thriller, Standalone

Rating: B-

Source: Purchased from The Poisoned Pen Bookstore.

A Wicked Yarn by Emmie Caldwell

 

First Line: Lia surveyed that scene before her with contentment, a feeling that not so long ago she doubted she would experience again but which she now savored.

 

The Crandalsburg Craft Fair is a popular shopping destination for tourists stopping by after visiting nearby Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, but days before the busy Mother's Day weekend, the ex-husband of the fair's manager announces that he has plans to tear the historic barn down that has always housed the vendors. With no other viable location available, this would mean the death of the fair. Instead, Darren's announcement is the death of him. Lia Geiger, Ninth Street Knits vendor and close friend of the fair's manager, appoints herself lead investigator into the man's death because there's no way she's going to let her best friend wind up in the slammer.

 

~

 

This first Craft Fair Knitters mystery opens strong. The historic barn and the small-town Pennsylvania setting are used well, and I liked how the author brought crafts into the story without overdoing it. The story flowed well and kept my interest-- primarily because of the main character. I liked recent widow Lia, her outlook on life, and her behavior toward others. I liked her daughter, Hayley, who gives her mother palpitations by quitting her job, and my liking for the young woman persisted even after she did something completely bone-headed. Good gravy, I even liked Daphne the cat, and I'm a dog person!

Yes, A Wicked Yarn is set up so enticingly that I'll be taking a look at the next book in the series when it comes along, even though two things bothered me a bit.One was how easy it was to deduce whodunit. One line of dialogue did it for me. Oh well. I read a lot of mysteries. The second thing concerned the traffic flow at the craft fair post-murder. In A Wicked Yarn, things grind to a halt with scarcely anyone coming in to shop. In the vast majority of the mysteries I've read-- and from my own personal observations-- when a murder occurs, it seems to be human nature for folks to come running to check out the murder site. Business should have boomed. Or so I thought. But if it did, Lia would not have had that extra time to investigate, would she?

Casting those two items aside, if you'd like to learn a little about craft fairs and alpacas, if you'd like to spend some time with a friendly, interesting main character while she finds a killer, then A Wicked Yarn should be your cup of tea. Milk or lemon?

A Wicked Yarn by Emmie Caldwell 

(AKA Mary Ellen Hughes)

eISBN: 9780593101698

Berkley Prime Crime © 2020

eBook, 304 pages

 

Cozy Mystery, #1 Craft Fair Knitters mystery

Rating: B

Source: Net Galley

Mirror Image by Dennis Palumbo

First Line: Shame is a deep well.

Dr. Daniel Rinaldi is a psychologist who specializes in the treatment of victims of violent crime. As a result, he's become a consultant for the Pittsburgh Police Department.

Rinaldi's patient, Keven Merrick, is a victim of violent crime. The troubled young man is desperate for a role model and a sense of identity. The role model Kevin has chosen is Daniel-- dressing like him, acting like him, even mirroring his appearance. Before Daniel can work with Kevin on this, he finds the young man brutally murdered. Both he and the police suspect that Daniel, not Kevin, was the intended target. And now the killer is coming after Rinaldi.

Feeling responsible for Kevin's death, Daniel is determined to solve the crime. What he isn't prepared for is all the secrets he will uncover along the way.

Palumbo infuses Mirror Image with a strong sense of place, and I certainly enjoyed his descriptions of Pittsburgh. Another strength is his pithy one-line descriptions of characters that often made me laugh.

Daniel Rinaldi is a strong character whose major "fault" seems to be caring too much for the welfare of others. He thinks nothing of putting himself in danger to protect someone else. As he says, "Justice and compassion. Everything else is just...talk." Throughout the book, Rinaldi provides excellent insight into both himself and the behavior of others.

Mirror Image is a strong mystery that deals with mental illness and how to make the real bad guy pay for his crimes. If there was any weakness to the story, it was Rinaldi's love interest and the-- to me-- unnecessary love scenes. It was also rather easy to identify one character's true identity. However, with those complaints out of the way, Dennis Palumbo has created a strong, sympathetic character that I enjoyed getting to know. I'm looking forward to another visit to Pittsburgh.

Mirror Image by Dennis Palumbo

eISBN: 9781615952397

Poisoned Pen Press © 2011

eBook, 332 pages

Amateur Sleuth, #1 Daniel Rinaldi mystery

Rating: B+

Source: Purchased from Amazon.

Historically Dead by Greta McKennan

First Line: "What do you think? Do I look like an eighteenth-century lady?"

Seamstress Daria Dembrowski has landed an important job. The reality TV show My House in History has come to Laurel Springs, Pennsylvania, and two elderly sisters are on a mission to restore their colonial mansion to its original state. If the restoration is done right, the two could win a million dollars. Something like this means a lot of work for Daria, who specializes in historical textiles.

Daria loves the job although some of the folks on site are grumpy, but when Daria finds one of the researchers dead, the whole project could unravel-- and then the crimes begin to pile up.

Having grown up with a grandmother who was a whiz with needle and thread (and who made period clothes for her antique dolls), I'm happy to say that there was enough information on period sewing to keep me interested in Greta McKennan's Stitch in Time cozy series. Historically Dead is the second book, but I didn't feel as though I'd walked into the middle of a conversation, which is always a plus.

Daria is a talented and interesting main character who works amazingly well on very little sleep, doesn't own a car, and is in danger of wearing out the local bus system. She lives in an old Victorian house where she rents out rooms to her brother as well as to the lead singer of the Twisted Armpits-- a woman named Aileen whose food combinations should garner her a hit series on BARF TV.

McKennan has provided some excellent misdirection because I didn't have a clue about the identity of the killer, and I liked the resolution of the subplot involving a stolen Paul Revere platter. Where the book seriously stubbed its toe for me is with the entire My House in History scenario. It doesn't make sense. Untold amounts of money are being spent to remove decades (or centuries) of renovation to take the house back to its original appearance. This includes ripping out several fully grown Japanese maples and gutting the kitchen to put in a huge fireplace to cook the food... yet they didn't build an outhouse, tear out the laundry room, or erase the indoor bathrooms. This is a competition between several homeowners, so after spending all that money on the houses, the production company is going to turn around and pay the winner a million dollars? If that's true, there are hundreds of similar companies that would kill to have their advertising revenue.

If not for that particular stumbling block in which I could not persuade my disbelief to willingly keep suspending itself, I did enjoy the book. There's a good mystery in the pages of Historically Dead, and a very promising cast of characters.

Historically Dead by Greta McKennan

eISBN: 9781516101696

Lyrical Underground © 2017

eBook, 224 pages

Cozy Mystery, #2 Stitch in Time mystery

Rating: C+

Source: Net Galley

Deep Winter by Samuel W. Gailey

First Line: Danny had seen Mindy naked once before when they were just eight years old.

It's been a harsh winter in the small town of Wyalusing, Pennsylvania. When Danny Bedford is found cradling the body of a brutally murdered local woman in his arms, everyone jumps to the easiest conclusion: Danny's the killer. 

Somehow Danny manages to escape into the woods, but the prognosis isn't good. He's being pursued by the deputy sheriff, the murdered woman's brothers, and anyone else who wants to see justice done. As Danny eludes capture, a web of deceit is slowly uncovered, and in a matter of hours, Wyalusing will never be the same. 

Deep Winter is a bleak and brutal book that is written in a sparse and beautiful style. I wish I could've enjoyed the story as much as I did the writing style. 

There are only four sympathetic characters in the book: Mindy, the murder victim; the older couple in town who run the laundromat; and Danny Bedford, a young man who suffered a childhood brain trauma that left him disabled. He has a job maintaining the laundromat. He has his own place to live. He's never hurt anyone in his life, but he's had to get used to being either ignored or being the butt of cruel jokes because he's "different." Unfortunately these four characters are incidental to the plot.

Instead the story focuses on Deputy Sheriff Mike Sokowski. Deep Winter is the portrait of a drunk only lightly touched with intelligence but filled to overflowing with greed, hatred, and violence. As the pages turned, I wanted to sweep Sokowski under the rug-- pretend he didn't exist. But I couldn't look away. Gailey created a character who truly frightened me.

Backing up Sokowski is Carl, his weak-willed satellite; Lester the sheriff, an old man looking retirement right in the face and willing to skate along the path of least resistance; and a community of people who look the other way if a situation doesn't directly concern them. The more I read, the more I despised these people. How can you ignore an impending train wreck? Isn't it easier to deal with something right now instead of waiting until there's a body count? 

And then I realized that I didn't like myself much either. What did I say a couple of paragraphs ago? I said that I wanted to sweep Sokowski under the rug... pretend that he didn't exist. Just like all those townspeople had been doing for years. Time for me to climb down off my high horse.

Yes, Deep Winter is a powerfully written book, and it made me think. It also deeply depressed me. It's definitely the sort of book you need to be in the right mood to read.

Deep Winter by Samuel W. Gailey

ISBN: 9780399165962

Blue Rider Press © 2014

Hardcover, 291 pages

Thriller, Standalone

Rating: C

Source: Purchased from Book Outlet


 

Threaded for Trouble by Janet Bolin

First Line: First, Felicity banished my dogs.

According to the persnickety Felicity Ranquels, Sally-Forth and Tally-Ho, the dogs of In Stitches owner Willow Vanderling would only detract from the important occasion they're preparing for. Darlene Coddlefield has won a national sewing competition and will be presented with her prize-- a top-of-the-line Chandler Champion sewing machine at Willow's shop. But when Darlene is later found dead beneath the Chandler Champion, Willow knows that she's going to have to put the treadle to the metal to prove that she doesn't sell killer sewing machines in her shop.

This book has it all for cozy mystery fans: an intriguing mystery, lots of humor, close friendships, a spark or two of romance, and the lure of the needle arts. Every time I read one of Janet Bolin's Threadville mysteries, I have the insane desire to buy a sewing machine, even though I know I wouldn't use it. Bolin's descriptions of Willow thinking through new designs as well as the descriptions of finished projects of faithful customers are like catnip to any fan of needle and fiber.

There is humor laced throughout the story such as the scene when Willow agrees to meet a suspect for dinner and finds that she has plenty of bodyguards. Readers also get to learn a bit about what it takes to be a volunteer fireman. As with all the best cozy mystery series, it's the characters who make or break the books, and Bolin has assembled an excellent cast. Felicity Ranquels, representative of the Chandler sewing machine company, managed to be the sort of irritating that I'd like to see make a repeat visit. Just when I thought Felicity was a rather stock character with all the beauty and appeal of a horse fly, Bolin added a twist and gave her the depth that makes me want to see more.

If you're in the mood for a light-hearted mystery with some depth to it, grab a copy of Threaded for Trouble. You're going to have a fun read.

Threaded for Trouble by Janet Bolin

ISBN:  9780425251324

Berkley Prime Crime © 2012

Mass Market Paperback, 320 pages

Cozy Mystery, #2 Threadville mystery

Rating: B+

Source: Paperback Swap 

Hearse and Buggy by Laura Bradford

First Line: Claire Weatherly looked around the empty stockroom, kneading the small of her back with stiff, tired fingers.

Claire Weatherly has finally called her marriage quits; her high-powered Wall Street husband is going to have to find someone else to berate and ignore. She decided to stay for a while with her Aunt Diane, the owner of the Sleep Heavenly Inn in Heavenly, Pennsylvania, but after six months, Claire knows she's found the lifestyle she's been craving and the place where she wants to live her life.

Her shop, Heavenly Treasures, is doing well, and Esther, the young Amish woman who helps her, is doing a wonderful job. The former tenant, Walter Snow, had cheated the local Amish out of a lot of money, but once they realized that Claire was not cut from the same cloth, more and more are bringing her their handmade crafts to sell. But when Walter Snow is found dead in the alley outside Heavenly Treasures, Claire knows that suspicion is going to fall on many of her new friends.

Hearse and Buggy is a light, quick, enjoyable read. As Bradford introduces her cast of characters, she imparts quite a bit of knowledge about the Amish, which should please most readers. Claire herself is an appealing main character who has always dreamed of a slower pace of life and has finally found it-- and several new friends as well. And now that she's found what she's been searching for, she's willing to defend it.

Aunt Diane is a level-headed, positive source of support for Claire, as well as being a fount of information about the area and its people. And in this first book, Claire wastes no time in having two very eligible, handsome men looking at her with interest and speculation.

One-- farmer Benjamin Miller-- is Amish and recently widowed. He's available in every way but his faith. The other-- police detective Jakob Fisher-- is Amish and was born and raised on a farm outside Heavenly; however, he decided to become a policeman after vowing to live in the Amish way. As a result, he is shunned and can have no contact with his family or any other member of the Amish faith.

Normally I can do without a strong romantic element in the books I read, but in this case, it's a very interesting angle and gives the characters much more depth. Claire, in particular, can be of great service to Jakob since she has a good relationship with the Amish. She can ask the questions that wouldn't be answered if Jakob were the one asking them.

I didn't find the mystery in this book very difficult to solve, and of the three Amish women portrayed in the book, two were a bit too fragile for my taste, but I did enjoy the book. Bradford has set the stage for what could be a very strong and interesting mystery series.

Hearse and Buggy by Laura Bradford

ISBN: 9780425251317

Berkley Prime Crime © 2012

Mass Market Paperback, 288 pages

Genre: Cozy Mystery, Amateur Sleuth, #1 Amish Mystery

Rating: B

Source: Paperback Swap

The Rifle by Gary Paulsen

First Line: It is necessary to know this rifle.

This short little book traces the history of one flintlock rifle from its creation during the American Revolution to the 1990s.

The rifle's creation is a months-long labor of love by a journeyman gunsmith named Cornish McManus. When completed, it is most definitely a "sweet rifle" (meaning one of stunning beauty and accuracy). In desperate need of money, Cornish reluctantly sells the gun to John Byam, a sharpshooter in the Revolutionary War who dies of dysentery.

The rifle, intended as a gift to a son killed in battle, is tucked away and forgotten as the centuries pass. In the 1990s it is found, and changes hands a few times until it rests above the mantel of a home in Missouri. Tragedy will ensue because-- during all this time and through all the hands it's passed-- no one has ever checked to see if the rifle is loaded.

The first part of this book is wonderful. The craftsmanship that goes into the making of this rifle is phenomenal, and Paulsen brings the entire process to life. The rifle's "life" while in the hands of sharpshooter John Byam is also vivid and well done.

But the book falls apart in the end. It's obvious that the author wants to teach children how deadly serious guns are, that no matter how beautiful they are or how innocently they are kept, guns are made to kill-- and they will kill. But it strains credulity to the breaking point to believe that a gun loaded in the 1770s will still fire first-time true in 1993.

Paulsen does not believe that "guns don't kill people, people kill people," but the tragedy that occurs at the end of the book is due entirely to humans who don't care about simple gun safety. The ending of the book, in particular, bothered me: "And in the meantime the rifle sits in the gun cabinet. Waiting." Guns are not inhabited by evil spirits who lurk patiently until the unwary come within range. (Although all too often they are owned by people who have no business having them in their possession.)

Middle school children may well take Paulsen's message to heart, and I hope they do, but for most of the adults who read along with their children, the aim of his story is going to fall short.

The Rifle by Gary Paulsen

ISBN: 0440219205

Bantam Doubleday Dell Books for Young Readers ©1995

Paperback, 105 pages

Genre: Childrens Books

Rating: C

Source: Paperback Swap

Dire Threads by Janet Bolin

Title: Dire Threads
Author: Janet Bolin
ISBN: 9780425241899
Publisher: Berkley Prime Crime, 2011
Mass Market Paperback, 336 pages
Genre: Cozy, Amateur Sleuth, #1 Threadville mystery
Rating: B
Source: Paperback Swap

First Line: For the first time, my new boutique, In Stitches, was officially part of the Threadville tour, which was both exhilarating and daunting.

Threadville is a small town called Elderberry Bay on the Pennsylvania shores of Lake Erie. Several women following their talents and passions bought property in town, opened their textile businesses, and "Threadville" has become a welcome spot for many tourists to learn new skills and to spend money to increase their thread, yarn, and fabric stashes. Willow Vanderling has followed suit, opening In Stitches to teach people needle arts-- preferably with sewing machines.

At the bottom of her property is a small cottage that's close to the river and by a hiking trail, and it's Willow's intention to refurbish it to rent to vacationers. Her plans are dashed by the town zoning commissioner, Mike Krawbach, who has his own ideas on how that piece of property can best be improved.  When Willow learns what Mike has planned for her property, she is livid-- and makes the mistake of saying she's going to kill him in front of several witnesses. You just know what's going to happen next, don't you?

Sure enough, Mike dies that night on Willow's property, and the town policeman who should've retired long ago, is all for forcing the facts to fit his theory that Willow is the killer. Out of self-defense, Willow and her friends turn into rather inept sleuths in order to find out who really killed the zoning commissioner.

Willow is an extremely likable character. She was a whistle-blower on an embezzler while employed in New York City, so you know she's not afraid to take a stand and do what's right. She's also surrounded by cast of colorful friends who are going to help brighten the pages of future books in this series. It also doesn't hurt that there's no shortage of good-looking available young men in town, either.

The mystery had just enough twists and turns to keep me guessing, and I loved the textile slant to the proceedings. In fact, this dedicated needlewoman who prefers holding a single needle in her hand to operating a computerized sewing machine enjoyed Willow's classes and design sessions so much that I've actually been thinking about investing in a sewing machine.

This is a light, fun mystery that is a perfect beginning to a new series. You don't have to enjoy needle arts to enjoy the book, but if you do, you're going to be in heaven!

The Eighty-Dollar Champion: Snowman, the Horse That Inspired a Nation by Elizabeth Letts

Title: The Eighty-Dollar Champion: Snowman, the Horse That Inspired a Nation
Author: Elizabeth Letts
ISBN: 9780345521088
Publisher: Ballantine Books, 2011
Hardcover, 352 pages
Genre: Non-Fiction
Rating: B
Source: LibraryThing Early Reviewer program

First Line: The horse vans parked along Seventh Avenue came loaded up with dreams.

Harry de Leyer needed a good horse, but by the time he fought through the horrendous winter weather, the only horses left at the auction were those on the truck headed to the slaughterhouse. Unwilling to admit defeat, he persuaded the truck driver to let him take a look at the doomed horses loaded in the back. A certain look in the eyes of a neglected plow horse spoke to Harry, and after paying the driver $80 for the horse, Harry took him home. At that point, the horse-- dubbed "Snowman" by Harry's children-- was probably the only one that knew he was poised at the beginning of his very own Cinderella story. This is the story of a plow horse turned schooling horse turned show jumping champion. It is the story of the man who saved his life, Harry de Leyer. Most of all, it is the story of the deep love the two have for each other.

The book grabbed me at the very beginning with the tale of how Harry found Snowman and brought him home. I was chomping at the bit for more, but Letts switched leads and began telling Harry de Leyer's story of life before and during Nazi occupation in the Netherlands, and the immigration of Harry, his wife, and children to the United States. Don't get me wrong: Harry's life is extremely interesting, but after that excellent beginning, his story almost ground the pacing of the book to a complete halt. I was tempted to skip ahead and get back to the horse, but I wouldn't let myself.

Once the chronicle of Harry's story caught up with Snowman's, the book took wings again. Letts' research and interviews give The Eighty-Dollar Champion the richness of detail that it needs. The show jumping circuit in the late 1950s comes to life, and I felt as if I got to know what it was like to work Snowman at his "9 to 5" job and then load him in the trailer to compete in shows.

After the stumble at the start, the book only took one more misstep as it headed for the finish line. As Snowman started to capture media attention, the author seemed to make a bid for comparison to Laura Hillenbrand's classic Seabiscuit by adding brief sections about the uncertainty of the era, how it needed a hero to believe in, and how the working class public focused on Snowman-- a very unlikely champion. These sections don't really fit into the book because the focus of The Eighty-Dollar Champion is a very narrow one: the relationship between a very special horse and a very special man. Attempting to bring the outside world into this just doesn't work.

Although I did find a bit of awkwardness in the book, I absolutely loved the story of Snowman. However, as a word to the wise for anyone who falls apart at the end of Old Yeller or who has had a beloved pet die-- keep a box of tissues on standby. You will need them.

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This World We Live In by Susan Beth Pfeffer

Title: This World We Live In
Author: Susan Beth Pfeffer
ISBN: 9780547248042, Harcourt Children's Books, 2010
Genre: Young Adult, Dystopian Fiction
Rating: C
Source: Amazon Vine

First Line: I'm shivering, and I can't tell if it's because something strange is going on or because of the dream I had or just because I'm in the kitchen, away from the warmth of the woodstove.

A year ago, an asteroid crashed into the moon, forcing it closer to Earth with catastrophic results. Teenager Miranda Evans is almost accustomed to friends and neighbors being dead, to food shortages, to the relentless gray skies and freezing temperatures.

The struggle to survive gets worse when Miranda's father, stepmother, their baby, and three strangers show up on the doorstep. One of the strangers is Alex Morales, the young boy in the dead & the gone, the second book in the trilogy by Pfeffer. Alex is going to cause some very profound changes, not only in Miranda's life, but in the lives of all the others struggling to survive in this nearly deserted town in Pennsylvania.

I loved the first book in the trilogy, Life As We Knew It. The scenario involving the asteroid crashing into the moon and forcing it closer to the earth captured my imagination. Miranda's voice rang true to me: typical whiny, self-absorbed teenager at the beginning, she matured before my eyes and really made me care about her and her family.

the dead & the gone I didn't care for as much, mostly because of Alex's insistence on being The Man of the Family who always knows best and who must be obeyed at all times. This reaction is undoubtedly personal, since I've never dealt well with anyone who's had that attitude.

In many ways, I wish Life As We Knew It had been a standalone, because I had no real emotional investment in this third book. I should've realized that Miranda and Alex would take a shine to each other-- especially in regards to their age, their hormonal state, and the scarcity of choice for them both-- but it would have been nice if they hadn't. It's as though the author painted herself into a romantic corner when she introduced Alex into the Pennsylvania cast of characters. Miranda and the choices she made were supposed to heighten emotion, but mine were deadened because they reminded me of books read in the past.

This book ends on a very ambiguous note, as if the series will continue. I really hope it doesn't. As it stands now, the trilogy began brilliantly... and became progressively weaker with each subsequent book. Will you be able to follow the action in This World We Live In if you haven't read the first two books? Yes, you should be able to, but you'll be missing the full range of the characters' motivations if you do.

My advice, regretfully given, is to read the first book and possibly the second, but to give this one a miss.

The Confederate General Rides North by Amanda C. Gable

Title: The Confederate General Rides North
Author: Amanda C. Gable
ISBN: 9781416598398, Scribner, 2009
Genre: Fiction
Rating: A
Source: Paperback Swap

First Line: "Get up, baby," Mother says. "We're going on an adventure."

It's the 1960s, and eleven-year-old Katherine McConnell's mother is most definitely taking her daughter on an adventure. Without a word of good-bye to anyone, Kat's mother has her pack a bag and then they hop in the car for a road trip north to Boston and Cape Cod, where Margaret McConnell grew up. Margaret plans to open an antique shop, and they're going to make stops along the way to buy merchandise for the store.
Kat is dragging her feet a bit, especially when she's told that she can't say good-bye to her father or grandparents, so to sweeten the deal, her mother tells her that Kat can be in charge of the itinerary. This makes Kat's eyes shine because she daydreams of being a Confederate general in a spotless uniform riding a beautiful horse. If Kat plans the itinerary, she's going to make sure they stop at as many Civil War battlefields as they possibly can.

Mother and daughter haven't gone many miles down the road before the reader has a very strong feeling that something's up... and that Katherine McConnell is a very special eleven-year-old girl. Her obsession with the Civil War isn't the run-of-the-mill obsession of a horse-crazed tomboy. Kat uses her knowledge of the Civil War and its generals as a coping mechanism:

The Confederate general often feels very alone; after all, everything is up to her. Even if she gets advice from her staff, the decisions are hers. She can't reveal her uncertainties to anyone. Her men and her staff need to be confident in her, confident in her abilities; it wouldn't be good for them to know about the times that she is unsure and confused. To know that she questions her own resolve.

The farther the road trip progressed, the more foreboding I felt. Would an eleven-year-old be able to deal with what I felt was coming? It's been a while since I've been this involved with characters in a book, but Kat and her mother had me wound up tighter than an eight-day clock. By the end of The Confederate General Rides North, I wanted to hug the stuffin' out of Kat McConnell-- and author Amanda C. Gable. Gable's debut novel had me very emotionally involved from beginning to end, and that doesn't happen very often. I'm looking forward with great anticipation to her next book.

To Thine Own Self Be True by Judy Clemens

Title: To Thine Own Self Be True
Author: Judy Clemens
ISBN: 1590583922, Poisoned Pen Press, 2006
Genre: Amateur Sleuth, #3 Stella Crown mystery
Rating: A

First Line: "So I said to him, 'You know what could happen if I pierced you there?' The stooge went white so fast I thought he was gonna do a face plant right there on the linoleum!"

Stella Crown lives in a Mennonite area of Pennsylvania and is a hard-working dairy farmer. She is also tattooed and rides a Harley Davidson motorcycle. She's used to be looked at with raised eyebrows; she's used to being treated as though she's from another planet.

Shortly before Christmas, Stella decides to treat herself to a new tattoo and stops in at Wolf Ink to have it done. Halfway through the tattoo, Wolf's wife Mandy calls him to the back of the shop, and while he's gone the hard-working Stella falls asleep in the chair. When she wakes up, Wolf and Mandy have disappeared. Although she's not happy about the interrupted tattoo, she's also very uneasy about the disappearance of her friends. When Stella discovers that Mandy has been found frozen to death behind a dumpster outside Wolf Ink and that Wolf has vanished, her overwhelming sense of guilt has her helping the police with their investigation. The investigation soon starts looking into fringe tattooists (who ink underage kids and "forget" to change needles) and a legislator who wants to close down the entire industry. Between milking times and blizzards, will Stella have a chance to find out who killed Mandy and what happened to Wolf?

I enjoy this series because Clemens has such a marvelous character in Stella and such an unusual setting. You may have sleuths who are tattooed and ride motorcycles, but chances are that they don't have to keep a dairy farm running. Many times amateur sleuths who are supposedly gainfully employed have time to gallivant over hill and dale day after day in pursuit of the bad guys. Stella doesn't. When those cows need milking, she has to be there. When the truck comes to pick up the milk, it has to be taken care of. This means that the mystery has to take a backseat from time to time for the daily work on a dairy farm. I like that realism.

I also like the fact that Clemens lets me take a peek into worlds that are very unfamiliar to me: the worlds of the Mennonites, of dairy farmers, of tattoo parlors, and of motorcycles. With a down-to-earth character like Stella showing me the way, it's a pleasure to ride along while she solves mysteries.

[Source: Purchased at The Poisoned Pen.]