Daisy Darker by Alice Feeney

November 14, 2022

Daisy Darker by Alice Feeney

Children's author Beatrice Darker is celebrating her 80th birthday on Halloween, and her family is gathering at her house on an isolated island off the coast of Cornwall. Once it's high tide in the early evening, the house will be cut off from land. Her son Frank, his ex-wife Nancy (who Beatrice is actually closer to than her son), their three daughters Rose, Lily and Daisy, and Lily's daughter Trixie are largely estranged from each other, so this will be the first time that the whole family is together in a long time. It will be an uncomfortable gathering at best. But in the middle of the night, one family member is found dead and it appears someone plans to pick off another one every hour.

A review in one sentence: And Then There Were None meets The Sixth Sense. Even the book cover is a rip-off from Agatha Christie. It kept me reading right up until the disappointing ending. At least the dog is okay at the end.

The Cornwall coast

Acts of Violet by Margarita Montimore

November 11, 2022

Acts of Violet by Margarita Montimore

Ten years ago, famous magician Violet Volk disappeared in the middle of her stage act. Violet always had magic tricks that seem beyond rational explanation, even to other magicians. No one has seen or heard from her in ten years, not even her sister Sasha, although rumors of Violet sightings run wild on the Internet, creating a cult of Violet fanatics. Unlike her sister, Sasha has led a quiet life in their hometown of Willow Glen, NJ, with a husband, daughter and business. To protect her family, Sasha tries to avoid all the misinformation about Violet. But now the ten-year anniversary of her vanishing is approaching, and the uproar is increasing to new levels, with a podcast series in addition to the annual vigil. As Violet mania intensifies, Sasha begins to wonder if she is losing her mind.

This started out as a decent missing persons story, and I would have been happier if it had stayed that way without the magical realism slant. Although some readers may find it annoying, I liked the combination of narrative mixed with podcasts, emails, and interviews - it worked quite well in the audio format and reflects how we get information in the 21st century. Sasha also talks about the horrible things that people do today, like throwing a Molotov cocktail through the window of her business because someone didn't think she was grieving properly (again, a reflection of the times we live in).

But then the ending just falls flat. Instead of finding out what happened to Violet, the reader is led to believe that she transported to some higher plane or alternate universe, and that maybe Sasha wants to go there, too. This is the second book by Montimore that I've read - the first one was disappointing, but I decided to give her another try. This one was disappointing too. It's like she gets her characters into a situation and then can't figure out how to get them out, without "magic."

A female magician with her male assistant - there are plenty of female magicians out there

Blackmail and Bibingka by Mia P. Manansala

November 10, 2022

Blackmail and Bibingka by Mia P. Manansala

Lila Macapagal and her friends Adeena and Elena have finally opened their cafe, the Brew-ha Cafe, in Shady Palms, IL, right next door to Lila's family's Filipino restaurant. They are getting ready to participate in the town's annual holiday bazaar, when Lila's prodigal cousin Ronnie returns home to Shady Palms as the new owner of the local winery. But when one of his financial backers dies suddenly after drinking one of Ronnie's wines, Ronnie is a prime suspect and Lila's aunt asks her to help clear his name.

This is the third book in the Tita Rosie's Kitchen series, a cozy mystery series centered around a Filipino family restaurant in a small town about 100 miles from Chicago. Lots of food and eating. There are recipes in the back of the books for some of the traditional Filipino dishes. I worked with Mia's mom, Marian, for years at the Chicago Public Library, and I know she is proud as heck of Mia. Very enjoyable mysteries.

Bibingka, a traditional Filipino coconut cake served during the Christmas holidays

Crooked River by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child

November 9, 2022

Crooked River by Douglas Preston and Lincoln

Captiva Island in Florida is a vacation paradise, with beautiful beaches where visitors enjoy collecting a wide variety of shells. But one morning, dozens of amputated feet wash up instead. The case is strange enough that the FBI's most unusual agent, Special Agent Pendergast, along with his sometime-partner Armstrong Coldmoon, is assigned to investigate. Pendergast's ward, Constance Green, is along for the ride and manages to find her own mystery to solve when she's not working with the two agents.

This is #19 in the Agent Pendergast series. Agent Pendergast is mysterious and has a number of quirks, but his ward Constance Green (who has quite a backstory of her own) and Agent Coldmoon aren't far behind in the quirky/mysterious category. Very enjoyable series, looking forward to the next release. I would suggest reading the books in order so that you get the full narrative. I listened to the audiobook - the narrator gets the inflections exactly right.

Captiva Island

Crooked River State Park, Florida

Queens of the Age of Chivalry by Alison Weir

November 7, 2022

Queens of the Age of Chivalry by Alison Weir

A history of five English queen consorts from the 14th and early 15th centuries, well-researched with a focus on the lesser known royal women. They influenced politics and economics as well as fashion and the cult of courtly love. The narrative flows smoothly, intended for a popular audience rather than a scholarly audience. The bibliography and notes at the end are extensive, should the reader want to consult primary sources.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing an eARC.

Philippa of Hainault, queen consort to Edward III

Say Nothing by Patrick Radden Keefe

November 2, 2022

Say Nothing by Patrick Radden Keefe

In Belfast in December 1972, a woman named Jean McConville was taken from her flat by a group of people with the IRA. Nine of her ten children waited at home for her to return but they never saw her again. In 1999, the IRA admitted to killing Mrs. McConville because they believed she had been passing information to the British Army stationed in the city. No evidence was ever found to back up their claim about Jean, and in fact, when she was abducted, her oldest son was serving time in prison for being an IRA member. Her body was not found until 2003. Dolours and Marian Price and Brendan Hughes, all infamous IRA members, are believed to have taken part in her murder. It is believed that Marian was the one who actually shot Jean. Dolours later claimed not to have known that Jean was the mother of ten children, although she was one of the people who removed Jean from her home.

The story of Jean's abduction and murder is set against the backdrop of the Troubles in Northern Ireland, including the London bombings, the Price sisters' hunger strike in prison, the death of Bobby Sands, and the founding of Sinn Fein, which lobbied for a unified Ireland. It also explores the dissatisfaction of old IRA members who believed that violence was the only way to get their message across to the British, with the new philosophy of compromise and working through legal political channels. The impact of the Boston College oral history project about the Troubles is also discussed at length in this very readable piece of narrative nonfiction.

Jean McConville

Now is Not the Time to Panic by Kevin Wilson

November 2, 2022

Now is Not the Time to Panic by Kevin Wilson

Two misfit kids, Frankie and Zeke, are 16 and living in the small town of Coalfield. Their families are falling apart, since both fathers ran off with other women. It's summer, they're bored, so they decide to spend their summer break making art. They design a poster with a variety of images and a couple of nonsense sentences, make hundreds of copies, and hang up the posters all over town, just to see what kind of reaction they get. Everyone in town has an opinion, from cults to heavy metal bands. Then the poster spreads beyond their town, like it's taken on a life of its own. Twenty years later, a journalists unearths the truth about the poster and advises Frankie that she is planning to publish an article.

I read and enjoyed the author's previous book Nothing to See Here. I live in Chicago and I've seen similar art installations, hundreds of copies of a poster stapled to the wooden barrier around a construction site or on boarded up store windows, and wondered about the artist's intentions. The story is sweet without being cloying, and it starts out with a YA feeling but quickly evolves into so much more. The two main characters are so young, so lovingly created and so stunned at the consequences of what was basically the way to pass the summer months. Frankie's mom and brothers are wonderful characters, too. The ending was a little disappointing since the reader doesn't get to find out what happens when the article is published, but we know that Frankie and Zeke are all right. Be sure to read the author's note at the beginning about his inspiration for the story.

Many thanks to Edelweiss and the publisher for providing an eARC.