saltygalreads's reviews
306 reviews

Hunter and Chloe are high school seniors and in love, with that all-consuming intensity you can only feel when you are 17. Hunter believes Chloe is his best friend and that they know everything about each other. Then on homecoming night, disaster strikes, leaving Hunter recovering from injuries in a car crash and Chloe missing. Where is she? It seems like few people believe him when he insists he has no memory of the accident and he doesn't know where she is. Fortunately his close friends and family have his back, even if the rest of the town thinks he did something to Chloe. And then his old friend is murdered after he and Hunter have an argument. It doesn't look good for Hunter.

I love David Bell's writing and was thrilled to be approved for this one. It did not let me down - interesting characters, relatable plot and lots of suspicion to go around. I thought I knew who was responsible but it turns out I was wrong. There was only one minor hole that left me with some questions but it wasn't a deal-breaker. For me David Bell is becoming one of those authors that is an automatic read as soon as a new one is released. I would give this a 4.5. A big thank you to NetGalley and Source Books for this copy to read and review.

Casey Fletcher's husband, Len, drowned in Greene Lake at her cottage. Now Casey drinks herself into oblivion every day trying to forget. Then she meets the couple in the modern cottage across the lake - Katherine and Tom. Katherine is warm, friendly and beautiful, and quickly becomes Casey's friend. However Casey has a habit of taking out the binoculars and spying on people. She suspects things are not right between Katherine and Tom, and more alarmingly, that Tom might actually be trying to kill Katherine. Casey goes on a mission to investigate and save Katherine, and gets much more than she bargained for.

This book had me turning pages into the wee hours. You are fooled into thinking you know what is happening, but you don't! It is a perfect summer read at the cottage - plot twists you cannot predict, atmospheric setting, and unreliable characters. I have read many critical reviews of this novel, but in my opinion, most thrillers require an acceptance of the far-fetched. How "realistic" are the plots of most thrillers, seriously? I'm not reading a thriller expecting it to be a depiction of reality. If I want that, I read nonfiction.

I enjoyed this without reservation and give it a resounding 5 stars. It was my first Riley Sager book and now I am a fan!

Julian Black has an extraordinary gift, or a curse, in his ability to touch a person with his hand and see their most vivid memories. It isn't one he enjoys and he has become somewhat of a recluse, hanging out in his room, playing online video games and avoiding human contact. Until he meets Lela Mars and she convinces him to use his ability for the greater good. Then Julian is kidnapped by a very suave and urbane man with an equally astounding gift, who drags him into a dangerous intrigue with an international criminal organization called VIPER. And they certainly don't care about the greater good.

This is an enjoyable, fast-paced spy thriller with lots of action and science fiction elements. The main character of Julian Black is very likeable, as is his counterpart and nemesis, a likeable rogue named Sebastian Blaine. The glamourous London locations of the Shard and the London Eye add a little Ian Fleming flair. A couple of times I did have to backtrack due to confusion with the plot twists, but perhaps that was just me. Overall, a solid spy/action read for the spy thriller enthusiasts.

Deus Ex is a masterfully written short book of 50 pages, or novella, told from the perspective of a dictator/ruler in the final moments of the fall of his empire. It is a fascinating concept – set in more or less modern times – but very much with the feel of a historical dictator or emperor right out of the history text books, think Caesar, Alexander the Great, or Napoleon.

Actually, it made me think very much about Cuba and the revolution with Che Guevara and Fidel Castro. It is a look into the mind of a tyrant as he watches all the sacrifices and achievements of his rule crumble and fall around him. Reading this will inevitably make you ponder what makes such a person tick – is it extraordinary vision and ambition, idealism or just next-level megalomania? I personally feel like it is simply an ego out of control that really feels the world revolves around them, and ultimately all they care about is their self-preservation and being “on top”.

I recommend you read this fascinating novella and decide for yourself! A 5-star read for me. Many thanks to Black Coffee Book Tours and Miles Watson for allowing me to have a copy of this to review.

This mystery novel has all the classic elements required for the quintessential murder mystery experience: a rambling country manor house, an aristocratic family, an old family riddle, missing heirloom diamond necklace, secret passages and a mysterious unknown murdered girl. Finally, enter the amateur detective with the trust of the family.

This cracking mystery novel is so satisfying for all the lovers of classic British detective stories. It is reminiscent of the best British detectives and borrows on the popularity of those books while still managing to feel original and fresh. It was so fun to read a book that felt so familiar but still creative and new. As an Anglophile and hardcore British murder mystery fan, this novel delivered and I thoroughly it. So much thanks to the author and to Book Sirens for allowing me to read it.

Beneath the southern gentility and grand mansions with their storied families, there lies a darker version of Savannah. Not everyone is aware of this and some choose to ignore it. Morgana Musgrove is a well-to-do grand dame of Savannah society, manipulative and acid-tongued, and her family tolerates her scheming to varying degrees. But when she agrees to take on the case of a local criminal accused of murder under the auspices of her late husband's investigation business, that might be a step too far. People start disappearing and turning up dead, and Morgana's family is at risk. Soon members of of her family are reluctant participants in the investigation and are uncovering Savannah's unsavoury past in the process.

I freely admit that I struggled with this novel. At 304 pages, it has only 5 chapters and at times they can be rather slow. While the setting is intriguing and the troubling ancestral history draws you in, the dialogue can be unwieldy and difficult. Rather than stating that a character speaks with a heavy Southern drawl, the author phonetically describes the dialogue ("daaayy-umm") which can become very annoying. The ending is somewhat abrupt and feels incomplete.

Thanks to NetGalley and Celadon Books for a copy to read and review.

It is Ralph's 45 birthday. He wants to celebrate in style on the Amalfi Coast in a villa with his family - his fractured family. Ralph is still obsessed with his ex-wife Sarah, who will be there with her new love interest Jack, to whom she is now engaged. Their children Patrick and Janice will also be in attendance. Janice is struggling with the impact of her parents' separation and her own mental illness. Patrick is bringing Anna, his girlfriend, with whom he has a difficult and testy relationship. Emotions and resentments simmer under the hot Italian summer sun. What could go wrong?

This quick summer read consists of numerous short chapters with multiple POV. It is a novel version of a reality TV show, showcasing a group of self-centred characters behaving badly. I enjoyed it in a rather guilty way, as you would with an indulgent ice cream you shouldn't be eating!

I have seen many critical reviews of the novel - citing odd vocabulary choice and unlikeable characters. It is a valid critique that it is not masterpiece of literature, to put it mildly. However it was never intended to be and it is unpretentiously what it is: a fun and indulgent confection to tear through while lying on a lounger in the summer. I feel that the conclusion and resolution could have been stronger as it is rather anticlimactic after all the tension. There were no real surprises or plot twists, so it was rather uneventful at the end. However, I enjoyed it simply for what it was. Thank you to NetGalley and Avon Books for a copy to read and review.

The story: a bombastic, aging TV historian named Marmaduke Godolfin gathers together members of his "gilded circle" from his university teaching days to launch a new history special with an explosive revelation about a historical figure. However, he doesn't quite have the proof of it yet and enlists two archivists to sift through a trove of documents looking for it. Godolfin has made many enemies over the years and trampled over the careers and personal lives of many for his personal gain. Before long, he is floating in a rio (river) with a stiletto blade in his chest. Archivist Arnold Clover and his friend Luca assist the carabinieri in solving the murder while pursuing Godolfin's historical mystery and enjoying La Bella Vita in the murky streets of Venice.

The setting: Venice in all its glory. Not the Venice of gawping tourists but the Venetian version of unknown campos and secret restaurants, the peaceful lagoon and streets sprinkled with snow.

The verdict: I LOVED IT! The characters are engaging and believable, the history, real and imagined, is fascinating and the story moves along at a good pace. The setting is an integral part of the plot and I really appreciate that it isn't just a sideshow, but rather the story couldn't have taken place anywhere else. I certainly hope there will be a sequel! So much thanks to NetGalley and Severn House for introducing me to this great novel.

I listened to this novel on Audiobooks, not knowing anything about it beforehand. The concept sounded fascinating - in the 1930s a biracial British woman named Lena Aldridge is grieving the loss of her father from tuberculosis and gets caught up in the drama surrounding the murder of her best friend's husband. She gets offered a job on Broadway from an agent named Charlie Bacon and impulsively decides to pursue the opportunity, sailing the high seas on the Queen Mary to NYC to follow her dreams. On the voyage, she becomes embroiled in more drama with the dysfunctional wealthy Abernathy family when the patriarch is murdered at the dining table. Lena must keep her wits about her as she navigates the many deceptions around her and protect herself as there may be a target on her back as well.

Everything about this sounded promising and it had all the elements I would love in a mystery - my favourite era, a strong female lead character, adventure on the high seas in a glamourous setting and an adequate amount of dead bodies! However it lacked many things in the delivery sadly. The author failed to make use of that glamourous era and setting, the police were a bit too obviously corrupt to be believable and the story just rambled on and on. The ending was disappointing and lacklustre and it felt like the author had gotten fed up with it herself by that point. Unfortunate as it was a missed opportunity.

This short novella, about 60 pages, is an introduction to British ministry civil servant, Mr. Quayle, in his first adventure. It sets the stage for the novel to follow, A Most Efficient Murder, providing the history on how he comes to work as a private secretary for Lord Unsworth and unwittingly embark on a career as an amateur detective.

I completely enjoyed this novella, as I did with the novel mentioned earlier. As a reader fixated on British murder mysteries and detectives from all eras, it shines through that Mr. Slayton is a connoisseur of the British detective story. He gets all the subtle details right, down to the Poirot-esque unveiling of the culprit!

Sincere thanks to the author for providing me with a copy to enjoy. I will be looking for more stories about Mr. Quayle.