saltygalreads's reviews
306 reviews

This novel is for the reader that enjoys a side of foodie culture with their murder mystery! When her cousin arrives back in Shady Palms with his entrepreneur friends and plans to start a winery, Lila is wary. Ronnie has been gone for years and trouble follows him everywhere. Sure enough, one of the group dies of methanol poisoning - an accident or something more sinister? Lila and the gang from the Brewha Cafe are soon investigating another mystery in Shady Palms.

This is the third instalment in the Shady Palms series, a cozy mystery series steeped in cultural celebration and foodie enjoyment. A note from the author at the end indicates that three more will be forthcoming. It is a holiday novel and those familiar with Filipino culture and food will appreciate all those references. Although it is a murder mystery, the tone is light and fun; and the language is very casual. I was little surprised to see abbreviations like "sus" and "AF" in a novel, but perhaps that just shows my age and education in English grammar from nuns.

If you are already a fan of the series, no doubt you will find much to enjoy in this novel continuing the adventures of Lila, Tita Rosie and the ninangs. Many thanks to Berkley and NetGalley for this advanced copy.

The Witches of Moonshyne Manor tells the story of a family of five aging witches who face being evicted from their beloved old home by a group of men who plan to demolish the old house and develop Men's World, a kind of debauched Disneyland for men. "Booze, naked women and guns," Ursula muses. What could possibly go wrong?" The women are fighters fortunately and will attempt to save their home and chosen family at all costs. Along the way they add a new young friend to their group, Persephone, the daughter of the town mayor, who is also a force of nature.

This is such a delightful, sweetly poignant and hilarious book. It is full of wisdom about aging, gender identity, masculinity, and even dementia. The portraits of the women are drawn with compassion, humour and love. The ending is about forgiveness, hope and achieving a dream. Bianca Marais writes beautiful and memorable words, and here is one of my favourites:

"We don't lose the right to tell our stories just because our flesh is sagging. If anything, age and experience give us even more right to speak and be heard."

I would recommend this book to any reader for its wisdom, humour and compassion - five stars. And as Persephone says..."Down with the Patriarchy!"

I picked up this book to read something for fun, not expecting much from it. There was more substance to this one than I expected! Ava Wong feels like a failure - despite her brilliant education and high-powered career, her marriage is wobbly and her toddler son is in the throes of full-on daily terrible two's tantrums. Ava craves something more. And then she hears from her university roommate Winnie, who presents her with an offer she can't refuse. With that, Ava is up to her armpits in high-end counterfeit designer bags and is raking in the cash. But she knows this can't end well, can it?

This novel was fun, fast-paced and thought-provoking. While one could argue that no one really gets hurt from the production of knock-off luxury bags, the same cannot be said of counterfeit plane parts, car parts or medications. The author makes you think about these issues, while simultaneously calling out the luxury brands for mistreating workers and ripping off customers. Does it make sense to charge ten times what it costs to make a product, while paying workers a pittance to slave in a sweatshop? You will never look at those designer bags the same way again.

It takes some time to come down from this novel. I had to let my thoughts settle before I could write a review.

Briefly, Grace is a survivor of a traumatic upbringing inside a Fair Latter Day Saints (FLDS) commune. Her mind has fractured into multiple distinct personalities to help her cope with the many hardships she endured. Years ago, she escaped into the arms of the police during a raid, taking a group of nine other children with her. Now it appears that someone may be taking revenge as one by one members of the group are dying under circumstances designed to look like accidents or suicide. A perceptive cop picks up the pattern and tries to determine who is behind the killing - is Grace a victim or the murderer?

The depiction of life inside the FLDS in this novel is chilling and believable. We follow Grace’s journey through her flashbacks and learn the tragic and cruel events that led to her disorder. Her illness is portrayed with empathy and dignity - I loved the inclusion of Bella her service dog. When the twist is revealed it isn’t exactly a surprise but that didn’t detract from the story at all. The ending is not completely satisfying and in some respects felt a little abrupt, however the reader isn’t expecting a happily ever after anyway.

It is a great book which definitely makes it on my list of the best I’ve read this year. There is some upsetting content here - themes including miscarriage, child sexual abuse, domestic violence and rape - for readers sensitive to that material.

Thanks to Dundurn Press and SM Freedman for my copy.

When you open a book by Ruth Ware, you do so with high expectations. This is of course based upon her prior novels, which I have greatly enjoyed. Added to that I think was the fact that this book received an unbelievable amount of publicity and promotion, which increased the hype around it. Unfortunately, for me, this book did not measure up to the anticipation.

The It Girl is another book in the "dark academia" category, set in the illustrious halls of Oxford. The story is told in a series of flashbacks and focuses on a group of first year students who are friends with the "It Girl" April Clarke-Cliveden. April is wealthy, spoiled and over-confident, but she is also generous with her friends and loves to party. The story of the fateful year is told from the perspective of April's best friend, Hannah Jones, who is hard-working, sensitive and working class. Years later, Hannah is married and pregnant with her first child, but she vividly recalls the events of that year at Oxford, which culminates in April's murder.

It is difficult to enjoy a book when you dislike the main character; and this was the first problem I encountered in reading The It Girl. I couldn't muster up any sympathy for Hannah Jones, who seemed a bit of a drama queen to me. She is completely obsessed with April, even years after her death, and is forever having fainting spells - very Victorian. Not to mention that April is not a likeable character at all, so one would wonder how much she would be missed. She certainly was lively and attention-grabbing, as It Girls tend to be, but she was not kind, compassionate or even a good friend. The cliche of the Lothario professor, wining, dining and seducing his nubile, young protegees has also had its moment in popular novels, so I'm not sure that really added anything to the story. Finally, The It Girl was just far too long and could have been edited down quite a bit.

Of all the books written by Ruth Ware, this is not one I would recommend. It just did not feel like there was anything especially creative here that hasn't been done better in novels like Kill All Your Darlings or The Maidens, both of which I loved. I would probably give it a 2.5, rounded up to a 3.

Ghostwritten is a collection of four short stories or novellas, all linked by the theme of books or a book as a source of danger and destruction for the characters.

I have never considered myself as a fan of horror -either books or movies- likely based on the assumption that horror is all blood and guts or satanic/demonic in nature. I now realize that is a limited and erroneous definition of horror and based upon Ghostwritten, am excited to read more.

These tales are exceptionally well-written, with twisty plots and clearly drawn, unique characters that you won't soon forget. (I won't be forgetting Olo any time soon!) I am hard-pressed to pick a favourite, but I think I would have to go with The Dark Brothers' Last Ride. Something about the surreal setting of the winding tarmac through the lonely and vacant desert towns really chilled me and captured my imagination, likely because I have driven through this part of the world and found it unsettling.

I am really happy I decided to give this novel a try and will definitely be reading more books from Ronald Malfi. An enthusiastic 5 stars!

When most people hear the name Edgar Allan Poe, they immediately think of a grim and gaunt figure and the associated connotations - gloom, melancholy, madness, death and despair. The fact that most people are only familiar with his horror stories are partially responsible for this impression.

This biographical book focuses on EAP's final years leading up to his mysterious death, and sheds some light on his romantic relationships and friendships over the years. There was indeed some melancholy and even despair in Poe's life, but not to the extent that is generally believed. He experienced periods of great happiness and productivity in his life, often the times when some of his greatest work was produced. Of course he was also mercurial, querulous and needy - he made a number of enemies throughout his short life and some of them did their best to disparage his memory.

In 1849 he went missing for three days and when finally found, he was desperately ill and wearing someone else's tattered clothing. Deliriously feverish, he died in Baltimore at just 40 years of age.

The author attempts to put some clarity around these mysterious last days, and he does a reasonable job of providing a plausible explanation. He also shines a light on Poe's tragic losses, his need to be loved, struggle with alcohol and poverty and the series of friendships and enemies he made over his brief life and career. The author also wisely acknowledges that some of the mystery around EAP will never be solved and this mystique has helped him linger in the popular imagination for all these years. An excellent read - well-researched and fascinating. Many thanks to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for the copy to review.

Homesickness is a short story collection from Colin Barrett, a young award-winning Irish writer. It is a small volume - just 213 pages - with ten short stories set mostly in Ireland, but also with some Canadian connections.

The stories are set among everyday, working class people and are a bit grim, as Irish subject matter is apt to be. (Don't come at me - my ancestry is all Irish and I know of what I speak!) However, there is an acerbic wit at work in these stories which made me occasionally give a bark of laughter. My hands-down favourite was The Alps, in which a trio of brothers take on a sword-wielding adolescent with mental health issues. "The Alp family tree was a stump mutilated by cancer and coronaries. Few of their male forebears made it into their sixties, which meant The Alps' days were probably almost over."

However, most of the stories simply tapered off into nothingness, leading me to turn the page and wonder where the rest of it was. I am a fan of the well-constructed short story, and I do like an ambiguous ending or an ironic one, but something about some of these was unsatisfying. I would like to go back and read the author's debut book for comparison, and would be interested in reading more from this writer as it is almost certain that there are great books to come.

If you love the short story form and appreciate Irish humour, then you likely enjoy this collection. I will summarize by saying that I did enjoy the collection, but didn't always love the manner in which the endings wandered off inconclusively, like walking into a room and forgetting why you went there. Three stars and looking forward to more from Colin Barrett.

I loved the premise of this novel and it seemed to be a great Marple-esque comfort read. A group of elderly sleuths meets every Thursday to discuss old murder case files at an upscale seniors' complex called Cooper's Chase in the British countryside. When a murder occurs in the village they decide to put their skills to the test and abandon the cold cases for this fresh murder. But old sins have long shadows and they soon realize that this current murder might be linked to events which occurred during the 1970s.

There are an abundance of colourful characters in this novel and some of the dialogue is quite entertaining. There is a nesting of smaller dramas and mysteries nestled inside the larger one, which sometimes distracts from the main storyline. The perspective frequently changes as different characters narrate the short chapters, but the voices are so different that I didn't find it confusing.

The pace dragged a bit and I struggled to maintain my interest from time to time. Upon reflection, I attribute this to the fact that the multiple nested stories were red herrings and a distraction from the primary mystery. I'm not sure why the author felt these were necessary - perhaps because the solution would have been too obvious without them. Ultimately this book was a bit of a letdown and didn't live up to the hype.