{I've Been Reading} We Used to Live Here

 We Used to Live Here by Marcus Kliewer

I can't gush enough about how much I loved this book. The premise is delightfully creepy, but there's so much more here than the book's description promises -- and I don't want to spoil any of it. Charlie and Eve are a perfect couple, with great chemistry. They plan on refurbishing and flipping the sprawling old house they just bought. The family that shows up at their door is just normal enough that I can almost understand why Eve overcame her reluctance and let them in for what was only supposed to be a few minutes. I know, I just said another book was one of the best horror novels I'd read in a long time -- so is this one. It looks like 2024 is a great year for horror novels!

The Nature of Disappearing by Kimi Cunningham Grant

The first few pages of this thriller, with their vivid descriptions of Emlyn and her job as a fishing guide pulled me in immediately. She's confident and likable and when she sets offf with her ex-boyfriend in search of an estranged friend who disappered from her #vanlife adventure without warning, it makes sense. Something obviously went wrong between Emalyn and Tyler to cause their breakup, and something caused Emalyn and her friend, but that's revealed gradually through flashbacks. I felt like I was reading about real people making real decisions and the plot didn't go in the direction I expected it to. 

Now You See It by Carol J. Perry

Lee Barrett is getting used to her new role as "Historical Documentary Chief Executive" for WICH-TV, gathering footage for a documentary about the Seafaring New England exhibit at a new museum.  After the driver of an armored truck is murdered while delivering a shipment of artifacts, she becomes involved in the investigation. What's interesting about this one is how far removed Lee is from the murder. Her police detective husband provides her with details, but she didn't know the victim and her only ties to the case are as a television reporter. She does spend a lot of time with the suspects and the solution to the mystery is a satisfying one, with clues along the way that will make sense by the end. This is a well established series and obviously there's a lot I don't know about the characters and their history and relationships, but the author makes it easy to jump right in without a ton of back story. There are some fun supernatural elements, including the visions that Lee sees in reflective objects and a model ship that appears to be haunted. 

Disclosure -- The publisher provided me with an advance review copy.