{I've Been Reading} The House Hunt

 The House Hunt by C. M. Ewan 

The real estate agent is running late and the potential buyer is on a tight schedule. Knowing how badly they need to sell their house, Lucy lets the stranger in, forcing back all of her fears and phobias. Her boyfriend will be there soon.  It'll all be okay. 

But then the man insists on seeing the basement, the one place in her own home where Lucy absolutely won't venture. And he doesn't come back upstairs. He doesn't answer when she calls out to him. And Lucy's fears become full fledged panic. 

The plot is extremely fast paced, told in very short chapters that alternate between Lucy and another character. The description reminded me of We Used to Live Here, but it's not the same thing at all. About halfway through, I thought I knew where it was headed, but I was very wrong. 

He Loves Me Not by Lorraine Murphy 

I couldn't put this thriller down. Except for one threatening event in an early chapter, the plot moves slowly, but Ruth is an absolutely fascinating character and I was immediately plunged into her life. The cult that she fled a few years earlier isn't just a group of vaguely scary religious people, the Messengers of the Messiah are explained in detail and chillingly plausible. Ruth has left behind some of her more extreme beliefs behind and held on to others. She's been living a normal life with her daughter, but now things are beginning to happen that have her looking over her shoulder for men in black suits. It's a chillling, suspenseful read that left me wanting to look for the author's earlier books. 

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

{I've Been Reading} Quilty as Charged

 Quilty as Charged by Maggie Bailey 

Lydia Barnes is counting on her first sewing retreat as a way to turn things around for her sewing shop, Measure Twice. The first weekend is a sort of trial run, with friends and regular customers in attendance. She's encouraged them all to leave their devices at home so when the owner of the mountain cabin is found murdered and an unexpected storm knocks out the power and phone lines they're all stranded with a killer. 

It took me a while to warm up to this one. There's a lot of sewing jargon, which would be right up my alley if it was the kind of sewing that I do, but I didn't recogize a single pattern or fabric line. They're making quilted jackets, but thankfully they're quilting their own fabric instead of using cutter quilts. (Yes, I would've been upset about fictional characters making fictional projects and destroying quilts that never actually existed. I'm like that.) 

Once the murder happened it got a lot more interesting. Everyone seemed to have a possible reason to want the victim dead. The way that Lydia eventually figured out who did was was satisfying. I haven't read the first book in the series, but the resolution left me wanting to visit these characters again. 

The Man in my Attic by Robin Mahle

What makes this domestic  thriller so unique is that you go into it with a pretty clear idea of what's happening. There is a man hiding in the family's attic and you know who it is and what he's already done. You know what secrets the husband and wife have been hiding from one another. Their little boy tells them about "Billy," his friend in the walls. It's just a matter of waiting to see what will finally happen. It's fast paced and suspenseful. If I have any complaint it's that there are SO many characters telling the story. I found myself flipping back to see whose point of view I was reading. 

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

{I've Been Reading} Peach Tea Smash

 Peach Tea Smash by Laura Childs

Just...WOW! This kept me turning pages -- I literally read it straight through from beginning to end. After a friend's husband is murdered at the Mad Hatter Masquerade, tea shop owner Theodosia Browning starts an investigation, all while planning multiple events for her shop. The atmosphre and pace are absolutely perfect. I love Theodosia's confidence. This is the twenty-eighth book in the series, but I never felt lost even though I've only read one previous title. (After this I want to go back and catch up on what I've missed!) 

Death on a Serving Board by J. C. Eaton 

Murder, charcuterie boards, and the ghost of a food critic....Katie Aubrey has her hands full. The customers attending a class at her shop can't seem to stop squabbling over the tiniest things. An investor wants her building and won't take no for an answer. A body was found in the alley. Katie is scrambling and it makes for a fast paced, engaging plot. I definitely should have started this series with the first book, but this one is a lot of fun. And did I mention the GORGEOUS cover?  

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

{I've Been Reading} Between A Flock and a Hard Place

After Oz by Gordon McAlpine

Several days after her aunt and uncle's farmhouse is scooped up by a tornado then dropped into a splintered pile of wreckage, eleven year old Dorothy Gale is found unharmed in a pumpkin patch with her little dog at her side. She tells a detailed story about the colorful land she visited, the friends she made there, and the witch she accidentally melted. Unfortunately, a local woman has been found with her face burned away, as if melted, by lye. 

This is the story of the young female psychologist who visits Dorothy in the asylum and tries to decipher what actually happened. It's not quite what I was expecting -- there are very few references to the original book. Instead, it's a procedural mystery as Dr. Evelyn Grace Wilford tries to find out what actually happened to the spinster and if little Dorothy is as innocent as she claims. The people of Sunbonnet, Kansas are an unpleasant bunch. I don't know if I've ever read so many bible quotes in such a short book, religious or not (and this one is definitely not.) The original book describes a sad, gray world that Dorothy escapes and in this book she's right back in it. As bleak as it all is, the author kept me interested until the very end. 

Between A Flock and a Hard Place by Donna Andrews 

There's a lot going on in the latest Meg Langslow mystery. Another reality show is in town, this one filming a home rennovation for Marvelous Mansions with absolutely no concerns about how their plans are going to inconvenience the rest of the neighborhood or what the local building codes are. Someone has released a huge flock of feral turkeys into the area, terrorizing the locals and the construction crew. And there's been a murder. 

This is a well established series with a LOT of characters. I jumped in with the last book (Let It Crow! Let It Crow!) and absolutely loved it, but I had a harder time getting into this one. Maybe it was because it was so fast paced, or maybe because I had a hard time relating to the turkeys. (We've got a local flock that I've never seen as a threat -- are wild turkeys and feral turkeys different critters?) The mystery itself is just complicated enough to be interesting and has a satisfying conclusion. I should really go back and start this series from the beginning. 

A Poisonous Palate by Lucy Burdette 

Food critic Hayley Snow is asked  to help investigate the disappearance of a young woman who was last seen at a communal campground on Big Pine Key in the late 1970s. That intrigued me, and so did the idea that one of the characters is researching a book about Hemmingway. This book offered a great chance to visit a different place and time and the solution to the mystery was suspenseful and satisfying. 

Don't Tell a Soul by Jessia Huntley

This is a wild ride of a thriller. A teenager flees her abusive father. Her escape plan doesn't work out as expected, but she finds herself in a small town renting an attic room from an older woman who was in a similar situation as a girl. The arrangement is going well until she breaks her landlady's rules and goes down to the basement. If you don't insist on realistic situations and want a fast paced read with unexpected twists, this is a fun one. 

A Mask of Flies by Matthew Lyons

The book starts with a botched bank robbery. Anne Heller is driving towards the isolated cabin she once fled with her mother, an injured friend bleeding in the passenger seat of the Oldsmobile, a police officer in the trunk. She never wanted to return to that place, but in that moment it's the only option she can think of. The story is fast paced and full of violence...until it suddenly isn't. Things really slow down once Anne confronts the nightmares of her childhood and I found myself losing interest.  

Disclosure -- The publishers provided me with advance review copies.