I'm still here, still knitting and quilting and stitching and reading and as busy as ever with everything except for the blog. More of my creative stuff is over on my Youtube channel these days. I plan to start posting some of it here again, but haven't figured out photo editing on the new laptop.
Joanna Campbell Slan (full disclosure -- she's a friend of mine and has guest posted here on the blog quite a few times over the years) has a new book out, Death at the Dog Park. It contains two novellas, one by Joanna and one by Neil S. Placky. I hadn't read any of his mysteries yet, but I loved his novella, which deals with the murder of a dog trainer with unpopular methods. I may check out his Golden Retreiver Mysteries, but first I'm going to read The Smiling Dog Cafe because I'm intrigued by the idea of "healing fiction." Joanna's novella is about Kiki Lowenstein and her great dane Gracie, who digs up a human hand on their first trip to the dog part. So much for Kiki's plan to get them both in better shape! Both mysteries are complex and satifying and I can't recommend them enough. If you use Facebook and are looking for lots of positive inspiration, check out Joanna's Readers Group, which is full of positive inspiration. I've found so many new-to-me mystery authors to add to my TBR pile and I always enjoy the discussions there.
The Tradwife's Secret by Liane Child
As soon as I saw the description of this one, I was ready to start reading. The whole mommy-influencer idea (at leas the fictional variety) fascinates me and this one is done very well. Alternating between the apparently perfect life of Madison March and another woman who isn't doing nearly as well, it kept me turning pages. The way the plotlines finally tied up together was extremely satisfying. My only complaint was the ominious door in the hillside and one character's reaction to it -- why wouldn't her first thought be "root cellar" or another equally harmless assumption?
Such Quiet Girls by Noelle West Ihli
Ten students and their bus driver, buried in a shipping container at an isolated quarry... A desperate mother, ransome note in hand...The two desperate kidnappers, arguing about their next step... This thriller alternates between multiple points of view. They're all necessary, but the plot moves slowly and I had a hard time picturing what was acutally happening in the buried shipping container. The dimensions I was picturing in my head didn't seem to match up with the author's intent and it was a constant distraction. Things moved slowly until the end when I finally started to worry about the characters and their fate.
The Cut C. J. Dotson
Sadie desperately needs her job at the rundown L'Arpin Hotel. As much as she can't afford to draw attention to herself or the fact that she's hiding her preschooler in her attic room while working her housekeeping shifts, she can't ignore that guests are vanishing or that something ominous is squelching and dripping in the building itself. I enjoyed this one. Sadie's situation required some suspension of disbelief, but the horror element was entertaining if not scary.
Disclosure -- The publishers provided me with advance review copies.