{I've Been Reading} An Insidious Inherirtance

Tell Me What You Did by Carter Wilson 

Poe Webb's podcast is made up of confessions. She gives her guest fifteen minutes to talk, then questions them about what they've just revealed.  Whatever the police or her listeners will do with those revelations is out of her hands. The format has made her famous -- but now she's got a man on the other end of her internet connection claiming to have impossible information about her mother's murder. The first confession in the book had me on the edge of my seat. After that, it took a little while for me to figure out the format, but once I did I was hooked and the book held my attention until the last few chapters. I'd recommend this one if you're intrigued by the world of true crime podcasts. 

The Family Inside by Katie Garner 

Iris's husband was murdered, then she lost her house to forclosure, then she lost her job. She's about to become homeless with her eighteen-year-old daughter...then her new love interest suggests that they move in with him. And his mother. He's making repairs to her dilapidated old mansion and there's plenty of extra room. There are also plenty of other family members living there. The old house is creepy and Hugh's siblings are weird and unpleasant. And the plot is a fast paced roller coaster of crazy that just keeps speeding up and finding new ways to twist. I'm not sure how I feel about the whole thing. None of it is plausible, but it was oddly entertaining once I figured out what was actually going on.  

An Insidious Inheritance by Amelie West

This mystery, set in 1930s New York State, conjures up imagery of old black and white movies and Nancy Drew books. When Clara Dawson inherits a dilapidated inn from her estranged father it could be the solution to her problems, or just another source of debt. It was a fun read, but I found myself wishing for a little more detail (did the inn not have electricity because it was an isolated building in 1933....or because it had been shut off?) Clara is smart and self sufficient and I look forward to reading more about her in future books. 

Devil's Island by Midge Raymond and John Yunker

By far the best part of this thriller is the setting. I wish the characters had been as interesting as the wildlife. With an inexperienced guide who has already proven that she's not quite up to the job, dangerous weather, and a missing camper, I expected this to be a lot more suspenseful than it actually was. 

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

{I've Been Reading} Murder in Bloom

 Murder in Bloom by Rosie Sandler 

Steph and her dog, Mouse, are back in the garden, this time as part of a prestigious competition. I loved the first two books in the series, but this one didn't hold my interest in the same way. I found myself missing Steph's previous jobs which had her restoring historic gardens to their former glory. Building a temporary garden from scratch wasn't nearly as interesting. Mouse is always fun to read about and Steph's relationship with her family is explored further so there's plenty to enjoy. 

Pretty Dead Things by Lilian West 

A jar of sparkly baubles that Cora bought for five bucks from an estate sale reveals what appears to be a family heirloom and she decides to return it to the family because she's sure they'll want it back. Sure enough that she won't take no for an answer and insists on contacting several different family members and dredging up unwanted memories. I didn't love this one. The mystery isn't that compelling and it has  which had a small town, Hallmark Movie sort of fee to it, without the fun. Cora is insensitive to anyone else's feelings and feels like a two dimennsional character. 

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

{I've Been Reading} The Business Trip

 The Business Trip by Jessie Garcia 

Stephanie and Jasmine share a brief encounter on a flight to San Diego. The two women have nothing in common, but before long both have vanished after sending eerily similiar text messages about a man named Trent, alarming their friends at home. I absolutely loved this thriller with its unique, fast paced structure. It switches frequently between characters so you absolutely have to read the name at the top of each chapter, but it's absolutely worth keeping track of who is talking. I couldn't put it down and definitely didn't guess at what had happened to the two women. 

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

{I've Been Reading} Missing in Flight

 Missing in Flight by Audrey J Cole

Makayla left her infant son sleeping alone in the bassinet just long enough to dash to the airplane's restroom, afraid that if she took him with her he'd take ages to settle back down. She asked the girl in the pink headphones to keep an eye on him and was as quick as she could possibly be, but when she returned  to her seat Liam was gone. I wasn't sure how this one was going to work -- how long could it take to search a plane? The author manages to stretch the concept into a full length thriller, partially by switching point of view back and forth between every possible character including Makayla, her husband, the pilot, and the officers investigating the case.  At first the premise made sense, but things got less and less plausible as the book progressed.

Death Among the Stitches by Betty Hechtman

I can see a lot of potential in this new mystery series, but it took time for this first book to get going. Annie Hart is a very young protagonist who works in a Los Angeles boutique as assistant to a movie star's daughter. When she inherits a building from her uncle, she's excited to have something of her own and immediately flies across the country to see it, not realizing that the old schoolhouse was actually a yarn shop. (It's an amazing coincidence that the building her uncle bought to convert to a restaurant just happens to be full of supplies for Annie's favorite hobby.) The local knitters are delighted  that the shop has a new owner, but Annie plans to sell the building and its contents and head back to California as soon as she can. It's a fun read if you don't worry about things like whether Annie owns the business or just the building, or how the bugs that destroyed half othe yarn in the shop left the rest in good enough condition to sell. The mystery behind the death of the original shop owner is great and I really enjoyed trying to piece together the clues, but a lot of the plot is focused on Annie's determination to sell the shop -- which doesn't leave a whole lot of suspense if this is the first book in the series. 

The Apartment Across the Hall by Jack Dane 

Affordable apartments are hard to find in New York, so Salem Ripley takes what she can get, especially after potential landlords see her background check. The place has a lot of problems, but she needs a place to live, as unpleasant as the building is. One neighbor plays deafeningly loud cop shows all night long. The guy across the hall brings new women to his apartment one after another -- and no matter how closely she watches his door, she never sees a single one of them leave. This short, fast paced thiller is absolutely wild. I found Salem hard to like, but it was an interesting read. 

The Book of Witching by C. J. Cooke

This book is an atmospheric slow burn that weaves together two stories -- a nineteen year old girl suffers in a burn unit after a hiking trip with friends went horribly wrong and the a woman is accused of witchcraft four hundred years earlier. It took a while for me to get into this one and I definitely found the historical scenes more interesting than the contemporary ones even if I didn't know enough about the daily life of the Orkneys in the sixteenth century to fully understand what was going on. (The author's note at the end cleared a lot of things up for me.) 

The Perfect Home by Daniel Kenitz

This domestic thriller immediately caught my attention and held it the whole way through. Dawn Decker is the less beloved half of the celebrity couple behind the reality show A Perfect Home. Everyone adores Wyatt and his easy smile and charming personality. She's less comfortable in the spotlight, less adept at manipulating public opinion. When she finds handwritten notes outlining his plans to exploid a family tragedy - one that hasn't actually happened yet - she packs up their newborn twins and runs, knowing that she's instantly recognizable and that the public will be firmly on Wyatt's side. I loved this book. The plot might not be plausible, but it was definitely entertaining. 

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