The World Beneath by Rebecca Cantrell

 

The plot in brief: Joe Tesla is a successful multi-millionaire tech genius who helped develop some cutting-edge facial recognition software. 181 days ago, a severe case of agoraphobia drove him underground. Now he spends his days exploring the subterranean world beneath New York City with his psychiatric service dog, Edison. Then on one such exploration, in an abandoned tunnel, he discovers a walled-up train car, two long dead skeletons, a murdered soldier, and some long buried secrets that will put his own life in danger.

My thoughts:  I first heard about this series from Cath @ Read-Warbler, and I'm glad I was able to get a copy of this first Joe Tesla novel from my library because it's a very fun read. Joe Tesla is an intelligent and engaging character; I liked him a lot. I also loved the labyrinth of New York subway tunnels setting, the old Victorian manor built beneath Grand Central Station where he lives, and his cute dog, Edison. There's good tension and lots of action, and an entertaining plot. And the ending sets the stage for the next Joe Tesla book, The Tesla Legacy, which I can't wait to check out. 

My rating:  ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Happy Reading!

The Penguin Pool Murder by Stuart Palmer

 

First line:  Two little black penguins were the first to know the secret.

First published:  1931

The plot:  Hildegarde Withers, 39, pragmatic, no-nonsense, single teacher of third graders, teams up with New York City detective, Oscar Piper, to solve the murder of Gerald Lester, who she discovers floating, dead, in the penguin pool at the New York Aquarium. And playing detective is what she's always wanted to do.

"I can get a substitute for a few weeks," suggested Miss Withers eagerly. "I'm having the time of my life. ... That's why I came to New York ten years ago, instead of keeping on teaching school out in Iowa. I wanted a little excitement, though it's little enough I've got at Jefferson School. This is great fun, and better than any detective story I ever read....It's the ambition of my life to play detective."

 My thoughts:  This is not a mystery to be taken too seriously, but it is an entertaining step back in time. Oscar Piper and Hildegarde Withers are amusing characters. I enjoyed how they worked together to figure out the murder; their disagreements and arguments were equally amusing. Derbys and hat pins, the stock market crash, guesses and interrogations, all play a role in this fun 1930s mystery. I liked it, and wouldn't mind reading some of Palmer's other Hildegarde Withers mysteries. 

Happy Reading!

The Sun Down Motel by Simone St. James

There's something not quite right about the Sun Down Motel. And it's not just because people have died there. Viv Delaney is sure that it's haunted. She's the night clerk at the motel and she keeps a notebook of the happenings and hauntings that go on there. But when she learns about Betty, Cathy and Victoria--three young women who were all murdered in Fell, New York, within the last four years--she begins investigating their deaths. Because she thinks they're connected. And she thinks she knows how. Only no one believes her. And then, on November 29, 1982, she disappears.

Thirty-five years later Carly Kirk comes to Fell to solve the mystery of Viv Delaney's disappearance--Viv is the aunt she never got a chance to meet. She follows Viv's tracks, even taking a job as the night clerk at the Sun Down. And that's when strange things start to happen: unexplained noises and smells, motel doors opening for no reason, and the appearance of a woman in a floral dress who isn't real. Soon, Carly is investigating more than just her missing aunt. She has some handsome help, too. Nick Harkness is staying at the motel...and he's seen the ghosts, too.

My thoughts:
A great combination of mystery and ghost story, The Sun Down Motel is one of those dual timeline novels that alternates between Viv's POV in 1982 and Carly's in 2017. I found both characters likable and engaging in their own ways, and I quickly got drawn into both of their stories. What I didn't love at first was jumping back and forth between the two narratives and having to remember where I last left Viv or Carly, and what suspenseful thing had just happened to each of them. Happily, St. James's writing pulled me back in every time. And the two story lines soon paralleled each other in a way that kept the suspense building. There's some great supernatural action throughout. I also liked the way Viv and Carly were able to solve the mysteries in their own respective timelines. I ended up really loving this one. But then, I've loved most of Simone St. James books. She's become one of my favorite authors. What made this one even better? Reading it with Melody! Be sure to check out her review to see what she thought of it.

Happy Reading!

Melody's questions to me about this book:

Q. What did you think about the dual timeline between Viv and Carly? In what ways are Viv and Carly similar and different from each other?
A. I thought the dual timelines worked well in this book; I liked how Carly's story often echoed Viv's, and how the ghosts and the same people showed up in both timelines. As for how they're similar, Carly and Viv are both inquisitive and surprisingly fearless. Viv felt like more of a loner than Carly; Carly a bit more naive. I did think Viv was the better detective. She also had an intensity about her that Carly lacked. But I liked them both.

Q. So we know going in this was a ghost story and a haunted motel. Have you ever encountered anything strange or scary while staying in a hotel? If not, is there any other strange experiences that you can share with us?
A. Although I've stayed in some sketchy motels over the years, none of them have been scary, or have felt haunted in anyway. I did feel an eerie vibe when I was visiting Chaco Canyon, especially when the wind blew, that made me think the ruins there could definitely be haunted by the spirits of the past. But mostly my life has been ghost free.

Lock Every Door by Riley Sager

The plot in brief:  First she gets laid off. Then she breaks up with her cheating boyfriend. Now Jules Larsen is both broke and homeless. So when she sees an ad to be an apartment sitter at the Bartholomew, the setting of her favorite childhood book, Heart of a Dreamer, and one of Manhattan's most exclusive, glamorous, and infamous buildings, it feels like an answer to her prayers. Even better? They're going to pay her $4000 a month just to live there. Of course, she jumps at the chance. Who wouldn't? But is it too good to be true? Is her dream apartment really a nightmare in disguise?

Some of the Bartholomew's other inhabitants:
LESLIE EVELYN--the woman who keeps life at the Bartholomew running smoothly; she's the one who interviews all the apartment sitters and informs them of the rules for living there--the rules she also enforces.
GRETA MANVILLE--the reclusive author of Heart of a Dreamer; she grew up at the Bartholomew in 12A, the apartment where Jules is now staying, and though Jules would love to chat with her, she's not the friendliest of neighbors.
INGRID GALLAGHER--the young, fun apartment sitter living below Jules in 11A. Her sudden departure in the middle of the night is what makes Jules start to ask dangerous questions about the Bartholomew and its inhabitants.
DR. NICK--the rich and handsome surgeon who's parents, grandparents and great-grandparents all lived at the Bartholomew before him. He's a legacy.
MARIANNE DUNCAN--a former soap opera star, and her dog, RUFUS.
DYLAN--another apartment sitter; he knows more about the former occupant of 12A than he's willing to admit.
CHARLIE--the helpful and friendly doorman.

My thoughts:
You know right from the start that something isn't right at the Bartholomew, you just don't know what the dark truth is. And it's that mystery, and Sager's excellent writing, that kept me reading late into the night. Jules is one of those characters that is easy to like. She's engaging and determined. I totally understood why she jumped at the chance to apartment sit. (For that kind of money, I would have jumped at the chance, too.) I also got why she was so invested in finding out what happened to Ingrid, a person she just met. It all goes back to her own sister who disappeared years ago and was never found. As for the mystery itself? The deep dark secret of the Bartholomew is one I never would have guessed! I thought it was both creepy and compelling. And talk about a suspenseful ending! For me, this book is a definite must-read. Of course, Melody, who buddy read this book with me, has a slightly different opinion of this one. Be sure to check out her review and see what she thinks!

Happy Reading!

Melody's questions....and my answers:

Q. What do you like or dislike about the Bartholomew? 

A. My favorite part of the Bartholomew was all the gargoyles and Jules' view from apartment 12A. I love gargoyles and would love to live in a building where I had a stone gargoyle guarding my balcony. My least favorite part? The small, creaky elevator, and all the rich, snobby people who live there. I would not want any of them for my neighbors. 

Q. What do you think happened to Jules' sister, Jane?

A. I'm not really sure. We only know that she willingly got into someone's car after work one day and then was never seen again. Something bad must have happened to her after that though, because I don't think she'd would have let Jules bear the burden of their parents' deaths alone. I think she's probably dead.

Sager's other books:

The Last Time I Lied Review

Final Girls Review

From the N Shelf...

Author:  William Norwich

Title:  My Mrs. Brown

First line:  Early one September not long ago, a rural woman with a secret grief traveled to New York City in pursuit of a dream, to buy the most beautiful and correct dress she'd ever seen.

It's a great opening line, isn't it? I was hooked with just that. But then, on the next page, I found out it gets even better:

This daring voyager was Emilia Brown, or Mrs. Brown as she was generally known in her hometown, Ashville Rhode Island. She was sixty-six years old, a widow; if she was a scent, she was tea with honey, but if she was a color, she was a study in gray. Whether from the friction of living without life's buffering luxuries and engaging ambitions, or by the reduction of dreams and expectations that comes with age:  gray. Mrs. Brown was drained of color. Except for her green-brown eyes. If and when she smiled, well, it was like watching a rose open in one of those time-lapse films, and her eyes, spring flowers at twilight, lit up her face.

 Ordinary, dignified, humble and quiet, Mrs. Brown makes an impression on all those she meets. And so does her dream of owning this one perfect designer dress that will finally answer some secret need deep inside her heart. Because "sometimes a dress is not just a dress. It's a symbol" of something more. Reminiscent of Mrs. 'Arris Goes to Paris, which Norwich references several times, My Mrs. Brown is a beautifully written, character-driven story. It's both poignant and charming. I loved all the women in this book, and there are several:  Florida Noble, the fashion model who comes to stay for a few months, Rachel, director of Public Relations for Oscar de la Renta and a new friend, and Alice, Mrs. Brown's next-door neighbor's granddaughter who comes over for tea after work. But I especially loved Emilia Brown. I loved her quiet dignity and her wisdom and her grace. She's unforgettable!

I'm so glad I found this delightful gem hiding among the novels of Neggers, Nesbo and Nunes. It's such a good read! In fact, it was in the hopes of finding books just like this one that I started Reading the Alphabet in the first place. My Mrs. Brown is definitely one of my favorite books of 2016. Here's to bookish serendipity from the N shelf.

Happy Reading!

It's a mystery!

The Gaslight series by Victoria Thompson is one of my favorite mystery series, mostly because of the two main characters--Sarah Brandt, a young widowed midwife, and Frank Malloy, an Irish police detective--but also because it takes place in New York in the last part of the nineteenth century. I love that time period. And I love the spunkiness of Sarah and the steadfastness of Frank, as well as watching their relationship develop and grow over the course of the series.

But in Murder on St. Nicholas Avenue, Sarah and Frank are in Europe on their honeymoon. So this time it's up to their nanny, Maeve, and police officer Gino Donatelli to solve the murder in Harlem with a little help from Sarah's high society parents, Elizabeth and Felix Decker. The mystery involves a battered wife, her murdered husband, and a Panamanian Railroad scheme intended to cheat a lot of people out of their money.

Watching the Deckers play detective is delightfully humorous. And Maeve and Gino are great, too, especially Gino who keeps trying to get Maeve to admit that she likes him. In fact, this unorthodox foursome was so much fun, I didn't even miss Sarah and Frank.

Any and all of the nineteen books in Thompson's Gaslight series are worth reading, although if you've never tried her books, it's probably best to start with the first one in the series. Though this novel could almost be read as a stand-alone. It's a very entertaining mystery, and one I would read again.

Happy Reading!