Death in the Dark Woods by Annelise Ryan

 "When it comes to the creature known as Bigfoot there are three camps of thought: the skeptics, the believers, and the folks who simply see it all as a way to make a buck."

 

MORGAN CARTER -- bookstore owner and cryptid hunter. "I don't search for cryptids to make money; I do it because I love it and to continue the work my parents did in the field...I'm a cynic at heart, and I approach my cryptid searches from a position of science and reality, not speculation and rumor."

CHARLIE ABERDEEN -- a conservation warden in Bayfield, Wisconsin. She's a believer. Because when she was thirteen, she saw something in the woods that looked remarkably like Bigfoot. She just can't prove it. 

JON FLANDERS -- Chief of police for Washington Island, located off the tip of Wisconsin's Door County Peninsula, and Morgan's...friend? Boyfriend? They're still figuring that one out. 

NEWT -- Morgan's large, half blind, lovably sweet rescue dog. 

"There's something strange going on in the Chequamegon National Forest. We've had some Bigfoot sightings in the area, a couple of which have been rather...disturbing. One of them may have torn a man apart."

 MY THOUGHTS:  This is another entertaining and well-written mystery from Annelise Ryan. Morgan and Jon are both very likable characters, each with their own tragedy in their pasts. I liked seeing their relationship grow a little more in this one. Morgan is smart and resourceful. And I love her dog, Newt. The Bigfoot angle made the mystery a lot of fun. (But then I'm always a sucker for Bigfoot sightings in any book.) And did they finally find evidence of this mysterious cryptid? You'll have to read it for yourself to find out. This is the second book Ryan has written about these characters, and I enjoyed it as much as the first one. 

Happy Reading!

Ryan's previous book:  A Death in Door County

Other "Bigfoot" novels:

Roanoke Ridge by J.J. Dupuis

Devolution by Max Brooks

Top Ten Tuesday

 

Top Ten Tuesday is a fun weekly meme hosted by Jana at That Artsy Reader Girl.

This week's them is a Love Freebie in honor of Valentine's Day. But instead of doing a list of favorite romances, which I've done in the past, I decided to center my top ten list this week around a game I love to play instead:  CHESS.   So here's my list of 10 books with a chess theme on the cover or in the title. 

The Flanders Panel by Arturo Perez-Reverte

The Eight by Katherine Neville

The Queen's Gambit by Walter Tevis 

Gentlemen & Players by Joanne Harris

Bishop's Knight by Katie Reus

Check & Mate by Ali Hazelwood

The Rook by Daniel O'Malley

Curiosity by Gary Blackwood

Mystery Mile by Margery Allingham

Hunter's Green by Phyllis A. Whitney

Horrorscape by Nenia Campbell

Happy Reading!

The Only One Left by Riley Sager

 

At seventeen, Lenora Hope

Hung her sister with a rope,

Stabbed her father with a knife,

Took her mother's happy life.

"It wasn't me," Lenora said.

But she's the only one not dead.

The plot:  Maine, 1983. Kit McDeere is a home-health aide who made a serious mistake with her last patient. So when her employer offers her the chance to become the caregiver to Lenora Hope, the woman accused of killing her entire family decades ago, Kit has no choice but to head to Hope's End. Even though the thought of caring for a murderer disturbs her. The stately mansion sits on the cliffs overlooking the ocean; it's dilapidated now, and slanting towards the sea as the ground beneath it slowly erodes.  Besides Kit, there are three other employees at Hope's End: the housekeeper, the maid, and the groundskeeper. As for Lenora, she's partially paralyzed from a series of strokes, can't walk, can't speak, and can only move her left hand. To communicate, she taps once for no, twice for yes. But she can also tap out sentences on her typewriter. Kit finds Lenora secretive and hard to read. She's also very curious to know the truth about what really happened. So when Lenora types out the message: i want to tell you everything, Kit gets quickly drawn into Lenora's past and all the hidden secrets surrounding the murders of her family. And she starts to wonder if Lenora didn't kill her family, who did? 

My thoughts:  I love a thriller with an unexpected twist in it, but sometimes a book can have too many of them. And then they just muddle the story line and ruin the suspense. Like in this book. There's not just one plot twist at the end, there's three. And the first one completely flips the narrative. I felt that it made the big reveal about the truth of the Hope murders that followed it convoluted and confusing. The second big twist involved Kit and felt way too coincidental and unbelievable; and the very last twist not only felt tacked on and unnecessary, but completely implausible. Which was too bad, because I was enjoying the book up until then. It's compelling, and the setting is atmospheric. And even though I didn't really love any of the characters, I was still liking the book. But all those twists at the end, one right after the other, left me feeling nonplussed and dissatisfied. I just couldn't buy into them all. So while I normally love Riley Sager's novels, I found this one disappointing and less than stellar. 

Happy Reading!

February's bookish art...

 

Maurice Louis Tete -- Woman reading in an interior

"I believe that 'finding the book you're looking for' is an overrated notion. Far better to explore, and let the book you need be the one which finds you."

--Craig Shaefer

Two quick recommendations...

 

All Systems Red by Martha Wells

There's so much to like about this science fiction novella:  good writing, humor, a bit of mystery, and lots of action. But the best part is the SecUnit construct known as Murderbot. His snarky thoughts and his sometimes awkward interactions with his human clients totally made me smile. He's another new favorite character. Now I just need to read the rest of the series. (And that kind of bookish math is so typical of my entire TBR list--finish reading one book, add five more to the list.)

Western Lane by Chetna Maroo

How do I describe this one? This short, well-written novel is a story of grief and growing up, of three sisters and their father after the death of their mother, and the way they use the game of squash to cope and connect. It's an introspective novel, told from the youngest daughter's POV, lyrical in places, but melancholic, too. And I'm still trying to decide if I liked it, or not. But I did really like Sam's Review over at Book Chase, which is what made me want to read this one in the first place. 

Happy Reading!

The Collected Regrets of Clover by Mikki Brammer

 

First line:  The first time I watched someone die, I was five.

Setting:  New York City, present day

Main Character:  Clover Brooks, a death doula who has dedicated her life to helping people as they reach the end of theirs. She keeps a record of all their regrets, but ignores her own. Because while Clover is very good at dealing with death, she's not so good at dealing with her own life.  "I didn't expect to get to my mid-thirties and still have only one friend. That's the thing about loneliness:  no one ever chooses it."

 My thoughts:  Clover's journey is one of uncertainty, love, fear, hope and second chances. She's a bookish introvert who struggles to make friends. And she's never been in love. I liked her a lot. And the people she meets along the way are so great. They each help her expand her small world in some unique way. I got caught up in this story right from the first page and didn't want to stop reading. This book made me feel all the feels: it's moving, humorous, charming, sad, satisfying, and heartwarming. 

Favorite Quote:  "The secret to a beautiful death is to live a beautiful life. Putting your heart out there. Letting it get broken. Taking chances. Making mistakes." 

Here's to living a life with fewer regrets.

Happy Reading!

Randomness...

Where did January go? I feel like it went by fast. But I have to admit I'm always glad when February arrives because it means the end of winter is at last in sight. Here in Utah, we still get snowstorms throughout February, but we also get more days with sunshine, blue skies, and warmer temps. And that makes me happy. 

I finally got around to reading Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt.

And it's as good as everyone has said. Mostly because of Marcellus--who's a Giant Pacific Octopus. He just might be my most favorite character this year. I'll never look at an octopus in an aquarium the same way again.  

Other things that have made me glad recently:

• Downy woodpeckers at my feeder.
• Hearing a favorite song on the radio on my way to work.
• Playing Skip-bo, Bananagrams, and 10 Days in Asia with some friends last weekend.
• Not having to shovel any snow the past few weeks. (While we've been getting a lot of snow up at the ski resorts, down where I live it's been mostly rain.)
• Finding lots of good books at my library to check out. (Of course, I once again checked out way too many, but at least I'm not in danger of running out of things to read any time soon.)

I hope you find many things to be glad about this month!