Daughter of Mine by Megan Miranda

 

How it begins: "They raised the car from the lake on the same day as my father's memorial, two unrelated but equally newsworthy events: Something lost. Something found."

Where it takes place:  The isolated community of Mirror Lake nestled in the mountains of North Carolina.

The main players:  Hazel Sharp and her two brothers, Gage and Caden Holt.

The mystery:  The truth of what really happened when Hazel's mother ran off and left them all those years ago.

My thoughts:  Finally! A thriller that doesn't disappoint. (It's the third one I've read so far this summer and the only one I actually liked.) It's full of family secrets, quiet threats, mounting suspicions, and taut suspense. I enjoyed how Hazel unravels the truth of things bit by bit. It's so good; and it reads fast. This is the kind of thriller I was hoping for this summer. And it definitely makes me think I need to check out some of Miranda's other books. 

My rating:  ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Happy Reading!

A movie worth watching...

Young Woman and the Sea 

It's the story of Trudy Ederle who was the first woman to swim the English Channel at a time when the idea of women participating in any kind of sport was not only frowned upon but thought improper and unsafe. Good thing Trudy Ederle didn't listen to any of the naysayers. Talk about an excellent movie! I highly recommend it. It's based on the book by Glenn Stout...which I now want to read. 

Top Ten Tuesday...

 

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

This week's theme is: MOST ANTICIPATED BOOKS RELEASING DURING THE SECOND HALF OF 2024. 

Here's my list:

The Burning by Linda Castillo (Jul. 9th)

Haunted Ever After by Jen DeLuca (Aug. 13th)

(While I don't love this cover, I am excited for this book.)

Where They Last Saw Her by Marcie Rendon (Aug. 27th)

The Life Impossible by Matt Haig (Sep. 3rd)

The Third Gilmore Girl by Kelly Bishop (Sep. 17th)

All I Want is You by Falon Ballard (Sep. 24th)

Murder at King's Crossing by Andrea Penrose (Sep. 24th)

Gathering Mist by Margaret Mizushima (Oct. 8th)

An Instruction in Shadow by Benedict Jacka (Oct. 15th)

Summit's Edge by Sara Driscoll (Nov. 26th)

A Witch's Guide to Magical Innkeeping by Sangu Mandanna (Dec. 24th)

I look forward to seeing everyone else's TTT list this week, because I'm sure there are many more books coming out later this year that I've missed and should've put on this list.

Happy Reading!

 

The Wintringham Mystery by Anthony Berkeley

 

The story:  Having run through his small inheritance, demobbed army officer Stephen Munro is forced to take a job as a footman at Wintringham Hall, the country estate of Lady Susan Carey. It's a bit of a lark, though Stephen quickly discovers he's not really footman material. When Lady Susan decides to throw a party things get even more awkward for Stephen when his old schoolmate, Freddie Venables, shows up as one of the guests along with Stephen's old flame, Pauline Manwaring and her new fiancè, a man Stephen immediately dislikes. Then one of the female guests disappears during a silly parlor game one night and Stephen adds amateur detective to his list of duties. 

My thoughts:  I thoroughly enjoyed this British Library Crime Classic. Stephen has a take-life-with-a-grin attitude that I found endearing. His encounters as a footman, especially with the uptight and strict butler, Martin, and with Freddie and Pauline were very funny. And the mystery of Cecily's disappearance kept everyone in the house guessing. Was it a prank? Or something more nefarious? I liked Pauline's spunk and her back-and-forth banter with Stephen as they investigated things together. There are some fun twists and turns along the way and the obligatory red herrings, too. There's even a bit of romance. All in all, this is a delightfully charming mystery. 5 stars.

Happy Reading!

The other Anthony Berkeley mystery I've read:  The Poisoned Chocolates Case.

Haiku Reviews...

 

Are We There Yet? by Savannah Scott

Four friends. One road trip. 

Adventure, laughter, and love

on Route 66.

Romantic comedy .... 388 pages .... 4/5 stars.

(Gotta love a fun summer road trip book, especially one with such a cute romance.)

The Girls Who Disappeared by Claire Douglas

Three girls gone. Digging 

for the truth, Jenna uncovers

past secrets and lies.

Thriller .... 367 pages .... 2/5 stars.

(Didn't find this one very thrilling; and I was completely underwhelmed by the "big reveal" at the end.)

Romancing the Grump by Jenny Proctor

They're only pretending

to date; then she starts to fall

in love for real.

Romantic comedy .... 343 pages .... 5/5 stars.

(A sweet hockey romance that completely charmed me.)

Happy Reading!

An Unforgiving Place by Claire Kells

 

Felicity Harland and Ferdinand "Hux" Huxley are agents for the Investigative Services Bureau; they investigate crimes that occur in National Parks. This time they've been summoned to the Gates of the Arctic National Park in Alaska where a young couple has been found dead near the Alatna River. Was it a tragic accident? Or murder? 

Harland and Hux soon discover that the couple came to Alaska to meet up with the reclusive Zane Reynolds, a man who purportedly can solve any couple's infertility issues. To Harland, his group sounds like a cult. So, she and Hux head out into the remote landscape in search of Reynolds to find out if he had anything to do with the couples' deaths. 

My thoughts:  This is another intriguing mystery from Claire Kells. I really loved the setting! The Gates of the Arctic is the second largest national park in the United States; it's also one of the least visited because of how remote it is. There are no roads or trails leading into the park; you have to be flown there in one of those small Alaskan bush planes and dropped off. That extreme isolation really added some nice tension to this book. Not only do Harland and Hux have to deal with the harsh landscape, but they also have to deal with a secretive survivalist, fleeing fugitives and a "demon bear". It's a fun summer read.

Happy Reading!

Kells' previous novel:  Vanishing Edge

June's Bookish Art...

 

Frederick Carl Frieseke -- Summer Reading, 1902

"The time you enjoy wasting is not wasted time."

--Bertrand Russell