The Suspect

This is the 3rd mystery from Fiona Barton, an award winning English journalist. I haven't read the first 2 (The Widow and The Child) but NPR's reviewer asserts they are better constructed and more readable. I would also agree with that reviewer that there is too much extraneous stuff that does not contribute to the central mystery of the story--what actually happened to the two young women who went to Thailand for a post graduation trip and then were found dead in in a burned hostel in Bangkok? The narrative POV moves relentlessly between so many characters that, even though the chapters are clearly labeled with dates and narrator roles, it's hard to follow the storyline. Apparently reporter Kate Waters and DI Bob Sparkes, two of the main voices in this book, have appeared in previous works. Waters begins by investigating the young women's failure to get in touch with their parents at a pre-arranged time. The police are initially less interested, but as time passes with no word, they put out a missing persons alert to the Thai police and are soon notified that two bodies were found in the aftermath of a fire in a seedy part of the city.  Now the investigation is into what DI Sparks and his assistant, DS Zara Salmand, quickly determine was murder not an accidental death as the Bangkok police had claimed. When it turns out that Waters' older son, Jake, was staying at the same hostel as the young women, she is taken off the story, but of course continues to investigate on her own in order to prove that her son didn't commit the murders. Even though this book did not draw me into any of the characters, I would still be tempted to read her earlier works.
The NPR review provides much more detail on the plot;  the Washington Post has a much more positive take on this "nail-biting tale of missing teens and the parents who worry for them." Kirkus concludes, “'No one is to be believed ever,' seems to be a major takeaway. Oh, and P.S., don’t let your kids run wild in Thailand. This has the potential to be a thoughtful thriller with an interesting setting, but Barton is too willing to cater to expectations—short chapters, familiar clues, and stereotypical villains." The New York Journal of Books focuses on one of the main themes of the book, which is "a story about mothers, how fierce their love can be when their children’s lives are in jeopardy and how it surpasses right or wrong, even in death."

The Whispered Word

This is the 2nd installment in Ellery Adams' "Secret, Book and Scone Society" series and it was as fun as the first one, The Secret, Book and Scone Society. I have also posted about a couple of her "Book Retreat Mysteries" (Murder in the Mystery Suite and Murder in the Secret Garden). Of course one of the main reasons I love these books is that protagonist Nora Pennington, who owns the Miracle Books store in her small town of Miracle Springs, believes that books can heal--that is, she practices bibliotherapy. And since this was a passion of mine while I was working, I'm all in.
In this installment, the mysterious young woman found sleeping in Nora's bookstore--sporting a hospital ID band, clothes that clearly don't fit, and various bruises--gets taken on as a project by the Secret, Book and Scone Society's members, eventually going to work in the bakery and sharing Nora's little house. When a bookstore customer is found dead, there is a question about whether or not it was suicide, and as the friends begin to investigate, they find ties between the mysterious young bookstore refugee, who calls herself Abilene, and the victim. What or who is Abilene hiding from? Is she a murderer or the next potential victim of the killer. All turns out well, of course, as it should in any cozy mystery series. Enjoyable light read.

Title Wave

A recent installment (2016) of the "Booktown Mystery" series by Lorna Barrett, (who also writes at L.L. Bartlett  and Lorraine Bartlett), this book breaks with earlier titles, presumably, because it is set entirely on a cruise ship instead of in the small New Hampshire town of Stoneham. Protagonist Tricia Miles owns a mystery bookstore in the town, Haven't Got a Clue, and owns a cat named Miss Marple. I think I would rather have read one of the earlier books set in the village. She accurately depicts what it's like to go on a large cruise ship, in the this case the Celtic Lady. Her sister, Angelica owns a cookbook shop and is also an author. Angelica is also currently the president of the town's Chamber of Commerce and has been key in organizing a group from Stoneham to join the ship's Authors' Tour. Authors from several genres will give talks as will editors and publishers during the cruise from New York City to Bermuda and back. It's winter in New Hampshire and this is the first time the sisters have taken a vacation together, and the first time either of them has taken time off in several years. But instead of being relaxing, Tricia discovers the body of thriller author E.M. Barstow, a woman so unpleasant that nobody is really sorry she's gone. Although Tricia finds her hanging in her shower, several aspects of the situation make it clear, at least to amateur sleuth Tricia, that this was murder, not a suicide--although the cruise line's security person is bound and determined to keep anyone from thinking there's a murderer on board. What is enjoyable is that the two main female characters are both middle aged, and have been through rough periods as siblings, as daughters, as grown women. They are both successful business women, so good role models. I might check out some of her earlier books, but I wasn't overly impressed with her writing style--she used the word "grating" to describe the victim's speaking style a few too many times.
Review from Publishers Weekly.

Paris by the Book

You might recognize Liam Callanan's name as the author of The Cloud Atlas; I neither read it nor saw the movie. But I was intrigued by the premise of this book. A sometimes happy family in Milwaukee consists of: Robert, a father who writes mostly children's stories, so isn't wildly successful and doesn't make much money; Leah, a mother who gave up dreams of being a film maker to become a speech writer for the president of a university in order to have a consistent income; and two teenage daughters Daphne and Ellie. One day Robert goes out for an early morning run and never returns. He has occasionally disappeared before to do his "write-aways" but has always left a note. So it is days before the police will take the disappearance seriously. They believe the absence of clues means he is probably dead. The rest of the family don't believe that. But at some point Leah finds a cryptic slip of paper in Robert's granola jar that turns out to be an airline reservation for 4 flights to Paris, the place he always promised Leah they would go. So Leah and the girls go, hoping Robert is waiting there for them. And then they stay. Ellie's godmother and Leah's friend, Eleanor, finds a partial manuscript of Robert's which she sends to them, describing a family that goes to Paris, buys a run down bookstore, and stays--only the mother disappears. Daphne and Ellie are convinced this is a clue and begin the search for the bookstore he described and for their father. They find one that fits the bill, and as luck would have it, the weary proprietor is happy to hire them to run it and rent them the apartment upstairs. So begins the tale of those left behind and how they cope. For most of the book, nobody knows if Robert is alive. Two classic children's stories, the Madeline series and The Red Baloon, frame the story.
Publishers Weekly calls it "sublime" and say, "Callanan has crafted a beautifully-drawn portrait of a woman interrupted set among the exquisite magic of Paris, where life frequently imitates art and the ghosts of the past linger just out of sight." Kirkus writes a more measured review.

The Splendid and the Vile

Erik Larson's newest non-fiction work details, at a personal and often quirky level, the first year (May 1940 - May 1941) of Winston Churchill's tenure as Britain's prime minister. ( See other posts for his books: Devil in the White City, In the Garden of Beasts, Thunderstruck, and Isaac's Storm.) All of his books are good, but they have gotten better, IMHO, over the years. This book talks about the initial choice of Churchill, even though the King (George VI) would have preferred Lord Halifax. Larson, as always, uses copious primary and secondary sources in talking about how Churchill's inspiring, pugnacious, moody, and eccentric behaviors affected those around him, from family members to secretaries, to the general populace. Accounts are taken from the collection of "Mass-Observation" (citizen) diaries. Youngest daughter Mary, who was still living at home, kept a diary and numerous excerpts are taken from this. Also, one of Churchill's primary secretaries, John Colville, kept a diary which served as the basis for subsequent books and his perspective is also heavily represented.
This was the year that Hitler turned his full fury upon Great Britain, having defeated their primary ally, France, and sued Churchill--unsuccessfully--for peace. We learn a lot about the ins and outs of Churchill's network of advisors, and about his unflagging attempts to engage the U.S. in a war that Americans vehemently wanted no part of. He felt Britain must appear as if they could win or the U.S. would never partner with them, while he was constantly trying to convince them that he desperately needed their material support. It was a delicate balance. Churchill knew that Britain's chances of survival without America's support were slim. We also learn what a very eccentric character Churchill was, but also how he was able to reassure and inspire the British public who endured months of bombings that resulted in the deaths of thousands and the destruction of, in some cases, nearly entire cities. We also hear from the Germans, especially propaganda minister Goebbels, and air marshall Göring as well as Deputy Führer Hess. We get the nitty gritty details of what it was like to endure night after night of the Blitz--the dust, the smells, the sounds. Most importantly, as the New York Times puts it, "When we look back on history, the most dramatic events — Rudolf Hess’s desperate solo flight to Scotland, the attack on Pearl Harbor — often overshadow everything else. But Larson’s deft portraits show the essential connection that words created between the powerful and the powerless, capturing the moments that defined life for millions struggling to survive the decisions of a few." Larson's great strength is to make the factual details into a compelling narrative.
Additional glowing reviews from NPR, Kirkus, and Publisher's Weekly. The reviewer in the Washington Post, on the other hand, feels Larson has succumbed to the "myth" of England as a green and pleasant land, standing alone against the invaders; whereas, "Strip away the myths of an embattled England, and a different war emerges. It’s heroic, but not in an Arthurian sense. Those dark satanic factories produced the Spitfire and the Hurricane..."