Payback's a Witch

This book by Lana Harper was just pure entertainment. Harper (pseudonymn for Lana Popović) has written several YA witchy novels, but this is her first novel targeted to adults. Emmy Harlow is a witch coming home to fulfill familial obligations in the magical town of Thistle Grove, IL (near Carbondale!!). She has been living in Chicago for the last 9 years, ever since the handsome scion of the Blackmoore family seduced her and then dumped her when they were in high school.  Moving away from the town meant that she eventually lost her magical powers, which emanate from Lady Lake on a hill outside Thistle Grove. The town was founded by four powerful witches, who are also the ancestors of the four magical families that still live there: the Harlows, the Blackmoores, the Thorns, and the Avramovs. Once a generation, the scions from each family--except the Harlows-- come together to compete in a series of magical challenges, the Gauntlet of the Grove. The winning family of the Gauntlet, for which the Harlows have traditionally served as Arbiters and record keepers, not only get the trophy, but accrue greater magic, wealth and influence. The Blackmoores have won so many times that they are now the richest family in town with an entertainment empire pandering to tourists seeking supernatural and horror thrills. The fortunes of the remaining families, especially the Thorns and Avramovs, are waning. Add to that, the  man who broke Emmy's heart, did the same to her best friend Linden Thorn and to the scion of the Avramovs, gorgeously dangerous Talia. Talia and Linden come to Emmy with a proposition; they want to make sure the Blackmoores do not win this tournament. As Arbiter, Emmy cannot be partial, but she can guide them to stay within the Guidelines of the The Grimoire, which controls the behavior of the magical families. Emmy and Talia ignite a passionate sexual relationship as Emmy continues to struggle with whether or not she wants to return to her "real life" in Chicago or re-embrace her magic, her family, her friends, and her home. Some sexually explicit descriptions are included.  

Publishers Weekly calls this "a queer rom-com that bewitches from the very first page...[the]magical joyride manages to feel both vibrantly current and timelessly mystical while avoiding the typical queer rom-com stereotypes."
Kirkus also raves, "the author’s writing shines in the small moments, particularly in the lush language used to capture the enchanting, autumnal atmosphere of quaint Thistle Grove and its supernatural allure. Readers are sure to fall under the magic spell of Thistle Grove and its inhabitants."

The Devil and the Dark Water

This novel by Stuart Turton is an historic novel, I guess, or as The Guardian describes it, "A maritime mystery with fantastical overtones." The two protagonists are "Arent Hayes, a physically imposing specimen with a kind soul and a 'poisoned' past, and healer Sara Wessel, abused wife of soulless Governor General Jan Haan, who happens to be Arent's uncle" (Kirkus).  I am copying the Publishers Weekly review since it does a better job of summarizing the plot than I could. "Set in 1634, this outstanding whodunit from Turton (The 7½ Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle) opens in Batavia, where celebrated investigator Samuel Pipps, who was working in the Dutch East Indies until his arrest for an unknown reason, is about to be transported to Amsterdam aboard the Saardam, along with his longtime sidekick, Arent Hayes. From the dock, a bloody man issues a dire warning to the Saardam's crew and passengers. As the grim figure, who appears to have leprosy, prophesies that the ship won't reach its destination, his clothing bursts into flame. Hayes and another passenger, the governor-general's wife, rush to help the dying man, only to find that his tongue had been cut out, making any speech impossible. The puzzles only continue once the vessel sets sail, including a locked-room murder, the reappearance of the dead leper, and a ghost ship dogging the Saardam. As Turton ratchets up the tension en route to the brilliant resolution of the plot, he keeps readers in doubt as to whether a rational explanation is possible. Fans of impossible crime fiction won't want to miss this one." 

Kirkus also comments that Turton "brings a pointed social conscience to bear in his commentary on the ill treatment of women and the exploitation of the lower class," and concludes that he delivers "A devilish sea saga that never runs out of cutthroat conspiracies." The Guardian says of the author's skill, "Turton has got his world up and running inside the first two pages; thereafter, deceptions and diversions multiply until the ultimate, outrageous reveal, at which point the dark water turns out to be rather darker than you imagined."

Lazarus

I have read a previous Lars Kepler (husband-and-wife Alexander and Alexandra Ahndoril's team pseudonym) installment in the " Joona Linna series," The Sandman, and it was very dark. I guess I forgot just how dark until I embarked on this very Scandinavian noir (#7 in the series) that takes place several years after the events in that book. In fact, the villain of The Sandman supposedly died but reappears here, hence the title. When someone starts killing some of Europe's most heinous criminals, nobody is particularly worried about catching the killer, except that two of the murders have connections to Joona Linna, who becomes convinced that they are being committed by the man that he thought was dead, serial killer Jurek Walter. His partner, Saga Bauer, is the one who shot Walter and she thinks Joona is totally off base, but there are too many similarities to the earlier deaths by Walter, and Joona goes on the hunt to prove he's right and trap his enemy once again. 

Booklist says, "Kepler combines explosive action with masterfully developed tension." Publishers Weekly agrees that fans of this genre and/or series "won't want to miss this one."

While Justice Sleeps

I read this book a while back and just realized I hadn't posted about it. This is rising Democratic star Stacey Abrams' first dip into fiction writing after two non-fiction books.   The premise is that a Supreme Court Justice, irascible Howard Wynne, has slipped into a coma leaving his law clerk, Avery Keene--not his estranged son or wife--as his legal guardian. When Avery gets a strange call from the woman who had been his home health nurse, she goes to see her and finds her murdered. The stakes rise from there as people try to discredit Avery, the wife tries to have the judge taken off life support, and the son offers to throw his lot in with Avery to figure out what is going on. Justice Wynn was likely the swing vote on a pending case involving a biotech firm, a case that is at the heart, we learn of a worldwide conspiracy.

I love this summary from The New York Times : "The seemingly misanthropic and possibly paranoid Associate Justice Howard Wynn insults the president of the United States to his face; bemoans the ravages of Boursin’s syndrome, an apparently degenerative brain disease that is sapping his mental acuity; inveighs against the capacity of humans to deploy scientific breakthroughs for dangerous ends; refers to himself as a threat to national security; harries a nurse who has been blackmailed into spying on him; designs chess-related clues to his investigation of undescribed matters in a case pending before the court; and sequesters them for one of his law clerks to decode — all before lapsing into a coma induced by what may be a suicide attempt. Whereupon the nurse, contrary to instructions from her unknown blackmailer, saves Wynn’s life by calling 911." They admire her ability to weave multiple threads of plot together, but bemoan her superficial character development.

Booklist calls it a "gripping legal thriller," and I agree that, for all its flaws (see Kirkus) once started, you will want to finish this book.

Under the Whispering Door

I picked this up thinking it would be a light read, fantasy about a tea shop that is a way station for the dead on their way to whatever is beyond. But as author TJ Klune says in the opening Author's Note, "This story explore life and love as well as loss and grief. " And it did, indeed, do that, bringing me to tears when I finished it, even though it had a "happy" ending of sorts. 

The premise is that Wallace Price, a thoroughly not nice man and a shark of a lawyer, dies suddenly of a heart attack. The next thing he remembers is sitting at his funeral and seeing only his ex-wife and his ex-partners in the law firm in attendance. And nobody has anything good to say about him. The a young woman he does not recognize, comes up and tells him that she is his Reaper and has been sent to accompany him to meet his assigned Ferryman. Wallace doesn't want to accept he is dead, but is nevertheless whisked away to a distant place he doesn't recognize, a small town in the wooded hills. His Reaper, Mei, takes him to a weirdly built tea shop outside town called Charon's Crossing Tea and Treats, where he meets his Ferryman, Hugo. He also meets Hugo's dead grandfather, Nelson, and Hugo's departed dog, Apollo, who just keep hanging around the tea shop as ghosts to look after Hugo. We can conclude from various clues that Hugo is black and gay, while Mei is of Asian descent. Wallace steadfastly clings to his desire to return to his life for a while but eventually begins to recognize how devoid of meaning it was. When the deadline for his passing through the door on the top floor of the tea house grows nearer, Wallace tries to make up for many things he now wishes had been different and to help others who are struggling with loss. 

Publishers Weekly says, "Tenderness, wit, and skillful worldbuilding elevate this delightful tale." Library Journal also offers a positive review, "Tenderness, wit, and skillful worldbuilding elevate this delightful tale." And Booklist calls it "is a sweet tale of grief and second chances, and a ghost story about not giving up on even the most lost of souls."

We Were Never Here

I read another book by Andrea Bartz, The Herd, and was intrigued by the premise of this one. Once again, Bartz laser focuses in on relationships between women, both of whom come from unhappy or even tragic family situations and have bonded on this basis since they met in college. They are both now in their 30's. Every year since graduating from college, Emily and Kristen have gone back packing to exotic locales. Kristen has moved from Milwaukee to Australia a couple years ago and Emily misses her a lot, so these trips are now a time to reconnect. On a recent trip to Cambodia, Emily hooks up with a guy who attacks her when they get back to her hotel. She is fighting him off when Kristen arrives, bashes him over the head and kills him. They agree to dump the body into a river in order to avoid dealing with the legal system there, but Emily is traumatized and Kristen stays in touch with her every day to help her cope and eventually get back to some semblance of normal life. That is all background. When the book starts, they are traveling to out-of-the-way places in Chile. This time it is Kristen who attracts attention and goes off with a guy. When Emily returns to their hotel, she finds Kristen standing over the dead body of the man and Emily agrees, once again, to skirt the authorities and help get rid of the body. It's Emily who seems most distressed by this death and keeping silent about it, especially with her budding romantic partner, is eating her alive. Kristen decides to move back to Milwaukee but becomes ever more possessive and controlling of Emily. Their relationship deteriorates when Kristen shows Emily a picture of the dead man from Cambodia taken when he and Emily were drinking together. She had promised to destroy all the evidence and it's clear she is using it to threaten Emily. 

Publishers Weekly calls the "book riveting."Kirkus offers a very positive review: "Bartz's latest thriller is full of twists and turns as Emily discovers new things about the friend she thought she knew so well. The dread creeps up slowly on both Emily and the reader as more and more comes to light and the truth slowly reveals itself. Up to the unexpected climax and beyond, Bartz’s writing will keep readers on their toes, questioning everything and looking for hidden meanings in every communication between Emily and Kristen...the overall plot is exhilarating. A slow-burn thriller that gradually suffocates both the protagonist and the reader—in a good way."

The Man Who Died Twice

I loved this sequel to The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman. The setting and characters remain largely the same--a group of 4 septuagenarians living in a lovely retirement village in England, Coopers Chase, (see my post of the previous book for more about the characters). When Douglas, an old acquaintance (or was he something more?) of Elizabeth's comes asking for help, she feels obliged to respond, even though they didn't part on the best of terms. He is accused of stealing twenty million pounds worth of diamonds--from the wrong man. This broker for shady characters has his reputation to protect and will hunt Douglas down and kill him if the diamonds are not returned. In addition to the usual cast of characters--who all get further development-- we meet two MI 5 agents who have worked with Douglas and know Elizabeth by reputation, as well as "some new bad people: a local teenage thug; a tough-nut female drug dealer who (helpfully) goes weak at the knees around Bogdan; a high-level underworld 'middle man' from whom mafia diamonds have been stolen" (The Guardian). People get killed and Elizabeth, Ron and Joyce take the lead in setting a trap for the killer. Donna turns to Ibrahim for counseling after her set up of her boss and her mother turns out to be wildly successful, leaving Donna feeling lonelier than ever. So much heart is in these books in terms of dealing with the losses accompanying aging, and also so much spirit. You won't regret reading these and I look forward to further adventures with this group. The Guardian sums up my sentiments well, "The comedy in The Man Who Died Twice allows for all its characters to be alert to sobering realities: of time running out; of losing loved ones to death or dementia; of feeling physically unsafe in the modern world; of grown-up children finding you stupid and tiresome. It’s this self-awareness that grounds Osman’s characters, and makes us look forward to seeing them again." The Washington Post calls the cast of the Thursday Murder Club "a senior version of 'The A-Team.'” This review goes on to give brief intros to the various plots and subplots of the book. Kirkus rates this book as being even better than the first one, concluding "A clever, funny mystery peopled with captivating characters that enhance the story at every quirky turn."

The Ghostwriter

This novel by Alessandra Torre (who has written 23 novels) was chosen by my mystery book group for this month's (Oct. 2021) read. Protagonist Helena Ross is a famous and successful romance writer who has lost both her husband and her daughter. She lives alone in their huge house with almost no furniture and never sees anyone. She communicates only by email with her agent, Kate. But a diagnosis of terminal cancer will change all that. There is one last story she must tell before her 3 months is up and she quickly figures out that, given her failing body and mind, she can't do it alone. So she commands her agent to contact the author with whom Helena has had a running feud for over a decade. Although Helena despises Marka Vantly's trashy pornographic books, Helena recognizes an ability in Marka to imbue her characters, and therefore her readers, with real emotion. She wants Marka to be her ghost writer. This final book will be Helena's confession. We figure out early on that she probably killed her husband somehow, but the extent of her guilt is not revealed until the end; the attempt at suspense is dragged out far too long in my opinion. The ghost writer turns out to be a surprise and is probably the more engaging character. Helena herself is a miserable being and, although one can feel sad for her, it's hard to like her. It is well written otherwise, with well-developed and credible characters.

Undead Girl Gang

Sometimes you just have to take a break from the more serious or emotionally heavy reading--or at least I do. And this book about 4 high school students--one of whom is a budding Wiccan and 3 of whom are/ were dead--just fit the bill. Written by Lily Anderson, our protagonist is Mila Flores, a junior who considers herself fat and accepts that this, in conjunction with her non-white skin, dooms her to outsider status at Fairmont Academy. Fortunately, she has an amazing best friend, Riley, who is also an outcast due to the fact that her parent own the local funeral home and live in an apartment upstairs. The problem when the book opens is that there have been 3 recent deaths at Fairmont, all of which the police ruled as suicides. Two of the school's "mean girls" may have hanged themselves in the nearby park, and Riley is found just days later drowned in the scummy local creek. Riley had lured Mila into experimenting with herbs and small spells and that reputation hasn't increased her popularity either. They stored all their crystals and plants at an abandoned house on the edge of town and used it as their mailing address to order stuff by mail. Mila is surprised by the delivery of a large and apparently very old grimoire, addressed to Riley. And then she finds a spell in the back of the book for bringing back the dead. The local dealer in Wiccan magic supplies will have nothing to do with the idea, but Mila is desperate to get her friend back and to prove that she did not commit suicide. Accidentally, she brings back not only Riley, but also their arch enemies, June and Dayton. Unfortunately none of them remember any of the events that led to their deaths, but swear they wouldn't have committed suicide. So it's up to Mila to figure out who the killer is and bring him/ her to justice.  

As the author says, "My books are about snarky girls and emotional intelligence and—sometimes—monsters." And Kirkus is generally positive in their review, saying the book offers "Superlative pacing and writing that flows well make this title stand out. A well-paced undead romp..."

Hamnet

This historical novel by Maggie O'Farrell tells the story of the death of William Shakespeare's 11-year-old son, Hamnet. Although the Shakespeares' last name is never used, there is never a question about who is at the center of this story. Very little is known about them but here are some nuggets of fact (according to the New York Times):

Fact: "We know, for instance, that at the age of 18, Shakespeare married a woman named Anne or Agnes Hathaway, who was 26 and three months pregnant. (That condition wasn’t unusual for the time: Studies of marriage and baptism records reveal that as many as one-third of brides went to the altar pregnant.) Hathaway was the orphaned daughter of a farmer near Stratford-upon-Avon who had bequeathed her a dowry. This status gave her more latitude than many women of her time, who relied on paternal permission in choosing a mate.

Fact: Shakespeare was a grammar school graduate, the eldest son of a glove maker in declining fortune. His father had once been the equivalent of Stratford’s mayor, but by the time his son was 18, he had fallen into debt, disrepute and legal opprobrium.

A few more facts from the historical record: The child whose imminent arrival likely forced the timing of the Shakespeares’ November wedding was born six months later, a girl named Susanna. Two years on, the couple had twins: Judith and Hamnet. In 1596, Hamnet, just 11 years old, died. (The cause of death is unknown; O’Farrell imagines, plausibly, that it was plague.) By then William Shakespeare was an established playwright, living in London but providing amply for his family, amassing Stratford property and returning home for visits."

The Guardian calls it a "profound study of grief and love" and goes on to say, "O’Farrell’s portrait of maternal and sibling bereavement is so accurately expressed it’s almost too painful to read. Hamnet is, above all, a profound study of loss." And they point out one of the things that I most appreciated about the book, which is the largely female perspective on people and events about which we thought we were already knowledgeable. The grief is not just Hamnet's parents, but also his twin sister's, Judith, who bemoans the fact that there is no word to describe the person who was once a twin but is no longer.  

My book group was enlivened by a discussion of how much research O'Farrell conducted to add authenticity to her fictionalized account.

A review from NPR's Heller McAlpin calls this novel "timeless and ever-relevant."

The New York Times Book Review called it one of the 10 best books of 2020.

And a really interesting interview transcript from the Folger Library is here.