Book 157 – Hello, Transcriber by Hannah Morrissey

• Started: December 16, 2021
• Finished: December 17, 2021
• Pages: 293
• Single POV, Timelined, Wisconsin
• Rating: 4.75/5

REVIEW + SUMMARY

I really enjoyed this book! But for some reason, I kept thinking “translator” instead of transcriber and was very confused that it was in Wisconsin and not the U.N. (like the movie The Interpreter starring Nicole Kidman). But once I got over that, I was able to really sink in to the desolate town of Black Harbor and Hazel’s struggles there. I like how the plot weaved her personal and professional life together and how her problems in one area bled into the other. Because of the small town setting, the insular nature of the events felt more believable.

Hazel and her husband, Tommy, move to the small town of Black Harbor for his job. The book opens with her own job interview and subsequent hiring as the newest police transcriber. In her role, she is privy to all the town’s case reports, including the overdose of a child who supposedly got his drugs from the local seller, The Candy Man. She finds herself drawn into the case – in great part due to her growing attraction to the lead detective, Nikolai Kole – and completely over her head. The bodies start to pile up as she gets closer to Kole and she starts to lose all sense of who, if anyone, she can trust in Black Harbor.

I would definitely recommend this book. It was a great thriller and kept me guessing throughout. There wasn’t a terribly large cast of characters so you might be able to piece it all together before the characters do (I did not!) but I don’t think that’s a bad thing. I look forward to reading more books by this author in the future.

Book 156 – The Gathering by Anne Enright

• Started: December 14, 2021
• Finished: December 15, 2021
• Pages: 261
• Rating: 3.5/5

REVIEW + SUMMARY

I picked this book up because Anne Enright is the author of one of my favorite books, The Forgotten Waltz, and I am about to embark on my every ~5 year re-read. I grabbed that, this book, and another by her since they were all available at the library. It seemed interesting enough and was very beautifully written but it did not translate into a good book or story. Part of the appeal of her books (or at least The Forgotten Waltz) is the flighty, unreliable narrator where the question of how things really happened adds to the blur and allure of the events. In this case, it was just confusing. She focused, weirdly enough, on the imagined sex life of her grandparents and I didn’t love that. I was also very confused with where she was in the timeline of everything – how far out she was from her brother’s death at the various points of the novel. Just didn’t quite *get* this one.

Veronica is one of nine surviving siblings saying goodbye to their brother, Liam, after he dies. The two were just a year apart and particularly close. Veronica reflects on their childhood, partially spent at their grandparents’ after her mother suffers from yet another miscarriage. She recalls her grandparents – their meeting and eventual love – as well as their landlord/friend, Lamb Nugent, who was also a constant in their lives. Veronica is in charge of picking up Liam’s body and bringing it home for the funeral. She imagines her husband, the man she now avoids by staying up all night and only going to bed when he wakes up. All of this swirls around her head and she makes peace with the loss of her brother and the full, but sad life he lead.

If that doesn’t really seem very cohesive, it’s because I didn’t read it as a very cohesive story. I do like the way Enright puts her sentences together, but this time I didn’t like how each of those sentences flowed into a book. I would not recommend but I still plan on re-reading The Forgotten Waltz and trying out The Green Road, the other book I have out by her right now.

Book 155 – Magpie Lane by Lucy Atkins

• Started: December 9, 2021
• Finished: December 14, 2021
• Pages: 352
• Single POV, Timeline Jumps, UK
• Rating: 4.5/5

REVIEW + SUMMARY

This was a slow book for me to get into. I’m don’t know if I was just distracted or if it was the actual cadence of the book (probably a bit of both), but this took me a while to get through. It is billed as a thriller, which isn’t completely inaccurate as the focus is on a missing child and there is a general sense of foreboding throughout, but there’s not a ton of action. It is a very sweet story, in its own way, as we see the relationship between Dee and Felicity develop.

Dee is a nanny to Felicity, the selectively mute daughter of Nick, a Master at Oxford. Over the course of her time with Felicity, Dee becomes very attached to her and disheartened by how Felicity is treated by Nick and his new wife, Mariah. Neither are abusive or even mean, but they do not have the time or energy to give Felicity the care she needs. Or at least that’s how Dee explains it to the detectives interrogating her after Felicity goes missing. Nick is convinced that Dee has something to do with it – a point she vehemently denies – which is part of how she landed in the room with the detectives. And so, hat’s where most of the story takes place: them asking her questions and her answering and internally reflecting on all the little events that led them there.

If you like a slower paced thriller, perhaps like Julia Heaberlin’s “novels of suspense,” I think you would like this book. Overall, I did enjoy and the focus it took on the relationships of the various characters. The book did not end on the clearest note and I would love to learn where all the characters ended up in five to ten years.

Book 154 – The Better Sister by Alafair Burke

• Started: December 8, 2021
• Finished: December 9, 2021
• Pages: 311
• Multiple POV, Timelined, New York
• Rating: 4.25/5
• TW: Domestic Abuse

REVIEW + SUMMARY

I first heard of this book on @pretanewporter’s instagram. I have read a few books by Alafair before (The Wife and If You Were Here) and it was available at my local library so I picked it up. I guess I was in a bit of a reading slump – I took a whole week off (holiday parties!) – and her books are pretty consistent thrillers. I liked If You Were Here a bit more than this one, but it still kept me on my toes and I was continuously surprised by what each chapter brought. She was able to very accurately capture the relationship between the two sisters as well as the various emotions the main character, Chloe, went through as the story progressed.

Chloe and Nicky are sisters whose lives have taken very different paths. Chloe, the younger of the two, is a successful magazine editor, now married to Nicky’s ex-husband, Adam, and raising her son Ethan. Nicky is a distant thought in their heads until Adam is murdered. Ethan becomes the prime suspect and Nicky, as his biological mother, re-enters their lives. Chloe struggles with the thought of losing Ethan, especially after losing Adam. Chloe and Nicky are forced to come together and put their past conflicts aside in order to protect Ethan.

I really didn’t know what to expect for most of the book. I kept thinking it would go one way, only to be led in another direction. I liked the dynamic between the sisters and felt like it changed very organically over the course of the book – it wasn’t some gushy reunion ever, just two women fighting for their place in the other’s life. I would recommend this book and will continue to read more books by Alafair Burke.

Book 153 – Northern Spy by Flynn Berry

• Started: November 30, 2021
• Finished: November 30, 2021
• Pages: 276
• Single POV, Northern Ireland
• Rating: 4.75/5
• TW: Miscarriage

REVIEW + SUMMARY

This book was recommended to my husband’s aunt and I am really glad I picked it up! It’s the second book I’ve read by this author (I read A Double Life last year); I thought this one was much better. It focuses on two sisters in Northern Ireland and I find that area so fascinating. I didn’t know much about it (and honestly still don’t) but learned a lot when I visited back in 2017. I am not sure how much of this book was exaggerated and if the conflicts are still happening on such a violent but subverted level but it definitely made for a great backdrop for this thriller.

Tessa and Marian are sisters living in Northern Ireland, still dealing with the constantly looming threat of the IRA, even twenty years after the Good Friday Agreement. Tessa is primarily focused on providing a good life for her infant, Finn, but her whole world is upended when security footage from an IRA robbery shows her sister at the scene as one of the perpetrators.As Tessa reconnects with her sister she becomes swept up in a world of covert operations and espionage. She is torn between her desire to help her sister and her need to keep her son safe. Together, Tessa and Marian cross moral and legal lines in order to protect themselves from the warring factions.

Even though I did like A Double Life, this book made me want to read more by the author. I would definitely recommend for anyone interested in books about relationships between sisters or modern day espionage.

Book 152 – Lie Still by Julia Heaberlin

• Started: November 29, 2021
• Finished: November 30, 2021
• Pages: 285
• Single POV, Texas
• Rating: 4.5/5
• TW: Rape

REVIEW + SUMMARY

I’m slowly making my way through Julia Heaberlin’s bibliography (I just have one left) and this was another great novel. Even though it dealt with some pretty heavy topics such as rape and drawn out murders, I also felt that this book had the greatest amount of humor to it. The characters were a bit over the top, but that just added to the fun of the story. There were a lot of different characters with murky motives and possibly related storylines that the book kept me on my toes throughout. Heaberlin’s later books (this is her second thriller) are described as “books of suspense” but this was not and kept up a fair level of action throughout.

Emily and her husband, Mike, move to Clairemont, Texas in the middle of her pregnancy for his career: he has been appointed police chief. Emily attempts to make friends with the ladies in town, many of whom are part of a secret society lead by Caroline Warwick. Emily is reluctant to be included and her feelings of despair only grow when Caroline disappears and a series of ominous notes appear at Emily’s doorstep. She is unsure if they are connected to the missing socialite or her own dark past but knows that, either way, she is in grave danger.

I was surprised by the ending and by how all the various pieces came together, but I thought it worked out well. I am glad to have read this and recommend it, especially if you are fans of her other work. It is the third book I have read by Julia Heaberlin this year (We Are All the Same in the Dark and Black-Eyed Susans are the other two) and I only have one more to read before going through all of her thrillers. Can’t wait to get my hands on it!

Book 151 – The Body Keeper by Anne Frasier

• Started: November 27, 2021
• Finished: November 27, 2021
• Pages: 285
• Third Person POV, Timeline Jumps, Minnesota
• Rating: 4.5/5
• TW: Child Abuse

REVIEW + SUMMARY

As I mentioned yesterday, this was my favorite book in the Jude Fontaine series. I am not sure if there are any plans to expand it past a trilogy, but this was a good way to wrap it up if not. I was surprised by the ending and didn’t feel as though the resolution to the main mystery was too neat (although other parts of it were but I have accepted that at this point.) Jude continues to come more into her own and seem more like a real human and less like a robot. I understand that this was all a result of her trauma but it made for awkward reading. Plus it is just nice to see her re-acclimating to the world.

The bodies of two teenage boys are discovered under an ice rink right around the same time that an anonymous four year old is found outside Jude’s apartment building. As they try to identify the corpses, it comes out that they are of children who went missing over twenty years ago. Overwhelmed by the new case and the nameless boy, Jude and Uriah are even more shocked when it seems as though the two cases are connected. Together they have to solve the decades old cases in order to keep the boy safe from any more present danger.

There were a lot of evil characters in this book and their depravity continued to surprise me. It wasn’t as graphic as The Body Counter but worse in its own way, especially considering the mentions of child abuse. Fortunately, there was also more light to this book than the others as Jude finds herself making greater and more meaningful connections to those around her. I did really enjoy this book and am glad I have read this series.

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• Book One: The Body Reader – review
• Book Two: The Body Counter – review

Book 150 – The Body Counter by Anne Frasier

• Started: November 25, 2021
• Finished: November 27, 2021
• Pages: 284
• Third Person POV, Minnesota
• Rating: 4/5

REVIEW + SUMMARY

This book was…. just okay. I am glad to be continuing this series but this one didn’t wow me or anything. I think it was for a few reasons: the Fibonacci sequence is kind of meh to me and the author did a lot of telling me things I already knew/didn’t care about. There is a Criminal Minds episode with Jason Alexander (of Seinfeld fame, not Britney Spears’s husband of 55 hours) where he plays a serial killer who bases his kills off the Fibonacci sequence. I don’t know if it’s been done elsewhere but that episode stood out to me. Also, it’s just numbers of kills, like it didn’t delve any deeper into that so it felt kind of lame. Since this was the second book in the trilogy, there was some background that felt unnecessary. One thing that kept coming up was the blackouts that had plagued the state and how crime had gone up because of them. I guess it kind of affected the team but it came up a few more times than felt needed. Also, Jude’s father is still a recurring, looming presence, even in death, and it feels a little too neat for his reach to have been so broad.

Multiple murders are committing spree killings together and Jude Fontaine and her partner, Uriah Ashby, are stumped. An eccentric math professor suggests that the killer is basing his crimes off the Fibonacci sequence; a lead that, however vague, gives them some direction in this case. While battling their own personal demons, Jude and Uriah have to lean on each other in order to piece together the killers’ next moves.

One of my complaints from the first book, The Body Reader (review here) was that Jude didn’t seem to “read” other people much better than your average detective. I do feel like this book acknowledged that and showed her skill being more advantageous with corpses, which is actually unique/interesting. Jude is really macabre in her views on death and I appreciate that Uriah is used as a foil to call her out in public. I appreciate seeing their relationship grow as she enters back into society and friendships again.

Not my favorite book, but a quick read and an easy series. There are scenes from the killers’ point of view so there isn’t as much of a surprise or reveal at the end but I would still read it if you’re into the series. As of writing this, I have finished the third as well (review coming tomorrow!) which was definitely my favorite of the three but it helps to have read this one before getting there.

Book 149 – The House of Gucci by Sara Gay Forden

• Started: November 19, 2021
• Finished: November 23, 2021
• Pages: 348
• Non-Fiction
• Rating: 4/5

REVIEW (BOOK)

If you couldn’t tell from the full title of this blog, books and fashion are two of my favorite things. I had had this book on my list for a while, even before I knew the movie was coming out, but added it to my hold list at the library as soon as we got tickets for opening night. As soon as I picked it up and saw how thick it was, I knew that it was going to be a more intense read than I expected. There was a family tree in the beginning, but it helped also pulling up the IMDB page for the upcoming movie so I could put faces – even if they were of actors – to names. The author had clearly done a ton of research and delved very deeply into the history of the brand, not just the internal family disputes.

The book starts off with Guccio Gucci creating the brand after being inspired by the luggage of the wealthy at the hotels where he was a bellhop and continued up until the book’s publication in the early 2000s. There was a lot of financial information – how the different subsidiaries operated internationally, how family shares were broken up, and how the firm eventually went public – and it was a lot to wrap my head around. The other thing I struggled with was a sense of time. The book was mostly chronological but occasionally chapters would delve specifically into a topic and go far and beyond the timeline we had been working in. Which did make sense but more dates could have been helpful. At the end, the author included a sweeping decade by decade overview of the fashion house and it really captured each period clearly and succiently.

If you are interested in the history of Gucci, or looking to learn more after watching the movie (which glazed over a ton!!), I would recommend this book. It’s not always the most interesting – and not due to the author’s writing style, I thought that it was colorful and lively – but just due to the nature of some of the content. That being said, it was extremely informative and such a deep dive into one of the world’s most recognizable brands. I learned so much and am glad I read it.

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REVIEW (MOVIE)

Immediately after finishing the book, we headed to the theater to watch the movie. Since it was so very fresh in my mind, I was easily able to make comparisons to the book. It fell short. The acting was amazing, the settings beautiful, the designs gorgeous. But the script, just couldn’t pick a lane. It seemed to want to focus on Patrizia’s role in Maurizio’s life and death, but also needed to include various other background information on the family. Which totally makes sense! But then the murder/trial didn’t come up until the last ~20 minutes. And Patrizia wasn’t a huge focus in the book. We had a good understanding of their courtship and relationship after the divorce but not as much during their marriage.

The movie also completely removed one of Maurizio’s and Patrizia’s daughters which was jarring. I get that she might not have wanted to be included but it seemed as though the family was against the movie as a whole so that was a weird line to draw. Other things the movie changed was Maurizio’s relationship with Paola Franchi, his girlfriend at the time of his death. They made it seem as though the broke up with Patrizia because of her whereas there was never any indication that he had affairs in the book and he even had at least one other girlfriend worth mentioning between his separation and death.

The movie also introduces a small and real plot line over Maurizio’s inheritance of his father’s Gucci shares. In the movie, it is spelled out that the shares were not signed by his father, Rodolfo, before his death (which has huge tax implications) and later the financial police attempt to arrest Maurizio over the fraud. He runs away to Switzerland (again, real) and it is never mentioned again. In real life, there was a lot of evidence that the signatures on the shares had been forged – and people who were willing to admit they had falsely signed them – but Maurizio was acquitted on all charges. This was a pretty important plot point in showing a) he was bad at handling money/had his own personal issues that put the company at risk and b) he was continuously able to skate through life without consequences.

I think the movie would have been a lot stronger if there was a greater focus on one aspect of the story, be it the changing nature of the company itself, the specific family drama that transpired, or the relationship between Maurizio and Patrizia and how that led to his eventual murder. If you watch the movie without reading the book, I think that you will still find it disjointed and jumpy. I’m still glad we saw it because I love going to the movies, but it could have been much stronger.

Book 148 – The Decagon House Murders by Yukito Ayatsuji

• Started: November 19, 2021
• Finished: November 20, 2021
• Pages: 284
• Third Person POV, Timelined, Japan
• Rating: 4.5/5

REVIEW + SUMMARY

This book was very similar to Agatha Christie’s And Then There Were None, a fact that it made obvious and pointedly celebrated. I had read that book last year and I appreciated the allusions, as well as the more unique spin that the author put on the story. I did not put it together until the end (honestly, even after the reveal. I was again doing some late night reading and did not fully wrap my head around the fact that the mystery was solved until a few pages later). I appreciated how they walked back through the story and laid out exactly what had happened. It made perfect sense how it all came together and I appreciate how well thought out the culprit – and the author! – was.

A group of seven students, all members of their University’s Mystery Club, head to a remote island together. It was the relatively recent site of a multiple murder-suicide case and it should be the perfect location for a club trip. But the trip takes a turn when one of the members turns up dead. As the bodies pile up, other, former members of the club, back on the mainland, deal with their own mystery: letters from the dead, former owner of the island. Both sets of sleuths – unaware of the others’ dilemma – try to work out their mysteries before it is too late.

This was a very quick read, and kind of in a similar format to And Then There Were None. The motivation behind the murders made sense and I liked when everything was explained at the end. I thought the two different storylines – on the island and on the mainland – added a lot and kept me on my toes. I would definitely recommend this to fans of classic mysteries and whodunnits.