Waiting on Wednesday - The Sea of Lost Girls

'Waiting on Wednesday' is a weekly post I'm going to try to keep up with here - well, weekly.  Today I'm highlighting a new book by Carol Goodman that comes out early next month.  I've read at least three books by this author and enjoy how she brings certain themes to life.  I'm waiting on:

The Sea of Lost Girls

by Carol Goodman

Publication Date:  March 3rd

Tess has worked hard to keep her past buried, where it belongs. Now she’s the wife to a respected professor at an elite boarding school, where she also teaches. Her seventeen-year-old son, Rudy, whose dark moods and complicated behavior she’s long worried about, seems to be thriving: he has a lead role in the school play and a smart and ambitious girlfriend. Tess tries not to think about the mistakes she made eighteen years ago, and mostly, she succeeds.

And then one more morning she gets a text at 2:50 AM: it’s Rudy, asking for help. When Tess picks him up she finds him drenched and shivering, with a dark stain on his sweatshirt. Four hours later, Tess gets a phone call from the Haywood school headmistress: Lila Zeller, Rudy’s girlfriend, has been found dead on the beach, not far from where Tess found Rudy just hours before.

As the investigation into Lila’s death escalates, Tess finds her family attacked on all sides. What first seemed like a tragic accidental death is turning into something far more sinister, and not only is Tess’s son a suspect but her husband is a person of interest too. But Lila’s death isn’t the first blemish on Haywood’s record, and the more Tess learns about Haywood’s fabled history, the more she realizes that not all skeletons will stay safely locked in the closet.

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Have you read any of Carol Goodman's books?  They are often set at schools or in the spooky forest or both.  I'd love to see her at an event and don't you know it - she's going to be at Malice Domestic 2020 in early May and I'm not attending that conference this year.  Sigh.  Ah well.  Perhaps at another time. 

Winter comes...a little bit

I thought I would share a couple of pictures that I took early this morning in front of our house.  We don't see this 'white stuff' very often here in Central Texas.  Not very often at all.  I had to hurry and take the shots before it disappeared.  Winter does come a bit to us.  That being said, it was almost 80 degrees the day before, so I knew it wouldn't really stick when the weather people got extra excited with their predictions on Tuesday and Wednesday.

I was just glad that it waited until after I got home from our mystery book group meeting last night.  People in our area have no idea how to drive in any kind of winter precipitation.  We had a good book group meeting with lots of people there even though it was cold and blustery outside.  We talked about Rhys Bowen's books and everyone there gave her writings a big 'thumbs up'.  Have you read her Royal Spyness series or her historical standalone books such as IN FARLEIGH FIELD?  Good stuff!  Next month we'll discuss Jane Harper's newest book, THE LOST MAN.  Looking forward to it (with no winter precipitation).  Ha! 

Waiting on Wednesday - Eight Perfect Murders

'Waiting on Wednesday' is an event that I used to take part in weekly.  I'm going to try to do this again in upcoming days and will highlight books that I'm extra excited about.  For this first 'Waiting on Wednesday' of 2020, I'm featuring Peter Swanson's new book - very excited for this one as I've enjoyed this author's books in the past.  This week I'm waiting on:

Eight Perfect Murders

by Peter Swanson

Publication Date:  March 3rd

Years ago, bookseller and mystery aficionado Malcolm Kershaw compiled a list of the genre’s most unsolvable murders, those that are almost impossible to crack—which he titled “Eight Perfect Murders”—chosen from among the best of the best including Agatha Christie’s A. B. C. Murders, Patricia Highsmith’s Strangers on a Train, Ira Levin’s Death Trap, A. A. Milne's Red House Mystery, Anthony Berkeley Cox's Malice Aforethought, James M. Cain's Double Indemnity, John D. Macdonald's The Drowner, and Donna Tartt's A Secret History.

But no one is more surprised than Mal, now the owner of the Old Devils Bookstore in Boston, when an FBI agent comes knocking on his door one snowy day in February. She’s looking for information about a series of unsolved murders that look eerily similar to the killings on Mal’s old list. And the FBI agent isn’t the only one interested in this bookseller who spends almost every night at home reading. There is killer is out there, watching his every move—a diabolical threat who knows way too much about Mal’s personal history, especially the secrets he’s never told anyone, even his recently deceased wife.

To protect himself, Mal begins looking into possible suspects . . . and sees a killer in everyone around him. But Mal doesn’t count on the investigation leaving a trail of death in its wake. Suddenly, a series of shocking twists leaves more victims dead—and the noose around Mal’s neck grows so tight he might never escape.

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What do you think of the eight books listed?  Have you read any of them?  I've only read the Christie book and the Highsmith book, but this might be a good reading list before publication. 

A quick end of month catch-up...

Hello book friends!  I'm going to share some quick thoughts on the last few books I've read and then we'll just call January finished, OK?

All is well here, but allergies have been rampant around our house.  My husband's progressed into some sinus issues and then a cough that he is still struggling to get rid of.  Mine have just involved sinus headaches and nosebleeds.  I've certainly had the sinus issues, but I've rarely had the nosebleed problems.  That's more the realm of my husband and daughter.  Anyway, we're about back to normal and are grateful that we've escaped the flu or other illness.

I finished three more books and they are:

Some Choose Darkness by Charlie Donlea - I liked this one quite a lot and see that there will be a second book with the same characters, Rory Moore and Lane Phillips, coming out the in summer.  Rory is an interesting character who reconstructs cold cases with a lot of skill.  Her partner used to work for the FBI and he is a psychologist.  Pretty dark, but I was satisfied with it.

One of Us is Next by Karen M. McManus - This is the sequel to the YA mystery, One of Us is Lying, which I read and talked about here.  We're back at Bayview High School and there is another game in play.  I had fun reading this one too.

In Farleigh Field by Rhys Bowen -  Our mystery group is having 'Rhys Bowen' month for February and I enjoyed a read/listen of this book set in WWII.  It reminded me very much of several Foyle's War episodes that I loved.  Totally got into this one and liked it very much.

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Right now I'm doing read/listens of the Truly Devious books by Maureen Johnson.  The first one is Truly Devious (which I just finished - a reread for me that I talked about here), the second is The Vanishing Stair (reading now), and the third just came out - The Hand on the Wall.  I'm so excited to have the full trilogy to get through.  Quite an absorbing YA mystery set.

I'm also slowly reading the new Oprah pick - American Dirt.  I'll have more to say about that one and how the afternoon book group that I attend got selected to participate in Oprah's book stuff.  Well, I say I'll share more - we'll see how it all plays out.  The Austin Public Library was selected to be part of the Oprah thing and our book group got picked to be the 'face of' the APL 'Oprah Book Group'.  More to come here because we're not sure what it entails except reading it and discussing as usual.  Lots of controversy about the book now and so who knows what will happen.  My understanding is the author's book tour has been affected.  In any case, I think our discussion will be interesting.  Jury's still out on what I think about the book.