Waiting on Wednesday - Rage

 

'Waiting on Wednesday' is an event where I feature an upcoming book that I am extra excited about.  I love doing this, letting the 'word' spread about authors and series that I enjoy.   Hope you'll stop by often and see what I'm 'waiting' on!

I am excited every single summer about a new entry to a favorite mystery series of mine.  It's written by Linda Castillo and features Kate Burkholder, Chief of Police in Painters Mill, Ohio.  This new book, Rage, is the 17th in the series.  It's set in Amish country and Kate herself was Amish at one time.  Her husband, John Tomasetti is an agent for the State Police.  After such a long time, other characters in these books have grown and changed and Kate and Tomasetti have certainly done so as well.  I look forward to hearing about what's been going on with all of them.  Kate's team of police officers is really good, but it sounds like they will all be challenged with the situation that occurs in this book.  Have you read any of this series?  Oh, I also will say that I've not been able to attend an author event with Linda as yet, but I'm still hopeful that time will come.  She lives in the Texas Hill Country and I just keep thinking...one day, one day.

Rage

by Linda Castillo

Publication Date:  July 8th

In this gripping installment of the Edgar Award winning series, Chief of Police Kate Burkholder investigates a brutal double murder that takes her into the dark underbelly of society and exposes the dangers of Amish lives gone wrong.

Summer has arrived with a vengeance in Painters Mill, and a macabre discovery by three Amish children brings the quiet to a grinding halt. Chief of Police Kate Burkholder arrives on scene to find the dismembered body of 21-year-old Samuel Eicher, a local Amish man who owned a successful landscaping business. What twisted individual murdered him in such a sadistic way?

The investigation has barely begun when, miles away, a second body is found, stuffed into a barrel and dumped in a ravine. The deceased is 21-year-old Aaron Shetler, Samuel Eicher’s best friend. What could these two young Amish men have been involved in that led to such violent ends?

With a heat wave bearing down, Kate learns quickly that, for reasons she doesn’t understand, no one is willing to talk about what happened to the men. Just as she begins to fear the case may be hopeless, a mystery woman comes forward and reveals that fun-loving Aaron and Samuel had recently befriended some very unsavory characters—individuals who may have ties to a larger, more sinister, black market.

To solve the case, Kate must delve into the most sordid corners of her community, but when she gets too close, the killers target Kate herself. Will the secrets simmering beneath the surface of Painters Mill take another life before she can expose the truth? Or will Kate be the final victim?

Waiting on Wednesday - The Dark Library

 

'Waiting on Wednesday' is an event where I feature an upcoming book that I am extra excited about.  I love doing this, letting the 'word' spread about authors and series that I enjoy.   Hope you'll stop by often and see what I'm 'waiting' on!

The book I'm featuring this week and am 'waiting on' is a standalone book by an author that I was lucky enough to meet at my first mystery book conference - read about that here.  Her name is Mary Anna Evans.  She's a writing professor from Oklahoma, and she has written a mystery series about Faye Longchamp, an archaeologist.  There are 13 books in that series.  Mary Anna has also written two historical suspense books set in WWII times.  Justine Byrne is a factory worker who notices a lots of things.  She's recruited to help the government with secrets.  Her newest book probably falls under the new 'theme' of 'Dark Academia' - or maybe.  Feel like I'm still learning what that encompasses.  It sounds good to me.  Have you read anything by Mary Anna?  What do you think?    

The Dark Library

by Mary Anna Evans

Publication Date:  June 24th

Can a family's dark history repeat itself?

Estella Ecker has returned to Rockfall House, the last place on earth she wants to be. Years after she ran away from her overbearing father, she has been forced back home to walk in his footsteps, teaching at the college he dominated and living in the fabulous home where he entertained artists and scholars for decades—and perhaps she owns it now, because her mercurial mother has disappeared. At the center of everything—the whispers, the rumors, the secrets—is her father's library of rare books, which she had been forbidden to touch while he was alive to stop her.

Everyone in town is watching Estella, with her dead father's name on their lips, and no one seems to care about her missing mother. Who were her parents, really, and is the answer hidden somewhere in the depths of Rockfall House? And who will Estella be, if she gathers enough courage to find that answer? What she will discover is that no one can escape the secrets hidden in this dark library.

Suspenseful and unsettling but ultimately triumphant, The Dark Library by acclaimed author Mary Anna Evans is a compelling tale of mystery, family secrets, and the quest for truth.

Waiting on Wednesday - The Martha's Vineyard Beach And Book Club

 

'Waiting on Wednesday' is an event where I feature an upcoming book that I am extra excited about.  I love doing this, letting the 'word' spread about authors and series that I enjoy.   Hope you'll stop by often and see what I'm 'waiting' on!

Today's book is one that I selected mostly because of the cover.  Isn't that a fun, historical beachy scene?  Now, what I will say is that those girls don't have sunscreen on - not invented yet.  However, they are at least partially under an umbrella and enjoying their books.  I have not yet read anything by Martha Hall Kelly, but I have certainly heard about several of her historical fiction books.  I think I might have a copy of Lilac Girls.  I do know that several friends have enjoyed her writing.  This one is set in 1942, WWII era, and also in 2016.  I see these girls and think about my mother.  She would have been about their age at that same time.  I look forward to this one and ask, have you read any books by Martha Hall Kelly?  Did you like them?  Or have you visited Martha's Vineyard?  I have not.  What do you think?  Interesting?  

The Martha's Vineyard Beach and Book Club

by Martha Hall Kelly

Publication Date: May 27th

Two sisters living on Martha’s Vineyard during World War II find hope in the power of storytelling when they start a wartime book club for women in this spectacular novel inspired by true events, from the New York Times bestselling author of Lilac Girls.

2016: Thirty-four-year-old Mari Starwood is still grieving after her mother’s death as she travels to the storied island of Martha’s Vineyard, off the coast of Massachusetts. She’s come all the way from California with nothing but a name on a piece of paper: Elizabeth Devereaux, the famous but reclusive Vineyard painter. When Mari makes it to Mrs. Devereaux’s stunning waterfront farm under the guise of taking a painting class with her, Mrs. Devereaux begins to tell her the story of the Smith sisters, who once lived there. As the tale unfolds, Mari is shocked to learn that her relationship to this island runs deeper than she ever thought possible.

1942: The Smith girls—nineteen-year-old aspiring writer Cadence and sixteen-year-old war-obsessed Briar—are faced with the impossible task of holding their failing family farm together during World War II as the U.S. Army arrives on Martha’s Vineyard. When Briar spots German U-boats lurking off the island’s shores, and Cadence falls into an unlikely romance with a sworn enemy, their quiet lives are officially upended. In an attempt at normalcy, Cadence and her best friend, Bess, start a book club, which grows both in members and influence as they connect with a fabulous New York publisher who could make all of Cadence’s dreams come true. But all that is put at risk by a mysterious man who washes ashore—and whispers of a spy in their midst. Who in their tight-knit island community can they trust? Could this little book club change the course of the war . . . before it’s too late?

What I read in April - hint - I've had a good time...

Hello book friends!  I'm sitting here with thunder in the background and watching some much-needed moisture come down.  Love it.  I've mentioned several times that we can use the rain so much.  Don't want hail or wind or tornados, but the rain, yes, I'll take it.  And this is pretty normal for our area in May.

Thought I would do a reading update.  I had planned to share this earlier, but we've been busy with several things so I'm finally getting to it.  I read 10 books in April and was very pleased with that number.  And I really, really enjoyed most of them.  A couple were OK enough, but maybe not the best I had read by the particular author.  It happens, right?  I'm not going to share too much about each as my list is long, but I'll share a little more about some of them.  Here we go:

Return To Wyldcliffe Heights by Carol Goodman

I've read several of Carol Goodman's books and enjoy their settings and flavor for the most part.  A bit gothic, an old house or school or spooky forest.  This one was good enough, but won't be my favorite.  I did notice that this author has a new one out in the summer and I'll likely share about it on one of my 'Waiting on...' posts.

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My next book was a reread of Anne Bogel's book, Don't Overthink It: Make Easier Decisions, Stop Second-Guessing, and Bring More Joy To Your Life.  I read this one for the first time in 2021 and liked Anne's way of sharing her own struggles with overthinking.  I needed this refresh.  

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I next turned to Always The Last To Know by Kristan Higgins.  Another author that I've read several books and she has a talent with 'women's fiction'.  A family in crisis and how to fix it.  I liked it well enough, but I've had others of hers that I liked more.  Not bad, just not a favorite.

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The Book Club Hotel by Sarah Morgan

The title caught my eye here.  Yes, it is a book that takes place in the winter season.  My first book by Sarah Morgan and I liked it a lot.  Set at The Maple Sugar Inn and featuring three friends who come for a book club holiday, what's not to like?  The innkeeper meets these women and then becomes the fourth in their group.  They help each other a lot.  Will watch for other books by this author.

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The River We Remember by William Kent Krueger

This book is the one our Mystery Book Group is discussing for May and we will meet this evening to talk about it.  I really liked this one and will look forward to hearing what others thought about it.  A standalone story by Krueger (who has written a long-running mystery series as well), it's set Minnesota in the 1950's.  It features people who have had their lives changed by war and society's attitudes, but there is also a crime to solve.  This one is definitely recommended.

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I also got to read the newest book in Jane Casey's Maeve Kerrigan and Josh Derwent mystery series.  The Secret Room was one I talked about in March on a 'Waiting on...' post here.  This is the 12th book in a fast-paced crime series and the storyline was absorbing for sure.  However, there are some real surprises too in the relationship of the protagonists.  Not going to say more.  I had shared that the main characters were complicated as was their dealings with each other.  Yeah, well, wow!

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Lastly, I've started making my through another mystery series and am enjoying that so much.  This one is by Julia Spencer-Fleming and the main characters are Police Chief Russ Van Alstyne and Reverend Clare Fergusson.  Set in Miller's Kill, New York, this series is pretty unique.  Reverend Fergusson is an Episcopal priest, but she was formerly an Army helicopter pilot.  Chief Van Alstyne is back home in Miller's Kill after also serving as an MP in the Army for many years.  The setting is very vivid and the crimes are interesting.  The author is also part of the Jungle Red Writers Blog.  I had read the first 3 books several years ago and I've reread those and also read #4.  Working on #5 right now.  The 10th book, At Midnight Comes The Cry, will be published in late fall.  I plan to be caught up by then.  This is a series that I recommend for sure.        

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I know this has been a long post.  Let me know if you've read any of these books.  Also, I've been thinking about maybe doing a 'reading update' post every other week and also the same for the 'Waiting on Wednesday' posts.  We'll see if I can keep up - ha!  Hope everyone has a good rest of the week.  And I'll say an early 'Happy Mother's Day' to all the mothers out there.  We'll be having family over for snacks and 'Mother's Day' fun on Sunday.