⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ This was another fun story told in transcripts from group texts and message boards. There is/may have been a disappearance at a small college masters arts program. We have to figure out what happened based on reading all of the messages, which are often contradicting. So who is lying?? Who is spying on who?

I have worked with several of these types of people so it was interesting to see how they acted this scenario. So realistic that they were all of different ages/stages of life.

Special thanks to Netgalley and Atria Books for an advanced e-copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.

Publication Date 9/10/24

Maureen Johnson proves once again that she’s the queen of YA Mystery.

Poor Marlowe accidentally burns down her parents friend’s cottage on a first date. To get away from her intense embarrassment, she takes a job as a tour guide on an island where some mysterious deaths occurred in the 1930s. I absolutely loved Marlowe’s internal dialogue – so real for us socially awkward types. 🥰

Very good modern twist on/homage to an Agatha Christie book called Crooked House.

I stayed up until 2am to finish this one, which I rarely do anymore.

Special thanks to Netgalley and HarperCollins Children’s Books for the advanced e-reader copy in exchange for my honest review.

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20 books for June

• What Time the Sexton’s Spade Doth Rust (Flavia de Luce, #11) Alan Bradley ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️
• If Something Happens to Me Alex Finlay ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️
• The Unwedding Ally Condie ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️
• A Cyclist’s Guide to Crime & Croissants Ann Claire ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️
• The Stranger Beside Me: Ted Bundy: The Shocking Inside Story Ann Rule ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️
• The Steel Kiss (Lincoln Rhyme, #12) Jeffery Deaver ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️
• The Skin Collector  (Lincoln Rhyme, #11) Jeffery Deaver ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ 
• Lenny Marks Gets Away With Murder Kerryn Mayne ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️
• Not So Perfect Strangers L.S. Stratton ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️
• The Midnight Feast Lucy Foley ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️
• Eruption Michael Crichton ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ 
• Horror Movie Paul Tremblay ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️
• Nine Lives Peter  Swanson ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️
• Eight Perfect Murders Peter  Swanson ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️
• The Kind Worth Killing (Henry Kimball/Lily Kintner, #1) Peter  Swanson ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️
• The Kind Worth Saving (Henry Kimball/Lily Kintner, #2) Peter  Swanson ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️
• A Talent for Murder (Henry Kimball/Lily Kintner, #3) Peter  Swanson ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️
• The Queen of Poisons (Marlow Murder Club, #3) Robert Thorogood ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️
• Salem’s Lot Stephen  King ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ 
• Pet Sematary Stephen  King ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️

*Secret Stuff Book Club: Stephen King Summer 2024 pick*

This took several days for me to get into but it turned out alright. Very interesting to see how he revisited several things that originated in this book in later stories. I’d need to re-listen to figure out what all of them are but I lost track of how many times I thought Oh that’s like IT, or Needful Things, or several other books.

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This book has multiple timelines and switches the POV, so you have to really pay attention on the audiobook to know who is talking and where you are in time. But I was able to stay on top of it and I thought it was very well done.

In the earlier timeline, there’s a Mean Girls/Saltburn vibe with the cool/rich girl taking on a new poor/uncool girl and the existing friends/relatives making a big deal about how she’s just the latest in a string of people that she latches on to. The Mean Girl is especially mean and her friends/family are possibly even worse?

In the current timeline, the Mean Girl is opening a new luxury resort on the family property and it’s opening weekend, so everything has to be perfect. But local myths/legends start to threaten the perfection, and all of the guests aren’t who they appear to be. And then a body is discovered…

Great ensemble cast on the audiobook.

Lucy Foley is a must listen for me.
Special thanks to Netgalley and HarperCollins UK Audio for the advanced audiobook copy in exchange for my honest opinion.

US Publication Date 6/18/24

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The third book in the Marlow Murder Club series does not disappoint. Judith, Suzie and Becks are back trying to solve a new mystery when the mayor of Marlow is poisoned at a town council meeting. This time they are officially invited to be civilian advisors from the police, so that helps them investigate more easily. I love how their friendship has grown in each book.

My favorite quote from Judith, “Imagine being corrigible”. 😆

Nicolette McKenzie does a fantastic job at narrating these.

Special thanks to NetGalley and HarperCollins UK for a copy of the audiobook edition in exchange for my honest opinion.

I just loved Lenny and her rescued dog Malcolm.

This was funny but also heartbreaking because of child/wife/pet abuse related content. Very good description of what it’s like to disassociate due to childhood trauma. I’m not sure what else I can say without giving away the plot.

The narrator Annie Maynard did a great job. I love Australian accents, even if I have to slow my listening speed a little bit to understand.

For fans of Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine or The Maid.

Special thanks to Netgalley and Macmillan Audio for the advanced audiobook edition in exchange for my honest opinion.

Pub Date: Jul 09 2024

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ What Time the Sexton’s Spade Doth Rust (Flavia de Luce, #11)

Flavia de Luce is back! I was so excited to hear that there was a new addition to this series. She is the perfect mix of smart, funny and sassy. She’s joined again by housekeeper Mrs Mullet, her beloved Dogger and her very spunky younger cousin Undine.

When a neighbor is poisoned, Mrs Mullet is suspected because she cooks breakfast for him. Flavia and Undine find the clues to help the police figure out what happened, and Flavia is able to use her chemistry skills to figure out what poison was used.

There is a very big plot twist in this one that I never would have guessed. My heart aches for Flavia with all that she’s been through. I think it takes a very special writer to be able to invoke such strong feelings from a reader.

I would have liked more witty insults from Daffy, and maybe some encouraging words from either the vicar’s wife or the inspector’s wife. But overall very happy with this newest edition of the series.

I will be pre-ordering/purchasing the audiobook with my own money/Audible credits because the narrator of this series is one of my favorites.

Special thanks to Netgalley and Random House for the advanced Kindle edition of the book in exchange for my honest opinion.

• A Murder Most French (An American in Paris #2) Colleen Cambridge ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️
• The Hobbit (Middle Earth, #0) J.R.R. Tolkien ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️
• The Main Character Jaclyn Goldis ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️
• Central Park West James B. Comey ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️
• Westport James B. Comey ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️
• You’d Look Better as a Ghost Joanna  Wallace ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️
• One Perfect Couple Ruth Ware ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️
• The Last Murder at the End of the World Stuart Turton ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️
• Catching Fire (The Hunger Games #2) Suzanne Collins ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️
• Mockingjay (The Hunger Games #3) Suzanne Collins ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️
• The Bone Collector (Lincoln Rhyme, #1) Jeffery Deaver ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️
• The Coffin Dancer (Lincoln Rhyme, #2) Jeffery Deaver ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️
• The Empty Chair (Lincoln Rhyme, #3) Jeffery Deaver ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️
• The Stone Monkey (Lincoln Rhyme, #4) Jeffery Deaver ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ 
• The Vanished Man (Lincoln Rhyme, #5) Jeffery Deaver ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ 
• The Twelfth Card (Lincoln Rhyme, #6) Jeffery Deaver ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️
• The Cold Moon (Lincoln Rhyme, #7) Jeffery Deaver ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️
• The Broken Window (Lincoln Rhyme, #8) Jeffery Deaver ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️
• The Burning Wire (Lincoln Rhyme, #9) Jeffery Deaver ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️

This book went on a wild but fun post-apocalyptic ride. Most of the world has been annihilated by a toxic fog. The survivors live on a beautiful island.

Then one day, there is a murder, but everyone’s memories have been wiped so they don’t know who did it. In order to stop an actual doomsday clock (think Siri but with the ability to kill everyone at once) from ending all remaining life, they have to solve the murder with the clues available.

I was telling someone that I had requested this book thinking it was related to the 2023 Hulu series, A Murder at the End of the World, which I just loved. They’re not in the same universe, but they both do mention rich people finding ways to survive the coming environmental disasters caused by global warming, so that was interesting.

I love cozy mysteries and this one is sort of locked room/And Then There Were None-y in that there’s only 122 people on the island so it has to be one of them.

Special thanks to Netgalley and RB Media for an advanced audiobook copy in exchange for my honest opinion.

Pub Date: May 21 2024