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Fabulous Fiction Firsts #644

by muffy

Michigan author Karen Dionne's hardcover debut The Marsh King's Daughter * transports her readers to the wilderness of Michigan's Upper Peninsula where a woman must risk everything she has and use every skill she learned to hunt down the dangerous criminal who taught her everything she knew - her father.

When Helena Pelletier heard on the news that the notorious murderer/kidnapper known as "The Marsh King" has killed two guards and escaped from Marquette maximum security prison, she knew she could no longer outrun her past.

Born in a primitive cabin to a 14 year-old kidnapped victim, Helena grew up without modern conveniences or human contact except for her aloof mother and Jacob, who held them captive. Despite his brutal behavior, Helene loved him, loved their life together, governed only by the seasons - farming, fishing, tracking, and hunting. But it was also a 13 year-old Helena who facilitated their rescue and put Jacob behind bars.

Twenty years later, married with two young daughters and a thriving business, Helena faces the daunting task of explaining to her husband why their family is at risk; why the police considers her a person of interest; and even more incredulous, why she is the only one with survivalist skills to track her father in the wild.

"Echoing Hans Christian Andersen's fairy tale of the same title, Dionne's latest is a well-crafted, eerie, and unnerving psychological thriller." (Library Journal)

For fans of Still Missing by Chevy Stevens; Room by Emma Donoghue; and Our Endless Numbered Days by Claire Fuller.

* = starred review

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Fabulous Fiction Firsts #632 "(D)espite appearances, puzzling is not a solitary game: every move the puzzler makes, the puzzlemaker has made before..." ~ Georges Perec

by muffy

Author Caite Dolan-Leach's clever title for her debut Dead Letters * references the obvious, but also its alternate definition.

Graduate student Ava Antipova made her way home to upstate New York when news of her estranged twin Zelda's death reached her in Paris. They have not spoken for 2 years after a bitter betrayal.

Arriving at Seneca Lake where the family's failing vineyard Silenus, was located, Ava immediately stepped into caring for their ailing mother and estranged father who long ago, abandoned them for a sunnier vineyard, wealthier wife, and a younger family in California. Almost immediately, even before the Police suspected foul play, Ava began receiving cryptic emails and social media messages from Zelda.

Arranged in 26 chapters, each beginning with a letter of the alphabet and recounting the games the twins played as children, Zelda led Ava on a scavenger-hunt, delivering "a lock-room mystery with flavors of Perec", which as it became increasingly obvious, was also a taunt for the Edgar Allan Poe scholar (subject of Ava's dissertation) and the OuLiPo Movement - writers obsessed with mysteries and literary games.

"In this, her startling debut novel, Dolan-Leach nimbly entwines the clever mystery of Agatha Christie, the wit of Dorothy Parker, and the inebriated Gothic of Eugene O’Neill." (Kirkus Reviews)

For readers who enjoyed Sister by Rosamund Lupton, and The Widow by Fiona Barton.

* = starred review

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TV Spotlight: The Night Of

by manz

The Night Of is a critically acclaimed HBO miniseries that premiered last July. Friends recommended it at the time, but I let it skip by once I was fully immersed in watching Stranger Things. The 8-part crime drama revolves around a young man, Naz, who heads off to a party in his father’s cab and ends up spending the evening with a young woman who he later finds stabbed to death in her bed. Naz wakes up and finds her and has no clue as to what happened the night of.

Once Naz is charged with her murder the series continues with detectives and lawyers trying to solve the case that Naz appears to be very guilty of committing. One of my favorite elements of the show was John Turturro’s performance as one of Naz’s lawyer. (Initially James Galdolfini was to fill the role, but after his death Robert DeNiro was set to replace him. Then due to scheduling conflicts DeNiro was replaced with Turturro.)

I highly recommend this show if you’re into crime dramas, mysteries, or detective shows. It is dark, gripping, suspenseful, and superbly written and acted.

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Fabulous Fiction Firsts #626, Debut Mysteries

by muffy

If you are waiting for The Girl Before *, J.P. Delaney's cunning debut, you might give these a try.

Little Deaths * * * by Emma Flint is inspired by a true crime case which occurred in Queens, NY in 1965.

When single-mother Ruth Malone reports her young children missing from a locked room with an open window, suspicion immediately falls on her. A stylish cocktail waitress who works long hours and is separated from her husband, Ruth smokes, drinks, and parties, often with married men and keeps their love letters under her bed.

When the bodies of the children are found, the police investigation focuses solely on her. The lead detective, a strict Catholic who believes women belong in the home, leaps to the obvious conclusion. The only person who becomes convinced that Ruth may not be guilty of the crime is Pete Wonicke, a rookie tabloid reporter determined to make a name for himself.

"This accomplished debut novel will intrigue fans of both true crime and noir fiction. Flint, a technical writer in London, is a welcome addition to the world of literary crime fiction. Readers of Megan Abbott may want to investigate." (Library Journal)

The Dry * (one of January's LibraryReads picks, and winner of the 2015 Victorian Premier Literary Award for an unpublished manuscript) is drawing debut novelist Jane Harper comparisons to Dennis Lehane.

It has been 20 years since he and his father were driven out under a cloud of suspicion, Melbourne-based Federal Agent Aaron Falk returns to his hometown Kiewarra for the funeral of his childhood best friend Luke. Beyond trying to repay the debt he owed Luke, he questions the official narrative that Luke killed his young family and committed suicide on his farm - the desperate act of a man pushed to the brink by financial woes caused by the area's two-year drought.

With the help of recently arrived Sgt. Raco, Falk finds that small towns have big secrets and Luke's death might be connected to Ellie Deacon’s suspicious death by drowning 20 years ago.

"From the ominous opening paragraphs, all the more chilling for their matter-of-factness, Harper, a journalist who writes for Melbourne’s Herald Sun, spins a suspenseful tale of sound and fury as riveting as it is horrific." (Publishers Weekly). Film rights to Reese Witherspoon’s production company.

Read-alike: The Broken Shore by Peter Temple which also offers a portrait of small-town Australia.

* * * = 3 starred reviews
* = starred reviews

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Fabulous Fiction Firsts #625, Part 2

by muffy

First, you need to know that as one trusted Library Journal reviewer puts it in no uncertain terms: "(t)his bleak, potent picture will scare the pants off readers".

According to debut novelist Lindsey Lee Johnson (herself a former tutor/teen mentor), The Most Dangerous Place on Earth * * is your local high school - where we send our precious ones as a matter of course.

Alternately narrating is a group of privileged Mill Valley juniors, linked by the parts they played in the suicide of a middle school classmate. Among them are the classic high school archetypes: the jock, the A-student, the bully, the stoner, the outcast - all in the throes of a time of tumult and confusion, amplified by the seduction and tyranny of social media.

Caught up in the daily drama of these teens is Molly Nicoll, a mid-year replacement teacher from scrubbier Fresno. First time away from home, and barely out of her teens, she too, is navigating faculty-lounge cliques; the vigor of teaching; demands of entitled and indulgent parents; and trying to connect with her students. Lonely and naive, she strikes up a relationship with a fellow teacher who turns out to be a predator.

"(Johnson) keeps the action brisk and deepens readers’ investment, culminating in a high school party that goes wrong. Readers may find themselves so swept up in this enthralling novel that they finish it in a single sitting." (Publishers Weekly)

Suggested for fans of Celeste Ng's Everything I Never Told You and The Interestings by Meg Wolitzer.

* * = 2 starred reviews

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Fabulous Fiction Firsts #624 “I've always wanted to play a spy, because it is the ultimate acting exercise. You are never what you seem.” ~ Benedict Cumberbatch

by muffy

Ascension, the first book in a new series by Gregory Dowling is set in 18th century Venice in the weeks leading up to the Feast of the Ascension.

Alvise Marango, having grown up in London, is back in Venice, the city of his birth, alone, barely making a living as a cicerone, if not for his command of the English language. Rescuing an unsuspecting Mr. Boscombe and his tutor Shackleford from some shady characters at the gondola landing, he is hired as guide as they continue their Grand Tour.

After a series of gruesome murders, with the latest being that of Shackleford, Mr. Boscombe is arrested, along with Marango as his accomplice. With a solid alibi and his intimate knowledge of Venetian history and politics, Marango impresses the authority enough to be recruited as a spy.

From the grandest palaces to its darkest alleys, he follows the trail of a missing book that might lead him to a secret society and its sinister plan to destroy the city on its most important and spectacular holiday. That is, if he manages to stay alive.

British author Gregory Dowling moved to Venice in 1981, where he teaches American Literature at Ca' Foscari University of Venice.

Readers partial to the setting and time period might also enjoy Beverle Graves Myers' Tito Amato series (many of them available for download), featuring an opera singer who is also a spy; and Jason Goodwin's The Bellini Card that takes Investigator Yashim of the Edgar Award-winning series to Venice.

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Fabulous Fiction Firsts #619 Spotlight on UK Mystery Debuts

by muffy

Referencing the New Testament parable, The Trouble with Goats and Sheep * by Joanna Cannon is set during the scorching summer of 1976 when 10 year-olds Grace and Tilly take it upon themselves to look for their neighbor, friendly Mrs. Creasy who disappears without a trace.

As the girls go door to door in search of clues (and God), the neighborhood starts to give up its secrets. "In a masterfully constructed plot, Grace—who sniffs out the lies told by her adult neighbors—learns a lesson about loyalty and true friendship, as secrets born of shame are gradually revealed. This understated, somewhat quirky debut novel is remarkable for its structure, characterizations, pitch-perfect prose, touches of humor, and humanity. Cannon, a psychiatrist, is an author to watch." (Booklist) Will appeal to fans of the Flavia de Luce series by Alan C. Bradley.

The House Between Tides by Sarah Maine, is an atmospheric psychological mystery set on Muirlan Island in Scotland’s Outer Hebrides, where Londoner Hetty Deveraux hopes to turn Muirlan House, inherited from a distant relative, into a luxury inn. The shocking discovery of the century-old remains of a murder victim plunges her into an investigation of Theo Blake, the acclaimed painter and his troubled marriage to Beatrice who vanished from the island in 1910.

"Maine skillfully balances a Daphne du Maurier atmosphere with a Barbara Vine–like psychological mystery as she guides the reader back and forth on these storylines... The setting emerges as the strongest personality in this compelling story, evoking passion in the characters as fierce as the storms which always lurk on the horizon." (Kirkus Reviews)

I Let You Go * * by Clare Mackintosh, "a twisty, psychological thriller with an astonishing intensity” ~ (U.K) Daily Mail opens with the hit-and-run death of 5 year-old Jacob on a rainy afternoon in Bristol. Shortly afterward, Jacob's mother disappears.

Wrecked with guilt, sculptor Jenna Gray relocates to the isolated Welsh village of Penfach. Back in Bristol, Det. Insp. Ray Stevens and detective constable, Kate Evans are frustrated with the lack of results in their investigations but push on despite official orders. Their persistent efforts eventually pay off.

"Mackintosh, a former police detective and journalist, weaves a complex tale out of seemingly straightforward circumstances." (Publishers Weekly). "But her real skill is in the way she incorporates jaw-dropping, yet plausible, plot twists into the already complex story-line." (Kirkus Reviews). A new author to watch for fans of Tana French, Paula Hawkins, S.J. Watson and A.S.A. Harrison. I particularly enjoyed the audio format, beautifully read by Nicola Barber and Steven Crossley.

* = starred review
* * = 2 starred reviews

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Settling Into Fall With Quietly Suspenseful Reads

by eapearce

Perhaps you recently read The Girl on the Train, in preparation for seeing the soon-to-be-released movie version and are wondering where to turn next to get that tingly feeling of suspense that a mind-bending mystery offers. Or perhaps you’re still looking for something as good as Gone Girl to blow your reading mind. Or maybe you just like to read suspenseful stories in autumn, as I do, and are looking for the perfect one to kick off the season. No matter what the reasoning, the AADL has a slew of great psychological mysteries to send chills up your spine:

In All the Missing Girls, by Megan Miranda, Nicolette returns to her hometown after ten years away to care for her ailing father. She’d left a decade ago after her best friend disappeared without a trace. The ensuing investigation focused on Nic, her boyfriend, her brother and Corinne’s boyfriend, and since then Nic is the only one who’s left town. When another girl goes missing just days after Nic’s return, she’s determined to figure out what’s going on—and hopefully find out what really happened to Corinne so long ago. The story is told backwards from the date that the girl disappears which makes all the shocking truths that are revealed even more surprising, and plays tricks on the mind that will delight even the most unflappable of readers.

Unbecoming, written by Rebecca Sherm and published last year, offers readers a seemingly tragic story: after two men that she loves attempt to rob a historical mansion and land in prison, a woman flees to Paris to try and start a new life away from them and their memory. Living under an assumed identity and working in a shady antiques-repair shop, readers follow along as her lies unravel and the truth behind her past, the heist and her future plans come to light. Fans of The Girl on the Train will enjoy this one in particular.

Lisa Jewell paints an initially idyllic scene in The Girls in the Garden, of a picturesque communal park in urban London, but the image is quickly shattered when a girl finds her sister’s potentially lifeless body among the rose bushes. The book backs up from this moment, introducing us to the sisters and telling the story of how they and their single mother came to live in one of the small flats by the park. As we make it forward to the night of the attack, readers are introduced to a series of suspicious characters and find out about the disappearance of another teenaged girl who lived by the park twenty years before. Are the crimes linked? Or have two separate criminals graced the park with their presences?

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Fabulous Fiction Firsts #615

by muffy

Referred to as The Dollhouse * by the Manhattanites, the Barbizon Hotel for Women is where aspiring models and secretaries who often come from small towns, try to make it on their own in the 1950s.

Darby McLaughlin arrived from Ohio to take up secretarial studies at the Katherine Gibbs School . Compared to the glamorous Eileen Ford housemates, she was plain, self-conscious, and homesick. Befriended by Esme, a Barbizon maid, she was introduced to an entirely new side of New York City: seedy downtown jazz clubs.

Over half-a-century later, journalist Rose Lewin is evicted from one of the Barbizon condos when her divorced boyfriend decides to reunite with his family. Rose is forced to take refuge with her reclusive downstairs neighbor Darby, one of the original tenants. As Rose's life implodes around her, she is consumed with the story behind the rumors that Darby was involved in the grisly death of Esme. Yet as Rose's obsession deepens, the ethics of her investigation become increasingly murky, and neither woman will remain unchanged when the shocking truth is finally revealed.

"Darby and Rose, in alternating chapters, weave intricate threads into twists and turns that ultimately bring them together; the result is good old-fashioned suspense," (Publishers Weekly) by debut novelist Fiona Davis.

Sylvia Plath's The Bell Jar was based upon her time working at Mademoiselle and living at the Barbizon (called The Amazon in the novel). This historical landmark, built in 1927 is now upscale condos under the name Barbzon 63.

Readalike: Searching for Grace Kelly by Michael Callahan (another FFF) and Suzanne Rindell's Three-Martini Lunch will captivate readers with a strong sense of time and place as the authors bring a legendary New York building to life and populates it with memorable characters who find themselves in unusual situations.

* = starred review

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TV Spotlight: 11.22.63

by manz

11.22.63 is a sci fi thriller based on the best-selling Stephen King novel of the same name. The 8 part television series is another interesting look into the assassination of John F. Kennedy and I thoroughly enjoyed the series. It makes me want to watch Oliver Stone’s JFK again!

James Franco stars as Jake Epping, a recently divorced English teacher who is offered a chance to go back in time after finding out that a friend of his discovered a portal that takes you back to 1960. He is then tasked with travelling back in time to prevent JFK’s assassination on November 22, 1963, focusing on Lee Harvey Oswald, in order to alter the course of history. With the past always trying to “push back” this is not an easy task for Jake and he finds many hurdles along the way that leave room for plenty of suspense. He also meets sweet and stunning librarian Sadie Dunhill who throws a wrench in keeping on track with his big plans.

If you like history or suspense, give the show a try!