AND... the Reds are Reading!

 

LUCY BURDETTE: Hurray, it’s what we’re reading day so I’ll dive right in! Apostle’s Cove is another great entry in Kent Krueger's long-running Cork O'Connor series. The characters are deeply drawn, the family bonds realistic, and the action nonstop. This entry was a little different, reaching back into a murder case that Cork prosecuted when he was sheriff. Twenty-five years later, questions have arisen about whether the jailed murderer really committed the crime. Start from the beginning and read the entire series! I also adored Sarah Stewart Taylor’s second in her Vermont series,  Hunter’s Heart Ridge. You’ll feel cold and claustrophobic in this book, locked into a hunting lodge during a blizzard with a group of people, one of whom is a murderer.

While on vacation in Ireland last week, I discovered the new Jimmy Perez novel, The Killing Stones at the Dobray Books in Galway. Even though I had no room for it in my suitcase and also had a copy on order from RJ Julia at home in Connecticut. I could not resist getting an early look. It’s wonderful, of course bringing back Jimmy and his wife Willow, and the scenery on the Orkney Islands. Highly recommend!

Lucy with pal Pat Kennedy

Another book I read in preparation for the trip to Ireland was my first Clair Keegan, which Ann Cleeves had recommended to me last February. Small Things Like These is a small book, but every word is gorgeous, and brings to life a small Irish town controlled by the Catholic church on a cold and dark Christmas. I will read it again to savor the words, the mood, the characters.

Finally, The Road to Tender Hearts by Annie Hartnett is such an astonishing book, one that I was so sad to finish, even though I couldn’t read fast enough to find out what happened. It’s a wacky story about family tragedies, a road trip, a yellow tiger cat that can predict who will die next, and more! It’s funny and silly and touching and I just loved it. 

(As you can see on the pile, I haven't gotten to everything yet!)

HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN:  Cannot wait to read the Sarah StewartTaylor–she is always so wonderful! I just finished DEAD HUSBAND COOKBOOK by Danielle Valentine it is hilarious! Next up is GUILTY BY DEFINITION  by Susie Dent, which looks amazing, and THE MAD WIFE by Megan Church. You all did read the new Lisa Jewell, right? DON’T LET HIM IN? So good! Oh, and I am about to interview Walter Mosley, so I am reading GRAY DAWN. (Lucky me!)

HALLIE EPHRON: I’m reading Lori Rader-Day’s The Death of Us. I love her books and this new one is  all about families and guilt and buried secrets. In this one, she’s especially good at writing about a mother/son relationship and small town. I’m looking forward to seeing her at the New England Crime Bake.

JENN McKINLAY: I’m in a read for possible endorsement cycle. I just finished Libby Page’s THIS BOOK MADE ME THINK OF YOU (a woman’s recently deceased husband has gifted her with one book per month to help her get through her first year without him). It comes out in February - HIGHLY recommend! Next up are GALENTINE’S DAY by Rebecca Anderson and DARLING DAFFODILS FARM by Britanee Nicole. I’ll keep you posted!

JULIA SPENCER-FLEMING: I just read Brad Park’s upcoming thriller, THE FLACK (out this February) and it is SO good. The story speed along bullet-fast and even though I had way too much to do to prep for Maine Crme Wave, I couldn’t stop turning pages.

I’m also loving an opposite-style book, one that rambles along slowly and has me rereading parts just for the joy of it: NOBODY’S FOOL by Richard Russo. Yes, despite the fact we’re from the same area and his famous North Bath trilogy is set less than 50 miles from Millers Kill, I’ve never read the books before. 

What I’m reading as soon as they land tomorrow: my absolute fave author Martha Wells (Murderbot)’s DEMON QUEEN, the sequel to WITCH KING. Last year, Wells was battling cancer and obviously not working, so it’s great to see her have a new book out. And, ALL THAT WE SEE OR SEEM by Ken Liu, the award-winning writer (and translator of THREE BODY PROBLEM.) His new book is a departure from the “silkpunk fantasy” he’s been doing recently; this instead is  cyberthriller/mystery SF. Looking forward to both of these!

RHYS BOWEN:  I haven’t had much time for reading recently with deadline, edits, proposal and injured arms from a fall making typing hard. But I did real my pal Jane Healey’s Women of Arlington Hall.  Intriguing! And now I’m absolutely loving Barbara O’Neal’s THE LAST LETTER OF RACHEL ELLSWORTH.  Great character studies, travel settings and peeling back layers of secrets.  It’s about a young woman, wanting to finish her dead mother’s cook book, who hires a companion to go from England to Paris to India with her and the stories/relationship of the two women. So far it’s brilliant!

I’m also just starting a book of non fiction called BEST FOOT FORWARD about a women who decides to walk across France. I love books where people do things I’d like to in theory but never would!

DEBORAH CROMBIE: Julia, I haven’t read Martha Well’s WITCH KING, but have bought it on your recommendation, and because I adore the MURDERBOT books. I was going to get the audio version but I listened to the sample and decided I’d never be able to figure out the names!

Lucy, I also loved Sarah Stewart Taylor’s HUNTER’S HEART RIDGE. This series is right on the mark with the 60s setting and the interesting characters. A lot of my “reads” are actually “listens”, including the new Robert Galbraith Cormoran Strike novel, THE HALLMARKED MAN, which is thirty-something hours. (This I didn’t mind as Robert Glennister does such a fabulous job narrating.) Also, THE FROZEN PEOPLE, the debut of a new series by Elly Griffiths. This is a departure for her, with a time-travel element, so part of the book is set in present day London and part in Victorian London. I loved it, and the new cast of characters.

I just finished listening to Ann Cleeves’ new Jimmy Perez novel, THE KILLING STONES, and was so sorry for this one to end. I love Jimmy and Willow, and the new setting in the Orkneys, and hope she writes more of these.

Last but certainly not least, I LOVED our Hank’s ALL THIS COULD BE YOURS!! If you haven’t bought this one, do it now!

Oh, one more–thoroughly enjoying an ARC of Paula Munier’s new Mercy Carr, coming in December, I think, called THE SNOW LIES DEEP, set at Christmas and just in time for the Christmas season.

LUCY AGAIN: So jealous about Paula Munier’s arc Debs! Reds, what are you reading??