I haven’t been this excited about a mystery series since I got into Louise Penny’s Chief Inspector Gamache series in 2011. Thanks to publisher William Morrow for sending the Book Cougars a review copy of Alice Henderson’s new novel, A… Read More ›
Book review
Clark and Division by Naomi Hirahara
I devoured Naomi Hirahara’s new historical mystery, Clark and Division. It’s set in 1944 Chicago and is about a young Japanese-American woman trying to figure out what happened to her older sister. Twenty-year-old Aki Ito is a Nisei, a second… Read More ›
The Street by Ann Petry
Hello, Friend! It’s been a while since I’ve written here — almost a month! Usually, I aim to post at least once a week, but November was a busy month and a special project pulled a lot of my attention…. Read More ›
SUDDEN SEA: The Great Hurricane of 1938 by R.A. Scotti
“No one will ever know the strength of the winds in the Great Hurricane of 1938, because they destroyed every instrument designed to measure them.” — R.A. Scotti, Sudden Sea: The Great Hurricane of 1938 Like a lot of folks,… Read More ›
Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia
Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia was one of the most anticipated books of the summer. It’s a Gothic novel with classic creepiness, and although it’s a bit slow at times — as Gothic novels can be due to the element… Read More ›
Blacktop Wasteland by S. A. Cosby
This is a mystery/thriller in the noir tradition that takes you out of the city and into rural black America, specifically the southeast where blacks and whites might coexist, but slavery and the confederacy still linger.
Home Before Dark by Riley Sager
Thanks to The Book of the Month Club, I just read my first Riley Sager novel and it was such a treat.* Home Before Dark is Sager’s forth novel. His prior novels are Final Girls, The Last Time I Lied,… Read More ›
Book Review: You Let Me In by Camilla Bruce
This is a quick note to tell you about a fantastic new novel I read and reviewed for Criminal Element. YOU LET ME IN by Camilla Bruce is a brilliant debut that effortlessly combines diverse literary traditions, from domestic drama… Read More ›
The Southern Book Club’s Guide to Slaying Vampires by Grady Hendrix
What vampire fan can resist such a title? Not me. The Southern Book Club’s Guide to Slaying Vampires is Grady Hendrix’s fifth book in the horror tradition. He’s also a screenwriter and has a slew of articles to his name…. Read More ›
The Secrets We Kept by Lara Prescott
I picked up an ARC of this book last year at BookExpo 2019. I thought it would be one of the first books I read when I got home but instead, it sat on my shelf for almost a year… Read More ›