This is another one of those books where the journey is really fun, but then the author proves that writing endings is really challenging. You can have a great idea for an atmospheric mystery, but you also need to have a great idea for how you are going to close things out, which Sarah Pearse didn't seem to have. The book follows Detective Elin Warner, who isn't really a detective anymore after a case went wrong and she decided to take some extended leave. Elin and her boyfriend, Will, have arrived at a hotel in the Swiss Alps to celebrate her brother's engagement. The hotel just happens to also be a really creepy former sanatorium, because the designer thought that would be a super cool place to build a fancy hotel. To continue with wonderful decision making skills, Elin also decides that this would be a fitting trip to accuse her brother of possibly killing their younger sibling during a childhood vacation. Because, hey, nothing says "happy engagement!" like "did you kill our brother, though? You can totally tell me if you did." There are just a few problems with this plan - first, Elin doesn't really talk to her brother anymore, so finding time to accuse him of this is a challenge. Second, his fiancée just went missing, and it may or may not be in poor taste to accuse him of anything given those circumstances. Third, there is an avalanche approaching the hotel, so they really all need to leave. And, of course, fourth, some people are starting to get murdered. After staying behind and getting trapped from the avalanche, Elin has to really deal with all her personal issues at once because she is the only cop-like person on the mountain who can investigate anything. No one can come help until the weather clears, which probably won't be for a while. There were a few issues I had with the book, two of which I found to be major issues. The first is that this was a fun crime novel, but ultimately it seems like no one could ever be punished for the murders that happened here. Elin isn't a detective in this area, as she points out again and again, and she tends to disobey the orders she is given (or just hides what she is doing because if she doesn't ask permission, she isn't doing anything wrong?) so it seems like everything she has gathered would be utterly useless. She also has a weird tendency to tell everyone around her everything she has discovered. Like, maybe they don't all need to know every piece of evidence you have gathered? You know someone around here is killing people, maybe stop telling everyone everything and you'd have better luck. The second is that the ending was just really dumb. The culprit didn't really make any sense, and it seemed like a massive overreaction for that person to be the one responsible for everything. I think it's worth it for the fun atmosphere of being trapped in the mountains with a killer, as long as you keep your expectations in line for the ending.

I love all of the Rick Riordan books but this one slightly less, the reason for that being is that Rick Riordan killed oh of my favorite characters who is also in the Heroes of Olympus books. Also I like that you have some puzzles involved with the books.

A short, interesting fantasy about the mill workers in Lowell, Massachusetts, who use witchcraft to strengthen their strike for better working conditions. While it's a fantasy, the book packs a lot into its 123 pages about capitalism, worker's rights, and women's agency. The Daring Ladies of Lowell by Kate Alcott is a more conventional novel on the same subject and there is a National Historical park in Lowell about the history of the mills.

This was just kind of boring? It's the story of real-life Belle da Costa Greene, who was hired by J. P. Morgan to be his personal librarian. She is in charge of finding and purchasing all of the rare books he wants for his collection, and in exchange he pays her a salary that is sufficient enough to keep her family comfortable. There's a lot of room for things to be stressful here - first, Belle is a woman, and it's not common for a woman to be hired for this position during the time period. She also deals with the stress of being the main income provider for her family, as her father left when she was a child. And, of course, Belle has to content with the fact that while on any official document she has been checking the "white," box, with enough digging, anyone would be able to find out she was lying - Belle's father is black. This is very much historical fiction, and is not at all a biography about Belle - however, with that in mind, I expected more to happen? It seems like a book where the character is constantly stressed, but nothing ever really seems to happen. There's no real tension or drama here to make the book compelling.

Probably more of a three and a half star read, but rounded up because I couldn't seem to put it down. Mia is a London actress headed to LA to find her big break. While auditioning there, she meets a girl named Emily - who proceeds to be the weirdest person ever. After panicking about potentially running past her meter, Emily proceeds to give Mia her wallet and car keys so Mia can pay it for her. And then she vanishes. Gone. She leaves no contact info of any sort, nor does she wait by her car - instead she seems to disappear for days, leaving Mia, a complete stranger, with all her valuables and no idea what to do. Thus starts Mia's quest to find Emily, which is much harder than you would think it today's world - especially when it takes Mia a long time to figure out she should really open the wallet so she can at least have a last name for Emily. The book was quick paced and full of action, and I really felt for the terribly awkward position Mia was placed into. However, I didn't love the weird moments of sexism that the author threw in - I'm not sure why we had to have Mia have a "gut feeling" that it clearly could not have been a woman behind Emily's disappearance, for instance. The ending was also kind of over the top. I didn't LOVE this book, but I did enjoy it and I think it's good for a fun read.

The third in a three part series (so far) of a Sparks (Iris) and Bainbridge (Gwen) mystery. Owners of the Right Sort dating/marriage service, Iris and Gwen seek to uncover the truth about Lord Bainbridge and the associated murders and kidnappings. Always a good read with Iris and Gwen. Definitely recommend.

It’s unusual for me to quit after reading half a book, but I just couldn’t get into this one. I had high expectations because I really liked Underground Airlines by the same author.  The Quiet Boy is told in two timelines 10 years apart. This is a common enough plot structure, but here the jumping back and forth makes the story confusing and disjointed. Jay Shenk is a medical malpractice lawyer who thinks he's found the case of a lifetime. Jay's adopted son Ruben is Jay's precocious assistant as a young teen and is trying to figure out who he is as a young adult. I liked these two characters and the scenes involving the lawsuit are both funny and spot on realistic. But I kept waiting for something to happen. What is this book about? I couldn’t figure it out after 197 pages so I gave up.

I've read many Lisa Jewell books and consider myself a fan. She does a great job of creating a realistic and vivid picture of her characters and their lives, and I usually enjoy following along as she tells their stories and gradually puts pieces together to solve a mystery or a puzzle of some kind. This book felt like Lisa Jewell "light," and read more like a romance novel. The book alternates between the lives of two young women making their way in London 70 years apart - Betty in the 1990s and Betty's step-grandmother Arlette in the 1920s. Both of them are extraordinarily beautiful, and other characters comment on this so often that it starts to seem ridiculous. I liked the story of Betty more than that of Arlette, but overall the characters in both time periods were flat, their problems were predictable and the book dragged on way too long. I had to force myself to finish it.

It’s a great book so far.…………………………………………….!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! BNN nnbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbb!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!………….,……:::::

Miss Graham heads to post-war Germany to assist in rebuilding the infrastructure. In addition to this task, she is requested to locate her former lover and Nazi war criminal who is wanted by the Americans and British for different outcomes. The story is dense with history and intense--recommended if one really enjoys a thoroughly researched and intriguing story.