Well, let's see. It's a sunny, mild day in the Valley, 23℃, with a nice cool breeze. I was going to go for a walk this morning but decided to have a lie down and read a bit. I do like my morning reads. It's sometimes like I'm reading two books at once; the book I'm actually reading and then the different story line that seems to pop into my head when I doze off. 😏
Since my last reading update, I haven't completed any books but I'm making good progress and enjoying the books I've started June with. I have got a few new books in the past few days so I'll provide the synopses of them and also continue with my look at Women Authors I'm enjoying it.
New Books
"A hair-raising chiller about a young American newspaperman caught up in a vicious maze of Cold War espionage and international intrigue."
"In the latest thriller
in the #1 New York Times bestselling series, homicide detective Eve
Dallas investigates a murder with a mysterious motive and a terrifying
weapon.
Pediatrician Kent Abner received the package on a
beautiful April morning. Inside was a cheap trinket, a golden egg that
could be opened into two halves. When he pried it apart, highly toxic
airborne fumes entered his body and killed him.
After Eve Dallas
calls the hazmat team and undergoes testing to reassure both her and
her husband that she hasn't been exposed it's time to look into Dr.
Abner's past and relationships. Not every victim Eve encounters is an
angel, but it seems that Abner came pretty close though he did ruffle
some feathers over the years by taking stands for the weak and
defenseless. While the lab tries to identify the deadly toxin, Eve hunts
for the sender. But when someone else dies in the same grisly manner,
it becomes clear that she's dealing with either a madman or someone who
has a hidden and elusive connection to both victims."
"Tank Girl's pregnant! How will our manic heroine cope with motherhood? Is it Booga's? What will it look like? And what do the sinister members of the cult of the Blood God Baal have to do with it?"
"EVIL ENDURES
Once
an idyllic Pennsylvania village, Pine Deep awoke one morning to find
itself bathed in a massive bloodletting. Twice in thirty years the
townsfolk have endured the savage hungers of a murderous madman...but if
the residents think the death of serial killer Karl Ruger put an end to
the carnage, they're dead wrong.
THE NIGHTMARE NEVER ENDS
Bodies
mutilated beyond description, innocents driven to acts of vicious
madness. A monstrous evil is preying on the living - and the dead - and
turning the quiet little town into hell on earth. Their only hope is to
find the source. But the secrets that lurk in the heart of Pine Deep are
twisted into its very roots. This time the townspeople aren't just
fighting for their lives, but for their very souls..."
Women Authors I'm Enjoying - Ann Cleeves
Ann Cleeves is an English crime writer who I've discussed a few times in other themes. I first became aware of her work when Jo and I began to watch and enjoy the Vera mystery series on TV and later on the Shetland series, both based on her work. She has written other series as well that I've yet to try. Since about 2013, I've enjoyed two Vera books and two Shetland books. I have another six of her books on my shelves. Let's check them out.
Ann Cleeves
"Young Tom French was found dead, lying in a marsh on the Norfolk coast, with his head bashed in and his binoculars still around his neck. One of the best birders in England, Tom had put the village of Rushy on the bird-watching map. Everyone liked him. Or did they? George Palmer-Jones, an elderly birdwatcher who decided quietly to look into the brutal crime, discovered mixed feelings aplenty. Still, he remained baffled by a deed that could have been motivated by thwarted love, pure envy, or something else altogether. But as he and his fellow "twitchers" flocked from Norfolk to Scotland to the Scilly Isles, in response to rumors of rare sightings, George—with help from his lovely wife, Molly—gradually discerned the true markings of a killer. All he had to do was prove it . . . before the murderer strikes again."
"It was Eleanor Masefield 's idea to sponsor an Open Day at her beautiful Grose Hill Hotel--a celebration designed to raise funds for the protection of the local peregrine falcons that had been her late husband's obsession. But who knew she'd be dead by teatime? Amateur detective George Palmer-Jones, who's always been a little in love with Eleanor, doesn't think it was the tea--and he's determined to find out which human did its preying."
"An island shrouded in mist and a community with secrets buried in the past . . .
When
a young archaeologist studying on a site at Whalsay discovers a set of
human remains, the island settlers are intrigued. Is it an ancient find -
or a more contemporary mystery?
Then an elderly woman is shot in
a tragic accident in the middle of the night. Shetland detective Jimmy
Perez is called in by her grandson - his own colleague, Sandy Wilson.
The
sparse landscape and the emptiness of the sea have bred a fierce and
secretive people. Mima Wilson was a recluse. She had her land, her pride
and her family. As Jimmy looks to the islanders for answers, he finds
instead two feuding families whose envy, greed and bitterness have
lasted generations.
Surrounded by people he doesn't know and in
unfamiliar territory, Jimmy finds himself out of his depth. Then there's
another death and, as the spring weather shrouds the island in
claustrophobic mists, Jimmy must dig up old secrets to stop a new killer
from striking again . . . "
"When DI Vera Stanhope finds the body of a woman in the sauna room of her local gym, she wonders briefly if, for once in her life, she's uncovered a simple death from natural causes. But a closer inspection reveals ligature marks around the victim's throat - death is never that simple. "
"As the snow falls
thickly on Newcastle, the shouts and laughter of Christmas revelers
break the muffled silence. Detective Joe Ashworth and his daughter
Jessie are swept along in the jostling crowd onto the Metro.
But
when the train is stopped due to the bad weather, and the other
passengers fade into the swirling snow, Jessie notices that an old lady
hasn't left the train: Margaret Krukowski has been fatally stabbed as
she sat on the crowded train. Nobody, including the policeman himself,
sees the stabbing take place. Margaret's murderer is seemingly
invisible; her killing motiveless. Why would anyone want to harm this
reserved, elegant lady?
Arriving at the scene, DI Vera Stanhope
is relieved to have an excuse to escape the holiday festivities. As
she's standing on the silent, snow-covered station platform, Vera feels a
familiar buzz of anticipation, sensing that this will be a complex and
unusual case. Soon Vera and Joe are on their way to the south
Northumberland town of Mardle, where Margaret lived, to begin their
inquiry.
Then, just days later, a second woman is murdered. Vera
knows that to find the key to this new killing she needs to understand
what had been troubling Margaret so deeply before she died - before
another life is lost. She can feel in her bones that there's a link.
Retracing Margaret's final steps, Vera finds herself searching deep into
the hidden past of this seemingly innocent neighborhood, led by clues
that keep revolving around one street... Why are the residents of
Harbour Street so reluctant to speak?"
"A visit to her local
prison brings DI Vera Stanhope face to face with an old enemy: former
detective superintendent, and now inmate, John Brace. Brace was
convicted of corruption and involvement in the death of a gamekeeper –
and Vera played a part in his downfall.
Brace promises Vera
information about the disappearance of Robbie Marshall, a notorious
wheeler-dealer, if she will look out for his daughter and grandchildren.
He tells her that Marshall is dead, his body buried close to St Mary’s
Island in Whitley Bay. However, when a search team investigates,
officers find not one skeleton, but two.
This cold case takes
Vera back in time, and very close to home, as Brace and Marshall, along
with a mysterious stranger known only as ‘the Prof’, were close friends
of Hector, her father. Together, they were ‘the Gang of Four’, and
Hector had been one of the last people to see Marshall alive. Vera must
confront her prejudices and unwanted memories to dig out the truth, as
the past begins to collide dangerously with the present . . ."
I highly recommend her books. Almost another weekend. Enjoy and stay safe.😷
No comments:
Post a Comment