On A Quiet Street by Seraphina Nova Glass

On A Quiet Street by Seraphina Nova Glass

Published by Grayson House ISBN 9781525899751

Trade paperback, $16.99, 320 pages

Sometimes you read a book that takes a while to catch your interest, sometimes a book grabs you right away and doesn’t let go. Seraphina Nova Glass’ new novel, On A Quiet Street, took a hold of me on page one and never let up.

The story follows three women who live in a quiet, wealthy enclave called Brighton Hills on the Oregon coast. Paige is mourning the hit and run death of her 22 year-old son Caleb, who was killed near their home. His mother has made it her mission to discover which one of her neighbors killed her son and left him for dead. She is a regular visitor to the police department, and has narrowed her list of suspects. Her husband Grant has moved out, but he still loves his wife dearly.

Cora is married to  Finn, mom to two teens, and spends much of her time doing various charitable works. She doesn’t trust her husband, believing that Finn is once again cheating on her. Finn tells Cora that she is crazy to think he is not loyal to her, and he is tired of the accusations.

Paige offers to use her newfound sleuthing skills to help Cora get the evidence she needs to prove that Finn is a liar and cheat. Fed up, Cora takes Paige up on her offer.

Georgia is married to Lucas, a well-respected judge in the community. She spends all her time caring for their baby Avery, and is rarely seen outside of the home. Cora has tried several times to befriend Georgia, only to be rebuffed. Lucas has told people that Georgia has mental health issues and is agoraphobic, but Cora thinks there is something more.

As the lives of these three women are about to collide, will they find the answers to their problems?  I raced through On A Quiet Street, and couldn’t put this book down. Seraphina Nova Glass ratchets up the suspense in this well-crafted novel, and although as she ties up the loose ends a bit too tidy, overall this is a psychological suspense novel I would recommend. If you were a Desperate Housewives fan back a few years ago, this one is for you. 

Thanks to Harlequin for putting me on their Summer Mystery/Thriller Blog Tour. 

Friday 5ive- July 24, 2020

Welcome to the Friday 5ive, a weekly blog post about five things that caught my attention this week.  The heat continues, and it was so hot I had to read inside on a few days this week, but my buddy Otto the dog appreciated being able to nap in air conditioned comfort while I read.


1)  I ordered some bookish masks from Out of Print a few weeks ago and they arrived this week.  Every stylish book nerd needs one, don't you agree?

2)  Baseball is back, baby! We watched a few exhibtion games between the Mets and Yankees and it is so great to be able to watch the games, even if fans aren't allowed in the stadium. Fans can be part of the crowd though; many teams are selling fans the opportunity to have cardboard cutouts of themselves (or their dogs) sitting in the stands. My very funny brother Doug sent us a photoshop of my husband and I as cardboard cutouts at CitiField. At least we had good seats behind home plate.

3)  As those of us who have been cooking dinner pretty much every night since March (has it only been that long? It seems like years), it can be tedious and exhausting. Deciding what to make, ordering the groceries, cooking, cleaning up, on and on and on. This weekend, our kids made us a fabulous fish dinner. They purchased halibut steaks from Eastchester Fish Market, marinated them, grilled them to perfection with a tasty sauce, and made delicious sides of vegetable couscous, lemon roasted potatoes and fruit salad, paired it with Cakebread Chardonnay, and it was a fabulous meal. It was so good that I think they should cook every weekend. (Do you think that will work?)

4)  I'm always looking for something good to watch on TV, and I heard great things about the movie Palm Springs streaming on Hulu. Andy Samberg (whom I love on Brooklyn Nine-Nine) plays Niles who, while attending a wedding in Palm Springs, ends up in some sort ot time loop, reliving the same day over and over again. Cristin Milioti ends up in the time loop with him, and she wants to find a way out. It is funny and charming, with a great performance by J.K. Simmons as a man who is after Niles. It's got a great romance, some action, and if you are thinking that it sounds like the Bill Murray Groundhog Day, you would be right. I was smiling long after the movie ended, and I know I will watch it again and again. Samberg and Milioti have crazy good chemistry, and I hope this is the movie that breaks her out, as she gets a real chance to shine, as does Samberg.  (Note- it is R rated for a good reason. This isn't for kids.) Pair this with Lisa Grunwald's beautiful novel Time After Time for a great time loop double feature.

5)  It was yet another big week of reading, with four books finished. Jill McCorkle's Hieroglyphics tells the story of Lil and Frank, an elderly married couple whose move from Boston to North Carolina causes them to reflect on their lives. It's a poignant story, and my full review publishes on Sunday.

Seraphina Nova Glass' psychological thriller Someone's Listening tells the story of a psychologist who gets into a car accident with her husband but he disappears before the ambulance arrives. Did he run away? Is he lying dead somewhere? This is a good book for people who like to guess whodunnit. My review publishes today. 

As part of my ongoing journey to read more Black voices, I read Michele Harper's memoir The Beauty in Breaking. Michele grew up in a household where her father was violent, beating her mother and brother.  Determined to help people, Michele became an emergency room doctor. She tells her life story through the lessons she learned from patients she treated. She is as wonderful a writer as she is a doctor. 

The last book is Rules of the Road, a novel by Ciara Geraghty. When Terry discovers that her friend Iris is missing, she sets out with her father who suffers from dementia to find her. Terry finds a note that Iris wrote, saying she is going to Switzerland to a clinic to end her life. Iris has MS, and she wants to end her life on her terms. Terry and her father find Iris and the three set forth on a journey from Dublin to London to France, meeting interesting people along the way, and it changes Terry's life. My full review publishes next Friday.  

Stay safe, socially distant and cool, wear a mask, and wash your hands and we'll see you next week.

Someone's Listening by Seraphina Nova Glass

Someone's Listening by Seraphina Nova Glass
Published by Graydon House ISBN 9781525836749
Trade paperback, $16.99, 336 pages

Seraphina Nova Glass' novel, Someone's Listening, is for readers who like to sift through clues and multiple possible suspects as to whodunnit.

The novel opens with psychologist and successful talk radio host Dr. Faith Finley celebrating the publication of her book, Someone's Listening. The book is a guide for women who want to escape from the clutches of domestic violence and predatory people bent on doing them harm.

It should be a happy occasion, but there are clues that something is amiss. Her loving husband, respected newspaper restaurant critic Liam, seems angry, and people at the party appear to want to avoid Faith, not celebrate her success.

On the way home from the party, a truck veers right at them while Faith is driving, and she wakes up to EMTs strapping her to a gurney. She calls out for Liam, but there is no response.

As she comes to in the hospital, she asks for her husband, but the police officer in her room tells her that there was no one else in the car or anywhere near the scene. This confuses and upsets Faith.

Liam's body is not found, but it is discovered that he withdrew $6000 from their bank account and his passport is missing. Why would Liam leave? Is it because one of her former clients accused her of having an inappropriate relationship?

Faith is about to lose everything, and with her back against the wall, she begins to investigate what happened to her husband. She also starts receiving threatening notes, passages cut out from her book. Who is trying to ruin her life?  There are plenty of suspects, and a careful reader may be able to suss out a guess at who did it and why.

Glass does a terrific job setting a scene, painting a visual picture for the reader. "The Sunday newspaper, in its plastic sheath, lies at the end of the driveway, half of it immersed in a puddle from last night's rain."

If you enjoy a psychological thriller where you can exercise your skills at detection, Someone's Listening is for you. Fans of the Lifetime channel movies will enjoy it as well.

Thanks to Harlequin for putting me on their Mystery & Thriller Summer Reads Blog Tour.