Her Dark Lies by J.T. Ellison

Her Dark Lies by J.T. Ellison

Published by MIRA ISBN 9780778331988

Hardcover, $28.99, 368 pages

In J.T. Ellison's newest thriller, Her Dark Lies, Eliza, an emerging artist from Nashville is about to marry Jack Compton, the scion of a wealthy industrialist family. From the beginning of the festivities, things go wrong.

When Jack takes Eliza home from their engagement party the night before they leave Nashville to go to his family's remote private Italian island for the wedding, they are attacked by a masked intruder. Eliza shoots the intruder dead, but Jack convinces her to lie to the police and say that Jack's bodyguard killed the man.

Eliza hopes that once they get to the island, everything will be fine. She is bowled over by the beauty of the island and can't wait to paint there, her future home with her beloved. After her beautiful wedding gown is discovered defaced with the word "whore" written in blood on it, Eliza begins to wonder if her wedding is jinxed.

There is a lot going on this story, and people are hiding secrets and lies. Jack and his family's successful computer business is not exactly what it seems. And what is the true story behind the death of Jack's first wife on their honeymoon? Jack's parents have a strange reaction whenever her name is brought up.

Eliza is no Cinderella either, plucked from obscurity by the handsome prince. She was involved with some bad people in her younger days, and her sister blames Eliza for a car accident that killed their father.

As Eliza's family and other guests arrive for the week-long wedding celebration, the bodies begin to pile up. It has become clear that someone desperately wants to stop this wedding, and there are so many suspects and motives. Ellison puts lots of red herrings in the story that will test even the most clever sleuth to figure out exactly who is behind this and why.

Her Dark Lies has a mysterious island, power outages at the wrong time, a grandfather with dementia who yells out cryptic accusations of murder, family dysfunction, and a brunch filled with such delicious descriptions of food it would make Downton Abbey jealous. If Rebecca and the 1980's TV show Dynasty had a baby, it would be Her Dark Lies. Thriller fans will enjoy trying to figure it all out.

Thanks to Harlequin Books for putting me on J.T. Ellison's tour.

Sunrise on Half Moon Bay by Robyn Carr

Sunrise on Half Moon Bay by Robyn Carr
Published by MIRA ISBN 9780778310099
Hardcover, $27.99, 304 pages

When you want to tune out the news and get lost in a good book, Robyn Carr's latest, Sunrise on Half Moon Bay, is a great place to turn.

Addie is 32 years old, and has spent the last eight years of her life caring first for her father, and then her mother, who lived four years after suffering from a stroke. Now that both of her parents have passed, Addie has to decide what to do with her own life.

Her sister Justine is twenty years older, and was out of the house before Addie was even born. Justine is a successful corporate laywer, working long hours to support her stay-at-home husband Scott and their teenage daughters Olivia and Amber.

Justine and Addie had an agreement that Justine would pay Addie to stay home and take care of their parents, and Justine would pay all of their expenses, including a small stipend for Addie.

Justine has always been a take-charge, decisive person, Addie has been more deliberate. Caring for their ailing parents and an event from Addie's college days has made her reluctant to move forward with her life. She feels stuck, but doesn't know how to move forward.

Her lifelong best friend Jake has been a shoulder to lean on, but now even he has been urging Addie to do something- go back to school, maybe even start dating. And he wouldn't mind if he was the guy she would want to date.

When Justine's husband decides that he wants out of the marriage, she is blindsided. She always thought they were happy. Scott wants half of their marital assets and spousal support, which means that Justine's financial support of Addie is in jeopardy.

Addie and Justine's lives have been turned upside down, and now they have to take a hard look at what they really want out of life and how to get there. They haven't been close as sisters, but now they must figure out a way to pull together and build a new relationship with each other.

The sister relationship is the strongest element of Sunrise on Half Moon Bay. I loved watching Addie and Justine work their way back to each other, depending on each other to get through a new phase of their lives. Justine reevaluates her career situation and has to deal with a big change in her midlife, while Addie is starting a little later than most people at finding a meaningful job.

There is so much that people can relate to here- Addie sacrificing to care for her parents, Justine working long hours at a tough job to provide financially for her family, while still coming home to make dinner, do laundry and help with her daughters' homework. Even Olivia and Amber, having their lives turned upside down by their parents' divorce, are in a situation where many people have been.

I hope that we get to revisit Addie and Justine in a future Half Moon Bay book, I feel like they have become my friends.

Thanks to Harlequin Books for putting me on Robyn Carr's tour.

Robyn Carr's website is here.

Afterlife by Julia Alvarez

Afterlife by Julia Alvarez
Published by Algonquin Books ISBN 9781643750255 -publishes April 7
Hardcover, $25.95, 272 pages

It's always something to celebrate when Julia Alvarez publishes a new book, and her latest, Afterlife, is no exception.

As this quietly moving novel opens, Antonia is waiting for her husband Sam to meet her for a dinner celebrating her retirement from teaching English at the local college. Sam never makes it, dying of a heart attack on the side of the road.

A year later, Antonia is still grieving Sam, the "good cop" to her "bad cop". At dinner parties, Sam was the one who spoke passionately about climate change, and put up a sign that read "Move Vermont Forward" after their neighbor Roger, who owns a farm, put one up that read "Take Vermont Back".

The writing here is gorgeous, as Antonia mourns Sam.

"She is keeping to her routines, walking a narrow path through the loss- not allowing her thoughts to stray. Occasionally, she takes sips of sorrow, afraid the big wave might wash her away.' 

People who have known deep loss will know that feeling.

One day, Mario, one of the young undocumented Mexican men who work on Roger's farm, comes over to help clean out her roof gutter. He asks Antonia to help him with a problem. His girlfriend Estela is in Colorado and wants to come to Vermont with Mario. The man who brought her across the border wants more money. When Estela finally arrives, she is pregnant, which further complicates the situation.

Antonia is reluctant to get involved, she is still so fragile. But she can hear Sam's voice in her head, telling her that these two young people need her help. She is willing to help, but only up to a point. She asks herself if this is all Sam's "afterlife will amount to? Sam-inspired deeds from the people who love him?"

At the same time, Antonia's sister Izzy disappears on her way to visit Antonia and their other sisters, Mona, a therapist who rescues dogs, and Tilly, who can't sit still. Izzy is a psychologist, and she is also probably bipolar.

Nobody writes the sister relationship better than Julia Alvarez ( In the Time of the Butterflies and How the Garcia Sisters Lost Their Accents). As the sisters revert to their childhood routines, at first angry at Izzy, then afraid for her, they become what Antonia calls "the Dominican Greek chorus".

The sisters also reminded me somewhat of the March sisters from Little Women, with the voice of the deceased mother, Mami, a stand-in for Marmee from the Louisa May Alcott classic. Anyone who has sisters will understand the relationships among these women.

Afterlife deals with the themes of grief, mental illness, family relationships, as well as the issues facing undocumented workers, with humanity, and poignancy. Alvarez writes so beautifully, and the character of Antonia is so fully-realized, we feel her pain.  I highly recommend it.

Thanks to Algonquin Books for putting me on Julia Alvarez's book tour.