Friday 5ive- April 28, 2023

Welcome to the Friday 5ive, a weekly-ish post featuring five things that caught my attention this week. It's been more than a few weeks since my last Friday 5ive post, it's been a busy time for me between work and a week off to Florida.

1) Speaking of Florida, we had dear friends visit us and we made our first trip to the Ringling Museum in Sarasota. It was incredible! The highlight of the museum is a huge building where they have recreated a miniature circus setting from days gone by. Starting with the circus trains pulling into a train station, and through the set ups of dozens of tents, hundreds of animals, and thousands of miniature people, you walk around and see the amazing village the circus creates when it pulled into town. Whatever they need- from multiple barber shops, blacksmiths, carpenter shops, makeup and costume shops, performers' tents- they bring from town to town. It's truly a remarkable sight to see, I can't imagine how many hours went into creating this. We will be going back when we can spend more time there. 

The animals

Backstage- you can see the women's costumes on the left

Under the big top!

You can visit Ca'dZan, John & Mable Ringling's former mansion

2)  Spring is busting out all over the Upper East Side this week. It's so delightful to see all these bright flowers blooming. 

3) A few weeks back I saw Sweeney Todd on Broadway. Josh Groban plays wonderfully against his sunny personality as the demon barber of Fleet Street in this production, and Annaleigh Ashford gives her best performance on the stage yet as Mrs. Lovett, the owner of the meat pie establishment who loves Sweeney Todd and becomes the beneficiary of Sweeney Todd's revenge scheme. The show is a dark one in tone (obviously), and I had forgotten how many great songs came from this Stephen Sondheim creation- 'Johanna' (my favorite), 'Pretty Women' and 'Not While I'm Around' among them. Ruthie Anne Miles is brilliant as the Beggar Woman and Gaten Matarazzo as Tobias are also standouts in this great cast. I would bet on Ashford to win another Tony for her performance, one that the late great Angela Lansbury won a Tony for her iconic performance and later recreated in the movie. This one rates a must-see. 

4) We watched the new Netflix series The Diplomat in two sittings. If The West Wing and The Americans had a baby, it would be The Diplomat. Keri Russell (Felicity, The Americans) plays Katherine Wyler, a diplomat who is packing to return to the American embassy in Kabul to try and get Afghanistanis who helped the Americans get out safely. She is suddenly summoned to become the new American ambassador to the United Kingdom, a post that she is unprepared to take. She is having marital difficulties with her husband Hal, a man involved in government politics who likes to stir up trouble, including for his wife. When a British warship is hit in the Gulf and 41 sailors are killed, the Prime Minister wants to militarily retaliate against the Russians who evidence suggest is behind it. Katherine and the Foreign Minister of the UK team up to try and find out who was behind the bombing, and Katherine discovers the real reason she has been chosen for her new posting. The acting is fantastic, especially Russell and Rufus Sewell as Hal, and the storyline is timely and propulsive.  (I also like that Keri Russell looks like a woman in her forties, not a plastic faced doll.) I am proud that I was able to guess what was going to happen in the last ten minutes of the season finale and can't wait for season 2. Another highly recommended from us. 

5) I ended up reading three books with similiar themes- Dennis Lehane's Small Mercies and Don Winslow's City on Fire and the sequel City of Dreams. Dennis Lehane's novel is set in 1974 Boston at the beginning of the busing protests. Mary Pat Fennessy has lived in the Southie projects her whole life. Her first husband died, her second husband left her, her Vietnam vet son came back from war addicted to drugs and died of an overdose and now it's just her and her teenage daughter Jules. When Jules fails to come home one night, Mary Pat discovers that her daughter is involved with the gangsters from the Irish mob who run Southie. On the same night Jules disappears, a young Black man was killed by subway train, the son of a woman who works with Mary Pat at a nursing home. Mary Pat is fierce and determined to find out what happened to her daughter and if she has to break heads and cross the leader of the Irish mob (think Whitey Bulger) to do so, she will. Lehane drops the reader into 1974 Boston and the language and violence is authentic and disturbingly realistic. I remember seeing the busing story on the news every night as a teen and it comes off the page vividly in Small Mercies. I highly recommend it. 

Don Winslow's City on Fire tells the story of the Irish and Italian mobs in Providence, Rhode Island in the 1980s. They co-exist somewhat peacefully until a woman comes between two hotheaded men on either side. Danny Ryan is the protagonist, a midlevel man in the Irish mob who, although he does his best to avert a war that he knows one side will lose badly, ends up smack in the middle, with the FBI on their tail as well. Once again, the language and violence is constant and disturbing, but authentic. I couldn't read this book fast enough, it reminded me of Mario Puzo's The Godfather, and Winslow's analogies to Greek mythology begin each chapter. This series has streaming miniseries written all over it. This is another recommend from me. 

The second book in the series City of Dreams finds Danny and his crew on the run where they land in Hollywood. Danny finds himself a job as a consultant on a movie about the Providence mob wars and he becomes involved with the lead actress. The action is once again propulsive as Danny and his crew try to avoid the Italian mob coming for them. I liked the first half of the novel novel better than the second half, I wasn't totally on board with the choices Danny made. 

Have a safe, healthy week, until next time.

Zora Books Her Own Happily Ever After by Taj McCoy

Zora Books Her Own Happily Ever After by Taj McCoy

Published by MIRA ISBN 9780778333524

Trade paperback, $18.99, 320 pages

Set a novel in a bookstore and give me interesting characters to root for, and good writing and I am all in. Taj McCoy's Zora Books Her Own Happily Ever After has that and so much more.

Zora bought a local bookstore in her Washington DC neighborhood with money left to her by her father. She lives with her sassy Granny Marion and her best friend Emma, who both work at Zora's bookstore called Opus Northeast. 

Zora works hard to make Opus Northeast a true community gathering place, hosting events for adults and children. She loves her bookstore but it takes up most of her time, ordering books, working with publishers, waiting on customers, keeping up with the ever-demanding social media platforms, and it leaves little time for an active social life.

When a bestselling local author whom Zora has a crush on agrees to an event at her store, Zora is ecstatic. Lawrence Michaels writes a series of popular mystery thriller series and Zora knows he will be a hit. Emma and Granny Marion encourage Zora to go for it with Lawrence, but Zora thinks he is out of her league, and she is too busy anyway.

Lawrence's event at Opus is a hit, drawing a big crowd, including Lawrence's best friend from college and social media director Reid. Reid doesn't make a great first impression on Zora, he seems like he has a chip on his shoulder.

Much to Granny Marion and Emma's delight, Lawrence asks Zora to his apartment for dinner, and she accepts. The evening goes well, and there seems to be good chemistry between Zora and Lawrence.

Reid is a high school English teacher and he invites Zora to speak to his class about a city-wide writing contest that Zora is sponsoring at her store. Zora and Reid begin spending time together, and Zora discovers that she has feelings for Reid. When it rains, it pours, and Zora doesn't want to hurt either man. What to do? 

There was so much I liked about this book. Zora is a confident Black woman, a hardworking business owner, and she cares about her community. She's also a proud bibliophile, a foodie, and she cares about other people's feelings. The little touches that reveal character, like Zora saying grace before every meal, elevate this terrific novel.

As somone with a bookstore connection, I enjoyed reading all about Zora's experiences as a bookstore owner. You get a true feeling for what that involves on a day-to-day basis. 

There is an interesting twist about Lawrence and Reid's relationship that impacts Zora, one that a careful reader may be able to guess. 

Zora Books Her Own Happily Ever After is a delightful romance about a realistic woman who finds herself with a choice to make. Does she make the right one? I think so, and I hope we get to read more about Zora and her family and friends in subsequent books.

Thanks to Harlequin for putting me on Taj McCoy's tour.

Silver Alert by Lee Smith

Silver Alert by Lee Smith

Published by Algonquin Books ISBN 9781643752419

Hardcover, $27, 224 pages

When I began reading Lee Smith's Silver Alert, I thought it would be a little bit sunnier and lighter (judging from the cover art) than it ended up being.

Herb is 86 and his health is beginning to fail. He cares for his beloved younger third wife Susan, who is suffering from dementia, in their beautiful Key West home with the help of a rotating group of caregivers. Susan is slipping away, and it breaks Herb's heart to see it.

One day, a young woman named Renee comes in to give Susan a manicure and pedicure, and Susan seems to respond to Renee. Renee gets Susan to sing, and brings in an easel and art supplies for Susan. Susan owned an art gallery, and this is seems to reawaken some light in her.

Herb is thrilled with Renee's progress with Susan, but when he tries to give Renee a ride home, Renee demurs saying that the bus is fine. Renee lives with her friend in a rundown trailer in a not-so-nice part of town- and her name isn't Renee, it's Dee Dee.

We slowly get Dee Dee's backstory, which isn't pretty. As a child she is surrounded by a mom who used drugs and lived with a succession of men who victimize and traumatize a young Dee Dee, even through her young adulthood.

Herb's family- including his children, stepchildren, an ex-wife and Susan's children- have decided that it is time for Susan to be in a nursing home and for Herb to sell the house and move into an assisted living facility right near Susan. And they don't trust Renee.

Wanting nothing to do with that, Herb decides to take his Porsche out for a final spin, and when Renee shows up at the house after being ditched by a man she thought she had a future with, he invites her to join him on a tour of Florida. 

This is where the road trip portion of the story comes into play, towards the last section of the book. As Herb and Renee travel the state, they get to know each other better. Eventually they discover a Silver Alert has been put out for them by Herb's family, hence the title of the book.

I found Renee and Herb's stories interesting, although I would have liked to know more about Herb and Susan's story. There are some really triggering aspects to Renee's story, something that may take readers by surprise if they expect this to be more of a lighthearted road trip story between two people of different generations.

Renee is a resilient young woman, and with Herb's encouragement, she makes good decisions that will lead her on a path that would make him proud.

Thanks to Algonquin Books for putting me on Lee Smith's tour. 

Friday 5ive- April 1, 2023

April Fools! Event though it's Saturday, welcome to the Friday 5ive, a weekly-ish post featuring five things that caught my eye this week.

1)  I went to see MJ: The Musical on Broadway this week. Myles Frost, who plays Michael Jackson, won the Tony last year for his portrayal, and this is his last week in the show so I wanted to him. The show revolves around Michael Jackson rehearsing for his Dangerous tour, and we see him and the dancers and singers working to make the show perfect. Frost is magnetic in the role, you literally can't take your eyes off him when he is on stage. He sounds and moves just like Jackson and it appeared that audience members felt like they were seeing the actual Michael Jackson on stage. There were flashbacks to seminal moments in Jackson's career, from his beginnings with the Jackson 5 to his Thriller days, and all of the Michael Jackson hits are here. If you like jukebox musicals like Jersey Boys and A Beauiful Noise: The Neil Diamond Musical, you'll like this one too.

2)  I visited the Museum of Broadway in Times Square this week before MJ, and it is so wonderfully done. They start with the beginnings of Broadway through each era of shows and iconic shows like Hair, A Chorus Line, Wicked have displays with costumes, sets and cast photos. At the end they have a huge section dedicated to the behind-the-scenes jobs- set designers, stage managers, public relations and marketing people. My only criticism is that the font for the captions on the photos is so small you have to be right on top of the photos to even read them. I will be returning when I can spend more time there, it is a must-see for every Broadway fan.

Original Ziegfeld Follies costumes found in a trunk

Doc's Drug Store from West Side Story

Costumes from Hair

Auburnian Thommie Walsh from A Chorus Line

Broadway Cares AIDS Quilt

The set from The Producers

3) While doing a little spring cleaning I found a box with cards from my sons, and this one from my older son JD made me laugh because it is ironic, because we have found out there is something scarier. It's from well before 2016 (maybe 2012 or so?).

Not so funny now, is it?

4)  Ted Lasso is back for its third and supposedly final season on Apple TV+. The first three episodes are available and they haven't lost a step. I laughed so hard in episode three when Ted is trying to slide out from behind Richmond's newest player international star Zava during their locker room pep talk (Jason Sudekis is a comedic genius). The lines come fast and furious, you really have to pay attention. On a serious note, Ted is dealing with his worsening panic attacks, and I like how the show has brought attention to that. This is appointment television on Fridays. 

5)  I read a memoir and an upcoming novel from one of my go-to authors this week. Alisha Fernandez Miranda's memoir My What If Year shares her experiences going from CEO of a consulting company to interning in three different jobs in one year. Alisha is the daughters of immigrants, the kind of driven, hardworking woman who graduated from Harvard University and the London School of Economics and always followed the rules to succeed. When she found herself yearning for something more, she decided to try her hand at learning three different careers that always interested her. She left her husband and two young daughters in London and headed to New York City to intern for two different Broadway productions- Flying Over Sunset and a revival of Assassins- in the early months of 2020. Just as things were proceeding in rehearsals and production and Alisha was enjoying her internship, COVID hit and Broadway shut down. She headed back home to London and moved onto her next internship with an art dealer, where she was offered a permanent position. She finished her What If Year at a resort in Scotland near her home. This one proved to be the most arduous one yet; working as a waitress was physically exhausting for the 40 year-old. I enjoyed that section the most.  The premise was so interesting, although her timing of doing all this during COVID was unfortunate. She does acknowledge how lucky she was to have great connections that allowed her the opportunities that most don't have. I found my copy in the gift shop at the Museum of Broadway, the last signed copy they had. If you like memoirs (and Broadway!), this is a must-read. 

One of my all-time favorite authors, Alice McDermott, has a new novel publishing in November titled Absolution. This one has a different setting than most of her New York based books. The setting is Saigon in the early 1960s. Tricia is a young newlywed whose husband is a naval engineer stationed in Vietnam. When she meets Charlene, another American wife, she finds herself drawn into Charlene's charitable plans to help the Vietnamese people, going against her husband's wishes. McDermott brings us into a time and place we don't know much about as seen through these women's eyes, and her writing is exquisite. It reminded me of Barbara Kingsolver's The Poisonwood Bible , a book that resides on my Favorites Shelf. I already preordered a physical copy for November, I'm going to make an early call that it will be one of my best reads of 2023. 

I think spring is here (right?) Stay safe and healthy all.

Diane

New in Paperback- Her Last Affair by John Searles

Her Last Affair by John Searles

Published by Mariner Books ISBN 9780060779672

Trade paperback, $18, 336 pages

Skyla is a widow who lost her sight shortly after she lost her husband of nearly fifty years in a freak accident. She is looking for a tenant to rent the cottage on her property, right next her own identical cottage on the grounds of the abandoned drive-in theater her husband’s family ran for years.

Brit Teddy Cornwell shows up to rent the cottage, and he and Skyla hit it off immediately. Teddy loves this “brilliant stitch of Americana” and laughs at the only question Skyla asks him - “Have you ever been in love?” She asks nothing about his references or financial situation, just a question about love.

Teddy shares the story of his first love, Linelle, how he loved her more than anyone in his life, even more than his ex-wife. Skyla encourages Teddy to look her up, which he does, tracking Linelle down on Facebook. Linelle is receptive to meeting up with Teddy after all these years since her marriage is unhappy and her life seems to be falling apart.

Jeremy is an unsuccessful writer in New York City, about to be evicted from his apartment when he gets an assignment to write a restaurant review in his hometown of Providence. He returns home and recalls the woman he fell in love with year ago, the woman who broke his heart. Maybe he should look her up.

No one in Her Last Affair is exactly who they seem. Why did Skyla lose her job as a nurse years ago? Why is Teddy hiding out in a cottage on an abandoned drive-in? How Searles weaves the stories of these fascinating, lovelorn characters together is nothing short of brilliant, and I loved his use of movie quotes to open each chapter with insight into what is coming next.

Her Last Affair is a book that builds the suspense with each turn of the page. The twist that Searles throws in will have you gasping as I did. The drive-in setting is perfect, as this is a book that screams to be turned into a movie.

I attended a terrific book discussion for Her Last Affair with John Searles and Amy Ryan and you can read all about it here.

The Perfumist of Paris by Alka Joshi

The Perfumist of Paris by Alka Joshi

Published by MIRA ISBN 97807783386148

Hardcover, $30, 368 pages

Alka Joshi's utterly captivating Jaipur trilogy began with The Henna Artist, continued with Secret Keeper of Jaipur, and finishing with The Perfumist of Paris kept me rapt with characters I grew to care deeply about.

We met Lakshmi, the henna artist and title character in 1950's Jaipur as she created henna art on some of Jaipur's's most influential women, while also helping one of those women's husbands hide his involvement with mistresses. That relationship leads to Lakshmi's banishment from Jaipur.

In The Secret Keeper of Jaipur, Lakshmi is married and working with her husband Dr. Jay Kumar in a community health clinic in Shimla in the Himalayas, and using her knowledge of medicinal herbs and plants managing the Healing Garden Center. She gets her former assistant, young Malik, an internship in Jaipur with a friend who is managing a huge construction project- a state-of-the-art cinema. When the balcony collapses on opening night and people are injured and killed, Malik suspects foul play and his investigation puts him on the wrong side of powerful people.

Lakshmi's younger sister Radha takes center stage in The Perfumist of Paris. Radha left India to go to Paris, where she is married to a Parisian man, mother to two young daughters, and an assistant chemist at a small perfumery.

Radha loves her work and wants a promotion to perfumist at the company, where her boss is a woman. The company is tasked with creating a fragrance based on great works of art for a client, and she believes her knowledge of the basis of many perfumes that come from India can help her do that and get the promotion over two men who want the promotion.

Lakshmi offers to introduce Radha to the courtesans who took her in when she left home. These women use their knowledge of various plants and herbs to create scents that entice men, just what Radha needs to create the perfect scent to get her the promotion.

Back home in Paris, Radha has to deal with her husband Pierre, who doesn't want his wife's career to take away from their family. Radha's mother-in-law Florence also makes no secret of the fact that she thinks Radha should be home with her girls. Florence happily cares for the girls while Radha is at work, and Radha fears that the girls will become more French and lose any Indian identity they have.

When a person from her past shows up in Paris, Radha has to contend with a secret from her youth that she fears will destroy her family and the life she has built.

The setting is 1970s Paris, and more women are entering the workplace alongside men. Radha's struggle with wanting something of her own, a career she loves and can be proud of, and wanting to be a good mother is one that many women of today can relate to as well. 

I enjoyed learning about the perfume business, especially the fact that many of the French perfumes have their basis in Indian plants. As always, Alka Joshi immerses the reader in the culture and foods of India, and even if you don't like Indian food, you may find your mouth watering at the descriptions. I also loved her evolving relationship with Florence.

Alka Joshi has created a fascinating world in her Jaipur trilogy, and populated it with characters I came to care about, especially Lakshmi. I'm sad to see the trilogy end, but so glad that I got to spend time in India. I highly recommend all three Jaipur books.

Thanks to Harlequin for putting me on their Winter 2023 Historical Fiction Blog Tour.

Friday 5ive- March 24, 2023

Welcome to the Friday 5ive, a weekly-ish post featuring five things that caught my attention this week. Welcome spring!

1)  While walking around doing my errands, I've seen this twice now- the Urban Arrow bike. They have a cargo version for deliveries and this one is called the Family. You can put three little ones in the front and ride around town. I'm not sure how practical it is for NYC, it seems the Cargo one would be helpful for delivery people, although it is rather large. The Family one would be great for the suburbs or for Batman, he could put Robin in front.

2)  I went home to Auburn last weekend and had a great time. I spent St. Patrick's Day with my family, and my sister made delicious Reuben sandwiches for dinner. This time I managed to make the family group photo! Next up, a lovely bridal shower for my dear friend and former neighbor's daughter. It was great to catch up with friends I haven't seen for awhile. The mother of the bride arranged for a Girls' Night out at a local restaurant and we had yummy Cosmopolitans, delicious pasta, and wonderful conversation. As we were leaving the restaurant, a gust of wind took one of the ladies' leftover bags out of her hand and it flew down the street where a gentleman coming out of the brewery next door promptly stepped on it to stop it. Watch out for flying lasagna!

I also got to meet my 8 month great-niece Abigail Mae. She has such a sweet disposition, smiling and laughing and enjoying all the commotion. It's wonderful to see the new generation of our family beginning.

3) I made a tasty new dessert from my new favorite cookbook- Key Lime Cheesecake "Cupcakes" from Marlene Koch's Eat What You Love. We really like Key Lime Pie from the Publix grocery store but it's got a lot of calories, and this is a tasty substitute and only 140 calories per cupcake. I froze half of them, I'll let you know how that works out.

Photo from marlenekoch.com

4) After reading and loving Taylor Jenkins Reid's novel Daisy Jones and the Six a few years back, I've been patiently awaiting the Amazon Prime Video miniseries. I watched the first six episodes and was entranced by it, and finished the last four episodes yesterday. Each actor looked exactly like the picture I had in my head of their characters! There are a few big differences from the novel, but it so well done. Riley Keough is perfect as Daisy and she and Sam Clavin (Billy Dunne) have a palable chemistry as they push-and-pull towards each other. My favorite character is Camila, Billy's wife, so beautifully played by Camila Marrone. If you're a fan of Fleetwood Mac from the 1970s, you'll want to watch this story of the rise and rapid fall of a rock and roll band. Rumor has it the actors may play a few gigs as Daisy Jones & the Six. (My review of the novel is here.)

5)  I read three historical novels this week. The first one is my Book of the Month selection this month, The Last Russian Doll by Kristen Loesch. It was a reluctant selection for me and it took me about a quarter of the way through the book before I was hooked. Loesch tells her story in three important timelines in Russia's history- the beginning of the Bolshevik Revolution in 1917, the siege of Leningrad during WWII and the Stalin purges that followed the war, and the Glasnost years of Gorbachev. Rosie lost her father and sister tragically in front of her own eyes as a young girl and moved to London with her mother and her mother's large collection of porcelain dolls. In Rosie's determination to find out what happened to her family, we get the story of Tonya, a woman who married a wealthy businessman but fell in love with a Bolshevik orator during the revolution. I found Tonya's story more interesting than Rosie's, and you got a real feel for life during those historic times in Russia, and there a few times the story took my breath away. I ended up reading it in just two sittings, I couldn't tear myself away. 

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Alka Joshi's first novel in her Jaipur series, The Henna Artist was wonderful and I finally got around to reading the second in the series, The Secret Keeper of Jaipur. Set in India in 1969, it continues Lakshmi's story after she was run out of Jaipur by powerful people. She married Dr. Jay Kumar and works with him at the community health center and runs the Healing Garden in Shimla. She got her former assistant Malik a job as an intern working with a construction company that is building a huge cinema in Jaipur. When the cinema balcony collapses on opening night and people are killed and seriously injured Malik finds himself looking for answers as to what happened that puts him in the crosshairs of some wealthy and powerful people with big secrets.  I loved The Secret Keeper of Jaipur, once again Alka Joshi drew me into this world with her interesting characters in fascinating storylines. 

The third book in the trilogy, The Perfumist of Paris, picks up Lakshmi's sister Radha's story in Paris. Radha is now married to a Frenchman and the mother of two young daughters. She has a job as an assistant chemist in a perfumery, with hopes of creating a fragrance that will enable her to get a promotion. Radha's husband and mother-in-law don't understand her desire to work outside the home, and Radha also has to contend with male coworkers who want the promotion. So many women will relate to Radha's drive to be successful and have something of her own, and how she balances that with being a good mother to her daughters and dealing with cultural bias as well from people. I found that interesting in this time in Paris, and I also liked Radha's changing relationship with her mother-in-law. My full review publishes on March 26th. 

Have a safe, healthy week.

Vera Wong's Unsolicited Advice For Murderers by Jesse Q. Sutanto

Vera Wong's Unsolicited Advice For Murderers by Jesse Q. Sutanto

Published by Berkley ISBN 9780593549223

Trade paperback, $17, 352 pages

I was in the mood for something lighter, and the cover of Jesse Q. Sutanto's newest mystery Vera Wong's Unsolicited Advice For Murderers beckoned me to pick it up. Am I ever glad I did!

Vera Wong is a 60 year-old widow who begins each day at 4:30am precisely and texts her laywer son "reminding him that he's sleeping his life away and should have been up before her" as he has a "whole world to conquer." Then she dons her sweatpants, Ralph Lauren polo shirt, and visor and heads out for her daily walk around her San Francisco Chinatown neighborhood.

When she returns home, she opens her business "Vera Wang's World Famous Teahouse", which is neither owned by the famous fashion designer Vera Wang nor world famous. Sematics. She waits for her only customer of the day, her neighbor Alex, who comes in to get tea and bring it back to wife who is suffering from Alzheimer's.

Everyday is the same until one morning when Vera comes down from her upstairs apartment to find the dead body of a man in her teahouse. Vera calls the police and is excited because she watches all the CSIs and she knows all the activity that will follow. She begins to brew special teas for the police, teas that will help with concentration and solve the crime.

When only two police officers arrive, they find that Vera drew an outline of the body with a Sharpie marker on the floor. She says she did not touch anything else (do we believe that?) and when the police find little evidence of a murder, Vera is disappointed in the police's lack of investigation.

So of course, Vera begins her own investigation. Other people trickle in- a man who claims to be a reporter, a woman who claims to host a true crime podcast, the man's widow with her young daughter, and the man's brother. These five people band together to try and find the killer, even though Vera has declared that one of the other four are her main suspects.

Vera Wong's Unsolicited Advice For Murderers is a laugh out loud cozy mystery, and Vera is a truly unforgettable character. The things she says, the texts she sends her son, and yet she has a heart of gold beneath her lack of a filter. If you are a fan of the Hulu series Only Murders In The Building, you'll love this book. It has the same sensibility.

My only criticism is that Vera is described several times as "elderly". I am also 60 years old and many of my friends are "of a certain age" and I do not consider myself or them "elderly". It's supposed to be remarkable that Vera is so spry, but we all get around just fine. I hope when they do the TV series of this book they make Vera a little older than 60. I look forward to more of Vera's future escapades.

Thanks to Berkley for providing me with an advanced copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

I Love When You Lie by Kristen Bird

I Love It When You Lie by Kristen Bird

Published by MIRA ISBN 9780778333432

Trade paperback, $18.99, 352 pages

Kristen Bird’s intriguing novel I Love It When You Lie begins with Stephanie Williams, wife of the town mayor, answering questions in the sheriff’s office. Her three sisters-in-law- Tara, June and Clementine, along with Stephanie, are thought to be responsible for the disappearance of one of four men: “a preacher, a doctor, a professor and a mayor.” 

The question to be answered is which one has disappeared and why. Tara is the oldest sister, the one who took care of her younger siblings when they spent a short time in foster care after the death of their parents. Their grandmother took the children in and lovingly raised them, and they are preparing for her funeral as the story begins.

Tara’s husband is the the town preacher, who spends most of his time tending to the needs of his parishioners rather than his wife and teenage daughter Lottie, who is rebellious. She is hiding a big secret from her husband and if it comes out, it could destroy their all their lives.

June is a nurse at the local hospital, married to a doctor from Peru. It took time for the townspeople to accept her husband, but he is well-respected now. June has had several miscarriages, and is despondent that they don’t have a baby. A tragedy with a patient becomes compounded when June does something desperate, something that her husband can never support.

Clementine is dating a much older married professor at her college, a man who is accused of sexual misconduct with his students. While she becomes wary of all of the signs that he is not the man she hopes he is, she knows that if she leaves him, he can destroy her career as a writer. When he accompanies her back home to her grandmother’s funeral, secrets are outed. 

Stephanie catches her cheating husband during his grandmother’s funeral wake and decides she has had enough. Besides, she is the one who should be mayor of this small town, she has the brains and the drive to do it better than her husband.

The sisterly relationships are the core of this story. They protect each other, even if they are not always in agreement with the decisions each one makes.  I liked the Alabama setting, and learning about the small town rituals, especially Decoration Day, when everyone gathers to honor those they lost with shared food, songs, and psalms. 

So who disappears and who made him disappear? You’ll have to read to find out.

If you are a fan of the fantastic Apple TV+ series Bad Sisters, (as I am), put I Love It When You Lie on your TBR list.

Thanks to Harlequin for putting me on their Winter 2023 Mystery/Thrillers Blog Tours.