SOME LIKE IT COLD.....A LONG SIMMERING ROMANCE IN A SNOW GLOBE LITTLE TOWN....(*****)

 Some Like It Cold by Elle McNicoll (2024)

     Falling into (and for) this book was kind of like being enveloped in a long, loving warm hug...... or maybe binge watching multiple seasons of 'Gilmore Girls'.

     Like the TV show, we're in a snow-globe, never-neverland sweet little picture postcard town, filled with quirky characters who practically all know each other on a first name basis. And so obviously well-named......Lake Pristine.

     There's royalty of sorts......the well to do Montgomery clan, which include two completely opposite sisters.......the imperious, bossy (and now raging Bridezilla) Christine and the town's much beloved unofficial Princess, younger sister Jasper, just returned from college to attend Christine's grand New Year's Eve wedding.

     But neurodivergent Jasper's both exhausted and worried about all the secrets she's been keeping. The sweet-natured girl, forever fearful of people finding her autism odd and repellent, has always overplayed her role as a selfless people pleaser., hence her reputation. And she's no longer able to tolerate her parents' bullying her into pursuing law school, so she's secretly quit college and plans with apply to design school.

     If that isn't enough for Jasper, there's renewing her contentious encounters with grumpy Arthur Lancaster, that one boy in town who doesn't seem to like her.......or does he? Just a little? Maybe more than just a little? Could it be he's bonkers for her?

     Arthur and his brother run the town's main venue, the Arthouse multi-plex cinema and he and his cousin Marcus are filming a documentary on Lake Pristine at the very height of the town's winter activities - the 'Nutcracker' ballet, directed by Jasper and the wedding-frenzied Christine storming through town like a tornado. Amidst all this chaos, Arthur and Jaster frequently find themselves thrown together in one situation after another..........and this is where 'Some Like It Cold' will have you in perpetual heartache, sighing out loud and cheering on these two hurting souls to reach their inevitable conclusion.

      There's no other way to read this other than to surrender to it as it plays on your heartstrings with no mercy whatsoever until the end. It has the snap and crackle of 'Gilmore Girls' combined with the dreamy look of a small town in a Hallmark Christmas movie. If all that sounds enticing at all, then by all means treat yourself.. (True confession : this may be something I'd return to re-read just to re-visit and town and characters again.)

     5 stars (*****)  Best comfort read of the year, so far.

---

THE SERIAL KILLER'S GUIDE TO SAN FRANCISCO.....A GUIDE'S SERIAL KILLER TOUR OF THE CITY BECOMES ALL TOO REAL...(****)

 The Serial Killer's Guide To San Francisco by Michelle Chouinard (2024)

     Always a comfort to plunge into a good solid whodunit, loaded up with clues, red herrings and plenty of suspects to consider. And this book even throws in a bonus whodunit as well, a long ago closed case with a personal connection to our main character sleuth.

     And by no means your ordinary sleuth either. Capri Sanzio, a hard working single mom to college student Morgan,, conducts serial killer tours in San Francisco, a city whose chilly fogs and colorful history make a perfect backdrop. One downside - Capri must cope with her customers asking about her late grandfather, William 'Overkill Bill' Sanzio a convicted serial killer who died in jail still proclaiming his innocence.

     While still hoping to start a podcast where she'll re-investigate and hopefully exonerate her grandfather, some dire events overcome Capri. After Capri's divorce from her cheating ex husband, Sylvia,, her imperious wealthy former mother-in-law continued to fund Morgan's tuition. But now Syvia, for reasons of her own, cut off the tuition payments. Then shortly after her contentious phone calls with Capri and Morgan, she's found brutally murdered, the second victim of a killer determined to copy 'Overkill Bill's exact methods. This naturally puts Capri and her daughter at the very top of the lead police detective's suspect list......so Capri launches her own amateur but surprisingly effective hunt for the copycat killer. .

     Pure fun to read all the way, Lots of San Fran atmosphere, and entertaining byplay around Capri's relentless snooping that causes both amusement and exasperation in the detective who's officially in charge. And the expected, nail-biting killer-sleuth showdown is worthy of a Hitchcock movie. What more could you ask for in a mystery novel where the Golden Gate bridge looms nearby?

         4 stars (****)   This is one tour where you'd better keep together with the group and not wander off by yourself......

WHEN THE WORLD TIPS OVER.....A MYSTERIOUS BEAUTY UPENDS A TROUBLED FAMILY....(*****)

When The World Tips Over by Jandy Nelson (2024)

      I don't think I've ever used the world 'overwhelming' in a posted review, but I might as well start with this one. What a sprawling, wondrous, heartfelt, saga Jendy Nelson conjures up here. It's a lengthy but fascinating feast of star-crossed love, painful truths told as fabulist tall tales and family histories afflicted with biblical-level tragedy. I don't know when I've come across a novel whose richly imagined storytelling and prose makes you ache for every character in it.

     In Northern California's wine growing country, the three siblings of the Fall family have come asunder, torn by their beloved father's unexplained disappearance from their lives. Quirky 12 year old Lizzie, a social outcast, sees ghosts sometimes. 17 year old 'Perfect' MIles is so secretly miserable, he's ready to resign the role of his family and community's 'Golden Boy'.. And 19 year old Wynton, brilliant musician and self destructive bad boy, seems destined for a path of either great fame or total doom......maybe both.

     Into each of their lives, comes a beautiful, almost other-worldly girl with rainbow colored hair. The two Fall brothers and their little sister find themselves entranced and enchanted by their encounters with her. And they will indeed be forever changed when the rainbow girl's backstory unfolds for the reader, an epic road trip filled with joy, cruelty, heartbreak and a stunning reveal which I certainly won't breathe a word about here.

     While I realize that the dives into magical realism may not be to everyone's taste, there's so much to absorb, experience and savor in this book that you can't help but surrender yourself to it and let all the emotion wash over you. Anyone searching for a read to lose themselves in totally.......I'd say look no farther.

        5 stars (*****). Make a place on your Must Read list......

A PLACE TO HIDE......A YOUNG DIPLOMAT CAUGHT UP IN THE CRUSH OF HISTORY......(*****)

 A Place To Hide by Ronald H. Balson (2024)

       I'm tempted to say how up-to-the-minute this book is, arriving in the very midst of our American election, but then.....oh well, I've already said it haven't I?

      This is one powerful, ambitious historical adventure, filled with meticulous research and enough genuine real life suspense and dread to fill a dozen thrillers. For sheer terror with the sweep of world-changing history, no era could compare with Hitler's conquering Nazi hordes marching across Europe. And as they swallow the continent, they fully enforce their so-called 'final solution' to Europe's Jewish population - total extermination.

      Caught in the swirl of horrendous oncoming events is Theordore 'Teddy Hartigan' a young State Department striver who found himself assigned to the thankless task of administrating refugee travel visas at the American consulate in Amsterdam. It's a heartbreaking futile effort for Teddy since the visa quotas are filled and he can do little or nothing to help thousands of desperate families seeking the sanctuary of America to avoid persecution and death at the hands of the Nazis
.
        Then Teddy, who naively thought Germany would not invade the Netherlands,, comes to fully comprehend the oncoming abomination. He's fallen in love with Sara, a Jewish schoolteacher and they've both come to adore little Katy, an orphaned, Jewish refugee. With travel papers impossible to obtain as Nazis march into Amsterdam, how can he possibly save them along with thousands of others trying to escape?

       Told in the form of memoirs dictated by a now elderly Teddy, "A Place To Hide' masterfully creates a full vivid picture of innocent people caught in the crush of the most unimaginable events in 20th century history. And that, for me was enough to keep me reading long into the night and eager to get right back to it the next day. Highest recommendation.

      (And I'll even resist saying things like....'and if you think it can't happen here'........oops, I did it again, didn't I.....Let's just say, if you remember to vote, you can prevent books like this sounding like Previews Of Coming Attractions. )

        5 stars (*****)

THE TRAP....AGENT EMMA, VEXING THE RUSSIANS ON HER LATEST MISSION...(*****)

  The Trap by Ava Glass (2024)

       Overjoyed to get my hands on Ava Glass’s third thrill ride adventure about another dangerous mission for the young, fearless British spy, Emma Makepeace.

      Emma, working for a “sort of” offshoot of British Intelligence MI6, once again faces off against her lifelong hated enemies of the Russian secret service. (Her father died at their hands when she was a child.) And once again, they’re up to no good -planning some kind of catastrophic, violent disruption of the U.S.-European G7 economic summit due to happen at a Scottish castle in Edinburgh.

      Our girl Emma’s tasked with surveilling and then befriending (in…uh.. possibly more ways than one) Nick Orlov, a former Russian citizen turned millionaire oil dealer based in Edinburgh. He’s a dashing, handsome notorious ladies man, but now he’s being pressured by brutal Russian agents to help them in whatever terroristic event they’ve cooked up for the G7.

      From there, it’s one swift, suspenseful moment after another as Emma throws herself into harm’s way to get to the bottom of things, foil the Russians, and save the free world while bravely serving on His Majesty’s Secret Service. Along the way she ends up with an unlikely but invaluable partner in suffer-no-fools Scottish cop Kate Mackenzie and a stunning personal surprise for herself.

      For all lovers of action-adventure spy fiction, this series is a 5 star must. (*****) And since the James Bond producers move at the rate of dead snails to make another one, here’s the best book to curl up with till they get around to it.  

WHAT TIME THE SEXTON'S BLADE DOTH RUST.....YOUNG FLAVIA DE LUCE'S NEWEST, MOST SURPRISING CASE...(*****)

  What Time The Sexton's Blade Doth Rust by Alan Bradley (2024)

     This is one of those books that gives you such a pleasurable reading experience that you’re sorry to see it end, and you start missing the main characters as soon as if you’ve reached the last page.

     I’m at a loss as to who could resist the almost teen-aged Flavia de Luce – frighteningly erudite, wise beyond her years, and brilliant chemist whose mastery of poisons and assorted clues make her rival Sherlock Holmes. Not to mention her stream of devasting insights, observations and witticisms that make her sound like a wicked combination of Oscar Wilde, Noel Coward and George Bernard Shaw.

     As in the previous 10 episodes of this series, we’re back in early 1950’s post-war England, where the orphaned Flavia lives in her family’s country estate with her two older sisters. She’s currently being driven to the point of near murder by her wild-child, holy terror younger cousin Undine, who more than matches Flavia in her capacity boldness, outrageous behavior and overall troublemaking.

     Speaking of murder, there’s the question of who poisoned Major Grayleigh, a retired hangman who lived in a neighboring cottage. Suspicion falls on Flavia’s beloved family cook Mrs. Mullet, who also prepared the Major’s breakfast, but Flavia, of course, knows better. Cracking the case is up to her and longtime estate gardener Dogger, her partner-in-crime-solving and friend of her late father. Joining the hunt, whether anyone likes it or not, is the ever present, constantly infuriating but somehow strangely endearing Undine.

     But on her way to identifying the killer and motive, there’s some truly earthshaking twists and revelations in store for Flavia that go far beyond the murder of Major Grayleigh. It’s pure storytelling bliss to watch her face up to and defiantly face down some of the most daunting situations thrown in her path. And the wit and wisdom in her narration can leave you either smiling, laughing out loud and sighing for her……sometimes all in the same paragraph.

      If that isn’t a 5 star read, I don’t know what is. I don’t even want to think about the possibility of this being the last book in the series…too depressing to contemplate. Please, Alan Bradly.....way it isn't so.

(*****)

RED RIVER ROAD.....WHO'S STALKING GIRLS ON A FEAR-STRICKEN AUSSIE ROAD TRIP? (*****)

 Red River Road by Anna Downes (2024)

       A welcome return to one of my favorite genres in books and movies. peril and terror in the Outback. And by that I don't mean having to wait too long for your Bloomin' Onion at the steakhouse.

       This time it's Katy and Beth who encounter much fear, loathing and mystery as they travel together along Western Australia's picture postcard Coral Coast, filled with beautiful beaches, lagoons, shark whale sightings....... and abductors of women vacationers who are never heard from again.

        Katy's travelling solo at first in her camper-van, in a desperate search for her missing sister Phoebe, whose similar lone tour of the coastal wonders ended with her disappearance off the face of the earth. Exhausted and haunted by what might have befallen Phoebe, Katy ends up with an unlikely young companion. in Beth. This girl. with signs of physical abuse and fleeing something terrible in her past, begs Katy to take her along on the road trip quest for Phoebe's whereabouts.

         There's way more to Beth than meets the eye, but Katy agrees.......and off they go, hitting the road on a trip fraught with ominous, dread filled moments.

         The women find themselves tormented by disturbing clues, mysterious notes found in their vehicle, and odd collections of stones left outside the van. And what about that pushy stranger in the sunglasses who insists he'd help out Katy if she let him follow her on the search?

        The suspense builds steadily until "Red River Road" finally detonates all of its twists and reveals, the biggest of which is one staggering jaw dropper of a surprise. That brings me to my only minor quibble here with the final chapters, which take up a huge amount of time explaining that twist in maybe a little more detail than you'd normally expect in a wrap-up.
 
        But I wouldn't let that stop any reader who'd love to sign up for a wild dangerous tour through some of Australia's most spectacular locations. Thriller fans will want to say 'G'day, Mate' to this one, then start to Google some of those beach stops.   5 stars (*****)