4 Stars

by

MURDER ON MUSTANG BEACH by Alicia Bessette

Synopsis from the Publisher:

When a killer stirs up trouble in the Outer Banks, amateur sleuth and bookseller Callie Padget is on the case, in a new beachside mystery from author Alicia Bessette.

Cattail Island in the Outer Banks is a popular destination for honeymooners and nature lovers alike. So it is a huge blow when the murder of a newlywed grinds the pre-summer season to a screeching halt. Bookseller Callie Padget launches her own investigation, after mysterious customer Geri-Lynn Humfeld, caretaker of the island’s protected wild horses, brings in an irresistible piece of information.

Determined to restore order and safety to her beloved hometown, Callie searches for answers — even as those answers cast suspicion on her soon-to-be boyfriend, Toby Dodge, whose martial arts studio was the scene of the crime. As she digs deeper, Toby becomes the police’s prime suspect. The truth raises troubling questions and sends her scouring the bookshop’s shelves for guidance.

Meanwhile, a well-loved member of the mustang herd — a pregnant mare whose anticipated foal is a symbol of summery hope for locals and visitors alike — may be facing dire circumstances. With help from Geri-Lynn, Callie unearths startling secrets surrounding not only the compromised mare, but the murdered newlywed, too. And when another body shows up, this time on isolated Mustang Beach, she must race against time to stop a killer from claiming any more innocent lives.

Series: An Outer Banks Bookshop Mystery, #2
Publisher: Berkley
Publication Date: May 16, 2023
Source: Review copy from NetGalley
Rating: 4 Stars

My Thoughts:

It was a delight to be back on Cattail Island with Callie and company! In this second installment of the Outer Banks Bookshop Mystery series, Callie finds herself working overtime to solve a murder tied to her love interest Toby’s martial arts studio. She also gets wrapped up in helping a horse in need — one from the herd of majestic wild mustangs that live in a protected sanctuary.

Cattail Island sounds like such a gorgeous location (except for the murders!). The author has a talent for creating a vibrant sense of place, from the sandy beaches to the bustling tourist town. The murder mystery was intriguing and complex. It’s not necessary to have read the first book in the series, however already knowing the characters’ backstories and connections added to my enjoyment.

MURDER ON MUSTANG BEACH is the perfect cozy mystery pick to add to your summer reading list! Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for providing me a digital review copy of this book. Opinions are my own.

by

THE HOUSE IN THE MIDDLE OF THE STREET by Jennifer Sklias-Gahan

Synopsis from Goodreads:

There once was a house, and it sat in the middle of a simple and quaint treelined street. A beautiful woman named Rebecca lived in this house with her faithfully devoted husband and their newborn daughter. They were happy, and they were proud.

The house had originally belonged to a great-great-aunt of Rebecca’s named Minerva. She lived in the house all the days of her life, and she died there on the very last night of the year. In her final earthly wishes, Minerva bequeathed the house to her next of kin and all of its belongings, including a golden sealed letter reading “Instruction for the Keeper of the House”, to be given to whomever took legal ownership of the house.

None of her next of kin came forward to claim the house. Some neighbors speculated that the relatives passed on such a beautiful home because of the rumored hauntings attached to it; the wild sobs of a young woman heard through the winter winds as the year closed, coupled by a sturdy knocking at the front door that emanated onto the street. The house sat and sat, empty until the law firm handling Minerva’s estate located Rebecca as being the next in the family line to inherit the house and all its belongings, if she so wanted.

Rebecca and her husband were thrilled and received the house gratefully. This stroke of luck came at just the right time in their lives as they were starting a family. With the arrival of autumn, Rebecca and her husband moved into the house welcoming this new chapter in their lives, on this street, and in this house. It was the house of their dreams. As the last leaves of autumn blew out, in came the arrival of their first child; their daughter was born.

On the very last day of the year, Rebecca prepared a “special” bread for her family’s first New Year’s Eve together. As she opened the kitchen window to let in the cool winter breeze, she heard a sturdy knocking at their front door. She peeped out the window and saw two children standing there, a boy and a girl.

Publication Date: September 28, 2022
Source: Review copy from the Author
Rating: 4 Stars

Quick Thoughts:

Thank you to the author for the opportunity to read and review this haunting story. What happens to descendants who inherit the troubled house in the middle of the street? Instructions are left for its keeper, but they’re only helpful if you read them…

This creepy gothic short story leaves me with a lot to think about. According to the author, this tale is inspired by Greek fables with life lessons. Her writing is beautiful, and I love the imagery she presents. What key to the puzzle do those sparkling glass jars hold?

THE HOUSE IN THE MIDDLE OF THE STREET is a cautionary story dealing with generational grief (or a curse?) and how it might be overcome. Enjoyed!

by

GHOST 19 by Simone St. James

Synopsis from the Publisher:

A woman moves to a town where she becomes obsessed with watching the lives of her neighbors while stuck in a house that refuses to let her leave in this first ever short story from the New York Times bestselling author of The Book of Cold Cases.

Is there something wrong with Ginette Cox? It’s what everyone seems to think. When a doctor suggests that what she might need is less excitement, she packs up and moves from New York City to a house in suburban NY: 19 Howard Ave.

The town offers Ginette little in the way of entertainment in 1959, but at least she has interesting neighbors. Whether it’s the little girl with her doll or the couple and their mother-in-law, Ginette watches them from her window and makes up names and stories for them.

But it’s not all peaceful in suburbia. Ginette finds it hard to sleep in her new house. There are strange and scary noises coming from the basement, and she is trapped, either by a ghost or her own madness.

But when Ginette starts to think a murder has taken place and a mysterious man starts making terrifying appearances outside her window, it’s clear she must deal with whatever isn’t allowing her to escape this house…

Publisher: Berkley
Publication Date: January 3, 2023
Source: Purchased (Nook)
Rating: 4 Stars

Very Quick Thoughts:

In GHOST 19, a Broadway actress suffering with mental health issues rents an ominous house in Upstate New York. I’m a big fan of Simone St. James’s ghost stories, and her talent shines in this short and creepy novella* set in 1959. The author created a sense of foreboding very quickly. Is Ginette really trapped inside the house by a restless spirit, or is the madness just inside her head? GHOST 19 is a spooky hors d’oeuvre-size gothic tale perfect for fans of haunted characters.

*Length: 80 pages.

by

YOU BELONG HERE NOW by Dianna Rostad

Publisher: William Morrow
Publication Date: April 6, 2021
Source: Review copy from the Publisher
Rating: 4 Stars

Synopsis from the Publisher:

Montana, 1925 — Three brave kids from New York board the orphan train headed west. An Irish boy who lost his whole family to Spanish flu, a tiny girl who won’t talk, and a volatile young man who desperately needs to escape Hell’s Kitchen. They are paraded on platforms across the Midwest to work-worn folks and journey countless miles, racing the sun westward. Before they reach the last rejection and stop, the kids come up with a daring plan, and they set off toward the Yellowstone River and grassy mountains where the wild horses roam.

Fate guides them toward the ranch of a family stricken by loss. Broken and unable to outrun their pasts in New York, the family must do the unthinkable in order to save them.

Nara, the daughter of a successful cattleman, has grown into a brusque spinster who refuses the kids on sight. She’s worked hard to gain her father’s respect and hopes to run their operation, but if the kids stay, she’ll be stuck in the kitchen.

Nara works them without mercy, hoping they’ll run off, but they buck up and show spirit, and though Nara will never be motherly, she begins to take to them. So, when Charles is jailed for freeing wild horses that were rounded up for slaughter, and an abusive mother from New York shows up to take the youngest, Nara does the unthinkable, risking everything she holds dear to change their lives forever.

My Thoughts:

YOU BELONG HERE NOW is a touching historical drama about survival, acceptance, and creating a family beyond blood. Set in Montana in the 1920s, the story follows the last three children from an orphan train who jump off to find work and possibly a new home on a cattle ranch. The family that they find are struggling with their own grief and loss.

I enjoyed this absorbing tale that brings to light the perilous lives of orphans at the time, as well as the bigotry faced by Irish immigrants and indigenous people. What a terrifying prospect it must have been to be sent west into the unknown, as you could only hope that you’re taken in by decent people. The writing was a bit melodramatic at times, but overall this coming of age novel is enjoyable and uplifting.

Disclosure: I received an ARC of this book from the publisher through LibraryThing’s Early Reviewer program in exchange for my honest review.

by

IN ANOTHER LIGHT by A. J. Banner

The death of a look-alike stranger leads a grieving woman down a troubling path in this riveting novel by A. J. Banner, bestselling author of The Poison Garden.

Three years ago mortuary cosmetologist Phoebe Glassman lost her husband in a tragic accident. No longer the hopeful wife and mother she once was, Phoebe is disappearing into her grief and into the quietude of her job — restoring to the dead the illusion of life. Then the body of a woman named Pauline Steele arrives in the mortuary, and for Phoebe, everything changes.

Pauline is unmistakably Phoebe’s mirror image and bears an alarmingly familiar tattoo. Even more startling is that among Pauline’s effects is a faded photograph of Phoebe. Aided by an eccentric colleague, her curiosity sparked, Phoebe investigates her doppelgänger’s life and death — and uncovers surprising clues to a shared past.

Phoebe’s emotional journey soon leads to shocking revelations about those closest to her…and even herself. When she’s driven to the brink, how much of what she discovers can she trust?

Publisher: Lake Union Publishing
Publication Date: October 5, 2021
Source: Review copy from NetGalley

★★★★

What first drew me to this book was protagonist Phoebe Glassman’s job as a mortuary cosmetologist, someone who makes the decedent (new word for me!) look how they did in life. That’s something I could NOT do, but I find it fascinating. The funeral home where Phoebe works specializes in “green burials,” the eco-friendly alternative to traditional cemeteries, which is something else I’d recently discovered. Again, fascinating!

When the body of a woman looking exactly like Phoebe arrives at the mortuary, she ends up down a rabbit hole investigating this identical stranger’s past. This book is also about the heavy burden of her grief from losing her husband and daughter a few years earlier. IN ANOTHER LIGHT is a suspenseful mystery and journey of coming to terms with the past. It’s a very quick, engrossing, and emotional read.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for providing a review copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.