Review: Night Falls on Predicament Avenue by Jaime Jo Wright

Night Falls on Predicament Avenue by Jaime Jo Wright

Publication Date: April 9th 2024 by Bethany House Publishers

Pages: 368

Source: Publisher 

Rating: ★★★★

Links: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Kobo | Audible | Goodreads

My Thoughts:

Norah struggles to run the bed and breakfast on 322 Predicament Avenue, a dream of her sister Naomi’s, whose murder still haunts her, thirteen years later.  But that’s not the only murder to occur at the old farmhouse. True-crime podcaster, Sebastian Blaine shows up at the B & B to feature the murder of Isabelle Addington, a woman who was murdered over a hundred years earlier at 322 Predicament Avenue. Norah fears his podcast will drudge up her sister’s unsolved case and all the crippling memories with it. However, as details come to light, Norah realizes there are things she didn’t know, casting what she thought was true in doubt. With Sebastian’s help Norah digs deeper to find the truth.

Over a hundred years earlier in 1901, Effie and her sister Polly stumble upon a grisly scene taking place at 322 Predicament Avenue, and at first no one believes them. Soon after a Mr. Anderson seeks Effie out after hearing about the event and proclaims the murdered woman must be his wife, Isabelle Addington. They search for clues together, and it seems they are getting close to the truth as Effie and Polly narrowly escape harm.

Night Falls on Predicament Avenue was an engrossing mystery, but the pace was slow at first and took a bit to get into. From the start there was an atmospheric, spooky vibe and I wondered if the danger was from supernatural or real-life threats. You’ll have to read it to find out! There’s also a bit of romance for both Effie and Norah, but it wasn’t front and center. The story ramps up in suspense chapter by chapter and ends in an exciting and satisfying conclusion!

4 Stars

Book Description:

As the walls of the house at Predicament Avenue reveal their hidden truths, two women--generations apart--discover that fear and foreboding are no respecters of time.

In 1901, Effie James is committed to doing anything to save her younger sister, who witnessed a shocking murder, leaving her mute and in danger of the killer's retribution. Effie must prove what her sister saw, but when a British gentleman arrives, he disrupts Effie's quest with his attempts to locate his wife, Isabelle Addington, who was last seen at the supposed crime scene in the abandoned house at 322 Predicament Avenue. Just as Effie discovers what she seeks, she finds that the blood staining the walls will forever link her to a scandal she couldn't imagine, and to a woman whose secrets promise to curse any who would expose them.

A century later, Norah Richman grapples with social anxiety and grief as she runs her late great-aunt's bed-and-breakfast on Predicament Avenue. But Norah has little affection for the house and is committed only to carrying out her murdered sister's dreams until crime historian and podcaster Sebastian Blaine arrives to investigate the ghostly legacy of the house's claim to fame--the murder of Isabelle Addington. When a guest is found dead, the incident is linked to Isabelle's murder, and Norah and Sebastian must work together to uncover the century-old curse that has wrapped 322 Predicament Avenue in its clutches and threatens far more than death.

Author Bio:

Jaime Jo Wright (JaimeWrightBooks.com) is the author of ten novels, including Christy Award and Daphne du Maurier Award-winner The House on Foster Hill and Carol Award winner The Reckoning at Gossamer Pond. She's also a two-time Christy Award finalist, as well as the ECPA bestselling author of The Vanishing at Castle Moreau and two Publishers Weekly bestselling novellas. Jaime lives in Wisconsin with her family and felines.

Top Ten Tuesday: Books on My Spring 2024 TBR

Top Ten Tuesday is a meme hosted by The Artsy Reader where each week they post a new top ten list and ask fellow bookish folk to share their lists on that topic. 

This week is a freebie, so I'm posting the March 19th topic since I didn't get to it:

Books on my Spring 2024 TBR:

Click on cover for Goodreads link:

Winter Lost (Mercy Thompson #14) by Patricia Briggs

15 Summers Later by RaeAnne Thayne

Mind Games by Nora Roberts

Every Time I Go on Vacation Someone Dies by Catherine Mack

The Sweet Blue Distance by Sara Donati

Archangel's Lineage (Guild Hunter #16) by Nalini Singh

The Rom-Commers by Katherine Center

The Summer Swap by Sarah Morgan

Long Time Gone by Charlie Donlea

Look on the Bright Side by Kristan Higgins

I'm excited about every book here! 

How about you? Have you read any on my list or are any on your list as well?

Sunday Post #245

 

The Sunday Post is hosted by Kimberly @ Caffeinated reviewer book blog, and is a post to recap my bookish and non-bookish things from the last week. I'm also linking up to The Sunday Salon hosted by Deb Nance @Readerbuzz.

I missed last Sunday Post because I was in Austin, TX babysitting grandkids for four days while my daughter and SIL celebrated their anniversary. It was very busy. We went to the movies, went to Book People in downtown Austin, visited the Capitol Building, played cards and watched Jumanji one and two (newer version) a few times. The Texas Hill Country was gorgeous with all the bluebonnets and Indian paint brush blooming and so green! Came home Monday. 

Texas bluebonnets

Book People

Inside Texas Capital Building

It's been cold and raining at home and winter decided it wasn't done with us yet and we got snow Thursday and Friday. Thankfully it melted Friday afternoon.

It's supposed to be sunny and gorgeous this next week with highs in the low 70s. This weather is nuts!

Read:

(Click on cover for Goodreads link)

This is two weeks worth of reading.

The Trail of Lost Hearty by Tracey Garvis Graves: 3.5 Stars

Everyone is Watching by Heather Gudenkauf: 4 Stars

Cheater by Karen Rose: 4 Stars

How to Solve Your Own Murder by Kristen Perrin: 4 Stars

How the White Trash Zombie Got Her Groove Back by Diana Rowland: 4.5 Stars

A Noble Scheme by Roseanna M. White: 4 Stars

Death Below Stairs by Jennifer Ashley: 4 Stars

Received/Purchased/Library Lend:

Thank you to St. Martin's Press, MacMillan Audio, Blackstone Audio, Minotaur Books, and Penguin Random House Audio.

Instagram:

The background of this post is forsythia blooming in the neighborhood I snapped while on one of my runs. It's so beautiful!

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A post shared by Rachel (@wavesoffiction)

How was your week?

Review: A Grave Robbery by Deanna Raybourn

 

A Grave Robbery (Veronica Speedwell #9) by Deanna Raybourn

Publication Date: March 12th 2024 by Berkley

Pages: 326

Source: Publisher 

Rating: ★★★★

Links: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Kobo | Goodreads

My Thoughts:

Veronica and Stoker have a macabre mystery to solve when Lord Rosemorran brings home what is supposed to be a wax figure of a woman under glass and they discover this is no wax figure. It’s a real-life dead woman!

A Grave Robbery, despite its morbid mystery, was a delight! Clever and so funny! I’m so happy that Veronica and Stoker have finally settled into their romance and the conflict doesn’t come their relationship. I loved how they worked together, united against any problems they faced. It was fun to have J.J. and Mornaday working with them, as well. Their contributions were valuable and the interactions fun!

 

The small tamarin monkey, who adored Stoker was endlessly entertaining! I love all the animals they’ve added to their family!

It was a danger-filled, thrilling conclusion! The series is best read from the beginning.

4 Stars

Book Description:

Veronica and Stoker discover that not all fairy tales have happy endings, and some end in murder, in this latest historical mystery from New York Times bestselling and Edgar Award–nominated author Deanna Raybourn.

Lord Rosemorran has purchased a wax figure of a beautiful reclining woman and asks Stoker to incorporate a clockwork mechanism to give the Rosemorran Collection its own Sleeping Beauty in the style of Madame Tussaud’s. But when Stoker goes to cut the mannequin open to insert the mechanism, he makes a gruesome discovery: this is no wax figure. The mannequin is the beautifully preserved body of a young woman who was once very much alive. But who would do such a dreadful thing, and why?

Sleuthing out the answer to this question sets Veronica and Stoker on their wildest adventure yet. From the underground laboratories of scientists experimenting with electricity to resurrect the dead in the vein of Frankenstein to the traveling show where Stoker once toured as an attraction, the gaslit atmosphere of London in October is the perfect setting for this investigation into the unknown. Through it all, the intrepid pair is always one step behind the latest villain—a man who has killed once and will stop at nothing to recover the body of the woman he loved. Will they unmask him in time to save his next victim? Or will they become the latest figures to be immortalized in his collection of horrors?

Review: A Noble Scheme by Roseanna M. White

 

A Noble Scheme (The Imposters #2) by Roseanna M. White

Publication Date: March 19th 2024 by Bethany House Publishers

Pages: 352

Source: Publisher 

Rating: ★★★★

Links: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Kobo | Audible | Goodreads

My Thoughts:

A year ago, tragedy separated Gemma Parker and Graham Wharton, leaving them heartbroken and bitter, but with both being part of the Imposters, an investigative group used by aristocrats, they can’t permanently part ways.

Gemma and Graham must go uncover together when a ten-year-old boy is kidnapped, and a ransom is demanded. The clues lead them to a house party out in the country. They each must use their skills to uncover the motive and find the boy before it’s too late.

This is Christian fiction, so the element of faith is prevalent in the story, but it wasn’t in a preachy way. I didn’t mind the way it was presented.

I was thoroughly engrossed by both the mystery and the personal heartbreak of Gemma and Graham. Graham is angry with God and Gemma is angry with Graham. Yet, as they work together forgiveness, healing, and love filter in bit by bit. Their tragedy broke my heart and I totally understood why they were so shattered, but I cheered as they drew close again! Gemma and Graham’s personal journey is mixed in with the urgency of the situation, a little boy in danger. I was eager to see how it’d all play out!

This is book two in the series, but it wasn’t necessary to read the first one, as it was a separate mystery with a different romantic couple as the focus.

4 Stars

Book Description:

Gemma Parks is known throughout high society as G. M. Parker, a columnist renowned for her commentary on the cream of society. Behind the scenes, she uses her talent to aid the Imposters in their investigations by gathering intel at events and providing alibis for the elite firm's members through her columns. Yet her clandestine work would be more exhilarating if it weren't for the constant presence of the gentleman who broke her heart.

Graham Wharton has never had eyes for anyone but Gemma, and she left his soul in tatters when she walked away from him. When the Imposters take on a new job to recover a kidnapped boy mistaken for his aristocratic cousin, Graham is determined to use the time with Gemma not only to restore the missing boy, but also to win back the only woman he's ever loved. As they trace the clues laid out before them, Graham must devise a noble scheme to save the boy's life and heal their hearts.

Christy Award-winning author Roseanna M. White whisks you away to Edwardian-era England in an exhilarating tale of glamor, intrigue, and romance set among high society's most elite--and most dangerous--families.

Review: How to Solve Your Own Murder by Kristen Perrin

 

How to Solve Your Own Murder (Castle Knoll Files #1) by Kristen Perrin

Publication Date: March 26th 2024 by Dutton

Pages: 368

Source: Publisher

Rating: ★★★★½

Links: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Kobo | Goodreads

My Thoughts:

Annie Adams has been summoned to the small village of Castle Knoll by her wealthy Great Aunt Frances for a meeting, but when she gets there her Great Aunt is found murdered. Annie discovers that Aunt Frances had believed she’d be murdered when a fortune teller predicted it back when she was seventeen years old. Frances kept diaries and even a murder board with theories of her own murder, and of her friend Emily’s disappearance. Annie is drawn into both mysteries, unraveling the past through Aunt France’s diaries and by talking to the players still living in Castle Knoll.

The story is told both from Annie’s perspective and through Frances’ by way of her diary entries back when Emily went missing. Aunt Frances, Emily and their friend Rose were close, but it was a complicated relationship between the three. Annie gets to know her Aunt through those pages, and the events that transpired. She’s determined to solve the case, as a lot is riding on her doing that.

I thoroughly enjoyed How to Solve Your Own Murder! It felt like a modern Agatha Christie. Quaint village setting, several suspects, and an observant heroine! Annie is clever, gleaning clues I wouldn’t have guessed, but made that perfect sense when revealed. I didn’t realize there’s another book coming, but look forward to Annie tackling another mystery, revisiting Castle Knoll with it’s interesting mix of characters, and hopefully seeing the hints of romance between Annie and a certain character come to fruition!

4.5 Stars

Book Description:

For fans of Knives Out and The Thursday Murder Club , an enormously fun mystery about a woman who spends her entire life trying to prevent her foretold murder only to be proven right sixty years later, when she is found dead in her sprawling country estate... Now it's up to her great-niece to catch the killer. 

It’s 1965 and teenage Frances Adams is at an English country fair with her two best friends. But Frances’s night takes a hairpin turn when a fortune-teller makes a bone-chilling prediction: One day, Frances will be murdered. Frances spends a lifetime trying to solve a crime that hasn’t happened yet, compiling dirt on every person who crosses her path in an effort to prevent her own demise. For decades, no one takes Frances seriously, until nearly sixty years later, when Frances is found murdered, like she always said she would be.
 
In the present day, Annie Adams has been summoned to a meeting at the sprawling country estate of her wealthy and reclusive great-aunt Frances. But by the time Annie arrives in the quaint English village of Castle Knoll, Frances is already dead. Annie is determined to catch the killer, but thanks to Frances’s lifelong habit of digging up secrets and lies, it seems every endearing and eccentric villager might just have a motive for her murder. Can Annie safely unravel the dark mystery at the heart of Castle Knoll, or will dredging up the past throw her into the path of a killer?
 
As Annie gets closer to the truth, and closer to the danger, she starts to fear she might inherit her aunt’s fate instead of her fortune.

 

Review & Excerpt: Cheater by Karen Rose

 

Cheater (San Diego Case Files #2) by Karen Rose

Publication Date: March 26th 2024 by Berkley

Pages: 464

Source: Publisher

Rating: ★★★★

Links: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Kobo | Goodreads

My Thoughts:

When a murder happens in a retirement community Detective Kit McKittrick and Dr. Sam Reeves must work together to find the killer. Kit’s been avoiding Sam for the last six months when it seemed like they had a connection, thinking she had little to offer him, but this case has thrown them together again to untangle the many threads in this mystery. Kit can’t avoid Sam anymore with his personal connection to the murder victim and he’s been assigned to assist with the case as the SDPD’s resident psychologist. Kit and her partner Connor, as well as Sam have a lot to uncover.

Kit is a likeable character, and she has a wonderful support system with her adoptive parents, good people who seem to gather all those that need a helping hand. I love Sam! He’s patient with a big heart.

Cheater mixes crime procedure and the personal aspects of the main characters, their extended friends, family, and co-workers. Many of the characters appear again, building on the foundation set in the first book. Sam and Kit’s romance is slow going and one I’m rooting for. 

4 Stars

Excerpt:

Book Description:

A shocking murder leaves an affluent retirement community reeling in this riveting, high-stakes second installment of the San Diego Case Files, from New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Karen Rose.

Death is not an unfamiliar visitor to Shady Oaks Retirement Village, which provides San Diego with premier elderly support from independent retiree housing to full-time hospice care. But when a resident’s body is found brutally stabbed and his apartment ransacked, it’s clear there’s someone deadly in their community. Detective Katherine “Kit” McKittrick quickly discovers that Shady Oaks is full of skeleton-riddled closets, and most tenants prefer to keep their doors firmly closed to the SDPD.

A longtime volunteer at the retirement facility, Dr. Sam Reeves honors his late grandfather’s memory by playing the piano for the residents regularly. So it shouldn’t be such a surprise when Kit crosses paths with him during her investigation, after she’d avoided the criminal psychologist—and the emotions he evokes—for the last six months.

Sam’s rapport within the retirement village proves vital to the case, and the pair find themselves working together once again—much to Kit’s dismay. But she is determined to apprehend the shadow of death lurking around Shady Oaks...and equally determined to ignore the feelings she’s developing for a certain psychologist.

About the Author

Karen Rose is the award-winning, #1 international bestselling author of more than 25 novels, including the bestselling Baltimore and Cincinnati series. She has been translated into twenty-three languages, and her books have placed on the New York Times, the Sunday Times (UK), and Germany's der Spiegel bestseller lists.