Reviewed: “The Girl at the Door” by Veronica Raimo

tw: rape, sexual assault, abuse, drug use, professor-student relationship

Trigger warnings are required for this novel, because it is based on all of those things. That’s where the story comes from, so you can’t read them… don’t read this.

That being said, if you can read those things and want to try a very unique novel, give this one a try.

Raimo doesn’t give any of the characters names; and it is told from the perspective of Him and Her, i.e. the Professor and his Partner. They lived in what is meant to be a utopian sort of community after the rest of the world has crashed, but the community is as bland in it’s desire to have social equality as it is repressive in it’s desire to ensure that it remains a ‘utopia.’

Both Her and Him came from somewhere else with the desire to find a place among all the rules (there are rules about where furniture can be placed and there are rules about what you must contribute to the community) and away from the chaos of home.

The novel begins with a former student of the Professor turning up to tell his Partner that he raped her two years ago and that she is starting the process to have him expelled from the community.

From there, the story of why they wanted to fit in and how they don’t, why they don’t want to fit in and how the do is told as the Professor’s case goes through the self-proclaimed fair system of justice in the community. It’s stark and it’s not easy to read, because of what caused it all but…

…in the end it is a fascinating look at, simply put, how the grass is very rarely greener on the other side.

(Thanks to NetGalley and Grove Atlantic for the chance to read this book. I apologize for how long it took for me to get to it.)

Reviewed: “Fairy Godmothers, Inc.” by Saranna DeWylde

“Fairy Godmothers, Inc.” isn’t the sort of book I usually reach for but sometimes, especially in 2020, you just need some fluffy romance and all the funny shenanigans associated with sweet, meddling magical godmothers. And this hit the spot very well.

All of your favorite fairy tale characters live in Ever After, Missouri… even the mice who sewed for Cinderella. The classics are supporting characters to the fairy godmothers – Bluebonnet, Jonquil, and Petunia – who want to revitalize Ever After and concoct a scheme for their godchildren Lucky Fujiki (who is not lucky) and Ransom Payne (never did quite figure out the meaning behind his name) to get fake-married in a prince and princess-themed wedding.

Lucky (who begins the story knowing nothing about her magical world) and Ransom’s would-be love story is fine, though it does slow down to a crawl in places, but the shining stars of the story are the supporting cast. From Bronx, the cardinal (bird, not Catholic prelate) who talks like he might’ve learned to speak on Don Corleone’s shoulder, to Philip the frog (i.e. grumpy Prince Charming still waiting for his kiss… maybe from one of the godmothers), to Brittany and Steven (totally human children of Lucky’s best friend and maybe technically her godchildren)… Lucky and Ransom would be fine without them but they are far, far better with them.

And I think that sets up the next book in the series very well, Ever After can focus on a new pet project and the old gang can get back together to see it through.

I don’t laugh often at books, I don’t know why, but I absolutely laughed out loud at this book. The page and a half of the godmothers mortifying Ransom with euphemisms for sex was worth re-reading an extra time or two! I really liked it a lot and a lot of people, who are more into fairy tale re-tellings and magical things than me, will absolutely adore it!

(Thanks to BookishFirst, Saranna DeWylde, and the publisher for a chance to read this book early in exchange for an honest review.)

End of the Year TBR – 2020

Here’s the deal – there are 39 days left in absolute dumpster fire that has been 2020. Back last December, eons ago when life was simpler and and things hadn’t yet devolved into the sort of surreal, too extreme to be true reality of today, I set a Goodreads goal to read 60 books in 2020.

60 books is something I’ve done before many times in many years.

But 2020 has been a year different from all the others, and I am currently 11 books away from 60. Goodreads tells me this means I’m four books behind schedule. My eyes tell me this means I’d have to read about one book every three days, and have a bit of wiggle room for myself. I’m going to be honest and admit my current total of 49 books is padded by a selection from a box of books I was fond of at 12 and found while stress-cleaning after having spent a good decade or so thinking I’d sold them at a yard sale. But books are books, and I’d count Goodnight, Moon if I’d read that.

I digress, and what I read in 2020 is a topic for next month.

For now, let’s figure out an “End of the Year TBR” for myself.

Am I going to read 11 books in 39 days? Highly doubtful.

Am I going to try to read 11 books in 39 days? Absolutely.

And so, that being said, time for a list of 11 books I’d like to read before 2020 wraps up, no doubt in some new crisis or catastrophe. (Keep in mind, if I find my old stash of Archie comics in another fit of stress-cleaning, I will read those and count them among the 11 books too. We’re not picky.)

BOOK ONE — Fairy Godmothers, Inc. by Saranna DeWylde

I’m reading this super cute little magical romance right now, because it’s an ARC and holy heck did 2020 wreak havoc on my “I’m going to read my ARCs on time” kinda-sorta-New Year’s Resolution so I do want to at list finish that goal with at least a whimper of success.

BOOK TWO — The Cemetery Vandals (The Sugar Creek Gang #31) by Paul Hutchens

Coming in at a whopping 95 pages this one could be knocked out in a day. It was, as you might suspect, excavated from that box of books I mentioned. And no, I haven’t read the first thirty(!!!) books in the series so… wish me luck!

BOOK THREE — Furbidden Fatality by Deborah Blake

Might as well try and get ahead on the ARCs I’ve got for books coming out next year, and if there is one thing that’s been nice this year it was the discovery that I do like cozy mysteries way more than I thought I would.

BOOK FOUR — Peter Pan by J.M. Barrie

What is a TBR without a classic? And I’ve never read this one before, though I also have The Little Minister by Barrie so, depending on whether I want to read a very fragile physical book or spend more time staring at a screen, I’ll read one of the two.

BOOK FIVE — Slingshot by Mercedes Helnwein

Another ARC in preparation for next year, I seem to have forgotten what this one is about but my spreadsheet says it’s a young adult (honestly, I spent more time making spreadsheets about reading than I did reading this year… so sad).

BOOK SIX — O Pioneers! by Willa Cather

Yes, another classic but the most recent version of my spreadsheet is sorted by page number and I am, remember, trying to get to 60 books so non-ARC books will be short ones. Apparently classics, when not Russian, tend toward manageable page numbers.

BOOK SEVEN — The Good Sister by Sally Hepworth

A mystery/thriller… pretty sure that’s what this is… should be a good way to spice up the holiday season if it goes sideways or the forced cheer turns me Grinch-like. And I feel like I’ve heard good things about Sally Hepworth.

BOOK EIGHT — Selections From Fragile Things by Neil Gaiman

Not entirely sure I only have Volume One of this, which Goodreads tells me is only 67 pages, but a little fantasy might hit the spot in the holiday season which be unlike any other. And American Gods was good, so maybe I’ll like this too.

BOOK NINE — Strongheart by Jim Fergus

The twist with this one, in my most beloved genre of historical fiction, is that it is book three in a series of which I have not read the first two. I have wanted to, but I haven’t. And didn’t realize this was part of a series when I got it.

BOOK TEN — The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven by Sherman Alexie

Adding this one to the list because it’s short stories that I’ve read before, and brain power for too many new things is definitely iffy right now. It’s also my only autographed book, so that’s always fun.

BOOK ELEVEN — Total Olympics by Jeremy Fuchs

A non-fiction read seems like a good way to round out the list and the Olympics is something I’ve liked for a very long time. Should be, hopefully, an easy go and I’m looking forward to it.

And that’s the list, very fluid though it is. Is there a chance I’ll just gather up eleven short kids’ book from that box? You better believe it. So we’ll see what happens.

In the meantime, what do you hope to read before the end of the year? Did the pandemic and the election (American) wreck your reading style like they did mine?

Stay safe, everybody, and stay home!

Villains and Bad Guys

You know what’s fun?

Villains.

The characters you can love to hate. The people who are complex in their villainous ways, who do things that you almost, almost finding yourself rooting for before they do something that seems to say “haha, suckers! had you fooled, didn’t I?” That’s just one of the best things about an sort of entertainment, if you ask me. And you’re here, so I’m going to go ahead and assume you’re asking me.

I suppose this leads to a point that might counter the title I gave this post… the point that there is a difference between villains and bad guys. Bad Guys are one-dimensional. They are just, well, bad. The actions they take are meant to be bad, meant to shock, meant to destroy. Bad Guys can be boring.

Villains are not boring. The actions Villains take are more complex, more personal, more damaging. And they are more damaging because it’s more personal and it’s more personal because it’s more complicated. See? Very much not one-dimensional.

A true Villain probably loved somebody once, maybe in a twisted sort of way. A true Villain probably got hurt somewhere along the way, maybe that’s what makes him or her twisted. A true Villain probably thinks what they’re doing is an absolutely logical, rational thing, maybe that’s what makes them dangerous. And a true Villain probably knows that somebody is going to get hurt but believes that it is entirely worth it, maybe that’s what makes them powerful.

I have always enjoyed the ones I can love to hate, and the first time I heard that phrase was when I had an addiction to “General Hospital” and Helena Cassadine was absolutely the most interesting person on the show. I tried to explain why I liked her character and somebody said “love to hate.” And I like that.

But this is a bookish blog so let’s not get sucked into television soap operas.

Let’s make a list of the 3 Villains In Books (book series, to be exact) That Just Popped Into My Head…

1. Nellie Oleson (created by Laura Ingalls Wilder for “Little House on the Prairie”) – Nellie was the first Villain I ever encountered. I don’t know that Laura Ingalls Wilder wrote her with villainy in mind, and Nellie is a fictional composite of a handful of girls Laura actually knew, but for a child reading the “Little House on the Prairie” books, the way Nellie tormented Laura fits the bill. And kids are cruel to each other. The cruelty of children toward one another is often a means by which one child makes themselves just a little bit better than another, because nothing is so terrifying as thinking you’re at the bottom of the ladder. Nellie doesn’t play all that large of a role in the books, but she is not a kind, sympathetic character. The thing is, the thing that makes her a Villain, is that the unkind things she does, like destroying a treasured doll, are because she is jealous and because she doesn’t want Laura to come close to what she has. And she defines who she is by what she has.
2. Valentine Morgenstern (created by Cassandra Clare for “The Mortal Instruments”) – Valentine is, by far, the best Villain that Cassandra Clare created. Maybe it helps that “The Mortal Instruments” began as a “Harry Potter” fanfic, I don’t know. That’s either a discussion for another day or a discussion I’ll take a pass on. The point is, Valentine fits the bill for my favorite sort of villain. He’s twisted, absolutely, but he uses love and purpose as a vehicle for what he does. Is it honest love, good love? I don’t know. I doubt it. He thinks it’s honest, good love. He thinks he loves Jocelyn and Clary and the Nephilim, he thinks that ‘love’ is all the reason he needs to utterly destroy everything that stands in the way of preserving and protecting them. It’s all worth it to him. And that, to be honest, might be the most villainous philosophy of all.
3. Severus Snape (created by JK Rowling for “Harry Potter”) – I know Snape is still a divisive topic so let’s start by saying I can have my opinion and you can have yours. Don’t yell at me. But Snape ticks every proverbial box I listed above. He’s complex, he has his reasons (if twisted), he loved once, he is certain he’s doing the right thing, he knows people will get hurt. Does he get a redemption arc? I honestly don’t know. I think what he does in the end is entirely in line with who he was through the first books and Harry’s first years at Hogwarts. Is his final act redemptive? Probably not. And maybe because the books are scattered with things that lead to the final act. But he’s absolutely a Villain the rest of the time.

So I meant to make that a top five list and I didn’t mean for it to be focused on villains in book series but… here we are. I think those three are really good examples of my definition of Villains: The Ones I Love to Hate. Maybe it’ll be Part One of a series on villains and I’ll get into standalone villains or something. Who knows?

In the meantime, tell me your thoughts on villains. Do you agree with my definitions on Villains and Bad Guys? Who are your favorite Villains?

P.S. I have now typed Villain so many times that it’s starting to look like I’m spelling it wrong?

Reviewed: “The Third Rainbow Girl: The Long Life of a Double Murder in Appalachia” by Emma Copley Eisenberg

Question: Why does it seem like true crime books are required to have at least 80% of their sentences be fewer than five words?

I like true crime stories, I do. True crime books and I do not, however, often get along. Maybe I’m too picky. It’s possible. I could be. Might be. Am.

(See what I did there? I wrote like a true crime writer. And it made my eye twitch from the effort of creating unnecessarily short, choppy sentences.)

Anyway, rants against the writing style of true crime stories aside, The Third Rainbow Girl: The Long Life of a Double Murder in Appalachia is a fine book.

It’s a better history of West Virginia than it is a story of double murder, but it’s a fine book.

My disclaimer here is that I am not from Appalachia or West Virginia, nor have I ever visited either place so I may be entirely wrong in saying that Emma Copley Eisenberg does a fantastic job of telling the history of the place. I think she does, based on the more general American history I know well from the times she talks about – it all makes sense. I could be wrong. She does, though, go back to the pre-Civil War era to build the character of the people who she met when she lived there and who are, in one way or another, satellites surrounding the double murder that happened in Pocahontas County in 1980. I learned a lot, and that’s always a plus.

I get why she did it, spent at least half the book on the history and the state and the bigger picture. I do. And it’s the strongest part of the book. I would have read the book if it were just that, not the murder story too.

What doesn’t seem to work so well is that it’s such a back-and-forth between the murders, Copley Eisenberg’s experiences, and the history of the state. It’s almost like the chapters take turns, which makes it a bit hard to follow when you have to think back to two or three chapters ago to find your bearings in a new one.

There is also a marked difference in tone and writing style between the three main topics. If you’re reading about the murders, be ready for short, choppy sentences and seemingly random quotes from locals about who liked to drink where. If you’re reading about the author’s time in West Virginia, be ready to read a diary of sorts that details her personal evolution and growth. And if you’re reading about the history and the state, be ready for lengthy discourses on philosophies like feminism and cultural relativity, with quotes from scholars and experts and giants of literature.

Each of these things would be absolutely fine on their own.

Put together, the effect is a bit jarring. The story of the murders and the people involved, even the victims, seems somehow dumbed down when compared to the grand, lofty ideals that led to this moment in time.

Those critiques aside, it’s a fine book with good content. If you like history, Appalachia, and true crime in your books… give this one a try.

(I received a copy of this book through NetGalley and Hachette Books in exchange for an honest and original review.)

Mass Market Paperbacks: Love ’em or Hate ’em?

The book world is one full of opinions. Passionate opinions. Deeply held opinions that you will live or die standing for.

This makes the book world a bit tense sometimes, to be fair, but debates and conversations and opinions are also what make life interesting. So today I want to talk about… mass market paperbacks.

Really, I want to tell you my opinions on them. But don’t worry, I’m up for all bookish conversations to please let me know in the comments what your opinions on mass market paperbacks are.

First, though, my opinions. In the form of a Pro vs. Con sort of list.

Mass Market Paperbacks: Hate ’em

• They require two hands at all times, no laying flat on a desk or letting it flop over your leg while you read.
• For generally using such thin, near translucent paper, those who print these books often seem intent on using such tiny print that a quarter of a book could fit on about ten pages.
• The paper also seems to have a nasty habit of yellowing way faster than other books, which can make your books seem raggedy and cheap, rather than well-loved and valued… if you’re going for aesthetics here.
• Big books in mass market form are never, ever going to work. Especially if cracked spines are something that gives you a nervous tic. I saw a 1100+ copy of IT in mass market form, explored it a bit, and realized it would’ve required about six different head positions to the words sloping down into the crack.
• Because you get what you pay for and mass market paperbacks trend toward cheap, you run the risk of ending up with a lot of books you are never, ever going to read again.

Mass Market Paperbacks: Love ’em

• The first ‘adult’ books I read were mass market paperbacks, because that was what my mom had on her shelves that she was happy to let me pilfer so the nostalgia factor is real.
• These books are the cheapest you can find, and sometimes you get what you pay for, but sometimes that’s just fine. And sometimes the gamble to find a gem is fun!
• A mass market paperback, or three, won’t result in an appointment with a chiropractor if you carry them around in a backpack or bag all day.
• If you’ve got limited shelf space, more mass markets fit on a shelf than do hardcovers. So there’s that.
• It seems to me that people will still buy boxes of old mass markets at yard sales, used book sales, etc. so if you’ve got a collection you don’t want, you can get rid of it for a few dollars.

And that’s my list of pros and cons, as it were.

I think my final answer is this… a book is a book no matter the packaging. There will be times when one format fits your life better than another.

That’s my take.

What’s yours? Let me know in the comments if you’ve got a preference and/or reasons for your preference! And answer me this… if you could only read one format of a book for the rest of your life, what would it be?

Mine would those bigger paperbacks whose official name I forget just now…

Reviewed: “Stolen Things” by R.H. Herron

Sometimes a book can try just a little bit too hard to be current and relevant and politically correct. Sometimes a book tries so hard to be those things that the book itself suffers a bit.

That happened, I think, with R.H. Herron’s STOLEN THINGS.

(I’d like to state here that I just realized I finished the book today and, other than a necklace stolen years before the actual story, I have no idea what things were stolen…)

R.H. Herron says in the Author’s Note at the end that Kevin, a pro football player who scandalizes the country by wearing a flag pin upside down to protest police brutality, is not inspired by or a stand-in for Colin Kaepernick but… it’s hard not to see it that way. R.H. Herron says that CapB in STOLEN THINGS is not meant to be a fictionalized version of BLM but… it’s a group that organizes against police brutality that targets minorities.

And it is what it is… which is fine… it was just a little too on-the-nose for my tastes.

STOLEN THINGS is one of those thriller/mysteries where everything happens and you end up wondering just how in the world everything happens to this particular character. Which is fine, just also not my favorite thing. But in this story, the things that happen to a mother, a father, and a teenage daughter are (and I guess this counts as trigger warnings too for reasons soon to be clear) – rape, underage drinking, drug use, police brutality, a heart attack, sex trafficking, corrupt cops, prostitution, sex with minors, racism (the daughter is bi-racial), theft…

There is a twist ending, and I give one star for that alone. I absolutely did not see it coming, as wild as it is, and it made me glad I saw the story through. The characters are fine. The plot was fine. The suspense factor was pretty good. The setting was fine.

It’s an entirely fine book. Nothing extra special, nothing extra terrible.

If mysteries and thrillers and suspense are your thing, give it a try. Really. I’m not at all sorry I read it and it was time well spent, even if some of that time was finding faults…

(I received a copy of STOLEN THINGS through NetGalley and Dutton in exchange for an honest and original review. All thoughts are my own.)

Sunday Stories #1 – My Bookish Life: An Overview

My theme for Sunday posts will be Sunday Stories and in them I will tell the story of a book that means something special to me. Whether the plot was entirely right for the time in my life when I read it, or whether I felt connected to and empowered by the characters, or whether it was a thoughtful gift from someone I love… these Sunday Stories will be the books that are special to me.

Now, because it is Sunday and I thought of this theme *checks clock* three minutes ago, I don’t have a specific book to feature today. Instead, I’ll use today’s post to talk about Me as a Reader. I think it’ll help me organize myself for future posts and I think it’ll help introduce myself to you, if you’re new here.

And so, without further ado,

My Bookish Life

I don’t remember the first book I loved. I do remember being ridiculously proud of myself when I could follow along as my mom read me any and all forms of The Berenstain Bears that were out when I was little. (I gave my set of those books to my cousin and it is still a great regret in my life… though she’s a book lover now so maybe it wasn’t a total loss.) I remember when my mom thought my sister and I were ready for the books she loved, and read us the Little House on the Prairie series. My sister played on the floor, I sat beside my mom and tried to absorb every word.

I like to think I resolved then and there that I would read chapter books by myself one day. And I did. I still have those same Little House books, and I re-read them to this day.

I don’t know what happened to my collection of The Babysitters’ Club books. I suspect I sold them at a yard sale to get money for new books. I loved those books too. (Claudia and Stacy were my favorites.) I borrowed a lot of Lurline McDaniel books from my elementary school library, because I was addicted to angst and drama before I could define the words.

My fourth grade teacher had a little library in her classroom and we were allowed to borrow books to read on our own. She tried to get me to read Gulliver’s Travels but I did not like it, as I remember. I borrowed Bram Stoker’s Dracula from her when I was in fifth grade, but I don’t think I finished it. I liked the grown-up feeling of trying to read it.

My fifth grade teacher read to us every day after lunch. I remember her amusement when she was reading Anne of Green Gables and I pulled out my copy to follow along. She very kindly taped the cover back on the day it fell off, and that tape is still on my book.

I was person who loved required reading in high school English. I didn’t love all the books (looking at you, Henry David Thoreau), but I had favorites. Lord of the Flies, The Great Gatsby, Brave New World… to name a few. On my own, in high school years, I explored my mom’s bookshelves. I read Stephen King maybe before I should have, I was convinced John Grisham was a master storyteller, and I found myself developing a love for historical fiction.

College required reading was even better than high school. Effie Briest (and I was happily stunned when I realized that I’d read Anna Karenina and Madame Bovary and these three books make a literary trio of adultery in Europe), The Unbearable Lightness of Being, Billiards at Half-Past Nine… to name a few.

All these classics and academic literature are just fine but I love the fluffy stuff too. There’s no one better than Julie Garwood if you like history, fiction, and smut. And the YA series that grew into generation-defining entities (Twilight and Harry Potter, to name just two) are still like comfort food to me.

And now I’ll read almost anything. And this is me, in a nutshell.

Will read anything.

Reviewed: “To the Lions” by Holly Watt

To the Lions is a stunning book.

Holly Watt has created a story that will pull you in, that will haunt you, that will make you think about horrific things that could so easily be reality. And maybe they are. I wouldn’t be surprised.

This thriller, seemingly the start of a series, focuses on Casey Benedict. Casey is an investigative reporter based in London who is adept at going undercover for the sorts of stories that do capture the attention of the world as they are released in troves and mountains of information that bring down the powerful, wealthy people around the world.

Watt is herself is an investigative reporter in England who worked on many exposes that have grabbed the headlines for weeks at a time. This lends a deeper layer to the novel, because it is easy to see the truth and reality in the detail she goes into. And it isn’t a level of detail that even comes close to dull or boring. It is intense.

I’m going to say a little bit about the plot that drives the story. It is not a spoiler, because it is made very clear from very early on that it happens. The purpose of the story, the thing that carries the narrative, is how Casey and Ed, who is inherently fascinating, uncover the the horrifying plot and how far it reaches.

Also intense is the plot itself – one in which the ultra-wealthy, for reasons that appear to be little more than the proverbial ‘keeping up with the Joneses’, travel to Libya to hunt. They hunt humans. Refugees, to be specific. They stay in one of Muammar Gaddafi’s former palaces and then use high-powered rifles to shoot refugees in a refuge camp in the valley below.

Can’t you imagine that happening today?

I can.

I received a copy of To the Lions through NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest and original review. All thoughts are my own.

Reviewed: “The Long Call” by Ann Cleeves

Thrillers and mysteries seem to be my genre of late. They are what make me happy, they are what suck me in, they are what I give the highest ratings to.

And The Long Call, the first in a new series by Shetland author Ann Cleeves, is no exception.

This novel probably falls under the category of ‘detective focused’ mysteries because it is focused on Detective Matthew Venn as he solves the murder of a man found stabbed on a bleak beach in North Devon. The case is incredibly complex, incredibly human, and incredibly real. That makes the novel, to use the word in abundance, incredibly readable and incredibly good.

There are things that set this particular detective-focused murder mystery apart from others that I’ve read, namely that Detective Matthew Venn is married to a man named Jonathan (I finished the book a week ago and have forgotten his surname but it’s not important). I’m not the biggest reader of mysteries so I don’t know how novel a thing this is, but it was a first for me. Matthew grew up in an almost cult-ish sort of church wherein people debated the wearing of hats to services and definitely did not approve of lgbt+ lifestyles. Needless to say, the book beginning with Matthew lurking outside of his father’s funeral, where he is not welcome, is not surprising. Jonathan runs a community center that has absorbed a day center for adults with disabilities.

The center, called the Woodyard because it used to be a lumberyard, becomes the focus of the case. Ann Cleeves handles the implications of Matthew’s husband being in charge there very well, it should be pointed out, so there is no illusion of special treatment or impropriety.

The case, in summary and without spoiling anything, is that Simon, the man murdered on the beach, appeared to all as a broken man, struggling with alcoholism and guilt, who rented a room from the chairman of the Woodyard’s board’s daughter, and who volunteered as a cook at the center. No one knew him well, no one aside from Lucy. The thirty year old daughter of an eighty year old man, Lucy has Down Syndrome and attends the day center in the hopes that she can be aided in living on her own after her father’s death. Simon befriended Lucy and shared his secrets with her, secrets that later affect her. But Lucy is brave and strong.

Lucy is the key to solving the mystery, and Matthew treats her with a dignity and respect that are powerful and moving.

It’s an incredible story, the perfect start to a new series which I will continue with, so I don’t want to say too much that could be just spoiler-y enough to drive you away from trying this book.

In a nutshell, if you like England based mysteries and thrillers, murder mysteries, detective focused novels, excellent representation on many fronts, and a story that will keep you guessing until the very last chapter…

…read this book.

I received a copy of The Long Call through NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest and original review. All thoughts are my own.