From the Booking Desk:
Because of the amount of quality crime fiction being release this year, this week I am sharing two books that I have read and two that I have not. I hope to get to the two that I have not read yet in time, but I wanted to make sure everyone knew they were out there.
Denise Mina – Conviction (Mulholland, Hardcover, $27.00, 06/17/2019)
BOLO Books Comments:
I have long thought that Denise Mina deserves a wider audience here in the States; she is one of the stars of UK crime fiction. I didn’t receive an advance copy of this new series debut, so I cannot comment on it specifically – but I can say that Denise has never let me down in her storytelling, so I fully expect this to be an excellent read.
Jacket Copy (Publisher’s Description):
The day Anna McDonald’s quiet, respectable life explodes started off like all the days before: Packing up the kids for school, making breakfast, listening to yet another true crime podcast. Then her husband comes downstairs with an announcement, and Anna is suddenly, shockingly alone.
Reeling, desperate for distraction, Anna returns to the podcast. Other people’s problems are much better than one’s own — a sunken yacht, a murdered family, a hint of international conspiracy. But this case actually is Anna’s problem. She knows one of the victims from an earlier life, a life she’s taken great pains to leave behind. And she is convinced that she knows what really happened.
Then an unexpected visitor arrives on her front stoop, a meddling neighbor intervenes, and life as Anna knows it is well and truly over. The devils of her past are awakened — and in hot pursuit. Convinced she has no other options, she goes on the run, and in pursuit of the truth, with a washed-up musician at her side and the podcast as her guide.
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Jill Orr – The Ugly Truth (Prospect Park, Paperback, $16.00, 06/18/2019)
BOLO Books Comments:
Any return to Tuttle Corner is welcome and here Jill Orr once again blends her trademark humor with a plot that will keep readers turning the pages. Riley Ellison is her typical charming self and the continuing antics of her Personal Romance Concierge will delight fans of the series. These books manage to be light-hearted without making light of the darker realities that bubble just under the surface when murder is involved.
Jacket Copy (Publisher’s Description):
There’s been a shocking double murder in Tuttle Corner, Virginia, involving high-profile players from Washington D.C. This brings national attention―and big-city competition for the story―to junior reporter Riley Ellison’s little corner of the world. Beloved café owner Rosalee is the prime suspect in the violent crimes, but she insists on her innocence. In exchange for protection, Rosalee gives Riley and her fellow reporter Holman exclusive information that incriminates a powerful person.
Meanwhile, Personal Romance Concierge™ Regina H. is back, offering once-again-single Riley not just online dating expertise but also a new subscription self-care service that promises such benefits as “the sensation of emotional bravery on a micromolecular level.”
Riley and Holman eventually begin to wonder if Rosalee is telling the truth. They head down separate investigative paths until one of them finds the truth… and one of them finds the killer.
This third installment in the Riley Ellison mystery series is rich with all the suspense, humor, small-town charm, and captivating characters that made the first two books a hit with critics and fans alike.
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Ellen LaCorte – The Perfect Fraud (Harper, Hardcover, $26.99, 06/18/2019)
BOLO Books Comments:
This debut stand-alone will appeal to fans of books like The Perfect Mother and Saving Meghan. With an easy, readable style, LaCorte’s book seems tailor-made for summer beach reading.
Jacket Copy (Publisher’s Description):
In this propulsive debut thriller, two women with deep secrets are thrown together by an unexpected meeting that plunges both their lives into chaos. But it’s a sick little girl whose fate hangs in the balance.
Motherhood is tough. But then, so is daughterhood. When we first meet Claire, she’s living in Sedona, Arizona with her boyfriend Cal and ducking calls from her mother. Her mom is a world class psychic on the East Coast and Claire doesn’t want her to discover the truth. Claire works in the family business and calls herself a psychic, but she doesn’t really have “the gift” and hasn’t for a long time. She’s a fraud.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the country, Rena, a young mother, has family issues of her own. She’s divorced and her four-year-old daughter, Stephanie, suffers from mysterious, seemingly incurable stomach problems. No matter how many specialists Rena drags her to, no matter how many mommy-blog posts she makes about her child’s health issues, trying to get help and support from her online community, Stephanie only gets sicker.
When Claire and Rena meet by chance on an airplane, their carefully constructed lives begin to explode. Can these two women help each other and can they help Stephanie before it’s too late?
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Kelsey Rae Dimberg – Girl in the Rearview Mirror (William Morrow, Hardcover, $26.99, 06/18/2019)
BOLO Books Comments:
Again, while I didn’t get an early look at this book, the industry buzz is strong, so I think this one will be worth seeking out.
Jacket Copy (Publisher’s Description):
I never meant to lie. That is, I never wanted to.
They are Phoenix’s First Family: handsome Philip Martin, son of the sitting Senator, an ex-football player who carries himself with an easy grace and appears destined to step into his father’s seat when the time is right; his wife Marina, the stylish and elegant director of Phoenix’s fine arts museum; and their four-year-old daughter Amabel, beautiful and precocious and beloved.
Finn Hunt is working a dull office job to pay off her college debt when she meets Philip and charms Amabel. She eagerly agrees to nanny, thinking she’s lucked into the job of a lifetime. Though the glamour of the Martins’ lifestyle undeniably dazzles Finn, her real pleasure comes from being part of the family: sharing quick jokes with Philip in the kitchen before he leaves for work; staying late when Marina needs a last-minute sitter; and spending long days with Amabel, who is often treated more like a photo op than a child.
But behind every façade lurks a less attractive truth. When a young woman approaches Finn, claiming a connection with Philip and asking Finn to pass on a message, Finn becomes caught up in a web of deceit with the senate seat at its center. And Finn isn’t exactly innocent herself: she too has a background she has kept hidden, and under the hot Phoenix sun, everything is about to be laid bare. . . .
