From the Booking Desk:
As I explained on social media, with my own creative writing flourishing, I am struggling to find a balance with the reading and reviewing I love so much. My fans have begged me not to stop reviewing completely, so I am working to find a way to manage both. I will still do several of my deep-dive reviews each month, but I will now also do some shorter reviews that convey my feelings about books I have enjoyed in less time-consuming ways. Please do not view the choice between longer and shorter reviews as a reflection on the quality of the works themselves. These choices are made for a variety of reasons with the predominate one simply being timing. I highly recommend every one of these novels!
I will also continue to celebrate the diversity within our community–both in terms of the authors and the styles of books. This time out we have three Writers of Color and representations of historical, cozy, noir, thriller, and police procedurals.
Act Like a Lady, Think Like a Lord – Celeste Connally
With Act Like a Lady, Think Like a Lord author Celeste Connally launches her new Lady Petra Inquiries series set in Regency-era England. As necessary with a historical mystery, Connally skillfully brings the past to life with just the right amount of detail. Amateur sleuth, Lady Petra, could easily hold her own among her modern-day equivalents—she knows her role in high-class society, but is certainly not going to be constrained by any ridiculous notions of what women are capable of. The mystery at the core of the novel—involving women being unfairly placed in asylums for any number of questionable ailments—resonates through the years and certainly helps to elucidate how the world reached the crisis we are currently facing. As the start of a series, much groundwork needs to be laid, and it is clear from the surprising ending that more of that will come to fruition moving forward.
Barbacoa, Bomba, and Betrayal – Raquel V. Reyes
In this third Caribbean Kitchen Mystery, Raquel V. Reyes continues to blend cozy crime with Latinx culture in compelling ways. By this point, main character Miriam Quiñones-Smith feels like a confirmed fixture of the cozy food mystery scene; she has solved multiple crimes and still never misses a beat when it comes to presenting delicious cultural dishes on her cooking shows. Reyes knows that these series have a danger of becoming a bit like Cabot Cove—where suspicious deaths begin to outnumber residents—so this time relocates Miriam to the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico with a holiday visit to extended family. The Caribbean Kitchen Mystery series is filled with diversity that feels authentic and the various criminal activities Miriam stumbles upon are not so far-fetched they require the reader’s leap of faith. Without preaching or getting too pedantic, this book—and the whole series—teaches readers a part of our history that is often overlooked. Reyes embraces her culture fully and wants to bring readers into the fold without compromise.
The Blue Monsoon – Damyanti Biswas
Once again, the setting of Mumbi India is vividly recreated from the pen of Damyanti Biswas—this time during the turbulent weather systems that frequent the region. As she did with The Blue Bar, Biswas crafts her novel from multiple points of view, skillfully manipulating the narrative in order to further elevate the mystery at its core. The vandalized body of a victim on the site of a Kali temple immediately clues readers into the fact that religion will play a vital role in this story. Damyanti Biswas’ writing style most closely echoes that of the noir sub-genre and she is completely on trend by including so many facets of sociological study within her storyline—most especially the unique Caste system and the various ramifications it causes. As mentioned in other reviews, Biswas is all about celebrating her culture even if that means not making things easy for non-Indian readers. With a glossary and in-text explanations, Damyanti Biswas makes her work accessible without compromising authenticity.
In less than a year, Tracy Clark gifts her fans with the second gripping thriller featuring Detective Harriet Foster. Like with Hide, the case at the center of Fall is one involving a serial killer—in this case, the murderer has targeted Chicago alderman. It is a complex case—with ties to the imprisonment of a female government employee years earlier—and Clark allows it to unfold at the perfect pace. Readers are already familiar with Harriet Foster’s difficult history, so as they hear about her learning (or more accurately, re-learning) how to work with her new partner Vera Li, they witness her personal evolution on the page—which in many ways outshines the criminal investigation itself. Which is not to say that this case isn’t unforgettable. The simple inclusion of thirty dimes on the bodies of the victims elevates the aura of mystery with these suspicious deaths. There is already a third Harriet Foster novel—Echo—scheduled for next year and Tracy Clark’s fans will anxiously await it.
