Review of "The Postscript Murders: A Harbinder Kaur Mystery" by Elly Griffiths

In this 2nd book in the Harbinder Kaur series, the police detective investigates several suspicious deaths. The book works fine as a standalone.

*****

Ninety-year-old Peggy Smith lives in Seaview Court, a seaside block of retirement flats in Shoreham, England. Peggy's a nosy-parker who likes to sit in her bay window and make notes about the people she sees outside.



Shortly after Peggy observes two suspicious men sitting in a car she's found dead in her apartment, a death that's ascribed to a heart attack.

Peggy's carer, a beautiful Ukranian woman called Natalka, doesn't buy the natural death scenario.



While packing Peggy's books, Natalka notes that many mystery novels are either dedicated to Peggy or mention Peggy in the acknowledgements, and Peggy has a business card that reads 'Mrs. M. Smith, Murder Consultant.'

Natalka hastens to the police station.....



....and reports her suspicions about Peggy's death to Detective Sergeant Harbinder Kaur.



Harbinder agrees that 'murder consultant' has a sinister ring to it, but isn't especially alarmed by (what seems to be) the death of an elderly woman from natural causes.

Natalka then shares her concerns with two friends who knew Peggy: Benedict - a thirtysomething former monk who now runs a coffee shop;



and Edwin - an elderly gent who lives in Peggy's apartment building.



With Natalka's urging, the odd threesome decide to launch their own investigation into Peggy's death, a seriocomic exercise that's both fun and dangerous.



The amateur sleuths attend Peggy's funeral, because the 'murderer always goes to the funeral', after which Natalka and Benedict search Peggy's apartment for clues. While the duo are looking through Peggy's things, a masked figure enters the residence, points a gun at them, grabs a book, and runs out.



This incident DOES make DS Harbinder Kaur suspicious, and the subsequent murder of a mystery author who mentioned Peggy in all his books clinches the deal. Harbinder accepts that the deaths of Peggy and the writer might be linked.

While Harbinder makes inquiries in Shoreham with her partner DS Neil Winston, Natalka, Benedict, and Edwin engage in a parallel investigation - one that takes them to a literary festival in Aberdeen.



Another death follows, and it looks like Natalka and her cohorts might be in danger as well.

The book's plot is engaging, but the best parts of the story are the characters.

♦ Natalka is an ex-pat who can't return to Ukraine because of the conflict with Russia. Natalka has a degree in maths, a facility for trading in cryptocurrencies, and a dangerous history with the Ukranian mafia. Natalka works as a carer to have a flexible job that provides a little money.



♦ Benedict is an amiable man who loved the spiritual life of a monk but came to yearn for 'a normal life.' Benedict is shy about meeting women, but hopes a special lady will miraculously walk into his life. The café owner loves to read mysteries, and turns out to be a clever detective.



♦ Edwin is an elegant gentleman who once worked for the BBC, and still has connections in the entertainment industry. Edwin is bored with his retirement life, and longs for interesting things to do. The chance to look into a crime is pure fun for him.



♦ DS Harbinder Kaur is a gay Sikh woman who still lives with her folks. Harbinder's parents run the family store, and her mom is a wonderful cook who serves delicious Indian cuisine.



Harbinder thinks of her police partner Neil Winston, who doesn't 'get' a lot of things, as a woodland creature - sly, slightly stupid, but ultimately lovable.



Harbinder's inner thoughts about Neil's animal persona (nibble nibble nibble; twitching nose and ruffled whiskers; a squirrel deprived of its nut) provide amusing mental images.

♦ DS Neil Winston is awed by wealthy people, loves pretty English villages, and thinks the rich and beautiful are above criminal activity. Despite these limitations, Neil is a decent detective....and he loves Mrs. Kaur's cooking.

♦ Other characters in the tale include home care workers, writers, editors, agents, publicists, family members, police officers, elderly ladies, Russians, and more - so there are plenty of suspects for the murders.

The story has clever twists, and armchair sleuths will be challenged to solve the crimes.

Thanks to Netgalley, Elly Griffiths, and Houghton Mifflin Harcourt for a copy of the book.

Rating: 3.5 stars

Review of "The Target: An FBI Thriller" by Catherine Coulter

After some dramatic courtroom heroics Federal Judge Ramsey Hunt - needing a break from the paparazzi - takes time off to relax in an isolated cabin in the mountains of Colorado. While there Ramsey finds a six-year-old child, Emma, who escaped from an abusive abductor.



The child doesn't speak and Ramsey, believing the girl would be further traumatized by police and doctors, contacts no one.



Instead he cares for the child himself. Before long people try to kill both Ramsey and the girl, so their situation is clearly perilous.



Skip ahead a few days and the girl's mother, Molly, shows up. Molly decided the cops and FBI searching for Emma were haughty and useless; thus she set out to find Emma herself.



At first Molly thinks Ramsey is the kidnapper and almost kills him.



Things are soon straightened out though, and Ramsey, Emma, and Molly become a trio - working together to evade the would-be killers and find out what's going on.

It turns out Molly's ex-husband (and Emma's absentee dad) is a famous singer with a huge gambling problem.....



.....and Molly's father is a big-time Chicago mobster.



Could all this be connected to Emma's abduction somehow? A number of deaths follow and Ramsey, Emma, and Molly are apparently in constant danger. To help resolve the situation Ramsey contacts his friends, FBI agents (and married coupled) Dillon Savich and Lacey Sherlock for assistance.



I'd say this book is roughly half thriller, half romance and has the expected features of those genres. That is, people fall in love super quick, there's a lot of risk, and so on. In the end the motives of the various bad guys' stretch credulity and the resolution of the story isn't totally satisfying. In addition, the idea of a federal judge harboring a kidnapped child without attempting to contact authorities or her parents is beyond belief.

For me this book was just okay but I think readers who are big fans of romantic suspense would probably like this book.

Rating: 2 stars

Review of "I Suck at Girls: A Humorous Memoir" by Justin Halpern

 

Author Justin Halpern

Justin Halpern's book 'Sh*t My Dad Says' is very funny, so when this memoir was recommended on Goodreads I decided to listen to the audio version. Halpern's anecdotes about incidents in his life, ranging from childhood through early adulthood, are very entertaining. Justin's dad again contributes some priceless bon mots, but most of the yarns focus on the author himself.

I'll give some examples of stories in the book.

Nine-year-old Justin, hearing about sex from a friend, gets worried about his wedding night. Eager to consult his mom about this troubling issue, Justin picks the lock on his parents' closed bedroom door..... and what do you think he sees? Good opportunity for Justin's dad to teach him the word ironic.

Young Justin and his Little League teammate find a stash of porn near the ball field and plan to steal it. Their codeword, in case the coach is spotted, is 'my dog peed in the house.' Of course the coach comes right over and Justin - wanting to warn his porn-hiding friend - hysterically yells 'my dog peed in the house.....my dog peed in house.' The coach must have thought Justin was nuts.



After high school Justin goes on a jaunt to Europe with his friend Ryan, hoping to meet girls and have sex. In a Florence hostel, Justin and Ryan pal up with a young Asian man, Vietnam Joe. Joe's English vocabulary is very limited. Food is either 'large delicious', 'delicious', or 'not delicious'; temperatures are either 'large hot' or 'not hot.' Joe's one complete sentence is 'Second-year guard Ray Allen has a silky smooth NBA ready game'.....cribbed from a basketball card. Still, Joe is the first of the group to meet a girl and go off with her. (Maybe she was a basketball fan. LOL 😊)



Eventually, Justin and Ryan arrive at the 'party island' of Ibiza. The boys ask a party promoter about the hottest party in Ibiza.....and are told they can't handle it. The boys are also warned off the second hottest party on the island. Frustrated, Ryan finally says 'Just tell us about a party that's appropriately hot for us!' This made me laugh.



Overdoing the partying in Ibiza, Justin gets a terrible stomach ache and has to go to an emergency room in Spain. The doctor, not fluent in English, points to two dark spots on Justin's x-ray and says "Your stomach is very mad. It do not work." The doctor then says a few words to the nurse who adds "Too much poo poo and fart." Ryan thinks this is the most awesome diagnosis he ever heard.....and I have to agree. (Justin got meds for the constipation and gas, and all was well.)



In other anecdotes Justin talks about working at Hooters Restaurant, losing his virginity, dating a hot girl that's out of his league, and - by the end of the book - proposing to his girlfriend.



The book is all good fun, recommended to readers who like humorous memoirs.

Rating: 3.5 stars

Review of "The Burning Girls: A Novel of Horror and Suspense" by C.J. Tudor

 

Vicar Jacqueline (Jack) Brooks has to leave her Nottingham church after a tragedy occurs in her congregation.



Jack is temporarily assigned to the Sussex village of Chapel Croft, whose pastor recently died. When Jack and her 15-year-old daughter Flo arrive in Chapel Croft they're dismayed by the small nondescript chapel and their cottage next door, which is dilapidated and uninviting.



Moreover, Chapel Croft has a sinister vibe, in part because of its dreadful history. Five hundred years ago, eight villagers - including two young girls - were burned at the stake during Queen Mary's purge of Protestants. Now the incident is commemorated every year by the burning of twig dolls on the anniversary of the purge.



The town also experienced a more recent misfortune. Thirty years ago, two teenage girls, named Merry and Joy, vanished without a trace. The general consensus was that the girls ran away, but the disappearances cast a lasting pall over the area.

To add to the dark atmosphere, the villagers say the ghosts of the burned Protestant girls haunt the chapel, and if you see them, something bad will happen to you.



Jack and Flo's arrival gets off to a sinister start when the vicar is presented with an anonymous gift that turns out to be an exorcism kit.



Soon afterwards, ghostly figures appear to mother and daughter, which teenage Flo - who's a hobby photographer - tries to capture on film....without success.



Jack wants to dismiss the phenomena as tricks of the light, but Flo doesn't buy it. As it turns out the paranormal warning may be legitimate, because Flo becomes the target of vicious teenage bullies and Jack is persecuted with sinister messages and a gossip campaign.



As they settle in, mother and daughter socialize with some of the locals: Flo with an outcast teenage boy named Lucas Wrigley, and Jack with a gossipy octogenarian called Joan and a reporter called Mike. Both Jack and Flo hear that disturbing things happen in Chapel Croft, and they soon come to see that this is true.

As all this is going on, a murderous ex-convict is released from prison, and starts to hunt for Jack. As the man makes his away across England, he leaves a string of calamities in his wake.



Jack and Flo are likable main characters. Jack is a modern vicar who sneaks ciggies, drinks an occasional glass of wine, enjoys modern films and popular music, and participates in the pub quiz;



and Flo is a mature teenager who knows self-defense, can set up a photography darkroom; and doesn't complain TOO much about leaving her friends in Nottingham.



One thing I didn't like is that both Jack and Flo blithely walk into dangerous situations RIGHT AFTER they tell themselves that naïve girls in horror movies do this very thing. If it was me, and I was all alone - and creepy things were happening - I wouldn't traipse into a musty basement after hearing rustling noises.....



or search a dark chapel after I see flickering lights.



I also feel the story is over-complicated, with too much going on.

That said, I enjoyed the novel. Tudor is a master of surprises, and there are plenty of twists in this suspenseful horror/mystery.

Thanks to Netgalley, C.J. Tudor, and Ballantine Books for a copy of the book

Rating: 3.5 stars

Review of "Exit: A Novel of Suspense" by Belinda Bauer

Felix Pink is a 75-year-old widower who lost his beloved wife Margaret to a lingering illness.



Now Felix lives in Devon with his dog Mabel, who shoots withering looks and piddles in the house if Felix is delayed at walk time.



This sometimes happens because Felix is an 'Exiteer', a volunteer who supports terminally ill persons committing suicide with nitrous oxide - a process that can't be hurried.



To remain on the right side of the law, an Exiteer must do NOTHING to assist a patient's demise. The sick individuals must assemble the materials and administer the gas themselves, while the Exiteers - who work in pairs - merely sit by the bedside.

After Felix's long-time partner quits the Exiteers, Felix is paired with a twentysomething newbie called Amanda, who's very anxious about her first support job.



Felix and Amanda are sent to the home of Charles Cann, an old man riddled with cancer. The patient fumbles the gas cylinder and Amanda instinctively retrieves it - thus committing a crime. Things get even worse when Felix and Amanda realize they killed the wrong man. Wanting to protect Amanda, Felix sends her away, determined to take the blame himself.



Felix hears police sirens approaching the Cann house - and is waiting to explain the situation - when he remembers Mabel, who needs to be walked and fed. Felix makes a clever getaway, and thinking the whole incident over later on, fears he and Amanda were set up. Felix decides to play detective, and makes some unexpected friends along the way.



Meanwhile, the police also mount an investigation into the Cann homicide. DCI Kirsty King leads the case, and she recruits PC Calvin Bridge to assist her. Bridge was a plainclothes detective for a brief time, but felt overwhelmed, and went back to being a uniformed cop. Still Bridge is glad to be in the big leagues again, if only temporarily.



When he's not working, Bridge hangs out at the local betting shop, where he likes a flutter on the horses.....and Bridge's interaction with his fellow gamblers is a hoot.

Many things are not as they seem in this novel, which is very funny, with quirky characters and unexpected situations. This is an ingenious mystery, highly recommended to fans of the genre.

Thanks to Netgalley, Belinda Bauer, and Atlantic Monthly Press for a copy of the book.

Rating: 4 stars