#ShortStorySunday – Writing the Rites.

Book Review for “Life: A Love Story” by Elizabeth Berg. Summary: "As ninety-two-year-old Florence "Flo" Greene nears the end of her life, she writes a letter to Ruthie, the woman who grew up next door to her, describing the items Flo is leaving Ruthie in her will. But as it goes on, telling surprising stories … Continue reading #ShortStorySunday – Writing the Rites. →

Women Widening Worlds With Words.

Book Review for “The Temple of the Muses” by Jane Davis. Summary: "London, 1780. As the city smoulders in the aftermath of the Gordon Riots, booksellers James and Dorcas Lackington resolve to fight despair not with charity, but with books. Convinced that reading is the surest path out of poverty, they launch a daring experiment … Continue reading Women Widening Worlds With Words. →

Arms, Legs, Toes, and AARDVARK?

Book Review for “Turn Right at the Rainbow: A Diary of Househunting, Happenstance & Home” by Roz Morris. Summary: "You don’t find home. Home finds you. Roz has lived in her London house for thirty years. She arrived there bewildered and reckless, moving in with a man she'd known for one week, and the house … Continue reading Arms, Legs, Toes, and AARDVARK? →

The Mother of All Controversies.

Book Review for “MUV: The Story of the Mitford Girls' Mother” by Rachel Trethewey. Summary: "Everyone knows about the six flamboyant Mitford girls but in fact there were seven remarkable women in the famous family—the seventh was "Muv," Lady Sydney Redesdale, the mother of the notorious sisters. Too often portrayed as different from them and … Continue reading The Mother of All Controversies. →

Sirens on the High Seas.

Book Review for “The Determined” by Rachel Rueckert. Summary: "1721, Spanish Town, Jamaica. Captured, convicted, and pregnant, twenty-three-year-old Anne Bonny faces the gallows. When writer Captain Charles Johnson enters the garrison, she strikes a deal: she’ll tell this opportunistic fool her story if he sends a doctor to her friend, Mary Read, who’s battling prison … Continue reading Sirens on the High Seas. →

A New Recipe for Death.

Book Review for “To Kill a Cook” by M.W Akers. Summary: "Nobody in Manhattan eats better than Bernice Black. It’s 1972, and she is the city’s busiest restaurant critic, juggling her fiance and his two young sons with demands of fine dining. Bernice talks fast, walks faster, has a razor-sharp wit and no patience for … Continue reading A New Recipe for Death. →

The Sugar Flowers Mystery.

Book Review for “The Readers' Room” by Antoine Laurain (translated by Jane Aitken, Emily Boyce, and Polly Mackintosh). Summary: "When the manuscript of a debut crime novel arrives at a Parisian publishing house, everyone in the readers' room is convinced it's something special. And the committee for France's highest literary honour, the Prix Goncourt, agrees. But … Continue reading The Sugar Flowers Mystery. →

A Tartan Taste for Murder.

Book Review for “Mayhem on the Marzipan Express” (Claire Walker #2) by Rebecca Connolly. Summary: "Amateur baker and part-time sleuth Claire Walker is looking forward to a vacation with her boyfriend, Jonathan Ainsley. The happy couple boards the famed Scottish train, the Mallaig Steam Express—temporarily renamed “The Marzipan Express” in honor of chef Alan Gables, … Continue reading A Tartan Taste for Murder. →

A 17th Century Modern Woman.

Book Review for “Anneke Jans in the New World” by Sandra Freels. Summary: "It’s 1630, and Anneke Jans has just arrived in the fledgling colony of New Netherland with her husband, Roelof, and their two young daughters to create a new life for herself and her family. One of very few women in the colony, … Continue reading A 17th Century Modern Woman. →

Flavored For Deception.

Book Review for “May Contain Murder” (AKA "Murder Below Deck") by Orlando Murrin (Chef Paul Delamare Mystery #2). Summary: "Worse things happen at sea. Paul Delamare has been roped into accompanying his old friend on a luxury cruise aboard the magnificent superyacht Mal de Mer. It’s all plain sailing until his friend’s priceless necklace is … Continue reading Flavored For Deception. →