Anita de Monte Laughs Last by Xochitl Gonzalez

Started: 4/25/2024

Finished: 4/26/2024

Year: 2024

Pages: 337

Genre: fiction

Grade: F

Reason for reading: library book

Type: hardcover

Blurb (from Amazon): "1985. Anita de Monte, a rising star in the art world, is found dead in New York City; her tragic death is the talk of the town. Until it isn’t. By 1998 Anita’s name has been all but forgotten―certainly by the time Raquel, a third-year art history student is preparing her final thesis. On College Hill, surrounded by privileged students whose futures are already paved out for them, Raquel feels like an outsider. Students of color, like her, are the minority there, and the pressure to work twice as hard for the same opportunities is no secret.

"But when Raquel becomes romantically involved with a well-connected older art student, she finds herself unexpectedly rising up the social ranks. As she attempts to straddle both worlds, she stumbles upon Anita’s story, raising questions about the dynamics of her own relationship, which eerily mirrors that of the forgotten artist."

Opinion: Didn't care about the characters or the torturous situations that they put themselves in.

A Steep Price by Robert Dugoni

Started: 4/23/2024

Finished: 4/25/2024

Year: 2018

Pages: 361

Genre: mystery

Grade: B-

Reason for reading: continuing with the series, library book

Type: paperback

Blurb (from Amazon): "Called in to consult after a young woman disappears, Tracy Crosswhite has the uneasy feeling that this is no ordinary missing-persons case. When the body turns up in an abandoned well, Tracy’s suspicions are confirmed. Estranged from her family, the victim had balked at an arranged marriage and had planned to attend graduate school. But someone cut her dreams short.

"Solving the mystery behind the murder isn’t Tracy’s only challenge. The detective is keeping a secret of her own: she’s pregnant. And now her biggest fear seems to be coming true when a new detective arrives to replace her. Meanwhile, Tracy’s colleague Vic Fazzio is about to take a fall after his investigation into the murder of a local community activist turns violent and leaves an invaluable witness dead.

"Two careers are on the line. And when more deadly secrets emerge, jobs might not be the only things at risk."

Opinion: Wish that it only focused on one mystery or had the two mysteries be tied in somehow. A good continuation of Tracy's story.

Her Every Move by Kelly Irvin

Started: 4/18/2024

Finished: 4/23/2024

Year: 2021

Pages: 343

Genre: mystery/romance

Grade; B-

Reason for reading: Goodreads.com giveaway

Type: paperback

Blurb (from Amazon): "When a deadly bomb goes off during a climate change debate, librarian and event coordinator Jackie Santoro becomes the prime suspect. Her motive, according to Detective Avery Wick: to avenge the suicide of her prominent father, who was accused of crimes by a city councilman attending the event.

"Though Avery has doubts about Jackie’s guilt, he can’t exonerate her even after an extremist group takes responsibility for the bombing and continues to attack San Antonio’s treasured public spaces.

"As Jackie tries to hold her shattered family together, she has no choice but to proceed with plans for the Caterina Ball, the library system’s biggest annual fundraiser. But she also fears the event provides the perfect opportunity for the bomber to strike again.

"Despite their mistrust, Jackie and Avery join forces to unmask the truth—before the death toll mounts even higher."

Opinion: A decent mystery mixed with a predictable romance. Downfall was the God talk.

Bare Bones by Kathy Reichs

Started: 4/17/2024

Finished: 4/18/2024

Year: 2003

Pages: 304

Genre: mystery/thriller

Grade: B

Reason for reading: continuing with the series, library book

Type: hardcover

Blurb (from Amazon): "It's a summer of sizzling heat in Charlotte where Dr. Temperance Brennan, forensic anthropologist for the North Carolina medical examiner, looks forward to her first vacation in years. A romantic vacation. She's almost out the door when the bones start appearing.

"A newborn's charred remains turn up in a woodstove. The mother, Tamela Banks, hardly more than a child herself, has disappeared. Did she kill her infant, or is an innocent teenager also about to become a victim?

"A small plane crashes in a North Carolina cornfield on a sunny afternoon. Both pilot and passenger are burned beyond recognition. Was it pilot error? Something more sinister? And what is the mysterious black substance covering the bodies?

"Most puzzling of all are the bones discovered at a remote farm outside Charlotte. What has Tempe's dog, Boyd, unearthed? The remains seem to be of animal origin, but Tempe is shocked when she gets them to her lab.

"With help from a special detective friend, Tempe must investigate a poignant and terrifying case that comes at the worst possible moment. Daughter Katy has a new boyfriend who Tempe fears may have something to hide. And important personal decisions face Tempe. Is it time for emotional commitment? Will she have the chance to find out?

"Everything must wait on the bones. What story do they tell? Why are the X rays and DNA so perplexing? Who is trying to keep Tempe from the answers? Someone is following her. Someone is following Katy. That someone must be stopped before it's too late."

Opinion: A good continuation of the series. Shows that Brennan is human and some of her cases can actually get to her.

All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr

Started: 4/10/2024

Finished: 4/17/2024

Year: 2014

Pages: 530

Genre: Literature

Grade: B-

Reason for reading: library book

Type: hardcover

Blurb (from Amazon): "Marie-Laure lives with her father in Paris near the Museum of Natural History where he works as the master of its thousands of locks. When she is six, Marie-Laure goes blind and her father builds a perfect miniature of their neighborhood so she can memorize it by touch and navigate her way home. When she is twelve, the Nazis occupy Paris, and father and daughter flee to the walled citadel of Saint-Malo, where Marie-Laure’s reclusive great uncle lives in a tall house by the sea. With them they carry what might be the museum’s most valuable and dangerous jewel.

"In a mining town in Germany, the orphan Werner grows up with his younger sister, enchanted by a crude radio they find. Werner becomes an expert at building and fixing these crucial new instruments, a talent that wins him a place at a brutal academy for Hitler Youth, then a special assignment to track the Resistance. More and more aware of the human cost of his intelligence, Werner travels through the heart of the war and, finally, into Saint-Malo, where his story and Marie-Laure’s converge."

Opinion: This was a long book but didn't feel like it was 530 pages-thanks to the short chapters. Could a lot of this been edited out-yes but I didn't feel the need to chop as I have with other books.

I Disappeared Them by Preston L. Allen

Started: 4/9/2024

Finished: 4/10/2024

Year: 2024

Pages: 305

Genre: thriller

Grade: C

Reason for reading: Early Reviewers giveaway on Library Thing

Type: hardcover

Blurb (from Amazon): "BULLIED AS CHILD FOR BEING OVERWEIGHT and an orphan, the serial killer in I Disappeared Them hides in plain sight. By day, he is an affable family man with a disarming smile, surrounded by his children and loving wife. At night he punches the clock as a hard-working pizza man. After work, he roams Miami's nighttime streets as the Periwinkle Killer, the sociopath passing judgment on the wicked according to a twisted moral code. He believes himself to be a defender of women and children. The Everglades is filling up with the corpses of his victims. He must be stopped, but there are no clues except the periwinkles he leaves at every crime scene."

Opinion: A thoroughly review is posted on Librarything.com

Murder of a Wedding Belle by Denise Swanson

Started: 4/7/2024

Finished: 4/9/2024

Year: 2010

Pages: 246

Genre: Mystery

Grade: B

Reason for reading: continuing with the series, library book

Type: paperback

Blurb (from Amazon): "School psychologist Skye Denison reluctantly agrees to act as maid of honor in her California cousin's over-the-top platinum-style wedding- and is also expected to assist the control-freak wedding planner. But when Skye discovers the planner dead, just one week before the big event, Skye is suddenly working double-duty.

"While overseeing every nuptial detail, she's also helping the police find out who hated the bridal consultant enough to kill her. Can Skye get her cousin to the church on time-and save herself from a killer who may actually be on the guest list?"

Opinion: A decent continuation of Skye's life...this time out of school and more family involvement.

A Haunting in the Arctic by C. J. Cooke

Started: 4/3/2024

Finished: 4/6/2024

Year: 2024

Pages: 334

Genre: paranormal fiction

Grade: B

Reason for reading: library book

Type: paperback

Blurb (from Amazon): "The year is 1901, and Nicky is attacked, then wakes on board the Ormen, a whaling ship embarked on what could be its last voyage. With land still weeks away, it’s just her, the freezing ocean, and the crew – and they’re all owed something only she can give them...

"Now, over one hundred years later, the wreck of the Ormen has washed up on the forbidding, remote coast of Iceland. It’s scheduled to be destroyed, but explorer Dominique feels an inexplicable pull to document its last days, even though those who have ventured onto the wreck before her have met uncanny ends.

"Onboard the boat, Dominique will uncover a dark past riddled with lies, cruelty, and murder—and her discovery will change everything. Because she’ll soon realize she’s not alone. Something has walked the floors of the Ormen for almost a century. Something that craves revenge."

Opinion: An interesting look at a former whaling then research ship in the Arctic. Told in two different time frames and a slight unexpected twist at the end.

Shadow Prey by John Sandford

Started: 3/27/2024

Finished: 4/2/2024

Year: 1990

Pages: 342

Genre: mystery/thriller

Grade: B-

Reason for reading, TBR pile, continuing with series

Type: paperback

Blurb (from Amazon): "A slumlord butchered in Minneapolis...A rising political star executed in Manhattan...A judge slashed to death in Oklahoma City...

"Each victim has a history of bad behavior, but the only thing the killings have in common is the murder weapon—a Native American ceremonial knife—and a trail of blood that leads to an embodiment of evil known only as Shadow Love. Recruited to be the lethal hand of a terrorist campaign, Shadow Love has his own bloody agenda, one he will do anything to achieve.

"Enlisted to find him are Minneapolis police lieutenant Lucas Davenport and New York City police officer Lily Rothenburg. But despite the countrywide carnage they needn’t look far. Because Shadow Love is right behind them."

Opinion: The mystery and suspense was great...there was a lot of extra stuff that just wasn't necessary.