Book Review: "The Pink" by Marshall Thornton

I think May is going to be remembered for how many terrific books I found randomly and loved. As a mood reader, sometimes I stare at the books I haven’t read yet and feel unmotivated, so that’s when I start looking for something new. And The Pink is another unexpectedly terrific book I found.

In 1913, 22-year-old Lewis lives with his mother in Chicago. He is studying physiognomy, and dreams of an academic life, in the company of his friend and mentor, Josiah. But his mother unexpectedly turns the tables on his dreams. Claiming sudden financial woes, she tells Lewis it’s time to get a job.

But knowing her son all too well, she gets him an interview at the famed (and infamous) Pinkerton Detective Agency. It’s where his father once worked. And while the last place Lewis wants to work is the company known for busting unions, he’s drawn to detective work. He proves to be quite good at it, as well.

Lewis’ mother is also determined to find him a wife. As a supporter of the Temperance movement, she lands upon a woman she finds suitable for Lewis—Edna, an intelligent, outspoken heiress. While getting married is not among Lewis’ desires, Edna intrigues him, and offers him a chance for something he had never thought of for himself.

Meanwhile, his star is on the rise at Pinkerton. When he unwittingly thwarts a burglary by inadvertently shooting the culprit, he surprises his colleagues—and himself. But an insurance investigation proves to be more complex—and more dangerous—than he expects.

I devoured this book in one sitting. I thought Lewis was a great character—naive in the ways of love but set on what he wanted—and he was a natural detective. I loved the setting and his constant battles with his mother. Might there be another book or two with Lewis at the helm?

Book Review: "My Husband's Wife" by Alice Feeney

“Everybody lies and everybody dies. Those are two of the only things you can be certain of in an uncertain world.”

Given the whiplash I experienced while reading this book, I think Alice Feeney should be named in my medical report! This book has been all over Bookstagram and it honestly was one of the twistiest books I’ve read in ages.

Eden and her husband Harrison have recently moved into Spyglass, a cliffside house in the small town of Hope Falls. Eden is an artist, drawn to painting pictures of the sea, and she’s having her very first exhibition at a local gallery. She’s nervous but she’s looking forward to meeting the residents of Hope Falls.

The morning before her exhibition, she goes for her usual jog. When she gets back home, her key doesn’t fit in the lock. A woman who resembles Eden answers the door, and insists that SHE is Eden. And Harrison backs the stranger up. What is happening?

I don’t want to give anything away here. (If you’ve not read this yet, go into it without reading the blurb or reviews.) This was an utterly wild story about mortality, revenge, regret, and family. So much is packed into the ending I had to reread it a few times, and there was lots more explaining than I liked, but I couldn’t believe how compelling this was.

Book Review: "Photograph" by Brian Freeman

“When someone you love does something you can’t explain, you begin to realize that you don’t actually know them at all.”

Y’all, I may be late to the party, but this book was EXCELLENT! I had wanted to read it before the end of last year, but didn’t get around to it. Already three of my 5-star reads in January are thrillers!

Shannon is a private investigator in Daytona Beach. Having survived an assault but not getting justice, she only helps women in need. One day, a woman named Kate comes to see her. She found a check that her mother had written to Shannon for $5000 and she wanted to know why she hired Shannon.

A year ago, Faith came to Shannon and said she wanted to know who she really was. Shannon discovered that Faith had taken on a new identity at some point but wasn’t able to trace who she was before. That answer satisfied Faith. But apparently, Faith was violently murdered. And the only clue was an old photograph of a young girl standing outside a motel.

In order to figure out who killed Faith, Shannon has to trace where the photograph was taken and, hopefully, find the identity of the young girl. The search for answers takes her to a small town in Michigan that was rocked by violence a number of years ago, but no one ever found conclusive answers about what happened. In the course of her investigation, Shannon will need to confront some of her own secrets, too.

For a thriller, this book made me surprisingly emotional at times. That being said though, Brian Freeman didn’t let up with the action, tension, or twists. I raced through the book and can’t believe how great it was!

Book Review: "Holmes is Missing" by James Patterson and Brian Sitts

Having devoured the first book in this series, Holmes, Marple & Poe, you can bet I snapped up the second book as soon as it hit stores! This really is a great series and now we’ll see how long it takes for Book 3 to come out.

Brendan Holmes, Margaret Marple, and Auguste Poe are best friends and private investigators who have become the talk of NYC after their success solving a few cases. (It doesn’t make them popular with the police, however.)

The latest case they become involved in deals with the kidnapping of six babies from the nursery of a NYC hospital. The families want to hire the trio to find their babies, but they’re not at full strength, as Holmes has been away dealing with a personal issue. And even though he agrees to help with this case, he makes it very clear he wants out of the business afterward.

As they try and figure out what happened, they discover that the kidnappings are related to other cases, both in the U.S. and the U.K. But what ties all of these incidents together, and what’s the motive behind them? It seems like it’s only a matter of time before more children are kidnapped.

Meanwhile, Holmes encounters an amateur detective who tells of a fascinating set of cases. But it’s not long before he realizes that the cases are real, and there’s more danger afoot, which could land closer to home. And Poe has problems of his own, mainly dealing with Police Detective Helene Grey.

I love these characters and how well they play off one another. Marple, in particular, proves to be a total badass in this book. There’s pulse-pounding action and great banter, and I couldn’t put this down.

Book Review: "Holmes, Marple & Poe" by James Patterson and Brian Sitts

Many thanks to my friend Mandy for putting this series on my radar. What a fantastic and fun book this was!

Brendan Holmes, Margaret Marple, and Auguste Poe are best friends and private investigators in New York City. Beyond the connection of their last names to famous people, their pasts are untraceable. Are these even their real names?

Whatever their background is, however, there’s no denying their investigative abilities. And when the trio is able to solve a missing person’s case before the police even have an inkling of what happened, their PI firm suddenly gets much busier.

NYPD Detective Helene Grey is both intrigued by the three investigators and irked that they always seem to be a step ahead of the police, and they’re not eager to share their findings. But even when she forbids them to get involved, they seem to find a toehold into a case, and information breaks their way. So she realizes it may be easier to join them, since she can’t beat them.

The trio finds itself in the middle of an assortment of cases—art fraud, kidnapping, the discovery of multiple skeletons beneath the city streets. They always try to have each other’s backs, but sometimes what faces each of them is more formidable.

I really thought this was a great book. It was full of twists and action and the characters are far more layered than I would have expected. The second book in the series just came out and you can bet I’ll be snapping that up!

Book Review: "The Deal Goes Down" by Larry Beinhart

In Larry Beinhart's new book, a retired detective finds chaos after a random meeting on a train.

“The woman on the train asked me to kill someone. I liked the train. I didn’t especially like the woman.”

Tony is an ex-private eye living a fairly solitary life in the Catskills. His house is about to be foreclosed upon, and it seems like more of his friends are dying than he'd care to think about.

He meets a young woman on a train to New York City. She proceeds to drink a few cocktails and then she tells him how her wealthy husband is abusive and cruel. As they progress further on the trip, she offers him money—a lot of money—to get rid of her husband.

Tony knows he shouldn’t have anything to do with this, and figures when the woman sobers up she’ll forget they even had the conversation. But she doesn’t, and the money she’s offering could help him get control of his life.

Of course, he has no idea what a web he’ll wind up getting tangled in, including an attorney who wants to hire Tony to “take care” of other abusive husbands of wealthy women, a former business associate who wants a cut of the money, and federal agents. And that’s even before he has to travel overseas to rescue a woman.

I picked up this book because I liked the cover and the description. I didn’t realize that this was the fourth book in a series, so I definitely felt I was missing some pieces. And I felt like the plot took some strange tangents every now and again. But Tony is a fascinating, complex, flawed character, and I’d be interested in starting the series from the beginning.