Book Review: "This Story Might Save Your Life" by Tiffany Crum

We may be only one-quarter of the way into 2026, but I feel pretty confident saying that this is going to be another year of fantastic debut novels! Tiffany Crum’s book, a hybrid mystery/romance, definitely was a great read.

Benny and Joy are best friends and cohosts of a satirical survival podcast. Each episode envisions a somewhat improbable scenario, but inspired by real life—what happens if you get swallowed by a whale, for instance—and they have to brainstorm ways to survive.

The podcast is an enormous hit, thanks to the charm and humor of the hosts and the business strategy of Xander, Joy’s husband. Things are about to get even bigger, as they’re about to sign a lucrative distribution contract and publish a co-written memoir.

But one morning when Benny goes to Joy’s house to finish recording, it appears Joy, Xander, and their dog have disappeared. No one can figure out what happened, and as the police begin to investigate, it appears there are a lot of secrets that were hidden. And soon their attention turns to Benny.

The book shifts between the present and the chapters of the memoir that Joy wrote. Both narratives introduce just as many questions as they do answers.

Although the pacing ebbs and flows, I found this tremendously compelling. I don’t know if I was completely enamored of Joy as a character, but the banter between her and Benny was terrific. (Extra points for the Happy Days angle.) On the whole, I couldn’t put this down and can’t wait to see what Crum does next!

Book Review: "Blade" by Wendy Walker

Maybe it’s because the Winter Olympics are about to start, but when I saw this mystery/thriller involving figure skating, I was ready to do a triple salchow. Luckily for all of us, I took the simpler route and just read Wendy Walker’s newest book.

As a teenage figure skater with Olympic dreams, Ana was accepted to train at The Palace, a famous skating facility in Colorado. Training was physically rigorous and emotionally draining, because the head coach believed that breaking down a skater’s fears could help them reach their goals.

By the time Ana turned 16, she left The Palace and her skating career behind. She found a new passion in law and now is a successful (and well-known) defense attorney specializing in working with minors. But the last thing she is expecting is to return to The Palace nearly 15 years later.

Grace, the talented daughter of one of Ana’s best friends from her skating days, is accused of brutally murdering The Palace’s assistant coach. This same man coached Ana and her friends back in the day, playing good cop to the head coach’s bad cop. Grace maintains her innocence even though the evidence certainly suggests her guilt.

But in order for Ana to defend Grace, she must confront her own traumatic memories of The Palace. What happened all those years ago? Could Ana have played a part in the coach’s murder? With a blizzard on the horizon, time is running out to find answers and unearth secrets long-hidden.

I love athletic drama, and there was no shortage of that here. The book shifts back and forth between past and present, contrasting Ana’s time at the Palace with her efforts to clear Grace’s name. I enjoyed the story although at times the back and forth confused me a little. But no characters were quite what they seemed!

Book Review: "Change of Heart" by Falon Ballard

When you find an author whose books you love completely, you jump on each new one right away. Or at least I do! That’s been the case with a number of authors since I joined Bookstagram, including Falon Ballard. I’ve loved every single one of her books!

Cam is an attorney whose entire life revolves around work. She is a partner in her grandmother’s law firm and expects to take over someday. So what if she has no work/life balance? She’s a kickass attorney and that’s all that matters.

But Cam’s grandmother wants her to find a suitable partner, so she sets her up on dates. One night Cam goes out with Ben, a handsome doctor, and although he seems nice and smart, she can’t be bothered with getting to know him. She’d rather deal with her work emails. So she’s rude to him and the friendly waitress who believes there’s a connection between Cam and Ben, whether or not they see it.

The next morning, Cam wakes up in an unfamiliar place: Heart Springs, a town straight out of a Hallmark movie. Her hair and makeup are always perfect, the clothes in her closet are far from the power suits she’s used to. Ben is her next door neighbor, and he doesn’t know how they got there either.

It turns out that Cam will be trapped in Heart Springs until she finds a job she’s passionate about, becomes a valued part of the community, and experience true love. Which should be interesting, given she doesn’t believe in love. Can she change her life—and her heart?

I love rom-coms and I love magical realism, so this book was right up my alley. There’s great banter, great steam, and fun characters—it feels like a cross between a Hallmark movie and The Truman Show. Once again, Ballard has charmed me completely.

Book Review: "The Silent Watcher" by Victor Methos

The Silent Watcher was a really good read and my first Victor Methos book. Part crime novel, part courtroom drama, and a well-written meditation on how help from others can make a difference in our lives, I couldn’t put this down.

A recent law school graduate, Piper decides to take a job as a guardian ad litem (GAL), to ensure the most vulnerable victims of crimes are represented in court. When she was a child, a GAL helped her, so she has always wanted to do the same for others.

She is brought in to work with Sophie, a teenage girl who survived a deadly attack which killed her mother and brother. Sophie is traumatized and although she caught glimpses of the killer, she has to work through her grief and shock first before the possibility she could help identify them.

Piper partners with Lazarus, a world-weary detective who is determined to catch the killer, and will leave no stone unturned. After some shrewd investigative work, Lazarus discovers there is much to fear about this murderer, and they will need to travel down some dark paths to find him.

When they find the predator, Piper needs to protect Sophie from being traumatized in court, and they all need to make sure the man never is free again. But Piper’s work with Lazarus and an enigmatic judge puts her in the crossfire. Can she protect herself and Sophie?

The story has some creepy possibilities, but they’re not fully realized, thankfully. I really liked the main characters and believe that there’s so much more depth to be covered, so I’m excited that there will be a second book in this series.

This book will publish 12/1.

Book Review: "Mothers and Sons" by Adam Haslett

Adam Haslett burst on the literary scene in 2002 with his debut story collection, You Are Not a Stranger Here. Amazingly, he’s only published three (soon to be four) books, and yet he’s been a finalist for two Pulitzer Prizes for Fiction and two National Book Awards.

Mothers and Sons, Haslett’s fourth book, which will publish in January, is another well-told and deeply felt novel. It’s a story about family, love, grief, overcoming your past, and how trauma can change us completely. It’s also a story of empathy, and how challenging it can be to care for broken people when we are broken ourselves.

Peter is a Legal Aid immigration lawyer. He spends his days defending those seeking asylum from their home countries, and he often deals not only with his clients, but the families they would leave behind if they were sent back home. While he fights to keep families together, the irony is that he has been estranged from his mother, Ann, for many years.

Ann, who was a successful pastor, now runs a retreat center in Vermont with her partner, Clare. She wishes she could reconnect with Peter, but knows the fracture between them runs deep.

Peter’s most recent case is defending Vasel, a young Albanian man seeking asylum because he is gay. This case triggers many memories for Peter, who is also gay, as he remembers his first same-sex relationship and the tragedies that occurred. Peter’s story is intertwined with Vasel’s and Ann’s, and the book culminates in a very powerful and affecting climax.

I have always been dazzled by Haslett’s storytelling ability, and this book is no exception. I’ll definitely be thinking about this for a while.

Thanks to Little, Brown and Company and NetGalley for the advance copy! The book will publish 1/7/2025.

Book Review: "Lies He Told Me" by James Patterson and David Ellis

If I have whiplash, I blame James Patterson and David Ellis for packing so many twists into one book! Given the teaming of these two authors, my expectations were fairly high, and this book exceeded them all.

Marcie grew up in the small town of Hemingway Grove, Illinois. She was determined to be somewhere bigger, so she wound up getting a job as a lawyer at a big Chicago firm. But after that lost its appeal, she moved back, met and married David, and they’re raising two children. David also is the owner of a local pub in town.

They have the idyllic small-town life people envy. And then one day while on a hike, they see a car drive off a bridge and plunge into the river. Without thinking, David jumps in to save the driver, and after some tense moments, both are rescued. Video of David’s bravery goes viral, making him an object of attention in town.

But while David is hailed as a hero, both he and Marcie are thrown by a series of odd things that keep happening. While each is relatively innocuous on its own, taken all together, they start to fear for their safety and that of their children.

It seems as if the news of David’s bravery has made him the center of attention for people with a different interest in David. And Marcie can’t help but wonder what David is hiding—but is he the only one with secrets?

I used to be a faithful reader of Patterson’s but as his volume increased, I lost track. Ellis has been a favorite of mine for a while. I really loved this collaboration.

Book Review: "The Accomplice" by Curtis "50 Cent" Jackson and Aaron Philip Clark

I’ll admit that of all the celebrity authors out there, I never would’ve expected a crime novel from Curtis Johnson, aka rapper 50 Cent. And while I’m often dubious about celebrities writing books, when I saw a blurb from S.A. Cosby, how could I resist?

From a young age, Nia Adams was fascinated by law enforcement and crime scenes. Her dream was to become a Texas Ranger, and now, she’s the first Black female Ranger. It’s not always easy under that kind of scrutiny but she’s really good at what she does.

It’s 2004. Nia and others are called in to stop a bank robbery in progress. While the other law enforcement officers present try to keep Nia from intervening, she steps in just in time to prevent total disaster.

When she is sent to a remote Texas town to investigate another bank robbery, she can’t understand why a Ranger needs to be involved. There are things about this robbery that perplex her, and despite the fact that the local sheriff has no concerns, she decides to do some more digging. But she has no idea of the web she’s stepping into.

Desmond Bell is a veteran of the Vietnam war, still haunted by what he saw back then. He’s more than a bank robber; his preferred currency is secrets that his employer can use as leverage for blackmail. But when Desmond targets a powerful family, which includes a potential presidential candidate, he’s taken on enemies that will stop at nothing to protect their interests.

Nia finds herself caught in the middle of two powerful nemeses. Every step forward puts her life and career in danger, and puts others in the crossfire. Who will blink first?

While I’m always a bit dubious when a book by a celebrity is co-authored so you don’t know how much of a part they actually played, I enjoyed this. Although the pacing was uneven and the ending felt a bit rushed, I’d definitely read another of Jackson’s crime novels.

Book Review: "Saving Emma" by Allen Eskens

Allen Eskens is a tremendously talented writer who should be a household name. His books, including the amazing The Life We Bury, are a great blend of crime novel, contemporary fiction, and occasionally, legal thriller. While his newest book, Saving Emma, isn't my favorite of his, it's still a well-written and gripping story.

Boady Sanden is a former attorney who is now a law professor that works for The Innocence Project in Minnesota. When a woman comes to Boady asking him to look into the murder conviction of her brother, he feels like there's not much he can do. Elijah Matthews has been a patient in a mental institution for the last four years, since he was accused of murdering the pastor of a megachurch. Elijah believes he is a prophet, sent to do work given to him by God.

But as he digs into Elijah's file, he learns that he was originally defended by Ben Pruitt, Boady's former colleague and best friend, who was killed in Boady's study four years earlier. Ben's life was unraveling in the middle of Elijah's trial, which makes Boady wonder whether Elijah received the vigorous defense he deserved. The more he looks into the case, he finds Elijah both infuriating and sympathetic, but he isn't sure if he actually is a murderer.

At the same time, Ben's daughter Emma, who has lived with Boady and his wife since Ben was killed, has become sullen and withdrawn since she turned 14 years old. Emma makes a decision to trust someone who doesn't have her best interests in mind, and she turns against her surrogate parents. This devastates both Boady and his wife, although he needs to examine the way he has treated Emma to see if he's at all to blame for her decisions.

Can they get Emma to return home before it's too late? What is the truth behind the murder that Elijah is accused of, and how complicated is the web Boady will step in as he tries to find who is responsible?

I really enjoy Eskens' storytelling ability, but I struggled a bit with this book. I didn't find any of the characters particularly appealing, and there's a lot of scripture quoted in the story, which isn't something I'm familiar with. There really aren't many twists in this story, but it's still a very quick read.

Book Review: "The Summer of Songbirds" by Kristy Woodson Harvey

I'm not emotional, you are. (Well, maybe it's me.)

As some of you may know, I spent 10 summers at a sleepaway camp in New York's Catskills Mountains. It was such an incredible experience, being a camper and eventually a counselor, and some of the friendships I made all those years ago still remain. That's one of the reasons that I couldn't wait to read Kristy Woodson Harvey's newest novel, The Summer of Songbirds.

When she was six years old, Daphne met her two best friends, Lanier and Mary Stuart, at Camp Holly Springs, following in the footsteps of her mother and grandmother. The camp is owned by Daphne's aunt June, who is excited that her niece will get to experience the joys of a summer getaway given the difficulties she has faced in her childhood.

The three women remain the best of friends even in their 30s, and have helped each other through some challenging times. But Daphne faces two difficult dilemmas—one personal and one professional. Both require her to keep secrets from one of her best friends, and have the potential to ruin her future. Does she choose happiness or friendship?

As plans for Lanier's wedding progress, she starts having suspicions about her fiancé, which dampens some of her happiness, and makes her nostalgic for her first love. And when she discovers two things being kept from her, she doesn't know where to turn, and wonders if she should end a friendship that has lasted most of her life.

Meanwhile, June has a secret of her own: this very well may be the last summer of Camp Holly Springs, because she can no longer keep the camp afloat financially. She's owned the camp for 30 years, and it's really been the only thing in her life, as she's sacrificed nearly everything else. But when Daphne, Lanier, and Mary Stuart find out that the camp might close, the three women spring into action to do all they can to save this place that means so much to them.

What I love so much about Kristy Woodson Harvey's books is that she creates likable yet flawed characters that you truly care about. Like many books, there aren't a lot of surprises, but I found myself hooked on this story. I thought about how I'd react if the camp I spent so much of childhood at faced closure (I doubt that's possible because the camp owner now owns 4 or 5 camps, but still). Harvey is a definite auto-buy author for me, and I will eagerly await her next book! (Many thanks to my friend Heather for hosting a giveaway with Gallery Books that I was lucky to win!

Book Review: "Ms. Demeanor" by Elinor Lipman

Elinor Lipman's new book is an absolutely charming story about a woman’s efforts to repair her life after it falls apart.

Jane is a hardworking lawyer, highly respected in her firm. One night, running into a younger colleague leads to a night of drinking, flirting, and late-night sex on the rooftop deck of her NYC apartment building. Of course, it just so happens that a neighbor from the building across the street is looking at the roof with her binoculars—and she calls the police.

While she and her colleague get arrested, Jane is made an example of, and is sentenced to six months of house arrest, gets fired from her job, and has her law license suspended. What should she do now? Her twin sister tries to come up with ideas to keep Jane busy and keep from being bitter.

When the doorman of her building lets slip that there’s another tenant on house arrest, Jane strikes up a friendship with Perry, a white-collar criminal and former art handler. The two of them commiserate over their punishment and the way so many in their lives have abandoned them.

And then the police come knocking on Jane’s door again. Before she knows it she’s entangled in the lives of minor Polish royalty and another one of her neighbors…and is there a chance at romance?

I really loved this. It was funny, thought-provoking, emotional, and romantic. A real surprise just how much I loved the banter, the family dysfunction, all of it.

Book Review: "Look Closer" by David Ellis

Look Closer is a twisty thriller that hooked me from the very start and never let go!

I’ve seen so many rave reviews for this book and I have been meaning to read it for a while now, but I’m not always wowed by thrillers. But I have to say, this one deserves every bit of hype because it is fantastic!

Simon loves his job as an associate professor at a law school. He’s truly passionate about the law. He and Vicky have been married for nearly 10 years, and while it’s not a loveless marriage, it’s not an exciting one for either of them.

When a beautiful, wealthy woman is found dead in her exclusive neighborhood, many things come to light. And even when you look closer, nothing is what it seems.

This was truly excellent. Just when I thought I had it all figured out, David Ellis flipped the script time and again. If you love twisty thrillers that keep you guessing, pick this one 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.

Book Review: "The Perfect Marriage" by Jeneva Rose

His mistress is dead. His wife is his only hope.

I’ve been meaning to read this for a while, as I’ve really enjoyed Rose’s other books. And wow, talk about twisty!!

“That’s the thing about relationships, you never really know what’s going on in them, unless you’re a part of them.”

Sarah is a successful criminal defense attorney, one of the best around. She’s a named partner at her law firm and she’s doing extraordinarily well.

Her husband Adam may be the total opposite. His writing career has never taken off the way he hoped, and he spends most of his time resenting Sarah for working so hard. So he embarks upon an affair with Kelly, a young waitress at the cafe near his and Sarah’s summer house.

One night he and Kelly make love and then Adam heads home to Sarah. The next morning Kelly is found murdered in Adam and Sarah’s bed in the summer house. And Adam is arrested for murder. There’s a lot of evidence pointing toward his conviction. So who is his best bet to defend him? Sarah, of course. Could he have murdered Kelly? Does she want to know if he did?

This was a wild ride. Some of it was a little unbelievable and I called a few of the twists, but I couldn’t put this book down. It definitely turned the cheating husband/scorned wife thing on its ear!!

Book Review: "When We Were Bright and Beautiful" by Jillian Medoff

The newest book from Jillian Medoff is a gripping family/courtroom drama about a family caught in scandal.

Cassie tries to assert her independence from her wealthy family every now and again, but when she is summoned home to NYC because her brother Billy is in trouble, she shows up in the middle of the night. It turns out that Billy, the youngest child, a star athlete and an aspiring pediatrician, has been accused of raping his on-again, off-again girlfriend, Diana.

The family is shocked by this accusation. Billy and Diana have had a tumultuous relationship and their breakups have been difficult, but there’s no way that he could have raped her. But Billy is a privileged, handsome, white athlete—one who stutters when he gets nervous—so the family knows he may have a difficult time getting acquitted, especially in the current #MeToo environment.

While their parents fight over everything, from whether Billy should take a plea to whether he has the right attorney, family relationships start to splinter under the stress. But even as Cassie starts wondering about what really happened between Billy and Diana, she’s determined to prove her brother’s innocence—no matter what secrets have to be revealed.

This was my August BOTM pick, and it really surprised me just how much it hooked me. We’ve seen this storyline before, but in Jillian Medoff’s hands it’s immensely compelling and complex. As long as it doesn’t involve my family, I’m all in for good family drama!!

Book Review: "Under Red Sky: The Chief" by J Calamy

This thriller was action-packed and steamy!!

One of the things I love about Bookstagram is being introduced to books and authors I might not have heard of otherwise. I’m grateful not only for recommendations from friends but also from tours I’ve been fortunate to participate on.

Earlier this year I partnered with Pride Book Tours to read The Boss, by J Calamy. It was a great book, complete with action, intrigue, and lots of steamy romance. The second book in Calamy’s Under Red Sky series, The Chief, was just released and it’s another page-turner that got my pulse racing because of the suspense and the steam.

Natalie has one more assignment before she retires from her career as a counterterrorism agent. She’s posted to Sri Lanka and the beach is the perfect setting for a hot hookup with a sexy, bisexual surfer. And wouldn’t you know it? He’s her final assignment.

Alex is a money launderer for Red Sky, the behemoth crime syndicate in Southeast Asia. He wants out but he sees it as the best way to raise his younger brother, plus he’s loyal to the boss of Red Sky. But the deeper he gets in with Natalie, he’s torn about what to do.

Natalie has had a stellar career of following orders. But her connection with Alex makes her question her job for the first time, and the more she discovers what the powers that be have in store for Red Sky, the more she realizes she may have to turn her back on everything she’s held dear for someone she hopes she can trust.

I really got into this story and the steam factor is 🔥!! I definitely recommend this series if you like a mix of intrigue, crime, and hotness.

Book Review: "The Green Beach File" by K.A. Perry

K.A. Perry's The Green Beach File is a mystery that makes you think—gotta love it!

Jenn is an environmental attorney who is more comfortable with nature than socializing with others. But as she’s headed to meet a blind date, she finds a rare form of moss in a bookstore parking lot. And upon looking closer at the moss, she stumbles upon a dead body stashed in a cooler.

It turns out the body is that of a noted amphibian expert who has been employed by Jenn’s law firm to render an opinion about whether a proposed development on acres of beachfront should move forward. Shortly after this murder, another occurs—this time it’s a well-respected community leader who was against the development.

Two murders in this small town so close together leave everyone shaken. While some townspeople believe the murders are totally unrelated to the development project, Jenn isn’t so sure. And even though she knows she’s not an investigator, she can’t help but start looking into the murders, and keeps blundering into things. It turns out there was a lot of behind-the-scenes manipulation going on, but was that enough to provoke murder?

I really enjoyed this book and read it in one sitting. I loved Perry’s imagery and how much joy Jenn derived from the nature around her. It also was a very thought-provoking look at the debate between expansion and preserving and protecting nature.

While I had my suspicions about how the book would resolve itself, I still enjoyed the way Perry tied everything together. I’d love to see Jenn and these characters (maybe not her sister-in-law, lol) again!!

I was pleased to be part of the blog tour for The Green Beach File. Kate Rock Book Tours and K.A. Perry provided me a complimentary copy of the book in exchange for an unbiased review. Thanks so much for making it available!

Book Review: "A Good Marriage" by Kimberly McCreight

How much do we really know about the person to whom we’re married? How much do we care? These questions are at the forefront of Kimberly McCreight's new book, A Good Marriage.

When Lizzie met Sam, she thought she had truly found a partner in taking on the world. She’d be a prosecutor and he’d be a writer, both beating back injustice. But things didn’t work out the way she hoped. Now their relationship is filled with anger and guilt, and Lizzie was forced to take a job at a fancy law firm and work long hours.

One night at the office she gets a collect call from Rikers Island. An old law school friend whom she hasn't seen in years, Zach Grayson, desperately needs her help. He’s been arrested for the alleged murder of his wife, Amanda, at their Park Slope brownstone. He maintains his innocence and pleads for Lizzie to defend him.

It’s the last thing she wants to do, but she’s encouraged by one of the firm’s partners to do so. And as she starts to dig into what happened that night, she discovers that Zach and Amanda’s marriage wasn’t quite what it seemed, and neither are Amanda’s seemingly well-put-together friends and neighbors. Everyone has secrets to hide about their lives and their marriages. Even Lizzie herself.

For me, this book started SO SLOWLY that I really wasn’t sure if I wanted to keep reading. I get slow burn, but this took a long while to hit its stride. When it did, however, it took off. I honestly didn’t know what to think or what to believe, and even though I figured some of the twists out, I was still surprised by some of the plot, too.

I loved Kimberly McCreight’s Reconstructing Amelia, so I was eagerly anticipating this one. It’s definitely twisty and suspenseful, provided you have the patience to stick with it until it takes off.

Book Review: "The Night Swim" by Megan Goldin

Megan Goldin's new novel, The Night Swim, is part courtroom drama, part mystery, part thought-provoking exploration of how horrible society and the criminal justice system treat those who have been raped.

Rachel has gained notoriety as the creator and host of a true crime podcast. While the first two seasons focused on past crimes—and helped a man go free—this time she’s focusing on a rape trial, covering it from the small town where it happened.

The son of the town’s wealthiest family and a prospective Olympic swimmer is accused of brutally raping a teenage girl, the granddaughter of the former police chief. The town is torn apart by the case, with some thinking the girl “deserved” it and is lying, while others think he needs to be punished.

Meanwhile, Rachel, who is known more for her voice than her face, is being followed around town by a woman who says her sister was murdered in the same town 25 years ago, but the police refused to investigate, calling it an accidental drowning. This woman, Hannah, wants Rachel to tell the true story of what happened to her sister, even if it riles up old ghosts.

What will be the outcome of the rape trial? What was the truth behind Hannah’s sister’s death? Rachel will find herself in the middle of both cases, with their similarities and overlaps.

This is a very slow burn of a book and it’s definitely not the thriller Goldin’s first novel, The Escape Room, was. That being said, it’s a compelling and emotional story about rape and reputations in a small town, and the scars we bear.

NetGalley and St. Martin's Press provided me with an advance copy of the book in exchange for an unbiased review. Thanks for making it available!

The book publishes 8/4.

Book Review: "The Holdout" by Graham Moore

Graham Moore's latest book, The Holdout, is a pretty great legal thriller, one which I could totally see becoming a movie.

Ten years ago the trial rocked the country. A black teacher was on trial for murdering his white teenage student, the daughter of a prominent real estate developer in LA. During the trial text messages hinted at an inappropriate relationship between the teacher and student.

When the jury got together, all but one juror, Maya, were ready to convict. Little by little, after weeks of deliberation and argument, she wore them down with her assessments and they voted to acquit the defendant. The verdict—and their participation in the jury—changes their lives immeasurably.

"You ever think about all the fucked-up shit we end up doing because we tell ourselves we're helping?"

Now, 10 years later, a true-crime documentary is focused on the trial and brings the jury together, in the same hotel where they were once sequestered. One juror is purported to have “explosive” new evidence. And then another murder occurs, which sets off a high-stakes race to find the truth, before someone else dies.

I really enjoyed this book. It switches between past and present, and looks at each of the jurors and how they came to their decision to acquit, as well as whatever secrets they might have been hiding. There were lots of twists and turns in the plot, and while I had some suspicions about how things might resolve themselves, I was definitely surprised by some of what happened.

While I didn’t feel the book read like a movie, it certainly could be adapted into one, and that’s not surprising considering the author is an Oscar-winning screenwriter. (He wrote The Imitation Game.) But I felt Moore did a good job giving his characters depth as much as he crafted suspense.

No objections to this legal thriller! (Dad joke.)

Book Review: "Sunset Beach" by Mary Kay Andrews

Sunset Beach has a little family drama, a little unsolved mystery, a little romance, and a beach setting. Not bad, eh?

Drue has had a bad run of luck. She was about to turn pro as a kiteboarder when a knee injury ended things for her. Her mother just died, leaving her broke and homeless, and then her estranged father turns up at her mother’s funeral.

Her father comes bearing a job offer at his law firm and news that she has inherited her grandparents’ condo on Sunset Beach. The last thing she wants to do is take a handout from her father but she’ll need money to rehab the condo, which has seen years of neglect.

Then she discovers her father’s new wife—his much younger new wife—is her former best friend turned worst enemy. And she’s the law firm’s office manager to boot. She wants to make Drue’s life miserable enough so she’ll quit, but Drue refuses to give her the satisfaction.

When Drue learns of a case the firm was handling, in which a young woman who was working as a hotel housekeeper was murdered, and thinks it was settled unfairly to the victim’s family, she decides to do some digging on her own. And when she finds what appears to be the official police files of a decades-old missing persons case in the condo’s attic, she can’t resist looking into that as well. But will she discover her father was at fault in either of these? Does this amateur investigative work put her in danger?

I’ll admit I thought was going to be a lighthearted, beach-related romp, but that’s what I get for reading a book without seeing what it’s about! I enjoyed this, though; obviously you have to suspend your disbelief when you have a neophyte investigating cases, but Mary Kay Andrews’ writing had a relaxed, compelling vibe and she threw in some good twists and turns.

Sunset Beach was an enjoyable read which gave me the beachy feel without tracking sand in the house!!