Book Review: "The Heiress" by Rachel Hawkins

Over the last several years, Rachel Hawkins has become an auto-buy author for me. While her last book, The Villa, didn't quite work for me, her newest book is definitely a home run. It’s so twisted and gothic!

In the tiny North Carolina town of Tavistock, Ruby McTavish Callahan Woodward Miller Kenmore was as close to royalty as you could get. She was the state’s richest woman and perhaps one of the most notorious, as she was kidnapped as a very young child, and was married (and widowed) four times. Ruby's family estate, Ashby House, was the envy of both other family members and complete strangers.

When Ruby dies, her entire estate goes to Cam, her adopted son. But after years of living under Ruby’s thumb and dealing with the enmity of relatives who believe they were entitled to the inheritance, Cam leaves the house, money, and family behind, working as a teacher in Colorado and marrying Jules, a former actress who also escaped her own past.

But 10 years later, the death of Cam’s uncle summons him and Jules back to Ashby House. It’s not long before he is reminded of why he escaped, and dealing with resentful relatives is exhausting. But there are so many secrets hiding amidst the ornate decor and beautiful views, secrets that could change the course of everyone’s lives. Who is keeping which secrets, and how will they use them?

The plot may seem familiar, shifting between past and present, but Hawkins does such a phenomenal job getting you hooked quickly. I seriously couldn’t put this down, and can’t wait for her next book!

Book Review: "You Only Call When You're in Trouble" by Stephen McCauley

From the moment their father died when Tom was in college, he has taken care of his sister Dorothy. He’s bailed her out when business ideas have gone wrong, and he’s been a father figure to his niece, Cecily.

Now in his early 60s, with his job as an architect at a risk when a client has second thoughts about building a guest house, Tom is ready to stop putting his family first. That tendency has cost him too much, including his relationship with his boyfriend.

But Cecily once again has multiple crises brewing, so she turns to Tom for help. She’s the target of a Title IX investigation at the college where she teaches, and her instability is wreaking havoc on her relationship with her boyfriend. To top it all off, her mother wants to reveal after all this time who Cecily’s father is. (Well, she wants Tom to reveal it, but…)

Things come to a head at a gala to celebrate Dorothy’s latest business scheme. Secrets will be revealed, friendships will be tested, and the ties of family will be stretched to the limit. How much longer can they fall back into their usual behavioral patterns.

I have been a fan of Stephen McCauley since I fell in love with his debut, The Object of My Affection. This book is funny, warm, and emotional, but it’s also a little overstuffed with characters, when it could’ve simply concentrated on the stories at its core. Regardless, however, I’ll read whatever he serves up.

Book Review: "Songs on Endless Repeat: Essays and Outtakes" by Anthony Veasna So

In 2021, Anthony Veasna So’s debut, Afterparties, was published to great acclaim. His stories about the children of Cambodian immigrants living in California dealt with issues of culture and sexuality, and were really fantastic. Sadly, however, So never got to see the response to his book; he died of an accidental drug overdose in December 2020. He was only 28.

In addition to his fiction, So wrote and published a number of essays. These were collected, along with a number of linked chapters of unpublished fiction, and recently released as Songs on Endless Repeat. The combination of essays and fiction really demonstrate the depth of his talent and the tragedy of his death.

So’s essays are funny, thought-provoking, fascinating, and emotional. He touches on what the film version of Crazy Rich Asians meant for the depiction of Asians in the movies, his love of and struggles with reading, and in the strongest essay in the book, he reflects on his grief following a close friend’s suicide. (The words are especially poignant in the light of So’s death.) The fiction is chapters from an unpublished novel called Straight Thru Cambotown,” in which three Cambodian-American cousins stand to inherit their late aunt’s loan shark business. It’s funny and insightful.

I had worried that this book would be a collection of writings that So never felt compelled to publish, but that’s not true. It's some really good stuff. With this book and Afterparties, at least his talent and his voice can live on.

Book Review: "The Fury" by Alex Michaelides

Many thanks to Celadon Books for the free copy!

“I knew what happened. I was there. Who am I? Well, I am the narrator of this tale—and also a character in it. There were seven of us in all, trapped on the island. One of us was a murderer.”

How do you feel about unreliable narrators? If your answer is, “I hate them,” then this is not the book for you. Suffice it to say that the story was deviously twisty, it doubles and triples back on itself more than a few times, and just when you think you’ve figured it out, you haven’t.

So much has been written about this book on Bookstagram and other review sites, so I won’t share a plot summary. But this is a tale of love, betrayal, guilt, murder, and dealing with one’s demons. I found it frustrating at times, especially because none of the characters are particularly likable, but I couldn’t put it down at all. Alex Michaelides takes you on another wild ride, like he did in The Silent Patient and The Maidens.

Book Review: "All Good People Here" by Ashley Flowers

This is my first backlist read (a book published more than a year ago) of 2024, so please clap!

Margot is now a big-city journalist, but she grew up in the small town of Wakarusa, Indiana, where keeping up appearances was vital. When Margot was six years old, her next-door neighbor and playmate, January Jacobs, went missing from her home and was found dead shortly after. It’s always been a memory that has weighed on Margot’s mind, because she has wondered what made January's killer choose her and not Margot.

Twenty years later, Margot returns to town to help her uncle, who was recently diagnosed with early-onset dementia. She finds not much has changed in Wakarusa—everyone still knows everyone’s business. But when a five-year-old girl disappears from the neighboring town and the circumstances seem eerily similar to January’s disappearance, Margot is determined to uncover the connections between the two. But with no one in town willing to talk, and everyone—including her uncle—keeping secrets, is it worth stirring up the past? Is the connection real or imagined?

I enjoyed much of this book, but then so many things started happening at once and it became hard to follow. And then the ending was far too abrupt. It was disappointing because I really was hoping things would tie up differently. I will say that Ashley Flowers (and, apparently, her ghostwriters) definitely captured the small-town feel of the setting.

Book Review: "Devils at the Door" by Tessa Wegert

One of my favorite mystery series in recent years has been Tessa Wegert's featuring New York State senior police investigator Shana Merchant. Shana has been through a lot over the last few years, both personally and professionally, and still bears the physical and emotional scars of that trauma. But she's definitely no victim; she's a complex, flawed character who isn't above following her own path despite what she's told by her superiors.

When the book (the fifth in the series) begins, Shana's older brother Doug calls to share concerns about his teenage daughter, Henrietta, who has gone from being a cheerful and popular 16-year-old to a rebellious, morose troublemaker, getting drunk and crashing his car. Doug hopes that if Hen spends a few months with Shana and her fiancé (and colleague), Tim, that she'll be back to her old self in no time. But Shana is shocked at just how much Hen has changed, how sullen and manipulative she has become, and her presence creates tension between Shana and Tim.

It's not long before Shana discovers some of her possessions are missing, and Hen is sneaking out at night. And while she starts to despair if Alexandria Bay is the right place for her niece, late one night she is called to Devil's Oven, a remote island that used to be a popular hangout for area teens, as a drowning has been reported. It turns out the victim is a local teenager, and as Shana tries to make sense of what happened, she makes two disturbing discoveries—she finds two other teenagers on another part of the island who don't seem the least bit concerned about the drowning, and she also finds Hen at the scene of the crime. Apparently Hen tried to rescue the young man, to no avail.

As the investigation proceeds, and neither Hen nor her friends will share much information about what happened that night, Shana is forced to recuse herself given Hen's involvement. And when a new investigator comes to town, Shana worries that her niece may become a suspect rather than simply a witness. She is determined to uncover the truth despite the scrutiny she's under, and she discovers a web of secrets that could rock their small town, as well as just how much her family's own secrets still trail her.

I love the way Wegert writes, and I have become so enamored of this community she has created. While frustrating at times, Shana is an absolutely fascinating character, and I really enjoy Tim and the other supporting characters I feel I have come to "know" through this series. I hope we get to see more of Shana and spend more time in A-Bay!

Book Review: "Interesting Facts about Space" by Emily Austin

Quirky characters have been all the rage, particularly in the years since the release of books like Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine. Sometimes the quirkiness is understandable; sometimes I feel if authors create this type of character simply to provide a vehicle for bizarre habits or behavior.

Enid is a young woman who counts among her hobbies “listening to murder stories, having casual lesbian sex, and telling my mom interesting facts about space.” She has an inexplicable fear of bald men, she’s deaf in one ear, and she’s tentatively approaching a relationship with her two half-sisters, born after her father left her mother for another woman.

But Enid also feels like she’s losing her grip, perhaps unsurprisingly given her mother’s struggles with depression. Enid grows increasingly convinced there is someone following her and trying to break into her apartment. Clearly she has some repressed trauma in her life, because why else is she experiencing these feelings?

This is a tough book with a number of emotional triggers. But it’s also a beautifully written character study, which is at turns bleak and hopeful. Others have loved this more than I did, but I’m glad I read it.

The book will publish 1/30/2024.