Fatal First Edition Book Review

 

Fatal First Edition

By: Jenn McKinlay

Publish Date: February 13, 2024

Publisher: Berkley Publishing Group/Berkley

Mystery and Thrillers

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I would like to thank both Berkley Publishing Group and NetGalley for allowing me to read and review this book. Sorry it took me so long. All opinions are my own.

Book Review:

This is the fourteenth book in the series called A Library Lover's Mystery. I have read the first book where the characters are introduced but haven't continued with the series. I want to and this book has gotten me interested again.

In this book Lindsey and her husband Sully go to a library conference in New York. While there Lindsey finds a first edition signed book under her chair. She turns it into the conference director not wanting to cause any issues with the rest of the conference.

Hours later on the train home they meet up with several people who were at the conference including the director and his assistant. The director isn't a likable person and seems to be causing some problems with a couple of other passengers who were also at the conference. He decides to go back to his private compartment. During the night Lindsey hears some thumping noises coming from the compartment next door and decides to go check it out. She isn't able to see anything but just a person in a dark coat outside in the hall.

The next morning everyone is in the dining compartment except the director, and they are a little worried that he hasn't shown up because this is the perfect time for him to show himself. Lindsey decides to ask the compartment steward to check on him and what he finds isn't good. The director is dead and to make things worse the weather has turned into snow. The steward reports to the conductor, and they inform the police and they are told to pull into the next station so an investigation can be done.

The next station happens to be Lindsey's town so after the initial interview she and Sully are allowed to go home but the rest of the passengers are sent to the inn. Only the passengers that were at the conference are sent to the inn all the other passengers are able to continue on their journey. 

Several things happen. One the weather has now turned into a blizzard and Sully is going to the islands to drop off supplies for the islanders since they won't be able to get the main shore during the storm. While Sully is doing this, he gets kidnapped. Now the police not only have to find out what happened to the director they now have to search for Sully. Why was Sully kidnapped and what happened to the director? Are they related? Was the director killed or did he just fall off the narrow bed in the train compartment? You will have to read the book to find out.

This is what I liked about the book. The relationship between Sully and Lindsey. The friendship in their hometown. I like how everyone in the town supports the leaders and the people who live in the town.

Even though I thought this book was a little close to the theme of the Murder on the Orient Express it was still good and recommend that you read it. I would suggest that you read this series in order so that you can get to know the characters better.

The Getaway List Book Review

 

The Getaway List

A Novel 

By: Emma Lord

Publish Date: January 23,2024

Publisher: St. Martin's Press/Wednesday Books

Teens and YA

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I would like to thank both NetGalley and St. Martin's Press/Wednesday Books for allowing me to read and review this book. Sorry it took me so long to do so. All opinions are my own.

Book Review:

I enjoyed this book and gave it 4 stars. I do realize that young adults are starting to become a thing of the past for me. I am not of the age for these books, and they feel young for me. This book was that way for me, so I had to put myself into in a teenage state of mind for an honest review. 

Riley has just graduated from high school and isn't sure what she really wants to do. Her mom has packed her days with activities and clubs where Riley couldn't get into trouble. Now that Riley is an Adult she wants some freedom. Her best friend Tom moved away several years ago and they have kept in touch, and she decides to visit him in New York. Riley's mom doesn't want her to go but Riley goes anyway.

Before Tom moved away, they made a list and have decided to do everything they can on the list before Riley returns home. Along the way they meet new people and make friends who help with the list. They have fun and learn things about themselves and how to get along in a big city.

Through Gates of Garnet and Gold Book Review

 

Through Gates of Garnet and Gold

By: Seanan McGuire

Publish Date: January 6, 2026

Publisher: Tor Publishing Group/ Tordotcom

General Fiction (Adult)/ sci fi and fantasy

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I would like to thank both NetGalley and Tor Publishing for allowing me to read and review this book. All opinions are my own.

Book Review:

This is the eleventh book in the Wayward Children Series so will be a little hard to review. This book is about Nancy and her world. Something is going wrong and she is able to escape to get help. She goes back to the school where her friends are and there are children like her. Her friends go on to help her and of course they have issues of their own that my must figure out to help Nancy. They encounter another child from the school that they didn't expect to see. Can the friends help Nancy and her odd world or will they fail?

I have to admit the book started out slow, but it did pick up as I continued to read. I just love these stories and have a good time.

Hard Dough Homicide Book Review

 

Hard Dough Homicide

A Spice Isle Bakery Mystery

By: Olivia Matthews

Publish Date: May 23, 2023

Publisher: St. Martin's Press/St. Martin's Paperbacks

Mystery and Thrillers

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I would like to thank both NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for allowing me to read and review this book. Sorry it took me so long. All opinions are my own.

Book Review:

This is the second book in a three-book series. I really enjoyed this book and gave it 4 stars. I would suggest that you read the first book before you read this book because there is a lot of reference's that you will need to know before.

In this book Lyndsay has reopened her bakery, and the customers are coming in which is good news since the closing of the bakery a few months earlier. They are looking into starting a catering business. For her first client she has agreed to host a retirement party for the principal of her mom's old school that she use to work at. The principal is a tyrant, and no one is able to get along with even Lyndsy's mom. 

The night of the retirement just before everyone is able to take a bite from the main course the principal starts to convulse and soon dies at the hospital. this is not good news for the bakery and Lyndsay's mom because the police of course get involved. Also, the newspaper doesn't help because it lists the bakery as the place of death even the principal didn't die there.

Come to find out the death wasn't caused by the bakery and they are not at fault, but the police are still looking into Lyndsay's as a suspect because of their history. This leads Lyndsay to investigate on her own to find the killer.

Also in the book is the fact that one of the officers is really into Lyndsay and wants to date her but she refuses until they release her mom as a suspect. This makes some interesting reading when you read the banter between the two.

Does Lyndsay find the killer? Will the police officer and Lyndsay get together? You will have to read the book to find out. 

The Cold Case and the Corpse Book Review

 

The Cold Case and the Corpse

By: Debra Sennefelder

Publish Date: December 9, 2025

Publisher: Beyond the Page

Cooking, Food and wine/mystery and thriller

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I would like to thank both NetGalley and Beyond the Page Publishing for allowing me to read and review this book. All opinions are my own.

Book Review:

I gave this book 4 stars. If you like food and mystery this is the book for you. You get both for the price of one. In this book Hope is a food blogger and is just about to publish her first cookbook. To help her to get everything done she has subscribed to a life coach, and she is going to a retreat for the weekend for a life changing event. She has recruited a few friends to go with her. The day of the event the weather is horrible and not getting better as the day goes on. Hope is able to make it to the lodge before the weather gets any worse. The retreat is supposed to start around 6 pm. Unfortunately, Hope isn't too impressed with the coach and some of the other people are acting funny like they know who the coach is before they even met. As the event continues on the weather has turned into a blizzard and they have lost power, and a power line has been knocked down blocking the entrance to the lodge so even emergency crews will have a hard time. One of the guests has brought up a discovery about the coach and all hell breaks loose. Everyone wants to go home but aren't able because of the weather. They are hoping for a better day tomorrow, so decide to go to the library and relax. The problem is they can't find several members of the group, so they go searching. Hope ends up in the basement to check things out and she discovers the coach in the sauna which has been blocked by a beach. The coach is no longer alive of course. She has to tell everyone, so she goes back to the library to let people know. During this time Hope's fiancé is on the way and he has brought a police officer to clear the roads. It's a good thing because now they don't have to wait until morning to report the murder. As normal the main character is an amateur sleuth and gets her nose into things that shouldn't be. Does she figure out who killed the coach and why? Well, you have to read the book to find out.

True Crime Story Book Review

 

True Crime Story

A Novel

By: Joseph Knox

Publish Date: December 7, 2021

Publisher: Sourcebooks Landmark/Sourcebooks Landmark

Mysteries and Thrillers

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I would like to thank both NetGalley and Sourcebooks for allowing me to read and review this book. Sorry it has taken me so long to do so. All opinions are my own.

Book Review:

This book is a true crime story that has taken place in England in 2011. I gave this book 4 stars.

The book is written in interview style and emails. I like how the author has who is talking at the moment and the emails between himself and the original person who started the idea of the book. There are photos and news article as well. The author gives credit to the person who started this book project.

In this book the author takes through the before during and after the disappearance of Zoe Nolan. He also goes through how he really wasn't interested in the doing the story until his friend started sending him emails for him to read and give his opinion. As he got invested, he gave ideas and possible areas to look into. 

The book goes into details about Zoe's life, and you feel for her and can see what she was thinking and feeling at the time. You are invested, in her life and want to find out what happened to her. 

I won't tell you if they out what happened to her or not because that would be a spoiler and you should read the book.

Side notes if you listen to the audio, they don't give the name of who is talking so I recommend that you read along with the book.

Watch Us Fall Book Review

 

Watch Us Fall

By: Christina Kovac

Publish Date: December 2, 2025

Publisher: Simon and Schuster

Mystery and Thrillers/Women's Fiction

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I would like to thank both NetGalley and Simon and Schuster for allowing me to read and review this book. All opinions are my own.

Book Review:

I really enjoyed this book and gave it 4 stars. To be honest I thought this book would be a cozy mystery boy was I wrong. This book is set in Washington DC during winter.

In this book you have four college friends who have been out of school for a little over a year. They all have jobs but only one has her dream job. Addie has her dream job of working at the American History Museum. Lucy is the narrator of the story. Pen is working at a clinic trying to get into med school. Eli is jumping from job to job. Addie has discovered that her ex-boyfriend, Josh has gone missing and she is worried, but this isn't normal for him. He has a high-profile job, and he is known for being on time. What could have happened to him. 

Josh discovers that Lucy isn't telling the truth about herself as he was trying to surprise Addie with a special gift. He confronts her but she doesn't reveal the full truth to him. He then tells Addie, and she doesn't believe him. This causes the break-up because he gets a little violent which scares her.

Addie is attacked during one of her runs and Lucy helps her get herself back together. The police show up at this time to ask about Josh and where he is. They are just looking for him know he hasn't been reported as missing yet but it will be soon.

Lucy helps by looking into the internet through her job because she knows Addie is worried and still has feelings for him. It hasn't been that long ago that they broke up. things are not what they seem to be because things are discovered that have been hidden.

Will Josh be found or is he gone forever and never to be found. You will have to read the book to find out.

I like how the chapters are laid out for the reader to follow.