🌟🌟🌟🌟 What makes a ‘good’ day for a dysfunctional family? A family made so, in large part, due to unresolved trauma, seeping over time into life-altering mental illness. Betty and Greg Laramie made absolutely terrible parents, eventually forcing them to give up their daughter, Charlie, to foster care. With Betty…
Elsie Mabel Fitzpatrick — aka “Mad Mabel” — is eighty-one years old. A tough-talking (tender-hearted?) and deeply humorous octogenarian, six-feet tall with broad shoulders, Mabel puts up with nothing from any-one, least of all the mousy neighborhood child Persephone, or her much-lamented nemesis, the ninety-three year old Ishaan and his…
🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 As sumptuous as the softest duvet, this is a novel to sink into, slowly, letting the six or so POV narrators take you on a journey — a winding journey, each of which will lead to something, — be it an interesting character interlude, or a major development to…
🌟🌟🌟🌟💫 Absorbing and masterful psychological suspense, this top-notch thriller is intermingled with thoughtful social commentary on aging, grief, loneliness, and mental clarity — and how hard it is really separate those concepts. Linda Davidson, our first person POV narrator, is seventy-six years old, recently widowed, and living in the retirement…
🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 Cleverly plotted, this fun (and often funny) detective story has an intriguing twist — the story focuses mostly on our trio of detectives themselves, and their backstories, with the crimes they are to solve an added “bonus” mystery for the reader. Based in Edgar Mills (fictional small-town Massachusetts), in…
🌟🌟🌟🌟 A heart-pounding thriller, based on the stories of three women, each of which will connect to the other in ways the reader will absolutely not predict. Told in three alternating points-of-view, between these pages we will visit an affluent New England town, the fictional Cloverhill Lakes, and the entitled,…
🌟🌟🌟🌟 Gordon Slee is a bit of a loser. Or, at least, he thinks he is. Bullied and taken advantage of by his cretin of a boss, Edward Creaton, and terminally disappointing to his awful parents, Gordon is forty-two years old and has never managed to live up to his…
🌟🌟🌟🌟💫 What a treat! A twisted tale like no other this reader has encountered, so compulsively readable you will struggle to put it down. As the title implies, this book features a diabolical author who somewhat cheekily (and exceedingly disturbingly) runs through a list of tips and techniques to show…
🌟🌟🌟🌟💫 An expertly paced psychological thriller, this book builds to a nail-biter of an ending that absolutely does not disappoint. A compelling read, with a bevy of interesting characters, the story enters on an only-gradually illuminating plot that will keep you guessing, from start to finish. Told in alternating timelines,…
🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟➕ A cornucopia of all things Dog, I read this gem with a warm doggie on my lap, straight through on a rainy afternoon. And what a delight that was! Crisscrossing time (past and future), and covering myths, historical happenings, re-interpreted poetry, philosophy, Buddhism, science fiction — and all of…