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Fabulous Fiction Firsts #815, Jazz-Age Mysteries

by muffy

last_call_at_the_nightingaleLast Call at The Nightingale * *  by Katharine Schellman (also in downloadable eBook and audiobook) launches her new series (after her Lily Adler Series), set in Prohibition-era Manhattan. 

Siblings Florence and Vivian Kelly spend their days toiling as seamstresses in a dress shop run by a mean owner. While Florence is sensible and practical, preferring to spend her evenings in their squalid tenement room, Vivian escapes to The Nightingale, an underground nightclub where the jazz band plays, illegal liquor flows, and the low light and dance floor welcomes all - from Asian bartender Danny Chin, waitress and singer Bea Henry, Nightingale owner Honor "Hux" Huxley and to  uppercrust Manhattan society. 

One night, on a cigarette break, Vivian discovers a body in an alley behind the club, and she is arrested during a subsequent police raid. An unlikely bail comes with strings - she is to spy on the dead man's family and help find the killer.

“Schellman lavishes many chapters on her colorful Roaring ’20s setting before moving the murder probe to the front burner, an understandable gambit in a series kickoff. Colorful period detail, providing insights into the social and political tenor of the times, might allay the impatience of traditional whodunit fans. Once the action gets started, Vivian nails the clever killer and finds a lover and potential sleuthing sidekick. A colorful period crime yarn with a heroine worth rooting for.” (Kirkus Reviews) 

miss_aldridge_regretsMiss Aldridge RegretsLondon-based Louise Hare’s US debut, (also in eBook and downloadable audiobook) is set largely aboard the glittering RMS Queen Mary, sailing from Southampton to New York.

London, 1936. Lena Aldridge, a mixed-race girl passing for white is barely able to pay her rent singing in a sticky-floored basement club in Soho since her pianist father died a year ago. The dazzling theater career she hopes for might finally be hers when an American shows up offering a starring role on a Broadway show and a first-class ticket on the Queen Mary bound for New York. The timing is perfect considering the sleazy owner  of the club (and married to her best friend Maggie) is murdered right in front of her. 

Seated at a table in Cabin (First) Class with the wealthy and dysfunctional Abernathys, she is drawn into their bizarre family dynamics when the patriarch is murdered in a chilling familiar way. More murders follow and soon, Lena finds herself fighting for her life. 

“The novel's ambiance is spot-on; somewhat like Carola Dunn's Daisy Dalrymple set 10 years later or Marie Benedict's The Personal Librarian. As Lena narrates, switching from the present to the past, readers gain helpful glimpses of her backstory.  With vividly drawn characters, this exciting blend of murder mystery and historical romance is hard to put down once one starts reading.” (Library Journal)

For fans of Nekesa Afia’s debut Dead Dead Girls  (and its sequel Harlem Sunset) and these Jazz Age Mysteries That'll Make You Swing. 

* * = 2 starred reviews

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Fabulous Fiction Firsts #814

by muffy

alais_emmaAlias Emma * * *  (also in downloadable eBook and audiobook) by Ava Glass (the pseudonym for a best-selling novelist, the first in a planned series) is an “adrenaline-fueled tour of clandestine London.” (Library Journal) 

In the last two weeks, 4 Russian scientists defected to the UK have been assassinated, with the efficiency and audacity, hallmark of the Russian military spy agency GRU. Now, Emma Makespeace, a newly-minted MI6 secret agent, has been assigned to protect their next target - Michael Primalov, a London pediatric oncologist and son of high-valued Russian dissidents. Trying to convince Michael that his life is in danger and to accept her protection is no easy task. He is finally convinced when they are attacked on the London street. 

But something is wrong. When Emma’s request to bring MIchael in is denied and a cryptic message left by her trusted mentor instructs her to “go dark” since London's famous Ring of Steel has been hacked by the Russian government, the pair must cross the city without being seen by the hundreds of thousands of CCTV cameras. To reach safety, Emma leads Michael through alleys, sewer tunnels, and back channels that don't appear in any guide book. 

In this breakneck, race-against-the-clock thriller, readers might want to ask, at some point….Should Michael trust Emma? For nothing about Emma Makepeace is real. Not even her name.

“Intense, cinematic action propels this terrific old-fashioned thriller neatly brought up to date. Glass is off to an impressive start.” (Publishers Weekly)

According to Spyscape  "Alias Emma (2022) is already in pre-production at The Ink Factory, the London studio that produced the John le Carré series The Little Drummer Girl and The Night Manager."

* * * 3 starred reviews

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Fabulous Fiction Firsts #813 - Locked-Room Mysteries

by muffy

dath_of_the_conjurorDeath and the Conjuror: A Joseph Spector Locked-Room Mystery(also in downloadable eBook and audiobook) by Tom Mead, a series launch that features a magician-turned-sleuth in 1936 London, “a valentine to the locked-room puzzles of John Dickson Carr, to whom it is dedicated. “ (Kirkus Reviews)

Renowned psychiatrist Dr. Anselm Rees, a recent arrival from Vienna, has taken up residence at Dollis Hill. On a rainy night, after a secretive visit from a guest, he is discovered dead in his locked study. With no clues, no witnesses, and no murder weapon, George Flint, a stumped Scotland Yard detective calls on retired stage magician-turned-part-time sleuth Joseph Spector for help. 

As they interview the colorful cast of suspects among the psychiatrist's patients and household: Floyd Stenhouse, Patient A, a Philharmonic violinist tormented by dreams of snakes; Della Cookson, Patient B, a kleptomaniac actress currently starring in Miss Death, which has just opened at the Pomegranate Theatre; and Claude Weaver, Patient C, a suspense novelist subject to blackouts, they uncover no shortage of dark secrets or motives for murder.

“Mead maintains suspense throughout, creating a creepy atmosphere en route to satisfying reveals. Puzzle mystery fans will eagerly await the sequel.” (Publishers Weekly)

under_lock_and_skeleton_keyUnder Lock & Skeleton Key (also in downloadable eBook and audiobook), the first book in Gigi Pandian’s Secret Staircase mystery series, flawlessly balances magic, misdirection and murder.

26-year-old Tempest Raj, a popular Vegas magician, returns home to Hidden Creek, California, broke and disgraced after a dangerous stunt in her new show goes horribly wrong. Reluctantly, she starts working at Secret Staircase Construction, her father’s business that specializes in bringing magic to their clients homes - secret passageways, sliding bookcases, intricate locks and hidden entrances. 

On the site of their latest job, Tempest discovers a body inside a wall that's been sealed for decades - THE body of her former stage double, Cassidy Sparrow who Tempest suspects sabotaged her Vegas show. 

This "Secret Staircase" series starter is a fresh and magical locked-room mystery filled with fascinating and likable characters, incredible settings, and Tempest's grandfather's home cooked Indian meals (recipes included)...Readers will enjoy not only figuring out the mystery but also learning how the magic tricks are done.” (Library Journal)

BONUS FEATURE

christie_affairThe Christie Affair  * * * by Nina de Gramont (also in downloadable eBook and audiobook) is the “fanciful reimagining of actual events“ (Booklist) in the life of Agatha Christie on the author's mysterious, 11-day disappearance in December 1926, shortly after Christie's husband, Archie, revealed he was having an affair with Nan O'Dea, and wanted a divorce. 

Amidst the national manhunt for the celebrated author, Agatha and Nan met up at the fashionable spa town of Harrogate where a series of impossible crimes occurred. 

“The author weaves a clever, highly original, mesmerizing tale filled with strange and unexpected turns and concludes it in an unexpected but wholly satisfying manner. With its superb writing, strong characterizations, and wonderfully imaginative plot, this is a must-read for fans of romance, history, or mystery.” (Booklist)

“Devilishly clever, elegantly composed and structured—simply splendid.” (Kirkus Reviews)

woman_in_the_libraryThe Woman in the Library * * *  by Australian author Sulari Gentill (also in downloadable eBook and audiobook) opens with four strangers sharing a table at the Boston Public Library. Writer Winifred “Freddie” Kincaid, recipient of a prestigious writers’ residency fellowship, named them "Freud Girl," "Heroic Chin," and "Handsome Man" before she gets to know them as Marigold Anastas, Whit Metters and Cain McLeod when they heard a woman's terrified scream. As they wait for the all-clear from Security, a quick friendship forms. Then they read that a woman’s body had been found in the Library. The subsequent story is Freddie's account of their relationship and her growing awareness that one of them is likely the murderer. 

“But Hannah Tignone, a best-selling Australian author, is actually writing the story of Freddie and her new friends. The story within a story alternates Hannah's writing with letters written to her by a wannabe author, Leo…Freddie's account of trying to discover which of her new friends is a killer is an engrossing mystery…Ned Kelly Award winner Gentill presents a complex, riveting story within a story.” (Library Journal)

locked_room

The Locked Room: A Ruth Galloway Mysteries by Elly Griffiths (also in downloadable eBook and audiobook).

Three years after her mother's death, Ruth is finally sorting through her things when she finds a curious relic: a decades-old photograph of her own Norfolk cottage--before she lived there--with a peculiar inscription on the back. Ruth returns to the cot­tage to uncover its meaning as Norfolk's first cases of Covid-19 make headlines, leaving her and Kate to shelter in place there. They struggle to stave off isolation by clapping for frontline workers each evening and befriending a kind neighbor, Zoe, from a distance.

Meanwhile, Detective Nelson (and Kate's father) is investigating a series of deaths of women that may or may not be suicide. When he links a case to an archaeological dis­covery, he breaks curfew to visit Ruth and enlist her help. But the further Nelson investigates the deaths, the closer he gets to Ruth's isolated cot­tage--until Ruth, Zoe, and Kate all go missing, and Nelson is left scrambling to find them before it's too late.

Readers of locked-room mysteries might also what to check out CrimeReads’ The Great Locked Room Mystery: My Top 10 Impossible Crimes.

* * * = 3 starred reviews

* = Starred review

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Fabulous Fiction Firsts #812 - Debut Cozies

by muffy

marlow_murder_club

The Marlow Murder Club * * is a series launch for Robert Thorogood (also in downloadable eBook and audiobook), a screewriter/novelist, and the creator of BBC One murder mystery series Death in Paradise.

77 year-old Judith Potts, a crossword puzzle setter for The Times, lives a contented life in the village of Marlow ever since inheriting a grand mansion from her great-aunt. One evening while out skinny-dipping on the Thames, she heard a gunshot coming from her neighbor Stefan Dunwoody’s garden. When the police found Stephen’s body in the river the next day, they called it a suicide. A suspicious Judith decides to investigate.  Soon she is joined by Susie Harris, a no-nonsense dog walker, and Becks Starling, the much put-upon local vicar’s wife. Together they called themselves the Marlow Murder Club.  Then more bodies turn up, suggesting a serial killer is on the loose. 

“How these women of a certain age unite to solve the crime is as entertaining and intriguing as the fair play mystery itself. The way the characters evolve as their relationships grow sets this light mystery above the pack.” (Publishers Weekly) 

Fans of Richard Osman's The Thursday Murder Club will like the amateur sleuths introduced in this puzzle…While avid mystery readers might recognize the twist, the finale and its grand solution are worthy of Agatha Christie. (Library Journal) 

If you’ve binge-watched M. C. Beaton’s Agatha Raisin series, and BBC’s Hetty Wainthropp Investigates (based on characters from the novel by David Cook) you would find Judith Potts simply irresistible. 

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A Botanist's Guide to Parties and Poisons by Kate Khavari (also in downloadable eBook and audiobook)

London, 1923. In this debut and series launch, Saffron Everleigh, the only female research assistant at University College London, hopes to follow in her famous father’s footsteps. Estranged from her family due to her ambition and slighted by her male colleagues at every turn, she finds in Dr. Maxwell, a kind and supportive mentor. 

One evening, Saffron attends a dinner party hosted by Sir Edward Leister, the donor supporting the biology department's forthcoming Amazon expedition, when Mrs. Henry, one of the professor’s wives drops to the floor, apparently poisoned by a toxin. As evidence points to Dr. Maxwell who brought back the suspected plant from a previous expedition, Saffron realizes it's up to her to clear Dr. Maxwell's name.  Joined by fellow botanist Alexander Ashton, a battle-fatigued WWI veteran, “(t)he duo investigate rancorous academic rivalries, libidinous faculty members, and gardens and greenhouses filled with lethal plants.” (Publishers Weekly)  

“An exciting debut with a determined protagonist whose future is sure to contain romance and mystery.” (Kirkus Reviews) Perfect for fans of Deanna Raybourn and Anna Lee Huber.

* * = 2 starred reviews

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Fabulous Fiction Firsts #811 - Romance, By The Book

by muffy

roughest_draft

The Roughest Draft * *  by Emily Wibberley and Austin Siegemund-Broka (also in downloadable eBook and audiobook), is the first book for adults by married YA coauthors

As soon as Katrina Freeling and Nathan Van Huysen’s mega-bestseller romance hit the literary market three years ago, they went their separate ways. Nathan is now divorced, living in Brooklyn while Katrina, engaged to their agent Chris, calls L.A. home and has given up writing all together. Now personal and professional circumstances force them to return to the Key West beach house, to work on one final book due on contract. “They hole up in Florida and insult each other through drafting their new manuscript--until their true feelings reveal themselves on the page.” (Publishers Weekly) 

 “In intricate layers, Wibberley and Siegemund-Broka unfurl what went wrong between Katrina and Nathan and how their past anger transmutes into desire and soul-binding love, making for a deeply emotional meditation on the psychological perils of success within a passionate romance.” (Booklist)

“This will-they-or-won’t-they romance is perfect for readers who enjoy friends-to-lovers, or anyone pursuing a passion project professionally. For fans of Emily Henry’s Beach Read, Minnie Darke’s Star-Crossed, and Christina Lauren’s Twice in a Blue Moon.” (Library Journal)

dead_romantics

The Dead Romantics,* Ashley Poston’s adult fiction debut (also in downloadable eBook and audiobook) is “a refreshing rom-com about love, loss, and hope.” (Publishers Weekly) 

Florence Day, ghostwriter for one of the most prolific romance authors in the industry, is struggling to finish the 4th book in her contract, ever since a bitter betrayal broke her heart, and she no longer believes in love. A plea for an extension from her new editor, Benji Andor is denied, and just then, her mother calls to tell her her beloved father had died unexpectedly.  So Florence heads home after an absence of 10 years, to help bury her father. 

At the Day’s Funeral Parlor where, for generations, the family has tended to the town’s dearly departed, Florence hopes her father’s ghost would appear to say goodbye.  Instead, she finds the ghost of the broad and infuriatingly handsome Benji Andor at the front door. Now, Florence must contend with Ben’s confused ghost following her around town, and their unfinished business will have her second-guessing everything she’s ever known about love stories.

“The zippy banter between Florence and nearly everyone she meets keeps things moving at a sprightly clip. Every interaction is a delight, and getting to know the cast of characters in Florence’s orbit adds excitement to the book. The romance takes a bit longer to build, though, and flits in and out of focus. Florence and Ben share such chemistry that it’s a shame readers are often left waiting for them to interact. The ghostly element is fun and fresh, adding slightly higher stakes to Florence and Ben's happily-ever-after. A sweet and sparkling adult debut.” (Kirkus Reviews)

AUDIO PICKS

meet_me_in_the_marginsIn Meet Me in the Margins (audiobook, also available in downloadable eBook) by Melissa Ferguson, when the editor-in-chief of the most successful romance imprint requests to see Savannah Cade’s manuscript that she has been working on in secret, she is thrilled, but as an editor in a highbrow publisher of literary fiction, it would have to remain her secret…. until she drops her manuscript during a staff meeting to introduce William Pennington, the new publisher. In a panic, she hides it in the secret turret room of the old Victoria office. 

When she has the chance to retrieve it, she’s dismayed to discover that someone has written notes in the margins, and quite critical too.  As the deadline for submission draws near, Savannah is forced to seek the help of her secret “editor”, and to be honest, Savannah realizes she is actually falling for him, whoever he is. 

 

by_any_other_nameLauren Kate’s first adult Rom-Com By Any Other Name * (audiobook, also available in downloadable eBook) is an enemies-to-lovers romance about an editor, her bestselling author, and one life-changing secret. 

Elaine “Lanie” Bloom, romance editor at Peony Press is given the opportunity of a lifetime - to work with renowned but elusive Noa Callaway, who is suffering an impossible writer’s block. Lanie soon discovers that her favorite author with whom she had worked for years via email is in fact, Noah Ross, the attractive mystery man she recently met at a book launch.  In the meantime, Lanie is having second thoughts about her fiance, Ryan, a handsome political hopeful with presidential aspirations, who would like nothing more than for her to quit her job to become the next FLOTUS (First Ladies of the United States)-in-training. Suddenly, everything she thought she knew about love, her relationship, and Noah’s novels comes crashing down

“Most readers won’t be surprised to discover the reason Noa is so reclusive, but this doesn’t take away from enjoying the slow burning central relationship. Kate surrounds both Noa and Lanie with well-drawn friends and family who add welcome backstory and create a sense that these are two people with full lives outside of each other meeting in the middle. The result is both smart and adorable.“ (Publishers Weekly)

* * = 2 starred reviews

* = Starred review

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Fabulous Fiction Firsts #810 - Her Father's Secrets

by muffy

the_catchThe Catch by Alison Fairbrother (also in downloadable eBook and audiobook).

24 year-old Ellie Adler, a reporter at a D. C. news website, is devastated by her father’s sudden death at 52.  A minor poet, James Adler was charismatic and beguiling, father of 4 from three different marriages, he “celebrated holidays out of season” during summer custody.  Being the eldest and shares his writerly interest, Ellie always believes her to be his favorite, until at the reading of the will. Ellie learns that instead of leaving her his prized possession - a baseball that holds emotional resonance for them both, he has left it to a total stranger. Angry and hurt, Ellie sets out to track down this L. M. Taylor. It turned out not to be the mysterious woman lurking at the funeral.  

“Meanwhile, Ellie begins questioning her relationship with her boyfriend, an older, married man… She also parlays a work assignment into an investigation of (L. M.) Taylor's osprey conservation on the Chesapeake Bay to learn more about him,” (Publishers Weekly) and his relationship to her father. 

“The importance of the baseball is linked to James’s most famous poem, “The Catch.” And in both the poem and the novel, the title’s meaning mutates as the truth about the baseball, and therefore her father, continues to unfold. “ (The New York Times)

BONUS FEATURE

cartographersThe Cartographers * *  by Peng Shepherd (also in downloadable eBook and audiobook) is “wildly imaginative and totally mind-bending in the best possible way.” (BookPage)

It has been seven years since cartographer Nell Young spoke to her father Dr. Daniel Young after he fired her from The Map Collections at the New York Public Library where he was director, inexplacably over a cheap gas station highway map. Her reputation tarnished, Nell spends her days reproducing historical maps for collectors. But when Daniel is found dead in his office after hours, Nell discovers the same “junk” map hidden in a secret compartment, meant for her to find.  Online searches reveal that this particular map of an area in Upstate New York is not only rare (numerous copies lost & destroyed under mysterious circumstances) but is also extremely valuable and sought-after. She suspects the map is somehow related to her father’s death. For help, Nell turns to her ex, a fellow cartographer who now works for a tech giant. Over time, Nell also connects with the talented group of cartographers who were friends of her father and long-dead mother. 

"Cleverly imagined.... With an elaborately realized plot, fanatic cartographers, maps with surreal powers generated by phantom settlements (intentional errors), and many-faceted suspense, Shepherd contrasts science and art, obsession and love in a bedazzling metaphysical tale of lost and found." (Booklist)

 “Readers will be hooked and find their imaginations sparking as they turn the pages…A shimmering delight, full of wonder, danger, and marvel. Suggest to readers of Erin Morgenstern, who has a similar ethos, and Natasha Pulley, who, like Shepherd, well knows how to end a story.” (Library Journal)

 * *  = 2 starred reviews

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Fabulous Fiction Firsts #809 - The Caper Novel

by muffy

portrait_of_a_thief

Soon to be a Netflix series, Portrait of a Thief by Grace D. Li  (also in downloadable eBook and audiobook), a cinematic Ocean’s Eleven meets The Farewell , is inspired by the true instances of Chinese antiquities vanishing from Western museums and collections, originally pilfered from China by British and French forces during the Second Opium War.

Art History senior Will Chen witnesses a brazen smash-and-grab at Harvard’s Art Museum. In the chaos, Will pockets a jade figurine, a slight-of-hand noticed by one of the thieves who leaves behind a business card. On offer: Wang Yuling, China's youngest billionaire will pay $50 million if Will would “recover” five Chinese zodiac fountainheads, looted from Beijing’s Old Summer Place from museums across the world. 

On his team: A con artist (and Will’s younger sister): Irene Chen, a public policy major at Duke who can talk her way out of anything. A thief: Daniel Liang,a premed student with steady hands (whose father is an FBI agent specializes in art crime) just as capable of lockpicking as suturing. A getaway driver: Lily Wu, an engineering major who races cars in her free time. A hacker: Alex Huang, an MIT dropout turned Silicon Valley software engineer. Their meticulous planning pays off - their first heist, in Sweden, is a success but could they continue to count on their luck? 

"The thefts are engaging and surprising, and the narrative brims with international intrigue. Li, however, has delivered more than a straight thriller here, especially in the parts that depict the despair Will and his pals feel at being displaced, overlooked, underestimated and discriminated against. This is as much a novel as a reckoning."  (New York Times Book Review)

BONUS FEATURE

coounterfeit

Counterfeit : A Novel by Kirstin Chen (also in downloadable eBook and audiobook). For fans of Hustlers and How to Get Filthy Rich in Rising Asia, it’s an addictive tale about the high/low world of counterfeit luxury handbag.

Ava Wong, the quintessential model minority on the surface, is falling apart.  A Stanford grad, corporate attorney, married to a Harvard-trained surgeon and mother of a toddler, actually hates practicing law. Her husband Oliver is overworked and often absent while her son Henry’s tantrums push her to the breaking point. Enter Winnie Fang, Ave’s Stanford roommate who turns up unexpectedly after 20 years. The shy, awkward girl Ava once knew has been replaced with a confident woman of the world, dripping in luxury goods, and proposes an ingenious counterfeit scheme that involves importing near-exact replicas of luxury handbags, All she needs is a US citizen above suspicion, like Ave, to manage the business.  But when their spectacular success is threatened and Winnie vanishes, Ava is left to face the consequences. 

“Ava tells this story to a detective through her first-person perspective, explaining the whirlwind of events that led her into the mess. Chen's third novel is sly and subversive, an examination of motherhood and an incisive look at culture and class... A read-alike for Amelia Morris' Wildcat (2022), with a touch of crime.” (Booklist) 

 “A delightfully different caper novel with a Gone Girl–style plot twist.” (Kirkus Reviews)

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Fabulous Fiction Firsts #808

by muffy

remarkably_bring_creatures

Remarkably Bright Creatures * * * by poet and short-story writer Shelby Van Pelt (also in downloadable eBook and audiobook) is “an irresistibly wonderful, warm, funny, heartbreaking first novel…” (Library Journal)

70 year-old Tova Sullivan works the night shift at Puget Sound's Sowell Bay Aquarium cleaning. Recently widowed and still grieving the disappearance of her son Erik 30 years ago, the quiet, solitary work suits her. Then she crosses path (literally) and saves Marcellus, the aged giant Pacific octopus: a 60 lbs, three-hearts, nine-brains escape artist, hopelessly tangled up during one of his midnight snack runs, and so begins an unlikely friendship.

Meanwhile in Modesto, CA, de-banded rock musician and unemployed handyman Cam(eron) Cassmore finds a Sowell High school class ring and a photograph among his mother’s possessions, and heads to Sowell to confront the father he never knew. Broke and homeless, Cam talks his way into being Tova’s temporary replacement while she is sidelined by a work related injury. As Tova takes Cam under her wings over the cleaning routine, it is the ever observant Marcellus who sees the obvious, and it will take every trick up his eight-tentacled sleeves to unearth the truth for Tova and Cam before time runs out. 

“As Van Pelt’s zippy, fun-to-follow prose engages at every turn, readers will find themselves rooting for the many characters, hoping that they’ll find whatever it is they seek. Each character is profoundly human, with flaws and eccentricities crafted with care. But what makes Van Pelt’s novel most charming and joyful is the tender friendship between species, and the ways Tova and Marcellus make each other ever more remarkable and bright.” (BookPage)

For fans of My Octopus Teacher. winner of the 93rd Academy Awards for Best Documentary Feature.  Watch a trailer.

 * * * = 3 starred reviews

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Fabulous Fiction Firsts #807

by muffy

murder_of_mr_wickhamThe Murder of Mr. Wickham by Claudia Gray (pen name of YA author Amy Vincent) (also in downloadable eBook and audiobook) will delight Agatha Christie-style country house mystery fans as well as Jane Austen devotees. 

The novel opens with a house party, thrown by Emma and Mr. Knightley (Emma) of Donwell Abbey. Among the guests are distant relatives and new acquaintances - Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy (Pride and Prejudice), newly-wed Marianne and Colonel Brandon (Sense and Sensibility), Anne and Captain Wentworth (Persuasion), and Fanny and Edmund Bertram (Mansfield Park). 

Very much not invited is Mr. Wickham, arriving at dinner along with a raging thunderstorm that good manners prevent the Knightleys from turning him out into the elements. This proves to be a great misfortune for Mr. Wickham who is soon found bludgeoned to death in Donwell Abbey’s gallery. Of course his sordid history with members of the house party makes for no end of suspects, and it falls to the two youngest guests to solve the mystery - young Juliet Tilney, the clever and resourceful daughter of Catherine and Henry Tilney (Northanger Abbey), and the Darcys’ eldest son Jonathan, as they investigate covertly alongside the amiable but rather unimaginative magistrate, Frank Churchill (Emma) who is convinced that the murder must have been committed by a vagrant or a servant.

“One of the book's surprising elements is Gray's decision to focus on Jonathan Darcy's personal habits, which today would put the young man on the autism spectrum. It's Jonathan's ability to see things differently that allows him and Juliet to take the lead as the tale's sleuths.” (Booklist) 

“Ms. Gray’s ability to extrapolate not only the relationships of these storied couples and their offspring makes for an astonishingly convincing and tremendously entertaining pastiche. Most importantly, all her conclusions make sense given what we already know of the characters. Written elegantly, with a keen eye for Regency detail as well as a deep knowledge and affection for Ms. Austen’s oeuvre, this is an entirely plausible continuation of the Austen canon that stands as a worthwhile read in its own right.” (Criminal Element) 

Readers might want to compare and contrast this novel with Death Comes to Pemberley (2011) by P.D. James, where Mr. Wickham gets his comeuppance under very different circumstances.

For further reading, do check out the Jane Austen Murder Mysteries, a series by YA author Tirzah Price

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Fabulous Fiction Firsts #806

by muffy

sorrow_and_blissThe winner of the 2022 Women’s Prize in Fiction AND The British Book Awards’ Book of the Year in Fiction, Sorrow and Bliss, * *  Meg Mason’s  U.S. debut, (also in downloadable eBook and audiobook), is at once “spiky, sharp, intriguingly dark, and tender.”

40-year-old Martha Friel, clever and beautiful, and once a brilliant writer, is now semi-employed, creating internet content. Once she lived in Paris but is now ensconced in an “executive estate”, a gated community in Oxford, where as far as she knows, she might be the only person without a PhD, a baby or both. And now that her husband Patrick decides to leave her, Martha is forced to return to her childhood home with her self-involved bohemian/artists parents where at 17, “a little bomb went off in her brain”, leaving her subject to rage, depression, suicidal impulses, and decades of what she sees as one useless medication after another. 

“Exploring the multifaceted hardships of mental illness and the frustrating inaccuracy of diagnoses, medications, and treatments, Sorrow and Bliss is darkly comic and deeply heartfelt. Much like the narrator of Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine, Martha's voice is acerbic, witty, and raw…. Mason plots Martha's story in a nonlinear fashion, largely working backwards to highlight the highest and lowest points of her life.” (Booklist) 

“An incredibly funny and devastating debut. . . . enlivened, often, by a madcap energy. Yet it still manages to be sensitive and heartfelt, and to offer a nuanced portrayal of what it means to try to make amends and change, even when that involves 'start[ing] again from nothing.'” (The Guardian)

Will appeal to fans of Sally Rooney, Maria Semple, Lily King, and Ruth Hogan. Readers might also want to check out 10 Books To Read for Mental Health Awareness Month.

 * *  = 2 starred reviews