Carol's Notebook

This Story Might Save Your Life by Tiffany Crum

February 27, 2026February 27, 2026 by CarolNo Comments

This Story Might Save Your Life is part mystery, part thriller, and part romance. Best friends and podcast hosts Benny and Joy have built a career on survival stories, but now Joy has disappeared and Benny is the prime suspect. I enjoyed about the first half of the book. The story is told through Benny's point of view interspersed with bits from the podcast and from Joy's chapters of an unfinished memoir. I listened to the audio book which, with its two narrators, fit this format perfectly. They did a fabulous job with banter during the podcast clips and really brought each character's feelings and personality across. Benny and Joy are keeping secrets, form their listeners and from each other, as are the people around them. Those are slowly revealed and there are several twists. I was enjoying it, until I found myself thinking "can we just get to the end?" I wanted to know how it all played...

My Sister, the Serial Killer by Oyinkan Braithwaite

February 26, 2026February 26, 2026 by CarolNo Comments

Ayoola, our murderer in My Sister, the Serial Killer, is entirely different from the serial killer in the last book I read. She's beautiful and charming. She doesn't brag, but justifies and makes excuses. Ayoola kills men she dates and calls her older sister, Korede, to help her clean up afterward. She often tells Korede that the man attacked or threatened her, but the book opens with the third dead man Korede has helped deal with, and Ayoola never has any bruises. The sisters are opposites. Ayoola is lovely, outgoing, flirty and a talented clothing designer. Korede is quiet, self-contained, and good at her job as a nurse. But they are sisters and Korede will do what she needs to to protect Ayoola. We are told the story from Korede's point of view and given her thoughts on her life, her sister, their family, the police, She has an interesting perspective, unusual when it comes to serial killer novels....

How to Get Away with Murder by Rebecca Philipson

February 24, 2026February 24, 2026 by Carol1 Comment

It's funny how often I want to start my comments with "I don't typically read [fill-in-the blank] books." In this case, it's fictional serial killer books, but I've just read two in a row, the other being My Sister, the Serial Killer, so maybe I'm wrong. Anyway, Detective Inspector Samantha Hansen has returned from medical leave because to help investigate the murder of a teenage girl. A book, How to Get Away with Murder, has been left at the crime scene. The book is essentially a "how-to" guide for aspiring murderers written by Denver Brady, who claims to be a successful, currently active, serial killer, but it's unclear if this crime was committed by Denver or by a copycat. Chapters alternate between Sam's investigation and the handbook. The book within a book works well, especially on audio. The two narrators are fabulous. Geary brings both charm and menace to Brady's chapters, while Kennard captures Sam's intelligence, vulnerability, and determination....

Murder Will Out by Jennifer K. Breedlove

February 18, 2026February 18, 2026 by Carol4 Comments

I am not an organist at heart, but I have played the organ for churches in the past. I think Murder Will Out might be the first book I've read with a main character who is an organist, which of course grabbed my attention. Willow is a grad student/organist who comes back to Little North Island, Maine for her semi-estranged godmother, Sue's, funeral. Of course, it turns out Sue was murdered, the island and Sue's house are haunted, and no one wants Willow poking her nose into the island's secrets. Willow is not, at least at first, a great lead. She's quiet, afraid of confrontation, and easily intimidated. She does grow and become more confident both in herself and the people around her. I like her, but not as much as I wanted to. Most of the story is told from Willow's point of view, but once in a while we gets pieces from another person's outlook, which was a...

Leviathan Wakes by James S.A. Corey

February 16, 2026February 16, 2026 by CarolNo Comments

I don't typically read a lot of sci-fi - last year I think I read two books that would qualify. I enjoy science fiction, but maybe take my opinions as those of a casual reader, not someone who is immersed in the genre. And, no, I have not seen the The Expanse tv series. One of my complaints about science fiction is that sometimes it gets so caught up in the technology and concepts that I end up not really caring. Here the world and politics are definitely center stage - Earth and Luna versus Mars and its outposts, versus the Belters, who live and work in the Asteroid belt, and the issues that seem to plague any society regarding race and income and exploitation, but it's told through its characters. We learn about the world, history, and tensions from their viewpoints. Jim Holden and his crew are at the center of a lot of the action, for really no good...

The Killer Question by Janice Hallett

February 10, 2026February 10, 2026 by Carol4 Comments

The Killer Question is a clever book. The shtick is that it's all told through texts, emails, police interview transcripts, and assorted documents. The story's frame is that Dominic is trying to sell his aunt and uncle's story to a streaming service to make into a documentary. Sue and Mal operated a small pub that ran a Monday evening trivia contest. Were not surprised when a body is found in the river near the pub - after all, something made Dominic think it was a story worth pitching, but we'll have several good twists and at least one actual surprise by the end. We have a lot of characters to keep track of and we don't get to know any of them well. That's not a complaint, it's the nature of the style and important to the plot. I think this is one of those books that will either work for you or won't. I enjoyed it, but I'm not...