I can't tell you why I picked up Bat Eater and Other Names for Cora Zeng. I don't read a lot of horror, I avoid serial killers, and I haven't been reading many pandemic books. But it was fabulous, in a gory, violent, haunting way.
It's Summer, 2020 in New York City. In the opening scene, 24-year-old Cora Zeng and her sister Delilah are waiting for the subway when a man appears just as the train approaches. He calls Delilah a "bat eater" and pushes her onto the tracks. She is killed by the train and the man is never caught. resulting in her brutal death before Cora's eyes. Unfortunately, the man escapes. The second chapter picks up a few months later. Cora is now working as a crime scene cleaner, a job that fits Cora and her need for cleanliness well, but a disturbing number of the jobs have been cleaning the apartments of murdered Asian women. It's also Ghost...
I don't know how many times I've read And Then There Were None or books inspired by it. I know I've watched at least one tv adaptation. This is one of those novels that is surprising and tense the first time through. The second (and third, etc.) time, the reader knows the twist, knows who is terrorizing the characters, knows who is guilty and who isn't, but can appreciate how well Christie puts the plot together.
Ten people, strangers to each other, are invited to a remote island by someone they each think they are acquainted with. They are a mix of personalities, but according to a record played the first evening, they are all guilty of murder or causing someone's death. They are then killed, one by one, and a storm means they have no connection to the mainland. They have to trust each other if they want to survive, but know that none of them is as innocent as...
Annie Adams has been living at Gravesdown Estate for several months. She inherited the mansion and land when she solved the murder of her great aunt Frances. That mystery is covered in the first book of the series and I think you almost need to have read How to Solve Your Own Murder in order to understand the history and relationships in this one. It's a small town full of secrets and gossip, and just because you've known someone your whole life doesn't mean you can trust them.
Annie is already feeling unsettled - the house is big and cold, the townspeople are not overly friendly, when she meets Peony Lane, the fortune-teller whose prediction guided most of Frances' life. Peony has a fortune for Annie, but she won't tell it unless asked. She also gives Annie some advice about looking into a decades old accident. Not much later, Peony is found dead, murdered in Annie's solarium. Annie, of course, gets wrapped...
This collection of classic crime fiction by "forgotten" authors, from 1850-1917, highlights some of the female writers of that period who were the forerunners of the great Golden Age crime authors. Each of the featured authors is given a short biography, putting them and their work in context, which is followed by one their short stories.
Like many anthologies, this one is a mixed bag. Some I thoroughly enjoyed, some were neither her nor there, and at least one I thought was more than a little silly. Several authors are ones I've heard of/ read before, but many were new to me. I've marked a few to pick up more works by. Overall, it's a good collection of women crimes writers at the time. The writing styles are varied as are the types of cases and crimes involved.
The stories included are:
Catherine Crowe - The Advocate's Wedding DayElizabeth Cleghorn Gaskell - The Squire's StoryMary Fortune - Traces of CrimeHarriet Prescott...
The Secret Bookcase Mysteries is one of those series with an overarching plot that hasn't been resolved yet. That is both my least favorite thing about the series and why this one doesn't work well as a stand-alone. Annie's best friend, Scarlet, was killed over a decade ago, but Annie has some new information and is working on solving the cold case. I'm just not a fan of those overarching mysteries.
Annie's works full-time at a bookstore, where part of her job is coordinating events. For Valentine's Day, the store has teamed up with a matchmaker for a weekend of books and romantic events. Early the morning of the second day, a well-liked member of the community is found dead near the store. While the event continues as planned, Annie is determined to help the local detective, Dr. Caldwell, discover who the killer is.
The mystery is fine. The plot moves along well. We have three potential suspects and a few...
The Antique Hunter's Death on the Red Sea is the second in the series and it's probably better to read them in order. You'll get a better feel for the characters and why Freya ends up in her current position.
We learned in the first book that Freya and her Aunt Carole inherited Arthur Crockleford's antique shop when he was murdered. They are also trying to continue his project of hunting down stolen treasurers and making sure they're returned to their rightful owners. Freya and Carole have officially founded “The Lockwood Antique Hunter’s Agency,” and the first case that comes their way is a painting that was stolen from a small semi-local Maritime Museum was stolen. The police are concentrating on the murder that accompanied the theft and the museum volunteer is afraid the painting will be forgotten. It turns out Arthur had donated the painting to the museum, making it even more interesting to Carole and Freya. The two follow...
