What Time the Sexton's Spade Doth Rust by Alan Bradley

 

 

What Time the Sexton's Spade Doth Rust  (A Flavia de Luce novel) by Alan Bradley. Bantam Books, 2024. Adult/YA mystery.

This is number eleven in the Flavia series. I really thought as I waited TWO months and was even the first one on the library's hold list...will this be worth it? I mean, those of us who have followed the English girl sleuth through thick and thin know a lot. Her mother is dead and was acknowledged by Churchill himself. Now Father is dead. The war is over. Feely is married and away on honeymoon. Daffy has her head  in a book. And, little precocious Cousin Undine has moved in to cause trouble. Only Dogger is around for wit and conversation. What else can possibly happen?

And, then, move over Nancy Drew. Step aside, Sherlock. NOTHING is as it seems. Dear Mrs. Mullet is accused of murder! What? The very woman who makes the family's meals and runs a tight ship! Let's just say, I polished this off in a couple of days. The wait was worth it all. Dear Readers, the game is afoot! Bring on Number 12!

The Medicine Woman of Galveston by Amanda Skenandore

 

 

The Medicine Woman of Galveston by Amanda Skenandore. Kensington Books, 2024. Historical fiction.

Dr. Tucia Hatherley had a traumatic incident during an operation and has given up surgery and medicine. She scrapes by, working in a corset factory, and trying to raise her son who has special needs. When she is faced with an opportunity to travel with a rather unreliable "medicine" show, she takes a chance. Unexpected friendships develop with the other outcast show people including a female "giant" and a Native American man who both defy stereotypes. As the show moves from St. Louis and approaches a stay in Galveston, Texas, the Great Storm of 1900 also approaches. Can Tucia survive? Can she ever find love? 

Well developed characters make this novel a pleasure to read.  It is unusual for Down syndrome to pop up in a historical setting and this little boy Toby adds much to the story. Readers will find hope and much to admire in the story of a valiant mother and woman alone in the world at the turn of that century. 

What Have You Done? by Shari Lapena

 

 What Have You Done? by Shari Lapena. Pamela Dorman Books, Viking, 2024. Adult fiction. Mystery.

Set in Fairhill, Vermont, this thriller involves a small community and its school. When a teen is found dead in a field, everyone is a suspect. Students, parents, teachers, administration, neighbors, the people at the local Home Depot, and just about everyone are suspicious and suspect. Many help narrate the story, even the dead teen. 

Lapena has become a prolific author of "surburban paranoia" as Ruth Ware describes the writing style. She looks under the rocks of happy family life, picture perfect suburban neighbors, and award winning schools to find mystery and intrigue. Names of characters are right out of current baby naming books. Texts, phone calls, journal entries, and good old fashioned hearsay push the narrative. But, who is trust worthy and who is the culprit? It's hard to put down a Lapena novel as she weaves all the elements into her work and ties it up at the end. 

Murder on the Page by Daryl Wood Gerber

 

 Murder on the Page by Daryl Wood Gerber. Kensington Books, 2024. Mystery. Fiction.

In this first in the Literary Dining Mystery series, caterer Allie Catt bakes and reads and loves her cat, Darcy. Her friend's aunt who is owner of the local bookstore is found dead. Allie becomes involved in the investigation by the handsome local law enforcement. The dead woman's favorite book was Pride and Prejudice and each chapter begins with a Jane Austen quote. As Allie bakes her way through the book, the goodies sound delicious and the recipes are helpfully included at the end. The beautiful little fictional town near Asheville, North Carolina is its own character as the shops and citizens are set up amidst the plot's red herrings. Gerber paces things so that readers don't really guess the ending and will enjoy the virtual trip away from home. 

The Unwedding: A Novel by Ally Condie

 

 The Unwedding: A Novel by Ally Condie.  Grand Central (Hachette), 2024. Adult fiction.

When Ellery's twenty year marriage ends, she just doesn't want her former love and his new girlfriend to enjoy their prepaid trip to the Resort at Broken Point in Big Sur, California. So, she goes alone for some peace and solitude. But, another wedding ceremony there makes it hard to forget her broken heart. Ben and Olivia's family and friends have booked many of the cottages and rooms and among the group is a murderer. Ellery's own recent past includes a school bus accident and the sorrow triggers all her worst old memories and fears. Condie manages to weave together all of this with art, an elusive celebrity, and friendships, both new and old.

Although this is Condie's debut adult novel, she has written several children's and young adult books. Her writing builds the tensions, plots the action, and describes the characters as 

readers would expect from a seasoned writer. And, it does not come across as an Agatha Christie copycat when storms trap everyone at the resort. 

Husbands and Lovers: A Novel by Beatriz Williams

 

 Husbands and Lovers: A Novel by Beatriz Williams. Ballantine Books, 2024. Adult fiction.

Single woman Mallory's life has complications. Her young teen son needs kidney dialysis. Her old flame has become a rock star. Her mother apparently was adopted from a Catholic convent in Ireland. Williams begins all of these together in several captivating New England summers circa 2022. The chapters alternate between Mallory's story and that of her mother and grandmother in the 1950's and before. Strong women, family ties, espionage, beach love, privilege and class; all are tied up with ribbons. Just keep reading as the trip is well worth the journey!  

My one quibble in the book is that the Gardner Museum in Boston is misspelled on page 120 and FOUR times on page 204. The editors are listed by name in the author notes at the end. You know who you are!

The Cliffs: A Novel by J. Courtney Sullivan

 

 The Cliffs: A Novel by J. Courtney Sullivan. Alfred A. Knopf, 2024. Adult fiction. 

    Jane has grown up in Maine and had a turbulent childhood. Now, as an adult, she returns home. The little town is much the same, but Jane has changed. High up on a hill was a lavender house that had been abandoned and in which Jane liked to explore as a girl. Now it is the rather palatial estate of Genevieve and her family. Jane has pursued a career in which the past and relics from other times are important. 

Sullivan has done a masterful job of melding the present and the past in this novel. Jane's mother and grandmother are presented as well as their neighbors over the years. None of the women know the whole story of the house on the hill, but Sullivan puts all the clues together for us as readers to understand. If you like Maine, you will definitely want to put this novel in your stack to read this summer!