Librarian, widower, and proud cat owner Charlie Harris has a
week off work, but between his son’s sudden arrival and a request from one of
the library patrons to assist with a private collection project, his time is
quicky filling up. Wealthy rare book collector James Delacorte thinks someone
in his household might be stealing from him so he enlists Charlie’s help to
inventory his rare collection. But when James is found dead, Charlie has both a
book and a killer to find.
Though #2 in the series, this is my first Cat in the Stacks
mystery. I didn’t have any trouble following though so it can be read as a
standalone. The amateur detective protagonist was likeable as were the
supporting characters and the pets. The cast of suspects were eclectic and
entertaining, adding a touch of humor to the story. It’s a cozy mystery so it’s light-hearted.
I enjoyed the story. It kept me engaged even if there weren’t
any real twists. I did feel like the resolution was abrupt, and there were some
plot points that I would have like to have seen materialize better. I assume
they continue in future books, but still felt there should have been more
closure since they were introduced in this one.
With 17 books in the series to date, I’ll probably check
another one out, even if it’s not a must-read series for me.
If you’ve watched Netflix’s Files of the Unexplained
episode on the Myrtles Planation then you’ve come across author Karen Stollznow,
and that’s how I came upon this book. I liked the way she infused historical
accuracy into the haunted tales. While I can certainly appreciate a good ghost
story as well as a place that emits an eerily haunting aura (Halloween is one of my favorite holidays), I’m also in the skeptic
category and have limited patience for cheap gimmicks or misleading and manipulated narratives
with an agenda, which some of these locales perpetuate.
This book explores 8 supposedly haunted sites, many of which claim
they are the “most haunted.”🙄 While some of the ghost stories and folklore may
have come about more organically, others are clearly purposeful propaganda,
part of a business plan to make money rather than understand the past and the people
associated with it. Each chapter relates the circulated myths, folklore, urban legends, and ghost stories about the locations and then details what historical records actually
reveal. It's a bit of compare and contrast, and often there’s a big discrepancy. Personally, I found the realities more
interesting and certainly more informative than the myths or, in some cases, tired old haunted theatrics, distorted facts, and the power of suggestion. Truth is, as Twain once asserted, stranger than fiction.
This title is a needed addition—call it a voice of reason—in
a world where misinformation and "fake news" runs rampant. History can be lost or distorted. And some
of these places certainly have their sights set on rewriting it, if they haven’t
already.
The title’s intent is a solid five stars; the execution a
three. The book could certainly benefit from an editor and professional formatter.
The infamous Alcatraz escape is incorrectly listed as July instead of June.
There are distracting punctuation and quotation mark errors throughout. Pagination
doesn’t align with typical publishing standards. Photo captions are sometimes
disconnected from the photo. For the price and given this is its second
printing/edition, I’d expect better quality.
In addition, the narrative could be clearer in places. For
instance, each chapter begins with the reported story and then leads into the
more verifiable information and historical accuracy. Basically, Stollznow
repeats the myth and then debunks it. However, it would be beneficial to more
clearly designate the claims with “according to legend…” or “the ghost stories
told say…” to better differentiate what the general public and tourists have been told to
believe from what historical records and science indicate really happened.
Locations discussed include Alcatraz, Coral Castle, The Lemp
Mansion, The Myrtles Plantation, The San Antonio Railroad Tracks, Silver Cliff
Cemetery, Wavery Hills Sanatorium, and the Winchester Mystery House. Before
visiting any of them and hearing their supernatural tales, this would be a
handy guide to read first. If nothing else, it's a reminder to always look deeper, research, and think critically about your surroundings.
To date, this is really the only reliable book on the Idaho Murders.
Based on unredacted law enforcement reports, court files, (particularly the prosecution’s discovery which was turned over at plea), and unredacted crime scene photos along with interviews of sources named (defense forensic expert Dr. Brett Turvey is interviewed) and anonymous, retired FBI agent Christopher Whitcomb walks readers through the case, the players, the evidence, or lack thereof, with the benefit of his years of law enforcement expertise, explaining investigative concepts and theories along the way. The tone of the book never feels sensational nor does the author approach the subject matter for shock value. That’s not to say there isn’t shocking details to be explored.
-Posed bodies with post-mortem abuse;
-Hair not matching the accused in victims' hands and beds;
-Bloody crime scenes absent of a blood trail;
-A knife sheath with serious chain of custody issues that may or may not belong to the never located murder weapon but changes positions nonetheless;
-A lab that delivered not the accused name after DNA analysis, but the (undisclosed) name of four brothers unrelated to the accused;
-A prosecution expert who believed the accused streaked through the multi-floor college residence, dodging a beer pong table in the nude waving a knife… or two?
-A police force who took speed reenacting to a new level, madly dashing through the now conveniently torn down house to try to prove a quadruple homicide could be completed in their tight timeline. (Spoiler alert: It can’t be duplicated.)
“It did not happen in four minutes. The prosecution’s narrative makes no sense whatsoever….” (199). -Dr. Brett Turvey
-Two in-the-house-at-the-time-of-the-murders roommates who heard nothing and everything but saw their unconscious roommate on the floor in her underwear and yet waited 8 hours to call for help while they scrolled social media and played with photos and videos.
This is a must read for not just true crime followers, but anyone who ever caught a snippet of this case on the news. Because what’s largely been reported in the mainstream media has been more fantasy than fact and more biased than accurate.
Thankfully this book doesn't emit any grifter vibes. Instead, it feels more whistleblower, bringing to light things that have been largely buried and ignored that shouldn't have been because they were critical to the integrity of the case.
“In this era of crowd-sourced inquiry, is it not our obligation to point out gaping holes in the prosecution’s narrative, and in lieu of a trial, look deeper?” (418). -Christopher Whitcomb
Did one stranger who seemingly never knew the King Road residents existed brutally attack, stab, beat, and strangle four victims in a multi-story unconventional layout party house on Homecoming night in less than ten minutes or was this the work of multiple perpetrators with multiple weapons and a grudge, grievance, and plan to muddy the crime scene and confuse the investigators?
Those seeking the truth can only hope that someone finally digs deep enough to unearth what really happened November 13, 2022, that a day will come when there’s more answers than questions, when integrity and justice matter more than a university’s reputation. Until that time, this book is the first to help set the story straight, or at least as untangled as any case can be when witnesses with inconsistent and contradictory narratives were never interrogated, where law enforcement made obvious and blatant mistakes, and when reasonable doubt continues to mount.
"In this case, there was no Johnnie Cochran" (423). -Christopher Whitcomb
Taking care of the town’s very own Lizzie Bordan is the last
job Kit McDeere wants, but since her last home care giver position ended in her
being the accused, she doesn’t have a whole lot of job prospects. So to the site
of a triple murder she reluctantly goes to fill the shoes of the previous caregiver
who disappeared into the night. Kit can certainly understand why her
predecessor might have abandoned her post in a house where fifty-four-year-old
blood stains still reside on the carpet. But the personal belongings that still
occupy her room is puzzling and a bit unsettling, though not nearly as much as
the strange noises and unexplained motion coming from a mute invalid’s room in
the middle of the night.
Hand taps and a typewriter are Kit and Miss Hope’s only
means of communication so when the elderly and disabled ostracized socialite offers
to confide in Kit the decades old mystery that still haunts her and the town, Kit
quickly gets drawn in and so did I.
To me, this is one of those mystery gems. It captures the elements
of gothic and offers an intriguing collection of curious characters who might
also be suspects in the creepy going-ons at Hope’s End in an engaging suspense
story that’s well paced with many twists and reveals that keep you guessing and
reevaluating what exactly is going on both in 1929 when the origional murders
took places as well as in the novel’s 1983 present when Kit arrives.
The setting is done well, both the subtle cultural references
to 1983 sprinkled in the descriptions, never forced or shoved down the reader’s
throat, and the dilapidated cliff-side mansion tilting into the Maine coastline
and crumbling from the weight of its secrets, a symbolic manifestation of its occupants
of outcasts whose broken lives of repressed traumas have them tilted on their own
axis. Meanwhile, Miss Hope’s 1929 typings provide a story within
the story as she relates the house’s sordid history, a gothic gilded age soap
opera.
Both decades emit vibes of Poe and Hitchcock and if Netflix hasn’t
scooped up the rights to this one for Halloween, then they’re sorely missing
out because it would come to life even more on screen.
This was an easy five stars. I didn’t even have to think
about what to rate it as I enjoyed it right down to the final page. It’s one of
those books where you savor the whole journey even as you are drawn into the mystery
that has you turning pages to gather more clues and try to solve the
who-done-it.
Widow and actress Casey Fletcher has taken refuge, though she’s
also kind of been banished, to the family lake house after her career tanks. While I get why her family and friends feel
she needs to be out of the public’s eye for a while, I kept scratching my head
why they’d leave a woman with a drinking problem basically secluded with access
to alcohol. Because her drinking is really out of hand. And one can only read
about the protagonist taking another drink so many times before it starts to
feel like the book has a drinking game built in for the reader.
If you’re not getting drunk alongside Casey, you’ll probably
notice the slow build. And the fact that Casey’s inebriated state is the main
thing helping some of the suspension of disbelief with this story.
The premise isn’t original, so it doesn’t have that going for
it. Bored and drunk most of the time,
Casey finds entertainment spying on the new neighbors after acquiring a savior
complex for the wife.
The initial mystery had promise, but I’ve got a beef about
bait and switch marketing. A book with paranormal elements should be indicated
in the description or genre listing. And while I didn’t hate the supernatural elements
of the plot, I would have much preferred a fully real-world suspense. While the
story is entertaining and has a positive ending which I enjoyed, it
would be a much better mystery without the paranormal. Not only did it open the
door to another realm so to speak, it also opened the door to some plot holes,
if not silliness.
Luckily, I inadvertently bought two books by this author only
a few days apart. This was my first read and it was okay, but the next one (see below) was
the real prize.
On the heels of reading You Shouldn’t Have Come Here,
I decided to check out other titles by the author. I couldn’t resist the cool VHS
tape cover of Home Is Where the Bodies Are and the premise sounded
promising. But, as the saying goes, you can’t judge a book by
its cover.
Instead of a suspense-thriller like the cover suggests, this
story is bogged down by dysfunctional family drama as three thirty-something siblings gather following the passing of their mother only to discover that their family mementos include home videos of a dead body, a scene which their parents appear complicit in. The opening chapters of the mother dying are
depressing, and the rest is a lot of sibling resentment and squabbles. The adult children do not solve the mystery;
they just stumble through it. There are flawed characters and then there’s just face in
your palm characters and these fall in the latter category—especially the
parents. By the end, they were reprehensible.
Speaking of the recently departed mother, her chapters were particularly
cringey to get through. The attempts to paint a picture of 1999 was not only blatantly
forced but led to awkward narration that didn’t resemble how a person would
talk or think in the moment. Not to mention some of the cultural references were
off. It was painfully clear this was not written by a Gen Xer who knew the
decade firsthand, but by someone younger trying to pretend like they did.
For the record, people weren’t walking around in 1999
describing what other people were wearing while also pointing out technology (by
brand name to boot) that coincidentally was going to be obsolete in twenty
years. And moms sure weren’t standing around taking selfies with their bestie
neighbor because they would have known those doubles they were promising to get
would be a waste of film processing since cameras of that decade were not
designed to be used that way and thus, aside from a lucky shot, it didn’t turn
out. Oh and teenagers weren’t knocking on doors asking for someone to come out
and play. (Not ‘hang out’ or ‘go do something’, or even ‘play [insert sport]’ but
plain old childlike “play” as if they were six.)
To say the book could be researched better is a bit of an
understatement especially when you also factor in the inaccuracies with
everything from safety deposit boxes to the inheritance process.
All in all, while the plot had potential, it fails in
execution. The mood lacks suspense and
thrill. The characters don't exactly come across as people you can really root for. And the ending message of forgiveness felt like it belonged more in
a hokey but misogynist Sunday church sermon than a supposed thriller novel with
a broken and bloody VHS tape cover.
It would be like seeking forgiveness for Jason Voorhees. 😱
(*dusts off the cobwebs* surveys the clean-up needed*)
Well one thing at a time.
Speaking of time, I don't really have enough to vet a new romance read so I walked into a bookstore, headed for the mystery section, read a few back covers, and otherwise (aside from checking POV—gotta be 1st for me) went in blind, something I can’t do with romance.
Maybe it’s because it’s been a while since I’ve picked up a novel for leisure, yet alone a mystery/suspense, but this one wasn’t like how I remembered them. The formula was different. Or maybe times have finally changed. Regardless, I had no intent to start writing reviews again. I got into that [reviews and blogging] for fun, but it became more like work, and a time suck which ate into more important priorities. Women have enough unpaid labor in the world, so I took a break. (*glances at the time stamp on the last post*) Okay a long break. But here I am again. I finished the book and my fingers were itching on the laptop keys. Some girls just have itches we gotta scratch. Mine is words. So here goes. With this long of an introduction, I’ll try to make it quick. (But that’s probably a lie.)
4.5 Stars
You Shouldn’t Have Come Here was on a table in
between the mystery section and the romance section. Was it a romantic suspense? I pondered even as
I neared the last quarter of the novel.
Or was it gonna be a suspense thriller?
It’s suspense for sure with a theme of things are not as
they seem.
The mystery is in the genre, and it’s a slow build mystery,
one that simmers longer than Grace’s brussels sprouts or Calvin’s hotdogs and
beans. There are hints of menace in the background as our dual first-person
narrators explore their push and pull relationship that has an expiration date,
always front and center in their minds as well as the readers as the book
sections count down the days of her stay.
Do they overcome their obstacles and ride off into the metaphorical sunset? Only the final pages would tell so I’ll dance around this a little
more. Besides, I was getting ahead of myself.
Grace Evans threw a dart at a map and booked her yearly
vacation at an Airbnb ranch in Wyoming. Before she even gets there, the creepy encounters begin. And
they only continue to pile up once she’s settled in. Are they coincidences? Or
simply Grace’s nagging paranoia? She is a fish out of water, a NYC banker in
the remote west where wild animals outnumber the people in population. But the
locals aren’t short on problems. There’s Calvin’s brother who has as many
hang-ups and resentments as he has had drinks. As well as Calvin’s pseudo mother
and wanna-be girlfriend, both of which aren’t subtle with their opinion that an
outsider like Grace doesn’t belong.
Grace certainly experiences some culture shock as her host’s
friends, family, and nature begin crawling out of the woodwork. As does a lot
of new vacation experiences that aren’t exactly Instagram worthy. But she mostly takes it in stride, projecting
her cool city confidence with this insular crew.
I gotta admit, I’m not sure if the author intended for some
of the drama that ensues to be humorous or not, but I got a kick out of it
while I played armchair detective and psychologist, analyzing which characters
might be psychos and which might only be small town crazy. As a result, it kept me turning pages. I was also torn between wanting to see Grace
and Calvin emerge unscathed and get together (the romantic in me) and wanting a
good twisted thriller (the horror movie fan in me).
There’s, of course, the business with the missing girl,
which makes the Sheriff a frequent guest even if he’s not booking a
reservation. And what skeletons are
lurking in everybody’s guarded past?
All I’m gonna say is that the novel delivers the promised
twists. And while I considered most possibilities, I was still surprised at the
ultimate reveals. I want to praise not
just the execution of the ending, but also the way it broke the mold. There are
enough helpless heroines in literature, and thankfully Grace isn’t one of them.
A one-time feminist literary theory student, I closed the book with a sense of
satisfaction. Though I’ll admit, I craved a bonus chapter with Dubois’s
reaction. This would make a good limited-episode binge-watch Netflix kind of movie.
Romance Safety:
In the end, it is a suspense thriller. But
because there is a relationship between Grace and Calvin, romance safety
readers will consider this mostly not safe. Feel free to message me for more
specifics if you aren’t worried about spoilers
