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Reviews by Jeanne W. (Colorado Springs, CO)

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The Paris Winter
by Imogen Robertson

Plot twist in the middle! (1/27/2016)

A young English woman is in Paris to become an artist in 1909. Of course she is poor and struggling, because otherwise where would the story be? She becomes a paid companion to a young women in poor health. Then comes something I absolutely didn't see coming and the whole …more

The Widow
by Fiona Barton

Keeps you guessing...and thinking (11/30/2015)

What a great book! Reminiscent of both Gone Girl and The Girl on the Train, with its unreliable narrator, it's the tale of what happens to a couple when the husband is accused of child abduction. What did/does the wife know? Is he guilty? Is she complicit? The book …more

The Fortune Hunter
by Daisy Goodwin

Great Historical Fiction (6/12/2015)

Loved this historical fiction book about a Victorian-era love triangle between a wealthy, aristocratic young woman, a not-so-aristocratic young horseman and the beautiful but older Empress of Austria. It sounds like a run-of-the-mill romance but in Daisy Goodwin's capable …more

Scent of Triumph: A Novel of Perfume and Passion
by Jan Moran

Implausible Romance (5/19/2015)

This is the story of a French perfumer and her family in Europe in 1939-41. Everybody is attractive, rich and wonderfully kind and unprejudiced. Then bad things happen. Then the main character leaves for LA with the remains of her shattered family. She starts poor and ends …more

The Art of Baking Blind
by Sarah Vaughan

Needs Photos and Smell-o-Vision! (3/8/2015)

Five people are chosen to vie to be the New Mrs Eaden, an iconic baking personality of the 1960s. Their stories are interspersed with hers as the baking competition ensues. Filled with likable people and interesting backstories this novel is like a big, warm butter-and- …more

The Silver Witch
by Paula Brackston

A serviceable romance novel (2/11/2015)

This is the third in Paula Brackston's series of witching novels. Tilda has moved to a small cottage by a lake in Wales after her husband's unexpected death. Soon she discovers that whenever she's around fuses blow out, light bulbs burn out and clocks stop working. …more

The Golem of Hollywood
by Jonathan & Jesse Kellerman

Like Two Different Books (11/3/2014)

I read this book by Jonathan and Jesse Kellerman because I'm a Jonathan Kellerman fan, but it's definitely not his best. It seemed as though it was trying to be a police procedural with an added supernatural element and for me it didn't work. The mystery story and the golem …more

Her
by Harriet Lane

A nailbiter, but...... (5/4/2014)

Nina and Emma are becoming friends. Emma can't understand why the sophisticated and elegant Nina is interested in her boring domestic life as a stay-at-home mum of two. Is it just a simple friendship or is there something sinister at play?

The book starts out slowly as Nina …more

Girl on the Golden Coin: A Novel of Frances Stuart
by Marci Jefferson

History is confusing (1/5/2014)

Marci Jefferson's first effort at historical fiction tells the story of Frances Stuart, a maid of honor to King Charles II's wife and his reputed mistress for a time. Deployed by Henri XIV to encourage peaceful relations between England and France, Frances tries to …more

The Cairo Affair
by Olen Steinhauer

Confusing (12/6/2013)

I can't exactly say what this book is about. A minor diplomat is shot in Budapest and it may or may not have anything to do with an affair his wife had in Cairo. She heads to Cairo to find out who murdered him. A CIA agent in DC thinks his plan to topple the Libyan …more

The Last Girl: A Maeve Kerrigan Novel
by Jane Casey

A solid effort (4/13/2013)

When the wife and daughter of a British solicitor are murdered in their London home, Detective Maeve Kerrigan is on the case. Working with her cynical partner, she tries to figure out who would want to murder the two women and why. And why was another daughter spared? This …more

And When She Was Good: A Novel
by Laura Lippman

Better Luck Next Time (7/16/2012)

I'm a huge fan, but this was my least favorite Laura Lippman book ever. It bounced back and forth in time so much that I never felt I was spending enough time in one era. I never got into the flow of the story. Heloise was not a very likable character. I felt that she …more

The Darkening Field: A Novel
by William Ryan

Promising new series (11/3/2011)

I really enjoyed this book by William Ryan. It's a basic murder mystery, but set in pre-WWII Soviet Union and that makes all the difference. A Moscow detective gets sent to Odessa to investigate a murder on the set of a Soviet propaganda movie. Because the dead girl's lover …more

The Most Dangerous Thing
by Laura Lippman

Another Great Stand-Alone (8/4/2011)

Having been a fan of Laura Lippman for several years I was excited to get a jump on her newest book. She's one of the few writers whose writing gets better and better and yet this one wasn't quite up to par. An omniscient narrator had me confused and waiting for the " …more

The Daughter of Siena: A Novel
by Marina Fiorato

Good Summer Reading (5/12/2011)

Thank goodness for coincidences! If not for them, this book would never have worked. Aside from the plot contrivances, this book was enjoyable and well written. My favorite characters were the Governess Violante and the city of Siena itself. The brutality of Pia's father …more

Three Seconds
by Anders Roslund & Borge Hellstrom

3 Seconds last an eternity (12/17/2010)

I wanted so much to like this book, but it was a struggle to finish. While there is a backstory involving Ewert Grens and his team, it's not a deterrent to following the plot. Grens, however, is a frustrating character and difficult to like. There seemed to be a fair amount …more

The True Memoirs of Little K: A Novel
by Adrienne Sharp

Great historical fiction! (9/3/2010)

Mathilde's stream-of-consciousness narration gives the reader a behind-the-scenes vantage point to her life and times. The author overlays future events with "current" happenings, giving a greater sense of importance and understanding to both. One quibble is that the stream- …more

Beautiful Assassin: A Novel
by Michael C. White

Good, but not great (3/3/2010)

Part spy novel and part romance, I enjoyed this book for the most part, but found it pretty predictable. I had difficulty with the idea that Tat'yana was so naive as to not understand the spying that went on and that was expected of her. We live in such a cynical world now …more

Alice I Have Been
by Melanie Benjamin

Good, but not great (10/15/2009)

A lovely portrait of the life and times of the girl who inspired Alice in Wonderland. Unfortunately, the "literary mystery" remains unsolved as we never learn what really caused the breach that creates the tension of the novel.

The depiction of life in the Victorian age is …more

Gifts of War: A Novel
by Mackenzie Ford

Great atmospherics, weak dialogue (4/6/2009)

This historian-turned-fiction-writer does a great job evoking the atmosphere of WWI-era London and his imagery leaps off the page. The characters are the weakest part of this very good book. The main character's decision to withhold information is the central point of the …more

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Lessons in Chemistry
by Bonnie Garmus

Praised by Parade and The New York Times Book Review, this debut features a 1960s scientist turned TV cooking star.

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Daughters of Shandong
by Eve J. Chung

Based on the author’s family story, comes an extraordinary novel about a mother and her daughters’ escape from Taiwan.

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The Lilac People
by Milo Todd

For fans of All the Light We Cannot See, a poignant tale of a trans man’s survival in Nazi Germany and postwar Berlin.

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