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Reviews by Mary G. (Purcellville, VA)

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Serial Killer Games
Serial Killer Games
by Kate Posey
Serial Killer Games was ultimately worth a read. (2/12/2025)
When I started this book, I wasn't too sure I would finish it. I found it difficult to figure out what was going on: was Dolly a serial killer or was Jack? Or were both serial killers, or neither? I was getting exasperated by the length of time it was taking for the story …more
One Death at a Time
One Death at a Time
by Abbi Waxman
An Absolute Gem! (12/26/2024)
As every avid reader knows, most books are average to good with a fair number of clunkers thrown in. So when you come across a book you truly enjoy, you savor every minute of it.

One Death at a Time is one of those rare gems that are a delight from start to finish. It is as …more
The September House
The September House
by Carissa Orlando
A Dream Home Becomes a Nightmare (5/15/2023)
When Margaret and Hal are finally able to purchase their dream home, they never expected their dream to become a nightmare. It turns out an evil presence resides in their basement and his victims haunt their home. Every September, the house comes alive with blood-soaked …more
The Wager
The Wager: A Tale of Shipwreck, Mutiny and Murder
by David Grann
Fans of Erik Larson will Love The Wager (4/9/2023)
Meticulously researched and deeply detailed, this is the story of an ill-fated British warship, the Wager. Although an entire fleet left England in 1740 on a secret mission against the Spanish, only one ship returned to England. A couple of ragtag groups of shipwrecked …more
Clytemnestra
Clytemnestra: A Novel
by Costanza Casati
It takes a fierce queen to rule in a brutal world. (1/9/2023)
Costanza Casati's absorbing novel, Clytemnestra, transports the reader to a world, familiar through classic literature, that rewards brutality yet honors beauty, that trains women to be warriors then uses them as pawns, and where honor is paramount yet deceit is rampant.

In …more
Jackie & Me
Jackie & Me
by Louis Bayard
Fascinating and Original (7/7/2022)
Jackie and Me focuses almost entirely on the courtship of Jacquelyn and Jack. It is told through the reminiscences of Jack's best friend from boarding school and his close confidant, Lem.

As portrayed by Bayard, the young Jacqueline Bouvier is an independent, strong-minded, …more
Some of It Was Real
Some of It Was Real
by Nan Fischer
Winning Story (2/27/2022)
Winning Story!

Part romance, part mystery, Some of it Was Real by Nan Fischer is hard to put down.

Sylvie is a psychic-medium. Adopted at age 6, Sylvie cannot remember her childhood prior to that time and is subject to recurring nightmares and panic attacks. Thomas is a …more
Never Saw Me Coming
Never Saw Me Coming: A Novel
by Vera Kurian
Crazy Good! (6/16/2021)
Never Saw Me Coming by Vera Kurian is one of those books you read when you want to reward yourself for good behavior. In this complicated thriller, young diagnosed psychopaths are recruited into a college study. They matriculate into the school like any other students and …more
Black Widows
Black Widows: A Novel
by Cate Quinn
Black Widows is Dark (1/24/2021)
"Who killed Blake Nelson?" That is the mystery at the heart of Black Widows by Cate Quinn.

On the surface, it seems answering this question shouldn't be too challenging. After all, Nelson lived off the grid in a remote area of Utah with his wife. Actually, his three wives. …more
Piranesi
Piranesi
by Susanna Clarke
Like Floating Down a Lazy River (8/21/2020)
Readers familiar with Susanna Clarke's book, Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell, will not be surprised to learn that this is a very unusual story. It takes place almost entirely in a house with a seemingly unending number of levels and hallways. The story's narrator spends his …more
He Started It
He Started It
by Samantha Downing
One Crazy Ride! (2/10/2020)
Wow. I just finished reading "He Started It" by Samantha Downing and it was a wild and crazy ride from start to finish. The estranged Morgan siblings are tasked by their recently deceased grandfather to recreate a road trip he took them on when they were children, as a …more
The Girl in White Gloves
The Girl in White Gloves: A Novel of Grace Kelly
by Kerri Maher
A Fascinating Insight into a Remarkable Woman (12/4/2019)
It is hard not to be at least a little curious about the girl from Philadelphia who became an iconic American actress and then a real-life princess. It sounds like a dream life--but Kerry Maher does a wonderful job of pulling back the curtain and showing the real person …more
Cartier's Hope
Cartier's Hope: A Novel
by M. J. Rose
Multi-layered historical fiction satisfies on all levels (9/17/2019)
Secrets and deception abound in Cartier's Hope, so having the intrigue surrounding the Hope diamond at the center of the plot seems appropriate. The main character is a young high-society woman who lives a secret life as a female reporter. She decides to use her alter ego …more
D-Day Girls
D-Day Girls: The Spies Who Armed the Resistance, Sabotaged the Nazis, and Helped Win World War II
by Sarah Rose
A Tribute Long Overdue (4/23/2019)
In D-Day Girls, Sarah Rose recognizes courageous and patriotic women whose contributions to the success of the D-Day invasion have only recently been declassified. Rose chooses to tell the stories of 5 women who were recruited into a special intelligence unit to help …more
American Princess
American Princess: A Novel of First Daughter Alice Roosevelt
by Stephanie Marie Thornton
Engaging story about an engaging woman (12/2/2018)
Many children have grown up in the White House but few have inspired as much public interest as the vivacious and audacious Alice Roosevelt--and this was well before the days of social media scrutiny. American Princess captures the vivacious personality and audacious nature …more
Red, White, Blue
Red, White, Blue
by Lea Carpenter
Challenging Read (8/7/2018)
I found this book very challenging to read. It had two primary characters--one named, the other, a former CIA operative, remained anonymous. The book switched between the perspective of the two characters and I sometimes had trouble telling whose story was being told. I …more
The Chalk Man
The Chalk Man
by C. J. Tudor
Not Very Enjoyable (1/3/2018)
I just did not really like this book. The story was not compelling enough to distract from how overwhelmingly depressing the characters in the book are. I am not sure why the author felt it necessary that every character have some kind of psychological issue or character …more
The French Girl
The French Girl
by Lexie Elliott
The French Girl is Tres Bien! (9/13/2017)
The body of young French woman, Severine, is found 10 years after she goes missing. Six college friends on holiday are the last to see her alive. This book kept me engaged from the opening line. It is a really fun and fast read. I highly recommend it!
Lola
Lola
by Melissa Scrivner Love
Lucrezia Borgia of the barrio (3/16/2017)
This debut novel is a fascinating look at a world that exists a few miles from where many of us live, but of which we are only vaguely aware. The title character, Lola, runs a small drug gang, but has to stay in the background--frustrated and constrained by societal …more
Underground Airlines
Underground Airlines
by Ben H. Winters
Outstanding! (9/29/2016)
Underground Airlines by Ben Winters is the best book I have read in a very long time. The book presents an alternative history of the United States. One in which the Civil War never happened. In this America, slavery still exists in four states and the Underground Airlines …more
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    Dream Count
    by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
    A searing new novel from the bestselling author of Americanah and We Should All Be Feminists, exploring four women's desires.
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