Books 1-3

 Captured Lies by Maggie Thom

She was kidnapped not once but twice and now someone wants her dead because of it....
Her life was a lie!
Bailey knew her upbringing wasn’t normal but she’s worked hard to stabilize her life. At 29, she finally has a good business, a stable home; her life is miles from that of her childhood. Then suddenly her mother dies, leaving a gaping hole and a discovery that they may not even be related. If Guy, the private investigator is to be believed, her life is a lie. Using the skills she learned on the streets, Bailey travels back through a sketchy and dangerous past, to find answers. Dodging bullets, staying ahead of those who want her dead and convincing Guy she can do it alone, are making it difficult to discover not only the secrets of her mother’s past but that of a family claiming she is theirs.
Everyone seems to have a story... but who’s telling the truth? And who wants her dead? Is Guy part of the solution? Or part of the problem? To discover the facts, she’ll have to untangle a web of deceit, lies, and secrets, dating back over thirty years.

I enjoyed this book. Part of it was because a lot of the book took place where I live or have visited. It was very fast paced and a bit hard to sort out all the different players.  I would read the next book in the series.

Final Look by Dianne Scott

Policewoman Christine Lane felt the humiliation like a slap. Transferred to a sleepy island station, she could almost hear her career screeching to a halt.
During a violent protest on Toronto Island, a resident is found dead and Christine is hurt. Her boss threatens to sack her for incompetence and she vows to maintain a low profile.
When the homicide leads dry up, Christine is shocked when investigators move on to their next case. So she secretly gathers information on suspects, digging up local dirt. When Christine is ambushed, she knows she is closing in on the perpetrator. Can she flush out the murderer before she is shut down for good.

This was another book set in Canada. I have been to Toronto but not Toronto Island where this story takes place. Christine is treated very poorly as a female police officer and gets so beat up during her investigating.  It was a pretty light, interesting read.

The Journey Home by Fiona Hood-Stewart

They met in the wilds of Scotland, as a winter storm approached. Complete strangers, they were uncannily drawn to one another. India Moncrieff, grief stricken over her mother's sudden death, a woman desperate to hold on to Dunbar House, the majestic family estate. And Jack Buchanan, the American tycoon enchanted by the land, who sees the house as a business opportunity. Business and passion soon unite them. But shocking revelations will alienate the two lovers in their desperate battle over a legacy neither will surrender. Family secrets and a murder spanning 200 years have left too many souls lost and alone. Now it's up to the heart to illuminate the way home.

This book was listed as a contemporary romance so the outcome was inevitable from the beginning.  It's all based around a mansion whose real inheritor is unknown due to bloodlines and legal rights. The constant arguing, lack of trust and immaturity of the two main characters got old pretty quick. 

Saturday Night Fun-Not!!

 

I'd been having weird pains in my collarbone and jaw in the early evening.  About 10pm things kind of sky rocketed.  I couldn't get a deep breath, my upper chest hurt. Garry phoned 911 and within minutes I had 3 firefighters and 2 paramedics in my bedroom firing questions at me and hooking me up to all kinds of monitors. Next thing I'm on a stretcher and into the ambulance. Nearest hospital is 5 minutes away so that was good. Brought into emergency right away, hooked up to all kinds of machines, getting poked many times-had to try 5 different sites to finally get a vein!! Blood pressure was 196 over 86!! They were thinking I was either having a heart attack or had an embolism. Had xrays, ECG, tons of blood taken. Had to wait for the results and everything was fine-normal.  Had to have the bloodwork done again because sometimes blood clots show up later. Had that done and then we waited for the results.  Had nitroglycerine a couple of times and that really helped with the breathing. Finally they had all the results.  The doctor said he really didn't now what was wrong but as women present differently from men when they are having a heart attack he was concerned about some of my symptoms so he wanted me to go for a cardiac assessment. We got to go home at 3:30am.  Didn't have a very good sleep as I was still having some pain. Finally got to sleep around 6am and then slept until 10:30.  Did very little on Sunday, slept some more in the afternoon.  I feel much better today and have no pain. The cardiac assessment place phoned this morning and I have an appointment on the 27th. 

So that was more than enough excitement for one weekend!!!!

Books 45-50

 The Boyfriend Loophole by Danielle Stewart

Charlize has been called home as her mother begins to succumb to a long illness. Reluctantly taking a step back from her role in private security with the Kinross organization, Charlize resumes her role as a detective, armed with a badge and a determination to still make a difference in this world.
Amidst the challenges of settling into a small-town police precinct, she stumbles upon a mysterious case. A baffling disappearance that local authorities dismiss as attention-seeking antics. Charlize's instincts, however, tell her there's more to the story. Especially when digging she discovers multiple cases in the state with the same haunting details.

 The relationship between Charlize and her dying mother was interesting to watch as they grew closer and had a better understanding of each other. Charlize is asked by her mothers caregiver to look into a case of a young female relative who was chloroformed and left on a dirt road.  She finds five similar cases. I had never heard of the 'boyfriend loophole' which is pretty shocking.

In Their Likeness by Denise Yoko Bermdt

Three bodies found in Central London. All arranged in bizarre poses. The Metropolitan Police at a loss.
The senior investigating officer asks his former superior, retired DCI Amber Fearns, for help. Amber refuses, wants nothing to do anymore with violence and murder. But one glance at the crime scene photos and she's drawn in against her will... because she sees something none of the investigators could see.
As soon as she starts working the case, her instinct tells her the killer will strike again. It's just a matter of when.
Can Amber help stop him before he kills again?

This was very bizarre but quiet interesting!

The Patient by Jane Shemilt

Rachel is a respected doctor who lives in a picturesque and affluent English village where her husband Nathan teaches at an elite private school. Competent, unflappable, and nearing 50, Rachel has everything in her life firmly in her control, even if some of its early luster has worn off. But one day a new patient arrives at her practice for emergency treatment. Luc is a French painter married to a wealthy American woman who’s just bought and restored a historic home on the edge of Rachel’s posh neighborhood. The couple has only recently arrived, but Luc is struggling with a mental disorder, and so he goes to the nearest clinic…to Rachel.
Their attraction is instant, and as Rachel’s sense of ethics wars with newly awakened passion, the affair blinds her to everything else happening around her. A longtime patient appears to be following her every movement, turning up unexpectedly wherever she goes. Her somewhat estranged adult daughter Lizzie is hiding a secret—or at least, hiding it from Rachel. Nathan has grown sour and cold as well—or is that merely Rachel’s guilty conscience weighing on her? But when one of her colleagues winds up murdered and Luc is arrested for the crime, everything Rachel didn’t know about her life explodes into the open—along with her affair with her patient—a disgrace and scandal that will have consequences no one could have predicted.

I didn't find Rachel a very likeable person.  She didn't present very well as a doctor as she made so many reckless choices about a man that had very evident mental health issues. This did keep me guessing until pretty close to the end.

For You by Blake Pierce

A serial killer following the seven signs of the Messiah. An ex-con FBI agent seeking redemption. A riddle that must be cracked as a victim’s precious time runs out….
Superstar FBI Agent Morgan Cross was at the height of her career when she was framed, wrongly imprisoned, and sent to do 10 hard years in prison. Finally exonerated and set free, Morgan emerges from jail as a changed person—hardened, ruthless, closed off to the world, and unsure how to start again. When the FBI comes knocking, desperately needing Morgan to return and hunt down the one serial killer who got away 10 years ago, Morgan is torn. She is not the same person, no longer willing to play by the rules, and will stop at nothing this time. In a non-stop thriller, it will be a deadly cat and mouse chase between a diabolical killer and an ex-con FBI agent who has nothing left to lose—with a new victim’s fate riding on it all.

Lots of suspense and mystery and a page turner.  Eventually the ending became predictable but I still think this was a good read.

Northern Lights by Nora Roberts

The town of Lunacy, Alaska, was Nate Burke's last chance. As a Baltimore cop, he'd watched his partner die on the street - and the guilt still haunts him. With nowhere else to go, he accepts the job as chief of police in this tiny, remote Alaskan town. Aside from sorting out a run-in between a couple of motor vehicles and a moose, he finds his first few weeks on the job are relatively quiet. But just as he wonders whether this has been all a big mistake, an unexpected kiss on New Year's Eve under the brilliant Northern Lights of the Alaskan sky lifts his spirits and convinces him to stay just a little longer.
Meg Galloway, born and raised in Lunacy, is used to being alone. She was a young girl when her father disappeared, and she has learned to be independent, flying her small plane, living on the outskirts of town with just her huskies for company. After her New Year's kiss with the chief of police, she allows herself to give in to passion - while remaining determined to keep things as simple as possible. But there's something about Nate's sad eyes that gets under her skin and warms her frozen heart.
And now, things in Lunacy are heating up. Years ago, on one of the majestic mountains shadowing the town, a crime occurred that is unsolved to this day - and Nate suspects that a killer still walks the snowy streets. His investigation will unearth the secrets and suspicions that lurk beneath the placid surface, as well as bring out the big-city survival instincts that made him a cop in the first place. And his  discovery will threaten the new life - and the new love - that he has finally found for himself.

I did enjoy this book.  There were so many twists and turns in the story that it kept me reading to find out what happens next.

Lights Out Liverpool by Maureen Lee

As Britain stands alone against a monstrous enemy, the inhabitants of Pearl Street face hardship and heartbreak with courage and humour.
The war touches each of them in a different way: for Annie Poulson, a widow, it means never-ending worry when her twin boys are called up and sent to France; Sheila Reilly's husband, Cal, faces the terror of U-Boat attacks; Eileen Costello is liberated from a bitter, loveless marriage when her husband is sent to Egypt and she goes to work in a munitions factory - and falls in love. And Jessica Fleming, down on her luck, is forced to return to the street she'd hoped never to see again.

This story mainly centers around two sisters and all the people that live in pre-war Pearl Street in Bootle, a working class neighbourhood in Liverpool. All the trials and tribulations of families having very little money and husbands and sons joining up to fight in WW11 and the women having to go out to work and 'keep the home fires burning'. This book is part the first book in a trilogy so I will be looking for the other two.

Well, that's the final books read for 2024, a couple short of last year. Some good, some not so good, but fortunately the good outweighed the bad.

Books 39-44

 The Bone Hacker by Kathy Reichs

 Forensic anthropologist Temperance Brennan who, following a series of bizarre disappearances on the islands of Turks and Caicos, enters a sinister labyrinth in which a new technology may wreak worldwide havoc.
Called in to examine what is left of a body struck by lightning, Tempe traces an unusual tattoo to its source and is soon embroiled in a much larger case. Young men—tourists—have been disappearing on the islands of Turks and Caicos for years. Seven years ago, the first victim was found in a strange location with both hands cut off; the other visitors vanished without a trace. But, recently, tantalizing leads have emerged and only Tempe can unravel them.
Maddeningly, the victims seem to have nothing in common—other than the strange locations where their bodies are eventually found, and the fact that the young men all seem to be the least likely to be involved in foul play. Do these attacks have something to do with the islands’ seething culture of gang violence? Tempe isn’t so sure. And then she turns up disturbing clues that what’s at stake may actually have global significance.
It isn’t long before the sound of a ticking clock grows menacingly loud, and then Tempe herself becomes a target.

There were lots of red herrings and twists and turns in this book.  There had been some 'not the greatest' books in this series lately but this one seems to have upped the standered again.

The Wife's Promise by Kate Hewitt

Jane Hatton and her British husband Andrew relocate from New York City to a small village on the Cumbrian coast. Jane has been city-based and career-driven but when her fourteen year old daughter Natalie falls in with the wrong crowd at school in Manhattan, she and Andrew decide to try country living. However Jane has trouble getting used to the silence and solitude of a remote village. Natalie hates her new school, and eleven-year-old Ben struggles academically. Only seven-year-old Merrie enjoys country life. Has Jane made a horrible mistake? The Hattons have bought the old vicarage in the village. When Jane finds a scrap of shopping list, she grows curious about Alice, the vicar’s wife who lived there years before. As we follow the twin narratives of Jane, in the present, and Alice in the 1930s we discover that both are on a journey to discover their true selves, and to address their deepest fears.

This book does a lot of time of time shifting.  Jane, in present day, seems to be a very selfish, self centered and self absorbed woman.  All she can focus on is the loss of her career and has no plans to try and fit in in the new country and home that the family has moved to.  Her 3 children virtually look after themselves as she has no interest in anything or anyone. Alice from the 1930s could be forgiven for her attitude as she was very young and had no experience in running a home or interacting with people she didn't now.  Over time we see great growth in both women and the outcomes are very interesting.

Five Island Cove-The Lighthouse by Jessie Newton

After the death of a childhood loved one, 5 best friends reunite in the small coastal town of Five Island Cove. One doesn't expect to find love with a high school crush. Another isn't prepared to find the strength she needs to take control of her life. And none of them are ready for the secrets they'll uncover at the lighthouse...As the truth comes to light, these five best friends will learn what real friendship, family, and faith mean.
When Joel Shields dies, Robin Grover's only goal is to get her four best friends back to Five Island Cove to celebrate the life of Kristen's husband. She alone has stayed in the cove while everyone else couldn't wait to get away.
Alice Keller comes instantly, because her mansion in the Hamptons and her husband's infidelity is smothering her. Not only that, but Kristen has always been like a mother to her, and she wants to support her.
Eloise Hall comes quickly too, because she's not teaching at the university this summer, and she might as well visit her mother—and the house she secretly bought years ago. Her first night on the island, she runs into an old high school crush, and a flame ignites that hasn't been there before.
But Kelli Thompson and AJ Proctor are more resistant, and as Robin, Alice, and Eloise uncover secret after secret in the books, journals, and files in Joel's office, Robin becomes more determined to reunite them all.
When Kelli and AJ finally arrive in the cove, the women are embroiled in secrets the lighthouse has hidden for decades. Robin tries to hold them all together, but she too breaks down and admits that her perfect-on-the-outside life isn't so perfect.
As these 5 best friends work together to find the truth, they must learn to let go of what doesn't matter and cling to what does-faith, family, and most of all, friendship.

As the above states this book is about friendships that go back many years and what happened in the intervening years.  So many secrets are revealed and what the consequences are.  I did find this book interesting.

Snow Creek by Greg Olsen

Footprints were scattered about like fallen leaves. She looked down into the ravine, and once more her lungs filled with fear. A body lay silent and unmoving in the bushes.
When Ruth Turner walks into the Sheriff’s office in Jefferson County’s Port Townsend claiming her sister Ida Wheaton has been missing for over a month, Detective Megan Carpenter’s instincts tell her that she needs to do more than just file a report.
Racing over to Ida’s secluded farmhouse in the hills above Snow Creek, Megan finds Ida’s teenage children alone and frightened. She can’t help but notice there’s no TV. No video games. Nothing of the outside world. Something about the Wheaton family doesn’t add up and triggers a painful childhood memory for Megan – when one day, in a flash, both her parents were gone.
Then the body of a woman is discovered in an abandoned pickup truck close to the Wheatons’ home and Megan’s convinced the cases are connected.
If she has any chance of catching the killer, Megan must first unravel the secrets of the isolated Snow Creek community. But Megan has dark secrets of her own…
Hidden in the back of her closet is a box of tapes containing every single recording of her therapy sessions over thirteen years ago. Can she finally confront the past she’s spent years trying to block out? And will reliving her own painful story help her solve the complex case unravelling in the hills above Snow Creek before another innocent life is lost?

This was a good story but I'm not sure the ending really worked.  There will be more books in this series so I would imagine things would become clearer if you read more of the books.

The Lies that Bind Us by Molly Black

Taking on a summer job as a nanny on an isolated island estate should seem like paradise—but Lily Harris is about to discover that nearly every person on this island harbors deadly secrets.
Strapped for cash, Lily agrees to nanny three children of the wealthy Caldwell family. She finds the kids odd but charming, and sparks fly instantly between her and their summer tutor Julian.
But unnerving experiences lead Lily to believe there is more to the Caldwell’s island than meets the eye. Is her traumatic past and unresolved guilt making her overly protective of those she cares for?
Or is it something more sinister?
Lily will have to find out quickly, as hurricane season approaches and her last chance to escape becomes impossible….

This book was very distracting to read as there were so many grammatical and spelling errors. It would have greatly benefited from a good proofreader. I found the main character very annoying. She's there only a few days and already she is delving into things that are none of her business. I just found it quite far fetched and ridiculous and wouldn't really recommend it.

Lilac Girls by Martha Hall Kelly

Inspired by the life of a real World War II heroine, this powerful debut novel reveals an incredible story of love, redemption, and terrible secrets that were hidden for decades.
On the eve of a fateful war, New York socialite Caroline Ferriday has her hands full with her post at the French consulate and a new love on the horizon. But Caroline’s world is forever changed when Hitler’s army invades Poland in September 1939—and then sets its sights on France.
An ocean away from Caroline, Kasia Kuzmerick, a Polish teenager, senses her carefree youth disappearing as she sinks deeper into her role as courier for the underground resistance movement. In a tense atmosphere of watchful eyes and suspect neighbors, one false move can have dire consequences.
For ambitious young German doctor, Herta Oberheuser, an ad for a government medical position seems her ticket out of a desolate life. But, once hired, she finds herself trapped in a male-dominated realm of Nazi secrets and power.
The lives of these three women are set on a collision course when the unthinkable happens and Kasia is sent to Ravensbrück, the notorious female-only Nazi concentration camp. The tragedy and triumph of their stories cross continents—from New York to Paris, and Germany to Poland—capturing the indomitable pull of compassion to bring justice to those whom history has forgotten.

This book was very emotional, heartwrenching and brutal, made even worse by the fact that it is all based in fact.  A must read!

This and that

 Looked out of the window, very early in the morning a couple of weeks ago and there was a hot air balloon floating by the house. We used to see lots of them but this is the first one for years.  I almost left it too late to get a picture but I kind of like this one through the trees.

There's been a little bunny living on our deck for the last couple of weeks.  I think he's hiding out as there have been a few coyotes around.  I did tell him though that if he keeps pooping on the deck I will have to evict him!!

We continue having health issues-mostly me this time. I had a lump on my eyelid so I went to see my doctor.  She cut it out (boy did that hurt for nearly 4 weeks) and sent it for biopsy. I had to wait nearly three weeks to get the results. Fortunately it was a benign polypoid. When I went to see the doctor again I had two more so she decided to send me to the skin cancer clinic. I was surprised to realize it has been 7 years since I was there last. They decided that one was a keloid and froze it with liquid nitrigen. They weren't sure about the other one so decided that as it was small we would wait three months and see if it changes.

I also have the recurring tendonitis in my right wrist. I had to have a cortisone shot in it about two weeks ago.  It's still not great but it is a little better.  I haven't been able to do any knitting for over two years because of this.  I'm still wearing a splint on it at night as that is when it bothers me the most-unfortunately wearing it is starting to irritate the skin. Can't win! 

The next thing was that we both tested positive for covid. It happened right on DH's birthday, so no nice supper out. He had a really bad cough. My cough wasn't as bad but I had the body aches, headache and chills.  At one point DH's temp was 40.1C and mine was 34.1C. Talk about two extremes!! I phoned our health link several times and they were really good and helpful as to what we needed to do. I must say that the attitude towards covid now is pretty laid back and nonchalant. I asked when we should test again and they said don't. When we feel okay and temperature is back to normal we can go back to normal. No point in testing again as a person can test positive for up to 90 days!!! We had a couple of time sensitive appointments coming up so we phoned them and told them the situation and they both said no problem just wear a mask. The health link doctor said that as we have had all the covid vaccinations and this is the first time we have had covid we have good immunity.

We both got the flu shot yesterday and will get the covid shot when it is available next week.

And to end on a smile. Here's Walker at his first gymnastics class-Kelsey was exhausted🥵❤️😂

Books 34-38

 The Cottage on Nantucket by jessie Newton

After their mother dies, two sisters return to the cottage where they spent their summers growing up. Nantucket Point is exactly the charming, warm, and filled with memories both good and bad.Janey and Tessa are cut from two completely different cloths, but they've managed to stay close over the years. Divorced twice and currently single, Janey Forsythe is on the brink of a huge promotion at work. But, she needs money now to get some much-needed home repairs done so she can sell her house.Tessa Simmons has always been the "good girl," the sister who lives by the rules and has the perfect suburban life. If only perfect didn't equate to boring.When they arrive at the cottage on Nantucket after their mother's death, they begin down a road filled with the ghosts of their past. And when Tessa finds a final letter addressed only to her in a locked desk drawer, the two sisters will start down a path that uncovers secret after secret and exposes them to danger at their Nantucket cottage.Amidst the new truths they find, can Janey and Tessa redefine the bonds of friendship and sisterhood? Or will they lose everything because the rift between them is too wide?

The premise was interesting which kept me going, but lots of angst with each of the sisters got in the way of the story line. Too many things left hanging - like how do they explain to banks/ IRS where all this cash came from. It was also questionable as to why the mother went to such, sometimes ridiculous, lengths to keep all the secrets.

The Girls in the Snow by Stacy Green

In the remote forests of Stillwater, Minnesota, you can scream for days and no one will hear you. So when the bodies of two fifteen-year-old girls are discovered frozen in the snow, Special Agent Nikki Hunt is sure the killer is local: someone knew where to hide them and thought they'd never be found.
Home for the first time in twenty years, Nikki sees that the whole town had been frantically searching for missing best friends Madison and Kaylee, and when she finds out who Madison’s step-father is, she becomes desperate to lead the case. John was once the person she trusted most in the world, who stood by her when she was just sixteen and her parents were murdered. Who supported her when she identified their killer, Mark Todd.
But when Nikki arrives at the Sheriff’s office, she’s confronted by protesters eager to see Mark freed. With new evidence that could clear his name, Mark has appealed his conviction and his brother Rory begs Nikki to take a look at what they’ve found.
Nikki knows she must focus on the killer at large, but Rory makes her wonder if she put her trust in the right people all those years ago. Are Madison and Kaylee’s deaths connected to her parents’ murders? And can she face up to her past before another life is taken?

I enjoyed this book.There were several twists and turns and lots of back and forth of the time frame.  It had you guessing until close to the end and then it was just a case of catching the person.

Local Gone Missing by Fiona Barton

Elise King is a successful and ambitious detective--or she was before a medical leave left her unsure if she'd ever return to work. She now spends most days watching the growing tensions in her small seaside town of Ebbing--the weekenders renovating old bungalows into luxury homes, and the locals resentful of the changes.
Elise can only guess what really happens behind closed doors. But Dee Eastwood, her house cleaner, often knows. She's an invisible presence in many of the houses in town, but she sees and hears everything.
The conflicts boil over when a newcomer wants to put the town on the map with a giant music festival, and two teenagers overdose on drugs. When a man disappears the first night of the festival, Elise is drawn back into her detective work and starts digging for answers. Ebbing is a small town, but it's full of secrets and hidden connections that run deeper and darker than Elise could have ever imagined.

Another book with too many unnecessary characters. A local man goes missing.  Elise, who is on sick leave, just has to do some snooping around to find out what happened to him. Because there are so many characters the story is told through many different eyes and it gets quite confusing!!

The Camp by Nancy Bush

There are always stories told around the fire at summer camp—tall tales about gruesome murders and unhinged killers, concocted to scare new arrivals and lend an extra jolt of excitement to those hormone-charged nights. At Camp Luft-Shawk, nicknamed Camp Love Shack, there are stories about a creeping fog that brings death with it. But here, they’re not just campfire tales. Here, the stories are real.
Twenty years ago, a girl’s body was found on a ledge above the lake, arms crossed over her heart. Some said it was part of a suicide pact, connected to the nearby Haven Commune. Brooke, Rona, and Wendy were among the teenagers at camp that summer, looking for fun and sun, sex and adventure. They’ve never breathed a word about what really happened—or about the night their friendship shattered.
Now the camp, renamed Camp Fog Lake, has reopened for a new generation, and many of those who were there on that long-ago night are returning for an alumni weekend. But something is stirring at the lake again. As the fog rolls in, evil comes with it. Those stories were a warning, and they didn’t listen. And the only question is, who will live long enough to regret it?

Can't say I thought very much of this book.  Far too many characters. Some from twenty years ago and others that were newbies. It was so confusing trying to keep everyone straight as to who they were. Several of them were completely unnecessary to the story.  They definitely didn't need the parts about the detective in the story-she added nothing. Then after all the going back and forth in the timelines the ending was thrown together in a few pages and was pretty disappointing.

Itsy Bitsy Spider by Willow Rose

Emma Frost inherits a house on Fanoe Island when her grandmother dies. She decides to move there with her family, much to her teenage-daughter's regret. One morning a wealthy old woman in her street is found murdered and soon Emma finds herself wrapped in a mystery uncovering the island's dark secrets that not only runs deep within the history of the island but also within her own family.

This was a very creepy book and adding spiders didn't help. I had an inkling who the bad guy was but it was pretty shocking what was happening.

We like to do everything together!!