Tag: Mystery

Book Critic, Book Review, Books, Literary Criticism, Reading

Review: The Lying Room by Nicci French

by The Lit Bitch1 Comment on Review: The Lying Room by Nicci French

I have only read one of Nicci French’s books and that was the 5th book in her popular Frida Klein series. It was about three years ago when I first read that book and I recall feeling like I was missing out on a lot of the behind the scenes friendships and connections by picking up the series midway through.

Which is why I didn’t continue the series after that book. She has written a few other standalone books though and I was excited to see this one come across my desk for review since it was one of her first standalone novels in quite a while!

By picking up this standalone book, I hoped to get more of a feel for her writing rather than trying to sort out how the characters all knew each other. Continue reading “Review: The Lying Room by Nicci French” →

Book Critic, Book Review, Books, Literary Criticism, Reading

Review: The Vanished Bride (Brontë Sisters Mystery #1) by Bella Ellis

by The Lit Bitch4 Comments on Review: The Vanished Bride (Brontë Sisters Mystery #1) by Bella Ellis

Big big big Bronte fan here! So it’s a given that I have been looking forward to this book for quite a while!

But I will admit I was on the fence about it. This book is a reimagining of the Bronte sisters as lady detectives and for me it could have gone either way. I mean, the sisters wrote romances, not mysteries so I was worried that this book might come across as hokey.

So basically, I had reservations. I worried that I might have a hard time imagining them as detectives but on the other I love all things Bronte and I simply couldn’t pass on the opportunity to find out which way this book was going to go—-all good or all bad! Continue reading “Review: The Vanished Bride (Brontë Sisters Mystery #1) by Bella Ellis” →

Book Critic, Book Review, Books, Literary Criticism, Reading

Review: Murder at Kensington Palace (A Wrexford & Sloane Mystery #3) by Andrea Penrose

by The Lit BitchLeave a Comment on Review: Murder at Kensington Palace (A Wrexford & Sloane Mystery #3) by Andrea Penrose

I stumbled on this series a couple of years ago and instantly fell in love. I loved how sassy and sardonic Wrexford is and even if Mrs Sloane is overly pig headed  at times, she’s independent and sassy and I can’t get enough of them together!

Reading these books is always such a delight. There is clearly this romantic tension between Wrexford and Charlotte Sloane, but it doesn’t overtake the prime focus of the books which is the murder mystery.

Because of that I think it makes the romance so much more sweet. The little morsels of romance sprinkled in make the reader eager to see what happens between them, but ultimately it’s the well written mystery that holds their attention late into the night.

So when I finally saw this one on Netgalley I begged to read it! I couldn’t wait and read it in a couple of fast sittings! Continue reading “Review: Murder at Kensington Palace (A Wrexford & Sloane Mystery #3) by Andrea Penrose” →

Book Critic, Book Review, Books, Literary Criticism, Reading

Review: Where She Went by Kelly Simmons

by The Lit BitchLeave a Comment on Review: Where She Went by Kelly Simmons

I had to chuckle when I read the first sentence of the summary ‘Her only daughter has just gone away to college, and Maggie O’Farrell knows she’s turning into one of those helicopter parents she used to mock.’

Having worked in a high school for eleven years in the counseling office, I know a helicopter parent when I see one and the fact that someone used that analogy in their summary felt like this book was written especially for me.

But then things take a dark turn—and you know how I love thrilling disappearance—suddenly this book sounded a lot more interesting that I anticipated. I am fascinated by missing persons cases so when the helicopter mom’s daughter goes missing—-I couldn’t think of passing this one by! Continue reading “Review: Where She Went by Kelly Simmons” →

Book Critic, Book Review, Books, Literary Criticism, Reading

Review: A Golden Grave (Rose Gallagher #2) by Erin Lindsey

by The Lit Bitch1 Comment on Review: A Golden Grave (Rose Gallagher #2) by Erin Lindsey

I read the first book in this historical mystery series, Murder on Millionaires’ Row, back in 2018 and thought it was a solid beginning to her new series.

This author has written other fantasy novels but the Rose Gallagher series is a new genre for her and I thought she made a nice transition but I wasn’t completely sold on the series as there were some things that I thought needed a little working out and polishing.

While I had some reservations, I know that the transition from fantasy to historical fiction can be challenging so I decided to give this series another stab and see how things evolved with this latest installment. Continue reading “Review: A Golden Grave (Rose Gallagher #2) by Erin Lindsey” →