Tag: Suspense

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

Review: A Peculiar Combination (Electra McDonnell #1) by Ashley Weaver

by The Lit BitchLeave a Comment on Review: A Peculiar Combination (Electra McDonnell #1) by Ashley Weaver

I have really enjoyed Ashley Weaver’s Amory Ames books so when I saw she was coming out with a new lady detective series and with a heroine by the name of Electra (Ellie for short), I knew this was going to be a great, great read! Clearing my schedule, I added this one to my early summer reading list and I am so glad that I did!

The Amory Ames series has been fun and I have liked the books I have read, but this book felt so much more complete for some reason (I will get to my thoughts on that in a minute!). Historical mysteries are my favorites, especially when it includes a little romance between the murder and investigating. But as many historical fiction/mystery readers know, WWII and the Victorian era are saturated with books.

So the question becomes how does an author distinguish their new lady detective series? It’s a tough question, for me the thing that caught my eye about this one was the name of the heroine. I loved her flashy and memorable name, it conjured images of a brazen, bold heroine that I just couldn’t get out of my head. That was what made me pick this one up in the sea of WWII historical mysteries!

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

Review: The Photographer by Mary Dixie Carter

by The Lit BitchLeave a Comment on Review: The Photographer by Mary Dixie Carter

This book has been high up on my TBR list for the better part of a year. I have been so excited to read it since I was part of the cover reveal last year and since then I received the coolest book package for this one and it only brought my eagerness to a fever pitch! One of the things that appealed to me so much about this one was its relevance and relatability especially for me as a mom.

Thanks to social media and over the top reality tv, the desire to create the ‘perfect photo op’ is at an all time high. When I had my son, I spent many a midnight hour scrolling mindlessly through Instagram and Facebook at all the perfectly curated baby boutique ads and of course all the tediously arranged and carefully coordinated nurseries and first birthday shoots. To be perfectly honest, I had a massive Pinterest board going for my son’s first birthday party before he was even six months old.

While I loved seeing all the perfect pictures of all the baby and family things, there was a large part of me that was aware that a snapshot isn’t a true picture of all going on. So, after reading this summary, I knew that I would find something I could relate to in some way. Plus I was eager to read a fresh new thriller!

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Books, Reading

Special Feature: Castle Shade (Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes #17) by Laurie R. King

by The Lit BitchLeave a Comment on Special Feature: Castle Shade (Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes #17) by Laurie R. King

I absolutely fell in love with Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes when I randomly picked up The Bee Keepers Assistant years ago. I have since only read a few books in the series and sadly skipped around quite a bit. Now here we are with book 17 being released! I couldn’t believe how far behind I got in this series! Rather than skip around again by picking this one up, I decided to go back and re-read the other books in the series first. So in the coming months you will see more reviews for this series being posted!

But I did want to get this one on your radar! This is a series where you definitely can skip around, I have and I haven’t been too lost. The principal characters are timeless and the author always does a great job keeping new readers and long time fans abreast of the goings on in Mary and Holmes’s lives. Plus the focus is on the mystery so you could easily pick up this book (or any in the series) and find something to love about the characters and stories/mysteries.

If you are a fan of lady detective novels like Veronica Speedwell, Georgie from Her Royal Spyness series, Lady Darby and a host of others, then this series will appeal to you. King is an experienced writer who has kept the character of Sherlock Holmes alive and solving crime with his lady love through ages and I think it’s fantastic. This is a smart, well written series and I have no doubt this latest installment will be equally enjoyable and fun to read! It is out now so make sure to check it out!

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

Review: The Hunting Wives by May Cobb

by The Lit BitchLeave a Comment on Review: The Hunting Wives by May Cobb

When I first saw this one as a Book of the Month pick….I couldn’t click the ‘make my book of the month’ button fast enough. Not only is the cover eye catching and memorable, but the description sounded tantalizing. I have been on the look out for a really good domestic thriller lately, something in the vein of Samantha Downing and this one sounded perfect!

I am sure many of you have seen this book on a number of ‘hot releases’ or ‘most anticipated’ lists this spring and all the buzz made me equally excited and wary. I mean clearly I bought into the hype since I couldn’t get my hands on this one fast enough, however there was part of me that worried that I wouldn’t love it.

The last domestic thriller I read that was getting all the buzz I did not like at all so there was part of me that tried not to hype this one too much in my mind because if I didn’t like it, I didn’t want to feel fully let down. I would say this book fell firmly in the good category for me. I mean I didn’t love it in the way that I hoped but I was content with the book and how things played out.

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

Review: Local Woman Missing by Mary Kubica

by The Lit BitchLeave a Comment on Review: Local Woman Missing by Mary Kubica

If you have followed my blog for a while you will know that I love mysteries. I went through a big mystery/thriller phase a while back and then took a break and read more historical fiction/romance but lately I’ve been reading more thrillers and I was super excited to see this book from Mary Kubica in my review queue.

One of my favorite shows on ID Discovery Channel was Disappeared and all I could think of when I was watching the show was, people just don’t disappear, someone knows something. And when I saw that this was practically the tagline for this book, I was super excited to read it! I haven’t read anything by Kubica before but I certainly know the name so I couldn’t wait to dive into this one.

If you are a thriller/mystery reader you will most likely have this one on your radar. Kubica has written some well loved and popular thrillers many of which have been best sellers so I felt confident that this book would be solid with a seasoned writer like Kubica. If you are looking for a fast paced read this spring, look no further! This one was excellent!

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