Book Review: The Self-Made Widow by Fabian Nicieza
By Doreen Sheridan
June 24, 2022So, full disclaimer, I’ve been a huge fan of Fabian Nicieza since the 1990s, when he wrote multiple X-Men titles for Marvel Comics. When I heard that he had moved into writing novels, I was ecstatic. Mortifyingly, I have not yet had time to pick up the first book in the Suburban Dicks series, but…
Book Review: Tell Us No Secrets by Siena Sterling
By Janet Webb
June 23, 2022Tell Us No Secrets plays out across the graduation year of four adolescent girls whose lives are inextricably intertwined. Stonybridge School for Girls is an exclusive—but not top-tier—New England boarding school; it’s the school that families choose if their daughters “couldn’t get into a school like Madeira or Miss Porter’s, or if your mother had…
Cooking the Books: Bayou Book Thief by Ellen Byron
By Doreen Sheridan
June 22, 2022Whether she’s writing under her own name or under the nom de plume Maria diRico, I love Ellen Byron’s culinary cozies. With her latest mystery series, she takes us back to her beloved Louisiana with our heroine, the New Orleans-born but Los Angeles-raised Miracle “Ricki” Jones-Diaz. Ricki was abandoned shortly after birth but was swiftly…
Book Review: The Tuesday Night Survivors’ Club by Lynn Cahoon
By Janet Webb
June 22, 2022After recovering from breast cancer but still reeling from her longtime boyfriend’s defection, Rarity Cole pulls up stakes and moves from St. Louis to Sedona, Arizona. She embraces “her second shot at life” by opening The Next Chapter bookstore, nestled between “a fortune teller’s shop and a place that sells crystals.” Books, chocolate, ice cream,…
Book Review: Balloon Dog by Daniel Paisner
By Doreen Sheridan
June 21, 2022Lem Devlin has had it with being surrounded by art that costs more than his entire life. Working for the Fine Artemis shipping and storage company, he doesn’t mind so much the value assigned to the beauty he sees every day. What bothers him is the casual consumerism that buys an extravagant work of art…
Book Review: A Killing Rain by Faye Snowden
By Doreen Sheridan
June 20, 2022As A Killing Rain starts, our heroine—homicide detective Raven Burns—thinks she’s finally put at least some of her demons to rest. Her father was notorious serial killer Floyd Burns, who used his only daughter as bait in his sick schemes. When Raven grew up, she was determined to put Floyd behind her by enrolling in…
Book Review: Local Gone Missing by Fiona Barton
By Jenny Maloney
June 17, 2022Detective Elise King is convalescing from cancer treatments in the seaside town of Ebbing—a hamlet filled to the brim with gossiping, secret-keeping locals and ambitious newcomers. Elise spends her days gazing out of her front window, watching the comings-and-goings of the people along the street, so she has a front-row view of the music festival…
The Top Shows, Podcasts, and Books About Investigative Journalism
By Julie Clark
June 16, 2022In my next book, The Lies I Tell, I explore the world of con artist Meg Williams. However, I also dive deep into the mind and professional desires of investigative journalist Kat Roberts, a woman whose career was derailed by Meg, and who now wants revenge of her own. I spent a lot of time…
Book Review: Secret Identity by Alex Segura
By John Valeri
June 16, 2022A Miami native, New York’s Alex Segura has spent his professional life balancing two great loves: novels and comic books. In addition to writing the critically acclaimed five-book Pete Fernandez Miami Mysteries series and a variety of short stories (one of which, “Red Zone,” won an Anthony Award), he has also penned multiple comics (“The…
Cooking the Books: The Diva Says Cheesecake! by Krista Davis
By Doreen Sheridan
June 15, 2022Our heroine, Sophie Winston, is Old Town Alexandria’s resident domestic diva—or one of them anyway. With the upcoming midsummer season, she’s busy organizing a waterfront dinner for another local notable, Queen of Cheesecake Bobbie Sue Bodoin. The dinner is set to take place on the same night as a spectacular fireworks display, a midnight run…