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Michelle Carpenter

Book Review: Nine Liars by Maureen Johnson

By Michelle Carpenter

January 25, 2023

In the summer of 1995, nine friends enter a manor in the English countryside, but only seven leave the next day. Two deaths, one axe, and seven potential suspects. In the end, the crime lacks evidence, the police stop looking and no one is ever charged for the murders. The story seemingly ends there –…

Book Review: The Break by Katie Sise

By Michelle Carpenter

January 5, 2023

When you experience a trauma and suddenly your hold on reality starts to slip, who would you trust? Can you rely on your husband, your therapist, your friends – even if all of them seem slightly frightened of you? A theme not often covered in the world of crime fiction, The Break by Katie Sise…

Book Review: Double Exposure by Ava Barry

By Michelle Carpenter

November 21, 2022

With one seemingly simple comment from one character to another, Ava Barry perfectly captures the heart of her newest thriller, Double Exposure:  “Double exposure. A broken piece of film. Damaged imagery, you know?”  Double Exposure is a cat and mouse mystery where the role of the cat and the mouse are constantly interchanging. Set in…

Book Review: Back to the Garden by Laurie R. King

By Michelle Carpenter

September 16, 2022

A frontrunner in the literary world of cold case fiction has emerged this year in the form of Back to the Garden. This new thriller from renowned author Laurie R. King had me hooked from page one. King opens up the novel by diving into the past, and from here seamlessly transports the reader back…

Book Review: Good Rich People by Eliza Jane Brazier

By Michelle Carpenter

January 25, 2022

Not all games are fair, and sometimes the players find that out the hard way. In Eliza Jane Brazier’s novel Good Rich People, two characters are thrust into a dangerously unfair game where they are fighting for their lives. Alternating between the perspective of main characters Lyla and Demi, the plot follows these women of…

Book Review: The Other Me by Sarah Zachrich Jeng

By Michelle Carpenter

August 30, 2021

If life gave you the chance to start over, would you take it? What if that chance wasn’t a choice, but forced upon you? The Other Me, Sarah Zachrich Jeng’s debut novel, follows the unsettling experience of a woman named Kelly Holter whose life is turned upside down when she steps into the bathroom at…

Book Review: The Photographer by Mary Dixie Carter

By Michelle Carpenter

May 24, 2021

What makes something real? Is it something tangible, or is it the feeling something evokes? Mary Dixie Carter poses this question in her psychological thriller, The Photographer. This novel follows a photographer, Delta, who becomes engrossed in the life of her clients, and in doing so seems to create her own version of reality. However,…

Book Review: Shed No Tears by Caz Frear

By Michelle Carpenter

December 1, 2020

The mark of a well-written story is one that immerses the reader and transports them into the writing. That’s exactly what Caz Frear accomplishes in Shed No Tears, the third iteration of the Cat Kinsella detective thrillers. Shed No Tears intricately marries a strong heroine, her dark past, a grisly crime, and the inner workings…

Book Review: Untamed Shore by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

By Michelle Carpenter

February 10, 2020

Silvia Moreno-Garcia’s first thriller, Untamed Shore, is a coming-of-age story set in Mexico that quickly turns dark when a young woman meets three enigmatic tourists. Sharks don’t just swim in the ocean, they can come ashore and slip seamlessly into your life. Untamed Shore attests to this as Silvia Moreno-Garcia juxtaposes the life of Viridiana,…

Book Review: Last Summer by Kerry Lonsdale

By Michelle Carpenter

July 5, 2019

Last Summer by Kerry Lonsdale follows Ella Skye as she struggles to recover memories of losing her unborn son as well as the events leading up to her accident—but she quickly learns that some truths are best left forgotten. The saying goes, “What you don’t know can’t hurt you.” But what if what you don’t know…

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