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Kristy H (1252 KP) rated The Other Mrs. in Books

Mar 19, 2020

The Other Mrs.

Mary Kubica | 2020 | Thriller

9.0

(2 Ratings)

Book Rating

Sadie and her husband inherit a house in Maine after the death of Will's sister, Alice. So they move their two sons from Chicago to chilly Maine, hoping for a fresh start. Moving to Maine means living with Alice's broody sixteen-year-old daughter, Imogen. Will is convinced she's just grieving the loss of her mother, but Sadie isn't so sure. Then their neighbor, Morgan Baines, is found murdered--a death that rocks their small community. Sadie no longer feels safe in her own home, so she starts looking into Morgan's death. But soon she realizes that suspicion is pointed at her own family and that the more she discovers about Morgan's death, the more she has to lose.

This was a great twisty thriller from Kubica. It started off a little confusing, but once it got going, it was completely mesmerizing. It's told from three points of view, and each has you riveted, wondering how they all fit together and what on earth is going on in this small Maine town. Who murdered Morgan Baines--and why?

The gloom of Maine and the creepiness of Sadie's new house comes across quite clear; the book can be downright spooky at times. You're never quite sure who to trust or what to believe, either. I found myself frantically flipping the pages, wanting to find out what was happening. There are a lot of pieces to fit together--angry Imogen, unreliable Sadie, supposedly perfect Will, angsty Otto (Sadie's eldest son), and the Baines and their marriage. I loved trying to piece everything together.

There are a ton of twists and turns and while some seem a little crazy, it made for a wild ride. I guessed a few and gasped at others, so that was fun. I must note, though, that there is a suicide trigger (not a spoiler, as it's Alice's death). There's a lot of detail about her death and as someone who lost someone in that same manner, I found it very hard to read about. So just keep that in mind. However, overall, this was a really captivating and dark thriller. 4 stars.

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Mark @ Carstairs Considers (2585 KP) rated Battered in Books

Feb 14, 2020

Battered

GP Gottlieb | 2019 | Mystery

7.0

(1 Ratings)

Book Rating

Murder Hits Close to Home

Alene Baron runs Whipped and Sipped with her best friend, Ruthie Rosin. Together, the two have turned the café and coffee shop into a healthy choice with a loyal clientele. They serve only the best coffee, and most of their items are vegan, even the sweet treats, that is popular in their neighborhood in Chicago. Alene lives a few blocks away from the café in a condo she shares with her father and her three children. Her world is a little chaotic, but it gets more so when she finds one of her neighbors dead one afternoon. It is clear that he was murdered, and soon Alene is casting everyone in the role of killer. Since she knows everyone who might be a suspect, can she figure out what really happened?

This book has a couple of twists on culinary cozies that I enjoyed, the healthy food that is served and the large city setting. Author G. P. Gottlieb still manages to keep this book feeling cozy despite that setting, and I enjoyed spending time in a bigger city. There are a lot of characters, and their relationships are complicated. There is a list of characters before the book starts, but it didn’t take too long for the character’s personalities to come through and it became easy to keep them straight. There are some prickly characters in the book, and it was actually easy to root for one of them to be the killer. We get a bit of a backstory dump early on, which makes it a little slow to get going. We do need some of this information as the plot unfolds. Once the murder happens, we’ve got several good clues and red herrings. I thought I figured things out early, but I was surprised by the climax. There are a total of thiry recipes in this book, with them leaning toward the healthier side of things thanks to the vegan theme of the café. This book features a slightly different take on the culinary cozy mystery, one I ultimately enjoyed.