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A Fashionably French Murder

Colleen Cambridge

8.0 (1 Ratings) Rate It

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American expat Tabitha Knight has found a new life in postwar Paris, along with a delightful friend...

Katie Guinn (34 KP) rated My Husband's Wife in Books

Dec 7, 2018

My Husband's Wife

Jane Corry | 2017 | Fiction & Poetry, Mystery, Thriller

6.0

(4 Ratings)

Book Rating

Lily Macdonald is a young, newly married lawyer, determined to make a fresh start and leave her secrets in the past. But her first murder case, representing a convicted killer named Joe, will threaten her happy future.

*sigh* I’m getting really burned out on “domestic thrillers,” guys. The kind that center around husbands and wives with secrets and strained relationships, that focus on the minutiae of everyday life than on any real action. The kind that likes to tout themselves as “the next Gone Girl.” Give me a good suspenseful serial killer novel, with a twisty plot and an actual likable main character!

That’s one of my biggest problems with these sorts of books, every character is just so hard to like that it’s difficult to connect with anyone or really feel invested in the story. Lily and Ed Macdonald are two people who honestly shouldn’t have married in the first place; they barely knew each other and neither of them knows how to communicate unless it’s in the form of an argument. Their nine-year-old neighbor, Carla, gains some sympathy at first as she copes with bullies and the feeling of being “different,” Unfortunately, when the story picks up more than a dozen years later, Carla hasn’t changed very much. She still thinks and acts like a child, turning out to be, in my opinion, the least likable character in the book. A note to all the thriller authors out there: it’s not a crime to write characters that people like.

I gave this one three stars because while the writing and plotting was decent, it’s ultimately a forgettable novel. Also, it’s no Gone Girl.

Kudos

Mark @ Carstairs Considers (2326 KP) rated Lost Light (Harry Bosch #9) in Books

Jan 26, 2019

Lost Light (Harry Bosch #9)

Michael Connelly | 2003 | Crime, Fiction & Poetry

8.8

(6 Ratings)

Book Rating

Bosch Shines Light on a Cold Case

It's been several months since Harry Bosch retired from his job as a homicide detective in Los Angeles. He's attempting to adjust to life as a civilian, but he can't resist when another former cop mentions a cold case they'd both worked on. Angella Benton was strangled in the entrance to her apartment building. Just as Bosch was beginning to investigate, the heist of two million dollars from a movie set gave the case a bigger profile, and the robbery homicide division took it over. Four years later, the murder remains unsolved and the money has not been found. But Bosch has barely begun poking into it again before he is warned off. Is someone still interested in this case? Can Bosch solve it without his badge to open doors for him?

I enjoyed seeing Bosch working without his badge, overcoming the added obstacle of not having any official business looking into this case. While he may not be a cop, we still did get cameos by many of the series regulars, and it was great to check in with them. The characters are strong as always, with Bosch leading the pack. I was surprised to find that this book was narrated first person, something I always enjoy. I hadn't run across that in a Harry Bosch book yet. The case itself was gripping with plenty of twists and turns to keep us engaged up until the end. I listened to the audio version narrated by Len Cariou, who does a great job except for one character. Fortunately, that character isn't a major player in the action of the book.