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The Husband's Secret
The Husband's Secret
Liane Moriarty | 2013 | Fiction & Poetry
6
7.7 (31 Ratings)
Book Rating
The Husband's Secret focuses on three main characters. Cecelia Fitzpatrick, married to John-Paul with three beautiful daughters. Tess O'Leary who owns a business with her husband, Will and cousin, Felicity and has a son, Liam. And Rachel Crowley, who is still mourning the death of her daughter nearly 30 years after the fact. How do these women's lives intersect, well....Cecelia finds a letter from her husband, not to be opened until his death...she opens it anyway. Tess finds out that her husband and cousin(yes her business partners) have fallen in love with each other. So she takes her son and heads to Sydney and enrolls him in the school which, Rachel Crowley is the secretary and Cecelia is the mother all other mothers love and hate.

The news Cecelia finds in the letter, the thoughts Rachel has about her daughters killer, and the actions Tess take after leaving her husband would make for one exciting story.

I'm afraid this story feel short of the exciting mark. When I first picked it up and started reading, I was dying to find out what was in the letter, but I would have to wait for that. Once the secret was out, I wanted to know what was going to happen next, with everyone's story. But the excitement wasn't there. This wasn't a book, that I had to hurry to get back to, which was very disappointing. I couldn't abandon the book, though because I had to know.

Would Rachel find her daughter's killer? Would Cecelia be able to live with her husband's secret? Would Tess and Will be able to work through their marriage? But getting those answers was not page turning and gripping.

I gave the book three stars because the whole premise behind the book was good, I enjoyed the story as a whole, but there was too much in between the good parts. Don't tell me about a secret letter at the beginning of the story and take three days to tell me what was in it....it's not fair. And what was happening in those three days was not exciting enough to make me wait. The moments just before the opening were the most thrilling.

Don't know if I will read more from Ms. Moriarty or not.
  
Death Waits in the Dark
Death Waits in the Dark
Julia Buckley | 2019 | Mystery
10
10.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Don’t Wait in the Dark, Start Reading This Book
Summer has come to Blue Lake, Indiana, and with it the heat. Lena London and her mentor, bestselling author Camilla Graham, are trying to finish their latest manuscript, but the heat is making it hard to concentrate. However, a visit from Jane Wyland doesn’t prove to be a welcome distraction. Jane and Camilla were acquainted when Camilla first moved to the United States from England, but the two haven’t spoken in decades. Jane arrives to tell Camilla that she knows the secret the Graham family has been hiding, and Jane is going to share it with the world if Camilla doesn’t step up and acknowledge it first.

The trouble is, Camilla doesn’t know what secret Jane is talking about even when Jane implies that it is something from Camilla’s husband’s past. The next day, Camilla and Lena go to try to get more information from Jane so they can figure out what has the woman so upset. However, when they arrive, they discover that Jane has been murdered. What was this secret from the past, and did it get Jane killed?

As much as I enjoyed the first three books in this series, it was nice to see the plot move away from Lena’s boyfriend and focus on another character. This change also allowed the book to have even more of a gothic feel to it than the first three. While I’m not super familiar with that genre, I was definitely able to recognize elements of it as the book unfolded, and I enjoyed seeing how it was combined seamlessly with elements of a cozy mystery. The result works and we get a story that drew me in each time I picked up the book and made it hard to put down. The usual cast of characters are still here, and it was great to see them. The suspects didn’t get much page time, but they work perfectly for the story as it is told here since the main drive was to figure out what secret from the past upset Jane so much. This is a fun twist on the cozy mystery, and if you are looking for something slightly different, be sure to pick it up.
  
The Rembrandt Secret
The Rembrandt Secret
Alex Connor | 2011 | Art, Photography & Fashion, Crime, Fiction & Poetry, Mystery, Thriller
7
7.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
The Rembrandt Secret is a thriller set in the closed and secretive art world. Set during a recession when many dealers and galleries are struggling, the gruesome murder of respected gallery owner Owen Ziegler threatens to reveal a secret that could rock the art world to its foundations.

As a thriller this book works really well; the secret itself (unsurprisingly involving the Dutch Old Master Rembrandt) is revealed fairly early on which means the book can concentrate on what it does best - instilling a sense of paranoia in both the hero (Owen's son Marshall) and the reader trying to work out who the murderer is.

The world of art is also a good choice for this kind of taut thriller; since everyone is trying to find that one previously unacknowledged masterpiece worth millions before their neighbour does nobody trusts anyone else. Marshill did not follow his father into the world of art and so is viewed with even more distrust.

A whole cast of eccentric characters appear, some of which could have a motive, most of them hiding some sort of underhand connection to the victim. As Marshal tries to make sense not only of his father's death but of the strange circles he moved in the secrets come to light one by one - and the body count rises. Someone is eliminating everyone who knows the Rembrandt Secret, including Marshall.

Although I know next to nothing about how the art world works (and I am assuming the portrayal is broadly accurate) it didn't lessen my enjoyment of the book. The plot is not filled with action by any means but instead is driven by the characters, every conversation feeling like the participants are carefully navigating their way thought it trying to gain advantage from the other. I did guess the 'who' in the whodunnit around half way through but it was more of an educated guess than anything concrete so was still fairly suprised when I was proved correct.

There is a lot of conversation about art which didn't interest me much but did add flavour and texture to the book, but it did get a little frustrating sometimes when it didn't have any bearing on moving the plot forward.

Overall I enjoyed this a lot and if I see another of Connor's books I will pick it up and no doubt enjoy reading that too.
  
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Lindsay (1760 KP) rated No Name Baby in Books

Feb 15, 2018  
NN
No Name Baby
4
4.0 (2 Ratings)
Book Rating
I thought to myself when I started reading this. What is this story about. It starts out with Sophie's dream. She was dreaming about three gravestones by a fence. Her mother was calling her from downstairs.

There this big family secret. Sophie blame herself for her mama premature labor. For her mama had loss lots of babies. The new baby is Sophie new living sibling. You could tell their was some secret that the adult were trying to cover up and not tell her. Her Aunt Rae act strange to Sophie though out the book. If you want to find out what this secret is I suggest you read the book. For I am not tell you any spoilers. I thought that Aunt Rae was a bitter woman and could not believe what see did to her niece Sophie.

Several chapter were all about chores and watch the baby. I understand that they were to be Italian-American. Sophie is like the first or second generation to be born in america. You would think that her grandmother, Aunt, Papa, Mamma would teach her about her homeland. Though some Italian word were metion though out book here and there.

I will tell you this I though it was one I could put down and leave down. I though okay what on tv and glance it and then I turn my nook off for bit and turned back on. I would not recommend this book. It was not my cup of tea though that does not mean it was a bad book or anything to do with the author who wrote. It just was not my cup of tea. I will a good read.. I though though to myself a few questions though I can not remember I was thinking when though questions came.
  
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Lindsay (1760 KP) rated No Name Baby in Books

Aug 30, 2018  
NN
No Name Baby
4
4.0 (2 Ratings)
Book Rating
I thought to myself when I started reading this. What is this story about. It starts out with Sophie's dream. She was dreaming about three gravestones by a fence. Her mother was calling her from downstairs.

There this big family secret. Sophie blame herself for her mama premature labor. For her mama had loss lots of babies. The new baby is Sophie new living sibling. You could tell their was some secret that the adult were trying to cover up and not tell her. Her Aunt Rae act strange to Sophie though out the book. If you want to find out what this secret is I suggest you read the book. For I am not tell you any spoilers. I thought that Aunt Rae was a bitter woman and could not believe what see did to her niece Sophie.

Several chapter were all about chores and watch the baby. I understand that they were to be Italian-American. Sophie is like the first or second generation to be born in america. You would think that her grandmother, Aunt, Papa, Mamma would teach her about her homeland. Though some Italian word were metion though out book here and there.

I will tell you this I though it was one I could put down and leave down. I though okay what on tv and glance it and then I turn my nook off for bit and turned back on. I would not recommend this book. It was not my cup of tea though that does not mean it was a bad book or anything to do with the author who wrote. It just was not my cup of tea. I will a good read.. I though though to myself a few questions though I can not remember I was thinking when though questions came.