Tuesday, July 8, 2025

Book Review: The Impossible Fortune


It’s been a quiet year for the Thursday Murder Club. Joyce is busy with table plans and first dances. Elizabeth is grieving. Ron is dealing with family troubles, and Ibrahim is still providing therapy to his favorite criminal.

But when Elizabeth meets Nick, a wedding guest asking for her help, she finds her old instincts are ready to be put to the test again. And when Nick disappears without a trace, his cagey business partner becomes the gang’s next stop. It seems the duo have something valuable—something worth killing for.

Joyce’s daughter Joanna jumps into the fray to help the gang as they seek answers: Has someone kidnapped Nick, and what’s this uncrackable code they keep hearing about? Plunged back into action once more, can the four friends solve the puzzle and a murder in time?

Wednesday, July 2, 2025

Book Review: Last Night at the Disco


In 1977, twenty-six-year-old Lynda Boyle is desperate for fame and a way out of New Jersey. After failing to make her mark as an East Village poet and rubbing elbows with stars at Studio 54, she discovers a new path to glory through two local musicians, Johnny Engel and Aura Lockhart. Lynda believes she alone can transform them into rock ‘n’ roll legends.

Fast forward four decades: Lynda is in hiding after a series of events force her to flee the tri-state area. When she sees Aura inducting Johnny into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, Lynda’s rage ignites. Determined to reclaim her narrative, she sets out to tell her story and secure her rightful place in music history. If she settles a few other scores along the way, that’s just a bonus.

Monday, June 30, 2025

Book Review: Like a Bullet


When Erik Make Loud, retired rock star and a major World War Two nut, hires Cordelia, the Paperback Sleuth, to track down a series of lurid paperbacks about his favourite global conflict (the “Commando” novels by the blatantly pseudonymous Butch Raider) it seems like a routine job. But Cordelia soon discovers the final novel in the series, the incredibly rare Commando Gold, is all but impossible to track down.

The books’ creator (real name Monty Harrington, once a promising young poet and now a depraved drunk) proves easier to find. Writing pulp war stories didn’t come naturally to Monty. Until he met someone who knew all about such stuff during a pub crawl; a genuine ex-commando who, for the price of a pint or two, was willing to provide Monty with authentic anecdotes.

Too authentic, it turns out. Because Commando Gold reveals the details of a real-life commando mission. At the time the mission was top secret. And all these years later, someone is quite prepared to kill to keep it so.

Sunday, June 29, 2025

Book Review: Death of an Ex


Queenstown, New Jersey, feels big when you need help and tiny when you want privacy. For Vandy Myrick, that’s both a blessing and a curse. Now that Vandy’s back in “Q-Town,” her services as her hometown’s only Black woman private investigator have earned her more celebrity—or notoriety—than she figured.

Keeping busy with work helps Vandy deal with the grief of losing her daughter, stitching the seams, cementing the gaps. The memories will always remain, and they come crashing back to the surface when her ex-husband, Phil Bolden, walks back into her life. Promising everything, returning home, restoring family. Until she answers her door to the news that Phil has been murdered. And Vandy decides Phil is now her client.

Thursday, June 26, 2025

Book Review: Writers and Liars


Fifteen years ago, Maia Gold attended a prestigious (and very exclusive) writers retreat hosted by billionaire Argos Alexander on the Greek island of Eris. It’s where she wrote her first book, the one that should have launched a brilliant career. But something dark happened on that island, a betrayal that has hung over Maia ever since.

Now, Maia finds a familiar envelope in the mail. It’s an invitation to return to Eris, and according to social media, she’s not the only one from that first retreat who’s been invited back. Almost all of the writers from fifteen years before have returned to Eris, bringing unresolved resentments with them. This could be the second chance Maia needs to jump-start her dreams. A chance for reconciliation… or revenge.

Sunday, June 22, 2025

Book Review: Dialogue


Robert McKee's popular writing workshops have earned him an international reputation. The list of alumni with Oscars runs off the page. The cornerstone of his program is his singular book, Story, which has defined how we talk about the art of story creation.

Now, in Dialogue, McKee offers the same in-depth analysis for how characters speak on the screen, on the stage, and on the page in believable and engaging ways. From Macbeth to Breaking Bad, McKee deconstructs key scenes to illustrate the strategies and techniques of dialogue. Dialogue applies a framework of incisive thinking to instruct the prospective writer on how to craft artful, impactful speech. Famous McKee alumni include Peter Jackson, Jane Campion, Geoffrey Rush, Paul Haggis, the writing team for Pixar, and many others.

Friday, June 20, 2025

Book Review: The War of the Roses


Jonathan and Barbara Rose are the perfect couple, living the dream in their beautiful house, filled with their precious antiques, their darling children, and their prized Ferrari in the garage. It’s all any red-blooded American could possibly want. But when Jonathan experiences a sudden heart attack (or so he thinks) Barbara realizes that she wants a new life, without him. There’s just one problem: they both want the house. For husband and wife, it’s not just a residence: it’s a passion, one that will escalate an ugly divorce into a full-blown battlefield, complete with weapons and casualties.

In this viciously black comedy, the Roses will each do whatever they can to destroy their better half—no matter the cost to themselves.