One Week Left

Oh, man. I have eaten a ridiculous amount today! Had lunch at a super yummy Indian buffet and then pizza for supper. I'm thinking salad until Thanksgiving! Probably not going to happen, though.

Seven days left until my trip to Charleston. Seven days left of "vacation." And I'm trying to make the reading most out of it! In the past three days I've finished three more books from the TBR stack and each of them was great. Friday morning, I wrapped up reading Joanna Challis's Murder on the Cliffs, a fun mystery featuring Daphne du Maurier as the main character. And best yet, it's the first in a new series.

Murder on the Cliffs begins with du Maurier taking a research trip looking for inspiration for her writing (she's looking to dig through records in a local abbey). She stumbles upon the body of a young woman and becomes determined to solve what she can only believe is murder in the most foul. Challis introduces a slew of characters, each of which inspires suspicion on the would-be authoress. The dead woman was a local girl with a questionable past. A girl who was set to marry the wealthiest and most eligible bachelors in the area. The fiance seems devastated, but his mother doesn't exactly try to hide her relief that the match has been thwarted, in spite of the terrible circumstances. Daphne herself gains an in with the family by befriending the troubled teenage daughter, Lianne, who was also present when the body was discovered.

See, characters who each have their own reasons to have wanted the woman dead, but who is the actual killer? And how could Daphne not be inspired? I'm a big fan of Rebecca -- it is by far one of my all-time favorite books and one of the definitive (in my mind) gothic reads. And it was super fun to see du Maurier in this light -- I've never read bio material on the author, but this twist on her works for me.

Anywho, happy reading folks! This one hits shelves Tuesday and I'd definitely recommend it to any mystery fans out there.

And, sorry if this seems short this evening. I have to admit that my concentration is elsewhere tonight. Hopefully I won't read this in the morning and decide to scrap it : )

Must apologize readers. I had in my review here (and on BB) that Murder on the Cliffs was Joanna Challis's debut title. Although I believe that Murder is her first official release here in the States, it is not her first published book. I'm having some trouble connecting to her official site, but according to her AuthorsDen page, Joanna's first book, Silverthorn was a 2004 Romantic Book of the Year finalist in Australia.