Almost True Confessions: Closet Sleuth Spills All by Jane O'Connor

Good morning, everyone! Today I'm a stop on the TLC blog tour for Jane O'Connor's Almost True Confessions: Closet Sleuth Spills All.

Rannie Bookman needs work. A freelancer who recently thwarted death, her 15 minutes of fame isn't paying the bills. But when she gets a call about a hush-hush new project - the latest bio tell-all from the notorious Ret Sullivan - it looks like things are turning around. Unfortunately, when Rannie arrives to pick up the manuscript she finds poor Ret strangled to death in her bed. The author had her fair share of enemies, not the least of which is an Oscar winning actor she outed as a pedophile. He's been serving a 15 year stint behind bars ever since he attacked Ret and threw lye in her face. That aside, even Rannie can't imagine who would actually kill the author. Could the answer be hidden inside the pages of Ret's latest book?

I have a confession of my own, Almost True Confessions is a sequel to Dangerous Admissions and I've not read it. I was all set for this to be a potential issue but thankfully it wasn't. I know I've missed out on some character development and the story behind Rannie's last incident, which is referred to quite often, but otherwise I was able to jump right into Almost without issue.

As someone who works in publishing, there was a definite appeal right off the bat with this book. O'Connor herself is a veteran of the industry and though I've had somewhat bad luck with other publishing themed mysteries in the past, it didn't deter me from adding Almost to my wish list. So the opportunity to take part in the tour was one I jumped for.

Almost True Confessions kind of exceeded my expectations as a result. First off, it was a bit darker than the bubbly mystery I expected. Second, the various publishing "insider" quips and the notes on upper crust New York City society made the book a bit of a stand out in my opinion. And finally, Rannie herself is an incredibly appealing lead character. She's got depth to be sure - a divorcee and single parent with a college age daughter and a son whose about to be off to college herself, Rannie has all the normal parenting woes to deal with on top of job worries, boyfriend issues, and getting wrapped up in another murder. All in all, a highly enjoyable read!

Rating: 4/5

To see more stops on the tour, check out the official TLC tour page here.

This House is Haunted by John Boyne

After the death of her father, Eliza Caine finds herself in an awkward position. Their house is rented and her position as a teacher at a local girls' school isn't enough to cover it. When she sees an ad for a governess position, complete with housing, she applies and is hired. But the whole thing is odd. She arrives to find that the children's parents aren't in residence. In fact, it was the previous governess who hired her. What's more, no one wants to answer her questions about the Westerlys. The townspeople in Gaudlin are closemouthed and Mr. Raisin, the Westerly's attorney, never seems to have time for Eliza's queries. The children themselves are especially evasive as well when it comes to their parents and even their former governesses. And while the kids are pleasant enough, especially the boy, Eustace, Eliza has sensed something disturbing at Gaudlin Hall. 

John Boyne (The Boy in the Striped Pajamas) adopts a traditional gothic style in his latest, This House is Haunted. The book also serves as a bit of an homage to Charles Dickens with Eliza, her father, and others throughout the book sharing a passion for his work. Dickens even makes an appearance of his own in the tale.

I'm a big fan of Victorian ghost stories and gothic lit and Boyne has done his very well. With a few minor exceptions, this could easily be a story from the actual time period of its setting (in my opinion).

The book is a bit short, but as with all stories I've read in this vein, it is rather dense. It's a great book for settling in on a cold and wet afternoon!

(This House is Haunted officially hits shelves on October 8.

Rating: 4/5

New Releases 10/8/13

Some of the new titles hitting shelves this week are:

Longbourn by Jo Baker

Lighthouse Island by Paulette Jiles

This House is Haunted by John Boyne

The Republic of Thieves by Scott Lynch

The Last Winter of Dani Lancing by P.D. Viner

The Preservationist by Justin Kramon

Storm Front by John Sandford

Pagan Spring by G. M. Malliet

What Lies Beneath by Sarah Rayne

Inherit the Dead ed by Lee Child

White Ginger by Thatcher Robinson

The Alligator Man by James Sheehan

The Antagonist by Lynn Coady

Rasputin's Shadow by Raymond Khoury

Cold Blooded by Amanda Carlson

The Paris Architect by Charles Belfoure

Vicious Circle by Wilbur Smith

Once We Were Brothers by Ronald H. Balson

The Walking Dead: The Fall of the Governor by Robert Kirkman & Jay Bonansinga

Doomed by Chuck Palahniuk

Resist by Sarah Crossan

The Eye of Minds by James Dashner

Death and the Girl He Loves by Darynda Jones

Just One Year by Gayle Forman

Emerald Green by Kerstin Gier

Tandem by Anna Jarzab

The Brokenhearted by Amelia Kahaney

New on DVD:
The Purge
After Earth

New reviews at Bookbitch.com:
A Cold Season by Alison Littlewood
Aunty Lee's Delights by Ovidia Yu

Vicious by V.E. Schwab + a Giveaway

Guys, Victoria Schwab's first adult book is out and it's a doozie! I mean, I was already a fan of Schwab since reading The Near Witch but I was still blown away. And you can be, too! Read through to the end to enter to win your very own copy of Vicious.

When college roommates Eli and Victor take their senior thesis research a bit too far, they both end up EOs - ExtraOrdinaries. Victor is imprisoned and vows to get revenge. Ten years later, free at last, that's exactly what he's set out for. He's joined by Sydney, a strange teenager hiding a secret power of her own, and Mitch, his cellmate, as they set out in search of Eli. But Eli's been a busy boy over the past decade, something Sydney knows all too well.

Yay, right?! Schwab's Vicious is a delicious spin on the classic superhero story. First, the premise that a near death experience can result in abilities is not only a bit different but it's kind of cool. Second, yeah there are arch nemeses but there's not a classic good guy/bad guy scenario here. Instead it's a twisted version that plays out spectacularly.

I really loved the structure of the book as well. Schwab shuttles the reader back and forth through multiple timelines giving the reader little nuggets of info from one chapter to the next. The result is that you start off thinking one thing and soon learn that you were kind of wrong. I'm trying to be just a bit vague so as not to give anything away - 'cause that's the best part!

If you've read Schwab's teen titles, Vicious is quite different. It's not YA for one - it's wholeheartedly and unabashedly adult in content. Which is not to say that Schwab's fan base won't enjoy it but if you've not read her before because her work was "teen" this is your chance to dive in and discover what a talent she truly is.

Rating: 5/5

And now for the giveaway: Thanks to the publisher I'm able to offer up one finished copy of V.E. Schwab's Vicious. To enter, simply fill out the Rafflecopter below before end of October 13. US only and no PO boxes please.


a Rafflecopter giveaway

Never Come Back by David Bell

Elizabeth Hampton's mother has died. It was unexpected, sure, but the real shock comes when the police reveal that they suspect that Leslie Hampton's death is actually murder. From the beginning they seem to have set their sites on Elizabeth's older brother, Ronnie. Though Ronnie is very self-sufficient, his Down Syndrome had left him fairly reliant on their mother. And while Elizabeth has never seen her brother become violent, it appears Leslie had called the police in recent weeks thanks to a particularly nasty tantrum on Ronnie's part. Then Elizabeth discovers something strange: just one month before her death, Leslie changed her will. Elizabeth was certain that it would have been a reaction to the fight the two of them had just prior to the change but that's not it at all. Elizabeth's mother has added a third person to the will. Another Elizabeth who is to inherit a full third of her estate. Who is this other Elizabeth and just how is she connected to Leslie?

David Bell's third thriller is certainly a page turner. I finished it in just one weekend afternoon. Unfortunately about two thirds of the way through I started to feel a bit of a disconnect in the narrative. On the one hand, it seemed as though a lot of logical conclusions and connections were being completely ignored. And yes, people are people so that would likely be the reality of the situation. But when Elizabeth first discovers the other Elizabeth is in the will and calling her mother's lawyer, she doesn't say a word about it to the police. She hears that a strange woman has visited her brother and upon questioning him and hearing him say it was "Elizabeth" assumes he's hallucinating or dreaming.

Obviously by having the characters overlook logical leads they could be thrown out later on to move the story forward. Sadly instead it came across as too simplified.

There also came a point where each new shocking reveal felt too far fetched. The false leads were easy to see beyond and the constant wishy washiness between Elizabeth and her boyfriend as a major part of the plot also started to grate on me. Had other pieces of the book fallen more into place, this actually wouldn't have bothered me at all. Instead, it became one more mark against Never Come Back.

It's not to say that there wasn't anything enjoyable or intriguing about Bell's latest. Obviously I was hooked enough to keep reading. It's simply that the bar is set a bit high when it comes to stories like these for me.

It's also a shame that Cemetery Girl actually sets the bar pretty high itself for this author's work. While not one of my favorite books, it's incredibly well written and quite disturbing. Overall a much better read than Never Come Back proved to be.

Rating: 2.5/5

Top Ten Tuesday: Book Turn-Offs

I've decided to jump on board with Top Ten Tuesday, hosted by The Broke and the Bookish. This week the topic is: Book Turn-Offs.

1. Weird stylistic stuff - I have a really hard time concentrating on super weird or distracting stylistic elements in writing. Not page design, actual writing. House of Leaves was a complete and total no go for me. I made it halfway before throwing in the towel (though honestly even without the weird elements I probably still wouldn't like it.)

2. No quotations! What is it with books that don't use quotation marks? It kind of drives me bananas. I don't know why - probably for the same reason as no 1. 

3. When there's more sex than story. I'm referring to genres other than romance here.

4. Incredibly obvious red herrings - I read a lot of mysteries and thrillers. Red herrings are pretty par for the course but when they're too obvious they can really hamper a plot in my opinion.

5. Too many plot twists - I don't have any sort of limit, mind you. Some stories can work with a ton of twists, if the author incorporates them well. If they start to become too obviously plentiful or off the wall it's never a good sign.

6. No cursing - this is a bit of a pet peeve of mine and it ultimately comes down to good writing. No books don't need cursing but if an author goes out of their way to use acceptable-for-all-audiences language in place of cuss words - and it's obvious - I start to get irritated. There are exceptions, maybe it's an actual character quirk in which case it's fine, but if every character in your book is using "fudge," "shoot," and "darn"... let's face it, people just don't talk like that.

7. Immature narrators - like the above there are exceptions. If your character is supposed to be immature that's fine. If, however, your character comes across as vapid or oddly young when they aren't supposed to be it's just bad writing.

8. Dumbed down fiction - this goes with no 7. I occasionally come across books in which the author seems to think their audience needs to be talked down to. Or maybe it's just the author's style. Either way, this'll pretty much always result in a dreaded DNF (which I hate to do).

That's it. That's all I've got. 

Aunty Lee's Delights by Ovidia Yu

Good morning, everyone! Today I'm a stop on the TLC blog tour for Ovidia Yu's Aunty Lee's Delights.

When the news reports a dead body washed up on Sentosa, Rosie Lee, owner and chef at Rosie Lee's Delights, is instantly curious. Aunty Lee embodies what Singaporean's call kiasu or fear of losing out. To some, this simply means that she's a bit of a busybody. Naturally Aunty Lee begins to wonder who the dead woman might be and when two of the guests at her son's regular wine pairing are missing, Rosie is quick to begin drawing connections. Rosie soon injects herself into the investigation, using her observation and deduction to help the lead investigator on the case. 

From the start of Aunty Lee's Delights Ovidia Yu draws vibrant pictures of her characters through her prose. Aunty Lee, her stepson Mark and his horrid wife Selina, Nina - Aunty Lee's assistant and sometimes focus of Selina's torments, the tasting guests and so many others all come to life through Yu's writing. That and the mouthwatering descriptions of Rosie's dishes are really quite enjoyable.

The downside is that the actual book doesn't read as smoothly as I'd prefer. There are some jumps in the story that come without much explanation, especially when it gets down to Aunty Lee solving the case. The plot itself is interesting and overall the book is a quick and entertaining read but the lack of fluidity did cause me to hang up in a few spots. Eventually I decided to just go with it and see what happened and honestly, for the most part it worked.

Aunty Lee's Delights is a bit cozier than I generally like but it brought to mind Diane Mott Davidson's Goldy Schulz series, one I particularly enjoy. I've also learned throughout the years that mystery series sometimes need to get their feet under them - the first is almost never the best (it took until C for Sue Grafton to hook me). Ovidia Yu's characters are the kind I would enjoy following into a series. I'm not sure if that's to be the case but I definitely enjoyed Aunty Lee's Delights enough to read more from Yu in the future, even with the hiccups.

Rating: 3.5/5

To see more stops on the tour, check out the official TLC tour page here. For more on Ovidia Yu, you can like her on Facebook and follow her on Twitter.