This Will Make It Taste Good by Vivian Howard

I am always on the hunt for new, fabulous cookbooks that will add something unique to my own cooking experience. Vivian Howard's This Will Make It Taste Good: A New Path to Simple Cooking is certainly that kind of cookbook!

While I appreciate the standard cookbook formatting, divisions mostly made up of type of dish, Howard's approach is very different. Chapters in her book are actually what I would call mother recipes. And each dish within that chapter uses the header/mother recipe as a component. 

In other words, recipes that will make the other recipes (some of them otherwise standard fare) taste good!

The book opens with Little Green Dress, a briny, herby condiment that is then used to transform dishes such as biscuits, a twist on deviled eggs, ranch dressing, and tuna salad, amongst others. In addition to each chapter's actual recipes, there's also a list of simple ideas for using the mother recipe that includes things like adding it to basic dishes like baked potatoes, mixing it into guacamole, using it as a topping for soups, you get the idea. 

There are a total of ten of these mother recipes: Little Green Dress, R-Rated Onions, Can-Do Kraut, Red Weapons, Citrus Shrine, Community Organizer, Herbdacious, Quirky Furki, V's Nuts, and Sweet Potential. All of these can be used in sweet and savory dishes and some of them can even be doubled up—the I Wish I Was a Cheese Baller is a fantastic baked cheese dip that uses both V's Nuts and Sweet Potential, for example. 

Each of the mother recipes keeps for a bit (depending on how you store them) and are essentially canning and pickling recipes, if you really think about it. 

I'm still just so blown away by how different this book is compared to the others on my cookbook shelves. And if you follow Howard on Instagram, she's been featuring one of the recipes each month, inviting folks to cook along with her and show off all of your creations with the recipe!

This is the perfect cookbook for anyone looking for something a little different. Nothing is overly complicated, everything is incredibly tasty, and you'll have a pantry and fridge stocked with some amazing and versatile new must haves :)

Facets of Death by Michael Stanley

Happy Wednesday! Today I'm a stop on the Random Things Tours for the latest Michael Stanley mystery, Facets of Death. 

It's Detective David Bengu's (aka Kubu) first day on the job and it appears he'll be delving into an exciting case of missing luggage. 

But then, an armored vehicle is reported stolen. 

Shortly after it goes missing, the vehicle is found. Two of the employees of the shipping company have been shot, a third is missing. And the cargo—a case from a local diamond mine—has disappeared. 

The case is one that fascinates the new detective and it's his first opportunity to work out in the field. The company usually transports their diamonds via plane but just that day the plane in question caught fire, landing the pilot in the hospital. And so an emergency plan was enacted: three identical cases would be loaded onto three different armored transport vehicles. Two of the cases are filled with gravel and the third is filled with uncut diamonds. No one is to know which case has the actual diamonds until they arrive at their destination. 

It's supposed to be a foolproof plan and one that only a small number of people know the details of. Obviously, the plan isn't as foolproof as believed and someone has been carefully planning this heist for some time!

I think that it would be safe to say that this is the book every Michael Stanley fan has been waiting for! 

Back in 2008, the authors made their debut in the series with A Carrion Death, but there were hints about Kubu's early days as a detective. Facets of Death is a prequel to the series, set before A Carrion Death. Which also means it's a great starting place for anyone who isn't familiar with the South African detective series!

Kubu comes across a bit like a Columbo in this one. His mind is always going and his very different track to detective—recruited rather than working his way up the ranks—means he has a different approach to the investigations at hand. Not that that's always a great thing! He's called out after questioning the airfield employee and pilot for not quite asking the right questions!

It's fun to see Kubu learning his way into the role! And as always, I enjoy the peek inside a culture and country that are so literally foreign to me!

Her Last Holiday by C.L. Taylor

Good morning, readers! Today I'm a stop on the TLC blog tour for C. L. Taylor's Her Last Holiday. 

Fran's sister has been missing for two years. Everyone is certain that Jenna is dead. And self-help guru Tom Wade is sure to be responsible. After all, he was charged in the deaths of two other people at the same retreat Jenna was attending when she disappeared. But Tom has never confessed. 

And now Tom is free. And hosting another wellness retreat with the help of his wife, Kate. And Fran's mom wants Fran to go undercover in hopes that she can finally learn what really happened. 

From the start, Fran is sure that they're on to her. Especially when she struggles to keep to her scripted cover story. But it's not until she starts to fear for her own life that she realizes just how dangerous this trip might turn out to be!

Two women, two retreats two years apart! So yeah, it's clear from the start that there's something fishy about Tom Wade and his SoulShrink business, considering we know the man has been in prison for just over a year, but it's not immediately apparent exactly what the danger might be. 

The book is split into two timelines: then, with Jenna's trip to Gozo, and now, which alternates between Fran's and Kate's perspectives. 

In Jenna's timeline, the first hint that things are off occurs to the reader but not Jenna herself. When she arrives, nail polish she didn't pack has spilled all over her clothes. And that right there sets the tone for what readers can expect in her story. It's a gray cloud of foreshadowing that looms over what's supposed to be a great opportunity for Jenna. 

In the present timeline, though, we immediately learn there's trouble in paradise. Kate has helped her husband build his business and she's determined to get it back up and running now that he's free. But Tom has come out of prison changed. It's apparent to the reader, though, that there have been issues between Tom and Kate for some time and his apprehension about getting back in the game sets her off pretty quickly. 

Fran herself isn't meek, but she isn't one to stand out. And while she'd already traveled to Gozo to look into Jenna's disappearance, she's not jumping at the opportunity to play detective at her mother's behest. And yet, she does it anyway. Because she feels guilty about her last interaction with her sister. 

All of these threads are woven together as the story begins, drawing the reader into a plot that is as carefully built as a spider's web. And as impossible to pull yourself out of, too!

Her Last Holiday is an incredibly immersive read. A perfect page turning thriller that explores family drama and the shady side of the self help industry...and that's just part of the story!

To see more stops on the tour be sure to check out the official tour page here. 

For more on the author and her work you can visit her website here. You can also follow her on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram and subscribe to her YouTube channel!

Purchase Links: HarperCollins | Amazon | Barnes & Noble

Mirrorland by Carole Johnstone

Happy Friday! 

Today I'm super excited to be part of the Random Things Tours for Carole Johnstone's debut, Mirrorland!

When her twin sister El goes missing in Scotland, Cat returns to her childhood home certain that her twin is still alive. What she finds there are clues not only to El's fate, but reminders of a past she'd buried long ago.

Mirrorland is an unsettling read about the bond between sisters who've shared deep trauma. 

Throughout their early childhood, El and Cat used their budding imaginations to cope with things that only become clear as the book progresses. 

They live in a creaky old house with their grandfather and their mother, both of whom have temperaments that are as tempestuous as the sea their grandfather once made a living on. 

Each of the rooms in the house has a different theme. There's a clown room,  a jungle room, a princess's tower, and through a secret door in the pantry, there's Mirrorland. 

Mirrorland was their secret and their salvation. 

But Cat left years ago. And now El has disappeared. Cat feels in her soul that her sister is alive, and that feeling is spurred on by notes Cat begins to receive. Notes that hint at El's fate. Notes that bring up memories Cat has long forgotten. 

It quickly becomes clear that Cat has something of a hard time determining the difference between what she remembers as fiction and her very real past. Johnstone's debut is both twisty and disturbing, forcing the reader to face—alongside the main character—a very dark history and the ways in which Cat has coped with that for so long. 

As I said, it's unsettling, to say the least. And parts of the story are quite disturbing as well. But in Cat, and El, Johnstone has built two characters who are complicated and full of depth. Characters who clearly have been through things. 

Johnstone is such an immense talent! The pacing is so exquisitely thought out, and it's really all I could do not to jump ahead just to find out what happened to El and how Cat would come through it all!

Mirrorland is out now in the UK and in the States!

Creep by Jennifer Hillier

Sheila Tao would appear to have it all. In fact, she’s recently engaged and planning a wedding to a man she loves very deeply. 

But Sheila has secrets. First and foremost is her sex addiction, which she’s been working on for three years. Second is the affair she’s been having with one of her teaching assistants. 

She knows it’s time to come clean to her fiancé. But she’s afraid it’ll mean losing him. She’s certain, though, that it’s time for her affair to end. Unfortunately, her lover doesn’t agree!

The good folks over at Simon & Schuster just recently rereleased Jennifer Hillier’s debut, Creep, and I figured what better time to read it :)

I have to admit that while I’ve been familiar with Hillier’s name for a while, I only just started reading her during The Covid Times with her latest, Little Secrets. But of course I knew I had to read more once I’d finished that one!

Creep is a pretty dark read. And, I should mention, the first in a duology (followed by Freak). 

When we meet Sheila, she’s about to end her affair with her TA Ethan Wolfe. It’s an affair that we learn began in the wake of hearing of her father’s death. Obviously, given that we learn that Sheila is a regular attendee of Sex Addicts Anonymous and in therapy as well, the death of her father was a bit of a breaking point for her. She’d been doing well until then, and had even become involved seriously with her now fiancé. But...

Sadly though Sheila is a well respected psychology professor, she missed some key clues as to Ethan’s personality. 

Ethan is not willing to let Sheila go. And he makes that abundantly clear!

Sheila is a hard character to actually like. Which is not to say that I didn’t empathize with her. Reading her story, though, is like watching a horror movie: you’re yelling at her the whole time not to do the thing she’s about to do!

She does feel very real as a character, as well. Her issues make her vulnerable to Ethan and his ilk. They also lead to a very real problem in her relationship. And this is a big part of her story. Even if she hadn’t been cheating, even if she hadn’t crossed paths with a sociopath, even if she hadn’t strayed off the path of recovery that she’d been working so hard to uphold, she still knowingly keeps key information from her fiancé. And that was always going to be a problem for her. 

Of course her relationship issues with her fiancé are just a small part of the plot :)

I really enjoyed the twist ending in Creep! Of course, reading it now as opposed to when it originally released, I was well aware that there was a sequel and the whole time I was reading I was wondering how the story would continue. I can’t say that I didn’t have my suspicions, but I was still very pleased with how the story played out!

If you haven’t read Hillier yet, now is the perfect time to start! The rerelease of Creep is out now—I’d also recommend scooping up a copy of Freak alongside it because you’re definitely going to want to dive straight in!

Order a copy from your favorite indie via Bookshop!

In the Company of Men by Véronique Tadjo

Good morning, everyone! Today I'm a stop on the Random Things Tour for Véronique Tadjo's In the Company of Men. 

In 2014, Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone became the site of a horrific Ebola outbreak. As the virus raged through the countries, it spread fear and death far and wide. It was two years before the epidemic was declared over and it claimed many thousands of lives. It is this outbreak that inspired In the Company of Men: The Ebola Tales. 

This was not an easy read both for the topic and the times. I've read about Ebola before, but in a more clinical and distanced way. Here, Tadjo brings readers inside the Ebola epidemic with vignettes told by everyone from nurses on site and people tasked with safely burying the bodies to the trees that witness the epidemic wreaking havoc on the human population. 

Each chapter is a different viewpoint. A different experience of the virus. And reading it amidst a global pandemic, it's hard not to see similarities. 

As a nurse outlines the fear that results in those around her when they learn that she works with Ebola patients, it's impossible not to think of all the hospital workers who have been dealing with Covid. That particular piece was moving also when the nurse touches on lack of funding and patients having to buy their own first aid materials to bring with them. 

There are so many parts of this book that made my heart ache. A paragraph about a young girl waiting for her parents' bodies to be removed. Waiting so long that she herself becomes infected. In another chapter, we return to a daughter who was sent away—her father hoped she'd be spared and yet, she's already infected. She survives but her family and even her village are gone. 

The human stories are counterbalanced by nature's voice. The baobab tree, the bat, and even Ebola itself. And when people declare the virus gone, all three know that humans face many threats. The worst threat, though, is humankind itself. 

In the Company of Men is a moving book. The chapters are short, but this is, as you'd probably expect from the subject, a heavy read. It's one that makes you think and one that sits with you well beyond the final pages. 

Vanished by James Delargy

Happy Friday! Or a hopefully Happy Friday! I'm set to get my second vaccine dose today :)

I'm also a part of the Random Things Tour for James Delargy's latest, Vanished!

A family has gone missing and the police have a growing suspicion that foul play is involved. 

Lorcan, Naiyana, and their young son, Dylan, have been making a go of living in an abandoned mining town in rural Australia. According to Lorcan's parents, they last heard from the family at Christmas and the lack of contact since is definitely abnormal. 

When the police arrive, they find the family's commandeered house abandoned and no evidence of anyone in sight. Alive that is. They find blood, a vehicle with slashed tires, and a barely charged phone hidden in the dirt. 

It seems apparent that something bad has happened to the family. It also becomes apparent that the family weren't just roughing it for fun—they were hiding from something. 

What a fabulously fun thriller! 

The book alternates between Detective Emmaline Taylor, who's been called in as one of the officers investigating the disappearance, and the family themselves. So the how and why plays out in parallel to the actual missing persons case. 

It's a clever format because it means the reader gets to see what's going on with the family and experience their points of view leading up to the actual disappearance while also following the detectives and discovering clues alongside them. 

The pacing was also pretty brilliant. We meet Lorcan and Emmaline when they arrive in Kallayee and there are only hints of why they're actually there. Much of the earlier chapters are their attempts to fix up the house, find water, and chronicle those efforts for YouTube views and a possible book. But there's a dark cloud that's clearly hanging over everything. 

Meanwhile, Emmaline herself proved to be probably my favorite character in the book! A single woman in her twenties, pressured by her family to settle down, but perfectly happy as an investigator moving up in the police ranks! 

This is a great example, too, where setting becomes a bit of a character itself. An abandoned mining town that was the scene of a collapse that resulted in the deaths of a number of miners. Rickety falling down buildings and dirt and dust as far as the eye can see. The skeleton of a dead kangaroo greets the family and later becomes a landmark for the police as well. Reading this in the midst of a spring snowstorm couldn't prevent me from almost being able to feel the sun and the grit on my own skin!

Vanished is my introduction to Delargy's work and I absolutely cannot wait to read more!