Mystery and Thriller

My 2019 Reading Roundup

75+ Fiction Titles Consumed!

I was shocked. I knew I listened to lots of audiobooks, but I had no idea how many until I did a count down. It was over 75 and that doesn’t include the books I started and didn’t finish. It also doesn’t include the self-help/business books I read on my Kindle.

Okay, done bragging. Here’s a roundup of my favorites for you, my wonderful readers. Remember, this is totally subjective. Every author’s work was professional, but some books appealed to me more than others.

Mystery/Thriller Titles:

The Good Daughter – Karin Slaughter

Might as well start with a super star. I read three Slaughter novels last year, and I’m reading one now. This was my favorite. Two sisters are the victims of a brutal crime. One is left to die in the woods. One runs. The book starts many years in the future with a new crime. This is a tough read, heavy subjects and dark violence. However the psychology is fascinating.

Then She was Gone – Lisa Jewell

Another master of suspense, Lisa Jewell, knocked this one out of the park. The story is rough and sad and not for the sensitive soul. A woman’s teenage daughter disappears. The not-knowing destroys her family. Several years in the future as she attempts to rebuild her life, the truth comes to light. I read two other Lisa Jewell’s this year; Watching You and The Family Upstairs. They were all extremely well done, but Then She was Gone haunted me.

Keep Quiet – Lisa Scottoline

This one really got me. It wasn’t twisy or surprising. I figured out the end about three-quarters of the way through, but it was my favorite Lisa Scottoline read of the year. (I also read Someone Knows and Don’t Go.) A terrible car accident forces a father to cross ethical lines to protect his son. If you’re a parent, this one will grab you.

The Last Mrs. Parrish – Liv Constantine

This one was a guilty pleasure read. I felt a little ashamed of myself for loving the end as much as I did. A scheming woman befriends Mrs. Parrish, wife of a rich, handsome, well-connected doctor, and begins undermining her marriage. I also read The Last Time I Saw You, which was very good, but Mrs. Parrish wins.

The Marsh King’s Daughter – Karin Dionne

I loved this book. The premise was so unique. A woman raised by a psychopathic father and the teenage mother he abducted tracks him through the marshes when he escapes from prison. If you like smart, strong female protagonists this is the book for you.

An Unwanted Guest – Shari Lapena

If you enjoyed Knives Out, you’ll love this one. It’s a locked-room mystery in the vein of Agatha Christy’s famous And Then There Were None. A group of strangers are snowed in at a ski lodge. There’s a storm brewing, no electricity, and a murderer on the loose. What’s not to love?

Psychological Suspense

You Should Have Known – Jean Hauff Korelitz

This is a slower-paced novel, not a lot of surprising twists, but the premise was clever, and it was well-written. A marriage counselor writers a book about her belief that people choose to ignore red flags in potentially distructive relationships, until they can’t. She has to revise her opinion. The story is slotted to become an HBO miniseries.

The Silent Patient – Alex Michaelides

Again, a slower-paced, more thoughtful novel and very well-written. A psychiatrist takes on a patient who hasn’t spoken since the murder of her husband. She’s been accused of the crime, but unless he can get her talking no one really knows what happened. This one had me guessing for a long time.

An Anonymous Girl – Greer Hendricks and Sarah Pekkanen

A psychiatrist (are you sensing a trend?) is looking for women to participate in a study on morality. The protagonist is broke. The study pays well. But, ultimately, not well enough. This novel is also a movie, but I haven’t seen it.

Educated – Tara Westover

This is memoir, but I think it fits well under psychological suspense. It’s the true story of a girl raised by a crazy father in a one-family Morman cult. It’s brutal, terrifying, uplifting and completely addicting.

My Lovely Wife – Samantha Downing

I don’t know why I liked this book. It was dark and all the characters were problematic, but it captivated me like a car accident. The premise; a man marries a woman with a strange view of the world then has to keep her happy. That’s all I can say without spoiling things.

Supernatural Thriller & Science Fiction

Lock Every Door – Riley Sager

Another story about a young woman who gets caught up in a terrible situation because she’s broke. This time she becomes an apartment sitter in an old, elegant, mysterious New York building. So scary and atmospheric!

The Apartment – S.L.Grey

This one is scarier, gorier, and more supernatural than I generally read, but I thought it was worth a mention for those who like to walk on the wild side. I was attracted to it because it’s about a husband and wife who do a house trade with a couple from Paris. My husband and I traded homes with a family from France two years ago. Our experience was lovely. This one, not so much.

Dark Matter – Blake Crouch

A man is attacked and knocked unconscious. When he comes to nothing is the same. His wife isn’t his wife. He has an entirely different career. His son has never been born. What the heck happened? You’ll have to read the book to find out.

Collecting the Dead – Spenser Kope

A special agent has a special power. Fun and games tracking a serial killer. Despite the topic, this one has quite a bit of humor. The sequel, Whispers of the Dead was a great follow up.

Ink and Bone – Lisa Unger

I read four Lisa Unger books this year. Ink and Bone, a psychic mystery, was my favorite. I’m not always a fan of the psychic, but Lisa Unger is a master of suspense, and she pulls it off beautifully.

General Fiction

What Alice Forgot – Liane Moriarty

I read four Liane Moriarty books this year as research. (I’ve co-written a general fiction novel with a friend that hasn’t been published yet.) What Alice Forgot was far and away my favorite. A woman falls off her spin bike at the gym and loses the last ten years of her life. She must discover why she and the love of her life are getting divorced, why she and her sister are estranged, and who these people who call her Mom are. It was a great read.

A Man Called Ova – Fredrik Bachman

This made me cry. It was lovely, heartwarming and funny. A cranky old man is reformed by two little girls, their spit-fire of a mother, and an even older, crankier cat. It’s also a movie.

The Art of Racing in the Rain – Garth Stein

Never, never, never would I have read this book except a good friend wanted me to. I don’t like books narrated by animals. I don’t like sad books especially if dogs die in them. I don’t know anything about cars or racing, nor am I particularly interested to learn. But I did love this book. I heard it was much better than the movie, which I didn’t see. I’d had enough warm-hearted grief for one year, thanks.

Crime Times Two

Posted by Greta Boris Leave a Comment

I love supporting great mystery and thriller writers and introducing them to you, my fearless readers.

This month, I’d like you to meet Julie Howard, author of The Wild Crime series. Here’s a little Q&A so you can get to know her.

1) I know you had a career in media before you started writing fiction. What drew you to fiction?

Actually, fiction came first. I always wanted to be a novelist, but also needed to earn a living. I got a degree in journalism and went to work in newspapers so that I could write all day long. My goal was to eventually take my journalism experience and translate it into writing fiction. I’ve read a few thousand more books since my college days, and written ever since, so I suppose I’m more ready than ever to write my own novels!

2) We often think because we can string some words together to form a coherent sentence, that writing a story will be a piece of cake. It wasn’t for me. What was the process of transitioning from nonfiction to fiction writing like for you?

To be honest, it was a surprisingly painful process. My journalist brain was screaming “Don’t make stuff up!” While newspaper articles are called “stories”, that’s where the similarity ends. No adjectives, no description, and the murderer is revealed in the first sentence. After struggling a bit, I took a couple of online fiction classes through Stanford University. Those classes were great in leading me through plotting, structure, dialogue and also giving me permission to use adjectives. Now, I have no problem making stuff up. It’s a good thing I never plan to go back into a newsroom.

3) I think setting is so important in fiction, and you write it well. How has your home town of Boise, Idaho inspired your stories?

I lived half of my life in urban areas, both in Sacramento, CA and Las Vegas, NV. The move to Idaho came as quite a cultural shock. Idaho is sparsely populated and there are some very remote towns, miles along dirt roads up into the mountains. I started to wonder what made people want to live so far from others and, then, what would happen if a woman was moved there against her will. That was the genesis of my Wild Crime series. I do have to note that Boise, where I live, is quite urban with a beautiful downtown, great restaurants and cultural activities. The wild outdoors, though, is never far away.

4) Pick one of your favorite descriptive passages from one of your books. Let us read it and tell us why you love it.

The ground was damp but far from muddy, drying quickly as the sun rose higher in the sky. From the trail, there was a view of the valley below and lush green mountains rising far on the other side. Above, snow already coated the topmost peaks. Down below, farm equipment was parked for the winter, fields were harvested and empty, and there was the small cluster of structures marking Hay City.

Not long ago, she would have said the rural scene was a view of nothing; her perspective was one of a city person craving the bustle of roads, buildings, and people. Now, her mindset was changed. There was so much to take in; she could stare out at this vista forever and never truly see it all.

I like this passage because I can completely relate to Meredith’s transition. The longer I live in Idaho, the more I see. This is such an amazing place to live and I’m so fortunate to call it home.

5) Did your main character come to you as a fully formed individual, or did she become one as you wrote? Tell us a little about her.

Meredith Lowe grew up with an absent father and vagabond mother. When she meets her husband her first semester of college, he’s sort of the knight in shining armor who will rescue and cherish her. Whatever self-esteem Meredith has developed is broken down by his abuse and, when this series begins, an idea is already partially formed in her mind: What would happen if he disappeared?

I wanted to start with a stripped-down individual at her worst moment and see what she would do. My character surprised me a few times along the way, and I altered the plot once or twice to better fit her personality. I’m writing the third and final book in the series now and am excited at how she’s come into her own.

6) What are you working on now?

I have a few projects underway. I’m just wrapping up a paranormal mystery that will be released next year. Of course, I’m also writing the third book in the Wild Crime series that will bring some final surprises into my character’s life. Finally, I have a new mystery series under development. I plan to be writing for a long, long time.

Julie Howard is the author of the Wild Crime series. She is a former journalist and editor who has covered topics ranging from crime to cowboy poetry. She is a member of the Idaho Writers Guild, editor of the Potato Soup Journal and founder of the Boise chapter of Shut Up & Write. Learn more at JulieHoward.com.

And you can find her new book Crime Times Two on Amazon.

Book Review: Best Day Ever

Posted by Greta Boris 1 Comment

I traded novels with Kaira Rouda at the Ladies of Intrigue meeting this past October.

She and I were on a panel of thriller authors together. The more I heard about her book, and her perspective, the more I thought we were kindred spirits. I was right.

If you enjoyed A Margin of Lust, I think you’ll love Kaira’s latest novel. It’s a true domestic suspense story.

The book is told from the point of view of Paul Strom, loving husband, model family man, and killer advertising executive. He’s taking his wife away for a romantic weekend in the country and is planning the Best Day Ever.

I’m not going to give any spoilers here, just suffice to say the story layers peel away like the layers of an onion. The farther in you go the more uncomfortable you’ll be. It’s written in true Alfred Hitchcock fashion with that subtle, but increasingly disturbing narrative style that ropes me in.

And, bonus, Kaira is a sweet and lovely woman. It’s always the nice ones who have the most demented imaginations!

I thoroughly enjoyed losing sleep over this one. Give it a read, and let me know what you think.

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