mysteries

Harriet Spies

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by Elana K. Arnold
First sentence: “If you’re not a people person, you probably wouldn’t like living at a bed-and-breakfast.”
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Content: There’s a main character who struggles with lying a lot. It’s in the Middle-Grade section (grades 3-5) of the bookstore, but it could also end up in the Beginning Chapter Book section (grades 1-2) of the bookstore as well.

Harriet has gone to live with her grandmother at the bed-and-breakfast she owns for the summer. She’s there not because she wants to be, but because her mother is pregnant and on bed rest, and her father travels too much for work. Harriet’s not entirely happy to be at the Bric-a-Brac B&B, but she’s determined to make the best of it. That is, until the Captain’s binoculars go missing, and no one believes Harriet that she didn’t take them. (Harriet has a bad habit of lying about things. You can see why the adults don’t quite believe her.) So she determines that she needs to find the binoculars to prove to everyone that she didn’t take them! She ropes in her new friend. Clarence, and they set about trying to figure everything out. 

On the one hand, this one is cute and sweet and really hits that 6- to 8-year-old sweet spot. It’s a simple story, but the reader is kept interested in it going through. There are a lot of fun places to see on Marble Island, and Harriet even gets to set up a clubhouse for herself in an old shed and discovers her father’s old dollhouse in that he built furniture. On the other hand, was there a reason for Clarence to be Black? He kind of falls into the magical friend trope – Harriet is a terrible friend to him and just uses him to help figure out the binocular mystery. He, in turn, helps her be a better friend. While I get that he’s Black for diversity’s sake, there’s really nothing indicative of his Blackness. 

Otherwise, though, it’s a fun little book.

Audio book: The Night in Question

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by Liz Lawson and Kathleen Glasgow
Read by Sophie Amoss, Holly Linneman & Mehr Dudeja
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!
Or listen at Libro.fm
Release date: May 30, 2023
Others in the series: The Agathas
Content: There is some mild swearing, talk of out-of-wedlock babies, violence (both domestic and other), and talk of murder. It’s in the Teen section (grades 9+) of the bookstore.

Spoilers for the first one, kind of.

Iris and Alice have developed a pretty solid friendship since solving Brooke’s murder four months ago. Their parents and Alice’s old friends don’t really understand it, but it’s harmless, as long as they refrain from solving any other crimes. But at the winter dance, which takes place at the Levy Castle, Alice stumbles upon another crime: Rebecca Kennedy lying in a pool of her own blood, with Helen Park standing over her. While Rebecca’s not dead, she’s severely injured enough to not say what happened, but the evidence is clear: Park stabbed her. Right? 

Well, Alice and Iris think the police are wrong (again) and take it upon themselves to figure out what happened. It takes them on a twisty path involving family (there’s a genealogy project that lurks in the background), old movie stars, the things people will do for money and fame, and will test the bounds of both Iris’ and Alice’s parents. 

I liked The Agathas, but I think this one is better. I liked the twisty mystery, and how all these disparate parts come together in the end. And while there were twists and turns, I never felt like anything was out of left field. Lawson and Glasgow are good plotters, dropping enough hints and foreshadowing that nothing felt out of place. 

And the narrators were fantastic. They all kept me engaged, helped me figure out who was who and kept the mystery from getting sluggish. This is a smart, fun series – who doesn’t love a couple of kids outsmarting the cops and figuring out mysteries? I’m here these as long as Lawson and Glasgow want to write them. 

AudioBook:Harvest House

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by Cynthia Leitich Smith
Read by Shaun Taylor-Corbett and Charley Flyte
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Or listen at Libro.fm
Content: There are some intense moments involving danger for young indigenous women, instances of racism, some mild swearing, and mention of murder. It’s in the YA section ( grades 6-8) of the bookstore.

It’s the fall, and since the play at school has been canceled, Hughie Wolfe has been looking for something else to do with his time and talents. Enter Sam, who talks Hughie into volunteering at the Harvest House haunted house. This sounds like a good idea until the person in charge decides to set up an “Indian” burial ground and lean into the legend of the “Indian Maiden” ghost at the crossroads. This makes Hughie, who is Muskogee (I think; at least that’s what is sticking in my head and I don’t have the book to check), angry, and so he and his friends decide to investigate the legend and see what truth lies behind it.

It’s part high school drama set in a small Kansas town, nearby Lawrence – Hughie is a sophomore, so there is some drama with bullies and he has his first date with Marie, who is Ojibwe, in addition to the drama about cutting the funds for the drama department – part ghost story. Hughie’s chapters are interspersed with Celeste’s, who is the ghost of the crossroads and whose mission is to protect indigenous girls from the predator that lurks there.

I liked a lot of this book. I liked that it’s an indigenous story set here in Kansas, I liked Leitich Smith’s portrayal of indigenous kids in a non-reservation environment. She really leaned into the racism – so many instances of racism by white people towards the native kids, and in ways they didn’t even think about. I felt like she didn’t go hard enough in the ghost story and backed away from a truly macabre ending, but it is a young YA book, so I can’t really fault that. The narrators were good, though I thought it was dragging by the end, and I sped up the listening speed just so I could finish.

I’m glad it’s out there, though, and I hope it can find its audience.

YA Graphic Novel Roundup 1

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Fly by Night
by Tara O’Connor
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Content there is some swearing, and acts of violence (offscreen) against women. It’s in the graphic novel section of the bookstore.

Dee has come home because her twin sister – whom she hasn’t seen in years since their parents split – has one missing. Dee holds out hope that her sister is still alive, but the adults are hopeless. A Cold trail is a cold trail. Additionally, a local corporation wants to chopd won the New Jersey Pinelines and sent an oil ipile line trhough. Are the two event s connected? And wat is that weir creature that Dee has seen in teh woods?

I liked the environmental side of this story, the way the kids stood up against corporate greed, and their blatant disregard for the land. I did feel that the mystery side of the story got resolved too soon and very quickly (although it made sense, in the end). I liked the supernatural elements and the way O’Connor wove them into the story. Really very good.

Pixels of You
by Anath Hirsh and Yuko Ota, illustrated by J. R. Doyle
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Content: There is some swearing, including multiple f-bombs. It’s in the graphic novel section of the bookstore.

In the near future, AI is just a part of everyday life. They are workers, and drivers, and have begun “reproducing”, creating their own offspring. Indira, a human, has an internship at an art gallery, and the person she is supposed to work with is Fawn, a human-facing AI (an AI in a human-like body). They don’t want to work together at first, but the more they work together the stronger their friendship comes.

This one looks at the ideas of art and identity and friendship, all through the lens of the relationship these two young women have. i have to admit that I didn’t love the last panel; I didn’t think it was warranted with the relationship they had built throughout the book. But that said, I really like the world that these authors have created, and think it wa an interesting one to read.

Girl on Fire
by Alicia Keys and Andrew Weiner, illustrated by Brittaney Williams
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!
Content: there is swearing including f-bombs and violence. It’s in the graphic novel section of the bookstore.

When Lolo Wright is with her brother when is he jumped by police for a crime he didn’t commit, she gets superpowers. She learns how to use those superpowers for good, and to help her friend Rut get away from local gang leader Skin’s influence.

File this one under “important but not good”. I wanted it to be good since it is dealing with important themes of racism and police violence. But, friends, it’s…not. It’s got too much in it, it’s not developed enough, and as much as I wanted to like it, I just didn’t. There are better examples of this story what don’t have a celebrity’s name on it. I’m going to go find one of them.

The Agathas

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by Kathleen Glasgow and Liz Lawson
First sentence: “Alice Ogilvie is crazy.”
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Content: There is some swearing, including 3 F-bombs, some mention of teenage drinking, drug use, and sexual activity.

Alice Ogilvie is persona non grata in Castle Cove: last summer, she disappeared for five days. Everyone in town panicked and sent out searches for her. And then she reappeared, much to everyone’s chagrin, and refused to talk about her summer. She’s trying to get back into school – after being on house arrest for two months – and is failing at it.

Iris is trying to get her and her mother away from her abusive dad. This means she needs money. So, when the school counselor hirs her to be a tutor to Alice, she’s a little wary, but needs the $3,000 enough to take it on. But when Alice’s former best friend, Brooke, goes missing and then turns up dead, Alise is determined to get to the bottom of it. Iris is just along for the ride, and for the reward money. The question is: can two teenage girls figure out the mystery?

If you can’t tell from the title: this is really a straight-up murder mystery, the kind Agatha Christie used to write. It hits all the mystery beats: a dead body, a falsely accused person, and so on. And it did it all really well. I liked the voices of Alice and Iris, and the way the story was told through both of their eyes. I liked that the mystery was just high enugh stakes that I woudl fl a sense of danger when Alice and Iris get into questionable situatons It’s a strong story ad a fun one. Definitely recommended.

Finlay Donovan is Killing It

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by Elle Cosimano
First sentence: “It’s a widely known fact that most moms are ready to kill someone by eight thirty a.m. on any given morning.”
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Content: There is swearing, including some f-bombs, talk of sexual assault, and (of course) death. It’s n the mystery section of the bookstore.

Finlay Donovan’s life is falling apart. Recently divorced, she is spending so much time taking care of her own children that she can’t finish the mystery book she’s supposed to have already had into her editor. Her ex-husband (and his fiance) is no help; he begrudgingly helps her bills when they get too big, but he’s had his lawyer file a motion for sole custody of the kids (even though he doesn’t really want to deal tih the everyday grind of raising them). Nothing seems to be going right.

Then, at a meeting in a Panera with her editor, a woman overhears her talking about the plot of her new book and mistakes her for an assassin. She hires Finlay to off her husband, offeringto pay enough to cover Finaly’s bills for quite a while. Finlay is determined not to dot his (she’s not a killer after all!), but when she’s checking the husband out, he accidentally ends up dead (seriously). Everything goes off the rails after that, with Finaly’s former nanny (who had quit because Finaly’s husband was sexually harassing her) getting in on the deal, and the two of them attempt to figure out who killed the husband while keeping the cops off their trail.

I needed something fluffy that wasn’t a romance, and this definitely delivered. It’s an incredibly smart and funny book, full of twists and turns, while also being a critique of how we look at motherhood and single/divorced moms. It was a lot of fun and the plot was good enough that kept me guessing.

I’m glad there’s a sequel so I can enjoy Finlay some more.

Me, Frida, and the Secret of the Peacock Ring

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by Angela Cervantes
First sentence: “Whether she liked it or not, Paloma Marquez was in Mexico City for a whole month. “
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Content: There are a few intense moments. It’s in the Middle Grade (grades 3-5) section of the bookstore.

Paloma is being dragged to Mexico City because her mother has a fellowship there. It’s the home of her father, who died when Paloma was young, but even that doesn’t make Paloma any less grumpy about not being able to spend the summer with her friends by the pool back in Kansas City.

Once in Mexico, though, things start to change. She discovers the art of Frida Kahlo, art that her father loved, and then meets twins Gael and LIzzie, who pull Paloma into solving a mystery: who stole Frida’s peacock ring.

This was a fun little mystery. Paloma did most of the work, figuring out clues, and learning about her father’s heritage as she worked on the mystery. The book was full of facts about Frida and her life and art, as well as small bits about life in Mexico City. Cervantes never tried to make Paloma Mexican; she was always American, she always looked at life from the outside, but she learned to appreciate the culture and language and life around her.

It was a fun read, and possibly my favorite of Cervantes’ books.

The Vanishing Stair

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by Maureen Johnson
First sentence: “‘Has anyone seen Dottie?’ Miss Nelson asked.”
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!
Others in the series: Truly Devious
Content: There’s some mild swearing and a couple of f-bombs. Somehow, this ended up in the Teen section (grades 9+) of the bookstore, but I’d give it to a younger kid interested in mysteries.

Picking up where we left off… (Thankfully, Johnson gives us a bit of background to help out in the beginning) Stevie was at Ellingham, a non-conformist boarding school in Vermont, until Hayes, a fellow student, turned up dead, and Ellie, another student went missing. Stevie was pulled out of school and brought home, that is, until a powerful senator convinces her parents to send her back. The reason? So she can keep an eye on his son David. Whom Stevie happens to really like. But things don’t go as planned; there’s still a kidnapping/murder left from the 1930s left to be solved, a fellow student is still missing. And Stevie seems to be at the center of it all.

This is a good solid second book in a series, answering some questions left over from the first book, and bringing up new ones. It’s still a delight to spend time with Stevie, Noah, Janelle, and David, and Johnson has a way of spooling out a mystery with just the right amount of information at the right time.

And bonus: the last one is already out! I can’t wait to see how it ends.

Grimoire Noir

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by Vera Greentea and Yana Bogatch
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Content: There are some scary images. It’s in the graphic novel section of the bookstore, but I think this one would appeal to younger mystery lovers (and lovers of the supernatural).

The town of Blackwell is unusual: all of the girls and women in town are witches. And prisoners: there is a magical barrier surrounding the town that prevents the girls and women from leaving: if they do, they will at best lose their powers and at worst, die. Bucky Orson was best friends with one of the girls, Cham (short for Chamomile, if that helps with the pronunciation), but their friendship died when she joined the Coven of Crows. But now, when Bucky’s younger sister Heidi has gone missing and the town is in upheaval (partially because it rains whenever Bucky’s mother cries, and so it’s been raining for a while) and the police don’t seem to be solving anything. So, Bucky takes it into his own hands to find out what happened to Heidi, and discovers a lot of the secrets of the town in the process.

First, this one was gorgeously drawn. It’s all in sepia and black and white with some spots of red and blue and is just beautiful. I loved how Bogatch depicted magic and how she captured the noir feel of the title. And while I enjoyed the story — I liked how Bucky peeled back layers of the town, going back to the origin. I liked that you could look at it through a feminist lens: the women have power, but were deemed “unsafe” by less powerful men, who are keeping them trapped in this town. There’s a lot to think about.

The ending is a bit weak, but for the most part, this was a thoroughly enjoyable graphic novel!

Audio book: The Bookshop of Yesterdays

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by Amy Meyerson
Read by Ann Marie Gideon
Support your local bookstore: buy it there!
Or listen at Libro.fm
Content: There is some mention of sex, and swearing, including f-bombs. It’s in the fiction section of the bookstore.

Miranda Brooks is happy with her life. She has a good job teaching history to 8th graders in Philadelphia. She has a good boyfriend she just moved in with. She doesn’t want to shake things up.

Then she gets a package in the mail — a copy of the Tempest, her estranged uncle’s favorite play — and a note that said uncle has just passed away. Suddenly, she’s off on a plane to LA, the land of her youth, to follow the clues her uncle laid out, to find out the mystery of her past, and how her once-beloved uncle was pushed out of her life.

In addition, Miranda is left sole ownership of the bookstore, Prospero Books, that she has fond memories of when she was a little girl. Through the quest her uncle set, and through the regulars at the bookshop, Miranda slowly finds meaning in what she assumed was a pretty good life.

Oh I enjoyed this one! The narrator was perfect, the story sufficiently bookish, with a side of mystery and romance. It hit all my happy buttons. Not sure it’s high literature, but it was definitely fun.