Littoral Librarian

    What Happened to Ellen? by Nancy Grace

    Publication Date April 22, 2025 “The best way to get away with homicide is to have it ruled a suicide” Once again, it’s time for my CONFESSION: true crime is my biggest guilty pleasure…and this genre is definitely all over the place with some great work, and some real basura. You know, the “wow, that …

    A Clean Mess by Tiffany Jenkins

    Publication Date August 3, 2025 As I freely admitted when I read and reviewed Laura Delano’s Unshrunk, “…I have had my share of interactions with mental health care, and that I honestly feel I’m here thanks in part to the wonders of pharmacology and skilled therapy…I also admit that I have close friends and family …

    The White Crow by Michael Robotham

    Publication Date July 1, 2025 Michael Robotham’s  When You Are Mine (2021), featured Philomena (“Phil”) McCarthy, an officer with the Metropolitan Police in London. When I read and reviewed that terrific novel,  I noted that the “… plot is strong, and I came away hoping for more stories about Phil, her family, and her career. …

    The Missing Half by Ashley Flowers

    Publication Date May 6, 2025 I started listening to the Crime Junkie podcast waaaay back in 2017 (true crime has been my friend for years – when I worked in a public library, I could frequently be found in the 364.1523 section. I have mostly enjoyed it (due to Ashley more than Brit, TBH) except …

    Hidden In Smoke by Lee Goldberg

    Publication Date April 22, 2025 Somehow, in the past few years, Lee Goldberg has made his way onto my list of reliable/favorite authors…you know, the ones that when you see they have a new book, you think, “YES! Definitely gotta get THAT one!” In 2022, there was Movieland, in 2023, Malibu Burning and Calico, in …

    Unshrunk by Laura Delano

    Publication Date March 18, 2025 I will admit right up front that I have had my share of interactions with mental health care, and that I honestly feel I’m here thanks in part to the wonders of pharmacology and skilled therapy. I also admit that I have close friends and family members who have a …

    Murder The Truth by David Enrich

    Publication Date March 11, 2025 Recently, it seems like so many things we in the U.S. have taken for granted are in danger of being eliminated: free speech/expression, right to vote, right of bodily autonomy, etc. It also seems like there are some very brave journalists who are working to alert us to the dangers …

    Lethal Prey by John Sandford

    Publication Date March 25, 2025 There are a few reliable authors whose books barely hit my Kindle before I dive into them. (Elizabeth George, Scott Turow, Robert Crais, Jane Harper, and Michael Robotham come to mind). For years, John Sandford’s books were on that list, but there have been a few recent hiccups along the …

    Nobody’s Fool by Harlan Coben

    Publication Date March 25, 2025 Nobody’s Fool by Harlan Coben Over the past several years, I have read and reviewed several Harlan Coben books, and with the exception of Win, all were four or five stars (although it may have been that Covid screwed up my ability to enjoy my usually reliable authors’ releases). Hmmm. …

    Human Scale by Lawrence Wright

    Publication Date March 11, 2025 As one of the many people who is confused, saddened, and frequently overwhelmed by the situation in the Middle East, I thought The Human Scale by Lawrence Wright might help me out. I am not up to reading a vast litany of historic facts, and I didn’t want a totally …

    The Folly of Realism by Alexander Vindman

    Publication Date February 25, 2025 The Folly of Realism is a difficult book to read, let alone review. I have such admiration for Alexander Vindman and am so deeply saddened by the recent exposure of the new U.S. administration’s seemingly abrupt turnaround from stalwart defender of Ukraine against the Russian invasion to now being a …

    Pro Bono by Thomas Perry

    Publication Date January 14, 2025 Over the past several years, I have read and reviewed several of Thomas Perry’s books, and although my husband is the REAL Perry fan in our household, I have enjoyed most of them a LOT – with only 2019’s A Small Town getting a 3-star “meh” from me – but, …

    Murder Town by Shelley Burr

    Publication Date November 5, 2024 I have a niece who moved to Australia several years ago, and her father (my brother) and his wife have followed them…so I tend to be inclined to read books set in Australia, especially in the mystery genre (Jane Harper being top of my list). So although I had not …

    The Gut-Brain Paradox by Dr. Stephen R. Gundry, M.D.

    Publication Date April 15, 2025 I’ve known a number of people (indluding my daughter and my best friend) who swear by Dr. Gundry (as well as a few who swear AT him). I admit to being a sucker for self-help books that focus on nutrition as the way to improve health. And TBH he has …

    How To Be Enough by Ellen Hendriksen, Ph.D.

    Publication Date January 7, 2025 How To Be Enough by Ellen Hendriksen is one of those rare books that makes me feel like the author can read my mind…and provide some insight into my thoughts/behavior/whatever. It is definitely a book I WISH I could have read thirty (or more?) years ago, as it might have …

    Nine Minutes Eleven Seconds by L.V. Pederson

    Publication Date January 28, 2025 Nine Minutes Eleven Seconds. (9/11 — hmmm). Sounded good. Like my kind of thriller…started slow, and I never really got buried in it like I wanted to. Kept being conscious of how much was left to read — in the end, I confess I skimmed the last third or so …

    Whistle by Linwood Barclay

    Publication Date May 20, 2025 What did I just read? Oh wait, I didn’t actually read it — it turned out to be something I have generally thought of as impossible: this one was a DNF. I have read and reviewed many Linwood Barclay books over the years, and he has consistently been on my …

    I Will Blossom Anyway by Disha Bose

    Publication Date May 6, 2025 I’m not generally a fan of cozy novels, things that are touching and that explore family dynamics…except if there is some murder or mayhem involved. For some reason, I found myself with Disha Bose’s new book I Will Blossom Anyways (thanks to Random House-Ballantine and NetGalley in exchange for my …

    The Quiet Librarian by Allen Eskens

    Publication Date February 18, 2025 Back in 2014, I read The Life We Bury by Allen Eskens, at that time an author I’d never heard of. I loved it! But for some reason, I didn’t read anything else by Eskens until 2023, when I read and enjoyed Saving Emma. I also didn’t know that The …

    Not Our Daughter by Chad Zunker

    Publication Date February 11, 2025 For me, Chad Zunker is one of those reliable authors – in 2022, I read Family Money – four stars. In 2023, All He Has Left was another solid four star read. Then, last year? The Wife You Know – yep, once again, four stars. So this year, when I …