BLEEDING THROUGH (Sandra Parshall)

This novel has been sitting on my bookshelf waiting to be read for months.  My only excuse is that I own the book and I always seem to have something else that's due at the library that I have to read first!  Well, I can tell you that I'm definitely not waiting so long to read the next book in the Rachel Goddard series, Poisoned Ground.  I just wish that Sandy Parshall lived in New England instead of the DC area, so she could visit with our Christie Capers book club!

There is something very special about this series.  Parshall expertly combines elements of intense pyschological suspense, traditional police procedurals, and strong, likable characters whose relationships are realistic.  The setting, rural Virginia, comes through loud and clear.  This series couldn't possibly be set anywhere else, in my opinion.

Veterinarian Rachel Goddard and her love, Deputy Sheriff Tom Bridger, discover the plastic-wrapped body of a young woman, a missing law student, while cleaning up roadside trash with a group of local teenagers.  As Tom begins investigating the girl's murder, Rachel's younger sister, Michelle, shows up in Mason County to stay with Rachel and Tom.  Michelle has a stalker that her husband, Kevin, believes may be a figment of her imagination, but it soon becomes apparent that the man harassing Michelle is VERY real and soon Rachel is also targeted by a stalker.  Is it the same man?  Is there a connection between Rachel and Michelle's tormentors, the death of the law student, who had been investigating what she believed to be the wrongful imprisonment of a local man, and events from Rachel's past?  Trust me, you won't be able to put this novel down!  It has it all - heart-pounding suspense, intriguing characters, and just enough romance. This works just fine as a stand-alone, but for the best reading experience start with Heat of the Moon and then read the next 3 books in this series.  You will love each and every one!

SWEET SALT AIR (Barbara Delinsky)

This novel, I think, harkens back to Delinsky's earlier romances.  Set on Quinnipeauge, a small island off the coast of Maine, the story revolves around childhood friends Nicole and Charlotte,  who have reunited after a 10-year separation to collaberate on a cookbook.  Nicole is a popular food blogger whose husband, Julian, a prenatal surgeon, is desperately seeking a miracle to halt the progression of the MS that could destroy his career.  Charlotte is a travel writer who has spent the last 10 years in search of great local color and, possibly, redemption for past sins.  Both women have been harboring secrets that we know will inevitably come out over the course of their summer together.  Throw in Leo, a local recluse with a big secret of his own, and you have all of the elements for a terrific summer read.

MURDER AT MIDNIGHT (Elliott Roosevelt)

Who knew that Eleanor Roosevelt could be so calm in the face of murder, marital infidelity, and sexual perversion!  I need to do some research to make sure which of these characters are real and which are fictional.  Roosevelt has done a great job of mixing fact with fiction, and the thing I like best about this series is that through it all Eleanor maintains her dignity and behaves in a way fitting to the First Lady of the United States.  I was expecting her to be skulking around like Jessica Fletcher or Hetty Wainthrop, but she never did!

When Judge Horace Blackwell, a member of Roosevelt's elite Brain Trust, is found murdered in the White House (security certainly has been beefed up since the 1930's), one of the black maids is accused of the crime, but Eleanor doesn't believe that she is guilty.  Roosevelt (the author) combines traditional sleuthing with a backdrop of political and social history in this delightful mystery.  Eleanor is an intelligent, take-charge detective who works closely but discreetly with the police and Secret Service to solve the crime.  i would recommend this series to anyone who asked!

VINTAGE (Susan Gloss)

When I saw this book I was thrilled.  There's nothing like a novel full of vintage clothing and women's friendships with some stressful financial dealings and relationships in transition thrown in.  Vintage did not disappoint.  If you are looking for heart-pounding car chases or hi-tech devices, forget it. This book is sweet and a lovely way to spend a weekend.

Violet Turner is the owner of Hourglass Vintage, a clothing shop in Madison, Wisconson.  The shop becomes a haven for several women whose lives are in transition.  April Morgan is a recently orphaned and very pregnant 18-year-old who returns her vintage wedding dress to the shop after her fiance buckles under to the demands of his wealthy, socially conscious parents and allows them to cancel the wedding plans. Amithi is a seamstress, originally from Indai, who discovers that her husband of 40 years has been unfaithful.  Violet herself is in danger of losing her her life's dream, her shop, and her home, to her greedy landlord and ruthless developers.  The three women become friends, supporting each other and finding hope and possibility in life despite their problems.  Uplifting, charming, life-affirming - all of these adjectives could describe Gloss's novel.  If you are a fan of novels like this, as I am, read it.  You won't be sorry!

DAUGHTERS-IN-LAW (Joanna Trollope)

This is vintage Joanna Trollope.  I love the FEEL of her novels, so ordinary, yet so intriguingly English.  The story is told from multiple points of view, so the reader has an advantage over any of the characters.  Rachel Brinkley is the mother-in-law, a woman whose life for years has revolved around taking care of her three sons and her husband, Anthony, a noted painter of birds, plus hosting family gatherings, and dispensing welcome advice.  Edward, a London-based businessman, is married to Sigrid, a Swedish beauty with whom he has an 8-year-old daughter, Matilda.  Middle son Ralph, a socially awkward nonconformist is married to Petra, who was essentailly chosen for him by his parents. Ralph and Petra are the parents of two very young sons.  Both Edward and Ralph have long viewed Rachel and Anthony's home as "home," and their wives have gone along with the idea.  

When youngest brother Luke marries the beautiful and spoiled Charlotte, things begin to change.  Charlotte feels that it is important to establish themselves as independent and self-sufficient, choosing to invite Rachel and Anthony to their home instead of running to theirs at every opportunity, upsetting the established balance  and precipitating crises throughout the family.  Rachel is one of those matriarchs who is used to being in charge and the changing dynamics of the family threaten her relationships with her husband, sons, and daughters-in-law.

Don't look for amazing plot twists and non-stop excitement here.  No one is going to murder anyone or turn out to be hiding their true identity.  Trollope is master at taking an ordinary family with ordinary feelings and making the reader care about what happens next.  Enjoy it!

THE BEST OF US (Sarah Pekkanen)

This is a pleasant novel about 3 friends who attend a 35th birthday party at an exotic retreat in Jamaica.  The honoree is their college friend, Dwight,whose Bill Gates-like success has made him rich beyond all of their wildest dreams.  His beautiful wife, Pauline, has organized the week-long party and invited Tina, Samantha, and Allie with their husbands.  Tina is an exhausted mother of 4 whose marriage is happy and solid as a rock.  Samantha hasn't told any of her friends that she and her husband are in the midst of a bitter divorce and Allie, despite her seemingly happy marriage, finds herself dealing with unresolved feelings for Dwight.  During the course of the party we also discover that uber-organized Pauline has secrets that she has neglected to share with her husband.  All in all, Pekkanen's novel is a is a nice escape from the every day work week.

THE VANISHING (Wendy Webb)

You know how sometimes you don't want a novel to end because it's so good, but you are, at the same time, desperate to get to the end because you're dying to find out what happens?  This is one of those stories.  Unexplained voices, mysterious apparitions, and the disappearance of a famed spiritualist after a séance in a gothic mansion in Minnesota create a wonderful atmosphere of psychological suspense that spans a century.  Webb creates twists and turns and ghostly events enough to satisfy the most discerning horror fan.
Julia Bishop's life is in tatters.  Her husband Jeremy, known as the Midwestern Bernie Madoff, is dead and Julia is broke, friendless, and facing years of legal problems despite the fact that she had no idea that her husband was bilking his clients.  Adrian Sinclair shows up on her doorstep one day and invites her to work as a companion to his mother, who happens to be Julia's favorite author and has been presumed dead for 10 years. Julia can't resist the opportunity to leave her problems behind and move on to a new life, but when she arrives at the beautiful Havenwood estate in the Minnesota wilderness she feels an unexplained familiarity with the mansion and its inhabitants. She attributes the brief blackouts and the voices and apparitions that she experiences at Havenwood to her medication, but when she discovers that Adrian was in Chicago and in the curious crowd when the home she recently abandoned burns to the ground, she begins to wonder exactly what she has gotten herself into.
Webb weaves a tale full of suspense and surprises.  If you are going to be home alone in a remote mansion, you may want to wait to read it.  I can't think of any other reason not to check it out today.  You'll love it!

EMBER ISLAND (Kimberley Freeman)

I have to say that I loved this story of a young woman duped into marriage by an unscrupulous man in need of her money.  I wasn't too fond of the main character, Tilly Kirkland, though.  Young and naïve, she had a little bit too much lust and a bit too little intelligence for my taste.


In 1891 Tilly thinks she is marrying for love after a whirlwind courtship with a man introduced to her by her grandfather.  Her doubts begin during the reception when she realizes that her groom is not as ardent now that they are man and wife.  After her grandfather collapses at the wedding Tilly decides to remain in England to care for him in his final days, leaving her marriage unconsummated as her husband returns home to the Channel Islands to tend to his business. When she receives no replies to her frequent letters to her new husband during this time she begins to fear for his well-being.  After her grandfather's death she finally travels to her husband's estate to join him, only to discover that nothing about her husband and their marriage is as she expected.  After tragedy strikes, the widowed Tilly flees to Australia to begin a new at Starwater with a new identity as governess to Nell, the precocious young daughter of a prison superintendent.
Like Carol Casella in Gemini, Freeman writes two stories simultaneously, but these are connected by place as best selling writer Nina Jones, in the present time, has settled into Starwater, the home of her great-grandmother, Nell.  Nina is suffering from severe writer's block and harboring a secret only hinted at during her portions of the story. She searches Starwater for scraps of her grandmother's diaries and stories in hopes of finding inspiration for her floundering novel.
I would have liked a bit more of connection between the events of the present and the past in this novel.  I also would have liked both Tilly and Nina to be stronger, but I really enjoyed Freeman's historical perspective and both of the storylines.  It's worth reading.