Good Reads & Views

The Mausoleum by David Mark
Fiction

What it’s about: The year is 2010. Two old women are waiting for a dying old man to wake up so they can find out what he knows. The women’s story is told in alternating narratives and skips back to 1967 when the women first met in the graveyard of an isolated village by the Scottish border. WWII, espionage, POWs, Nazis, betrayal, they are all part of the story.

Reviewers say: “Deft writing, a plot filled with strange and unexpected twists, vivid characters, and a constant feeling of foreboding make this a gripping and unusual read” (Booklist). “Mark is writing at the top of his game” (Publishers Weekly).

Author notes: Mark is also the author of an excellent series of police procedurals, starting with The Dark Winter, which introduces DS Aector McAvoy.

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Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gayle Honeyman
Fiction

Eleanor works at an office job, has no friends, no social skills, spends weekends at home with two bottles of vodka, and has the mother from hell. Then she meets the new IT guy and they develop a kind of friendship. Eleanor starts to come out of her shell and begins working on her profound loneliness. Eleanor is incredibly sad but at the same time also incredibly hilarious. The book’s joyful message: It’s never too late! If you like awkward, quirky characters and a character-driven storyline, this book is for you.

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Dark Matter by Michelle Paver
Fiction

Told in journal entries from Jack, one of three members of an ill-fated scientific expedition to the Arctic in 1937, this is an excellent and unusual ghost story. The Arctic summer is brief and winter sets in before long, with no daylight at all. The expedition camp is at Gruhuken, an uninhabited and remote bay, off Spitzbergen, and when a medical emergency arises, Jack is temporarily on his own, with only a pack of huskies to keep him company. But is it truly only Jack and the dogs out there? You can feel the cold and desolation of the place and you keep turning the pages to find out what lurks in the darkness. Very effective evocation of unease . . .

The Good Girl by Mary Kubica          
Fiction 

A daughter of a well-known Chicago judge is kidnapped one evening but her kidnapper has a change of plans.  Colin Thatcher follows Mia, gets to know her routine, and then one night after she is stood up by her boyfriend at a bar, moves in and they leave the bar together.  Colin Thatcher drives her to MN instead of delivering her to the men that hired him to kidnap her.  They spend their time together in a remote cabin while Colin figures out his next move.   Back in Chicago Mia’s mother and a detective, Gabe Hoffman, spend their time gathering clues and information in order to find out where Mia has been taken.  A suspenseful books that leads you down an unexpected path.  Recommended on audiobook. 

The Girl Next Door by Ruth Rendell
Fiction

In the 1940’s a husband kills his wife and her lover, stuffs their cut-off hands inside a tin box and buries it deep in a tunnel that is also being used as a playground by a group of children. During an excavation decades later, the box is discovered and the police starts investigating, asking questions of the kids who played in the tunnel and who are now all retired. Making the original murder just a spring-board for telling a story that involves a group of senior citizens as the main characters, Rendell once again proves that psychological fiction is her forte; she excels at it.

The Silent Wife by A. S. A. Harrison
Fiction

Todd and Jodi live an affluent life in their Chicago lakeside condo. Businessman Todd is a chronic philanderer and part-time psychologist Jodi believes there is “no need to stare reality in the face if there’s a kinder, gentler way.” But reality she must face when Todd gets his current girlfriend pregnant and decides to make some changes in his life that don’t sit too well with Jodi. Everything snowballs from there and Todd ends up dead. Library Journal calls this fiction debut “at once coolly detached and heartbreakingly accurate.” If you’re a fan of psychological suspense then chances are you will enjoy this book.

The Woodcutter by Reginald Hill
Fiction

Wolf Hadda has it all: money, success, prestige, a beautiful wife and a daughter he dotes on. Then the police arrive at his doorstep with a search warrant and arrest him. Trying to escape from custody, he ends up in a traffic accident that leaves him badly injured and in a coma. After serving years in jail for pedophilia and financial shenanigans, and having lost his business, his money, and his wife, he convinces the prison psychiatrist that he should be released. Back in his father’s house in Cambria, Wolf plots revenge on the people who put him in jail and destroyed his life. This suspenseful stand-alone psychological thriller - by the author of the Dalziel and Pascoe detective series – might appeal to fans of Minette Walters and PD James.

The Ice House by Minette Walters
Fiction

Three women living together in an old country house provide ample fodder for gossip to the townsfolk, and even more so when a faceless dead body is found in the old ice house on the property. Could it possibly be the cad of a husband of the lady of the manor, who disappeared 10 years prior, as the Chief Inspector thinks? And was it murder or not? And why do all three women seem to be hiding something? Readers who enjoy the literary style of P.D. James and the psychological elements of some Ruth Rendell novels might want to give Minette Walters' books a try.

Year of Wonders by Geraldine Brooks
FIC Brooks, Geraldine

In this gripping historical novel, based on a true story, Brooks recreates the life of an English village through the recollections of Anna Firth, a widowed servant girl and mother. When the plague comes to a small English village in 1665, the church vicar convinces his parishioners to prevent the spread of the disease by voluntarily quarantining the village. The bubonic plague, though, has taken a foothold and one person after another succumbs. The disease brings out the best and worst of human nature: cowardice, hysteria, madness and mob-violence are countered by compassion, strength and human courage. Well-developed characters and vivid period detail make this an engrossing read.

Darling Jim by Christian Moerk 
FIC Moerk, Christian

This spellbinding modern gothic suspense novel starts out with the discovery of the dead bodies of two sisters and their aunt. Evidence suggests that the aunt imprisoned and starved the sisters. Mysteriously, the diary of one of the sisters shows up in the local post office’s dead letter bin. Young mailman Niall becomes obsessed with the diary’s tale of tragic love – involving the very mesmerizing and seductive story teller Jim – and vows to uncover the truth behind the mystery. Love, lust, murder, betrayal and secrets make for an enthralling read.