reecaspieces

Overview

For fans of Louise Penny and Robert Dugoni, Illusionist is a contemporary crime thriller where PI McPherson must choose between killing an author at a writing retreat in the Pacific Northwest or letting a college student die.

When an illusionist joins the Pines & Quill writing retreat, one of the owners vanishes without a trace in the middle of everyone, but the surrounding would-be witnesses don’t see or hear a thing. That’s when crime boss Georgio Gambino makes a checkmate move against his nemesis, Sean McPherson. He forces a writer in residence to kill another writer and frame McPherson. In a video call, Gambino warns the writer, “If you don’t follow orders, your daughter will die.” Then, he pans the camera to prove access to her college dorm room. 

McPherson discovers that Carmine Fiore, Gambino’s second in command, covets his boss role and is staging a coup. As Gambino’s soldiers traffic drugs, weapons, and humans, Fiore plants incriminating evidence against the notorious Sureños gang. Can McPherson leverage that knowledge for a temporary truce and the gang’s help?

The writers in residence—a former NASCAR driver, a professional triathlete, an architect turned house flipper, and a world-renowned magician who may not be who she appears to be—band together with McPherson to create the illusion of a lifetime.

Review

In true Laurie Buchanan fashion, The Pines and Quill writing retreat will send you reeling…in more ways than one.

This retreat is perfect for the solitude of the writer. And trust me when I say…I want to go and just read. But life does not stay peaceful, even at The Pines and Quill.

Enter Sean Mcphersons’s nemesis, Georgio Gambino. He forces a writer in residence to kill another writer and frame McPherson. In a video call, Gambino warns the writer, “If you don’t follow orders, your daughter will die.” Then, he pans the camera to prove access to her college dorm room. 

Sean McPherson or “Mick” as he is called is my all time favorite. I love his intellect and his magnetism. The author uses all of his attributes to create this suspenseful tale you do not want to miss.

I love this series. It is not necessary that you read them in order, but trust me, you will want to read them all!

Need a good mystery with great characters…THIS IS IT! Grab your copy today.

I received this novel from the author for a honest review.

Purchase Here

Amazon

Bookbub

Overview

In the heart of occupied WWII Paris, an elegant fashion house is the unlikely headquarters of a daring resistance network. Behind closed doors, courageous women vie to save loved ones and strangers alike from the Nazis in this powerful story of survival, friendship and second chances.

France, 1942

Once, Paulette Leblanc spent her days flirting, shopping and drawing elegant dresses in her sketch pad. Then German tanks rolled into France, and a reckless romance turned into deep betrayal. Blaming herself for her mother’s arrest by the Gestapo, Paulette is sent away to begin a new life in Paris, working as apprentice to fashion designer Sabine Ballard.

But Maison de Ballard is no ordinary fashion house. While seamstresses create the perfect couture gowns, clandestine deals and secrets take place out of sight. Mademoiselle Ballard is head of a vast network of resistance fighters—including Paulette’s coworker and friend Nicolle Cadieux—who help escort downed military men and Jewish families to safety.

Soon Paulette is recruited as a spy. Working as a seamstress by day, gathering information at glamorous parties by night, Paulette at last has a chance to earn the redemption she craves. But as the SS closes in, and Nicolle goes missing, Paulette must make life-and-death decisions about who to trust, who to love and who to leave behind…

Review

Once, Paulette Leblanc spent her days flirting, shopping and drawing elegant dresses in her sketch pad. Then German tanks rolled into France, and a reckless romance turned into deep betrayal. Blaming herself for her mother’s arrest by the Gestapo, Paulette is sent away to begin a new life in Paris, working as apprentice to fashion designer Sabine Ballard.

I am in the minority on this one. My friend over at Silvers Reviews loved this book. You can see her review here. We usually agree on most of the books we read. In my opinion, this is more of a 3.5 stars rounded up. This is why I always say…read the book yourself.

This story dragged a good bit for me. And because of the holiday season and the festivities, this is probably my fault. I just had a hard time connecting to this story. Plus, I have read several WWII books lately and it may mean I need a change. Now, I did enjoy it. It was just a tad slow.

All of that being said…this has family drama, secrets. and intensity. Sabine is tough, smart and connected. Paulette starts out a bit naïve. But, she soon turns into a good resistance worker with a unique flair.

Need a good French Resistance tale…THIS IS IT! Grab your copy today.

I received this novel from the publisher for a honest review.

Purchase Here

Amazon

Bookbub

Overview

Susan Mallery, the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Boardwalk Bookshop, returns with the joyful and utterly irresistible story of a mother who couldn’t love her kids more but hopes that, just this once, they please don’t come home for Christmas.  Perfect for fans of Mary Kay Andrews and Julie Murphy! 

Julie Parker’s kids are her greatest gift. Still, she’s not exactly heartbroken when they ask to skip a big Christmas. Her son, Nick, is taking a belated honeymoon with his bride, Blair, while her daughter, Dana, will purge every reminder of the guy who dumped her. Again. Julie feels practically giddy for one-on-one holiday time with Heath, the (much) younger man she’s secretly dating.

But her plans go from cozy to chaotic when Nick and Dana plead for Christmas at the family cabin in memory of their late father, Julie’s ex. She can’t refuse, even though she dreads their reactions to her new man when they realize she’s been hiding him for months.

As the guest list grows in surprising ways, from Blair’s estranged mom to Heath’s precocious children, Julie’s secret is one of many to be unwrapped. Over this delightfully complicated and very funny Christmas, she’ll discover that more really is merrier, and that a big, happy family can become bigger and happier, if they let go of old hurts and open their hearts to love.

Don’t miss Susan Mallery’s brand new novel, BEACH READS, a dazzling, clever and poignant story about the family we’re born into—and the one we create for ourselves, coming March 2025!

Review

I saved this one for closer to Christmas to get me in the holiday mood. I am a BAH HUMBUG. But I do love a good Christmas read!

Julie Parker’s kids are her greatest gift. Still, she’s not exactly heartbroken when they ask to skip a big Christmas. Her son, Nick, is taking a belated honeymoon with his bride, Blair, while her daughter, Dana, will purge every reminder of the guy who dumped her. Again. Julie feels practically giddy for one-on-one holiday time with Heath, the (much) younger man she’s secretly dating.

These characters are fantastic and I enjoyed the family drama and all the little quips! Don’t we all have family drama on one of the best days of the year! 😜.

Susan Mallery weaves an adorable Christmas tale full of Christmas cheer…well at the end of the story!

Need a family drama to get you in the fighting (ugh…Christmas) spirit…THIS IS IT! Grab your copy today.

I received this novel from the publisher for a honest review.

Purchase Here

Amazon

Bookbub

Overview

Detective Galileo, Keigo Higashino’s best loved character from The Devotion of Suspect X, returns in a case where hidden history, and an impossible crime, are linked by nearly invisible threads in surprising ways.

The body of a young man is found floating in Tokyo Bay. But his death was no accident—Ryota Uetsuji was shot. He’d been reported missing the week before by his live-in girlfriend Sonoka Shimauchi, but when detectives from the Homicide Squad go to interview her, she is nowhere to be found. She’s taken time off from work, clothes and effects are missing from the apartment she shared. And when the detectives learn that she was the victim of domestic abuse, they presume that she was the killer. But her alibi is airtight—she was hours away in Kyoto when Ryota disappeared, forcing Detectives Kusanagi and Utsumi to restart their investigation.

But if Sonoko didn’t kill her abusive lover, then who did? A thin thread of association leads them to their old consultant, brilliant physicist Manabu Yukawa, known in the department as “Detective Galileo.” With Sonoko still missing, the detectives investigate other threads of association—an eccentric artist, who was Sonoko’s mother figure after her own single mother passed; and an older woman who is the owner of a hostess club. And how is Sonoko continuing to stay one step ahead of the police searching for her? It’s up to Galileo to find the nearly hidden threads of history and coincidence that connect the people around the bloody murder- which, surprisingly, connect to his own traumatic past—to unravel not merely the facts of the crime but the helix that ties them all together

Review

This is an intricate tale with a unique story that keeps you captive!

Sonoko broke my heart in so many ways. She has just lost her mother and now she is living with her abusive boyfriend. Luckily, one of her mother’s friends figures out what is going on and works to get Sonoko out of the situation. But that is not the only one that has her back!

I loved how this tale twisted around this family. The way this novel begins is with someone leaving a baby at an orphanage. This secret follows the characters throughout and it becomes a guessing game.

Now, since this is translated from Japanese, there were a few places where it was a bit choppy, especially in the conversations. This is minor, just something I picked up on.

Need a quick, twisted mystery…THIS IS IT! Grab your copy today!

I received this novel from the publisher for a honest review.

Purchase Here

Amazon

Bookbub

Overview

In this atmospheric southern cozy debut, Madeline Brimley returns to the bookstore she inherited, discovering that small towns hold deadly secrets.

Madeline Brimley left small town Georgia many years ago to go to college and pursue her dreams on the stage. Her dramatic escapades are many but success has eluded her, leaving her at loose ends. But then she gets word that not only has her beloved, eccentric Aunt Rose passed, but she’s left Madeline her equally eccentric bookstore housed in an old Victorian mansion in the small college town of Enigma. But when she arrives in her beat-up Fiat to claim The Old Juniper Bookstore, and restart her life, Madeline is faced with unexpected challenges. The gazebo in the back yard is set ablaze and a late night caller threatens to burn the whole store down if she doesn’t leave immediately. 

But Madeline Brimley, not one to be intimidated, ignores the threats and soldiers on. Until there’s another fire and a murder in the store itself. Now with a cloud of suspicion falling over her, it’s up to Madeline to untangle the skein of secrets and find the killer before she herself is the next victim.

Review

Madeline has just inherited her aunt’s house and book store. When she arrives at her aunt’s house, she is bombarded with memories. But then she smells smoke. Someone has set the gazebo on fire. Madeline soon realizes she may have an unforeseen battle on her hands.

Madeline figures out real quick that everything is not going to be as she remembers it from her youth. Right off the bat she begins to have threats and then someone is murdered in her new home. This sends her and a couple of her friends on the hunt for a killer.

All of these characters are wonderful. I loved Madeline and all the cast. And believe me, it is a group of southern folk and they will keep you on your toes!

I enjoyed this tale. It is full of drama, great setting and it is just an all around good who-done-it.

Need a good southern mystery…THIS IS IT! Grab your copy today.

I received this novel from the publisher for a honest review.

Purchase Here

Amazon

Bookbub