reviews

Classic Gothic Meets Surreal Horror Author: Silvia Moreno-Garcia Noemí Taboada expects new dresses, shimmering red lipsticks, suave suitors, elegant parties, and clever conversation. As a glamorous debutante in 1950s Mexico, she would have it no other way, although her frivolities belie her one serious intention – to get her father to send her to college. And her chance does come, but it means a temporary end to the parties and a strange trip to the desolate Mexican countryside to rescue her newlywed cousin, Catalina. Catalina was always as vivacious as Noemí, although in a more dreamy, Grimm's Fairytales kind of [...]

Rock Stars, Missing Children, Cabins, and Ghost Ships Author: Carolyn Keene In her 11th mystery, Nancy sets out on what should be a relaxing vacation, only to get drawn into one of her father’s cases, a suspicious record deal, a ghost ship sighting, a missing treasure, a suspicious estate family, a doppelganger of her new friend, multiple kidnapping attempts, and someone else’s rocky romance. It’s a lot – even for Nancy – and as she treks the forbidding forest around her cabin with Bess, George, and new friend Cecily in tow, she begins to suspect that the disparate mysteries all somehow come together, centered on the Driscoll’s at the nearby estate. A lot is going on in Clue of the Broken Locket, arguably far too much, and the action and adventure is non-stop, as is the danger, near-misses, kidnappings, and assorted threats.  A wider cast of characters [...]

Generations Apart Author: Mary Helen Sheriff Writing fiction about difficult, emotional, real world topics while maintaining an overall light tone is a tough ask. Too far in one direction and the story gets too heavy, in the other it’s inappropriately breezy. While a lot of authors choose to use dark humor or absurdity to maintain a balance between dark and light, Mary Helen Sheriff goes a different way in her novel Boop and Eve’s Road Trip. Boop and Eve are grandmother and granddaughter, both living in Florida. Boop (actual name Betty) is retired; Eve is in her first year of [...]