The Eighth Detective by Alex Pavesi (★★☆☆☆)
Audiobook • Library • Mystery • 2020
Short synopsis: Many years ago, Grant McAllister calculated the rules for a mystery novel. He worked out the different orders and possibilities of a mystery, and published seven perfect detective stories into a book. These days, he lives a quiet, isolated life on a remote Mediterranean island… until he’s visited by an editor named Julia who wishes to republish his book and wants to revisit these old stories with him. But Julia starts to notice the inconsistencies in the novel, and she’s on a mission to figure out what’s going on.
This was a tough novel for me, and maybe that’s because I don’t really like short stories. This book was a collection of short stories – seven quick mysteries – and I found it hard to get fully invested in the story. I also found all of the mysteries to be quite underwhelming and with very dissatisfying endings, which tempered my enjoyment. While I liked the bigger overarching plot of the novel, involving Julia and Grant as they discuss each short story and talk about the mechanics of them, I wanted a bit more of them and their dynamic, and less of these really underwhelming mysteries. There’s a twist at the end that was quite interesting, I’ll admit, but by that point, I was just done with the novel and wanted it to be over. So, unfortunately, this wasn’t a hit for me but if you are someone who likes short stories, you may enjoy this book!
The Mostly True Story of Tanner and Louise by Colleen Oakley (★★☆☆☆)
Print • Library • Contemporary Fiction • 2023
Short synopsis: When 21-year-old Tanner starts working as a live-in caretaker for Louise, neither is happy about the arrangement and both spend time ignoring each other. It isn’t until Louise shows up in Tanner’s room at 1 a.m. one night, insisting they need to leave, that Tanner realizes she’s not living with a typical elderly woman.
Oh, I really did want to like this book but it just wasn’t for me. This was our April pick for book club and most of my friends enjoyed it for what it is: a cheesy, relatively brainless read. But I was left wanting more. I didn’t find either Tanner or Louise particularly likable, and I think the author sacrificed character development for making a big “GOTCHA!” at the end of the novel. I didn’t really see the growth of their relationship, either, to understand how they became multigenerational friends. And there were so many twists and turns at the end… it felt overly dramatic and unrealistic. Unfortunately, not a book I’m rushing out to recommend.
A Flicker in the Dark by Stacy Willingham (★★★☆☆)
Print • Owned (Book of the Month) • Thriller • 2022
Short synopsis: Chloe was 12 years old when teenage girls in her town started to go missing… and her father was arrested for their murders. Twenty years later, she’s a psychologist in Baton Rouge, engaged and planning a beautiful wedding. And then it starts happening again. A girl is missing… then another one and another one. These cases seem eerily similar to the ones her father was convicted of. Is there a copycat serial killer out there?
This book has gotten a lot of accolades and won some sort of popularity award through Book of the Month, so I got it for free from them. I was excited to dive in—I’m not a super critical reader of thrillers. I like them to be appropriately spooky with some twists and turns that make sense. I don’t necessarily need to root for the main character, but I want to understand them. In this novel, I could not get past the massive ethical violations of Chloe who is a licensed psychologist and involved in some very problematic behaviors (like prescribing Xanax to her fiancee that she picks up at the pharmacy herself and hides from him…) The overall mystery was an interesting one and I did appreciate the twists and turns the novel took, but there were so many plot holes that were never addressed and I just found it really hard to root for or understand Chloe. She’s a psychologist who needs to find a new line of work and get herself to therapy ASAP.
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