19. Murder at Haven's Rock by Kelly Armstrong

#8 Casey Duncan/Rockton

listened on Audible - purchased

2023
352 pgs.
Adult murder mystery - series
Finished 2/28/2023
Goodreads rating: 4.41
My rating: 4
Setting: contemporary Northern Yukon, Canada

My comments: The Rockton adventure continues, but in a brand new location in the Yukon where their custom-built community is being constructed.  Haven's Rock is almost complete, but they have been summoned because two of its builders have disappeared into the forest.  The forest is again one of the characters in the story, and much of the plot seems similar to previous plots in the series, which gets a little bit boring/trying, I must admit.  However, there's something about these characters and the setting AND the narrator that just keep me looking forward to more, and I'm thrilled that Ms. Armstrong didn't end the series after #7.  We've still got the major players with the addition of a few new ones....Yolanda, Emily's granddaughter, who has supervised the building of Haven's Rock and ???, the handsome self-proclaimed watcher of all the comings and goings of the community from his "perch."  Never a dull moment, and as much as I mutter about the similarities in the stories, I really look forward to them.

Goodreads synopsis:  Haven’s Rock, Yukon. Population: 0

Deep in the Yukon wilderness, a town is being built. A place for people to disappear, a fresh start from a life on the run. Haven’s Rock isn’t the first town of this kind, something detective Casey Duncan and her husband, Sheriff Eric Dalton, know first hand. They met in the original town of Rockton. But greed and deception led the couple to financing a new refuge for those in need. This time around, they get to decide which applicants are approved for residency.

There’s only one rule in Haven’s Rock: stay out of the forest. When two of the town's construction crew members break it and go missing, Casey and Eric are called in ahead of schedule to track them down. When a body is discovered, well hidden with evidence of foul play, Casey and Eric must find out what happened to the dead woman, and locate the still missing man. The woman stumbled upon something she wasn’t supposed to see, and the longer Casey and Eric don’t know what happened, the more danger everyone is in.

18. Rachel's Story by Leigh Russell

Read on Kindle

2021
244 pgs.
YA dystopia
Finished 2/25/2023
Goodreads rating: 3.74
My rating: 3
Setting: Destroyed world which is now entirely desert

My comments: Dystopian, which I love.  Good story, but too quickly glosses over some of the important, more interesting points.  It ends waiting for the next book.

Goodreads synopsis:  A girl struggles to survive in a dystopian world destroyed by war, where food is scarce, the government rules, and ordinary people only exist to serve.

As a child, living in a post-apocalyptic world, the only person Rachel can rely on is her mother. But when her mother is killed, Rachel is initiated into The Programme, where selected young girls are medicated to make them fertile.

Fearing for her future, Rachel escapes. But freedom comes at a price and Rachel must navigate through a terrifying landscape of persecution to survive.

What is on the other side of the city wall? Will the repressive government hunt her down? One thing is certain. Rachel's world will never be the same again . . .

Rachel's Story is the perfect read for fans of women's fiction and dystopian novels, such as Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale.

2023 Movies

3 movies in 2023

2022 - Just four?

2021 - ONE MOVIE!! (Continued Pandemic)

2020 - 5 movies (Pandemic!)

2019 - 26 movies

2018 - 51 movies

2017 - 49 movies

2016 - 62 movies

2015 - 37 movies

2014 - 46 movies

2013 - 48 movies

2012 - 37 movies

2011 - 54 movies

*6*  Awesome

5  Loved it

4  Liked it

3  It was okay

2  Not great

1  Nope

A Man Called Otto (2/21/23) Tom Hanks was great, as usual (5)

Marlowe (2/20/23) Atmospheric 1930's setting (4)

Missing (2/19/23) Almost completely done through computer and telephone screens (4.5)

WOW movies of 2023

.

REALLY GOOD movies of 2023 (4.5 & 5)  

A Man Called Otto (2/21/23) Tom Hanks was great, as usual (5)

Missing (2/19/23) Almost completely done through computer and telephone screens (4.5).

GOOD/FUN movies of 2023 (3 - 3.5 - 4)

Marlowe (2/20/23) Atmospheric 1930's setting (4)

WASTE-OF-TIME MOVIES OF 2023 

.

Las Vegas February 2023

Five wonderful days!

2/17/23 - 2/22/23

Drove down Thursday after school and spent the night at Fairfield Inn and Suites by Marriott at Dulles Airport (23000 Indian Creek Dr., Sterling, VA 703-435-5300)  They actually answer the phone themselves!  Parked my car there and took the shuttle, which leaves every 30 minutes beginning at 4:30 am until midnight.  Breakfast begins at 5 am and is everything anyone might want!  Note: Pickup was quick and easy.  I ended up spending the night here upon my return, leaving at 5 am and heading righ 

Flight out of Dulles (lots of walking, but a great place to fly to and from) on United, nonstop, leaving around 8 am, arriving in Vegas about 10:30 their time. Picked up by Fran and Terry and we had the whole rest of the day to have fun!

Did so many things this week!  

Two quilt shops:  Christmas Goose and Sew Yeah.

Two shoe shops:  DSW and Desert Birkenstock. Purchased a new pair of shoes at each!

Three movies:  Missing, Marlowe, and A Man Called Otto, all at South Point.

One show:  Van Gogh Immersion Exhibit at Aria - WOW!!

Chinese New Year exhibit at the Conservatory at Bellagio - Year of the Rabbit!

Casino fun:  Four times at South Point (love those free margaritas and the Roulette "slot" machine!)

Meals out and meals in.  So much fun sitting around the kitchen island eating salad, warm bread, fruit, decadent deserts from bakeries and Whole Foods and chatting...

Enjoying the outdoors:  Tule Springs Fossil Beds National Monument AND Desert National Wildlife Refuge

Loved this "slot" machine - spent many hours here (with my free margaritas)

 

On our way to the movies at SouthPoint

 

A teeny, tiny part of the South Point Casino floor

Fran & Terry's rental

We timed it perfectly whilst driving down the strip to see the Bellagio fountains!

Van Gogh Immersion exhibit

Year of the Rabbit at Bellagio Conservatory.  We are able to hit this every year we've been to Vegas in February together - quite a few years' worth now!

Love the Conservatory flowers!

You don't see this signage every day...

Desert Wildlife Reserve.  AMAZING!  1.5 million acres.  2nd largest in the world.  35 natural springs.

Las Vegas mountains.  Everywhere.  Gorgeous.  These are ones that are nearest to the Ranger Station at the Wildlife Preserve.

Time to go home.  At the airport.  I never take selfies, but this was too tempting.

Bye-bye Vegas.  One last look at the strip out the plane window.

Crispy Parmesan Potatoes

1 stick butter
Baby red potatoes
1/2 c. parmesan cheese
To taste:

garlic salt
onion powder
Italian blend
basil
oregano

    or any combination of whatever you desire

Melt the stick of butter in a 9 x 13 glass pan (in an unheated oven set to 400).

Cut potatoes in half and score tic tac toe design one each cut edge (fairly deep).

In a small bowl, mix the cheese and seasonings.  Stir well.

When butter in the oven in melted, stir the dry blend into it well.  

Place the potatoes, cut side down, into this mixture.  

Spray with olive oil cooking spray and sprinkle with salt.

Bake for 45 minutes

Yum!

Movie - A Man Called Otto

PG-13 (2:06)

Wide 1/12/23

Viewed date at 2/21/23 at South Point Casino Cinema with Fran

IMBd: 7.6/10

RT Critic:  69  Audience:  97

Critic's Consensus:  Check all cynicism at the door and allow A Man Called Otto to tug at your heartstrings with its tried-and-true tune -- it just might sing. 

Cag:  5/Loved it, unexpectedly 

based on the book A Man Called Ove by (which I didn't read)

Tom Hanks

My comments:  Otto can't live his life without his beloved wife, so decides to end it all, with hilarious consequences.  When the new neighbors across the street, a young transgender guy who loved Otto's teacher/wife, and a stray cat all come into his life at once during a snowy Pittsburg winter, Otto's grumpy, unhappy life changes. Very well done movie...and of course, Tom Hanks plays it perfectly.  His own son is cast as the younger Otto, which I personally think is quite cool.

RT/ IMDb Summary:  Based on the comical and moving New York Times bestseller, A Man Called Otto tells the story of Otto Anderson (Tom Hanks), a grumpy widower whose only joy comes from criticizing and judging his exasperated neighbors. When a lively young family moves in next door, he meets his match in quick-witted and very pregnant Marisol, leading to an unexpected friendship that will turn his world upside-down.

Movie - Marlowe

R (1:49)

Wide 2/15/2023

Viewed 2/19/23 at South Point Casino Cinema, Las Vegas with Fran

IMBd: 5.8/10

RT Critic: 23   Audience:  37

Critic's Consensus:  Liam Neeson isn't necessarily a bad fit for the classic character, but Marlowe fails to make a case for itself as either a worthwhile franchise extension or a fun mystery in its own right

Cag:  4 Liked it quite well

Liam Neeson, Diane Kruger, Jessica Lange

My comments:  Of the three movies I saw this week with Fran, I liked this the least....though I still found it thoroughly entertaining.  Love Liam Neeson.  Loved the 30s setting and all the fancy sets and costumes.

RT Summary:  MARLOWE, a gripping noir crime thriller set in late 1930’s Bay City, centers around a brooding, down on his luck detective; Philip Marlowe, played by Liam Neeson, who is hired to find the ex-lover of a glamorous heiress (Diane Kruger), daughter of a well-known movie star (Jessica Lange). The disappearance is the first twist in a series of bewildering events, and soon Marlowe is embroiled in a deadly investigation and web of lies that he’s determined to bring to light.

Movie - Missing

PG-13 (1:51)

Wide 1/20/23

Viewed 2/18/23 at South Point Casino Cinema, Las Vegas with Fran

IMBd: 7.3/10

RT Critic: 87  Audience:  90

Critic's Consensus:  Missing can strain credulity in its efforts to keep the audience guessing, but a fast pace and relatable fears keep this twisty techno-thriller from completely losing its way.

Cag:  4.5  Liked it a lot

Actors: no one I knew, all good

My comments:  I loved the premise of this movie, all the sleuthing was done using the internet and with a hired jack-of-all trades in Columbia who only knew a little English, and their discussions were using facetime.  Fast and furious internet abilities, much of the movie was watching the computer screen!

RTSummary:  When her mother (Nia Long) disappears while on vacation in Colombia with her new boyfriend, June's (Storm Reid) search for answers is hindered by international red tape. Stuck thousands of miles away in Los Angeles, June creatively uses all the latest technology at her fingertips to try and find her before it's too late. But as she digs deeper, her digital sleuthing raises more questions than answers... and when June unravels secrets about her mom, she discovers that she never really knew her at all.

17. Found Object by Anne Frasier

listened on Audible

2022
201 pgs.
Adult Mystery
Finished 2/17/2023
Goodreads rating: 4.14
My rating: 4.5
Setting: Contemporary Savannah

My comments: I really like everything I've read by this author.  An investigative reporter, after going undercover to catch an art forger (who she falls in love with) feels that his death is her fault.  She heads to Savannah , where she grew up, and keeps seeing and reliving her famous mother's horrendous murder.  The entire plot keeps you guessing and thinking and totally entertained me on my almost-5 hour flight to Vegas.

Goodreads synopsis:  A journalist begins to question everything she knows about her mother’s murder in a startling novel of suspense by the New York Times bestselling author of The Body Reader.

Culpable in an exposé gone tragically wrong, investigative journalist Jupiter Bellarose takes her boss’s advice: head back to her hometown for a fluff piece and get her world in balance. But in Savannah, the past is waiting.

Twenty years ago Jupiter’s mother, actress and celebrated beauty Marie Nova, was murdered, leaving many in her wake: Jupiter’s father, who has erased memories of his wife’s murder with alcohol. The matriarch of the cosmetics company who helped make Marie a star—and who takes every opportunity to reopen old wounds. Then there’s the fragile cop with blood on his hands, and the killer whose confession no longer seems convincing.

With so many lingering questions, Jupiter must revisit the grisly event that has influenced every decision in her life. Maybe her homecoming will bring closure.

Or maybe the worst is yet to come.

15. The Matchmaker's Gift by Lynda Cohen Loigman

listened on Libby

2022
320 pgs.
Adult CRF/Hist Fict
Finished 2/14/2023
Goodreads rating: 4.21
My rating: 4.5
Setting: contemporary & early 20th century NYC

My comments: I very much enjoyed the metamorphosis that modern-day Abby went through, from learning the divorce-lawyer ropes from an unscrupulous mentor to trying to help divorcing partners come to the true reality of their situations.  The grandmother's story was also fascinating.  A truly memorable story.  Cool cover, too

Goodreads synopsis:  Even as a child in 1910, Sara Glikman knows her gift: she is a maker of matches and a seeker of soulmates. But among the pushcart-crowded streets of New York’s Lower East Side, Sara’s vocation is dominated by devout older men—men who see a talented female matchmaker as a dangerous threat to their traditions and livelihood. After making matches in secret for more than a decade, Sara must fight to take her rightful place among her peers, and to demand the recognition she deserves.

Two generations later, Sara’s granddaughter, Abby, is a successful Manhattan divorce attorney, representing the city’s wealthiest clients. When her beloved Grandma Sara dies, Abby inherits her collection of handwritten journals recording the details of Sara’s matches. But among the faded volumes, Abby finds more questions than answers. Why did Abby’s grandmother leave this library to her and what did she hope Abby would discover within its pages? Why does the work Abby once found so compelling suddenly feel inconsequential and flawed? Is Abby willing to sacrifice the career she’s worked so hard for in order to keep her grandmother’s mysterious promise to a stranger? And is there really such a thing as love at first sight?

16. Keeper of Enchanted Rooms by Charlie N. Holmberg

#1 Whimbrel House

both read on Kindle and listened on Audible

2022
347 pgs.
Fantasy & Historical Fiction
Finished 2/14/2023
Goodreads rating: 4.28
My rating: 3.5
Setting: 1846 secluded island off RI & Boston

My comments: 1846, a world where magic has survived through the centuries but is getting diluted with each generation so there's not much magic left.  A house on an island near Boston is haunted by a ghost - well, actually, the actual house itself is the ghost.  An interesting premise.  A 31-year old writer and a prim, similarly aged housekeeper with slightly magical abilities work together to make the house "livable" at the same time they're being stalked by a powerful foe.  I took a great deal of time reading this, since most of it was off and on while eathing out.  So it went slowly, both literally and physically.

Goodreads synopsis:  Rhode Island, 1846. Estranged from his family, writer Merritt Fernsby is surprised when he inherits a remote estate in the Narragansett Bay. Though the property has been uninhabited for more than a century, Merritt is ready to call it home—until he realizes he has no choice. With its doors slamming shut and locking behind him, Whimbrel House is not about to let Merritt leave. Ever.

Hulda Larkin of the Boston Institute for the Keeping of Enchanted Rooms has been trained in taming such structures in order to preserve their historical and magical significance. She understands the dangers of bespelled homes given to tantrums. She advises that it’s in Merritt’s best interest to make Whimbrel House their ally. To do that, she’ll need to move in, too.

Prepared as she is with augury, a set of magic tools, and a new staff trained in the uncanny, Hulda’s work still proves unexpectedly difficult. She and Merritt grow closer as the investigation progresses, but the house’s secrets run deeper than they anticipated. And the sentient walls aren’t their only concern—something outside is coming for the enchantments of Whimbrel House, and it could be more dangerous than what rattles within.

14. Lonely Hearts by Lisa Gray

#4 Jessica Shaw

listened on Audible/Kindle Unlimited

2021
303 pgs.
Adult Mystery - Series
Finished 2/12/2023
Goodreads rating: 4.31
My rating: 4.5

My comments: Fun to have a little bit of a different perspective than usual for this one, though it flips between characters a lot.  It's about women who first correspond, and then marry, prison inmates.  There's one particularly movie star-handsome serial killer that is the star and center of this murder mystery/fiasco.  It went fast and was really interesting.  I like Jessica.  She's flawed, a fairly hard drinker, bleached and tattooed ... and pretty smart!

Goodreads synopsis:  She found love on Death Row with her prison pen pal. She’s been missing ever since. Can Jessica Shaw track her down?

A missing persons case should be pretty straightforward for private investigator Jessica Shaw. After all, it’s what she does best. But this latest case proves to be anything but straightforward.

Christine Ryan is desperate to find her childhood friend Veronica Lowe. Veronica disappeared more than fifteen years ago, not long after having a child with a Death Row inmate, notorious serial killer Travis Dean Ford. When Ford’s widow, Jordana, is murdered in the same way as his victims, Christine fears Veronica and her daughter will be next. If they’re even still alive…

Discovering that both Veronica and Jordana were members of the Lonely Hearts Club, a pen pal service for women who want to write to men in prison, Jessica realizes she needs to find Veronica before the killer does. But as Jessica follows the leads it begins to feel like someone is following her. Travis has been dead for years, so who is hunting the Lonely Hearts?

Ode to Mud Puddles by Elena de Roo

Ode to Mud Puddles

When you're stuck in the grumps on a gray, rainy day,

When nothing is going the right kind of way,

Put on your rain boots,

Pull on a hat,

And go find a nice, muddy puddle to splat!

Not any sized puddle.

Oh no, not at all.

The puddle you pick

Must be this big

Not small.

A puddle too little

Is splashed in a split.

One tiny Splish!

And it's over, that's it!

A medium puddle's 

A middle-bit better.

At least a few sploshes

I'd never say never.

EVening big puddle isn't the best.

The one that you ust eclipse all the rest

     (I must have not proofread, this doesn't make sense, and I can't find this poem anywhere on the internet...)

Deep as a canyon.

Giant-sized-wide.

So large

You can't see the opposite side.

In wild kind of weather

Whenever it's wetter,

The bigger, the better

THE SPLASH!

          Elena de Roo

          New Zealand poet & children's author

Art Technique to Try: Neurographic Art

This looks so much fun!  An art teacher shows some of her students' work and gives enough directions that I'm sure I could replicate the technique!!!

Mrs. Amsler's Artroom

Another tutorial from Marcia Beckett

from Google:

Also known as doodling, neurographic art is a technique which comprises drawing freeform lines or 'neuro lines. ' These are meant to enable the connection between the conscious and unconscious, gaining access to the inner self by using a specific algorithm or method.

Air Fryer Chick Peas

Great for snack or salad topping!

Rinse, then pat dry, one can of Garbanzo beans/chickpeas

Add 1 T. olive oil

Coat liberally with flavorings:  salt, onion powder, garlic powder, etc.

Mix well.

Air fry at 390 for 20 minutes.

Blueberry Oatmeal Breakfast Bake

2 c. blueberries (fresh or frozen)

2 c. rolled oats

1/2 c. pecans, roughly chopped

1 t. cinnamon

1 t. baking powder

1/2 t. salt

2 cups almond milk

1/4 c. maple syrup

2 T. ground flaxseed

1 T. coconut oil, melted

2 t. vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 375.  Grease an 8 X 11 baking dish.  Place 1 cup of the blueberries at the bottom of the baking dish.

In a large bowl, combine the oats, pecans, cinnamon, baking powder, and salt.  Spred on top of the blueberries.

In a small mixing bowl, combine the milk, maple syrup, flaxseed, malted coconut oil, and vanilla.  Pour over the oat mixture and gently press down to make sure all the oats are covered with wet mixture.  

Sprinkle the remaining blueberries on top.

Bake uncovered in preheated oven until the top of the oatmeal is golden and the mixture is set, about 35 - 40 minutes.  Allow to cool for 5 minutes.

~from Feel Good Foodie

2022 Notes dumped for later

38 of 2022  Louisiana's Way Home - Kate DiCamillo 2018 Kindle (5) 5/10/22 finished Now Dispersed

     What a wonderful, heartwarming, sad-but-fun story.  So much humor, some that I consider adult humor, I wonder how much of it kids will get?  It doesn't matter, Louisiana Elefante is one special girl!

58.  No Mercy (#1 Valerie Law, FBI Profiler) Blake Pierce, 2022 Kindle (3) 9/13/22 gr

    The protagonist seems a little too superficial for me.  The mystery itself was compelling, but she was being written a lot smarter than she actually was, I think.  There was stuff going on in her personal life that seemed stupid, knowing her profession.  Left me with an unsettled feeling, don't think I really liked her, and you're supposed to like the protagonist, right?

59.  Risking It All - Chirp (1) 9/15/22

    OMG, horrible.  Didn't like the female reader at all, the male was not great either.  Five guys live together and they are all amazingly good looking, hot, smart, and think they're wonderful.  Female protagonist has the most ridiculous job, writing letters for people.  How absolutely phony!  The whole story is lovey, lovey, lovey, except for one stupid disagreement.  And the "big" premise?  She's a 27-yera-old virgin...which is mentions dozens of times.  Maybe hundreds!  I would play it to help myself fall asleep at night and didn't care how much of it I missed.  What a waste of time!

Forgot to add, so they have all been (or need to be) renumbered!!! :

61.  Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow Libby (5) 9/21/2022

    Incredible storytelling from all sorts of fascinating points of view.  The story is of three friends and how their friendship progresses for over 20 years.  I must admit I felt depressed throughort the listening of it, there was a lot of darkness and seemingly very little happiness.  Characters and relationships were its strong points, even when I was aghast at the way people who love each other treat each other.

61 now 62.  Hatchet Island (#13 Mike Bowditch) -  Paul Doiron, Audible (5) 9/22 GR

    This was a good one.  Taking place on three tiny islands near Damariscotta, Mike and Stacy - reunited - are witness to horrendous murders and then work in the periphery trying to help solve them.  There's an excellent, interesting cast of characters both within the police/warden/sheriff departments, the scientists and interns that live and work on one of the islands, and the residents that live on the third.  Kayaking, photography, puffins, sea birds, Maine history, and ecology.  Gritty.  Clever.

62 now 63.  The Walled Garden - Robin Farrar Maass, 2022 Chirp, (4) 9/25 GR

    A lovely contemporary novel taking place in England where an American Stanford scholar has travelled to work on her dissertation about a famous gardener and her gardens.  With any references to "the language of flowers," the story is enjoyable to listen to albeit very implausible with lots of unbelievable (yet happy) situations added into the mix.  Lots of pluses and just a few minuses.  Lots of beautiful words and poetry!  Not sure this was the best reader for this novel, but it could've been worse.  My initial though was to rate this a 3.5, but there were so many lovely words and mental pictures created that I decided to go with a 4.

63 now 64. The Midnight Man - Kindle (#1 Slayton Thrillers) Caroline Mitchell 2021 (3.5) 10/4 GR

      Number one in a new series set in England.  Interesting story shown through different perspectives, but mainly that of Sarah Noble, a police officer with a difficult and sad history.  It wasn't quite a thorough as I would have liked, perhaps because it want you to keep guessing.  With a few changes it would have been top rate.

64 now 65..  The Night Whispers (#2 Slayton Thrillers) Caroline Mitchell - 2022 Audible&Kindle (3) 10/6 GR

     I think this was supposed to be scary and a little bit supernatural...  Well, maybe just a tad supernatural, but not scary at all.  Interesting premise, but fell flat. I listened to much of it on my ride to Maine.  Pretty boring, almost fell asleep a couple of times.

13. The Fire and the Ore by Olivia Hawker

listened on Audible

Read for the BookGirls February Challenge

2022
400 pgs.
Adult Historical Fiction
Finished 2/9/23
Goodreads rating: 4.09
My rating: 4
Setting: Mormon Trail, 1856

My comments: The story, based on true family history of the author, is a fascinating piece of historical fiction.  I had to set aside my religious and spiritual beliefs and really look into the personalities of the three main characters, three sister wives.  The first half of the book tells the individual harrowing travel tales of Jane and Tamar as the make their way to Utah and the huge Mormon settlement there.  It puts light on the backgrounds of multiple marriages and how it arose in the Mormon faith.

Goodreads synopsis:  Three spirited wives in nineteenth-century Utah. One husband. A compelling novel of family, sisterhood, and survival by the Washington Post bestselling author of One for the Blackbird, One for the Crow.

1856. Three women—once strangers—come together in unpredictable Utah Territory. Hopeful, desperate, and willful, they’ll allow nothing on earth or in Heaven to stand in their way.

Following the call of their newfound Mormon faith, Tamar Loader and her family weather a brutal pilgrimage from England to Utah, where Tamar is united with her destined husband, Thomas Ricks. Clinging to a promise for the future, she abides an unexpected surprise: Thomas is already wedded to one woman—Tabitha, a local healer—and betrothed to still another.

Orphaned by tragedy and stranded in the Salt Lake Valley, Jane Shupe struggles to provide for herself and her younger sister. She is no member of the Mormon migration, yet Jane agrees to marry Thomas. Out of necessity, with no love lost, she too must bear the trials of a sister-wife.

But when the US Army’s invasion brings the rebellious Mormon community to heel, Tamar, Jane, and Tabitha are forced to retreat into the hostile desert wilderness with little in common but the same man—and the resolve to keep themselves and their children alive. What they discover, as one, is redemption, a new definition of family, and a bond stronger than matrimony that is tested like never before.

12. FInlay Donovan is Killing It by Elle Cosimano

#1 Finlay Donovan 

listened on Libby

2021
355 pgs.
Adult Funny Tongue-in-cheek mystery
Finished 2/5/23
Goodreads rating: 4.05
My rating: 5
Setting: contemporary suburban Virginia

My comments: I kept thinking, at many points, that there's no way she can get herself out of this.  I was proven wrong over and over again.  This book is funny and lighthearted as well as eye-rollingly nutty in places....and I loved it.  Reminded me a bit of Stephanie Plum, but much better, right down to the sidekick.

Goodreads synopsis:  Finlay Donovan is killing it...except, she’s really not. A stressed-out single mom of two and struggling novelist, Finlay’s life is in chaos: The new book she promised her literary agent isn’t written; her ex-husband fired the nanny without telling her; and this morning she had to send her four-year-old to school with hair duct-taped to her head after an incident with scissors.

When Finlay is overheard discussing the plot of her new suspense novel with her agent over lunch, she’s mistaken for a contract killer and inadvertently accepts an offer to dispose of a problem husband in order to make ends meet. She soon discovers that crime in real life is a lot more difficult than its fictional counterpart, as she becomes tangled in a real-life murder investigation.

Fast-paced, deliciously witty, and wholeheartedly authentic in depicting the frustrations and triumphs of motherhood in all its messiness, hilarity, and heartfelt moments, Finlay Donovan Is Killing It is the first in a brilliant new series from award-winning Elle Cosimano.