This Is Not a Game

This Is Not a Game by Kelly Mullen, 320 pages

When widow Mimi received an invite to socialite Jane Ireland's charity auction, her inclination is to say no. Despite being neighbors on small, car-free Mackinac Island, they've never been friends and Mimi's always though Jane's relationship with her son-in-law was just too scandalous for words. But along with the invitation, Mimi also gets a threat to buy a specific item or have her deepest secret revealed. Mimi invites her game-designer granddaughter Addie along for moral support, but when Jane turns up dead before the evening is over, Addie's amateur sleuthing skills and love of classic murder mysteries comes in handy. Especially once the party becomes snowbound and everyone in attendance is a suspect.

Set in a grand mansion complete with a conservatory, study, lounge, observatory, basement speakeasy, and secret passages, and with an eclectic group of party guests in themed period costume, this homage to Clue could easily be a cheap imitation of the classic movie and board game, especially once the blackmail element enters the scene. However, the well-plotted clues and red herrings, as well as Addie's game-design background, keep the story fresh and captivating. I had the hardest time settling on whodunnit, switching my guess from chapter to chapter as more information was revealed, and honestly didn't guess the outcome (though looking back, the clues were there — I just missed them in all the other information!). An excellent throwback to classic locked-room mysteries, highly recommended.

Funny Story

Funny Story by Emily Henry (2024) 384 pages

Daphne got her dream job as a children's librarian when she moved halfway across the country to a small town in Michigan, where Peter, her fiancė, wanted to move, to be back near his family. It's just a few weeks from their wedding when Peter breaks their engagement ‒ he realizes he is in love with his best friend from childhood, Petra. Daphne is devastated. Petra's boyfriend, Miles, is devastated as well, and Daphne ends up moving into his apartment because she needs a place to live. In a moment of drunkenness, they RSVP that they're coming to Peter and Petra's wedding. They even decide to pretend that they're now dating.

There's some friend drama, too, when Daphne realizes that she doesn't really have any friends that weren't Peter's friends. 

There's family drama, as well. Daphne's dad left her and her mom when she was small, and she learned that she couldn't count on him. These trust issues spill into how she handles her relationship with Miles.

At the beginning of the book, Daphne is counting the days before she can leave Michigan. Will she follow through, or will she find out she can stay on her own terms?

Haunted to Death

 

Haunted to Death by Frank Anthony Polito (2024) 294 pages

Peter and his fiancé, JP, host a hit reality TV show called Domestic Partners, where they find and restore old houses in a Detroit suburb. JP's background as an actor helps, as does Peter's background as a writer. Their current project is to restore an old manor home that has been vacant for many years. 

Fiona Forrest has just turned 25 and learned the manor is now hers. Her parents were heirs to a fortune, but unhappy in marriage. They had hosted a Halloween party 25 years ago, when her mother turned 25, and her mother fell (or was pushed) to her death from a balcony during the party. Not long after that, her father and his second wife were killed on their honeymoon. Fiona was raised by her nanny and her husband, and not told about her background until recently.

Now, Peter and JP and their crew are at the manor, and weird things keep happening. Some vandalism and some ghostly sightings have caused some injuries and some near misses. Is the place haunted?

A funny novel written with a share of suspense in a zippy style.

Funny Story

Funny Story by Emily Henry, 387 pages

A year ago, Daphne moved to a small town in Michigan with her fiance, Peter. She didn't know anyone except for Peter's friends, but managed to find her dream job as a children's librarian at the town's small library. Daphne's wedding was just a few weeks away when Peter returned from his bachelor party confessing that he's in love with his lifelong best friend, Petra. And, oh yeah, Daphne needs to move out, because Petra's moving in. With no friends of her own, Daphne goes to the one person she knows has room to spare — Petra's ex, Miles. When Daphne and Miles receive matching invites to Peter and Petra's wedding just a few months later, they decide to pretend to be madly in love, to show their exes that they're just fine without them, thankyouverymuch. But somewhere along the way, pretending to date starts feeling real.

Fake dating is a tricky romance trope to pull off, and the setup for this situation is a bit hard to believe, since Daphne and Miles know absolutely nothing about each other before living together. The book is good and I'd recommend it to Emily Henry's legion of fans — the relationship develops well and their hang-ups definitely seem plausible — it's just that initial setup that seems a bit awkward to me. But I'll happily accept that it's a "me" thing.

Tom Lake

Tom Lake by Ann Patchett (2023) 309 pages

The pandemic of 2020 works its way into another story: Lara, who had a brief career as an actor, had known Peter Duke (who became a famous actor), meeting him at Tom Lake, a summer stock theater in Michigan. Now, though, in 2020, she's the wife of a cherry farmer, and she and her family are picking cherries as fast as they can. The pandemic has cut the number of workers at the farm, but the cherries can't wait. Lara's three daughters, all in their twenties, are back at home because of the pandemic, and are pumping her for her past while they work. The young women are amazed that not only was their mother an actor in plays, commercials, and a movie, she worked with and knew Peter Duke quite well.

The story switches back and forth between the life of twenty-something Lara and the present. We also get to know the girls, one of whom wants to be an actor, too, and can't believe her mother just gave it up. Another daughter is working towards her veterinary degree, and the oldest is happy working on the farm with her parents, living with her sweetheart in a small house on the property.

I found the novel to be extremely engaging. The characters feel real. Highly recommended.

What Looks Like Crazy on an Ordinary Day

What Looks Like Crazy on an Ordinary Day by Pearl Cleage (1997) 244 pages

Ava is HIV positive and isn't sure what to do with her life now. She closes her salon in Atlanta and returns to her childhood home in Idlewild, a small town in Michigan where her older sister still lives, with the intent to stay for a couple of months before moving to the West Coast. Idlewild is no longer an idyllic resort community. The young people haven't jobs or education and crime is increasing, along with the pregnancy rate. Ava's sister Joyce is newly widowed and is finding new purpose in trying to bring resources to young women. Her dead husband's best friend Eddie is an amazing resource, as well. When Joyce is finally about to get a grant to accelerate her work, the pastor's wife throws a wrench into the works. Ava gets pulled into her sister's interests and ‒ well, read it and you'll be pulled into the action as well! It was my second time reading this novel, and it was every bit as good as I'd remembered.

Firekeeper's Daughter

Firekeeper's Daughter by Angeline Boulley, 494 pages

Daunis is still dealing with the unexpected death of her uncle earlier in the year when additional tragedies strike Daunis' tight-knit Ojibwe community — meth is taking its toll on the young people around Daunis, and she's soon swept into an FBI investigation that's trying to take down the makers and sellers of a particularly bad version of the drug. Meanwhile, she's also trying to get her start in college and stay connected with her community through cultural practices and hockey.

This is a wonderful YA mystery that sheds light on indigenous culture, hockey culture, and the nuances of life on and off the reservation. I loved this glimpse into Ojibwe culture, as well as the way Boulley and her heroine didn't shy away from some of the problems that are inherent to rural and Native American communities. Also? That cover is AWESOME.

Early Morning Riser

Early Morning Riser by Katherine Heiny, 317 pages

Jane lives in a small Michigan town and works as one of the elementary school's two second grade teachers. She doesn't have many friends, she buys almost everything in her house from the thrift store, and her boyfriend, Duncan, is the woodworker who has slept with just about every woman in town. Over the course of several years, Jane settles into her life, creating a family with Duncan, his bossy ex-wife and her odd new husband, Jane's mandolin-playing best friend, and Jimmy, Duncan's mentally challenged assistant. It's an odd life, yes, and sometimes particularly challenging, but it is what it is.

This was an odd, but oddly likeable book. Basically the entire plot is spelled out in that paragraph above, but the book is so much more about the relationships between the characters, and the humor of life. A quiet novel, but a good one.

Early Morning Riser

 Early Morning Riser by Katherine Heiny (2021) 317 pages

Jane moved to Boyne City, Michigan to teach second grade. She falls in love, meets people, deals with her mother's visits, and more. Jane meets Duncan soon after she moves in, and despite the fact that he has slept with almost every other woman in Boyne City and says he's not the marrying type (at least not anymore, since his marriage to Aggie ended), she sets her sights on him. Also prominent in the story is Jimmy, a sweet, but somewhat mentally deficient man whom Duncan employs in his woodshop.

The story follows Jane for 17 years; it's comforting to watch someone go through real life, appreciating the cute things that her second graders say and do, going through emotional ups and downs without being a drama queen, and coming into her own. Numerous "slice of life" bits in the story make it so endearing.

The Last Shift: Poems / Philip Levine, 79pp.

I may have finally found my poet.  I am able to say that I enjoyed this volume, from start to finish, Levine's last.  He was born in Detroit in 1928 and worked in industry there, which experience is never far from the surface of his poems.  Yes, he was US Poet Laureate, but he was a working man and a midwesterner, and to my ear it's that which makes this writing special.  Take these lines, from "The Angel Bernard:"

...How can the life
 of an angel include a Ford plant
where new life is tortured
 into things? You saw the girl Mary
in a rose gown shyly bowing 
               before a dazzling Gabriel, his pale
                                     wings furled..................................
                                     ......................................................
                                     ...........................When Bernard
                                     bows to dip bread in his coffee
                                     his mother lays one hand down
                                     on his bare nape as though she knows
                                     he will die eleven years from now.......

Both completely accessible and very wise.