Long Live Evil

Long Live Evil by Sarah Rees Brennan, 464 pages

Three years into a battle with cancer, Rae has very few comforts in life, though her younger sister reading from their favorite fantasy book series while she's in the hospital is one of them. When an opportunity to join the fantasy world and cure herself with a magical flower presents itself, Rae jumps at the chance, not realizing that when she arrives, she's taken over as Rahela, the villainess of the series and foe of Rae's favorite character, the Emperor. It means a few adjustments, including getting comfy with her new seductive character, but Rae is determined to save herself with an evil plot... if she can keep the Emperor from executing her, that is.

While the beginning of this book is a bit confusing (Rae gets inserted into the fantasy world before the reader really knows anything about the world, other than that the Emperor exists), the rest of it is a lovely story of escapism, of being an antihero, of fighting hard battles, and of creating family out of outcasts and miscreants. And it's funny! Very much enjoyed it, and I look forward to the second book in the series.

Close to Death

Close to Death by Anthony Horowitz, 419 pages

The fictional version of Anthony Horowitz is working on his fifth book detailing a murder case solved by PI Hawthorne, but this time, he's writing about a closed case from earlier in Hawthorne's career. This particular case was the murder of hedge fund manager Giles Kenworthy, a horrible neighbor in the small gated community of Riverside Close. After annoying his neighbors for several months, Kenworthy was found dead just inside his home, and while the murder weapon points to a specific neighbor (there's only one that owns a crossbow, after all), the neighbors are all keeping their lips sealed and Hawthorne was convinced there was more to this mystery than it seemed.

I haven't read the first four Hawthorne books, but Horowitz once again uses his book-within-a-book trope in this one, somewhat less successfully, in my opinion, given that the case is a long-closed one instead of ongoing as the fictional Horowitz writes it. I don't know that the "modern day" bits about faux-Horowitz's writing and investigating process really add anything to what's an excellent mystery on its own. My suggestion: give this one a read, but feel free to skim anything that isn't the murder and Hawthorne's investigation.

The Woman in the Library

The Woman in the Library by Sulari Gentill, 265 pages

A mystery novelist attempting to find the muse in the Reading Room of Boston Public Library's main branch begins observing the people around her, concocting their intertwined stories. Suddenly, a woman's scream pierces the room and all of the room's occupants are ushered outside. Bound by the scream they overheard, the novelist and the three people she was observing start a fast friendship, based on discovering who screamed and what it has to do with a woman who was later found dead in the library. That's the kernel that starts the book within a book in The Woman in the Library. The rest of the book is epistolary, filled with emailed commentary on each chapter from the author's Boston-based acquaintance (the author is based in Australia, apparently).

While that description may not make sense, the book is well-structured and it's easy to tell if you're reading the book or the book within the book. Unfortunately, I felt like the structure was the most interesting element of the book. We know next to nothing about the author whose chapters we're reading, nor do we know much about her acquaintance, though we're able to pick up a bit as the book goes on. And the book within the book? It's interesting, but not deep. If you want a complex and twisty book-within-a-book mystery, stick to Anthony Horowitz. This one doesn't hold a candle to Magpie Murders, though it made me wish I was reading that again instead.

Moonflower Murders

Moonflower Murders by Anthony Horowitz, 224 & 357 pages

Several years ago, a flamboyant advertising executive was murdered while staying at a posh hotel in the English countryside, and an immigrant maintenance man was sentenced to prison for the crime. But nearly eight years later, Cecily, the daughter of the hotel owners, believes that the man was wrongly imprisoned. Her proof? The book Atticus Pund Takes the Case, written by the late author Alan Conway and based loosely on the murder and hotel staff. But when Cicely goes missing, her parents track down Conway's editor, Susan Ryeland, to review the book and search for clues that may help them find their daughter — and find out if the right man is in prison for the initial crime.

Much like the initial Alan Conway/Susan Ryeland book (Magpie Murders), Moonflower Murders is a book-within-a-book. While it's a clever puzzle mystery, I felt like this gimmick was a bit played out — why couldn't there be a different way for this book to work? Had I not read Magpie, I think I would've enjoyed this one more.

Ring of Truth

Ring of Truth, by Nancy Pickard (2001) 264 pages

Last year, I practically binge-read seven Nancy Pickard books from her Jenny Cain series. Ring of Truth is the second of three books from her Marie Lightfoot series, the first I've read from this trio.

Marie is a writer of true crime books; the trial has ended for the latest murder she researched and she's just finished her book. However, she has a nagging feeling that something's not right. Marie begins to review her data, and interspersed with chapters which deal in the present, are chapters from her book, a nice book-within-a-book device, which serves to fill us in on the crime and her research about it. A minister, Bob Wing, a foe of capital punishment, had been found guilty of murdering his wife, a brutal bludgeoning that broke nearly every bone in her body. A possible accomplice, a woman friend that some people in the congregation thought he was having an affair with, had been found not guilty by the same jury. It seemed a bit ironic that the minister was now in the same death row area as Steve Orbach, a young man that the minister had been trying to help prior to his own arrest.

The very day that Marie has shipped off the book to her editor, she is visited by a Jenny, a young girl who'd found the body of the murdered woman while exploring an abandoned old house near Florida's Intracoastal Waterway with a friend. The little girls had kept souvenirs from the murder scene, and Jenny's mother wanted to get rid of the items, but couldn't find anyone in authority who would take them now that the trial was over, so Marie takes custody. Meanwhile, we learn more about the murder that Steve Orbach was convicted of; the details of his crime turn out to provide more than mere background for the minister's own plight.

Pickard develops her characters and builds her plot so very intricately, allowing me to think I'm honing in on some important details, but later I see that she was in charge all along. Oh the twists! I loved this book!

Magpie Murders

Magpie Murders / Anthony Horowitz, read by Samantha Bond and Allan Corduner, 236 pages

Two books in one, this story tells of the frustration of editor Susan Ryeland who's latest submission is missing the last chapters.  She wants to edit and publish the ninth detective story featuring Atticus Pund but the rich and famous author, Alan Conway has just killed himself.  Turns out Alan was sick and going to die soon anyway and seemingly decided to take the easy way out.  But just as the mystery in Conway's book remains to be solved, Susan begins to believe that this cut and dried suicide is actually murder.  Readers get to enjoy the Conway novel within this story and so get two mysteries for the price of one.  The audio book is well done by two narrators, one for each of the stories.