Murder at the Elms

Murder at the Elms by Alyssa Maxwell (2023) 309 pages

Emma, a reporter for The Newport Messenger, and her new husband Derrick, who is the owner of that same newspaper, are back from their honeymoon. The year is 1901 and Emma raises eyebrows by continuing to use her maiden name as her byline. She's quite an independent woman for the times.

The Elms is a newer mansion that has been built to use electricity, as well as coal. It's also the home of owners who pay their help well, but give them no time off. Most of the help is fired when they decide to go on strike for more time off. One woman on the housestaff who is not part of the group who strikes, is murdered during a large gathering for a musical event.  When it becomes known that a valuable item is missing and that the murdered woman may have stolen it, the crime is not as clear: Is it a union vs anti-union thing, or a conspiracy of some other sort? Emma and Derrick want the story for their publication, but they also want to help the police solve the crime, as well. Being acquaintances with the rich owners helps them have access to more info.

Not having read any of the other books in Maxwell's Gilded Newport series was not an impediment to following the storyline, although I would be interested in learning more of the background of the main characters.

The Wedding People

The Wedding People by Alison Espach, 367 pages

Phoebe Stone has had a rough life topped off by a particularly difficult past few years. Her career as an adjunct professor (and the book she's writing) has stalled, the last round of IVF treatment resulted in a miscarriage, her husband left her for a friend (one with a baby already!), and after all that, her cat died. So Phoebe has taken it upon herself to travel to an overpriced oceanfront hotel and kill herself. But when she arrives, she discovers that an over-the-top wedding has completely taken over the hotel, and after she shocks herself by confessing her suicidal intentions to the bride, Phoebe soon finds herself swept up into the wedding hysteria.

The description probably makes this book seem like a cliched happy-times-save-suicidal-person sappy story. But it's not. It would have been easy for Espach to fill this book with cardboard characters, and from the outset, it looks like they might be. But those stereotypes — privileged demanding self-centered bride, day-drinking mother of the bride, womanizing best man, angst-filled stepdaughter-to-be — are pulled aside to reveal remarkably realistic characters. The depictions of depression are also very realistic, without getting maudlin. This was a phenomenal book, and, if this is indicative of Espach's writing, I need to read more of her books. 

Solitaire

 

Solitaire by Alice Oseman (2014), 400 pgs.

Tori Spring finds no particular joy in being alive. She goes to school, talks to as few people as possible, and returns home as quickly as she can to create an entry on her blog, watch a film, or talk to her brother (who is, quite probably, her best friend). Tori finds almost everything uninteresting, not worthy of a second glance, until one day, she notices a trail of bright sticky notes which lead her to a blog called "Solitaire." She meets another student, Michael Holden, who has discovered the blog, and they embark on a journey neither of them could have expected. 

After reading, and loving, the Heartstopper graphic novels, this book's much darker tone took me a bit by surprise, but it fits well within the universe Oseman has created. Tori's external indifference and internal cycle of discovery and doubt create a frustrating, but very real, experience for readers as they see the world simultaneously through her eyes and from the outside. She discovers something new, then hides from it; she reaches out, then recoils; and no one in her life seems to understand her, except perhaps Michael Holden. Overall, the book was a bit drawn out for me--especially with the cycle of actions and emotions Tori experiences--so I would have enjoyed a slightly condensed version more, but I liked getting to know Tori better and found Oseman's world building to be very impressive.

Here

Here by Richard McGuire (2014) 304 pages

The new film Here by Robert Zemeckis starring Tom Hanks and Robin Wright is based on this graphic novel. With such big stars the narrative thread must be more consistent and traditional, but I am still curious to see how it is adapted. This graphic novel is quite abstract with a "camera" view that does not move, but the time period depicted does jump wildly forward and backwards in time. It only gives you glimpses, often in small windows, into the broad stretch of time. We see ancient prehistory, history when no house is in the foreground, nearly the whole twentieth century history in the house that might be the main character, and speculation about our near future. There are some mini stories that are sequential over several pages: siblings sharing a joke, archeologists hoping to find relics on the property, Ben Franklin's family in a colonial house "across the street," a painter from the 1870s, and the building of the house in the foreground. After climate catastrophe, I especially loved the virtual tech imagined a couple centuries into our future. Following the time stamps is a nice mental puzzle, but I think the point is more to see the commonalities of how humans act and react to each other.
 

The Madness

The Madness by Dawn Kurtagich, 318 pages

Dr. Mina Murray has dedicated her professional life to helping women deal with  trauma. After all, she has her own experiences with traumatic experiences, ones that manifest in obsessive behavior that she hasn't allowed herself to address. When Mina's estranged friend Lucy contacts her for help, Mina soon discovers that Lucy is exhibiting the same mysterious symptoms as a Jane Doe she recently treated, and they're by no means the only women experiencing these problems.

This retelling of Dracula focuses on what's happening to the women that are preyed upon while simultaneously giving Mina and the other female characters more agency than the original. It's well done, and timely, and with a Welsh setting, is still wonderfully gothic (though it has me craving bara brith now).

Snapshot

 Snapshot by Brandon Sanderson, 100 pages.

Davis and Chaz are officers who specialize in Snapshots, investigations that take place in perfect physical recreations that replicate a certain day. Within the Snapshot they're the only people who are real, giving them power to do essentially whatever they want there. They decide to use this power not only for their assigned "find the murder weapon" assignment, but also to hunt a serial killer that seems to be being covered up for some reason. As the stakes climb higher, it becomes more and more uncertain if they will both make it back to reality alive.

This was an interesting little sci-fi novella. It played with familiar tropes in a way that was creative and still exciting. There wasn't a whole lot that totally blew me away, but I did have a fun time throughout following where the plot was going. This is also a little on the introspective side for a sci-fi detective novella, which I found refreshing. A fun, quick read for people who like a detective story with a twist. 

Ash Dark As Night

Ash Dark As Night by Gary Phillips, 295 pages

It's 1965 in Los Angeles and photographer Harry Ingram is risking his neck to document the Watts riots that are raging in the city. When he captures a damning photo of police officers killing an unarmed young Black man, Ingram is thrust into the spotlight himself, drawing unwanted attention from the police and others who aren't so keen on what the people are fighting for. However, the notoriety helps him out as Ingram searches for a man who went missing during the riots, a man who may have been involved in some nefarious deeds.

The era and noir feel of this book are fantastic — it captures the unrest of the time and the grittiness of Ingram's life perfectly. However, this is billed as a mystery, and that seems to take a backseat to all of the protests and investigation involved with the civil rights movement. So it's a good book, just maybe not a mystery.

I Was A Teenage Slasher

I Was A Teenage Slasher by Stephen Graham Jones, 372 pages

Tolly Oliver was just a regular awkward kid in west Texas until his dad died and he somehow became even more of a social outcast. When he gets way too drunk and commits one too many party fouls at a high school party (he wasn't even invited! how dare he!), a few members of the marching band decide to bully him to the brink of death. And something that happens that night starts changing Tolly from awkward kid into a slasher straight from a horror movie. As his best friend Amber starts to suspect the transition, the friends do everything they can to stop the inevitable. But hey, slashers gonna slash, right?

Stephen Graham Jones is a master of slasher horror, and this might be my favorite of his books. It's not as horrifying as many horror novels, though it's certainly plenty gory (careful if you're eating while reading). It's a fantastic primer for slasher tropes, and it's unexpectedly hilarious as Tolly discovers his supernatural slasher abilities. Fans of the subgenre, as well as new horror readers, will love this one.

The Family Experiment

The Family Experiment by John Marrs, 453 pages

In the near future, having kids is too expensive for all but the most wealthy people. To address that issue, an enterprising tech company has come up with virtual children, which, through the magic of haptic suits and VR headsets, can be raised and interacted with in the metaverse throughout their whole "life." To promote this new offering, the company has created a reality show in which five couples and one single man raise virtual kids at an accelerated rate over nine months, at the end of which one winning couple or individual must choose whether they want to keep their virtual child (who, if they've done everything right, they care for as much as they would a biological kid) or if they want to kill that coding and try for a real world baby.

This is a horrifying concept done disturbingly well. There's emotional manipulation, sure, but this book also features social media judgment, child abductions and exploitation, and, well, reality TV. Oh, and some really unlikeable characters. There is an audience for this book, and I know that when those people who want horrifying books about technology and AI and its impact on our lives ask for a recommendation, I'll have this one ready to hand over. Because it IS well-thought-out and executed. Disturbingly so.

The Third Wife of Faraday House

The Third Wife of Faraday House by B.R. Myers, 338 pages

Emeline Fitzpatrick is determined to marry her beau, a dashing lieutenant in the British Navy, but her guardians instead ship her off to be the third wife of wealthy Captain Graves, whose first two brides died in childbirth. Or at least that's what Emeline's told, as when she arrives at Graves' remote island home, she finds that the second Mrs. Graves, Georgina, is still alive, though just barely. Sure that her Navy suitor is coming to rescue her, Emeline is determined to keep Georgina alive as long as possible, and see if she can't figure out what's actually killing her.

This gothic tale has tinges of Jane Eyre and more than a little Rebecca, though it pales in comparison to both of those classics. This was suggested to me as a mystery, and while it's definitely mysterious, it's not A Mystery, if you will. Still, it's a fun gothic romp (if that's not too much of a contradiction!), with a helping hand from a ghost.