Book Review: The Marlow Murder Club by Robert Thorodooc (Marlow Murder Club #1)

The Marlow Murder Club by Robert Thorogood
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Set in small town Marlow on the Thames outside of London, three murders occur in a short period of time.  Details indicate that the same person killed all three individuals.  Judith is 77 years old and more than a little bit nosy.  She intrudes on the scene of the first murder, then takes it upon herself to investigate further.  She is joined by two other local women, hence the Marlow Murder Club.

I was expecting something along the lines of the Thursday Murder Club, which I thoroughly enjoyed.  However, the mystery is lame, the dialog is uninspired, the characters leave a lot to be desired, and I'm just not motivated to read any of the other books in this series.  Such a disappointment!

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Book Review: Joe Country by Mick Herron (Slough House #6)

Joe Country by Mick Herron
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

(4 1/2 stars!) The Slow Horse gang is trying to recover from their latest case with Roddy Ho's "girlfriend" and the attempts made on his life.  River Cartwright's grandfather has passed away, and who should show up at the funeral but his father.  Jackson Lamb and Catherine Standish are bickering as usual.  There's a new Slow Horse who doesn't seem to fit in with the group (big surprise).  And Diana Taverner is now working as First Desk, but Peter Judd is back in the private sector, and making her life a living hell as usual.  

Thus begins the action packed escapade, set in Wales during the midst of a huge snowstorm.  I read the book during our summer's heat wave, yet I felt like I was there shivering with the Slow Horses team.  Be prepared for some violence and gruesome deaths, more than usual for this series of books.  Luckily, there's always the dark humor to balance our the violence.  

The Slough House building is the primary character that appears in each of the books in this series with absolutely moody descriptions by Mick Herron.  It's downtrodden, forgotten, falling apart and shabby, just like the Slow Horses that work there.  Each of his books definitely have literary fiction overtones, and I just want to read slowly so I'm immersed in the language.  

This is the 6th in the Slow Horses series, and in my opinion they just keep getting better!  I've watched the previous five seasons on Apple TV+ and am anxiously awaiting the 6th season which is scheduled to premier on 9/16/2026 (based on this book).  

"If Spook Street is where spies live, Joe Country is where they go to die."

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Book Review: Fair Warning by Michael Connelly (Jack McEvoy #3)

Fair Warning by Michael Connelly
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Jack McEvoy is an investigative journalist working for a non-profit independent news website in California - Fair Warning.  He uncovers a situation where women are submitting their DNA to a low-cost genetic analysis company and their profiles are subsequently sold for unsavory purposes.  After further investigation he discovers that there are a series of murders across the country which are all related to the genetic analysis company.  

It's interesting to see how Jack as a journalist approaches a story, which is much the same way as Harry Bosch, a detective, would approach a murder case.  Those individuals familiar with the Harry Bosch series will be pleased to find out that Rachel Walling figures prominently in this book, teaming up with Jack on the investigation.  

Fair Warning as a news website, and its editor, Myron Levin (Jack's boss in the novel) actually exist in real life, reporting consumer issues.  However, when looking into it I discovered that it was no longer in existence.  Their archives are available on the Wayback Archive - https://wayback.archive-it.org/16877/20210929142827/https://www.fairwarning.org/

This is the third in the Jack McEvoy series and I am very hopeful that Michael Connelly continues to write about Jack in the future.  The first two books are The Poet (1996) and The Scarecrow (2009); this book was published in 2020.  The book ends with a new project for Jack which I foresee as being a great concept for the fourth book in this series!  

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Book Review: View from the East Wing: A Memoir by Jill Biden

View from the East Wing: A Memoir by Jill Biden
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

(3 1/2 stars)  This is Jill Biden's memoir primarily covering the time that her husband was President and she was First Lady.  It was a challenging time which included the pandemic, the January 6th insurrection, her husband's campaign for re-election, and his ultimate withdrawal from the race.  Soon after their time in the White House, President Biden was diagnosed with stage 4 prostate cancer and was subsequently treated.

In spite of all of these challenges, I found that her story was just superficial without much depth or insight into these stories. In addition, this book was just random vignettes, not at all linear but rather jumping around during Biden's presidency.  It does give the reader a peek inside the incredibly busy life of a First Lady.  And kudos to Dr. Biden for being the only First Lady who continued to work while her husband was in office.  She was a college English professor at Northern Virginia Community College.  I was a little disappointed in this book, especially having read her first memoir - "Where the Light Enters:  Building a Family and Discovering Myself." 

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Book Review: The Correspondent by Virginia Evans

The Correspondent by Virginia Evans
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Sybil Van Antwerp is a septuagenarian who writes letters every day. To the casual observer she has had a very fulfilling life -- a career in law working for a judge, two successful adult children, grandchildren, a wonderful home on the water in Maryland, her expansive garden, and friends and pen pals. However through the letters she writes and receives, we discover more about her -- missed opportunities, loneliness, medical issues, grief, regretted decisions, and much more.

This epistolary debut novel is told entirely through letters from 2012-2022, revealing Sybil's life to the reader little by little. It was a delight to read, one of the best fiction books I've read this year, plus one of the most unique in structure. I am anxiously looking forward to another book by this ingenious author!

July 2026 Update: I read this book again for a summer book club, and enjoyed it even more the second time around! The six of us had such a lively discussion, and this book give us so much to talk about. I have been recommending this book to all my friends, and very highly recommended for book clubs!

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Book Review: The Fine Art of Lying by Alexandra Andrews

The Fine Art of Lying by Alexandra Andrews
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Clare Gast is a stay-at-home young mother living on the Upper East Side of NYC with a PhD in art history (all but dissertation).  Her husband is a lawyer, and her in-laws are affluent and very connected in New York City society.  She meets the owner of an art gallery and makes the first in a series of very bad decisions when she starts having an affair with him.  

We are immersed in the world of expensive art, wealth and privilege, along with deceit, theft and murder.  Clare and her husband  become suspects in the murder, and much of the last portion of the book delves into how this is resolved.  This is another fast-paced, page-turner mystery, although the resolution is rather convoluted.  Although many of the characters are very unlikable, I just loved reading about the art scene, art galleries, rich people gatherings, and entitlement.  
 
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