So, y’all know how much I love retellings of fairy tales, right? If you also enjoy them, I have the series for you, though it’s not a classic retelling. Buckle up!

Kerri Maniscalco has resurrected some classic characters from literature and history and reimagined their stories. They are creepy, gruesome, and wickedly horrific. The first in the series is Stalking Jack the Ripper. The ending brings about a twist so big you might get whiplash. Just watch out for the reappearance of a past monster.

Audrey Rose Wadsworth is an aspiring forensic scientist in a time when women, especially the wealthy, are supposed to be domestic goddesses. She would rather be elbows deep in a corpse along with her uncle who works, occasionally, for Scotland Yard. Now women are being murdered in the style of the Ripper, who is supposedly caught. The police are certain that it’s a copycat murderer but Audrey Rose is not so sure. On top of all of this drama, her uncle’s new assistant, Thomas Cresswell,  a fellow member of the gentry, is making himself a nuisance but a handsome one. She is determined to help end his reign of terror but the killer is someone so unexpected, it sends her reeling. 

The series continues with:

So, as anyone who reads my blogs regularly (anyone????) knows I don’t usually read grown-up books because I’m a high school librarian. Lately, though, I’ve been REALLY into cozy, British stories lately and listening to them via Audible or Libbie (public library app). Cozy books are ones that don’t raise your anxiety level with blood, jump-scares, or frustrating cliffhangers. They are adventurous, funny, and sometimes magical. They would also be perfect for YA readers so, I guess I didn’t make too much of a departure, after all.

Glass and Steele Series by C.J. Archer: Whew, this was a long one! With 13 books in the series, it’s definitely the biggest commitment I’ve ever made! It takes place in Victorian England and is a cozy fantasy series. I thoroughly enjoyed listening to these books! The performer was wonderful and made the story come alive!

India Steele is a young woman who works in her father’s watch and clock shop. She is very good at repairing all sorts of timepieces, even ones that her father can’t seem to get working again. The man she’s engaged to turns out to be a scoundrel when he steals her inheritance after her father’s untimely death. She is left homeless, penniless, and friendless. Even the Watchmaker’s Guild members seem to be afraid of her and turn their backs. One day she meets a handsome man in search of someone to fix his pocket watch. Neither India nor Matt realizes their meeting will change their lives forever.

The Glass Library: This is the series that started me down this cozy road. It takes place in the next generation after Matt and India’s story. It follows a similar format but the main character, Sylvia Ashe, is a bookish girl and the title of the first book is Librarian of Crooked Lane. Now how am I supposed to resist a title like that, Hmmm? Right, I’m not. Sadly, this series is not complete and I’m having to stand by (grrrr) for the next installment. If it ends up being as long as the Glass and Steele series, I could be in for a frustrating, not-so-cozy wait!

Charles Lenox Mysteries by Charles Finch: These, obviously, are cozy mysteries and, coincidentally, written in the same period, Victorian, as the Glass books. Lenox is an upper-class gentleman with all of the luxuries that life affords him. One of his hobbies is solving mysteries. It’s not a job, mind you, because that just won’t do for someone of his station, but he is really quite good at it. His mind sees things and makes connections that others don’t, not even the venerable detectives at Scotland Yard, much to their chagrin.

The first title published in the series is Beautiful Blue Death in which Charles is enlisted to help solve the murder of a former made of Lady Jane, his best and longest friend but, chronologically, the first book is Woman in the Water where young Charles Lenox is trying to make a name for himself as a detective but is rebuffed by Scotland Yard as well as his friends. I jumped around because some of the titles were checked out. It was a little frustrating but the stories are well worth reading whether you go by publication date or chronologically. I highly recommend listening to these, as well. The performer is truly amazing and most of them are available through the public library app. I have never wanted tea and biscuits as badly as I did listening to these stories.

Addendum...I know this is going to come as a surprise but I did not look up Charles Finch before getting hooked on his books about the quintessential Englishman, Charles Lenox. FINCH IS AMERICAN! I feel betrayed, somehow. Okay, so he did get his Master’s degree in Literature at Merton College, Oxford (one of my favorite colleges in that venerable university), but HE’S AMERICAN! 

Over the summer and continuing into fall, it seems, I have been listening to several audiobooks…grown-up stories! Yes, I know, I’ve always said that I don’t read adult fiction very often and here, I’ve spent the entire summer doing just that. Don’t worry, though, the books that I’ve been reading are very appropriate for teenagers, so there’s that. The author whose books I’ve been listening to is Kate Quinn. She writes history in such a way that you feel like you’ve been transported back in time and are living with the characters, experiencing what is happening on every page. Her stories are often based on real people and events. Her WWII books are the ones I first discovered. The thing I found fascinating is that most of her heroines are not American; what a refreshing perspective. Ms. Quinn is a consummate historian and researcher which is borne out in the intensity of her stories. If you’re a fan of historical fiction, give these a try, especially the audio version…the performer is amazing!

The Rose Code

The war is raging and the Allied forces need an edge to win against the Germans. That edge comes in the form of puzzlers, wordsmiths, and people who don’t think the way average people do. Three women, Osla, Mab, and Beth, were drawn into this world of words and codes and they became instrumental in the war of ciphers. Osla, a wealthy socialite who became entangled with the future Queen Consort, Prince Philip. Mab wanted nothing more than to marry a wealthy man and get her and her little sister out of the poverty-stricken home they shared with her mother. Beth was a young woman completely cowed by her mother. She was told what to wear, what to say, how to behave. When she met Osla and Mab, her world changed completely. Together, they decoded some of the most complex ciphers ever written which helped the Allied forces win World War II.

The Huntress

Three people from disparate backgrounds and countries draw closer as they find themselves on the trail of one of the most lethal Nazi assassins, The Huntress. Nina Markova,  honed into a clever, sharp, young woman by the frozen Russian wilderness that was her home. She escaped that life into the sky with the Night Witches, a regiment of all female bombers who dropped death on every Nazi unit they could find. Ian Graham is a war correspondent from England but became a Nazi hunter when his younger brother was murdered by The Huntress. She is the only target who has eluded him. Jordan McBride, a seventeen-year-old growing up in Boston just after the war ended, is working toward a career in photography. She lives with her father, a widower of several years, and owns an antique business. When her father brings home a quiet German woman, she is delighted until her photographic senses tell her something is not quite right.

Their stories unspool and weave together, inexorably, to the final confrontation where one will fall.

The Diamond Eye

Sniper. The very word evokes terror. During World War II, they were weapons used to pick off enemies one at a time. Mila Pavlichenko is a bookish young woman who dreams of being an historian, one day. She works quietly toward that goal while caring for her young son in the days just before the war began. In her spare time, she would go to the shooting range with her friends. She found she had a knack for it and took the master’s course and passed with flying colors. The day war began, she enlisted and was assigned to the sniper division. There, she honed herself into an efficient, expert markswoman who rarely missed which earned her the nickname, Lady Death. With her 300th kill, she is whisked away to America as a national hero in the hope that she can convince President Roosevelt to get America involved in the war against Hitler’s Nazis. She begins her tour in Washington, a gleaming city full of light and sound, the opposite of the quiet, solitary life of a sniper. As she makes the rounds of hand-shaking and schmoozing, she begins to relax a bit, feeling safe here, away from bullets and bombs. It’s not a feeling that lasts, though. Someone begins slipping threatening notes under her door and her sniper senses are on high alert. This new enemy is stealthy but Mila is clever, and they don’t call her Lady Death for nothing. All of her wits and skills help her survive in her sniper’s nests but will they be enough in this world of glittering diamonds and hidden agendas?

You all know that I LOVE a good murder mystery, right? Well, I just read one that sucked me in and hurtled me on a rollercoaster ride of emotions. I’m so glad, though, that authors are writing about people who are struggling with mental health. This one was extreme, but maybe someone will read it and relate.

Oblivion by Sasha Dawn

I KILLED HIM I KILLED HIM I KILLED HIM

These were the words written all over the walls where Callie was found. Thirty-six hours had passed since her father, Reverend Palmer of the Church of Holy Promise, disappeared with Hannah. She was just a kid, and no one knew what happened to either of them, not even Callie for whom the last 36 hours were a complete blank. The only thing she knows for sure is that Palmer is an evil man, and Hannah is in danger. Her only link to that lost time are the words that her mind forces her to write. She has graphomania, a disorder where Callie compulsively writes, and if she doesn’t, she gets physically ill. Her writings often don’t make sense because they are fragments of memories lost in the fog of her traumatized mind. To complicate things further, there are two boys in her life; one has been her rock since they were in foster care together, and the other awakens the lost part of her. Can she find her way through the fog in time to save Hannah and herself, or is she forever chained to pen and paper?

This is a book full of suspense, drama, and mystery. Sasha Dawn strikes a perfect balance between the three that keeps you turning the pages with almost the same urgency as Callie feels when she needs to write. Trigger warning, though…this is about sexual assault and child abuse. Though not directly detailed, the mere suggestion is often enough to possibly set someone off.

If you’re new here, you might not know that I LOVE to re-read books. Over the years, I have journeyed back to so many of the worlds I love; fantasy worlds with giant dragons or fairy realms full of magic, classics that never lose their appeal, or eras long past. Why, you might wonder, when I already know the ending. The thing is, books are far more than just their endings. The journey I take as soon as I open the book and step inside is what matters, and it is what changes every time I read it. I change, my perspective changes and so, what I read and understand changes, too.

This summer, I decided I would give audiobooks a try. Now, why the heck have I not listened to audiobooks before? No idea. My first foray into them was to listen to Hannah Gadsby’s autobiography, my favorite comedian. She actually read it, so it felt like being invited to her house and listening to her stories for 20+ hours! It was glorious. So, when I decided to listen to something else, I chose one of my favorite fantasy series (because, of course, it would be fantasy), The Daughter of the Forest by Juliet Marillier. I was NOT disappointed. The readers were all different women, but they were all Irish, which is where the tales take place. It had been so long since I last read them that I had quite forgotten much of what happened, which meant that it was like reading them for the first time again. Each book in this series picks up with the generation after the one in the previous book, so it moves through time very quickly. Sometimes that makes me sad to not get to hear much about the characters I got so invested in, but Juliet is a master storyteller and manages to weave their threads into future books. The protagonists in her books are strong women whose strength, resilience, and love are sorely tested. They come to see themselves as more than just women, and all of those qualities are passed down to the next generation. If you have Audible and a few credits available, check them out (also, the original cover art is glorious). Also, check out Hannah’s book. It is hilarious and poignant and well worth the time it takes to listen to.

If you know me and my reading habits at all, you know that I’m not a ghost-y girl. I don’t believe in them, for one, and the idea of them is creepy. I also don’t do horror very well because I like to sleep with peaceful dreams. So, you might be surprised to find that I’ve read a story with creepy ghosts and liked it! Courtney Gould, the author, was very sneaky about things. The ghosts didn’t jump right in and “BOO”. She built the story slowly and included all the juicy tidbits that catch a reader like me hook, line, and sinker. By the time I realized that it was a ghost story, I was too far gone to stop…I NEEDED to see how the story ended (no spoilers, I promise).

Logan is the teen daughter of Brandon and Alejo, the stars of a paranormal hunter-type tv show. She’s travelled all her life from location to location. Her fathers are very different people with her. Alejo is loving, warm, and always there. Brandon is cold and distant, always wanting to be wherever she’s not. This makes for a very dysfunctional relationship. When they decide to head to Snakebite, Oregon, the men’s hometown, Logan wonders why, after all this time. The town is every bit as horrible as she expects and so are it’s people. They don’t take kindly to strangers, even if they had been born there. It didn’t help that they were gay. As soon as Alejo and Logan arrive and join Brandon, she feels the strangeness of the place. There’s something different, darker crawling just beneath the surface. For one thing, Tristan, one of the few teens in the town has gone missing. It happened just after Brandon arrived. Soon, another boy disappears then a girl. The town is terrified and all that rage is directed at Logan and her little family. Logan and Ashley, the girlfriend of the first missing boy, are an unlikely pair but they move past that to try and figure out what is going on and find Tristan. As they investigate, the darkness becomes more volatile and threatens to destroy everyone unless someone can find a way to defeat it.

Fans of creepy stuff should definitely pick this one up. It reminds me a bit of the movie The Sixth Sense but with a darker bent.

I know that not all stories are made up of light, sparkle, and unicorn dust. Sometimes you need to peer into the darkness, be brave, and turn on the lights. My latest two books are completely unrelated save for the revealing of the ugly side of humanity that rears its hideous head on a far more regular basis than it ought. They were not comfortable books to read and using words like “enjoy” or “love” are not enough. They will touch nerves. They may make you angry, hopefully for the right reasons and I highly recommend both books.

Devon and Chiamaka have almost nothing in common. Devon is a talented musician working for a coveted spot at Julliard. His mom works 3 jobs to make tuition at the prestigious Niveus School; Chiamaka is one of the most popular girls at school, beautiful and rich. She is working hard to be accepted to an Ivy League school. The only thing they do share is the color of their skin. They are the only two black students at their school. Surprisingly, the last three years have passed with few instances of overt racism. Now, however, their carefully planned lives are beginning to unravel and they find enemies where once there were friends. Aces, a mysterious social media entity, has ferreted out their most closely held secrets and is revealing them, one by one, to the student body. Each day, phones buzz with the latest scandal. Each day, their hopes of a bright future fade a bit more. Who is this Ace of Spades? What does he or she have against them? The answers ae almost too much to bear but together, Devon and Chiamka decide to fight back but is it already too late?

Bisou’s first memory of her grandmother and the last of her mother was blood. Meme found her sitting at the foot of the bed, next to the bloody body of her mother. She was whisked away and grew up under the watchful, loving eyes of Meme. She keeps mostly to herself with her boyfriend, James, as one of the only people outside of her family close to her. That all changes the night of the Homecoming dance. That night she is running through the woods, running away from James and the embarrassing thing that happened when her skin prickles, as if she’s being watched. A low growl reveals her stalker; a huge wolf has sniffed her out. As it attacks, Bisou fights back with more strength and speed than she thought possible and she kills the wolf. She runs the rest of the way home. Instead of panicking Meme sits her down and tells her the story of her past, of blood and wolves, of men and violence. Bisou’s legacy is dark and dangerous but the power she feels now gives her a sense of purpose but when the time comes to fight the evil that has haunted her life, will she be able to face it and be victorious?

Both stories are of surviving evil. Both stories are relevant to what our world is, right now. Dark, dangerous, and deadly for certain people who must be stronger than those who threaten their lives. They made me sad, angry, frightened but, ultimately, hopeful that there are helpers out there. They might be sitting next to you in class, on the bus, at the restaurant. As scary and infuriating as these books were, I think we need to read them and more like them so that we can learn to recognize evil when we see it in ourselves or those around us and work to change it.

What makes a good murder mystery? Plot? Characters? Carnage? All of the above, sure, but what makes a REALLY good murder mystery is when you don’t guess the ending or there’s an interesting twist, or you are left hanging, unsure of what actually happened. I read so many of these books that it’s hard to pull the wool over my eyes but the book I just finished did just that. It was twisted, gruesome, and I was left hanging. Read this book and tell me your thoughts/theories/opinions.

She was standing in the middle of the room covered from head to toe in blood, as if someone had upended a bucket full of it over her head. The bodies of 3 people were scattered around the room and a baby was crying. This was Michael’s first glimpse of Marie that horrific night but it wouldn’t be his last. She was being held in the jail of the tiny town where his dad was the sheriff, where nothing really bad ever happened until that night, those people, the boy who was in Michael’s class at school. No one could get anything out of her but she decided to open up to Michael, to tell him her story. For weeks, months Marie’s story ebbed and flowed around the events leading up to the last three murders committed by a serial killer. The murders were called the Bloodless Murders because the victims had all been drained of blood and not a drop was found at the scenes, until now. Why was this one different? Who was Marie? Why would she not give up the name of her accomplice? Michael questioned, cajoled, bribed, Marie to tell the truth but her story was just too outrageous yet, intriguing. The case would soon be out of his hands and to a prosecutor who wanted nothing more than to see Marie all the way to the electric chair.

I was as surprised at the revelations from Marie as I was what she didn’t reveal. It was a well-written story and demonstrated the tendency of humans to believe what they want to believe in spite of evidence or lack thereof. Kendare Blake brought elements of a couple of true crime cases into her story, spree killers Charles Starkweather 19 and Caril Ann Fugate 14, and the murders of the Clutter family. Both left bodies and broken families in their wake which lends a frightening authenticity to her tale. If you’re a fan of murder mysteries, this is a must-read!

I am taking a break from the fairy tale retellings, with their monsters and madness to read a…murder mystery! There a great quote that makes this transition apropos, “Fairy tales do not tell children that dragons exist. Children already know that dragons exist. Fairy tales tell children that the dragons can be killed.” As most of us know, there are very real monsters in this world. We see havoc they wreak every day on the evening news. What we really need to know is that no matter how big or ugly or powerful they are, we can defeat them. They don’t have to ruin our lives completely and forever.

Brynn, Mia, and Summer are loners in their own ways. Brynn is prickly and loud. Mia is super shy and fearful. Summer is the new girl who brought them all together and held them there with her fierce charm. Their days were spent daydreaming about a mystical place called Lovelorn from a novel Summer discovered. They wrote fanfiction based on the book but weird things began to happen that blurred the lines between reality and fiction. Then, Summer was brutally murdered and Brynn and Mia were implicated. There wasn’t enough evidence to charge them but court of public opinion labeled the girls evil, witches, murderers. Brynn discovered a sanctuary in rehab and Mia was buried under her mother’s hoarding piles. After several years, a random piece of evidence dropped into Mia’s lap that changed everything and brought the two girls back together to try and figure out what really happened to Summer and themselves.

Lauren Oliver is a consummate storyteller. This twisted tale of love, betrayal, and loss will engage you from the opening line, “Five years ago, when I had just turned thirteen, I killed my best friend.” I mean, seriously, how could anyone put the book down after that? It was an excellent read. I will admit to being surprised at who the murderer was, which is a difficult thing to do when you read and watch as many murder mysteries as I do. Fans of that genre, buckle up buttercup!

Normally, I’m not a fan of witch stories. I guess it’s my Christian upbringing seeping in and making my spirit uncomfortable with the occult. Occasionally, though, a story comes around that draws me into its web and won’t let go. Witchcraft? Perhaps…or maybe really good storytellers have a magic all their own.

Frank protects his girls from the outside world that would not understand them. Worse, people would hunt and kill them for what they are and what they can do. Derry and her sisters understand this so they make a life for themselves deep in the forest, secluded from everything. One day, though, she breaks the rules with her older sister Jane. They go into the forest, a place they are forbidden to enter and it ends in bloodshed. It’s a secret that they keep from everyone until the day that Jane disappears. Derry is certain that she saw Jane disappear into the woods so night after night, she follows hoping to find her and bring her home. Each time she enters the forest, Derry feels alive with magic. Her powers seem to grow stronger with each trip. It is exhilarating and disturbing. The forest whispers its secrets to her and they aren’t all good. The creatures that live there are drawn to her and they tell her things about Frank; dark things. She realizes his evil intentions toward the girls but saving them all means embracing the dark magic inside of herself and the forest. Resisting the pull of power will be the most difficult thing she’s ever done.

Sarah Hollowell’s tale of magic and betrayal will have you on the edge of your seat so be careful where you choose to sit as you read this one or you might embarrass yourself by yelling at the book…out loud!