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Like all of Colin Cotterill’s mystery novels, Grandad, There’s a Head on the Beach is laugh-out-loud funny with an underlying seriousness. It is a tightly plotted mystery involving corrupt cops, slavery, and some self-serving charities!

This is the second in the series with Jimm Juree, an unemployed crime reporter, and her eccentric Thai family. In a rural village on the coast of Southern Thailand (where her family has purchased a run-down resort), Jimm finds a severed human head washed up on the beach. Of course, she must follow her crime reporter instincts and solve the mystery! The plot, as it turns out, centers on a topic which has gotten some attention in America of late: the exploitation of Burmese refugees in Thailand.

I finally see what all the fuss has been about. The Help is an excellent book. Stockett pulls you into another world, long ago and far away. The story unfolds through the eyes of three very different woman and the reader grows to love and root for each one of them. They are good women caught in a cultural trap that seems to have no escape. Working together and risking their lives, they manage to make a small difference.

When you finish the book don't forget to watch the movie!

I love a good mystery series and this book entranced me with the awkward characters who are flawed in loveable ways. Set in the upper peninsula of Michigan, usually in winter, the twisted plot vibrates with suspense. I was so taken with the first book, I immediately checked out Winter of the Wolf Moon (2000). What really impressed me is the subtle changes in relationships from book one to book two. Read A Cold Day in Paradise by Steve Hamilton today.

In England, sixteen-year-old Laurel witnesses a shocking crime during a summer house party. Fifty years later, Laurel is a successful actress living in London. As the family gathers at the ancestral house for her mother’s 90th birthday, Laurel tries to discover what really happened so many years ago.

The Secret Keeper by Kate Morton goes back and forth from the present to WWII London following the life of her mother and two other people. A VERY satisfying ending. I cannot stop thinking about it.

For other books where the past impacts the present, check out our bibliography.
 
 

J. K. Rowling has written a book for adults! The Casual Vacancy is a story of love and loathing, pity and passion, full of more than everyday English village life. Her development of the characters is masterful, each one paramount to the conclusion, with the main character dying in the first chapter. It’s not a Harry Potter story.

This is the kind of book you can't stop thinking about once you finish it. It's about war, political unrest, struggling to survive, family, and mostly about love. Well-developed characters struggle through the many changes in 20th century Poland. The author skillfully goes back and forth from World War II era to 1992. Eventually, the reader is surprised by the melding of these two worlds.

Lots of tears. Lots of triumphs of the human spirit. I can't wait to read more from Pasulka. Check out A Long, Long Time Ago and Essentially True today.

In January, our multicultural celebrations will feature Eastern Europe. Check out the programs to learn more about the countries and cultures in this region.

The Widow of the South is based on the true story of an unlikely hero from the Civil War era. Carrie McGavock eventually becomes known as the Widow of the South after her house is appropriated for use as a hospital by the Confederate army just prior to the devastating Battle of Franklin, Tennessee, where 9,200 men were killed or terribly wounded in less than a day.

The prose is a bit meandering and I was not always clear where the author was going, but toward the end the story comes together when Carrie makes her courageous stand for the fallen and their families.

Rachel Joyce’s first novel –  about a retired Englishman setting off to visit a dying colleague, Queenie Hennessy – sounds excessively sentimental, but it is an inspiring kind of book.  Harold’s need to reconnect with Queenie sends him on a wandertour up England, but his journey becomes one of self-discovery.

The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry is a novel told with humor and charm leading to a powerful climax. I found it to contain insight into the thoughts and feelings we all carry (sometimes buried) within our hearts.

The story is so compelling it becomes a comic and tragic joy and I love it when I find a book that is this funny, wise and charming!

Emma Straub’s debut novel brings the reader back to the golden age of Hollywood and the studios that ran the show. The novel follows Elsa Emerson’s transformation from a simple country girl to the glamorous Laura Lamont. Even though Laura changes her name and her hair, she isn’t able to completely break free of her roots. An enchanting novel that transports you back to old Hollywood and the glamor of the movie stars. Here is an interview with the author.
Check out Laura Lamont’s Life in Pictures today.

 
 

Cathy Bailey’s new boyfriend seems almost too perfect to be true. Their “perfect” relationship quickly becomes a nightmare. A portrayal of obsession and recovery make this a can’t-put-down thriller to the last page.

Check out Into the Darkest Corner by Elizabeth Hansen today.

Bess Crawford is a nursing sister in France during World War I, but she finds time during leave in England to become immersed with the secretive Ellis family and to take it upon herself to help solve a murder or two when she isn't tracking down a child who looks suspiciously like the long-deceased Ellis daughter.

Read A Bitter Truth by Charles Todd today.

Gritty and graphic, James Lee Burke again deftly perpetuates his Dave Robicheaux series. Creole Belle explores the darkest corners of crime in Louisiana. Burke's true gift lies in his lyrical style. You can see the Spanish moss and smell the rotting bodies. His main characters are flawed creatures but, oh so interesting. Once I started reading, I savored the excitement and the over the top plot, which is Burke's signature style.

 

By the author of True Grit, Masters of Atlantis is one of the funniest books I have read in years. The first few chapters are not very funny, but they lay the background for a lot of laugh-out-loud moments later on in the book. Read more books by Charles Portis.

What a charming story written by Mary Ann Shaffer! Written as a series of letters written between the characters, The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society is set in 1944 in London and the island Guernsey at the end of WWII. The characters survived the war under diverse circumstances, creating a story about characters you really care about.

If you enjoy reading about life during WWII here is a list of novels set in during this time period.

An evil man just released from prison and obsessed with getting revenge on his ex-wife. A misguided young woman who thinks she has finally met the man of her dreams. A woman and her young son living in fear in Ohio. Blend these all together and you’ll have a suspenseful thriller that is guaranteed to keep you up late into the night. A well-written story. I was sorry to see it come to an end.

Check out Mad River Road by Joy Fielding today.