Shed No Tears by Caz Frear

A special thank you to Edelweiss and HarperCollins in exchange for an ARC for an honest review.

The discovery of a missing woman’s remains in a remote area of Cambridgeshire reignites a cold case. Six years earlier, confessed serial killer, Christopher Masters, lured four women to his house through an ad for a room for rent. He killed three of them, but the fourth, Holly Kemp, escaped and went missing. 

With the body being identified as the missing woman, Cat Kinsella and her partner, DS Luigi Parnell have been assigned to investigate the murder. But the evidence doesn’t line up—Kemp was killed in a different manner than the other victims and her body was found miles away from Masters’ house. It appears that someone else killed her and they will do anything to keep Kinsella and Parnell from solving the case.

Caz Frear’s latest instalment in the Cat Kinsella procedural is another gritty and compelling mystery. Meticulous in execution, Frear is exceptional with character development and plotting. Even in Cat's inner dialogue, there are subtleties which add more layers to the story.   

The characters are highly developed and well-written. Frear has an exceptional ear for dialogue—Cat and Luigi have such witty banter and I love DI Kate Steele. Why hasn’t this been optioned for TV?

The book begins in media res so I would definitely recommend reading the other novels in the series before this one. Unlike the other two books, this one can be a little confusing at times, but stick with it, it's worth it! 

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CAZ FREAR has a degree in History & Politics. When she’s not agonizing over snappy dialogue or incisive prose, she can be found shouting at Arsenal football matches or holding court in the pub on topics she knows nothing about. She is the author of three Cat Kinsella novels: Sweet Little Lies, Stone Cold Heart, and Shed No Tears.

One by One by Ruth Ware

A special thank you to Edelweiss and Gallery/Scout Press for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Snoop is a successful streaming app where you can "snoop" on what your favourite celebrity is listening to—or your ex—anonymously and its on the brink of a buyout.

When an off-site company retreat at a beautiful resort, meant to promote collaboration and wellness, goes horribly wrong, people start dying. 

Just how well do you really know your colleagues?

Told from the dual points of view of Liz and Erin, neither of these women are likeable and Ware's audience will struggle to connect with either of them. There are way too many characters that the reader will care little about—they lack substance and development. At times there are pages upon pages of mundane details and instances where the reader is force-fed information.  

One by One left me cold. With scant characters and a thin plot, Ruth's attempt at trying to write a fresh take on a classic mystery fails—she's simply out of her element. Ware should stick to writing gothic suspense, this is where she truly excels. 

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RUTH WARE is an international bestselling author whose thrillers include In a Dark, Dark Wood, The Woman in Cabin 10, The Lying Game and The Death of Mrs. Westaway.

Her books have been optioned for both film and TV, and she is published in more than 40 languages.

Ware lives near Brighton with her family. 

White Ivy by Susie Yang

A special thank you to Edelweiss, Simon and Schuster, NetGalley and Simon and Schuster Canada for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

When she was two-years-old, Ivy Lin was left in the care of her maternal grandmother, Meifeng, because her parents emigrated to the United States. At the age of five, she flew solo to the U.S. where she is reunited with her parents and baby brother, Austin. Her frigid mother, Nan, was incredibly strict and often subjected Ivy to verbal and physical abuse. Meifeng, a petty thief, eventually follows her family and teaches Ivy her tricks—the pair pilfer items from thrift shops and yard sales.

Then Ivy meets Gideon Speyer, a politician's son, and becomes obsessed with him. After Ivy's parents discover that she has been sneaking out and lying about her whereabouts, she is sent to China for the summer. Thinking that she will defy her parents upon her return, Ivy is shocked to find out that the family has moved to New Jersey, dashing her hopes of reconnecting with Gideon. 

Ivy, now living in Boston, is teaching grade one and is unfulfilled with her life. After a chance meeting with Gideon's sister, Sylvia, she is welcomed back in the Speyer family's fold and captures Gideon's heart. When Ivy's past collides with her new life, she completes a shocking and desperate act to preserve the  happily ever after that she has worked so hard to build 

With her razor sharp prose, Yang has crafted a story that rivals that of a seasoned writer—her debut is haunting and mesmerizing. Permeating the narratives is a loneliness, a pathos that follows Ivy into all of her relationships and threatens her success. She is completely disconnected with reality and gets swallowed by her dark side. 

Ivy is a highly-developed character that is layered with culture and family. As the daughter of Chinese immigrants, Ivy struggles with finding her place—she is marred by an obsession with the upper echelon and Yang juxtaposes this with her modest Chinese-American upbringing. Ivy feels a sense of shame because of her poor family yet is both repressed and empowered by this, all while exploring her race, class, and identity.

On the whole, White Ivy just didn't work for me and I'm not exactly sure why. Perhaps because I can't figure out the main character. What makes her tick? What motivates her? And she is incredibly unlikable. Why did Yang choose to write her this way? Is that the point of the story, that the reader will feel for someone that they also loathe? That being said, I was impressed by Yang's writing—she is a compelling storyteller—and I would definitely read her again. 

White Ivy is a coming-of-age story and a comment on race, class, and identity. 

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SUSIE YANG has a doctorate of pharmacy from Rutgers and launched a tech startup in San Francisco that has taught 20,000 people how to code. She has studied creative writing at Tin House and Sackett Street. White Ivy is her first novel.

Yang was born in China and has lived across the United States, Europe, and Asia. She now resides in the UK. 

Anxious People by Fredrik Backman

A special thank you to NetGalley, Atria Books, and Simon and Schuster Canada for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

At an open house for an apartment, a failed bank robber bursts in and takes the people at the viewing hostage. As the day goes on, the eight strangers discover that they have more in common than they could've imagined.   

With the police surrounding the building and the story being aired on live TV, the tension escalates. But the robber has a choice to make: surrender to the police, or stay inside the apartment with this group of impossible people. 

Eight people's lives intersect in Anxious People, a novel about a crime that never took place by an aspiring bank robber who vanishes into thin air. Basically...Fredrik Backman is a magician. His slight of hand throughout is absolutely brilliant. In typical Backman fashion, he diverts his reader's attention, almost dropping the plot, and then blindsides them with startling revelations as well as how he's connected the characters.   

Last year I attended an event for Us Against You where when asked what he had been working on, Backman spoke about Anxious People which had just been published in his native Sweden. He also mentioned that there would be another Beartown book (jumpy claps).

Anxious People is hilarious and heartbreaking, both a comedy and a drama. It is about how a shared experience can change multiple lives, no matter someone's background or social standing—ultimately we are more alike than we are different. Backman fans will love this book. It is heartfelt and moving, and filled with his signature quirky dry wit.

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FREDRIK BACKMAN is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of A Man Called Ove (soon to be a major motion picture starring Tom Hanks), Beartown, and Us Against You. His books are published in more than forty countries.

Backman lives in Stockholm, Sweden, with his wife and two children.

Don't Look for Me by Wendy Walker

A special thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

On the anniversary of a family tragedy, Molly Clarke walks away from her life. 

The story is that her car was abandoned, found miles from home. There was also a note in Molly's handwriting found at a nearby hotel. 

It happens all the time—women are desperate to leave their lives behind and start over, so they just disappear. Especially ones that have fractured families.

But is that what really happened to Molly Clarke?

In Walker's latest psychological thriller, she uses an unimaginable family tragedy and highly-developed characters to examine the bond between a mother and her children. Her writing is sharp, powerful, and unflinching. 

Told in alternating perspectives and with dual timelines, Don't Look for Me is an intricately plotted thriller about a Mother's guilt. Like The Night Before, this was incredibly effective—Walker reveals a little at a time which is both frenzy inducing and momentum building. Her characters are well-developed and propel the plot which is expertly paced.

Congratulations, Wendy, on another fantastic book.

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WENDY WALKER is the author of the psychological suspense novels All Is Not Forgotten, Emma In the Night, The Night Before and Don’t Look For Me. Her novels have been translated into 23 foreign languages and topped bestseller lists both nationally and abroad. They have been selected by the Reese Witherspoon Book Club, The Today Show and The Book of the Month Club, and have been optioned for both television and film.

Walker lives in Connecticut where she manages her busy household.

A Girl is a Body of Water by Jennifer Nansubuga Makumbi

A special thank you to NetGalley and Tin House for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Essentially a coming of age story, A Girl is a Body of Water by Jennifer Nansubuga Makumbi is a brilliant literary work. Set in Uganda in the 1970s, a young girl wants to know who her mother is.

Kirabo has been raised by many women—her grandmother, her best friend, and her many aunts—but the absence of her mother eclipses her. Looking for answers, she begins spending afternoons with Nsuuta, a local witch. Kirabo learns of the force brimming inside her and that the woman who gave birth to her is alive, but not ready to meet.  Nsuuta also explains to Kirabo that she flies out of her body because she has a streak of the “first woman” in her. This is an independent, original state that has been all but lost to women.

Blended with folklore, this unforgettable novel explores family, feminism, and history.

Makumbi is a gorgeous writer with her vivid descriptions and lyrical prose. After a slow start, readers are taken on a beautiful journey through Kirabo's adolescence. There is an unnecessarily large cast of characters that bog down the first part of the book. However, Kirabo and Nsuuta, are well-developed, distinct, and memorable.

Feminism is the central theme of the story, one that is also rich in Ugandan culture and folklore. Makumbi also explores other challenges—gender, class, race—that women faced in 1970's Uganda. Unfortunately many of these issues are still prevalent today.

A Girl is a Body of Water is a sweeping novel that should be savoured. Congratulations, Jennifer, on this wonderful book.

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JENNIFER NANSUBUGA MAKUMBI is a Ugandan novelist and short story writer. She has a PhD from Lancaster University and is a recipient of the Windham-Campbell Prize. Her first novel, Kintu, won the Kwani Manuscript Project in 2013 and was longlisted for the Etisalat Prize in 2014. Her story "Let's Tell This Story Properly" won the 2014 Commonwealth Short Story Prize.

Makumi lives in Manchester, UK with her husband, Damian, and her son, Jordan.