Last weekend, I had the pleasure of spending my Sunday doing just about nothing aside from reading. My book of choice? SHIVER by Allie Reynolds, a compulsively readable, superbly entertaining locked-room mystery perfect for fans of Ruth Ware and Lucy Foley. SHIVER is pure “popcorn reading” material: lighter on violence but heavy on entertainment value, this engaging, relentlessly suspenseful mystery begs to be devoured in one or two sittings. In SHIVER, readers travel to the French Alps, where a group of friends are arriving for a reunion. Ten years ago, the group met while training for a snowboarding competition. That fateful winter, things took a tragic turn, and one of their own went missing. Fast forward ten years, and each member of the group has tried to move on… but this reunion is poised to bring old tensions, rivalries, and secrets back into the light. As the group settles into the resort where their reunion weekend is set to take place, they discover that things aren’t quite right. The resort is abandoned, with not a soul in sight. Then their phones go missing. And when they discover that the person they each believed invited them on this trip didn’t actually plan this getaway, things take a dark and deadly turn. Who called this group together? And who is behind the increasingly sinister events of the trip? Moving between present-day locked room mystery and flashback chapters that illuminate the dynamics and relationships between our central cast of characters, SHIVER is deliciously readable and delightfully chilling mystery fun. This book thoroughly exceeded my expectations and left me wishing it were even longer, just so I could spend more time with its engaging, endearing characters. SHIVER had me, the least-athletic person I know, ready to throw it all away and move to the mountains to take up snowboarding. If that’s not saying something, I don’t know what is. Readers who love the modern-day locked room mysteries of Ruth Ware and Lucy Foley won’t want to miss Allie Reynolds’ chilling debut.
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Book Review: IF I DISAPPEAR by Eliza Jane Brazier
It’s been quite a while since I read a book quite like Eliza Jane Brazier’s IF I DISAPPEAR. This book is sure to be a polarizing one, and I’ve spent many days since I finished reading it trying to gather my thoughts into some sort of a coherent review. Did I love this book? No, to be honest, I can’t say I did. Were there elements I loved about it? Absolutely. IF I DISAPPEAR weaves a dark and hypnotic spell—this story is cleverly constructed and beautifully written, drawing readers into the dark heart of a family with terrible secrets. In IF I DISAPPEAR, readers follow a young woman who is obsessed with a true crime podcast and its host. When that podcast host goes missing, our protagonist believes she is uniquely prepared to solve the mystery, and sets off on an ill-advised mission to find her missing idol. I was riveted by this unsettling book for about 3/4 of it, until an out-of-left-field conclusion left me both unsatisfied and not insignificantly confused. I am, honestly, still of two minds about this book. There was so much I thoroughly enjoyed about it, and I also had significant frustrations with how the story ultimately tied together, so much so that it did impact my enjoyment of the book as a whole. I’m quite confident this book won’t be for everyone, but it’s sure to spark lots of discussion as it makes its way into readers’ hands this month.
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Book Review: THE BUTTERFLY HOUSE by Katrine Engberg
Danish crime writer Katrine Engberg broke onto the scene in the US in 2020 with her debut crime novel THE TENANT, the first in a new series about two Copenhagen-based police officers, Jeppe Kørner and Anette Werner. This week, Kørner and Werner are back in THE BUTTERFLY HOUSE, the second installment in Engberg’s crime fiction series—and what a fantastic installment it is. There’s something particularly exciting as a reader about following an up-and-coming author’s career and seeing their growth and development, and THE BUTTERFLY HOUSE is proof positive that Katrine Engberg is on an upward trajectory. While I enjoyed her debut novel THE TENANT, I loved THE BUTTERFLY HOUSE, and would highly recommend this engaging, inventive Danish crime novel for fans of Nordic Noir and police procedurals. In THE BUTTERFLY HOUSE, the quirky personalities of Engberg’s protagonists are once again front and center, and this time, the pair find themselves operating independently of one another. With Anette Werner on maternity leave, Jeppe Kørner finds himself assigned a new partner with whom he must tackle a series of disturbing crimes that seem tied to a local Copenhagen hospital. But Anette isn’t one to be left behind, and she sets out to conduct her own off-the-record investigation into these very same murders. As she and Jeppe close in on the truth at the heart of a complex web of intrigue, they discover shocking abuse of power at an institution that is meant to help, not harm. THE BUTTERFLY HOUSE is an engaging, fresh take on Nordic Noir, a procedural brimming with personality, eccentric characters, and plenty of mystery and intrigue.
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Book Review: BLOODLINE by Jess Lourey
If “small-town suspense-meets-horror” were a genre, Jess Lourey would be its queen. The author of 2020 standout UNSPEAKABLE THINGS returns on January 1 with her next work of dread-inducing rural horror, BLOODLINE. Set in 1960’s Minnesota, BLOODLINE draws readers into the heart of a picture-perfect town harboring unthinkable secrets. For pregnant journalist Joan Harken, her fiancé’s hometown of Lilydale represents a bright future: a place where their unborn child can grow up with all the safety and security that a tight-knit community has to offer—the kind of safety and security that was missing from her own upbringing. But as Joan settles into her new home, she can’t shake the feeling that something is just a bit off. Her neighbors have taken a keen interest in every aspect of her life, her fiancé is growing distant, and she swears someone is following her in the town. Joan is right to be suspicious—but even her wildest imaginings could never have prepared her, or the reader, for what is in store. Evil is lurking in the town of Lilydale, and Joan is going to have to rely on all her wits and inner strength to make it out with her life. BLOODLINE is a spine-tingling, up-all-night-reading psychological suspense novel-meets-horror story worthy of the comparisons to Rosemary’s Baby that it is receiving. If small-town scares are your cup of tea, BLOODLINE belongs on your 2021 reading list.
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Book Review: THE WITCH HUNTER by Max Seeck
Looking for a serial killer thriller with an extra-chilling edge this winter? Look no further than Finnish crime writer Max Seeck’s US debut, THE WITCH HUNTER. In this thoroughly entertaining—and thoroughly chilling—serial killer tale, a shadowy group is bringing the horrific crimes of a bestselling trilogy of books to life, and it’s up to a detective with secrets of her own to crack the case. Roger Koponen has made his fortune writing the Witch Hunter trilogy, a gruesome and terrifying fiction series. When Roger’s wife is found brutally murdered, her body displayed in a manner eerily similar to one of the crimes depicted in Roger’s books, investigator Jessica Niemi is assigned to the case. But the deeper Jessica digs into the murder, the more unusual the case becomes. And when more bodies start piling up, and it becomes clear there must be more than one villain responsible for these brutal acts, Jessica finds herself drawn into a web of conspiracy and sinister intrigue. THE WITCH HUNTER is a page-turning, entertaining Nordic thriller with plenty of appeal for fans of Nordic Noir and serial killer thrillers alike. Laced with elements of witchcraft and the occult, THE WITCH HUNTER delivers a seriously chilling read perfect for the winter months ahead. Max Seeck’s US debut has positioned him as an author to watch.
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