The Business Trip by Jessie Garcia


The Business Trip by Jessie Garcia
Publisher: St. Martin’s Publishing Group
Genre: Contemporary, Mystery/Suspense/Thriller
Rating: 5 stars
Reviewed by Ginger

THE BUSINESS TRIP is the gripping, page-turning debut from author Jessie Garcia.

Stephanie and Jasmine have nothing and everything in common. The two women don’t know each other but are on the same plane. Stephanie is on a business trip and Jasmine is fleeing an abusive relationship. After a few days, they text their friends the same exact messages about the same man—the messages becoming stranger and more erratic.

And then the two women vanish. The texts go silent, the red flags go up, and the panic sets in. When Stephanie and Jasmine are each declared missing and in danger, it begs the questions: Who is Trent McCarthy? What did he do to these women— or what did they do to him?

Twist upon twist, layer upon layer, where nothing is as it seems, The Business Trip takes you on a descent into the depths of a mastermind manipulator. But who is playing who?

This is an entertaining read. The narrative unfolds through the perspectives of various characters, instead of one or two main characters, and it adds an intriguing layer of mystery and tension in the whereabouts of Jasmine and Stephanie. I was so drawn into the narrative that I did not concern myself with whether the methods used were believable; the author made them sound plausible, so I just went with the flow without questioning anything. My focus was solely on what was happening in the story.

Jasmine has deep issues, which I found sad, and I felt compassion for her. She had a difficult upbringing and tried to attend beauty school to improve her life. Her abusive relationship with Glenn was leading her nowhere, and I admire her for taking charge and leaving him. I wanted her to have something good in her life; however, as we learn from Jasmine, envy can be deadly. Jasmine’s troubled past and her desperation to have more and better evoke a side of her that can be very costly.

There are themes of jealousy, identity theft, and suspense, along with a host of memorable characters who are genuinely concerned for Jasmine and Stephanie’s well-being. Several times, I found myself frustrated with Stephanie’s assistant news director, Bruce, because he was so naïve, while I cheered for Lucy, who was perceptive enough to realize something was wrong. I enjoyed the relationship between Stephanie and her neighbor, Robert; it felt genuine and had a best-friend vibe. I cannot forget to mention Trent J. McCarthy. His character is so true to life, even if he was a nuisance to be around.

I appreciated how the different points of view came together to maintain suspense, and the second half of the book revealed what had happened. I did not expect the surprising ending which, while a bit far-fetched, was a creative addition from the author that I appreciated.

The novel’s suspenseful pacing and unexpected twists make it a thrilling read. I highly recommend to readers that enjoy suspense, and an intriguing puzzle where the characters lay down their own piece and then later all the pieces start to connect.

Little Aiden – A Big Kid Book for Toddlers by Albert Choi


Little Aiden – A Big Kid Book for Toddlers by Albert Choi
Publisher: Mytogo Publishing
Genre: Children’s (0 – 6 y.o.), Contemporary
Rating: 4 Stars
Reviewed by Astilbe

Join Little Aiden on an exciting journey as he transforms from a tiny tot into a daring adventurer! Bursting with curiosity, he’s eager to conquer the world solo. As Aiden grows, he embraces the role of a big kid, confident and ready to take on the world with newfound independence. This heartwarming story of growth and discovery is perfect for family story time.

Big kids get to do so many more things!

One of the things I appreciate most about this series is that it was written in plain, simple language to appeal to toddlers. There is no additional layer of meaning included for adults, and while I also enjoy picture books who take that approach it was refreshing to see the world from a little boy’s perspective who was just beginning to understand why his parents did certain things. Childhood logic is wonderful, and it’s what makes these tales so much fun to read.

I would have liked to see more time spent exploring the consequences of Aiden’s choices. Whether he was being naughty, helpful, curious, or silly, there was space here for him to talk about what he was doing and why he was doing it. If that had happened, I would have happily chosen a five-star rating as his adventures are adorable.

What a gentle story this was. Aiden’s parents were patient and loving with him no matter what was happening in their lives. This included a few amusing scenes of the main character getting into mischief the moment he was left alone. I laughed as I learned about the silly things he did now that he was able to climb and reach higher places than he ever had before. What a true glimpse this was of how toddlers slowly change into preschoolers.

This is the third instalment in a series that can be read in any order.

Little Aiden – A Big Kid Book for Toddlers made me smile.

Foreword Fraud by S.E. Babin


Foreword Fraud by S.E. Babin
Publisher: ‎ Oliver Heber Books
Genre: Cozy Mystery, Contemporary
Rating: 5 stars
Review by Snowdrop

Welcome back to Silverwood Hollow! Where the books are plentiful and the crime is cozy!

When a shady business owner winds up dead, I’m once again under the investigative spotlight of a handsome detective with nowhere to run…

After sitting in on a lecture given by a rare book trader, I’m excited to look into expanding Tattered Pages. But when the trader winds up dead the same day Cole and I attend her lecture, suspicion turns to those I care about the most.

Of course, I’m too busy running a store and caring for my grumpy Persian cat to murder anyone, but no one believes me and now I have to put on my investigative hat and find out whodunnit.

Turns out the business owner had dealings with the town’s handsome and very eligible news reporter, Cole. And Cole isn’t too happy about her leaving him in the lurch after promising him a scoop for the ages.

But Cole couldn’t possibly be guilty.

Right?

I had a lot of fun with this cute cozy. I will admit I love any story that has a bookshop in its setting. This particular bookshop, Tattered Pages, is owned by an amateur sleuth named Dakota. I use the description sleuth because it hasn’t been that long since she solved another murder.

One thing I have to say about the author is that somehow, she pulled off writing a cozy with all of the “elements” that cozies have and yet didn’t make this sleuth seem like another nosy parker was snooping into a murder. How she did that is difficult to explain. Her friend was the most likely suspect, but that isn’t unusual. She didn’t like the victim, but that’s not unusual. Somehow, being asked to help and being expected to help by the citizens of Silverwood Hollow fell normally into place.

I just hate it when a cozy is written like a carbon copy of all the others. That just isn’t true of Forward Fraud. I’m not sure I’m even explaining the reason well, but I do know you should read the book. I really enjoyed it.

Forward Fraud is Book 2 of a series titled “A Shelf Indulgence Cozy Mystery”. There are a lot of books in the series. What a great thing to discover when you like the first book you read.

Days Like Shadows Pass by MS Morris


Days Like Shadows Pass by MS Morris
Publisher: Landmark Media
Genre: Contemporary, Mystery/Suspense/Thriller
Rating: 4 stars
Reviewed by Fern

Myth. Mystery. Murder.
DCI Tom Raven’s hopes for a few quiet days with his daughter, Hannah, are shattered when a shocking murder plunges him into a macabre mystery in the nearby coastal town of Whitby.

In the hallowed grounds of the ruined abbey, a man lies lifeless: drained of blood and marked by the symbol of a dragon.

As rumours of a vampire-like killer echo through Whitby’s cobbled streets and his own daughter becomes entwined in the town’s dark legends, Raven is forced to play a twisted game of life and death, navigating a deadly maze of myth, mystery and murder.

DCI raven has finally managed to take some well-earned leave and he’s excited his daughter, Hannah is finally able to come and visit him. Only a bizarre case drops in the lap of his team and Raven’s boss insists he take the lead. A local Goth festival has the small coastal town crammed with tourists and costume wearing visitors. One of the regulars has been murdered by having all his blood drained. Can DCI Raven and his team figure out what’s going on?

I’ve been enjoying this Yorkshire series and this book in particular was an excellent addition. I found the murder mystery interesting and complicated enough to really hold onto my attention. All the regular police team characters were there but I found Raven’s daughter, Hannah, to be an excellent addition. Young and interesting but also not really a member of the team I enjoyed her input and felt her character really added a fresh and different twist to the story. I also really enjoyed her open mindedness and hope we might see more of her in some of the future books.

Readers who like British police procedural mysteries should find this an excellent book and not be too worried by the slower pace of the plot. Personally, I find the knottier mystery plots and slower pace complicated enough to maintain my interest and this style of smaller town setting a real bonus in the stories. I’m looking forward to the next in this series.

Death Walking – Dream Journeys into Death, Forgiveness, and Healing by Julie Winifred


Death Walking – Dream Journeys into Death, Forgiveness, and Healing by Julie Winifred
Publisher: Self-Published
Genre: Non-Fiction, Contemporary
Rating: 3 Stars
Reviewed by Astilbe

I have cherished the dreaming world for as long as I can remember, and wanted to add my thoughts to all that information that is already out there. I wanted to have my say, and hoped that others might get something from my insights, just as I have done so from many other writers. I have focused upon the way I have dreamed with the dying and how this has guided me towards forgiveness and healing. And I hope I have also illustrated something of the sheer wonderfulness of dreaming life and the many gifts it can bring.

Grief is a journey that everyone must eventually take.

Dream logic doesn’t always translate well to real life. I smiled as I read about the author’s more abstract dreams and her attempts to make sense of them once she woke up. In some cases, it took her a while to come up with theories about what they were trying to tell her, but her interpretations ultimately made sense to me as she delved more deeply into her difficult childhood and the struggles she had as a result of it.

As interesting as it was to read about the author’s dreams about the loved ones she had lost, I struggled with the slow pacing. Some of the descriptions of the dreams and her interpretations of them were so detailed that they further disrupted the pacing as well. This is something I’m saying as someone who loves talking about dreams and what they might mean, and I wish I could have given this book a higher rating given the thought-provoking subject matter of it.

Some of my favorite sections were the ones that discussed how dreams can assist the healing process. When a death is sudden or tragic, it can be even harder than usual to adjust to the loss of that person or pet for those who are still here in the land of the living. A peaceful dream about the deceased can go a long way in helping someone to make peace with what has happened and move on with their life as much as possible.

Death Walking made me want to update my dream journal more often!

Aspire To Die by MS Morris


Aspire To Die by MS Morris
Publisher: Landmark Media
Genre: Contemporary, Mystery/Suspense/Thriller
Rating: 4 Stars
Reviewed by Fern

Lust. Ambition. Murder.
When a beautiful, wealthy student is found dead in her room in Oxford’s most prestigious college, Detective Inspector Bridget Hart is called to investigate. The murdered girl appeared to have no enemies, yet was killed in a brutal and bloody assault.

Haunted and driven by her own personal tragedy, newly promoted DI Bridget Hart has a lot to prove as she leads her first murder case. Her investigation uncovers a tangled web of lies, lust and ambition, and brings her into conflict with powerful interests.

But no one can be above suspicion within the closed and claustrophobic confines of an Oxford college, where students and academics live and work side by side, and a ruthless killer waits to strike again.

When a beautiful, wealthy student is found dead in her room at one of Oxford’s most prestigious universities, DI Bridget Hart is called to investigate. Newly promoted, DI Hart is determined to do her best, only there’s no real evidence and no clear enemies who wish ill upon this young student. Can Bridget sort through what really happened in time?

While I have been enjoying the Tom Raven series by this author this book is the first in a different series revolving around DI Bridget Hart in Oxford. Fast approaching middle age with a teenage daughter I found Bridget to be an enjoyable and relatable character. I feel it’s clear the author is well versed in the location of Oxford and the University setting was both interesting and well integrated into the murder mystery.

I do feel the pace of the story was a little on the slower than usual side. Partly this was because the main characters and other team members really needed to be introduced and they all had to settle in a bit together – so I understand how important that is – but equally there felt to me to be quite a few viable and understandable lines of inquiry that the police team needed to investigate. While a lot of this ended up as red herrings I do feel the author should be commended – at no time did I feel like the story was being padded out and nor did it feel like DI Hart or the team were chasing their tails or falling for false leads.

The plots all felt legitimate but upon reflection it did seem like a larger than usual amount of mess and false leads. I thought this book had loads of atmosphere, good and strong characters and a thoroughly relatable storyline and easiness to be read and binged on. I was a little over half way through the book when I ordered the next one and I’ll happily read that when it arrives. A good new series I am eager to sink my teeth into.

My Only Friend, the End by Steven Owad


My Only Friend, the End by Steven Owad
Publisher: Paper Angel Press
Genre: Sci-Fi/Fantasy, Contemporary
Rating: 4 Stars
Review by Astilbe

Surviving was easy. The hard part—living alone—starts now.

For Owen Bale, life in Great Falls, Montana, is good. He has a loving wife and son, a career as a writer, and plenty of reasons to get up in the morning.

The charmed existence ends one sun-kissed day when everyone in town—maybe everyone everywhere—drops dead. Owen is left alone in a city on fire.

The options now: sit tight and wait for help or seek out survivors. One thing’s certain: if Owen doesn’t move—and move fast—the stresses of the flash extinction will swallow him whole.

He sets out in search of people—and of the cause of the devastation. Cosmic cataclysms. Pandemics. Bio-warfare. Earth has been through five mass extinctions. How do they differ from what’s happened now? Maybe God was behind the carnage. Or little green men. Whatever the answer, why was Owen spared? And if he’s alive, it stands to reason others survived, too. If all people everywhere are in fact gone, will there be any point in going on?

Staying sane and strong in a hostile landscape filled with unexpected dangers would be easier if Owen’s own inner demons weren’t along for the journey. Finding the post-civilization promised land will take every ounce of courage and self-knowledge he can muster.

Survival comes in many forms.

I can’t remember the last time I read a book that was about only one person, and I was curious to see how the author used the smallest cast possible to explore this world. Even the most introverted and shyest among us eventually need companionship, after all, so Owen was dealing with something humans aren’t well-equipped to handle in the long term. Other readers should find out for themselves how this conflict was explored, but it was a breath of fresh air to this longtime fan of the genre.

From the perspective of an invested reader, it would have been helpful to have more details about why everyone died. Obviously, I wasn’t expecting a character who had no scientific or medical background to discover everything there was to know about these mass deaths and why they affected humans in particular, but I was a little disappointed by the answer that was eventually given due to how much time was spent pursuing it. For example, was this something that was likely to happen again or was it a tragic one-time occurrence? Was it a worldwide phenomenon or did it only affect North America? Having a few more answers here would have propelled this into a five-star read for me.

One of my favorite themes involved how Owen looked after his mental health – or, in some scenes, absolutely did not look after his mental health – after everyone died off. He had already experienced a horrible tragedy in his life, so he started off from an even more emotionally difficult place after everyone around him died than someone with a happier past would have had. The raw honesty of these passages was an important part of getting to know this character and understanding what motivated him to keep going as he tried to figure out what happened to all of the dead people around him and what he was going to do next.

I’d recommend My Only Friend, the End to fans of literary and post-apocalyptic fiction alike. These two genres are rarely blended together, so this was a treat!

Frontier Justice: A Coogan Mystery by Michael Cardwell


Frontier Justice: A Coogan Mystery by Michael Cardwell
Frontier Series Book 1
Publisher: Self-Published
Genre: Mystery/Suspense/Thriller, Contemporary
Rating: 5 stars
Review by Snowdrop

Danny Coogan, a freshly minted Montana Fish and Game Officer and recent Afghanistan veteran, hopes to bury his demons in a simple life in the wilderness around the small town of Darwin. But his life becomes a nightmare when he is shot and left injured and alone in the freezing countryside to struggle for survival. His assailant? A local Native American, he had considered a friend, Edmund Goodrunner.

Thus begins a brutal battle of lies, deception, and revenge with drug runners, weapons dealers, kidnappers, and killers. Danny finds himself thrust into an FBI investigation and forced to juggle the threats of a dangerous domestic terrorist group that threatens every aspect of the community he loves and has vowed to protect.

Danny, along with his surrogate father, Senior Game Warden Ben Whitetail, and the local Tribal Police Chief, instill the rich flavor of rural America through poignancy and down-home humor as they struggle, each in their own way, to bring peace back to their snowy town.

Now a game warden in a rural area, Danny Coogan is learning the ropes. Working for his father Ben is an experience and his territory leans a little between the Native American reservation and the Montana wilds. Most of the time he is making sure no one is poaching, but that doesn’t last long. He soon finds himself lying on the ground with a bullet in his chest and that’s when the story begins to unfold.

I liked everything about this book. It’s one of those hard-to-put-down kind. I noticed some people made reference to a sort of C.J. Box style, and it does have that setting feel. But Cardwell has his own style, one quite different from Box. His books have a different flavor, and they are mesmerizing. I love the characters he has painted. They are from a wide spectrum of personalities, making this even more interesting.

It looks as if there is one more Coogan mystery, Frontier Outlaws. I’m headed for it but sure hope there’s another when I finish.

In the Darkness of Shards – Poems from a Broken Place by Catherine Anne Castillo


In the Darkness of Shards – Poems from a Broken Place by Catherine Anne Castillo
Publisher: Self-Published
Genre: Non-Fiction, Contemporary
Rating: 5 Stars
Reviewed by Astilbe

In the Darkness of Shards is a raw, unflinching collection of poetry that explores trauma, love, and the journey of self-reclamation. With piercing honesty, Catherine Castillo reflects on a relationship where love and pain intertwined, exposing the toxic cycles and emotional chaos that shaped it. Through vivid, evocative verses, she invites readers to examine their own relationships, confront their own hidden wounds and begin their own healing journey.

More than just poetry, this book offers a lifeline for anyone navigating toxic relationships, loss, and transformation. Each verse provides a mirror to the heart and a guide to reclaiming strength through vulnerability. In the Darkness of Shards is a testament to resilience, showing that even in the darkest moments, self-understanding and empowerment are within reach.

Not everything that starts out well ends on the same note.

Anyone can fall into an abusive relationship, especially considering how charming someone with abusive tendencies can be as they’re making a first impression or trying to woo their victim back. I appreciated the author’s use of poetry to give examples of red flags to look out for in the beginning, middle, and end of this sort of relationship. Some of them can be quite subtle the first time they appear, but the little hints that something is terribly wrong will only grow worse over time.

This collection also did a great job of showing how deeply traumatizing abuse can be. As the narrator descended even further into their relationship, they began doubting everything from their own memory to their ability to do simple things that they’d previously done easily and without assistance. Keep an eye on these moments as they linked all of the poems together beautifully as well as continued to build on the author’s messages about surviving such experiences.

Obviously, this is a sober, dark topic, but I enjoyed the moments of hope that shone through even the worst chapters of the narrator’s life. There is always the possibility of life suddenly improving for the better even if one doesn’t currently know how or when that might happen. Many different types of people need this message, of course, but folks who are either currently being abused or are recovering from such an experience need an even larger helping of it than someone who isn’t struggling with this sort of adversity. If it’s possible to hope for a better day, taking small steps to disengage from a toxic relationship and rebuild one’s life becomes so much easier. For that reason, I’m glad those passages were included and allowed to flourish.

In the Darkness of Shards – Poems from a Broken Place was thought provoking and encouraging.

The Dark Angel by Elly Griffiths


The Dark Angel by Elly Griffiths
Publisher: Quercus
Genre: Contemporary, Historical, Mystery/Suspense/Thriller
Rating: 3 stars
Reviewed by Fern

When archaeologist Angelo Morelli asks Ruth Galloway to come to the Italian countryside to help identify bones found in picturesque Fontana Liri, she jumps at the chance to go—and brings her daughter along for what she assumes will be a working vacation. Upon arriving, Ruth hears murmurs of Fontana Liri’s strong resistance movement during World War II, and begins to sense that the townspeople are harboring an age-old secret. But how, if at all, could this chapter in history be connected to the human remains that Angelo has unearthed? Just as she’s getting her footing in the dig, DCI Nelson appears, unexpectedly and for no clear reason. When Ruth’s findings lead her and her crew to a modern-day murder, their holiday turns into anything but as they race to find out what darkness is lurking in this seemingly peaceful place. . .and who may be on their trail.

Dr Ruth Galloway finds herself in a bit of a low patch. With her mother only recently dead in the last few months, her off/on relationship with her married lover – DCI Harry Nelson – solidly off for now, and Nelson’s wife newly pregnant things are feeling difficult for Ruth. When an old colleague from Italy calls out of the blue asking for Ruth’s assistance, it feels like exactly the right time for her and her young daughter to take a quick working vacation before the school year starts once again. Only things in the sleepy little Italian town are not as peaceful as Ruth was expecting. Can she sort out what’s really going on before she and her daughter find themselves in danger?

I really love the plots in this series – always finding them to be a solid weaving together of British police procedural mystery and scientific archaeology. The plots and mystery are always clear and multi-layered. The romantic and family relationships, however, is usually quite murky, messy and often heart wrenching. I find Ruth generally to be a strong and independent heroine for these stories. While it’s completely understandable that Ruth is a little blue with quite a few changes having occurred in the recent past for her, I did find that low ebb of her confidence really seemed to cast a bit of a cloud over the story for me. I also think having Cathbad back in England and Ruth in Italy for the majority of the book might have helped this darker cloud feeling seep into the story for me. I feel Cathbad often can help Ruth feel a little more optimistic and seen. I really feel he lightens her thoughts sometimes and for this book I could have used a bit more of that.

That all said I absolutely love the murder mystery aspect to this plot and as always, I found the strongly written and well plotted archaeology was a joy to read. For me personally this is hands down the best series out there with this style of writing – I guess I just wish the personal and romantic relationships weren’t as messy and complicated as they are.

Readers who want a straightforward mystery might not find this gives them what they wanted. The inter-personal relationships take up a fair bit of space in this novel and while the plot and history are strong components of this book the relationships certainly give the other plots a run for their money. Readers who have enjoyed the previous installments likely will thoroughly enjoy this book as much as they have the others – and like me curiosity on what will happen next shall likely compel them into reading more, just like I’m sure I’ll be picking up the next in the series as well. A well plotted and well written novel, though an emotionally difficult one to read.