One Of Us Is Lying by Karen M. McManus

 

Five students in detention. One dies. Now the other Four are being investigated for murder. Four young people who's lives are turned upside down by the events that follow. Did one of them kill their fellow student? 

As if high schoolers don't have a hard enough time finding their place among their fellow students add in a murder and this was quite a story. Lots of angst, lots of drama, lots of relationship issues make for a YA novel that will draw the reader in and keep the pages turning until the case is resolved. I found the characters interesting and true to form for the high school caste system that involves those who are popular and those who are not. I do intend to read the other two novels in this series to see where the author goes next. 

This was a book on the mystery book puzzle that I challenged myself to read for this year:

Crime and Cherry Pits by Amanda Flower

 

Shiloh has a booth at the Cherry Farm Market. The first time that the Bellamy Farm has ever been able to participate in the cherry festival held each year. Of course where Shiloh is it seems that murder soon happens! Meanwhile, Shiloh and her cousin are in the midst of a battle over the treasure that Shiloh found on her side of the Bellamy Farm. But when her cousin is a suspect in the murder Shiloh is determined to clear her name no matter what is going on in the family. 

This is book 4 in the Farm to Table series. I really like a cozy mystery. I like Shiloh's character. I also kind of like the fact that two guys are liking her and she is eventually going to have to choose one. I'm not normally for the love triangle, but I'm finding that both interests have their potential! Shiloh steadily whittles away at the clues and solves the murder. There were twists and turns along the way, but the murderer was not obvious and the suspects were many. I'm enjoying this series and thought that this book was a quick and entertaining read. I snuggled under my heated blanket and read it in a day! 

The Alienist by Caleb Carr

 

So at the beginning of this year(2024) I put together a puzzle:

I decided I wanted to read all of the books represented in this Mystery book puzzle. This is the second one I have read.

REVIEW

Alienist: a psychiatrist who assesses the competence of a defendant in a court of law.

In a way I guess I would call The Alienist a psychological mystery. The characters were:

An Alienist

A Reporter

A woman secretary

Two police detectives

The goal is to find out who is killing young children of the streets of New York City. Using Dr. Laszlo Kreizler's unorthodox technique of building a psychological profile of the killer John Moore(the reporter), Sara(the police secretary who wants to be the first woman police officer) and the two police detectives put together a profile that leads them right to the killer. Unfortunately there are hurdles to jump before the killer is caught. For he must be caught and not killed so that Dr. Kreizler can study him! But difficulties come from other avenues as well. There are powers that be that do not want the killer caught because it would be detrimental to their hold on their criminal activities. From crooked police officers, to mob bosses, to even the religious venues, all have a reason for the killer to continue doing his evil deeds. As the bodies mount and Kreizler, John, Sara and the detectives get closer the danger to themselves and those they are closest to mounts. Will they be able to stop a killer before he strikes again or before one of them gets hurt beyond repair? 

Soooo, an interesting story. That kind of drug on and on! Four hundred and eighty-eight pages to be exact! Whew! I enjoyed the way they built a psychological profile of the killer. The steps they took to find who was behind the murders. I liked some of the "real" characters that were represented, Theodore Roosevelt as the police commissioner, along with some of the mob bosses that were popular in "the day." The description of the seedy sides of New York City with what we would call child trafficking nowadays was interesting and also sad. I found the ending a bit unsatisfying, but for the most part it was a good read. 

One Wrong Move by Dani Pettrey

 

Christian O'Brady does security for his family business. When a string of art thefts calls their business into question Christian is determined to find out who is behind the thefts. Andi Forester is an insurance investigator called in to determine who is behind the heists. Both Andi and Christian have questionable pasts that they would prefer to leave in the past but it seems that others are bent on discrediting them. 

I really enjoyed this first in the Jeopardy Falls series by Dani Pettrey. The suspense kept me turning the pages, my heart racing to find out how it all would turn out. I loved both Andy and Christian's characters. Andi was a strong woman accused of doing something she didn't do. Christian was a polite man with demons of his own to fight, but it didn't stop him from helping others, being kind and serving the Lord. I loved both of them together. They worked well together and bounced ideas off of each other well. The romance between the two was sweet and passionate! The secondary characters were also well-developed and I'm hoping will all get their own stories. A great start to the series and I am looking forward to the next installments.

Cold Silence by Susan Sleeman

 

Captain Travis Chapman is assigned to investigate the theft of a top secret project that Dr. Claire Reed and her team are working on. It looks like it was an inside job and Travis must go and find out who is responsible. The problem is that Travis and Claire used to be an item. But Claire threw him over for her job. Can he stand to be around her once more without allowing his feelings for her to resurface?

This is a prequel to the Cold Harbor series. As always the suspense and romance are signature Susan Sleeman. Meaning they were both intense and satisfying! Not only is Travis sent to investigate who could have stolen the project, but he also is to provide protection for Claire. They work well together and I enjoyed their characters. I enjoyed seeing the Veritas Center and Blackwell Tactical in their early years. On my TBR I would love to re-read all of the series that started right here. I love the spiritual lessons each character learns in each book and I definitely love the romance along with the suspense that keeps me on the edge of my seat. I definitely recommend Cold Silence as well as the books that come after if you are a romantic suspense fan.