The Game You Played

 Fiction by Anni Taylor

https://www.amazon.com

Six months ago, Phoebe Basko endured every mother's nightmare: her two-year-old son Tommy disappeared from a playground. Now she is barely hanging on to her sanity when she begins receiving anonymous notes with twisted nursery rhymes alluding to her son, such as, "Little boy blue, where did you go?" She is desperate to believe Tommy is still alive and that the notes will lead her to him. But what game is the writer really playing?

This was an exciting thriller with several surprises. It did stretch the bounds of believability some...

Mad Mabel

 Fiction by Sally Hepworth

https://www.audible.com

Over sixty years ago, "Mad Mabel" was the youngest person ever convicted of murder in Australia at age fifteen. But now she's just an old lady who is living under the name Elsie Fitzpatrick in a quiet neighborhood. The last thing Elsie wants is for people to learn about her past, but unfortunately it's about to happen...

This was an amazingly good book from an author I love! The audiobook performance is also first-rate. I highly recommend it!

I also read by this author: The Soulmate

Soulmate

Fiction by Sally Hepworth

https://www.barnesandnoble.com

Pippa and Gabe live with their two little daughters on the Australian coast in a house with a breathtaking view. Unfortunately, they also live right next to cliff which is a popular spot for suicide jumpers. In the year or so they've been living there, seven people have come to the cliff's edge, and seven times Gabe has patiently talked them out of killing themselves. 

Gabe is incredibly good-looking, sensitive, kind, and full of fun, and it seems everyone longs to be his friend. In contrast, Pippa sees herself as kind of pedestrian, a caretaking type who prefers staying the background of life. But it's Pippa who earns the money for the family and who carefully monitors Gabe's emotions and keeps him stable.

But then the eighth person comes to the cliff's edge, the person who will succeed in jumping. This event really throws Pippa and Gabe, and exposes the cracks in their marriage that have been brewing for years.

This was a great story, as I would expect from Sally Hepworth!

I also read by this author: Darling Girls

Darling Girls

 Fiction by Sally Hepworth 

https://www.barnesandnoble.com

Jessica, Norah, and Alicia are sisters, but not biological sisters. The three of them were foster sisters together under the supervision of Miss Fairchild, a damaged and abusive woman who looked after them during their childhood at Wild Meadows farm. Although all three girls are grown now and remain close-knit, they are always haunted by Miss Fairchild's influence. The shadow of their past touches each woman in a different way.

Now the three of  them have been called back to Wild Meadows because a body has been discovered, long buried under the house. The sisters must confront their shared traumatic past and its individual effects, and they are desperate to know whom the body belongs to....

This was a really good character story and mystery. There was a little twist at the end.

I also read recently by this author: The Younger Wife

The Truth About the Accident

 Fiction by Nicole Trope

https://www.barnesandnoble.com

At the beginning of this book a man called Damon is struck by a car  at a busy intersection on the rain, which is of course "the accident" to which the title refers. The question is, was it really an accident, or did someone hit him on purpose? Then the reader discovers that Damon has both a wife and pregnant girlfriend, as well as an attractive female therapist who refers to him as "the narcissist." Could one or more of them be involved?

This was an okay thriller but the characters were not very likeable. Also it slipped into over-the-top unbelievability after a while, giving me a mild case of I-Can-No-Longer-Suspend-My-Disbelief-Syndrome.** Really, how many affairs/ one-night-stands can this guy actually have? I have loved everything else I've read by this author, but this book is not nearly up to her usual standard.

I also read recently by this author: The Mother's Fault

**I-Can-No-Longer-Suspend-My-Disbelief-Syndrome: 

(See Rule of One  by Ashley Saunders)

This is when the plot twists push the boundaries of believability too far, (such as a long-lost-identical twin showing up at the last minute to take the blame when it had never before been mentioned that the person has a twin) or too often (such as three or four coincidences lining up to reveal the final twist.)

Here One Moment

 Fiction by Liane Moriarty

https://www.barnesandnoble.com

At the beginning of this story a flight from Tasmania to Sydney takes off and a very unexpected thing happens, but it has nothing to do with the annoying flight delay that had just occurred, or indeed even with the airplane flight at all. A woman suddenly stands up and begins predicting the age and cause of death for each of her fellow passengers. She does it with such a chillingly matter-of-fact manner that people become quite alarmed, calling her the Death Lady. It's a very unpleasant experience, but of course it's short-lived.

But the real trouble starts when some of her predictions begin to come true.... 

This was a really good book!

I also read recently by this author: Apples Never Fall

The Mother’s Fault

 Fiction by Nicole Trope. 

https://www.barnesandnoble.com

Beverly is a young single mother.  Her son Riley is eight years old and she has told him that his father is dead. One day Riley begins receiving mysterious presents in the mailbox with unsigned notes, and he begins to nourish a hood that they are from his father, who might not be dead after all. But the real sender if this gifts is someone he doesn’t expect…

This was an exciting thriller with some surprises. 

I also read recently by this author: The Stepchild

The Stepchild

 Fiction by Nicole Trope

https://www.barnesandnoble.com

Leslie left Millie, her three year old daughter, at home while she went to the grocery store, trusting her twelve year old stepdaughter Shelby to babysit. When Leslie came back, Millie was gone. Shelby said the child ran away, but did she really? And for that matter, did Leslie really go to the grocery store? And what about Randall, the girls' father; was he really out golfing?

This was an exciting thriller with several surprises. 

I also read by this author: The Boy in the Photo

The Couple Across the Street

 Fiction by Anita Waller

https://www.barnesandnoble.com

Recent widow Clare is more than willing to help her best friend and neighbor Vic when Vic reveals that her husband Rob is abusive. But when Rob turns up dead not long after Vic's departure, the police are looking closely at Vic and Clare...

This was a pretty good story but not great. I was kind of disappointed by the ending.

I also read recently by Amazon Prime Kindle: The Ex

The Boy in the Photo

 Fiction by Nicole Trope

https://www.barnesandnoble.com

Megan's ex-husband stole her son Daniel away from her when the boy was six years old. For many years after that, Megan searched and searched for him, her life on hold. But now she has a new husband and a new baby girl. Then she gets the call that Daniel has been found! 

Megan is overjoyed, but the brooding twelve-year old who comes home with her from the police station is nothing like the sweet boy she remembers. Can she rebuild their relationship?

This was an exciting  (although a little anxiety-producing) story with a surprise at the end.

I also read by this author: The Family Across the Street

The Younger Wife

 Fiction  by Sally Hepworth

https://www.barnesandnoble.com

Heather Wisher is the titular Younger Wife, and the story opens at her wedding. In attendance is, of course, Stephen (the Older Groom) and his grown daughters, Rachel and Tully and... Stephen's ex-wife Pam? All of  these five people are emotionally strained, possibly to a breaking point, so it's no surprise that something happens. But what exactly happens will not be revealed until the final chapters.

This was a great story with good characters and several surprises! I like this author a lot.

I also read recently by this author: The Good Sister

The Family Across the Street

 Fiction by Nicole Trope.

https://www.barnesandnoble.com

There's a hostage situation in a suburban neighborhood, but it's the height of summer and everyone is closeted indoors. Will anyone realize the danger in time to save Katherine and her twin five-year-old children?

This was an exciting thriller with a real surprise at the end.

The Woman in the Library

 Fiction by Sulari Gentill

https://www.barnesandnoble.com

"Four people are sitting in Reading Room of the Boston Public Library when they hear a scream. Later it is discovered that a woman was murdered at that moment and the four begin to investigate the crime."

That's the story Australian mystery author Hannah Tigone is writing. She emails Leo, an acquaintance in Boston, for critique and local color. But maybe Leo is a little too interested in murder...

This was an interesting story within a story. I liked the plot but didn't love the characters.

The Good Sister

Fiction by Sally Hepworth

https://www.barnesandnoble.com

Rose and Fern are twin sisters who share a complicated relationship. But hey, what sisters don't, am I right? It's funny that I read this book and False Witness by Karin Slaughter back-to-back, and both stories are about the complicated love-hate bond that sisters share.

This novel is written from the point of view of both women, and let the reader beware, they may both be unreliable narrators for different reasons.

It was an exciting story with great characters and some surprises.

I also read recently by this author: The Family Next Door

Apples Never Fall

 Fiction by Liane Moriarty

https://www.barnesandnoble.com

This is a great story about a woman who disappears. After a week, her four adult children are divided about what to do. After all, she sent a text saying she was going "OFF-GRID," whatever that means. Should they report her missing if she's probably just gone someplace voluntarily? And if something did happen to her, they all realize that their father would be the first one the police suspect... 

I loved this book! It had wonderful characters and a surprise at the end.

I also read recently by this author: Nine Perfect Strangers

Soon

 Fiction by Lois Murphy

https://www.audible.com

Nebulah is a little town in rural Australia where a haunted, deadly mist comes every night to stalk the residents. Nearly all have fled the area since the mist first appeared at the last winter solstice; at the beginning of this story only eleven people remain, which quickly dwindles to six. 

What is the mist? What will happen when the next winter solstice comes? And WHY don't these people want to leave this awful place? Who knows?

I hated this book. It had a terrible ending and never explained the mist at all. 

The Family Next Door

 Fiction by Sally Hepworth

https://www.barnesandnoble.com/

Essie, Ange, and Fran are all mothers who live on Pleasant Court, and all of them have something they'd like to hide. Then Isabel moves in, and they all wonder what she might be hiding. But it turns out that Isabel is looking for a missing child, and she thinks may have found that child on Pleasant Court.

This was a really exciting story.

I also read recently by this author: The Mother in Law

Whiskey and Charlie

 Fiction by Annabel Smith

https://www.barnesandnoble.com

Charlie and his identical twin brother William are estranged as adults, although they had been very close as children. Back then they used to play walkie-talkies, and memorized the NATO phonetic alphabet. (Alpha, Bravo, Charlie, etc.) That's when William began to use the name "Whiskey," which was the designated word for the letter W, and he was called Whiskey ever after that, except by his mother.

When Whiskey is involved in an accident and languishes in a coma, Charlie is racked with guilt and afraid he'll never have a chance to make up with his brother. The book goes back and forth between the past and present, juxtaposing the current vigil at Whiskey's bedside with the story of the twin boys' growing-up years.

I liked the story, but I found the construction of the book's plot a little awkward. For one thing, each of the 26 chapters about the past was named after a letter of the phonetic alphabet, which felt forced to me. It was like, "Oh, we're on 'M', so let's introduce a character named Mike!" Also I didn't like being continually pulled back to the present business of hanging around Whiskey in a coma. These things bothered me bit and slowed down my reading.

Overall, this was a good book though.

The Mother in Law

Fiction by Sally Hepworth

https://www.barnesandnoble.com

Lucy doesn't get along with her husband's mother Diana and never really has. But when Diana is found dead of apparent suicide, Lucy is surprised by her feeling of loss. And when the police begin to suspect that Diana's death was not a suicide at all, Lucy and her husband's family are all under suspicion.

This was an interesting and exciting story.

I also read by this author: The Mother's Promise

The Thorn Birds

Fiction by Colleen McCullough

https://www.barnesandnoble.com

This book was published in 1977 and is considered a classic by many readers. I'd heard of it (mostly because of the early 1980's miniseries version on TV that everyone talked about at the time) but had never read it, or watched the TV show.

It's a family saga type of novel, beginning in the early 1900's and set in Australia. I really liked the characters and enjoyed the story. I did feel like it was more tragic that it needed to be; when I become fond of characters I'd really prefer they end up happy. I mean, this IS fiction. The author can do what she wants with these folks, so why not make them happy? Still, this is a good book.