Picking up the Pieces

 Fiction by Amanda Prowse.

https://www.barnesandnoble.com

Nora and Kiki are sisters, but they are not very close. Not only are they separated by a twelve-year age gap, they were raised almost completely apart because of their parents' tragic death when Kiki was only a baby. Nora grew up in boarding schools while Kiki was raised by their grandmother, and each sister felt that the other one had the better situation. Instead, it turns out that both girls are struggling.

Now Nora is on the brink of divorce from her Army husband in Cyprus, and Kiki is back in England fighting major depressive disorder. Can the two sisters find their way back to each other and heal the relationship?

This was a very good story by an author I had not heard of. I will definitely look for more of her books.

Hallowe'en Party

 Fiction by Agatha Christie

https://www.audible.com

Mrs. Oliver, the famous writer of detective stories, is attending a Halloween party in small British village when an adolescent girl boasts that she had once seen a murder committed. Nobody believes her, but when the same girl ends up murdered herself by the end of the evening, Mrs. Oliver wonders if perhaps she had been telling the truth. She enlists her friend Hercule Poirot to come to town and solve the mystery.

This was a good story with a surprise ending.

I also read recently by this author: Endless Night

The Mystery of Three Quarters

 Fiction by Agatha Christie and Sophie Hannah

http://barnesandnoble.com

This book is one of a new series of Hercule Poirot books written by a modern author "in the style of" Agatha Christie. Sophie Hannah is apparently endorsed by the late author's estate, and she does a really good job of capturing the character of M. Poirot while coming up with her own story lines.

In this book, four strangers receive letter purporting to be from Hercule Poirot that accuse them of murdering a certain man, a man who died from what appeared to have been an accident. But M. Poirot had sent no such letters. Still, he will be enticed into investigating, of course.

This was a good story with a surprise ending.

I also read by this author: The Monogram Murders

Wanting Daisy Dead

 Fiction by Sue Watson

https://www.barnesandnoble.com

It's been twenty years since Daisy Harrington died in her second year of university. Now her former housemates are being invited to celebrate what would have been her fortieth birthday by coming to a reunion at St. Luke's Campus, Exeter, and participating in a podcast called "The Killer Question."

And by "invited," I really mean "coerced;" each housemate receives a letter threatening to reveal the secret reason he or she wanted Daisy dead if they refuse to participate. And apparently, they ALL wanted Daisy dead. She was quite terrible, by all accounts.

This book was okay, but I didn't really like it. Every character was pretty unpleasant, and the convoluted plot stretched believability past its limits. But it WAS free.....

I also read recently by Amazon Prime Kindle: All the Lies

The Secret Book Society

 Fiction by Madeline Martin

https://www.barnesandnoble.com

In nineteenth-century England, women had few choices. Even highborn ladies with access to fortunes were subject to the whims of their husbands and fathers, and could be forced to obey these men. A woman could legally be bound to accept abuse, loss of autonomy, or even imprisonment, if the male in charge of her deemed it fit.

In this story, the Countess of Duxbury wants to do her small part to change that. She initiates the Secret Book Society and invites a very few close friends to join her is reading books together, book written by women like themselves. 

This was a pretty good book.

Camila's Story

 Nonfiction by Louise Allen

https://www.amazon.com

I categorized this book as nonfiction because that's what it is supposed to be; however, it is at least half fiction. I like this author and her stories, but she writes about things that she can't possibly know the truth about as if they are facts. For example, much of this particular book is from the point of view of Camila's parents. It makes a good story, but it is not nonfiction.

That being said, this is still a pretty good story...

I also read by this author: Milo's Story

Ghost

 Fiction by Robert Harris

https://www.barnesandnoble.com

This "ghost" in the name of this book isn't a noncorporeal entity. Instead, the title refers to a ghostwriter. 

In this story, former British prime minister Adam Lang has been paid an exorbitant sum for his memoirs and is running close to the deadline when his trusted-aide-tuned-ghostwriter apparently commits suicide with the book unfinished. At that point, our unnamed protagonist ("the Ghost"--get it?) gets the assignment, complete with a promise of a huge payoff if he delivers the finished work in thirty days.

But our friend the Ghost has an nearly impossible task ahead: not only is the existing manuscript terribly written, but also the subject of the memoirs is elusive, able to carry on long conversations without actually saying anything at all. Plus it's starting to look like the first ghostwriter didn't kill himself after all.

This was an interesting book with a surprise ending, but almost no sympathetic characters.

Endless Night

 Fiction by Agatha Christie

https://www.audible.com

Mike and Ellie are a charming young couple who fall in love and get together to build their dream house in the English countryside. But unfortunately they seem to be threatened from all sides. There are Ellie's interfering, money-grasping relatives; and there's a creepy gypsy woman in the neighborhood who insists they have built on cursed land; and then there's Greta, the woman Ellie believes is her best friend but whom Mike is suspicious of.

This is probably one of Agatha Christie's best books. There is no detective, and the murder doesn't even take place until close to the end of the book, but it's still a first-class mystery.

The amazing thing is, I actually remembered exactly how the story ended (and who had "dunnit"), but was still able to enjoy the re-read.

I also read recently by this author: Postern of Fate

The Stranger in Her House

Fiction by John Marrs

https://www.audible.com

This was a very exciting story that kept making turns I didn't expect. Most of the characters were rather terrible people but you couldn't help being sympathetic to some of them anyways.

I also read by this author: You Killed Me First

All The Lies

 Amazon Prime Kindle Fiction by Nicola Sanders

https://www.amazon.com

Amy used to be a dance teacher, but now she is only Jason's wife. Since their marriage, Jason has taken control of every aspect of Amy's life, watching her every minute and trying to catch her deceiving him. She had foolishly signed over all of her money to him to "invest" for her; now she has no resources and no way out. Even her mother takes Jason's side in their arguments, refusing to believe that Amy is being abused.

When her mother offers her a ticket to a cruise ship vacation, Amy is desperate to take it and try to get away. Her mother means for the trip to be for both Amy and Jason, but Amy tells her husband that she'll be traveling with her mom and is relieved when he believes her. Or does he? 

This was an exciting story with several surprises! (And one over-the-top twist at the end that I don't 100% buy.)

I also read by this author: Don't Let Her Stay

I also read (FREE!) from Amazon Prime Kindle: The Sideways Life of Denny Voss

Statistically Speaking

 Fiction by Debbie Johnson

https://www.barnesandnoble.com

This was a fun little story about a British woman who gave up a baby as a teenager and still longs to find the child eighteen years later. 

Milo’s Story

 Nonfiction by Louise Allen

https://www.amazon.com

This is the eleventh book in Louise Allen's "Thrown Away Children Series," which I had almost given up on after the terrible ending of the last book (see below). That's the problem with nonfiction, though. Real life doesn't offer tidily happy endings.

This book was better, in that it didn't end absolutely horribly, and that it was interesting. I did really enjoy reading Milo's story. That said, I do feel like the author takes a lot of liberties with the category of nonfiction, almost veering into "based on a true story" novelization rather often. Still, that makes it more fun to read, so I shouldn't complain. More troubling is the lecture mode she slips into too often.

So I liked the book but didn't love it.

I also read recently by this author: Willow's Story

The Snakes

 Fiction by Sadie Jones

https://www.barnesandnoble.com

Bea Adamson and her husband Dan are a young married couple who decide to leave their home in England for a few months to travel in Europe, subletting their flat and using their small savings. The plan is for Bea (who loves her job) to take a leave of absence and for Dan (who loathes his job) to quit and find a new job when they return. 

But first they stop in France to see the hotel that Bea's brother Alex is running, and right away there is a problem. The hotel is still "under renovation," and Alex is clearly incapable of managing it. It's literally just a property that Alex's father has purchased to keep Alex occupied. And so Dan begins to realize the extent of his wife's family's wealth: they are the kind of rich people who can buy a hotel in France for their son to play around with. 

The fact of the Adamson's extreme wealth boggles Dan's mind and puts Bea on the defensive. She has always refused to accept any money from her father, whom she sees at best as corrupt (and at worst as a criminal), and maintains that her family's financial status has nothing to do with herself and Dan. Still the fact that the money exists begins to drive a wedge between the two of them. And then tragedy strikes.

This was an interesting story with great characters that gives the reader a lot to think about. The ending was terrible, however.

Circle of Days

 Fiction by Ken Follett

https://www.audible.com

Ken Follet began writing about British history with the book The Pillars of the Earth, (set in 12th century) and continued in the rest of the Kingsbridge series to explore several other eras. Now he's going WAY back, to the time of Stonehenge.

It is a testament to this author's genius that he can write a story about primitive humans and make the characters just as compelling and real as modern people. This book is amazingly good.

I also read recently by this author: The Armor of Light

You Killed Me First

 Fiction by John Marrs

https://www.barnesandnoble.com

This was an exciting thriller but it definitely stretched the limits of believability almost to breaking, and was populated with believable but unlikeable characters. 

It begins with a woman literally trapped under the village bonfire on Guy Fawkes Day with a voice in her ear saying, "You killed me first..."

I also read recently by this author: The Family Experiment

The Family Experiment

 Fiction by John Marrs

https://www.audible.com

In a futuristic Britain, the divide between rich and poor becomes ever-wider, and government control over individuals grows stronger and stronger, as the line between private corporations and public entities blurs. In this installment of the story, couples who can't have biological children compete on reality TV for the opportunity to have AI kids.

Wait, what? Just accept the premise. It's the dystopian future!

This book is listed as #3 in the "Dark Future Series," which includes The One, The Marriage Act, The Passengers, and The Minders. I have read all of these and I think they have the order wrong; this one is more like number four or five. But that's not important, I guess.

The important thing is that this book was really good, especially in audiobook form with the different narrators.

The Flatshare

 Fiction by Beth O'Leary

https://www.barnesandnoble.com

Tiffany Moore is desperate to find a new place to live in order to get away from her terrible ex-boyfriend, but she really doesn’t have enough money for anything decent, especially in London. She ends up signing on to a strange flat sharing agreement with a man called Leon, wherein she gets the flat’s single bedroom on nights and weekends, and he occupies it on weekdays from eight am to six pm. 

Theoretically the two of them will never see each other. But the reader can guess that they definitely will…

This was a lovely little straight romance with great characters. I will look for more by this author!

Postern of Fate

 Fiction by Agatha Christie

https://www.barnesandnoble.com

In this book a pair of over-seventy-year-olds try to solve a mystery almost as old as they are. They take a long time to do it, and the journey is not very interesting. It is probably the worst Agatha Christie book I have read. Still, Mrs. Christie's books are usually so good that I'll give it the benefit of the doubt.

I also read recently by this author: By the Pricking of My Thumbs

By the Pricking of My Thumbs

 Fiction by Agatha Christie

https://www.barnesandnoble.com

This story, starring recurring characters Tommy and Tuppence Beresford (see The Secret Adversary and N or M?) was not as engrossing as most of Agatha Christie's stories. Still, there was a good mystery and a surprising ending.

I also read recently by this author: At Bertram's Hotel

The Secret Book of Flora Lea

 Fiction by Patti Callahan Henry

https://www.barnesandnoble.com

In 1939 London, war is raging and bombs are falling. Parents are strongly encouraged by the British government to send their children away from the city where they will be safe. Hazel and Flora, ages fourteen and five, are sent to Oxfordshire, where they are well-treated by the Aberdeen family but still miss their mum terribly. For comfort, Hazel invents a fairytale story of the magical world of Whisperwood. Together, the girls play a secret make-believe game where they visit Whisperwood and have adventures. 

But one day Flora is left alone by the river and disappears! Hazel blames herself, and the police blame the Aberdeens, but eventually everyone concludes that poor Flora must have drowned. Twenty years later, Hazel is working in a book shop and discovers that a woman in America has published a children's book all about the magical land of Whisperwood! Could Flora be alive after all?

This was a good story with lovely characters. I didn't love it as much as I wanted to though.

I also read by this author: Once Upon a Wardrobe