Books Read in May 2024

 

I read more books than I expected to in May, a total of nine books. Those books included a graphic novel, a book on my classics club list, a science fiction book, and a time travel book.

Graphic novel

The Book Tour (2019) by Andi Watson

This is a graphic novel with a Kafkaesque storyline. A man goes on a book tour with a suitcase of his books. The suitcase is stolen, so he has no books to sell or sign. He goes to book signing after book signing where no one turns up to see him. A confusing story, but I liked it, both the story and the art.

Fiction

The Lincoln Highway (2021) by Amor Towles

I started this book in April and it took me 10 days to read it. It was the only book on my list that I did not enjoy reading. It is about three young men, all 18 years old, traveling across the United States. The main character, Emmett, has a younger brother, Billy, who is traveling with them. Emmett's plan is to drive from his childhood home in Nebraska to Texas, but the trip eventually leads them in a different direction. All of that sounds good but I did not really grow to like any of the main characters. Yet I found the ending to be satisfying.

The Warden (1859) by Anthony Trollope

I read this for the last Classics Club spin, and I was happy to finally read something by Trollope. This one is the first book in the Chronicles of Barsetshire, and I will be reading more in that series. See my review here.

Science Fiction

The Kaiju Preservation Society (2022) by John Scalzi

This is simply a very fun and funny science fiction novel. The following quote is from the author's notes at the end of the book: “KPS is not, and I say this with absolutely no slight intended, a brooding symphony of a novel. It’s a pop song. It’s meant to be light and catchy, with three minutes of hooks and choruses for you to sing along with, and then you’re done and you go on with your day, hopefully with a smile on your face. I had fun writing this, and I needed to have fun writing this. We all need a pop song from time to time, particularly after a stretch of darkness.”

Time Travel 

A Rip Through Time (2022) by Kelley Armstrong

This novels spans many genres: crime fiction, historical fiction, and time travel. It is part of a trilogy and I will be reading the next two books. See my review here. 

Crime Fiction

What Was Lost (2007) by Catherine O'Flynn

A young girl, ten years old, lives with her grandmother; her goal is to be a detective, and run her own detective agency. She has few friends, hates school, and entertains herself with investigating cases that she has made up. The remaining portions of the book take place in 2004 and 2005, 20 years later, and focus on Kurt, a security guard in the Green Oaks Mall, and Lisa, an employee at a large record store in the mall. My review here.

Newcomer (2001) by Keigo Higashino

Translated by Giles Murray

This Japanese mystery seems at first to be a straightforward police procedural, but the structure of the story is unusual. The case involves the death of a woman who has recently moved to the Nihonbashi area of Tokyo. Each chapter features a location (usually a shop) at which Kaga interviews various prospective witnesses or suspects, and each chapter reads almost like a self-contained short story. See my review here.

Corpse in a Gilded Cage (1984) by Robert Barnard

When the eleventh Earl of Ellesmere dies, Perce Spender, a working-class Londoner, inherits the title and the estate. He is a simple man with simple tastes and doesn't want to live in the huge family estate; he plans to sell everything, but it isn't that simple. His three children and their hangers-on come to stay at the estate for his 60th birthday party. Perce Spender is just about the only likable character in the book. I always enjoy books by Robert Barnard. This one is very, very funny, even with all the unsympathetic characters.

Salt Lane (2018) by William Shaw

I was very glad I read SALT LANE by William Shaw. I had been put off by DS Alexandra Cupidi in THE BIRDWATCHER, but in this start to a new series starring Cupidi, she is a more appealing character. It isn't that there a complete reversal of her behavior but that we get to see more of her background and her family and why she came to work in a small seaside town in Kent. One of the aspects of this book that I especially love is that Cupidi's teenage daughter Zoë is a serious birdwatcher and there are scenes describing birds and bird enthusiasts. And the setting is wonderful.

Currently reading and what's next?

I am reading A Closed and Common Orbit by Becky Chambers. It is in the science fiction genre, the second book in the Wayfarers series. I am loving it.

After having two cataract surgeries in June, I am much behind in my blogging, and I am trying to catch up. I hope to review a few of the books I read in June and put up a summary post for that month and then get back on track to some extent by the end of July. 

 

The photos at the top and bottom of this post were taken in late May at the I Madonnari Italian Street Painting Festival. It was held at Mission Santa Barbara over the Memorial Day weekend, on May 25-27, 2024. Click on the images for best viewing quality.

A Rip Through Time: Kelley Armstrong

 

This is the first book in a time travel trilogy by Kelley Armstrong. The main character in this book is a female police detective, Mallory Atkinson, from Vancouver, British Columbia, who is visiting Edinburgh in 2019 because her grandmother is very ill.  While out jogging in the evening, she tries to help a young woman in the streets who is being attacked; at that point she is transported to another time, which she later finds out is Edinburgh in 1869. For the rest of the story, Mallory's focus is on trying to figure out what happened and how she can return to her own time. 

Soon she learns that her consciousness is in the body of a very attractive young house maid who works in a house owned by a young doctor, Dr. Gray, and his sister, Isla. This is what she sees when she looks in the mirror:

"The girl—young woman, I should say—is no more than twenty. Honey-blond hair that curls to midback. Bright blue eyes. Average height with curves not quite contained by the corset over my chest. Not me."

There are a lot of convenient coincidences. A policewoman from 2019 transported back to Edinburgh 150 years earlier is very lucky to end up in a situation that she did. The owner of the house she is working in is an undertaker who has gone to medical school, and his major interest is investigating deaths (cause of death, etc.). He has a friend in the police who can give him access to bodies for research in some cases. His sister runs the house; she is a chemist who cannot work in her chosen field because she is a woman. All of this gives her opportunities and access that she would not have had in other households. However, I easily accepted these coincidences because the story was so interesting and fun.

My thoughts:

• Mallory tells the story in first person present tense narration. I usually like stories narrated by the main character and it works well here. I usually don't like the use of present tense in fiction, but I am getting used to it.
• The characters are very well done, and the women in the book are strong characters, not afraid to assert themselves. Mallory has to be careful with her behavior because she knows that no one will believe that she is actually from 150 years in the future. She must act subservient like a maid would, and do all the work a maid does, after she recovers from the attack.
• I like time travel books a lot, and this one was a good read and educational. I learned a lot about Edinburgh and Scotland in 1869. 
• As far as I could tell, the author did a good job with the setting and atmosphere in Edinburgh in 1869. On her website, Armstrong has notes for the sources she used in research for this novel.

Armstrong is a Canadian author, and I am always looking for Canadian authors to read. Since this story is set in Edinburgh, we don't get a Canadian setting, but I have read two books from another one of her series, the Rockton series, set in the Yukon territory in Canada.

I read this book on my Kindle; it was the third eBook I read this year. I have the 2nd book in this series as an eBook also and I would like to read it by the end of the year. 

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Publisher:   Minotaur Books, 2022
Length:       352 pages
Format:      eBook
Series:        A Rip Through Time #1
Setting:      Edinburgh, Scotland
Genre:       Time Travel
Source:      Kindle Unlimited.

Reading Summary for April 2024

 

I read six novels this month, and I was pleased with the variety. I am working on increasing the number of eBooks I read. This month I read one (the Bill Crider book) , and one of the books I am currently reading is also an eBook, so I have read a total of three this year, up from one in all of 2023.

I have been putting together a list for 20 Books of Summer at 746 Books, and I am looking forward to reading those books. 

General Fiction

The Jane Austen Book Club (2004) by Karen Joy Fowler

Five women and one man form a book club to discuss Jane Austen's novels, one per month. Their ages range from 30 to nearly 70. I liked this book a lot, but the narrative style was challenging. See my review.

Fiction, Western

The Sisters Brothers (2011) by Patrick deWitt

This novel is a western, a genre that I have little familiarity with. Eli and Charlie Sisters work for the Commodore. Their current assignment is to find Hermann Kermit Warm and kill him. Charlie is the older brother and runs the show. Eli narrates the story; he doesn't enjoy killing and would be just as happy to find another way to live, but he feels loyal to Charlie. The story is set in the West when it was lawless, and there are many interesting historical facts to be learned, but I didn't enjoy the story of a life of crime until it was close to over. It is well-written and Eli is a great character. I am glad I read it through to the end, but it just wasn't the book for me.

Science Fiction

The Humans (2013) by Matt Haig

This is a science fiction novel about an alien who comes to earth, and takes over the body of a mathematician, Andrew Martin. However, for me this was more like reading a philosophy book or a self help book. I loved it. See my review.

Crime Fiction

The Found Him Dead (1937) by Georgette Heyer

They Found Him Dead is a very bland title for an entertaining mystery novel set in a country house. Members of the Kane family are dying, and the police are not sure who is causing the deaths or why. See my review.

Winning Can Be Murder (1996) by Bill Crider

Sheriff Dan Rhodes of Blacklin County, Texas has fond memories of playing football for the local high school team in his youth. Like almost everyone else in Blacklin County, he is enthusiastic about the home football team's chances to go to the state finals this year. The football theme did not interest me as much as the earlier books I have read in this series, but a Dan Rhodes mystery by Bill Crider is always an entertaining and fun read, with lovable main characters and a lot of eccentric secondary characters. This is the 8th book in a 25 book series.

The Mistress of Alderley (2000) by Robert Barnard

A successful actress has been set up in a country house by her lover; he visits only on weekends and she thinks she has the perfect life. I love Barnard's style of writing; his books often have unusual or unexpected endings. This one was more straightforward as far as the mystery goes but the mystery had me interested from beginning to end. Another bonus for me was that the policemen in this book were Charlie Peace and his boss, Mike Oddie, from the author's Charlie Peace series. 

Just Finished

I finished reading The Warden by Anthony Trollope for the Classics Club Spin and I will be reviewing it soonish, so I won't say too much about it right now. It was the first book I have read by Trollope, and a very good read, once I got used to the style of writing.

Currently reading

I am reading A Rip Through Time by Kelley Armstrong on my Kindle Scribe, which I purchased in February. As you can probably tell from the title, it is a time travel book. With the purchase of the Scribe I got a three-month free trial of Kindle Unlimited. That gave me access to A Rip Through Time, and I wanted to take advantage of the subscription before it ran out. For the first few chapters, I was unsure how much I would enjoy this book, but I am about 50% through it right now and it is getting better and better.

The photos at the top and bottom of this post were taken in early May in our back yard.  We have been working on clearing out weeds in the back. There is still lots of work to be done but soon we will be able to buy some new plants for pots. 

The photos were taken and processed by my husband. Click on the images for the best viewing quality.

January and February Reading, 2024

 

It used to be that most of the books I read were published before 1975; I also read many books published from 1976 to 2000. A smaller percentage of the books I read were published after 2000. As I looked back on my reading in the first two months of this year, I realized that 10 out of the 12 books that I read were published after 2000.  Since I enjoyed almost every book I have read this year, I don't think that is a bad thing. I am just wondering why and when my tastes changed and whether that will continue. I did read two books published in the 1950s, one by Graham Greene and one by Seichō Matsumoto, and both were excellent books.

So here are the book I read...

Nonfiction / Nature

Vesper Flights (2020) by Helen Macdonald

This is a collection of Macdonald's essays, mostly about nature, but sometimes delving into her personal life. Many of the essays focus on birds (which is what I was looking for) but not all. The book was educational, in a fun way. Some of the essays that I especially I enjoyed: "Field Guides," about the evolution of field guides;  "High Rise," about bird watching on the top of the Empire State building, at night; "Ants," about the mating flight of queen ants and drones; "Swan Upping," about mute swans on the River Thames.

Nonfiction / Memoir

Wait for Me! (2010) by Deborah Mitford

I found this book to be a fantastic read, but maybe that is because I enjoy reading about the Mitford sisters so much. The author has a gift of telling short interesting anecdotes. The two other books I have read about the family were biographies and they focused mainly on Nancy (16 years older than Deborah) and Diana (10 years older). Because Deborah was the youngest child (of seven), her view of the family came from a different perspective. The book is divided between her childhood and young adult years with her family and her life as the Duchess of Devonshire. Both were equally of interest to me.  

Fiction

Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow (2022) by Gabrielle Zevin

This book is about two young people who create video games. The story starts when Sam Mazur and Sadie Green are about 12 years old and covers the next 30 years in their lives. It does focus on video gaming and the process of creating them, but it is about many other things: relationships, families, judgement and misunderstandings, and ambition. I liked the writing, and I was caught up in the story. My one complaint is that the book is too long at 400 plus pages.  

Days at the Morisaki Bookshop (2010) by Satoshi Yagisawa

I read this book for the Japanese Literary Challenge and for the Bookish Books Challenge. A young woman goes to work in a bookshop owned by her uncle after a romantic relationship ends abruptly. The book is definitely not a romance; there is a lot of emphasis on human relationships, in addition to books and reading. See my review.

A Man Called Ove (2012) by Fredrik Backman

Ove is an older man, nearing sixty, who has fixed ideas about life and often doesn't fit in with societal norms. He often seems cranky or rude. His wife has recently died. Their relationship had its ups and downs, but they were a devoted couple, and she was undoubtedly the most important thing in his life. He has decided that he does not want to go on living without her. This story alternates between very funny episodes and very sad episodes, but it does lean toward the sadder ones. Some chapters tell about the three weeks after his new neighbors move in next door; others describe key times in his earlier life: his childhood, meeting his wife, and his work. I liked the structure and the way the author gradually reveals more and more about Ove and his life. It was a great read and I will be looking for more books by this author.

Crime Fiction

Chilled to the Bone (2013) by Quentin Bates

This is the third book in a police procedural series set in Iceland. The main character is a female policewoman working in the Serious Crime Unit in Reykjavík.  See my review.

Tokyo Express (1958) by Seichō Matsumoto

This was another book I read for the Japanese Literature Challenge. It was Matsumoto's first novel, published in 1958, and was first published in English translation as Points and Lines. See my review.

A Darkness Absolute (2017) by Kelley Armstrong

This is the second book in the Rockton series, and it was just as appealing as the first, City of the Lost, which I read about 3 years ago. Rockton is a small town in the Yukon wilderness, so isolated that most modern conveniences are lacking. Most of the residents are hiding from something in their past. See my review.

Wanting Sheila Dead (2010) by Jane Haddam

Book 25 in the Gregor Demarkian series. The main character is a retired FBI profiler who sometimes does consulting jobs for various police departments. This book is mostly set in the Philadelphia area where Demarkian lives. A reality show is being filmed in the very elaborate home that his wife Bennis grew up in. When a body is found at the house he agrees to check into it. See my review.

Gallows Court (2018) by Martin Edwards

This is the first book in the Rachel Savernake series. It is a departure for Edwards, both a historical mystery (set in the 1930s in London) and a thriller. I did end up liking the book, but it took me 150 pages of 350 pages to get into it, which is not ideal. I liked the way it ended and I thought it was a brilliant mystery, but I wasn't really enjoying it too much as I read it. I also wonder where the next book, Mortmain Hall, will take the main character, so I will definitely be reading it, maybe later in the year.

Judas 62 (2021) by Charles Cumming

This is the second book in the BOX 88 espionage series. BOX 88 is a covert spy agency that is not officially attached to the CIA or MI6, but has contacts in both groups that Box 88 agents can work with. In JUDAS 62, Lachlan Kite is assigned to extract a Russian chemical weapons scientist defector. He goes to the city of Voronezh in Russia as an English Language teacher. That section of the book is set in 1993. The second section is set in 2020 in Dubai. I loved the first book, BOX 88; this one was very good also. 

The Quiet American (1955) by Graham Greene

I have been wanting to read more by Graham Greene and this was a great choice. This book was published in 1955 and the events in this book took place in the early 1950s. The story is set in Saigon, Vietnam and surrounding areas when the French Army and the Viet Minh guerrillas are fighting each other. See my review.

Status of challenges

Back in November 2023, I joined the Wanderlust Bingo Challenge at Fiction Fan's Book Reviews. Five or six of the books I read since the first of the year could work for that challenge, but I still have to work out which squares they would fit best.

I read two books for the Japanese Literature Challenge at Dolce Bellezza, which ran January - February. I will continue reading books translated from Japanese throughout the year. 

I have now formally joined the Bookish Books Reading Challenge at Bloggin' 'bout Books and have completed one book so far. 

The only other challenge I have joined is the Mount TBR Reading Challenge on Goodreads. Every book I have read this year so far (15) counts toward my goal of 48 books so I may have no problem meeting that goal.

Currently reading

I just finished Your Republic is Calling You by Young-ha Kim last night. Published in 2006, the setting is South Korea. It was a different kind of spy fiction and I liked it very much.

Next I will be reading A Beautiful Place to Die by Malla Nunn. The blurb on the book describes it as a "darkly romantic crime novel set in 1950s apartheid South Africa, featuring Detective Emmanuel Cooper." It has been on my shelves for 6 years. 

The photos at the top and bottom of this post were taken at the Santa Barbara International Orchid Show that we attended last week. See the previous post for more photos. Click on the images for the best viewing quality.

A Darkness Absolute: Kelley Armstrong

 

Description from the dust jacket:

When experienced homicide detective Casey Duncan first moved to the secret town of Rockton, she expected a safe haven for people like her, people running from their past misdeeds and past lives. She knew living in Rockton meant living off-the-grid completely: no cell phones, no Internet, no mail, very little electricity, and no way of getting in or out without the town council’s approval. What she didn’t expect is that Rockton comes with its own set of secrets and dangers.

Now, in A Darkness Absolute, Casey and her fellow Rockton sheriff’s deputy Will chase a cabin-fevered resident into the woods, where they are stranded in a blizzard. Taking shelter in a cave, they discover a former resident who’s been held captive for over a year.

Rockton is a small town in the Yukon wilderness, so isolated that most modern conveniences are lacking. A town council has to approve new inhabitants, and most of those applying for residence in Rockton have committed crimes or are hiding from something in their past. Admittance can be based on the individual's usefulness to the town or on a large monetary payment.

Sheriff Eric Dalton and Detective Casey Duncan are the main characters in this series. In this book, they are looking for a man who is capable of kidnapping a woman and keeping her imprisoned in demeaning circumstances for months. They don't know for sure whether the man would be from outside of Rockton, or an inhabitant. And the bad weather doesn't make the investigation and search any easier.

The aspects that drew me to the first book in the series were connected to the setting. I like to read books set in Canada and written by Canadian authors. A remote town isolated from the rest of the world in the Yukon was especially appealing. 

So what else did I like?

• The author definitely keeps the story suspenseful and, in a town like Rockton, practically everyone is a suspect. 
• I enjoyed the story overall, and the action never stops. Which is probably good, because it keeps the reader from wondering too much about any implausible actions or decisions, which show up in just about any thriller.
• The character development is great. I like the main characters, and there are a lot of interesting recurring characters. Even in the case of characters I don't like, I think the characters are well developed.

This is the second book in the series, and it was just as appealing as the first, City of the Lost, which I read about 3 years ago. I will make an effort to read book 3 sooner. There are seven books in the series, published between 2016 and 2022. There is even a spinoff series that I will be interested in pursuing once I read the next five books in the series. 

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Publisher:  Minotaur Books, 2017.
Length:      390 pages
Format:      Hardcover
Series:       Rockton, #2
Setting:      Yukon,  Canada
Genre:       Police Procedural
Source:      Purchased in 2020.

City of the Lost: Kelley Armstrong

I was drawn to this book for several reasons. It is set in a very cold, very isolated area and I like that kind of story. The author is Canadian, and I am always interested in books set in Canada. And it was recommended by Cath at Read-Warbler and Kay at Kay's Reading Life. 

I liked the premise. Casey, a talented policewoman, has a secret in her past and is afraid it will be revealed. She doesn't really want to run away, but her friend Diana has an abusive ex-husband who won't leave her alone, and Diana finds a place that will take them both in. It is a small town in the Yukon wilderness, so isolated that most modern conveniences are lacking. A town council has to approve new inhabitants, and Casey and Diana are accepted.

I loved reading about how the town existed with no internet, cell phones, or email, and with limited access to food. All travel is by horse or all-terrain vehicles. No cars. There is a hierarchy within the town determined by what each person contributes in their job, and how useful it is to the town.

The story was dark, gritty, and violent, but not to an extreme that bothered me. Casey is able to work with the sheriff of the town, as a detective, which gives her some perks that others don't have. The town has had its first murder before she arrived, which is one reason she was allowed in. 

The best aspects of the story are a strong female lead character, a fast-moving plot, and convincing characterizations. The story is told in present tense, but I don't remember that being a problem for me this time. I will be continuing this series, which at this point has four additional books. This is the only book I have read by this author, but she is also well-known for her books in the urban fantasy genre. 

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Publisher:   Minotaur Books, 2017 (orig. publ. 2016).
Length:      403 pages
Format:      Trade Paper
Series:       Rockton, #1
Setting:      Yukon,  Canada
Genre:        Police Procedural
Source:      Purchased in 2019.

Bookshelf Traveling for Insane Times No. 16

I am participating in the Bookshelf Traveling For Insane Times meme, hosted by Judith at Reader in the Wilderness. This week I have gathered a few of my books by Canadian authors. 

I am planning to join the Canadian Book Challenge at Canadian Bookworm soon and I thought I would share some books I plan to read. One of them I just bought recently; the others have been on the shelves for a while. I have listed the books in order by year of publication.

The Long November (1946)

by James Benson Nablo

Introduction by Brian Busby of The Dusty Bookcase. Reprinted by Vehicule Press as a part of the Ricochet series.

From the description on the back of the 2014 reprint edition:

The Long November is the story [of] Joe Mack, son of the grittier side of Cataract City – Niagara Falls – and his struggles to make something of himself; all for the love of well-to-do blonde beauty Steffie Gibson. It’s about rum running booze, Chicago beer trucks, Bay Street sharpshooters, the mines of Northern Ontario and fighting the Nazis in Italy.  It’s also about the women, the many women – married, unmarried and widowed – who shares Joe’s bed.

The Keys of My Prison (1956) 

by Frances Shelley Wees 

Introduction by Rosemary Aubert

Description from the book cover:

That Rafe Jonason’s life didn’t end when he smashed up his car was something of a miracle; on that everyone agreed. However, the devoted husband and pillar of the community emerges from hospital a very different man. Coarse and intolerant, this new Rafe drinks away his days, showing no interest in returning to work. Worst of all, he doesn’t appear to recognize or so much as remember his loving wife Julie. ... Is it that Julie never truly knew her husband? Or might it be that this man isn’t Rafe Jonason at all?

Originally published in 1956 by Doubleday, The Keys of My Prison is one of several suspense novels Wees set in Toronto. This Ricochet Books edition marks its return to print after fifty years.

The Stone Angel (1964)

by Margaret Laurence

This book was recommended to me by Patricia Abbott of pattinase.

Description from the University of Chicago Press website:

In The Stone Angel, Hagar Shipley, age ninety, tells the story of her life, and in doing so tries to come to terms with how the very qualities which sustained her have deprived her of joy. Mingling past and present, she maintains pride in the face of senility, while recalling the life she led as a rebellious young bride, and later as a grieving mother. Laurence gives us in Hagar a woman who is funny, infuriating, and heartbreakingly poignant.

Set in the fictional town of Manawaka in the Canadian province of Manitoba, based on Laurence's hometown, Neepawa.

A Necessary End (1989)

by Peter Robinson

This is the 3rd book in the Inspector Banks series. The author, Peter Robinson, is Canadian (born in the UK, but emigrated to continue his education in Canada) but the series is set in Yorkshire, England. Five of the novels in the Inspector Banks series have been awarded the Arthur Ellis Award for Best Novel.

From the description at Goodreads:

A peaceful demonstration in the normally quiet town of Eastvale ends with fifty arrests—and the brutal stabbing death of a young constable. But Chief Inspector Alan Banks fears there is worse violence in the offing. For CID Superintendent Richard Burgess has arrived from London to take charge of the investigation, fueled by professional outrage and volatile, long-simmering hatreds.

A Killing Spring (1996)

by Gail Bowen

This is the 6th book in a mystery series about Joanne Kilbourn, a political analyst and university professor who gets involved in criminal investigations. Set in Saskatchewan. Family and relationships play a large part in these mysteries. There are now 19 books in the series, published between 1990 and 2020.

This story begins as the head of the School of Journalism at the university where Joanne Kilbourn teaches is found dead, in embarrassing circumstances. Further misfortunes occur in Joanne's life, including a student who complained of sexual harrassment and then stops coming to class. Joanne looks into the student's disappearance.

City of the Lost (2016)

by Kelley Armstrong 

I first saw mention of this book at Cath's blog, Read-warbler. I love books set in  cold, isolated areas. Don't know why.

Two women have problems that they need to escape. People are looking for them and threatening them. They escape to a town in the Yukon wilderness. Per the book's description: "You must apply to live in Rockton and if you're accepted, it means walking away entirely from your old life, and living off the grid in the wilds of Canada: no cell phones, no Internet, no mail, no computers, very little electricity, and no way of getting in or out without the town council's approval."

That concept intrigues me, although it is possible the story will be too over-the-top for me or too violent and dark. But definitely worth a try. There are now five books in the series.

In the Dark (2019)

by Loreth Anne White

The premise of this book (eight guests invited to a luxury vacation in an isolated location) sounds very similar to two other books I have read recently: And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie and The Hunting Party by Lucy Foley. In fact, Agatha Christie's book under the name The Ten Little Indians is mentioned in this book. This story is set in northern British Columbia.

See this review at Mysteries and More from Saskatchewan.