BY THE PRICKING OF MY THUMBS by Agatha Christie
I love anything by the woman I’ll always consider the queen of crime. Tommy and Tuppence had me hooked from their first book to their last. In this, their third novel together, the ramblings of an old woman lead the couple into an adventure involving a missing tombstone, diamond smuggling and a horrible discovery behind the fireplace of an old house. In her masterly way, Agatha held me until the final moment. In all of her 80-plus novels, I don’t think I’ve managed to outsmart her, even once.
BODY OF EVIDENCE by Patricia Cornwell
ONE FOR THE MONEY By Janet Evanovich
A lead character with spunk and attitude, who’ll kick her hero in the nuts if it means solving the case – I adore Stephanie Plum. And the sizzle between her and former lover Joe Morelli is electric. In this story, Stephanie’s first as a bail bondsman, financial pressures see her hunting down Joe, a bad boy turned vice cop, so she can hand him over to the police for her cut of the $100,000 bond. Two words to describe this novel? ‘Hot’ and ‘humorous’. Oh, and a helluva great read (I never said I could count).
There are some men who enter a woman’s life and screw it up forever. Joseph Morelli did this to me – not forever, but periodically.
PLAY DEAD by Harlan CobenI love everything from this author. Harlan Coben is a master at suspense, and almost all of his novels have a twist of romance. In PLAY DEAD, a lovers’ honeymoon ends in tragedy when the husband drowns at Australia’s Great Barrier Reef. But as this newfound widow searches for answers, the truth draws her into a decades-old web of deception.
Harlan’s twists have twists of their own. And just when you think you have him figured, he throws a curler on the very last page. Spine-tingling to the very end.
HALF MOON BAY by Helene Young
Half Moon Bay needs Ellie’s help, and no matter her pain, she won’t turn her back on her hometown or the people she loves. Only problem is, in the midst of all that threatens her home stands the dangerously attractive Nicholas Lawson. Can she trust him when he seems determined to turn her little town upside-down?
I was drawn into Ellie Wilding’s story from the very first pages. Her love for the sister she tried to save. Her pain when she failed. The need to face her demons as the past she’s fled melds with the present.
Half Moon Bay needs Ellie’s help, and no matter her pain, she won’t turn her back on her hometown or the people she loves. Only problem is, in the midst of all that threatens her home stands the dangerously attractive Nicholas Lawson. Can she trust him when he seems determined to turn her little town upside-down?