May 2022 Picks

Cartwheel by Jennifer duBois. Lily Hayes is a foreign exchange student studying in Buenos Aires, Argentina. She is soaking it up: the food, colorful architecture, the good-looking man next door. Her studious roommate Katy is a bit of a bore but Lily doesn’t let that stand in the way of her own enjoyment. Then, five weeks into the semester Katy is found murdered and Lily is the prime suspect. As the case takes shape, the reader is left guessing about whether Lily did it or not. The author writes Lily‘s character to look both innocent and disquietingly ominous at the same time. This novel reads like something all too familiar ripped out of the headlines. It will keep you guessing until the end!

We were Liars by E. Lockhart. This book of psychological suspense takes place on an island off the coast of Massachusetts. Narrated by 18 year old Cadence, she and her six cousins and their parents spend every summer on the island. For an unexplained reason Cadence, the two older cousins, and a family friend named Gat are called The Liars by their older family members. These four teens hang out constantly and when Cadence was 14, there was an accident but the reader isn’t told much because of Cadence’s defective recall due to a head injury. During Cadence’s long recovery none of the cousins or Gat stay in touch with her. When Cadence is taken by her father on a long trip to Europe the following summer none of them reply to her emails. Cadence struggles to remember more of the accident throughout the book and whenever she asks questions of her family they always answer elusively, saying that she only gets upset by what she hears. The reader eventually learns more, especially after Cadence becomes more upset when she remembers what happened to their Granddad’s two dogs. There are huge twists revealed and my daughter still says this book is the best book she has ever read!

Mystic River by Dennis Lehane. Taking place in Boston, this novel follows three childhood friends that are forced back together after one of their daughters is murdered. When the three boys were eleven, one of them gets into a car with a stranger and is missing for four days. It is assumed he was molested while away. Now twenty five years later the story follows Dave, the one who was kidnapped and also battling his own pedophilic impulses; Sean, now a homicide detective dealing with his own messy separation from his wife; and Jimmy, who after a short stint in prison has sworn off crime and running his own neighborhood store. When Jimmy’s oldest daughter Katie is murdered Sean takes the case. An emotional and moving story of human nature. Definitely one of the best books I’ve ever read.

Broken Harbor by Tana French. Just outside Dublin two children and their father are found dead and the mother is sent to intensive care. The Spain family are found in a half built housing estate in an area formerly called Broken Harbour which had been abandoned during the recession. When star detective Scorcher Kennedy is given the case it seems like an open and shut case: the father, stressed by financial woes of the recession, has killed his two children, attempted to kill his wife, and offed himself. Also a computer tech unveils that the father, Patrick, had seemed to show a loosening grip on reality by posting panicked descriptions of animal sounds he hears in their partially built house. But Detective Kennedy and his partner soon discover evidence of a stalker that might have been observing the family; they also learn of a strong personal connection between the stalker and the family. To complicate things further Scorcher himself is reminded by his sister Dina of what happened to their own family one summer in Broken Harbor when they were children. Broken Harbour is a great novel of psychological suspense that keeps you guessing!