No podcast today, but that doesn’t mean we can’t talk about books. Here are three books I’ve read this month. They aren’t all traditional mysteries, but they are all amazing. Clicking on the covers will take you to Amazon, but please note, I’m not making any money off the links. I just like the books.
I picked up a copy of Finding Grace through Net Galley and couldn’t believe it was a debut novel. The first thing you should know is it starts out with a shocking event that you won’t see coming, so brace yourself.
The story centers on Honor, a woman who has a great husband and four-year-old daughter, but it isn’t enough for her. She wants to have a second child but can only do it through surrogacy. Then this family’s life is turned upside down, leaving her husband, Tom to go on. The story is told through the character of Honor, which makes for a great narrative. I don’t want to give up to much information, but this is what I would call a mystery of unimaginable loss but also hope. I cried with this one.
This story happens at a summer camp in the Adirondacks in 1975. A girl has gone missing, but not just any girl, the daughter of the wealthy Van Laar family who own the summer camp. If that’s not enough, her brother vanished fourteen years ago, so the mystery repeats itself. This is a mix of working class and the wealthy, the lives of teenagers and the people who run the camp. The God of the Woods was the New York Times Best Thriller of 2024.
Okay, technically, this isn’t a mystery in the traditional sense. The story takes place in Australia, and poor Frederick Fife is 82, has lost his wife, and has just been kicked out of his apartment for nonpayment. He’s homeless, broke, and in the park trying to figure out what to do next. Then he sees an old man in a wheelchair and after a few words, discovers the man has passed. The man was a part of a group of seniors brought out to the park by a nursing home. I will stop there so I don’t spoil the next hilarious part, but I think you can figure it out. This book was heartwarming and inspiring while the reader helps Frederick keep his secret. If you need a story to help you see the good in people, this is for you.