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Reviews

Library Lines

April 5, 2024

New Fiction

Pride and Joy by Louisa Onome – Joy Okafor is overwhelmed.  Recently divorced, a life coach whose phone won’t stop ringing, and ever the dutiful Nigerian daughter, Joy has planned every aspect of her mother’s seventieth birthday weekend on her own.  As the Okafors slowly begin to arrive, Mama Mary goes to take a nap.  But when the grandkids attempt to wake her, they find that she isn’t sleeping after all.  Refusing to believe that her sister is gone – gone, Auntie Nancy declares that she has had a premonition that Mama Mary will rise again like Jesus Christ on Easter Sunday.  Desperate to believe that they’re about to witness a miracle, the family overhauls their birthday plans to welcome the Nigerian Canadian community, effectively spreading the word that Mama Mary is coming back.  But skeptical Joy is struggling with the loss of her mother and not allowing herself mourn just yet while going through the motions of planning a funeral that her aunt refuses to allow.

Everyone is Watching by Heather Gudenkauf – The Best Friend.  The Confidante. The Senator.  The Boyfriend.  The Executive.  Five contestants have been chosen to compete for ten million dollars on the game show One Lucky Winner.  The catch?  None of them knows what (or who) to expect, and it will be livestreamed all over the world.  Completely secluded in an estate in Northern California, with strict instructions not to leave the property and zero contact with the outside world, the competitors start to feel a little too isolated.  When long-kept secrets begin to rise to the surface, the contestants realize this is no longer just a reality show – someone is out for blood.  And the game can’t end until the world knows who the contestants really are.

How To Solve Your Own Murder by Kristen Perrin - In 1965, Frances Adams was told by a fortune teller that one day she'd be murdered. Frances spent the next sixty years trying to prevent the crime that would be her eventual demise. Of course, no one took her seriously - until she was dead.
For Frances, being the village busybody was a form of insurance. She'd spent a lifetime compiling dirt on every person she met, just in case they might turn out to be her killer. In the heart of her sprawling country estate lies an eccentric library of detective work, where the right person could step in and use her findings to solve her murder. When her great-niece Annie arrives from London and discovers that Frances' worst fear has come true, Annie is thrust into her great-aunt's last act of revenge against her sceptical friends and family. Frances' will stipulates that the person who solves her murder will inherit her millions. Can Annie unravel the mystery and find justice for Frances, or will digging up the past lead her into the path of the killer?

The Truth About the Devlins by Lisa Scottoline - TJ Devlin is the charming disappointment in the prominent Devlin family, all of whom are lawyers at their highly successful firm—except him. After a stint in prison and rehab for alcoholism, TJ can't get hired anywhere except at the firm, in a make-work job with the title of investigator.  But one night, TJ's world turns upside down after his older brother John confesses that he just murdered one of the clients, an accountant he'd confronted with proof of embezzlement. It seems impossible coming from John, the firstborn son and Most Valuable Devlin. TJ plunges into the investigation, seizing the chance to prove his worth and save his brother. But in no time, TJ and John find themselves entangled in a lethal web of deception and murder. TJ will fight to save his family, but what he learns might break them first.

Krista Law