Death at a Scottish Christmas - Lucy Connelly

Genre - Contemporary Cozy Mystery

A  Scottish Isle Mystery Book 3

In Lucy Connelly’s Death at a Scottish Christmas, Dr. Emilia McRoy thinks she is going to have a long Christmas break from her job as doctor in the community of Scottish Isle - in this book, a cozy Hallmark Christmas town. She mostly thinks that she will be volunteering to help the locals with the wide variety of holiday events that this festive community hosts each year. As part of the celebration the internationally famous Scottish band with local roots has come to perform at the local pub; Emilia’s plans change abruptly when the band’s leader Bram is murdered. As the coroner she joins forces with the local constable Ewan - who is considered a suspect - to solve the mystery. 

While the book is part of a series, I was able to hop right in and understand this book from start to finish. While Connelly does a great job of situating book 3 for new readers, she also plants the seeds to lure readers into reading the first two.  The mystery here is very unique and quite grim in terms of the murder method. As McRoy interviews suspects and pieces together the scattered clues, the reader is engaged. I love the twist and turns this sleuthing took. The murder method was unique and the variety of suspects excellently developed. The detective work is punctuated by a series of Christmas events - the holiday must go on. The community works hard to honor a variety of traditions from a variety of cultures and seems like a place I’d love to visit in December. I have long wanted to explore my Scottish roots. The town and its residents are nicely represented as well. The reader can easily understand why Emilia is so at home there. I imagine that what we learn of each of the townspeople grows over the course of the series. I intend to find out. 

Lovers of a cozy mystery and/or a heartwarming Christmas read, need to pick Death at a Scottish Christmas by Lucy Connelly up as soon as it publishes on October 15. You won’t regret it. Thank you to NetGalley and Crooked Lane Books for an advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review.

Book Cover of Death at a Scottish Christmas by Lucy Connelly

The PLAN - Manage Your Time Like a Lazy Genius

Genre - Nonfiction, Self Help

Kendra Adachi - the Lazy Genius - has been speaking common sense and joy into me from Instagram for a number of years now. When she started talking about her new book - The PLAN, I had to give it a look. I’m so glad I did. Kendra (I like to call her that as if we are friends.) takes on the productivity culture with excellent evidence to  back her claim. She advocates throughout the book for living in the now in place of always “planning” for the future - she uses the term integration in terms of a happy life, and I am here for it.

The idea of integration spoke to me - so Kendra had me from the beginning. She (and Brené Brown) refer to integration as “wholehearted living.” I have long worked toward some nebulous future and was seldom mindful about my current life - being integrated involves fully living in the now rather than working toward some future “greatness”. I have never achieved that kind of integration. I couldn’t even fully name what I was looking for, and I love the idea as outlined in this book. She offers three sections toward a more fulfilled life. The first section is Principles, and here is where she offers the basic ideas of the PLAN - hint, it turns the idea of planning as we know it a bit on its head. The second section offers strategies. I love her take on the “to do” list. Most of us could use a bit of “to do” list counseling I think. The third section offers pep talks. I fully believe I will refer to these often. She also provides us with a lovely overview/glossary section which organizes her thoughts for us as a reference. Books like this need to be revisited, and she recognizes the process of trying to change in the way that she organizes the book for easy reference. Kendra writes her book in such a way that you feel like she is sitting across the table from you and talking to you over tea. She is comforting and encouraging and funny. 

I have already made some changes to my life based on my reading of this book. I am, quite honestly, living in retirement as I did as a full time teacher. I feel driven to produce and not just anything - something useful or “important” or income producing. All of those things I said I’d do “after I retired” weren’t getting any attention. So last week I pulled out a fancy cookbook and set a fancy table for my husband and me just because I could; I wasn’t too exhausted; and I had time. Listen, I didn’t even photograph the food to prove it happened - so mindful. (I sure did the place setting :-) While this may seem silly to you - it was a big step for me in living a more integrated life. So while I thought maybe this book wouldn’t be for me, it sure was. It likely is for you as well. You don’t have to know the Lazy Genius way or to follow Kendra in the socials to benefit from this book. But when you are done, you will want to get to know her better. And she will make you feel better either way. On October 8, go get yourself a copy of Kendra Adachi’s The PLAN and use it to make your life more fulfilling. Thank you NetGalley and Convergent Books for sharing an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

The Book of George - Kate Greathead

Genre: Contemporary Literary Fiction

George in Kate Greathead’s The Book of George is about fifteen or so years younger than I am. As a result many of the big events that frame his life framed mine as well making the novel quite relatable. How to summarize … George’s fairly ordinary life is set forth chronologically from 12 until his early 40s. We learn about the divorce of his parents, his college life - his friends and philosophy major, his series of jobs, and his on again off again relationship with Jenny. And more…

The novel is very much character driven. The reader learns just so very much about George. The relationship with Jenny which encompasses many eras of his life sort of hints at what George’s life in general is like. Jenny cares for George much more than he cares for her. She just sort of happens to him. They don’t choose to live together at first, but little by little, she is there. He allows all of this to happen while low key criticizing her much of the time. As they break up and come back together, Jenny puts up with so much, and continues to champion him and quite literally support him for years and years with little in return. When he does overcome his malaise and shows her some love - it always tugs at my heart strings just enough to have some empathy for him. He is like he is with Jenny with his friends and his family. At one point he spends a whole weekend playing Mario on game boy rather than cleaning his childhood room so his mother can move. When the entire place is finally packed he UNPACKS kitchen boxes to make some sentimental pancakes.  He means well but seems incapable of reading a room so to speak. He floats through a variety of largely dead end jobs and seldom can pay for a place to live. But he knows he is a difficult person. He assesses himself fairly accurately. But even that self awareness doesn’t inspire him to do much on the way of changing himself. Greathead’s characterization is precise and detailed and accomplished. 

What kept coming back to me as I read, was what if I had such an in-depth accounting of my thoughts and actions and choices of my chronological life. How would I fare compared to George? What is my ratio of optimism to cynicism? Of joy to sadness? Of steering my life to letting life happen to me? I even played around with the differences between being a millennial (George)versus being Gen X (me). I think reading this book after the upcoming Shred Sisters by Betsy Lerner also featuring millennials just made me curious. I got a bit frustrated with both George and to a lesser extent Amy. Could it be our different generations and perhaps different approaches to life? Or, if I were truly honest (authentic? My review of The Authenticity Project is coming :-) would I sound quite like George? Now I am writing in circles. Kate Greathead’s got me thinking with her fascinating  novel The Book of George, and I quite like it. 

The Mistletoe Mystery - Nita Prose

Genre - Contemporary Novella

I forgot for a minute how much I love Molly Gray. I am grateful to Nita Prose for the little visit with Molly and Juan Manuel in her upcoming novella The Mistletoe Mystery. Molly is looking forward to her fifth Christmas with Juan Manuel. Each year he adds a new tradition to their celebration. But something feels off to Molly. She feels he is keeping something from her and that perhaps she has made the biggest mistake of her life in trusting him with her heart. 

All of the details that make Molly come to life are present here. She still recalls the wisdom and advice of her late grandma - most specifically through witty little sayings. She still loves to clean and to restore all things domestic to perfection - here, I loved the way she and Juan wipe their shoes carefully and place them in the closet every single time they enter the apartment. She still struggles with social cues and Juan appears to be sensitive to her struggles. She still has the most pride ever in being the head maid at the Regency Grand and wears her pin with pride. These lovely bits and pieces are interspersed with magical Hallmark Christmas moments (which I love). But they are Molly style. Recycled gifts. A branch for an affordable fresh tree. “Sleigh” rides. Work parties. Cookie baking. The holidays with Molly and Juan Manuel are accessible and delightful. The mystery here is Juan Manuel. He seems himself, but he is not…quite. She fears he is tiring of her.

And here I will stop - no spoilers. Nita Prose’s the maid series as ever reminds me that everyone has a place in this world and that careful love and tending are the key to a beautiful life.  I am reminded that hard work matters as does attention to detail. The Mistletoe Mystery is a delightful read…give yourself an early Christmas gift and add it to your holiday shelf. 

Shred Sisters - Betsy Learner

Genre - Contemporary Fiction

I have been blessed with a sister who is my best friend. My daughter, much to her dismay, wasn’t blessed with a sister at all. Some sister relationships are fraught with drama. Betsy Lerner explores a complex sister relationship in depth in her upcoming novel Shred Sisters. Amy is the younger of the Shred sisters, but because of Olivia’s mental illness and all of the chaos that results, she often feels like the older or the only sister. From a very young age Olivia fights against her sister and her parents. She is first a free spirit and later in spite of or even because of treatment mentally unstable. Olivia refuses to accept the different diagnoses and medicines. Ultimately she rolls in and out of her family’s life at will. Most of her life Amy feels overlooked or challenged.

Amy struggles to function in the world (don’t we all at times?), and the reader can easily see the impact of Olivia here. She longs to be a stable professional with a stable marriage and family and, perhaps, to get the attention and respect of her parents in the process. She just struggles to get there. She works hard to be a researcher and can’t advance; she chooses poorly in relationships; and always, always - Olivia shows up and wreaks havoc in her fragile world. She perseveres; she sees a therapist; she doesn’t even necessarily blame Olivia, but life feels difficult. Olivia has her own struggles. Beginning with family rebellion, bad mental health care scars her early. Her difficulties are heartbreaking as her family wants so badly to do the right things for her. Luckily, she doesn’t disappear altogether, but her returns home generally raise expectations and lead to further heartache. I often found myself scared for her. Amy and Olivia’s parents battle struggles of their own - ultimately unable to meet Olivia’s needs and often unaware of Amy’s - their marriage doesn’t survive the trauma.  Lerner creates complex, believable characters, and this reader felt their joys and sorrows. Through them she explores the impact of one difficult family member on them all. She creates a surrounding cast of folks who are also well developed and who help to highlight all that the Shreds have been through. Lerner is a compassionate writer as she shows us a world of broken people; she invites us to offer compassion. 

Ultimately, Lerner celebrates the strength of this pair of sisters - Amy and Olivia Shred. Without giving anything away, the novel does end on notes of hope for these two and their parents. Lerner doesn’t offer a magical resolution for anyone, but she allows for them to see that relationships, therapy, and sisterly love, can prevail over a host of sorrows. I am reminded to be grateful for my sister - for the love and support that she offers me when others cannot. I am reminded that everyone may be just a little bit broken inside. When you get the chance read Shred Sisters by Betsy Lerner - she will challenge you perceptions in a very good way. Publishing October 1, 2924. Thank you to NetGalley and Grove Press for the Advanced Reader Copy in exchange for an honest review.