Books

By Sylvie Chartrand

Revolver Road

(Harper McClain #3)
by Christi Daugherty

Christi Daugherty is a former crime reporter who began covering murders at the age of 22. Working for years throughout the U.S, she covered crime in Savannah, Baton Rouge and New Orleans. She is probably best known for her teen romance thriller series “Night School” written under the name CJ Daugherty. Her books have been translated in 25 countries and have been bestsellers in many of them. Revolver Road is the third book of the Harper McClain series, and the first of her books for me. I think this mystery can be read as a stand-alone but if you like to read series in order, begin with The Echo Killing (2018) and continue with A Beautiful Corpse (2019).

Harper McClain, like Daugherty, is a crime reporter always searching for her next story. This time, promising musician Xavier Rayne goes for a walk on the beach one night on Tybee Island where he’s renting a house with his bandmates. He vanishes and is found shot dead a few days later. Covering this story is not the only thing on Harper’s mind; she has been hiding on Tybee Island for months after receiving a warning from a stranger that her life is in danger. Harper’s life has not been easy. When she was 12, she found her mother stabbed to death on the kitchen floor; the killer was never found. She receives another call from the stranger with a clue to the death of Xavier Rayne and that starts her digging into a Mafia organization whose boss has been arrested and is being defended by her own father. Was her father responsible in some way for her mother’s killing?

Careful What You Wish For

by Hallie Ephron

Hallie Ephron writes books she hopes readers can’t put down. The New York Times bestselling author, who grew up in Beverly Hills, comes from a family of Hollywood screenwriters, novelists and journalists. Careful What You Wish For is her latest crime novel.

The main character, Emily Harlow, is a professional organizer who helps people declutter their lives. She is married to Frank, a lawyer, who likes to go to yard sales and collect things. He’s filled up their basement, attic and garage with all his finds. Emily has kept her marriage together by living by the rule she makes for clients – only the client can declutter his or her own stuf

f. She would love to throw out all his stuff, but she keeps her stress to herself. One of her clients is a young wife whose husband won’t let her bring her things into the house. Things get messy when the woman’s husband is found dead the day after Emily spent the evening with her fantasizing about what it would be like to be without their husbands. Emily worries she might lose her business, her marriage and her life. A thrilling and suspenseful read, especially for those who have gotten into the recent organizing phenomena.

Saving Grace

by Jane Green

Jane Green is the British-born American author of twenty novels (including eighteen New York Times bestsellers), a cookbook and various short stories. Her books have been translated into 31 languages and there are more than 10 million in print worldwide. This 2015 novel is about Grace, the beautiful, stylish, carefree wife of a successful novelist. They seem like the perfect literary power couple, but all is not as it seems. Grace suffers from insomnia, is forgetful and seems to have trouble just making it through the day. Her husband Ted has mood swings and their lifestyle seems to be precarious. Things go from bad to worse when Ted’s longtime assistant leaves. In steps Beth who seems to be the answer to all their problems. She is organized, competent and can handle Ted perfectly but as the plot unfolds, Grace finds that Beth may be too good to be true.

Let Me Go

by Chelsea Cain

Chelsea Cain is the New York Times bestselling author of the Archie Sheridan/Gretchen Lowell thrillers Heartsick, Sweetheart, Evil at Heart, The Night Season, Kill You Twice and Let Me Go. These thrillers, based in Portland, Oregon, have been published in more 25 languages. The series follows detective Archie Sheridan who spends years tracking Gretchen Lowell, a beautiful and brutal serial killer. In the end, it is Gretchen who catches him, tortures him and then lets him go. Why did she let him go? That is the question that keeps Archie coming back to visit Gretchen in prison every week. Over the years, Archie also needs Gretchen to help solve new murder cases. In Let Me Go, it is Halloween weekend and also Archie’s birthday and Gretchen, his longtime nemesis, is on the loose. Archie finds himself crashing a costume party on a private island owned by a local drug kingpin. By morning, a guest is dead and Archie realizes that Gretchen is mixed up in the mystery. This is a high-speed novel filled with twists, dark humour and some great characters.

These books and so many more are available at the Ottawa Public Library!

Sylvie Chartrand is a public service assistant at the Sunnyside branch of the Ottawa Public Library.