Summertime = Reading time!!

In New England, the arrival of summer is so very welcome. Lately we have had dreary, rainy winters that never seem to end so we skip right over spring. This year was the same but now it's sunny every day, allergies are abiding and getting outside and reading remains one of my favorite things to do.

Spring and Summer also mean baseball (a LOT of baseball!) for my family, so I haven't been as attentive to my books as I would like to be and I fell off the routine in updating my reading adventures. It didn't help that I was on a slump of interesting books to shout out about. This post will cover a handful of books that I haven't been able to discuss...until now! But only two are worth reading!

Book 1: Death Comes in through the Kitchen, Tereesa Dovalpage, March 20, 2018, Publisher: Soho Crime

I am shocked a publisher agreed to publish this story and the three following in Dovalpage's Havana Mysteries series, and more that my local library had this on the shelf. For me this was a really poor depiction of Cuban culture. Derogatory slang was laced throughout a sloppy tale that gets your hopes up with its intriguing title. By the middle of this book, I couldn't have cared less about who killed Yarmila. The main character, Matt, is whiny and we are completely unsympathetic to his plight, which is that he fell in love with a Cuban woman using him, unbeknownst to him, as she had an affair with someone else. He is traveling with a crazy, middle-aged American woman also duped by a Cuban lover, who also gives little energy to the story. The most interesting figure throughout is Taty, who is a gay, crossdressing Cuban and the only person to be truly kind to Matt. Dovalpage, who is Cuban, does no justice to her home country or culture and spins a really boring story.

Skip this one.

Book 2: A Flicker in the Dark, Stacey Willingham, January 11, 2022, Publisher: Minotaur Books

I had heard an awful lot about Stacey Willingham's debut, so much so that I bought her follow up, All the Dangerous Things. I haven't read that one yet because A Flicker in the Dark was a slightly lackluster for me and I'm not itching to delve into her writing style so quickly over some of the other novels in my TBR pile. Flicker was fast paced and dark with interesting characters and a good plot line. The main character, Chloe Davis, is interesting enough and enjoyable to follow along. I think if she were real, she's the sort of person I would be friends with. It is a captivating read, slows throughout the middle and gears up for a quick-paced wild ride for the ending. There are one too many red herrings and you really do come away not trusting what anyone says. But alas, ours is a reliable narrator and I actually felt bad for doubting her like everyone else did!

This is worth the read, especially if you're looking for a quick beach read or vacation book to occupy you on a plane ride.

Book 3: Just the Nicest Couple, Mary Kubica, January 10, 2023, Publisher: Park Row

Mary Kubica is a famous, acclaimed author. Mary Kubica has been published a gazillion times. Mary Kubica should be a sure thing. She is not. This book was AWFUL! Truth to be told, I skipped the middle 100 pages and still was able to pick up right where I left off - that's how much those pages did, or didn't do rather, for the story. This is a bit of a repeat of Dovalpage - intriguing title whereby you are lulled into thinking some juicy awfulness is eventually going to unfold but you are left with a death you no longer care about and crappy characters who are not relatable nor likeable. In Kubica's case, there was a twist that I didn't see coming (at all) but by the time it was revealed I did not care, I just wanted to finish it so I could log it on my 2024 Book Challenge (Illinois) Had it not been selected for that challenge, I probably would have skipped even writing about this novel altogether. Decent writing, boring characters, lame premise and too much fluff to seemingly reach a predetermined mandatory page count.

Skip it.

Book 4: The Frozen River, Ariel Lawton, December 5, 2023, Publisher: Doubleday

And finally! A book worth telling the world about. This was my first Ariel Lawton book, but will not be my last and I am so sorry that I hadn't read her before. My mom even had given me a recommendation for I Am Anastasia that I didn't take her up on (sorry Mom!). I will now, though.

The Frozen River is based in post-Revolutionary War Maine (serving as the Maine representative in my 2024 Book Challenge). The Constitution has been ratified just two years prior. Martha Ballard (who is a real person along with many of the characters in the book) is an aging midwife, mother of six living children, and doing all she can to keep those she loves safe and bring in healthy babies in a man's world. There is politicking, there is gossip, there is colonial, patriarchal living, and there is Martha Ballard in the midst of it all kicking ass. She is a STRONG and I mean STRONG female protagonist worth reading. She is clever, funny, and understanding of how timing is everything. I already miss her.

From the beginning I was in love with this book. I tracked it down on a used book site, PangoBooks, and got a first edition hardcover for pretty cheap that I will proudly display amongst my collection. Lawton starts right away with a dead body stuck in the icy Kennebec River (I think I have a type of book I like to read based upon this post alone!). The body is of a one Joshua Burgess accused of raping a married woman - the local pastor's wife who was recently fired - who only a few believe to be telling the truth. Times haven't really changed in our society, have they? In any case, Burgess is now dead but the case continues and another man has been implicated in this horrific crime - Judge Joseph North.

The corruption and early judicial system of America was right up my government-nerd alley, as was a strong female lead who has the respect of her neighbors but also knows more than the Harvard-educated 'doctor' recently moved to Hallowell. Martha gives off real Anne Hutchinson vibes, too. The love story between Martha and her husband Ephraim is beautifully told and woven throughout, and the offshoots of the same for her children as they grow and explore love interests of their own. And the ending...oh what an ending it is! In short, this book had all the elements for me and is full of drama and intrigue! What a satisfying read!

Certainly, the friends and neighbors in Hallowell, Maine, were a fantastic cast dealing with a long winter as well as a tumultous time of corruption, uncertainty, and evil in their small town. Lawton is an expert in storytelling, in connecting history with current societal themes, and doing so in an entertaining, and sometimes steamy, way. Lawton has a new fan in me and I'm certain this novel will turn you into one as well. Be sure to read the Author's Note at the end, but only after you finished the novel. There are spoilers there!

Read this book!!!