On Flashback Fridays I will share with you
the books I was not able to review
when they were first released that have been screaming at me
from my To-Be-Read bookshelf.
Reading Between the Crimes (A Jane Doe Book Club Mystery)
Cozy Mystery
2nd in Series
Setting – Georgia
Publisher : Crooked Lane Books (September 7, 2021)
Hardcover : 336 pages
ISBN-10 : 1643857428
ISBN-13 : 978-1643857428
Kindle ASIN : B08PYNT482
Audio CD ASIN : B0DFST8VZC
Audiobook ASIN B097F76BZW
What better time than Halloween to dig into a bracing discussion of a diabolical murder mystery? And what better choice for the Jane Doe Book Club than Agatha Christie’s Crooked House? Lyla Moody and her friends are soon embroiled in debate over whether the heroine’s actions are particularly believable. But not long after the meeting, sleepy Sweet Mountain, Georgia, is rocked by a murder that uncannily echoes the novel in question.
When Lyla and her grandmother arrive at the charity event that Lyla’s mother is hosting, they barely have time to hang up their fall jackets before they stumble upon a body in the library. Leonard Richardson, it seems, was robbed and then hit over the head with a brass candlestick–which throws suspicion on Harper Richardson, his young widow and a friend of the Jane Does.
Lyla and the rest of the Jane Does pool their prodigious intellects to clear Harper’s name. Peculiarly, all of the clues seem to have been lifted directly from the plot of Crooked House. But as Lyla probes the pages of Christie’s classic whodunnit for hints on catching the killer, she uncovers secrets from her mother’s past–secrets that suggest that Lyla’s own house may be crooked as well.
Dollycas’s Thoughts
The Jane Doe Book Club is reading Crooked House by Agatha Christie. The group discussion focused on whether the heroine’s actions were believable. Soon thereafter, Lyla Moody and her grandmother find a dead body at a charity event hosted by Lyla’s mother. Eerily, the murder has similarities to that very mystery. A brass candlestick to the head appears to have killed Leonard Richardson and his pockets have been emptied. His widow, Harper is the police’s prime suspect but Lyla and the other members of the reading group believe her to be innocent. They work together to piece together the clues while referring to the Christie mystery for anything that will help pin down the real killer. Lyla’s investigation uncovers some secrets that personally affect her life too.
Ms. Young has created dynamic characters for this series and in this installment we delve deeper into Lyla’s mother’s and uncle’s past and it is quite intriguing. While the Jane Does want to help their friend, Harper, Lyla’s mother takes a special interest as well.
The murder mystery was fully entangled with every subplot along with the parallels to Christie’s Crooked House. I found the story gripping and layered. The victim’s family was an eclectic dysfunctional group, each stranger than the next and all suspects. Secrets and lies abound with twist after twist and a powerful turn that kept my eyes glued to the pages. I was so taken aback by the ending. The author brought everything together with an expert hand.
I have not read Crooked House. From what I had read others say about the book I thought I should read it before reading this one. But the synopsis kept calling me. I loved the first book, On Borrowed Crime so last week I decided to start reading. I found Ms. Young did a wonderful job filling in everything readers like me needed to know and I was able to enjoy Reading Between the Crimes fully. My apologies to her. I still have Crooked House on my To-Be-Read shelf so I will read it someday but I am so glad I didn’t wait any longer to read Ms. Young’s book.
Reading Between the Crimes is a riveting story with characters who are well-developed and continue to evolve. I am very excited to read the next Jane Doe Book Club Mystery, Crime for the Books. I see it has parallels to another Agatha Christie novel but I am not going to let that hold me back again. I have learned my lesson. I hope I can find a spot on my reading calendar soon.
I voluntarily reviewed an Advance Reader Copy. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review. Thank you to Crooked Lane Books and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC.
Your Escape Into A Good Book Travel Agent
Kate Young writes Southern mystery novels. She is a member of Sisters in Crime and the Guppy Chapter. Kate lives in a small town in Georgia with her husband, three kids, and Shih Tzu. When she is not writing her own books, she’s reading or cooking.
Author Links – Website – Facebook – Twitter – GoodReads – BookBub
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