Author: currentbookstack

Thoughts: This was a little confusing at the beginning so it took me a little to get into it but I ended up enjoying the ending. A Supreme Court justice goes into a coma and leaves his clerk as his power of attorney, setting her off on a hunt to solve a conspiracy within the highest offices in the US. As someone who loves the inner workings of politics and misses living in DC, I enjoyed it. Slightly reminded me of something that would happen on an NCIS episode, but as someone who has watched too many marathons on USA I swear that’s a compliment. 

Summary: Avery Keene, a brilliant young law clerk for the legendary Justice Howard Wynn, is doing her best to hold her life together—excelling in an arduous job with the court while also dealing with a troubled family. When the shocking news breaks that Justice Wynn—the cantankerous swing vote on many current high-profile cases—has slipped into a coma, Avery’s life turns upside down. She is immediately notified that Justice Wynn has left instructions for her to serve as his legal guardian and power of attorney. Plunged into an explosive role she never anticipated, Avery finds that Justice Wynn had been secretly researching one of the most controversial cases before the court—a proposed merger between an American biotech company and an Indian genetics firm, which promises to unleash breathtaking results in the medical field. She also discovers that Wynn suspected a dangerously related conspiracy that infiltrates the highest power corridors of Washington.
 
As political wrangling ensues in Washington to potentially replace the ailing judge whose life and survival Avery controls, she begins to unravel a carefully constructed, chesslike sequence of clues left behind by Wynn. She comes to see that Wynn had a much more personal stake in the controversial case and realizes his complex puzzle will lead her directly into harm’s way in order to find the truth. While Justice Sleeps is a cunningly crafted, sophisticated novel, layered with myriad twists and a vibrant cast of characters. Drawing on her astute inside knowledge of the court and political landscape, Stacey Abrams shows herself to be not only a force for good in politics and voter fairness but also a major new talent in suspense fiction.

Thoughts: I mistakenly read the sequel to this before the first, but still loved this. Anytime I see an Anthony Horowitz I grab the book knowing I’ll love it, but I forget how many series he has and need to do some research first. Susan is a book editor and receives a new mystery novel from her biggest client with one issue, the last chapter is missing. Things then get even more confusing when the author suddenly dies. The set up for the book is different from most because the book they receive and try to find the last chapter for is also included. It’s essentially two books so it’s a longer read but wraps up so well in the end it’s worth it. The sequel is the Moonflower Murders and deals with Susan trying to solve a real life mystery that another one of her authors wrote about. 

Summary: When editor Susan Ryeland is given the manuscript of Alan Conway’s latest novel, she has no reason to think it will be much different from any of his others. After working with the bestselling crime writer for years, she’s intimately familiar with his detective, Atticus Pünd, who solves mysteries disturbing sleepy English villages. An homage to queens of classic British crime such as Agatha Christie and Dorothy Sayers, Alan’s traditional formula has proved hugely successful. So successful that Susan must continue to put up with his troubling behavior if she wants to keep her job.

Conway’s latest tale has Atticus Pünd investigating a murder at Pye Hall, a local manor house. Yes, there are dead bodies and a host of intriguing suspects, but the more Susan reads, the more she’s convinced that there is another story hidden in the pages of the manuscript: one of real-life jealousy, greed, ruthless ambition, and murder.

Thoughts: I love an Agatha Christie style mystery, but this book was just not it for me. It was too long and if I hadn’t been on vacation when reading it I don’t think I would’ve made it through to the end. Aiden wakes up one day with no memory of his past or how he got there, but quickly learns his task, he must solve a murder before it happens at 11pm. He gets eight tries to solve it, and wakes up as a different character every day who all help him get to the answer. The concept sounded great to me when picking the book up but it just got really confusing throughout and I didn’t love it. 

Summary: Aiden Bishop knows the rules. Evelyn Hardcastle will die every day until he can identify her killer and break the cycle. But every time the day begins again, Aiden wakes up in the body of a different guest at Blackheath Manor. And some of his hosts are more helpful than others. With a locked-room mystery that Agatha Christie would envy, Stuart Turton unfurls a breakneck novel of intrigue and suspense.

Thoughts: I’m almost indifferent on this one. I just felt like I was rereading The Guest List with the format and the plot. I didn’t dislike it, but it was hard to get into because it felt so similar. A group of college friends go up to the mountains to celebrate NYE together. The story goes back and forth between guests POV and the two employees of the days leading up to and then after a murder happens. You don’t find out until the end who the friend is that died and who did it but they do wrap things up and let you know everything that happened. 

Summary: During the languid days of the Christmas break, a group of thirty something friends from Oxford meet to welcome in the New Year together, a tradition they began as students ten years ago. For this vacation, they’ve chosen an idyllic and isolated estate in the Scottish Highlands—the perfect place to get away and unwind by themselves.

The trip begins innocently enough: admiring the stunning if foreboding scenery, champagne in front of a crackling fire, and reminiscences about the past. But after a decade, the weight of secret resentments has grown too heavy for the group’s tenuous nostalgia to bear. Amid the boisterous revelry of New Year’s Eve, the cord holding them together snaps, just as a historic blizzard seals the lodge off from the outside world.

Two days later, on New Year’s Day, one of them is dead. . . and another of them did it.

Thoughts: Despite this story having 3 murders in it, it was a really light and entertaining mystery. ‘The Thursday murder club’ is four residents at a retirement home who meet every Thursday to look at cold cases and solve them. When a man connected to their building is murdered they take it upon themselves to investigate and solve it for the police. If you’re looking for a mystery but don’t like thrillers this is great. The end is a little unresolved as they’re turning it into a series but it was a very easy read. 

Summary: In a peaceful retirement village, four unlikely friends meet weekly in the Jigsaw Room to discuss unsolved crimes; together they call themselves the Thursday Murder Club.

When a local developer is found dead with a mysterious photograph left next to the body, the Thursday Murder Club suddenly find themselves in the middle of their first live case.

As the bodies begin to pile up, can our unorthodox but brilliant gang catch the killer, before it’s too late?