It all started with a dream. Jenny Boylan, had a wild dream that she had co-authored a book with Jodi Picoult and tweeted about it. That led to a DM and here we are… with Mad Honey. After reading this one, I’m certainly glad that dreams do come true.

Olivia McAfee and her son Asher move from Boston to Olivia’s hometown in New Hampshire to get a fresh start after her marriage ends. It’s a small town and she takes over her father’s beekeeping business. Nine years later Ava Campanello and her daughter Lily move from California to the same small town to start over after her divorce and some additional trauma. Asher and Lily meet and instantly connect. Four months later, Lily is dead. Asher is found with her body and is accused of murder.

Boylan and Picoult alternate authoring the story in differing timelines, Lily’s starting at her death and working backwards and Olivia’s starting at Lily’s death and going forward. Of course, this being a Picoult novel there is a HUGE twist and you come away with tons of knowledge (you’ll never look at bees the same way).

This is the first Picoult novel is quite a bit that I’ve enjoyed. Seems that Boylan is her lucky charm. I’ve admired Jenny Boylan for quite some time for her advocacy work, but hadn’t had a chance to read anything by her, that will change. They worked seamlessly together and although they alternated characters you could not tell between the two. They developed rich characters and even though the chapters were longer than the typical book these days (most coming in at around 30 minutes or so as per kindle) I often found myself looking down to see if I could *maybe* squeeze in just one more. You have to appreciate that in a book.

I had to give a teensy deduction because Olivia is in court every day to support Asher BUT she is a witness. I understand why this was done since we only have two narrators but it was just so glaringly wrong. I still give the book a 4.75 (rounded up)

Based on two separate historical events, this WWII historical fiction story is gripping and engaging. Fenna Vos is a Dutch American illusionist who is recruited to become a British spy. Her knowledge of illusions and escapes lend to the MI9.
McMorris has written an exceptionally detailed and well researched book.
Thank you to NetGalley and Sourcebooks Landmark for the early review copy!

4.5 stars rounded up!
Wowza!! This was a thrill ride!
Told through multiple viewpoints of the various characters, also featuring Special Agent Sarah Keller (Every Last Fear).
On NYE 1999 four Blockbuster Video employees are murdered. There is one survivor.
15 years later, in the same small town, three employees of the local Dairy Creamery are murdered. Once again, there is a single survivor.
Are they connected?
I loved the varying perspectives and short chapters keeping the pace going. There are numerous surprising moments! They just kept coming! Can’t wait to read more by Alex Finlay.

This closed door cozy mystery has several twists and left me guessing throughout. As an American I’ve been obsessed with the Royals as long as I can remember so I was so excited to read this one.

Chris McGeorge has written an alternate history whereby Edward VII didn’t abdicate and there are a totally new set of royals who are celebrating Christmas at Balmoral. A blizzard moves in and they’re stranded there.

~King Eric, beloved and respected and intending to announce his successor in his annual Christmas speech. As he is making his toast he dies after taking a sip of his whiskey.
~Marjorie, Princess Royal- never named Queen and a bit of a lush
~Emmeline, older by a few minutes and engaged but her fiancé Anton was not invited to celebrate at Balmoral
~Maud, the younger twin- married to a commoner and mother to two boys
~Thomas, who the family believes is leaking info to the tv show “Monarch” (think The Crown)
~Matthew, the likely successor
~Martin, the little helper

King Eric has sent everyone else away from Balmoral for the weekend except for
~Tony, the security guard, and
~Jon, the personal chef who is devoted to the royal family and is our narrator. The family elects Jon to be the investigator in the death of King Eric.


The beginning moved a bit slowly for me but then picked up and the pace was great. Each chapter begins to delve into each character as Jon interviews them and in the last half I didn’t want to stop reading. Amazing twists and so timely! It’s The Crown meets Clue meets Agatha Christie.

Thanks to NetGalley and GP Putnam for the early review copy!

Phenomenal. I can’t wait to read it again.

A quick read and listen that is interesting but stilted at times.
In 1850s Monterey, California, Liza is left a widow after her abusive husband is killed in a bar fight. She turns to the only thing she knows that will support her- prostitution. She later befriends Jean, a cross-dressing woman who also works at a brothel but one which services women instead, and they become fast friends. They have much in common, including their love of Edgar Allen Poe. When local prostitutes begin to turn up dead and law enforcement unsurprisingly doesn’t seem to care the ladies begin sleuthing on their own.
Jane Smiley, Pulitzer Prize winner for A Thousand Acres, is known for drawing from classic literature for inspiration. Poe’s Murder on the Rue Morgue comes into play here and is used by Liza and Jean as their instruction manual to solve the murders.
While Smiley’s keen grasp of language is obvious and shows particularly in her descriptions of horses and the countryside, Liza’s matter-of-fact descriptions of her sex acts were unnerving to me and I found myself skimming over them and skipping ahead in the audio. There are only so many times you can hear the word “prick” and I’m not a prude by any means. It just reads oddly.
The murder mystery plot moved so slowly I found myself getting bored. However, I did love how engaged I was in the historical aspect of the plot. There were so many interesting things going on: Liza’s travels from Kalamazoo to Monterey, the Gold Rush, prostitution (for both male and female clients), and the beginning of civil war/end of slavery/Underground Railroad.
Therese Plummer was amazing!! Loved her narration!
It wasn’t the best of Jane Smiley’s work but I will say it was definitely an adventurous experience. 3.5 stars rounded up.
Thanks to NetGalley, Knopf Doubleday Publishing, and RB Media Recorded Books for the early review copies!

Catherine Ryan Hyde does it again! A masterpiece. She takes these incredibly flawed and broken characters and makes us love them. She also reminds us how much people are going through that we don’t know about behind closed doors.

In this case, Chester Wheeler is, to the outside world, a horribly grumpy, homophobic, and mean old man. Lewis Madigan is a 24 year old software developer who has had a bad go of things lately; he has just lost his job, his boyfriend broke up with him and moved to California without him, and his best friend Anna also moved out leaving him completely roommate-less.

Lewis is Chester’s neighbor. An opportunity arises for Lewis to care for Chester (as Chester has chased off all the other caregivers) and as Lewis is in need of money he takes it. So ensues a relationship that will alter both of their lives, for good and bad, as they take an RV trip 2000 miles across the country for Chester to try to make amends to his ex-wife.

CRH always comes through with these great relationships, especially with an older person teaching a younger person something. Here we have themes of growth and learning to believe in yourself.

This was a very moving and poignant novel. One that will stay with me for a long time.

Thanks to NetGalley and Lake Union Publishing for the early review copy!