Shelf Life

Author: Jane Simon Ammeson

  • Think Twice by Harlan Coben

    Think Twice by Harlan Coben

    “Secrets, lies, and a murderous conspiracy . . . churn at the heart of Harlan Coben’s blistering new novel.”

    Harlan Coben may be a New York Times bestselling author, his award-winning books translated into 46 different languages and many such as Fool Me Once, The Stranger, and Gone for Good, made into such Netflix series but even now, he doesn’t call it in when it comes to suspense novels. Think Twice is an absorbing, intricately plotted thriller about a man who is presumed
    dead and then suddenly wanted for murder. It’s the 12 th mystery featuring Myron Bolitar, the sardonic and witty sports agent who time and time again somehow finds himself in the middle of a crime.
     
    How can a man who is already dead be wanted for murder?
     
    Myron is on the phone with his 80-year-old father who is talking about how he and Myron’s mother have discovered the wonders of gummies laced with marijuana when two FBI agents arrive in his office with new information regarding the murders of Cecilia Callister, a 1990s semi-supermodel and her 30-year-old son Clay. At the time, it was assumed the two were murdered by Callister’s fourth husband after she agreed to testify against him on fraud charges after discovering he was having an affair.
     
    New evidence indicates that Greg Downing might be involved in the deaths. But Downing is dead.
     
    Or is he?
     
    Coben is a master of twists and turns, and Myron lives in a world where nothing is as it appears. And that includes Windsor Horne Lockwood III, known as Win, his best friend who often helps him solve crimes. A prep school trust funder with a pedigree stretching back generations, Win might be mistaken for a man who lives for nothing more than fine meals, sexual dalliances, and golfing (his handicap is a three) all part of the privileges extreme wealth confers upon him.
     
    But, despite his efforts to show just such a persona, Win is more than that. A sixth-degree black belt holder in Tae Kwon Do—the highest ranking in the United States—he dispenses his own brand of justice on miscreants the law has been unable to touch. He’s completely loyal to Myron despite their background and social status differences. And, it turns out, he had been
    romantically involved with the murdered woman.

     A complicated case, it quickly turns deadly.
     
    “Myron was tied to a chair in the center of the room,” writes Coben in a descriptive scene that
    takes place after Myro n is knocked cold.
     
    “His left shoe and sock were off.
     
    “Next to his barefoot was a set of pruning shears. There was also a protective sheet under the foot.
     
    “Oh this wasn’t good.
     
    “There were four men. One was Sal. Two were the men who jumped in from the sides. And there was a new one. Clearly the leader, who stood in front of him.

     “Saw the pin drop to your friend,” the leader said. “Sal stuck your phone in the back of a truck heading west. Your friend is probably tracking you to the California border by now.”
     
    “The leader’s appearance screamed old-school bad guy. He had the greasy two-day growth on his face. His hair was slicked back, and his shirt was unbuttoned. He had gold chains snared in his chest hairs and a toothpick clenched in his teeth.

    “I guess you were some hot shot basketball player back in the day,” the leader said. “But I never heard of you.”
     
    “Wow, Myron said. “Now you’ve hurt my feelings.”
     
    Three years ago, sports agent Myron Bolitar gave a eulogy at the funeral of his client, renowned basketball coach Greg Downing. Myron and Greg had history: initially as deeply personal rivals, and later as unexpected business associates. Myron made peace and moved on—until now, when two federal agents walked into his office, demanding to know where Greg Downing is.

    According to the agents, Greg is still alive—and has been placed at the scene of a double homicide, making him their main suspect. Shocked, Myron needs answers.
    Myron and Win, longtime friends and colleagues, set out to find the truth, but the more they homicide, making him their main suspect. Shocked, Myron needs answers.

    Myron and Win, longtime friends and colleagues, set out to find the truth, but the more they discover about Greg, the more dangerous their world becomes. Secrets, lies, and a murderous conspiracy that stretches back into the past churn at the heart of Harlan Coben’s blistering new novel.

    About the Author

    With over 80 million books in print worldwide, Harlan Coben is the New York Times author of thirty five novels including WIN, THE BOY FROM THE WOODS, RUN AWAY, FOOL ME ONCE, TELL NO ONE and the renowned Myron Bolitar series. His books are published in 46 languages around the globe.

    Harlan is the creator and executive producer of several Netflix television dramas including STAY CLOSE, THE STRANGER, SAFE, THE FIVE, THE INNOCENT and THE WOODS. He is also the creator and executive producer of the Prime Video series Harlan Coben’s SHELTER, based on his young adult books featuring Mickey Bolitar. Harlan was the showrunner and executive producer for two French TV mini-series, UNE CHANCE DE TROP (NO SECOND CHANCE) and JUST UN REGARD (JUST ONE LOOK). KEINE ZWEIT CHANCE, also based on Harlan’s novel, aired in Germany on Sat1.

    This review originally appeared in the New York Journal of Books.

  • The Hunter’s Daughter: Is She As Evil As Her Father?

    The Hunter’s Daughter: Is She As Evil As Her Father?

    “And I didn’t ask any questions,” the narrator of Nicola Solvinic’s debut mystery-thriller The Hunter’s Daughter (Berkley ), says in her first-person account of what it’s like having been raised by a serial killer. “I truly didn’t want to know the answers. When the rifle went off, did I kill my dad? Or Agent Parkes? Did I miss them both, and did they fight it out? Did Dad get arrested, or did he kill Agent Parkes and run.”

    These obviously are not the typical questions most children have regarding interactions with their fathers. But police officer Anna Koray is the daughter of a notorious serial killer, a fact she keeps hidden with the use of a different name, a move far from home, and estrangement from her mother who did little to protect her.  

    It works for a while until a traumatic incident triggers long-repressed memories and Anna’s past, sealed off by her therapist in a controversial and experimental hypnosis treatment, begins to emerge. Her father, known as the Forest Strangler, murdered more than a dozen women, their bodies decorated and left as sacrifices to the god of the forest. But he also taught Anna to love the woods, to be one with the forest and nature. The dark dense woods with rustling trees that line the perimeter of her yard call out to her, beckoning her forward. In many ways, it’s where she feels most at home—the feel of dirt between her toes, the smell of the rotting leaves. But as much as it entices her, that forest also harbors secrets and possibly malignant forces that may harm or even destroy her.

    There are many questions confronting Anna as she deals with her surfacing memories. Can she trust her lover who may be hiding his own addictions? Is her father, who is supposedly dead, really alive? And is Anna herself a killer—someone who has her father’s propensity as well as his genetics to do evil? She has killed, supposedly in self-defense. But is that true? Or does she enjoy killing just as he did? And will she do it again?

    When her psychiatrist, the woman who hypnotized her into forgetting her past, is found murdered, Anna has to wonder if she played a part in the death. After all, she had broken into her office to steal her file folder before the police, who are closing in, can locate it and discover her true identity. Did she do more than take the file? Did she destroy the woman who can reveal her past?

    Desperate to keep people from realizing that she is the daughter of the Forest Strangler, Anna also has to try to determine that even though she became a police officer to help others, she may be as evil as her dad.

    A tense psychological thriller, terse plotting, and Anna’s own uncertainty about who she is, what acts she’s committed, and whether she can trust her own thoughts, feelings, and actions, keeps this book a page-turner.

    About the Author

    Nicola Solvinic has a master’s degree in criminology and has worked in and around criminal justice for more than a decade at local, state, and federal levels. She lives in the Midwest with her husband and cats, where she is surrounded by a secret garden full of beehives.

    This review originally appeared in the New York Journal of Books.

  • The Instruments of Darkness by John Connolly

    The Instruments of Darkness by John Connolly

    “Moxie Castlin was easy to underestimate, but only on first impression. He was overweight by the equivalent of a small child, didn’t use one word in public when five others were loitering nearby with nothing better to do, and had a taste for the reminiscent of the markings of poisonous insects or the nightmares of LSD survivors. He subsisted largely on fried food, coffee, and the Maine soda that had given him a nickname, now long since passed into common usage: since he had been christened Oleg. Moxie sounded better to him. He lost cases, but not many, and his friends far outnumbered his enemies.”

    And so, in the first chapter of The Instruments of Darkness (Atria/Emily Bestler Books), the 21st book in the Charlie Parker series by international and New York Times bestselling author, John Connolly, we meet Moxie who is defending Colleen Clark, a mother accused of abducting and possibly murdering her two-year-old son Henry. It’s a heinous case and everyone, the police and general public, and especially the politicians who have an election coming up, think Colleen is guilty. After all, she was home, supposedly asleep when Henry disappeared. Her husband, Henry’s father, had been away on a business trip.

    But it doesn’t matter if the world is against you when you have Moxie and Charlie Parker, a private investigator

    Everyone does seem to be against Colleen, including Henry’s father, Stephen Clark, who stirs the pot. Because of his outspoken concerns, the police search Colleen’s car and discover a blanket soaked in Henry’s blood in the wheel well of her car. Rumors about Colleen begin to circulate and as Parker, who narrates the story, wryly says they were unfounded, but that is no obstacle as unfounded rumors are the best kind.

    The book lives up to its title, there is definitely darkness surrounding the case and the community. Others have disappeared without a trace. And there’s a touch of the supernatural to give the readers a few shivers as Parker tries to help Moxie take on a case where even before the trial a guilty verdict has been decided.

    Connolly, who lives in Dublin, Ireland, has written more than 30 books, is the author of several series including the Samuel Johnson trilogy, the Lost Things stories, and (with @JennieRidyard), the Chronicles of the Invaders. He writes long, weaving  a complex mystery-thriller full of twists and turns, and peopled with intriguing characters, some benign and eccentric, others scary including a gang of fascists who are readying for war; and a psychic who says that the dead, including a woman named Verona Walter, frequently appeal to help from Walter, who, it seems, is dead and buried but still in contact with the living.

    But there’s more to deal with than fascists and a psychic that talks to the dead, there’s the house, seemingly in ruins, deep in the dark Maine woods and exerting an unnatural and dangerous force.

    As Connolly describes an interaction between two people as they approach the isolated home.

    “Pinnette tried to tear his gaze away from the house but found he could not. While it might have looked abandoned, he was not convinced it was quite empty. Certain structures, while appearing uninhabited, retained about them a sense of occupation, as though a latent presence had infused the very boards. As he and Unger observed the house, Pinette could not help but feel that the house was observing them in turn: not someone in the house but the house itself.”

    It will take all of Parker’s detective skills to overcome the obstacles he faces to help Moxie with his client, all the while trying to stay safe.

    This review first appeared in the New York Journal of Books.

  • TOO GOOD A GIRL: REMEMBERING OLENE EMBERTON AND THE MYSTERY OF HER DEATH

    TOO GOOD A GIRL: REMEMBERING OLENE EMBERTON AND THE MYSTERY OF HER DEATH

    Olene Emberton, a 17-year-old Tipton, Indiana, high school senior, was last seen alive at 11:30 p.m., Saturday, October 16, 1965, when she dropped off a friend after a movie and drove away, headed for home. It was a journey of a mere six-blocks. But Olene never made it home.

    50 years later, the mystery that shocked the small Indiana community where she lived has never been solved. But author Janis Thornton, a former high school classmate of Olene was determined that Olene’s story would never be forgotten. Now more than-a-half century later, Thornton has written “Too Good a Girl: Remembering Olene Emberton and the Mystery of Her Death,” part memoir, part true crime, and part oral history. The book examines Olene’s life, her unexplained death, and how she affected the Tipton community and all who knew her.

    “I wrote the book because I didn’t want her to be forgotten,” says Thornton.

    Early Sunday morning, after Olene’s parents realized she hadn’t come home all night, they found her car parked two doors north of the four-way stop at Green and North streets, just three blocks from their house. None of the neighbors had seen her leave the car, and there was no sign of a struggle.

    The Embertons immediately called the police and reported their daughter missing. The next afternoon, a farmer discovered her lifeless, nude body discarded along a remote country road ten miles northeast of town. Her clothes were neatly folded and stacked beside her head. Her glasses lay in the weeds next to her feet.

    An autopsy was performed that evening, but no cause of death was determined. Thus, with no clues, no leads, no witnesses, no motive, and no confession, how Olene died and who dumped her body in the tall grass next to a cornfield was never determined. Law enforcement officials had no place to go, and heartbreakingly her family was denied the answers and the closure they needed and deserved.

    Throughout the nearly 58 intervening years, numerous Tipton County people have claimed they knew the answers. But only one individual truly knew, and that person still isn’t telling.

    Hopefully one day that will change.

    ABOUT THE AUTHOR

    Based in her hometown of Tipton, Indiana, Janis Thornton writes about history, mystery, and true crime.

    Her latest book, The 1965 Palm Sunday Tornadoes in Indiana, takes a look back at Indiana’s worst weather disaster and includes more than 100 horrific, heartbreaking stories about the tornadoes, told by the people who experienced them.

    Her previous release, No Place Like Murder, is a collection of 20 true crime stories that rocked Indiana between 1869 and 1950.

    Her most recent novel, Love, Lies, and Azure Eyes, is a suspenseful, paranormal romantic mystery about possibilities for second chances, righting old wrongs, and finding love that lasts forever. 

    Her mysteries include: “Dead Air and Double Dare” and “Dust Bunnies and Dead Bodies”, both in the “Elmwood Confidential” series; and “Love, Lies, and Azure Eyes,” a suspenseful, paranormal romantic mystery.

    Her history books are: “The 1965 Palm Sunday Tornadoes in Indiana,” which takes a look back at Indiana’s worst weather disaster, and pictorial-history books about the communities of Elwood, Frankfort and Tipton, all in Indiana.

    Janis also is the author of three Central Indiana history books — Images of America: Tipton County, Images of America: Frankfort, and Images of America: Elwood — and she is a contributor to Undeniably Indiana, a bicentennial project from Indiana University Press.

    She is a member of the national mystery writer’s organization, Sisters in Crime, its Indianapolis chapter, Speed City Sisters in Crime, The Author’s Guild, Women Fiction Writers Association, the Indiana Writers Center, and the Tipton County Historical Society.

    Follow Janis at
    www.janis-thornton.com
    facebook.com/janisthorntonauthor
    @JanisThornton
  • Corner Office: Poetry by Susan Hahn

    Corner Office: Poetry by Susan Hahn

    The Book Stall (811 Elm Street in Winnetka) is is hosting award-winning author, playwright, and poet Susan Hahn to the store on Thursday, May 16 at 6:30 pm to discuss her new book of poetry, Corner Office. Multi-talented Hahn returns to poetry after two novels with a book-length poem in three voices, Man, Woman, and Earth, that reflects her experience as a playwright. Ms. Hahn will be happy to sign her work! This event is free with registration, to register, please visit book store’s website or CLICK HERE. 

    Edward Hirsch says, “There are three recurring speakers in Susan Hahn’s quirky, wistful fantasia, a book-length meditation on lost power, the story of man and woman, the earth as it once was, how it might have been, what we’ve done to it. Corner Office is a dramatic poem that manages to be both contemporary and archetypal.”

    In praise for her earlier works, David Kirby from the Chicago Tribune says, “Reviewers of Hahn’s earlier books have linked her work to that of the confessional poets of the ‘50s and ‘60s, with the lurid, tell-all poems of Robert Lowell, Anne Sexton, John Berryman and Plath.  The resemblance is there, but Hahn can’t be written off as a mere neo-confessional, because her poetry is much more deeply rooted in the American mindset than that.  For the Gothic viewpoint accounts for everything the founding fathers overlooked: terror, perversity, strangeness, a sense of not knowing where one is or how one got there.  It is a way of viewing the world that continues to affect American writing and that appears in works by such recent authors as William Faulkner, Flannery O’Connor, Ralph Ellison, Truman Capote and Joyce Carol Oates. And now we can add Susan Hahn’s name to that list.”

    Susan Hahn is the author of ten books of poetry, two produced plays, and two novels. Among her awards for writing are a Guggenheim Fellowship in poetry, Pushcart prizes, The Society of Midland Authors Award in Poetry, and numerous Illinois Arts Council Fellowships and Literary Awards. She was the inaugural writer-in-residence at the Hemingway Foundation, the editor of Triquarterly literary magazine for fourteen years, and the co-founder of Triquarterly Books. Learn more at www.susanhahnauthor.com.

  • Introducing the James Beard 2024 Book Award Nominees

    Introducing the James Beard 2024 Book Award Nominees


    Baking and Desserts:

    This award recognizes books with recipes focused on the art and craft of baking, pastries, and desserts, both sweet and savory items, including ingredients, techniques, equipment, and traditions.

    This year, submissions to the Bread category were included for consideration within the Baking and Desserts category.


    Dark Rye and Honey Cake: Festival Baking from Belgium, the Heart of the Low Countries

    Regula Ysewijn
    (Weldon Owen)

    Mayumu: Filipino American Desserts Remixed

    Abi Balingit
    (HarperCollins)

    More Than Cake: 100 Baking Recipes Built for Pleasure and Community

    Natasha Pickowicz
    (Artisan Books)

    Beverage with Recipes:

    This award recognizes books with recipes focused on beverages, such as
    cocktails, beer, wine, spirits, coffee, tea, or juices.

    Juke Joints, Jazz Clubs, and Juice: Cocktails from Two Centuries of African American Cookbooks

    Toni Tipton-Martin
    (Clarkson Potter)

    The Maison Premiere Almanac: Cocktails, Oysters, Absinthe, and Other Essential Nutrients for the Sensualist, Aesthete, and Flaneur

    Joshua Boissy, Jordan Mackay, and Krystof Zizka
    (Clarkson Potter)

    Slow Drinks: A Field Guide to Foraging and Fermenting Seasonal Sodas, Botanical Cocktails, Homemade Wines, and More

    Danny Childs
    (Hardie Grant North America)

    Beverage without Recipes:

    This award recognizes books without recipes that focus on beverages, such
    as cocktails, beer, wine, spirits, coffee, tea, or juices; or books that cover these subject areas where recipes are not the focus of cooking, not just a single topic, technique, or region.

    Agave Spirits: The Past, Present, and Future of Mezcals

    Gary Paul Nabhan and David Suro Piñera
    (W. W. Norton & Company)
    The New French Wine

    Jon Bonné
    (Ten Speed Press)

    Vines in a Cold Climate: The People Behind the English Wine Revolution

    Henry Jeffreys
    (Atlantic)
    Food Issues and Advocacy:

    This award recognizes books that focus on investigative journalism, food
    policy, food advocacy, deep dives, and critical analysis of the changing social landscape around food.

    At the Table: The Chef’s Guide to Advocacy

    Katherine Miller
    (Island Press)

    Avocado Anxiety: and Other Stories About Where Your Food Comes From

    Louise Gray
    (Bloomsbury Wildlife)

    Resilient Kitchens: American Immigrant Cooking in a Time of Crisis: Essays and Recipes

    Philip Gleissner and Harry Eli Kashdan
    (Rutgers University Press)

    General:

    This award recognizes books with recipes that address a broad scope of cooking, not just a single topic, technique, or region.

    A Cook’s Book

    Nigel Slater
    (Ten Speed)

    The Everlasting Meal Cookbook: Leftovers A-Z

    Tamar Adler
    (Scribner)

    Start Here: Instructions for Becoming a Better Cook

    Sohla El-Waylly
    (Alfred A. Knopf)

    International:

    This award recognizes books with recipes focused on food or cooking traditions of countries, regions, or communities outside of the United States.

    Made in Taiwan: Recipes and Stories from the Island Nation

    Clarissa Wei with Ivy Chen
    (Simon & Schuster/Simon Element)

    My Everyday Lagos: Nigerian Cooking at Home and in the Diaspora

    Yewande Komolafe
    (Ten Speed Press)

    The World Central Kitchen Cookbook

    José Andrés and Sam Chapple-Sokol
    (Clarkson Potter)

    Literary Writing:

    This award recognizes narrative nonfiction books, including memoirs, culinary travel, culinary tourism, biography, reflections on food in a cultural context, and personal essays.

    Food Stories: Writing That Stirs the Pot

    The Bitter Southerner

    (The Bitter Southerner)

    For The Culture: Phenomenal Black Women and Femmes in Food: Interviews, Inspiration, and Recipes

    Klancy Miller
    (HarperCollins)

    The Migrant Chef: The Life and Times of Lalo García

    Laura Tillman
    (W. W. Norton & Company)

    Reference, History, and Scholarship:

    This award recognizes manuals, guides, encyclopedias, or books
    that present research related to food or foodways.

    The Ark of Taste: Delicious and Distinctive Foods That Define the United States

    David S. Shields and Giselle K. Lord
    (Hachette Book Group)

    Food Power Politics: The Food Story of the Mississippi Civil Rights Movement

    Bobby J. Smith II
    (University of North Carolina Press)

    White Burgers, Black Cash: Fast Food from Black Exclusion to Exploitation

    Naa Oyo A. Kwate
    (University of Minnesota Press)

    Restaurant and Professional:

    This award recognizes books written by a culinary professional or
    restaurant chef with recipes that may include advanced cooking techniques, the use of specialty ingredients and professional equipment, including culinary arts textbooks.

    Ester: Australian Cooking

    Mat Lindsay with Pat Nourse
    (Murdoch Books)

    Fish Butchery: Mastering The Catch, Cut, and Craft

    Josh Niland
    Hardie Grant Books)

    Rintaro: Japanese Food from an Izakaya in California

    Jessica Battilana and Sylvan Mishima Brackett
    (Hardie Grant North America)

    Single Subject:

    This award recognizes books with recipes focused on a single ingredient, dish, or method of cooking. Examples include seafood, grains, pasta, burgers, or canning. Exceptions are baking and desserts books, vegetable-focused books, restaurant and professional books, and beverage books—
    which would be entered in their respective categories.

    The Hog Island Book of Fish and Seafood: Culinary Treasures from Our Waters

    John Ash
    (Cameron Books)

    Pasta Every Day: Make It, Shape It, Sauce It, Eat It

    Meryl Feinstein
    (Hachette Book Group

    Yogurt & Whey: Recipes of an Iranian Immigrant Life

    Homa Dashtaki
    (W. W. Norton & Company)

    U.S. Foodways:

    This award recognizes books with recipes focused on the cooking or foodways of regions or communities located within the United States.

    Ed Mitchell’s Barbeque

    Ed Mitchell, Ryan Mitchell, and Zella Palmer
    (Ecco)

    Love Japan: Recipes from Our Japanese American Kitchen


    Aaron Israel and Sawako Okochi with Gabriella Gershenson
    (Ten Speed Press)

    Made Here Recipes & Reflections From NYC’s Asian Communities

    Send Chinatown Love
    (Self-Published)

    Vegetable-Focused Cooking:

    This award recognizes books on vegetable cookery with recipes that are meatless, vegetarian, or vegan.

    Ever-Green Vietnamese: Super-Fresh Recipes, Starring Plants from Land and Sea

    Andrea Nguyen
    (Ten Speed Press)
    Japan: The Vegetarian Cookbook

    Nancy Singleton Hachisu
    Phaidon Press)

    Tenderheart: A Cookbook About Vegetables and Unbreakable Family Bonds

    Hetty Lui McKinnon
    (Alfred A. Knopf)

    Visuals:

    This award recognizes books on food or beverage with exceptional graphic design, art, or photography.

    The Book of Sichuan Chili Crisp

    Yudi Echevarria
    (Ten Speed Press)
    For The Culture: Phenomenal Black Women and Femmes in Food: Interviews, Inspiration, and Recipes

    Kelly Marshall and Sarah Madden
    (HarperCollins)
    Thank You Please Come Again: How Gas Stations Feed & Fuel the American South

    Kate Medley with Dave Whitling
    (BS Publishing)

    Cookbook Hall of Fame:

    This award is given to either a cookbook that has significantly influenced the way we think about food, honoring authors who possess an exceptional ability to communicate their gastronomic vision via the printed page, or an author whose cookbooks and other culinary books and work, taken together, make a difference in the world of food and cooking.

    The Book Awards Subcommittee selects the winner for this category. The Cookbook Hall of Fame winner will be announced at the Media Awards ceremony on June 8.

  • No Place Like Murder: 20 Historic True Crimes in the Hoosier State

    No Place Like Murder: 20 Historic True Crimes in the Hoosier State

                   “True crime aficionados are fascinated by the havoc their fellow humans are capable of wreaking,” says author Janis Thornton who takes us beyond high profile crime into lesser known but equally fascinating tales. “For them, learning details of the victims’ worst nightmares is not only tantalizing; in a perverse way, it’s almost comforting because it happened to someone else. In a sense, true crime offers readers a “there but for the grace of God” revelation that allows them to vicariously experience unimaginable horrors behind a safety buffer of time and space.”

                   Using these buffers, “No Place Like Murder” Thornton examines the underbelly of Hoosier history through the retelling of twenty sensational murders that ripped apart numerous small, Indiana communities between 1950 and 1869. But because volumes have been written chronicling the likes of high-profile Hoosier serial killers Belle Gunness (includig “America’s Femme Fatale” by Jane Simon Ammeson) and H.H. Holmes, Thornton’s tales focus on 20 lesser known, but no less merciless, homegrown killers.

                   “No Place Like Murder” paints portraits of murderous women like Frankie Miller, who shot and killed her fiancé after he stood her up for another woman. Readers also will meet the plucky Isabelle Messmer, who ran away from her quiet farm-town life, and after nearly taking down two tough Pittsburgh policemen, she was dubbed “Gun Girl,” earning headlines across the country. And one of the more sensational crimes highlighted in the book is the shotgun slaughter of five members of the Agrue family on their Southern Indiana farm at the hand of Virginious “Dink” Carter, husband of one of the Agrue daughters.

                       According to the Publishers Weekly review of “No Place Like Murder,” true crime fans will be well satisfied. •

    ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

                   Janis Thornton is Tipton, Indiana’s home-grown author of true crime, mystery and history.

                   Her true crime books include: and “Too Good a Girl,” the story of Thornton’s high school classmate, Olene Emberton, whose tragic, unsolved death in 1965 shocked their community. Now, more than 50 years later, Janis wrote Olene’s story to ensure it is never forgotten.

                   Her mysteries include: “Dead Air and Double Dare” and “Dust Bunnies and Dead Bodies”, both in the “Elmwood Confidential” series; and “Love, Lies, and Azure Eyes,” a suspenseful, paranormal romantic mystery.

                   Her history books are: “The 1965 Palm Sunday Tornadoes in Indiana,” which takes a look back at Indiana’s worst weather disaster, and pictorial-history books about the communities of Elwood, Frankfort and Tipton, all in Indiana.

  • Celebrate Independent Bookstore Day with Romance and Brews

    Celebrate Independent Bookstore Day with Romance and Brews

    On Saturday, April 27 at 3:30 pm, join the folks at The Book Stall for an afternoon of Romance and Brews to celebrate Independent Bookstore Day! Author Stephanie Jayne joins us at The Book Stall (811 Elm Street in Winnetka) with three fellow Romance authors for a meet & greet with some frosty refreshments! Stop by for a brew and say hello to romance author Kelly Farmer, romance and mystery author Sharon Michalove, and historical romance and mystery author Felix Alexander. Copies of their titles will be available to be signed! Ms. Jayne will be signing her new book, I’ve Got My Mind Set on Brew. A down-on-her-luck craft beer brewer and her privileged new boss clash as they work together to save a quirky brewpub in this enemies-to-lovers workplace rom-com. 

    More About the Book: Kat Malone is left cash-strapped after a job loss and a bad breakup when she discovers a surprising new career path: craft beer brewer. When the brewpub is sold, the new owner places his light-on-experience son in charge of the pub. Ryan is as basic as a pale lager and aims to turn quirky Resistance into a run-of-the-mill sports bar. Despite clashes between Kat and Ryan, he confides that Resistance is in financial trouble and that drastic changes will be needed if the pub has any hope of survival. Forced to collaborate, Kat realizes Ryan isn’t as bland as she assumed—he might even be exactly what she’s been craving.

    More About the Authors: Stephanie Jayne loves to write relatable characters striving to make their mark on the world as they fall in love in the process. When not crafting quirky love stories, she’s often found playing video games or fangirling over romance books with a book club. She lives in the greater Chicago area with her multi-talented creative husband and two persistent cats.

    Kelly Farmer, author of It’s a Fabulous Life, has been writing romance novels since junior high. The stories have changed, but one theme remains the same: everyone deserves to have a happy ending. She loves telling tales with a touch of snark and a lot of heart. Kelly lives in the Chicago area, where she swears every winter is her last one here.

    Felix Alexander is a Mexican-born, American-raised novelist and poet of Mexican and Puerto Rican descent. Being third-generation military, after a grandfather and three uncles who served in the Korean and Vietnam Wars, respectively, Alexander is proud of his service in the U.S. Army and grateful for his experience. He lives in the Chicagoland area and volunteers to promote literacy among youth. His books include the Aiden Leonardo mystery series and the Labyrinth of Love Letters historical romance series. 

    Sharon Michalove writes romance, suspense, and traditional mystery, as well as being a published historian. After growing up in suburban Chicago, she spent most of her life in a medium-sized university town, working as an academic professional. Sharon moved back to Chicago in 2017 and started writing fiction, publishing her first book in 2021. She is a member of Mystery Writers of America and Chicago-North Romance Writers. Currently, she is president of the Sisters in Crime Chicagoland Chapter and an at-large board member of MWA Midwest. Her Global Security Unlimited series is a finalist for the Chanticleer International Book Award for Genre Series.

    Independent Book Store Day is a national effort to recognize the importance of independent bookstores. This national one-day party held on the last Saturday in April celebrates independent bookstores across the country online and in-store. It’s a party you don’t want to miss!

  • Young Rich Widows: Big Hair, Big Egos, and Big Trouble

    Young Rich Widows: Big Hair, Big Egos, and Big Trouble

    “It sounds like the opening of a joke: Four lawyers die in a plane crash.

    “But no one is laughing inside the brand-new 1985 Cessna careening toward the dark icy Atlantic waters. One engine is already on fire and the other about to blow.

    “On the manifest: three men, one woman, and a screaming pilot.

    “’MAYDAY MAYDAY’

    “All four partners. The only partners. The foundation of the firm. This group has never traveled together before. It’s like the virgin who gets knocked up on her wedding night: It was just one time. But once is enough to end it all.”

    Four award-winning mystery writers, Vanessa Lillie, Layne Fargo, Cate Holahan, Kimberly Belle have teamed up to write Young Rich Widows (Soucebooks), set in 1980s (for those who weren’t around think big hair and  big shoulder pads, ostentatious living like that seen on such shows as Dallas and Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous thriller about four rich widows who have not only lost their partners in a mysterious plane crash but also are realizing four million dollars is missing as well.

    And to make it worse. That’s mob money and they want it back. Not next week, but right now.

    The women don’t like each other. Indeed, one, Camille, a former saleslady and now a much younger second wife, is having an affair with Peter, one of the partners who was married to Justine, a former fashion model, while another, Meredith is a stripper who was in a passionate relationship with the only female partner.

    Complicated? Well, it gets even more so, in this comedy/mystery written by Lillie (Blood Sisters), Fargo (They Never Learn), Holahan (Lies She Told), and Belle (The Personal Assistant).

    For one, there’s the long-simmering romantic spark between Crystal and the mobster who is threatening them. He happens to own the strip club where Meredith works. And is Camille more than a homewrecker? Is she a thief like her former employer claims? And then there’s the land deal if they can make it happen, will restore their fortunes—but is that handsome developer who is chasing after Camille to be trusted? Is anyone?

    When you’re in danger, you have to work together or die alone and that’s what these women do, bonding in a way that never would have happened before the crash, and they learn to trust one another as they fight to stay alive.

    The review originally appeared in the New York Journal of Books.

    It is available on Kindle and as an audiobook.

  • The Duchess: Scandalous Ladies of London by Sophie Jordan

    The Duchess: Scandalous Ladies of London by Sophie Jordan

    “I liked my husband well enough . . . but I like him even better dead,” says Duchess Valencia Dedham.

    Now a Dowager Duchess following the death of her husband (no great loss there) and the discovery of the nearest male heir means Valencia Dedham must move out of the mansion that has been her home since she married at a young age and into a dower house far away in Yorkshire. It’s all part of primogeniture, the English way of assuring that property passes down through the male line.

    But for Valencia it means she loses not only the house but also access to London and the glittering Regency-era society to which she belongs. As she starts to pack for her journey to a home and location she has never known, she doesn’t even know what is hers to take. The beautiful writing desk she bought? The jewels she wore? Her beautiful gowns? Or are the all part of the estate that belongs to the new duke?

    And so, Valencia, in The Duchess: Scandalous Ladies of London (HarperCollins) by Sophie Jordan, is faced with a situation common to many wives back in those days.

    But the new duke, the brooding and handsome Rhain has six sisters he wants to marry off and he quickly realizes that their wild ways from growing up in Wales under less-than-strict guidance need a lot of polish before they can hope to land suitable husbands. After all, what gentleman would want to make a match with a woman such as Isolde, the duke’s sister who carries her stuffed dog with her even though it died years ago?

    Who better than Valencia with her knowledge of manners and social mores to whip the sisters into marriageable material with dance and singing lessons, the right coiffures and gowns, and entry into the best of homes? And besides, the duke has more than a passing interest in the beautiful young widow and she in him as well.

    Of course, this being a romance novel there are many issues to overcome. Rhain is sure he wants to return to Wales and doesn’t need the impediment of a wife, and Valencia was abused by her husband and also complicit in the way he died. She’s afraid of falling in love again as much as she wants a man’s touch.

    Sensual looks and sizzling attraction abound. Of course, we know it will all turn out well in the end but the fun of these books—if they’re well-written and this one certainly is—is how the author keeps our attention until all the plot lines are tied together into a happy ending.

    This is the second book in the Scandalous Ladies of London, a new series from New York Times bestselling author Sophie Jordan, a prolific writer with over 50 books to her credit. Each chronicles the machinations of women at the highest level of society making their way in the world where their best chance of getting ahead is marrying well.

    About the author.

    Sophie Jordan grew up in the Texas hill country, where she wove fantasies of dragons, warriors, and princesses. A former high school English teacher, she’s the New York Times, USA Today, and international bestselling author of more than fifty novels. She now lives in Houston with her family. When she’s not writing, she spends her time overloading on caffeine (lattes preferred), talking plotlines with anyone who will listen (including her kids), and streaming anything that has a happily ever after.

    This review originally appeared in the New York Journal of Books.