Melody's Reading Corner: July 2023

Melody

Hodder & Stoughton | 19 August 2021 | 384 pgs

Source: Library

Dr. Kate North is trying to gather herself after a tragedy that took her lover, Ben, away. So when she's given an opportunity to be an emergency replacement at the UN research station in Antarctica, she said yes to the offer without much thinking. At that point, she's only glad that no one around will ask about her past and that she'll have all the freedom in an isolated place like the Antarctica, in spite of the harsh weather condition and any other risk factors associated with it. Furthermore, there's only thirteen staff there, including herself.

Upon her arrival, she's shocked to learn that no one is there to guide her regarding her job scope. The previous doctor, Jean-Luc, died in a tragic accident while out on the ice and when Kate tries to ask more about his accident, no one offers more information or they just simply brush it off. As the days go on, Kate soon find that the group’s dynamic has become more strained and there's a sense of mistrust lingering among them. She has a feeling it has got to do with Jean-Luc's death and she's set to find out on her own whether if Jean-Luc was murdered and who's the murderer living among them.

I was intrigued by the claustrophobic atmosphere in this book. After all, Antarctica isn't a tourist destination for that matter and we could only experience it through armchair travel. To begin with, Kate's narrative was engaging but I couldn't connect with her as a character. For a medical professional, I felt that she was rather impulsive and overreacting in some circumstances. She relies too much on pills (given her mental state over the past tragedy) and this made her vulnerable. Also, since there are other twelve characters, I didn't feel they were flesh-out enough although a few stood out due to their (loud) personality. Pacing- and intensity-wise, it was slow until the last third of the story and thereafter things started to escalate and it ended quickly. Overall it had a good premise but I think it'd make a propulsive thriller with better execution.

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Labels: 3 stars, Book Review, Psychological Suspense 5 comments |

A Death at the Party by Amy Stuart

Melody

Simon & Schuster | 7 March 2023 | 304 pgs

Source: Library

The story begins with a dead body at a birthday party. His identity is a mystery and Nadine Walsh, our lead character, was found standing over his body in her basement while a birthday party is still in full swing.

Flashback to that fateful morning, Nadine is checking her to-do list for her mother's birthday party. She has made sure that nothing will be left out and that everything will go according to plans; after all her mother is bestselling author, Marilyn Millay, and she's turning 60. Nadine didn't invite a lot of guests, they're all merely her and her husband's closest friends and colleagues, as well as their neighbours. But, what the others didn't know is that the birthday party isn't entirely a celebration for Marilyn, it also marks the day of another anniversary. As the time begins to count down towards the party as Nadine prepares for the party, she'll come to reflect on the past events that still haunt her till today, as well as the whole truth she's been looking for.

This was a slowburn domestic suspense, but then it was necessary given the story was set over the course of one day and there were the emotions and reactions from Nadine towards the present and the past, as well as her interactions with the few neighbours around her whom they play a huge part to the story. Nadine's character was well described though I couldn't say I liked her; she was too much of a complicated woman with secrets and it didn't help that a past event had kind of traumatised her in a way. There were enough red herrings throughout the story; and it was satisfactory to see the past and the present kind of connected towards the end as the truth unveiled. I loved this author's writing so I'll be sure to check out her other books.

Labels: 4 stars, Book Review, Psychological Suspense 4 comments |

The Last One by Will Dean

Melody

Atria/Emily Bestler Books | 8 August 2023 | 448 pgs

Source: Publisher via Edelweiss

Caz is excited to be on board the exclusive cruise liner RMS Atlantica with her new love, Pete. Well, who would want to turn down a vacation and do nothing but eat, dance and make some new friends on board the ship, right?

But when Caz wakes up the next morning to find Pete is missing, she thought he's just wander off to explore the cruise without her. However, as Caz walks out into the corridor and find all the cabin doors are open and the cabins empty, she has a bad feeling that something has gone terribly wrong. As she goes from floors to floors and from cabins to other various places, she's horrified to find that there's no one out there, not even the crew except herself! Their cruise liner is steaming into the mid-Atlantic and Caz is trapped alone out in the sea. What happened and what'd she do?

At first glance, the blurb sounds like an intriguing locked-room mystery but there's much more to the story. Unfortunately, I couldn't divulge more from that point and let's just say this novel may polarise readers into two groups. You either love it or hate it. From my point, I don't hate it but I don't love it either. Initially I'd the notion that this story might gear towards the direction of "Mary Celeste mystery" given the blurb but it was anything but. After going through a few chapters as lost as Caz, something came up and from there the story started to go downhill for me. To be fair, the story was good from another angle and there were even some very intense moments, but the direction and the motive are lost to me. I think I'd have loved it if it was a straightforward locked-room thriller. I enjoyed Will Dean's previous novel, First Born, but this novel just didn't work for me.

Labels: 3 stars, Book Review, Psychological Thriller 8 comments |

Ghost 19 by Simone St. James

Melody

Berkley | 3 January 2023 | 146 pgs (Ebook)

Source: Library

This novella was set in Meritville, New York in 1959. A woman named Ginette Cox moves into a rented house at 19 Howard Avenue. Used to be a Broadway actress, she left her job and took her doctor's advice to stay away from cigarettes, alcohol and with minimal social visits and stimulation of any kind, mainly due to her agoraphobia condition.

With no entertainment and alone at home, Ginette watches her neighbors from her window, making up names and stories for them since she couldn't step out of her house with her condition. She named a little girl Trixie who's carrying her doll all the time, a married couple by the surname "Lowell" and Mr Elias who seems to be typing most of the time and figures he must be a writer. You'd think that Ginette would find comfort in watching her neighbours going about their life, but in truth she's too terrified to sleep in her bedroom and she thinks there are strange noises coming from the basement.

At some point, she sees a mysterious man in black making appearances outside her window, following the old Mrs Lowell (the mother-in-law) and she's worried that something bad might happen. But she couldn't leave the house, because she feels something in the basement is trying to stop her from escaping.

Ginette is the typical unreliable character because one wouldn't know if her thoughts and her behaviours are due to her mental condition so it was an engaging read as the story is one sided according to Ginette's narrative. Her interactions with the two detectives makes one wonder if there's truly a murder has taken place; so perhaps she's not mad after all and maybe something dark and sinister is at work? As in Simone St. James's signature style, this novella was atmospheric, suspenseful and a bit spooky. I wished that this story would be longer.

[The novella is only available in ebook and audio format.]

Labels: 4 stars, Book Review, Paranormal, Suspense 9 comments |

Wild Prey by Brian Klingborg

Melody

Minotaur Books | 17 May 2022 | 304 pgs

Source: Library

This is the second book of Brian Klingborg's Inspector Lu Fei Mystery and while this can be read as a standalone, I'd suggest to begin with the first book (Thief of Souls) for the flow of the characters developments.

Inspector Lu Fei is a meticulous, responsible and a highly righteous person not only of his profession but because they're his characteristics as well. Not a person who would curry favour his way up, he often finds himself in hot soup with his superiors because of his straightforwardness and uncorrupted demeanour. This is one reason why he was transferred to a backwater town in a rural area of Northern China after some disagreements with his superior, as told from the first book. But working at a rural village doesn't demoralise him at all, in fact Lu Fei works harder to right the wrongs whatever is tossed his way.

When 15-year-old Tan Meirong approaches him in search of her missing sister, initially he and the staff at the Public Security Bureau think it's merely a runaway case. But Meirong's persistency in showing up at the bureau eventually convinced Lu Fei that Meixiang's disappearance is more than meets the eye. According to Meirong's statement, Meixiang (who is nineteen) never run away no matter how difficult life is; she's the sole breadwinner of the family ever since their mother died of cancer and their father quit his job after he hurt his back and become an alcoholic. Lu Fei then begins to investigate the restaurant where Meixiang worked and found out that they also serve delicacies of rare and endangered animals discreetly to their selective rich and powerful customers as well.

Pressurised by his superior to drop the case since the restaurateur has some powerful connections, Lu Fei is forced into suspension eventually from the police force until he is approached by a mysterious official to look into the restaurateur's illegal activities, leading him to an undercover mission in Myanmar in which they believed is the sources destination. Unlike Lu Fei's previous cases, this assignment is risky and dangerous as not only he has to travel deep into the lawless wilderness, but also he has to risk his life to infiltrate the hidden compound of a mysterious and ruthless female warlord who's overseeing the animals trafficking trade.

Well, it's hard not to like a person like Inspector Lu Fei. He's the type who appears tough on the outside but soft on the inside; he's devoted to a widow named Yanyan who owns a bar and he shows his compassionate side interacting with Meirong and most of all, his sense of righteousness shine in this series. This book has the balance of a police procedural and an action-packed plot as we follow Lu Fei into the wilderness in Myanmar and the cruelty world of animals trafficking. The latter wasn't an easy read, but it helps to raise awareness so hopefully this inhumane act would cease. I'd definitely recommend this series if you enjoy reading a police procedural and also to learn a bit more about the Chinese culture and the political views of their legal system.