The Whimsy Bookworm: A Book Blog from India

  Book: Murder in the Family Author: Cara Hunter  Pages: 470 Read on: Kindle Read in: ~5 hours  Plot Summary:  IT WAS A CASE THAT GRIPPED THE NATION  LUKE RYDER’S MURDER HAS NEVER BEEN SOLVED  In October 2003, Luke Ryder was found dead in the garden of the family home in London, leaving behind a wealthy older widow and three stepchildren. Nobody saw anything. Now, secrets will be revealed – live on camera.  Years later a group of experts re-examine the evidence on Infamous, a true-crime show – with shocking results. Does the team know more than they’ve been letting on? Or does the truth lie closer to home? Can you solve the case before they do?  The truth will blow your mind. General Thoughts: If there is only ONE Crime Fiction/ Thriller book you read this year, make it this one! :) Now, on to the review.  Things I Liked:   1. The premise had me at hello! A cold case, a murder of a much younger step-father, no solid leads, promise of a m...

  Book: None of this is True Author: Lisa Jewell  Pages: 385 Read on: Kindle  Read in: ~4 hours  Plot Summary:  Celebrating her 45th birthday at her local pub, podcaster Alix Summer crosses paths with an unassuming woman called Josie Fair. Josie is also celebrating her 45th.   A few days later, they bump into each other again, this time outside Alix's children's school. Josie says she thinks she would be an interesting subject for Alix's podcast. She is, she tells Alix, on the cusp of great changes in her life. Alix agrees to a trial interview and indeed, Josie's life appears to be strange and complicated. Aix finds her unsettling but can't quite resist the temptation to keep digging. Slowly Alix starts to realise that Josie has been hiding some very dark secrets, and before she knows it Josie has cajoled her way into Alix's life - and into her home. Soon Alix begins to wonder who is Josie Fair really? And what has she done? Things I Liked:  1. The pre...

  Book: Everyone Here is Lying  Author: Shari Lapena  Pages: 326 Read on: Kindle  Read in: ~4 hours  Plot Summary:  Welcome to Stanhope - a safe neighbourhood. A place for families. William Wooler is a family man, on the surface. But he's been having an affair, an affair that ended horribly this afternoon at a motel up the road. So when he returns to his house, devastated and angry, to find his difficult nine-year-old daughter Avery unexpectedly home from school, William loses his temper. Hours later, Avery's family declares her missing. Suddenly Stanhope doesn't feel so safe. And William isn't the only one on his street who's hiding a lie. As witnesses come forward with information that may or may not be true, Avery's neighbours become increasingly unhinged. Who took Avery Wooler? Things I Liked: 1. I really enjoy reading about the dynamics and relationships of people in small communities. There is something always so interesting about how people, who live...

  Book: The Only One Left  Author: Riley Sager  Pages: 401 Read on: Kindle  Read in: ~4 hours Plot Summary:  At seventeen, Lenora Hope Hung her sister with a rope   Now reduced to a schoolyard chant, the Hope family murders shocked the Maine coast one bloody night in 1929. While most people assume seventeen-year-old Lenora was responsible, the police were never able to prove it. Other than her denial after the killings, she has never spoken publicly about that night, nor has she set foot outside Hope’s End, the cliffside mansion where the massacre occurred. Stabbed her father with a knife Took her mother’s happy life   It’s now 1983, and home-health aide Kit McDeere arrives at a decaying Hope’s End to care for Lenora after her previous nurse fled in the middle of the night. In her seventies and confined to a wheelchair, Lenora was rendered mute by a series of strokes and can only communicate with Kit by tapping out sentences on an old typewriter. One n...

Book: Did You Hear About Kitty Karr? Author: Crystal Smith Paul  Pages: 416   Read on: Kindle  Read in: ~4.5 hours  Plot Summary:  When Kitty Karr Tate, a White icon of the silver screen, dies and bequeaths her multimillion-dollar estate to the St. John sisters, three young, wealthy Black women, it prompts questions. Lots of questions. A celebrity in her own right, Elise St. John would rather focus on sorting out Kitty’s affairs than deal with the press. But what she discovers in one of Kitty’s journals rocks her world harder than any other brewing scandal could—and between a cheating fiancé and the fallout from a controversial social media post, there are plenty. The truth behind Kitty's ascent to stardom from her beginnings in the segregated South threatens to expose a web of unexpected family ties, debts owed, and debatable crimes that could, with one pull, unravel the all-American fabric of the St. John sisters and those closest to them. As Elise digs deeper...

  Book: The Writing Retreat  Author: Julia Bartz  Pages: 320  Read on: Kindle  Read in: 3 hours  Plot Summary:  Alex has all but given up on her dreams of becoming a published author when she receives a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity: attend an exclusive, month-long writing retreat at the estate of feminist horror writer Roza Vallo. Even the knowledge that Wren, her former best friend and current rival, is attending doesn’t dampen her excitement. But when the attendees arrive, Roza drops a bombshell—they must all complete an entire novel from scratch during the next month, and the author of the best one will receive a life-changing seven-figure publishing deal. Determined to win this seemingly impossible contest, Alex buckles down and tries to ignore the strange happenings at the estate, including Roza’s erratic behavior, Wren’s cruel mind games, and the alleged haunting of the mansion itself. But when one of the writers vanishes during a snowstorm, Al...

  Book: Five Survive Author: Holly Jackson  Pages: 389 Read on: iPad Read in: ~4 hours  Plot Summary:  Red Kenny is on a road trip for spring break with five friends: Her best friend - the older brother - his perfect girlfriend - a secret crush - a classmate - and a killer.   When their RV breaks down in the middle of nowhere with no cell service, they soon realize this is no accident. They have been trapped by someone out there in the dark, someone who clearly wants one of them dead. With eight hours until dawn, the six friends must escape, or figure out which of them is the target. But is there a liar among them? Buried secrets will be forced to light and tensions inside the RV will reach deadly levels. Not all of them will survive the night... Things I Liked:   1. The premise was very interesting! I have read and immensely enjoyed the  Good Girls trilogy by Holly Jackson and so, this book, set over a night during a road trip where six high scho...

 Hello, hello, It is that time of the year again! The one where we revisit the books we're read and loved and share a Top 10 genre-wise list of recommendations with you!  So, without any further ado, let's get into our Top 10 Crime Thriller/ Crime Fiction Books of 2022!  1. The Christie Affair by Nine de Gramont is a wonderful mystery-in-a-mystery about the 11 days in 1926 when Agatha Christie went missing without a trace. Full review can be read here . If you enjoy historical fiction and mysteries, then this is a book you'll love. 2. The Maid by Nita Prose is a story about a neurodivergent maid, Molly, who works in a 5-star hotel and is pulled into the murder of an infamous guest. The book follows her journey to clear her name, make friends and live her best life. A off-the-beaten-track type of murder mystery with great characters as well. Read our spoiler-free review here . 3. The Appeal by Janice Hallett is an epistolary-ish book where two law students get to the ...

  Book: The Bullet That Missed (Thursday Murder Club Book 3)  Author: Richard Osman  Pages: 400 Read on: Kindle  Read in: ~3 hours  Plot Summary:  It is an ordinary Thursday, and things should  finally  be returning to normal. Except trouble is never far away where the Thursday Murder Club are concerned. A local news legend is on the hunt for a sensational headline, and soon the gang are hot on the trail of two murders, ten years apart. To make matters worse, a new nemesis pays Elizabeth a visit, presenting her with a deadly mission: kill or be killed... While Elizabeth grapples with her conscience (and a gun), the gang and their unlikely new friends (including TV stars, money launderers and ex-KGB colonels) unravel a new mystery. But can they catch the culprit and save Elizabeth before the murderer strikes again? General Thoughts: I have really enjoyed the previous two books in the Thursday Murder Club Series, They've been reviewed on the blog an...

  Book: The Ink Black Heart  Author: Robert Galbraith (JK Rowling)  Pages: 1024 Read on: Kindle  Read in: ~9 hours over 2 days  Plot Summary:  When frantic, dishevelled Edie Ledwell appears in the office begging to speak to her, private detective Robin Ellacott doesn't know quite what to make of the situation. The co-creator of a popular cartoon,  The Ink Black Heart , Edie is being persecuted by a mysterious online figure who goes by the pseudonym of Anomie. Edie is desperate to uncover Anomie's true identity. Robin decides that the agency can't help with this - and thinks nothing more of it until a few days later, when she reads the shocking news that Edie has been tasered and then murdered in Highgate Cemetery, the location of  The Ink Black Heart . Robin and her business partner Cormoran Strike become drawn into the quest to uncover Anomie's true identity. But with a complex web of online aliases, business interests and family conflicts to nav...

  Book: The It Girl  Author: Ruth Ware Pages: 431 Read on: Kindle  Read in: ~4 hours  Plot Summary:  Everyone wanted her life Someone wanted her dead It was Hannah who found April’s body ten years ago. It was Hannah who didn’t question what she saw that day. Did her testimony put an innocent man in prison?   She needs to know the truth.   Even if it means questioning her own friends. Even if it means putting her own life at risk.   Because if the killer wasn’t a stranger, it's someone she knows. Things I Liked:  1. This is a split/ dual  timeline  book based within the hallowed halls of Oxford University. The narrative moves between the events of present day and the events of 10 years ago leading to the murder of 'it girl'- April. If you've been  reading  this blog for any amount of time you'll know that cold cases, friendship group dynamics and split timeline narratives are some of my favourite tropes in crime thrill...

  Book: Listen to Me (A Rizzoli & Isles Book 13)  Author: Tess Gerritsen  Pages: 302 Read on: Kindle  Read in: ~3 hours  Plot Summary:  Rizzoli & Isles return, in the nail-biting new thriller from  Sunday Times  bestselling author Tess Gerritsen. The murder of Sofia Suarez is both gruesome and seemingly senseless. Why would anyone target a respected nurse who was well-liked by her friends and her neighbours? As  Detective Jane Rizzoli  and  Forensic Pathologist Maura Isles  investigate the baffling case, they discover that Sofia was guarding a dangerous secret -- a secret that may have led the killer straight to her door. Meanwhile, Jane's watchful mother Angela Rizzoli is conducting an investigation of her own. She may be a grandmother, not a police detective, but she's savvy enough to know there's something very strange, perhaps even dangerous, about the new neighbours across the street. The problem is, no one believe...

  Book: The Murders at Fleat House  Author: Lucinda Riley  Pages: 473 Read on: Kindle  Read in: ~5 hours  Plot Summary:  The sudden death of a pupil in Fleat House at St Stephen’s – a small private boarding school in deepest Norfolk – is a shocking event that the headmaster is very keen to call a tragic accident. But the local police cannot rule out foul play and the case prompts the return of high-flying Detective Inspector Jazmine ‘Jazz’ Hunter to the force. Jazz has her own private reasons for stepping away from her police career in London, and reluctantly agrees to front the investigation as a favour to her old boss. Reunited with her loyal sergeant Alastair Miles, she enters the closed world of the school, and as Jazz begins to probe the circumstances surrounding Charlie Cavendish’s tragic death, events are soon to take another troubling turn. Charlie is exposed as an arrogant bully, and those around him had both motive and opportunity to switch the dr...