The Lion’s Den

author: Katherine St. John

TW: rape

I really wish I could write a full review of The Lion’s Den and how utterly fantastic it is, but to do so would require spoiling a lot of the book and I want readers to go in fresh. When I picked up this thriller I thought it would be a locked-room mystery set on a yacht with fancy people murdering each other, which sounded fine.

It is not that at all. Despite the cheerfully illustrated cover, this is a psychological thriller that unraveled in a totally unexpected and absolutely delightful way. I want to warn readers that there is:

Belle is a struggling actress in LA. Her friend, Summer, has recently started dating a billionaire 36 years her senior, and is inviting all of her friends to party on his yacht to celebrate her birthday. All of this seems very glitzy, but it’s immediately apparent things are not right. Said billionaire, John, is extremely controlling, right down to where everyone sits for meals and what will be discussed. There is no WiFi on the yacht. Cabin doors are locked from the outside at night. And even more troubling, Belle catches Summer in several lies and manipulations that make her question what is really going on with her friend.

Even though the setting is sun-soaked, the undercurrents of this book are dark and twisty. That contrast makes for a wonderful sense of tension and unease.

This book is really two mysteries in one, and when they collide it’s a wonderful “ah-ha” moment. I wish I could say more than that, but I don’t want to ruin a single thing for another reader. Justice is delivered in a way that is so satisfying I wanted a cigarette when I was done. If you want a thriller that unwinds in the best and most unexpected way, pick up The Lion’s Den.

– Elyse

Mystery/Thriller

Murder in the East End

author: Jennifer Ashley

I love the Kat Holloway series. Not only is it cracking good reading, start to current installment, but it’s become one of the gifts I reach for when someone I know is experiencing bereavement and mourning. This is a very short list: the books have to be transporting and diverting to give the person a respite from the exhaustion of grief, with enough heft to be engaging, but not so much as to be nonstop bleak and lonely reading.

Yes, you should start with the first book, Death Below Stairs, or better yet the novella, A Soupçon of Poison, to fully appreciate the cast of characters and the slow growth of the relationships between them. Jumping in here is possible, but this is the fourth story in the series, and I think some of the subtleties and subtexts between the main cast would be lost.

This story contains a little more sadness than kitcheny warmth: children from a foundling hospital have gone missing, but the higher-ups don’t think they’re missing. Only a few people suspect something has gone very wrong, including Daniel McAdam, who remains another mystery to Kat, even though she’s still very drawn to him (slow burn ahoy!).

The cast of characters in this book widens to include specific figures who represent real menace to Kat, to Daniel, and to those they care about, and new characters who are enigmatic and strangely socially powerful. There’s enough of the familiar alongside good portions of new and interesting to keep me engaged. And, look, I’m terrible at keeping up with a series, so the fact that I read book four is itself extremely high praise, to say nothing of the fact that I started searching for news of book five!

The worldbuilding remains part of the charm and the agony of the story: Kat’s position is always, always precarious, as is the safety and security of those around her. Dismissed without a reference could mean destitution in short order, and so many people around them are barely surviving. Kat’s status as the cook both helps and hampers her life and her ability to investigate the latest mystery: she has only one day and a half day off, and her time off is already reserved, but because she goes to the market to buy food, she has more freedom than most of the servants in the house. Some of the women who live their lives above stairs are also painfully limited in their freedom, and the commonalities of that experience create a supportive cast to help Kat solve the latest mystery.

This series remains excellent: emotional and nuanced, with layers upon layers of resonance in how the characters care for one another. There’s food pr0n, competence pr0n, adventure, friendship, romance, a truly wonderful sense of found family, and a cracking good mystery.

– SB Sarah

Historical: European, Mystery/Thriller

Who’s That Earl

author: Susanna Craig

Who’s That Earl is a light, fun, Regency romance that felt like snuggling down under a warm blanket. It is gleefully tropey. Jane Quayle, cast out by her family, makes her living writing wickedly erotic novels under a pseudonym. As if one pseudonym wasn’t enough, she also pretends to be her own secretary under a second pseudonym. She does all of this in a neglected Scottish castle in the company of two neurotic dogs and an elderly and protective housekeeper. Thomas Sutherland is a spy, because of course he is, and also the unexpected heir to said castle and to the Earldom. Sent to Scotland to sort out his affairs, he hides his identity as the new laird, but can’t hide his entire identity from Jane since – surprise! – she turns out to be the woman he once fell in love with and nearly married.

(This may sound like a spoiler, but given that he was reminiscing over her amid the scent of jasmine on page one of the book, I think we all knew where this was going.)

And on it goes. The story is funny and sweet and cheerfully over-the-top. It knows that it is a little bit silly, and it doesn’t care, and nor should it. It’s just pure fun for the sake of fun.

One thing I liked very much is that while Jane and Thomas both hide aspects of their identity from each other initially, not only do they each know each other well enough to correctly guess what is going on, they also like and trust each other enough to reveal their secrets pretty early on, from which point it really is them against the world. On at least two occasions, they walk up to that moment where the Big Misunderstanding could arise, then decide to actually be sensible and talk about it. Yes, please.

It’s true that there is a little bit of completely uncalled-for foolishness in the latter part of the book – they really are both far too intelligent for some of the decisions they make, but we’ll put it down to stress – but the black moment does not last long, and indeed, is hardly dark enough to count as black, because it is so very clear how it must and will be resolved. It’s more of a grey moment, really.

In fact, Who’s That Earl manages the feat of being low-tension and low-conflict while still having plenty of story and heart to keep you reading. If you are looking for something to read that is charming and relaxing and fun and won’t stress you out too much, this is the book for you.

– Catherine Heloise

Historical: European, Romance