The Running Bibliophile

The Family Upstairs (The Family Upstairs, #1) by Lisa Jewell is told from different characters with the main storyline being told by the character Libby Jones, who receives a letter on her twenty-fifth birthday, one that she's been waiting for her entire life. This letter reveals the identity of Libby's biological parents and that she has inherited their mansion, but others have been waiting for this day as well. This novel was exceptionally well written and kept me intrigued from page one until the very end. It had a similar vibe that many of V.C. Andrews' early books have but written for an adult audience, and I loved that about Lisa Jewell's The Family Upstairs . Another thing I enjoyed about The Family Upstairs is it's told from the point of view of three different characters. At first, I was a bit confused from the different viewpoints, but my confusion didn't last too long. I also relished the fact that it alternated from the present and the past. Not al...

In the Hall with the Knife (Clue Mystery, #1) by Diana Peterfreund is a novel in the Young Adult genre based on the famous board game and movie Clue . Several students, their headmaster, a janitor, and a proctor are stranded at Blackbrook Academy in Maine when a winter storm comes early. The next morning, Headmaster Boddy is found dead with a knife in his chest. Did one of the students murder him, or was it a looter? When I received an email recommendation from BookBub.com for In the Hall with the Knife (Clue Mystery, #1) by Diana Peterfreund, I knew I had to purchase the book as the board game Clue is one of my all time favorite board games. I knew absolutely nothing about the book other than it was based on the board game, and I was pleasantly surprised with the storyline. The story is told from the different students stranded at the school . . . Orchid McKee, Scarlet Mistry, Beth "Peacock" Picach, Finn Plum, Samuel "Mustard" Maestor, and Vaughn Green. I love t...

Murder Ties The Knot (A Haunted Souvenir Shop Mystery, #4) by Christy Fifield takes place in Keyhole Bay, Florida and souvenir shop owner Glory Martine tries to pick up a quilt from a vendor in Alabama. However, the vendor and her husband aren't home and are missing and two dead men are found at their house the next day. This cozy mystery series has been a favorite of mine, but I have to say that this installment is my least favorite. There really isn't much to the mystery sections of the story, and the rest of the storyline just felt a bit flat and forced to me.  As far as suspects go, there really weren't too many. In fact, two men randomly show up in the driveway while Karen and Glory were waiting for Beth and Everett. The men take Karen's cell phone and force Glory into their truck only to drop her off at the end of the driveway and put the cell phone in the mailbox. It was very anti-climatic and not quite believable. I felt like Fifield was trying to add other s...

Eight Perfect Murders (Malcolm Kershaw, #1) by Peter Swanson takes place in Boston, Massachusetts and features Malcolm Kershaw, a bookseller who compiled a list of eight books where the person committed near perfect crimes. Now, someone is copying the murders in those eight books, and the FBI suspects Malcolm. This is the first book I've read by Peter Swanson, and I wasn't sure what to expect. Where as I enjoyed the writing, and it held my interest, I felt like the author was just throwing out lists of his favorite books. He even gave away the ending to The Murder of Roger Ackroyd  and The A.B.C. Murders by Agatha Christie. Had I not already read these particular books, I would have been upset that the ending had been revealed. As far as knowing who the culprit was in Eight Perfect Murders , I suspected two different people from the get go. I especially was trying to think like Agatha Christie since Peter Swanson mentions several of her books. However, I didn't correctly g...

Hardcore Twenty-Four (Stephanie Plum, #24) by Janet Evanovich takes place in Trenton, New Jersey. Bounty hunter Stephanie Plum has her hands full with baby-sitting a boa constrictor, bodies appear without their heads, and zombies start appearing all over town. To top things off, Diesel appears in Stephanie's apartment and is being quite secretive for him. Was I surprised that zombies made an appearance in this installment of the Stephanie Plum series? With growing popularity of shows like The Walking Dead and Fear The Walking Dead , it didn't surprise me at all. Who can blame Evanovich for taking advantage of the popularity of zombie shows and adding an element to one of her books? I certainly don't blame her. I enjoyed that this put a slightly different spin on the series. However, I didn't care for the love triangle in Hardcore Twenty-Four . I'm not a huge fan of Diesel and wasn't too excited about him making an appearance in this installment. Thankfully, h...

A Catered Wedding (A Mystery with Recipes, #2) by Isis Crawford is a cozy mystery that takes place in New York. When Leeza Sharp is found murdered on the morning of her dream wedding, caterers Libby and Bernie Simmons take it upon themselves to figure out who murdered Leeza and why. This installment in the A Mystery with Recipes series, A Catered Wedding , was definitely written better than its predecessor A Catered Murder for the simple reason that the author refrained from using as many unnecessary synonyms for words that didn't need a fancier meaning. Don't get me wrong; she still did this, but just not as often. A prime example is she used the word lummox when clumsy or klutzy would have worked just as well. Another illustration of this is that when a character was eating a cookie, and instead of just saying he put it in his mouth or ate it, Isis Crawford wrote that he "conveyed it to his mouth".  At one point in the story, one of the supporting characters talk...

Always Watching by Chevy Stevens introduces us to Nadine Lavoie, a doctor at a psychiatric hospital. After counseling a new patient named Heather, Nadine starts recalling repressed memories of when she lived at a commune at a child and realizes that everything is not as it seems. When I first started reading Always Watching , I wasn't sure I was going to enjoy this particular storyline.However, once I got about a third of the way through the book, it picked up a lot. This book of Chevy Stevens ended up being one of my favorites by this author. Although some of the plot was predictable, there were a couple of plot twists that I didn't see coming, and after those twists were revealed, they fit in well with the story and made a lot of sense. There were quite a few characters that I didn't care for, but once a few things were revealed about those characters, I ended up liking them. This book is a definite must read for most people, but it may not be for everyone as it contains...

Not A Happy Family by Shari Lapena introduces the reader to the ultra rich Merton family in an upscale neighborhood in Brecken Hill located in upstate New York. However, all the money in the world can't protect Fred and Sheila Merton from being murdered, and their three children are all a person of interest in their deaths. Whenever I learn that Shari Lapena publishes a new book, I know that that I'll read it without even knowing the synopsis, and it wasn't any different when I learned of her latest book Not A Happy Family . I jumped right into it and was pleasantly surprised with the storyline. Reminiscent of the movie Knives Out , I enjoyed all the suspense and trying to figure out who the murderer was in Not A Happy Family . However, there came a point that the story became a bit sluggish and drawn out. With that being said, it was still extremely intriguing, and I suspected everyone at one point. I narrowed it down between two different characters and wasn't sure w...