Just a girl and her books
THE BLACK QUEEN | Jumata Emill 01.31.2023 | Delacorte Press Rating: 4/5 stars Nova Albright, the first Black homecoming queen at Lovett High, is dead. Murdered the night of her coronation, her body found the next morning in the old slave cemetery she spent her weekends rehabilitating. Tinsley McArthur was supposed to be queen. Not … Continue reading Book Review: The Black Queen
THE TENANT | Katrine Engberg (Kørner & Werner #1) 09.01.2020 | Gallery Press Rating: 3/5 stars When a young woman is discovered brutally murdered in her own apartment with an intricate pattern of lines carved into her face, Copenhagen police detectives Jeppe Korner and Anette Werner are assigned to the case. In short order, they … Continue reading Book Review: The Tenant
THIS MIGHT HURT | Stephanie Wrobel 02.22.2022 | Berkley Books Rating: 4/5 stars Natalie Collins hasn't heard from her sister in more than half a year. The last time they spoke, Kit was slogging from mundane workdays to obligatory happy hours to crying in the shower about their dead mother. She told Natalie she was … Continue reading Book Review: This Might Hurt
FINLAY DONOVAN JUMPS THE GUN | Elle Cosimano (Finlay Donovan #3) 01.31.2023 | Minotaur Books Rating: 5/5 stars Author and single mom Finlay Donovan has been in messes before―after all, she's a pro at removing bloodstains for various unexpected reasons―but none quite like this. When Finlay and her nanny/partner-in-crime Vero accidentally destroyed a luxury car … Continue reading Book Review: Finlay Donovan Jumps the Gun
LOCUST LANE | Stephen Amidon 01.17.2023 | Celadon Books Rating: 3.5/5 stars On the surface, Emerson, Massachusetts, is just like any other affluent New England suburb. But when a young woman is found dead in the nicest part of town, the powerful neighbors close ranks to keep their families safe. In this searing novel, Eden … Continue reading Book Review: Locust Lane
EVERYBODY KNOWS | Jordan Harper 01.10.2023 | Mulholland Books Rating: 4/5 stars Welcome to Mae Pruett’s Los Angeles, where “Nobody talks. But everybody whispers.” As a “black-bag” publicist tasked not with letting the good news out but keeping the bad news in, Mae works for one of LA’s most powerful and sought-after crisis PR firms, … Continue reading Book Review: Everybody Knows
ALL THE DANGEROUS THINGS | Stacy Willingham 01.10.2023 | Minotaur Books Rating: 5/5 stars One year ago, Isabelle Drake's life changed forever: her toddler son, Mason, was taken out of his crib in the middle of the night while she and her husband were asleep in the next room. With little evidence and few leads … Continue reading Book Review: All the Dangerous Things
THE OVERNIGHT GUEST | Heather Gudenkauf 01.25.2022 | Park Row Rating: 5/5 stars True crime writer Wylie Lark doesn’t mind being snowed in at the isolated farmhouse where she’s retreated to write her new book. A cozy fire, complete silence. It would be perfect, if not for the fact that decades earlier, at this very … Continue reading Book Review: The Overnight Guest
THE INGENUE | Rachel Kapelke-Dale 12.06.2022 | St. Martin’s Press Rating: 3/5 stars When former piano prodigy Saskia Kreis returns home to Milwaukee after her mother's unexpected death, she expects to inherit the family estate, the Elf House. But with the discovery that her mother's will bequeathed the Elf House to a man that Saskia … Continue reading Book Review: The Ingenue
THE CHRISTMAS MURDER GAME | Alexandra Benedict 10.04.2022 | Poisoned Pen Press Rating: 4/5 stars The annual Christmas Game is afoot at Endgame House, the Armitages' grand family home. This year's prize is to die for--deeds to the house itself--but Lily Armitage has no intention of returning. She hasn't been back to Endgame since her … Continue reading Book Review: The Christmas Murder Game
What Jess Reads 