Becci's Picks

February 2013: This is the beginning of a new juvenile fiction series. It is Nancy Drew for a new generation. In this adventure Agatha and her brother Dashiell travel to Egypt to solve a mystery. I love the subtle references to adult mystery characters and the tidbits of historical information educate the readers on the exotic locations. I can’t wait for the next book, The Pearl of Bengel.

January 2013: This is the second in his series featuring Detective Carl Morck of the Copenhagen police department. A case file mysteriously lands on Morck’s desk but a person is already serving time for the crime. As he investigates he meets Kimmie, a woman living on the street who was part of the boarding school group involved in the murder many years before. Kimmie is in hiding and as her reasons are gradually revealed we find the wrong person has been jailed. I really enjoy this series.

January 2013: This Thomas Jefferson book concentrates on his culinary contributions to American table. Did you know he brought Mac and Cheese back from Paris? His years in Paris were spent collecting recipes, wine and plants which are now common in the United States. This book is for foodies as well as history buffs.

The enormous popularity of Downton Abbey has spun off many companion books. I really like this cookbook for its snippets of history and interesting recipes.

The isolation of island life is the perfect place to heal for Olivia Donatelli. Her life was shattered by the death of her only son and the end of her marriage. “Love Anthony” is a sort of love letter to that loss and renewal.

Laura Lippman is one of the Literary Sojourn authors for 2012. Her new novel is the story of Heloise, a suburban madame. Heloise could be your neighbor. By all appearances she has a successful career and is raising a well rounded young son. However her checkered past is beginning to catch up with her. This is a page-turner seeking to answer the question of how far a mother will go to protect herself and her son. Lippman gives us characters we care about and a story we can't put down.

Top chef, Marcus Samuelsson shares his story from his birth in Ethiopia to his new family in Sweden and finally to to his wildly successful restaurant in Harlem, New York. If you are a foodie you will enjoy this rising superstar’s story. If you love interesting memoirs this is a book for you.

The body of a young girl turns up brutally murdered along a towpath in Bath, England. Zoe Benedict, the local police detective leads the investigation which opens her own family wounds and will lead to dark unexpected places. “Hanging Hill” is the novel to follow a win for the 2012 Edgar Award for the Best Novel “Gone” by Mo Hayder. An author masterful at frighteningly real suspense. The books by Mo Hayder should not be missed.

Kate Moore and her family have moved to Luxembourg for her husband’s job. Kate is settling into ne wrole of stay-at-home mother in a foreign country. It is a role far different from the secret spy job she left in Washington. Suddenly the new friends and even her husband begin to raise suspicions to Kate about the new life in Europe. Is it just Kate suspicious nature or are things not quite what she expected? The Expats is a very gripping read about marriage, family and the spy game.

Laura Lippman is one of the Literary Sojourn Author’s for 2012. This short novel was serialized in the New York Times. It is part Rear Window and part The Daughter of Time. Lippman’s ongoing protagonist is confined to bed awaiting the birth of her first child. Her only entertainment is watching a lady in a green raincoat walk her dog. Then one day only the dog show up running free with his lease hanging loose. What happened to the lady becomes Tess Monahan obsession. I enjoyed the hunt.

A worthy addition to the Kate Shugak mystery series set in Alaska. Stabenow brings her two series characters together to investigate the death of a local businessman. Aviation and mining play a big role in the commerce of Alaska and bring an element of danger to those involved. Is it murder or just an accident that killed Finn Grant? I like the way the series gives a vivid description of life in Alaska.

I really liked this young adult book. It is the story of young Greg Rich who has time traveled back in time to the Court of King Louis XIII and the Musketeers. The Musketeers are only teenagers when Greg meets them. His parents have been imprisoned and the group must rescue them before their pending execution. The author gives us a vivid description of life in Paris at this time.

It is not often that you meet a female character in crime fiction to rival Vanessa Michael Munroe. She is tough, thinks quickly and acts even quicker. She has an empathy that makes her interesting. Munroe was raised in a cult known as The Chosen which took her away from family and friends. She has made a new life and longed to keep The Chosen in her past. A close friend has ask her to help find a child held by The Chosen. She will wage a battle against her own feelings and the need to save one more innocent from the group. This is a whirlwind thriller.