Mrs. Plansky's Revenge

A fresh, dynamic cozy mystery where a strong, likable 71-year-old Florida widow is scammed of her life savings and sets off on a quest for justice.

Spencer Quinn is the author of the fun and wildly successful Chet and Bernie mysteries, a long-running series that features a talking dog and his human, crime-solving, private-eye partner. In Mrs. Plansky’s Revenge, Quinn launches a fresh, new dynamic series featuring an aging heroine who becomes embroiled in an exciting, adventurous mystery.  

Recent widow, Mrs. Loretta Plansky, is discerning and spry; a 71-year-old tennis-player. She and her husband, Norm, were a sophisticated couple who made millions with their unlikely invention of a “toaster knife,” a knife that actually toasts bread while you slice it. In order to retire, Loretta and Norm, parents of two adult children, sold the business with high hopes of living a leisurely Florida lifestyle of ease and comfort. However, things didn’t quite go according to plan. Norm died, and then Mrs. Plansky, hip replaced, decided to downsize. She moved from their large home into a new residence, an “itty-bitty” condo on Little Pine Lake—situated only a few miles from keeping tabs on her pesky, temperamental, 98-year-old father, who resides in an upscale assisted living community. Mrs. Plansky’s children and grandchildren don’t live nearby, but they climb out of the woodwork, gracious and attentive as can be when they need something—mainly money. 

When tired and spent Mrs. Plansky receives a frantic, distressing phone call from someone whom she believes is her grandson--he needs $10,000 to post bail for a DUI arrest--she gives him what he asks for without question. Mrs. Plansky later learns, however, the call was a fraud perpetrated by overseas criminals who proceeded to wipe out her entire nest egg. When the police and FBI conclude they don’t have enough evidence to solve the whodunnit, Mrs. Plansky becomes intent on taking charge and seeking justice. 

Quinn’s (Bark to the Future, Of Mutts and Men) briskly plotted nail-biter takes unexpected twists and turns nicely balanced by Mrs. Plansky turning to the ghost of her husband. He serves as a silent, tender touchstone empowering her amidst a courageous, complicated quest for retribution. Fearless Mrs.Plansky barrels past her comfort zone and the limitations of her years, setting off to Romania where she plunges head-long into danger. Her age never becomes a detriment. Rather, she works it to her advantage, employing great ingenuity to solve a crime that elevates her into an immensely likeable, wholly appealing heroine.

 

Mrs. Plansky’s Revenge by Spencer Quinn

Forge Books, $26.99 hardcover, 304 pages, 9781250843333

Publishing Date: July 25, 2023

To order this book on INDIEBOUND/Bookshop.Org, link HERE

 

NOTE: This review is a reprint and is being posted (in a slightly different from) with the permission of Shelf Awareness. To read this review as published on Shelf Awareness for the Book Trade (June 5, 2023), link HERE

A shortened version of this review was published on Shelf Awareness for Readers (July 28, 2023). Link HERE to read that review.

 

The Five-Star Weekend

A juicy story about a widowed food blogger who invites four women from different eras of her life to a Nantucket weekend getaway.

Elin Hilderbrand’s storytelling is in top form with The Five-Star Weekend, an intricately plotted, juicy novel about a popular, internet food blogger who hosts a girls’ weekend of food, fun, and togetherness.

 

After Hollis Shaw’s husband of 23-years dies in a car crash, the affable food blogging sensation tries to stabilize her life by inviting four women from different phases of her life to her picturesque home in Nantucket. The guests includes Tatum McKenzie, a local islander; Hollis’s friend since they were teenagers. Dru-Ann Jones, Hollis’s college roommate, who is now a premiere sports’ agent for professional female athletes. Brooke Kirtley, a friend from the prime of Hollis’s life—a woman instrumental in helping Hollis through the profundity of her grief. And Gigi Ling, a pilot from Atlanta, Georgia, whom Hollis has never met—the two have become online friends via Hollis’s blog. Hollis also invites her rebellious daughter, Caroline, with whom she shares a contentious relationship—one she’d really like to heal. As a film student at NYU, Hollis pays Caroline to attend the weekend, encouraging her daughter to film the event.

 

Hilderbrand (The Hotel Nantucket) delivers a five-star read that beautifully traces the essence of contemporary women and the complexities of their lives. Readers will be fascinated by the surprising drama of bringing--and braiding--together such disparate personalities. In the end, it’s not just Hollis at a crossroads. Each woman faces trials, challenges, and changes in which readers will identify and be eager to invest in.

 

The Five-Star Weekend by Elin Hilderbrand

Little, Brown and Company, $30.00 hardcover, 9780316258777, 384 pages, Publishing Date: June 13, 2023

To order this book on INDIEBOUND/Bookshop.Org, link HERE

 

NOTE: This review is a reprint and is being posted with the permission of Shelf Awareness. To read this review on Shelf Awareness: Reader's Edition (June 16, 2023), link HERE

The Book of Charlie: Wisdom from the Remarkable Life of a 109-Year-Old Man

The remarkable story of a centenarian who lived through decades of American history and forged a life that will greatly inspire others.

In 2007, long time, Washington Post columnist, David Von Drehle, and his wife, tired of the “hassles of urban parenting,” uprooted their children, and moved from Washington DC to the suburbs of Kansas City, Mo. One day, Von Drehle spied a neighbor across the street washing his car in the August heat. That man was 102-year-old Charlie White, self-made, “hail and sturdy and razor-sharp,” who would become a very good friend of Von Drehle—and an influence so profound that he inspired The Book of Charlie, a splendidly woven, inspirational memoir than explores the meaning of life and the resilience of the human spirit.

Over the course of seven years, Von Drehle became fascinated by Charlie and his history. He was born when William Howard Taft was president, and he experienced life before the existence of highways, radio, movies, even penicillin. Whip-smart, independent, and crafty, Charlie grew up with four siblings, and a family that accommodated his father, a Christian pastor—who died at the age of 42 in a freak accident when Charlie was eight. The tragedy forged an indomitable, stoic resourcefulness in Charlie. He had a deeply rewarding career as a doctor, as well as marriages, children, and familial challenges. He chose not to dwell on unhappiness. He understood and accepted that, “Every life is a mixture of comedy and tragedy, joy and sorrow, daring and fear,” and barreled on.

Charlie made an art out of living; in much the same way as Von Drehle (Rise to Greatness; Triangle: The Fire that Changed America)--with elegance, care, respect, and admiration--makes art out of Charlie’s life story.

The Book of Charlie: Wisdom from the Remarkable American Life of a 109-Year-Old Man by David Von Drehle

Simon & Schuster, $26.00 hardcover, 9781476773926, 208 pages

Publishing Date: May 26, 2023

To order this book on INDIEBOUND/Bookshop.Org, link HERE

 

NOTE: This review is a reprint and is being posted with the permission of Shelf Awareness. To read this review on Shelf Awareness: Reader's Edition (May 1, 2023), link HERE

NOTE: To read this review, the original long form review as published on Shelf Awareness for the Book Trade (March 30, 2023), link HERE