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Wednesday, November 22, 2023

Mother-Daughter Murder Night

Multi-generational family dynamics imbue this exciting well-drawn and well-plotted supersleuth whodunnit about murders in a coastal California town.

In Mother-Daughter Murder Night, first time novelist Nina Simon appealingly integrates spirited family dynamics with the intricacies of a complex whodunnit.

 

Three generations of women shack up together in a little house in Elkhorn Slough, a coastal town in Monterey Bay, Calif. This all comes about when family matriarch, Lana Rubicon--a 57-year-old, take-charge real estate mogul--faces an advanced cancer diagnosis. While undergoing treatment, her daughter, Beth, a geriatric nurse, insists that Lana, from Santa Monica, come and live with her and her daughter, Lana’s granddaughter, 15-year-old “Jack.” Lana and Beth’s contentious relationship had been riddled with angst ever since Lana became a single mother when Beth was just a rebellious teenager. Navigating the emotional minefield of Lana’s present illness and trigger points from the past, the strong, fiercely independent, mother and daughter are forced to bury the hatchet when a young man who works for a local land trust is found murdered. When the police investigation draws Jack, a kayak tour guide, into the list of suspects, Beth and Lana, who long-ago shared a passion for watching Columbo TV crime stories, put their amateur detective skills to work. They become determined to exonerate Jack and root out the real killer—but not before another murder takes place that ups the ante.

 

Simon has skillfully crafted a multi-generational study of disparate characters where surprising, immensely well-plotted crimes and clues will keep mystery readers guessing.

 

 

Mother-Daughter Murder Night: A Novel by Nina Simon

William Morrow, $30.00 hardcover, 9780063315044, 368 pages  

Publishing Date: September 5, 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 (September 8, 2023), link HERE


 

Tuesday, November 14, 2023

The Purest Bond

An entertaining, thoroughly researched and profoundly informative book addressing the tremendous impact dogs have on human lives.

 

“Dogs…serve as a sort of balm to the mental health struggles and ongoing stress that are plaguing people worldwide. Our canine companions help us feel grounded and present-minded, leading by example,” writes authors Jenn Golbeck (The Golden Ratio Cookbook) and Stacey Colino (Unlock Your Menopause Type). In The Purest Bond: Understanding the Human-Canine Connection, they present an entertaining, insightful treatise on the impact dogs have on human life. This writing duo--with accomplished backgrounds in academic, scientific, and psychological issues--weaves together groundbreaking research and down-to-earth stories that explore the many benefits of the human-canine bond.

 

Supported by scientific information, the narrative weaves in psychological studies examining how dogs impact, support, and improve the mental, physical, emotional, and spiritual aspects of the human condition. A thorough section on aging dogs and coping with loss and grief is most compassionately rendered.

 

“In exchange for us feeding, loving, and caring for them, (dogs) pay us back many times over.” The gratifying research culled and entertainingly presented by Golbeck and Colino, will change the lives of dog lovers and readers similarly.

 

The Purest Bone: Understanding the Human-Canine Connection by Jen Golbeck and Stacey Colino

Atria Books, $28.00 hardcover, 9781668007846, 256 pages

Publishing Date: November 14, 2023

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