THE EXPECTANT DETECTIVES
Kat Ailes
THE EXPECTANT DETECTIVES by Kat Ailes comes out next Tuesday, January 9, 2024. It’s one of the first mysteries I’ve read that are due to be released in the early part of the year. I had a good time reading it and think you will too.
We’re following a group of pregnant and expecting women who meet at an antenatal class, but mostly we’re following Alice. Alice is very pregnant and uncomfortable and hoping this prenatal class will provide some insight into what’s to come on her journey.
The members of the group unexpectedly find themselves in the middle of a murder investigation when one day in class, while one of the women goes into surprise labor, a man is murdered downstairs. They are all suddenly suspects and, to clear their names become THE EXPECTANT DETECTIVES.
THE EXPECTANT DETECTIVES was a lot of fun. The story takes a familiar route, the surprises and twists are guessable, and Ailes does a great job providing a cozy retreat. If you go into it setting your expectations correctly, you won’t be surprised by its lightheartedness and humor. And I think you will have a good time.
THE EXPECTANT DETECTIVES was not only fun it was informative. We learn a lot about the peculiarities of pregnancy, birth, the birthing process, and the miracle of it all. I liked these details but could see it being too much for certain readers to handle.
This would make a cozy recommendation for someone expecting their first or their fifth child. Or someone like me who just enjoys a good cozy mystery.
Thanks to Netgalley, St. Martin’s Press, Minotaur Books, and Macmillan Audio for the advanced copies!
THE EXPECTANT DETECTIVES…⭐️⭐️⭐️
The CHRISTMAS GUEST is the latest by Peter Swanson, this time a Christmas novella.
Ashley is attending university in London and has plans to spend the Christmas holiday alone. When she unexpectedly gets an invitation to spend a week over the holidays with Emma, a fellow student. Emma will be taking a holiday at her family’s English country house.
This sounds ideal to Ashley, and she starts to have fantasies of Christmas in the English countryside. When she arrives it’s even more than she expected and…there’s a guy.
Adam.
Adam is Emma’s brother. He’s handsome and the #1 suspect in the murder of a local girl. Ashley soon casts him as the leading man in her rom-com and ends up in a gothic mystery.
THE CHRISTMAS GUEST
Peter Swanson
I just love Peter Swanson’s nods to classics in his modern thrillers. This one was no different. I listened to it in audiobook format and had the best time listening.
I listened to it while wrapping gifts and drinking coffee with a fireplace on the TV in the background. It was a whole experience. It helped put me in a festive mood. The novella is just over 100 pages long which comes to just under 3 hours on audiobook. Which I thought was the perfect length.
I appreciated the mystery and the twist and thought a lot got put into such a short book.
Looking for a short book to help you with your Goodreads Challenge?
Trying but failing to get into a Christmas frame of mind?
I think this book is the perfect choice for both.
THE CHRISTMAS GUEST would pair well with DIAL M FOR MURDER, a Hitchcock classic, and a great cup of coffee. I recommend the audiobook version as I think you’re getting a better bang for your buck that way.
THE CHRISTMAS GUEST…⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
When twelve-year-old Esther disappears on the way home from school in a small town in rural Australia, the community is thrown into a maelstrom of suspicion and grief. As Detective Sergeant Sarah Michaels arrives in town during the hottest spring in decades and begins her investigation, Esther’s tenacious best friend, Ronnie, is determined to find Esther and bring her home.
When schoolfriend Lewis tells Ronnie that he saw Esther with a strange man at the creek the afternoon she went missing, Ronnie feels she is one step closer to finding her. But why is Lewis refusing to speak to the police? And who else is lying about how much they know about what has happened to Esther?
Punctuated by a Greek chorus, which gives voice to the remaining children of the small, dying town, this novel explores the ties that bind, what we try and leave behind us, and what we can never outrun, while never losing sight of the question of what happened to Esther, and what her loss does to a whole town.
In Hayley Scrivenor’s Dirt Creek, a small-town debut mystery described as The Dry meets Everything I Never Told You, a girl goes missing and a community falls apart and comes together.
DIRT CREEK
Hayley Scrivenor
DIRT CREEK is a debut mystery novel about Esther. A child that went missing in a small rural town in Australia. Sarah Michaels, the detective on the case must unravel the mystery against the clock. It’s hot, and dry, getting hotter and drier by the hour.
As time regrettably passes Sarah finds almost everyone in the town has secrets and everyone else has a past worth hiding. Part of unraveling the mystery is understanding the people in the small town, teasing out their stories, and ultimately getting to the truth. Which is no small feat in this tight-knit, weather-worn community.
I love books set in Australia. And I undoubtedly love it more when the elements play a part in the story. When they become their own influence on the atmosphere. DIRT CREEK hits both of those marks and more. I found the story to be intriguing and appreciated the pace. If there is a major difference between DIRT CREEK and THE DRY it is that. I was never bored or listless while reading.
I especially liked how the children in the community played such a big part in the story. DIRT CREEK is a book about a missing child and seeing things unfold through the perspective of the children in the small town was very effective.
DIRT CREEK is atmospheric, has a fantastic mystery to solve, and ends with an unforgettable conclusion.
I was stunned!
If you’ve been looking for a great mystery, check your backlist titles. There may be a gem like DIRT CREEK waiting there. I’m so glad I read it this summer and I can’t wait to see what Scrivenor does next.
Thanks to Flatiron Books for providing me with a copy in exchange for a review!
DIRT CREEK…⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
