The Body in the Garden by Katharine Schellman

From the publisher: London 1815. Though newly-widowed Lily Adler is returning to a society that frowns on independent women, she is determined to create a meaningful life for herself even without a husband. She's no stranger to the glittering world of London's upper crust. At a ball thrown by her oldest friend, Lady Walter, she expects the scandal, gossip, and secrets. What she doesn't expect is the dead body in Lady Walter's garden.

Katharine Schellman’s The Body in the Garden is a fun, well-researched cozy mystery set during the Regency era. Main character Lily loved her husband, who left her a young widow. His family convinces her to return to London, hoping she’ll remarry. She is grieving and unsure how to live the rest of her life, reluctant to rejoin the ton. Her husband’s oldest friend, a naval captain, is in London while his ship is repaired, and he naturally becomes her escort and ally.

The author’s note makes the connection between the story and historical facts. She believably adds two people of color to the story – an heiress from the West Indies and the naval captain, who has an Indian mother. The story isn’t original – the helpful street urchins, the gruff but sincere policeman, the members of the upper crust solving a mystery – but the author brings freshness to her telling. There are hints of romance to come in a sequel. The Body in the Garden would make a terrific movie – someone should snap it up in this day of Bridgerton on TV.

The Galesburg Public Library owns The Body in the Garden as a book, an ebook, and a downloadable audiobook.

Vagablonde by Anna Dorn

Vagablonde is a darkly humorous, rollercoaster ride through the Los Angeles music scene about a woman who wants two things, the first is to live without psychotropic medication, and the second is to experience success as an artist. A cautionary tale about viral fame, Vagablonde speaks directly to our time in biting detail.

Anna Dorn is a writer from Los Angeles. She is a former criminal defense attorney with a JD from UC Berkeley Law and has written for various legal and pop culture outlets. It’s not too far off then to think that her book about Prue Van Teesen, a lawyer-turned-rapper battling anxiety and depression, is probably a bit autobiographical. Prue has never felt totally happy with being a lawyer, but it keeps her parents content, pays the bills, and allows her the free time to create and hang out with her girlfriend. When she meets Jax at a concert, he invites her into his “Kingdom” (a group of musicians and some other questionable characters) and she decides to take her art more seriously. To do this, Prue believes she needs to stop taking Celexa, an antidepressant she’s been on for the last 10 years. The Kingdom becomes Shiny AF, the newest viral sensation with their single “Dearly Queerly.” Prue begins spending less time on her law career and more time on her music career, and all the shenanigans that come with it. She drinks more, takes a lot of drugs, and even ends up befriending one of her clients, creating an ethical dilemma for her and her employer.

Vagablonde excels in transporting readers to a scene most probably aren’t familiar with — at least I assume the lawyer/rapper pool of humans is a small one. Some have criticized the book because Prue is “unlikeable.” This is true, Prue is not a great person (the way she cares for her two cats, Missy and Ennui, is more than a little concerning), but an unlikeable character doesn’t equal a bad book. Vagablonde is fun, it’s silly, and it takes on a big subject without getting too bogged down in the details of mental health struggles. It’s not a perfect book by any means, but it’s good if you’re looking for something a little weird, a little fun, and a little not-too-deep.

Basketful of Heads by Joe Hill

 From the publisher: #1 New York Times bestselling author Joe Hill asks, "With a cursed Viking axe, what can you accomplish?" and June Branch is ready to answer!

It seems like Joe Hill is everywhere lately: his graphic novel series Locke & Key was adapted on Netflix, with the next season expected later this year. His novel NOS4A2 became a TV series on AMC. Several of his other books and short stories have been adapted for the screen as well. In Basketful of Heads, Hill returns to the graphic novel format for this horror gore-fest that reads like a combination of Stephen King and Quentin Tarantino.

June comes to Brody Island to visit her boyfriend Liam, who's just finishing up a summer internship with the local police department. June's peaceful visit is interrupted though when news breaks that four violent inmates have escaped from the local prison. Liam and June wait at the chief's house while the police search for the prisoners, but things take a turn for the dangerous when the escapees break in, kidnap Liam, and threaten June. Armed with only a strange Viking axe from the chief's personal collection, June must defend herself, get help, rescue Liam, and find out what the inmates are really after..

This is a pretty straightforward gore-fest, with a few plot twists and some morbid humor thrown into the mix. Imagine the Kill Bill movies, except instead of a sword she has an axe that leaves its victims alive after their heads are cut off. Throw in a mystery about why the inmates came after Liam, and the result is a bloody, sometimes funny page-turner that will please fans of horror and crime stories alike.

Basketful of Heads is available now in Galesburg Public Library's graphic novel collection.

Forget Me Not by Alexandra Oliva

 

From the publisher: She was born for all the wrong reasons. But her search for the truth reveals answers she wishes she could forget in this suspenseful and deeply moving novel.

Forget Me Not pulled me in and kept me reading. I found it intriguing and moving. A rich couple have a daughter, who dies in a terrible accident as a teenager. The mom descends into mental illness and uses frozen embryos to impregnate herself in an attempt to recreate her dead child. But of course she can’t – and the new child pays the price for not being her older sister.

Linda, the protagonist, is very relatable. Now an adult, she is trolled on social media for merely existing. She has a troubled relationship with her famous father. She moves frequently as her address is outed online, and she has no friends until an outgoing neighbor (with a dog!) reaches out to her. But can she trust that Anvi is truly a friend? Or is she using her? Then the walled home where Linda grew up with her disturbed mother catches fire – and the past which has settled is stirred up again.

I liked that we got more than one narrative point of view. I enjoyed the Seattle setting. But what Oliva does really well is create a number of sympathetic and believable characters. Even the mother isn’t painted as evil.

Forget Me Not is set in a near future, and the social media, gun culture, and virtual reality details feel true. This could make a great movie in the right hands.

There is a subplot that I found distracting and not necessary. If I could speak to the author (who I actually did meet at a library conference a few years ago), I would say – stop trying to trick us. You don’t need the tricks. You are a good writer and your stories can stand on their own without the subterfuge. There was another “big secret” that I guessed early on as well. But those were minor distractions. I found Forget Me Not great escapist reading and recommend it to lovers of psychological thrillers.

I read an advance reader copy of Forget Me Not from Netgalley. It is scheduled to be released on March 2, 2021. The Galesburg Public Library will own it in print and as an ebook and electronic audiobook. In the meantime, we also own Oliva’s first book, The Last One, in print, audio, and ebook, and I recommend it as well.

Daughter of Black Lake by Cathy Marie Buchanan

From the publisher: In a world of pagan traditions and deeply rooted love, a girl in jeopardy must
save her family and community, in a transporting historical novel by nationally bestselling author Cathy Marie Buchanan.

It's the season of Fallow, in the era of iron. In a northern misty bog surrounded by woodlands and wheat fields, a settlement lies far beyond the reach of the Romans invading hundreds of miles to the southeast. Here, life is simple--or so it seems to the tightly knit community. Sow. Reap. Honor Mother Earth, who will provide at harvest time. A girl named Devout comes of age, sweetly flirting with the young man she's tilled alongside all her life, and envisions a future of love and abundance. Seventeen years later, though, the settlement is a changed place. Famine has brought struggle, and outsiders, with their foreign ways and military might, have arrived at the doorstep. For Devout's young daughter, life is more troubled than her mother ever anticipated. But this girl has an extraordinary gift. As worlds collide and peril threatens, it will be up to her to save her family and community.

Daughter of Black Lake is a very nice piece of historical fiction with a little bit of magical realism. It's set in first century AD Britain, against the backdrop of the invading Roman empire. It's a time period I'm not very familiar with, and I was definitely taking breaks to look up Roman cities (other than Londinium, I know that one) to get an idea of the geography. The POV switches from Devout to her daughter Hobble frequently throughout the novel. While clearly labeled, it can be a bit disconcerting, and I found myself at times struggling with the shift, and this was in a sustained reading session without interruptions. Overall, I found this to be a well-written historical escape with good characterizations and captivating setting. 

Daughter of Black Lake is available through Galesburg Library via interlibrary loan. Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Group Riverhead for the ARC.