A Couple Of Adult Mysteries

A Couple Of Adult Mysteries

For those of you who may be (like me) isolating because you have
COVID (with or without symptoms), are waiting to see if you have it,
or are doing the required five days after, nothing like a good mystery
for a distractor from discomfort or impatience. So I'm providing not
one, but two options.

Three Little Truths
"A collection of lives where the only automatic connection was a
postcode.
A place where families expanded, imploded, and renewed...
Pine Road was a neighborhood. It was a street. It was just
like anywhere else."
When I read the last sentence I found myself thinking "Um,
really?" I have never lived on a street anything like the one
portrayed in Eithne Shortall's Three Little Truths. I doubt you have
either.
Martha and her family have moved from a home and town where they
were victims of a brutal crime. Her husband and daughters seem to be
adjusting well to the incident and subsequent uprooting. She's
falling apart.
Robin has returned to her parents' home with her four-year-old
son, Jack. Her baby daddy has seemingly graduated from scams to more
sinister actions. Although she wants nothing to do with her, he
continues to stalk her.
Edie has just moved to the neighborhood. She loves her new home
and the chance to make friends. But her marriage is not all she'd
wanted it to be. She desperately desires to become pregnant.
Although Daniel had initially shared her enthusiasm, he now seems to
be having grave reservations.
Trish is the principal of a nearby high school. A list posted
in a boys' bathroom is causing a scandal. Not everyone thinks she is
handling the incident well. One of her harshest critics lives next
door.
Bernie is the chair of the parents association and queen of the
street. Nobody wants to get on her bad side. But her chum Ellen may
be eager to throw her under the bus in order to become the
neighborhood alpha.
If you're into neighborhood intrigue, especially if you enjoyed
Big Little Lies, you'll want to pay a visit to Pine Road.

The Perfect Guests
If you enjoy mysteries set in slightly creepy, isolated English
estates, you'll find Emma Rous' The Perfect Guests to be a real treat.
"'Is that a real turret?' I crane my neck through the passenger
window. 'Is this whole place really just for three people?'
'Four if you behave yourself.' Caroline jerked the steering
wheel to swing us onto the driveway, bumping me back into my seat.
'Remember your manners, Beth. Stop gawping.'"
1988. Beth's parents and brother were killed in a car
accident. Since her aunt, Caroline, is too career involved to parent,
she's placed in a group home. Then a couple who see her playing
violin in a concert invite her to live at their estate, Raven Hall, to
be a companion to their same age daughter, Nina. After awhile
questions begin to arise in her mind. Why are Nina's parents
determined to keep her out of the village? Why does Nina only become
ill before her grandfather's visits? Why do Nina's parents rope Beth
into impersonating her rather than telling the truth?
"...'But listen. I've got much better news--a fabulous job
offer for you. It's a murder mystery company, just starting up, and
they want you to act out a trial run of the game so they can take
photos for their website--glamerous costumes at a posh dinner party,
that sort of thing. It's out in a big old mansion in the Fens--
gorgeous-looking place, full of dark history..."
I bet you can guess the name of the mansion.
2019. Sadie is an actress who barely makes rent through
professional gigs and a stream of day jobs. One day her agent calls
with what seems to be great news. A one weekend gig at a posh place
will net her the big bucks she needs for living expenses.
At first the gig feels like living the good part of a Cinderella
story, especially when Sadie is outfitted in very expensive clothes
and delivered to the mansion by a chauffeur. But it isn't long until
the situation begins to feel sketchy. Just who sent out the
invitations? What are their real intentions?
Oh, yeah, and will all the game characters get out alive?

On a purrrsonal note, I am remaining asymptomatic and rapidly
regaining strength, focus, and ambition. One thing that is helping me
cheerfully isolate is 2022 Bangor Public Library adult book bingo.
The card for it looks like a regular BINGO one with a 5x5 grid and a
free square in the middle only with book categories instead of letter/
number combos. You can either do a row or the whole thing. Of course
I'm going for the whole thing. I'm already 1/5 of the way only 11
days into the first month. It's like a geektastic scavenger hunt.
Hope they do it every year. (Jules)
Next year they need to include books with animal main characters. I
could make the list for that. (Tobago)
A great big shout out goes out to Bangor Public Library for providing
such a great literary treasure hunt.
Tobago and Jules Hathaway


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