Review: American Mother by Gregg Olsen

Publisher: Thread

Pages: 497

Format: audiobook

Buy the Book: Amazon

Goodreads:  At 5.02 pm on June 5th, 1986, a call came into the local sheriff office in the small town of Auburn, Washington State from Stella Nickell. Her husband Bruce was having a seizure. As the officers arrived on the scene, Bruce was already dead.

Forensics identified that Bruce had consumed headache pills laced with cyanide and in an attempt to cover her tracks, Stella saw to it that a stranger would also become her next victim of the cyanide-tainted painkillers.

What would drive a seemingly normal outgoing and popular mum and wife to kill?
As the investigation began to unfold, Stella’s daughter Cynthia notified federal agents of her mother’s crimes. But she didn’t reveal everything…

Kritters Thoughts:  In 1982, there were murders that were tied to Tylenol pills in Chicago, IL and just four short years later across the country in the state of Washington a copycat of sorts happened.  A woman who was very unhappily married figured that murder was easier than divorce and laced pills with cyanide, but not only did they kill her target another woman was also killed.  

While this book for sure described the events of 1986, but it also went back in time to give the reader an extensive amount of background knowledge that gave context as to why everyone ended up where they did - by no means an excuse for Stella's actions.  For me, this book moved a little slower and maybe spent a little too much time in the past and could have spent more time in the present day of 1986.    

My second Gregg Olsen book and I have read both via audiobook and I really enjoy taking in nonfiction via audiobook.  

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Review: The Bookshop by the Bay by Pamela Kelley

Publisher: Griffin

Pages: 320

Format: eARC

Buy the Book: Amazon

Goodreads:   Two lifelong friends. One bookshop by the beach. And the summer that could change everything.

Jess loves her work as a high-profile lawyer in the respectable and austere city of Charleston. But when she finds her husband, Parker, has been cheating on her with his assistant, she retreats, with her thirty year-old daughter Caitlin for support, to her childhood home on Cape Cod, in Chatham. Caitlin has always been bright but directionless, looking for her passion but keeps coming up blank. And Jess needs to regroup with the help of good food and wine, the company of her best friend, Allison, and come up with a plan for the future.

Allison’s career has hit a low. After twenty years as an editor for the Chatham magazine, circulation is dwindling and though her boss and long-time friend, Jim, does everything to keep her, she has no choice but to take a step back. With a career on hiatus and her main relationship being with Chris, her ex-husband who is still a good friend, Allison is at a pivotal point in life. Her daughter Julia opened her own artisanal jewelry shop a year prior, and she has the kind of day-to-day fulfillment Allison yearns for.

When Allison stops into her beloved local bookstore one day and learns that the owner wants to sell, a long-held dream turns into a reality, thanks to Jess. Allison and Jess set a plan in motion and what was once a place that held warm childhood memories is now theirs to run. As the two friends, along with the help of their daughters, reopen the doors of the cherished bookstore and adjacent coffee shop to the community, they also open themselves up to the possibility of romance, the bonds of mothers and daughters, and the magic of second chances.

Kritters Thoughts:  Two sets of lifelong friends and their daughters take center stage in this book.  Jess and her daughter Caitlin and Allison and her daughter Julia all end up in Cape Cod for a summer and each have something going on that hopefully can be solved by the end of summer.  Jess has recently discovered her husband's infidelity and needs a physical break from Charleston, SC, while her daughter Caitlin recently lost her job and isn't sure what is next for herself.  Allison is also dealing with a dwindling career and may need to take a hard pivot to something new instead of the magazine that she has worked at for a long time.  And Julia has been building her own jewelry business on Cape Cod and just needs something to make a splash in order to ensure that her basic bills can get paid and her long-term boyfriend Kyle is ready for marriage and she may not be so ready.  

With all these things going on, it took a moment to make sure I had everyone and their sub characters straight.  I loved the dynamic of both personal and professional drama and while I tend to avoid books with cheating spouses, thankfully I was warned that this was a minor moment in the book and that there was way more plot to enjoy.  The one thing that kept me from making this a five star read was the pacing towards the middle of the book, it seemed to slow down for me and at that moment I kind of knew where we would end up and was ready for the author to get there.  

My first Pamela Kelley book and will for sure not be my last read.  I will share that the summer vibe of this book was perfect to throw in my beach bag on our family summer vacation.  

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What month! Every week of July had some form of travel for me, three weeks worth of work travel and then our summer family vacation, so it was full of packing and unpacking and to and fro. With this travel, reading wasn't the easiest thing to do.

1. Betting on Good by Wendy Francis

2. Shopgirls by Jessica Anya Blau

Total pages read, clicked, and flipped: 494

Where Have I Been Reading?:

Louisville, KY

San Francisco, CA 

Only three books completed, but another busy month of house projects, jobs, family time, and some great summer moments by the pool. 

1. The Dearly Beloved by Cara Wall

2. You Can't Hide by Emily Shiner

3. An Academic Affair by Jodie McAlister

Total pages read, clicked, and flipped: 960

Where Have I Been Reading?:

New York 

Australia

What year 2025 has been.  From selling a house to moving to moving again just two months later, we are in our dream home and of course with any home, there are projects.  May was the month to slow down and enjoy a book in the sunshine.

1. The Seamstress of New Orleans by Diane C. McPhail

2. American Mother by Gregg Olsen (audiobook)

3. Coming Home to Seashell Harbor by Miranda Liasson

Total pages read, clicked, and flipped: 1,184

Where Have I Been Reading?:

New Orleans, LA

New Jersey

Washington 

 

Review: Emily Gone by Bette Lee Crosby

Publisher: Lake Union Publishing

Pages: 400

Format: eARC

Buy the Book: Amazon

Goodreads:  

1971.

When a music festival rolls through the sleepy town of Hesterville, Georgia, the Dixon family’s lives are forever changed. On the final night, a storm muffles the sound of the blaring music, and Rachel tucks her baby into bed before falling into a deep sleep. So deep, she doesn’t hear the kitchen door opening. When she and her husband wake up in the morning, the crib is empty. Emily is gone.

Vicki Robart is one of the thousands at the festival, but she’s not feeling the music. She’s feeling the emptiness over the loss of her own baby several months before. When she leaves the festival and is faced with an opportunity to fill that void, she is driven to an act of desperation that will forever bind the lives of three women.

When the truth of what actually happened that fateful night is finally exposed, shattering the lives they’ve built, will they be able to pick up the pieces to put their families back together again?

Kritters Thoughts:  A small town in Georgia is invaded when a large music festival is planned on the outskirts of town.  There is worry that this will bring the wrong sorts of people to town, but everyone is convinced that the economic boom will outweigh the annoyance for the short term.  One family is gravely impacted by this festival as they wake up one morning and their beautiful baby girl has gone missing.  

With alternating chapters from different perspectives, the reader knows early on where this child has been taken and by whom, so the story is more about the impact after such a tragedy.  It was hard not to feel for the kidnappers and see the impact of tragedy on their decisions and how easily someone can make wrong choices and convince themselves that it is all okay.    

This book was the perfect companion for a work trip with a flight and some quiet time in a hotel to curl up and read about this family in a small town as they learn to live with their new normal.    My first Bette Lee Crosby, but for sure will not be my last.  I loved how she pulled this story together and her characters were so fully formed that I could see them walking in my front door to share this story themselves.  

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Review: The Seamstress of New Orleans by Diane C. McPhail

Publisher: Kensington Publishing

Pages: 304

Format: eARC

Buy the Book: Amazon

Goodreads: The year 1900 ushers in a new century and the promise of social change, and women rise together toward equality. Yet rules and restrictions remain, especially for women like Alice Butterworth, whose husband has abruptly disappeared. Desperate to make a living for herself and the child she carries, Alice leaves the bitter cold of Chicago far behind, offering sewing lessons at a New Orleans orphanage.

Constance Halstead, a young widow reeling with shock under the threat of her late husband’s gambling debts, has thrown herself into charitable work. Meeting Alice at the orphanage, she offers lodging in exchange for Alice’s help creating a gown for the Leap Year ball of Les Mysterieuses, the first all female krewe of Mardi Gras. During Leap Years, women have the rare opportunity to take control in their interactions with men, and upend social convention. Piece by piece, the breathtaking gown takes shape, becoming a symbol of strength for both women, reflecting their progress toward greater independence.

But Constance carries a burden that makes it impossible to feel truly free. Her husband, Benton, whose death remains a dangerous mystery, was deep in debt to the Black Hand, the vicious gangsters who controlled New Orleans’ notorious Storyville district. Benton’s death has not satisfied them. And as the Mardi Gras festivities reach their fruition, a secret emerges that will cement the bond between Alice and Constance even as it threatens the lives they’re building . . .

Kritters Thoughts:  Two women - one from Chicago and one from New Orleans and both end up single as husbands end up dead and missing.  Constance is a woman who came from money and her husband ends up dead after an incident on a train.  Alice, a woman who grew up on a farm made it to Chicago to make her life go in a different direction ends up married and her husband goes missing.  She goes on a trip to find him and ends up in New Orleans . . . 

As a reader who has been reading fiction for many years, I knew where this one would go early on, but the journey was still enjoyable.  These two women are such a pair when they meet and try to change the ways for both each other and others!  I loved reading their banter when they created a dress for a Mardi Gras that was a ball that was flipping things on its end as women were going to be running the show.  This part of the book was my favorite to read - watching these women form a relationship and a beautiful dress to come of it.  

I was able to read this in two formats which was fun since I rarely do this! I read this via ebook and audio.  The audio version was narrated by Jessica Marchbank and while I usually listen to the books at the normal speed, I actually was able to speed this one up and still enjoy it - made me feel like a normal audiobook fan who can speed up and read away! 

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