#5Books: Book recs that are on my mind right now

But before we get to my book recs, I have to tell you the story of the neighbour that dislikes me intensely and unintentionally locked me in my house AKA my screen door was stuck after she closed it — it’s an old house, and an older screen door and I had to get a locksmith out to open it. Which cost me. I mean, it’s not like she did it deliberately, but our relationship has never been the best, so I’m particularly annoyed.

Oh well, Neighbours.

(ETA: my mother and sister came over armed with several screwdrivers and mum managed to jimmy it open before the locksmith came out! Whew)

In other news, these are the books I am waiting for this week!

The Great Witches Baking Show

A baker with secrets
Witches in trouble
The cameras are rolling
Ready, set, die.

Poppy Wilkinson is thrilled to be chosen as a contestant on The Great British Baking Contest. As an American with English roots, winning the crown as Britain’s Best Baker would open doors she’s dreamed of. In more ways than one. Appearing on the reality show is her chance to get into Broomewode Hall and uncover the secrets of her past.

But strange things are happening on the show’s set: accusations of sabotage, a black cat that shadows Poppy, suspiciously unsociable residents at Broomewode Hall—and the judges can be real witches.

There are murmurs that Broomewode is an energy vortex. It certainly makes Poppy see and do things that aren’t exactly normal, and seems to draw interesting characters to the neighborhood.

When a fellow contestant dies in mysterious circumstances, Poppy has more to worry about than burned pies and cakes that won’t rise. There’s a murderer on the loose and it’s up to Poppy and her new friends to solve the crime before it becomes a real show-stopper.

From USA Today Bestselling Author Nancy Warren, this delicious series of cozy paranormal mysteries will have you guessing until the end. Includes recipes.

Did I ever tell you guys how much I love The Great British Bake Off. Like ADORE. The genteel vibe, everyone-helping-everyone-else and a history lesson of baking and/ or bread and it is calming, and therapeutic and I adore it! Which is nothing what like this book is about because well, murder and witches and energy vortexes. But it speaks to the wannabe baker in me and I want to see what this is all about.

The Starr Sting Scale: The Candace Starr Series

A hard-drinking former hitwoman agrees to help catch a killer — though the murderer might just be her.

Candace Starr likes to think of herself as retired since she got out of prison. That’s until society maven Kristina Corrigan tries to hire her to permanently remove her daughter’s barnacle of a boyfriend, Tyler Brent, from their lives. The only catch? Tyler is seventeen years old. Even Candace usually draws the line at taking out a target who doesn’t shave yet.

But when Tyler turns up dead at a river gorge with a broken neck, people start asking questions. Detective Chien-Shiung Malone, the ambitious cop assigned to the case, has more than a few of her own. Candace is not about to provide any answers though — until Malone makes her a proposition she cannot refuse. Candace signs on as Malone’s unofficial partner to find Tyler’s murderer, despite the possibility she my have killed the boy herself.

With scandalous wit and cocky satire, the first novel in the Candace Starr series provides full-throttle thrills as Starr and Malone race down the dark and dangerous road to the truth. Everyone along for the ride will be scrambling to call shotgun.

So, it’s always good when we find our anti-heroine has a line in the sand that involves not killing kids, right? I love that cover, first, it looks like it’s the cover of a vintage pulp mystery, AND Starr and Malone on the trail of a murderer sounds like the beginning of a beautiful partnership! Even though, you know Starr is quite likely being framed. Or something even more exciting as befits this awesome cover.

Fight Like a Girl

The Beauty of the Moment meets Exit, Pursued by a Bear. Award-winning thriller writer Sheena Kamal delivers a kick-ass debut YA novel that will have fans crying out for more.

Love and violence. In some families they’re bound up together, dysfunctional and poisonous, passed from generation to generation like eye color or a quirk of smile. Trisha’s trying to break the chain, channeling her violent impulses into Muay Thai kickboxing, an unlikely sport for a slightly built girl of Trinidadian descent. Her father comes and goes as he pleases, his presence adding a layer of tension to Toronto’s east-end townhouse Trisha and her mom call home, every punch he lands on her mother carving itself indelibly into Trisha’s mind. Until the night he wanders out drunk in front of the car Trisha is driving, practicing on her learner’s permit, her mother in the passenger seat. Her father is killed, and her mother seems strangely at peace. Lighter, somehow. Trisha doesn’t know exactly what happened that night, but she’s afraid it’s going to happen again. Her mom has a new man in her life and the patterns, they are repeating.

There is so much happening with this — a daughter trying to deal with her issues … but then what happened the night she was driving her car with her mother? And killed her father? That last line — makes me think Trisha killed her father, and her mother’s boyfriend is next on her list? Also, can I just say: that cover? Damn!

The Aosawa Murders

The novel starts in the 1960s when 17 people die of cyanide poisoning at a party given by the owners of a prominent clinic in a town on the coast of the Sea of Japan. The only surviving links to what might have happened are a cryptic verse that could be the killer’s, and the physician’s bewitching blind daughter, Hisako, the only person spared injury. The youth who emerges as the prime suspect commits suicide that October, effectively sealing his guilt while consigning his motives to mystery.

The police are convinced Hisako had a role in the crime, as are many in the town, including the author of a bestselling book about the murders written a decade after the incident, who was herself a childhood friend of Hisako’ and witness to the discovery of the killings. The truth is revealed through a skillful juggling of testimony by different voices: family members, witnesses and neighbors, police investigators and of course the mesmerizing Hisako herself.

How can the police be convinced that a young girl be behind the the deaths of 17 people by cyanide? I’m curious to see how the truth comes out, 10 years later and through so many different people? I know, there’s not a lot to go on, but that’s part of why I am so interested in this.

Three Perfect Liars

When a body is pulled out of an office fire, three women are first in line for questioning.
All of them have reasons for wanting revenge against the company’s CEO.

It could be Laura, who has returned to work to find that her maternity cover isn’t leaving. The CEO insists he’s doing what’s best for the company. Laura isn’t convinced he’s telling the truth.

Or there’s Mia. Brought in as temporary cover for Laura, she has quickly made herself indispensable – and popular with her colleagues. But if people knew why she was so desperate to keep her job, they might not welcome her so freely.

Then there’s Janie, wife to the CEO, who gave up her courtroom career to support her husband and his business. She has her own secret to protect – and will go to any length to keep it safe.

They never thought it would come to this.

Oh hello, some lovely ladies that are complex, and filled with secrets. Until the last line, I didn’t think they had much to do with each other, but… that last line? They totally got their revenge on the CEO… but what did they want to do? And how did the CEO end up dead instead? I’m all for a good revenge tale!

What strikes your fancy this week? Not to mention, do you have a favourite baking show that you’d like to share? I’m always on the look out for a new show to follow.

I hope all is well on your site of the world! Take care of yourself and your loved ones <3