It's 1928 and twenty-five-year-old Clara Darden is teaching at the Grand Central School of Art. But it's not without its challenges as most people don't want to be taught by a woman. But Clara is fierce and determined and she isn't afraid to work hard for what she wants. Unfortunately Clara and her friends have no idea of what's to come with the Great Depression. Having no job, no money and no food won't be the worst things for Clara. Now, in 1974, Grand Central terminal is run down. It's dirty and dangerous, and it's at the center of a lawsuit - is the once-grand building a landmark to be preserved or is it to be demolished? Virginia Clay is a recently divorced mother whose last resort is to take a job in the information booth in order to support herself and her daughter Ruby. Taking a wrong turn, Virginia stumbles upon an old abandoned art school within the terminal. She finds a watercolour hidden under the dust which sets her on a quest t...

Twin sisters Rose and Bel Enright couldn't be more different. Rose is serious about her education, she's quiet and isn't as pretty as her sister. Bel is a wild child who runs with a bad crowd at their new school. The Odell School is a prestigious New Hampshire boarding school. This was their chance to start anew after leaving California but nothing's gotten better between the sisters. In fact, things have gotten much worse. Especially when one of them is accused of murdering the other. Sarah Donovan is the wife of a handsome, charismatic, ambitious teacher who is determined to rise through the ranks. She's trying her best to be happy and supportive but she knows her husband well enough to notice the warning signs. Doesn't she? But surely he's not involved in the murder of a student. Right? I was sucked in from page one. I love stories about boarding schools with all their drama and secrets and coverups. Which twin was killed?! And why? Does it have anything ...

Liz McCall has been seeing Ken Young, the current Chief of Police, but he neglected to tell her he was married. His estranged wife, Marya, shows up in East Aurora to rekindle their marriage. She's working right next door to Liz's toyshop. And she's involved in the toyshop's doll rehab project. It seems as though no one in town really knows Marya, so it's especially hard to come up with suspects when her body is discovered in the barbershop next door with a hair dryer cord wrapped around her neck. Since Ken is the prime suspect, Liz's father, retired Chief of Police Hank McCall, is asked to take over the investigation. Liz has a few questions of her own and she's determined to get some answers. This is the third book in the Vintage Toyshop Mystery series and can be read as a standalone. I love the toyshop with all its old goodies. Who doesn't like a trip down memory lane every now and then? The setting, the characters, the mystery - this book has so many ...

Junior and Henrietta are married and live on a farm. They enjoy their solitude. There are no neighbours, the city is far away, and they don't get visitors. Ever. So imagine their surprise when, not only do they get a visitor one night, but this visitor comes with the news that Junior has been randomly selected to travel very far away. Alone. No Henrietta. Arrangements have already been made and Hen will be left in good hands. I was SO excited when I found out Iain Reid was coming out with another book because I loved I'm Thinking of Ending Things SO much!! I was even more excited when I got my hands on an ARC. Just by looking at the cover you can tell it's going to be creepy and that something sinister is lurking in those pages. I loved everything about this book - Junior and Hen are real and they're living in an old house in the middle of nowhere. I couldn't imagine having to go through what they did. I couldn't get through this book fast enough. I couldn't...

Ellis and Michael are twelve when they meet and become best friends. They cycle the streets of Oxford, spend long lazy days on the beach, Ellis Sketches and Michael writes. They travel. And in between all that their friendships blossoms into something more. But not quite. A decade has passed and Ellis is married to Annie and Michael is no longer in the picture. But what happened to make it that way? I did not like that there were no quotation marks at all in this short book. It was PDF and I could not open it on any program on my computer and the text was extremely small and frustrating to have to zoom in on every page on my phone or tablet so I read it on the kindle app which made the story sometimes confusing. However, I did enjoy this story more than I thought I would. I read Sarah Winman's other books and said that I liked them while I was reading them but forgot them immediately afterwards. But this one is going to stick with me. Ellis and Michael have such a strong, true conn...

Appel's stories are always quirky, fun and imaginative. In my opinion though these were not his best. It felt like there was something missing from most of these stories to make them truly stand out and be great. The big reason I chose to read this was because of the woodchuck on the cover. A failed television producer wants the woodchuck in his yard gone, so he has it relocated only for it to send him written letters begging to come back. I did enjoy that one as well as the long story at the end in which the title of this collection comes from. In it two ethicists writing for rival newspaper columns answer questions such as 'If you’re going to commit a murder, is it worse to kill when the victim is sleeping or awake?' I'll definitely be keeping my eyes open for more from this author. Thank you to Netgalley and Vandalia Press for an ARC. 3/5.