Death at Porthcurno Cove

Death at Porthcurno Cove by Sally Rigby
3/19/25; 240 pages
Storm Publishing
Cornwall Murder Mystery #5

Death at Porthcurno Cove by Sally Rigby is a highly recommended procedural and the fifth book in the enjoyable Cornwall Murder Mystery series.

DI Lauren Pengelly is walking her dogs on the beach early one morning when they discover two bodies lying on a blanket. Beside them is an empty Prosecco bottle, a ring box, and a note that says, "Sorry." It appears they were celebrating their engagement. Lauren calls in the medical examiner and her team, including her partner DS Matt Price, to start the investigation. The victims are quickly identified as university students Jasmine and Finley, both 21-years-old. Now the team must follow the evidence to determine if this is double suicide or something more nefarious.

This is a another great, well-written addition to the reliably entertaining Cornwall Murder Mystery series. The plot moves quickly and logically as clues are followed and new information is uncovered. There are several twists as the investigation proceeds and focuses on a close knit group of friends. The only drawback was I predicted the ending early on this time, but following the clues to the conclusion was still satisfying.

These characters in this series are well known to me and are all portrayed as fully realized individuals. I like the interaction between them. In the ending a minor story line in the narrative indicates more changes and challenges for them, especially Matt, in the future.

Death at Porthcurno Cove is a great choice for readers who enjoy procedurals. Thanks to Storm Publishing for providing me with an advance reader's copy via NetGalley. My review is voluntary and expresses my honest opinion.

The Savage, Noble Death of Babs Dionne

The Savage, Noble Death of Babs Dionne by Ron Currie
3/25/25; 368 pages
Penguin/Putnam

The Savage, Noble Death of Babs Dionne by Ron Currie is a highly recommended, brutal, character-driven crime saga.

In the Little Canada area of Waterville, Maine, Babs Dionne, proud Franco-American, doting grandmother, and vicious crime matriarch, rules. She controls local politicians and law enforcement while overseeing the sale of illegal drugs in her small town with the help of her loyal lieutenants, girlfriends since they were teenagers, and her eldest daughter, Lori, a Marine vet struggling with addiction. When her youngest daughter, Sis, is missing and later found dead, Babs is out for revenge. Adding to the complications is the arrival in town of a mysterious malevolent enforcer known as The Man.

This is a gritty, riveting, harsh, gripping, darkly humorous, tension-packed, and violent family crime drama and mystery, which is also, ultimately, a tragedy. It is very much character-driven as it follows the life of one tough woman, the matriarch Babs Dionne, her family, and her criminal empire. The plot is cinematic in the presentation and includes a supernatural element. You can see this becoming a movie.

The characters are fully realized individuals with all their strengths, struggles, and numerous flaws clearly presented. Their are backstories from their lives included which helps flesh them out even more, creating some empathy with individuals who are clearly damaged.

The Savage, Noble Death of Babs Dionne will be appreciated by readers who enjoy brutal family crime sagas. Thanks to Penguin/Putnam for providing me with an advance reader's copy via NetGalley. My review is voluntary and expresses my honest opinion.

Lethal Prey

Lethal Prey by John Sandford
3/25/25; 400 pages
Penguin Group/Putnam
Prey Series #35

Lethal Prey by John Sandford is a very highly recommended crime thriller/procedural. Lucas Davenport and Virgil Flowers work together to track down a ruthless killer who wants to keep the past buried. This can be read as a standalone novel.

A body of a woman brutally stabbed to death was found dumped in the woods along the edge of a park and was identified as Doris Grandfelt, an employee at an accounting firm. The perpetrator was never found. Now, twenty years later the victims twin sister Lara is determined to find Doris's killer. Having been diagnosed with breast cancer, Lara is facing her own mortality and wants justice for Doris. 

To accomplish her goal Lara provides the entire investigative file to every true-crime site in the world and offers a $5 million reward for information leading to the killer’s arrest. Dozens of true-crime bloggers show up looking for both new evidence and “clicks.”  U.S. Marshal Lucas Davenport and state investigator Virgil Flowers are assigned the case and review anything that might be a new lead.

The novel opens with the murder so readers know exactly what happened, why, and who did it. When the body is found, we see the unproductive investigation that followed and Lara's increasing frustration at that time. Then the narrative jumps ahead twenty years and the investigation reopens when the true-crime bloggers descend upon the crime scene and the city looking for clues, and information to publish for their followers. 

What the social media true crime aficionados have is the numbers and enthusiasm to investigate. While they follow Lucas and Virgil, inserting themselves into the investigation, they also find the murder weapon. Conversely, they also publish on social media every step followed in the investigation, which allows the murderer to also follow it.

The characters have a good working relationship and the banter between the two is entertaining. Adding even more entertainment are the various social media true crime publishers interacting with them. The dialogue between characters is realistic. The killer is really a psychopath and readers will be following her actions too.

Lethal Prey is a well-written tension packed procedural/thriller full of twists and action. The pace is fast and the pages fly by. The ending was unsatisfying, but this is still an entertaining read. Thanks to Penguin/Putnam for providing me with an advance reader's copy via NetGalley. My review is voluntary and expresses my honest opinion.

Nobody's Fool

Nobody's Fool by Harlan Coben
3/25/25; 352 pages
Grand Central
Sami Kierce #2

Nobody's Fool by Harlan Coben is an excellent, very highly recommended, twisty investigative thriller. You don't want to miss this one!

Sami Kierce, a young college grad backpacking in Spain with friends when he meets Anna in a nightclub in Fuengirola. His friends move on but Sami stays on with Anna until one morning he wakes up, covered in blood with a knife in his hand, and the body of Anna beside him. He doesn’t know what happened. He screams and then he runs. 

Twenty-two years later Sami is a former NYPD cop now working as a PI for a law firm and teaching wannabe sleuths at a night school in New York City. When Sami sees a woman peeking her head in the door, he can't believe his eyes. It is Anna. He chases her down the hall and manages to get a tracker into her coat pocket before she flees. How can it be possible that she is alive?

What follows is an un-put-downable, action-packed, masterful investigative thriller where events from Sami's past come to the forefront in the present. Sami is not only searching for answers about Anna, there are numerous other things going on all at the same time. The tension runs high, the twists and reveals are nonstop, and the action gallops throughout the unpredictable but extremely well-executed plot right to the stunning ending.

Sami is a fully realized character who is portrayed as a unique, intelligent individual with a keen mind and a sense of humor. He is happily married to Molly and they have a one-year-old son, Henry. The plot unfolds through Sami's point-of-view. This is the second Sami Kierce novel following Fool Me Once but it can easily be read as a standalone.

No spoilers included here - read Nobody's Fool and thank me later. Thanks to Grand Central for providing me with an advance reader's copy via NetGalley. My review is voluntary and expresses my honest opinion.

I Would Die for You

I Would Die for You by Sandie Jones
3/25/25; 320 pages
St. Martin's Press

I Would Die for You by Sandie Jones is a recommended domestic mystery that follows two sisters in dual timelines.

In 2011 Nicole Forbes lives with her husband Brad and eight-year-old daughter Hannah in Coronado, California. When a writer, Zoe, comes to her home asking about her involvement with the scandal surrounding the 80's band Secret Oktober. Nicole left Great Britain and never looked back in order to distant herself from the downfall of the band. She also never told Brad about that part of her past. Later that day her daughter Hannah is picked up from school by her aunt - but she doesn’t have an aunt. Nicole is frantic that there is a link between Zoe's appearance and Hannah's brief disappearance.  Now she may have to tell Brad her secret.

In London in 1986 sixteen-year-old Cassie is obsessed with Secret Oktober and lead singer Ben Edwards. She closely follows the movements of the band, trying to get Ben's attention and get into the backstage parties with her new friend and fellow groupie Amelia. What she doesn't know is that Ben heard her older sister Nicole singing an original song she wrote at a local bar one night and he can’t help but feel drawn to her.

The start of I Would Die for You was compelling and grabbed my complete attention.  I was anxiously waiting for the big secret(s) and what happened in the past The switch in the narrative between time periods and points-of-view worked well. It was looking like a winner but as the novel continued, my enjoyment lessened. You will have to set disbelief aside several times and the ending was a complete disappointment. 

The present day story became bothersome. It is uncertain why Nicole never shared more information about her past with Brad. Yeah, it's newsworthy and maybe scandalous, but she should have at least told him an edited version. For two people that are described as having a good relationship readers will be left wondering what exactly that is based on because the facts seem to belie their devotion to each other.

Following the band in the past and the obsession with them was entertaining but also had some disturbing elements to it. The characters were better developed in this time period and the infatuation beyond reason with the band members is clearly depicted.

This is a 3.5 rounded down based on the ending. Thanks to St. Martin's Press for providing me with an advance reader's copy via NetGalley. My review is voluntary and expresses my honest opinion.

The Fourth Girl

The Fourth Girl by Wendy Corsi Staub
3/1/25; 396 pages
Thomas & Mercer

The Fourth Girl by Wendy Corsi Staub is a highly recommended mystery following four friends.

In Mulberry Bay, New York, Caroline Winterfield, Midge Kennedy, Kelly Barrow, and Talia Shaw are childhood friends. On Prom night in 2000 Caroline walks into the woods and disappears forever. Her disappearance is treated as a drowning. Midge, Kelly, and Talia know what happened and are keeping the secret, but they plan to return to the site where she walked off and meet on the anniversary. 

Life intervenes with their plans and the three head in separate directions. On the twenty-fifth anniversary of that night, they plan a reunion and hopefully Caroline will meet them there. Once they meet it becomes clear that someone knows what happened and that another person may have witnessed something.

The plot is follows a familiar trope of friends keeping a secret but it is also entertaining and will hold your attention. The narrative jumps between time periods and characters so readers can understand what happened in the past, the intervening years, and in the present. It is somewhat predictable and the ending is not entirely satisfying.

What stands out in this version of the familiar plot are the well developed characters. Each character is portrayed as a unique individual and they all have distinct voices. As the narrative flips back and forth through time periods it is easy to follow who is who because they are distinguishable.

The Fourth Girl is a good choice for readers who appreciate fully realized characters in their mysteries. Thanks to Thomas & Mercer for providing me with an advance reader's copy via NetGalley. My review is voluntary and expresses my honest opinion.

Saltwater

Saltwater by Katy Hays
3/25/25; 336 pages
Random House

Saltwater by Katy Hays is a highly recommended family drama/thriller following the wealthy Lingate family on the island of Capri.

The Lingate family returns every year to the island of Capri. In 1992, playwright Sarah Lingate, wife of Richard, the youngest heir to the Lingate oil fortune, is found dead below the cliffs. She left behind her three-year-old daughter, Helen. Her death was officially ruled an accident but there are questions about this. 

Now 30 year later, the Lingates are returning to Capri yet again. Helen has felt controlled and isolated by her family for years. Now, at thirty-three-years-old she has had enough. Helen along with Lorna Moreno, her friend and family assistant, is plotting her escape from her family's clutches. The plan involves an anonymous package that contains the necklace Sarah was wearing the night she drowned, reminding everyone of Sarah's death and threatening to expose secrets. But then Lorna disappears...

The atmospheric plot is tense, mysterious and secretive right from the start. The island is used to create a lock-room mystery which allows suspense to build and hidden secrets to be revealed. Capri is beautifully described and the setting becomes essential to the plot. There are plenty of hidden secrets and twists along the way in this study of family, wealth, and consequences. The plot does build slowly until the end, which will require some dedication to push through to the action.

The narrative mainly unfolds between the point-of-view of Helen and Lorna, with additional information from Sarah's story leading up to her death in 1992. Be suspicious of everyone and everything. Keep in mind that ultimately none of the characters are appealing or likable.

Saltwater is a good choice for those who enjoy novels populated by rich-people-behaving-badly. Thanks to Random House for providing me with an advance reader's copy via NetGalley. My review is voluntary and expresses my honest opinion.