Well the year has begun and despite warmer than normal temperatures, I still find myself wanting to curl up by the fire with a pile of books. Valentine’s Day is fast approaching so I thought this month I’d choose a few to make your heart beat a little faster.
The Keeper of Lost Causes is the first in a series called Department Q by Jussi Adler-Olsen. I love Scandinavian authors and this author’s books are a combination of the writings of Steif Larsson and Thomas Harris. The protagonist, Carl Mork, is a homicide detective in Copenhagen who is promoted to take over a new department which handles cold cases. Actually the powers that be just want to get Carl out of the way as he is difficult and no one really wants to work with him. He joins forces with his unusually astute handy man, Assad, to tackle the first case which involves the disappearance of a liberal politician five years previously. Merete vanished from a ferry and everyone assumes she is dead but Carl is not so sure. I just recently discovered that Netflix has several movies based on this series of books and they are very good if you don’t mind subtitles.
The Couple Next Door by Shari Lapena is a New York Times best seller that came out this summer. It has gotten mixed reviews but I really enjoyed it. It reminds me a bit of The Girl on the Train. Anne and Marco appear to have a wonderful life: a beautiful house, a great business and a new baby. But when their baby Cora is taken from her bed, their whole world comes crumbling down and everyone starts seeing the cracks. None of the characters are particularly likable…they are all hiding secrets and filled with flaws but the twists and turns of the story create a wonderful ride. I can easily see this turned into a movie at some point.
Another thriller, The Sign by Raymond Khoury, will make you second guess how you would respond to a miraculous sign. A strange and unexplainable sign suddenly appears above a melting polar icecap and the world takes notice. Is it a sign from God? Are we supposed to be doing something more to protect this earth? Or is this some kind of hoax? Grace Logan and Matt Sherwood are determined to figure out what the sign means and how it may be created. As they race across the globe in search of answers, they are being pursued by dangerous men with a lot of money backing them. It’s a dangerous game and time is running out for them to get to the bottom of things before the religions of the world come to blows.
I’m not a big reader of romance novels but since Valentine’s Day is all about romance I thought I would give local author Jenny Gardiner’s new romance series, Royal Romeos, a try. The Romeo family owns a vineyard in Italy and in Black Sheep Romeo, Lizzie Moretti finds herself scared, alone, sick and hiding in an outbuilding on the Romeo Estate when Matteo Romeo finds her and the sparks begin to fly. If you are looking for a bit of good old fashioned escapism….this is it. With Italy as the backdrop and a family of Romeos it seems the perfect match for a Valentine’s read! Red Carpet Romeo comes out in February and features the Romeo family’s daughter Valentina (OK yet another Valentine’s Day plug). Valentina is a bridesmaid in her cousin Luca’s royal wedding. It’s the perfect chance to show Luca’s college friend, Parker, that she is all grown up. It’s a natural instinct for most women to want to make that one guy who rejected them regret their stupidity and that’s what this story is all about. Parker takes one look at Valentina and decides to change his mind about her…but she is having none of it. It’s a fun romp through the countryside of Italy and made me smile.
So I hope your February is filled with romance and thrills…it won’t be from lack of reading material!