Author: Richard Galbraith

Cormoran Strike and Robin Ellacott are partners in a private detective agency. A wealthy client hires the agency to check on the welfare of his son, Will, who is a member of a very secret organization called the Universal Humanitarian Church. Some say the UHC is a cult and although many have tried to bring them down none have succeeded. In order to get information about Will, Robin goes undercover and joins the group.

One of the things I liked about the story is that the detective agency had other clients that they were working with simultaneously and they had other employees. It wasn’t a single story line with only two heroes. Although this book is #7 in a series it wasn’t necessary to have read any of the others to fully understand the story. I’ll look for other books in the series when I’m next at the library and needing a book.

When I was about three-quarters of the way through the book I looked at the note on the inside back cover. Richard Galbraith is a pseudonym for J.K. Rawling (of Harry Potter fame).

Goodreads Rating: * * * * *

Author: Hannah Kent

This is the best book I’ve read in a long time and I don’t even know who or what group recommended it.

The story takes place in Iceland in the early 1800’s. Agnes, Fredrik and Sigga have been convicted of murder and sentenced to execution by beheading. While Agnes awaits her execution date she is sent to live and work on a remote farm. Between visits by the Reverend and the mistress of the farm we learn Agnes’ story.

I already liked the book but when I read the author’s notes and learned it was based on a real trial and execution I liked it even more. Agnes was the last person in Iceland to be executed.

Goodreads Rating: * * * * *

Author: Paul Murray

I worried about this book from the very beginning. The first page talked about a man who had murdered his family and then set the gun on himself. A little unsettling, but I was okay. Then I turned to the back of the book, not to see the ending but to see how many pages. I couldn’t help but see the final sentences, “It is love. You are doing this for love.”

The story is told from the point of view of the Barnes family – Dickie, Imelda, Cass and PJ. Although they are all telling the back story there a new details that come out in each telling. The murder/suicide didn’t happen to this family and did, indeed, happen in another town but did that make the ending any easier? It is one of those “you decide” stories.

Goodreads Rating: * * * *

Author: Lisa See

I’ve always enjoyed books by this author; I think this is the best one yet.

Li-yan is from a Chinese mountain village who strictly follow the rituals of the Akha people. When she gets pregnant her child, under the rules, is considered a reject and should be killed. Li-yan makes a long journey on foot in order to leave her child at an orphanage. The child, is adopted by an American family and lives in California. Li-yan dreams of meeting her child and the child, now known as Haley, often wonders about her “real” mother.

Although this story is interesting and very well told, it was all the rituals of the Akha people and the art of growing and making tea that I will remember.

Goodreads Rating: * * * *