Author: Michael Lister

Double Exposure

A forward by Michael Connelly (a favourite author) says that less is more in this book – and he was right. Very limited dialogue and short sentences (sometimes just one word) portray the fear when Remington James inadvertently captures a murder on his camera and then is pursued by a group of men out to prevent him from getting his photos to the police.

Goodreads Rating *****

Blood Betrayal

A detective, John Jordan, who appears briefly at the end of Double Exposure is out to solve a decades-old murder that an innocent man has been convicted for. There are a number of older cases mentioned (no doubt from one of the author’s many books), but that didn’t get in the way of the story.

Goodreads Rating *****

Blood Shot

John Jordan is back and this time he is out to solve the Remington James case. Told in Then and Now chapters most of the book Double Exposure is repeated here. It made for a quick read though as I could skip almost half the chapters. That repeat is the only reason this didn’t rate five stars.

Goodreads Rating ****

Author: Laila Ibrahim

I wasn’t sure if I would enjoy this sequel to Yellow Crocus, but I did. All the main characters are back and, after the Civil War has ended, they are pulled, for various reasons, back to the South. Conditions there are hardly any better for the “freed” slaves and it looks as though they may never get back to their lives in Ohio.

Goodreads Rating ****

Author: Marissa Stapley

It was interesting at the beginning of each chapter to learn about the mating relationships of different birds and animals. It was fun to watch for that specific bird or animal to show up in the chapter I was reading. What was less interesting was reading about the relationships of the four main characters – a mother and her three adult daughters.

Goodreads Rating **

Author: Joanna Goodman

I follow a group on Facebook called Literary Hoarders. When this book was promoted I checked at our library and, although it was out at the moment, it was in their collection. I picked it up just a few days ago and I couldn’t put it down.

Maggie and Gabriel live next to each other in rural Quebec and begin meeting in the cornfields that border their properties. Maggie’s father is a staunch Englishman while Gabriel’s family are French. Although married to a Frenchwoman himself, Maggie’s father forbids her from seeing Gabriel. Maggie is sent to live on a distant farm where she finds herself pregnant. Maggie is uncertain whether her baby is Gabriel’s or the result of her rape by her uncle. Maggie cuts off all contact with Gabriel. When the baby is born Maggie’s father makes arrangements for it to be taken away and Maggie only catches a glimpse of her daughter. The book follows the lives of Maggie and her daughter, Elodie (“Melody without the M”).

It is a fact that during the 1950’s in Quebec unwanted and unadopted children were placed in orphanages run by the Church. Under Duplessis reign in Quebec he initiated a scheme to turn all orphanages into mental institutions thereby acquiring more Federal funding for the province.

Elodie has never been adopted and is eventually diagnosed as mentally retarded; her life in the orphanage was not good, but life in a mental hospital was almost unbearable. Although it isn’t an easy path, Maggie, Gabriel and Elodie eventually are able to connect.

Goodreads Rating * * * * *