Reading update – catching up on reviews

I don’t know what happened, but I’ve let my book reviews slip and now I’ve read three books without properly reviewing them. So, to get back on schedule, here are quick reviews of books I’ve recently enjoyed:

Hidden in Snow by Viveca Sten

⭐⭐⭐⭐

Rating: 4 out of 5.

This was a free book on Amazon Prime. I’d never heard of Viveca Sten, but I like Swedish authors and decided to give it a try. Sten is the author of the #1 internationally bestselling Sandhamn Murders series, and her books have sold more than 7.5 million copies. Interestingly, Hidden in Snow was translated by Marlaine Delargy, the same woman who translated An Elderly Lady Is up to No Good by Helene Tursten. (I highly recommend that one, watch my YouTube review here.) Hidden in Snow is a crime novel set in Stockholm and Swedish ski resort Åre. When Hanna Ahlander, a Stocklholm City Police officer whose love life and career are off the rails, retreats to her highly successful sister’s vacation home in Åre, she finds herself in the middle of a case. Amanda Halvorssen, a high school senior, has disappeared after a party. One of the only clues is a scarf found by the side of the road. Hanna is desperate to redeem herself as a police detective and talks the local police department into a job. Readers learn about Amanda’s friends, the party scene, her parents, and questionable relationships, as well as witness her family disintegrate as the hours and days pass. I was totally engrossed in this book and the character development. It’s not too violent or gritty either. I seem to always compare Swedish books to The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo series, which is much more violent and disturbing. This is the first book in the Åre series and I’m looking forward to reading more.

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Very Bad Company by Emma Rosenblum

⭐⭐⭐

Rating: 3 out of 5.

I enjoyed this light and sarcastic look at the nonsense and buzz words and phrases that have infiltrated the corporate world. This story is all about the highly-paid executives of Aurora, an ad-tech company on the verge of being purchased at a whopping price. CEO John Shiller has gathered his executives for a special retreat, including the newly-hired Caitlin Levy who will lead the company in a new series of meta events. No one really understands what that is, but rumors of a $3 million salary have created a lot of problems among her new coworkers. Set in swishy and swanky Miami, the group attends a string of team-building events, while readers learn about individual affairs, beefs, and lives at home. When one of the executives disappears, Shiller and his group carry on, worried that any scandal will get out and cancel the sale. I laughed at all the events and the characters’ ridiculous and inflated corporate roles. I got this book as an ARC from Edelweiss and the book is due for publication on May 14. Rosenblum also wrote Bad Summer People, so it seems this is her niche. Although silly and without much character development, I’d recommend it to readers who want to read something light and fast.

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A World of Curiosities by Louise Penny

⭐⭐⭐⭐

Rating: 4 out of 5.

If you’re a Louise Penny fan, you will like this story, set in her idyllic village of Three Pines, Québec. This is Book 18 of the Inspector Gamache series. I’ve read two others in this series, A Rule Against Murder and A Great Reckoning and enjoyed them. I read this for my mystery book club and the one thing I will say is that everyone agreed, if you haven’t read a lot, or all her books, this one did not provide as much back story as the others. Several people in my group have read all of them and a few had not read any. With only a couple under my belt, I had a little trouble ramping up, however, once I did, I thought it was a great story. In the present, Gamache is head of homicide for the Sûreté du Quebec and his younger partner, Jean-Guy Beauvoir, also his son-in-law, to solve the mystery of a secret room that has been bricked up since 1862. Additionally, we meet the adult siblings of a woman who was murdered ten years earlier and revisit the case that brought Gamache and the young and inexperienced Beauvoir together. In that case, the daughter, Fiona, then thirteen, was convicted of killing their mother and has just been released from prison. In the present, Gamache and Beauvoir of strongly different opinions of the brother and sister. Gamache thinks the younger brother, Sam is a psychopath and that he played a bigger part in the murder. He’s taken Fiona under his wing and now Fiona is staying with Gamache and his wife. Beauvoir, however, formed a special connection with Sam and defends him to this day. When Sam appears in Three Pines, readers will have to decide for themselves. Is the mystery of the secret room somehow connected? There is a lot more going on!

On to the next book!

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