Tag Archives: First Line Friday

Review: Counterfeit Corpse, by Karin Kaufman

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I’m joining the First Line Friday link-up again, hosted by Carrie at Reading is My Superpower. Today’s book is Counterfeit Corpse, by Karin Kaufman.

First Line:

Minette lifted like a rocket from the kitchen table and hovered inches from my face.

Counterfeit Corpse, by Karin Kaufman (Winter Tree Press, 2023)

I don’t know if this is the best book in the Smithwell Fairies Cozy Mystery series (it’s # 6) or if it’s just the long wait since the previous one released, but I really enjoyed being back in the fictional town of Smithwell, Maine, with Kate Brewer (human widow) and her fairy sidekick Minette. They make a great mystery-solving team, along with Kate’s next-door neighbour Emily and her possibly-a-spy-but-we-don’t-know-for-sure husband. Plus a little off the record help from local Detective Rancourt.

What do you do when the wrong body turns up? A woman’s husband is missing—a man mysteriously connected with Kate’s late husband Michael—but the guy in the morgue is not him. Despite having the missing man’s ID in his shoe.

The police think Daniel ran off for a fling. But why would he leave clues only his wife could follow?

Kate, Emily, and Minette know the longer a person is missing, the greater the danger. If the police won’t investigate, it’s down to them.

These are clean cozy mysteries with enjoyable characters. There’s some progression within the series but you could start with this book and not be confused. Then go back and start with book 1, Dying to Remember, because the whole series is worth reading.

I enjoy the descriptions: characters, food, and especially scenery. In Counterfeit Corpse, the images of small-town Maine give readers a vicarious autumn getaway.

Favourite line:

She puckered her lips as though she were about to spew bits of sheriff all over my kitchen floor. [The missing man’s wife, talking about the sheriff’s lack of concern. Chapter 1, at the 3% mark on my Kindle app.]

Karin Kaufman writes cozy mysteries (the Juniper Grove and Smithwell Fairies series), suspenseful mysteries (the Anna Denning and Teagan Doyle series), as well as the Geraldine Woolkins children’s series. For more about the author and her work, visit karinkaufman.com.

[Review copy from my personal library.]

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Windswept Way, by Irene Hannon (Review)

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I’m joining the First Line Friday link-up again, hosted by Carrie at Reading is My Superpower. Today’s book is Windswept Way, by Irene Hannon.

And the first line is…

Maybe buying a haunted house wasn’t her best idea.

Book cover: Windswept Way, by Irene Hannon

Windswept Way, by Irene Hannon (Revell, 2023)

The chance at a partnership with the reclusive owner of a mysterious cliffside mansion brings Ashley Scott to the Oregon coast with the goal of establishing it as a premiere wedding destination.

The historic house is well maintained and stocked with period furniture. Transforming the grounds falls to local landscaper Jonathan Gray and his crew. Physically and emotionally scarred from the near-fatal explosion that ended his military service, Jon has come to the remote village of Hope Harbor to live a simple life and hide from gawkers.

Built by a lumber baron for his bride, the house’s subsequent tragic history led to rumours of haunting. But this isn’t a paranormal book, despite the isolated setting and the fog that creeps in. It’s a story of realistic, likeable people.

Filled with characters readers will embrace, this gentle story of second chances invites us to step out from any protective boundaries we may have allowed circumstances to construct around us. Sometimes secondary appear to have divine insight in what to say, especially Charley the taco truck owner. When God wants to get our attention, we’ll often meet His message at every turn. Fiction usually avoids this but when you’re looking for a heart-warming read with a comforting, almost fairy-tale feel, it’s a good fit. 

Windswept Way is my first taste of Irene Hannon’s Hope Harbor series. It’s book 9 and now I’d like to pick up book 1. Linked by place, each novel seems to feature different core characters and a fair dose of feel-good serendipity. Fans of Davis Bunn’s Miramar Bay series will enjoy the Hope Harbor series, and vice versa. The main difference I see is the Hope Harbor books have a strong faith thread where Miramar Bay is clean mainstream.

Irene Hannon is a bestselling, award-winning author of over 60 books, both romance and romantic suspense. For more about the author and her work, visit irenehannon.com.

[Review copy from the public library via Hoopla Digital.]

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All the Lost Places, by Amanda Dykes (Review)

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I’m joining the First Line Friday link-up again, hosted by Carrie at Reading is My Superpower. And I cannot say enough good things about this week’s book: All the Lost Places, by Amanda Dykes.

First line:

Once upon the dawn of time, there was water.

[Prologue]

And because some people disrespect prologues, here’s the first line of chapter 1 as well:

I only ventured out at night, and all the better if it rained.

[Chapter 1, Daniel, 1904]

All the Lost Places, by Amanda Dykes (Bethany House, 2022)

Lyrical, beautifully crafted, and luminous with hope, All the Lost Places is a dual-timeline historical novel. Rather than my stiff summary, here’s the official back cover copy:

When all of Venice is unmasked, one man’s identity remains a mystery . . .

1807
When a baby is discovered floating in a basket along the quiet canals of Venice, a guild of artisans takes him in and raises him as a son, skilled in each of their trades. Although the boy, Sebastien Trovato, has wrestled with questions of his origins, it isn’t until a woman washes ashore on his lagoon island that answers begin to emerge. In hunting down his story, Sebastien must make a choice that could alter not just his own future, but also that of the beloved floating city.

1904
Daniel Goodman is given a fresh start in life as the century turns. Hoping to redeem a past laden with regrets, he is sent on an assignment from California to Venice to procure and translate a rare book. There, he discovers a city of colliding hope and decay, much like his own life, and a mystery wrapped in the pages of that filigree-covered volume. With the help of Vittoria, a bookshop keeper, Daniel finds himself in a web of shadows, secrets, and discoveries carefully kept within the stones and canals of the ancient city . . . and in the mystery of the man whose story the book does not finish: Sebastien Trovato.

This is a gentle, luxurious read best enjoyed slowly like a fine dessert. Having said that, I admit to reading parts too fast because I had to know what happened next. Daniel and Vittoria, Sebastien and Mariana and their friends… these characters mattered to me. And I knew I could trust author Amanda Dykes to treat their story carefully even when they couldn’t see the way forward.

All the Lost Places reads in part like a fairy tale, understandable perhaps since Sebastien’s story is birthed in the pages of the book Daniel is assigned to translate. Daniel and Sebastien are both men haunted by the broken places in their lives. As they grapple with this, they discover that perhaps a lost or broken place is an opportunity to be filled with light.

Daniel is an artist, living now with an injury that prevents him from picturing in his mind what he wants to draw. As he tries to discover how to move from who he was and how he worked to who he is—and can he work this way?—he must also learn how to find redemption when restitution is not enough.

Such serious themes don’t weigh the story down. Readers will enjoy a detailed vicarious tour of Venice as the men in both times engage with a variety of engaging characters. Sebastien’s multiple adoptive guardians, Daniel’s bookseller and gondolier, these and more are delights. And oh, the settings!

This is a novel with far too many favourite lines for me to quote. I encourage you to read it for yourself and discover your own.

Amanda Dykes is the author of the 2020 Christy Award Book of the Year for her debut novel, Whose Waves These Are. Her more recent books are Set the Stars Alight and Yours is the Night. For more about the author and her work, visit amandadykes.com.

[Review copy from the public library.]

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First Line Friday: Brink of Danger, by Christy Barritt

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This week I’m trying something new and joining the First Line Friday link-up, hosted by Carrie at Reading is My Superpower. The book I’ve chosen is Brink of Danger, romantic suspense from Christy Barritt.

The faceless villain opens this one up. Here’s the first line:

I’m there. In the crowd. People talk to me. Laugh with me. Give me high fives.

And here’s my review:

Brink of Danger, by Christy Barritt (River Heights, 2019)

Ansley Wilder loves adventure. That’s why she works for a zipline company. But after a near-miss that was no accident, she takes a personal interest in helping her police chief brother Luke and her former crush, fire chief Ryan Philips, investigate.

Ryan came back to Fog Lake for a less-stressful post after a tragedy rocked his previous fire crew. Except his first day back is the day Ansley nearly dies. When more suspicious activity follows, it all seems centred on Ansley.

Ansley is a woman trying to do life different after a recent wake-up call. She’s doing her best and making good progress but still sometimes messes up. She’s trying to find her way back into faith and to shake her wild image.

Readers see the unseen watcher manipulating the circumstances “for Ansley.” Every time I thought I knew who the villain was, there’d be a reason it couldn’t be. I enjoyed the puzzle.

My favourite quote comes from the watcher, the self-styled “Woodsman,” remembering the influence of now-deceased parents:

Both of them are dead now, but their memories live on in me. I’m like a sapling that grows over a grave, continuing the circle of life.

Brink of Danger is book 3 in the Fog Lake romantic suspense series. I had no trouble starting here, although now I know how the first two books’ romances turned out. 😊 To start at the beginning of what looks like a 7-book series, look for Edge of Peril.

I found the romance thread a little more overt than I like best, but the suspense was compelling. I appreciated the family dynamics between Ansley and two of her brothers and her honesty about the struggle to forgive her mother for walking out on the family.

Christy Barritt writes “quirky mysteries and spine-tingling suspense.” Brink of Danger is in the latter category, a fast-paced suspense read that starts with danger and never lets up. The villain definitely adds a touch of creepy. For more about the author and her many books, visit christybarritt.com.

[Review copy from my personal library.]

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