The Maid's Secret by Nita Prose

The Maid's Secret by Nita Prose

Read by Lauren Ambrose

11 hours, 3 minutes

Published May 2025 by Random House Publishing Group

Publisher's Summary: 

Molly Gray's life is about to change in ways she could never have imagined. As the esteemed Head Maid and Special Events Manager of the Regency Grand Hotel, two good things are just around the corner-a taping of the hit antiquities TV show Hidden Treasures and, even more exciting, her wedding to Juan Manuel. 

When Molly brings in some old trinkets to be appraised on the show, one item is revealed to be a rare and coveted artifact worth millions. Molly becomes a rags-to-riches sensation, and a media frenzy swirls as she prepares to sell her priceless treasure. Then, on auction day, the treasure suddenly vanishes. and Molly and her friends find themselves at the center of the boldest art heist in recent memory. 

But the key to this mystery lies in the past, in a long-forgotten diary written by Molly's Gran. For the first time ever, Molly learns about her grandmother's secrets: how she was born into a wealthy family and fell head-over-heels in love with a young man her parents deemed below her. As fate would have it, Gran's greatest love was someone Molly knows quite well.

My Thoughts: 

The Pros: 

• Lauren Ambrose' reading. I'm sure these are quite enjoyable books in print, but Ambrose brings the characters to life, especially Molly. If you're interested in reading the series, I highly encourage you to "read" the audiobooks. 
• The back story - how Molly's Gran came to have a daughter with the Regency Grand Hotel's doorman, Mr. Preston. It wasn't going to be possible to have yet another death in the Regency Grand (I mean, no one's going to stay there if there are deaths there regularly, right?), so Prose had to find another way to work a mystery into Molly's life. 
• Molly. She's always an interesting character who's endeared herself to readers, and to so many people in her life. 

The Cons: 

• The story of how Molly came to be in possession of a rare and coveted artifact is a little improbable.  I wondered how Prose would it out, because it was equally improbable that Molly would suddenly become unbelievably wealthy. The truth of that felt equally improbable to me. Still, it's make believe and sometimes you just have to get over what feels improbable. 
• I'm not sure where Prose can go from here. There is the Christmas book that I reviewed in December but between all of these books, things seem pretty well tied up. 

The Verdict: 

Fans of the series will enjoy this one. The books are light and fun and great for reading between heavier reads. 

Mini-Review: The Mistletoe Mystery by Nita Prose

The Mistletoe Mystery by Nita Prose

2 hours, 38 minutes

Read by Lauren Ambrose

Published October 2024 by Random House Publishing Group 

Publisher's Summary: 

Molly Gray has always loved the holidays. When Molly was a child, her gran went to great lengths to make the season merry and bright, full of cherished traditions. The first few Christmases without Gran were hard on Molly, but this year, her beloved boyfriend and fellow festive spirit, Juan Manuel, is intent on making the season Molly's mofinst joyful yet.

But when a Secret Santa gift exchange at the Regency Grand Hotel raises questions about who Molly can and cannot trust, she dives headfirst into solving her most consequential-and personal-mystery yet. Molly has a bad feeling about things, and she starts to wonder: has she yet again mistaken a frog for a prince?

My Thoughts: 

I've read and enjoyed the first two books in the A Maid series so when I was looking for a quick listen and saw this one available, I grabbed it, despite it being early spring. Which may have tainted my feelings about the book, not being in the least in the festive spirit because I was so looking forward to warm weather. 

There's nothing much new here to be learned about the characters. Molly is as prone to misunderstand things as ever, Juan Manuel is as loving (and maybe a little clueless about how literally Molly takes everything), the former head maid is as cruel to Molly as ever. Unfortunately some of the lesser characters have backslid a bit in their understanding and appreciation of Molly, which seemed a little unlikely to me. And I never for a minute believed that Juan Manuel would be cheating on Molly; it's just not that kind of book. 

In the end, this is an homage to O'Henry's The Gift of the Magi, which ends, as is to be expected, with everyone living happily ever after. 

There is one more book in the A Maid series, which I'll pick up as soon as I can get it in audiobook, because Lauren Ambrose is terrific at reading these books. 

Mini-Review: Vinegar Girl by Anne Tyler

Vinegar Girl by Anne Tyler

Read by Kirsten Potter

5 hours, 57 minutes

Published June 2016 by Hogarth Shakespeare Series

Publisher's Summary: 

Kate Battista feels stuck. How did she end up running house and home for her eccentric scientist father and uppity, pretty younger sister Bunny? Plus, she's always in trouble at work - her pre-school charges adore her, but their parents don't always appreciate her unusual opinions and forthright manner.

Dr. Battista has other problems. After years out in the academic wilderness, he is on the verge of a breakthrough. His research could help millions. There's only one problem: his brilliant young lab assistant, Pyotr, is about to be deported. And without Pyotr, all would be lost.

When Dr. Battista cooks up an outrageous plan that will enable Pyotr to stay in the country, he's relying - as usual - on Kate to help him. Kate is furious: this time he's really asking too much. But will she be able to resist the two men's touchingly ludicrous campaign to bring her around?

My Thoughts: 

Vinegar Girl is the third book in Random House's Hogarth Shakespeare project, with contemporary writers retelling Shakespeare plays. Vinegar Girl is very loosely based on Shakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew. 

Here Kate is less a shrew and  more of a woman trapped by circumstances. While she is by no means a willing participant in her father's plot to find a wife for Pyotr to keep him from being deported, she's lured by the idea of a way out of her father's house, out of having to mother her fifteen-year-old sister. Truly, her father is something of a mad scientist, who has the family eating a hash meal every evening, who has no idea how to take care of himself or his youngest, who relies entirely on Kate to keep the household afloat. Can she be abrupt and a little too honest some of the time? Yes, she certainly can. But who can blame her? And Pyotr, while under the impression that he'll be the boss in the marriage, is also quite a nice guy when it comes right down to it. In this version of The Taming of the Shrew, Kate isn't so much broken, as she is presented with an opportunity that allows her to become a better version of her natural self. 

It's a little on the light side; but, overall, I enjoyed it. Now that I've finally gotten around to this one, I'll be looking for others in the series. 

The other books in the project are: 

Hag-Seed by Margaret Atwood, a retelling of The Tempest

Dunbar by Edward St. Aubyn, a retelling of King Lear

The Gap of Time by Jeanette Winterson, a retelling of The Winter's Tale

Shylock Is My Name by Howard Jacobson, a retelling of The Merchant of Venice

New Boy by Tracy Chevalier, a retelling of Othello

Death At The Sign Of The Rook by Kate Atkinson

Death At The Sign Of The Rook by Kate Atkinson

320 pages

Published September 2024 by Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group

Source: my copy courtesy of the publisher, through Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review

Publisher's Summary: 

Welcome to Rook Hall. The stage is set. The players are ready. By night’s end, a murderer will be revealed.

In his sleepy Yorkshire town, ex-detective Jackson Brodie is staving off boredom and malaise. His only case is the seemingly tedious matter of a stolen painting. But Jackson soon uncovers a string of unsolved art thefts that lead him down a dizzying spiral of disguise and deceit to Burton Makepeace, a formerly magnificent estate now partially converted into a hotel hosting Murder Mystery weekends.

As paying guests, impecunious aristocrats and old friends collide, we are treated to Atkinson’s most charming and fiendishly clever mystery yet, one that pays homage to the masters of the genre—from Agatha Christie and Dorothy Sayers to the modern era of Knives Out and Only Murders in the Building.

My Thoughts: 

I felt certain, when I began thinking about writing this review, that I first read a Kate Atkinson book when I read Life After Life. That book was one of my favorite books of 2015; it's a book I still think about and one that has kept me returning to Atkinson. In point of fact, though, my first Atkinson book was When Will There Be Good News (which I'd clearly forgotten by this year). That book is actually the third of the Jackson Brody books. 

In 2020, I finally read Cases Histories, the first of the Jackson Brodie books. I had every intention of returning to the Brodie books, but it wasn't until this year that I listened to the second book, One Good Turn, and When Will There Be Good News (again!). I'd hoped to listen to the next two books but it turns out my library doesn't have them on audio. Which is how I went from the third book to this, the sixth. 

Do you have to read them in order? No necessarily. But would it be a good idea to do so? Yes, definitely. When I last encountered Reggie she was a 16-year-old who got caught up in a kidnapping case and ended up helping Jackson; now she is a detective, who is very fed up with Jackson's questionable methods. In this book, Jackson's daughter is now grown up with a child of her own. How did they all get to where they are now? 

Unfortunately, that wasn't the only problem I had with this book. I've grown used to Atkinson filling her books with large casts of characters, with her books hopping away from Jackson's story to delve into other characters' stories. For some reason, in this book, I was really distracted by this and grew a little bored when we got into side stories of two of the characters. To be fair, those characters did play into the story when things really picked up later in the book, but I'm still not entirely sure that we needed to know their full back story to understand their actions in the moment. I don't know if it makes me feel better to know that I'm not alone in feeling this way. 

BUT...I really liked the storyline - the mystery of who stole a small painting, how it came to be in the owner's possession to begin with, how it ties into another art theft. I liked the parts of the book where Jackson was involved, especially his interactions with Reggie. I liked the way things played out once everything began to pick up again. Even a less than her best Atkinson book is still worth reading. And I will read book seven in the series whenever that is released. But first, I'm going back to books four and five. Because I have to know how we got to this point! 

While Justice Slept by Stacey Abrams

While Justice Slept by Stacey Abrams

Read by Adenrele Ojo

Published May 2021 by Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group

Publisher's Summary:

Avery Keene, a brilliant young law clerk for the legendary Justice Howard Wynn, is doing her best to hold her life together—excelling in an arduous job with the court while also dealing with a troubled family. When the shocking news breaks that Justice Wynn—the cantankerous swing vote on many current high-profile cases—has slipped into a coma, Avery’s life turns upside down. She is immediately notified that Justice Wynn has left instructions for her to serve as his legal guardian and power of attorney. Plunged into an explosive role she never anticipated, Avery finds that Justice Wynn had been secretly researching one of the most controversial cases before the court—a proposed merger between an American biotech company and an Indian genetics firm, which promises to unleash breathtaking results in the medical field. She also discovers that Wynn suspected a dangerously related conspiracy that infiltrates the highest power corridors of Washington. 

As political wrangling ensues in Washington to potentially replace the ailing judge whose life and survival Avery controls, she begins to unravel a carefully constructed, chesslike sequence of clues left behind by Wynn. She comes to see that Wynn had a much more personal stake in the controversial case and realizes his complex puzzle will lead her directly into harm’s way in order to find the truth.

My Thoughts:

It's getting late, I'm reading so much I hardly have time for writing reviews, and I really, really need to get to comments so I'm going to keep this one short.

Why'd I Read It: It was recommended to me by my sister-in-law, a woman who is crazy busy but still finds time to read a lot of mysteries. When she recommends one to me, I know I'm going to like it. 

Some Backstory: You'll know the name Stacey Abrams from her run from Governor of Georgia and, more importantly, for her tremendous work in getting eligible persons signed up to vote in that state. She wrote this book many years ago but had no luck getting it published. Did her name recognition help in the end? Undoubtedly. But this isn't the first book that Abrams has had published - she's previously written and had published several romance novels and a number of nonfiction books. 

What I Liked: 

• Adenrele Ojo does a fine job reading the book which will make you think you should pick up the audiobook if you want to read this one. Read on.
• Abrams includes biotech, genetics, espionage, medical, legal, and political elements and makes readers pay attention to the ways she weaves these elements together. 
• Avery comes with a background that makes her feel more real, including a drug addict mother, a history of gambling, and a educational background that had her jumping from school to school.
• Once this book gets rolling, there's no stopping it - it feels like it's ready made to be an non-stop action movie. 

What I Didn't Like:

• The good guys are practically wearing white, while the bad guys are in black. There's almost no grey here. I kept waiting for one of the good guys to turn out to be a bad guy but it never happened. 
• I prefer authors to give us a sketch of their characters but not to dwell on them. Abrams gives readers every detail, often enhancing those descriptions as the book goes on. 
• Avery's mother, Rita, is an addict and, we are given to infer, a sex worker. Abrams seems to a very little sympathy for either addicts or sex workers, painting Rita in the most negative of lights and never given the impression that either addicts or sex workers are victims. 
• There are some pretty glaring points where Abrams has characters, particularly Avery, doing things that we've been led to believe they are too smart to do. 

About that comment I made earlier about the audiobook. There is so much going on in this book, especially in the first half as it is set up, that it's tough to keep up with all of the details when you're listening to it. I'd definitely recommend you at least have a copy of the book on hand if you're going to listen to this one, so that you can refer back to it. 

Now, you're probably thinking that even though I said that I'm bound to like any book my sister-in-law recommends, I didn't seem to like this one much. It does have its flaws. But I was all in for the story and Abrams never made solving the problem too easy for the smart group Avery surrounded herself. Was the ending a little implausible? Well, yeah. But it's the ending you want and I was happy with it. And it had me looking forward to the next two Avery Keene books which Abrams is already contracted to write for Doubleday. 

Death Of A Gossip: Hamish Macbeth Series #1 by M. C. Beaton

Death Of A Gossip: Hamish Macbeth Series #1 by M. C. Beaton 

Read by Antony Ferguson

Published 1985 by St. Martin's Press

Source: audiobook checked out from my local library

 

Publisher's Summary:

When society widow and gossip columnist Lady Jane Winters joined the fishing class, she wasted no time in ruffling the feathers—or was it the fins?—of those around her. Among the victims of her sharp tongue and unladylike manner was Lochdubh Constable Hamish Macbeth. Yet not even Hamish thought someone would permanently silence Lady Jane's shrills—until her strangled body is fished out of the river. 

Now with the help of the lovely Priscilla Halburton-Smythe, Hamish must angle through the choppy waters of the tattler's life to find the murderer. But with a school of suspects who aren't ready to talk and dead women telling no tales, Hamish may be in over his head, for he knows that secrets are dangerous, knowledge is power, and killers usually do strike again.

My Thoughts:

It's a well known fact here that I adore Hamish Macbeth and that I've read several of the books in the series. I've kind of bounced around in the series; when I was listening to books on CDs, I listened to whichever one was for sale at my library's book sale. When I was recently looking for an available audiobook that would be a quick read, I found that I could start at the beginning. 

It was fun to get the first introduction to Hamish, his beloved but not available Priscilla, Chief Inspector Blair, and the denizens of Lochdubh. This first book sets up Hamish's past but focuses more on the mystery of the book than the characters of the village, as so many of the later books do which I missed. I also had to remind myself that this book was published 36 years ago - there were places where I questioned the appropriateness. And, to be honest, it wasn't the best written book. The summary indicates that there was some concern that there might be another murder but I never felt like that was an issue - this was a very simple who-done-it and readers are never given the clues that will help them solve the mystery. Beaton also focuses a great deal on the details of each character's physical appearance. While I'm all for getting a good picture of the characters, it felt like too much detail in a book of this nature and, to be honest, the descriptions often felt a bit like those a student might write. 

Still, it was a nice to return to Lochdubh and to begin at the beginning, to see how the relationships between the recurring characters began, and to get a good background on Hamish and why he is the way he is. I'm looking forward to moving on chronologically in the series as time and availability permits. These books are always a nice break from my heavier reading. 

My Brilliant Friend by Elena Ferrante and Mama Shepp's Family Recommends

December 21, 2013 - why, yes, that's when Rhody aunt wrote recommending author Elena Ferrante. She had just finished My Brilliant Friend, which she "adored" and recommended to our family's female readers. She was off to check out the rest of the books in the series as well as Ferrante's previous books, including Days of Abandonment. I made a note of the recommendation because she recommended it and because it definitely sounded like a book I'd enjoy. And then I forgot about it, so much so that even when it seemed like every blogger was talking about the Neapolitan novels, I didn't recall the recommendation at all. Until, thanks to 40 Bags In 40 Days, I was cleaning out my email account and found the recommendation and decided it was time to read Ferrante.

My Brilliant Friend (Neopolitan Novels #1) by Elena Ferrante
Published September 2012 by Europa
Source: bought it for book club

Publisher's Summary:
Beginning in the 1950s in a poor but vibrant neighborhood on the outskirts of Naples, Ferrante’s four-volume story spans almost sixty years, as its protagonists, the fiery and unforgettable Lila, and the bookish narrator, Elena, become women, wives, mothers, and leaders, all the while maintaining a complex and at times conflictual friendship. Book one in the series follows Lila and Elena from their first fateful meeting as ten-year-olds through their school years and adolescence.

Through the lives of these two women, Ferrante tells the story of a neighborhood, a city, and a country as it is transformed in ways that, in turn, also transform the relationship between her protagonists.

My Thoughts:
Okay, let me just say up front that some people may tell you that this book could be read as a stand alone book. Don't listen to them. Yes, there is something of an ending to this book. But it's also clear that it's merely the end of a chapter in the lives of Lenu and Lila and that things are going to get very interesting in the next novel.

Also, this book series has possibly got the worst covers. They are one of the reasons I didn't pick up these books sooner. Because, it turns out, I do judge books by their covers, no matter how many people recommend the book, apparently.

As it turns out, I should have listened to my aunt three years ago.

I liked this book. A lot. Ferrante makes the neighborhood come alive - the relationships between its denizens, the violence of their lives - but she also makes readers feel the insularity of the neighborhood. It's easy to forget the characters live in Naples and not a small village.

"I feel no nostalgia for our childhood: it was full of violence. Every sort of thing happened, at home and outside, every day, but I don't recall having ever thought that the life we had there was particularly bad. Life was like that, that's all, we grew up with the duty to make it difficult for others before they made it difficult for us...The women fought among themselves more than the men, they pulled each other's hair, they hurt each other. To cause pain was a disease."

I loved the relationship between Elena and Lila. Elena, who's telling us her story, struggles with her relationship with Lila. There is so much about Lila that Elena admires but often to the point that she becomes jealous of it. It's sometimes hard to tell if the girls are even still friends.

"I felt grieved at the waste, because I was compelled to go away, because she preferred the adventure of the shoes to our conversation, because she knew how to be autonomous whereas I needed her, because she had her things that I couldn't be a part of...because, in short, she would feel that I was less and less necessary."

We know from the beginning, as Elena looks back on their relationship, that it will remain rocky. Yet, the two seem to have a bond that cannot be broken. I can't wait to read the next book to see what life has in two for these girls and how their relationship will continue to influence their lives.