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Ten years ago, six university friends from Oxford decided to spend an idyllic week at a quaint farmhouse in the French countryside.  It was supposed to be a relaxing holiday away from books, homework, and college stress.  When the group met Severine Dupas, the beautiful 19-year-old girl next door, things changed.  Some welcomed the novelty of her presence, others resented it.  A big fight ended the vacation, Severine vanished, and none of the friendships were the same afterward.  

Now, a decade later, Severine's corpse has been discovered in a well near the farmhouse.  Detectives are questioning everyone who knew her and everything that happened during the holiday week prior to her disappearance.  Kate Channing, a 31-year-old London lawyer, stands to lose everything she's worked so hard for if she's named as Severine's murderer.  As suspicion mounts against her, Kate struggles to make sense of what she remembers from the ill-fated holiday.  What really happened during that week in France?  Who wanted or needed Severine gone badly enough to take her life?  Which of Kate's friends became a killer during the vacation Kate desperately wishes had never happened?

The French Girl, a debut novel by Scottish author Lexie Elliott, offers an intriguing premise with a heck-ton of potential.  Unfortunately, the story starts slowly and never really gains momentum.  Its plot and characters are intriguing enough that I kept reading, but not unique enough to make this psychological thriller stand out among its many, many fellows.  In the end, The French Girl left me feeling underwhelmed and confused since Elliott left some story threads dangling. Still, I'm definitely willing to give the author another chance.  Her upcoming sophomore novel, The Missing Years, sounds like the kind of Gothic thriller I adore.  I will for sure be checking it out in April 2019.

(Readalikes:  Reminds me a bit of In a Dark, Dark Wood by Ruth Ware and Under a Dark Sky by Lori Rader-Day)

Grade:

  

for strong language, violence, and disturbing subject matter

To the FTC, with love:  Another library fine find

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When Aimee En, a washed-out 80s pop star, rushes into the Havenkill Police Department raving about a car-jacking, Officer Pearl Maze isn't sure what to think.  The hysterical former celebrity is telling a tale that doesn't make any sense—not just because things like this don't happen in sleepy Havenkill, but also because the woman's story is full of gaping holes.  All Pearl knows is that the 17-year-old boy who tried to stop the robbery is dead.  Another high schooler, an outcast the other kids call "Weird Wade", is being accused on social media of causing the whole thing.  Guilty or not, Wade isn't talking.  It's obvious all the parties involved know more than they're letting on.  What really happened that night?  It's up to Pearl to find out.    

If this were a movie, it would be rated:

for language (a dozen or so F-bombs, plus milder expletives), violence, and disturbing subject matter

To the FTC, with love:  Another library fine find

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With the 1857 financial crisis causing panic all across The United States, families are becoming more and more desperate.  Farmers receiving less money for their grain are losing their homes and land.  Penniless parents are shipping their hungry children off on orphan trains.  Young working women like Elise Neumann are growing increasingly panicked as their meager earnings fail to cover the needs of their families.  Unable to properly care for her younger siblings, Elise reluctantly decides to take advantage of a program that's sending skilled workers to other states where jobs are more plentiful.  If she can send home enough money, she can save her family from starvation.

Thornton Quincy may not be destitute (not yet anyway), but the 24-year-old has problems of his own.  His dying father has issued a tantalizing challenge to Thornton and his brother—whoever can build a sustainable town along the Central Illinois Railroad and marry a suitable woman with whom he is truly in love within six months will inherit the old man's considerable fortune.  Determined to prove himself to his father once and for all, Thornton plans to win the bet.  What he doesn't plan on is meeting the beautiful, intriguing Elise Neumann.  The better he gets to know her, the more Thornton questions the value of what he's doing with his life.  Can he win both his father's respect and Elise's heart?  Or will he have to choose one over the other?

Although I expected With You Always, the first book in Jody Hedlund's Orphan Train series, to be about, well, orphan trains, it really isn't.  At least not yet.  This initial volume focuses instead on the adventures of Elise and Thornton as they establish new lives in the emerging town of Quincy, Illinois.  Theirs is an interesting time and place and I found the historical details in this novel fascinating.  I enjoyed the characters as well, although I would have liked to see plucky Elise save herself a few times instead of being rescued by others.  Although With You Always tells, overall, a hopeful, uplifting story, it doesn't shy away from tough subjects like poverty, women's lack of opportunity/rights, discrimination, etc.  I liked that, as well as the book's clean, upbeat feel.  Although this is technically a Christian novel, it never feels preachy or cheesy—which is exactly how I dig my faith-based fiction.  On the whole, then, I enjoyed With You Always and am definitely planning to continue with the series.

(Readalikes:  Um, I can't really think of any.  Can you?)

Grade:

If this were a movie, it would be rated:

for violence, mild innuendo, and vague references to sex and prostitution

To the FTC, with love:  I bought a copy of With You Always from Amazon with a portion of the millions I make from my lucrative career as a book blogger.  Ha ha.

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A charmer with an uncanny knack for lucking his way out of every scrape, 28-year-old Toby Hennessy is celebrating his latest near-miss when his luck finally runs out.  When he surprises a pair of thieves in the act of robbing his flat, Toby is beaten and left for dead.  Although he survives, he suffers a traumatic brain injury that results in debilitating anxiety and panic attacks.  Needing a change of scenery, Toby flees Dublin for the Ivy House, his ancestral home in the country.  

Toby's idyllic country retreat is shattered when a skull is discovered inside a witch elm on the property.  When the remains are identified and motives are ascertained, Toby is left with a mystery to solve.  With the help of two cousins with whom he grew up, he tries to make sense of his past, a prospect that is suddenly much grimmer and perplexing than he ever thought.  His closest friends and relatives are keeping damning secrets—can Toby uncover the truth they're hiding?  Does he even want to?  

As much as I love the Dublin Murder Squad series by Irish crime writer Tana French, I admit I was intrigued when I heard she would be publishing her first standalone novel.  While The Witch Elm shares similarities with French's previous books, it's also quite different.  Slower moving and more meditative.  Which doesn't mean it's not compelling.  It is.  It's just engrossing in a different way.  Although the story revolves around a mysterious death and involves a police investigation, The Witch Elm is not a crime novel per se.  That is, it's not so much about solving a case as it is about looking inside the heads and hearts of some very intriguing characters.  While the action does ramp up toward the end, the book's finale is depressing and pointless, but also thought-provoking.  Overall, I liked The Witch Elm, although it's definitely not my favorite from French.  

(Readalikes:  Reminds me of other books by Tana French)

Grade:

If this were a movie, it would be rated:

for language, violence, drug use, sexual content, and disturbing subject matter

To the FTC, with love:  I received an e-ARC of The Witch Elm from the generous folks at Penguin via those at Edelweiss.  Thank you!