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When the Givens Family immigrates from Ireland to the United States in 1819, it's to escape poverty, not embrace it.  In doing so, however, they've lost everything.  With their mother dead and their father gone for good, the three Givens teenagers are left to fend for themselves.  James vows to make a decent life for himself with his thriving candle-making business.  Flighty Erasmus, who seems destined for a different sort of existence, finally finds his calling as an itinerant preacher.  Olivia, who refuses to embrace social mores, is likely headed straight for spinsterhood.  While the three of them head in their separate directions, they will all become caught up in the crises and chaos of a booming Cincinnati. 

None of the Givens' could have foreseen their involvement in the most divisive and dangerous cause of all—slavery.  While James refuses to risk his position in society by embracing abolition, his siblings become actively engaged in helping slaves escape their cruel masters.  The unforeseen consequences of their perilous work will have an especially heavy impact on Olivia.  None of the Givens', in fact, will escape unscathed as the situation with a certain slave family escalates and finally explodes.

It's tough to describe the plot of The Eulogist, a historical novel by Terry Gamble, because, really, it doesn't have one.  The tale is episodic instead of focused, making for a read that is slow, meandering, and dull.  It's not uninteresting; it's just not very exciting.  The characters are likable, the setting is atmospheric, and Gamble's prose is capable.  Overall, though, The Eulogist feels like a long, anticlimactic slog.  If I hadn't committing to read the novel for this blog tour, I likely wouldn't have gotten beyond its second chapter.

(Readalikes:  Hm, I can't think of anything.  Can you?)

Grade:

for language (no F-bombs), violence, and sexual innuendo/content

To the FTC, with love:  I received an ARC of The Eulogist from the generous folks at HarperCollins via those at TLC Book Tours in exchange for an honest review.  Thank you!

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Little Boggy Creek, Florida, is a far cry from New York City, but it may be just what Gia Morelli needs.  In the wake of her ex-husband's betrayal—not only of his clients, but also of their marriage—she's looking for a place to start over, a refuge where she can lick her wounds and start rebuilding her shattered life.  Opening the All-Day Breakfast Café is a brave first step.  Despite a few hiccups, things are going well for Gia—until she discovers a dead body in the dumpster behind the restaurant.  She recognizes the corpse's manicured hands and a distinctive ring.  It's her ex-husband, Bradley Remington, but what is he doing in Florida?  And how did he end up dead in a dumpster?

Suspicion for the murder naturally falls on Gia.  Despite his gentle questioning, even handsome Detective Hunter "Hunt" Quinn seems to think she had something to do with Bradley's death.  Although she's warned against sticking her nose into police business, Gia knows the only way to clear her name is to find the real killer.  Can she get to the bottom of the puzzling case?  Or will Gia's dead body be the next one stuffed into a dumpster?

I'm not a huge fan of cozy mysteries, but occasionally I stumble across a series that I enjoy.  Katherine over at I Wish I Lived in a Library mentioned Lena Gregory, so I decided to give her All-Day Breakfast Café books a whirl.  Scone Cold Killer, the first installment, introduces Gia and her cozy new hometown of Boggy Creek.  Although the townsfolk are not as colorful as I would have liked, there are some fun and abrasive personalities who should make for entertaining reading throughout the series.  Mystery-wise, the plot is pretty straightforward.  Nothing too surprising or original.  As in most cozies, there's a lot of improbable action going on in Scone Cold Killer, but the willing suspension of disbelief is a requirement going into any book in this genre, so that didn't bother me.  Much.  All in all, I enjoyed this light, fun read.  It's quick, entertaining, and written well enough that I want to continue reading about Gia's adventures.  I've already read the second installment, checked the third out of the library, and bought the first book in Gregory's Bay Island Psychic series, if that tells you anything!

(Readalikes:  Reminds me of other books in the All-Day Breakfast Café series [Murder Made to Order and A Cold Brew Killing] by Lena Gregory as well as of cozy mysteries by Ellie Alexander)

Grade:

If this were a movie, it would be rated:

for brief, mild language (no F-bombs), violence, and scenes of peril

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

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Kinship, Ohio, is a hardscrabble Appalachian town where coal is king.  Despite a recent collapse that killed a number of people, the Bronwyn mine is still functioning under the same unsafe conditions.  Talk of unionizing simmers below Kinship's surface, despite the mine owner's efforts to quash it with Pinkerton muscle.  Trying to keep the peace is Daniel Ross, the town's much-respected sheriff.  When Daniel dies while transporting a prisoner, dissolving his careful control of Kindred, it's like putting a match to a tinderbox.  It's only a matter of time before the place erupts in violence with Pinkertons and unionizers battling for supremacy. 

Until a replacement sheriff can be hired, Daniel's widow—26-year-old Lily Ross—is made his official stand-in.  Her appointment may be a joke to everyone else, but Lily refuses to be anyone's puppet.  Her first act as sheriff is to open an investigation into her husband's death, the details of which have never added up to her.  Another case lands in her lap when Marvena Whitcomb, a moonshiner and secret union organizer, comes to Lily, pleading for help to find her missing teen daughter.  From what Marvena says, it's obvious she and Daniel knew each other well, even cared for one another.  Why has Lily never heard of the woman?  The more the two widows interact, the more clear it becomes—Daniel kept secrets from both of them.  What was he hiding?  Did he know something that got him killed?  Lily won't stop until she finds out the truth, no matter how unsavory it might be.

Inspired by Maude Collins, Ohio's first female sheriff, The Widows is an intriguing, atmospheric tale by Jess Montgomery.  Under the author's assured hand, Kinship comes alive as a place brimming with a unique landscape, history, culture, and people.  Its two heroines—each from a very different walk of life—are formidable women, but also compassionate and brave.  Plotwise, The Widows remains compelling and engrossing throughout.  I thoroughly enjoyed this absorbing novel, the first in a planned series.  I'm already waiting anxiously for the next installment.

(Readalikes:  Reminds me of novels by Julia Keller and Jennifer Haigh)

Grade:

If this were a movie, it would be rated:

for language (no F-bombs), violence, blood/gore, sexual innuendo, and references to prostitution

To the FTC, with love:  I received a finished copy of The Widows from the generous folks at St. Martin's Press in exchange for an honest review.  Thank you!