A luxury retirement home in Kent, Coopers Chase offers endless amenities to its residents.  Besides enjoying the lush, pastoral grounds, you can swim in the pool, read in the library, Zumba in the gym, and solve murders in the Jigsaw Room.  While the Thursday Murder Club isn't exactly the kind of thing Coopers Chase advertises in its glossy brochures, it's an entertaining diversion that helps four septuagenarians wile away empty hours while keeping their minds sharp.  

The club's focus has always been cold cases, but when a local land developer is killed, they jump at the chance to involve themselves in a real, live murder investigation.  After some top secret finagling, the club members manage to snag themselves a police liaison in the form of a young constable named Donna De Freitas.  Before she knows what's happening, the bewildered policewoman is a full-fledged member of the club, swapping clues and theories with her new Thursday Murder Club BFF's.  Together, they have to ask some tough questions—Why was Tony Curran murdered?  What was meant by the photo left next to the corpse, which features the son of one of the club members?  Will the killer strike again?—and together, they just might solve a puzzling murder.

A debut novel and the first in a planned series, The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman is just as charming as it sounds.  It's a fun read, with plenty of humor to keep it entertaining, although it also has some poignant moments.  The characters are colorful, creating an appealing cast.  Although The Thursday Murder Club isn't exactly a serious murder mystery, it's still twistier than I expected it to be.  I really thought I had the killer pegged, only to find out I was wrong.  A surprise ending (as long as it's also a logical one) is my favorite kind when it comes to mystery/thrillers.  While the novel does get chatty, making it a bit slow in places, I still very much enjoyed this engaging romp.  Needless to say, I'm looking forward to the next installment in this delightful new series.

(Readalikes:  Reminds me of The Postscript Murders by Elly Griffiths)

To the FTC, with love:  Another library fine find

Returning to his Tasmanian hometown is never easy for 30-year-old Kieran Elliott.  He still gets the stink eye from Evelyn Bay locals, who blame him for the drowning deaths of two men—one of whom was his older brother, Finn—twelve years ago.  It's only fair since Kieran also blames himself for the accident that stole his idol, rocked his small town, and created a barrier of sorrow and guilt between him and his parents that has never gone away.  Kieran's reluctant to go back, but his father's dementia is worsening, necessitating a move to a nursing home, which means his mother needs help packing.  She also wants to spend time with her only grandchild, Kieran's infant daughter, Audrey. 

Kieran hasn't been in town long when a body washes up on shore.  The dead woman is Bronte Laidler, an art student from Canberra in town for the summer.  Although she drowned, there are some distressing signs that show Bronte's death might not have been an accident.  What really happened to Bronte?  Are the police correct in their suspicions that Kieran's father might have had something to do with her death?  Is this newest drowning connected to the events 12 years ago that turned Kieran into the town pariah?  The more questions he asks, the more Kieran is sure that the secrets of the past are the key to figuring out what—or who—caused Bronte's death.

(Readalikes:  Reminds me of Harper's other novels)

When her documentary becomes instrumental in freeing a man she feels was wrongfully convicted of murder, filmmaker Tessa Shepherd is thrilled.  She spent countless hours interviewing Oliver Barlow, even coming to think of him as a friend.  Tessa believes—beyond a shadow of a doubt—that he's innocent, a victim of bungled policework.  After fourteen years in prison, Oliver Barlow can finally return to his wife and kids.  And he has Tessa to thank.

Eighteen months later, Tessa is shocked when Oliver posts a video online.  In it, he confesses that he has kidnapped a young woman and plans to kill her.  It's not long before a stunned Tessa is being vilified by the outraged public, all of them wondering how she could have been hoodwinked by a monster like Oliver.  When he mentions her name in a subsequent video, Tessa feels not just trapped but also hunted.  After the will of her recently deceased mother reveals that Tessa and her sister have inherited an old family home they didn't know existed, she decides to hide at Fallbrook.  The crumbling mansion is the site of an old, mysterious tragedy.  Now, it's inhabited only by ghosts.  Its elderly caretakers know what really happened there, but they're not talking.  Tessa is determined to unearth Fallbrook's secrets, no matter what it takes.  What went on in the isolated home?  What are the caretakers hiding?  Tessa has always been adept at reading people, but she was oh so very wrong about Oliver ...

As you can tell from the plot summary, there's a lot going on in The Caretakers by Eliza Maxwell.  I went into the book thinking it would be an intriguing family drama with a little mystery thrown in along with a lot of creepy Gothic atmosphere.  So, I was a bit confused when the story seemed to center more on Tessa's investigation of Oliver Barlow.  Frankly, I cared little about anything happening in her present; my interest was in Fallbrook.  Unfortunately, Maxwell just couldn't seem to decide whether she was writing a cat-and-mouse mystery/thriller or a spooky drama/ghost story.  The mash-up didn't work for me.  The Caretakers ended up feeling unfocused, melodramatic, and weirdly paced.  I still whipped through the novel in a day because I wanted to see what would happen next, but overall, the tale felt dissatisfying to me.  This was one of my most highly anticipated novels of 2021, so I'm bummed.

(Readalikes:  The Gothic-y bits remind me of novels by Carol Goodman and Emily Carpenter)

To the FTC, with love:  I received an e-ARC of The Caretakers from the generous folks at Lake Union Publishing via those at NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.  Thank you!

I'm rubbish when it comes to the really creative Top Ten Tuesday prompts, so today's is just impossible for me: Top Ten Book Titles That Sound Like Crayola Crayon Colors.  Seriously, I got nothin'.  The idea of color did get the cogs in my brain turning, though.  Since I did a list of specific colors found in book titles not too long ago, I decided to look at titles with the word "color" in them.  I found quite a few, which I'll talk about in a sec.

Before we do that, though, take a minute to click on over to That Artsy Reader Girl.  Jana has all the deets on how to participate in TTT.  It's a fun weekly event (even when the topic du jour is a toughie)—don't miss out!

Top Ten Books With "Color" in Their Titles  

1.  The Color Purple by Alice Walker—Not surprisingly, this is the first book that came to my mind.  It's been ages since I read this one, so I don't remember much about it except that it deals with two Black sisters in Georgia who stay connected through letters.  I recall it being a tough read with heavy subject matter (domestic and sexual abuse).

2.  Color Me Beautiful: Discover Your Natural Beauty Through the Colors That Make You Look Great and Feel Fabulous by Carole Jackson—I remember devouring this book as a kid, convinced that I'd look like a supermodel if I just found the right colors to make my drab brown hair and eyes come alive through the magic of colorful clothes!  If you've ever had your colors done to determine which "season" you are, you'll know what I'm talking about.  Oh, the '80s!

I haven't read any of these, but they all sound interesting to me:

3.  The Color of Lightning by Paulette Jiles—This historical novel takes place during the American Civil War and features a former slave who heads out West hoping to find freedom and safety for his family.  When a violent raid steals away everything he loves, he vows to get it back no matter the cost.

4.  True Colors by Kristin Hannah—I'm a big Hannah fan, so I'm down for this novel which revolves around three sisters and the shocking crime that rocks their world, revealing all their secrets along the way.

5.  The Color of Water: A Black Man's Tribute to His White Mother by James McBride—When he was a child, McBride found his "light-skinned" mother embarrassing with her fiery, demanding ways and confusing in her evasiveness about her past.  It was only as an adult that he began to look into her background, which yielded shocking revelations about an enigmatic woman with a fascinating story.

6.  Color Me Dark by Patricia C. McKissack—I've talked about my love for the Dear America series before, I'm sure.  They're middle-grade books that bring historical events to life through the fictionalized diaries of young girls.  I've read a number of them as well as a few hist-fic titles by McKissack, but I'd never heard of this one until today.  Set in 1919, it's about the migration of Black people out of the American South to escape racism. 

7.  The Color of Bee Larkham's Murder by Sarah J. Harris—Intriguing title, no?  This one concerns a 13-year-old boy with synesthesia who's desperate to find out who killed his beloved neighbor.

8.  The Colors of the Rain by R.L. Toalson—I love historical middle-grade novels, so I'm surprised this one has never come across my radar before.  Written in verse, the book is about the tension and violence surrounding desegregation that took place in Houston, Texas, in 1972.

9.  Color Me Murder by Krista Davis—This series opener introduces Florrie Fox, a bookstore manager and adult coloring book creator, who becomes an amateur sleuth when she finds a dead body hidden in her shop.

10.  The Color of Water in July by Nora Carroll—Books about people inheriting family homes full of secrets always appeal to me.  This one is about a woman who returns to her ancestral cottage in Michigan, where she discovers letters and photos that reveal hidden secrets.

There you have it, ten "colorful" books that I've either read or want to read.  Have you read any of them?  Can you think of any others that fit the prompt?  Were you creative enough to come up with any Crayola color titles?  I'd truly love to know.  Leave me a comment on this post and I will gladly return the favor on your blog.