Book 12 The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle

 

The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle by Stuart Turton fulfilled the category “Book Featuring a Party” for the PopSugar 2022 Reading Challenge.

Big surprise, I read two titles, again.

I read The Guest List by Lucy Foley. This mystery featured a wedding. I wasn’t sure if that still worked for the prompt, so I read The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle. Like last week, I was gifted with two amazing books that fit the prompt and were thoroughly enjoyable to read.

I’m a huge Agatha Christie fan. I’ve read everything by her except those four novels. (They are big, and I’m super busy.) Both of the titles I read hint at the British cozy as penned by Christie, with a twist. I love a good twist.

The Guest List features a destination wedding with a pile of guests all on a weird little island. Like 7 1/2 Deaths, we get to view the mystery through various characters’ eyes. We get hints, partial truths, and intrigue by the score. I will absolutely not spoil the ending, but I was not expecting that! I never knew where to look. The story kept me on my toes and fed into my anglophile nature.

But the other title.

Oh. My. God.

I think I’ve mentioned before that Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn is one of my favorite books for its twists and turns and evil, evil plot. The 7 1/2  Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle puts Gone Girl to shame. You need a seatbelt and a hard hat for this book.

The mystery begins with the main character lost in the woods, where he calls out the name “Anna” and sees a woman being chased. He’s confused, with no memory of how he got there. He stumbles from the woods, with some help from a mysterious stranger to a giant manor house called Blackheath. The man learns his name is Sebastian Bell, but nothing about himself feels right. He goes through the day, learning about himself, the house, and the guests. He also learns he must stop the murder of the host’s daughter, Evelyn.

But the next day he wakes, he’s not Bell, but the butler! Each day, our hero changes bodies and relives the same day over eight times, trying to piece together who he is, who the mysterious Anna is, and who killed Evelyn.

I never read a story with so many fantastic turns in the plot. Each day, our hero learns things but also has a different personality. Sometimes he jumps between characters and thoroughly confuses the reader. It’s wonderful. I haven’t had this much fun with a mystery since The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin, which I read when I was ten. (Oh, and of course, And Then There Were None and Murder on the Orient Express.) I cannot recommend this book high enough.

I give The Guest List by Lucy Foley Five Shots of Whiskey.

I give The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle by Stuart Turton Five Chess Pieces.

 

Book 11 Project Hail Mary

 

Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir fulfills the category “Book that Features Two Languages” for the PopSugar 2022 Reading Challenge. I also read The Apollo Murders by Chris Hadfield.

SPOILER ALERT

If you have not read Project Hail Mary, do not read this blog. I’m going to spill all the goods. Come back once you’ve finished the book.

As usual, I read two novels for the prompt. It was even worse this time, though. I read two space books, and the same person narrated both. Yeah, what was I thinking? I distanced them a bit and decided both are worthy of the blog. Let’s talk about The Apollo Murders first.

This book was written by Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield. Maybe you’ve heard of him. He’s the one who used to sing on the international space station. Space Oddity, anyone? His book is about a 1973 Apollo18 mission (which didn’t exist). He uses a mix of actual history and fiction. In the novel, a mission commander is killed in a helicopter accident before launch, causing a load of problems.

So the two-language prompt… The second language is Russian. The Apollo astronauts try to sabotage a Russian observatory satellite, but they don’t know that it’s manned. Suddenly, they have a Russian passenger on their spaceship and are forced to take her (yes, a woman) to the moon. Now we have a possible murder, a Russian and another astronaut on one ship—interesting and intriguing. The female cosmonaut was an amazing character. It was a great book with a unique twist on language and communication.

But Project Hail Mary…

Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir starts with a catastrophic event in space. Microscopic organisms are eating our sun. Mankind has to stop these astrophages. The science in the story is fantastic. The language part doesn’t come in until the end after they’ve launched the ship, Hail Mary, into space. One other star nearby is not experiencing the same dimming issue. That’s the Hail Mary’s destination. Our hero, Ryland Grace, ends up alone in the Tal Ceti system because his crewmates didn’t survive the trip. Once in orbit around Tal Ceti, Grace finds another ship! It’s an alien!

Here’s where the second language comes in. The alien race, the Eridians, has a musical language. It’s amazing! A completely different life form and they use music to talk. I’m a big music fan so this was thrilling for me. The book was compelling, science-y, and funny. And I totally cried twice. Andy Weir is a brilliant writer.

That’s the spoiler. There are aliens.

Both books were great for the prompt. They are page-turners, for sure. The reader did an amazing job, especially with Project Hail Mary, where he sounded like John Goodman in space. I highly recommend both novels, especially if you love space stories.

I give The Apollo Murders Five Special Rocks (hint hint).

I give Project Hail Mary Five Nobel Gas Alloys (if you read it, you get it).

 

 

Book 10 Shamrocks Are a Girl’s Best Friend

 

Shamrocks are Girls Best Friend by Lucinda Race fulfilled the prompt “Book Published in 2021” for the PopSugar 2021 Reading Challenge.

I have a special treat. Shamrocks is a St Patrick’s Day book, and today is St Patrick’s Day. I refused to wait for tomorrow and have you miss this great story. It was released on Monday. I buckled down and did some serious reading. I wanted to share this new book by one of my favorite authors in a timely fashion. Hence a Thursday blog.
Shamrocks Are a Girl’s Best Friend is a strangers to friends to lovers trope. It’s a sweet look at a couple of Irish Americans on a magical island. Both are learning to heal their hearts and bodies. Smokejumper Tric (short for Patrick and an appropriate nickname for this jokester) comes to Last Chance Beach to recover from an accident in Alaska wildfire. He ends up in the same cottage as Kelly O’Malley, who lives at her uncle’s rental because her house burned down.

Ironic? Not really.

These characters had sparks from the beginning. This is what I like about romance books like Ms. Race’s. I saw the connection immediately between the two. No messing around with long-drawn-out “will they or won’t they?” storylines. Not to mention the hesitancy of two people who are friends but are scared to move to the next level.

The other thing I liked about this novel, even though it was short, was how the big conflict loomed over the entire story. The sparks absolutely flew between them, but also the truth about his job. They wanted to be together, but eventually, he planned to go back to Alaska to jump into wildfires again. Could he give it all up for her? Could she give up everything to be with a man who left her for six months at a time? And don’t forget how dangerous his job is. Oh, and let’s not forget they just met. The novella compacted the conflict so well in such a short time.

I won’t spoil, but we always have happy endings in romance books so…

Let me throw in a note about the setting. It being March here in Upstate NY, with all the cold and snow, it was lovely to read a beach book. And not just any beach. Last Chance Beach has a magical quality about it. Ms. Race didn’t go overboard with that idea, merely left us some hints along the way. There’s something wonderful about sunset on the ocean. Ms. Race captured it perfectly.
I give Shamrocks Are a Girl’s Best Friend by Lucinda Race Five Giant Green Shamrocks for St Patty’s Day and a beautiful friends-to-lover story.