Murder Your Employer Rupert Holmes. Chosen for a book club, this book has a strange concept that I wasn’t too sure I could get behind. However, the dark humor drew me in and though one hopes that no such place exists (The McMasters Conservatory for the Applied Arts), this turned out to be an enjoyable read filled with puns, unsavory characters, and several opportunities for revenge. Set in the 50’s, the book begins with Cliff, an electrical engineer with a sadistic boss. After the death of two close friends and a potential disaster in the making, Cliff decides he must do away with his now former boss. Unfortunately, he is unskilled in the art of murder and bumbles the job. Fortunately, he is taken in by two policeman who take him to a school where murder and how to get away with it are taught to specially chosen students. (Students who have an ethical reason for needing to delete a member of society who is only causing harm and has no remorse for doing so). This is the first novel by the talented songwriter, Holmes, who is quite famous for the song, “Escape”. (Better known to most of us as the “Pina Colada Song”). 4 stars

The Other Half by Charlotte Vassell. Rupert’s 30^th birthday party is a black-tie dinner at the Kentish Town McDonald’s because Rupert is, well, Rupert. The party flows with champagne and cocaine rather than burgers and fries. His girlfriend, Clemmie, never shows up, but Rupert isn’t overly worried. He plans to break up with her anyway. While out jogging, Detective Caius Beauchamp sees a stiletto heel under a bush. Not surprisingly, the heel is still on a foot. Beauchamp’s investigation takes him into the world of the rich and privileged. It’s only coincidence that his last name is the same as the main suspect, Rupert. They pronounce their last name differently and live in vastly different worlds. An entertaining mystery with quite a few characters to love and to hate. This is to be the first in a series. I look forward to the next one. 4 stars

Fierce Convictions: The Extraordinary Life of Hannah More—Poet, Reformer, Abolitionist  Karen Swallow Prior. The biography of a woman who has been mostly forgotten, though in her day (18^th century) she used her writing to change the opinions and ideas of Britain’s upper classes, especially concerning slavery and education. More was one of five sisters and their father was unusual in that he believed women should be educated and not live in ignorance. Prior does an excellent job in showing how More grew and became involved in society. She spent some of her early days writing plays and socializing in high society. As her faith grew, she became more interested in helping others and using her writing to shape and conform ideas. She became friends with many influential people, including Wilbur Wilberforce and David Garrick. Along with her sisters, she began the first Sunday Schools which were designed to teach poor children to read and write–something many of the upper class found unnecessary and even dangerous. More lived just long enough to see slavery outlawed in England. A fascinating woman who lived a very interesting and complex life. 4 stars

A Shadow in Moscow Katherine Reay. The story of two spies—both women—one MI6’s best Soviet spy and the other a spy for the CIA in Moscow. Ingrid lives in Vienna in 1954 when she loses both of her parents. She meets a Soviet embassy worker and agrees to marry him and follow him to Moscow. Life in the Soviet is not what she expected and she begins to suspect that her husband works for the KGB. After her daughter is born, she decides she has to do something for her daughter’s future and reaches out to the country of her mother’s birth—Britain. She begins passing on intelligence to MI6 and leading a life of lies and secrets. In Washington D.C., 1980, Anya finishes her degree at Georgetown University and prepares to head home to Moscow. She has fallen in love in the U.S. and learned to respect the people there, but believes she must return to her home and leave the young man and his ideals behind. But, it’s not long before she begins to feel the oppression of keeping secrets and not being able to speak her mind. A tragedy makes her decide to reach out to the CIA and offer to pass on Soviet military plans from where she works. Though not based specifically on any two real spies, Reay did her research and used the stories of several spies and real events to bring this story to life. A gripping and heart-breaking story of two brave women who gave their lives for freedom. 4 stars

Norwegian Wood Haruki Murakami. I’ve been meaning to read Murakami for some time and have heard it is best to start with this one. Most of the book takes place in 1969 with the serious college student, Toru, who wrestles with growing up and relationships. He is somewhat in love with a friend from high school, Naoko, but while Toru is learning to adjust to the world, Naoko is not. As Naoko retreats from the world, Toru makes other friends though he still struggles with how to sort through his various relationships. As the title suggests, music plays an important part of Toru’s life. Apparently, this book is different than Murakami’s other books in that it is realistic. No magical realism, talking cats, little people, etc. The book was extremely popular in Japan and Murakami’s fame was launched; much to his dismay. He was so unhappy with his popularity that he and his wife moved to Europe, then to the U.S. for a number of years. I look forward to reading more of Murakami’s work. 4 stars

A Winter in New York Josie Silver; audio hybrid (meaning I partly listened to this on audio). Iris has recently lost her mom and needs to escape a bad relationship, so she leaves England and goes to New York to start over. She knows NY was special for her mom, a place she had lived in when younger, so Iris looks for the landmarks that will remind her of her mom. She finds work in a noodle shop, which hardly test her culinary skills, but it’s a job and she makes a friend and landlord in the owner, Bobby. When Bobby takes her to a street fair in Little Italy, the door of a gelato shop catches her eye. She knows she’s seen that door in a photo of her mom’s. She returns the next day and meets Gio and learns that the shop is in trouble because his uncle, the keeper of their secret gelato recipe, is in a coma. Iris thinks she has the recipe, but how can she tell Gio that her mom had the family’s secret recipe? And why did she have it? As Iris falls in love with both Gio and his family, keeping her many secrets becomes difficult. Will making a full confession put her new relationships in jeopardy? 4 stars

The Twist of a Knife Anthony Horowitz (Hawthorne & Horowitz #4). In this fourth installment of the series, Horowitz tells Hawthorne he is not interested in writing any more books. He has a new play about to open, and all his concentration is on that. On opening night, a well-known (though not well-loved) critic shows up at the cast party and before the night is over, writes a scathing review of the play. When she is found dead the next morning, Anthony is arrested for her murder. Who can he call on but Hawthorne? As with the other books in the series, Horowitz (via Hawthorne) leads us through a slew of suspects who all have motives, yet there are twists and surprises at the end. 5 stars

Dark Matter Blake Crouch. Jason went to a bar to meet a friend and on his way, he is kidnapped. When he wakes up, he is in a different life. He tries to escape, but where can he go? This isn’t his Chicago and the woman he knows as his wife is living quite a different life than the one he remembers. To make matters worse, according to those who are trying to control him, this is all his doing. He is the scientist who discovered how to put yourself in different worlds. But getting back to what he remembers is all that matters. This is a book that makes your head spin. Good action and entertaining plot. 4 stars

A Dangerous Collaboration (Veronica Speedwell #4) Deanna Raybourn. Stoker’s brother, Tiberius bribes Veronica with the promise of an unusual butterfly if she will go with him to Lord Malcolm Romily’s house party. Though Stoker is not invited, he shows up anyway. It doesn’t take long to learn that this is not just a jolly house party. Lord Malcolm’s bride disappeared on their wedding day three years ago, and Lord Malcolm wants everyone’s help in discovering what happened to her. Did she leave on her own? Or did she meet with a fatal ‘accident’? Interesting characters (who all seem to have a motive to want Rosamund dead) and a spooky atmosphere, along with the ever heating up of Veronica and Stoker’s relationship made this a fun, entertaining read. 4 stars