The Mystic and the Missing Girl - Mystery Review

Goodreads: The Mystic and the Missing Girl by Vikki VanSickle

Rating: Liked It! (3.5 Stars)
Source: Publisher

Description: Drew Benson has a secret. She gets visions, something she hasn’t tapped into since she was a teenager, when her late aunt, a TV psychic known as Hannah Mystic, became the scapegoat in the unsolved disappearance of a local teenager. Twenty years later, Drew is happy to ignore her gift, focusing instead on keeping the metaphysical shop she inherited from Hannah afloat, wrangling her sole, astrology-obsessed employee, and dodging local rake Foster Banks in her picturesque lakeside hometown.

But when Drew's arch-nemesis from high school, now a big city reporter, decides to investigate the cold case from all those years ago, it’s Drew’s ability that could finally make a break in the decades old mystery. With bills piling up, a disapproving mother laying on the guilt, and a local vandal who wants Drew and her witchy store gone, Drew has a lot to lose. But what she stands to gain—finding out what happened to the missing teen, clearing her aunt’s name, and a second chance at belonging—could change everything.

Genre: Mystery

Why I Picked This Book: The blurb really caught my attention!  It sounded like an interesting read.

My Impression:  This was a fun mystery and an interesting start to what I hope is a series.  Drew has inherited her aunt Hannah's shop and a whole host of problems regarding a cold case that destroyed Hannah's reputation.  Drew is trying to figure out how to keep things going but is hesitant to really commit to her new life.  

The start is a bit slow.  There's a lot of backstory to explain with the characters, Drew's relationship with Hannah, Hannah's downfall, the shop, and the community itself.  However, once the current day story starts going I really enjoyed it and couldn't wait to see how everything unraveled.  I loved the side characters, especially Foster and Drew's best friend Gigi.  They added a lot of humor to the book and having Drew team up with an investigative reporter, Nick also really worked well. 

The mystery was interesting and I really enjoyed how they explored new leads while examining what the original investigation had dug up or left out.  The ending was well down and entertaining.  I liked how it wrapped up the story and added character growth to Hannah.  I'm hoping this becomes a series because this is a world I'd really like to revisit.  

Would I Read More of this Series/Author? I would!  I ended up really enjoying this one and am looking forward to reading more.

Would I Recommend this Book?  If you like mysteries this is a fun read though I would recommend being patient with the begining.

* I received this book in exchange for an honest review. As always my opinions and impressions are completely my own. *

This Month in Reading - August 2026

Monthly Reading Total: 18 - This was a pretty good month.  I had a few slower reads but for the most part I really enjoyed everything I read.  

Type:

Print - 8

Ebook - 6 

Audio - 4

Genre:

Mystery - 7 

Fiction - 7

Nonfiction - 1

Romance - 3 

Favorite Books of the Month:

Death at a Scottish Halloween by Lucy Connelly - I love this series and this was a fun one!

The Valentine Cipher by Anna Elliott and Charles Veley - This series is one of the reasons I renewed my Audible subscription.  I love the characters and really enjoy the mystery solving.

Rereads: By the Pricking of My Thumbs by Agatha Christie and Flowers in the Rain and Other Stories by Rosamunde Pilcher

Monthly Armchair Reading: 

Domestic Travel:  This month I headed over to the US Virgin Islands and Arizona for the first time this year.  I also visited Vermont, Oregon, North Carolina, Idaho, and California (twice).

International Travel:  I went to Scotland twice, England three times, Australia, and Greece

How was your reading in August?  Where did your reading take you?

Friday Fives - September TBR

I'm in a list making kind of mood so I thought I'd start making random five lists.  Sometimes they'll be bookish other weeks not so much. Since this is the first Friday in September, I'm planning my September TBR.  Here are 5 books I plan on reading in September. 

1. Murder on the Sacred River by Tasha Alexander - I've really enjoyed this series so far and am looking forward to the latest adventures of Lady Emily.

2.  Have His Carcase by Dorothy L. Sayers - This is the next book in the Lord Peter Wimsey series and the next book on my classics list for this year.

3.  Give Up the Ghost by Juliet Blackwell - This is one of the 10 series I'm working on currently and I've only got a couple of books left in it.  This looks like a good one.

4.  Inherit the Bones by Emily Littlejohn - I've had this book on my TBR since it came out and I think this is the month to pick it up!

5.  A Haunting on the Hill by Elizabeth Hand - I picked this up at an adult bookfair a couple of years ago but never ended up reading it.  Apparently, this is the first novel to return to the world of Hill House with permission from the Shirley Jackson estate so I'm seriously curious!

What are you planning on reading in September?

Books from the Backlog - Don't Let Him In

Today I'm linking up with Carole from Carole's Random Life of Books for Books from the Backlog.  I really enjoy the chance to feature a book that's been hiding in the piles of books for far too long!

Goodreads: Don't Let Him In by Lisa Jewell

Blurb:   Three women are connected by one man in this kaleidoscopic thriller.
He’s the perfect man. It’s a perfect lie.

Nina Swann is intrigued when she received a condolence card from Nick Radcliffe, an old friend of her late husband, who is looking to connect after her husband’s unexpected death. Nick is a man of substance and good taste. He has a smile that could melt the coldest heart and a knack for putting others at ease. But to Nina’s adult daughter, Ash, Nick seems too slick, too polished, too good to be true. Without telling her mother, Ash begins digging into Nick’s past. What she finds is more than unsettling…

Martha is a florist living in a neighboring town with her infant daughter and her devoted husband, Alistair. But lately, Alistair has been traveling more and more frequently for work, disappearing for days at a time. When Martha questions him about his frequent absences, he always has a legitimate explanation, but Martha can’t share the feeling that something isn’t right.

Nina, Martha, and Ash are on a collision course with a shocking truth that is far darker than anyone could have imagined. And all three are about to wish they had heeded the same warning: Don’t let him in. But the past won’t stay buried forever.

Why It Needs to Come Off the Shelf:  I've really enjoyed everything by Jewell and while I've seen some mixed reviews for this one it still looks like it could be an entertaining read.

Top Ten Tuesday - Ten Books with Nationalities in the Title

Today I'm linking up with Top Ten Tuesday hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl which is all about lists.  Since lists are one of my favorite things this is one of my favorite linkups!  Today's topic is Ten Books with Nationalities in the Title.  This was a tough one but I did some digging in my TBR stacks and came up with these ten titles.

1.  An Irish Country Family by Patrick Taylor - I read the first book in this series that reminded me very much of All Creatures Great and Small (very similar vibe) and I want to continue the series.

2.  The American Heiress by Daisy Goodwin - I haven't read this author but this looks interesting.

3.  Miss Morton and the English House Party Murder by Catherine Lloyd - I can't resist the title and this looks like a good mystery.

4.  Murder on the Flying Scotsman by Carola Dunn - I've liked what I've read by this author and this one is on the list.  

5.  Mastering the Art of French Murder by Colleen Cambridge - I haven't loved this author's series connected to Agatha Christie but this one involving Julia Child has also caught my interest.  

6.  The Little Italian Hotel by Phaedra Patrick - I have loved what I've read by this author and this one is high up on my TBR.

7.  The German Wife by Kelly Rimmer - I really liked the most recent book I've read by this author so now this one is on my TBR.

8.  The Japanese Lover by Isabel Allende - This author has been on my TBR for quite some time and this sounds heartbreaking but very good.

9.  The English Masterpiece by Katherine Reay - I have loved what I've read from this author and this one sounds fascinating.

10.  Our Italian Summer by Jennifer Probst - Another Italian title but this is another one that I really want to read.  

What titles with nationalities did you find in your TBR?

Paper Ghosts - Fiction Review

Goodreads: Paper Ghosts by Sarah Addison Allen

Rating: Liked It (3 Stars)
Source: Publisher

Description:  For decades, the women of Wester House have unsettled and fascinated their small, timeless North Carolina town. Their home is full of whispers, old griefs, and uncanny knowing. But when Willamena Wester reaches out to the granddaughter she once pushed away, long-buried truths begin to stir.

1976:

Restless young Willamena falls for a stranded musician who brings freedom and the promise of another life to her carefully controlled world. Their brief, incandescent love story promises to escape the pull of the Wester legacy until Willamena makes a fateful choice that changes her life forever.

Present Day:

Returning home is the last thing Bailey Wester wants. Yet as she reconnects with Willamena, the grandmother she feared, Bailey begins to understand the love, heartbreak, and impossible choices that shaped the women in her family and realizes the past may not have been trying to haunt them after all.

Genre: Fiction 

Why I Picked This Book: I've really enjoyed everything I've read by this author.

My Impression:  I didn't love this one.  I found it incredibly readable and flew through it.  I never had any issue picking this one up and never considered DNFing it.  The characters were well drawn and felt very real as was the community of Hen Town.  Tasha's story was really interesting, and I really would have liked more of it.  

Unfortunately, this was missing the magic I usually associate with this author's books.   The power of the Wester women never felt fully realized though the repercussions are felt throughout the story.  Why the Wester women live the way they do also doesn't fully make sense nor does all the rules around Wester house.  Their lives just feel grim and tightly controlled to make the plot go along. 

I did like the epilogue though again I just wanted more.  I wanted to see more of these characters living lives they deserved versus what they went through in the bulk of the book.  I think when it all comes down to it that kind of sums up my full thoughts on this book.  I liked it but I just wanted more - more story, more development, more explanation, just more.  

Would I Read More of this Series/Author? Definitely.  While this wasn't my favorite I do love the author's writing style and ability to tell a story and I'm looking forward to reading more from her.  

Would I Recommend this Book? I would definitely recommend this author but this book isn't the one I would recommend starting with.

* I received this book in exchange for an honest review. As always my opinions and impressions are completely my own. *

By the Pricking of My Thumbs - Classic Mystery Review

Goodreads: By the Pricking of My Thumbs by Agatha Christie

Rating: Liked It (3 Stars)
Source: Purchased

Description: Tommy and Tuppence Beresford, Agatha Christie’s delightful sleuthing duo, investigate the strange and troubling doings behind the scenes at a gothic British nursing home in By the Pricking of My Thumbs

When Tommy and Tuppence visit an elderly aunt in her gothic nursing home, they think nothing of her mistrust of the doctors; after all, Ada is a very difficult old lady.

But when Mrs. Lockett mentions a poisoned mushroom stew and Mrs. Lancaster talks about "something behind the fireplace," Tommy and Tuppence find themselves caught up in a spine-chilling adventure that could spell death for either of them.

Genre: Mystery - Classic

Why I Picked This Book:  This was the August Read Christie Challenge pick. 

My Impression: I really really want to love this one.  I love this premise.  A chance remark and a gifted painting start Tuppence out on a mission to locate a house.  Then Tuppence being Tuppence ends up falling into a massive situation.  I've seen the focus on residents of nursing homes popping up more and more in modern mysteries which I thoroughly enjoy.  Just because someone is not physically strong or mentally together in present day does not represent how they always were and everyone has a past.  And some of those pasts aren't going to be nice.  

Unfortunately, this story feels disjointed and highly coincidental.  It's one of those that I enjoy pretty well when I'm reading it but reflecting back on it there is very little substance.  Also, I understand that England isn't the biggest country but the number of people from all across the countryside who are linked and know each and every obscure mention is a bit hard to believe.  

This was published in 1968 and is one of Christie's later books.  The Tommy and Tuppence stories aren't her best and this isn't the best Tommy and Tuppence (it's not her worst though -that is reserved for the final Tommy and Tuppence book Postern of Fate).  It's a fun read and I love the idea of it - I just wished the execution lived up to the premise.

Would I Read More of this Series/Author? Of course!  Next month's book is Endless Night which is one I remember enjoying.

Would I Recommend this Book? No not unless you're determined to read all the Christie books.  If you want to read a Tommy and Tuppence book I'd recommend A Secret Adversary.