BEFORE YOU WERE ANNE

5 stars out of 5

Apparently this is the second book in a series and I missed the first, but I’ll say to any other potential readers in the same boat not to jump ship. There were a few things I think I’d have understood better had I started at the beginning – true of just about any series, IMHO – but this follow-up stands alone just fine. Most important, though, is that I really enjoyed reading it.

Japanese-American Chelsey Calhoun is a homicide detective, and she lands in the middle of a case in which a Japanese woman named Ann Walker has been murdered; her 16-year-old daughter, Naomi, is missing, with clues strongly suggesting it wasn’t by her choice. The case triggers unpleasant memories of Chelsey’s own sister’s disappearance (dealt with in the first book, or so I read somewhere). She’s married to a great guy named Noah and is pregnant with their first child, a girl, which she hasn’t yet revealed to anyone else including her partner Montoya.

It doesn’t take long for the investigative team to learn that Anne isn’t really Anne; instead, she’s Rika Takayashi, who ran away from her native Tokyo years ago, apparently while pregnant with her daughter – seemingly to escape an abusive relationship. For a time, she stayed with a friend in Seattle, but after she changed her name, she managed to settle into a new life with Naomi (her name was not changed). Now, though, Naomi is asking questions Rika doesn’t want to answer, like who her father is. Unbeknownst to her mother, she sets out to find him – not realizing what the consequences might be.

The story highlights Naomi’s search for her father as well as what Rika went through to get where she is and, of course, Chelsey’s investigation into her murder. Details I cannot provide without spoiling it for others, but rest assured there are several twists, turns and surprises along the way to an ending that is, for the most part, satisfying.

All told, it’s a book well worth reading, and I thank the publisher, via NetGalley, for allowing me to tag along by way of a pre-release copy. Well done!

Before You Were Anne by Emiko Jean (Simon & Schuster, September 2026); 320 pp.

BARK HUMBUG

5 stars out of 5

I admit to being a cat person. Those other four-legged critters who bark don’t interest me in the least; I consider them like grandkids – best handed back to their owners after half an hour or so. That said, there’s something about books with dogs in them that’s simply irresistible. And this series, while really focusing on a semi-retired attorney who inevitably gets drawn back into the courtroom, is a great example of the power of the pooch.

This time out, it starts with a devious newspaper photographer, who gets dog lover, advocate and shelter owner Andy Carpenter’s attention by a way of a trick request to join a Christmas celebrity doggie feature. Andy of course takes the bait, only to learn that what she wants is him to represent her brother Jon Lowery, who’s nowhere to be found but wanted for murdering the town mayor and his associate. Andy still swears up and down he’s retired (but after this many books, methinks that he protests too much). After he learns Jon is willing to talk to him with no strings attached, Andy at least agrees to hear him out (made even easier when he finds out Jon has a dog adopted from Andy’s Tara Foundation, named for his own golden retriever).

A meet-up is quietly arranged, but when Andy and his wife Laurie Collins get to the agreed-upon place to meet, they’re accosted by state cops with really big guns. Suddenly, the situation changes – sans any kind of meet-and-greet, Andy really has no choice but to say he’s Jon’s attorney. For Andy, that’s a first; never in his career has he taken on a client with whom he’s never even spoken. All Andy knows is that Jon is a computer science expert (with a degree from Rutgers, near Paterson, New Jersey, where Andy lives and works), and, most notably, he’s an ex-Marine and accomplished sniper.

From that point on, it’s a matter of gathering the investigative team together – and that includes Laurie, an ex-cop – who will collect information Andy needs to defend Jon in the courtroom. The team also includes the usual cast of characters loyal readers have come to know and love. Perhaps the best part for me, though, is that books in this series are serious, but guaranteed to elicit a chuckle (make that quite a few, plus an outright guffaw or two). Sharing any details would spoil things for others, but I will say there’s a surprise ending that’s a doozy.

All told, it’s another totally enjoyable adventure from start to finish, and I heartily thank the publisher, via NetGalley, for the opportunity to read and review it. Since it’s got a holiday slant, it would make a great gift for someone who loves to read while sitting before a cozy fire with a pooch at their feet. Go! Fetch!

Bark Humbug by David Rosenfelt (Minotaur Books, October 2026); 320 pp.

THE DYING LIGHT

4 stars out of 5

There’s no shortage of murder and mayhem in this, the fourth book in the Detective Matthew Venn series, but it touches on the personal as Venn’s husband, Jonathan, is more determined than ever to find his birth mother (he was adopted as a child) and Venn, who turned his back on a religious cult-like childhood to the dismay of his family, finds himself in the middle of a case involving the deaths of teenagers.

As a police detective in North Devon, Matthew is called to an elite residential area and the home of doctor and politician Paul Armstrong and his wife Cath. There, Armstrong’s daughter’s friend Lottie has been found dead in the private swimming pool – and the daughter, Hannah, is missing. An accident? Perhaps, except Lottie was an Olympic swimmer wannabe.

Also involved is farm property not far away, where a concert-like event called “Millsfest” just took place – and that could be the last time Lottie and Hannah were seen together. Also a mystery is that the farm boasts a few remote “glamping” cabins that can be rented; one was by a retired reporter and his wife, with the former reportedly planning a book about Dr. Armstrong. Mysteriously, the couple disappears – and it’s learned that their own daughter, Elizabeth, used to know Hannah and Lottie. Coincidence? Well, when you’re a detective, there’s no such thing.

And so it goes, with Matthew’s investigation – and Jonathan’s search for his birth mother – continues to the end (with a twist that no doubt will carry forward to the next installment, which I hope will come soon). Meantime, I thank the publisher, via NetGalley, for the opportunity to once again find out what one of my favorite detectives has been up to.

The Dying Light by Ann Cleeves (Minotaur Books, September 2026); 384 pp.

THE FRENCH ILLUSION

5 stars out of 5

Well, this is a bit of an unusual situation – I’m not sure whether I’m happier to have read and finished this intriguing, edge-of-seat story or the expectation that there’s another one (or two, or three or more) in the making? The latter isn’t a certainty, but since it’s billed as “The French Illusion #1,” logic tells me a #2 will follow.

Anyway, it took a while for them to show up, but I already love leading man Stuart Nash and his “future wife,” Rae-Claire Russo – even though, contrary to almost every other book I’ve read by this author, there’s no courtroom action. Nash is an ex-military man and an assistant U.S. attorney in North Carolina, though, and the soon-to-be dynamic duo “accidentally” meet each other at a cybercrime seminar in Washington, D.C.

Behind the scenes – at least the public ones – Paul and Chelsea Tanner head for Paris for their honeymoon. It’s a dream come true, till it turns into a nightmare for the couple and both sets of parents when they go missing – and said parents get ransom calls from what appears to be a network of criminals asking for millions. The money isn’t a huge issue for Chelsea’s parents – dad is an orthopedic surgeon who is financially savvy – but it’s beyond hope for Paul’s less financially well-off mother and father. And of course, all are warned not to tell anyone what’s going on, especially law enforcement.

As the story progresses, readers see what’s happening from the points of view of both the parents and the victims – and, down the road a bit, of the FBI and CIA, which agree to hold hands for once in an effort to shut down what appears to be a long-running and highly successful operation. Enter Nash and Russo (nope, not gonna explain how that came to pass), and from that point on, the action never stops – and neither did my reading about it.

All told, it’s edge-of-seat exciting, and I hope we’ll be seeing this pair again. Many thanks to the publisher, via NetGalley, for the opportunity to read and review this one!

The French Illusion by John Grisham (Doubleday, September 2026); 352 pp.