My December 2024 Reading

Somehow in a busy December, I read 12 adult books, four children’s or YA books (two of which were rereads), plus listened to three audio books (all crime fiction) driving back and forth to various places.  A few of these were intended as Christmas presents so I was trying to vet them first!  Overall, it was an outstanding reading year (see my Best of 2024 list).

Historical Fiction

The Divorcées by Rowan Beaird (2024).  A very noir historical novel set in 1950s Reno at a ranch where wealthy young women seeking a quick divorce come to establish residency. Lois doesn't fit in here, just as she has never fit in anywhere - at school in a Chicago suburb, as a young wife, or now, as someone on the brink between an old life and a new, unknown one. Then, Greer arrives, beautiful and charismatic, with a bruise on her face these women assume was inflicted by an angry husband.

Greer chooses Lois to be her friend and challenges her to be bold; this helps Lois become an accepted part of the household. Most of the women are exchanging one unsatisfactory husband for another, as was the case in Remember Today by Elswyth Thane, which also begins in Reno, but Lois needs a plan for the future. I didn’t like the characters in this book but found the setting and story unusual and compelling enough to keep reading.  Thanks to my sister's friend Annie for this recommendation.

On a Wing and a Prayer by Helen Carey (2016). It’s 1941 in the third Lavender Road book, and this one focuses on a close-knit group of women, particularly Lady Helen de Burrel who has been working on the deployment of agents to German-occupied France. When Britain’s espionage network in France is breached, it is up to Helen to make a dangerous trip to the French countryside with a secret letter from Winston Churchill.  This was one of my top ten this year but probably works best if you start at the beginning of the series.

The Colony Club by Shelley Noble (2024). Daisy Harriman, a member of the Gilded Age society in New York, realizes (affluent) women need a clubhouse just the same as the husbands who spend time at the Union and Knickerbocker clubs. She organizes the funds and hires soon-to-be notorious architect Stanford White to design it. A young woman named Nora Bromley, trying to establish herself as an architect in an almost completely male industry, get assigned to a project that really began in 1902. My review.

Hardacre by C.L. Skelton (1976). Sam Hardacre, starting with nothing more than a sharp knife to gut fish, builds an empire in late 19th century Yorkshire. The story of how his family copes with their new affluence and how appalled the landed gentry is to have these interlopers move in is entertaining. There’s a new miniseries which I hope will reach the US.   My review.

Mystery/Suspense

Mastering the Art of French Murder by Colleen Cambridge (2023)(audio). Cambridge has imagined a mystery series set in post-WWII Paris in which Julia Child is a character. I was skeptical going in but wound up enjoying the depiction of the famous chef. Narrator Polly Lee did a great job capturing Child’s buoyant, breathless style. My review.

Elephants Can Remember by Agatha Christie (1972). Hercule Poirot and author Ariadne Oliver try to help a young woman worried she might have committed a murder. Her situation is linked to the mysterious double-death of her parents nearly fifteen years earlier. My review for Read Christie 2024.

The Scarecrow by Michael Connelly (2009)(audio). Reporter Jack McEvoy is being laid off from his newspaper job but he wants to go out with a big story. When he starts training his replacement, Angela Cook, they investigate the murder of a stripper. Soon, the killer is pursuing the reporters! Jack might be able to get his job back – if he can stay alive long enough!

The Night We Lost Him by Laura Dave (2024)(audio). When Nora’s brother tells her he thinks their father’s death was not a simple fall, she is unwilling to encourage what she thinks is merely denial. But once they visit the cliffside cottage in California where he died, Nora surprises herself by becoming committed to the investigation. My review.

The Soul of Discretion by Susan Hill (2014). In the 8th book about Simon Serrailler, he is asked to go undercover to investigate a pedophile ring. The descriptions of those involved were hard to read. This is my least favorite of her books, although it was certainly compelling. Be careful looking up the correct order of this series or, like me, you might see a major spoiler!

A Fatal Flaw by Faith Martin (2019). I thought this was the first book in a series and it turned out to be the third, involving the murder of a beauty pageant contestant with a 1960s Oxford setting. Trudy Loveday is a new police constable working with the local coroner, Clement Ryder, and goes undercover at the beauty pageant which seems quite silly, like that Sandra Bullock movie, Miss Congeniality.  

The Snowdonia Killings by Simon McCleave (2020).  Like the one above, I bought this for my sister but decided it was too bad to give her! The main character is Detective Inspector Ruth Hunter who has moved from London to North Wales for a fresh start, only to be welcomed by the murder of a local teacher on her first day. Don’t you hate when this happens? Ruth is still grieving for the partner who disappeared several years ago and was never seen again but she manages to take control of the investigation. Ruth’s detective sergeant, Nick Evans, is addicted to alcohol and painkillers, and should be on medical leave. There were lots of references to the Welsh countryside and legends but should have been interesting but were poorly integrated with the plot.

The Night Woods by Paula Munier (2024). Mercy is pregnant and bored so, naturally, she and her dog, Elvis, are drawn into the investigation of another murder. A blizzard, dangerous car rides, and a wild boar on the loose are just a few of the distractions before Mercy goes into labor. I like this series but the first book was the best; sometimes it verges on slapstick.

The Astonishing Adventure of Jane Smith by Patricia Wentworth (1923). Renata Malloy is in danger after overhearing details of a conspiracy. Luckily, her identical cousin Patty Duke (I mean, Jane Smith) is unemployed and is very curious so substitutes for Renata to find out what these criminals are up to.  My review for Dean Street December. 

Fiction

Mrs. Lorimer’s Quiet Summer by Molly Clavering (1953). Mrs. Lorimer is fond of her adult children but when they all come to visit at once, including spouses, children, and nannies, she has her hands full trying to keep everyone happy. Her summer becomes far from quiet although the crises are mostly tempests in a teapot. My review for Dean Street December. 

YA and Children’s

The Magic of Oz by L. Frank Baum (2019). Dorothy, the Wizard of Oz, Trot and Cap’n Bill are trying to find a birthday present for Ozma when they cross paths with a rebellious Munchkin boy, Kiki Aru, and our old enemy, Ruggedo, the former Nome King. What makes this book memorable is the Magic Flower, which never stops blooming and would make the perfect birthday gift for our dainty ruler. My review for Ozathon 2024. 

Frindle (1996) and The Frindle Files (2024) by Andrew Clements, illustrated by Brian Selznick.

When troublemaker Nick learns some interesting information about how words are created, he's gets the inspiration for his best plan ever...the frindle. Who says a pen has to be called a pen? Why not call it a frindle? Driving his teacher crazy, turning the town upside down, Nick has a fifth grade year like no other.

The Frindle Files is set a generation later, and Josh Willet is a computer-loving kid being taught by a teacher who insists his students write everything out in paper. When Josh discovers a secret about his teacher, he learns how to use words carefully.

Frindle sold over 10 million copies and has been translated into 13 languages. Before Clements passed away in 2019, he had nearly finished the sequel; a freelance editor used his notes to complete the manuscript. Brian Selznick had illustrated Frindle and, although he is now famous as the 2008 Caldecott-winning author/illustrator of The Invention of Hugo Cabret, he agreed to do the cover art for The Frindle Files. It was an article in Publishers Weekly that caught my interest and made me decided to reread Frindle and read The Frindle Files.

The Bletchley Riddle by Ruta Sepetys and Steve Sheinkin (2024). In this historical novel for preteens, two siblings at Bletchley Park during WWII, realize their mother’s mysterious death is somehow involved in the allies’ codebreaking mission. My review.

Romance

Under Your Spell by Laura Wood (2024). As the daughter of a philandering rock star, Clementine has no desire to get involved with a musician. But when she gets dumped and has no place to go, she winds up with a six-week assignment of helping famous and good-looking Theo Elliott get his next album done on time. Results are predictable but entertaining, although I wish Wood would stick to YA fiction like A Snowfall of Silver and A Single Thread of Moonlight.

Have you read any of these?