Six Degrees of Separation― from The Safekeep to The Woman in the Library

It’s time for #6degrees, inspired by Kate at Books Are My Favourite and Best. We all start at the same place as other readers, add six books, and see where it ends up. This month’s starting point is The Safekeep by Yael van der Wouden, which is described as a twisted tale of desire, suspicion, and obsession between two women staying in the same house in the Dutch countryside.

February 2025 Reading

Although February is a short month, there were some outstanding reads, especially The King’s Messenger, Slow Bomb at Dimperley, and The Spy Coast - links to those reviews are below.

Historical Fiction

Slow Bomb at Dimperley by Lissa Evans (2024). A soldier returning to his ancestral home after WWII finds new responsibilities and little in the way of practical help from his family as he copes with death duties and ennui in this amusing story. My review.

My December 2024 Reading

Somehow in a busy December, I read 12 adult books and 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).

Favorite Reads of 2024

Wishing you a Happy New Year and many good books in 2025! I read nearly 200 books in 2024 and quite a few were so compelling I kept recommending them to others or thinking about them myself. These are my top ten:

My October 2024 Reading

My favorite books this month were Northern Spy, a thriller about an innocent young woman, dragged into an IRA conspiracy, and Abigail, an unusual boarding school story with a distant background of WWII intrigue. Abigail was one of several books I enjoyed for the 1970 Club.

Suspense

The Unwedding by Ally Condie (2024) (audio). Ellery Wainwright is despondent after her husband demands a divorce so her best friend persuades her to go on what was supposed to be an anniversary trip to Big Sur - and was already paid for (otherwise the ex and his new girlfriend would go and that would be even worse!).

My September 2024 Reading

A few books stood out this month, including Radio Girls, about the early days at the BBC, and The Trap, the newest book about Emma Makepeace. I also enjoyed The Night in Question by Susan Fletcher, which follows what seems like a recent trend in senior citizen sleuths but features an appealing heroine who is both vulnerable and resilient. I couldn’t decide if I liked or disliked The Second Lady by Irving Wallace but I couldn’t stop reading! There were also some disappointments.

My July 2024 Reading

My two favorite books this month were Mrs. Plansky's Revenge by Spencer Quinn and Small Mercies by Dennis Lehane - one light-hearted and amusing and the other dark and compelling - both memorable.  

Mystery/Suspense

The Risk of Darkness by Susan Hill (2006). I really liked the first two Simon Serrallier books I read in June so read three more in July – compelling police procedurals set in a small cathedral town with a lot about Simon’s family as part of the plot, which adds to their appeal, in my opinion.

My June 2024 Reading

June found me starting an absorbing new-to-me series by Susan Hill about Simon Serrallier, a police detective in a Cathedral town in southern England where there is an unexpected amount crime. I am already on book five! Other winners this month were two new historical novels, the delightful The Hazelbourne Ladies Motorcycle and Flying Club by Helen Simonson, which reminded me of Flambards, and the more serious Becoming Madam Secretary by Stephanie Dray, about Roosevelt’s female Secretary of Labor.

The Various Haunts of Men by Susan Hill, an addictive series launch

Title: The Various Haunts of Men: A Simon Serrailler Mystery
Author: Susan Hill
Narrator: Steven Pacey
Publication: The Overlook Press, hardcover, first published in 2004.
Genre: Mystery
Setting: England

Description: People – and a dog – are disappearing without a trace in the fictional Cathedral town of Lafferton. After leaving an unhappy marriage in London, Detective Sergeant Freya Graffham is making a new life for herself at the CID division in Southern England, regaining her confidence and joining the local choir.