It's Always the Husband by Michelle Campbell

It's Always the Husband 
Michelle Campbell
5/5 stars

Jenny, Audrey, and Kate were college roommates, and have stayed in touch through the years.  A 20 year old secret binds them together, and any one of them would be damaged if the truth were known.  When one of the three is found dead, the potential reasons are legion.

Campbell seamlessly switches between college years and the present.  Her characters are living and real.  The story is easily believed, well plotted, and gives a great surprise.  Her prose is engaging and, despite the lack of real suspense, riveting.  Overall, this was an exceptionally good novel and I universally recommend it.

Unfinished Portrait by Mary Westmacott

Unfinished Portrait
Agatha Christie writing as Mary Westmacott
1934
4/5 stars

This semi-autobiographical novel follows the life of Celia, a lovely, shy woman, who finds herself with a broken soul in the midst of a life crisis.  These vignettes of Celia's life cover nursery days to coming out in Egypt, first suitors to a whirlwind courtship, and happy marriage to devastation.  It gives a round picture of  late Edwardian living and life during the years between the World Wars.

Those that have previously read Christie's Autobiography will recognize many of the stories, but the interest value of these tales is such that Unfinished Portrait doesn't suffer as a result of fore-knowledge.  Christie writes well enough that the reader is both entertained by Celia's life, as well as tense, waiting for the blow to fall.  Christie understands human nature, even if it is only her own she is writing about, and as a result, this novel presents as real and believable.  It's a good read, for many reasons, and I recommend it.

December 2017 Wrap Up

Books Read:
I cross stitched four and a half ornaments this month, and so I only read half a book.  Overall this year, I read 57 books and listened to 63 audio books.

Check out my year in books on Goodreads:
https://www.goodreads.com/user/year_in_books/2017/1154329

Audio Books Completed:
The Silver Chair by C. S. Lewis
Can't rate this series, due to emotional attachment.

The Case of the Deadly Butter Chicken by Tarquin Hall 4/5 stars (my review here)

The Last Battle by C. S. Lewis
see above

Thirteen Problems by Agatha Christie  4/5 stars
A set of thirteen short stories featuring Miss Marple.  As is typical of Christie, most are clever and intriguing.

Dead in the Water by Carola Dunn   3/5 stars
Daisy and her fiance witness a rower collapse and die, and together they search for the reason and culprit.  It's an okay book; more of a time-pass than a serious read.

People of the Book by Geraldine Brooks   4/5 stars
This well-written novel follows the life of a book, the Hagada, through the stories of various people.   Brooks did a great job of writing distinctive voices for her characters, and I'm not sure why I'm not rating it 5 stars--I didn't fully emotionally connect to it, so I suppose that's why.  I do highly recommend it, though, for readers who love books about books.

Everything You Told Me by Lucy Dawson   4/5 stars
Sally wakes up in a taxi 300 miles from home with no idea how she got there.  The reader then follows her as she tries to determine if she's crazy or if someone planned to make her look that way.  I knew from very early on who and why, but the book was still quite good.