The Roses of May by Dot Hutchison

This book picks up where The Butterfly Garden left off, sort of. The three musketeers, I mean, FBI agents, from book 1 are still there, and some of the Butterflies do make an appearance, though they’re not central to the plot. Instead we meet Priya, a seventeen-year-old whose sister was killed by a serial killer five years ago. The musketeers have been on the case since then, but can’t find the creep who keeps killing teenage girls in churches and laying different flowers around each one. Now it looks like he’s coming back for Priya, who is anything but fine even five years on. The writing is solid once again, but I have to knock it down a star for two reasons: the identity of the serial killer was SO obvious that it was almost insulting (a least make me question who it might be even once!) and that person’s age changed at least three times in the book. Late thirty-something, then late forty-something, but if I do the math he should be early thirties. Pet peeve sure but someone should have picked that up!

A Merciful Death, Truth and Secret by Kendra Elliot

Sometimes you find a series you like and have to wait months or even years between installments (I'm talking about you Robert Galbraith/J.K. Rowling). Thankfully, Kendra Elliot seems to be a prolific and fast writer, and she's been cranking out the Mercy Kilpatrick series. Set in rural central Oregon and featuring the Prepper community, it's a great 4-5 star series that's mostly murder/mystery with a dash of romance thrown in. Here's a recap of the three books so far.

In A Merciful Death, FBI agent Mercy Kilpatrick returns to her childhood hometown to help solve a spate of murders in the prepper community, which just happens to be the type of environment she grew up in. Mercy left her family under bad terms and hasn't seen or spoken to any of them in fifteen years. needless to say, her return sparks a mixed reaction between her parents and her four siblings. The murderer is stealing weapons from the preppers, and Mercy is worried that her family is getting caught up in the investigation. There are some similarities to a couple of murders that happened fifteen years ago that precipitated Mercy's break with her family. Mercy barely touches her paramour-to-be in Book 1 of this series, but sparks do fly between her and Eagle's Nest police chief Truman Daly. The plot and timing are solid, and Kendra Elliot does a good job of explaining the mindset of the preppers without laughing at them.

A Merciful Truth picks up just two months after Book 1 – Mercy and Truman are getting closer, but Mercy still has her guard up. Kaylie, Mercy’s niece, has moved in with her after the death of her father, and also has a new love in her life, Cade, but life is not peaceful. Someone is setting fires around Eagle’s Nest and shooting at law enforcement officers, while strangers are coming into town and building up a militia. Mercy and Truman are on the case, which will hit close to home once again. Mercy's oldest brother Owen is involved with the "bad" guys, and blames her for the death of their brother Levi. Fast pacing throughout keeps the ball rolling and it’s a solid read.

For Book 3, A Merciful Secret, two more months have gone by again. Winter has arrived in the Cascades, and Mercy has just spent a long night working at her beloved cabin, preparing for whatever disaster might come. As she starts the long drive home at 3 am (does she ever sleep?!), a frightened young girl jumps out of nowhere and leads her back to her own isolated cabin, where her grandmother is dying from a horrific knife attack. While at first it seems like an isolated incident, after it’s connected to a similar but seemingly unrelated murder of a judge in Portland, the FBI is on the case. Was it the young girl’s mother, Salome? The judge’s son, Christian? And why does everybody know everyone anyways? (oh yeah, it’s a small town!) While the identity of the killer and the big “secret” was kind of obvious, I enjoyed the way Kendra Elliot pieced everything together, I’m still rooting for Mercy, and the end was pretty heartbreaking, so I must be invested in the characters.

The Promise Between Us by Barbara Claypole White

Barbara Claypole White tackles the impossible in The Promise Between Us. She lets you into the mind of someone with obsessive compulsive disorder just enough to give you a realistic look at what their life must be like, and then reigns it back a little so that you don’t shut the book in dismay. Katie Mack abandoned her young daughter when she was just an infant as thoughts of harming her swarmed her mind. She thought the girl would be safer without her, and by the time she got treatment and found herself in a semi-stable state, her husband had moved on and told their daughter that she was dead. Over a decade later Katie randomly comes back into contact with her daughter, only to realize that her own mental illness was now manifesting itself in her daughter. Her attempts to help her and deal with her own continuing issues make up the bulk of the story.

Some books are easier to read than others. If you’re looking for a fluffy beach read for entertainment purposes, this is not it. But it is an important read, and a timely one. OCD has received some national attention lately, largely due to John Green’s novel about the disease and his admission that he suffers from it as well. If you want to understand more about it (guess what, it’s not just about compulsively washing your hands) and how it can destroy people and families (and build them back up again), then this is a must read.

The Wife Between Us by Greer Hendricks and Sarah Pekkanen

In The Wife Between Us, Greer Hendricks and Sarah Pekkanen take you on a wild roller coaster ride full of twists and turns. Vanessa and Richard’s marriage has fallen apart, and he’s dating a new (and younger) woman, whom Vanessa is stalking. Nellie is bright-eyed and excited for her future with Richard, but she has some lingering trauma from college and feels like someone is out to get her. While cleverly done, the first part of the book feels too similar to Girl On The Train somehow; woman is left by husband, is falling apart and drinking too much, and is following her ex and his new girl. The first twist takes it on a different course, which was well done, but by then end it’s almost one twist too many. 

There’s a lot of gaslighting going on in this book (definition per Wikipedia: a form of manipulation that seeks to sow seeds of doubt in a targeted individual or in members of a targeted group, hoping to make them question their own memory, perception, and sanity. Using persistent denial, misdirection, contradiction, and lying, it attempts to destabilize the target and delegitimize the target's belief.) This is sort of trendy now I guess, but it does make me wonder – isn’t the whole psychological suspense genre with an unreliable narrator one big gaslight on the reader anyways? Something to ponder…

Between Me and You by Allison Winn Scotch

Told in two timelines from two points of view, Between Me and You by Allison Winn Scotch is one of those “big concept” books. We get to see Tatum and Ben’s relationship from Tatum’s point of view move forward in a normal timeline, from meet-cute in a bar during college to their first kiss in Times Square on New Year’s Eve. In alternating chapters, we see Ben’s side of the story, but working backwards from their present-day separated status. What makes a seemingly perfect couple fall apart? The trappings of their Hollywood lifestyle and respective ups and downs in their careers doesn’t help (he’s a writer, she’s an actress), and somehow this feels like a behind-the-scenes peek at what many famous “It” couples must have gone through.

I love the idea of juxtaposing all the great parts of a relationship with all things that no longer work, and the execution of this concept was really well done. The one downside is that you have to relive some of the sadder parts of the story twice, such as 9-11 and the loss of a family member. All in all though it’s a great read, particularly if you’re fascinated by the "Brangelinas."

Tips for Living by Renée Shafransky

Nora Glasser is living a nightmare. Not only did her famous artist husband leave her for a younger (and more fertile) woman, but then they have the audacity to move to her small town and rub her nose in their happiness and wealth. Nora has to see them living their extravagant lifestyle with the daughter she always wanted, while she walked away with nothing, except a precious journal of sketches of her that her ex, Hugh, now wants back. Not even her Pilates class is sacred, as Hugh’s new wife, Helene, shows up to that too. So it’s no surprise that she fantasizes about doing them bodily harm, but when that actually happens in real life, Nora is suspect number one. To make matters worse, she can’t trust her own memory, and worries that she’s the one who committed the crime. Tips for Living leaves you wondering until the end: did she or didn’t she? This debut novel by Renée Shafransky is a fast-paced page turner with a satisfying (but unpredictable) end.

Not Perfect by Elizabeth LaBan

Have you ever faked your way through a day, pretending that everything was fine when you were really losing your mind? Now picture doing that for months on end, trying to keep up appearance while your whole life falls down around you. Such is the plot of Not Perfect by Elizabeth LaBan. Tabitha Brewer’s husband, Stuart, walked out on her a few months ago, leaving her alone with their two kids and without any income coming in. Tabitha hasn’t told anyone about her predicament, even her best friend, but as Stuart’s “business trip” gets extended longer and longer, the perfect façade starts to crumble. Tabitha’s children are struggling, she can’t seem to find a job, and she doesn’t even have the money to replace the burnt-out lightbulbs in the kitchen let alone put food on the table. Rather than admit that she is in serious trouble and ask for help, she starts stealing in random ways, and seems stuck in limbo, not knowing completely why he left and if he’ll ever be home.

The story has some hilarious plot pots (eating some marijuana edibles with an eighty-year old woman!), and some sad ones, but the overarching theme is what is really intriguing to me. As a woman and mom who tries really hard to keep her family functioning and her act together, I can relate as to how hard it is to ask for help, and how the pressure to keep everything perfect and high-functioning can often be overwhelming. LaBan nails that feeling on the head, and then reminds us that it is okay to be “not perfect.”