Murder Leads to Marriage by Shannon Peeples

Hello everyone.  I hope you're having a great day.

As I've talked about so many times, I come from a family with four girls, no boys.  My parents wanted a boy, had me, tried again, had triplet girls and quit.  If you knew my sisters, you'd quit too! Gosh I think they have big mouths and are full of....um...how do I put it politely...baloney, now.  Can you imagine the three of them crying with loaded diapers?  Oh, and there were no Pampers, only cloth diapers.  The smell of rinsed out diapers is something I still can't get out of my nose, decades later. When we were teens, my dad used to talk about trying to get into our one bathroom.  He would imitate women's arm movements putting on mascara, saying it was a jungle in front of the mirror. I've talked about all of this before, but the memories are such fond ones (except the smell). My dad was in all his glory.  He loved be a "girl Dad."  If you wanted something, all you'd have to do is ask him, beginning by calling him Daddy and saying it really slowly.  "Daadddy, I really need that pink sweater."  He was putty, and I think, happily so.  He was a wonderful Dad. As for the sisters, the jury is still out.

I recently read Murder Leads to Marriage by Shannon Peeples. This is the story of the Hurley sisters and their dad. Amy, Lily, Daisy and Rosie along with their father, Jack.  They have had to make a life for themselves after losing their mom and wife.  They are very tightknit and usually upfront with each other. We discover, however, that people have secrets. Some secrets might just be an unnamed boyfriend, but some are much more difficult to stomach and could bring dire consequences. When a woman is killed who had recently threatened Daisy, the truth must come out and mystery solved before the killer comes calling much closer to home. 

This book was a delight to read. While it feels, for the most part, more like a romantic cozy mystery than a heart pounding thriller, the story still moves right along.  With this pleasing pacing, I moved quickly though the book.  Thriller lovers don't despair, there is an elaborate mystery with a very tense resolution. All of the thriller/mystery stuff aside, where this novel really shines is in the relationship between the four sisters. The character development, while danger abounds, is remarkable and endearing. With the smooth writing, interesting plot and pacing, this book is a winner.  Don't be surprised if after reading Murder Leads to Marriage, you are checking in with your siblings, just to see what they've been up to.  You also might be looking over your shoulder...just a little bit.

Many thanks to publicist Deborah and author Shannon for the great read.  It has been a pleasure.

The JFK Conspiracy by Brad Meltzer and Josh Mensch

Hello everyone.  I hope you are having a good day.

I've told you I grew up in a small town in upstate NY.  There were two major industries, paying lots of taxes.  One company was nearing the end of its lifecycle, the other getting bigger and bigger.  Although the area was modest, smaller older houses...no McMansions...the town had a lot of money.  So, our school system was really good.  The high school looked like it was straight from the TV series Room 222 (google machine it). We had a great football stadium, a large two floor library, an Olympic size pool, loads of tennis courts, winning sports teams, and a fantastic marching band.  Now before you start streaming Revenge of the Nerds in your head and start chanting "Nerd, Nerd," yes, I was in the marching band, so were my sisters. The band was a huge showband, had professional show writers, and did a different half-time every week. It was exhausting and glorious.  I've still never heard of a band going to such efforts. Being such a large band and really good, we were PAID to do half-time shows for the NFL. When I was in high school, we did 5 pro football games, 4 for the Bills at Rich Stadium in Buffalo, and 1 for the Patriots in Worchester.  In addition, every student was promised a bowl parade at some point during their time in high school.  In my senior year, we went to the Cotton Bowl.  Yep, 600 kids in LaGuardia airport then flying to Dallas.  Not only did we do the parade, but we got to attend the bowl game.  It was really fun.  We did other neat things, we went to the mall/office building where the movie Logan's Run was filmed, we went to a dude ranch, and we went to Dealey Plaza. All those kids on a bus turned quiet driving past the book depository and the grassy knoll.  It was odd, seeing life going on, yet remembering the terrible past. Very moving.

I recently read The JFK Conspiracy by Brad Meltzer and Josh Mensch.  To be honest, I love history, and I would have read this anyway.  Not only did I get to go to Dealey Plaza, but I have read many books by Brad Meltzer.  He writes history books, children's books and my beloved thrillers.  I haven't read his offerings for kids, but they look adorable.  I have gobbled up his thrillers, so has my husband.  Brad Meltzer deserves credit for making my husband into a "reader." If you are a thriller lover, get busy and start reading, but read all series books in order as they really build on each other. 

The JFK Conspiracy will leave you entertained, educated and surprised.  It is about a plot to kill John F. Kennedy long before Dealey Plaza, in fact, after he was elected president but before the inauguration. Yes, this is nonfiction but just trust me, read it.  Meltzer and Mensch have researched this story so completely.  Told in a manner that is lively and compelling.  You will be flipping pages just like in the most suspenseful thriller.  That's what it is, after all, a real-life thriller.  Absorbing.  I wish all textbooks were written like this, history relieved of being distilled to battles and dates, to something that gives you so much more understanding, is interesting and, frankly, emotional. To add to the richness, the facts here feature both the good and bad.  Nothing is sugar coated or romanticized.  You will be shaking your head.  You'll wonder what would have been if things had been different, before JFK's swearing in, or if he hadn't been assassinated at all.  If you think history is dry, and I admit it can be depending on the source, you need to read this.  I promise, you will change your mind.  You'll wish you could go back and take your school age history classes again, and that they were all taught with this brand of storytelling.  Sign me up for not only all the fictional thrillers, but these nonfiction too. 

By the way, the trip to Dallas was my first time on an airplane. I didn't know planes banked to the sides when turning.  Shortly after takeoff, I loudly declared an emergency, since I was certain as we turned, that we were crashing into the Statue of Liberty.