Review: The Class Assignment is Murder - Carolyn Kleinman - October 2023 What would you do if an innocent-looking classroom project led you into a chilling murder investigation, buried secrets and memories you had spent a lifetime trying to forget? That is exactly the situation Hannah Stein finds herself in in The Class Assignment is Murder by Carolyn Kleinman. Set in the seemingly peaceful town of Parkerville, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, the story introduces us to Hannah, a Jewish English professor and widow in her forties. Back in 2005, the town was rocked by a horrific crime when teenage Matthew Baker murdered his family and raped his cousin. Fourteen years later, Baker suddenly claims he is innocent, leaving Hannah with more questions than answers. Looking for an unusual topic to capture the interest of three students, Hannah suggests they investigate the old Baker case. What begins as an academic exercise soon becomes something far more personal and dangerous. As the students...

Review: The Family Tree - Steph Mullin and Nicole Mabry - June 2021 Sometimes the biggest surprise in your family tree is the one you were never expecting to find! Imagine deciding to do a DNA test for your birthday, perhaps as a bit of fun, only to discover that you were adopted. Now imagine that the family you never knew you had comes with an even darker secret: somewhere in your newly discovered family tree is a serial killer who has been evading the police for more than 40 years! Talk about a birthday surprise you won't forget in a hurry! That's the intriguing premise behind The Family Tree by Steph Mullins and Nicole Mabry, and I have to say, it certainly grabbed my attention. Meet Liz Catalano, who takes an ancestry DNA test as a bit of a joke, never imagining that the results will turn her entire world upside down. Not only does she discover that she was adopted, but her newfound biological connections place her right in the middle of an FBI investigation. Her DNA has p...

Review: Power Rangers Prime - Volume #3 - Various Contributors - April 2026 There are some things from childhood that never really leave you, and for me, the Power Rangers are definitely one of them! When I was around six or seven years old, I was absolutely obsessed with the Power Rangers. I desperately wanted to be the Pink Ranger, because let's face it, who didn't want to be Kimberly? Unfortunately, my sister was already Kimberly, and apparently, there was only room for one in the family! So, naturally, I ended up being the Red Power Ranger instead. Not quite the outcome I had planned, but hey, someone had to save the world! Fast-forward to today, and picking up Power Rangers Prime Volume #3 brought back a lovely wave of childhood nostalgia, although this latest chapter is certainly taking the Rangers in some exciting new directions. The third volume of this reimagined Power Rangers saga throws readers straight into the action as a mysterious figure arrives in Angel Grove, ...

Review: Ella and the Welcome Home - Volume #2 - Jessica Sorensen - October 2020 Readers and fans of Jessica Sorensen will probably understand why the cover of this review looks a little different from the title I have mentioned in the heading. Let me explain! The book I originally read was The Secret Star Grove Mysteries: The Secret Trunk, and it appears that, some years later, Jessica has taken that story and rewritten it as part of this particular series. This is something Jessica has done on a number of occasions, and I have to admit that, in the beginning, it used to leave me scratching my head. I would start reading a book and think, "Hang on a minute, haven't I read this before?" Only to discover that it had a different title and belonged to a different series! These days, however, I am much more familiar with her little habit, so it doesn't catch me quite so off guard. In the story I read, we catch up with Ella and Micha Scott, who are now newlyweds and settl...

Review: Seven Reasons to Murder Your Dinner Guests - KJ Whittle - January 2025 Let me tell you about a book that had me at “hello” and lost me at the very last course. The premise of this one is, quite simply, one of my favourites. Seven strangers gather at Serendipity’s for an anonymously hosted dinner party, and as the evening draws to a close, little black envelopes appear in front of each diner, each one revealing the age at which they will die. Delicious, isn’t it? It’s the sort of hook that has you reading the blurb twice and tucking the book under your arm before you’ve even made it to the till. And for most of its length, the story delivers on that promise. The opening is wonderfully atmospheric, with the rainy night, the candlelit table, and a group of strangers who are spooked but not quite shaken enough to run for the hills. When the first guest dies at their foretold age, just two weeks later, the unease really begins to creep in. Was it a tragic accident or something far...

Review: Trick or Treat - Book #0.5 Steinbeck U Prequel - L.A Cotton - October 2020 Some weeks, my reading itch strikes and I can’t decide what to pick up. Too many books on the TBR, too little patience for a doorstopper. If that sounds familiar, Trick or Treat by L.A. Cotton is just the thing. It’s a quick novella, easily gobbled up in one cosy sitting, and it scratched that itch beautifully. We meet Calliope James, a girl who would much rather live life through a lens than in the spotlight. She’s the observer, happily tucked behind her camera. So when she reluctantly agrees to go to a party with her best friend before they both head off to university, the last thing she expects is to find herself on the other side of the camera. Then there’s Zachary Messiah, who left Bay View High School without so much as a word, and now he’s back. He’s not the boy she remembers, but she’s exactly the girl he’s tried so hard to forget. Naturally, they should stay far away from each other. But it’s ...