Book Review: Claire, Darling by Callie Kazumi

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Claire, Darling by Callie Kazumi  was published on March 11, 2025 by Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine / Bantam. It opens with Claire finding out that her fiancé, Noah, isn't working where he said he was and is now ghosting her. Claire must find out why. Book Review: Claire, Darling by Callie Kazumi Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine / Bantam for providing me with an Advanced Readers Copy (ARC) of Claire Darling by Callie Kazumi for free in exchange for my honest review. I was absolutely thrilled when my request for a copy was approved because the synopsis was so good. From the beginning, I absolutely loved the main character of Claire and her work friend named Sukhi. Throughout the novel, we learn about Claire's past and how terrible her mother was towards her. I kept hoping that somehow we would learn who Claire's father was and would eventually connect with him. It's really no wonder Claire had no self confidence as an ad...
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Book Review: In The Woods (Dublin Murder Squad, #1) by Tana French

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Book Review of In The Woods (Dublin Murder Squad, #1) by Tana French
One of the book clubs I belong to decided to read In the Woods by Tana French.  It's the first book in her Dublin Murder Squad series AND her first published book. I'm not really sure what all the fuss is about the book, and I am super surprised it was an Edgar Award Winner.

To begin with, at least 100 pages could have been cut out. I have never seen a mystery book have so little happen for so many pages. On top of that, French rambled on about how the main characters, Detective Adam "Rob" Ryan and Detective Cassie Maddox, were best friends. It seems like she was forcing it a bit. The friendship seemed more like a friendship one would have in high school or college, not an adult friendship. And, of course, she had them sleep together, and she turned Rob into a total ass. He didn't want a relationship with Cassie and didn't want to blow her off, which is what he did in the end. Cassie even tried talking to him about it, and he acted like a sulky little boy and wouldn't talk with her about it. By the end of the book, Rob finally realizes how he's acted like at total ass and finally reaches out to Cassie after he hears she is engaged to Sam O'Neill, who was another detective helping them out on the case. We find out that she has deleted Rob's phone number from her cell phone.

Something that bothered me quite a bit was French kept referencing a ton of television shows and characters throughout the book, with most of the references in the first third. The majority of the references are to cop and FBI shows. It made me think that she had writer's block and was watching these shows for inspiration . . . that's how many she referenced.

At times, I felt like she was using a thesaurus just so she could throw in bigger words, and these words interrupted the flow of her writing and just didn't fit. Obviously, she never had a teacher or professor tell her not to use big words just to use them.
 Mystery Book Review of In The Woods (Dublin Murder Squad, #1) by Tana French
As far as the two mysteries go, the present day mystery was solved, and the culprit wasn't really too surprising. The one from the 1980's never was solved, and there was no real connection to the present day mystery. On top of that, all the memories that came flooding back to Rob, during the present day mystery, he ended up forgetting. It was like French didn't know how to wrap up this particular mystery.  I wish I knew if it ever gets resolved in the other books in the series.

I am glad that I read the book, but I wouldn't really recommend it to anyone. If you must read the book, don't waste your money on it and check it out from the library or borrow a copy from a friend.
Synopsis:  Taking place in Dublin, Ireland, three children disappear into the woods in 1984. Only one is found alive . .  Rob Ryan. Fast forward to the present day. A 12-year old girl is found raped and murdered on an archeological dig in those same woods. Detective Rob Ryan and his partner are put on the case to find the killer. Is there a connection between his friends disappearing all those years ago and this murdered girl?

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