Book Review: The Writer by James Patterson and J.D. Barker

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The Writer by James Patterson and J.D. Barker  was published on March 17, 2025. It opens with Detective Declan Shaw at a closed subway station trying to work up the nerve to commit suicide when he receives a call from his partner about a break in and homicide at the home of a true crime author. Shaw makes his way to the crime scene to work the case, and in a turn of events, Declan comes under scrutiny in another case loosely connected to this new case. I received an Advanced Readers Copy (ARC) of The Writer  from NetGalley and Little , Brown, and Company for free in exchange for my honest review. I'm appreciative that my request for this book was approved. With this story opening with the main character trying to commit suicide, I almost didn't go any further with the book. However, I am glad I stuck with it as it took me on a fantastic ride and had my emotions all over the place. There were so many twists and turns that just when I thought I had it all figured out, there was ...

Book Review: The Book Club Murders (Oakwood Mystery, #1) by Leslie Nagel


The Book Club Murders (Oakwood Mystery, #1) by Leslie Nagel is a book that I downloaded to my Nook tablet quite some time ago, and I just now got around to reading it. I didn't realize that it was the first book in a series when I bought. However, I am glad that it is part of a series because it was really well written for a cozy mystery, and I definitely want to read the next book.

Oakwood, Ohio resident Charley Carpenter belongs to a book club with some of the wealthiest women in the city. They've dubbed themselves "The Agathas" after Agatha Christie as their book club focuses on reading mystery novels and trying to solve the mystery within the book before the killer is revealed to them. When several people are found dead, the circumstances can all be tied back to books that "The Agathas" have read that fall. The police pull in Charley to help determine which woman in the book club is committing these murders.

Let me begin by saying that I absolutely love the location of The Book Club Murders (Oakwood Mystery, #1) because I have family that live in the Dayton, Ohio metropolitan area that includes the city of Oakwood, where the book takes place. It was cool to see street names in the book that I've driven down myself (i.e. Shroyer Road and Far Hills Avenue). Many of the places in the book are real places; however, I haven't frequented any of those places.

Another thing I absolutely loved about the book is that the book club called themselves "The Agathas" after the author Agatha Christie. I thought this was very clever of the author. I wished I had thought of a name like this when I had my book club that focused on mysteries, thrillers, horror, and suspense novels. It almost makes me want to start my book club back up.

Leslie Nagel kept me guessing at who the killer was. Since so many of Agatha Christie's books were mentioned, I kept going through some of their plot lines trying to figure out whodunit. Murder on the Orient Express and The Murder of Roger Ackroyd both crossed my mind when trying to figure it out. For those of you who haven't read either of those Agatha Christie books, I won't give anything away, but I definitely recommend reading both of those books. However, those of you who have read those two books will know where my thoughts were headed.

There isn't too much I can complain about. I was getting irritated that the author kept mentioning the leading man's scent . . . "coffee and soap, a hint of sandalwood". The only other thing I could complain about is a particular sentence that didn't make any sense to me:  "Charley prepared to beard the lioness in her den." I guessing that is a Midwest saying for something although I haven't heard any of my family use it, not even my parents.

All in all, I was absolutely enchanted by The Book Club Murders (Oakwood Mystery, #1) by Leslie Nagel. So much so that I kept thinking about the book during work hours and was itching to get back to the book so I could finish it. Four out of five stars is what I gave the book.


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