The Literate Kitty

Everyone’s familiar with the saying, “blood is thicker than water”... but is it,   really? Norwegian suspense author Jo Nesbø puts that idea to the test in his latest tale,  Blood Ties  (giving big-time Cain-&-Abel energy).     One thing you can count on, living in a really small town? That  everyone  else knows your business.  Your family. Your history. Everything you ever did. Basically, all the dirt.   If your family’s respected (and respectable), you’ve got a lot to live up to... but your fellow townsfolk probably give you the benefit of the doubt if one of you does something to raise eyebrows.   But if your family’s always been a little bit “off”, well... the town doesn’t cut you as much slack.   Brothers Carl and Roy Opgard grew up in tiny Os, moved away for a spell, then made their ways back... and made good, in middle-age.    Carl manages the town’s biggest draw—the chic Os Spa and Hotel—and has grand plans for...

There are friends... and then there are your Ride-or-Dies, The People Who Have Your Back (No Matter What). One thing I’ve learned, over the years, is that it doesn’t matter how many “friends” or “followers” you have, or how many “likes” you get, on whatever social platform.    What does matter is what happens when you’re at your lowest. Your ugliest. Your neediest (or, your I-absolutely-don’t-need-anyone-iest, which of course, is when you absolutely-really- do ).   Because the people who show up for you then, in all your  whateverness?  They’re the ones worth holding onto, listening to, and sharing your best—and your worst—with, forever.   Deanna Raybourn’s newest spy thriller,  Kills Well With Others , gives us a masterclass in the why... and does so, in surprisingly poignant--and frequently hilarious--fashion.     They’re a foursome, alright... but definitely not your killer  Sex-and-the-City  kind of quad (not even the  and...

Snow can hide a multitude of secrets. The ugliness of barren ground. Footprints, made by any number of creatures. Patches of ice. Entire frozen lakes, even.   Small towns are no slouches at hiding secrets, either.   Keeping things from outsiders, sure... but also, sometimes, from others within the community... when someone else decides they don’t need to know.   Joshua Moehling’s latest entry in his Ben Packard series,  A Long Time Gone , sees the small-town cop dealing with way too many secrets in the midst of another frigid Minnesota winter.     Recently an acting sheriff—but since demoted to deputy status, and assigned to the inglorious job of metal-detector duty at the courthouse—Deputy Ben Packard has had better days (months, years), than today.    The day he’s confronted with a desperate man who’s somehow managed to sneak a gun into the courthouse... and aims to use it, in the name of “justice”.   Ben does what he has to do—preserving a...

Two men, heading out separately for some ice-fishing in one of Wisconsin’s 15,000 lakes.   Neither will enjoy a frosty commune with nature, though... not this time.     In fact, only one will make it out of the forest alive ... leaving the other, savagely attacked, atop a deep mound of blood-soaked snow.   The police are quick to blame the survivor, who insists he’s innocent... and says he even caught a glimpse of the killer.    But his claim fall on deaf ears, once he describes what he saw... the small town of Rhinelander’s beloved mascot, the hodag—a mythological creature, sort of an ox-pig-lizard-dragon hybrid—scrambling  away from the scene of the crime.   Thus begins Annelise Ryan’s latest mystery,  Beast of the North Woods .     Door County, Wisconsin is well-known for many things—gorgeous lake views, outdoor recreation, and a plethora of art galleries, among them. But to a smaller group of folks, it’s also home to the unusual...

A popular true-crime podcaster—with secrets of her own—who focuses on unsolved crimes.   A confused, late-20s woman—recovering from a terrible accident, and grieving a pair of losses—whom the podcaster approaches about the latest story she wants to share with her eager subscribers.   An angry father, who doesn’t really understand his daughter—her choices, who she is—but is dead-set against her participation in the podcast, knowing what it will do to their family.   A grandfather—now dead—forced to leave his beloved hometown in Iceland some forty years ago and relocate to far-off California with his young son, following the tragic deaths of his wife and infant daughter.   And the small Icelandic town—Bifröst—where the tragedy still, somehow, feels fresh.    And... where another horrible event may even now be taking place.   The stage is set for Melissa Larsen’s latest mystery/suspense,  The Lost House .     When a little boy found the bod...

Widespread grumblings over religion. Questions about royal succession. And a general air of growing discontent.   Conditions were rife for an uprising... had it been anything other than the woefully ill-conceived “attack” by a paltry handful of pitchfork-wielding farmers against an army of well-armed military troops.   As for the aftermath of such folly... well, heads—and more,  so much more —were bound to roll.   But there’s always someone, on the periphery of a rebellion, seeking more peaceful solutions. Or, at the very least, trying to do serious damage control, after the fact... as in Minette Walters’ latest historical novel,  The Players .     King James II found himself already at a disadvantage, on ascending to the throne. He’d inherited the crown from his well-liked brother, Charles II, who’d been the answer to everyone’s prayers, following Oliver Cromwell’s unpopular (and Puritanical) turn as non-royal leader.    But when Charles II ...