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What have you just read? Opinions, Recommendations, and Reviews, part 3
I've just enjoyed The Long Game, the first of Aussie author Simon Rowell's series featuring Detective Sergeant Zoe Mayer. Her new service dog, Harry, is helping her get back in harness herself after a bad bout of PTSD. 
My review of The Long Game(Detective Zoe Mayer #1)
Sandy how are 6 of your books going?
I've liked all of the P.J. Tracy Monkeewrench series, but my favourite so far is #7, Cold Kill (aka The Sixth Idea. Suspenseful (plausible!) threat to today's world. Great read. 
My review of Cold Kill - The Sixth Sense
My review of Outback Treasure by Noelene Jenkinson
3 and a half stars
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
I read The Royal Physician's Visit by Per Olov Enquist; translated from the Swedish by Tiina Nunnelly. A great historical novel based on true events in Denmark in the late 1760s. It features a mad king; his German physician who tries to implement reforms in the corrupt Danish court; a young queen; and a religious zealot. It is very well researched and thoroughly engaging.
My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Out of the Dark by Gregg Andrew HurwitzMy review a definite 5★
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Scrublands by Chris HammerMy review a hot and windy and whirlwind 5★
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
You know that guy you haven't seen for a while and you ask, "Hey, Bob - what've you been up to?" and he always has a funny anecdote about his latest venture? That's Aussie writer Robert Skinner, and he's put his stories together in I'd Rather Not: Essays. Best enjoyed separately, like letters from a friend.
My review of I'd Rather Not
Helen Dunmore is someone I've discovered fairly recently, and this was a good one. Strange, but good.
A Spell of WinterReview: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
This was my second Willa Cather, and I think that's enough for me.
The Song of the LarkReview: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
I am a new fan of Christopher Isherwood though, with my first of his:
Goodbye to BerlinReview: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
The Lost Gift to the Italian Island by Barbara Josselsohn ⭐⭐⭐.7 https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Catchup:Read The Death of Mrs Westaway by Ruth Ware - reviewed - https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/6004567972
two books by E V Harte - The Prime of Ms Dolly Greene - reviewed - https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/6014632515 and The Case of the Fool - reviewed - https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/6035872940
and The Hunting Party by Lucy Foley - reviewed - https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/5979790590
My review of From a Far and Lovely Country by Alexander McCall Smith
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
In Extremis: The Life and Death of the War Correspondent Marie Colvin by Lindsey HilsumA biography on the amazing Marie Colvin
My review 5★, my favourite of 2023:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Something Bad is Going to Happen by Jessie StephensMy review 4★
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Fans have been waiting a while to see what author Graham Brack's Captain Josef Slonský has been up to, and I was glad to seem him back in (limping) action in Prague, solving the case of The Murdered Molls. Crime and humour - great mix.
My review of The Murdered Molls
In Shades of Death: Murder at the Court of Elizabeth I, historian Angela Ranson presents Catrin, an appealing, independent young heroine whom the Queen sends to investigate death threats. Great read for historical mystery lovers.
My review of Shades of Death
I liked Wild Card, the second book in the Detective Zoe Mayer series even more than the first. Aussie author Simon Rowell gives us a good story with a cross-border investigation between Victoria and New South Wales and plenty of secret alliances. Harry is back in harness, still acting to serve and protect Zoe. Good boy!
My review of Wild Card
I read The Gardens of Consolation by Parisa Reza; translated from the French by Adriana Hunter. It takes place in Iran at the beginning of the 20th century through to the mid-century. The first sections depict the tender love story between Talla and Sardar; the remaining sections focus on their son and the political upheavals in Iran.
My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Twas the Nightshift Before Christmas by Adam KayMy review 3★
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
I read Barbara Isn't Dying Yet by Alina Bronsky; translated from the German by Tim Mohr. A man in his seventies wakes up one morning to discover his wife of 50 years has become bed-ridden. He has to learn to fend for himself while becoming a care-giver for his wife. It is slap-stick funny in the beginning and then morphs into something quite different.I've read several novels by Alina Bronsky and have enjoyed every one.
My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
My review of The Mockingbird's Song (Amish Greenhouse Mystery by Wanda E Brunstetter
4 stars
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Baumgartner is a man widowed too young who wonders if he has a future. Acclaimed American author Paul Auster gives us Baumgartner's sometimes funny, sometimes poignant, always realistic musings. Excellent.
My review of Baumgartner
It was fun to eavesdrop on two old gentlemen comparing ghost stories from their schooldays. A School Story by M.R. James took place in 1870 but could easily be a contemporary plot. 
My review of A School Story with a link to where it is free to read online
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4 stars
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...