Some twists and turns, plus a surprising switch made on this Spring into Horror

The month of May has begun and so ends the Spring Into Horror readathon at Seasons of Reading (courtesy of Michelle Miller).

This reading challenge worked out pretty well for me as I got reacquainted with a familiar author, discovered a new one and swapped out one book for another that fit this theme as perfectly as a glove there.

I have enjoyed many of Silvia Moreno-Garcia’s books over the years but the last one that I read to completion was Mexican Gothic. Her more recent titles, I’ve started and stopped (pressed pause as I like to put it) but not Silver Nitrate; this one was a total page turner of the best sort.

The main focus of the story is the friendship between Montserrat, a sound editor constantly undermined by the inherent sexism of her profession, and Tristan, a former TV star whose career crashed and burned after a car accident where he survived but the troubled woman who was driving did not.

As lifelong horror movie fans, meeting the aged director Abel Urueta, whose time in the spotlight vanished quickly, is a definite bright spot in their lives.

 When Abel reveals that his last movie was never completed and carries a curse upon it, he offers the two of them a chance at reversing their luck by helping him break the spell. They do so but the results are far and away from fortunate and more frightening than any terror film they’ve ever seen.

SM-G once again showcases her talent as a genre writer with true cinematic flair and the emotional nuances brought to her characters that make them larger than life. Hopefully when her next novel arrives this summer (The Seventh Veil of Salome in July), I will be ready like Freddy to buy that ticket to ride:

My next read after that was The Mysterious Case of the Alperton Angels by Janice Hallett. I first heard about this book from Booktuber Mara(Books Like Whoa) who praised it to the skies. Her recommendation was not only a good one, it’s made me seek out of this author’s work.

Told by a series of text messages, emails and transcripts of recorded conversations, we follow a pair of British reporters, Amanda Bailey and Oliver Menzies, who are both assigned to write a book about a long ago sensational crime involving a cult that intended foul play with a baby believed to be the Antichrist.

Seeing no choice but to work together, Amanda and Oliver decide to see if they can find the baby who survived the ordeal and is now about to turn eighteen for the crux of their true crime story. However, the deeper they go in, the longer and stranger this particular rabbit hole goes defies any wonderland indeed.

I don’t want to give anything away so let’s just say that this book is a fantastic thriller that keeps you guessing up to the end and is well worth the trip. It’s like watching an entire season of one of those excellent British mystery series and appreciating all of the hard work put into such creative storytelling there:

Now, I was planning on having my final read here be Jessica Knoll’s acclaimed Bright Young Women but while I start it, my reading mind wanted something a little less stressful.

So I put that aside and picked up The Mystery Guest by Nita Prose, the follow up to the sleeper bestseller The Maid. Our leading lady is Molly, the maid accused unjustly of murder at the Regency Grand Hotel a few years ago and now has the title of Head Maid with more responsibilities than ever before.

One of those responsibilities is preparing a reception for famed mystery writer J.D. Grimthorpe, who is planning a special announcement for the public. Before he can make his statement, Grimthorpe adds more honey to his cup of tea which proves to be a truly fatal mistake.

His sudden demise is due to poison and a wide array of suspects are available, including Molly who did place the honey pot on the tea cart herself. Also, she hasn’t told anyone about the past encounter she and her late grandmother had with Grimthorpe that might be the roots of a motive…

I did enjoy The Maid and was interested enough to tackle the second book, which moves at a brisker pace than the first one. The tone is a touch lighter but in a good way that does make you want to follow Molly on her quirky detective adventures, much like that new show Elsbeth which is Columbo meets The Good Wife/Fight(that’s a compliment, I assure you!):

I do hope that everyone who joined in for this scary reading fun had a great bookish time(thank you as always to Michelle Miller for making this possible!) and I am pretty much ready for Sci-Fi Summer this upcoming June.

Although, my TBR for that event is more in the fantasy realm (which is allowed) particularly Romania’s, that new flavor of fiction these days. I do think that maybe it’s not as new because I can make a good argument that the Xanadu movie is very much a romantasy with music but nevertheless, I will dive into this genre with an open mind and literary heart: