Criminal Element

3 weeks ago | criminalelement.com | Doreen Sheridan

Event planner Sophie Winston is browsing the tables of the latest expo she’s helped organize when she’s surprised by a covert approach from an acquaintance. Mitzi Lawson is half of one of the best interior design firms in Old Town Alexandria, where both she and Sophie work and live. Using cloak and dagger tactics, she gives Sophie instructions to meet her at a worksite the next morning, but slips away before explaining why.

1 month ago | criminalelement.com | Doreen Sheridan

It was only after reading the first few pages of Allison Epstein’s excellent reimagining of Charles Dickens’ Oliver Twist that I realized I’d likely never read the original myself. Instead, I’ve somehow absorbed the characters and plot by cultural osmosis, as much from the movies and musicals and other adaptations as from any source text.

1 month ago | criminalelement.com | Doreen Sheridan

Jake Tiptree and her best friend Ellie White aren’t starstruck by the arrival of celebrity handyman Hank Rafferty, though the same can’t be said of the other residents of their remote town of Eastport, Maine. Hank has recently inherited Stone House, a manor long thought derelict, if not outright haunted. He’s determined to rehabilitate the place into his dream home, never mind the antipathy of his nearest and dearest.

1 month ago | criminalelement.com | Doreen Sheridan

Camilla Deschamps is spending what should be a banner day in her small family’s life feeling deeply annoyed instead. Her infant daughter Polly is about to attend nursery school for the very first time, freeing Camilla herself to go back to work at her literary agency. Her husband Luke, however, has suddenly gone missing. He’s always been the carefree foil to her more fretful nature, but surely even he wouldn’t forget to accompany her on their only child’s first school drop-off?

1 month ago | criminalelement.com | Doreen Sheridan

In Broken Country by Clare Leslie Hall, a love triangle unearths dangerous, deadly secrets from the past in this thrilling tale perfect for fans of The Paper Palace and Where the Crawdads Sing. Keep reading for Doreen's review. Beth Johnson is happy to be a farmer’s wife in 1968 England, especially when that farmer is Frank, the man who’s been in love with her since they were both teenagers.