I went on a tiny book-buying spree in February … Whoops! But there were so many wonderful books I wanted to get my hands on and I just couldn’t help myself, so I don’t feel too bad about it. My fabulous February 2022 book haul includes some romance (*gasp* 😲), cozy mysteries, historical fiction mysteries, some contemporary fiction, and a classic thriller (or so I’m told). I’m weirdly surprised by this month’s haul, because these aren’t usually the type of books I read, but they look so good!
Remember to check back for my book reviews or, alternatively, follow me on Goodreads.
So without further ado, here is my February 2022 book haul!
February 2022 Book Haul
Violeta by Isabel Allende
Violeta comes into the world on a stormy day in 1920, the first girl in a family of five boisterous sons. From the start, her life will be marked by extraordinary events, for the ripples of the Great War are still being felt, even as the Spanish flu arrives on the shores of her South American homeland almost at the moment of her birth.
Through her father’s prescience, the family will come through that crisis unscathed, only to face a new one as the Great Depression transforms the genteel city life she has known. Her family loses all and is forced to retreat to a wild and beautiful but remote part of the country. There, she will come of age, and her first suitor will come calling. . . .
She tells her story in the form of a letter to someone she loves above all others, recounting devastating heartbreak and passionate affairs, times of both poverty and wealth, terrible loss and immense joy. Her life will be shaped by some of the most important events of history: the fight for women’s rights, the rise and fall of tyrants, and, ultimately, not one but two pandemics.
Told through the eyes of a woman whose unforgettable passion, determination, and sense of humor will carry her through a lifetime of upheaval, Isabel Allende once more brings us an epic that is both fiercely inspiring and deeply emotional.
A Slim Green Silence by Beverly Rycroft
Constance West is dead. She is floating above her hometown of Scheepersdorp, unsure how long it has been since she died, since the cancer took her. Beneath her are all the people she ever loved: her younger sister Sylvia, her domestic worker Princess, her good friend Alwyn, Bart, her neighbour, Harry, her guardian, her former lover Ivor, and her child, Marianne. Connie doesn’t know why she is back in Scheepersdorp in this spirit form. ‘All I can tell you,’ says the Boatman, who transports her there, ‘is you will know this thing when you see it. And you must be finished by half past six.’
A Slim, Green Silence is a journey through Connie’s past as she tries to understand why she is back home, and for what purpose. Not just a story about death, this is a tale about living and loving, about friendship and motherhood, loss and hope. Most of all, it is about ordinary people, and their attempts to make sense of a sometimes nonsensical world.
Under Rose-Tainted Skies by Louise Gornall
At seventeen, Norah has accepted that the four walls of her house delineate her life. She knows that fearing everything from inland tsunamis to odd numbers is irrational, but her mind insists the world outside is too big, too dangerous. So she stays safe inside, watching others’ lives through her windows and social media feed.
But when Luke arrives on her doorstep, he doesn’t see a girl defined by medical terms and mental health. Instead, he sees a girl who is funny, smart, and brave. And Norah likes what he sees.
Their friendship turns deeper, but Norah knows Luke deserves a normal girl. One who can walk beneath the open sky. One who is unafraid of kissing. One who isn’t so screwed up. Can she let him go for his own good—or can Norah learn to see herself through Luke’s eyes?
White Male Heart by Ruaridh Nicoll
In the magnificent wilderness that is the Scottish Highlands, Aaron and Hugh have been friends for as long as they can remember, bound by a shared affinity for their surroundings and an increasing sense of alienation from the remote, close-knit community that is their home.
But when a young woman – fleeing life in the city and a broken love affair – moves to the area, the ties that bind the boys are slowly, irrevocably stretched to near-breaking point. And as the strain on Aaron and Hugh’s friendship builds, so the violence that is endemic in the land begins to infect them both. Driven to the very edge of reason, they turn on their world to vent their frustration and anger and hurt in the only way they know, embarking on a spree of quite horrific destruction…
Hush Now, Don’t You Cry by Rhys Bowen
In the latest in Rhys Bowen’s award-winning historical series, Molly Murphy is supposed to give up sleuthing now that she’s married, but the murder of an alderman puts her on the trail of a killer.
Molly Murphy, now Molly Sullivan, and her husband Daniel, a captain in the New York Police department, have been invited to spend their honeymoon on the Newport, RI, estate of Alderman Brian Hannan in the spring of 1904. Molly doesn’t entirely trust the offer. Hannan–an ambitious man–has his eye on a senate seat and intentions of taking Tammany Hall to get it. When Hannan is found dead at the base of the cliffs that overlook the Atlantic, Molly’s suspicions are quickly justified, and as much as she wants to keep her promise to Daniel that she won’t do any more sleuthing now, there isn’t much she can do once the chase is on.
When the Curtain Falls by Carrie Hope Fletcher
In 1952 two young lovers meet, in secret, at the beautiful Southern C ross theatre in the very heart of London’s West End. Their relationship is made up of clandestine meetings and stolen moments because there is someone who will make them suffer if he discovers she is no longer ‘his’. But life in the theatre doesn’t always go according to plan and tragedy and heartache are waiting in the wings for all the players . . .
Almost seventy years later, a new production of When the Curtain Falls arrives at the theatre, bringing with it Oscar Bright and Olive Green and their budding romance. Very soon, though, strange things begin to happen and they learn about the ghost that’s haunted the theatre since 1952, a ghost who can only be seen on one night of the year. Except the ghost is appearing more often and seems hell bent on sabotaging Oscar and Olive. The young couple realise they need to right that wrong from years gone by, but can they save themselves before history repeats itself and tragedy strikes once more?
In Strangers’ Houses by Elizabeth Mundy
When you clean strangers’ houses you learn their dirty secrets…
Lena Szarka, a Hungarian cleaner working in London, knows that all too well. So when her friend Timea disappears, she suspects one of her clients is to blame. The police don’t share her suspicions and it is left to Lena to turn sleuth and find her friend.
Searching through their houses as she scrubs their floors, Lena desperately tries to find out what has happened. But only Cartwright, a police constable new to the job, believes that this will lead to the truth. Together they uncover more of Islington’s seedy underbelly than they bargained for.
But Lena soon discovers it’s not just her clients who have secrets. And as she begins to unravel Timea’s past, exposing long hidden truths, she starts to wonder if she really knew her friend at all.
Recipes for Love and Murder by Sally Andrew
Meet Tannie Maria: A woman who likes to cook a lot and write a little. Tannie Maria writes recipes for a column in her local paper, the Klein Karoo Gazette.
One Sunday morning, as Maria savours the breeze through the kitchen window whilst making apricot jam, she hears the screech and bump that announces the arrival of her good friend and editor Harriet. What Maria doesn’t realise is that Harriet is about to deliver the first ingredient in two new recipes (recipes for love and murder) and a whole basketful of challenges.
A delicious blend of intrigue, milk tart and friendship, join Tannie Maria in her first investigation. Consider your appetite whetted for a whole new series of mysteries . . .
The Satanic Mechanic by Sally Andrew
Meet Tannie Maria – recipe writer turned crime fighter – and before she has time to take her Venus Chocolate Cake out of the oven, our glorious heroine finds herself embroiled in another mystery.
In this wonderful sequel to Recipes for Love and Murder, Slimkat the bushman finds his life under threat and Tannie Maria is determined to find out who wants to kill him.
But her boyfriend is keen to keep Tannie out of danger, and she’s pretty sure he’s hiding something so Tannie has mysteries of her own solve . . .
Blending a perfect whodunnit with lovable characters, Sally Andrew really does have the perfect recipe for a crime series.
Death on the Limpopo by Sally Andrew
Tannie Maria might be the Karoo’s favourite agony aunt, but when it comes to matters of her own heart, she doesn’t have all the answers. Why is she having trouble telling her beau – the dashing Detective Henk Kannemeyer with the chestnut moustache – that she loves him?
There are other, more pressing problems too. A tall, dark stranger zooms in on her Ducati motorbike: she is Zabanguni Kani, a journalist renowned for her political exposés, who, after receiving threats, moves in with Tannie Maria for safety.
And who could tell that a trip to the country’s northern parts was on the cards? The journey plunges Maria and her friends into pools of danger, amid water maidens, murders, and Harley Davidsons.
Ladismith’s famous crime fighter is back – with a tin of buttermilk rusks in hand – to restore peace from the Klein Karoo to the great Limpopo River.
