Ripper by Isabel Allende

Isabel Allende was born in Lima, Peru, and moved to Chile when she was three years old; she comes from a major Chilean political family and identifies herself as a Chilean. Her childhood was spent with her maternal grandparents in Santiago, Chile, following the divorce of her parents. She represents her grandparents as Esteban and Clara Trueba in her best-known novel, The House of the Spirits. Educated partly in England and Europe, Allende returned to Chile in her early twenties to become a journalist and to involve herself in feminism and political causes. She spent the years 1964 through 1974 writing articles and editing journals; she also worked on television shows and film documentaries. Her early experiences before the 1973 military coup in Chile, which changed her life, included editing Paulamagazine and conducting interviews for television stations.

Allende was married to engineer Miguel Frias in 1962 and was divorced from him in 1987; her two children, Paula and Nicholas, were born of this union. Her daughter Paula’s illness and death, the major tragedy of Allende’s adult life, are recounted in the memoir Paula. In 1988 Allende married William Gordon.

Publishers Weekly

PW Reviews 2013 December #4

Bestseller Allende (The House of the Spirits) successfully tries her hand at a mystery, which features an unlikely team of sleuths united by an online mystery game named after the infamous Whitechapel murderer. High school senior Amanda Martín is the games master for a group that includes her grandfather, Blake Jackson; a wheelchair-bound New Zealand boy with the online persona of a Gypsy girl named Esmeralda; and a 13-year-old boy with a high IQ who calls himself Sherlock Holmes. Amanda persuades her cohorts to investigate real-life crimes in 2012 San Francisco, starting with the murder of Ed Staton, a school security guard. A month earlier, Amanda's astrologer godmother predicted that San Francisco would suffer a bloodbath. The prophecy seems more credible when other murders follow Staton's. While this genre outing isn't as memorable as the author's more groundbreaking fiction, her facility with plotting and pacing will keep readers turning the pages. 7-city author tour. Agent: Carmen Balcells, Carmen Balcells Agency. (Feb.)

Read-alikes for Ripper

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Ripper

By: Allende, Isabel

Fascinated by the dark side of human nature, high school senior Amanda Jackson, a natural-born

sleuth addicted to an online mystery game called Ripper, launches her own investigation into a string of strange murders across the city that hits too close to home when her mother vanishes.

Read-alikes

1. Monkeewrench
   Tracy, P. J., (Joint pseudonym)
   Reason: When computer games bleed over into real life, and vice versa, the characters get sucked into high-stakes serial murder investigations in Ripper, set in San Francisco, and Monkeewrench, set in Minneapolis. -- Katherine Johnson
2. The restoration game
   MacLeod, Ken, 1954-
   Reason: Computer geeks meet criminal conspiracies in these thrillers. Though Ripper takes place in San Francisco and Restoration Game in Edinburgh and ethnic Krassnia (formerly in the USSR), they both feature youthful protagonists, plots filled with intrigue, and realistic backgrounds. -- Katherine Johnson
3. Little brother
   Doctorow, Cory
   Reason: Readers who enjoy teen-centered fiction will find both Ripper (a serial killer investigation) and Little Brother (a government conspiracy) compelling. Both books feature teens in the Bay Area who use online gaming techniques to combat the bad guys. -- Katherine Johnson
4. Reamde Stephenson, Neal
   Reason: Multi-player on line gaming provides the background for compelling suspense in both Reamde, a complex, convoluted cyber-thriller that plays out across the globe, and Ripper, an intrigue-filled plot featuring efforts to track down a serial killer in San Francisco. -- Katherine Johnson
5. 1st to die
   Patterson, James, 1947-
   Reason: These murder mysteries features a maverick female protagonist on the trail of a serial killer in San Francisco. Teenage sleuth Amanda secretly investigates her mother's disappearance in Ripper, while an off-duty cop stalks a killer author in 1st to Die. -- Kim Burton

Read-alikes for Allende, Isabel

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Allende, Isabel

Isabel Allende draws deeply on South America's turbulent history, as well as personal experience, to craft magical multigenerational sagas, novels, short stories, and memoirs. Known for her vibrant characterization of women and her lyrically descriptive prose, Allende subtly combines the traditional with elements of the fantastic in a magical realist style. Blending the social, political, romantic, and historic, she produces engrossing stories that linger with her readers. Allende also write a series for Teens that combines adventure and magical realism with a coming-of-age journey. Start with: The House of the Spirits (Adults); City of the Beasts (Teens).

Read-alikes

1. Garcia Marquez, Gabriel, 1928-2014
   Reason: The works of Isabel Allende and Gabriel Garcia Marquez bring rich, multilayered stories in the magical realist tradition to life with evocative, lyrical prose. Where the supernatural intrudes on the real world in an entirely believable fashion, they explore love, honor, power, and faith -- universal themes with political content, often in actual historical settings. -- Katherine Johnson
2. De Bernieres, Louis
   Reason: Louis De Bernieres and Isabel Allende share a sardonic sense of humor mixed with elements of magical realism, eccentric characterization, and plotting featuring the difficulties of love and relationships against an unstable political and military background. -- Bethany Latham
3. Coelho, Paulo
   Reason: If you are looking for lyrical novels with elements of magical realism that may involve a physical quest that mimics a simultaneous internal quest, you may want to read the stories by Paulo Coelho and Isabel Allende. -- Rebecca Sigmon
4. Desai, Kiran, 1971-
   Reason: These authors include sometimes surprising elements of magical realism in their reflective storytelling, as well as memorable characters. They are also lush writers, with a deep appreciation for the exploration of the senses, and making sure the reader experiences the landscapes of their books as deeply as their characters do. -- Melissa Gray
5. Grande, Reyna
   Reason: While Isabel Allende often employs magical realist imagery and style, and Reyna Grande's work is straightforward realism, both evoke Latin American storytelling and cultural traditions in their fiction and nonfiction. Grande focuses on the immigrant experience and women's friendships, while Allende crafts novels with a variety of storylines. -- Katherine Johnson
6. Oyeyemi, Helen

Reason: Helen Oyeyemi and Isabel Allende write complex, intricately plotted own voices stories filled with magical realism. These stories are told by culturally diverse characters in lyrical prose, and both authors often weave social and political commentary into their atmospheric, thought- provoking novels. -- Heather Cover

7. Ferre, Rosario

Reason: Readers looking for feminist, social, and political novels from accomplished Latina storytellers will appreciate Ferré and Allende, who write in a range of fiction and nonfiction genres. Their complex, engrossing works feature evocative and lyrical writing style, memorable characters (especially vibrant women), and a strong sense of history. -- Katherine Johnson

8. Morrison, Toni, 1931-2019

Reason: Readers especially attracted to the mythic and feminist aspects of Isabel Allende may find much to appreciate in Toni Morrison, whose stories explore many of the same social issues from an African-American viewpoint. Allende's writing style is more conventional, but both authors have strong powers of description and an ability to immerse readers in the story's atmosphere. -- Katherine Johnson

9. Alvarez, Julia

Reason: Readers who are drawn to Allende's masterful storytelling voice may enjoy Julia Alvarez. She explores Latina history from a woman's point of view, and provides a vivid backdrop for social and historical themes that relate to some of Allende's. -- Katherine Johnson

Young Adult series:  Alexander Cold trilogy (City of the Beasts; Kingdom of the Golden Dragon; Forest of the Pygmies)

Writings

• A long petal of the sea (Jan 2020)
• In the midst of winter (Oct 2017)
• The Japanese lover (Nov 2015)
• Ripper (Jan 2014)
• Maya's notebook (Apr 2013)
• Island beneath the sea (Apr 2010)
• Ines of my soul (Jan 2006)
• Forest of the pygmies (May 2005)
• Zorro (May 2005)
• Kingdom of the golden dragon (Apr 2004)
• City of the beasts (Nov 2002)
• Portrait in sepia (Nov 2001)
• Daughter of fortune (Oct 1999)
  
  

  • The infinite plan (Mar 1994)
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  • The stories of Eva Luna (Jan 1991)
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  • Where angels glide at dawn: new stories from Latin America (Oct 1990)
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  • Eva Luna (Sep 1988)
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  • Of love and shadows (May 1987)
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  • Other fires: short fiction by Latin American women (Mar 1986)
    
    
     The house of the spirits (May 1985)

  
  
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Witch Elm February 2020

WITCH ELM by Tana French

February 13, 2020

Irish mystery writer Tana French garnered uncommonly good reviews and widespread critical praise with her debut, and has continued to impress critics and popular readers with each new book about the fictitious Dublin Murder Squad. In her finely plotted police procedurals, grim realities of social class, police politics, and human violence give the stories a dark tone, while the vividly drawn character portraits of the protagonists add emotional depth. Start with: In the Woods. 

Her books have won awards including the Edgar, Anthony, Macavity, and Barry awards, the Los Angeles Times Award for Best Mystery/Thriller, and the Irish Book Award for Crime Fiction. She lives in Dublin with her family.

Witch Elm (2018), also published as Wych Elm (2019), is a stand alone title:

One night changes everything for Toby. He's always led a charmed life - until a brutal attack leaves him damaged and traumatised, unsure even of the person he used to be. He seeks refuge at his family's ancestral home, the Ivy House, filled with memories of wild-strawberry summers and teenage parties with his cousins. But not long after Toby's arrival, a discovery is made- a skull, tucked neatly inside the old wych elm in the garden. As detectives begin to close in, Toby is forced to examine everything he thought he knew about his family, his past, and himself.

Dublin Murder Squad series:

• In the woods (2007),     #1
  
• The likeness (2008),      #2
  
• Faithful place (2010),     #3
  
• Broken harbor ( 2012),   #4
  
• The secret place (2014), #5
   
• The trespasser (2016),   #6 
• 
  

Read-alikes 

1. Stieg Larsson,  Reason: Stieg Larsson and Tana French both write exceedingly dark crime stories which feature a compelling investigative team. Their work is set in bleak landscapes with intricately plotted suspenseful story lines that are marked by violence. -- Becky Spratford 

2. Elizabeth  George, Reason: Elizabeth George and Tana French both use an elegant literary style to write mystery novels featuring unforgettable characters whose professional lives and personal lives are inextricably mingled. A dark tone and realistic violence set the moody atmosphere for their stories. -- Jessica Zellers

 3. S. J. (Sharon J.) Bolton, Reason: Tana French and S.J. Bolton write dark, disturbing psychological suspense stories that will draw in readers with intricate plotting and in-depth characterization, keeping them captivated until the last page. -- Rebecca Sigmon

4. Liane Moriarty,  Reason: Tana French writes mysteries that are darker and grittier than Liane Moriarty's more humorous domestic dramas, but they both create suspenseful, character-driven stories in which complex interpersonal dynamics and emotional consequences from past incidents are as important to the plot as the central mystery. -- Halle Eisenman

5. Karin Slaughter,  Reason: Tana French and Karin Slaughter pen similarly fast-paced dark thrillers that focus on bizarre, brutal crimes (often vividly described). Their works combine police procedural action plus memorable, well-crafted protagonists facing their own inner demons. The result? Razor-sharp psychological tension and nail-biting plot twists. -- Kim Burton

 6. Gillian Flynn, Reason: Both Tana French and Gillian Flynn write dark, literary suspense stories in which extremely flawed narrators draw readers into emotionally charged stories. They create unsettling and disturbing tales filled with psychological twists and turns, and their protagonists tend to be intimately involved with the crimes they are investigating. -- Becky Spratford

 7. Kate Atkinson, Reason: Tana French and Kate Atkinson both dispense with rigid notions of literary fiction or mystery, and instead focus on crafting uncommonly good stories. Both women deliver unforgettable characters, violent crimes, twisting plots, and superb prose. -- Jessica Zellers 

8. Jane  Harper, Reason: Though the locations are different (Ireland for Tana French, Australia for Jane Harper), both authors write gripping, atmospheric mysteries that are deeply rooted in a strong sense of place and feature authentic characters grappling with personal issues while investigating crimes. -- Halle Eisenman 

9. Ausma Zehanat Khan,  Reason: Tana French and Ausma Zehanat Khan write intriguingly complex police procedurals where the setting informs the story just as much as the characters or plots. Past events from the investigators' personal lives surface and shape the  way they view the cases they are assigned, often with complicated results. -- Halle Eisenman

Woman in the Window Jan 2020

WOMAN IN THE WINDOW by A. J. Finn

January 9, 2020

Dan Mallory. Daniel Mallory (born 1979) is an American editor and author who writes under the name A. J. Finn. His 2018 novel The Woman in the Window debuted at number one on the New York Times Best Seller list and has been adapted into a feature film.

https://booksreadingorder.com/a-j-finn/

Ajfinn.com

https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2019/02/11/a-suspense-novelists-trail-of-deceptions

https://belmysterygroup.blogspot.com/2020/01/a-suspense-novelists-trail-of.html

Read-alikes 

1. Bitter orange Fuller, Claire Reason: In each, a socially isolated female protagonist who spies on her neighbors becomes dangerously entangled in their affairs. Bitter Orange has gothic elements, while Woman in the Window offers Hitchcockian suspense. Both are character-driven and crackle with psychological tension. -- Kim Burton 

2. Sometimes I lie Feeney, Alice Reason: These taut psychological thrillers center on women imprisoned by their circumstances -- one in a coma (Sometimes I Lie) and one suffering from agoraphobia (Woman in the Window). Both feature outrageous twists. -- Andrienne Cruz 

3. The girl on the train Hawkins, Paula Reason: The flawed main characters of these suspenseful and taut thrillers think they have information about a crime based on what they observe from their windows. However, their unreliable memories and dependence on alcohol have everyone questioning their involvement and their sanity. -- Halle Eisenman 

4. Watching you Jewell, Lisa Reason: These intricately plotted, suspenseful and compelling murder mysteries involve long-held secrets and voyeurs who notice suspicious activity in their upscale neighborhoods. Woman in the Window takes place in New York City while Watching You takes place in a British suburb. -- Alicia Cavitt 

5. The breakdown Paris, B. A. Reason: When everyone around them contradicts what they think they know, the complex women in these engaging thrillers struggle to retain their sanity when they can't rely on their memories. -- Halle Eisenman 

6. The woman in cabin ten Ware, Ruth Reason: Coping with a traumatic event, the protagonists don't trust their own memories after witnessing a crime that everyone surrounding them claims never happened. These gripping thrillers are full of twists and turns and a deep sense of foreboding. -- Halle Eisenman 

7. Her every fear Swanson, Peter,  Reason: The unreliable narrators of these intricately plotted, Hitchcockian thrillers involve themselves in a police investigation, but their unstable mental state makes them questionable witnesses. -- Halle Eisenman

 8. I know who you are Feeney, Alice Reason: These books are menacing, intricately plotted, and intensifying, and they have the theme "unreliable narrator"; the genre "psychological suspense"; and the subjects "obsession" and "secrets." 

9. In a dark, dark wood Ware, Ruth Reason: These books are menacing, compelling, and intricately plotted, and they have the theme "unreliable narrator"; the genre "psychological suspense"; and the subjects "obsession," "secrets," and "recluses." © 2020 EBSCO 

9. Tom Ripley novels by Patricia Highsmith

A second novel from AJ Finn has been slated for a January 2020 release. Mallory has said that it will be set in San Francisco, “the only Hitchcockian American place that is not New York”. The New Yorker said it would be a story of revenge involving a female thriller writer and an interviewer who learns of a dark past.Feb 7, 2019