My February reading deviated from the plan (shocking, I know). No Maeve Binchy book, but I had the privilege of reading an advance review copy of Krissy Baccaro’s latest book, Lies That Bind. The other books in her Ella Perri Mysteries Series were fantastic so I was thrilled to get this one in my hands.
Lies That Bind goes back to the source of the Perri family secrets. While it is technically a prequel to the other books, you can read it as a standalone. I recommend Buried Secrets and One Last Secret though. You can learn more about the book here.
Book description:
Behind closed doors, it’s bad for the Perri family. And the masks they wear deceive even the most perceptive eyes. Each of them—Sal and Isabella and sons, Franco and Luca—harbors a secret. No one knows what they’re hiding…or what they’re capable of.
1930s pre-war Italy a young girl has gone missing from Chianlalea, a quaint fishing village at the edge of the Tyrrhenian Sea. It’s eerily reminiscent of a similar incident that happened to Isabella Perri when she was a child.
The missing girl’s body surfaces near the Perri’s marina. And when fingers point at Sal because of his alleged mafia connections Isabella stands by him, refusing to accept the gossip. And the warnings.
Frightful noises in the middle of the night. An intruder’s footsteps below. A second girl, Gia, a friend of Franco and Luca, goes missing. The girl with the pretty smile who, only a few days earlier, had been at their house. Discrepancies in the boys’ stories make them suspect and Isabella starts to question everything she thought she knew.
Ominous notes beneath the door, the locked shed looming in the backyard, and whispers of lies and deceit prove that Isabella and her family are no longer safe. And as she peels back the layers of her small town, secrets of her family begin to emerge. Secrets she didn’t know existed.
Still scared, but refusing to remain silent, Isabella vows to make things right, protect her children, and save the next victim. But doing so will change all of their lives.
Forever
What else I’m reading
I’m also listening to Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus. The book itself is great, even if it irritates me to read about the inequality women faced (and still face). The narrator is pretty good as well, although I’ve noticed she slips into an English accent at times. Not sure what that is all about, but it doesn’t bother me so much as catches my attention.
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl was my quick read of the month. I’ve read it several times, but it assigned for a class I’m taking. Reading the book is more fun for me than watching the movies, but I have to say both movie versions are entertaining for their own reasons.
I wish I could say what I will be reading in March, but I’ve decided to take the “where the wind takes me” approach and be surprised. Hopefully, it will be a pleasant one.
Until next time…