Thomas Rosanoff, a brain-research grad student, is dumped by Amy and is shattered. He decides to kidnap and heal her mentally ill brother who believes he is Christ. When Thomas runs into two more men who make the same claim he decides to fix them all. If successful, he will win back Amy and make a name for himself. This hilarious book also questions the nature of faith, love and reality. I loved Thomas with all of his ups downs and foibles.

Newly (happily) widowed Cora Seagrave heads to Essex with her maidservant, Martha, and her autistic son Francis. There she becomes entangled in the local mystery of the Essex serpent. This a novel about ideas “though its sensibility is firmly, consciously, even a little cheekily, gothic.” You will love Cora and Martha’s strength, humour and commitment to each other – at least I did.

Nadia Turner is grief stricken by the recent suicide of her mom. She takes up with the local pastor’s son, Luke Sheppard. She hastily leaves her home town and, by extension, Luke. Returning to that town years later she has to confront all that she left behind, including her unresolved feelings towards Luke. This is a beautifully written story about love, loss, and regret.

Meet Detective Manon – who is witty and a personal mess. She is senior investigative officer in the disappearance of Edith Hind – beautiful, young, wealthy – in short, all the things that Manon is not. Great, fast paced and intriguing who dunnit that will have you guessing (and chuckling) to the end!

Angela is being held by Police Detective Novak for questioning in the disappearance of Saskia – the wife of the man she has always loved. As a teenager Angela and HP were desperately in love. Why would HP leave her for Saskia? Detective Novak has an idea of what happened to the young wife and mother but Angela is not easily forthcoming with what she knows. Really suspensful and a little creepy this is a great who dunnit!

Nora is a very messed up young woman who works with private investigators (I use the term loosely) and who has survived living on the streets. She is approached by a couple who enlist her help in looking for their daughter, Bonnie, a runaway. The thing is, Nora is Bonnie’s birth mother so the stakes are high. I loved the pace of the book. I loved Nora, her best friend a dog named Whisper. It’s a creepy tale but thoroughly engrossing. Reader beware!!!

I’m a little biased here because I love everything that Jackson writes! Despite that bias this is a great read! Leia Birch Briggs has come back to her Southern Alabama home town to help out her 90 year old grandmother, Birchie who is losing her mind. Birchie is being cared for by Wattie, her childhood friend, daughter of her parents’ servant. Leia is pregnant (I can’t even begin to get into that!) and discovering truths about her family that she really would rather not know. Fast paced, funny, heart wrenching – vintage Joshilyn Jackson.

Aviva Grossman’s affair with a married congressman comes crashing to an end and Aviva’s career has crashed along with it. She must re-invent herself and is successful – up to a point. This is the story of a young woman who must accept the consequences of her actions and forgive herself in the process. The book is filled with wisdom, the characters are funny, smart and heartbreakingly foolish. A great read.

The novel is divided into chapters that tell the stories of the people in Lucy Barton’s town. Lucy is a character from Strout’s previous novel. Lucy has returned home after an absence of 17 years and the town is abuzz. Strout writes with wit, wisdom and one great big heart. I love her!

If you like Wyeth’s painting entitled Christina’s World you’ll love this book. It is the story of Christina and how the farm house where she grew up became her world. She meets Wyeth, who is enthralled with her story and obsessive with painting the farmhouse. Such a beautiful peek into a historical fictional view of Christina’s world.