The Girl from Baghdad by Michelle Nouri

The true story of a woman torn between two worlds.Michelle Nouri was born in Prague but grew up in vibrant pre-war Baghdad. Her privileged Iraqi childhood was like a fable; full of sun and games with her sisters and cousins in the crowded house of Bibi, matriarch of the powerful Nouri family. As a young girl, Michelle didn't fully understand the tensions between East and West that existed in her upbringing - Muslim ceremonies, Christian friends, Communist restrictions, private ballet classes and overseas trips. Her adolescence complicated things as family tradition dictated she should marry a cousin. She resisted - and instead found herself flirting with Uday Hussein, Saddam's eldest son. He invited her into a seductive world of tennis matches and moonlit concerts. But then, without warning, her privileged world imploded. The idyllic city of her childhood was devastated by war, and her father deserted his family to take a second wife. Michelle, her mother and sisters were abandoned and left impoverished. In desperation, they fled to Czechoslovakia, and embarked on a painful and emotional journey between cultures - Arabic, Communist and Western. 

It was interesting to read about growing up in Baghdad. The breakup of her parents marriage was disappointing, but not entirely unexpected given the attitude of her fathers family. But I don't understand how a father can just move onto a new family and leave his children behind.

Trick Shot by David Hunt

Kay Farrow is devastated at the death of her mentor, Maddy Yamada, victim of a hit and run driver. But what looks like an accident turns out to be brutal murder. As she investigates, Kay is drawn into a decadent world of wealth and privilege, where a gun club provides a cover for acts of depravity.

I enjoyed this book starring a colourblind photographer. Unusual, chilling and twisted. The raping women with a gun was not my thing.

The Conjuror's Bird by Martin Davies

In 1774, on Captain Cook's second expedition to the South Pacific, a single specimen of a thrushlike bird was captured. The bird entered the collection of eminent naturalist Sir Joseph Banks—but then it disappeared. Moving adroitly between the 18th and the 21st centuries, Davies indulges in clever speculation about the bird's whereabouts and adds an appealing strain of romance surrounding the identity of Banks's mistress, "Miss B." Alternating chapters chronicle the adventures of Fitz, a present-day London conservationist who's agreed to try to find "the Mysterious Bird of Ulieta" at the urging of a woman he once loved—but it's his spunky female graduate student whose ingenuity and indefatigable research do much to keep the plot spinning past red herrings, dead ends and the machinations of unscrupulous people racing to find the bird first. 

An intriguing mix of factual history, mystery and romance.  I liked the alternating chapters of present day and the story of Joseph Banks.  Kept me interested all the way.  

The Well and the Mine by Gin Phillips

In 1931 Carbon Hill, a small Alabama coal-mining town, nine-year-old Tess Moore watches from the darkness of her back porch as a strange woman lifts the cover off the family well and tosses a baby in without a word.

It is the height of the Depression; while Tess’s father, Albert, performs backbreaking and dangerous work at the mine, her mother, Leta, makes do without meat on her table. But the family are luckier than most; the food they can grow on their plot of land has so far saved them from the crippling poverty and near-starvation that besets their neighbours. As Tess tries to unravel the mystery of the woman at the well, a portrait emerges of a family and a community struggling to survive the darkest of times.

The story opens with a baby being thrown in a well.  The mystery surrounding this event carries through the book, but really it is a story about a family, a place, a time, and a way of living. The story is told from the point of view of each member of the family.  Each giving the reader a different perspective on this hard life.

A wonderful, captivating story. I really enjoyed it.

The Museum of Extraordinary Things by Alice Hoffman

Coralie Sardie is the daughter of the sinister impresario behind The Museum of Extraordinary Things, a Coney Island boardwalk freak show that thrills the masses. An exceptional swimmer, Coralie appears as the Mermaid in her father’s “museum,” alongside performers like the Wolfman, the Butterfly Girl, and a one-hundred-year-old turtle. One night Coralie stumbles upon a striking young man taking pictures of moonlit trees in the woods off the Hudson River.

The dashing photographer is Eddie Cohen, a Russian immigrant who has run away from his father’s Lower East Side Orthodox community and his job as a tailor’s apprentice. When Eddie photographs the devastation on the streets of New York following the infamous Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire, he becomes embroiled in the suspicious mystery behind a young woman’s disappearance and ignites the heart of Coralie.

 I enjoy stories that weave historical facts into fiction. This was one of those with a strange, twisted, interesting story. 

The Devil's Star by Jo Nesbo

Still suffering from alcohol-fueled demons and obsessed with hunting for evidence against a clearly dirty cop, Hole grudgingly agrees to help look into the murder of a woman whose finger has been amputated and a red diamond stuck under her eyelid. More bodies follow, with the murderer leaving identical five-pointed diamonds (the titular devil's star) at each crime scene. At first the killings appear to be random, but Hole soon discovers an ominous pattern.  

Lots of twists and turns. Harry is his own worst enemy at times. 

Archangel's Heart by Nalini Singh

Excellent addition to the series.  Eve and Raphael's relationship continues to grow as they trust each other.  They rescue Eve's grandparents and find out a bit more of her family history.  We are told a few more hints about Aodhan, I am really looking forward to his book.