Books Set in North America, the United States, Washington, DC

The Camel Club, by David Baldacci (2005)

The Camel Club is a 2005 political crime thriller novel featuring a group of eccentric Washington, D.C. misfits who uncover a vast government conspiracy after witnessing a murder.  They team up with Alex Ford, a Secret Service agent who is on thin ice with his boss.  Together, they all must work to prevent a national security crisis.  

Read: March 18, 2026

4 Stars

Books Set in Europe, Ireland

In the Woods, by Tana French (2007)

This mystery novel is narrated by Adam Robert Ryan.  He and his Murder Squad partner, Cassie Maddox,  are investigating the murder of a young girl, which took place in the same woods where Ryan was the victim of a crime as a young boy.  

When Ryan was 12-years old, he and two friends were victims of a mysterious crime.  His two friends disappeared, and Ryan was found covered in blood.  His family moved away from the village, and he dropped Adam from his name, and became known as Rob Ryan.  When he is assigned to the murder case years later, he did not recuse himself from the case.  The proximity of the new crime triggered vague memories from his own past.

This novel is well written and kept my attention.  I really liked the interaction between Ryan and Maddox as we follow the current murder as well as Rob's mysterious past.

This was Tana French's first novel.  I will definitely be looking for more of her books.

Read:  March 3, 2026

4 Stars

Books Set in North America; United States, New York and California

The Night We Lost Him, by Laura Dave (2024)

This was a mindless, but fun suspense drama.  Nora and her half-brother Sam investigate their father's death.  He appeared to have fallen from a cliff to his death, but was it an accident?  

Read: February 24, 2026

3 Stars

Books Set in North America (New Hampshire); Europe (Vienna); and Asia (Israel)

Queen Esther, by John Irving (2025)

John Irving is a very quirky author.  While the title seems to refer to Esther, a Jewish orphan, adopted as a young teen to be a nanny to the daughter of the Winslow family, much of the book actually focuses on her son, Jimmy.  Esther was born in Vienna, Austria in 1905.  Soon after her birth, her family immigrated to the United States to escape the growing antisemitism.  Sadly, antisemitism was prevalent in the United States as well, and Esther's mother was murdered antisemites in Maine.  (Her father had died en route to the United States.)

The Winslows of New Hampshire provide Esther with a loving, but non-Jewish, family.  She grew up knowing of her Jewish background and values.  She is determined not to marry, but does agree to be the birth mother to Jimmy, who will be raised by Honor Winslow.  Esther longs to find her Jewish roots and becomes like the biblical Queen Esther and work to protect the Jews post-World War II.  Her life becomes mysterious and her Winslow family believes she has ties to Israel's Mossad.

Esther's son is curious about his birth mother and her ties to Judaism.  He also is determined to become a writer, so travels to Vienna, the place of his mother's birth.  At this point, the novel takes a turn and we meet all the quirky characters that are Irving's signature.

Irving's descriptions of live in New Hampshire are so New England.  His take on the formation of Israel are also so vivid and factual.  As he describes walking down the streets of Jerusalem, I felt as though I, too, were walking with Jimmy.  As Jimmy meets people, he has the opportunity to determine his own life course ~ is he the child of Esther, or of Honor?

I enjoyed the beginning and the ending of this novel, but got bogged down my much of the middle of the book.

3 Stars

Read: January 27, 2026