In a peaceful retirement village, four unlikely friends meet up once a week to investigate unsolved murders.
But when a brutal killing takes place on their very doorstep, the Thursday Murder Club find themselves in the middle of their first live case. Elizabeth, Joyce, Ibrahim and Ron might be pushing eighty but they still have a few tricks up their sleeves.
Can our unorthodox but brilliant gang catch the killer before it’s too late?
My Review:
This was such an amazing cozy mystery. I fell in love with all the characters. How is that even possible? There were so many I had a hard time keeping them straight at first, but once I got the hang of all the names it was smooth sailing from there. These old people were hilarious. The detectives were great. The husbands and the side characters were also amazing. I mean, I even had a hard time disliking the people I know I was probably supposed to hate, but they were all so genuine I had to like them. I did not solve the whole mystery until the end, and I love when that happens. The Thursday Murder Club has my heart, and I cannot wait to read the rest of the series.
If you liked this review, visit my Pango Store where I sell all the books I read for a fair price and in great condition.
For fans of: Domestic Fiction, Romance, Ask Again Yes, The Giver of Stars, Beach Read, The Unhoneymooners, books about forgiveness, books with strong female leads
Good to know before you read: mentions of child sexual abuse
Disclaimer: I was not paid for this review, and all opinions are my own. If you are interested in purchasing this book, please consider using my Amazon affiliate link (by clicking on the top or bottom pictures) and helping a fellow book blogger out 🙂 I will receive a small fee from Amazon, but your book will still cost the same.
Synopsis from Goodreads:
Cassie Hanwell was born for emergencies. As one of the only female firefighters in her Texas firehouse, she’s seen her fair share of them, and she’s excellent at dealing with other people’s tragedies. But when her estranged and ailing mother asks her to uproot her life and move to Boston, it’s an emergency of a kind Cassie never anticipated.
The tough, old-school Boston firehouse is as different from Cassie’s old job as it could possibly be. Hazing, a lack of funding, and poor facilities mean that the firemen aren’t exactly thrilled to have a “lady” on the crew, even one as competent and smart as Cassie. Except for the handsome rookie, who doesn’t seem to mind having Cassie around. But she can’t think about that. Because she doesn’t fall in love. And because of the advice her old captain gave her: don’t date firefighters. Cassie can feel her resolve slipping…but will she jeopardize her place in a career where she’s worked so hard to be taken seriously?
Katherine Center’s Things You Save in a Fire is a heartfelt, affecting novel about life, love, and the true meaning of courage.
My Review:
People who wanted to wrestle with complicated emotions became therapists, or poets. People who wanted to keep things simple became firefighters.”
I have been a 911 Dispatcher for seven years now, so this book hit very close to home. I handle emergencies through the phone on a daily basis, and I can only imagine what it would be like to handle these situations in person. As a dispatcher I’ve been through training exercises in which I had to wear full firefighter gear so that I could really see what it’s like to be in their shoes, and why they have to scream to speak into their handheld radios during a fire. I got to experience how heavy the gear is, how hot it gets in the Florida heat (let alone an actual fire) , and how strong the water pressure feels when I was holding the hose (it almost knocked me down when the person helping me let go). I felt so claustrophobic inside the gear, and breathing through the oxygen tank was uncomfortable. I could picture all of these things very vividly while I read this book.
Center mentioned that her husband is a firefighter, so all her descriptions and scenes were very accurate. I can also attest to how real all these situations she talked about are, even the most ridiculous calls she mentioned (don’t want to ruin it for you guys with details). I was laughing out loud at times, and almost in tears at others (I’m not a crier so this is rare for me). I enjoyed the hilarious pranks the firefighters played on each other. The dialogue between the characters felt natural and realistic, and the playful banter was entertaining.
Knowing everything we know about how hard life is and choosing to love anyway…That’s not weakness. That’s bravery.”
Even though the book was funny at times, it was not a light read in any shape or form. The story dealt with very serious topics such as grief, rape, forgiveness, abandonment, and substance abuse, to name a few. I liked how Center approached the topic of workplace equality for women in a male dominated occupation. Cassie, the main character, was definitely a bigger person than I am, but I admit I don’t deal well with forgiveness. There were many situations in which I wondered if I would’ve made the same decisions as she. This story is a good one to make you ponder social, workplace, and family moral dilemmas.
The romance was very realistic. It took a while for the characters to get together, and I liked that they took it slow given Cassie’s abusive past. The story did become a bit too dramatic for me at one point in which everything seemed to be going wrong for Cassie. It reminded me of one of those Lifetime movies that I don’t enjoy. I felt like Cassie had already been through enough and she did not need the extra drama. With that said, this was a great book with so many good life lessons and great advice. I highly recommend it to all Romance and Domestic Fiction fans.
I got all these pins from handling different calls at work. Some are life saves and some are teamwork awards. I recently handled my first baby delivery through the phone (it was a baby boy), and I’m still waiting for my little stork pin to arrive 🙂
If you are wondering where I got this amazing underwater themed pin hoop, you can click on The Bookish Creations Etsy Shop link and use code DEE15 to save! I represent Chelsea’s shop on Instagram, and she is a wonderful person and creator 🙂 She sells great quality bookish and K-Pop themed totes, water bottles, bookmarks, and pin hoops.
Last week I added: read Wuthering Heights, visit Paris, France, and own the Blood of Eden series to my list.
This week:
Go to BookCon
I was so sad I missed BookCon this year. It looked like a lot of fun and I have never been to one. It feels like something I would really enjoy. I need to gather a few of my bookworms friends and we need to plan a visit to one of these. Maybe next year.
Own the Daughter of Smoke and Bone series by Laini Taylor
I really loved all these books. I think her writing is close to hypnotic, but so realistic at the same time. Even though this world is full of magic, I felt like any day I could just encounter one of these doors and step into it myself.
Have dinner inside the Beauty and the Beast castle at Disney World
I have been to Disney World many times. It might sound cliché, but to me it is the happiest place on Earth. The scenery, the music, and the characters are all presented with great care and attention to detail. Even the employees are very well trained, and one of their main jobs is to make you smile. Even though I have been there many times, I have never dined inside the Beauty and the Beast castle, mostly because it’s so hard to get a reservation. Having just read A Curse do Dark and Lonely by Brigid Kemmerer made me a bit nostalgic for Beauty and the Beast. Now I want to go to the castle and “Be their Guest.”
It’s Friday, and time for me to add some items to my book bucket list. A recap of last week, I added: read Moby Dick and Ana Karenina, go to London, and own the rest of Throne of Glass series.
Read the Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings trilogy
Okay, so I realized if I don’t add these to some sort of list then I’m never going to read them. They’re not even on my TBR list anymore because I got tired of looking at them on there. First of all, the covers are terrible aren’t they? But, I did and I do love the movies, so I will make myself read these at some point. I’m sure I will feel so good after I do, like a giant weight, or maybe just 5 pounds or so, has been lifted off my shoulders.
Go to New York
New York is the setting for so many great books, including one of my favorite series The Immortal Instruments by Cassandra Clare. It’s filled with giant buildings and the possibilities of so many bookstores just waiting to take all my money.
Own all the Shatter Me books
Can you believe I don’t actually own a single one of these? I love this series, and all Tahereh Mafi books, but I just own the e-books, or I have gotten them from the Library to read. The covers are amazing and I’m sure they will look great on my shelves soon!
I can’t wait to fulfill some of these. I will sure post about it on here. Drop me a comment and let me know about some of the bookish things you want to accomplish.
Dee’s Reading Tree 