Murder, mystery, and memoir. Here are three books to make you laugh, make you feel, or make you think!

Mexico, Margaritas, and Murder by: Wendy Day

After her grumpy husband dies, Sally throws out his thread-worn plaid recliner, cashes the life insurance check, and lets her spunky best friend, Pearl, drag her to Mexico for an all-inclusive vacation using their Senior Citizen’s discount.

They kayak, sing karaoke, and spy on the next-door nudist resort. Sally’s not sure if it’s the sun or tequila, but she is truly having fun for the first time in her life.

That is until a fellow guest turns up dead.

While Sally fearfully packs her bags for home, Pearl insists they stay and get to the bottom of what’s happened.

Together, they become crime-fighting seniors who refuse to let the bad guys win.

I absolutely love these two feisty old women! Wendy says her novel is “Golden Girls meets Thelma and Louise,” and that couldn’t be truer. What an unpredictable adventure full of laugh out loud moments, a deserved love story, and a murder mystery you’ll have a blast solving! Love me some realistic villains, and the old lady humor is definitely the staple of this book. I can’t recommend this novel highly enough.

I Lied For You by: Zee David

Brie Owen, a journalist who is haunted by the past, decided to leave Denton Falls behind her.

When bodies of recently murdered girls turn up with the same MO as a killer from her past; Brie questions everything she thought was the truth.  

After receiving a call from the killer wanting to play a game; Brie wonders if she will ever escape her dark past.

Evil lurks in every shadow, leering at her attempted escape.

Her nemesis Detective Anita is back in her life, threatening the life Brie has built for herself. 

A tale of a cat and mouse, both women try to find the truth about what happened that day in the woods and also unveil the killer.

The best part of a mystery novel is when the readers get to engage in solving the mystery. I definitely felt apart of the investigation. Yet, just when I thought I had it all figured out, Zee David would throw me for a loop and make me question everything I thought I knew. I can’t wait to read book two and see what’s in store for Brie and Detective Anita. I honestly didn’t want book one to end!

Midpoint by: Patricia Angeles

Midpoint: A Memoir is an immigrant woman’s story of perseverance and building a legacy future generations can be proud of.

Patricia Angeles is at the midpoint of the average human lifespan. Decades of experience, mistakes, love, and loss have led her to contemplate what anyone might when they’ve lived half their life. “What kind of legacy am I leaving behind? What do I want my friends and family to remember after I’m gone? What are the biggest life lessons I can impart while I’m still here?”

Through this collection of personal stories, Patricia attempts to assess her answers to these questions, and perhaps encourage others to do the same. Spanning from her childhood in Manila to her immigration and life in Los Angeles, these stories touch on her youth, her acclimation to American culture, her remarkable career in the world of banking, her thoughts on motherhood, the important people who made her who she is today, and major events that forever changed the trajectory of her life.

I don’t read memoirs simply because I don’t feel like I learn much from them, but Patricia’s memoir had so much heart and sincerity, and the questions she asked herself really prompted me to reflect on my own life. I can’t believe there is so much substance in only 166 pages. Midpoint is a wholesome read with themes all of us can relate to.