Nonviolent true crime memoirs, birdwatching crime novels, and mystery news!

For fans of non-violent true crime memoirs!

Tanya Smith recounts her life as a criminal, from her childhood obsession with Michael Jackson – which led her to want his home address so much that she figured out how to use the phone company's system to make it look like she was calling from one of their departments to get information – to her time in prison, with some very interesting people (including celebrities). In between all this time, she gradually learned to improve her phone company scam to use it in the banking system, when there were home computers, to steal large amounts of money via wire transfer by exploiting a vulnerability in the system. She had an elaborate and organized system to steal money from the banking system, and for years, even when the police were on her trail, they wanted to use her to get to the person responsible. They were sure a black woman was at the bottom of the crime chain, and they wanted her to lead them to the top white man.

This is the kind of crime memoir that makes me root for the author and ultimately wish someone had just sat Smith down earlier in her life and explained to her how to spot a terrible man, because that was her only problem in life as far as I could see. This is definitely one of my favorite reads of the year, because of Smith's interesting way of diving headfirst into what you want, the memory of life before the internet, and her personality.

Robin Miles was an excellent choice as narrator for the audiobook. I felt like I was actually part of Smith's life and watching her go through it.

(TW siblings with drug addiction/domestic violence)

For fans of crime novels, revenge and translated novels!

Inés spent 15 years in prison for murdering her husband's mistress. Now free, she's teamed up with a friend who's also been in prison before to start a pest control business. When a new wealthy client reveals to Inés that she actually hired her because she wants to get Inés to buy her poison that can kill her husband's mistress, Inés isn't sure if it's a real deal – with money she needs – or if she's being set up.

I've really enjoyed Piñeiro's previous crime novels and am really looking forward to reading this one. Hopefully there will be an English audiobook as well (I saw there is a Spanish-language book, El tiempo de las moscas, but I'm not sure if it's available in the US – I'll look into that later).