The Girls in the Garden by Lisa Jewell

Claire Wild has just returned from a neighbourhood party with her daughter.  She has had way too much to drink.  Pip heads out to the garden to find her older sister but when she's found Grace is unconscious.  

Claire Wild and her two daughters, Grace and Pip, have just moved to a new home.  Claire's husband has experienced some severe mental health issues and the girls have been forced to find somewhere new to live in London, England.  The find themselves in this neighbourhood where the buildings and homes join together and the inside forms this cool 3 acre communal park.  Claire is trying to lay low and regroup but it's hard to avoid her super friendly neighbours and they all quickly become friends.

We know from the first chapter that somewhere along the lines everyone in the neighbourhood is certainly not friendly because someone has harmed Grace.  But who?

I really loved the idea of this neighbourhood.  It sounded like such a cool place to live.  As the story progressed none of the characters were very likeable.  They all had secrets.  Everyone was in everyone else's business.

The Girls in the Garden was a great fast read with a good mystery.  It wasn't until the last page that you figure out who harmed Grace.

The Altogether Unexpected Disappearance of Atticus Craftsman by Mamen Sanchez

The Altogether Unexpected Disappearance of Atticus Craftsman is a mystery, a love story, a story of strong friendships and also quite funny as well.  Atticus Craftsman is the son of a wealthy tycoon in the literary business.  His father had established small literary newspapers across Europe.  All were very successful expect the Spain office.  Atticus is sent to Spain with the task of firing the five employees and closing up the office.  His father sends him off with a warning - they're all women.

The women of the office are a tight group of friends.  They help each other out when in need and celebrate each others successes and cry together when life isn't going as planned for one of the group.  When they receive word that the office is too be closed they quickly make a plan to stall for time.  And the mystery begins.

All of the characters in the book were very like-able.  There were many characters in the book and I was worried it was going to get confusing but they were each well defined and distinct.  I enjoyed reading a book set in Spain.  I can't think of anything else I've read set in Spain.  It was a nice change.

The Altogether Unexpected Disappearance of Atticus Craftsman  will be on sale August 9th, 2016.