Each week as part of SunLit — The Sun’s literature section — we feature staff recommendations from book stores across Colorado. This week, the staff from Out West Books in Grand Junction recommends a story of an aspiring songwriter, deleting minds and a mother who fights to save her kids.
From the publisher: Twenty-year-old Thomas Flett lives a slow, deliberate life with his mother in Longferry, Northern England, working his grandpa’s trade as a shanker. He rises early to take his horse and cart to the drizzly shore to scrape for shrimp, and spends the afternoon selling his wares, trying to wash away the salt and sea scum, pining for his neighbor, Joan Wyeth, and playing songs on his guitar.
At heart, he is a folk musician, but this remains a private dream. Then a mysterious American arrives in town, and enlists Thomas’s help in finding a perfect location for his next movie. Though skeptical at first, soon Thomas starts to trust the stranger, Edgar, and, shaken from the drudgery of his days by the promise of Hollywood glamour, begins to see a different future for himself. But how much of what Edgar claims is true, and how far can his inspiration carry Thomas?
From Marya Johnston, owner: This atmospheric novel put me in mind of “Small Things Like These” by Claire Keegan, which, if you aren’t familiar, is a great Christmas read. “Seascraper” is a short, emotional, ethereal, and exceptionally written tale about doing the right thing, no matter what, and I love reading that sort of book these days, when so few people seem to be able to do just that. I was transported from the dry comfort of western Colorado to a gray and isolated beach in England, where people lead dreary lives without much to look forward to, and I can’t get it out of my head. I remember every description and detail and would unreservedly recommend it to any lover of literature. It’s one of my favorites this year.
I read this as an audiobook and I think that is the way to go with this story. The author reads his book beautifully, and plays guitar and sings folk songs/sea shanties. Do yourself a favor and listen to, or read, this book.
Murder by Memory
By Olivia Waite
Tordotcom
$21.99
March 2025
Purchase
From the publisher: Dorothy Gentleman wakes up in a body that isn’t hers — just as someone else is found murdered. As one of the ship’s detectives, Dorothy usually delights in unraveling the schemes on board the Fairweather, but when she finds that someone is not only killing bodies but purposefully deleting minds from the Library, she realizes something even more sinister is afoot.
Dorothy suspects her misfortune is partly the fault of her feckless nephew Ruthie who, despite his brilliance as a programmer, leaves chaos in his cheerful wake. Or perhaps the sultry yarn store proprietor — and ex-girlfriend of the body Dorothy is currently inhabiting — knows more than she’s letting on. Whatever it is, Dorothy intends to solve this case. Because someone has done the impossible and found a way to make murder on the Fairweather a very permanent state indeed. A mastermind may be at work — and if so, they’ve had three hundred years to perfect their schemes…
From Didi Herald, bookseller: When I’m reading, if I really like a book, I’m always looking for the hook, that little thing that will quickly interest someone in reading it. There are many wonderful hooks in “Murder by Memory.” It is great for folks who like the world building and “what if” of science fiction. It is equally appealing to those who enjoy clever detectives who follow the clues, meeting potential witnesses, and searching for the perpetrator of a crime.
Dorothy has the savvy and sensibility of a woman past 50, reminding me of the great sleuths Miss Marple and Mrs. Pollifax. The concept of a murder in a setting where murder should be totally impossible results in an intriguing crime. The science fiction aspects are thought provoking. What if people could be recorded into a “book” so when their body wears out or is damaged beyond repair they can be uploaded into a new one, like Mickey from Ashton’s “Mickey7. “
As a novella, “Murder by Memory” is the perfect length for the Icelandic tradition of books as gifts to read on Christmas Eve.
The Adventures of Mary Darling
By Pat Murphy
Tachyon Publications
$18.95
May 2025
Purchase
From the publisher: Mary Darling is a pretty wife whose boring husband is befuddled by her independent ways. But one fateful night, Mary becomes the distraught mother whose three children have gone missing from their beds. After her well-meaning uncle John Watson contacts the greatest detective of his era (but not that great), Mary is Sherlock Holmes’s prime suspect in her children’s disappearance.
To save her family, Mary must escape an attempt to have her locked away as mad, and to travel halfway around the world. Along the way, her allies include a Solomon Islander whose village was destroyed by Western civilization; a Malagasy woman on an island that is run by women; Captain Hook and the crew of the Jolly Roger; and of course, Nana, the faithful dog and nursemaid.
From Didi Herald, bookseller: When I read this book very early in the year I made a note describing it as un-put-downable and quite possibly the best, most entertaining book of the year and I haven’t changed my mind in the intervening months. Murphy is an accomplished multi-award winning writer. Each of her books is amazingly unique, which is a plus for readers who want something new, something like nothing they’ve read before.
Trying to sum up what I like so much about this tale of a ferocious mother who won’t give up, is the imagination and heart. The characters are so real they don’t fade away with the turning of the last page. They are multidimensional, even characters who are unpleasant antagonists, are given a humanity, and there is an inkling of how they went so wrong. With swashbuckling action the story takes us across the high seas and to an island where the racist aspects of the original Peter Pan are turned around and the misogyny of Sherlock Holmes is countered. This foray into the territory claimed by classic novels is a whole new adventure with a brilliant view of its world and motherhood.
As part of The Colorado Sun’s literature section — SunLit — we’re featuring staff picks from book stores across the state. Read more.