Tag Archives: mystery

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Death Day Party by Paula Carter

 

I picked this up at my independent bookseller after reading the first in the series, Leading an Elegant Death.

This outing in the series didn’t work as well as the first book for me.  This book used a classic plot device, the isolated house in the country, a storm, a bridge to the house washed out, and from then on it “And Then There Were None” territory.  This book was written in 1999 but it came across as a much earlier time and yet it was obviously supposed to be set currently. Although I have read and enjoyed mysteries with this “isolated country house” plot device, it just didn’t ring quite true in this case.

I still enjoyed the protagonists, although Hillary is becoming progressively sillier.  I think that I would have enjoyed another mystery set in the town so that Hillary and Jane would interact more with recurring characters, rather than introduce an entirely new large cast of characters.

I will read the third and last book in the series if I come across it because I did enjoy the first book quite a bit.

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Murder on the Rocks by Allyson K. Abbott

 I just finished this first book in a new (to me) series this afternoon, waiting on doctor’s appointments.  I really enjoyed it!

The mystery was well developed.  I loved the bar theme (and the cocktail recipes).  The protagonist Mack Dalton was really interesting and strongly drawn.  There was a plethora of suspects that Mack, with the assistance of hunky cop Duncan, sorted through, confirming alibis and uncovering clues.  A big positive was that the sleuth is actively involved in the investigation, even though she is a suspect. In some cozies, the sleuth just sort of stumbles around and doesn’t seem to actively investigate.

There is also an interesting Al Capone connection thrown in the mix.  This was a very satisfying cozy and a good start to new series.  I will be on the look out for the next book in the series and some of the other books by this author.

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The Other Child by Charlotte Link

 

Saw this book mentioned on a blog and picked it up from my library.  The story has a diverse group of characters and a dual story line.  One story has to do with Gwen, a spinster, who lives an isolated existence and now has met a young man, who for some unfathomable reason has asked her to marry him.  The second story has to do with a horrific event which occurred during the war.

The two stories are intermingled and you are led to believe that one is related to the other.

My main issue with the book is that the second story is told through emailed documents – between the two participants in the event.  Why would they need to do that in such exacting detail?  They were there.  Made no sense to me.  I will say that the story of what happened during the war was absolutely heartbreaking.  I found it very depressing.

The current story had a disjointed feel and it was pretty obvious who the villain was relatively early on.

The Other Child had an interesting plot, the idea for the story was quite good.  It just suffered in the execution.

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The Christie Curse by Victoria Abbott

Just got around to reading this because the second book, The Sayers Swindle is out now.  I am so glad I did.  This was a very well done mystery with interesting characters and lots of twists and turns.  I loved the theme, book collecting, similar to the Dido Hoare mysteries that I like.

The main character, Jordan Bingham, is well crafted.  She is very realistic, not some simpering princess but not an unbelievable she-hulk either.  The other characters were fun and interesting, particularly her Uncles.  The book is well written and edited so that the pace flows along nicely and the ending ties up neatly and quickly.  I had figured out one of the villains, but it did not detract from my enjoyment of the book.

I am looking forward to the next one of these!

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Mysteries….and a Lone Romance

 

   
   

I have been going to bed early because I am still sick, but then waking in the middle of the night and reading because I can’t sleep.  These three mysteries and 1 romance/chick lit were on the top of my stack next to the bed.  Very briefly:

Curiosity Thrilled the Cat, a cute cozy mystery with an slight magical slant.  The sleuth is a big city girl who has taken a job now in a small town library.  Kathleen, the sleuth was interesting and intelligent and the cats, Owen and Hercules are great as well.  The book dragged a little in the middle, it could have done with being a smidge shorter.  The ending did pick up.  The mystery and setting were both well done.

Death Al Dente, the sleuth returns home to take over or rescue the family business, a general/food/local produce and products store.  I didn’t get into this one as much as I had expected to.  I just didn’t really care about the characters and some of the  reactions/actions didn’t really ring true.  It might work for someone else.

The Body in the Vestibule, I picked this one up out of order.  I was somewhat hesitant due to the fact that the sleuth (and main character) was a minister’s wife. I was afraid that it would have heavy religious overtones, but it didn’t.  The mystery takes place in France, I loved the setting and it was very well done!  The mystery  was full of twists and turns and lots of characters.  Well written and the pace of the plot was steady.  The only criticism was that it was slightly dated (some political references to the European Union, etc) but other than that a nice, cozy mystery.

Goodbye, Jimmy Choo, not so sure what to classify this, romance definitely occurs but there is lots of family drama and shopping as well.  I guess it is a romance/chick lit.  Well developed characters and an interesting plot.  You will have to suspend your disbelief slightly on the business portion of the book, but it is quite a good upbeat (at the end) read.

 

 

 

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Sunday in Bed with… Ellery Adams Pies and Prejudice

d0728-sundaysinbedwithsmall A meme hosted by Midnight Book Girl found here.

I have had Pies and Prejudice by Ellery Adams on my cozy TBR list for quite a while.  I found a copy at my local independent book shop, Booktrader of Hamilton.

I really liked this book!  I read a lot of cozies and I will say many fall into the very light, fun read category.  This is fun and it is certainly cozy, no blood or gore here, but the writing has much more depth to it than the average cozy.  The use of metaphors and just the nature of the descriptive language goes far beyond the average cozy.  Excellent writing.  The main character, Ella Mae, is strong and independent as are the rest of her a family, a group of strong southern women.  The setting is well defined and enchanting. The mystery plot develops at a nice pace, not rushed but also it doesn’t drag.  The magical element is not overwhelming, just a touch a magic :), which is how I prefer it.

After reading this, I will definitely continue with this series and I will also read the other series by Ellery Adams, Books by the Bay.

 

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Leading an Elegant Death by Paula Carter

 

I had never heard of this series before, but I saw it in my local used bookshop and decided to give it a try.  The book’s theme revolves around one of the now myriad home styling/cooking/gardening/entertaining experts and TV personalities, a la Martha Stewart.

The TV personality, Hillary, is not the main sleuth. Her new executive assistant, Jane Ferguson, law school dropout, divorcee with a child, is the primary investigator.   Hillary’s character is kind of a silly flake, but it seems like it might be an act.  A persona she has adopted to go along with her TV identity because when push comes to shove she takes action and is decisive.  In the beginning of the book Jane came across like a victim, but by the end she seemed much more capable.

The mystery was well done with clues dotted across the landscape and Jane as a sleuth actually doing investigating, not just stumbling across them.  This was a light, quick cozy with a definite southern accent and I will read the others if I come across them. Fans of the Southern Sisters Mysteries might enjoy it.

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Tempest in the Tea Leaves by Kari Lee Townsend.

Finished this tonight.  I was intrigued by the theme, fortune telling, as there are a couple fortune tellers who set up shop relatively near my home and I found the cover really pretty as well.   The mystery was fine.  An interesting intrigue involving  several red herrings.

My issue was that I absolutely could not relate to main character, Sunny.  She just seemed like a stereotypical spoiled rich girl and on top of that she acted very immaturely .  Put her together with a male lead, who didn’t act much more mature than her, and I just couldn’t connect.  The name calling and temper tantrums were just really unattractive.

Maybe I’m just too old to relate??

 

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Breathless by Louise Marley & A Canterbury Crime by Brian Kavanagh

Couldn’t sleep last night and decided to pull a few more books off of my Kindle.  The first was Breathless by Louise Marley.  There was a lot to like about this, a strong, interesting lead character, well built back story and setting. The plot involving Greg, Will, Zac and Drew ticks along at a nice pace.  I found a couple of the characters actions and reactions off putting or odd.  On the whole, a fun, quick romance with a dash of mystery thrown in to the mix.

 This book is 4th in a series and I did not read 1 through 3, so I hesitate to review because perhaps my thoughts are influenced by that fact.

I found the murder mystery plot interesting, especially the connections to the past and the archaeology aspects that were involved.  Other than that, I really didn’t connect to the characters and found some of parts a little heavy handed.  Perhaps I would have gotten more out of it, if I read the series in order.

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The Loyal Servant: A Very British Political Thriller by Eva Hudson

 I read this for my English Kindle Mystery book club on Goodreads and I downloaded it for free from Amazon.    I must admit that Political Thrillers are not a genre that I read normally, so I almost hesitate to say too much about it other than some broad generalizations since some of the things I noted might be the norm within the genre.

This was a very fast paced book, which I assume was part of the thriller aspect, which was fine and kept me turning the pages, however, I found some of the transitions at that pace to be rather abrupt.  At one point, I had to reread to figure out what happened during a transition from one chapter to the next.  The characters were well developed and in my mind (as a former civil servant) very realistic.  In fact, I found the whole scenario realistic in the portrayal of corruption and the ensuing cover up.  Caroline’s family situation was a little bizarre, but  after reading the news for as long as I have been, I don’t find it terribly unrealistic.

Although I am not a big fan of political thrillers (or politics in general), I have to say that this book was very well done and I will probably read the next in the series.