Tag Archives: review

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Death of a Valentine by M.C. Beaton

 

I have been reading the series of Hamish Macbeth for a long time now.  I love the setting of Lochdubh and Hamish Macbeth the sleuth.  This was another great whodunnit filled with humor and a more than slightly demented romance.  The clues take you from Locdubh, to Strathbane and from small outlying homes, to churches and even a disco. Hamish, his new hapless constable Josie, his dog Lugs and cat Sonsie deal with murders, a temptress victim, unrequited love, infidelity and a hit man.  A quick, fun read, if you like mysteries and haven’t tried this series yet you should.

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Dusted to Death by Barbara Colley

 

Cozy mystery time again!  I have read the rest of this series about Charlotte LaRue, cleaning lady sleuth, and enjoyed them all.  The mystery in this book is not my favorite of the series, but it is still a fun read. There is more of a romance element in this book for Charlotte and it is done very well with a light touch that didn’t overwhelm the mystery.  Charlotte is a very realistic, likable character.  She is spunky and independent enough to be someone you cheer for, but she is intelligent enough that she doesn’t deliberately endanger herself or others.  For example, when a mysterious vehicle is following her, she heads straight for the police station, unlike some sleuths who go home or to a friend’s house instead.

Fun light cozy.  This could be read as a stand alone, if you wanted, but I think some of the ongoing relationships are more enjoyable if you have read other books in the series.

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Countdown City by Ben H. WInters

I was so excited to get the call from the library that Countdown City, book 2 in The Last Policeman trilogy arrived.  This book picks up where The Last Policeman left off, the world is still ending, Detective Hank Palace has been “let go” from the police department, people are off bucket listing, and Nico is still involved with conspiracy theorists.

These books are well written, exciting and contain fantastic black dead-pan humor.  Ex-detective Hank Palace is a man who just “keeps on keeping on”, he is not super hero or a larger than life character, more of  a regular man in extraordinary circumstances.  Hank meets a wide cast of characters as he works his missing person case, each person has their own story and their own way of handling the impending doom.  The reader meets Dr.  Fenton again, in the first books she was performing autopsies, now with the need so great, she works on the living.  Her bedside manner provides some of the humor in the book,  as this excerpt of her conversation with a shooting victim shows:

“As circulation improves over the next couple weeks, you’ll start to get a persistent tingling, and then you’ll need physical therapy to work toward regular functioning.  Then, around early October, a massive object will strike the earth and you will die.”

The mystery is well plotted and believable  with several threads of the plot coming together.  I can’t wait for the final book to come out.

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True Grit by Charles Portis

A classic western that was dramatized by John Wayne in a film by the same name.  In this case, I saw the movie years before reading the book.  I haven’t read a western in years, not since indulging myself as a child in my father’s guilty pleasure, the Edge pulp fiction western series.  I picked this book up from the library after it was selected for a book club on Goodreads.  It is quite a change of pace for me, but a welcome one.  The character of Mattie Ross shows herself, like Rooster Cogburn, to have true grit.  This is Americana at its best.  All the determination and strength and loyalty that were values America held in high regard are displayed here.  The action is non-stop and the dialogue is well written and engaging.   This is a book that might not be popular today, not always politically correct, no romance at all, and the theme of retribution and justice served is not popular in this time of forgiveness themed books.

The very plain speaking, straight forward Mattie’s narration of the story lends an authentic air to the book.  You can visualize this stubborn, “old before her time”, no nonsense girl demanding nothing less than justice for the murder of her father.  The ending is perfect, not Hollywood perfect as it is not the ending of the John Wayne move, but perfect.  As an aside, John Wayne was the ideal Rooster Cogburn.

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Crocodile on the Sandbank by Elizabeth Peters

 

This is my first Elizabeth Peter’s book.  It was a selection for the Cozy Mystery Corner group at Goodreads last month but I just got to it now.  My library has a rather large selection of the books in this series.  I am glad that I got to this book.  Amelia Peabody is a fantastic character, as are Evelyn and Mr. Emerson.  They are well developed three dimensional characters,   The plot was well developed with a lot of depth through the details and description.   Ms. Peters skillful writing immersed me as a reader in Amelia’s adventures.  The humor is well done.  It doesn’t overwhelm the story or become ridiculous.

In humor, mood, and some characterizations, the book reminds me of the series of Mummy movies starring Brendan Fraser and Rachel Weisz, which I loved.  Great cozy mystery that reads more like an adventure.  I will definitely read more in this series.

 

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Covet by Tracey Garvis Graves

I received an ARC of this novel at BEA in New York from the publisher.

I have not read the author’s previous work, On the Island, but the cover really grabbed my attention and that is primarily why I accepted the copy.

This is not a typical read for me.  I am not a fan of “infidelity is something that just happens” kind of stories.  But there is really nothing typical about this book.  The author is a very talented writer.  The characters are drawn so sympathetically that the reader is drawn into their lives. These are characters that under other circumstances or in a less talented author’s hands might just be seen as another group of overprivileged whiners.

I particularly am impressed with the author’s ability to convey the stresses and strains on a marriage that come with the loss of a job and financial hardship.  The treatment of emotional infidelity, feelings of abandonment, and depression are all sensitively handled. Chris, Clare and Daniel are all given voice in this book.  I will say that, for me, the sections about Chris and Clare and their marriage were much stronger than Daniel’s voice in the book.

This is not an easy book to read, especially if you have dealt with any of the myriad of issues explored on the pages of this book.  For fans of women’s fiction that deals with contemporary real life issues, this is definitely a worthwhile.

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Practically Perfect by Katie Fforde

 

I was introduced to Katie Fforde’s books by chance.  My local library happens to have quite a large selection and they caught my eye one day and I began reading through them one after the other.  I’ve really enjoyed them all, well written books with realistic characters in the romance/women’s fiction genre with satisfyingly happy endings. Somehow in my binge, I missed this one, it must have been checked out at the time.  Practically Perfect does not disappoint.  I particularly connected to this book because I had two points of commonality with the protagonist, Anna, extensive DIY home renovation and dog rescue.  In her case, it was Greyhound and in mine, Siberian Husky.

Anna has purchased a small cottage as an investment property.  It was gutted by a previous owner and not put back together and she is renovating it herself.  Anna has an ulterior motive for purchasing a cottage in this particular area involving an unresolved love interest from her past.

Anna is a great character, funny, independent, and a great friend to Chloe, her next door neighbor.  She is someone I could see myself being friends with easily.  Through the course of the story, Anna meets an irritating, or maybe not so irritating, building official, Chloe and her family, a lovely greyhound, and her long lost crush.  The story lines and characters weave together in a seamless fashion making it easy to get lost in the Anna’s world.  I love it when a book can pull me into the character’s life and out of the real world.

Although, I usually see Katie Fforde’s books classified as romance, I don’t feel that classification does them justice.  In Practically Perfect, just as much attention is paid to the other threads of the plot, such as friendship, family, and work as to the romance story line.  This makes reading the book a richer experience than just a romance novel.

Highly recommended read!

 

 

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Death’s Autograph by Marianne MacDonald

 

I just found this series by Marianne MacDonald and my library system had the first book, Death’s Autograph. I really enjoyed this book and look forward to reading more in the series.  The protagonist, Dido Hoare, is a book shop owner/book antiquarian, in her 30s and divorced.  She is smart and independent, a really likable character still reeling somewhat over her divorce from Davey.  Barnabas is Dido’s father, a retired professor, and her main support system. The love interest is a police officer who is working the case.

The main characters are interesting and fully developed, no ridiculously off beat people wandering around the story.  There is a slightly more menacing tone to this than most cozies, which often displace the danger or fear in a situation with humor. That is probably a marked difference from this and many newer cozies is the darker mood that it evokes.  The theme and the setting are both well done and ones that I enjoy.

The mystery has many threads that are all tied together with a common motive at the end.  In the last few chapters, everything comes together neatly.  This was a well constructed mystery with evidence of thought and care taken by the author.  I am wondering if the series is finished, the last book was published in 2006 and the website has not been updated.  Does anyone know if Marianne MacDonald is still writing?

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Awakening by S.J. Bolton

I just finished Awakening by S.J. Bolton.  I will start off by saying that I love all the books I have read by this author.  Sacrifice, her debut novel, in particular sticks out in mind as excellent.  Awakening is a good mystery novel.  The snakes alone make it particularly scary, especially as someone who lives in an older house and knows how they could get in if they wanted to and hide in nooks and crannies. {{{insert shudder here}}}

The protagonist is Clara Benning, a physically and emotionally scarred veterinary surgeion, who does a great deal of wildlife rescue work.  She prefers her animal charges to people.  The other characters like Matt, Sean and Sally are well developed and fit seamlessly together.  The misdirection worked very well and I was surprised at the ending.  The novel seemed well researched in terms of the snakes, not that I am an expert by any means.

S.J. Bolton writes in an extraordinarily well paced style.  There are no dull moments or “filler, everything is purposeful.  The book is a mystery and yet it also explores a “monumental change” for Clara through the events in the book and the people she meets, in her perspective and outlook on life.  She is certainly a character that shows growth and change.

I would definitely recommend this book, although I did prefer Sacrifice over it.

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Simon Kirby-Jones Mysteries by Dean James

 

 

I just finished reading the wonderful Simon Kirby-Jones Mystery series by Dean James.  Mr. James is also writes under the pen names of Miranda James, Honor Hartman, and Jimmie Ruth Evans.

I first read Posted to Death which I found at my local library.  I loved the humorous, almost campy take on the cozy mystery series.  Unfortunately, my library didn’t carry the others in the series so I ordered the other three  and just recently received them.

Books 2,3 and 4 do not disappoint.  The character of Simon Kirby-Jones continues to be a wonderful mix of off beat humor, genuinely nice person, and sly sleuth.  The other characters develop nicely along the way, Sir Giles as his sidekick-assistant-love interest, Robin  as the police officer who respects Simon’s intelligence and help,  and Lady Prunella, village Grand Dame who becomes much more human and likable as the series progressed through the reader seeing her vulnerability behind her persona.

In these three books, Simon faces a variety of villains, a Renaissance/Medieval Faire and a classic locked room murder.  Each mystery was well crafted with twists and turns that Simon navigates with his usual cool self assurance, although we do see Simon’s feathers ruffled a little on the personal level.  Simon as a sleuth is logical and smart.  He is not one to run around throwing out accusations at random.  There are many nods to Agatha Christie and John Dickinson-Carr.  I don’t know if the author intends to end the series at Book 4, but it does offer a satisfying conclusion to an ongoing story line.

An excellent, humorous cozy mystery series written by a talented writer.  Definitely worth the read for cozy fans.  I have now read two series by Mr. James and will seek out the others.