Mystery Monday: Never Knowing by Chevy Stevens

I read Chevy Stevens first book STILL MISSING the early part of last year. I'm amazed she has another new book out already! But I was thrilled to know that, because her first book was so well written. And her second entry in the book world is even better!

In NEVER KNOWING, a woman (Sara) finally decides to look into who her birth parents are after always knowing she was adopted. She never quite fit into her adoptive family, especially when her mom was able to have two more biological daughters after adopting Sara. Sara's dad never really seemed to like her and treated her differently than her sisters. When the day arrives that Sara receives a copy of her birth certificate in the mail, opening it is like opening Pandora's box. She realizes her birth mother is a professor at a university nearby. When she tries to meet with her, the woman doesn't want to get to know her. In fact, she can't stand the sight of Sara! Heartbroken, Sara hires a private investigator to try and figure out who her birth father may be. Through information the investigator collects, Sara soon learns she is the product of a violent attack and her father is a serial killer still at large known as the Campsite Killer. As Sara digs deeper, information is leaked to the public and the Campsite Killer soon contacts her. This triggers a feeling of obligation on Sara's part to get this psychopath off the streets. Her obsession with trying to catch her biological father threatens her life and her relationships with her fiancee, daughter, and family.

This book was really good. I always hated when I had to set it down to do something else. Every chance I got to pick it up I would read a few pages here and there. This is one that I wish I had an entire day to just cuddle up and read straight through. Perfect for a vacation read! Stevens uses "Sessions" with a psychiatrist to break up the book instead of chapters, just as she did in STILL MISSING. Perhaps this will become Stevens trademark style of writing? I like it. It helps with character development. You get to delve into the main character and really know what she is thinking. I liked this book even better than STILL MISSING just because the creepy guy wasn't as creepy as The Freak. And I loved the "hunt" of this book. It was so suspenseful! I wanted to keep reading to find out if Sara caught the Campsite Killer or if he got to her first! I will for sure pick up the next book that Chevy Stevens writes and probably the one after that too.

NEVER KNOWING hit the bookshelves this past Tuesday on July 5th! So no need to wait in adding this one to your library!

Source Disclosure: I requested a review copy of this book from the publisher.

The Scent of Rain and Lightning by Nancy Pickard

Nancy Pickard's The Scent of Rain and Lightning was a truly enjoyable way to start off my New Year reading. It grabbed me from the very beginning and kept me interested all the way through to the big reveal at the end. And the end really packed a punch!

The book tells its story on two timelines. We start off in present day with Jody Linder, a 26 year old school teacher who suffered family tragedy as a three year old when her father was murdered and her mother disappeared. The book then shifts back 23 years so we can see what happened leading up to the murder. We gradually come back to present day when the man convicted of her father's murder is released from prison early and returns to the small town of Rose, Kansas.

The book seems to depict small town life accurately and the many characters are interesting from the Linder family to the town drunk convicted of her father's murder and his family. Pickard also weaves in an unlikely love story between Jody and the son of the man convicted of killing her father.

I spent much of the book trying to figure out the mystery of who really killed Jody's father. It seemed the man convicted was too drunk. But who?! It was such a small town and everyone else seemed accounted for. My theory was that her mom killed her dad and ran off. But, I was pleasantly surprised by the twist that Pickard threw in at the end. For once, there wasn't a totally cookie cutter ending to a book!

This is a highly recommended from me! And very close to a five-star rating. It's just a tiny bit too fluffy for me to make it five stars. I usually like to learn something along with having a fantastic story in order to give a five star rating....such as learning about the Japanese internment camps during WWII in The Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet or the south during the 1960's in The Help. I need just a tiny bit more substance for a 5-star book. However, this is definitely a 4.75 for me.

Source disclosure: Purchased by me as an e-book.

Mystery Monday: Theodore Boone: Kid Lawyer by John Grisham

I enjoyed John Grisham's first foray into juvenile fiction better than his recent adult novels. His knack for storytelling never gets old and translated well for a younger audience.

Theodore Boone is the thirteen year old son of two lawyers. He spends his afternoons at their law office doing his homework and helping students with occasional legal troubles. He is good friends with many of the cops, lawyers, judges and secretaries in town. When the trial of the century takes place, Theo is chomping at the bit for a front row seat. During the trial, a fellow student comes to him with information that could change the outcome of the verdict. Theo must figure out how to help without risking breaking a promise and without messing up the whole trial.

I enjoyed reading this novel and whipped right through it. I only have two complaints. One is very minor. Grisham tended to overexplain things with regard to the courtroom and he defined random words here and there. But, I realize many kids reading this book would not have knowledge of how a courtroom works so these explanations are necessary. It was just a little much for me as an adult reading the story.

My second gripe is that I felt like the book just sort of ended. I wanted a bit more closure. Not sure if Grisham's enthusiasm for writing the book just fizzled out, but I didn't feel like the ending was very polished. There was one man creeping around (Omar Cheepe), and maybe I was reading too fast and missed the background on this guy, but I didn't feel like I fully understood what this character was up to. He was following Theo around but I couldn't figure out why or how he was related to the defendant in the trial. I guess I sort of wanted an epilogue what would neatly tie it all together.

All that being said, I definitely recommend this to any young reader out there looking for a good mystery or interested in how a trial is run. I think this is a great book for children who may read above their level. Content-wise this is very appropriate for younger readers. No real violence, no bad language. Just good storytelling.

Source disclosure: I received this from the Penguin Group as part of their summer promotional package.

The Vanishing of Katharina Linden by Helen Grant

The Vanishing of Katharina Linden is part fairy-tale, part coming-of-age story, part mystery, and each component is captivating. I kicked the habit of biting my nails decades ago, but I found myself nibbling ever so slightly as the events unfolded to their conclusion. Though the story takes place in 1998, there is a timeless atmosphere that makes the disappearance of girls from a tiny German village all the more creepy. One could almost sense the gingerbread house witch lurking just outside the narrative. Pia, the daughter of a German man and his English wife, is eleven as the story begins, a social outcast because of her status as "the girl whose grandmother exploded," which is well-known through the village of Bad Munstereifel. Her best friend by default is StinkStefan, the only child who doesn't inch away from her as though spontaneous combustion were contagious, and the two spend time with the elderly Herr Schiller, who tells the most delightfully creepy tales and knows everything about the town's history. After Katharina Linden disappears during Karneval, the town is ready to lynch Herr Duster, Herr Schiller's brother, who had been suspected in disappearances of girls many years before. Pia and StinkStefan begin to investigate Herr Schiller and the disappearances (Katharina is only the first). The town busybody Frau Kessel is more than happy to fill them in on past scandals. Herr Schiller's fantastic tales wind together with the grim reality of a kidnapper on the loose in a tiny village. The reader is taken on a journey gradually deeper and darker and more tangled, like Hansel and Gretel walking into the woods.

In the midst of the fables and unfolding mystery as the disappearances mount, Pia is undertaking far more pedestrian struggles. Her mother, long yearning for England, sees the disappearances as a good excuse to remove Pia from the only home she has ever known. A miserable visit with the cousins who mock her English interrupts her investigation with StinkStefan, of whom she becomes rather fond by necessity.

This book is like nothing else I've ever read. It was one of those rare stories that doesn't leave your thoughts when you've set the book aside. The atmosphere, the storytelling, the rich characters came together into a meeting of realism and fable.

Source disclosure: I received an advance proof of this book from the publisher through LibraryThing's Early Reviewer Program.

Still Missing by Chevy Stevens

Chevy Stevens debut novel Still Missing is quite a ride. Annie O'Sullivan, an up and coming realtor, is abducted one evening after an open house. She is taken by a crazy guy she calls The Freak and locked away in a cabin in the mountains for a year before she is able to escape. She tries to get back into her old life but after living by The Freak's strange rules and enduring his daily abuse, she understandably doesn't quite know how to fit back into civilization.

I kept reading this book thinking to myself, "Why do I keep reading this?" The book is not divided into chapters, but rather Annie's therapy sessions. Each session flashes back to her life before the abduction as well as what happened to her while being held captive. We also see what her life is like after she returns home. It was very difficult to read what happened to her which is what made it so hard to continue reading. Once she makes it back home to her friends and family, it is much easier to read on. And this is where the mystery begins. Why was she chosen? Why did The Freak pick her and not some other realtor? Did he have a partner who was still out there somewhere?

This book had a few twists and turns and was not predictable at all. The ending was quite a surprise actually. I felt the book was well-written and interesting, but it is very difficult for me to say this is a must read. Should I say, "Hey, if you're in the mood for a book about a crazy man and how he abuses a kidnapped woman. This is your book!"? I guess more I'll say if you're interested in a suspenseful story with well-written characters and an interesting twist, check out Chevy Stevens' Still Missing. There is definitely something to said for a book that is so disturbing but continued to hold my interest and get me to make it to the end. This book will hit shelves July 6th! I would highly recommend this to readers who liked Chelsea Cain's Gretchen Lowell series.

Source Disclosure: Sent to me via the publisher after seeing an ad on Shelf Awareness.

More Book Club Snippets

Our book club read Karen White's The Lost Hours in November and we picked The House on Tradd Street for January. The two books had a very different feel to them, although they both contained White's very descriptive style of writing. I have to say, overall, I believe I enjoyed The Lost Hours a bit more (mostly because I really enjoyed the historical fiction part of the book).

Tradd Street finds realtor Melanie Middleton inheriting an old historic house in Charleston after meeting with its owner only once. She's not sure why she inherited the house, but agrees to live there for a year and oversee its restoration before she plans on selling it. Before she realizes it, Melanie stumbles into a bit of a historical mystery. She has a gift and can see ghosts (there is even a quote that seems to poke fun at the Sixth Sense's famous quote "I see dead people".) :-) Melanie and her friends come across information both in reality and through clues from the spirit world that solve the decades old mystery of a woman's disappearance.

This book is actually listed as a "romance". I can see why it was categorized as such because Melanie gets involved in a bit of a love triangle. However, I see this book more as general fiction. It has much more to it than just the romance. This is also the first in a series by White, followed up by The Girl on Legare Street (which I seen reviewed very well around the blogosphere).

Overall, I found the book very difficult to get into. It didn't move fast enough for me. The first half to two-thirds were rather dull. The last third or so really picked up and left me liking it overall just because the book ended so well. I probably will take a gander at the second book, but not sure I'll continue reading the series. Maybe eventually, but there are plenty of other books I'll get to first.
Source disclosure: Borrowed this book from the library.

Laura Lippman's What the Dead Know served as our book club pick for October. I read this one pretty quickly. It was well-written and a good story, however, the subject matter is a bit disturbing. The book opens with a woman claiming to be a girl who disappeared decades earlier with her sister. The authorities pull her over when she appears to be involved in a hit and run accident and disoriented. They are not sure if they should believe she is who she says she is. The book is written both in present day and through flashbacks explaining what happened to the two sisters.

You spend much of the book thinking one thing is going on only to do an about-face at the end of the book and something completely different was really happening. The interesting thing is that when you finally find out the truth about what really happened, the rest of the story seems to be a little less disturbing than you thought while reading it (does that make any sense?).
Source disclosure: Off my bookshelf, originally given to me by a friend.

R.I.P. Challenge

Sooooo, I'm not doing so well with my Art History Reading Challenge. I've only read 2 of the 6 books for it. I do have until the end of the year. So you never know. But right now it's not looking good.

All that aside, I'm thinking of joining in the R.eaders I.mbibing P.eril IV Challenge. I've never done this before but have seen it in past years and it looks like fun! I plan to read creepy and/or mystery-type books before Halloween anyway, so I might as well have them count for a challenge if they are going to fit in with it anyway, right?
Here's what I was planning on reading in September and October:
--The Hanging Hill by Chris Grabenstein (Cannot wait for this! I LOVED The Crossroads last year)
--Creepers by Joanne Dahme (wanted to read this last winter and decided to wait for Halloween time)
--Coraline by Neil Gaiman (been on my TBR list for awhile, a great time to knock it off the list)
--Evil at Heart by Chelsea Cain (won this through LibraryThing's Early Reviewer program. Enjoyed Cain's first two books in the series and looking forward to this one)

I was hoping the second Joy of Spooking book would be out this fall, but I'm not sure when it is supposed to be published (anyone know?!). That would be another fun book to read around Halloween.

If this sounds like a fun challenge to you! Head over to read Carl's post and sign up! And here's a link to the R.I.P. IV Review website as well.

Mystery Monday!

Nutcase by Charlotte Hughes: Just as our thoughts turn to warm summer days (with the snow falling outside, unfortunately), comes a breezy beach read, the sequel to What Looks Like Crazy, which introduced psychologist Kate Holly, lovable, neurotic, and a magnet for trouble. The sequel is no less fun than the first entry in the series, which I would characterize as part cozy mystery, part madcap romance, and all fun. In the second book, Kate is attempting a reconciliation with her firefighter ex-husband Jay, who has his hands full with a serial arsonist and a busty new firefighter at the station. Meanwhile, Kate is being evicted from her office, possibly the only affordable rental space in a neighborhood that doesn't have bars on every window, and she's trying to help a high-profile new patient regain control of her life. While the arson subplot has "Backdraft" written all over it, and a gang subplot is less than compelling, Kate is as fun as ever. Her relationships are more complex than the usual romance novel--she is believably conflicted about Jay: whether to believe that he's faithful or not, how to cope with the danger he's in every day at work, and there's not an annoying love triangle involving Kate's ex-boyfriend, who is still a friend and colleague. Her sidekick, Mona, has her own endearing problems, and the support of Kate's fellow tenants is really sweet. This is a fun entry in a diverting series, and I look forward to reading Hanging by a Thread, the third in the series, next year.

My review of What Looks Like Crazy is right here.

Mummy Dearest by Joan Hess: I've said it many times before, but I'll say it again: I love the Claire Malloy series! This one, set in Egypt on Claire's honeymoon, is a fun homage to the Amelia Peabody novels of Elizabeth Peters. The honeymoon is actually a cover for some "agency" work by Peter, so Claire brings Caron and Inez along for company. Hmmm...Egypt alone, or Egypt with two squabbling teenagers? Tough call. Caron is sullen, Inez spouts facts like a guidebook, and the girls swear they're being followed by a strange man. Claire is left alone more often than she'd like, and the other guests at the hotel (and the staff) are sure Peter is off having an affair. At least Claire gets to visit an archeological site and solve a kidnapping and some murders! Mummy Dearest is #17 in the series, so if you haven't yet spent time with Claire, start with #1, Strangled Prose.

Mystery Monday!

Just in the nick of time, I've finished a mystery to post on Mystery Monday!

High Marks for Murder by Rebecca Kent: I read the WWII mysteries by this author (writing as Kate Kingsbury - she also writes romance novels under Doreen Roberts) and enjoyed them. I have her Pennyfoot Hotel mysteries in my TBR pile, but I thought I'd read this one first since it's the first in her new series. Meredith Llewellyn is the headmistress of Bellehaven House, a former manor house that serves as a finishing school for young ladies. It's 1905 in the English Cotswalds, and many of the teachers and students are suffragettes or at least opposed to conventional ideas about a woman's place. This sounded really promising to me, but as a start of a mystery series, it didn't live up to expectations. First, we don't get to know Meredith, Felicity, or Essie (her teacher friends) terribly well. Some hints about Essie's intriguing past are dropped in near the end with no further discussion, but that's about it. The maids have a bit more life, but they're not in it much. Second, the chauvinist policeman drops in to proclaim teacher Kathleen's death the work of a vagrant, then he disappears entirely, leaving the women to sort out who actually killed Kathleen. It was a bit too pat and convenient for me. Third, the supernatural element just didn't work for me. Kathleen's ghost appears to Meredith several times, but since all she does is gesture vaguely, it's pretty annoying. Much is made of Meredith's ability to read lips, so I assumed this would come into play with her communication attempts with Kathleen, which would have at least been interesting. The ghost dropping in to wave her arms was possibly the least exciting ghost story element I've read. Finally, I felt like there were way too many suspects, and I guessed who had killed her early on. The ending gives the set-up for the next book (Finished Off, out in April), promising more of the same. For a two-hundred page book, I feel there was too much going on. The Edwardian finishing school atmosphere felt glossed over, the characters didn't have time to come alive, and the supernatural element was underused. I'm not sure I'll pick up Finished Off. Maybe to see if the potential of the setting is realized and if we learn any more about the characters.

Plum Spooky by Janet Evanovich: I wasn't going to review this one, but since I have another mystery for this Monday, I thought I'd write something up. The Stephanie Plum series has been going on for quite a while, and the short review is: if you're a longtime Plum fan who hasn't been turned off by recent entries in the series, this is a fun jaunt. This is the fourth "between the numbers" book (the regular entries in the series have a sequential number in the title), but the first that is full-length and plot-advancing. The first three were holiday-themed and stand-alone (Visions of Sugar Plums, Plum Lovin', and Plum Lucky). If I remember correctly, at least after Visions of Sugar Plums, the reader wasn't positive if Diesel (the supernatural guy who turns up in all of these) existed or if he was in Stephanie's dream. This book is much longer and has more Morelli and Ranger than the previous novellas, so Diesel is planted firmly in the Plum world. I'm not sure how I feel about that, to be honest. I think it would have been fun if the between-the-numbers jaunts were stand-alone and possibly dreams of Stephanie's. Have the most recent books been as good as the early Plums? No. Are they still fun? To me, they are. If you can relax into the book and enjoy it for what it is, you'll probably like this one. If you're going to be constantly comparing the quality to early entries in the series, skip it. There was more skip-tracing in this one than in Fearless Fourteen. There was a lot more slapstick, as in recent entries, but I found myself cracking up, even at Carl the Monkey (and as the wife of a primatologist, I am rarely amused by pet monkeys--MONKEYS ARE NOT PETS, PEOPLE!). Lula's hanging plotline from Fourteen is resolved, but I'm ambivalent about that. I like Lula. She's a tough gal who's been through a lot, doesn't take crap from anyone, and lives out loud. Her obsession about getting married in Fourteen came out of nowhere, and it made me annoyed that Evanovich was making Lula out to be desperate and pathetic. So the resolution is a good thing, but that it comes from Lula consulting a psychic, I'm not 100% satisfied with it. And Joe, who in the past has been hostile toward Stephanie's relationship with Ranger, is inexplicably okay with her sharing a bed with Diesel. As for the actual plot of the book (wow, I'm just getting to that, huh?), Diesel shows up looking for his cousin, the very dangerous Wulf, who is involved with a skip of Stephanie's. The search takes Diesel, Stephanie, and Lula to the Jersey Pine Barrens, home of any number of supernatural individuals). The Pine Barrens were spooky, the plot thin and implausible but sufficient for the purpose (moving Stephanie & Co. from one outrageous situation to another). Wow, for a book I wasn't going to review, I sure went on and on, didn't I? To sum up, if you like Stephanie Plum and you're not going to be angry that this isn't as good as, say, High Five, then pick it up, but not for full price (no exaggeration--list price is $28.95!). I'm happy with it as a $16 taste of Plum while waiting for Fifteen to come out.

Murder for Christmas, Part Three

Part One here!
Part Two here!

I read three more Christmas mysteries on my Murder for Christmas spree:

Mistletoe and Murder by Carola Dunn: This is the eleventh Daisy Dalrymple mystery, and I've only read the first. However, I had no trouble jumping in and figuring out what was going on. Daisy's mother is Lady Dalrymple, but Daisy is a reporter for Town and Country (shocking!) during the 1920s. She and her family end up (in a convoluted way) staying at Brockdene, a Cornish estate, for Christmas. Questionable parentage, entailed estates, poor relations, and hidden treasure make this a delightful holiday cozy. A wet-blanket priest protests against the Christmas decorations, among other things, but he's mercifully killed off. Daisy and her Scotland Yard husband investigate to uncover the murder. Daisy is a bit more blase than I would be about her child being in the vicinity of a murder, and there are a few too many exclamations of "Blast!" added for period authenticity, but that's fine. A fun holiday cozy.

Mrs. Jeffries and the Silent Knight by Emily Brightwell: I'm not sure why, but I had a little trouble getting into this one at first. This is the 20th in the series, so that's probably it. Once I got into, though, I was hooked, and I'll definitely read this series from the beginning. The premise is that Inspector Witherspoon's servants actually solve his cases, giving him clues without making him aware of it. Mrs. Jeffries, the housekeeper, is the leader, and all the servants get in on the action with their own special skills. I was a bit disturbed that the book began with the servants lamenting that they hadn't had a murder to solve in a long time, but I suppose there wasn't much in the way of entertainment for the serving class back then. Witherspoon's case, the murder of Sir Braxton, is a tricky one--Braxton is some sort of cousin to the Queen and the mystery must be solved quietly before Christmas. Sir Braxton's daughter's don't like him, and neither does anyone else, really--he's not a nice person and he didn't pay his creditors. Once I got into the story, I really liked Mrs. Jeffries and all the servants. It's a fun bunch, and the mystery was entertaining.

A Catered Christmas by Isis Crawford: This was the big surprise out of this batch. I haven't read the first two in the series about sisters Bernie and Libby, who own A Little Taste of Heaven, a store? restaurant? I think just a store. I felt I was missing some background (who was this Bree person and why didn't they tell her to take a hike?) and there were some annoyances (Bernie twists her ring when she's nervous, which is kind of pointless to bring up periodically--adds nothing to the story) and I was annoyed by the wandering point of view, but there was a lot to like in this book. Bernie and Libby participate in a televised competition hosted by Martha Stewart-like Hortense Calabash. When Hortense's holiday preparations literally blow up in her face, Bernie and Libby (and their ex-cop father, Sean) investigate. There's a wealth of suspects, from the competitors, all of whom have secrets, to the producer, to Hortense's assistant. I liked the sisters and the competition was funny. Lots of Christmas preparations make it festive. A decent mystery with engaging characters.

Murder for Christmas, Part Two

Read Part One here!

Christmas Cookie Murder by Leslie Meier: If I'd realized that the first in the Lucy Stone series was Mistletoe and Murder, I would have started there! But my amazon searching only brought me to this, the 6th entry, and that's fine. I had previously read Leslie Meier's novella in Candy Cane Murder and enjoyed it, and I think I'll be reading more about Lucy and Tinker's Cove, Maine. Things are grim in Tinker's Cove with lobster quotas playing havoc with the local economy and an influx of drugs. But Lucy is trying to have a merry Christmas anyway, probably the reason she agrees to host the Christmas cookie exchange. The cookie exchange is hilarious, with backbiting and backhanded compliments the order of the day. And backed-up plumbing that brings the disastrous "party" to an end. An overzealous cop complicates her family's lives, and she struggles with her teenaged son, more interested in marijuana than in college applications, making this a little less cozy than the usual cozy mystery. Things are complicated in the Stone family, but interesting, and I liked Lucy. She decides to investigate when a young daycare assistant is found murdered and the cop's focus is on a dentist she's sure is innocent. The mystery is fine, but Tinker's Cove and the Stone family really make this a pleasant holiday diversion.

O Little Town of Maggody by Joan Hess: I haven't read the Maggody series, but I love the Claire Malloy series by the same author. This series is quite different, featuring Arly Hanks, who returned as "police chief" for her Arkansas hometown of Maggody where the people are inbred and closed-minded. At first, I wasn't sure about this series. Arly looks down her nose at the Maggody folk and the usual jokes about inbreeding and moonshine made me uncomfortable (I know that sounds goofy, but my mom drilled into us not to make fun of other people). But at its heart, it seems affectionate toward the town and its people, not mean-spirited. Maggody is thrown into an uproar when country star Matt Montana "returns" to his "hometown" in a carefully constructed PR move. Though no one remembers him (he really just spent a couple of summers there with his great-aunt, mostly raising hell), they are happy to boost the local economy by renaming all the businesses in his name and selling kitschy Matt Montana souvenirs. A couple of murders have Arly scrambling for clues, and there was much more Christmas spirit in this one than I expected from the beginning. This is the seventh in the series.

A Highland Christmas by M.C. Beaton: This one starts out with cranky policeman Hamish MacBeth thinking about the gloomy lack of Christmas spirit in Calvinist Lochdubh, so I didn't expect it to have much Christmas spirit. No murder in this novella, but the two crimes--a lost cat and missing Christmas lights in an adjacent village--lead to a really sweet little story that's perfect for reading by the fire. I will definitely revisit Hamish MacBeth from the beginning. This is 16th in the series, but I didn't feel lost at all--quite an accomplishment by Beaton.

Kissing Christmas Goodbye by M.C. Beaton: Private investigator Agatha Raisin is obsessing over the "perfect" Christmas, complete with snow and reconciliation with her ex. Meanwhile, a woman has asked for Agatha's help because she's sure one of her children is plotting to kill her before she can change her will to leave the money to the state. Her new assistant, Toni, is young and perky enough to make Agatha feel extra old, and her Christmas seems destined to disappoint her. The mystery was good fun (I love when the head of the family assembles all the ungrateful children to announce a change of will, and this one had some nice twists). Agatha is quite a piece of work, very sarcastic and witty, and her developing friendship with Toni is sweet. The story is bogged down a bit by Agatha's obsession over her ex and a bit about Toni's brother, but on the whole, this was a nice holiday mystery, and is 18th in the series.

Murder for Christmas, Part One

Inspired by holiday releases by two of my favorite mystery writers, I decided to sample several (okay, a LOT) of Christmas-themed mysteries. I'm breaking my "always read a series in order" rule for this purpose, figuring that a holiday entry might be a fun way to try out a new series. I found what may be the most extensive possible list of Christmas mysteries right here, though it's a bit outdated. It still has more mysteries than anyone can read between Thanksgiving and Christmas!

Six Geese A-Slaying by Donna Andrews: This is entry #10 in the Meg Langslow series, a series I've read from the beginning. Meg is in charge of the Caerphilly Christmas parade that includes camels, her mother hilariously in charge of the Dickens float, the meanest Santa Claus ever, an excess of SPOOR (Stop Poisoning Our Owls and Raptors) members shedding feathers in their goose costumes, and a snarky photographer sent from a big-time newspaper. When the mean Santa meets his end, Meg investigates along with Chief Burke. I figured out whodunit, but not why, which made the mystery plot interesting. I always enjoy a Meg Langslow mystery, and this was no exception, with the added element of a crazy Caerphilly Christmas!

Santa Clawed by Rita Mae Brown: I am a die-hard fan of Mrs. Murphy, Pewter, and Tucker (and their person, Harry), but even I have had some less than enthusiastic reactions to a few of the more recent mysteries. Brown tends to incorporate her opinions on everything under the sun in her books, which sometimes bogs down the narrative enough to lessen the fun, so I was delighted to see her back in fine form in this, the 17th entry, and a holiday treat, no less! The Brothers of Love, a monastic order in Crozet, run a Christmas tree farm to raise funds for their work with the dying. This year, one of the brothers is found at the farm, throat slit, and a strange coin under his tongue. The brothers each have a shady past, and the plot is complicated by a homophobic doctor and a paranoid wife. Christmas in Crozet is a delight, and the mystery is satisfyingly complex. Harry & Co. are in fine form, and the animals are a delight (did I say delight already? a couple of times? well, that's how delightful the book was). I really enjoyed the musings at the beginning on whether or not a leopard can change its spots, as well as Brown's explanations of Southern courtesies.

Sugarplum Dead by Carolyn Hart: This is #12 in the Death on Demand series (named for the mystery bookshop owned by the main character, Annie Darling), and my theory about publishers getting lax on the editing late in the series holds true here. I read the first book in the series at some point, but it didn't make much of an impression, I guess, because I didn't pick up any others. I actually thought the plot here (at least the main mystery plot) was well-done, a satisfying mystery with some twists and turns, but the characters and subplots were a problem for me. Annie's father turns up after 20 years out of her life (with a lame explanation for his absence), and she and her husband seem strangely cold and unaffected by what should be a major emotional upheaval. She rejects him at first, then sort of accepts him for no real reason. This bogged down the plot quite a bit, as did a subplot about Max's mother. Perhaps dedicated readers would be excited about her role, though--I'm not sure. Annie's father is in town to help his siblings and their spouses persuade an aging former Hollywood star to keep her money in the family instead of giving it to a charlatan who claims to communicate with the dead. There are a lot of characters, and it seemed Hart was afraid we might forget one, because she had several instances of listing what every single member says or does, one after the other, in tedious fashion. The mystery plot was intriguing, but I found myself skimming quite a bit to get to the interesting parts. And Annie and Max left me kind of cold. I didn't feel very invested in either of them. I got that Max was rich, and that Annie has read every mystery under the sun, but I really didn't get to know them. I was told some of their character traits, but I didn't feel much was shown. I liked Broward's Rock, the bookstore, and the mystery, but the main characters don't really scream "Buy the rest of the series so you can spend a few hours with me!" Also, as a holiday mystery, there wasn't much Christmas there. Annie and Max talk about presents for each other, and Annie decorates the shop, but it didn't feel much like a Christmas mystery. I may try the first in the series again to see if I like it.

Benjamin Franklin and a Case of Christmas Murder by Robert Lee Hall: I was predisposed to like this book. In elementary school, I used to check out the Benjamin Franklin biography from the school library, and I read Ben and Me I don't know how many times. But in the first five pages, the long sentences, long paragraphs, and historical diction were driving me to distraction. Within just a few more pages, though, I'd gotten used to the style, and I was completely sucked in. This book balances mystery and historical atmosphere brilliantly, bringing Franklin to life through the narration of his young assistant, Nick Handy. When merchant Roddy Fairbrass is murdered very publicly, during a mummer's play at his home, his wife is reluctant to answer Ben's questions, his son is evasive, and there are numerous threads including a local gaming hell, a criminal mastermind, a brother in Jamaica, and a ghost spotted in the Fairbrass home by Roddy's daughter. All this is wound together in a tight narrative at turns charming and suspenseful. The Christmas element is strong and gives an interesting look at Christmas celebrations in London circa 1757. I will definitely be picking up the first in the series (the Christmas one is #2), Benjamin Franklin Takes the Case.

Sort of a theme

I was excited about Wicked Weaves by Joyce and Jim Levene, the first Renaissance Faire mystery featuring Jessie, a graduate student who works at the year-round Renaissance village during the summers, learning a new craft and choosing a new lover each year. This summer, she's learning basket-making from Mary, a Gullah who was exiled by her people. Mary's cousin also works in the village, and when her estranged husband turns up at the Village, strangled with one of Mary's baskets (or is it?), the police suspect Mary. Mary keeps to herself, but Jessie decides she needs to meddle and clear Mary's name, even going so far as to lie to give Mary an alibi, with no real motivation for her actions. In addition, a tedious romantic storyline takes center stage, and it goes something like this: "Oh, I can't get involved with Chase! But he's so attractive! But he has no ambition! Oh, wait, he has a BMW and a law license! Oops, I slept with him! I can't get involved with him! Oops, I slept with him again!" And on a nitpicky note (because I'm nothing if not nitpicky), Jessie has a mooch of a twin brother and makes at least two comments about how the two of them could have come from one egg. Well, unless one of them was identified with the wrong gender, they didn't, since opposite-sex twins are always fraternal, which means separate eggs. This mystery had so much potential, too. The Renaissance Faire Village is hilarious. I loved the residents who had worked there long enough to lose their sense of reality, especially a man who changed his name to Robin Hood, hangs out in Sherwood Forest, and steals toaster ovens from the rich. That's classic stuff. And the queen who takes the whole thing a little too seriously, the rules about staying in character, and the vaguely sinister monks. But all that takes a backseat to the romance. Oh, and this is a murder mystery, so there is a murder, but I felt like the murderer was wearing a neon sign flashing "I did it!" The murder also involves outsiders, which took the focus off the more interesting Ren folk. I might check reviews for the next in the series to see if the romance is less of a focus, but I was disappointed in this one.

Hard Day's Knight by Katie MacAlister: Katie MacAlister is fun. I don't read much romance, but I had fond memories of The Corset Diaries and Blow Me Down, so I picked this one up as a companion to Wicked Weaves. Now, here is Ren Faire literature done right. To my surprise, the big focus was jousting, and this isn't a parody of Ren Faires. The heroine actually decides to learn jousting, so I learned a lot about it, too, and it was fascinating. Pepper's cousin C. J., a member of the Wench organization, takes unemployed, single pepper to an international jousting competition, primarily to meet attractive men in tights. She meets a couple of sexy knights, ends up deep in jousting competition intrigue, and keeps an eye on her aunt's cat (who steals practically every scene he's in). The mystery was well-done, the characters fresh and vivid, the wit plentiful, the jousting interesting, and the book was an overall good read--a romantic comedy with jousting.

Kilt Dead by Kaitlyn Dunnett: This is the first in a series featuring Liss Maccrimmon, a Scottish dancer grounded by a knee injury who returns to Moosetookalook, Maine to help her aunt in her Scottish Emporium while she regroups. She finds her former teacher, Mrs. Norris, dead under a bolt of fabric in the store, and decides to investigate when the state police decide Liss must be guilty. She has help from Dan, an old friend, and Sherri, a part-time employee at the Scottish Emporium who is conveniently moonlighting as a police dispatcher. The mystery in this one was very well-done, complex but not confusing, with an ending that made sense, but which I didn't see coming. Liss was likable and sympathetic, and her interactions with Dan and Sherri made for pleasant, believable relationships. The ne'er-do-well brother and accusatory state cop add characters-you-love-to-hate to the mix. The Scottish component and Liss's manning the booth at the Highland Games were a fun counterpoint to small-town western Maine. An excellent first mystery--I'll be picking up the second, Scone Cold Dead.

Agnes and the Hitman by Jennifer Crusie and Bob Mayer

I really didn't like the first collaboration between Jennifer Crusie and Bob Mayer, though I'd loved previous Crusie books. The mix of military/action and romance/mystery/humor was just not well-executed. When I read positive reviews of Agnes and the Hitman that began, "I didn't like Don't Look Down, but..." I knew I wanted to give the duo another try. And, really, they're a likable pairing. Check out their website. Click on "How it happened" and "How it works." Funny stuff (and actually, it explains a lot). But on to the book!

Columnist and cookbook writer Cranky Agnes has a history of whacking guys upside the head with frying pans. This is understandable, since she's been engaged to some real jerks. But the most recent whacking, of a lowlife out to steal her dog, ends in death when the whack-ee falls into a previously hidden basement, possibly the site of the murder of an old mob guy. Confused yet? This plot is a doozy, but it's masterfully controlled, unlike the convoluted mess of Don't Look Down. Agnes got her house in a deal with Brenda Fortunato, in exchange for planning Brenda's granddaughter's wedding, and it looks like Brenda may be trying to renege by sabotaging the wedding. Agnes's fiance is starting to look like he could use some frying-pan action. And her basement may be the site of an old mob boss's murder (and the hiding place for $5 million). So her hands are pretty full when Shane, attractive and sensitive hitman, shows up. There is still a ridiculous body count, intrusive military speak, and unbelievably cruel treatment of bad guys, courtesy of Mayer, but either he's getting better at this chick lit thing, or Crusie had the plot more under control this time, because it's a pretty fun read. Lisa Livia (Brenda's daughter) is a fantastic character, Shane is actually a nice guy, so you can see the attraction for Agnes, and Agnes herself is a lot of fun.

Fans of Jennifer Crusie can rejoice in this one, and I think Evanovich fans would get a kick out of it, too. The authors have outtakes right here, but they have spoilers, so read the book first.

My review of Don't Look Down

Ah, Jane!

Jane and the Barque of Frailty by Stephanie Barron: This is the most recent Jane Austen mystery (the first is Jane and the Unpleasantness at Scargrave Manor), and it seems open for Barron to write a few more. I had been hoarding this a bit, afraid it was definitely the last (Barron has written a non-Jane book, A Flaw in the Blood, and I thought she was moving on). In this one, a Russian princess is found with her throat cut, on the doorstep of a prominent figure in London. The later books get more poignant if you know Jane Austen's biography at all (and I suspect most people reading these are Austen fans). I enjoyed this entry, though there was the minor annoyance of Barron cramming in as much Regency slang as she could. I'm not sure what sent her on that kick, as I don't remember it being intrusive in previous books. But that's a small issue, and does not overshadow the strong writing, intricate mystery, well-drawn characters, and period feel.

Retreating back to the familiar...

Well, I should know better than to trust amazon reviews. May Day by Jess Lourey has a nearly five-star rating on amazon, and I neglected to check LibraryThing's reviews before getting a copy. My only consolation is that I didn't pay full trade-paperback price--I found a used copy (along with two other new mysteries) with reasonable shipping. After I finished May Day, I picked up one of the other two books I'd gotten at the same time--same publisher. Both of those have good LibraryThing reviews, though I decided to go back to my Joan Hess rather than another new mystery right away.

I almost didn't finish May Day. By 50 pages in, I had about had it, but I couldn't believe it would stay that bad. Ha! I wish I'd tossed it aside and picked up something else. Where to start? First, there's the format--5 pages about Mira finding the body, followed by a 45-page flashback to tell us in excruciating detail how Mira ended up in Battle Lake, Minnesota (I could summarize it in two sentences--it's just not that interesting). There's no real explanation for why Mira decides to investigate, except she's assigned an article (she writes part-time for the newspaper) partway through her investigation. She's not likable, or very interesting, and neither are the cardboard characters surrounding her. The crazy guy with the scary house part reminded me of Ace Ventura's "Laces OUT!" except Ace Ventura was funny. The Minnesota girl with the Southern accent was annoying, the plotline with the old people bizarre and unbelievable, and the most interesting part (the Indian sacred site) was shunted to the side. I figured out who killed the guy pretty quickly due to some obvious foreshadowing.

Some things, like a paragraph-long description of the police chief applying Carmex to his lips, were overblown and silly. So many pages I marked as having ridiculous prose: (after Mira walks into a bar) "The smell of GPC cigarettes, aged beer, and something that would make good mushroom fodder crept under my pants and stroked my thighs." What in the world is that supposed to mean? Who has a smell stroke their thighs? Bizarre. About her boss: "He was a tall thick man with eyes green and busy like bottle flies on the dark meat of his face." Yuck! Is his face rotting? Upon entering a creepy house: "I felt narrow sheets of ice slip between my skin and muscles"--again, what??? I could keep doing this all day, but I won't spend any more time on this book. Off to the yard sale box it goes, maybe with a warning label.

More Joan Hess, and Odds and Ends

I decided to transition from a kids' book (The Joy of Spooking) to literary fiction (The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society) via mystery, so I chose #4 in Joan Hess's Claire Malloy series. Don't overthink it; it works for me. This entry, A Really Cute Corpse, finds Claire unwillingly overseeing the Miss Thurberfest pageant. After several attempts on the reigning Ms. Thurberfest's life, someone finally succeeds. This book is a bit longer in page count than the first three and it *felt* a bit longer. Since I like Claire and the supporting characters, I didn't mind this at all. The first perhaps half of the book is spent on pageant happenings and the political scene (a state senator is involved in the pageant; his aide once had a torrid affair with Cyndi) as Claire wonders if the accidents surrounding Cyndi are deliberate or not. Once Cyndi's out of the picture, Claire moves from suspect to suspect before she solves the puzzle. Objectively, I have to say that as a mystery, this is not Hess's best. However, I find the series so enjoyable that even a weak entry is a satisfying read. The pageant wasn't the most interesting setting and the suspects were a bit obvious. However, Hess's acerbic wit and deft descriptions were entertaining and funny as usual. If you're a cozy mystery fan looking for humor, pick up the first, Strangled Prose.

My review of #1 (Strangled Prose)
My reviews of #2 (The Murder at the Murder at the Mimosa Inn) and #3 (Dear Miss Demeanor)

I couldn't really find a good book for the plane (for maximum space efficiency, I only bring a mass market paperback in my bag), so I grabbed Sweet Talk by Susan Mallery since it wouldn't require that much attention and I would be able to put it down once I got home and got my review copies (which still have not arrived!). I enjoyed her Buchanans series as a diverting romance/women's fiction kind of series, but this, the first in a trilogy, was terrible. There are three sisters, and this one focuses on Claire, a famous concert pianist. Her sisters, Jesse and Nicole, hate Claire because she was sent away from home as a child prodigy to be spoiled and also because their mother died in a car accident while accompanying Claire). Jesse and Nicole co-own the family bakery and Nicole (who, by the way, is also not speaking to Jesse, whom she caught with her husband, and NOT playing Scrabble) has to have surgery. Jesse calls on Claire to come out and take care of Nicole. Nicole has no idea Jesse's done this and she's rude, ungrateful, and abusive to Claire when she arrives in the first of MANY scenes in which Nicole yells, throws fits, and blames her sister. Even when you think they've made progress, Nicole regresses into a spoiled, horrid child. Nicole has also whined about her sister to the extent that everyone she knows is hostile to Claire. One of those people is Wyatt, an I-am-through-with-relationships rude jerk. Mallery invokes that old friend to romance authors, magical sexual chemistry between people who hate each other, to get the relationship going. The best part of the book is Claire's developing relationship with Wyatt's deaf daughter. But it's not enough to recommend the book. It was obvious that Claire and Wyatt were going to end up together, but he was such a jerk, I was hoping they wouldn't. And her sisters were such jerks that the thin premise of "looking for family" didn't justify Claire's staying there. Claire herself was ridiculously naive, so she wasn't that likeable either. I only liked Amy, Wyatt's daughter. Presumably, in the subsequent books, we'll find out what happens with Nicole post-husband's-infidelity and with Jesse. But I really don't care.

Another book I attempted to read ages ago is A House Called Awful End by Philip Ardagh, book one in the Eddie Dickens Trilogy. I didn't get it. There were funny bits, but it was filled with tiresome one-liners so that plot advances happened at a glacial pace. My understanding is that it was intended for the Series of Unfortunate Events readers, but even the first of those (which, I must confess, I didn't like) was an improvement over this.

I just started The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society and I'm loving it. This was an Early Reviewer book on LibraryThing and was really the one I wanted most. But I didn't get it, so I preordered it on amazon. It just came today and I opened it the minute I'd finished my Hess book. I can't wait to post a review.

Vacation Reading and Book Shopping

me: Hello, my name is Allison and I'm a book-a-holic.
Group: Hi, Allison!
me: After doing pretty well in Barnes and Noble, only buying the new Donna Andrews and Sisters Grimm books I had planned on (and the first Patricia Sprinkle, too, so sue me), I was sucked in through the doorway of Phoenix Books, a used bookstore in San Luis Obispo that I have gone to for years and years. I've found lovely little old volumes of poetry (I adore old books) there and just went in for a wee peek.
Group: Right...
me: And I found the one Pennyfoot Hotel mystery I hadn't gotten yet (Shrouds of Holly). And an intriguing mystery called The Once and Future Con by Peter Guttridge. And a little volume of Edward Gorey's pictures featuring Dancing Cats. And a 1919 copy of M. Somerset Maugham's Moon and Sixpence (I've always thought I should read Maugham, and what better way than with a charming old book). And a volume of poetry that caught my eye. So, oops. The book diet starts tomorrow!

I read Bones To Ashes by Kathy Reichs. Holly recently reviewed Deadly Decisions by Kathy Reichs here. I completely agree that she has pedantic tendencies. She clearly does research for her books, and she maybe goes overboard with giving the reader information. But that's fine. I like Temperance Brennan; she's funny and smart and her sarcasm is thoroughly enjoyable. In this one, a skeleton is found that makes Tempe think of a childhood friend who disappeared decades before. Meanwhile, her lover, Ryan, has announced a major life change while asking for Tempe's help with a series of missing persons/murder cases involving girls. I could see where the mystery was headed, and I wasn't thrilled. It was dark and upsetting, and I thought the end came on rather abruptly. Still, the book was a real page-turner, and I was engrossed in the mystery of Tempe's childhood friend.

I *attempted* to read Unzipped by Lois Greiman. This got great reviews on amazon, so maybe there's something wrong with me. I rarely fail to finish a book. Even if it's awful, I might skim through it to see how it ends. This one, I tossed away in disgust after fewer than 100 pages. Christina is a former cocktail waitress (who still dresses the part) now a psychologist. She's been treating a football star for impotence and during a late-evening meeting (her secretary had already gone home), he assaults her, then drops dead. Jack Rivera, the detective investigating the death, makes a number of disgusting assumptions about Chrissy based on her mode of dress and the fact that naturally, any woman would be trying to get the hunky football star in bed. Now, mysteries often feature a skeptical cop, and that's fine, but these scenes with Jack and Chrissy (haha) were so heavy-handed as to be offensive (and I rarely take offense in literature). What capped it for me was when Chrissy and Jack start making out after he's just accused her of being a slut with no professional ethics. Sorry. Life's too short. It was too bad, because there were funny moments in the part I read, but I just couldn't stomach this one.

For A Good Time, Call Cece Caruso

As you know, I read a lot of mystery series. I have my favorites, but I always hope for a new series that I'll love. I've tried several lately, with mixed results. I finally have a new favorite, the Cece Caruso series by Susan Kandel. They are smart, funny, well-written, and well-plotted. The West Hollywood setting is fun and well-realized, and Cece's career (biographer of mystery authors) adds a fun, fresh element to this series. I read Not A Girl Detective first (about Carolyn Keene, the pseudonymous author of the Nancy Drew books) because I loved Nancy Drew, though it's the second in the series. It was great fun, and I zipped through the first, I Dreamed I Married Perry Mason, as well, and though I'm less of a Perry Mason fan than a Nancy Drew fan, I still loved it. I'm nearly finished with Shamus in the Green Room, the third (which, interestingly enough, is called Sam Spade in the Green Room in the preview printed at the end of Not A Girl Detective--this makes more sense, as I have no idea who Shamus is and I only have about 60 pages left). Christietown is the fourth, and then I'll be going into withdrawal.

I am now on LibraryThing! I'll be going back and adding 2007's books as I have time. My library is at this address!

Summer Reading

I finished a couple of books that I thought I'd review:

Putting on the Dog by Cynthia Baxter: It really wasn't that good, and I don't feel I'm overly picky when it comes to cozy mysteries. The sleuth was nosy and wishy-washy. Her annoying boyfriend whined through the whole book. Jessica kept saying how great he was, but I never saw it. Although, she was really no prize either, insisting that she wanted to make it work with the boyfriend in one paragraph, and getting drunk and slow-dancing with a movie star alone in his mansion in the next. Then she'd get mad that the boyfriend was jealous. Um, hello? The solution was really telegraphed quite a bit, too, and I didn't care that much by the end. If I weren't so compulsive, I would have stopped halfway through. Also, this woman is a vet, and she keeps leaving her dogs in her van while she runs errands. And it's summer! Duh! She says she cracks the windows and leaves water, but seriously, that's not gonna help. All in all, I really wanted to like these (Mystery? Animals? Crazy famous people? Yay!) but this one was just not great. I might check reviews of the others in the series to see if they get better, but I'm not too hopeful (this was #2).

I also read Halfway to Half Way by Suzann Ledbetter. The first in this series (mystery/romance) is South of Sanity, and these are cute. Hannah Garvey manages a retirement community that serves as home to some elderly busybodies who love to solve crimes. She's kind of their den mother. They're good-natured, funny, light reading, and I enjoyed this newest installment. You don't have to read them in order (although if you read this one first, it gives away something that happens in early books), and they're all funny.

I'm now reading The Science of Harry Potter and Hurricane Hannah by Sue Civil-Brown.