Mystery! Again!

Death Is In The Air and For Whom Death Tolls by Kate Kingsbury: These are #2 and 3 in the Manor House series. This is a mystery series set during WWII. Lady Elizabeth, the lady of the manor in the village of Sitting Marsh, has uninvited guests, a group of American officers billeted in the deserted East Wing of her home. Tensions are high in the village between the American GIs and the British citizens. In Death Is In The Air, a German parachutes into Sitting Marsh, coinciding with a brutal murder. In For Whom Death Tolls, an American GI is found hanging from the bell tower at the church. The mysteries in these novels (beginning with A Bicycle Built For Murder, which I confess I bought only for the title) are fine, but the real fun is in the portrayal of village life and the budding romance between Lady Elizabeth and an American officer. These move at a snail's pace (it's not until book #2 that Earl is allowed to call Lady Elizabeth by her first name), so they're almost like a longer serialized novel. I didn't mind the slowness--it's like popping into a beloved village to see what's going on with my favorite residents. If you're a cozy mystery fan (heavy on the cozy), I recommend checking out this series.

Strangled Prose by Joan Hess: This is the first in the Claire Malloy mysteries, which take place in Farberville, Arkansas. Claire, a widow, owns a bookshop, and ends up coerced into hosting an event for Mildred Twiller, who writes romance novels under the name Azalea Twilight. Mildred and her husband are both professors at Farber College (as was Claire's husband), and Mildred's latest book features barely disguised members of its academic community. When Mildred is found strangled, everyone is a suspect. Claire's daughter Caron and her wimpy friend Inez appear to know something about the murder, so Claire decides to investigate to protect Caron. I think Joan Hess is very funny, and I enjoyed this light, frothy mystery.

Is that Jack Frost?

For an inexplicable reason, I picked up The Candy Cane Murders about the same time I picked up Sugar and Spice (review here, both holiday collections featuring Hannah Swensen novellas by Joanne Fluke, despite the fact that both are Christmas-themed. I've been on a Hannah Swensen kick, reading the whole series (except for Carrot Cake Murder, which I'm waiting to come out in hardback), and I have a bit of a compulsive streak when it comes to series, and I really want to read the whole series, and in order. So publishers love me because they can trick me into buying collections featuring my favorite series characters, which exposes me to other authors with the same publisher. In the case of Sugar and Spice, it didn't work because it was more romance, while I'm more of a mystery gal, so I just read the Hannah Swensen and skipped the rest. But Candy Cane Murders was a big hit with me. Not only was the Hannah Swensen novella a fun diversion with great-sounding recipes, I read on and really enjoyed the Laura Levine entry. I think I read This Pen For Hire, the first in the Jaine Austen mysteries, but it didn't make much of an impression. The novella here, The Dangers of Candy Canes, was really funny and well-plotted, making me interested in trying Levine again. I also kept going and read the Leslie Meier novella, a Lucy Stone story told in flashback. I read several of the Lucy Stones at one point, and I think they're perfectly serviceable cozies, but not my favorites. This novella was surprisingly sweet and if it hadn't been 85 degrees, might have put me in the Christmas spirit. If you've enjoyed books in any of the three series, or are a mystery fan looking for some holiday cheer in your stocking, this book is probably worth picking up.

Another Giveaway!

This time Heather from Book Addiction is giving away Jodi Picoult's latest book, Change of Heart. I am currently 695 out of 730 to get this one from the library so I would love to win a free copy!! If you're interested, hop on over and post in her comments for your chance to win. If you post on your own blog you get TWO chances! Hence, my post here. :-)

Mystery!

I've been on a mystery kick again!

Through the Grinder by Cleo Coyle: This is the second Coffeehouse Mystery featuring Clare Cosi. The Village Blend has started offering a singles night with speed-dating, and one after another, women who frequent the blend are committing suicide. Or are they? I thought this was a weaker mystery than the first in the series, but we get a lot more development of Clare as she dates Bruce, dodges her ex-husband, and flirts with her cop friend. Coyle persists in thinking that passages from the deranged killer's point-of-view heighten the drama and tension, when in fact, they reek of cheesiness and drive me to distraction. At any rate, I thought this entry was a decent one in the series, although the brutal ending was sort of shocking. I picked up the third, Latte Trouble, but the first paragraphs were in deranged-killer-speak, and I wasn't in the mood, so I went on to some historical mysteries.

A Late Phoenix by Catherine Aird: Three words: Fun. British. Mystery. I discovered these when visiting my high school English teacher a couple of weeks ago. He had Catherine Aird novels strewn about, and I had never heard of her. A Late Phoenix was published in 1971, so they're not new. I think they're mostly out-of-print, but are easily found either used on amazon or in lots on eBay. Developers start a project at a WWII bomb site, only to uncover a skeleton, a woman not killed in the bombing. C.D. Sloane is assigned the case (along with Crosby, an idiot partner). Sloane is wry, witty, and astute, and he teases apart the threads of the mystery with interviews and even trips to the library. This is a good, old-fashioned detective novel with tight plotting and a bit of humor to lighten it up. I loved it!

A Bicycle Built for Murder by Kate Kingsbury: Along the historical mystery front, I found a used copy of this, Kingsbury's first Manor House novel. She has another series, Pennyfoot Hotel, that is devilishly hard to find (at least at a reasonable price). Anyway, Lady Elizabeth is Lady of the Manor, so when her tenant begs her to help solve the mystery of her teenaged daughter's disappearance, Lady Elizabeth agrees. At the same time, her house has been chosen to house some American troops (did I mention this takes place during WWII? Oops, I forgot, and it's kind of important). And the Major who liaises with her on this matter is really attractive. (Why do mystery novels written in the last 20 years or so HAVE to have a romance angle if the sleuth is a woman?) Kingsbury does a nice job of evoking the time period and Lady Elizabeth is a sympathetic heroine. The mystery is nicely done and the supporting cast enjoyable. I thought it was a good start to the series, and I'll be looking for more. I've read that the Pennyfoot series is actually better, so I'll have to try to find some of them.

Edited to add: I knew I was forgetting something! I also read Withering Heights by Dorothy Cannell, a recent Ellie Haskell mystery. Her first, The Thin Woman, is one of my all-time favorite mysteries. This entry was really quite good! It takes place in a huge old house and gently spoofs gothic mysteries. Ellie, Ben, and Mrs. Malloy head to Yorkshire to return Ben's cousin's teenaged daughter home and manage to solve murder, mayhem, and ghostly happenings while there. If you enjoy cozies and haven't read Cannell yet, order a copy of The Thin Woman used on amazon for pretty much the cost of shipping right now!

I think that's it for now. I'm reading Strangled Prose by Joan Hess, the first Claire Malloy mystery. I read a couple of these a while ago and then kind of forgot about Joan Hess. She also writes the Maggody series.

Bobbie Faye Returns

Bobbie Faye and the (kinda, sorta, not-exactly) Family Jewels by Toni McGee Causey follows up Bobbie Faye's Very, (very, very, very) Bad Day. This sequel starts up a couple months after the first disaster and many of the same characters appear. Bobby Faye is working at Ce Ce's store one day when her cousin Francesca shows up asking Bobbie Faye to help her find stolen diamonds her mother, Marie, hid somewhere. Francesca's father, Emile, head of a mob organization and the person Marie stole the diamonds from, thinks Bobbie Faye knows where they are at. Within the first several chapters of the book, Bobbie Faye is shot at, kidnapped on the same block by three separate groups of people, and her car blows up on a bridge, taking part of the bridge with it. So you could say the sequel starts off with a bang.

Throughout the book, we get to meet more of Bobbie Faye's crazy family, including her father, she blows up other things, comes near death several times, all while trying to figure out her feelings for Trevor (well those feelings are pretty obvious) and Cam (not so obvious). Bobbie Faye is also accused of murder not once, but twice through the course of the book. Trevor and Cam know she is innocent and try to figure out a way to keep every cop in the state from killing her on sight.

Causey's second attempt with Bobbie Faye does not disappoint. However, I don't think it quite lives up to the first one. A little less time is spent on the action and running around (just a little, there's still a lot of action) and more time is spent developing the relationship she has with Trevor and Cam. There are also a ton of characters in this book, sometimes a little difficult to keep track of. And I didn't laugh out loud quite as much as the first one. With all that being said, I was still highly entertained and liked the ending. I won't give too much away, but we find out a little more about best friend Nina at the end of book. Hmm.....perhaps we're setting up for a third installment?

My copy of Bobbie Faye's Family Jewels was an Advanced Reader Copy from LibraryThing. But you won't have to wait long, it will be in bookstores on May 27th!

A Couple of Little Things

I forgot to mention that I read On What Grounds by Cleo Coyle, the first in the Coffeehouse series. I had read this and maybe one of the sequels ages ago. It's a decent cozy mystery series with enticing recipes. A few things bug me. It starts out with a prologue from the stalker's point-of-view a la James Patterson or Jonathan Kellerman, which I think is super cheesy. Despite throwing around Italian terms like someone who knows what she's doing, Coyle (or her editor) has used the wrong accent over the 'e' in the Italian word 'caffe,' (It should be the opposite accent of the one over the 'e' in the French word 'cafe,' but I can't figure out how to do diacritical marks in Blogger) and spelled 'baci' (which means 'kisses') 'bocci.' There are other typos in plain old English, typical of this genre's mediocre editing. Despite some annoyances, the book is kind of cute and I enjoyed the coffee information, which I thought complemented, rather than distracted from, the narrative flow. Clare Cosi returns from suburban New Jersey to manage once again The Village Blend, an historic coffeehouse in New York City at the request of her former mother-in-law. You can bet the ex-husband will be around to bug her/be strangely attractive. One morning, Clare arrives at the coffeehouse to find it empty and dark. She finds her employee, Annabel, dead at the bottom of the basement steps. The police are treating the death as a tragic accident, but Clare thinks differently. Also, she thinks the detective is pretty cute. Typical cozy mystery investigating ensues, in more-interesting-than-average-cozy fashion. I'll read the second one, Through the Grinder, soon.

I also read "The Twelve Desserts of Christmas" by Joanne Fluke, one of four novellas in the holiday romance collection Sugar and Spice (available for the cost of shipping--used on amazon.com). I didn't read the other three, which are more typical romance, but I thought the Joanne Fluke story, featuring two teachers stuck with six kids at a boarding school over the holidays, was a cute confection. Hannah Swensen delivers desserts to the group and solves an innocuous little mystery. Most of the recipes are title recipes from previous books, but a couple may be new (I'd have to check Sugar Cookie Murder, which has tons). If (like me) you're waiting for Carrot Cake Murder to come out in paperback, this is a nice little diversion.

Bobbie Faye review, redux

Oops, I meant to link to Holly's review of this book, so I'm editing to add that in!

I read THE FUNNIEST BOOK in the history of the world! Okay, maybe that's an exaggeration, but Bobbie Faye's Very (Very, Very, Very) Bad Day by Toni McGee Causey had me laughing out loud. With a clever, official-looking map at the beginning labeled "Louisiana State Insurance Archive of Bobbie Faye Sumrall Disasters (Southwest Region)," you know you're going to be suspending disbelief. Each chapter has a quote about Bobbie Faye, and the first quote is, "You know how some people are born to Greatness? Well, Bobbie Faye Sumrall woke up one morning, kicked Greatness in the teeth, kneed it in the balls, took it hostage, and it's been begging for mercy ever since," attributed to "a former Louisiana mayor after Bobbie Faye accidentally ran her car into his office, knocking pages of fraud evidence into the street, which helped land him in Federal prison." Those two components at the very beginning could be setting us up for a fun ride or trying to compensate for a lackluster novel. Fortunately for us, it's the first!

Bobbie Faye is having the worst day of her life, and for someone inadvertently attracted to disaster like a moth to a flame, that's saying something. She wakes up in the morning to her five-year-old niece remarking that there's a swimming pool inside. She's caring for her niece while her sister is drying out, as ordered by the courts, and her trailer has flooded because her no-good brother Roy hasn't fixed the washing machine. The Sumralls have been fixtures in Lake Charles, Louisiana ("if someone had labeled it 'home of the hard drinkers who make Mardi Gras revelers look like big fluffy candy asses,' it might have staggered to attention and saluted") for generations, and Bobbie Faye is the latest in a long line of Contraband Days Queens since her mother died, complete with a battered tiara. It turns out that Roy has been kidnapped by someone demanding the worthless tiara, but when Bobbie Faye takes it out of the safety-deposit box (it may be worthless, but she didn't want her sister hocking it for booze), she loses it to bank robbers. She takes a guy hostage and goes in pursuit of the robbers, with the FBI and local police (led by her ex-husband of all people) following closely behind. This is a wild ride with abundant humor, a touch of mystery (who *is* this guy she took hostage? why would anyone want that tiara this badly?), and over-the-top action. Can Bobbie Faye find the tiara, save her brother, keep temporary custody of her niece, avoid mushy thoughts about her handsome hostage, and survive this day? I can't think of anyone who wouldn't compulsively read this one to find out!

Woman in Red by Eileen Goudge

This was our book club pick for May. I actually did not vote for this one when we were voting on new choices and I thought the description of it sounded really depressing. So I was not actually looking forward to reading this one. However, this is a case of don't judge a book by its cover. I really enjoyed it much more than I thought I would.

The book is about a woman, Alice, who spends nine years in prison for running over the drunk driver who killed one of her two sons. While in prison, her husband divorces her and eventually her son does not want to visit her anymore. She gets out and returns to the small town where she grew up. She tries to rebuild her life and get to know her son and family again despite the stigma of being an ex-con. She also meets a new man (Colin) who lost his wife in the 9/11 attacks and is just coming out a downward spiral himself. As if all of this is not difficult enough for her to deal with, her son is falsely accused of raping a girl and finds himself in trouble with the law. Hmmm...like mother, like son?

See, I told you depressing, right? BUT, it turns out, it's not quite as depressing as it sounds. And there is a back story interspersed throughout the book about Alice's grandmother and Colin's grandfather. A love story. This book actually somewhat reminded me of a Jodi Picoult book without the extra legal thriller part of it. The whole book is about different relationships old and new. And in the end all the different threads come together. I absolutely loved the epilogue. I think Goudge did a great job writing this and keeping all the characters interesting with a solid story line. It's as long as it needs to be without anything extra. This is definitely not one I would have picked up at the bookstore, but I'm glad I had the chance to read it. And really I had a hard time putting it down!

Honk if you love Percy!

Percy Jackson and the Battle of the Labyrinth by Rick Riordan: The fourth installment of the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series is action-packed, funny, clever, and original, with character and plot developments we've been waiting for since Book 1, The Lightning Thief. Percy is a clever boy (I think he's 12 in book 1) who's been kicked out of multiple schools, has ADHD and dyslexia, and a knack for trouble. In The Lightning Thief, he learns he's a half-blood, the son of a Greek god, and discovers there are others like him at Camp Half Blood. If you haven't read the series, I don't want to give away too many details of the plot of Book 4. Battle of the Labyrinth opens with Percy's orientation at his new school, which is equipped with monster cheerleaders (yes, that's literal) before heading off to Camp Half-Blood, which is in danger like never before. A chunk of this installment takes place in the Labyrinth, the monster-infested, ever-changing maze underneath the U.S. Any juvenile fantasy is compared to Harry Potter these days, and I have to say, I love both series. Percy Jackson is not derivative of Harry Potter, and Riordan manages a fresh and funny take on ancient stories (the Greek myths). I can't recommend this series and this installment highly enough, and I can't wait for Book 5 (and it's very clear there will be a Book 5, though I believe that will be the last).

Edited to add: I went looking for the source of my belief that there will be five books (sadly it's true--next year's will be the last, though the first film will be out next year, too), and discovered a short story that's available on Rick Riordan's blog. Here are the three parts (part 1 is at the bottom of the page). Here's fun bonus Percy!

Deep Dish by Mary Kay Andrews

Okay, after three books, I have to say I quite like Mary Kay Andrews. I think I actually liked Savannah Blues and Savannah Breeze a bit better than Deep Dish because I enjoy the mystery component, which is absent from Deep Dish, but Deep Dish was fun Southern chick lit. This one is set partially in Atlanta, too, which is fun when Gina is stuck in traffic on I-285. Hahaha! I'm always stuck in traffic on I-285! Gina has a regional cooking show produced by her boyfriend, Scott, that is canceled when Scott is found sleeping with the show's sponsor's wife. Oops. But it turns out that Food Network...erm, I mean The Cooking Channel...is looking for a Southern cooking show to add to their lineup. They're in town to look at Tate's kill 'em and grill 'em show (which is called Vittles, a really lame name--Kill 'Em and Grill 'Em would have been better) and decide to take a look at Gina. Soon Gina and Tate are in competition for the time slot in an Iron Chef kind of battle out on an island (yes, really). Tate and Gina go between attraction to each other and competitive dislike, and there's little suspense--if you can't tell they're going to end up together, you've probably never read chick lit before. There's also little suspense on the outcome of the cooking show, though Andrews throws in some unexpected challenges that bring in some laughs. The development of Tate and Gina's relationship from competitors to ready to get married isn't all that fleshed out, but I'm used to that in chick lit. All of a sudden, the man and woman are in love...whatever. I thought this was a cute, breezy summer read, but I'd wait until it's in paperback (it was lent to me, or I wouldn't have read it yet!).

Southern Fried Nancy Drew

A negative reviewer on Amazon gave Savannah Blues by Mary Kay Andrews a single star and lambasted it with, "If you're craving a Southern fried version of Nancy Drew and her pals, then carry on." Well, obviously my taste is not as refined as this reviewers because while I agreed with her assessment, I thought this book was great fun, even with some flaws, but I love Nancy Drew, too! I would characterize it as Southern Chick Lit With Mystery. Anyway, the story is about Weezie, a divorcee who won the carriage house behind her carefully renovated once-home (which her husband and his new fiancee, the atrocious Caroline, now live). Weezie is a "picker," scouring yard sales and dumpsters for hidden treasures that she can fix up and sell to antiques dealers. Sneaking into an estate sale early to answer a call of nature, she stumbles over Caroline's body and is promptly arrested for the murder. The story is slowed a bit by chapters from the point of view of Uncle James, Weezie's attorney, which were really unnecessary and I can't believe they weren't edited out. Weezie, her best friend Bebe, and Daniel, the attractive chef at Bebe's restaurant, set out to solve the murder themselves and clear Weezie's name. There really wasn't much suspense in this one, but the bumbling crime-solving trio, Southern charm, and insight into the antiques business made it a lot of fun. I recommend this as an excellent beach read.

After reading Savannah Blues, I picked up Savannah Breeze, the sequel, which details Bebe's life following her financial ruin at the hands of a handsome con man (she's distracted by family issues at the time). Apparently, Ms. Andrews has trouble deciding which story she's telling, because in this one, too, there are chapters from a secondary character's point of view--this time, Weezie's. I found this distracting and didn't think it added to the story at all, but other than that, I thought this was even more fun than the first book. Bebe discovers that she is now owner of the Breeze Motel on Tybee Beach (the con man, Reddy, hadn't had time to unload it before splitting), and she decides to make a go of renovating and running the Breeze. With the help of Weezie and the Breeze's on-site manager, the handsome and unrefined Harry, Bebe sets out to get back what Reddy has stolen from her when the police decline to pursue him. Another fun beach read.

The Innocent by Harlan Coben

I enjoyed reading Coben's The Woods last year and when I saw The Innocent and Deal Breaker in the Barnes and Noble bargain sale I snatched them up. I've spent the last couple days reading The Innocent and thoroughly enjoyed it!

The blurb on the back of the book does not really give you full insight into the story, which in this case was a good thing. The main character, Matt Hunter, accidentally kills a man when a fight breaks out at a party during college. Matt serves his time in prison and manages to still have a life afterwards with a decent job and wife with a baby on the way. He receives a couple startling photos on his cell phone that make him think he does not really know his wife and he wonders if he can really trust her. Thus starts a journey of discovery that lasts a couple days and is filled with suspense. This book also has short chapters which actually added to the suspense. It switched back and forth between characters' viewpoints leaving you in suspense with one while catching up with another. Eventually all the points of view come together at the end. It wasn't entirely predictable and had a few nice reveals toward the end.

I don't want to say too much and give anything away because I think this story is much better if you go into it blind. I thought it was well-written and Coben unfolds the story very well. If you're a fan of more serious mystery/suspense I recommend this book. I believe I enjoyed it even more than The Woods. And I'm looking forward to reading Deal Breaker which is the first book in Coben's Myron Bolitor series.

Almost time for Percy!

The fourth Percy Jackson book comes out May 6th! Yeah! Camille over at BookMoot had a fun post relating to Percy and included the video below. Just thought I would share because I was amused by it. Don't get me wrong, I still like Harry Potter. :-)

The World of Bobbie Faye

I just finished Bobbie Faye's Very (very, very, very) Bad Day by Toni McGee Causey. This book was absolutely hysterical! I chuckled out loud several times. A must-read for any Evanovich fans. I actually think this is better than the recent Plum books. Bobbie Faye is Stephanie Plum amped up 50 degrees. There are a few similarities in the characters: Bobbie Faye as a very independent woman compares to Stephanie; Cam, her cop ex-boyfriend would play the part of Morelli; and Bobbie Faye's apparent hostage, Trevor could sort of be Ranger. Other than that, this book is purely original especially in the debacles Bobbie Faye gets herself into...in one day!

This book takes place in Louisiana and is filled with Cajun charm from French to voodoo. The course of the book is mostly one day, which seems unreal. It starts with Bobbie Faye's trailer being flooded and collapsing and her day just gets worse from there. She receives a call from her brother who has been kidnapped and needs her to bring a treasured family heirloom to the kidnappers in order to save his life. Bobbie Faye stops at nothing to reach her brother including robbing a bank, taking a hostage, demolishing a truck, running through a swamp, encountering a bear, and it only goes on from there (that's the first half of the book). There's mystery, adventure, suspense, and romance in this highly sarcastic, fun read.

The chapters are short so this makes for a perfect book for someone who can't sit and read for long periods of time. The beginning of each chapter has a quote from someone in reference to Bobbie Faye. Here are a few examples:

"I'm sorry, Mr. President, but even though you really like the governor of Louisiana, you cannot drop a civilian behind enemy lines. No sir, not even if she could take out the whole country."
-an anonymous senior aide to the president

"Sir, we do not draft civilians into our foreign service, even if you think she's of the devil and would make a good spy. Please do not offer her to us again."
--Elizabeth Smith, CIA undersecretary in a memo to the governor of Louisiana

"No, honey, you can't bring in Bobbie Faye as your show-and-tell exhibit for National Disaster Awareness week. I'd like to make it through this week alive."
-Ms. Pam Arnold, Geautraux Elementary's third grade teacher

I decided to pick this book up and read it because I received the second installment, Bobbie Faye's (kinda, sorta, not-exactly) Family Jewels as an Advanced Reader's Copy (ARC) from LibraryThing's Early Reviewers group. I thought I should read the first one before I reviewed the second. And now I can't wait to read Family Jewels.

A few reviews

This is a pretty random assortment of reading here!

Death at Wentwater Court by Carola Dunn: This is the first Daisy Dalrymple mystery, and I thought it was lots of fun. These are set in the 1920s England and Daisy is a Town & Country reporter, shocking her family (I think her father is a baronet or something). Anyway, Daisy is likeable and I think Dunn evokes 1920s England well, at least to someone who's seen Gosford Park. The plot is well done. Daisy is at a family's country house when an apparent accident takes place. Daisy's photography uncovers a suggestion that it might have been murder. I'll have to find the second in the series--I think there are 16 or something. It was cute and well-written. I think cozy readers and those interested in historical fiction might get a kick out of this.

Duma Key by Stephen King: It's been hit or miss for me with recent Stephen King, but I had a hard time putting Duma Key down, even with 600+ pages. He's used his personal experience with recovering from a terrible accident and placed in on Edgar Freemantle, who loses an arm and scrambles his brain in an accident. His 25-year marriage ends, and when his doctor suggests "geographical therapy," Freemantle (randomly, he thinks) chooses Duma Key, an isolated island off the coast of Sarasota. He takes up painting with a vengeance, stunning gallery owners in Sarasota, and haunted by his phantom arm and the voices of the shells under his house, he begins to uncover the truth about Duma Key and its oldest inhabitant, Elizabeth Eastlake. His hired help, Jack, and Elizabeth's companion, Wireman (who has also suffered a head injury, as has Elizabeth), help him find the source of his talent. If any part of the novel dragged, it was pages 500-600 or thereabouts--the exciting conclusion was really kind of long. But I found Edgar's emerging talent engaging, and King did a great job of the terror gently creeping into the story.

Back on Blossom Street by Debbie Macomber: I read the first of these, The Shop on Blossom Street, ages ago. It took me a while to get into this one. The intro in which Macomber basically explains everything that happened in the series so far was very long and dragged, but once I got into it, it was pretty fun. These are the most wholesome romance novels you've ever read, seriously, but they're also about the personal struggles of the various characters. She writes from the point-of-view of several, which is totally cheating, but it works for the stories she's telling. The prose is...saccharine is a good word to use here, maybe a really long Hallmark card is another way to put it. But if you're in the mood for uplifting, obviously telegraphed happy endings, and women solving their problems in a knitting group, this book is for you. I don't mean that as negatively as it maybe reads. I enjoyed the book, I did, it's just not particularly challenging and it's not my usual fluffy reading (very little sense of humor here). Anyway, Lydia owns a knitting shop and decides to have a class on doing prayer shawls. Each of the women in the class has a different problem going on, and everyone's happy at the end. There are really no surprises in this one, but it's pleasant and comforting.

I also zipped through How I Write: Secrets of a Bestselling Author by Janet Evanovich. She co-wrote this with a creative writing professor, to make it more credible, I guess. Anyway, the poor professor's parts are fairly dry, but useful and well-organized. The book is mainly Q&A with Evanovich, based on questions asked by fans on her website. It's often interesting to read how a writer writes, and Evanovich is funny and entertaining. As a writing book, it doesn't hold a candle to Stephen King's On Writing, but it was interesting, and samples of query letters and manuscript pages, and advice on joining groups and attending conferences, is worthwhile. All in all, not an essential read for writers, but a fun one for Evanovich fans.

Another Giveaway!

Maw Books is giving away some of the books in her collection in celebration of her 100th blog post. If you're interested, visit her blog and comment on her posts. You'll be entered each time you comment and can double your entries by posting on your own blog. Here is info on the giveaway and the list of books.

Freebies!

Stephanie over at The Written Word is sponsoring a contest to win one of five canvas bags with the book cover of Comfort Food by Kate Jacobs and one lucky person will win an Advanced Reader's Copy of Kate Jacobs new book. Jacobs is the author of The Friday Night Knitting Club, which I really enjoyed. I'm looking forward to reading Comfort Food. And I think there are a few of you out there who might be interested as well. So many of my friends LOVE the Food Network. I can think of several people I should recommend this book to. Now, I am sooo NOT into cooking, but I think this might be interestign. Jacobs' latest effort is about two women who end up co-hosting a cooking show together under not so great circumstances. Since I'm writing on my blog about Stephanie's contest, I'll be entered twice! Whoo hoo!

The Patron Saint of Liars by Ann Patchett

I just finished reading this book yesterday. It tells the story of Rose, starting in 1968, who ends up at Saint Elizabeth's, a home for unwed mothers. She was married and found out she was pregnant. One day, she just decided to get in the car and drive across country and ended up at Saint Elizabeth's. In the end, she decides to keep her daughter and in fact, stays on at Saint Elizabeth's as the cook. The book is split into three sections: Rose's story, Son's story (Rose's second husband), and Cecilia's story (Rose's daughter). The title of the book is in reference to St. Elizabeth and the fact that all the pregnant girls that come there lie. They lie about who the father of their baby is, where he is, what they'll do when they go home, etc. Also, there are many lies of omission throughout the book, especially on Rose's part. But really none of the characters do much talking to each other. It's more of a dance around each other.

I picked this book up in the book store and read the prologue which describes a farmer who discovers a spring on his property. It turns out the spring has mystical healing powers and a grand hotel is built nearby to accommodate all the visitors to the spring. Eventually, the spring dries up and people stop visiting. The building becomes Saint Elizabeth's. I thought perhaps the spring would pop up again throughout the book or by the end. But it never reappeared.

Although the book took a slightly different course than I initially thought it would, I enjoyed it. It was a quick read. And I liked reading from the different character's point of view. Rose's character sort of annoyed me throughout the book because she was never happy and I'm not sure why she couldn't let herself be happy. But this puzzled the other characters as well. :-)

Since I haven't read her other books yet, I'm not sure how it measures up, but I liked her writing style and hope to read Bel Canto and Run in the near future.

Lady Julia Grey

Have you discovered her? She's a Victorian lady of the royal sort whose husband dies rather suddenly. A year later, she decides to hire an inquiry agent(detective) to determine if hubby died as a result of foul play. The inquiry agent is a very handsome, very mysterious man named Nicholas Brisbane.

Deanna Raybourn is the American author of this rather offbeat mystery series. She uses British spellings for words like colour which put me off at first. It was hard for me to deal w/a contemporary AMERICAN author writing in Victorian English. However, once I realized the language fit w/the life and times of her books' setting, the spelling and quaint words like draughty just add to the books' charm.

Raybourn's very first novel is SILENT IN THE GRAVE followed by SILENT IN THE SANCTUARY. Lady Julia is a member of the very large March family whose family crest includes a hare as in they're all crazy as a March hare! Each family member is eccentric and barely accepted in English society because of the family reputation for being wild and crazy. Lady Julia really tries to live a "conventional" life but as she turns 30 and decides to investigate her husband's death, she ventures where no proper British lady would dare to go. She surprises even herself when she dresses as a man and visits a gypsy camp as well as samples Brisbane's hookah. She just gets caught up in all sorts of improper adventures!

There's nothing ho hum about the plots in these books. They are page turners w/plenty of plot twists and always a surprise ending. Brisbane makes his appearance in each book in his role as the inquiry agent and Julia's potential lover. He always disappears before the books end and before their love affair gets very far along. The author is very good at leaving the reader wondering if the love affair will ever get beyond the kissing stage. After all, it is the Victorian age!

This series reminds me of Dorothy Sayers' very entertaining Lord Peter Wimsey mysteries written in the 1930's. Peter Wimsey is a very proper English lord who just happens to be very good at detecting in his spare time. He meets the Lady Jane, also a rather unconventional member of British society, and they end up detecting their way through many mysteries. Sayers also keeps you wondering if Jane and Peter's relationship will ever blossom beyond detection. Aside from the gripping drama, Sayers and Raybourn give you an entertaining picture of British society in a funny, literate and thoroughly satisfactory way.

One of these things is not like the other...

I picked up Don't Look Down by Jennifer Crusie and Bob Mayer as a bargain book ($3.99--yay!). The reviews for this were really mixed, so I'd put off reading it. I do love Jennifer Crusie, whose Welcome to Temptation, Getting Rid of Bradley, Manhunting, and other laugh-out-loud contemporary romance-with-some-mystery novels have been very enjoyable, so I suppose I can blame Bob Mayer for this convoluted mess of a book. Mayer is apparently a military adventure-type novelist, and my guess is, not a very good one. I have no idea why Crusie, Mayer, and the publisher thought this was a winning combination. It's as if someone said, "People like peanut butter! People like pickles! Let's put 'em together!" Mayer appears to adore a certain word that begins with the letter 'F' and its variations (clusterf*** is a big favorite...I didn't count, but I believe he topped 20 incidences of this one alone). Now, I'm not offended by vulgar language, and I think in some settings, it's the way to go, but not in a contemporary romance novel. It just shows a lack of imagination on the part of the author--really? You couldn't come up with ANY other word to use? Besides, that annoyance, there are passages of military-speak that must be mind-numbing to most of Crusie's fans. Discussions of various weapons and military strategy just didn't go with the rest of the book. Speaking of which, the plot was confusing and convoluted, with an unnecessary and poorly explained plot by the bad guys and inexplicable responses by good guys. The best part of this book is a charming and adorable Wonder Woman Party for Lucy's niece, but even that is constantly interrupted by people knocking on the door in a tiresome fashion. I'm not even going to summarize the plot for you, just advise you to skip this one. They have a second collaboration called Agnes and the Hitman, that got much better reviews, and since I still love Crusie's humor, I may pick that one up at some point. But maybe at the library!

I've starting reading Joanne Fluke's Hannah Swenson mysteries from the beginning, and I'm having a great time with them. I think I may have read as many as the first 3 when they were first out, but I can't remember who the killers were, so it's like reading them for the first time. The first, Chocolate Chip Cookie Murder, has been re-released with a bonus 100+ page novella at the end that was pretty cute, and some additional recipes. I baked Peach Almond Muffins adapted from the Peach Bread recipe in Key Lime Pie Murder. Yum! Basically, I just dumped the batter into 18 muffin cups instead of 2 loaf pans and cut the baking time. Fantastic.