Last Respects by Catherine Aird

When an unknown man's body turns up on a slow river, Inspector Sloan is called in to investigate. Though it seems he was dropped from a great height, the man didn't drown. He and Constable Crosby will have to work to figure out what is going on.

As a concurrent timeline, we meet Elizabeth Busby. She is a young woman who lost her aunt to stomach cancer and her fiance to... well she's not sure. The man up and left one day. He left a note but it wasn't very helpful. She and her uncle are left to grieve.

With Aird, you know what to expect. Usually a lot going on in the story but it's generally gentle and so very British.

Three and a half stars

This book came out in 1982

Follows Passing Strange

Followed by Harm's Way

Borrowed as audiobook from Audible Premium Plus

Opinions are my own

Murder Comes to Call by Jessica Ellicott, Barbara Rosenblat

Once again, Beryl and Edwina are embroiled in a mystery in Walmsley Parva. It begins when Beryl is in the magistrate's court because Constable Gibbs has decided to cite her for reckless driving. As regular readers might guess, this really grates at Beryl's nerves because, of course, she believes herself to be an excellent driver. But while in court, she sees Declan O'Shea who is in court for fighting in the pub. Being an expat herself, Beryl is drawn to the young man. Plus, there's the fact that he's got the Irish accent and is undeniably handsome. Unfortunately, anti-Irish sentiment is high and more than one person believes that Declan is the burglar who is terrorizing the village. And when the magistrate who sentenced him is found dead in his home, all eyes immediately turn toward him. 

However, Beryl isn't so sure and she and Edwina set out to prove the difference.

There are some repetitions in this book that seem like filler but otherwise a good story and I look forward to hearing the fifth book in the series.

Four stars

This book came out October 27th, 2020

Follows Murder Cuts the Mustard

Followed by Murder in an English Glade

Borrowed as audiobook from Hoopla

Opinions are my own

Homicide and Halo-Halo by Mia P. Manansala

Lila, her friends and family are back in the second of the Tita Rosie's Kitchen mysteries. She is still recovering from the events of the first book but still preparing to set up her own cafe. Plus, there are the two eligible bachelors floating in her vicinity. Now, Detective Park is asking her to help with why someone would have sent a note threatening the local beauty pageant. 

Lila is reluctant to get back into the beauty pageant world. It brings up some memories of her mother that she's rather not have at that forefront. Pile that on top of the fact that she is still dealing with PTSD from her near murder in the last book and there's a lot going on in her head right now. But she goes and appreciates the updates that Valerie Thompson has made to the program, dragging everyone kicking and screaming into the 21st century. Is it perfect? Maybe not, but at least there's no evening gown section. Lila is also excited to get to know Sana, one of the other judges. Too bad Valerie's brother, Rob, is clearly such a jerk, hitting on every woman there, including the underage ones. Does that mean he should end up dead? Probably not. But he is and Lila is one of the people who find him.

I liked most of the mystery but felt that it didn't really come together well. There were a couple of hints of what was going to happen but it mostly came out of left field. I am mostly enjoying Lila's journey and seeing how supportive her family and friends are. t is also really nice to see an author addressing the fact that an amateur sleuth would be dealing with mental issues if they were almost killed; it makes Lila seem much more real. It makes I also enjoyed the writing style, even snorting a drink through my nose when Lila started talking about love triangles. 

Four stars

This book comes out February 9th, 2022

Follows Arsenic and Adobo

Followed by Blackmail and Bibingka

ARC kindly provided by Berkley Publishing Group and NetGalley

Opinions are my own

Passing Strange by Catherine Aird

It's a flower show that gets Inspector Sloan pulled down to Almstone. It seems that someone has been strangled. It is, in fact, the local and much beloved nurse, Joyce Cooper. She was running the fortune teller's tent but was discovered behind it.

This year has been very unusual for the show anyway because the tomato plants weren't judged at all correctly. And it is that point that, while Sloan does end up solving the murders, brings home the proof.

A nice addition to the series. I don't think you have to have read any of the books before it to really appreciate the story. Short and readable.

Three and a half stars

This book came November 1, 1980

Follows Some Die Eloquent

Followed by Last Respects

Borrowed as hard copy from library

Witch Trial by Cate Conte

Violet Mooney is still trying to figure out her new life. Her mother (and a half-sister!) are newly back in her life as is the knowledge that she is a hereditary witch. Part of that discovery is that Violet is taking over her grandmother's chair on the Magickal council. 

Since Violet is so new, her mother wants her to have an advisor. Enter Blake Alexander, new legal council for the Council. Also a major hottie. He wants to lead Violet through the ways and means of her new community but she isn't sure why she needs someone to do something she can figure out on her own. And is he really trustworthy with his family background?

The story of a reporter genied in the first book continues in this one. This book also ends rather abruptly. An interesting series but there is so much going on it is hard to keep track of everyone and everything. We learn a little bit more about the magical world this series is set in and a little bit more about the people but it is a slow drip. I have a feeling this series would be better if you could read the books all at once. 

Three and a half stars

This book comes out December 28th, 2021

Follows Witch Hunt

Followed by Witch Way Out

ARC kindly provided by Kensington Books and NetGalley

Opinions are my own

Some Die Eloquent by Catherine Aird

When a rich old lady dies in a mystery, there is often a rush to figure out how she was murdered and by whom. In the case of Miss Beatrice Wansdyke, it comes as surprise that the woman was actually rich. I mean, she was a chemistry teacher in a girls' school, where did the money come from? She had managed her diabetes for years but her autopsy shows that she is distinctly lacking insulin. Plus there's the weird thing that her dog has disappeared as well. 

Inspector Sloan is sort of distracted as his wife is about to give birth and we get a lot of details related to that miraculous happening. But that also takes up a lot of the book leaving less room for Aird to show on page how the mystery actually gets solved. 

An interesting story but maybe a little too short.

Three stars

This book came out in 1979

Follows Parting Breath

Followed by Passing Strange

Borrowed as audiobook from Audible Premium Plus

Opinions are my own

Killer Content by Olivia Blacke

I'm not sure about this series yet but I've got the second one queued up from the library so I finished it and I'm glad I stuck with it because I almost put it down after the first chapter. It was a really big info dump. But it could be an interesting series. 

Odessa Dean is living the high life in New York. Or, sort of. She's housesitting and cat sitting for her aunt who has a VERY nice apartment. But she's also working at a bookstore/cafe and learning about NYC. Before she came to the big city, she lived in the bayou. And boy was that different. (I did appreciate that the drawl wasn't "spelled out".)

One of Dessa's coworkers leaves work one day but then ends up dead. And Dessa starts to investigate because she listens to a lot of true-crime podcasts (cue internal eye roll). Granted, the detective in charge doesn't actually believe it was a murder but Dessa is more on the end of clueless detective and I do really more enjoy the professional but I liked that this was a unique take on a contemporary cozy.

Three stars

This book came out February 2nd, 2021

Followed by No Memes of Escape

Borowed as ebook from Libby

Opinions are my own

The Under Dog and Other Stories by Agatha Christie

A series of short stories featuring the amazing Hercule Poirot, the first few stories are better than the later ones. 

The Under Dog 

An older gentleman is killed in his home office. His wife is convinced it was the secretary but why would he do it? Poirot is not convinced but he is willing to go and see the problem 

The Plymouth Express 

A wealthy woman is found dead on a train. Is it possible her husband, the one she was separated from, killed her before they could be divorced? Her father wants answers and he wants Poirot to find them. 

The Affair at the Victory Ball 

The Victory Ball is supposed to be a time of celebration but one man, a collector of statues, was killed by a knife and his paramour is dead of a cocaine overdose. At a party where everyone was in costume, how can Poirot suss out the killer? 

The Market Basing Mystery 

It's a holiday in the country for Japp, Hastings, and Poirot. But a local constable recognizes Japp and asks for help. A gentleman appears to have committed suicide but the doctor says it's physically impossible. A couple recently came to visit; is it possible their threats of blackmail have driven the man to kill himself? Or was it murder? 

The Lemesurier Inheritance 

A young man is terrified by the death of his father. His cousin tells Poirot and Hastings that the family has a curse wherein the firstborn of every generation is slated to die. Now the young man's older son has had several near-death incidents. It will be up to Poirot to save the boy's life. 

The Cornish Mystery Mrs. Pengelley is afraid her husband is poisoning her. She goes to Poirot for help but by the time he gets to her home, she is already dead. The husband is in jail but Poirot suspects that there may be more to the story. 

  The King of Clubs A famous dancer stumbles into a drawing room gasping the word "Murder." A nearby lord has been found dead. The family she burst in on is perfectly respectable but is everything as it appears? 

The Submarine Plans 

A spy is invited into the home where the plans for a new submarine are being housed. When the plans disappear, she is the obvious suspect. Did her maid, who screamed on the steps, have something to do with it? 

The Adventure of the Clapham Cook 

Eliza Dunn, a perfectly good cook, has walked out of her situation. Her lady, Mrs. Todd, wants to know why. It leads Poirot to discovering the perpetrator of a bank fraud.

Three stars

This book came out in 1951

Follows Three Blind Mice

Followed by Mrs. McGinty's Dead

Hard copy I own

Opinions are my own

Once Ghosted, Twice Shy by Jessica Arden

This book started out so interestingly. Paige Harrington has a mysterious app, Ghosted, appear on her phone. Thinking it is a dating app, she swipes right on a guy she recognizes, Austin, who is a bartender she knows. Then he literally falls at her feet, flung off a balcony after having been strangled with Mardi Gras beads. It's a nice, tight story.

Then, the story starts to get convoluted. Paige's favorite professor now store owner is framed for the murder, her long-lost love shows up again to act as her mentor, a secret society is thrown in as well as are the ghost of her great-grandmother and her great-grandmother's best friend. Oh. And now her hedgehog is talking to her. Information starts to be repeated more and more often and the story gets a bit fractured.

An interesting start to a series but I'm going to proceed cautiously with reading more books in the series. If there is a love triangle introduced (which sort of seemed like it might be happening), I'm definitely out.

Three stars

This book came out September 21st, 2021

Borrowed as ebook from Libby

Opinions are my own

Lord Edgware Dies by Agatha Christie

It is coincidence that has Poirot and Hastings seated near Jane Wilkinson, Lady Edgware, while attending a show where an American actress, Carlotta, impersonates her. Jane Wilkinson is a well-known actress and is highly amused by the impersonation. At dinner that night, Hastings and Poirot again see Jane and she invites them up to talk to her. It seems she would like to divorce her husband in order to marry a duke but her husband is not amenable being a man who enjoys causing pain in others. Jane declares that, if she cannot get a divorce, she may take a taxi and murder the man. 

When that exact thing happens, Jane Wilkinson seems like a logical choice but she was attending dinner with twelve people who are above reproach. It takes some time for Hercule Poirot to figure out the solution but, of course, he eventually does.

Fairly clued, this book is one of Christie's best. Lots of red herrings but Poirot refuses to believe them while Hastings falls for them all. 

Four stars

This book came out 1933

Follows Peril at End House

Followed by Murder on the Orient Express

Borrowed as audiobook from Libby

Opinions are my own

Reread as audiobook from Libby December 2022

The Twelve Jays of Christmas by Donna Andrews

If you've read Donna Andrews before, the beats of this book are going to feel very familiar including the victim and the murderer. It is a major holiday and Meg Langslow is busy. This time, Michael and the boys are skiing while she is left at home because of a severely sprained ankle. But that doesn't mean that life is any less busy. Rob and Delaney are almost back from vacation but Delaney's mother has arrived to confer with Meg's mom on how they can transform the upcoming nuptials from the small affair that Rob and Delaney want to something more grand. Meg is also hosting a visiting artist who is working on pictures for her grandfather's new book. Unfortunately, the artist, Castlemayne, is not only grumpy, he's a jerk. He's let birds out in the house that are now dive bombing people, he is smoking in the library, and the doorbell rings constantly from people trying to track him down. Mostly to pay his late bills. How do they know where he is? A new gossip blog that is spilling all of the town secrets.
Of course, Castlemayne is going to be the one who ends up dead. And there are plenty of people who might have wanted him that way including two ex-wives, a long-suffering assistant, and a reporter who wants the full scoop.

Three and a half stars

This book comes out October 19, 2021

Follows Murder Most Fowl

Followed by Round up the Usual Peacocks

ARC kindly provided by Macmillan and Edelweiss

Opinions are my own

Murder Outside the Lines by Krista Davis

Florrie Fox is happy managing Color Me Read. There have been some disconcerting incidents (read here: murder) in the store but that doesn't make her any more prepared to see that the latest package delivered to the store is a skull (apparently named Harry). It's sent to her boss, Professor John Maxwell, who is sort of like a modern day Indiana Jones, by oane of his compatriots, Ellis, who tends to take a lot of risks.  

Harry is just the beginning of a number of mysterious circumstances. A local psychic is doing a reading but she comes in overexcited because she's seen a foot hanging out of a rug. But when Florrie goes to look, the rug (and the foot) are gone. Later, she has a vision of a murder being at her reading and a man tries to walk out with Harry. That man later ends up dead, wrapped in a rug. 

There are a LOT of people and red herrings in this book. If you can read this in one sitting, it might be easier to keep track but I had problems with putting the book down and picking it up again, even having read the other stories in this series. I am very grateful that Florrie is sticking with one guy and not getting involved in the love triangles that are so overdone in most cozy series. Also appreciated? The fact that they have differing opinions on a subject and each is able to see the other's side. Maybe not understand it, but at least appreciate it. 

Three and a half stars

This book comes out September 28, 2021

Follows The Coloring Crook

Followed by A Colorful Scheme

ARC kindly provided by Kensington Books and NetGalley

Opinions are my own

At Bertram's Hotel by Agatha Christie

Miss Marple is on vacation in London. Her nephew Raymond has provided her with two weeks at Bertram's Hotel. When she was a girl, Miss Marple had spent a week there and she wanted to see if it were the same. Curiously, it is. It is just the same. But there is something wrong here, if only she could put her finger on it. 

Also at the hotel is the well-known Bess Sedgwick. She's survived a plane crash, a car crash (or two), being thrown from a horse twice. She's been married several times and had one daughter. Feeling that her love of danger would be detrimental to the child, Bess left her daughter with the girl's father who subsequently died. The daughter, Elvira, was then raised by a guardian. She is now nineteen years old and also staying at Bertram's Hotel. While her guardian believes she is naive and innocent, readers find out that that may not actually be the case.

I kept thinking of the 2007 BBC version of this story . It did not completely align with this story so I kept getting the storylines confused. The original was better and made more sense.

Three and a half stars

This book came out in 1965

Follows A Caribbean Mystery

Followed by Nemesis

Borowed as audiobook from Libby

Opinions are my own

I Dreamed I Married Perry Mason by Susan Kandel

Cece Caruso is thirty-nine, divorced, and the mother of a twenty-one-year-old daughter.   Her latest biography of a mystery writer is due soon but she is blocked. She just can't identify with Erle Stanley Gardner, the writer of Perry Mason mysteries (and more!) But, in his correspondence, she finds a letter from an inmate who swears that he is innocent. Gardner left a note that the case rang a bell for him. So, Cece decides to follow up. And she is soon chasing down the story of a man whose wife was murdered and, left without an alibi, her husband was imprisoned. But Cece thinks the an is innocent. And she's procrastinating her book anyway...

She is also having to deal with the fact that her daughter's marriage is crumbling and there is an added character of her gardener who keeps trying to talk to her about her yard. An interesting first book in a series. I liked the addition of all of the biographical notes about Gardner. The mystery was a little shaky and I didn't completely understand why Cece was getting involved but this could be a fun series.

Four stars

This book came out May 4th, 2004

Followed by Not a Girl Detective

Borrowed as ebook from Libby

Opinions are my own

Lark! The Herald Angels Sing by Donna Andrews

Meg Langslow is once again embroiled in a Christmas mystery. This time, she is in charge of the Christmas pageant when a second baby Jesus shows up. But this one is a girl and the note that was left with the baby points at Meg's brother Rob as being her dad.

This is bad because Rob was planning on proposing to his girlfriend and, with a rash of past girlfriends popping up, Delaney doesn't seem like she's going to accept any time soon.

All of this is tied into a murder in nearby Clay County (often the bad guys in this series) and it will take Meg to tie it all together.

Three and a half stars

This book came out October 16th, 2018

Follows Toucan Keep a Secret

Followed by Terns of Endearment

Opinions are my own

Reread as Audible book December 2023

Any Shape or Form by Elizabeth Daly

Henry Gamadge has been invited to a party next door. He's maybe not particularly interested but his cousin encourages him to go. And it is there that he meets a colorful cast of characters. He knows the Drummonds, nearby neighbors but the young Malcolm siblings are unknown to him. And they are equally unknown to his neighbor's aunt, even though she was their step aunt. And there is the added complication that their father left his money to her for the extent of her lifetime. So they are potentially wealthy, but only on expectations. Until then, they live off Vega's largess and the allowance their father left them. 
Vega herself is a colorful lady. Her name has only recently been chosen as she has joined a cult that worships the sun. She even gifted the home owner, her nephew Johnny, with a sculpture that was possibly originally Apollo but now is rather faded and missing whatever it once held. 
There are undercurrents all around the party but Gamadge doesn't expect Vega to be shot, while he's standing next to her in the garden no less. The perpetrator could have been anyone as they had all split up previously. 
An unexpected guest shows up and then she is also murdered. The police are looking at the wrong person and it will be up to Gamadge to set them right.
I am not sure that this was really a fairly clued story but it was a good one. Recommended by Classic Mysteries podcast.

Four stars

This book came out in 1945

Follows The Book of the Dead

Followed by Somewhere in the House

Kindle ebook

Opinions are my own

Independent Bones by Carolyn Haines

Sarah Booth is back again. Her partner in their investigative agency, Tinkie is about to give birth and there's a professor of Greek studies with a decidedly feminist bent in town who is stirring up... everyone. At a talk that Alala Diakos is giving, the local prototypical wife abuser calls her out and it causes a scene. Then Sarah Booth finds a gun that was pointed at Alala while she was speaking. But the professor is not the one to die, instead, she becomes the prime suspect in the abuser's murder. It doesn't help that she's been linked to at least two other murders where the man was similarly of the mind that women belonged in the kitchen. 

Sarah Booth will have to be careful because it seems that there is a group getting together who aren't afraid to use any means possible to make sure that their idealized vision of history becomes everyone else's present. And she is setting herself right in their sights.

I think these books have always been a little preachy but this one is even more so. It's a topic that I agree with but was fairly heavy-handed. I am happy that Tinkie had her baby and look forward to seeing how this changes (or maybe doesn't) the dynamic between our protagonist and one of her best friends.

 

Three stars

This book comes out May 18, 2021

Follows Garland of Bones

Followed by Lady of Bones

ARC kindly provided by St Martin's Press and Edelweiss

Opinions are my own

Slight Mourning by Catherine Aird

Usually the admonition is not to have thirteen people sit down to dinner because one will die. In this case, it was only twelve but one is still dead. In fact, the host was killed by a large overdose of drugs. Then another guest, the amiable but fat (like seriously, her weight is mentioned a LOT) Mrs. Marchmont is killed as well. It is up to Inspector Sloan to come in and figure out what is going on.  
There were a lot of characters and it was sometimes hard to keep track of who was who. And, to be honest, the solution seemed to come a little bit out of nowhere, even with the explanation at the end. But I still enjoyed the character development as well as the ride to get to the end.

Three stars

Follows His Burial Too

Followed by Parting Breath

This book came out in 1975

Ebook borrowed from Audible

Opinions are my own

Mystery at the Masquerade (, #3) by Josh Lanyon

Ellery Page is settling into his new home town and running the local bookstore. He might be a little disappointed that the romance he thought he had going with Police Chief Jack Carson seems to have cooled into a friendship but this small town has been welcoming. He's got a Scrabble night, a book club, and an invitation to the yearly Marauder's Masquerade. The party is thrown by a local founding family who still wield a lot of influence and money, the Bloodworths. There is mother, Marguerite, her younger (and philandering) husband Brett, and son Julian.
Not sure why he was invited, Ellery soon discovers that Julian has a massive crush on him, based on Ellery's past as a movie star. Ellery is bemused by his overtures but not as amused when the two stumble across a body in the family crypt. When Julian is arrested for the crime, Ellery is conscripted to help find the truth.
I hadn't read the other two books in this series but didn't feel like I had missed very much. The mystery in this story is given some short shrift with a B plot feeling a little underdeveloped. The flow of the story was also sometimes stilted but this was overall a light story with engaging characters (I was invested in Jellery (is that a thing?) from their first scene together.

Three stars

Follows Secret at Skull House

This book came out February 28th, 2021

ARC kindly provided by JustJoshin Publishing, Inc. and NetGalley

Opinions are my own

Death by Intermission by Alexis Morgan

I hadn't read any of the other books in this series but I didn't feel that I needed to. There was a lot of information in this book (some of it was said repeatedly) so we got a good idea of most things without needing to have read the rest of the series. Abby was maybe a little foolhardy but she did communicate with the police a lot so at least it wasn't that. The end was a little bit "I figured it out because now you're trying to kill me!" but overall a good book.
Abby is really starting to settle into her newly adopted town even being one of the organizers of the outdoor movie and picnic nights. Yes, she's stumbled over some dead bodies in the past but she's made it through and even has a good friendship (possibly more) with her tenant. Too bad there's another dead body found in the woods during the clean up. And it's really, really too bad that her mother's new boyfriend has been implicated.

Three stars

Follows Death by Auction

This book came out January 26th, 2021

Borrowed as ebook from CloudLibrary

Opinions are my own