'Til Heist Do Us Part To Have and to Heist #2 Sara Desai

The group is back together again. Like many heist movies, there are some additions to the crew. And, like many heist movies, the additions are necessarily allies. 

At the end of the last book, the team had successfuly stolen and sold a necklace that, while it wouldn't set them up, certainly would set them up for the long run.

This book opens with Jack and Simi having broken up and Detective Garcia making some inroads. The others have, sort of naturally, drifted apart. And into that void comes a demand. A demand that the necklace be returned or the conspirators will be killed. Or maybe their families. But the necklace has been sold. And who has it now? Jack's former flame, Clare. In order to get the necklace back, Simi's team is going to have to do something for her. And that job is going to be even more outrageous and more dangerous. And the team is going to have to be working with the potential betrayal of one of their own.

Four stars

This book came out August 20, 2024

Simi Chopra #2

Followed by 'Til Heist Do Us Part

Borrowed as hard copy from the library

Opinions are my own

Tea, Tiramisu, and Tough Guys by Harper Lin

Franny is contending with another death when a local man is murdered outside a gym. She is bemused to discover that the man who owns the gym was the big man on campus from her high school, Todd. She's even more surprised to find that he's more handsome than ever. He also seems to be the prime suspect. And that, Franny decides, is a shame. So she's going to investigate. Because Todd's too hot to be a killer. 

This was a two and a half star book for me. Franny was ridiculous, Matty was being kind of a jerk, and the killer came out of nowhere. I would probably stop this series and concentrate on Harper Lin's others which I like better, except that I do have the third book already from the library. 

Two and a half stars

This book came out September 18, 2015

Cap Bay Cafe Mystery #2

Follows Cappuccinos, Cupcakes, and a Corpse

Followed by Margaritas, Marzipan, and Murder

Borrowed as audiobook from Libby

Opinions are my own

The White Priory Murders by Carter Dickson

I had read one or two books by Dickson before and mostly enjoyed them. This one was a little confusing to follow and the plot was a bit melodramatic but I finished it. Two and a half stars rounded up for Goodreads.

This is essentially a locked room mystery. A group of people have gathered. One dies in a remote outbuilding. It can't be anything but murder but there are no footprints in the fresh snow around the building. The victim is an actress who is trying to raise her falling star. Tempestuous and aging, she is trying to reinvigorate her career by coming across the pond to star in a play. There is more than one attempt on her life. And one is finally successful.

Three stars

This book came out in 1934

Sir Henry Merrivale #2

Follows The Plague Court Murders

Followed by The Red Widow Murders

Borrowed as hard copy from library

Opinions are my own

The Apothecary's Poison by C.J. Archer

While Matt and India are generally trying to stay under the radar of the newspapers, they do still read them. And an article about a doctor, claiming that he brought someone back from the dead. Of course, that's going to be of great interest to Matt so they take a chance an interview him. 

It's too bad that, while the man may be a magician, he doesn't appear to be capable of miracles. It's also too bad that the man ends up dead. Because they were there the day before, Matt becomes a suspect. 

A fine story and the ending actually moves the overarching story along.

Three and a half stars

This book came out April 4, 2017

Glass and Steele #3

Follows The Mapmaker's Apprentice

Followed by The Magician's Diary

Borrowed as ebook from Libby

Opinions are my own

The Mapmaker's Apprentice by C.J Archer

The commissioner that helped Matt out in the last book needs help now. A mapmaking apprentice has gone missing and the commissioner would like Matt and India to help him out. In order to do so, they pretend to be a married couple. 

While visiting the guilds, they discover that the mapmaker's guild is also trying to suppress the knowledge that magicians exist. That leads to a very desperate situation where the pair barely survive. They also discover that their enemies may be more numerous than they thought.

Three and a half stars

This book came out October 25, 2016

Glass and Steele #2

Follows The Watchmaker's Daughter

Followed by The Apothecary's Poison

Borrowed as ebook from Libby

Opinions are my own

The Watchmaker's Daughter by C.J. Archer

Down to her last penny, about to be thrown out of her lodgings, India Steele does the only thing she can think of. She goes to the shop of her former fiance (the one who dumped her after her father died) and tells the customers not to buy from him. While she makes a scene, it doesn't do much. Except that one man takes notice, Matthew Glass. He immediately hires her on to find a watchmaker known only to him as Kronos.

Matthew needs to find Kronos soon. We don't learn much about it in this book but it is a life-or-death situation tied to a watch that the man made for him. But is Matthew Glass all he seems to be? Or is he possibly the American fugitive known as the Dark Rider.

Three and a half stars

This book came out June 28, 2016

Glass and Steele #1

Followed by The Mapmaker's Apprentice

Borrowed as ebook from Libby

Opinions are my own

Secrets of the Lost Ledgers by C.J. Archer

Sylvia is starting to understand how to use her magic and that is making her more attuned to other magic. So she is startled to pick up a book and sense that there may be an invisible message. She consults her friend to find out what it says and discovers that it is a message from a relative of the man who the professor explored for so many years. And the author of the message was married to a paper magician. Could that person be her family? 

The investigation leads them into the world of horseracing and across the tracks of an old enemy. The ending was a bit more confusing than it needed to be but it does move the needle on Sylvia finding her family a little bit further.

Three  stars

This book came out September 3, 2024

Glass Library #5

Follows The Dead Letter Delivery

Followed by The Journal of a Thousand Years

Borrowed as audiobook from Hoopla

Opinions are my own

To Have and to Heist by Sara Desai

Simi and Chloe are ride-or-dies. The book opens with Chloe running to help Simi when there is a man who is mostly dead in Simi's aunt house. So when Chloe calls after a white hacking job turns out to be not so... white, Simi jumps into action. It's there that she meets Jack. 

Jack is a professional thief. A charming thief. One who knows a lot about plants. But he's willing to help Simi. Sort of.

In the best sort of heist, they assemble a team. One that includes Simi's Uber driver, a former suitor, her coworker, and her eighty-something aunt. I may be missing someone but it's a full crew. 

And it's a fun story. I'm glad I listened to it because, if I had been reading, I may have given up because it took a bit to get started.

Three and a half stars

This book came out July 18, 2023

Simi Chopra #1

Followed by 'Til Heist Do Us Part

Borrowed as audiobook from Libby

Opinions are my own

Murder at Glenloch Hill by Clara McKenna

Lyndy and Stella need a break, They've got too many people giving them advice on how to move forward with their lives. So they head up to visit some of Stella's relatives in Scotland. Freddie and Alice are heading up with them as well. And who else shows up? Freddie's father, Sir Edwin.

Based on some of the glimpses we see of other characters, Sir Edwin is beloved by no one. So it's no surprise that he ends up dead. Especially since he had been accused of attacking a laundry maid. 

The local police land on a suspect pretty quickly. It's Lyndy. After all, his fingerprints are all over the murder weapon.

This book was fine but I've enjoyed others in the series more.

Three stars

This book comes out November 26, 2024

Follows Murder on Mistletoe Lane

ARC kindly provided by Kensington Publishing and NetGalley

Opinions are my own

The Witch Is Back by Angela M. Sanders

Reverend Clarence Duffy has died and the town is excited to see inside his house since he had been a shut in for two years. It's called the Aerie and there's going to be an estate sale. His son Adam had been his caretaker. It is he, his brother Benjamin and Benjamin's wife who are running the estate sale. 

But that's not the biggest news in Josie's life; it's what her mother says to her as they're leaving that chills her to the bone. She sees disaster ahead. Josie needs to tell Will that she's a witch. 

I liked this book since it moved a number of relationships along. The mystery was sort of a side piece but we get to learn more about Josie and Will as well as her parents. 

Four stars

This book comes out November 26, 2024

Follows Gone with the Witch

ARC kindly provided by Kensington Books and NetGalley

Opinions are my own

Murder at King’s Crossing by Andrea Penrose

Sheffield and Cordelia are finally married. But the day is marred when news of a dead man carrying an invitation to their wedding arrives. At first, Cordelia fears it is her cousin. She is just as heartbroken to learn it is a man with whom she grew up. Her friend, Jasper, was the one who helped dress as a man to attend university. He was also an inventor and the prologue lets us know that he has just stumbled upon something incredibly important. Something big enough to be killed for.

At the same time, Peregrine has been sent home from Eton giving Wrexham and Charlotte a chance to get the third Weasel under their roof. 

Lots going on in this book. I don't know that it would be a good book to start the series with but is a good addition for those who have already reading.

Four stars

Wrexford & Sloane #8

This book came out September 24, 2024

Follows at Murder at Merton Library

Borrowed as ebook from Libby

Opinions are my own

The Treasure Hunters Club by Tom Ryan

Generations ago, a sailing ship lost a treasure off the coast of Nova Scotia. Decades ago, a group of friends found the treasure. Then, it disappeared. Since then, there has been a society of their offspring dedicated to finding the treasure. But they are all in their eighties and nineties. Or dead. 

This book jumps between characters as well as between the past and present. We also move from first person narration, to third person omniscient, to a different third person omniscient, to some epistolary. And there are layers of the mystery. In other words, there's a lot going on. There's even a touch of fantasy at the end. For someone who doesn't mind a sort of sprawling book that runs all over, this is going to be a great book. 

Three stars

This book came out October 15, 2024

ARC kindly provided by Grove Atlantic and NetGalley

Opinions are my own

A Body at the Grand Hotel by Benedict Brown

At the end of the last book, Marius got some new information about what may have happened to his father. But he is trying not to dwell on that and is excited to be distracted by a letter inviting him to be an honorary member of the Torquay Mystery and Detection Society. They are inviting him to give a speech the night before the local October Ball. Marius decides, why not? Bella, Inspector Lovelace, and his family all decide to come along as well. 

When he gets there, he discovers that the group is not exactly the fans he had supposed them to be. Instead, he is thrown to the wolves by their leader, Mrs. Thistlethwaite. The same Mrs. Thistlethwaite who Marius finds dead in the hotel pool the next morning. 

This is a twisty turning mystery that is maybe a little overwrought. There was some time spent in a crossover with Brown's Lord Edgington series and that did feel a little forced. The ending was interesting but I'm not sure everything was sewn together successfully. Still, an enjoyable read, overall. 

Three and a half stars

This book comes out November 15, 2024

Follows The Castleton Affair

Marius Quin Mystery #4

ARC kindly provided Storm Publishing and NetGalley

Opinions are my own

Guilt and Ginataan by Mia P. Manansala

It's Corn Festival time in Shady Palms. They have a small-ish town so they have teamed up with nearby Shelbyville. Of course, Brew-ha has a stand. And they impress not only the mayor of Shelbyville but also her wife. And it's the wife that ends up dead in a corn maze with Adeena nearby clutching a knife.

Lila has a lot of realizations in this book, especially as she ends up talking to the murdered woman's best friend who also ran a business with her. The parallels in her own life are startling. The woman even has a doxie as well. 

I didn't love the ending of this book. It didn't feel as sewn together as previous books but the overall tone of the book is the same as previous in the series and the story moved along the characters really well. 

Four stars

This book comes out November 12, 2024

Tita Rosie's Kitchen Mystery #5

Follows Murder and Mamon

ARC kindly provided by Berkley Publishing Group and NetGalley

Opinions are my own

The Dead Letter Delivery by C.J. Archer

At the end of the last book, Sylvia found a clue to her mother's past. Fairly soon into this book, we have confirmation of her link to Marianne Folgate. Sylvia also gets a link to her grandparents in the form of letters that arrived after they were killed. The first several that she reads are bills but then come several, asking for her mother's hand in marriage. It seems that her mother had magic and word had gotten around. 

There is one man, Reid, who writes first to ask for Marianne to be married to his son, then three years later asking if they know where the is son is. Could it be that Marianne and Robin's disappearances are related?

This line of questioning will take them around London and to an old sanitarium. It's still in use for the soldiers coming back from the war but does it have any connections to the past?

Three and a half stars

This book came out March 5, 2024

Glass Library #4

Follows The Untitled Books

Followed by Secrets of the Lost Ledgers

Borrowed as audiobook from Hoopla

Opinions are my own

Blood on the Banisters by Benedict Brown

It's finally time for Christopher's brother to be married to the lovely Cassandra. We've seen them both in previous books in the series so it's an exciting time. At least, for most of them. His brother, Albert, is a bit nervous because there is a tradition on the bride's side that the groom sleeps at her family home the night before the wedding. Cassandra, of course, will be sleeping at his parents' house. Albert is especially nervous because he hasn't yet met her brothers and they will be a feature of their wedding night. 

Oddly, Cassandra's mother, the Duchess of Hinwick, stays at their house rather than sleeping with the other women. And it soon becomes obvious that she is the ruler of their family. Not only that, all of her family members resent her for keeping them on such short leashes. So, it will not be a surprise to the reader to discover that the woman is murdered. What is surprising is that Albert is the one who is discovered to have blood on his hands even though there are many people at the house who have much higher motives for murder. This even includes Cassandra's ex-fiancé who shows up for some of the festivities. 

The ending of this book came as a pretty big shock. The author leaves a note that he has been seeding this ending for awhile but I am not so sure that this ending falls under "fair play." I will, however, be interested to see where the series goes next.

Three stars

This book came out June 16, 2023

Lord Edgington Investigates #10

Follows What the Vicar Saw

Followed by A Killer in the Wings

Borrowed as ebook from Kindle

Opinions are my own

Misery Hates Company by Elizabeth Hobbs

Though Marigold Manners family is an old one, she is not surprised to learn upon her parents deaths that they have left her nothing. So her lawyer sends out letters to the furthest reaches of her family and a letter comes back from her mother's cousin, Sophronia, inviting Marigold to Great Misery, an island near Salem. Once she arrives though, things start to become eerie. Almost everyone she meets on the way out to the island tells her she shouldn't want to go there. And she immediately starts to wonder when she gets there. There are arguments and talks of a curse. And something in the ocean that looks like a woman. It very well may have been a woman because it seems like there have been many dead young women washing up on the shore. 

With a family that is as antagonistic as they are "not right," Marigold has a hard road to climb. 

This story was set up as a mystery and it was more of a thriller. Marigold and the atmosphere were both well-developed but other characters felt a bit thin. The ending was a bit out of left field for me but I overall liked the book more than not and think later books by Hobbs may be more enjoyable. 

Three stars

This book comes out November 5, 2024

ARC kindly provided by Crooked Lane Books and NetGalley

Opinions are my own

The Untitled Books by C.J. Archer

Apparently, books that have never been published might be called "untitled." We're told that a few times in this book. We are also reminded, a lot, that the Glass Library has books about magic, not magic books. It's a small thing but this book isn't that long, was the author afraid that we were going to forget?
It's that point that becomes important when Lady Stanhope comes to the library wanting to know if the books she's just acquired are magical books. She is obsessed with magic and paid quite a bit of money for the set. Of course, neither Sylvia nor the professor are sure though both are intrigued by the books which seem to have been written by an author who was popular many years before for a treacly sweet children's book.
Normally, Sylvia wouldn't care but Gabe and Alex have been pulled into the murder of a bookbinder, the same bookbinder Lady Stanhope bought the books from. Could it be that the books are what the killer was looking for?

Three stars

This book came out September 5, 2023

The Glass Library #3

Follows The Medici Manuscript

Followed by The Dead Letter Delivery

Borrowed as audiobook from Hoopla

Opinions are my own

Dead Lions by Mick Herron

Dickie Bow has been out of the game for awhile. But when he sees a familiar face, he follows it off a train and onto a bus. But Dickie doesn't make it off the bus. And Jackson Lamb wonders why. Yes, Dickie was an alcoholic and ate terribly but something just feels off. And his suspicion is confirmed by the one word that Dickie has left typed in his phones draft messages.
Suddenly, the members of the Slough House are off and running. But is someone talking out of school and giving information to those outside the unit? And will all of the slow horses be alive at the end of this book?

Three stars
This book came out 

Slough House #2

Follows Slow Horses

Borrowed as ebook from Libby

Opinions are my own

A Kiss in the Dark by Suzanne Enoch

Sam has been asked to ask for some last minute security upgrades at a museum in New York so she heads up to help out. When she gets up there, it turns out that she was called because the curator got a note warning them that a thief was targeting this display specifically. When Sam sees the note, she realizes is that it is from one of her dad's old aliases. And she finds out that the reason this specific museum has been targeted is because the curator is connected to Sam's father. 

Of course, there are complications because the FBI is still trying to get Sam. And her father is ready to serve her up on a platter.

Not my favorite Sam and Rick story but it was fine and I really liked the reveal at the end. 

Three and a half stars

This book came out October 8, 2024

Sam and Rick #2

Follows Barefoot in the Dark

ARC kindly provided by Independent Publishers Group and NetGalley

Opinions are my own