Murder in the Basement by Anthony Berkeley

I haven't read a story-within-a-story and this one is really well done. The problems come when the solution is revealed and the apparent "reasons" for coming to this decision. It's a lot of "this person is icky so it must have been them."

A body is discovered in the basement of a house that some newlyweds have recently moved into. It is that of a woman, but who is she? The niece of the previous owner (now dead) has been found alive so there is no one else in the thirty to forty age range that they can obviously tie to the crime. Eventually, through a coincidence, Chief Inspector Moresby is able to determine that she came from a nearby school. However, she had told everyone she was moving to Australia to marry a sheep farmer. So what happened?

Luckily, Roger Sheringham, the writer, had been at the school in a previous term and had started writing a story about the people at the school that reveals their characters in a way that Chief Inspector wouldn't have been able to uncover.

Three stars

This book came out in 1932 and is being republished December 6, 2023

Follows Top Storey Murder

Followed by Jumping Jenny

ARC kindly provided by Poisoned Pen Press and NetGalley

Opinions are my own 

The Great Jewel Robbery by Elizabeth McKenna

This is the first book in a series and suffers a little bit from trying to set up everyone and everything. I, unfortunately, didn't connect with the first-person narrator. She was just a little to fluffy for my tastes but I think other readers will enjoy the chance to see the inner workings of a sports reporter/budding detective. 

Emma is traveling with her friend Grace to a fancy-pants auction in Wisconsin. Grace would like to be a hard-hitting reporter but she has been stuck in Life and Style because she has connections that get her into things like this fundraising auction. 

The auction is at the mansion of Grace's family friends. Emma goes with because Grace was allowed a guest and her latest boyfriend has proven feckless. While there, Emma discovers the brother of the owner nearly dead in their library. In addition, the beautiful diamond necklace that was the star of the auction has disappeared.

Three stars

This book originally came out May 28, 2019 and is being rereleased

ARC kindly provided by NetGalley

Opinions are my own

Death Checked Out by Leah Dobrinska

Greta Plank actually really enjoys her job as a library director in a small town. She's new and she's settling in after leaving a larger town and her rat of an ex-boyfriend. One of the things she's started doing is bringing library books to her neighbor as he is in a wheelchair and it can be hard for him to get around. She's delighted to learn that he seems to have a new love interest. It makes it that much more difficult to believe when she finds him dead. Even worse, it looks like it may have been a murder.

Of course, the detective sent to investigate is new to town from a big city. Also not a surprise, he's fairly handsome. I did appreciate the addition of two friends from the library and some parents that seem to appreciate and love Greta. A decent first book in a series. 

Three stars

This book comes out December 6, 2022

ARC kindly provided by Level Best Books and NetGalley

Opinions are my own

A Hard Day for a Hangover by Darynda Jones

Sunny's day is not going well The local pervert has been stabbed with a knitting needle, right after one of the town's older ladies threatened to do that exact thing. Her daughter is still pushing all of her buttons and Sunny is still reeling with the knowledge of who her daughter's father actually is. Now she just has to figure out how to tell Auri. Oh, and now there's a girl on the side of a cliff who has been assaulted and left for dead. So, a lot going on. 

Like other books in this series, there's a lot of disbelief suspension required and there's a LOT going on. Still. It's fast, fun, and fluffy and there is a lot of character and plot development in all of this. 

Four stars

This book comes out December 6, 2022

Follows A Good Day for Chardonnay

ARC kindly provided by Macmillan and Edelweiss

Opinions are my own

Well Traveled by Jen DeLuca

Louisa Malone, also known as Lulu to her cousin Mitch, is trying to live up to her mother's expectations. But it appears that the partners of her law firm are never going to promoter, not while they're still bringing in young men. So Lulu, who makes this realization while at a Ren Faire, decides to quit her job and join the faire. Luckily, one of the people in the fair knows her cousin Mitch so she's able to travel with them and take some time out of her life.

This book leans much more heavily on Lulu's self-discovery than the romance. Lulu does find true love with Dex, who we met in earlier books though you do not need to have read them in order to enjoy this one. I was surprised that I didn't miss the romance more but DeLuca does a nice job of showing Lulu's own growth and I didn't even notice it until the end when I wondered really how the two of them had gotten together since so much of the talking and connection was done off page. 

Four stars

This book comes out December 6, 2022

Follows Well Matched

ARC kindly provided by NetGalley and Berkley Publishing Group

Opinions are my own

November Rereads 2022

As always, opinions remain my own

When She Dreams by Amanda Quick

Burning Cove #6

Follows The Lady Has a Past

Followed by The Bride Wore White

This book came out May 3, 2022
Borrowed as audiobook from Libby

No Choice But Seduction by Johanna Lindsey

Three stars

This book came out June 17th, 2008

Follows Captive of My Desires

Followed by That Perfect Someone

Hard copy borrowed from library

Witcha Gonna Do? by Avery Flynn

Matilda "Tilda" Sherwood is the black sheep of her witchy family, the only one without magical power, an outré. When the book opens, she is sitting in a cafe, waiting for her date from a matchmaker to show up. Her three-hundred-yearl-old sprite matchmaker had even instructed her to sit under the dragon's blood tree in the corner, the one with really gummy leaves, yes, the one that seems to want to be near Tilda. Tilda's just hoping that this blind date is not her nemesis (somehow they've been set up three times already...) but, alas, it seems she is to be disappointed. 

Gil Connolly is playing a long con. He's a part of the Council but also the Resistance. The Council is a secret (even from the witches) society that seem to believe that Tilda is faking her non-magicalness. So, Gil is setting up these dates in order to see if he can figure out her deal. Too bad it seems like it may be that her deal is setting his own magic, calling out the desires of people whether it be wealth, knowledge, power, whatever, on fire. 

In general, this hits about the same as Flynn's usual stories but with a paranormal twist. This book starts and ends as though Matilda is speaking straight to the reader which was a little odd since the rest of the book is alternating first person for Matilda and Gil. This book also sets up at least three more in the series as the epilogue is five years later and lets us know how everything (overall) turns out. Otherwise, this was a first book and there was so much going on in trying to set up the world and the characters that it got a little confusing. 

Three and a half stars

This book comes out December 6, 2022

ARC kindly provided by Berkley Publishing Group and NetGalley

Opinions are my own