What the Vicar Saw by Benedict Brown

This book opens with a funeral and a dead body. To be clear, the funeral was for one man (a despicable baron whom no one in the small town of Condicote liked) and the dead body is that of another (the local vicar.) Christopher and his grandfather are on the spot because the family had come down to look at the church as a possible wedding venue for Christopher's brother. While there, their paternal grandmother insisted that they stay for the funeral. 

When the vicar didn't show, Christopher and his grandfather went looking. They found the body and also discovered that there was an item missing from the church. That same item was found in the hands of a man who has had some shady dealings in town and he is immediately arrested. But did he really do it? While Lord Edgington is sure, Christopher is not. But then somebody else dies and, at least for Lord Edgington, the case is reopened.

We actually start to see more growth for Christopher (physically as well as mentally) which is nice. While I adore Hastings and Watson as characters, they never changed. We get to see that in Christopher. 

Four stars

Lord Edgington Investigates #9

This book came out March 24, 2023

Follows The Snows of Weston Moor

Followed by Blood on the Bannisters

Borrowed as Audiobook from Hoopla

Opinions are my own

Dumb Witness by Agatha Christie

This is one of my favorite Poirot stories. Partly because of the story itself and partly because I love the David Suchet episode of this story; the dog that plays Bob is adorable.

Emily Arundell has fallen down the stairs. She nearly died. Her family said that she slipped on her dog's ball (Bob has a habit of dropping the ball down the stairs and then chasing after it) but that doesn't seem quite right. She writes to Poirot in April, asking him to come.

Poirot receives the letter in June. Why was it posted so late? And was Miss Arundell's eventual death because of some food she ate that upset her stomach? Or did one of her loving relatives help her along?

Four stars

This book came out July 5, 1937

Hercule Poirot #16

Follows Cards on the Table

Followed by Death on the Nile

Borrowed as audiobook from Hoopla

Opinions are my own

On the Street Where You Live by Mary Higgins Clark

There is... a lot... going on in this book. MHC often has several stories that come together in the end but this feels like more than usual. 

Emily Graham felt a pull toward the house in Spring Lake, New Jersey. It was a house that her family used to own. The one where her great aunt disappeared from. But, she's got money from selling off some stock before a tech company went under. So she buys the house. It's getting her out of town after her divorce and after her stalker is put in jail. All she wants to do is put in a pool and be able to relax. But that plan goes by the wayside when a set of bones is uncovered. Well, it's actually two sets because a second set, because one is her great and and the other, a woman who had gone missing within the last five years. Oh, and someone is still sending her creepy letters.

Three stars

This book came out in 2001

Borrowed as audiobook from Libby

Opinions are my own

Between a Flock and a Hard Place by Donna Andrews

If you've ever looked up how houses have fared after a makeover show, you'll see that people are often unhappy. Based on what she's hearing through the grapevine, the Smetkamps are going to in the same place. They've won a makeover from Marvelous Mansions but the producer seems shady and the workforce is unsettled. Meanwhile, Meg is just trying to make sure they stay in code. 

Someone seems particularly against the show though (or maybe it's the Smetkamps) because they've gathered up the wild turkeys and released them on the Smetkamps street. There's a fairly amusing bit where an Amazon driver almost gets taken out by the turkeys. He makes it out alive with some help but someone else on the street does not. So, Meg is once again sleuthing a murder mystery. 

This book doesn't have much with Josh and Jamie, nor Michael. We do see any number of other regular characters in this book though and it is a nice addition to the series. 

Four stars

Meg Langslow #35

This book comes out August 6, 2024

Follows Let It Crow, Let It Crow, Let It Crow

Followed by Rockin' around the Chickadee

ARC of ebook kindly provided by MacMillan and Edelweiss

ARC of audiobook kindly provided by MacMillan and NetGalley

Opinions are my own

High Energy by Dara Joy

I used to have a copy of this book and I remember LOVING it. You've got a prototypical manic pixie dream girl matched up with a richer than rich physicist who can do no wrong. In the reread, that did bug me more that poor Zanita couldn't seem to do anything right but I still felt some of the joy that Joy's deft prose brought. It's really more of a three and a half star review but rounded up for Goodreads.

Zanita just wants her big break. She KNOWS she could be an amazing hard-hitting journalist (even if it's for her grandfather's small town paper) but she just needs the chance. So she'll find her own story. Even if that means hunting down a visiting psychic. Except... Tyberius Evans is a tall, incredibly handsome man and she feels like she knows his name from something else...

In a crowd of men (this was the 90s), Zanita stands out. Tyber is instantly entranced. He knows he'll do anything to keep this pretty lady around. Including some things that are a little shady in this day and age but were terribly romantic when I was younger and dumb.

Three and a half stars

This book came out October 1, 1998 

Tyber and Zanita #1

Followed by High Intensity

Borrowed as ebook from Kindle Unlimited

Opinions are my own

July 2024 Reread

As always, opinions are my own

 'Til Death Do Us Part by Amanda Quick

Four stars

This book comes out April 19, 2016

Borrowed as ebook from Libby

Wicked Widow by Amanda Quick

Madeline Deveridge is known to the ton as the "Wicked Widow." Everyone knows that she killed her husband, even if it was ruled an accident that he died in a house fire. She doesn't go out in Society, generally, but she has come out to force Artemis Hunt to help her find her maid, a girl who was kidnapped from the pleasure gardens that are run by him (of course, a secret from the rest of the world.)
Artemis isn't too happy to be pulled into the caper. He doesn't want anything to ruin his perfectly crafted plans for revenge and Madeline is poised to do just that.

Three stars

This book came out April 4, 2000

Vanza #

Follows I Thee Wed

Followed by Lie By Midnight

Borrowed as audiobook from  Audible

Opinions are my own