December 2022 Rereads

Opinions are my own

Crouching Buzzard, Leaping Loon by Donna Andrews

Meg Langslow #4

This book came out September 6th, 2002

Follows Revenge of the Wrought-Iron Flamingos

Followed by We'll Always have Parrots

Audible book I own

We'll Always have Parrots by Donna Andrews

Meg Langslow #5

This book came out September 6th, 2002

Follows Crouching Buzzard, Leaping Loon

Followed by Owls Well that Ends Well

Audible book I own

Owls Well That Ends Well by Donna Andrews

Meg Langslow #6

This book came out March 7th, 2006

Follows We'll Always Have Parrots

Followed by No Nest for the Wicket

Dashing Through the Snowbirds by Donna Andrews

Meg Langslow #32

Four stars

This book came out October 11, 2022

Follows Round Up the Usual Peacocks

Borrowed as audiobook from Libby

The Nightingale Before Christmas by Donna Andrews

Meg Langslow #18

Three and a half stars

This book came out October 21, 2014

Follows The Good, the Bad, and the Emus

Followed by Lord of the Wings

Owl Be Home for Christmas by Donna Andrews
Meg Langslow #26
This book came out October 15th
Follows Terns of Endearment
Followed by The Falcon Always Rings Twice
Borrowed as ebook from Libby

Lord Edgware Dies by Agatha Christie

Hercule Poirot #7

Four stars

This book came out 1933

Follows Peril at End House

Followed by Murder on the Orient Express

Borrowed as audiobook from Libby

Clean Sweep by Ilona Andrews 

Innkeeper Chronicles #1

Four stars

Followed by Sweep in Peace

cGraphicAudio borrowed from Libby

Sweep in Peace by Ilona Andrews

Innkeeper Chronicles #2

Follows Clean Sweep

Followed by One Fell Sweep

This book came out November 13, 2015

GraphicAudio borrowed from Libby

One Fell Sweep by Ilona Andrews

Innkeeper Chronicles #3

Follows Sweep in Peace

Followed by Sweep of the Blade

This book came out November 13, 2015

GraphicAudio borrowed from Libby

Sweep of the Blade by Ilona Andrews

Innkeeper Chronicles #4

Follows One Fell Sweep
Followed by Sweep of the Heart
This book came out December 2018
GraphicAudio of mine

Sweep with Me by Ilona Andrews

Innkeeper Chronicles #4.5

Follows Sweep of the Blade

This book came out December 20th, 2016

Ebook of my own on Kindle

Peril at End House by Agatha Christie

Poirot is vacationing with his good friend, Hastings. While enjoying the sun, he is approached by a young woman, Nick Buckley. She is a part of the flapper crowd but is scared. There have been a few too many accidents and she is worried that one of them might eventually kill her. And a death does occur at End House, the giant, crumbling mansion that Nick loves. But it is not her. Poirot is irate and determined that no more people should die.

The ending is a little convoluted as can happen with Christie but overall a delightful book.

Four stars

This book came out in 1932

Follows Black Coffee

Followed by Lord Edgeware Dies

Borrowed as ebook from Libby

Opinions are my own

Sleep No More by Jayne Ann Krentz

This book starts seemingly somewhat in the middle of the story. Some major things have already happened to Pallas Llewellyn and Ambrose Drake before they meet. One of the things involves Pallas meeting her two friends Talia March and Amelia Rivers who we do not get to see much of at all in this book and, even knowing their books are coming, I was sad not to see more interactions to tie the series together.

Pallas is one of a trio of podcasters who investigate interesting cases. She is in town because Ambrose has contacted her. Her own past is complicated by a lost night that amplified her psychic powers. 

Ambrose has his own lost night and his family believes it is driving him mad. But he knows that someone died in a mental hospital and he wants help. Pallas... will be that help. 

Three and a half stars

This book comes out January 3, 2023

Followed by The Night Island

ARC kindly provided by Berkley Publishing Group and NetGalley

Opinions are my own 

Reread as audiobook January 2023

Cursed Princess Club by LambCat

What a cute start to a new series! There was a little too much drama for me and just so many stumbling points in Gwendolyn and Frederick but overall a modern reimagining of some fairy tale tropes.

Once upon a time in the Pastel kingdom lived three princesses with their father and brother. Two of the three princesses (and their brother) are conventionally beautiful while Gwendolyn is often compared to a withered crone or a witch. But her family only sees how beautiful she is on the inside and luxuriate in her amazing cooking. However, when the three princesses meet the brothers of the Plaid kingdom to whom they have more or less been betrothed, things start to go awry. The youngest, Frederick, is assumed to be marrying Gwendolyn but he is repulsed by her outward appearance. This leads to Gwendolyn running away and discovering the Cursed Princess Club where princesses (and princes) who have been cursed can learn to live their lives without waiting for some nebulous "Charming." Because this is the first book in the series, we concentrate a lot more on Gwendolyn than the club but I'm assuming that we will see more of the club in future books in the series.

Four stars

This book comes out January 3, 2023

Followed by Vol. 2

ARC kindly provided WEBTOON Unscrolled and NetGalley

Opinions are my own

Duke, Actually by Jenny Holiday

I really enjoyed this book because we got to see Maximillian and Dani's relationship go from barely knowing each other, to friends, to lovers, to an HEA that makes sense. Is the book perfect? Maybe not; we could have had a little more resolution with the parents but overall a nice story.

Dani and Max met in the first book in this series (which I did not read and do not feel like I suffered for it.) Dani is the best friend of a cab driver who fell in love with a princess. Max is the heir to a duke and was engaged to said princess. When they met, Max was intrigued. Now in New York, supposedly to find his next fiance, Max finds himself looking for Dani.

Dani isn't sure how this unlikely friendship happened. She did use Max for a work party that her ex was also at (with his twenty-year-old-former-student-new-girlfriend). And now they're talking most nights as the year between Max showed up on her doorstep and the royal wedding that they are the best man and woman for. But that might be more than just the beginning of a beautiful friendship. 

Four stars

This book came out November 16, 2021

Follows A Princess for Christmas

Borrowed ebook from Libby

Opinions are my own

Black Coffee by Charles Osborne, Agatha Christie

Hercule Poirot has been summoned by inventor Sir Claude Amory. Amory has an invention that could change the world but he is afraid that there is something shady going on in his household. And then he discovers that the formula has been stolen so he locks the doors and traps everyone in one room. The lights are turned off for one minute so that the formula may be returned but when the lights come on, Sir Amory is dead. A tangled family story, this book definitely has tones of Christie and is a fun story but there are phrases that are repeated three or four times that sort of took me out of the story.

Four stars

Originally published as a play, adapted 1998

Follows The Underdog and Other Stories

Followed by Peril in End House

Borrowed as ebook from Libby

Opinions are my own

Divided in Death by J.D. Robb

We've seen Roarke's secretary, Caro, in previous books. She's a savvy, competent woman who was skeptical of Eve but has grown to appreciate her through the series. And it's good, because her daughter, who also works for Roarke, is now under investigation for the murder of her husband and his lover.

Of course, first appearances can be deceiving and Eve trusts that Roarke knows his employees and digs deeper, discovering that the husband and his lover were not who they really seemed and perhaps there is more to this death than mere jealousy.

Four stars

This book came out January 26, 2004

Follows Imitation in Death

Followed by Visions in Death

Hard copy I didn't keep 

Opinions are my own

Matilda by Roald Dahl, Sarah Greene

I think that coming to this book later in life may make it difficult to overlook the nastiness of the adults but Roald Dahl generally has his tongue firmly in his cheek while writing and his books have to be taken in with that in mind.
But who can't love a tiny girl, only 4 years old, who toddles herself down to the library. And then, at 5, deciding to get revenge against her parents. And then uses her excess brain power to convince a real baddie that she needs to repent.
Okay, yes, this is spreading dissidence toward parents but even I could tell the difference between these parents and my own while reading this book.

Four and a half stars

This book came out October 1, 1988

Borrowed as audiobook from Libby

Opinions are my own

The Lady Chosen by Stephanie Laurens

Miss Leonora Carling has lived a quiet life. She runs the house for her uncle and brother who work translating ancient languages.  Recently though, there have been some incidents that seem to ahve started from when someone was trying to buy the house next store. Now the sale has gone through and she is determined to meet the owner.

She meets one of them, Tristan Wemyss, Earl of Trentham. The house has actually been bought by a group of men who are recently retired from being spies and are all titled and hoping to have a quiet place to avoid the people who would like to marry off sisters, daughters, aunts. Tristan actually needs to marry before July or else he loses the money portion of his estate and he will be unable to support his fourteen aunts. Leonora is the perfect answer to who he could possibly find that he wants to live with for the rest of his life. And the two are ready to settle in but they need to clear up that pesky mystery of who keeps breaking in first.

A nice start to a new series built within the same time as Laurens' Cynster series. 

Four stars
This book came out August 26, 2003

Followed by A Gentleman's Honor

Borrowed as hard copy from library

Opinions are my own

The Heretic Royal by G.A. Aiken

We are on the fourth of the three Smythe-Ferguson sisters (the third being a scheming bitch who is trying to build an empire), Ainsley, in this book. She feels like a forgotten sister. Keeley, the oldest, loved her brothers and sisters and the forge. Gemma was a fighter and then a war monk. And she was always Ainsley's main sparring partner and now the first to dismiss any of the contributions Ainsley is trying to make. But, now that the dragons have arrived (a crossover from Aiken's Dragon Kin series) and that might change the odds. 

There are SO MANY characters in this book. You will have a little bit of a chance if you've read either the Dragon Kin books or the Scarred Earth books so far but there are still a LOT of people to keep track of. Aiken is great at spinning off side characters and that happens again in this book but we also get a return of the rather large group of characters from the previous book in the series. So, a lot of page space is taken up with these characters. did I still enjoy this book? Mostly, yes. I really wish we had gotten to see more of Gruff, the centaur who doesn't usually talk, especially in the building of his relationship with Keeley. As it's own book, this is about three stars but as an addition to the overall series, four stars.

Scarred Earth Saga #3

Three and a half stars

Follows The Princess Knight

This book comes out November 24, 2022

ARC kindly provided by Kensington Books and NetGalley

Opinions are my own

Reread as ebook from Libby February 2024

Full Bloom by Jayne Ann Krentz

In her late twenties, Emily Ravenscroft is finally feeling like she is coming into her own. She's been under her family's thumb for too long. But this is the last straw, chasing off a man she wasn't even seeing. If her parents or brother had bothered to ask, she would have let them know. Worst of all, they brought back their favorite enforcer, Jacob Stone, who Emily once had an unrequited crush on. 

Jacob Stone has left the Ravenscroft's employ but he came back to help out when he heard it was for Emily. Now a grown woman, Jacob is ready to be with the woman he's always adored. 

This is definitely an eighties book with a masterful man though the woman isn't quite so helpless. Lots of misunderstandings though that drove me nuts.

Two and a half stars

This book came out in 1988

Hard copy I didn't keep

Opinions are my own

Marrying Winterborne by Lisa Kleypas

I read the first 30 or so pages of this book and then the last 30 or so pages and wasn't really sure that I wanted to read the middle. But I'm glad I did. I didn't enjoy it as much as the first but I did like seeing the process of Helen and Rhys falling in love. We saw them get engaged in Cold-Hearted Rake when Helen's family was penniless and she thought she'd get engaged to the uncouth but very wealthy Rhys Winterborne. But when Helen's family comes into money, her well-meaning sister-in-law tells Rhys the engagement is off. But Helen doesn't want that. So this book starts with her seducing Rhys so that they'll have to get married. So why is this book so long? Well, it turns out Helen has a secret. One that she doesn't realize until after the seduction might make Rhys call off the wedding.

I'm not sure why this book was so rocky for me. It's frustrating when you can't pinpoint exactly why a book isn't clicking, it just didn't. For regular Kleypas readers, that may not be the case.

Three and a half stars

This book came out May 31, 2016

Follows Cold-Hearted Rake

Followed by Devil in Spring

Borrowed as audiobook from Libby

Opinions are my own

The Witch Is Inn by Danielle Garrett

Holly and Adam have officially bought the Beechwood Inn but they are having problems with their liaison to the Haven Hospitality Committee. They need to do all of the things he says or they won't get rated by the HHC, the only way they can advertise to the magical community. No advertising, no guests. So they'll have to figure out how to work with Pierre Ancel. Too bad he ends up dead just outside of Holly's greenhouse. Even worse, someone saw a man who looked like Adam arguing with Pierre early the evening before.

The mystery ends up being a little thin with the end being way too quick. There was nice development of some of the side stories though with Holly going on a date with a human and Evangeline's baby shower being in the planning stages. We also get a nice set up to the next book which will feature Lacey's return. 

Three and a half stars

This book came out July 30, 2020

Follows Sassy Witch

Followed by Men Love Witches

Borrowed as ebook from Kindle Unlimited

Opinions are my own

The Tyrant Alpha's Rejected Mate by Cate C. Wells

I don't remember which podcast I heard about this on and I'm not sure why I enjoyed this book so much but I did. If I had to guess, it was just waiting to see what happened next. I'm not sure I'll read other books in the series since they seem to focus on young/new adults and that's not my favorite but I am glad I read this one.

Una is one of the lowliest members of the her pack. She is unmarried, unmated, female, and has a bad leg resulting from a childhood injury. So why is she suddenly going into heat and telling the entire pack that her mate is the alpha. He tells everyone that she is wrong or maybe moon mad. Una runs and accepts the local healer's offer to break their bond. But Fate is tricky and Killian is stubborn. It may just end up that Una is his mate after all. And, if that's true, he's not letting her go.

Three and a half stars

This book came out November 12, 2021

Followed by The Heir Apparent's Rejected Mate

Borrowed as ebook from Kindle Unlimited

Opinions are my own

Spy x Family, Vol. 6 by Tatsuya Endo

Twilight and Nightfall are entered in an underground tennis tournament. If they win, they can take anything they want from the tournament host's vault. In that vault is a piece of information that may restart the war between East and West. As with most underground tournaments, the rules are that anything goes. During the tournament, Nightfall is still determined to prove to Twilight that she is the better choice to be his wife. But when she plays Yor later, she finds that she may not be as good a player as the current Mrs. Forger. Even though she wins, Yor is feeling uncertain about her place in the family as she is beginning to develop feelings for Loid. 

We also get to see Anya hanging out with her best friend and at school where she is still trying to make friends with Damian.

A lovely book and nice addition to the series. 

Four stars

This book came out December 28, 2020

Follows
Vol. 5

Followed by Vol. 7

Borrowed as ebook from Libby

Opinions are my own

Riley Thorn and the Blast from the Past by Lucy Score

Riley Thorn is supposed to be settling into her HEA. She's got a hot boyfriend, a new house, and a good job. `But the new house has a closet that still has a ... particular smell, and the good job is a little uneven as the man running the show, her hot boyfriend, Nick, is obsessed with his former (police) partner's sister is the focus of his attention. 

Six years ago, Beth disappeared and turned Kellan's life upside down. Nick is wanting to finally close this unsolved case. In the meantime, the rest of his work is suffering. 

A new character shows up who is just as wild as the rest of the group but she just might lead Riley and the rest of their crew to some answers about Beth. If only Riley's psychic powers didn't choose this moment to go on the fritz. 

A fast, fun, and fluffy ride with a large dose of hijinks thrown in. Maybe a little too many hijinks but I am glad that this planned trilogy is going to continue for a longer series.

Four stars

This book came out April 21, 2022

Follows Riley Thorn and the Corpse in the Closet

Followed by Riley Thorn and the Body in the Backyard

Borrowed as ebook from Kindle Unlimited

Opinions are my own

The Maid by Nita Prose

Molly Gray's having a bit of a hard time. Her grandmother has died so she's lost her touchstone with the world. Molly has trouble understanding other people and her Gran used to help. It really doesn't help that Molly has just discovered the body of one of the hotel's best clients.

Readers will quickly discern that Molly is an unreliable narrator. Not because she is lying to us but because she has trouble distinguishing between truth and what people tell her is truth.

A very interesting read. I didn't especially bond with Molly but I did like the unexpected ending.

Four stars

This book came out January 4, 2022

Ebook from Libby

Opinions are my own

Nobody's Baby But Mine by Susan Elizabeth Phillips

Dr. Jane Bonner grew up a freak (in her words.) She was beyond intelligent and it disgusted her father and gave her (more a less) a complex. For her children, she wants something different. She wants them to be normal. At 34, she is ready to have a baby with somebody stupid so that her children have a chance to be "normal." When a chance to sleep with Cal Bonner, quarterback for the Stars football team, comes up, she grabs it with both hands.
Cal only dates women in their early 20s. So when his friends hire a 28-year-old (he is told) prostitute for his 36th birthday, he doesn't expect to be intrigued. And he really doesn't expect to find out that she only slept with him for his sperm. He decides that his child won't be a "stray," forces her into marriage, and whisks her off to a tiny mountain town in North Carolina.
This book holds up surprisingly well and I think a lot of it is due to the humor that SEP injects into her stories but also the relationships she builds with her characters. Most of the story is Janie and Cal figuring each other out but there is a big chunk of Jane interacting with her mother- and grandmother-in-law and the relationships that these women build. Add in a B plot of Cal's parents rekindling their own romance and you have a story that even new readers will enjoy.

Four stars

This book came out February 1, 1997

Follows Heaven, Texas

Followed by Dream a Little Dream

Hard copy of mine

Opinions are my own

Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie

This book is a classic for some very good reasons. First, the majority of the characters are fully fleshed out. And there are a lot of characters to get to know in this book. Second, the mystery, though convoluted, is pretty fairly clued - readers can go back through the story and see where the hints to the solution were given.

Hercule Poirot, the world-famous detective needs to go back to London and the easiest way to get there is via the Orient Express. Strangely for this time of year, the train is completely full. Luckily, one of the passengers doesn't seem to have shown up and Poirot's friend, a director of the train company, assigns him the berth. All seems normal until one of the people on the train tries to hire Poirot to protect him. Poirot opts not to take the job. And then the man turns up dead. But the train has run into a snowdrift and isn't moving, presumably with the murderer still on board. It's up to Poirot to figure out what is going on. 

Four stars

This book came out January 1, 1934

Follows Lord Edgware Dies

Followed by Three Act Tragedy

Borrowed as audiobook from Libby

Opinions are my own

Unicornado by Dana Simpson

What happens when you spend too much time with a unicorn? Well, your house might turn into a magical sylvan glen where pixies and sphinxes frolic. You might also have the Shield of Boringness rub off on you. Of course, Phoebe also gets to spend time with her friend Max, though playing chess isn't as fun as she thinks it should be (even playing by unicorn rules, she loses.) And she tries to help Dakota when she is feeling sad about missing the goblin queen. Then they all attend a school dance

Phoebe and Marigold go to a corn maze (or is it the new unicorn restaurant? Phoebe and Marigold also get to have fun at Christmas and Halloween. Even meeting a real (or sort of real) ghost. And what happens when Marigold gets a step counter?

Delightful as always.

Four and a half stars

This book came out October 18, 2022

Follows Unicorn Selfies

Followed by Punk Rock Unicorn

Borrowed as ebook from Hoopla

Opinions are my own

Less of a Stranger by Nora Roberts

Megan Miller (who the hero calls "Meg" throughout the book though the narrator and her grandfather both use her full name) is twenty-three and an artist. Well, she's an artist when she's not working at her grandfather's amusement park. The same amusement park that Katch is interested in. Oh, but now he's interested in him as well. But she's not interested in him. Now she is. Now she isn't. But he's going to control the whole relationship. Just... blergh. One of Roberts's early romances that just didn't age well. 

Two stars

This book came out June 1, 1984

Hard copy I didn't keep

Opinions are my own

Resting Witch Face by Juliette Cross

There are trigger warnings at the beginning of this book and they are accurate. I hadn't been enjoying the violence in this series but really wanted to read the story of Jules and Ruben. It was fine but there was a lot of woe-is-me from Jules because she broke up with Ruben and a lot of I'm-the-best-boyfriend-ever-with-no-missteps from Ruben. She is a super powerful witch who doesn't even get to save herself.

Her work is about to come to fruition. Jules has been campaigning to get the werewolves on the witches council (which also includes vampires) and is enjoying some success. Now she needs to take it to a higher power. But her ex-boyfriend is the one who is coming with her and she's not excited.

Ruben, on the other hand, is delighted. It's been twelve years since they broke up and it's time for him to claim his fated mate.  

Two and a half stars 

This book came out October 31, 2022

Follows Always Practice Safe Hex

Followed by Grim and Bear It

Borrowed as ebook from Kindle Unlimited

Opinions are my own

Up Close and Dangerous by Linda Howard

Bailey Wingate married her boss. Yes, he was fabulously wealthy, but she didn't marry him for the money, but as a favor. The man's son and daughter are not good people and he didn't want to leave his company and money to them. His hope was that the son's hatred of Bailey would kick him into being a better worker and person. It hasn't worked so far. In fact, the son has started threatening Bailey's life. 

But she's just going to go get away from it all. It's a rafting trip, which she doesn't love, but it's with her brother and his wife, which she loves. Unfortunately, the charter trip is not going to be fun because her regular pilot is sick and his business partner doesn't really like her. But, the day just doesn't get any better when the plane crashes and the pilot has a major gash on his head and can't help. The two have to work together to get down the mountain.

Maybe not my favorite writer but this book is pure Howard and will delight anyone that reads her books.

Three stars

This book came out July 17, 2007

Hard copy I didn't keep

Opinions are my own

The Socialite's Guide to Murder by S.K. Golden

Evelyn Elizabeth Grace Murphy lives in the Pinnacle Hotel, rather like Eloise in The Plaza. But her reason is rather more sinister, though she doesn't really seem to realize it. On the outside, it looks like she has it all, the daughter of a rich hotelier, lives in a place that has room service, fancy clothes, adorable dog, movie star boyfriend. But all is not as it seems and some secrets are about to come to the surface.
There is to be an exhibition of the latest painting of a semi-famous artist. Evelyn is to attend with her boyfriend, Henry Fox. The night is ruined when the painting is stolen. Shortly afterwards, the artist is murdered. It seems like an open and shut case as the hotel's security manager is arrested after his blade is discovered to have been the murder weapon. Evelyn isn't convinced. She's determined to get to the bottom of the case with the help of the incredibly handsome Mac Cooper. Of course, it might mean she has to leave the Pinnacle.
We've read the stories of Girl Detectives and this seems to be a New Adult version. Evelyn really likes to read murder mysteries and is singularly helped in the fact that she grew up in the hotel and that she enjoys meeting people. I didn't always particularly like Evelyn and I would class this as New Adult since she still seems to be finding her footing (which can be all adults, really but even more than most). I'm really hoping though that this will become a series as it was a really good read.

Four stars

This book came out October 11, 2022

Followed by the Socialite's Guide to Death and Dating

Borrowed as ebook from Libby

Opinions are my own

Spy x Family, Vol. 5 by Tatsuya Endo

The Forger family is still working on their various missions but they are starting to function as a family. Yor is learning to cook so she doesn't poison her family; Anya is trying to get good scores on her tests so she doesn't flunk out of school; and Loyd, well, he's mainly focused on the mission but is somewhat distracted by his wife.

We see Yor's brother Yuri again and he still has that weird obsession with her. 

Loyd is trying to help Anya but, when he sneaks into the school to change her scores, he encounters another spy. One who is codenamed "Daylight." But.. he's not really as good as he thinks he is.

Three and a half stars

This book came out September 4, 2020

Follows Vol. 4

Followed by Vol. 6

Borrowed as ebook from Libby

Opinions are my own

Three Act Tragedy by Agatha Christie

The stage is set in the first chapter. We meet some of the main players: Sir Charles Cartwright who owns the Crow's Nest in Loomouth, Cornwall; Sir Bartholomew Strange, neurological physician; and Mr. Satterthwaite, our stand-in for Hastings but who is so much more perceptive about human nature than Poirot's usual sidekick.
A dinner party is to be held but an unlucky number of people have been invited. And one dies. The Reverend Stephen Babbington who is fairly innocuous. Though Sir Charles loudly proclaims "Murder!", no one else agrees. Even Hercule Poirot who is present at the party.
However, there is later another dinner party, one where many of the same people gather. This time, it is Sir Bartholomew who dies. It is discovered that he died by nicotine poisoning. Suddenly, it seems that Babbington may have been murdered as well. 
THough this is a Poirot book, we don't see much of him until 54% of the way through the story. However, we do get a lot of third person omniscient from Sir Charles Cartwright, Mr. Satterthwaite, and the young Miss Lytton Gore who are investigating the mystery. The ending is masterfully crafted and there are clues planted along the way that make sense once the murderer is revealed.  

Four stars

This book came out June 1, 1934

Follows Murder on the Orient Express

Followed by Death in the Clouds

Borrowed as audiobook from Hoopla

Opinions are my own

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