HBR's 10 Must Reads for Mid-Level Managers by Harvard Business Review

Managers Can't Do It All by Diane Gherson and Lynda Gratton

Managers are being asked to do more and more while working with less and less. Even as we are having to downsize the workforce, we are having to manage the emotions of the people left behind. 

This article explores some ways that we can make life easier for those managers including how AI can help with things like metrics, budget approval, and salary negotiations. It also looks at how one company made life easier by flattening the hierarchy. 

The Real Value of Middle Managers by Zahira Jaser

For the past 50 years, the thought has been that middle managers are... well, middle people. Better than average but not quite higher management material. Jaser would like to change that and bring back to the idea of the manager, the role of leader, to take over being the amplifying voice on the way up, and the explanatory voice on the way down.

In Praise of Middle Managers by Quy Nguyen Huy

Recently, there has been a school of thought that middle managers don't do anything, Huy begs to differ. A six-year study shows that managers at least two levels below the boss and one up from line employees combine knowledge of company goals with boots-on-the-ground practicality in a way that no other managers can. 

Managing Your Boss by John J. Gabarro and John P. Kotter

Middle managers are often the "boots on the ground" but may be scared to speak up about changes or ideas because they are afraid of the consequences. But these are the people who most need to be able to sell their ideas because they are going to know what works. They need to know the tactics, know how to combine the tactics, and know when and how to implement them. 

Get the Boss to Buy In by Susan J. Ashford and James Detert

Mid-level managers have the power to effect big change at their companies. Ashford and Detert give seven tactics for how to raise ideas to the senior levels and make information more palatable so the company can prosper: tailor your pitch (make it specific to the decision maker), framing (show how your goal fits into the big picture), manage emotions on both sides, think about your timing, involve others, adhere to others (know how your organization makes decisions and play into that information), and suggest solutions (if you bring up a problem, also suggest a solution. These tactics can be pick and choose though the authors found more successes when using all seven ideas at once. 

The Secrets of Great Teamwork by Martine Haas and Mark Mortensen

Teams need any number of things to work well but the authors have identified four. They start with a well-dedined shared direction. Strong structure needs to be considered for great teamwork, who will be on the team, what the max capacity will be, and who will do what to compete a project. The third importance is support. That support comes from both outside and within the team. Finally, they talk about a shared mindset to overcome us/them thinking and fractures that can be caused by any number of reasons.

How the Best Bosses Interrupt Bias on Their Teams by Joan C. Williams and Sky Mihaylo

The best bosses can’t solve bias but they can interrupt it by making sure that they are fairly looking at all applicants and making a concerted effort to make their teams more diverse. That includes using fewer referrals, fairly dispersing office chores, and mindfully assigning high-value projects. But it also includes things that may not be as obvious like making sure you are scheduling the same amount of time for each of your employees (one person may feel more comfortable taking your time)

Making the Hybrid Workplace Fair by Mark Mortensen and Martine Haas

The new hybrid working model can make it hard for managers to keep things fair. The authors of this paper put forth some ideas on how to level the playing field: track and communicate, design, educate (let people know how hybridity can create unfair conditions), and monitor. 

Why Strategy Execution Unravels—and What to Do About It by Donald Sull, Rebecca Homkes, and Charles Sull

There are any number of books about strategy but little explores how to actually implement the strategies once they are decided upon. The authors look at ways to more successfully implement strategies with tactics like making sure that we are working well cross-departmentally. Of course, resource allocation comes up as a topic but we don't mean just moving things around, it can also mean resource elimination. Of course, there is getting out the message of key strategies but we have to remember to measure them in results a.k.a. frontline workers knowing what our strategies are rather than how many times we communicated the message. We also need to focus on what execution success looks like and think about the fact that it can't always be top down.

The Leader as Coach by Herminia Ibarra and Anne Scoular

Coaching is hard and many middle managers just aren't very good at it. But they can use the advice from this article and looking at their 2x2 matrix on various aspects of coaching ranging from mentoring (letting the manager solve the problem) to hands off, to withholding judgment. The square the authors suggest as the sweet spot is "situational." They suggest using the GROW method: finding the Goal, looking back at the Reality, examining your Options, and Will (what will you do and whether they are willing to act.)4

Make the Most of Your One-on-One Meetings by Steven G. Rogelberg

Rogelberg did three different studies around one-on-one meetings. They are incredibly important and managers need to view and prepare for them through the lens of making their employees be more prepared as well as finding solutions for difficulties the company is facing.

Learn When to Say No by Bruce Tulgan

Before you automatically say either yes or no to an ask, you need to pause and think about a number of factors before you answer the question. And you also need to think about your timing in how you day yes or no. Then be able to state why you said yes or no.

Begin with Trust by Frances Frei and Anne Morriss

The authors of this paper identify core drivers of trust: authenticity (working with the real you), logic (people trust your decisions), and empathy (people feel you care about them.) Everyone has one that they are weakest in, their trust wobble. Ways to adjust the wobble are given for each of the three. 

Four stars

This book comes out August 29, 2023

ARC kindly provided by Harvard Business Review Press and NetGalley

Opinions are my own

Injury Time by Catherine Aird

A collection of short stories featuring Inspector Sloan. There is a confusing story about a woman killed in a sauna when the heat was turned up too high. A scientific group's alarm is dismantled with ease but how could someone have cracked the code that was only recently implemented. There are 14 other stories; some aren't quite mysteries but all are entertaining. 

Four stars

This book came out August 1, 1995

Follows After Effects
Followed by Stiff News

Borrowed as audiobook from Audible

Opinions are my own

Bodies from the Library 2 -- an Anthology

No Face by Christianna Brand

A psychic, Mr. Jospeh Hawk, is certain he knows the identity of a serial killer. Yes, he often fakes many of his tricks but he might have some skill. But his assistant Delphine (sp?) is in danger. Would he prefer that she be hurt in order to fulfill his predictions? Or hers?

Three stars

Before & After by Peter Antony

An old woman dies. Mr. Verity, an amateur detective, believes it is her husband and the nurse. Inspector Sparrow thinks there might be more to it. And a little bit of honest police work might just prove him correct. So why let Mr. Verity direct that they be picked up? Well, in real life, if someone is around so many bodies, usually someone gets suspicious...

Four stars - mostly because finally someone is suspicious of the detective

Hotel Evidence by Helen Simpson

Henry Broadrib (sp?) is startled that his wife, Sissy, wants a divorce. He is loathe to acquiesce as it means that he will have to paint himself in a bad light. But he give in and willingly accepts a hot water bottle when she passes it on to him. But it might be harder than they both think as Henry is so very likable that no one wants to report against him. 

Three and a half stars - amusing but not really a mystery story nor is there any suspense

Exit Before Midnight by Q. Patrick

Carol Thorne (sp?) is working overtime right now to help with a merger. Her job ends at midnight so she's splashing out with a nice hairdo before she has to go back to work, helping the shareholders close the merger. When she returns, there is a threat of murder that has been left in her typewriter in the form of a memorandum. 

Four and a half stars - as one of the longer stories, it is better developed. It gives us better character development and allows for a nice build up of suspense. 

A Joke's a Joke by Jonathan Latimer

A young man, Barnes, likes to play pranks on people. His latest is to introduce his own wife, Mary Lou, to his particular favorite to play pranks on. But it doesn't quite turn out like Barnes thinks it will.

Three and a half stars - not a mystery but a fun little story

The Man Who Knew by Agatha Christie

A man is home but he knows something is wrong. Then he sees the word on his theater pamphlet, "Don't go home." A gun found in his apartment, his uncle murdered... there is just a chance that he can turn this night around.

The Almost Perfect Murder Case by S. S. Van Dine

Philo Vance is telling stories about some of his more famous cases. In this one, he mentions that even the most perfectly planned crimes may go off the rails for the most ridiculous of reasons. In this story, someone decides to verify a translation and suddenly, the teeth of a dead body might not be as identifiable as originally thought.

Three stars - serviceable

The Hours of Darkness by Edmund Crispin

The book opens on Christmas Eve. There is a game of hide and seek afoot. But rather than using it for making love to their partners, a murderer uses the time for other pursuits. Gervase Fen is nearby to connect this case to an earlier one, one in which a brother and sister 

Three stars - at least this one is a mystery but a little convoluted

Chance Is a Great Thing by E. C. R. Lorac

Poor Peggy is ready to get married but her only relation, her aunt, is doing so poorly she's afraid to leave her. Her neighbors encourage her to get married and go on her honeymoon; they'll keep an eye on her. But then auntie dies...

Four stars - for as short as it is, you get a clear picture of the characters

The Mental Broadcast by Clayton Rawson

The Great Merlini is trying to come up with a new card trick. Our narrator is not impressed.

Two and a half stars

White Cap by Ethel Lina White

Tess is trying to calm herself down. She has been taken in by a man who was a swindler and her work is uncertain. At work, Miss Ratcliffe is basically taking over the company and she has Tess in her sights. Of course, Ratcliffe is the one who ends up dead.

Three and a half stars

The Adventure of the Dorset Squire by C. A. Alington

The lights go out but then a lot of stuff happens, but, while some of it is comedic, none of it is a murder nor a suspense story. 

Two stars

The Locked Room by Dorothy L. Sayers

Lord Peter is at a house party where he meets a young woman named Betty. She is engaged but she and Lord Peter spend their time with some light flirting (maybe a little more). Her good mood is ruined when her uncle comes home proclaiming that he is ruined. He yells at Betty and his wife and declares that he will commit suicide. Lord Peter is skeptical. Usually people who commit suicide don't declare it so baldly. But, the next morning, the man is dead. Luckily, Lord Peter knows exactly what happened.

Three stars

It Happened One Night -- Anthology

The Fall of Rogue Gerrard by Stephanie Laurens

Rogue "Ro" Gerrard is on his way to London when a storm sends him off track. At the inn he stops at, he discovers Lydia Makepeace, a woman he has known since childhood. It seems that she is about to break into a house party in order to retrieve some indiscreet letters that her sister has written. Unfortunately, Ro knows the host and knows it's not the kind of party that Lydia should be attending. They go to retrieve the letter and, inexplicably, have sexy-times in the middle of the heist. Of course, they realize it's Twu Lurv and the story ends with marriage.

Three and a half stars

Spellbound by Mary Balogh

When Nora Ryder was hired by Mrs. Witherspoon, she didn't expect to have so much trouble getting paid. And she didn't expect to be stranded at an inn when the stagecoach is broken. She most certainly didn't expect to see the man she had married ten years ago. 

Richard Kemp, Lord Bourne, was just a secretary when he ran away with Nora. And her family caught up to them quickly and beat the tar out of him. But his fortunes have since changed and so has he. Is this a second chance at true love?

Three stars

Only You by Jacquie D'Alessandro

Cassandra Heywood is a duchess. But a lonely one. Her late husband's family has dismissed her and she's not looking forward to going back to her father's house. So she makes a stop on the way to visit an old friend, Ethan Baxter, a childhood friend who is now the proprietor of a roadside inn. The two sit and talk, have some sexy-times, but then she leaves to go home. Of course, there is an HEA but it's nice to see the journey for both of them.

Three stars

From This Moment On by Candice Hern

A lovely story about an older couple who were young lovers torn apart by circumstance. When her youthful lover disappeared, Willie was thrown out of her mother's home. She became an artist's model/lover, a famous courtesan, and then a duchess. Her erstwhile lover, Sam, is now a Captain in the navy on half-pay (not quite retired but not active duty). This is a sweet story with exposition through discussion and a wonderful example of two people <i>actually talking to each other</i>. 

Three stars

Eat, Pray, Love Made Me Do It -- Anthology

I didn't love "Eat, Pray, Love" but many people did and listening to their stories was an interesting way to pass time. Just more proof that literature can change people's lives, often for the better.

Three stars

This book came out March 29, 2016

Borrowed as audiobook from Libby

Opinions are my own

Marple -- Anthology

I was drawn in by names like Alyssa Cole, Ruth Ware, Lucy Foley, and Elly Griffiths and even more by the promise of more Miss Marple stories. Enjoyment will vary based on whether or not you are looking for authors who write like Christie or just more stories with Miss Marple. 

Evil in Small Places by Lucy Foley

I think Foley very much tried to write in the vein of Christie and succeeded here and there though her own voice peeped through in places. This is a story very much like previous Marple stories; Jane goes to visit an old school friend and the choirmaster, a woman much disliked in the village, is murdered. 

The Second Murder at the Vicarage by Val McDermid

Told from the first person view of St. Mary Mead's vicar, Leonard Clement, we visit a lot of old characters when the maid from the Murder at the Vicarage, Mary, is found dead in the kitchen. I feel like Christie usually gave us more clues than we got in this story but it is fun to read all of the Easter Eggs.

Miss Marple Takes Manhattan by Alyssa Cole

Dear nephew Raymond West has a play opening in New York that is based on one of his novels. Of course, he wants to bring Jane with him. She sneaks out of the hotel to go shopping and accidentally meets one of the actors in the play, though she doesn't know it at the time. Later, at an off-Broadway theater, the woman's co-lead is found behind the curtain having apparently been accidentally electrocuted and it is up to Jane to solve the mystery. 

Cole uses a deft hand to add in a wider pantheon of characters than we normally get to see in a Christie novel. 

Miss Marple's Christmas by Ruth Ware

Raymond West and his wife, Joan, again share the stage with Jane in a story set at Christmas. Of course, it will be pleasant to have the "children" with her again but it's not like the Christmases of her youth. 

The Open Mind by Naomi Alderman

This story was a little more complicated with Miss Marple in the seventies watching an older man take drugs with a very young woman while his colleagues watch and comment that he is preying on another young girl. It's not a surprise that he dies. 

The Jade Empress by Jean Kwok

On a cruise to visit her nephew in Hong Kong, Miss Marple meets an interesting Chinese expat, Mr. Pang, who is taking his daughter to meet the half-brother she never knew about. There are a series of mysterious happenings that point to Mr. Pang's being threatened and then he is murdered. 

A Deadly Wedding Day by Dreda Say Mitchell 

It is the wedding day of the son of a baronet and a young woman from the Carribean. His seats are full, hers have only her aunt, Miss Bella. A young woman shows up unexpectedly, makes a small scene, then eats dessert and dies. Miss Marple and Miss Bella figure out what actually happened. 

Murder at the Villa Rosa by Elly Griffiths

A first person story with an author debating whether to kill off his best-selling creation. He goes to the beautiful Villa Rosa where all of the occupants seem to have dark histories. Except maybe the nice Miss Marple. 

The Murdering Sort by Karen M. McManus

Raymond West's grandchild is the first person narrator of this short story. She has made a new friend, an American devoted to the environment, and has been invited to visit at the girl's grandfather's birthday. Unfortunately, it ends up being the night that the grandfather announces a new will, and then proceeds to die. Well, it seems like he does but it turns out he is testing his family... until he really does die. 

The Mystery of the Acid Soil by Kate Mosse

Miss Marple meets a young priest who is confused since his lady love has disappeared. Yes, she might have run away after her mother died but the general consensus is that that is not her usual demeanor. 

The Disappearance by Leigh Bardugo

Miss Marple is visiting Raymond and Joan in London but jumps at the chance to leave when Dolly Bantry calls. She is missing some family heirlooms and the son of the local house has vanished as well. She doesn't tell Jane about another missing girl. 

Four stars

This book comes out September 13, 2022

ARC kindly provided by William Morrow and NetGalley

Opinions are my own

Murder by the Book

Another collection put together by Martin Edwards, this one pulling together so-called bibliomysteries, stories that are literary adjacent. So they feature bookstores or libraries, maybe play off of a book, perhaps an author dies.  A lovely little collection. 

A Lesson in Crime by GDH and M. Cole

A mystery author is riding a train when a man joins him in his compartment. The man then proceeds to let the author know all the ways in which his last book failed. Instead, the man exhorts the author that he should write simpler murders and then proceeds to demonstrate exactly how that might work.

Trent and the Ministering Angel by E. C. Bentley

The story opens with two men, Trent and Selby, sitting in their club talking about an unusual client that Selby has recently had. Usually the man, Landell, works with one of Selby's associates but the associate was laid up with a broken leg so Selby goes to visit Landell when the man's wife, a termagent who keeps her husband under her thumb, sends a letter. He is not sure why he goes but this story raises Trent's antennae and the two are off on a mystery to look for a secret will.

A Slice of Bad Luck by Nicholas Blake

Nigel Strangeways is the guest of honor at an Assassins dinner, a sendoff of the Detectives' Club. Everyone there is a mystery writer or related to crime somehow. An author who has only two novels under his belt, Herbert Dale, remarks that it would be a marvelous setting for a murder. Then the lights go out and a man is murdered.

The murderer seems to come out of nowhere but an interesting story.

The Strange Case of the Megatherium Thefts by S. C. Roberts

A Watson and Holmes story, again told from the viewpoint of Dr. Watson. Professor Wiskerton comes from the Megatherium where a number of books from the lending library have been lost from circulation.

Short story with an interesting finish. 

Malice Domestic by Philip MacDonald

Carl Borden is a writer of middling fame whose marriage with his wife Annette has been on the rocks lately. And he is having stomach cramps. After his wife feeds him. But he is not the one who dies.

A lovely little short story with a twist.

A Savage Game by A. A. Milne

A wealthy man dies leaving his money to two people -- his niece who has taken care of him and his nephew (her brother) who is a test driver for racing cars. The three of them had been together the day he died along with a man who translates books. They each had some tea which caused two of them to fall asleep in front of the fire. When the scholar wakes up, the uncle is dead; stabbed through the heart. 

The Clue in the Book by Julian Symons

Warnings for outdated language about disabilities.

Francis Quarles appeared in many short stories as a detective. In this book, an Quarles is visiting the family of Silas Brinn. He has had a stroke but is surviving thanks to the care of his daughter, Mary, and hsi indefatigable secretary, Sam Clemens. 

After dinner, Silas is found dead by an apparent suicide but Quarles thinks things might not be so cut and dried. 

The Manuscript by Gladys Mitchell

A girl is dead. It seems that she may have been killed by a man who has a habit of trying to rehabilitate criminals. Though, to be fair, he usually collects their stories to write about in his collection. 

REALLY short.

A Man and His Mother-In-Law by Roy Vickers

Arthur Penfold is a businessman. He married once and, after six months, his wife left a note behind. He has married again but this time, his mother-in-law stands in the way of his happiness. It's just too bad he buys her a book that leads to his downfall.

Grey's Ghost by Michael Innes

"Grey's ghost is black." At a gathering, people are talking about different engimatic phrases that people have called at said on the telephone. This particular phrase sets up a story wherein Appleby is able to decipher it's meaning.

Dear Mr. Editor... by Christianna Brand

An epistolary short story that was hard to understand at first but with a fantastic twist.

Murder in Advance by Marjorie Bremmer

A popular playwright is killed. But the man seems to have no enemies and his plays are highly enjoyed. At least the ones that have been released so far. 

A Question of Character by Victor Canning

A look at toxic masculinity in action: Geoffrey Gilroy isn't going to kill his wife because he's in love with another woman (though he is). No, he is going to kill her because she is better at everything than he is, including being an author. Lovely twist. 

A Book of Honour by John Creasey

The first person narrator makes the acquaintance of a man named Baburao, a book seller. Baburao is an incredibly good salesman who works his way up from selling books on the street to owning many bookstores. His biggest sadness in life is that his oldest son, Krishna, seems to be on the path to evil. It is with the narrator's help that the boy is brought to justice. 

We Know You're Busy Writing by Edmund Crispin

As the title suggests, there is folly in interrupting an author at work. 

Chapter and Verse by Ngaio Marsh

A bookseller tries to contact Roderick Alleyn about a Bible that is related to his town. Troy is on hand to talk to the man and she is the one to let Roderick know that she thinks the man's death is not an accident. 

Four stars

This book comes out September 6, 2022

ARC kindly provided by Poisoned Pen Press and NetGalley

Opinions are my own

Three Kisses, One Midnight by Roshani Chokshi, Sandhya Menon, Evelyn Skye

If I had realized this was an anthology about high school kids, I may not have picked it up. But this was a pretty good trio of stories all revolving around Halloween, a night when the Lady of Moon Ridge is said to walk every 400 years. Perhaps, this year, she might bring a few high schoolers true love.

Onny believes that she belongs with Alexander-the-Great-Looking, but could she be overlooking someone closer to home?
Ash has had a crush on his next-door neighbor Cassidy, the track star, since she moved in. But could it truly be that she returns his feelings?

True was hurt by her last boyfriend, Brad (obviously Chad-adjacent). But can she find love with Orion? A guy who believes in ghost while she is science-all-the-way?

Great respect to the authors who managed to pull parts from each other's stories to really create a nice overlap of details. 

This book come out August 31, 2022

ARC kindly provided by Macmillan and Edelweiss

Opinions are my own

HBR's 10 Must Reads on Managing Yourself -Anthology

This is a group of articles which all came from the Harvard Business Review.

The first talks about how you allocate your resources. Author Christensen advocates for looking at delayed gratification and not always looking for the shortcut. 

"... humility was not defined by self-deprecating behavior or attitudes but by the esteem with which you regard others." "... if you have a humble eagerness to learn something from everybody, your learning opportunities will be unlimited."... abusive, arrogant or demeaning... their behavior is almost always a symptom of their lack of self-esteem."

Drucker tells us about feedback analysis, that it can lead to the actions of concentrating and developing our strengths, then look for where our arrogance is hindering us and overcome it. "...but with opportunity comes responsibility." "Organizations are no longer built on force but on trust. The existencs of trust between people does not necessarily mean that they like one another. It means they understand one another."  "...it is vitally important for the individual... to have an area in which [they] can contribute, make a difference, and be somebody."

Oncken and Wass lead a spirited article on the discussion of monkeys and whether the monkeys (problems) should be on the backs of the managers (rarely) or their trusted subordinates.

Coutu talks about resilience, the study of which has been more closely looked at lately and will come into focus again soon with all that faces the world at the moment. Her key points include facing down reality, searching for meaning, and continually improvising. 

Schwartz and McCarthy look at four types of energy (physical, mental, emotional, spiritual) and how those can be drained but also rebuilt. 

Hallowell's article explores ADT, attention deficit trait and how so many people have so many drains on their time that they can't accomplish anything. He talks about the goals or protecting your brain (sleep, food, exercise), organize around the ADT (break down tasks, keep an area on your desk and in your calendar clear, practice OHIO (only handle it once), and work in a way that helps you perform the best (adjust hours, use headphones, work standing up)), and slow down and take your time.

Friedman focuses on the domains of work, self, home, and community. He suggests that you sit down and really figure out who/what is important in your life and then see what small changes that you make might make you happier in all of the domains. He walks you through Total Leadership  (the principles of which are be real, be whole, be innovative) which is designed to help you figure out how to not only plan but how to experiment and measure progress in all four domains.

Ghoshal and Bruch talk about prioritization and what you want to achieve as a manager.

Quinn argues that great leadership comes from within. We can learn and emulate all we like but we need to find the fundamental state of leadership. He introduces the four questions that can shift you into that state: Am I results centered, internally directed, other focused, and externally open?

Key questions to ask yourself are the focus of Kaplan's article. They help you identify visions and priorities, how you manage your time, feedback, succession planning, evaluation and alignment, leading under pressure, and how to stay true to yourself. 

Goleman, Boyatzis and McKee write about emotional intelligence and not only that leaders should know that they impact employees but HOW they impcat employees (and therefore adjust their style.)

Bodies from the Library edited by Tony Medwar

A delightful collection of lesser-known short stories from well-known authors. They include A.A. Milne, Arthur Upfield, Agatha Christie, and more.

My favorite story was Jeffrey and Veronica who meet as strangers at Monte Carlo. Both have recently left their positions (or so they say) and are enjoying a vacation before finding work again. But a night in a casino means that Veronica has left with the wrong bag and that sets off a curious chain of events.

I wish that the stories and the author's biographies had been switched. It would have been nice to have some background to the stories before hearing them.

Four stars

This book came out July 26, 2018

Audiobook from Audible

Opinions are my own

A Yuletide Kiss -- Anthology

When We Finally Kiss Good Night by Sabrina Jeffries 

Konrad Juncker has been introduced in other books of the "Duke Dynasty" as the person posing as a playwright so that one of the dukes can be anonymous. We've also know that he had a romance with Flora Younger when they were in their teens (at least she was) but something happened and they did not marry. 

 In this story, Konrad and Flora are stuck in the same in the same inn during a snowstorm and truths about their past start to come out. Including that she would have waited for him and that he didn't think he was good enough for her. And both have identities they wouldn't want the rest of the world to know about. But they both are still attracted and have hope for a future together. And even though this is a short story, there is still room for a Big Misunderstanding (sigh). 

Fours stars 

The Unexpected Gift by Madeline Hunter 

Overlapping with the previous story, we see the viewpoint of the inn owner. Jenna Waverly is dealing with a snowstorm and is grateful that she doesn't have many mouths to feed when one of her team, Peter, brings in an unconcious man. One who is probably a lord based on his clothing. And this year is already not turning out as she had planned. Instead of her normal routine where she gets to relax with no people, she is forced to share the inn with a group of unexpected travelers. 

Lucas Avonwood is sick and Jenna feels as though she needs to tend him herself. It is his illness that allows them to be vulnerable with each other. He is searching for a broach to make sure that his cousin isn't caught out by a rogue and her brother mortgaged the inn (which is in both their names) without asking her. It may be that their problems are a shared one. Since it is a short story, we don't really get a sense of how the two will really get an HEA but okay nonetheless. 

Three stars 

When Strangers Meet by Mary Jo Putney 

Again overlapping with the other stories, we get the tale of two of the other people caught in the snowstorm at the White Rose, Kate Macleod and Daniel Faringdon. He is in line for a barony and she... she is his wife. 

It seems that seven years ago they were both in Bombay. Her uncle, an unscrupulous man, swooped in to pick at the coffers after her parents died. Since Kate was of a an age, he auctioned her off and Daniel was the lucky recipient of her hand. He never believed the marriage was legal but here she is, stating just the opposite. So he suggests that they use their time snowbound to determine whether or not they should remain married. Again, for a short story, there is not a lot of room to explore why an HEA would work for them but overall a nice story. 

Four stars

Four stars

This book came out September 28th, 2021

Borrowed as ebook from Libby

Opinions are my own

The Innocence of Father Brown by G.K. Chesterton, Frederick Davidson

The audiobook of an inauspicious Catholic priest who goes up against some of the most criminally minded men in the world (and comes out on top) is just as good as reading the stories. I've read these stories several times now and each reading is better than the last. You have Father Brown thwarting the notorious Flambeau by creating chaos in his wake. Then Flambeau changes sides and becomes a detective, one who Father Brown often assists such as in the case of the man who worships Apollo and a headless body at a dinner party. Interesting stories that are often fairly clued.

Four stars

This book came out 1911

Followed by The Wisdom of Father Brown

Borrowed as audiobook from Audible

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

Midwinter Murder by Agatha Christie

This is a perfectly lovely collection of various stories by Agatha Christie including a wide swathe of her detectives. There were a few stories that I didn't quite get the winter connection but... eh. From a wide swath of her series, her detectives include Tommy and Tuppence, Mr. Satterthwaite and Harley Quinn (two stories!), Mr. Parker Pyne, Hercule Poirot, and Jane Marple. It also includes the short story version of the longest running play of all time, "Three Blind Mice." 

If you've never read Christie, these are some of her best stories and give you a glimpse into many different series. If you have read Christie, these stories are old friends and remind you why she is often called the Queen of Mystery. 

Four stars

This anthology came out October 1st, 2020

Borrowed as audiobook from Libby

Opinions are my own

Mistletoe Christmas -- Anthology

A Mistletoe Kiss by Eloisa James
Every year the most sought after invitation is to the Duke of Greystoke's Christmas Revelry. The invitation list is carefully curated and the amusements vast. But what no one knows is that his daughter, Cressida, is the one in charge. Now the Duke is dying and he wants his legacy to continue. As a means to the ends, he makes his heir (his nephew) promise to keep the revelry going for the next ten years. Val, the heir, has no interest. Neither, frankly, does Cressida. So Val suggests to his friend Elias that he should marry Cressie so she'd be close enough to help but he wouldn't have to take care of her. Elias figures it's about time to marry so why not? But then he takes a closer look at the women who everyone has ignored and discovers that she might be more precious than he originally knew.

Even as a short story, this could have lopped a few chapters off (they got redundant) and been a little bit better but James is a master and this story once again proves it.

Four stars

Wishing Under the Mistletoe by Christi Caldwell

Lady Isabelle Wilkshire has been engaged for three years but her fiance no longer looks at her the way he used to. Instead, Cyrus Hill is too busy working, trying to prove his worth because she is a duke's granddaughter and he is the son of a stablemaster. She breaks their engagement. While she loves him, she's no longer sure he really loves her. At least she can take some solace in being mentored by a playwright.  

Ten years later, she is at the Christmas Revelry, debuting a new play and Cyrus has been assigned as her partner. Old romantic feelings well up but so do old resentments. Will they be able to make it?

I do like short stories where protagonists knew each other because it makes it more likely that they are falling in love in 100 pages or less. This story could have used just a little more exposition on how the two were going to work now but was overall enjoyable.

Three and a half stars

Compromise Under the Mistletoe by Janna MacGregor

Caroline Whitmore loves her husband. And he probably cares for her but not to the extent that he loves the estate where he grew up and now cares for. But in order to get her inheritance, she needs to prove to her uncle, the Duke of Greystoke, that she and her husband are still in love. Based on other stories in this book, I'm not sure why he would do this other than to be an old fart but... it's a reason for a good fake romance. 

Caroline has it all planned out and even has a list of rules written out for Stephen. But he has different plans. This might be his last chance to win her heart.

Four stars

Mischief and Mistletoe by Erica Ridley

Louisa Harcourt's mother wants to marry her off to someone with a title. She just wants a quiet life to write. But Ewan Reid, a poet, intrigues her.

Ewan thinks Louisa is amazingly beautiful but he has a secret he's hiding. One that he doesn't want to pull her into. No matter how much she comes to him with her own secrets or how much she'll be hurt by the secrets he is hiding.

Three stars

Four stars

This book comes out September 28th, 2021

Ebook from NetGalley

Opinions are my own

The Golden Ball And Other Stories by Agatha Christie

Every once in awhile Agatha Christie, Queen of the Mystery, would write stories that just had a happy ending. Often they had a twist, but are not mysteries. And they are all delightful. she also wrote some books that were more supernatural in bent. These are not as good but somewhat interesting. 

The first story has a widowed mother who wants the best for her children and a cheap house to let might just find it -- and some happiness for herself as well. A couple of stories feature young men throwing away a sure thing only to find something better. One has a young man reading fanciful stories that make him a strong man in his own life. 

Three stars

This book came out in 1971

Borrowed as audiobook from Libby

Opinions are my own

The Café between Pumpkin and Pie -- Anthology

In the town of Moonbright, young woman who chant some specific lines on Halloween are destined to see the reflection of their true love before the night is over. Three loosely connected stories explore the romances of 2021.

Love Over Easy by Katie Angell

Hannah Allan is in a little over her head. Dressed as Bo Peep so that her sister's children (her sister is home with a cold and her brother-in-law is at work as a policeman) can go to the Halloween parade and then go trick-or-treating. She didn't expect to run into Jake Kaylor. He is the man that every woman in Moonbright wants. Hannah's sister was his girlfriend for awhile but they didn't work out. 

Hannah's family owns the Corner Cafe. She works as a waitress and may not always get everyone's orders right, but she is pleasant and the town loves her. Jake is beyond what she can imagine, the bad boy extraordinaire. Yet he somehow has eyes for her. And she's looking back...

Some of the language by Angell is a bit formal and I'm not sure I bought an HEA but for sure there was an HFN.

Three stars.

Love Rising by Stacy Finz

I've read Stacy Finz before and was happy to recognize some characters from previous books. Of the three stories, this felt the most cohesive and it may have helped that the main characters knew each other in the past and seemed to be willing to meet each other halfway to make the relationship work.

Sydney Byrne is only in Moonbright to sell her grandmother's house and then she's going back to San Francisco and back to her bakery. She's not sure why Nick Rossi is at the house at o'dark thirty, nor does she know why he's tearing down the wall to her grandmother's crafts room but she never suspects that her grandmother may have made alternate plans.

Nick doesn't know why Sydney's grandmother hired him but he always fulfills his clients requests. Especially when it means that he's tweaking Sydney's nose at the same time. The two were close in high school with Sydney tutoring him. But then his girlfriend caught them kissing and spread horrible rumors about Sydney that Nick did nothing to stem. Now they're all grown up, both single, and he's thinking that they can test the waters again. But Sydney's life is across the country, how can they make it work?

Three and a half stars

Romance on Tap by Marina Adair

I really liked that Adair wrapped in the experiences of a child adopted from another country but still loves her adoptive parents. Mila Cramer is back in Moonbright so that her parents can have one last Christmas in the house she grew up in. While she's in town, she's determined to lift the curse that Ford James put on her when he kissed her during Seven Minutes in Heaven in high school. That was the last time she kissed a man with whom she had such chemistry. But Ford's twin brother Hudson might book a spoke in those plans.

Again, having characters who already have a history served the author well in this short story. It made me believe that they might have a shot at an HEA because they do know each other... at least their histories. 

Three and a half stars

Three and a half stars

This book comes out August 31st, 2021

ARC kindly provided by Kensington Books and NetGalley

Opinions are my own

Poirot Investigates by Agatha Christie

A series of short stories involving our favorite Belgian detective. It includes stories like “The Kidnapped Prime Minister,” and “The Adventure of ‘The Western Star.’” Stories are solid and short. Perfect for picking up and putting down if you’re at a point in your life where you only have snatches of time in which to read.

Three and a half stars

Follows The Murder on the Links

Followed by The Murder of Roger Ackroyd

This book came out March 1st, 1924

Borrowed as audiobook from Audible

Opinions are my own

Three Witnesses by Rex Stout

Three stories all hinging on the clues provided by one significant witness. In "The Next Witness," a man bribes an answering service to listen in on his wife's phone calls. When one of the women at the service ends up dead, the man is put on trial. It is during the trial that Nero Wolfe (who seldom leaves his home), has an inkling towards the truth and actually joins Archie in the field, interviewing the other women of the answering service.
"When a Man Murders..." features a man who makes it back from the war, only to be murdered in a hotel. Was it the man's wife who has now married another man? She also used her rather large inheritance to purchase her new husband's business though they both claim to be ready to give back the money if only they can stay together. Of course, it could also be the man's aunt or her two children  who mutually inherited the other half of the man's estate.
The last story, "Die Like a Dog" relies on some rather interesting coincidences for Archie to end up with a black lab whose owner has just been murdered.
A fun read and nice to have short stories that are easy to get through.

Four stars

Follows Before Midnight

Followed by Might as Well Be Dead

This book came out March 10th, 1956

Hard copy I kept 

Opinions are my own

Holiday for Two -- Anthology

All Through the Night by Maggie Robinson

Carrie Moore is an assistant for a famous mystery writer (think Jessica Fletcher on copious amounts of gin.) But she has failed in her latest mission - to make it onto the ferry with Christmas dinner before a snowstorm settles in. And now she's stuck with the mystery writer's nephew in the blinding snow. But a snowstorm might be the perfect time for a personal assistant and an English viscount to spend a little time getting to know each other
A little slow in places and a big bunch of insta-love but I finished it. 

Two and a half stars
While it Was Snowing by Elyssa Patrick

I usually like a novella where the characters have a past. It means that there will be some basis of a relationship that might make sense. In this case, Felicity and Harry's families have been friends for years. Now, Felicity is ready to take things to the next level. But Harry is scared. And a virgin. He's not sure that changing their relationship is going to be good and he accidentally rejects her harder than he means too. Luckily (for him), a snowstorm traps him in the cabin and the two are forced to face each other and what their future could be.
This story was fine but just fine. I didn't connect to either character or have any real faith in their HEA (even though we were shown it in an unusually-long-time-later epilogue.

Two and a half stars

This book came out December 9th 2013

Kindle ebook

Opinions are my own