Snoopy: Beagle Scout Adventures by Charles M. Schulz

Charlie Brown is off to camp. His parents think he'll make friends but he's not so sure. It doesn't start off well with people making fun of his name and finding out that his baseball team is winning without him. 

The next year, Linus goes and also meets Roy. He also has his blanket with him but isn't worried about being teased. Of course, he tells everyone about the Great Pumpkin and gets elected camp president. 

We also get to see Snoopy in the Beagle Scouts and as the various kids apply to NOT go to camp. Of course, Charlie Brown is turned down but he somehow doesn't make it to camp. 

A little more scripture than I remember but still a really enjoyable read.

Four stars

This book comes out April 30, 2024

ARC kindly provided by Andrew McMeel Publishing and Edelweiss

Opinions are my own

A Share in Death by Deborah Crombie

Duncan Kincaid just needs a vacation. He's lucky enough to be able to use a timeshare that his cousin can't take. The other visitors are certainly an interesting bunch: two sisters, one who might be losing her memory, the other who reminds Duncan of particularly strict teacher; a husband and wife who own a health food store and have their two children along; a self-proclaimed "spinster" who seems to be at this time share during this week for a specific purpose; a recently divorced father with his teen daughter; a couple where the husband is a budding politician. For the staff, he heard Cassie and Sebastian arguing when he walked in though the two quickly reverted to their polite masks. 

By the next morning, one of the them is dead. And they're not the last person to die. The local constabulary aren't real excited about him potentially helping (at least not the one in charge.) 

I had heard about this series on the Modern Mrs. Darcy and I am excited to read the next one. 

Duncan Kincaid & Gemma James #1

Four stars

This book came out in 1993

Followed by All Shall Be Well

Borrowed as ebook from Libby

Opinions are my own

Not That Duke by Eloisa James

Lady Stella Corsham is short and freckled, not exactly a diamond of the first water. But she has a large dowry so she doesn't lack for suitors. She mostly tends to play chess with Sylvester Parnell, the Duke of Huntington and hang out with her friends.
Sylvester is in love with the most elegant young woman of the season (and heroine of book 2 in this series). Or so he tells himself. But he has these annoying... feelings... for Stella. Of course, because his mother declares she is the woman for him, he's going to push back against that but he eventually realizes that he would be happiest with Stella. Now he just has to convince her.
I liked that the characters mostly communicated pretty well. Sylvester definitely had some missteps at the end of the book but it was overall an enjoyable read.

Would-Be Wallflowers #3

Four stars

Follows The Reluctant Countess

Borrowed as audiobook from Libby

Opinions are my own

After Glow by Jayne Castle

Lydia Smith is having issues. Her love life is a little uncertain (she loves Emmett but isn't sure of his feelings), her job isn't her favorite (but Shrimpton's House of Horrors is beginning to grow on her), and now she's found another body. This time it looks like an overdose. But why did Professor Maltby call her? And what the heck is going on with Emmett?

Ghost Hunters #2

Four stars

This book came out February 24, 2004

Follows After Dark

Followed by Ghost Hunter

Hard copy of mine

Opinions are my own

After Dark by Jayne Castle

Lydia Smith experienced a "Lost Weekend" wherein two of the Hunters she was underground with claim she went rogue and ran away. She can't dispute the claim since she can't remember exactly what happened. But she's too cautious to have ever done something as stupid as run away from the men who were supposed to be protecting her. After the incident, she lost her university job and is now working at Shrimpton's museum of horrors. And she's just discovered a body. One that's not supposed to be there. The body of a man who was a ruin rat and sort of a friend. Whatever will the first client of her fledgling antiques-finding business think?

Emmett London is hard to disconcert. After all, he was the Guild Boss of a neighboring city and managed to completely overhaul that group's reputation into being something less than hired thugs and more like any other large business. Of course he hasn't told Lydia that he's a hunter. He's read her file and knows that she blames hunters in general for her lost weekend. Emmett just wants help finding an curio cabinet his family brought from Earth when they came through the Curtain and he thinks she might know some of the... less savory places to look.

Despite their total differences, Lydia and Emmett manage to not only find the curio cabinet, but in the process they take down a group working illegally in the tunnels, and rescue Emmett's nephew as well.

Ghost Hunters #1

Four stars

This book came out January 1, 2000

Followed by After Glow

Hard copy of mine

Opinions are my own

Murder at the Serpentine Bridge by Andrea Penrose

Charlotte and Wrexford are married. She and the boys as well as the maid have moved into his house. But that doesn't keep them from finding another dead body. This time it's that of a Black man who is found floating in a lake. The man ends up being not only someone who has developed a way to make guns more efficient but is also the relative of Charlotte's brother's brother-in-law's nephew, a young lord. He is currently the ward of his uncle but Charlotte and Wrexford can tell he is not being treated well among his own family. Luckily, Peregrine (another bird!) makes friends with Raven and Hawk. 

The three boys will play an important part in helping the adults solve this murder.

Also, another story line is finally starting to get resolved with Cordelia and Kit.

Wrexford and Sloane #6

Four stars

Follows Murder at the Royal Botanic Gardens

Followed by Murder at the Merton Library

Borrowed as ebook from Libby

Opinions are my own

Death Comes to London by Catherine Lloyd

What a perfectly lovely story. It's a romance with a slow burn. We actually get to see Major Kurland and Miss Harrington interact even as they're solving a mystery. I didn't read the first book but didn't feel like I missed much. There was no major info dump; instead, we learned about their past slowly. 

Lucy Harrington is going to London to accompany her younger (lovelier?) sister to attend the Season. Major Kurland is about to be given a baronetcy for bravery on the field so he also goes to town. There, they meet the Broughton family. The elder son, a lieutenant, served with Major Kurland. He is also a scientist. His younger brother is something of a loose canon as is his grandmother. The grandmother who falls dead in the middle of Almack's while she's ranting. But it's not her heart, they soon discover, it was poison. 

I can't wait to get the next book in the series.

Kurland St. Mary Mystery #2

Four stars

This book came out November 25, 2014

Follows Death comes to the Village

Followed by Death comes to Kurland Hall

Borrowed as ebook from Kindle Unlimited

Opinions are my own

High Spirits by Carol J. Perry

Maureen is still trying to keep her inn in the black. To that end, she's bought several blocks of seats from the local movie theater's run of Christmas classics and is selling them as a bundle with dinner at the inn. Everything goes off course the first night when the guest projectionist is murdered. Not only was Decklin Monroe a guest at the inn, he was also an old resident who had been rumored to be part of a murder in the old theater. His supposed partner in crime, Harry Henshaw, is also back in town.
This book twisted and turned and didn't... actually make much sense with the solution of the mystery but I enjoyed the character building that occurred.

Haunted Haven #2

Three stars

This book came out October 25, 2022

Follows Be My Ghost

Magic Triumphs by Ilona Andrews

What do you do when an ancient evil returns to your world, threatening to kill everyone you hold dear? An evil who causes thousands of people leave their homes to be boiled. Well, Kate decides she needs to make a deal with the devil, aka her father.

I hope that this is the ending to the Kate Daniels series while starting one with Julie and Erra and launching Hugh's. This is just a perfect bookend to the series bringing everyone together in a satisfactory way. 

Kate Daniels #10

This book came out August 28, 2018

Follows Iron and Magic

Followed by Magic Tides

Borrowed as ebook from Libby

Opinions are my own

Murder in Mesopotamia by Agatha Christie

 Nurse Amy Leatheran has just finished a position with a nice young family and decides to stay in Iraq with an archaeological dig. Famous archaeologist, Dr. Leidner, is married to a woman who is very stressed out. She is worried that her former husband is coming back to get even with her marrying another man. The only problem? Her former husband died in the war. 

Nurse Leatheran is only there a short time but she sketches a short outline of each of the characters at the dig. It's just too bad that Mrs. Leidner is killed in a locked room manner; there was no way for anyone to get in and out of the dig without being seen so it has to be someone on the inside.

Hercule Poirot #14

Four stars

This book came out July 6, 1936

Follows The ABC Murders

Followed by Cards on the Table

Borrowed as hard copy from library

Opinions are my own

A Grave Robbery by Deanna Raybourn

It's time for another adventure with Veronica and Stoker. They start out with a tamarin monkey (which is quickly pawned off on Lord Rosemorran's youngest daughter) and end up with a Beauty. Supposedly an anatomical model that doctors could use to study the human body since dissection during this time period was so reviled. However, this beauty was obviously a young woman who was once a living person, not a wax work. But who could have done something so heinous?

The trail leads them to a pair of twins whose scientific inquiries were supported by the second son of a lord. A fire supposedly killed the male twin and his laboratory but did he really die?

Stoker and Veronica pick up some new friends in this book including Plutree, a mortician who has an overbearing mother and is interested in profiling. The other is Spyridon, a man who Stoker knew in Greece but who traveled back to England with Lady Wellie who seems to be getting more frail.

Four stars

This book comes out March 12, 2024

Follows A Sinister Revenge

ARC kindly provided by Berkley Publishing Group and NetGalley
Opinions are my own

This Means War! by Lincoln Peirce

Nate has a new rival. Kyle is trying to claim messiest locker at school. But Nate might just have a few things up his sleeve. Or, you know, in his locker. Lots of touchbacks to previous stories in the series. Two storylines even overlap when Klassic Komix agrees to sponsor Nate's baseball team. Of course, it doesn't go the way that Nate expects when Wayne chooses the name of an unexpected character. 

Four stars

This book comes out March 5, 2024

Follows Move it or Lose It!

ARC kindly provided by Andrews McMeel Publishing and NetGalley

Opinions are my own

Murder at the Village Fete by Catherine Coles

This book picks up close to when the last book left off, with Tommy Christie, former policeman, trying to pick up after having unexpectedly been made the newest Lord of Northmoor after the last two were murdered in the first book of the series. There is a village fete, the first in a long time, and everyone is happy. Well, almost everyone. Someone is certainly unhappy as there is another murder. And it has something to do with a story that happened during the war, accusations of cutting corners to make money, and Evelyn's father is one of the accused. 

For a mystery, this series has tended to be fairly light. It will be interesting to see if all of the stories stay this close together in timeline.

Tommy and Evelyn #2

Three stars

Follows Murder at the Manor

Followed by Murder in the Churchyard

Ebook of mine on Kindle
Opinions are my own

Finlay Donovan Rolls the Dice by Elle Cosimano

Vero and Finlay ended the last book missing someone important to them missing and they want to get that person back. To that end, they are heading to Atlantic City. They say it's for a girls' trip but somehow Finlay's children, mother, and ex-husband all end up coming along. 

They get to Atlantic City and meet the loan shark, but it all goes downhill from there. They're unable to make a deal and then the loan shark ends up dead. But how are they supposed to handle this situation? Especially when Finlay's sister and boyfriend show up on the scene.

These books are so well plotted with all of the pieces fitting together nicely and the ending come to a nice knot but still with a bit of a cliffhanger. There is always some disbelief of suspension that goes just a little too far for me but an overall nice read. Definitely read the other books in this series first. 

Four stars

This book comes out March 5, 2024

Follows Finlay Donovan Jumps the Gun

ARC kindly provided by St. Martin's Press and NetGalley

Opinions are my own

Murder at the Royal Botanic Gardens by Andrea Penrose

Charlotte and Wrexford are getting married. That means that they are incredibly busy with wedding plans and the social twirl of being a newly engaged couple. It is at one of the parties, one at the Royal Botanic Gardens, that Wrexford is summoned into another room. He has gained a reputation for solving murders and the murdered man's friend is convinced this is not a natural death. Yes, the man had heart problems but the white powder around his mouth points to a different reason for death. 
An old enemy comes back and a new comrade (a cousin of Thomas Jefferson, no less) is made. 
A nice book with a branching into the botanic realm of the time, stepping out of the technical one a little bit. 

Wrexford & Sloan #5

Four stars

This book came out September 28, 2021

Follows Murder at Queen's Landing

Followed by Murder at the Serpentine Bridge

Borrowed as hard copy from library

Opinions are my own

Three Blind Mice and Other Stories by Agatha Christie

A novelization of Christie's long-running play with stories starring Poirot and Miss Marple. A wonderful amalgam of some of Christie's best short work.

Stories include the titular tale in which a young couple is starting up a hotel but their first guests arrive on the heels of a snowstorm. And one of them is a killer.

Miss Marple is the star of "Strange Jest" in which a young couple tries to decipher clues to a fortune left by a jocular uncle, "Tape-Measure Murder" which gives away the cause of death, and "The Case of the Perfect Maid" where she anticipates a crime. She also solves "The Case of the Caretaker" which is a manuscript given to her by her favorite doctor about a young man whose wife is murdered soon after they marry.

Hercule Poirot steps in to solve the mystery of "The Third Floor Flat" in which a double date leads to finding a dead body when one of the girls loses the key to her apartment and "The Adventure of Johnnie Waverly" wherein a young boy is kidnapped from under the noses of any number of policemen. He also gets a third story in "Four and Twenty Blackbirds" when the eating habits of 'Old Father Time' help to solve his murder.

The last story pulls misters Satterthwaite and Quinn who are less well known but still help solve the murder of a man even though both the man's wife and her lover confess in "The Love Detectives."

Four stars

This book came out in 1950

Hard copy of mine

Opinions are my own

Atomic Habits by James Clear

A coworker of mine was talking about this book so I picked it up. It was an interesting premise, boiling down to four steps to develop better habits, all of which seem fairly obtainable. Clear also brings up some other ideas that resonated with me. One was the "Plateau of Latent Potential." He mentions that this is a place where you've been working hard for awhile but not seeing any results. But if you keep plugging away, it will seem like you have sudden results.

Another idea that Clear brings up is the idea of systems vs. goals. Goals are what you are trying to achieve, systems are the way that you get to those goals. These are actually MORE important than the goals themselves as they are markers of how you get to what you need to do.

An idea that really hit home for me is that your identity is tied to the things that you do regularly. That means, the best habits are the ones that help you to define your identity. 

The rest of the book (the bulk of the book) is set on defining the four laws (and their inverses): Make it obvious (invisible); make it attractive (unattractive); make it easy (difficult); make it satisfying (unsatisfying.)

These all made a tone of sense and seem like they could be easily actionable. 

Four stars

This book came out October 16, 2018

Borrowed as hard copy from library 

Opinions are my own

Death Comes to the Village by Catherine Lloyd

Lucy Harrington is the oldest daughter of the village rector. She has taken over many of the duties that are usually given to the rector's wife after her mother died. One of those duties includes caring for the invalids in her father's parish. That includes Major Robert Kurland who has recently returned from Waterloo.

Many of Major Kurland's memories from his time after returning home involve the managing voice of Miss Lucy Harrington telling him what to do and what not to do after she replace his original nurse who was a bit of a drunk. Though she is a plain woman, he appreciates her attitude. It is forthright and she is one of the few people who doesn't treat him as though his mind is as damaged as his leg. 

One night, the major looks out his window and sees someone carrying a heavy load. How does that tie in to the disappearance of two girls from the village? And what about the small thefts from various stores and houses?

The mysteries all tied together neatly. We get to see how Lucy and Robert interact. Though childhood friends, the two are definitely not in love (at this point) but they are making each other better and supporting each other when no one else will. 

Kurland St. Mary Mystery #1

Four stars

This book came out November 26, 2013

Followed by Death comes to London

Borrowed as audiobook from Audible Plus catalog

Opinions are my own

Murder at Queen's Landing by Andrea Penrose

At first, Charlotte and Wrexford do not appear to be involved in this murder at all. But then, a mysterious exchange Charlotte overheard at a ball and the sudden disappearance of a friend mean that they are pulled into another mystery. 

Some new characters in this book but a number of people we've seen in previous books as well. Charlotte and Wrexford are growing ever closer but so is his friend Sheffield and the Lady Cordelia. It will take the intelligence of all of them as well as the guile of the Weasels to figure out why a clerk from the East India company was killed and then left for dead. And what their friends may have had to do with it. A convoluted set of intertwining mysteries (could have been a little less convoluted) but Penrose puts them together well.

Wrexford & Sloane #4

Four stars

This book came out September 29, 2020

Follows Murder at Kensington Palace

Followed by Murder at the Royal Botanic Gardens

Borrowed as ebook from Libby

Opinions are my own

The Hurtwood Village Murders by Benedict Brown

His second book now safely published, Marius Quin is going for a celebratory lunch with his Lady Isabella Montague. Too bad her beau, Gilbert Gaines, joins them. It seems the two have an idea for a new business as private investigators. Their first case can be why people are sending poison pen letters to people in the village they grew up in. Specifically, why Lucinda Heaton, who is revered by most of the town, is getting these letters. 

Isabella and Marius travel back and get to know some of the people in town, none of whom have changed very much though Marius describes trying to overlay the people from his memories with the people in front of him. Then, someone is murdered. Inspector Lovelace is pressed into service once again (though neither Bella nor Marius know his first name...

This was a nice addition to the series. I didn't love the wrap up to the mystery but it left us with an open ended question for the next book in the series.

Marius Quin #2

Four stars

This book comes out February 20, 2024

Follows Murder at Everham Hall

ARC kindly provided by Storm Publishing and NetGalley

Opinions are my own