Thursday, March 7, 2024

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.


Three stars
This book came out October 25, 2022
Haunted Haven #2
Follows Be My Ghost
Borrowed as ebook from Hoopla
Opinions are my own

Wednesday, March 6, 2024

The Exception to the Rule by Christina Lauren

This novella is written mostly in emails. It starts when one high school student accidentally emails another instead of a teacher. The train of Valentine's emails continue for years with either one of the other of the two trying to be the first to say hello. They also start to learn more about each other and discover they might just be made for each other.
A really quick, enjoyable read.

The Improbable Meet-Cute #1
Four stars
This book came out January 23, 2024
Borrowed as ebook from Kindle Unlimited
Opinions are my own

Tuesday, March 5, 2024

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
Followed by Magic Tides
Borrowed as ebook from Libby
Opinions are my own

Monday, March 4, 2024

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
Followed by Cards on the Table
Borrowed as hard copy from library
Opinions are my own

Sunday, March 3, 2024

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



Saturday, March 2, 2024

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
Big Nate #30
Followed by Remain Calm
ARC kindly provided by Andrews McMeel Publishing and NetGalley
Opinions are my own



Friday, March 1, 2024

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
Followed by Murder in the Churchyard
Ebook of mine on Kindle
Opinions are my own