September 2024 Monthly Rereads

Opinions on all are my own

Murder With Peacocks by Donna Andrews

Meg Langslow #1

Followed by Murder with Puffins

This book came out February 7th, 2006

Audible book I own

Murder With Puffins by Donna Andrews

Meg Langslow #2

Four stars

This book came out June 15th, 2001

Follows Murder with Peacocks

Followed by Revenge of the Wrought-Iron Flamingos

Audible book I own

Revenge of the Wrought Iron Flamingoes by Donna Andrews

Meg Langslow #3

This book came out October 12th, 2001

Follows Murder With Puffins 

Followed by Crouching Buzzard, Leaping Loon

Audible book I 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 Langlow #6

Four stars

This book came out March 7th, 2006

Follows We'll Always Have Parrots

Followed by No Nest for the Wicket

Audible book I own

No Nest for the Wicket by Donna Andrews

Meg Langslow #7

This book came out May 8, 2006

Follows Owls Well that Ends Well

Followed by The Penguin who Knew too Much

Audiobook from Audible

The Penguin who Knew Too Much by Donna Andrews

Meg Langslow #8

Three stars

This book came out August 7, 2007

Follows No Nest for the Wicket

Followed by Cockatiels at Seven

Audiobook from Audible

Cockatiels at Seven by Donna Andrews

Meg Langslow #9

This book came out July 8th, 2008

Follows The Penguin Who Knew Too Much

Followed by Six Geese A-Slaying 

Audiobook from Audible

America's Geekheart by Pippa Grant

Four stars

This book came out April 5, 2019

Bro Code #2
Follows Flirting with the Frenemy
Followed by Liar, Liar, Hearts on Fire
Borrowed as ebook from Kindle Unlimited

Stud in the Stacks by Pippa Grant

Three and a half stars

Follows Mister McHottie

Followed by Rockaway Bride

This book came out January 5th, 2018

Borrowed as ebook from Kindle Unlimited

Opinions are my own

The Soulmate Equation by Christina Lauren

Four stars

This book came out May 18th, 2021

DNADuos #1

Followed by The True Love Experiment

Borrowed as ebook from Libby

Opinions are my own

Slow Horses by Mick Herron

I heard about this one of my podcasts. For the first fifty pages, I wondered why I kept reading it. Then, I was hooked.
What do they do with spies that aren’t good enough for the field but aren’t bad enough to be fired? They’re sent to the Slough House. And that’s who we’re following, the occupants known as the Slow Horses. There are the screw ups, the alcoholics, and the people who no one likes. But one of them obviously isn’t as slow as everyone believes because they’re all about to be plunged into a mystery. Parallel stories tell us about a young British boy of Pakistani descent who’s been kidnapped. The kidnappers have promised to cut off his head on a live internet feed. Then there’s the betrayal in Slough House. But who’s done the betraying and why is one agent dead and another one near to it?

Four stars

This book came out June 1, 2010

Slough House #1

Followed by Dead Lions

Borrowed as ebook from Libby

Opinions are my own

Sharp Edges by Jayne Ann Krentz

Eugenia Swift is the director of the Leabrook Glass Museum. She's big into glass sculptures, not unlike an artist who just died and left his collection to the museum. As such, she's going to Frog Cove Island to take a look at the collection. However, the collector died under... mysterious circumstances so her boss decrees that Eugenia must take along a bodyguard, Cyrus Colfax.

Colfax doesn't know much about glass art, outside of a cup (chalice) that was stolen from him by a former partner who ended up wanting Colfax dead. He does know he likes beer and Hawaiian shirts, both of which seem to irritate the classy Eugenia. But the two are going to pose as a couple in order to give him an excuse to come to the island.

I remember enjoying this book more when it first came out. As you might expect nearly 20 years later, some of the attitudes are a bit grating but the story is still good and Krentz's style holds up. 

Three stars

This book came out February 1, 1998

Borrowed as ebook from Kindle Unlimited

Opinions are my own

Happy Bloody Christmas by Jo Middleton

Anna Johnson is waking up to a life that she's not totally in love with. So, normal. She's hungover, her husband is oblivious, and her kids are temperamental. In fact, her husband lets her start the day with something... odiferous. She's lamenting her life with a house to clean up after a party and her husband's judgmental family showing up in 26 hours. And it's all gotten worse. Not only was her cat locked into the larder, but so was a dead Santa Claus. And the dead Santa Claus was her boss who no one really liked. 

I liked aspects of this story, it was quick, it take place over a day. Also, I enjoyed the fact that Anna and Oli seem to have a realistic marriage where they sometimes love each other and sometimes... eh. I didn't always get the comedy but I tried not to hold that against this book (that seems more like a me thing). I also didn't like how much Anna was actively interfering with the investigation. Note that this is not a "fairly clued" mystery as there is really only one hint as to who the killer is. 

Three stars

This book came out September 26, 2024

ARC kindly provided by Avon Books UK and NetGalley

Opinions are my own

The Librarian of Crooked Lane by C.J. Archer

Sylvia Ashe is all alone in the world. Her brother died in the war and her mother in the flu that followed after. She was lucky to get a job in a library, even if the boss is a raging misogynist. Most women have lost their jobs after the men returned from war. Now she only has her friend Daisy.
It’s Daisy reading a newspaper one day that sets them off on a grand adventure. There is a picture of an heir to a title, Gabe Glass. He has a connection to her brother and Sylvia would like to know what it is.
While she doesn’t find out all of the information in this book, she does get to help Gabe figure out who is creating forgeries of magic paintings. She also gets a job in a library on Crooked Lane, one that specializes in book on magic.

Four stars

This book came out September 6, 2022

The Glass Library #1

Followed by The Medici Manuscript

Borrowed as ebook from Libby

Opinions are my own

The Mummy Market by Nancy Brelis

Harry, Elizabeth, and Jenny live with The Gloom. Well, Mrs. Hinchley. She wants them to keep the house orderly and have everything in its place. And that might mean doing things like flushing Harry's tadpoles down the toilet. So they go to ask Mrs. Cavour what they might do. She suggests the Mummy Market. 
The Market is only open on Thursdays from three to five but it is possible for the children to get there. While Elizabeth is skeptical, Harry and Jenny decide to go the very next Thursday. When they get tehre, they discover a market full of women. Of course, the supply needs to be kept up. But how to get The Gloom to come there? Luckily, the information booth is very helpful and they give the children some forms akin to what the Internal Revenue Service uses. Housekeepers like Mrs. Hinchley will always follow the forms. 
The children are set. They see one mother who bakes and one who sings and one who looks pretty. They decide to start with The Home-Type Mummy. It... does not go well. They then try "Mom" who is a sporty type. Next comes Babs who says she understands children because she's read psychology books. Finally they talk to Mrs. Cavour who tells them they are under an enchantment, as is their mother, and the only way to break it is to find their actual mother. But will they find their Mummy and will she be as perfect as they hope?
I only vaguely remembered reading this book from when I was young. I feel like there was a LOT missing from the story and I don't remember thinking that before but I was, ahem, younger then. It's fine but not like the well-developed books we have for children these days. Which makes sense since it came out in 1966. 

Three and a half stars

This book came out in 1966

Borrowed as ebook from Internet Archive

Opinions are my own

The Most Wonderful Crime of the Year by Ally Carter

I REALLY enjoyed this book. I don't like time jumps (which this had), some of the misunderstandings were a bit much, and Ethan was a bit TOO much (but only a bit.) However, I stayed up late to finish this book and fell asleep with a smile. Quite lovely.

Maggie Chase has had her confidence destroyed and is happier to stay home. But then an invitation comes and her publisher tells her it's one she doesn't want to turn down. So, she boards a plane to a mysterious location where there is to be a party hosted by she doesn't know who. Unfortunately, also on the plane is Ethan Wyatt, her nemesis in their publishing house. He can never remember her name and always seems to be laughing at her. So that's a great start to the vacation. 

They finally land and discover that they've been plonked right into a locked room mystery, complete with characters who disappear and characters who die. It even happens that Maggie has some close calls herself. Can she really trust the man she is getting to know?

Four and a half stars

This book comes out September 24, 2024

ARC kindly provided by Avon and Harper Voyager, and NetGalley

Opinions are my own