Mystery – Page 19 – Carol's Notebook

The Christmas Caper by Gigi Pandian

January 4, 2023January 4, 2023 by CarolNo Comments

Edinburgh at Christmas sounds wonderful. In this short story, Tempest is asked by her grandmother's friend to figure out how a painting was stolen from a museum, a seemingly impossible crime. The plot is pretty straightforward, but I loved the setting. The author does a fabulous job at bringing Edinburgh and its Christmas market to life. I would really love to visit sometime. One of my favorite fictional bookstores even gets a mention. Tempest is her usual clever self and her grandparents are a joy. We don't get to know the new characters well, but they worked fine for the story. There are also a couple of recipes in the back that sound delicious. I haven't tried the yet though. ...

A World of Curiosities by Louise Penny

January 3, 2023January 3, 2023 by Carol11 Comments

The Paston Treasure, commissioned by either Sir Robert Paston or his father Sir William Paston in the early 1670s A painting, a copy of The Paston Treasure, is found in a bricked-up attic room, but it contains hidden messages and puzzles. During the graduation ceremony at the École Polytechnique, the women who were killed and injured during the Montreal massacre in '89 are remembered. Fiona, a woman found guilty of murder when she was 14, has been paroled, thanks in part to Gamache, and is staying along with her brother in Three Pines after her graduation from that same school. Harriet, the niece of Myrna, the bookstore owner, is also graduating and spending time in Three Pines. A local woman has been murdered, staged as a suicide. Penny takes so many threads and pulls them all together in a complex, tension-filled story. Gamache knows he and his family are under threat, but the damage could come from any of several directions. Sam,...

Sherlock Holmes and The Twelve Thefts of Christmas by Tim Major

December 31, 2022December 30, 2022 by CarolNo Comments

Morose and uninspired as Christmas approaches, Holmes receives an unexpected invitation to a theatrical performance, thus beginning a challenge set by Irene Adler involving a series of "thefts." The idea of Holmes and Adler contriving puzzles and challenges for each other is fun. Meanwhile, a new client, an explorer, requests Holmes investigate a series of "gifts" left at his door, gifts of raw meat and animal carcasses. The mystery was well done, with a hint of the paranormal, which of course Holmes disproves. I listened to the audio which was maybe a bad choice. Holmes always sounded angry rather than slightly disdainful, mean rather than aloof. I did enjoy seeing Mrs. Hudson, even if she wasn't her usual self this holiday season. ...

Winter Wishes by Elle Adams

December 23, 2022December 22, 2022 by Carol4 Comments

Carol and Mercy are owners of the Holiday Haven Inn. They have a weekend celebration planned which includes carolers, a festive food menu, a theatre production, and the use of a wishing box. The wishing box disappears soon after it is delivered and things immediately start falling apart. Carol and Mercy need to find the wishing box before the whole celebration is ruined. This is a fun series. I love Holiday Haven and all of the residents. It's also fun that the stories are written by different authors and feature different characters, but all take place in the same town - and have a touch of magic. This one was not my favorite. Carol jumps to conclusions too quickly and is kind of mean about her family, who seem eccentric but harmless. Also, I didn't quite get the magic. Mercy has magic and so does Carol's mother who is a witch, but neither seems to really do anything with it....

Sherlock Holmes & the Christmas Demon by James Lovegrove

December 22, 2022December 22, 2022 by Carol2 Comments

I've enjoyed a lot of "new" Holmes stories, and I don't need Holmes to necessarily be Doyle's Holmes, but Lovegrove's does come pretty doggone close. Eve Allerthorpe, daughter of a wealthy Yorkshire family, enlists the help of Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Watson because she believes her family home is being haunted by the Black Thurrick, a kind of anti-Father Christmas. She has found bundles of birch twigs at the castle and seen the Black Thurrick walking across the frozen lake at night. Also, one of the wings of the castle is supposedly haunted. Holmes, of course, is skeptical, but he does suspect that something criminal is afoot. And his suspicion is justified when, soon after he and Watson arrive at Felscar Keep, a member of staff is found dead, pushed from an upper window. The setting is perfect, a secluded Gothic castle surrounded by frozen water and a snowy forest, a place where you could believe in ghosts and demons. The...

When Christmas Comes by Andrew Klavan

December 21, 2022December 21, 2022 by Carol2 Comments

I was looking for a Christmas mystery, and I failed to do my research. This is not a warm and fuzzy Christmas story - which is fine, I do read mostly murder mysteries after all. It takes place around Christmas time, but our detective, English professor maybe ex-spy Cameron Winter, is not the type to enjoy the holiday. It's not that he's a Scrooge, he's just moody and longs for the Christmasses of his childhood at his nanny's house and the girl he had a crush on twenty years ago. He dwells on things a lot, which always annoys me and slows down the plot. He's also smart and handsome and almost every woman is attracted to him, including his therapist. Oh, and the woman who is asking for his help with this case is apparently someone he had an affair with when she was a student. The plot itself is good. A former military man is accused of and has...