COYER Archives – Carol's Notebook

A Most Agreeable Murder by Julia Seales

May 27, 2023May 31, 2023 by Carol2 Comments

I didn't realize from the synopsis just how "funny" A Most Agreeable Murder was attempting to be. Comedy can be a tough sell for me - the joke around our house is that I don't have a sense of humor. Which is not true, by the way. This book is trying so hard to be funny, but, especially at the beginning, it strays over the line into silly and annoying. After the murder occurs and Beatrice and Inspector Drake have to work together to solve the killing, it improves. There are a lot of over-the-top twists and turns and several one-dimensional characters, but I found myself enjoying it. I wondered what was going to happen next and who was going to be accused next. It turned out to be a fun, light-hearted read that was different enough to stand out in the sea of historical cozies. There was also maybe a werewolf. ...

Portrait of a Dead Guy by Larissa Reinhart

April 27, 2023April 27, 2023 by Carol2 Comments

As a small-town portrait artist, Cherry Tucker works hard to make a living. So when she hears that the wealthy Branson family wants a portrait of their trouble-making son, Dustin, she jumps on it. Yeah, painting a dead guy in a coffin is a little odd, but she can handle it. Then she finds herself accused of trespassing and stealing from a corpse. She's also the suspect in a murder. She needs to figure out who killed Dustin if only to save her reputation. Cherry is a fun character. She's sassy, smart, and talented. She has a weakness for pretty men and is firmly loyal to her friends and family. We've got the usual quirky characters and a stubborn goat, but it's all done with a bit of Southern charm and flare. The mystery itself was good. I guessed who the killer was but didn't know the motive. There were several clues and enough red herrings to keep Cherry on her toes....

The Final Girl Support Group by Grady Hendrix

April 26, 2023April 26, 2023 by CarolNo Comments

Maybe I'm just tired of "final girls." Maybe the characters were underdeveloped and the plot was not gripping. Maybe the book can't decide if it's funny or not. Any which way, The Final Girl Support Group was a disappointment for me. Our narrator, Lynette, is one of 6 final girls who have been attending group therapy for 16 years in the basement of a church. Lynnette suffers from the aftereffects of the trauma she faced as a teenager over 20 years ago. She is paranoid about safety in her house and rarely goes out. Each of the women has coped with her trauma in different ways, but when one of them is killed, Lynn knows that there's a monster after them and they need to protect themselves and each other. Or at least that's how Lynn sees what's happening. The book has lots of action, some really stupid decisions, some paranoia, and a mediocre motive. A lot of people really enjoyed...

Bellweather Rhapsody by Kate Racculia

April 20, 2023April 20, 2023 by Carol2 Comments

I adored Bellweather Rhapsody. But as a former high school band geek of the early 90s who still accompanies kids at solo and ensemble and a lifelong lover of whodunnits, I am probably the perfect audience. It's fun quirky and there are a ton of characters all of whom I loved - well, except one, but she was the one I was supposed to dislike anyway. The Bellweather Hotel in upstate New York is long past its heyday of elegant ballroom dancing and fine dining. Now, which in the novels world is 1997, about the only thing that keeps the Bellweather afloat is hosting "Statewide", an event where the best NY State high school musicians and singers are brought together for four days of musical excellence and all the accompanying drama. So, this weekend, we've got tons of high schoolers, their chaperones, and conductors converging on the hotel. The characters are where this book shines. Yes, they're over the top and...

Much Ado about Nauticaling by Gabby Allan

April 10, 2023April 10, 2023 by Carol2 Comments

Much Ado about Nauticaling is a breezy cozy mystery set on Santa Catalina Island, California. Whitney Dagner has left the corporate world to return to her hometown to help her brother, Nick, run the family glass-bottomed boat tour company and open her own island gift shop. Everything is going well until a wealthy businessman is found in the water, strangled to death. Nick quickly becomes the number one suspect, and Whitney is determined to clear his name. Much Ado about Nauticaling was fine. I liked the small island setting and some of the characters, especially Whitney's grandparents, were charming. Whitney herself was persistent but needs to hone her investigative skills a bit more. Felix, her potential love interest, was almost too perfect. And to be honest I didn't feel like Whitney was special enough for him and her best friend to just up and move for/with her. I did love her cat though. Whiskers is a pretty good partner, The mystery was...

The Blind Owl by Sadegh Hedayat

April 4, 2023April 4, 2023 by Carol4 Comments

The Blind Owl is unsettling and darkly romantic. It's an Iranian classic and I only ran into it because I was looking for something by a South Asian writer, but it's definitely worth reading. The book has two distinct parts. The first one feels almost like a nightmare, but a calm one. It has an inevitability but not one that makes you scream. I chose not to use the word nightmare because no matter how macabre this first part is, it has a peaceful almost tranquil quality to it. Our narrator sees a beautiful woman who he falls in love, or at least lust, with. Then, he ends up killing her and the section becomes more and more disturbing. Then we have a break. The second part presents an alternative story, maybe more realistic but our narrator is still not fully connected with reality. He tells us about his complicated family history and about how he is in love...