Carol's Notebook

July Cloak and Dagger Link-up

July 1, 2026June 25, 2026 by CarolNo Comments

We're halfway through the year. What's been you favorite read so far? Or you're favorite reread? I reread The Murder of Roger Ackroyd last month and loved it. Actually, I think my only 5 star reads so far might have all been rereads.Any DNFs? Not a Cloak and Dagger read, but I had to put down The Southern Book Club's Guide to Slaying Vampires. It was just a bit too graphic for me.Link up your July Cloak and Dagger reads below or in the comments.You are invited to the Inlinkz link party! Click here to enter...

Cruising Through Midlife by Addison Moore

June 29, 2026June 29, 2026 by CarolNo Comments

Trixie is on her 25-anniversary cruise to Hawaii alone because her husband is a cheating jerk. And I do have to say she moved on well. She's determined to have fun and not fall for any of his pleading or mean jabs. She seems to take everything in stride and with a smile, even when she finds a dead body in her luggage and a ghost turns up to help her solve the mystery.It's a fun, lighthearted mystery with plenty of romance. Trixie has two potential love interests, both crew. I'm not a fan of love triangles and I did kind of want her to just pick one, but it's only an 18-night cruise, and she'll never see either of them again, so what's the harm? And I might have peeked at some of the later blurbs in the series, so I'm willing to let it slide for now.It's a fun book. I enjoyed Trixie and her new friends. It's...

Home Before Dark by Riley Sager

June 25, 2026June 25, 2026 by Carol2 Comments

The set-up is good. Twenty-five years ago, Maggie Holt's father wrote a book, House of Horrors, about their family's three weeks in the haunted Baneberry Hall. The book became a best seller, but now her father is dead and she's inherited the house. Maggie's convinced the book was fiction and remembers nothing from their time there, so she moves into Baneberry Hall to renovate it for sale and, hopefully, find out the truth of what really happened that summer.It turns out that the house is creepier than Maggie had expected. The book alternates between the present timeline and chapters from House of Horrors, using what her dad wrote to echo what she's living through. It turns out that more might be true than she thought. I listened to the audio and having two narrators, one for House of Horrors and one for Maggie's point of view, worked well.I don't read many horror books and this is my first...

The Dog Park Murders by Angela Barker

June 24, 2026June 24, 2026 by Carol2 Comments

I actually enjoyed The Dog Park Murders. Sometimes mysteries with too much romance make me roll my eyes, but I think it was balanced pretty well in this one. And the blurb made it clear what to expect. Yes, this book felt like a Hallmark movie, but in a good way.Labrador Falls is an adorable small, dog-obsessed town where Juliette has lived her whole life. It's not always an easy place to live - small towns can be tricky. Everyone knows everyone else and their backgrounds and families. When Juliette finds a dead body at the local dog park, with evidence pointing to her pet grooming shop, she immediately becomes the prime suspect, thanks in part to her family history. Joel owns the coffee shop, but is relatively new in town. However, he can't just stand aside and let Juliette get railroaded by a lazy, biased detective.The mystery was decent. The dead man was not nice, so we had several...

Murder in an Italian Castle by Benedict Brown

June 22, 2026June 22, 2026 by CarolNo Comments

I've read a few of Lord Edgington and always enjoyed them. Now, Lord Edgington and his grandson, Christopher, have finally started their European tour. Their first stop is in Italy, at Castle Montegufoni, owned by Edgington's old friend, Lord Renwick Monroe. They've only just arrived when they hear arguing from the clock tower and see Renwick fall to his death. Turns out Renwick was not a nice man, but someone who enjoyed pushing buttons and causing tension. Unsurprisingly, we've got a host of suspects, including Renwick's three heirs, his secretary, and assorted townspeople.The mystery was clever. The clues all fit together well, but I still didn't guess the solution. The historic touches are fun and the food sounded delicious.Murder in an Italian Castle is light, enjoyable read. I'm looking forward to their next adventure in Italy....

Murder and Mayheim by Ronica Black and Toni Logan

June 17, 2026June 29, 2026 by CarolNo Comments

Murder and Mayheim should have been one I thoroughly enjoyed. Our amateur sleuth, Cassie, is a bookstore owner on a murder mystery cruise in Alaska with her best friend. They team up with a pair of elderly sisters who are just hilarious. Cassie meets a potential love interest, Hannah, within seconds of boarding. It's Hannah's sister who ends up dead after falling down the stairs. Cassie and Hannah are convinced she was murdered and are determined to find the killer.The mystery was actually pretty decent. The clues tied together well and we had several potential suspects. The problem for me, which I didn't realize from the blurb, was just how much the growing relationship between the two women would overshadow the mystery. I didn't realize we would have full-fledged graphic sex scenes between these two people who just me. And that's probably my fault for not reading more reviews or knowing the author, but it took me out of the...