Carol – Page 73 – Carol's Notebook

Lost and Found by Helena Marchmont

July 18, 2022July 18, 2022 by CarolNo Comments

Like all the Bunburry books, Lost and Found is light and cozy. This time around, Alfie meets his half-sister and his niece. Both are warm, charming women, but the niece has a problem Alfie is determined to help her solve. I should have figured out the answer to the main mystery, it's a short novella and there are only so many characters. I can't say I loved the mystery itself, but I read these more to spend time with the characters than for the plot. Alfie and his friends (and now family) are a delightful, colorful bunch....

The Woman in the Library by Sulari Gentill

July 13, 2022July 13, 2022 by Carol6 Comments

For me, The Woman in the Library cared a bit too much about its concept than its characters or plot. I'm not a giant fan of metafiction and didn't realize from the blurb what I was getting into. That being said, even though it's not exactly up my aisle, I do think the author did a decent job with it. I guess there are three stories here. Australian author Hannah is writing a murder mystery feature Winifred, the woman in the library from the blurb who becomes embroiled in a murder mystery. Winifred is also writing a book inspired by the three people she meets in the library. Hannah's beta reader is Leo and most of the book alternates between Hannah's chapters featuring Winifred and Leo's e-mail responses. Once you get into the rhythm, it works well, but the structure did keep me off balance and at a distance from any of the characters. We've got two plots here. (Winifred's...

All the Queen’s Men by S. J. Bennett

July 11, 2022July 11, 2022 by Carol2 Comments

The Queen is disconcerted to see one of her favorite paintings at an exhibition of maritime art in Portsmouth. The painting, given to her by the artist, is of the retired Britannia yacht and once hung outside her bedroom. She enlists Rozie to discover when it left her collection and why it has never been returned, a task that turns out to be not as easy as it sounds. Then, a housekeeper is found beside the Palace swimming pool and it turns out several of the staff, including the dead woman, had received nasty, threatening anonymous letters. The mystery is a bit convoluted. The clues and cases all tie together, but it meanders a bit getting to the conclusion. I do enjoy the characters though. They give the book its charm. The Queen is sharp and charming. Rozie is super competent and we get to see a bit more of the personal side of her life. Prince Philip steals every...

In Cold Blood by Truman Capote

July 6, 2022July 6, 2022 by Carol6 Comments

In Cold Blood has been on my to-read list for a while. Honestly, I'm not sure why I put it off. I enjoy both true crime and crime novels and since this is one of the classics in the genre, chances were pretty good I'd enjoy it, which of course I did. Well, as much as you can "enjoy" the story of a horrible murder, of the men who committed it, and the law enforcement trying to track them down. On November 15, 1959, Richard "Dick" Hickock and Perry Smith, on a tip from another inmate, went to the Clutter household in Holcomb, Kansas expecting to find a safe or $10,000 cash in the home. There was neither money nor a safe, but they had agreed to leave no witnesses, so the four family members in the house were killed. Due to the relentless work of the Kansas Bureau of Investigations led by Alvin Dewey, Hickock and Smith were eventually...

The Holdout by Graham Moore

July 5, 2022July 5, 2022 by CarolNo Comments

The Holdout is my first "summer book" this year - a paperback that I can read while floating in the pool or sitting in my hammock. Entertaining and fun, but not one I'd be afraid to get a little water on. Thankfully, cause half of it got dunked on accident. Ten years ago, Maya was the lone holdout on a jury and convinced her fellow jurors to acquit a black teacher accused of murdering his white teenage student. According to the press and most people, they got it wrong. One of the other jurors, Rick, thinks they let a guilty man go free and blames Maya. Ten years later, the jury is reassembled for a documentary. Rick claims to have new evidence but is killed before he can share it. Maya is the prime suspect and feels the only option for her is to prove who the killer really is. The story alternates between the still unsolved 10-year-old case to the...

Movieland by Lee Goldberg

July 2, 2022June 30, 2022 by Carol4 Comments

As series fans will know, Eve Ronin has been through a lot. She has struggled to defend her position in the LASD. Her workload has been tough, which isn't helped by her inability to occasionally leave work at the office. Movieland does work well as a stand-alone though. Goldberg gives us enough background to know where Eve stands and what led her there. This time around, Eve and her partner, Duncan Pavone, are investigating the shooting of two campers, one of whom was killed. It turns out that this was just the latest shooting in a string of them, some of which were reported to the police and some of which the park rangers kept to themselves. When another person is killed the question becomes are all seemingly random shootings related? Are there copycats taking advantage of the situation? Because there are so many incidents, we have multiple suspects and a variety of witnesses. Goldberg does a good job keeping all...