Book Reviews – Page 104 – Carol's Notebook

Egg Drop Dead by Vivien Chien

February 19, 2020February 19, 2020 by Carol4 Comments

I actually don't read many foodie cozy mysteries, but the Noodle Shop Mysteries are an exception. First, I do love Chinese restaurant food. When I was pregnant, we ate at the same Chinese restaurant in the mall that the woman who owned it gave us a baby present. Second, it takes place in Cleveland, Ohio, and I always enjoy it when a story is set somewhere I've been and Amber's college is about 30 minutes away. Third, Lana's a good character and her family is a hoot. Lana's first catering job is going well - until the murder of course. Donna Feng, a long-time friend of the Lee family, is clearly the most likely suspect to have killed her nanny, but she asks Lana to help prove her innocence by figuring out who the killer actually was. This is Lana's fifth "investigation" but this time she may be in over her head. I do think this would work as a stand-alone,...

The Curse of Braeburn Castle by Karen Baugh Menuhin

February 14, 2020February 14, 2020 by CarolNo Comments

Heathcliff Lennox (please call him Lennox) was in WW 1 and his butler Greggs, with whom he has an entertaining and humorous relationship, was his batman. Now back home, Lennox is having a bit of an adjustment to civilian life. He prefers solitary activities like fishing or walking his dog, Mr. Fogg, in the countryside around his slowly declining estate. However, he has friends and family that can bring him out into the world beyond his gates. Lennox is likable and intelligent, tongue-tied around women, but loyal and honest. The Curse of Braeburn Castle is the third mystery I've read featuring him and may be the best so far. This third one begins when Lennox's newly-married friend, former detective Swift, asks him to come to Braeburn Castle to help with the discovery of a centuries-old skeleton. The discovery of the skeletons has brought a team of archaeologists to the castle, a group Swift doesn't trust, and now the skull and it's...

The Rivals of Sherlock Holmes published by Dover Publications

February 12, 2020February 12, 2020 by Carol4 Comments

The Rivals of Sherlock Holmes is a collection of 16 classic detective stories from the late 19th through the early 20th centuries. The detectives are not so much rivals of Holmes as contemporaries. The collection is centered around when the stories were written, but they come from a variety of regions. I've read a few of the authors before and a couple of the stories, but several were to me. There were even a couple of female detectives, unusual for the era. As with most anthologies, I enjoyed some of the stories more than others. The book starts off with "The Great Ruby Robbery" by Grant Allen which was clever and funny, a good combination and a good way to open. "Cinderella's Slipper" by Hugh C. Weir and his Miss Madelyn Mack also stood out for me. I met Max Carrados in "The Coin of Dionysius" by Ernest Braman. He's a blind detective, which is unique. Another, this one from America,...

Left-Handed Death by Richard Hull

February 6, 2020February 6, 2020 by CarolNo Comments

Left-Handed Death is the first of Richard Hull's mysteries I've read. It's got an interesting perspective. We kind of start in the middle of the mystery. Arthur Shergold and Guy Reeves are sitting in their office, discussing recent events, in particular, Reeves' lunch that day with a civil servant from the Ministry, Barry Foster. Foster has become a problem for their company, which deals with contracts for the Ministry of Defence. Neither of them particularly like the man either. The dinner seems to end with Reeves killing Foster in Foster's home, strangling him to death. Later that day, Reeves goes to Scotland Yard and confesses to the crime. Inspector Hardwick isn’t quite ready to accept things at face value, he sets out to prove Reeves innocent. It's an interesting set-up. We know that there's something fishy about Reeves' confession, but not sure quite what? Why would he confess if he hadn't done it? If he did do it, why did...

Sweet Danger by Margery Allingham

February 5, 2020February 5, 2020 by Carol2 Comments

I'm a fan of Albert Campion. I like how he pretends to be a little dull and inoffensive, but is really pretty brilliant, daring and rather charming. The bad guy in Sweet Danger knows him pretty well too. Savanke went on impassively. "I know your success, your association with Scotland Yard. Let me see, you are unmarried, unattached." "Fancy-free," remarked Mr. Campion mildly, "is the term I've always liked.""You are thirty-two years old," the voice went on inexorably. "You are reputed to be comfortably, but not lavishly provided for. You are reckless, astute, and quite extaordinarily courageous.""I take number nine in shoes," said the young man with the toothache with sudden irritation. "I always wash behind my ears, and in my mother's opinion I have a very beautiful tenor voice. Suppose I decide not to play revolutions with you?""I don't think you would be so stupid." Oil has been found in Averna, which is on the Adriatic Sea. Big Oil in the...

Becoming by Michelle Obama

January 31, 2020January 31, 2020 by Carol6 Comments

In Becoming, Michelle Obama tells her story. She talks about growing up poor in Southside Chicago. She talks about the love of her family, the value they placed on hard work and education. She discusses her career, the right path she started on and the twists and turns it took. She talks about meeting Barack, their early marriage, and how they function as a couple. Of course, she eventually gets around to the presidential campaign and their time in the White House, but she (mostly) stays with her point of view, her difficulties, and her initiatives. She also touches on her difficulties with putting her career on hold to support her husband's career and how unfair things could feel. She talks about the difficulties of raising two girls, the tightrope of keeping them safe but allowing them to have "normal" childhoods and teen years, of appreciating the luxuries they have but still being grounded in "regular" life. Michelle Obama is...