Book Reviews – Page 114 – Carol's Notebook

The St. Valentine’s Day Cookie Massacre by Elisabeth Crabtree

February 14, 2019February 14, 2019 by Carol6 Comments

If I've learned anything from cozy mysteries, it's that holidays go perfect with dead bodies. So, instead of reading a romance for today, I went with The St. Valentine's Day Cookie Massacre and I was surprised by how much I enjoyed it. Kat has must moved back home from a stint in Miami and is working at a small local paper. The staff is small and while her heart is in investigative journalism, mostly she's covering community events and doing the food critic column. She covers a local bakery opening where a fight breaks out. Later that evening, an anonymous caller asks her to meet him behind the bakery - he has information for her. When she shows up, she finds a dead body, a bakery employee who also happens to be one of the men who was in the fight earlier. Of course, she starts investigating. And ends up almost dead herself before she tracks down the killer(s). So, ...

The World Beneath by Rebecca Cantrell

February 13, 2019February 13, 2019 by Carol6 Comments

The World Beneath is just a fun book. Joe Tesla is rich and extremely intelligent, but can't go outside due to extreme agoraphobia. While in the tunnels under New York, he meets a man who is then brutally murdered near a long bricked in train car. Joe has to make sure he doesn't get killed too, and in the process stumbles into a nightmare of a conspiracy. Joe is charming and while obviously not fearless, he is determined and inventive. He's a whiz with computers, but also understands people, which is a nice change. His service dog Edison is adorable, and I was more worried for him than I was for Joe. He also has a couple people who are wholly on his side, and they each bring their own strengths. The plot is well-done. The tension holds throughSubwayout and even though the reader knows who all the players all, you still wonder what can happen next. And the fact that Joe...

Hibernate with Me by Benjamin Scheuer

February 12, 2019February 12, 2019 by Carol9 Comments

Hibernate with Me is a wonderful picture book. The story features a little bear and his mom/dad. No matter how rough life can gets or how shy the little bear feels, little bear always has a safe, warm home to go to. The words have a gentle rhyming pattern, and the illustrations accompany it perfectly. They are detailed, colorful and fit the moods, seasons of the story. The story was originally a song. The melody is in the back of the book. The lullaby quality of the story makes it a perfect book for bedtime. I think I'm going to give my copy to either my brother or my mom. A couple of my brother's kids are still young enough for picture books and I really like this one. Hibernate with Me is a gentle reminder that no matter how sad, small, or scared you feel, you are always worthy of love, and that brighter days are always ahead. I have one copy to...

Voice of the Violin by Andrea Camilleri

February 7, 2019February 7, 2019 by Carol2 Comments

It's been a while since I listened to a Commissario Montalbano mystery, but Voice of the Violin was part of Audible's 2-for-1 deal, so I picked it up. They're always enjoyable, well-thought-out mysteries and I love the cast of characters. In Voice of the Violin a young woman has been murdered and Montalbano is determined to find the killer, in spite of his new boss's manipulations. Montalbano may not always do things the legal way, but for him finding the truth is more important. Even though it's a pretty gruesome murder, there's humor sprinkled throughout the book that lightens it up. And Camilleri does a great job with depicting Sicily, the people, the weather, the food. These books always make me crave pasta - as if I didn't already. I especially liked how the violin plays into this one. I'm still not a fan of Montalbano's relationship with his long-distance girlfriend Livia. I'm pretty sure I say that every time....

The 7½ Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle by Stuart Turton

February 5, 2019February 7, 2019 by Carol10 Comments

I don't want to tell you much about The 7½ Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle. I don't want to ruin it for you. Someone described it as "Agatha Christie meets Groundhog Day" and I think that's pretty dead on. If you enjoy a good country house mystery, but like to take a chance with a book that's outside the usual, that may confuse/frustrate you at times, you should definitely pick it up. Aiden Bishop is our detective, but he doesn't remember being Aiden. He only knows that he's here, in Blackheath, and has to solve a murder that doesn't look like a murder. He repeats the same day eight times, but in eight different bodies. There are clues and red herrings, helpers and adversaries. We've got the standards of a house party, relatives who don't get along, guests with tons of secrets, scandals and drugs. And then we've got the almost sci-fi aspect of switching hosts and affecting how the day progresses...

Murder at Larkfield Barn by Betty Rowlands

February 4, 2019February 4, 2019 by Carol2 Comments

Murder at Larkfield Barn is the second of the Melissa Craig mysteries I've read, so while I usually avoid books with serial killers, I knew the type of book it was going to be and wasn't too concerned. Melissa is a mystery writer with a Private Investigator boyfriend, so it's really no wonder she gets mixed up in these mysteries. The blurb gives you the lay-out. There's a serial killer in the area who paints horrible smiles on the victims. But the police aren't convinced the murder in Upper Benbury was committed by the same person, maybe it's a copycat. It turns out that of course there's more than one killer. And Melissa is always at just the right place at the right time to put all the clues together. Rowland can be a little heavy-handed in this one. The foreshadowing is annoying rather than suspense-building. It's pretty easy to guess who the killer(s) are, just based on how they're portrayed, but...