Cockroaches by Jo Nesbø

by Carol6 Comments
Fictional detectives fall into many categories; the competent police force detective, male or female; the female amateur of so many light cozies, who may or may not have a bit of magic about her; the former professional who still "helps" with the occasional case; and the competent private investigator are just a few. Harry Hole is the anti-hero, a type of detective I'm drawn to. He's competent, but that's almost his downfall. He's so tenacious, like a pit bull with a bone, that even when he's sent on this sensitive case that everyone want to just go away, he digs and digs through all the muck and muddle to get to the truth. He's an alcoholic and develops a taste for opium, he is haunted by memories and by the unsolved rape of his sister who has Downs' syndrome. He's in a bad spot, so the folks in charge send him off to Thailand, figuring the drunk cop has no...
Read More

Dead Wrong by Leighann Dobbs

by Carol4 Comments
This is a really light mystery with a bit of PG romance. I enjoyed it but there wasn't much to it. I like the sisters and how they all support each other, but I kind of felt like we didn't really know much about them or the other characters. On the one hand, that's good, we're not bogged own with a bunch or back story, but it left me with a few too many questions. I love the house and the shop and can see why the girls will do anything can not to lose it. Oh, and there's a magical cat. There's a bit of a rumor around town that Balckmores may be witches, which they're not, at least they don't seem to be, but they do have this cat that has an uncanny way of being in just the right spot or finding just the thing they need. It's just a hint of paranormal. The mystery is okay. We get...
Read More

Night Film by Marisha Pessl

by Carol6 Comments
I really enjoyed Night Film and I have to say that it kept my attention all the way through, which at over 23 hours is pretty impressive. McGrath was not my favorite of the characters. I didn't exactly understand his obsession, but I did like the two young adults who are his side-kicks. Their reasons for caring made more sense to me. He just let a story overtake him, their concerns are more personal. It's a long books and tends toward sprawling in places. It meanders and we follow trail after trail that (maybe) go nowhere. It's not a novel with answers, just more questions. And that's even before McGrath (maybe) loses touch with reality a bit. I have to say I really liked the whole set-up and the way reality mirrored fiction portraying reality - maybe.  I guess it's one of those stories where I just went along for the ride, let Pessl lead me down the alleys she wanted to. I loved her...
Read More

Macbeth: The Graphic Novel adapted by John McDonald, written by William Shakespeare

by Carol4 Comments
When I read Light Thickens by Ngaio Marsh earlier this year, it made me want to re-read Shakespeare's Macbeth. Amber has had this graphic novel for a while and she enjoyed it, so I though it might be an interesting format to read the play. The dialogue is all the original, but the format obviously makes it feel different from reading the straight play. Macbeth is a great play and this is not a review of it. It's got witches and ghosts and murder and betrayal. It's really a fun tragedy, which is part of the reason I encouraged Amber to read it. She's not one to be afraid of classics, but Shakespeare's language can be daunting for anyone. The graphic novel makes it more accessible, you can see what's going on in addition to reading the dialogue. The illustrations are clean and colorful but not outstanding. I don't read many graphic novels, so take it for what it's worth, but the...
Read More

The Corsican Caper by Peter Mayle

by Carol1 Comment
Ah, the lives of the rich. Wine and food and wonderful scenery. And a house so marvelous someone is willing to kill you for it. That's about all there is to this mystery. I was never really worried about Reboul, since Sam is clearly too smart to let anything happen to his friend. There's no real question who the bad guy is, but for someone as connected and careful as Vronsky is, his plan is foiled easily. It's a short audiobook and the narrator does an okay job with all the characters and accents, from French to Russian to American to whatever Elena is, but my mind kept wandering. There was a lack of tension, no need for clues. The food sounded delicious, but aside from that there isn't much else to keep my attention. The characters are two-dimensional. The mystery is pretty much non-existent and the solution to the problem is too easy. I started to say it's okay if you just need something...
Read More

The Shell Game by Janet Evanovich and Lee Goldberg

by Carol2 Comments
Short stories are always tough to talk about - I want people to know why I did/didn't enjoy it, but I don't want to give away too much. It's even tougher when it's a prequel to a series that I've read all the rest of, like this one. The Shell Game details Nick Fox and Kate O'Hare's first meeting. Nick's a con-man/thief and Kate's FBI. HE's charming, she's dedicated. They're both intelligent and good-looking, although I'm not sure you get a feel for how attracted they are to each other in this mini-episode. Nick gets to show off his cleverness, Kate gets to show off her ability to see through him, but I missed their interactions with each other that are so much of the fun in the series. Scott Brick does a good job as always as the narrator. His tone of voice fits the story, not melodramatic, but not straight either. Does that make sense. He knows the type of story...
Read More