In a Dark, Dark Wood by Ruth Ware

by Carol2 Comments
Did you read the blurb above? It sounds really good, doesn't it? First off, i like house party murder mysteries, so the glass house in the middle of the woods with a small cast of characters appealed to me. Add an unreliable narrator and secrets of the past and it should have been a winner. Unfortunately, all the characters were annoying and juvenile and the big surprise wasn't that surprising. I didn't care about Nora and found her agreement to go to the party unlikely. Add in her obsession with a high school boyfriend character and she was just a pretty sad character who I didn't relate to or sympathize. Actually, I was hoping for a final twist that took into account her knowledge from crime writing, but no, she just puts herself in a dangerous position alone with the killer like so many amateur female detectives. Really, when will they learn to at least tell someone where they're going? I...
Read More

Night Night, Sleep Tight by Hallie Ephron

by Carol4 Comments
The blurb gives the set-up -  and of course all the events are connected. I think Hollywood in the '80s with secrets going back to the late '50s was a great setting. Stars and writers with their careers and public image to think of give an interesting outlook on the mystery. My main problem with Night Night, Sleep Tight was that I just didn't care about Deidre. I didn't like her, didn't hate her, didn't feel sorry for her, or any of the main characters really. I didn't get to know her mother and brother enough to fully understand their motives and the family friends were all pretty self-absorbed. The mystery itself was fine but not compelling enough to carry the book.Deidre happens to find her father's memoir quickly after his death, which was more than a bit convenient. It gave her a direction to take her questions and other people a motive for murder. I was surprised, and a bit disappointed, by...
Read More

Death in a White Tie by Ngaio Marsh

by Carol1 Comment
I love Marsh's books. They tend to be decent puzzles and I adore the characters. In Death in a White Tie we have a glimpse of upper society London, with it's gossip and cruelty and caring too. Some of the characters are quite self-important, but other realize how amusing it all can be. Bunchy, the victim, is someone we as the readers actually like, someone who enjoyed the season, but who understood it's underside too. We've gotten to know him before he's killed and are genuinely sad, although not surprised, when he's dead one. Alleyn is determined to find the killer and sure that it's connected to the blackmailing. Alleyn is a little tough on some of the spoiled brats young people he interviews - which is good. The clues all tie together well in the end and the whodunnit was actually a bit surprising. One of the highlights of this particular book is the developing relationship between Alleyn and Agatha Troy. I've been reading these out...
Read More

The Pot Thief Who Studied Georgia O’Keeffe by J. Michael Orenduff

by CarolNo Comments
I'm sad. Why did no one tell me about this series before? The Pot Thief Who Studied Georgia O'Keeffe is smart, laugh out loud funny, and a good mystery. It throws in bits of history, literary references, and culture, and word play. It's just fun. Hubie is a criminal. He digs up pots illegally and sells them, but he justifies it well. He says, and I think believes, that the women who made the pots would rather have them in a household that cherishes them than a museum where they are rarely visited, or, even worse, left in the ground unappreciated. He's also a talented potter in his own right, making reproductions. The dead man is one of Hubie's associates, the one who had a buyer for the Tompiro pot. Hubie doesn't seem to broken up over the death, but I'm kind of assuming he was a character we would have met in a previous book or two. We've got his widow, a couple...
Read More

Night Shift by Charlaine Harris

by Carol2 Comments
I had this review all written - and lost it. I hate when that happens. At the beginning of the month, I had finished the audiobook I was listening to, had listened to a couple of short stories, and couldn't decide what to listen to next. Happily, I noticed that Night Shift was out. I was glad I hadn't spent the Audible credit on something else first, since I do love this series. Night Shift is third, and last, of the Midnight, Texas books, and I've listened to the three in order. I do think it's a bit better to start this series at the beginning. The characters are an odd lot, and there are a few things from previous books that impact this one. I guess it also has some cross-overs from Harris' other series. I've read a couple of those books, but it was a while ago and I don't remember much about them. I don't feel like that lack made me...
Read More

The Cracked Spine by Paige Shelton

by Carol4 Comments
Even though I had an eARC of The Cracked Spine, I listened to the audio version. I think it was a good choice. I could relax and listen to the words and accents. It was fun to listen to the Scottish lilt in the dialogue. I looked at my digital version, and I think actually reading the accent in print could have been a bit difficult. I would have almost had to read some portion aloud, at least at the beginning, just to get ahold of what was being said. I love the setting- a bookstore in Scotland, and I enjoyed the plot, unless I think about it too much. Delaney's off on an adventure that most of us can only dream off, and she's a nice lady who I enjoyed spending time with. I didn't quite understand her immediate jump into trying to figure out who killed a woman she had never met, the sister of her new boss who she...
Read More