A Demon Summer by G. M. Malliet

by Carol5 Comments
Good points - I like Max. He's a good guy with a true calling who doesn't judge others. For a not necessarily "Christian" mystery, I think it's better at presenting religious lessons than some of the preachier ones. He makes sense as a detective, too, since he's former MI5. It's reasonable that the bishop would send him to investigate. The abbey is a good setting and the nuns are an interesting lot. Each has a past, but those don't count anymore, since they've joined the sisters. The nuns are walking a fine line between being separate from the world and making money by selling their products and having guests stay. Max's relationship with his pregnant girlfriend, Awena, stays in the background. I was afraid it would dominate this one after the end of #3, but it didn't. Awena's a great character, very in touch with nature and the seasons, but I don't necessarily like an overly complicated romance to intrude on a mystery. The...
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Thursday’s Tale: The Flying Witch by Jane Yolen

by Carol4 Comments
The Flying Witch is not a traditional Baba Yaga story, but it's still entertaining. The witch is after a tasty, plump child to eat, but the girl she finds is brave and clever. She has "two good feet, a fine sense of direction, two strong arms, and a clever mind." She finds a way to escape from the witch with - get this- her father's help. Dad is pretty smart himself, puts two and two together, and finds his daughter. I love that we have a strong female lead in the little girl and a dad who is not the stereotypical disinterested/absent fairy tale father. He cares and risks his safety to go after her. Yolen's Baba Yaga follows tradition. She flies using a mortar and pestle, is wrinkled and ugly and has an iron nose. The book doesn't talk down to its young audience, it explains and shows what the mortar and pestle look like instead of just letting her...
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The Cuckoo’s Calling by Robert Galbraith

by Carol11 Comments
I wasn't going to read The Cuckoo's Calling, something about Rowling writing it under a secret pseudonym that just happens to leak out when the book doesn't sell well rubbed me wrong. But the library had the audio available when I needed a book to quickly add to my player, so I decided to give it a chance. I was pleasantly surprised. In a lot of ways it's the standard detective story. Our detective, Cormoran Strike, is a big, tough guy with a gruff exterior. He's definitely down on his luck, but his backstory is interesting. He's a war hero and the son of a rock star father who he doesn't have any contact with. I got a little tired of hearing about how uncomfortable his prosthesis was though. But at heart he's a good guy who wants to help those who need him. His assistant Robin is competent and caring, but a little disappointing somehow. Maybe she just doesn't get...
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Real Elves: A Christmas Story by Helen Smith

by Carol1 Comment
Real Elves is my first Christmas read of the year and it was a cute little mystery, a little silly maybe, but it has a light-heartedness that fits Christmas. And I would love to visit the Magic Forest, pick a golden apple,  and see Santa. It's a short story, only 35 pages or so, so I don't want to give away too much of the plot. I will say that there's no violence and it has a happy ending all around. I've read a couple other stories featuring Emily Castles. She's smart, funny and a bit quirky, but I don't think you actually get much of a feel for her characters here, it's more about the magic and mystery, not the recurring character. That does mean it works well as a stand-alone though. It'd be a nice gift to sneak into a stocking or a small gift exchange....
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Thursday’s Tale: The Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum

by Carol3 Comments
In his introduction to The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, which was first published in 1900, Baum wrote that the story "aspires to being a modernized fairy tale, in which the wonderment and joy are retained and the heart-aches and nightmares are left out.” It has been considered the first American fairy tale because of its references to clear American locations like Kansas and Omaha. While agreeing with authors like Carroll about fantasy literature and its importance for children along with numerous illustrations, Baum also wanted to create a story that had recognizable American elements in it like farming and industrialization. It's a mix of fantasy: witches and wizards, and the everyday: scarecrows, puppy dogs. I have watched three movie versions of the Wizard of Oz over the years - the classic from 1939, the Muppet version, and last year's Oz the Great and Powerful. Each has aspects of the original story, but none capture the whole adventure. We all know Dorothy is...
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Grim Shadows by Jenn Bennet

by Carol4 Comments
I have to admit that at first I was a bit annoyed with the male lead, Lowe Magnusson. When he first meets Hadley Bacall, he just keeps going on and on about her rear-end. Thankfully he eventually moved on to noticing her as a person. And they are a good match. Lowe is a con-artist, liar and a thief, but he has a truly good heart. Who doesn't love that type of bad boy, the kind that's just bad enough to be interesting but isn't going to intentionally hurt the people he cares about? Hadley has spent her life proving she's worthy and trying to keep her spirits at bay. Because they do want to kill someone, they're just waiting for her to get angry enough to let them. And she comes close - Lowe is quite good at pushing people's buttons. While this is a romance, Lowe and Hadley are also on a mission. They need to collect the pieces of an artifact, but...
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