Book Reviews – Page 65 – Carol's Notebook

The Recovery Agent by Janet Evanovich

April 6, 2022April 5, 2022 by Carol2 Comments

The Recovery Agent is super fun and over the top. Don't think about it too hard, just enjoy the ride - or jungle trek. Gabriela's family is in the midst of losing their home, their town, and their jobs after a hurricane did severe damage and they didn't receive any federal aid. Her grandma has a plan. Gabriela just needs to get the chest hidden for decades, over a century maybe, in her ex-husband's house and use the maps and journals to find a treasure. Of course, her ex-husband finds her when she's searching under his floors and decides he's going to tag along with her on the treasure hunt. They head to Peru, on the trail of the Ring of Solomon and the lost treasure of Cortez. Rafe, the ex-husband, and Gabriela are a good team, whether she wants them to be or not. The banter is funny and the chemistry is good. We've got a lot of chasing, globetrotting, drug...

A Game of Cones by Abby Collette

April 5, 2022April 5, 2022 by Carol6 Comments

I really want to like the Ice Cream Parlor series. Our main character, Wyn, runs an ice cream shop in northern Ohio and has a great family and supportive, if quirky, friends. This time she's dragged into the mystery when a friend/ former co-worker from New York comes to town to see her and ends up being a suspect in a murder investigation. A lot is going on in this one. There were a bunch of suspects since the dead man worked for a company proposing to open a mall in the town, which would totally change the nature of the downtown area - not for the better. Rory is in town to try to convince Wyn to come back to her old company in New York. Aunt Jack is back and trying to stick her nose into how the shop is run. The solution to the mystery was well done, even if getting there was a little meandering. I think...

The Study of Secrets by Cynthia Kuhn

March 31, 2022March 31, 2022 by CarolNo Comments

Lila Maclean has been taking a fall semester sabbatical, staying with family friend Bibi Callahan while finishing up her book on mystery author Isabella Dare. Bibi is actually Isabella, but no one aside Lila knows that. Lila, Bibi, and a few of Bibi's friends meet one evening for a book discussion. By the end of the evening, one of the women is murdered and an unpublished manuscript is missing. Bibi asks Lila to help figure out who the killer is, but the murder has ties to secrets in Bibi and her friends' pasts, secrets they don't necessarily want brought to light. The new characters are an eclectic bunch, with complicated relationships dating back to when they were children. Lila is her usually smart, suspicious self and we get to see some of the recurring characters too. The Callahan House isn't far from Stonedale after all. This is a fun mystery with a great heroine and a well-crafted plot. There were...

Wine for Normal People by Elizabeth Schneider

March 28, 2022March 28, 2022 by Carol7 Comments

Wine for Normal People is such a good book. I enjoy wine — well, some wines — but know very little about it. Wine is complicated, from the color, to the region in which it's grown, to the correct pairing with food, and the temperature at which it's served. I tend to stick with what I know I'll like, but this book has given me a bit of confidence to pick some less safe options. The book is interesting and conversational. We learn how to taste wine, how it's made, how both the winemaker and where the grapes are grown affect that taste. We get a quick tour of wines in both the Old World and New World. The author also gives advice on pairing wine and food, not a list to memorize, but characteristics to take into account. I listened to the audiobook narrated by the author, who also has a podcast by the same name. It felt like a friend...

The Subject of Malice by Cynthia Kuhn

March 26, 2022March 28, 2022 by CarolNo Comments

In The Subject of Malice, Lila leaves campus for a convention at nearby Tattered Star Ranch. The small press that will be publishing her book is there and she's meeting with her editor, in between attending panels, tours, and odd jobs as a member of the planning committee. Her rival, Simone, and Simone’s twin sister, Selene, are also attending the conference and apparently co-writing a book on the same author as Lila, which is both bad for Lila and unprofessional on Simone's part. It's all stressful and the keynote is maybe a jerk, even if he's an incredibly popular writer. And then one of the editors ends up dead. Lex is on hand to investigate. Time passes between the books in this series and Lila and Lex have been dating for over a year now. Anyway, he actually asks Lila to consult for the department, since she knows the people and has a better grasp on potential motives. Yeah,...

The Spirit in Question by Cynthia Kuhn

March 25, 2022March 25, 2022 by Carol1 Comment

I've been reading the Lila Maclean mysteries this month. Each can work as a stand-alone, but like most series, reading them in order will give you a better feel for the characters, especially the ones in supporting roles. In The Spirit in Question, Lila has taken on (or perhaps been dragged into) helping with the production of another professor’s play, Puzzled: The Musical, a barely comprehensible mixture of detectives and dancers. The student actors and crew are having a ball - until the director is murdered during a rehearsal. At the request of Detective Lex Archer (the love interest), Lila (mostly) stays out of the hunt for the murderer, but plenty of other problems keep her busy. The play is being staged in the Stonedale Opera House, which the university owns but doesn't seem to maintain. The Historical Society is protesting the use of the building, multiple accidents happen during practices, and, to top it all off, the building might be haunted....