The Blood Card by Elly Griffiths

The Blood Card by Elly Griffiths

by Carol2 Comments
The Blood Card is the third in the series featuring DI Edgar Stephens and the magician Max Mephisto. This is a wonderful historical thriller located in the world of theatre variety shows and the gypsy community. It is the third in the series but the first I have read and it works very well as a standalone. It is set in the period leading to the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II in 1953. In London, Max is performing at the Theatre Royal, while in Brighton, Edgar is looking into the death of Madame Zabini, a fortune teller on the pier. Max and Edgar are summoned by General Petre who takes them to the murder scene of their old wartime commander, Colonel Peter Cartwright. There is a playing card left with the body, the Ace of Hearts, known in the theatrical community as the blood card. Petre asks them to look into the murder discreetly. Max and Edgar are horrified at...
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Smoke and Mirrors by Elly Griffiths

Smoke and Mirrors by Elly Griffiths

by Carol2 Comments
Smoke and Mirrors, the second book in Elly Griffiths series featuring DI Stephens, and actor/magician Max Mephisto, is set in Brighton about a year after the events in the Zig Zag Girl, during the winter of 1951. Max and the Great Diablo are performing in a pantomime in town. These type of pantomimes seem to be a very British thing. It's a theater play that involves music, topical jokes, and slapstick comedy, and in this case magic, and is based on a fairy tale or nursery story. They are usually produced around Christmas, I'm not sure why. When two young children go missing, and are later found dead in a snowbank surrounded by candies, DI Edgar Stephens, and his officers, Emma Holmes and Bob Willis, are tasked to investigate. With a frightened community demanding that the killer be found, and little evidence to go on, Stephens turns to his old friend Max for information after drawing a possible link to...
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This Body’s Not Big Enough for Both of Us by Edgar Cantero

This Body’s Not Big Enough for Both of Us by Edgar Cantero

by CarolNo Comments
Loved, loved, loved This Body's Not Big Enough for Both of Us. In San Francisco, there’s a dingy little office that bears the names of A. Kimrean and Z. Kimrean Private Eyes, but anyone who walks into the office will be surprised to see one androgynous person sitting there, and nowhere near enough space for a second detective. Adrian and Zooey Kimrean are brother and sister, conjoined twins, who share the same whole body and brain. Adrian is all logic and little emotion, able to jump to deductions like Sherlock Holmes; Zooey is wild, carefree, and a bit of a nymphomaniac. Together they make an excellent team, when they aren’t trying to figure out a way to push the other one out of consciousness so that only one can be in control… but what siblings don’t have their little squabbles? So, we've got a Private Investigator who is hired by the SFPD to stop a gang war and get an undercover...
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Clammed Up by Barbara Ross

Clammed Up by Barbara Ross

by CarolNo Comments
In Clammed Up, Julia Snowden, our amateur sleuth, has a legitimate reason to investigate the crime. Her family's business, the Snowden Family Clambake, was already having financial difficulties, but finding the dead body on the island has shut them down, and each day of business missed is one day closer to the bank calling their loan. Oh, and the guy she has a crush on seems to be one of the main suspects. Julia and her family are easy to like. They stick together, even when they fight. The small town feel was well-done too. The locals all know each other and know how much the tourist season means to the town. Old friends are loyal, but know each other's backgrounds too. I also loved the Maine setting. It's nice to visit other places while we're all stuck at home. I went to Maine with my family once when I was younger. Pretty much all I remember was cold and gray, so...
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An Implacable Woman by K.T. Findlay

An Implacable Woman by K.T. Findlay

by Carol5 Comments
An Implacable Woman is the second of the Sally Mellors books, and I really think it's best to read the first, A Thoughtful Woman, before starting this one. It will give you a fuller picture of Sally and her friends and Sally's ruthlessness. An Implacable Woman was not as good as the first. We have Sally being the vigilante again, this time tracking down and killing men who abuse their wives. Sally's friends still feature in the book, one being the very cop who is still trying to catch "Selina," from Sally's last outing. The cops are not very competent. Yes, this is the 80s, but they solved a lot of crimes then, even without cell phones and DNA analysis. I bet Jessica Fletcher would have no trouble figuring out who the killer on the loose was. I think, even though the way she killed was different this time around, it still felt too similar to the first. Sally kills some men,...
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Rethinking Positive Thinking by Gabriele Oettingen

Rethinking Positive Thinking by Gabriele Oettingen

by CarolNo Comments
I mentioned before that I've been doing The Science of Well-Being class on Coursera. Another book the professor, Laurie Santos, mentioned was Rethinking Positive Thinking by Gabriele Oettingen, and she interviewed the author for one of the segments, so I picked it up. If I spend 80% of my reading this year on mysteries and being happy, I think that'll be a good year. The blurb above gives a good summation of the book. Oettingen and others have done a lot of research on wishes, how they affect our actions, and what helps us achieve or not achieve them. She shares the results of a lot of studies, mostly college kids - who are probably the easiest to recruit - but other groups too. She also shares individuals' experiences, people she's worked with through training sessions or friends. Interestingly enough, the science demonstrates that it is not necessarily helpful to fantasize about achieving some wish because it makes us feel relaxed, and thus...
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