Book Reviews – Page 93 – Carol's Notebook

Ghosts of Tsavo by Vered Ehsani

April 21, 2020April 20, 2020 by Carol2 Comments

Ghosts of Tsavo is not my typical read, but it is. It's kind of like a cozy mystery set in Victorian-era Kenya, except instead of a traditional mystery, our heroine, Beatrice Knight, "Bee" to her friends, needs to solve a paranormal problem. There are ghost lions killing goats and the railroad workers worry that soon the lions' appetites will turn toward people. Bee, of course, is not alone. She has a family who are totally over-whelmed by moving to Africa, their servant, the local man she semi-partners with who is as mysterious as the lions, and a new friend who seems a bit ditzy. Oh, and her dead husband who is haunting her. And a local man that is interested in the lions for another reason altogether. It's a fun story and I enjoyed the historical Kenya setting. I like Bee. She's intelligent, but also likes people to observe the customs of the era when possible. Politeness and tea are important. She's...

A Thoughtful Woman by K.T. Findlay

April 19, 2020March 23, 2020 by Carol1 Comment

Sally is angry. So is Emma Johnson. They are both widows, their husbands killed by drunk drivers who were not found guilty. Both men, father and son, had the help of the same lawyer and the same cop "misplaced" their blood tests. Those men, all of them, are the ones Sally focuses her rage on and, with Emma's help, she is going to take justice, or revenge, into her own hands. At the same time, two men from a shadowy agency are looking for another man who's been missing for three years, but was also connected with some of the men. This is a tension-filled thriller. Sally is determined and creative and smart. The question becomes are the men or the cops a match for her, especially when she has Emma to rely on? I don't really want to give away too much of the plot, but it's astounding what people are willing to do and how the line between good...

The How of Happiness by Sonja Lyubomirsky

April 15, 2020May 15, 2020 by CarolNo Comments

I've been doing The Science of Well-Being class on Coursera, and one of the books the professor, Laurie Santos, mentioned was The How of Happiness by Sonja Lyubormirsky, so being the person that I am, I picked it up. According to Lyubomirsky, 50% of your happiness level is genetic, you can't change it. By nature, you have a set happiness point that may be higher or lower or right on track with the average. 10% of your happiness is based on life circumstances, like being married or divorced, rich or poor, healthy or ill. That leaves 40% that we can directly effect. She gives research to back up these numbers. The remainder of the book is about ways to improve that 40% of our happiness we have control over, activities we can do to become happier. There are several "quizzes" in the book to help you find your current happiness level, and find which happiness strategies will play to your strengths....

A Grave Mistake by Ngaio Marsh

April 7, 2020April 7, 2020 by CarolNo Comments

I'm running out of Ngaio Marsh books. :( A Grave Mistake is one of the last of Marsh's books. It was written in the late 70s but set earlier than that I think and still has the Golden Age feel that most of her stories do. We have a small English village, a beautifully maintained Georgian house owned by Sybil Foster, a rather snobbish, but attractive middle-aged widow who has recently hired a talented gardener. She has a daughter who is engaged, much to Sybil's annoyance, to the son of a Greek millionaire instead of a man with a title. Sybil goes to a nearby hotel/spa for rest and maybe to secure the attentions of the doctor on staff. Of course, she ends up dead. At first, it's considered suicide, but evidence soon points to murder, which is why Alleyn is called in. Alleyn has Fox with him on this case, and I do enjoy the pair of them. They get...

Jade Dragon Mountain by Elsa Hart

April 6, 2020April 6, 2020 by Carol2 Comments

It took me a few chapters to get into Jade Dragon Mountain. The setting is amazing, but very different from most books I read. The pace at the beginning was slow, or at least the audio made it feel that way. However, once Li Du was settled in to his cousin the magistrate's home and we met all the others there, both the household and the foreigners, the story became engrossing. People have gathered in Dayan because the Emperor is coming and there will be a celebration of the eclipse. One of the visitors, a Jesuit astronomer, is killed in his room, poisoned. Li Du is not content with the official story and the magistrate allows him to investigate the crime. There were many people with access to the room and the tea that was poisoned, but, it's difficult to see who gained from the older man's murder. The author does a wonderful job at making us feel like we're in eighteenth-century...

The Stolen Letter by Paige Shelton

April 3, 2020February 27, 2020 by Carol3 Comments

The Stolen Letter is the fifth of the Scottish Bookshop Mysteries. I've read all of them, and while you could jump in at this one, you'd miss seeing Delaney, our amateur sleuth, starting her adventure, new in town, to finding a second family at the bookshop, falling in love, and really making her dreams come true. This time around she meets Mary Stewart, a woman who looks almost exactly like her, but 20 years older. Mary believes she's a reincarnation of Mary, Queen of Scots. I loved how the Queen's story was woven into a current day murder mystery. This series often includes a slight mystical element, but they never, well rarely, jump into the truly paranormal. They are all definitely cozy mysteries, with very real “whodunits.” I love the setting. Delaney works in the mysterious, yet inviting bookshop, The Cracked Spine. I love spending time with Delaney and the other staff of the shop. They are all charming and...