Carol's Notebook – Page 163

Sunday Salon – 12/15

December 15, 2019December 15, 2019 by Carol8 Comments

Thanks to Deb at Readerbuzz for hosting The Sunday Salon. Stop over there or at the Facebook Group to participate. Week’s Highlight: We went to Oberlin's Art Walk Friday. The first three photos are a few of Amber's paintings and then there are some of the show in general. Reading: I've been reading Christmas stories. What's your favorite Christmassy book? This week's posts: The Christmas Egg by Mary KellyThe Christmas Card Crime and Other Stories edited by Martin EdwardsAn Ale of Two Cities by Sarah FoxThe Ghost of Christmas Past by Angie Fox Looking forward to: Amber will come home Saturday. It will be nice to have her around for a while. I think Mom and I are going to do a Paint and Sip on Friday, which should be fun....

The Ghost of Christmas Past by Angie Fox

December 13, 2019December 13, 2019 by CarolNo Comments

Small confession: I have the first of the Southern Ghost Hunter mysteries on my Kindle, but haven't gotten around to reading it yet. Then I saw this "between the books" holiday story and decided it was a perfect way to get a taste of the series. The Ghost of Christmas Past is not actually a mystery, but it works as a stand-alone and let me get to know Verity and some of her crew. As you can tell from the title, The Ghost of Christmas Past is a retelling of the Charles Dickens tale. A few ghosts decide Verity needs to learn a lesson. This is a feel-good story, a bit sentimental in a good way. Verity is sweet and caring and I love her pet skunk. We don't really get to see her solve a mystery, but she does have a problem or two that she solves. She's clearly brave and resourceful, and Frankie, her ghostly sidekick is interesting,...

An Ale of Two Cities by Sarah Fox

December 12, 2019December 12, 2019 by CarolNo Comments

I picked up An Ale of Two Cities thanks to Kensington's November Mystery launch party on Facebook. I had not heard of the Literary Pub series before, but it sounded like a fun idea. Sadie, our amateur sleuth runs a bar, the Inkwell, that serves food and drink with book pun names and the shelves are full of her book collection. I wish we had a place like that in our town. This is the second in the series, but it worked fine as a stand-alone for me. I skipped to #2 because it's set around Christmas, which was the second draw for me. It's Winter Carnival Time in Shady Creek, Vermont. One of the highlights is the ice sculpture contest and one of Sadie’s employees, Mel, has entered. One of the other contestants is a local man who made it big in Boston and is now a famous chef. He's a jerk and treats everyone in town like...

The Christmas Card Crime and Other Stories edited by Martin Edwards

December 11, 2019December 11, 2019 by CarolNo Comments

I thoroughly enjoyed the storied in The Christmas Card Crime and Other Stories. Each short story/mystery is set around Christmas, but aside from that one connecting feature, it's a great variety, from typical whodunnits, to spy stories, to a ghost story. The stories are as follows: "A Christmas Tragedy" by Baroness Orczy "By the Sword" by Selwyn Jepson "The Christmas Card Crime" by Donald Stuart "The Motive" by Ronald Knox "Blind Man's Hood" by Carter Dickson "Paul Temple's White Christmas" by Francis Durbridge "Sister Bessie" or "Your Old Leech" by Cyril Hare "A Bit of Wire Pulling" by E.C.R. Lorac "Pattern of Revenge" by John Bude "Crime at Lark Cottage" by John Bingham "'Twixt the Cup and the Lip" by Julian Symons Most of the authors were new to me, but there wasn't really a bad one in the bunch. Granted, some are better than others, as in any collection, but there's...

The Christmas Egg by Mary Kelly

December 9, 2019December 9, 2019 by Carol4 Comments

Three days before Christmas, Inspector Nightingale is called to the scene of a suspicious death. An elderly woman has been found dead in her bed. It may have been natural cause, but she has been robbed. Nightingale discovers she was a Russian princess who had fled to Britain during the Revolution, bringing with her jewelry and valuable pieces of art. There has been a recent spate of burglaries and Nightingale suspects this is another by the same group. We know from the beginning that the princess's grandson is probably involved and there's never really any doubt that it's connected to the other thefts. The bulk of the book follows Nightingale and his sergeant as they identify and catch the thieves. While the story takes place around Christmas, it's not very Christmassy. There are no interrupted celebrations, no warm feelings. There is a bit of present buying, but even that turns out questionable, and traipsing through the snow can be deadly....

Sunday Salon – 12/8

December 8, 2019December 8, 2019 by Carol7 Comments

Thanks to Deb at Readerbuzz for hosting The Sunday Salon. Stop over there or at the Facebook Group to participate. Christmas Spirit Readathon Wrap-up Thanks again to Michelle at Seasons of Reading for hosting the Christmas Spirit Readathon which wrapped up this evening. Books I finished: Lord James Harrington and the Christmas Mystery by Lynn Florkiewicz Ale of Two Cities by Sarah Fox Christmas at the Chateau by Lorraine Wilson The Christmas Egg by Mary Kelly The Christmas Card Crime and Other Stories edited by Martin Edward Started, but haven't finished: Apple Cider Slaying by Julie Anne LindseyThe Ghost of Christmas Past by Angie Fox Week’s Highlight: David and I went to the Penguins Hockey game on Friday. It was fun and the Pens won, which was nice too. Playing: We played Dead Man's Cabal this week. It's a fun game, not too tough but a bit unusual. I'm not usually a zombie fan, but I enjoy this one. I lost pretty badly though. Looking forward to: Friday will be Art Walk at...