Carol's Notebook

52 Books in 52 Weeks

December 6, 2024October 17, 2025 by CarolNo Comments

Last year I read mostly cozy mysteries. Now that everything has settled out a little, maybe I'll branch out some in 2025. Or maybe not. A lot of these can be filled with mysteries. Books read: A pun in the title - Bait and Swiss by Korina Moss A character with red hair - A High-End Finish by Kate Carlisle Title starts with letter “M” - Murder at Raven’s Hollow by Louise Marley Title starts with letter “N” - No One Was Supposed to Die at This Wedding by Catherine Mack Plot includes a heist Genre One: Set in Spring - The Masquerades of Spring by Ben Aaronovitch (fantasy) Genre Two: Set in Summer - Summer of ’49 by David Halberstam (non-fiction) Genre Three: Set in Autumn - How to Seal Your Own Fate by Kristen Perrin (mystery) Genre Four: Set in Winter Author’s last name is also a first name - Five Little Pigs by Agatha Christie A prequel - Forever and a Day by Anthony Horowitz Has a moon on the...

A Midwinter Murder by Verity Bright

December 5, 2024December 5, 2024 by CarolNo Comments

The Lady Eleanor Swift books always catch my eye, but this is the first I've actually picked up. It worked fine as a stand alone for me. All of the characters were introduced well and I had a good understanding of the relationships. The mystery itself was self-contained with no threads lingering from previous books. Lady Eleanor has to give up her plans for a holiday at home and has to attend the Duke of Auldwyke's shooting party instead. At least everyone is invited, including her fiancé/detective chief inspector, Hugh, and her staff has use of a cottage on the estate. Of course, a body is found not long after Lady Eleanor arrives - the duke's secretary, clearly murdered. A local policeman and Hugh end up investigating, but the duke, and the guests for that matter, are less than helpful. I do love a good Christmas manor house party murder. Here we've all the decorations and food and sledding I...

2025 Cloak and Dagger Reading Challenge

December 1, 2024December 6, 2024 by Carol59 Comments

I’m thrilled to be hosting the Cloak and Dagger Reading Challenge again. I love mystery and crime novels! Challenge Rules: You can read any book that is from the mystery/suspense/thriller/crime/true crime genres. Any sub-genres are welcome as long as they incorporate one of these genres. You don’t need a blog to participate but you do need a place to post your reviews to link up. (blog, Goodreads, Instagram, etc.) Make a goal post and link it back here with your goal for this challenge. Books need to be at least 100 pages long. Please no short stories. Crossovers with other challenges are fine. The Challenge will run from Jan. 1st to Dec. 31st. (Sign up ends March 15.) We still have our facebook group so if you haven’t joined we would love for you to! Here’s the group’s link: https://www.facebook.com/groups/350512171977943/. It’s a closed group so just ask to join and we’ll let you in. There will be a monthly link-up so we can see what everyone’s reading – and probably add some...

December Cloak and Dagger Link Up and Giveaway

December 1, 2024November 26, 2024 by CarolNo Comments

Happy December! I am not a fan of cold weather, which is what we get in Ohio this month, but I do love Christmas decorations - and holiday reads, of course. For those who celebrate, is there anything special you're hoping to see under the tree this year? First a giveaway. The prize is a book of your choice up to $25. I prefer to order from the Mystery Lovers Bookshop or Bookshop.org. If the winner is not US-based, we'll work out another option. a Rafflecopter giveaway Leave your December reads below. I'll also have a sign up post for next year's challenge later today, if you'd like to join in. You are invited to the Inlinkz link party! Click here to enter...

Mystery on Hidden Lane by Clare Chase

November 27, 2024November 27, 2024 by CarolNo Comments

Mystery on Hidden Lane is thirst of the Eve Mallow mysteries, a series that is longer than I realized when I picked this audiobook up at NetGalley. Eve is an obituary writer (think feature length obituaries for magazines), which is a career I haven't run into before. She also holds a job at a school to supplement her income, but she's taken a small break from that to head off to the small village of Saxford St Peter to research recently deceased cellist, Bernard Fitzpatrick. On the day of her arrival, however, the police release news that the man had been murdered. Turns out Eve is in the perfect position to investigate the case, especially when she thinks the detective in charge of the case is incompetent. Eve makes a good amateur sleuth. She's naturally curious and has practice putting people at ease as she pumps them for information. She's observant and does her research on both her subject and those...

Cruisin’ thru the Cozies Reading Challenge 2025

November 26, 2024July 7, 2025 by Carol1 Comment

I'm starting to think about reading challenges I want to join for next year. First up is the Cruisin’ thru the Cozies Reading Challenge hosted by Yvonne at Socrates’ Book Reviews. I’m aiming at being an investigator, reading 20 cozy mysteries of my choice hopefully including one from each of the categories below. One from culinary – Knife Skills for Beginners by Orlando Murrin One from animal-related – For Duck’s Sake by Donna Andrews One from craft related – Death Among the Doilies by Mollie Cox Bryan One from paranormal – Haunting and Homicide by Ava Burke One from cozy mysteries based outside the US – A Death in Diamonds by S. J. Bennett One career-based cozy mystery – The Library Game by Gigi Pandian One holiday based – A Victim at Valentine's by Ellie Alexander One travel mystery – One historical mystery – Death at the Highland Loch by Lydia Travers One is your choice! – Books read:...