Carol's Notebook

A Cryptic Clue by Victoria Gilbert

July 18, 2023July 18, 2023 by CarolNo Comments

Jane Hunter was forced to take early retirement from her job as a University librarian. Needing to occupy her time and supplement her pension, she takes on the job of cataloguing the mystery collection of wealthy collector Cameron Clewe. Cam is thirty-three and attractive, but does not have many social skills. He also deals with anxiety and is agoraphobic. It's not surprising that his romantic relationships rarely work out well. But, Ashely Allen is the first to end up dead in his library. Convinced he will be the main suspect in the murder investigation, Cam convinces Jane to help him do a little sleuthing, in addition to her regular duties. I liked Jane. She's 60 and having to start over, but she's doing it with grace and humor. The story is told from her viewpoint, but she is the sidekick. She's smart and good at talking to people and understanding body language, but it's Clewe who can put all...

Stalking Around the Christmas Tree by Jacqueline Frost

July 17, 2023July 17, 2023 by CarolNo Comments

It's Christmas in Mistletoe, Maine, and for the fourth year in a row, someone is murdered. This time around, the dead woman is the lead ballerina in the visiting production of The Nutcracker. And of course, several members of the ballet and the choreography master are staying at Holly's inn at her parents' tree farm. I love a good holiday mystery and Stalking Around the Christmas Tree was fun. It's filled with all things Christmassy - The Nutcracker Ballet, presents for charity, delicious goodies, and plenty of snow. There's enough romance to make me smile, but not so much that it takes over the story. And there's a murder. I enjoy the characters in this series. Holly is surrounded by a supportive, loving, quirky bunch of family and friends. And yes, her boyfriend Evan is the town sheriff, which seems a bit of a cheat, but I actually like him and he treats Holly as if she's capable and intelligent....

Flop Dead Gorgeous by David Rosenfelt

July 11, 2023July 17, 2023 by CarolNo Comments

I have to admit that the reason I listen to the Andy Carpenter series is that Grover Gardner narrates them. He has such a distinctive voice and it works so well with Andy's sarcasm and humor. I've never read on of the series in print, and I have no desire to stray from the audio versions. This time around Andy is defending hometown girl turned Hollywood star, Jenny Nichols. And of course, Jenny has a dog, Mamie, who she adopted through Andy's rescue program. She is accused of killing her former boyfriend, current co-star, Ryan Griffin. Andy, of course, wants to get a "not guilty" verdict but the evidence is not in their favor. So he and his team get to work on trying to figure out who really killed Ryan and why. They uncover a lot in their digging including money laundering, organized crime, Interpol's most wanted, cybercrime, drug trafficking, and murders. Even with all the complications, I did manage to...

The Boys from Brazil by Ira Levin

July 5, 2023July 5, 2023 by Carol1 Comment

I confess I have never seen the movie version of The Boys from Brazil. Honestly, I only picked it up because I was looking for a book set in Brazil and this one is a classic thriller. It's set in the world of the Nazi hunters of the mid and later twentieth century. It's conspiracy mixed with historical facts. The story begins with a top-secret meeting in a Japanese restaurant to initiate a mysterious project by 'the comrade organization'. Six hitmen are assigned to kill 94 older civil servants scattered throughout the world, and they must die on the designated dates set forth by the still-hunted Josef Mengele. Renowned Nazi-hunter, Yakov Liebermann learns about the plot via a mysterious phone call from a twenty-something American who went down Brazil to investigate. The young man is killed while on the phone call. The novel is gripping and while the plot is maybe a bit far-fetched, it was fascinating. It was easy to...

July Cloak and Dagger Link-up

July 1, 2023June 28, 2023 by CarolNo Comments

Happy July! I'm on my summer schedule at work which means I'm done an hour earlier and have Friday off. Yay! I also quit my organist job, which means at least for the time being I have weekends off too. Lots of extra reading time. Or maybe time to get caught up on stuff around the house. Either way, I'm enjoying it. Link up your July Cloak and Dagger reads below. You are invited to the Inlinkz link party! Click here to enter...

An English Garden Murder by Katie Gayle

June 28, 2023June 28, 2023 by CarolNo Comments

Newly-retired and newly-divorced London social worker Julia Bird has just moved to a village in the Cotswolds. Julia is working on making it her home - meeting new people, having a chicken coop built, getting a dog. No sooner has Julia hired local handyman Johnny Blunt and his grandson to tear down an old shed and build the chicken coop, than human remains are discovered under the shed's foundation. Julia is of course curious about the identity of the body and is pretty good at reading people's behaviors so starts asking questions. And then she discovers a second body, and she knows there's a killer still living in the town. The village is full of appropriately quirky people but there's a lot going on under the surface. Julia is a good lead character. She's kind of reinventing herself and finding her feet in her new situation. She even has a possible love interest. D.I. Hayley Gibson is in charge of...