Audiobook – Carol's Notebook

The Rose and the Yew Tree by Mary Westmacott

August 4, 2026August 4, 2026 by CarolNo Comments

I don't know who told me that Mary Westmacott was the name Agatha Christie wrote her romances under, but I wish they hadn't. Granted, The Rose and the Yew Tree isn't a mystery, even if we do get a murder, but it isn't a stereotypical romance either. Most of the story takes place in a small town in Southern England during the run up to the General Election of 1945. Christie does a great job of developing the characters and commenting on the politics of the era. Our narrator, who doesn't even get a mention in the blurb, is Hugh Norreys, a World War II veteran who was invalided due to a car accident. He has moved in with his brother and sister-in-law and is mostly feeling sorry for himself until he is distracted by his lovely neighbor, Isabella Charteris, and war hero turned politician, John Gabriel. Hughes status as an invalid stuck in a chair means others have a...

On the Hook by Rae Keech

July 7, 2026July 7, 2026 by CarolNo Comments

I think this might be the first sailing cozy mystery I've read. Anne is a teacher at the elementary school in her hometown and is a member of the local boat club. Following the women laser regatta, one of the competitors is killed and Anne becomes a suspect. She and her friend, Tim, the dockmaster at the club, start to investigate. The mystery was good. We had several plausible suspects, good clues and a few red herrings. I do wish the author had trusted the reader a bit more, instead of repeating points over and over. I liked Anne, but I didn't quite understand her. She's been a widow for 18 years, her husband died suddenly when they were in their twenties. Why is she now, right when a murderer is loose in town, becoming interested in Tim, whom she has known for at least a couple of years. And the whole couple of chapters where he leaves town and somehow...

Cruising Through Midlife by Addison Moore

June 29, 2026June 29, 2026 by CarolNo Comments

Trixie is on her 25-anniversary cruise to Hawaii alone because her husband is a cheating jerk. And I do have to say she moved on well. She's determined to have fun and not fall for any of his pleading or mean jabs. She seems to take everything in stride and with a smile, even when she finds a dead body in her luggage and a ghost turns up to help her solve the mystery. It's a fun, lighthearted mystery with plenty of romance. Trixie has two potential love interests, both crew. I'm not a fan of love triangles and I did kind of want her to just pick one, but it's only an 18-night cruise, and she'll never see either of them again, so what's the harm? And I might have peeked at some of the later blurbs in the series, so I'm willing to let it slide for now. It's a fun book. I enjoyed Trixie and her new friends. It's...

Home Before Dark by Riley Sager

June 25, 2026June 25, 2026 by Carol2 Comments

The set-up is good. Twenty-five years ago, Maggie Holt's father wrote a book, House of Horrors, about their family's three weeks in the haunted Baneberry Hall. The book became a best seller, but now her father is dead and she's inherited the house. Maggie's convinced the book was fiction and remembers nothing from their time there, so she moves into Baneberry Hall to renovate it for sale and, hopefully, find out the truth of what really happened that summer. It turns out that the house is creepier than Maggie had expected. The book alternates between the present timeline and chapters from House of Horrors, using what her dad wrote to echo what she's living through. It turns out that more might be true than she thought. I listened to the audio and having two narrators, one for House of Horrors and one for Maggie's point of view, worked well. I don't read many horror books and this is my first...

Murder in an Italian Castle by Benedict Brown

June 22, 2026June 22, 2026 by CarolNo Comments

I've read a few of Lord Edgington and always enjoyed them. Now, Lord Edgington and his grandson, Christopher, have finally started their European tour. Their first stop is in Italy, at Castle Montegufoni, owned by Edgington's old friend, Lord Renwick Monroe. They've only just arrived when they hear arguing from the clock tower and see Renwick fall to his death. Turns out Renwick was not a nice man, but someone who enjoyed pushing buttons and causing tension. Unsurprisingly, we've got a host of suspects, including Renwick's three heirs, his secretary, and assorted townspeople. The mystery was clever. The clues all fit together well, but I still didn't guess the solution. The historic touches are fun and the food sounded delicious. Murder in an Italian Castle is light, enjoyable read. I'm looking forward to their next adventure in Italy....

Murder and Mayheim by Ronica Black and Toni Logan

June 17, 2026June 29, 2026 by CarolNo Comments

Murder and Mayheim should have been one I thoroughly enjoyed. Our amateur sleuth, Cassie, is a bookstore owner on a murder mystery cruise in Alaska with her best friend. They team up with a pair of elderly sisters who are just hilarious. Cassie meets a potential love interest, Hannah, within seconds of boarding. It's Hannah's sister who ends up dead after falling down the stairs. Cassie and Hannah are convinced she was murdered and are determined to find the killer. The mystery was actually pretty decent. The clues tied together well and we had several potential suspects. The problem for me, which I didn't realize from the blurb, was just how much the growing relationship between the two women would overshadow the mystery. I didn't realize we would have full-fledged graphic sex scenes between these two people who just me. And that's probably my fault for not reading more reviews or knowing the author, but it took me out of the...