Audiobook – Page 38 – Carol's Notebook

Frozen Detective by Amanda Flower

November 22, 2022November 22, 2022 by Carol2 Comments

Frozen Detective is a fun, wintery mystery that takes place at New Year's. Darby and Tate take on a case for Tate's old friend, Cecily (CeCe) Madd. Cecily's husband has been receiving threatening notes and she's worried his life is in danger, but of course, she wants to avoid the publicity that calling in the police might bring. Darby and Tate go undercover to a New Year's party Cecily and Dr. Madd are holding at the nearby ski resort. And, of course, first thing on New Year's Day, Dr. Madd is killed, shot with a crossbow on the ski slope. The Police close the lodge and ordered the guests to remain. Darby and Tate must find the killer before the weekend ends and the guests leave. I enjoyed Darby and Tate. Darby is an experienced PI, but Tate is pretty new to the agency and it was good to see how they have to learn to trust each other and recognize...

Murder on the Christmas Express by Alexandra Benedict

November 17, 2022November 17, 2022 by Carol2 Comments

It's the night before Christmas Eve, and the sleeper train to Fort William leaves Euston with a number of passengers on board, including a killer, a stowaway, and former Met detective Roz Parker. The first part of the book introduces us to all the characters. In addition to Roz, we have a widely varied group, including a social media influencer and her boyfriend, a reality tv "star"; four students competing for a place in a quiz team; a couple traveling with their four children; a lawyer; an elderly woman and her son; and of course the train crew. Somewhere after Edinburgh, in heavy snow, the train is derailed, and shortly afterward, one of the passengers is found dead. I love a good closed-circle mystery, especially one set around Christmas. MurderOne of the people on the train is a killer, that's clear, especially when there's a second death. Of course, several of the passengers have secrets, worries, and, in true...

The Enigma of Room 622 by Joël Dicker

November 11, 2022November 9, 2022 by CarolNo Comments

The Enigma of Room 622 is the first of Dicker's works I've read. I think I saw it on one of those must-read mysteries of this month lists. I'm not sure if I enjoyed it or not. I feel like I missed some of it because of my unfamiliarity with the author, who has fictionalized himself as one of the characters in this story within a story (within a story). A. Joël has come to a hotel to refresh after a bad breakup and the death of his editor. The hotel does not have a room 622. He and Scarlett, a woman he meets at the hotel, decide to investigate what happened in room 622. Apparently, it has to do with the Ebezner Bank, Switzerland's largest private bank, and the banquet that had been held at the hotel years before. B. (Joël's story based on what he and Scarlett learn) Macaire Ebezner and Lev Levovitch are both poised to take over the...

Always the First to Die by R.J. Jacobs

October 21, 2022October 21, 2022 by CarolNo Comments

Always the First to Die has a lot of good components - a category 4 hurricane, an island with no power, and a dilapidated estate. It makes for a very atmospheric novel. As a teen, Lexi was cast in the now-iconic horror movie Breathless filmed in the Florida Keys at Pinecrest Estate. It’s a summer she’ll never forget: falling in love with the son of the legendary movie director and learning the “curse” of Pinecrest is real when someone dies on set. Years later, Lexi finds herself racing back to the Keys in the wake of a hurricane to find her daughter who is visiting her grandfather at Pinecrest, the place where her husband died in mysterious circumstances just a year ago. Now Lexi’s life will turn into a real-life horror movie as she reckons with her past and avoids ending up dead. The story alternates to the present and back to 1998 when Breathless was being filmed. The horror movie theme is...

Daisy Darker by Alice Feeney

October 18, 2022October 17, 2022 by Carol3 Comments

The setting of Daisy Darker is amazing. The family is gathered at Seaglass, a lovely (spooky) old Victorian on a tidal island, to celebrate Nana's birthday. The house is isolated at high tide and there is no cell phone service. It's a dark, stormy night, of course, and when the 80 clocks in the hall strike midnight, Nana is found dead in the kitchen, with a creepy poem written in chalk on the wall. The reader is sure it's murder, even if the family isn't. The setting was the high point though. The family, while definitely eccentric, is not likeable. The story is narrated by granddaughter, Daisy Darker, Nana’s favorite, who was born with a heart condition. The narrator does a great job of telling us the story through Daisy's voice. Events unfold hour by hour, in the wee hours of Halloween morning, with chapters from Daisy’s childhood interspersed throughout. The Darker family is hiding secrets and they are all...

A Most Efficient Murder by Anthony Slayton

October 17, 2022October 17, 2022 by Carol1 Comment

The very private, bookish Earl of Unsworth hosts his first party in over a decade, but it goes awry when an unknown young woman is found murdered in the garden. When the police arrive, they quickly start asking questions of Lord Unsworth and his aristocratic family, which of course they don't appreciate. Mr. Quayle, Lord Unsworth's secretary, is asked to keep an eye on the investigation while also conducting an investigation of his own. Mr. Quayle's primary goal is to keep any scandal away from the family. Secondly, he does want to discover who the murderer is, regardless of his or her social position. He also knows the lead detective on the case - they served together in the war - which helps a little. I have to admit to a fondness for mysteries set on old English estates and a cast of interesting characters. The Unsworth family is an interesting set of characters. They are each well aware of their...