Audiobook – Page 40 – Carol's Notebook

Death and the Conjuror by Tom Mead

August 24, 2022August 24, 2022 by Carol6 Comments

It's no surprise Death and the Conjuror caught my eye. It's set in London in 1936, the Golden Age as far as mysteries are concerned. It features a locked room mystery, something I've been reading a lot of lately, and our sleuth is a magician, which is a fun touch - after all, who would be a better person to solve the impossible? A psychologist seeing three rather unique patients is found dead in his locked study. Inspector George Flint is in charge of the case, but he knows he needs help and calls his friend, magician Joseph Spector. There are a fair number of suspects each with his or her own secrets. Actually, there are all around a lot of characters involved - the dead man's family and clients, the folks from the show Spector is helping put together, the cops obviously - and two mysteries, the murder and a stolen painting, taken from a locked chest in a locked...

Jove Brand Is Near Death by J.A. Crawford

August 16, 2022August 16, 2022 by Carol2 Comments

Jove Brand Is Near Death is tons of fun. Ken Allen, is a personal trainer and martial arts expert in LA. His 15 minutes of fame came years ago when he played fictional spy, Jove Brand, in a single film in the blockbuster franchise. He had the looks and the action hero moves, but his acting was awful and the script was not much better. It was the worst Brand movie, but Ken has moved on, more or less. Until a new Brand is announced, and people connected to the series start turning up dead, killed with one of Ken's signature movie moves. Now Ken has to prove he's innocent - and figure out who the killer is. This was a perfect summer read, with plenty of action and gadgets galore. The characters are a varied lot, from Hollywood royalty to the cop who is sure Ken must have something to do with the murders to the special effects guy who...

A Plus One for Murder by Laura Bradford

August 5, 2022August 3, 2022 by Carol2 Comments

I love Emma's idea for a business - well actually her friend's idea, but it's Emma's business. She's a friend for hire, someone to go to the gym with or take to a party. When one of her clients dies at an open mic night, Emma takes on the role of (very reluctant) amateur sleuth. Thankfully, she has some help - an elderly woman she has tea with once a week and a nurse who has paid her to be a gym buddy. I like how the three women work together and combine sleuthing with real life activities. We are immediately given a list of 4 suspects, a list put together by the dead man himself. Each of the four had a good reason for hating the dead man - a writer who was determined to bring all the town's corruption to light. The clues and red herrings were placed well. I liked the three main characters. Emma is sweet and honestly...

Raffles: The Amateur Cracksman by E. W. Hornung

August 4, 2022August 2, 2022 by CarolNo Comments

I can't remember what I was reading that mentioned Raffles, but clearly something put him on my to-read list. Raffles is a gentleman and a good cricket player. He's also a charming jewel thief. His exploits are written up by, Bunny, his partner in crime who is never quite all in the know. These are a fun collection of interrelated stories. Raffles is unrepentant but has a lack of seriousness that lets you root for him. The thefts are sometimes clever and Scotland Yard is mostly incompetent, of course....

A Killer Sundae by Abby Collette

July 28, 2022February 6, 2023 by Carol2 Comments

A Killer Sundae might be my favorite of the series so far, which is good since I wasn't thrilled with the first two. The only reason I picked this up is because it was immediately available to download from the library and I didn't hate the others. This time around a local reporter, and old high school classmate of Win's, has been killed. Win reluctantly becomes involved, mostly at the insistence of her friends - she has a bit of a reputation by now. The plot was well done, with plenty of suspects and several twists - and some delicious-sounding ice cream flavors. There's also a mystery involving a cookbook that seemed a little silly for Win to get so obsessed over. Win is smart and caring. Her friends were a little more realistic this time, and I love how loyal and helpful her family is. It's a good bunch of characters, and I feel like I should enjoy them more than...

The Paper Caper by Kate Carlisle

July 19, 2022July 22, 2022 by Carol3 Comments

I assumed I would enjoy The Paper Caper. The main character, Brooklyn, restores books and does paper art and the story is set during a Mark Twain festival. This is the first I've read in the series and maybe that's the problem, maybe I would have enjoyed it more if I knew the characters better. I love that Brooklyn restores books but I couldn't quite get a hold of her character. This is #16, so presumably she's helped solve at least sixteen murders. But she seems really young and her husband seems to humor her more than take her thoughts on the case seriously. I'm assuming she's seen several dead bodies, but watching a video of a car crash is almost too much for her to handle? The whodunnit was a bit obvious and therefore disappointing. The twist I was assuming there would be regarding who the killer was just never happened. Overall, it was just a little too silly. Some...