Audiobook – Page 47 – Carol's Notebook

Pay Dirt Road by Samantha Jayne Allen

April 12, 2022April 12, 2022 by Carol2 Comments

Annie is back home after college, waitressing at the local diner and hanging out with her cousin and people she knew in high school. Her family is well known in town. Her grandfather used to be the sheriff, but now he owns a private investigation firm, run mostly by his partner, and drinks too much. When another waitress, Victoria, goes missing and is later found murdered, Annie is pulled in, needing to find the truth, and gets her grandfather involved too. Pay Dirt Road has a good sense of place. It's small-town Texas where land matters, where it's hard to keep secrets, where people without papers are afraid of the cops. It's a place where high school football carries a town's pride and the VFW turns into a honky tonk on Thursdays. It's a place Annie both loves and hates. Pay Dirt Road is a pretty standard mystery and Annie's not a great investigator. She shouldn't be. She's in her early twenties...

Poison Ivy by Helena Marchmont

April 9, 2022April 7, 2022 by CarolNo Comments

Poison Ivy is the 12th in the Bunburry mysteries and I don't think it would be as good as a standalone - half of the fun is knowing the characters and how their relationships work. I was quite happy that Oscar is in town for most of this one, along with the rest of the usual cast. Emma and Alfie are planning a surprise party for Marg and Liz. At the hotel, Alfie meets a beautiful interesting woman. It turns out she's an old acquaintance of Oscar's and he's sure she's a murderer. This was another good entry in the series. The mystery had a twist or two. The characters are their delightful selves and I like how some of the newer ones have settled into recurring roles. It was a nice way to spend a few hours....

Heaven, My Home by Attica Locke

April 7, 2022April 6, 2022 by Carol6 Comments

Heaven, My Home is the follow-up to Bluebird, Bluebird and I really think they need to be read in order. Heaven, My Home has Texas Ranger Darren Matthews investigating a new case, a missing boy with connections to a white supremacist group, the Aryan Brotherhood of Texas (ABT). But events from the first are still hanging over his head, threatening his career and marriage. In Jefferson, a 9-year-old boy, Levi King, was out at night in a ramshackle boat on Lake Caddo, but never makes it home. Levi is far from being a perfect child or even a nice child and his father is the head of the ABT, currently serving time in prison. An apparently reformed Bill is worried about Levi's disappearance, and Darren's boss sees the situation as a way to gain more information on the ABT. Locke sets the novel in the immediate aftermath of Trump's election and a Texas in which the repercussions are being felt in the...

A Game of Cones by Abby Collette

April 5, 2022April 5, 2022 by Carol6 Comments

I really want to like the Ice Cream Parlor series. Our main character, Wyn, runs an ice cream shop in northern Ohio and has a great family and supportive, if quirky, friends. This time she's dragged into the mystery when a friend/ former co-worker from New York comes to town to see her and ends up being a suspect in a murder investigation. A lot is going on in this one. There were a bunch of suspects since the dead man worked for a company proposing to open a mall in the town, which would totally change the nature of the downtown area - not for the better. Rory is in town to try to convince Wyn to come back to her old company in New York. Aunt Jack is back and trying to stick her nose into how the shop is run. The solution to the mystery was well done, even if getting there was a little meandering. I think...

Wine for Normal People by Elizabeth Schneider

March 28, 2022March 28, 2022 by Carol7 Comments

Wine for Normal People is such a good book. I enjoy wine — well, some wines — but know very little about it. Wine is complicated, from the color, to the region in which it's grown, to the correct pairing with food, and the temperature at which it's served. I tend to stick with what I know I'll like, but this book has given me a bit of confidence to pick some less safe options. The book is interesting and conversational. We learn how to taste wine, how it's made, how both the winemaker and where the grapes are grown affect that taste. We get a quick tour of wines in both the Old World and New World. The author also gives advice on pairing wine and food, not a list to memorize, but characteristics to take into account. I listened to the audiobook narrated by the author, who also has a podcast by the same name. It felt like a friend...

The Windsor Knot by SJ Bennett

March 24, 2022March 23, 2022 by Carol2 Comments

I thoroughly enjoyed The Windsor Knot. A handsome Russian pianist is found in a compromising position the morning after a “dine and sleep” event at Windsor Castle with a whole host of guests. It's a bit like a country house murder, but bigger. We have the guests, all of whom, are potential suspects; the staff, one of whom MI5 is convinced must be a Russian spy; and people who are attending an economics meeting. That's a lot of people to keep track of, by the way. The queen disagrees with MI5, the murder is not typical of the Russians. She's also protective of her staff and her home. I like how it's set up. The Queen is the driving force behind solving the mystery. She looks at the details and the picture and puts it all together, but her Assistant Private Secretary, Rozie, does most of the actual investigating, tramping around asking questions, accidentally putting herself in danger. I loved...