eARC – Carol's Notebook

Pompeii, Paccheri, and Panic by Traci Andrighetti

August 7, 2026August 7, 2026 by CarolNo Comments

Pompeii, Paccheri, and Panic is a fun novella introducing a new series based around food tours in Italy. I guess it's a spin off of Andrighetti's Franki Amato series, but I've never read any of those, so can't make any comparisons. Giada Adair has taken a job as a tour guide and she and her assistant/friend, Moira, have gone to Pompeii to do some research before her first official tour. We know it's not going to be smooth sailing. First an ancient lamp just unearthed from a dig site the pair were visiting disappears. Then, a young woman dies after eating a pasta dish met for Giada. Giada is either going to be arrested for the crime or she was the intended victim - either way she's in trouble and needs to figure out who the killer is. The characters are fun and the plot worked well. We had several suspects and the clues fit well. I'm interested in learning...

The Dog Park Murders by Angela Barker

June 24, 2026June 24, 2026 by Carol2 Comments

I actually enjoyed The Dog Park Murders. Sometimes mysteries with too much romance make me roll my eyes, but I think it was balanced pretty well in this one. And the blurb made it clear what to expect. Yes, this book felt like a Hallmark movie, but in a good way. Labrador Falls is an adorable small, dog-obsessed town where Juliette has lived her whole life. It's not always an easy place to live - small towns can be tricky. Everyone knows everyone else and their backgrounds and families. When Juliette finds a dead body at the local dog park, with evidence pointing to her pet grooming shop, she immediately becomes the prime suspect, thanks in part to her family history. Joel owns the coffee shop, but is relatively new in town. However, he can't just stand aside and let Juliette get railroaded by a lazy, biased detective. The mystery was decent. The dead man was not nice, so we had several...

Dungeons and Danger by Elizabeth Penney

June 15, 2026June 15, 2026 by CarolNo Comments

Dungeons and Danger is the second in the Ravensea Castle mystery series, but I think it could be read as a standalone. The mystery is self-contained, and although we have several characters returning from the first, the author does a good job of introducing everyone. The Asquith family has turned their centuries old castle into a B&B, complete with resident ghosts. Their current guests include a professor specializing in Viking history who believes there's a treasure hidden on the grounds and a group of ghost hunters filming a show. And the castle is hosting a huge Viking festival. "Accidents" start piling up and it's no surprise when someone ends up murdered. The returning characters are all well-developed and interesting, without going over the line into quirky. I like Nora Asquith and her family. Their interactions feel genuine and they work together well. Nora is dating the local detective inspector, Finlay Cole, but they both act like adults and their relationship is...

The Living and the Dead by Christoffer Carlsson

March 10, 2026March 10, 2026 by Carol1 Comment

In a small, remote town in Sweden, two eighteen year-old boys leave a party only to discover the next day that one of their friends has been found murdered in the trunk of a car. Each of the boys is a suspect, but the case is never solved. Twenty years later, another man is killed and old secrets are uncovered. It took me a while to get into this one. A lot of the names are unfamiliar to me, which can make the characters and places more difficult to keep track of. We had several points of view with the detectives and boys which worked well in the long run, but made it harder to connect to the characters at first. The story also takes place over twenty years and it takes a while before some of the scenes tie in with the rest. At some point, though, the story had me hooked. The plot is multi-layered and so many...

A Very Novel Murder by Ellie Alexander

February 2, 2026February 2, 2026 by Carol2 Comments

Annie and Fletcher, from the Secret Bookcase Mysteries, have opened up their detective agency and have their first case. Kelly Taylor, a talented surfer and activist, recently drowned in her bathtub, but her elderly neighbor is convinced the young woman was murdered. I like Annie and Fletcher and their friends. They're smart and dedicated. They also have a good relationship with the police and have no problem keeping them updated or calling them in when necessary. Annie's boyfriend is handsome and caring and supportive and her best friend is adorable and a whiz with coffee. Annie's life is pretty good, aside from almost getting killed. There are no conflicts with her friends or employees. The town she lives in is appropriately cozy and walkable. Even the crows like her. Yes, we're told parts of her background have been tough, but it's really no surprise that with her first case, she solves a murder, uncovers a drug dealing operation, and gets...

The Holly Village Murders by Benedict Brown

December 9, 2025December 9, 2025 by Carol1 Comment

Poor Bella. Her fiancé was recently killed and now her Aunt Adele is dead under mysterious circumstances. Marius Quin, our mystery novelist/ amateur detective, and Bella head to Holly Village, where Adele lived, to figure out what happened. The folks are an interesting lot, mostly older aristocrats, but it's hard for Marius and Bella to imagine any of them as the killer. Marius and Bella make a good team, although I'm a little tired of Marius' "I love her but can't tell her" bit. The banter between the two is fun and their strengths play off each other well. The mystery takes place over about two days. We get plenty of clues and the whodunnit might be a little obvious, but there are plenty of Christmas touches that make this a nice read for the season. It's well-researched and lets you feel immersed in the late 1920s in London. It's the 6th in the series but was written to be...