eBook – Page 19 – Carol's Notebook

Death of a Fool by Ngaio Marsh

September 17, 2018September 14, 2018 by Carol8 Comments

Death of a Fool takes place around the winter solstice. In South Mardian, a sword dance/fertility ritual/mummer play is performed every year, but this time, the fool (the father) is actually beheaded. I don't know anything about English folk dances, but the dance featured in Death of a Fool is interesting. Granted, it's a fictional dance, but the author tells us that she did use elements from a variety of traditional dances. Reading about the rehearsals, the performance, the costume and the history was fun. The dance is performed by the elderly blacksmiths, his five sons and a couple of other village men. They are also the most obvious suspects, especially the sons as they were the ones with the sword during the dance. Of course, the other performers have motives too. There are so many reasons to kill the old man: anger revenge, money, and just to get him out of the way. Alleyn is called in to investigate. In a small...

Artificial Condition by Martha Wells

July 19, 2018July 18, 2018 by Carol2 Comments

I read Artificial Condition right after I finished the first Murderbot story, All Systems Red. Now I'm anxiously waiting for #3, which comes out in August. They're short, so definitely read #1 before Artificial Condition. It'll give you the background you need on who Murderbot is, how it's free from its governor module, and how almost human it is. Once again, I like Murderbot. It's funny and snarky. This time around it's searching for the truth of what happened in its past and comes upon a helpful transport AI that likes entertainment feeds as much as Murderbot, so it helps out in many ways, including performing surgery on Murderbot to make it seem human. It's easier to maneuver through the universe if people think you're human, not a rogue killing machine. Murderbot needs to have a cover to get where it wants to go, so it signs up for employment as a bodyguard for researchers trying to recover some of their data from an...

Dead Water by Ngaio Marsh

July 11, 2018 by Carol4 Comments

Emily Pride is an old friend/French teacher of Inspector Alleyn and she has been receiving death threats, mostly because she want to shut down a small island's tourist trade. She recently inherited the island and finds all the hoopla around the falls distasteful. She heads off to the island to take care of the situation, but once she is hurt, Alleyn shortens his own vacation and goes to the island to watch out for her. And then, of course, there's the murder, even if it's not the murder you expect. Happily Alleyn's on the scene to take over the investigation. The characters are a mixed lot. Some are bad stereotypes that tend to pop up in vintage mysteries, like the hysterical spinster and the drunk parents of the boy whose warts were "miraculously" healed. Some are more interesting, like the innkeeper's beautiful wife. We also have assorted other locals, including the doctor, the preacher and his wife, a young couple falling in love....

Buried Secrets by Leighann Dobbs

June 4, 2018June 3, 2018 by Carol2 Comments

I really enjoy the Blackmoore Sisters Mysteries. In Buried Secrets, they head West on a treasure hunting trip with Luke, one of the sisters' boyfriends and his team. I like that the people around the women recognize, and believe in, their powers. I wasn't sure how I'd feel about the sisters leaving their hometown, but since they took all of the recurring characters with them, it didn't really matter much. The girls piece together what happened Dead Water's past and get right in the middle of some present day illegal activities. Overall, it's a bit predictable, but there was a least one twist I didn't see coming. I would suggest starting the series at the beginning. They're light, quick read that are just fun. There are a lot of characters though, and a variety of powers, so I think starting with #1 allows you to get introduced to them all and get to know them. I'm looking forward to the next in the...

The Nursing Home Murder by Ngaio Marsh

May 9, 2018May 9, 2018 by Carol3 Comments

I've gone back and finally read the first 3 of Ngaio Marsh's Inspector Alleyn series, and actually read them in order to boot. Each one of these early entries is a bit better than the one before. In The Nursing Home Murder, which actually takes place in a hospital, we finally get to see a more polished Alleyn. He's still witty, but there no moments that are completely out of character as there were in the first two. These first few have been even more formulaic than vintage mysteries usually are. We meet the suspect, the murder occurs, Alleyn investigates, and finally there's a reconstruction where the murderer gives himself away. This time around, the victim is the Home Secretary. When he is rushed to the hospital, we know he's doomed, there are just too many people who want him dead, including the communists sympathizers who have been sending him death threats and a doctor who was one of his close...

A Well-Timed Murder by Tracee de Hahn

March 30, 2018March 29, 2018 by Carol7 Comments

This is the second in the series featuring Agnes Lüthi, but I didn't read the first and felt like this one worked quite well on its own. I do think reading #1 first would give you more insight into Agnes and what she's been though. It took me a while to connect with her, and I think if I had read the first, I would have already been invested in her when I started this one. Agnes feels like a real person, calm and intelligent, juggling work and life. She's a widow with two children and while I usually prefer my detectives to not have children, unless the children are adults with their own lives, I didn't find it too distracting here. Agnes is asked to investigate the death of a well-known watchmaker, Guy Chavanon. His death has been ruled an accident, a result of contact with peanuts, which he's allergic. Of course, it's not a simple accident and we find that...