The Spirit in Question by Cynthia Kuhn

The Spirit in Question by Cynthia Kuhn

by Carol1 Comment
I've been reading the Lila Maclean mysteries this month. Each can work as a stand-alone, but like most series, reading them in order will give you a better feel for the characters, especially the ones in supporting roles. In The Spirit in Question, Lila has taken on (or perhaps been dragged into) helping with the production of another professor’s play, Puzzled: The Musical, a barely comprehensible mixture of detectives and dancers. The student actors and crew are having a ball - until the director is murdered during a rehearsal. At the request of Detective Lex Archer (the love interest), Lila (mostly) stays out of the hunt for the murderer, but plenty of other problems keep her busy. The play is being staged in the Stonedale Opera House, which the university owns but doesn't seem to maintain. The Historical Society is protesting the use of the building, multiple accidents happen during practices, and, to top it all off, the building might be haunted....
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The Art of Vanishing by Cynthia Kuhn

The Art of Vanishing by Cynthia Kuhn

by Carol3 Comments
The Art of Vanishing is just a fun mystery. Professor Lila Maclean is on the committee in charge of Arts Week at Stonedale. She's intelligent and capable and maybe a bit trusting. She also has connections that come in useful. When famous author Damon Von Tussel goes missing right before he's to present at the campus Art Week, Lila has to call her mom, famous artist Violet O, who is also Von Tussel's ex to help find him. Violet is quite a character. They do find him, but there are several more "accidents" - clearly someone is trying to stop Arts week, or maybe just Von Tussel's part in it. The mystery was interesting, with several possible motives and suspects. And let's be honest, I love mysteries that involve books and authors. The politics within the English department and the pressures to publish are mixed in well with the main plot. Lila's mom is a hoot. The characters are a varied...
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The Semester of Our Discontent by Cynthia Kuhn

The Semester of Our Discontent by Cynthia Kuhn

by Carol6 Comments
First off, the cat in The Semester of Our Discontent is Cady, named after the suffragist Elizabeth Cady Stanton. Our dog's name is also Cady. It's the one she came with from the shelter, but maybe I can use the suffragist line too? This is the first in the Lila Maclean mysteries, all of which I'm hoping to read during March for the Can You Read a Series in a Month? challenge. Dr. Lila Maclean, a recent PhD graduate, has just been hired at the prestigious Stonedale University, where her cousin, Calista, is also a professor. Lila loves teaching and is passionate about Gothic and Mystery writing, probably one of the reasons I like her. She is not however thrilled with the pompous, sexist chair of the English department, who of course winds up murdered. The Semester of Our Discontent is a smart, fun mystery, with a bit of humor to it. The college was a perfect setting and the...
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The Valentine Dine or Die by J.B. Michaels

The Valentine Dine or Die by J.B. Michaels

by CarolNo Comments
I love a good holiday-themed cozy and The Valentine Dine or Die is only 99¢ for Kindle. I did read the first in the series last year, but this one could work fine as a standalone. Mac and Millie, our ex-cop and witch, are back in another fun mystery. What could be better than an interactive mystery dinner experience, especially for Valentine's Day? Mac can't pass up free tickets to the dinner, especially since he hasn't bought a present yet. Of course, since this is a cozy mystery, when the lights go out at dinner, someone ends up well and truly dead. Maybe it's a suicide, probably not. Mac and Millie make a good team, they have some cute banter and they actually trust each other. Vance, Mac's brother, is handling the case for the cops, but he's hitting some dead ends, and Mac doesn't have to follow the rules, which makes his help useful. The characters, even the secondary ones,...
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Bluebird, Bluebird by Attica Locke

Bluebird, Bluebird by Attica Locke

by CarolNo Comments
Bluebird, Bluebird is not an easy read. It's packed with emotions, thick racial tensions, and family dramas. In Lark, Texas, the racial divisions go back decades, but so do the relationships and the secrets. There have been two recent murders: a black lawyer from Chicago who was found floating in a bayou after being beaten to death, and days later, a twenty-year-old married white woman who worked as a waitress at a roadhouse. Enter Darren Matthews, a black Texas Ranger, whose life is a bit of a mess. His suspension from the Rangers has been lifted, but only temporarily, pending a grand jury investigation for an unrelated, but not unconnected, event. His marriage is on the rocks and he's drinking too much. And of course, there's the independent streaks that so many fictional detectives have. The sheriff is not happy to have him around, does not want the Rangers or the Feds in his county. The characters on both sides of...
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Diamond Geezer by Gillian Godden

Diamond Geezer by Gillian Godden

by CarolNo Comments
It took me several chapters to become invested in Diamond Geezer. It's a gangland novel and there are no characters to really like, which makes sense, they're almost all up to their necks in drugs and the crime world. That being said, it turned out to be an engrossing story. Nick is living a double life. He's a successful lawyer with all the privileges and tokens of upper-class life. At the same time, he's deeply involved in the Glasgow crime world. The book is mostly set on an estate in Glasgow, where Nick's grandma lives. The estate is more or less ruled by a mysterious character known as “The Undertaker,” who provides drugs, food, jobs. The people of the estate, most of whom are living in poverty and addicted to one thing or another, rely on him, even if they don't know who he is. It's interesting, though. They have to look out for themselves, but there is also a...
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