The Daughter of Time by Josephine Tey

by Carol11 Comments
I picked up The Daughter of Time at the local used bookstore a year or so ago. i had no idea what it was about and had never read anything by Josephine Tey before, but it's one of those mysteries - the ones that make it onto the "best" lists, the ones that any true mystery lover should read. The title refer to a quote from Francis Bacon: "Truth is the daughter of time, not of authority." It's the same idea as history is written by the victor. Not all "history" is strictly truth, it's a version someone has told that has stuck. I wish I knew more about British history, particularly Richard III, or that I had read Shakespeare's play. If I go back to read this again, I may do a little research first. That being said, it is truly an enjoyable book on its own. Our detective, Alan Grant, is laid up in the hospital and a friend, Marta,...
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Midnight at the Bright Ideas Bookstore by Matthew J. Sullivan

by Carol3 Comments
I admit it - I picked up Midnight at the Bright Ideas Bookstore based mostly on the title and cover. I have trouble passing up mysteries centered in bookstores. While it was not really what I expected, I enjoyed it. I expected a lighter mystery, more cozy. While not gory or violent, this one is disturbing at times. Lydia is the only survivor of the night the Hammerman killed her friend and her friend's parents, but she hides this fact from everyone. She was a child at the time, but the Hammerman was never caught. Fast forward and now she's an adult, working at a bookstore, living with her boyfriend, who she has not told about her past. As the story opens, Lydia discovers one of the bookfrogs, Joey, has committed suicide in the book store. That would be devastating enough, but in his pocket he has a picture of Lydia as a child, with two of her friends, which is odd...
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Persons Unknown by Susie Steiner

by Carol2 Comments
Persons Unknown started out slow for me. I read the first in the series and knew Manon and Fly and how they can to be a family, but I guess I forgot how unlikeable Manon can be. I do like her, but she will rub just about everyone the wrong way at some point or other, including the reader. And now she's pregnant, which I'm not sure was the best decision with just recently adopting Fly, but there you have it. This time around the mystery hits very close to home for Manon. Manon and Fly are sharing a home with Manon's sister Ellie and her toddler son, Solly, when Solly's father turns up murdered. Once Fly is accused and sent to juvenile, the story picks up pace. Of course, Fly's innocent, we know that, but it's a complicated case, one Manon is not allowed to directly work on. With Davy's help, she does manage to get the right information to the right people. The dead...
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All Signs Point to Murder by Connie di Marco

by Carol7 Comments
First off, I did not read the first in the series, but I'm pretty sure I know what happened in it based on some of the conversations Julia has in this one. Second, I'm not a believer in astrology, but you really don't have to be to enjoy this book. Yes, Julia's an astrologer, and yes that plays into how she goes about solving the mystery, but she would have found the same solution eventually even without consulting her charts. I like Julia. She cares about people, she's smart, and she's definitely persistent. She has some great friends too. I'd like to hang out with them. And maybe have her read my chart. As far as the mystery goes, I though overall it was well-done. I thought I knew who the killer was, then I wasn't sure, then I thought I knew. It turned out that I was right but hadn't guessed the whole motive. There were plenty of suspects and...
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The Dance of the Seagull by Andrea Camilleri

by CarolNo Comments
I'm not sure how many Montalbano mysteries I've listened to/read now. They start to run together a little. This one opens with a seagull dying on a beach. This scene comes back later as a kind of vision that helps Montalbano solve the case - which is odd and doesn't feel like it fits with the series. Also out of character is that Montalbano refers  to "that television series" and later the comment "Little surprise that Montalbano couldn't tell Camilleri how the story would end." I don't want my mysteries to be that aware of themselves as fiction, but maybe that's just me. Aside from that, the book was fine. It's been a little while since I finished listening to it and that part that I remember the best is how concerned Montalbano was with finding Fazio, how important it was. And once Fazio's found, keeping him safe becomes important. Montalbano forgets all about Livia, his long-time lover, coming in for a...
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Magpie Murders by Anthony Horowitz

by Carol4 Comments
I should have loved Magpie Murders. It's definitely a book for mystery readers. Not only does it have two well-plotted mysteries, it has some great quotes about the nature of mysteries and reading. “You must know that feeling when it's raining outside and the heating's on and you lose yourself, utterly, in a book. You read and you read and you feel the pages slipping through your fingers until suddenly there are fewer in your right hand than there are in your left and you want to slow down but you still hurtle on towards a conclusion you can hardly bear to discover.” “As far as I'm concerned, you can't beat a good whodunnit: the twists & turns, the clues and the red herrings and then, finally, the satisfaction of having everything explained to you in a way that makes you kick yourself because you hadn't seen it from the start.” The set up is great, a novel within a novel, both murder...
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