Mystery – Page 91 – Carol's Notebook

Murder Lo Mein by Vivien Chien

June 3, 2019June 7, 2019 by Carol7 Comments

This is the third installment in the Noodle Shop Mystery series. Lana Lee is now managing her family's restaurant in the Asia Village plaza, but of course nothing's ever quiet in her life. There's a noodle competition taking place and Peter, the chef at Ho-Lee Noodle House is one of the competitors. Then one of the judges is killed and Lana and Megan decide they need to investigate, after all they have experience now. The mystery was well-done. The first victim had several enemies, he was a bit of a jerk. But when a second judge is killed, it becomes more confusing. Lana's questioning at times becomes a bit pushy in this one, and I got a little tired of everyone telling her she should keep out of it, as if she didn't know it already. Amateur detectives know they should leave it up to the cops, but just can't. And she has a bad habit of getting caught alone...

The Overnight Kidnapper by Andrea Camilleri

May 30, 2019May 30, 2019 by Carol2 Comments

The Montalbano series is not one I read/listen to in order. When I'm between books and one is available at the library I pick it up, which is how I ended up listening to The Overnight Kidnapper. It's pretty typical for the series. We have some random, brief kidnappings that Montalbano is looking into, along with an arson, but, in true mystery book style, it's all connected and much more serious than it seems at first, when it turns into a murder investigation. Montalbano is his usual self, amusing and charming in his own way. I think the narrator does a good job with him. We've got the usual sidekicks and I love the way his housekeeper/cook, Adelina, deals with a break-in without losing track of her pasta. I guess I just like the feel of these books, the characters, the setting, the food. The actual mystery in this one was fine, if a little odd. Who kidnaps a woman for just an...

Dim Sum of All Fears by Vivien Chien

May 24, 2019May 24, 2019 by Carol7 Comments

First off, I love the covers of the Noodle Shop Mysteries. I'm not usually much of a cover person, but these just look delicious, are bright, have a bit of humor, I think, with the soy sauce (?) pouring into the skull shape. Dim Sum of All Fears is the second in the series. It could probably be read as a stand-alone, but I'm glad I read the first beforehand. It gives you a better picture of the family relationships and the people at the Asia Village shopping center. This time around, a good, if new, friend of Lana's has been murdered, along with her husband. Turns out there was a lot Lana didn't know about the couple, but still wants to see the killer brought to justice. Since their success in solving the last crime, she and her roommate, Megan, decide that they need to do some digging around. There are several suspects, turns out the husband was not only...

Death by Dumpling by Vivien Chien

May 21, 2019May 21, 2019 by Carol11 Comments

Death by Dumpling has been sitting on my Kindle for longer than I'd like to admit. I know why I picked it up originally. The cover is great, it's set in Cleveland, and it sounds like a fun mystery. I am so happy I finally got around to reading it. Lana is just quirky enough. She's a bit down on her luck and has been moping around her apartment a little too much, but there's nothing like being a potential murder suspect to get you out of the house again, at least if you've decided you need to solve the case before you or a friend is found guilty. The Ho-Lee Noodle House is in an Asian-themed shopping center. They're are plenty of regulars at the restaurant and most of the staff at the various shops all seem to know each other. It's like a little community, and a lot of the folks are connected, friends, family, so when one of...

Look to the Lady by Margery Allingham

May 3, 2019May 3, 2019 by Carol7 Comments

After listening to the first Albert Campion mystery I wasn't sure how I felt about the series. Look to the Lady is definitely a funner book. Campion is our main character now, and while he's still an odd duck, he clearly knows a lot about what is going on and has quite a few influential friends. The chalice is a priceless, ancient relic and a rich collector wants it. This collector is a member of a group that has its own methods and rules, and Campion is quite familiar with their system. Campion is becoming an interesting character. He is not quite a detective, more like a clever, innocuous man for hire. His plan this time is to figure out who the collector's agent is and basically make sure that person ends up dead. I listened to this one right after the first, so comparisons are inevitable. Allingham took more care of the secondary characters this time around. They were more fully...

The Crime at Black Dudley by Margery Allingham

May 2, 2019May 2, 2019 by Carol6 Comments

I knew going in that The Crime at Black Dudley is not the best of Allingham's Albert Campion series, but it's the first even if he is only a minor character, and if you can start a series at the beginning, why not? Allingham, along with Christie, Sayers, and Marsh, is one of the "Queens of Crime," the only one I hadn't read. I love Christie and Marsh, couldn't care less about Sayers, and am undecided on Allingham. We've got a country house party with an odd assortment of guests. And then somebody's killed, but then it kind of runs amok and the younger set of guests, in their 20's give or take, are held hostage by a batch of criminals, and they need to escape before they end up dead. I'm not a big fan of the international gang type of mysteries. I want smaller mysteries if that makes sense, not ones that could have CONSEQUENCES. It all...