Novella – Carol's Notebook

Murder Wore a Mask by Matthew Costello and Neil Richards

June 2, 2020June 2, 2020 by Carol2 Comments

Sir Harry Mortimer and his American wife, Kat, are settling into married life in the small town of Mydworth. Murder Wore a Mask is the fourthin the Mydworth series and can be read as a stand-alone, but since they’re each only a little over 100 pages, it might just make as much sense to go back and meet Harry and Kat at the beginning. They make a good couple. They’re both smart and resourceful. And the books are enjoyable, quick reads. This time around we're back at Aunt Lavinia's house for a masked ball. A man is found dead by the lake, apparently of a heart attack. Thankfully, many of the guests are spending the weekend at the manor, so when Harry and Kat find out that it was actually murder, all of the suspects are still around. There are a couple of interesting twists and the characters are fun. The masks everyone was wearing fit into the solution too, which was...

A Little Night Murder by Matthew Costello and Neil Richards

April 16, 2020April 16, 2020 by Carol2 Comments

Sir Harry Mortimer and his American wife, Kat, are settling into married life in the small town of Mydworth. A Little Night Murder is the second in the Mydworth series and can be read as a stand-alone, but since they're each only a little over 100 pages, it might just make as much sense to go back and meet Harry and Kat at the beginning. They make a good couple. They're both smart and resourceful. Kat is definitely a "modern woman" for the times, the late 1920s, and Harry seems quite happy that she can ride a motorcycle and throws a mean hook when she needs to. Harry is a nice, friendly, refined man who can also be tough when it's called for. This time around, the pair are investigating the death of a poacher at the request of the dead man's mother. She's certain it was not an accident, as the police claim. Of course, she's right. We follow...

A Shot in the Dark by Neil Richards and Matthew Costello

March 11, 2020April 16, 2020 by Carol2 Comments

I've listened to several of the Cherringham series by this Richards and Costello, so when I stumbled across A Shot in the Dark, the first in their Mydworth series, I went ahead and picked it up. I enjoy a light mystery novella, and this fit the bill. Lord Harry Mortimer and his new wife, Kat have just arrived in England, when Harry is called to Whitehall on urgent business. So Kat decides to drive herself to their new home, but when she arrives, it's all locked up. She walks across the fields to "nearby" Mydworth Manor where Harry's aunt, Lady Lavinia, lives. As she arrives she hears gunshots, a man falls from a window and more shots are fired in her direction. Not quite what she was expecting. Harry arrives and they search the body and find jewelry in his pockets. The man was Lady Lavinia's driver, who was apparently shot while attempting to rob one of her guests. She asks Harry,...

The Christmas Pact by Vi Keeland and Penelope Ward

December 19, 2019December 19, 2019 by Carol2 Comments

The Christmas Pact was a short, sweet romance with a lot of Christmas decorations in the background. On the surface, it's a fun story. The couple meet after occasionally, accidentally receiving each other's work e-mails. Riley Kennedy and Kennedy Riley - you can see how that might get confusing. Riley is pretty sure Kennedy is a jerk, he insists on actually reading her e-mails and adding his two cents before forwarding them to her. They agree to pose as a couple over the Christmas holiday. It will help them both with family issues. Surprise, surprise, they actually start to have feelings for each other. I sound sarcastic, but the story was full of tender, endearing moments when they connected well. And of course, we get a happy ending. Riley was a good character, funny, insecure, cute. Kennedy, however, I wasn't actually fond of. When he was on his good behavior, he was sweet, amusing, and of course sexy, but his...

Grievance in Gingerbread Alley by Leighann Dobbs

December 17, 2019December 16, 2019 by CarolNo Comments

Grievance in Gingerbread Alley is the second of the Christmas Village Cozies. They're both quick fun reads and I read this one right after the first. Gus is on vacation in Christmas Village, playing jazz piano at the North Pole Lounge. She knows Christmas Village can't be as perfect and cheery as it seems. While she's out and about she watches as a protester keels over, obviously poisoned, and she can't help investigating. The woman was protesting the treatment of the birds in Christmas Village: the partridge, French hens, geese, swans, turtle doves. There are lots of suspects in her death with the birds' caretakers and the philandering husband and his mistress, at the top of the list. The problem, at least for Gus, is that the local detective in charge was one of her teachers at the police academy. They apparently never got along well, and not Detective Winters is insisting Gus stay out of the way. So Gus, and...

Cadaver on Candy Cane Lane by Leighann Dobbs

December 17, 2019December 16, 2019 by Carol2 Comments

Cadaver on Candy Cane Lane is a fun, quirky mystery novella. Christmas Village is Christmas village. It's where elves make toys, a pear tree grows in the middle of winter, swans swim in the lake, and reindeer talk. A lot of the activities are for tourists, tourism is big business for Christmas village, but so is toy-making and shipping. Alfie, the murdered elf, was the Union Rep at the toy factory and a strike was on the horizon. There are a lot of feelings, and motives, on both sides of the issue. Our amateur detective is Ember from Dobbs' Silver Hollow series, which I haven't read. The idea of the mash-up is cute and I didn't feel like I missed anything from not having read the other. Ember is sweet and trying to prove that she is a good detective too. She's in Christmas village helping her aunt Phoebe, the candy lady, get enough stock ready for the holidays, and one...