Berkley Books – Carol's Notebook

Dying in a Winter Wonderland by Vicki Delany

November 21, 2020November 19, 2020 by CarolNo Comments

We were at Barnes & Noble a couple weeks ago and they had a display table out of Christmas cozy mysteries. David should be pleased that I only picked Up Dying in a Winter Wonderland and not all of them. Maybe I should go back? This is the first in the Year-Round Christmas series that I've read, but I felt like I was able to jump right in. I adored Merry and her family and kind of wished I lived in a town like Rudolph. The other characters, friends, employees, boyfriend, are a quirky group, in a fun way. Merry is ready to celebrate another magical Christmas in her hometown and business at her store is booming. However, Luanne arrives to throw everything into chaos. For some unknown reason, Merry had agreed to style Luanne's July wedding, but Luanne's just informed her that she's moved the wedding up- to February! But when the fiance turns up dead and Merry's brother is the...

Crowned and Dangerous by Rhys Bowen

January 10, 2020January 10, 2020 by Carol2 Comments

I promise this is the last Lady Georgiana Rannoch book for a while. I need a break, even though they are a lot of fun. In this one, Georgie fiance's father is accused of murder. Darcy tries to keep her out of the whole situation, but of course Georgie, thankfully, has a mind of her own and joins him in Ireland to help prove his father's innocence. I enjoyed the move in the action to Ireland. Darcy's family are kooky, but fun and solid people. While this can be read as a stand-alone, you'll miss some of the history of Georgie and Darcy's relationship. The fact that the mystery is so personal keeps Georgie and Darcy focussed. The few clues were slowly revealed and I found the solution a bit unlikely, even if not surprising. There was one moment at the end that was unexpected. I actually really enjoyed Georgie's maid, Queenie, this time around. She is devoted if nothing else,...

Not a Creature Was Purring by Krista Davis

December 12, 2018December 14, 2018 by Carol10 Comments

This was my first visit to Wagtail, Virginia, but it is an awesome place, a perfect vacation spot to take your pets. My Secret Santa gave me Not a Creature Was Purring last year, but it took me until this December to get around to reading it. Wagtail is a perfect little pet-friendly tourist town. All the stores welcome cats and dogs, as does the inn. Dogs get to go sled-riding and pets can go to the nicest restaurant in town with their people. It really is a pet-centric town, my dog would love it. Holly Maple and her grandmother run the Sugar Maple Inn (and her grandmother is mayor of Wagtail). This year the inn is booked solid for Christmas - the only problem is that it's mostly the family of Holly's best friend/love interest's fiancee. Holly wants to be nice, but fiancee is a pretty terrible person. Thankfully, because clearly Holmes and Holly belong together. But of course, since this...

Twelve Angry Librarians by Miranda James

August 22, 2018 by Carol6 Comments

I'm late to the Cat in the Stacks series. I'm not sure that starting with Twelve Angry Librarians was really the best choice. Maybe I would have enjoyed the story more if I knew Charlie and his family and girlfriend better. And the cat was more of a conversation piece than actual character. The story was fine, just not as good as I expected based on other reviews. Charlie is interim library director and the Southern Academic Libraries Association is holding their convention at the college. When the keynote speaker is killed, it seems like everyone at the conference had a reason to hate him, including Charlie. There's lots of gossip and "we hated him but had to work with him." I don't understand how such a terrible man ended up as the keynote speaker when the audience was full of people who actively disliked him. Maybe I haven't been to enough conferences, but there was so much gossip and the one...