The Bullet that Missed by Richard Osman

The Bullet that Missed by Richard Osman

by CarolNo Comments
I absolutely adore the Thursday Murder Club. This time around Elizabeth, Joyce, Ron, and Ibrahim are looking into the ten-year-old unsolved murder of Bethany Waites, a journalist/co-host of a television news show. Along with this mystery, Elizabeth has an “encounter” with a man they are calling “The Viking”, who is trying to force Elizabeth to kill someone for him or he will kill Joyce. Each of our characters gets a chance to shine.  Elizabeth gets to see spend time with an ex-KGB acquaintance. Joyce gets to flirt with a handsome TV personality. Ron makes a couple of new friends, and Ibrahim gets to do some brainstorming and use his therapy skills. Donna, Chris, and Bogdan are back too. Bogdan is still my favorite character and I love how his relationship with Donna is progressing. The mystery was maybe a little convoluted, but I enjoyed it. Yes, it's unlikely that all these characters would form friendships and work together to bring down (another)...
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A Plus One for Murder by Laura Bradford

A Plus One for Murder by Laura Bradford

by Carol2 Comments
I love Emma's idea for a business - well actually her friend's idea, but it's Emma's business. She's a friend for hire, someone to go to the gym with or take to a party. When one of her clients dies at an open mic night, Emma takes on the role of (very reluctant) amateur sleuth. Thankfully, she has some help - an elderly woman she has tea with once a week and a nurse who has paid her to be a gym buddy. I like how the three women work together and combine sleuthing with real life activities. We are immediately given a list of 4 suspects, a list put together by the dead man himself. Each of the four had a good reason for hating the dead man - a writer who was determined to bring all the town's corruption to light. The clues and red herrings were placed well. I liked the three main characters. Emma is sweet and honestly...
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In Cold Blood by Truman Capote

In Cold Blood by Truman Capote

by Carol6 Comments
In Cold Blood has been on my to-read list for a while. Honestly, I'm not sure why I put it off. I enjoy both true crime and crime novels and since this is one of the classics in the genre, chances were pretty good I'd enjoy it, which of course I did. Well, as much as you can "enjoy" the story of a horrible murder, of the men who committed it, and the law enforcement trying to track them down. On November 15, 1959, Richard "Dick" Hickock and Perry Smith, on a tip from another inmate, went to the Clutter household in Holcomb, Kansas expecting to find a safe or $10,000 cash in the home. There was neither money nor a safe, but they had agreed to leave no witnesses, so the four family members in the house were killed. Due to the relentless work of the Kansas Bureau of Investigations led by Alvin Dewey, Hickock and Smith were eventually...
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First Impressions by Charlie Lovett

by Carol2 Comments
I almost quit listening to First Impressions about halfway through, mostly because I had an audiobook waiting in the wings that I was really, really looking forward to, but I stuck it out to the end. I'm not sure if that was a good choice or not. It wasn't torture, but it wasn't great either. The story alternates between chapters focusing on Sophie in now and Jane back then, which worked well really, even if from what I understand a lot of the Jane portion was as fictional as the Sophie part. I knew who the bad guy was - from the moment he showed up; I knew that Sophie would find proof that Jane Austen was not a plagiarist; I was sure Sophie would end up with the right guy and that Jane Austen would become a well-known novelist. And guess what- I was right. What kept me listening was that Sophie, and especially her uncle, love books. The libraries and...
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