Murder at Mallowan Hall by Colleen Cambridge

Murder at Mallowan Hall by Colleen Cambridge

by CarolNo Comments
Murder at Mallowan Hall takes us to the fictionalized home of author Agatha Christie and her second husband, archaeologist Max Mallowan. I will admit to being a huge Christie fan, which is why this series caught my eye. Our amateur sleuth is the housekeeper, Phyllida Bright, who is extremely competent at her job. She is the one who finds the body in the library. The murdered man was an uninvited guest at the Mallowans' house party, and Phyllida questions whether local police are capable of solving the crime. So, between serving the demanding guests and managing the nervous staff, she starts investigating on her own. I thoroughly enjoyed the characters in this one - not the guests, but the staff. Phyllida is shrewd and charming. The butler has his own views on the way things should be run, but has her back when push comes to shove. The chauffeur is a good foil for Phyllida - irreverent, mysterious, always getting...
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Murder at the Castle by M.B.Shaw

Murder at the Castle by M.B.Shaw

by CarolNo Comments
Murder at the Castle is the second in the Iris Grey series, and while it can certainly be read as a stand-alone, events from the previous book are referenced. The author gives enough information that a new reader wouldn't be lost, but since that case is why Iris is in Scotland and does affect how she views things, I think it's worth reading. Iris is commissioned to paint a portrait of Kathy Miller, a beautiful American due to marry a wealthy elderly Baron, Jock MacKinnon. MacKinnon's adult children dislike Kathy intensely - she displaced their own mother in the castle and she's much younger than the Baron. The townsfolk don't like her because she has some new ideas about how things around the castle should be run - and she's American. Kathy's been receiving threatening letters, which she wants Iris's help putting a stop to. There's already plenty of tension before the two women's bodies are found buried on the castle...
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When Christmas Comes by Andrew Klavan

When Christmas Comes by Andrew Klavan

by Carol2 Comments
I was looking for a Christmas mystery, and I failed to do my research. This is not a warm and fuzzy Christmas story - which is fine, I do read mostly murder mysteries after all. It takes place around Christmas time, but our detective, English professor maybe ex-spy Cameron Winter, is not the type to enjoy the holiday. It's not that he's a Scrooge, he's just moody and longs for the Christmasses of his childhood at his nanny's house and the girl he had a crush on twenty years ago. He dwells on things a lot, which always annoys me and slows down the plot. He's also smart and handsome and almost every woman is attracted to him, including his therapist. Oh, and the woman who is asking for his help with this case is apparently someone he had an affair with when she was a student. The plot itself is good. A former military man is accused of and has...
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Death and the Conjuror by Tom Mead

Death and the Conjuror by Tom Mead

by Carol6 Comments
It's no surprise Death and the Conjuror caught my eye. It's set in London in 1936, the Golden Age as far as mysteries are concerned. It features a locked room mystery, something I've been reading a lot of lately, and our sleuth is a magician, which is a fun touch - after all, who would be a better person to solve the impossible? A psychologist seeing three rather unique patients is found dead in his locked study. Inspector George Flint is in charge of the case, but he knows he needs help and calls his friend, magician Joseph Spector. There are a fair number of suspects each with his or her own secrets. Actually, there are all around a lot of characters involved - the dead man's family and clients, the folks from the show Spector is helping put together, the cops obviously - and two mysteries, the murder and a stolen painting, taken from a locked chest in a locked...
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An Elderly Lady is Up to No Good by Helene Tursten

An Elderly Lady is Up to No Good by Helene Tursten

by Carol11 Comments
An Elderly Woman Is Up to No Good is charming and funny and a reminder not to underestimate elderly women. Maude is an 88-year-old Swedish woman with no family or friends, and she's quite happy that way. Maude enjoys doing things on her own, including traveling and solving problems. Maude kills people, annoying neighbors, an antiques dealer, people who present potential disturbances to her peace. She's cunning and intelligent and not vain. She's perfectly willing to use the disguises and tools old age provides; pretending to be confused at times or hard of hearing, neither of which she is; using a cane or walker, neither of which she needs. They make her appear less capable - and dangerous - than she is. Maude is quite a likable character though, in spite of it all. Just don't become one of the "problems."...
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American Eden: David Hosack, Botany, and Medicine in the Garden of the Early Republic by Victoria Johnson

American Eden: David Hosack, Botany, and Medicine in the Garden of the Early Republic by Victoria Johnson

by Carol5 Comments
I have to thank Katie at Doing Dewey and her Nonfiction Reading Challenge for encouraging me to read more non-fiction this year. This is the 9th non-fiction book I've read this year, which is the most since Amber was little and I'd read aloud to her. We used to read a lot of animal, science, and history books but, in general, I don't tend to pick them up on my own, so it's been nice to do a bit of learning with my reading lately. American Eden is the story of David Hosack (August 31, 1769 – December 22, 1835), a botanist and doctor in New York City in the late 18th - early 19th centuries. I admit, I was drawn to the book at first because he was the doctor at the duel between Hamilton and Burr. (I have not seen Hamilton the musical yet, but it's coming to Pittsburgh in January if anyone wants to buy me tickets.) Turns out he...
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