I thoroughly enjoy this series for the characters, mysteries, and setting. Ellery is such a nice guy and I've enjoyed his relationship with Police Chief, Jack. They make a good pair. Pirates Cove on Buck Island is a small town with quirky residents, as befits any good cozy, and Buck Island's pirate history adds a unique flavor.
Ellery finds a back of Spanish coins tucked away in the bookstore. Apparently sixty years ago, Vernon Shandy did discover the famed Blood Red Rose treasure before he was killed. By now Ellery has built a bit of a reputation for his amateur detective work, and Vernon's sister Vera, matriarch of the Shandy clan, asks Ellery to solve the murder, offering a list of suspects that includes Ellery's great aunt Eudora.
The mystery was put together well. We had several suspects, but the solution is actually a bit sad.
The ending of the book was quite sweet, however, and I'm looking forward to the next in...
I play board games - a lot, which is what drew to Board to Death. It's set in a game store/ cafe which I thought could be super fun. That's also the portion I was most disappointed in. The plot revolves in part around a collectible classic board game, which worked. However, the only "modern" board games that were mentioned were Gloomhaven, Pandemic, and maybe Catan - I'm not sure. I don't know if the author doesn't actually play board games or assumes the reader doesn't. The characters played battleship and had a Connect 4 box fall on them and sold Rummikub. No wonder the shop is having trouble. I did enjoy learning about Nertz, a card game the local business association played. The rules were explained in the back of the book and I may have to make people try it, assuming we have enough different decks for everyone, which I think we might.
I did like Ben, though. He's...
I confess I have never seen the movie version of The Boys from Brazil. Honestly, I only picked it up because I was looking for a book set in Brazil and this one is a classic thriller. It's set in the world of the Nazi hunters of the mid and later twentieth century. It's conspiracy mixed with historical facts.
The story begins with a top-secret meeting in a Japanese restaurant to initiate a mysterious project by 'the comrade organization'. Six hitmen are assigned to kill 94 older civil servants scattered throughout the world, and they must die on the designated dates set forth by the still-hunted Josef Mengele. Renowned Nazi-hunter, Yakov Liebermann learns about the plot via a mysterious phone call from a twenty-something American who went down Brazil to investigate. The young man is killed while on the phone call.
The novel is gripping and while the plot is maybe a bit far-fetched, it was fascinating. It was easy to...
The Last Drop of Hemlock is set in New York City in the 1920s. This is the second in the series and, while it does work as a stand-alone, I think you get a much better feeling for the characters if you read them in order. Vivian and her sister, Florence, are poor, but better off than they used to be. The setting, from their tenement building to the club where Viv works to the street's cities, felt real. I loved the details - the smells, the sights, the people.
The mystery was well done. In a city where everyone works by their own moral standards, some of which are more gray than others, there are plenty of suspects in the murder. And Vivian's reasons for looking into the death make sense- they can't trust the cops. She has to call in a favor or two and puts herself in a couple of dangerous positions, but it all feels in character....
I don't read a lot of graphic novels. I get more caught up in the words and tend to ignore the images, which means I lose half of the experience. However, the art in The Low, Low Woods was definitely eye-catching, integral to the story, and kept me engaged.
In a small, Pennsylvania mining town, the women lose chunks of their memory. Two teenage girls (one Latina, one Black, both queer) are on a quest to figure out what's going on. The reasons for the memory losses are at least partially predictable and horrifying.
The Low, Low Woods deals with tough topics and doesn't shy away from the fact that survivors deal with trauma differently. It dealt with several themes which could have been explored more, but I truly liked Vee and El, who have been best friends since they were kids. The town is a hard place to live and a hard place to leave.
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Lana and her sister Anna May are visiting their Aunt Grace while attending a food expo. While visiting, they become involved in another murder investigation. The dead woman was their aunt's best friend, and Lana is determined to find the truth, especially if she thinks her aunt is in danger of being a suspect or the next victim.
On the one hand, it was nice to see Lana get away from Cleveland. Too many people were dying around Asia Village. It was also nice to have Anna May and Aunt Grace helping Lana out. Anna May and Lana don't always get along well and it was nice to see them at least trying to work together. And Lana is her usual curious, funny, sarcastic self.
On the other hand, I prefer Lana at home. I like her surrounded by her friends and family. I miss her sidekick, Megan, and her dog. The mystery was fine, with several suspects, good clues, and a...
