Audible Plus – Carol's Notebook

A High-End Finish by Kate Carlisle

July 11, 2025July 11, 2025 by CarolNo Comments

I've read at least one other Fixer-Upper mystery and watched the Hallmark shows, but I was looking for something free to listen to and found this one. I didn't love it to be honest. Shannon goes out on a blind date that ends badly, with her kneeing him and threatening to kill him - in front of a beach of witnesses. Of course, the guy later turns up dead - in one of the houses her company is remodeling, killed with one of her distinctive pink tools. She is, of course, a suspect and decides she needs to clear her name. Unfortunately, most of the other suspects are women too. The guy was jerk. I like Shannon in the tv show, but here she seems young. She doesn't learn and continues to threaten to kill people throughout the book (because doesn't everyone) but then is dismayed when they end up murdered, or almost murdered. She still has some kind...

Witches Get Stuff Done by Molly Harper

July 3, 2025July 3, 2025 by CarolNo Comments

I don't read a lot of romances - I get annoyed with miscommunications that almost seem purposeful, ridiculous grudges, and love triangles. Witches Get Stuff Done was fun, though. After a rather disastrous ferry ride, Riley arrives on Starfall Point Island. She’s expecting to meet her long lost aunt, but instead learns of her aunt’s death and finds herself caretaker to a house full of ghosts. The love interest is a cute, intelligent librarian, Edison. Yes, their first meeting is a bit yucky and maybe they fall in love a little too quickly, but they made me smile. They both have some baggage from past relationships, but don't let it overwhelm the present. They talk to each other honestly and share things. Most of the tension comes from the ghosts and the mysteries surrounding the house. t's fun to watch Riley find her circle of friends. She's new in town and her aunt always kept pretty aloof from the...

Summer of ’49 by David Halberstam

June 6, 2025June 6, 2025 by Carol2 Comments

I love going to baseball games. I'm a Pirates fan, though, which means I can sit back and have fun but don't really expect too much. Not like the people watching the Red Sox and Yankees in 1949. Summer of ‘49 is in theory about the 1949 pennant race between the Yankees and the Red Sox. We know the Yankees ended up beating the Red Sox and going on to bee the Dodgers in the World Series, but really the book is about the people - the players, managers, press. Don't get me wrong, there are a lot of numbers - hits, games back, percentages, salaries, it's what baseball boils down to after all, but the fun part is hearing about the people - who they are, where they came from. We get stories of how they interact with each other and how they view the game. Some are people I've heard of, but most weren't. This is definitely a nostalgic...

The Diva Runs Out of Thyme by Krista Davis

November 26, 2024November 26, 2024 by CarolNo Comments

I was looking for a Thanksgiving cozy and ran across The Diva Runs Out of Thyme free with Audible Plus. I've read a couple others in the series, but had never gotten to this first one. "The Diva Runs Out of Thyme" is a fun read and pulls in plenty of holiday touches. W were introduced to a lot of characters in this book - Sophie and her family, the neighbors, her ex-husband and his family and girlfriend, and the stuffing competition judges and participants, but they each had their own personality and quirks. I listened to the audio and the narrator did a good job keeping everyone distinct. The mystery itself was fine, even if some of the characters' actions were questionable. I was surprised by who the killer turned out to be. Overall I enjoyed it....

Death Comes in Through the Kitchen by Teresa Dovalpage

May 31, 2024May 31, 2024 by CarolNo Comments

I was looking for a book set in Cuba when I ran across Death Comes in Through the Kitchen. It sounded like one I would enjoy - an interesting setting, an interesting main character, and Cuban food. I ended up being disappointed. Matt arrives in Havana to meet his Cuban fiancée, Yarmila, hopefully get married and persuade her to return with him to the States. Things go down hill immediately when he finds Yarmila dead in her apartment He becomes a suspect in her murder and the authorities believe he may be an American spy. We see most of the story from Matt's viewpint.. He's pretty clueless really, about Yarmila's death, but also about life in Cuba. We also get to see the case, and Cuba, from Detective Martinez's point of view. She's in charge of the official investigation, but she's not getting much cooperation from the other people involved. And finally, we have El Padrino, a former police officer turned...

Murder at Mallowan Hall by Colleen Cambridge

May 30, 2024May 30, 2024 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...