Gift – Carol's Notebook

Death Among the Doilies by Mollie Cox Bryan

June 5, 2025June 5, 2025 by CarolNo Comments

I love the concept behind this series. Cora and her friend, Jane, have renovated a Victorian house into a crafting paradise and are holding their first retreat weekend. Cora used to work as a counselor at a domestic violence shelter, but it became too stressful for her. Jane escaped an abusive relationship and has a school age daughter. It's all going well with their new venture until the school librarian is killed and Jane becomes a suspect. We've got a nice cast of eccentric characters and a small town where gossip spreads quickly. I don't love Cora and Jane yet. Given their backgrounds, they make a few odd choices. And I wish the author didn't go on about how attractive they find the various men in the book - it just seemed strange. I know a lot of cozy mysteries have love interests, but we don't need them all the time. The mystery was well done. There were enough clues...

Just Try One Bite by Adam Mansbach and Camila Alves McConaughey

February 20, 2025February 20, 2025 by Carol1 Comment

I made an unofficial resolution to review every book I read this year. I don't usually review kids books. They are typically ones I just happen to pick up and read without much planning. I work at a United Way and we're the local partner for Dolly Parton's Imagination library, which means books with wrong address get returned here. Just Try One Bite is one of those. It's a book about smart, healthy kids trying to convince their parents to eat better. I will say the bits about the parents not liking broccoli and trying to feed it to the dog hit a little close to home. The illustrations are cute, colorful and feature a multi-racial family, which is nice. I don't have any kids in the household and don't know how much they would enjoy it. And it did not convince me to eat my broccoli - I can just buy donut holes on my own and eat them all myself....

In the Shadow of Agatha Christie edited by Leslie S. Klinger

February 13, 2025February 12, 2025 by CarolNo Comments

This collection of classic crime fiction by "forgotten" authors, from 1850-1917, highlights some of the female writers of that period who were the forerunners of the great Golden Age crime authors. Each of the featured authors is given a short biography, putting them and their work in context, which is followed by one their short stories. Like many anthologies, this one is a mixed bag. Some I thoroughly enjoyed, some were neither her nor there, and at least one I thought was more than a little silly. Several authors are ones I've heard of/ read before, but many were new to me. I've marked a few to pick up more works by. Overall, it's a good collection of women crimes writers at the time. The writing styles are varied as are the types of cases and crimes involved. The stories included are: Catherine Crowe - The Advocate's Wedding DayElizabeth Cleghorn Gaskell - The Squire's StoryMary Fortune - Traces of CrimeHarriet Prescott...

Deadly Summer Nights by Vicki Delany

March 22, 2024March 25, 2024 by CarolNo Comments

Deadly Summer Nights is set in 1953 in the Catskills. Elizabeth Grady, a bookkeeper in New York City, was convinced by her mother, Olivia, to manage Haggerman's Resort, which Olivia recently inherited. Elizabeth has her work cut out for her dealing with guests and staff, then, to top it all off, one of the guests ends up dead, murdered and left floating in the lake. The local police find a copy of The Communist Manifesto in the man's cottage and the rumors that the resort is harboring communists start flying. Elizabeth is anxious to solve this mystery as soon as possible and save the resort's reputation. The setting is so fun. I love the resort with all its activities and entertainment. The clothes and drinks and slang were perfect, too. Elizabeth is a good protagonist, smart and level-headed, but not unemotional. Her mom, Olivia, a former actress, is a blast. She knows how to exude charm and when to offer free...

The Bell in the Fog by Lev A.C. Rosen

March 21, 2024April 10, 2024 by Carol2 Comments

The Bell in the Fog is the second in the Andy Mills series and I do think it's best to read Lavender House first. It gives a good introduction to Andy and his world, along with a couple of characters who reappear here. Andy is set up as a private detective now, but because he used to be a cop the community doesn't trust him, so he's not getting much business. He lives above Elsie's bar, the Ruby, and he's costing it business too, so she's not making enough to pay the bribes that prevent raids. He needs the money, so when someone from his past wants to hire him to find out who is behind blackmail photos that could threaten his military career, Andy takes the case. The mystery itself is of course more complicated than it seems at first, and more dangerous. It's also so connected to Andy's past that maybe he's not seeing things as clearly as he should....

Agatha Christie’s Poirot by Mark Aldridge

March 19, 2024March 19, 2024 by Carol2 Comments

I loved this book. But I adore Poirot and I do think you need to be a fan to want to read it. The book is broken down in decades, from Poirot's first appearance in 1920 in The Mysterious Affair at Styles through Kenneth Branagh's movies. Aldridge discusses the books, plays, films, television & radio stories in a straightforward way that can be a little dry at times. He summarizes each story, but but without giving away any spoilers. He includes excerpts from Christie’s journals and correspondence, and talks about the interactions between Christie and her publishers, which weren't always positive. He also shares reviews from newspapers regarding the stories. There are a lot of illustrations, including book covers, movie posters, and photos of actors, but all in black and white. For me, this was an absolutely fun book. It's thorough and well-researched and was a joy to read....