NetGalley – Page 22 – Carol's Notebook

Peril at the Exposition by Nev March

July 26, 2022July 26, 2022 by CarolNo Comments

One of the strengths of Murder in Old Bombay, the first in the series, was the setting, 1890s India. In Peril at the Exposition, Chicago and the World's Fair are richly drawn and vividly described, but didn't have quite the same draw for me. It made sense for Diana and Jim to emigrate to America, but it lost some of the charm of the first. This book, told mostly from Diana's point of view, does give us her memories of places and people in India, but at times they feel forced. Jim, now working as a private investigator, is missing in Chicago. Diana heads off to find him. Diana is determined and strong in her own way, but definitely in over her head. She can be melodramatic and puts herself and others in dangerous situations. As Diana digs deeper into the case Jim was working on, she realizes there's a plot involving anarchists, labor union disputes, and maybe a bomb. There...

The Paper Caper by Kate Carlisle

July 19, 2022July 22, 2022 by Carol3 Comments

I assumed I would enjoy The Paper Caper. The main character, Brooklyn, restores books and does paper art and the story is set during a Mark Twain festival. This is the first I've read in the series and maybe that's the problem, maybe I would have enjoyed it more if I knew the characters better. I love that Brooklyn restores books but I couldn't quite get a hold of her character. This is #16, so presumably she's helped solve at least sixteen murders. But she seems really young and her husband seems to humor her more than take her thoughts on the case seriously. I'm assuming she's seen several dead bodies, but watching a video of a car crash is almost too much for her to handle? The whodunnit was a bit obvious and therefore disappointing. The twist I was assuming there would be regarding who the killer was just never happened. Overall, it was just a little too silly. Some...

The Woman in the Library by Sulari Gentill

July 13, 2022July 13, 2022 by Carol6 Comments

For me, The Woman in the Library cared a bit too much about its concept than its characters or plot. I'm not a giant fan of metafiction and didn't realize from the blurb what I was getting into. That being said, even though it's not exactly up my aisle, I do think the author did a decent job with it. I guess there are three stories here. Australian author Hannah is writing a murder mystery feature Winifred, the woman in the library from the blurb who becomes embroiled in a murder mystery. Winifred is also writing a book inspired by the three people she meets in the library. Hannah's beta reader is Leo and most of the book alternates between Hannah's chapters featuring Winifred and Leo's e-mail responses. Once you get into the rhythm, it works well, but the structure did keep me off balance and at a distance from any of the characters. We've got two plots here. (Winifred's...

Movieland by Lee Goldberg

July 2, 2022June 30, 2022 by Carol4 Comments

As series fans will know, Eve Ronin has been through a lot. She has struggled to defend her position in the LASD. Her workload has been tough, which isn't helped by her inability to occasionally leave work at the office. Movieland does work well as a stand-alone though. Goldberg gives us enough background to know where Eve stands and what led her there. This time around, Eve and her partner, Duncan Pavone, are investigating the shooting of two campers, one of whom was killed. It turns out that this was just the latest shooting in a string of them, some of which were reported to the police and some of which the park rangers kept to themselves. When another person is killed the question becomes are all seemingly random shootings related? Are there copycats taking advantage of the situation? Because there are so many incidents, we have multiple suspects and a variety of witnesses. Goldberg does a good job keeping all...

The Nineties by Chuck Klosterman

June 2, 2022June 1, 2022 by Carol5 Comments

Two things first. One - this is the first book by Klosterman I've read. Two - I, like Klosterman, am firmly a Gen X-er. I graduated high school in '93, college in '97. I got married in '99 and had Amber in 2000 (which counts because Klosterman doesn't consider the '90s officially over until 9/11). If I'm an adult, that was the decade I became one. I don't know if you have to be a member of my generation to enjoy The Nineties, but I'm sure it helps. If it was part of the culture during the '90s, it's in here: Nirvana, Reality Bites, American Beauty, Pulp Fiction, Seinfeld, Friends, Columbine, Mike Tyson, Tiger Woods, the Clintons, Dolly, Garth Brooks, Clarence Thomas. It covers TV shows I watched, bands I listened to and rappers I didn't, news stories that feel different when you look back at them than they did at the time. Klosterman talks about why the person and/or...

Friend of the Devil by Stephen Lloyd

May 27, 2022May 27, 2022 by Carol2 Comments

Friend of the Devil is set at a posh boarding school on its own island off the coast of Massachusetts. The school, Danforth Putnam, also serves as an orphanage and has for ages. We've got the typical mix of high school kids, nerds, over-achievers, bullies, and staff who range from caring to a little nutty. Into this mix comes Sam, an insurance investigator on the trail of a valuable lost book. Friend of the Devil is slasher horror, with plenty of dead teenagers and lots of gore to slip in. Sam is kind of a hard-boiled detective not above threatening the kids on campus. Harriet, the school reporter, is also digging around, and they both uncover more than they expect. You know how some slasher movies and scary and some are lighter, despite the jump scares. This falls in that second camp. It's funny and over the top. You know who the monster's going to target, you know it's going to be...