NetGalley – Page 3 – Carol's Notebook

A Death in Diamonds by S. J. Bennett

February 5, 2025February 5, 2025 by Carol2 Comments

I've read this series from the beginning and thoroughly enjoy seeing Queen Elizabeth II as an amateur sleuth. She knows people well and has access to a lot of information but needs her assistant private secretary to do most of the legwork. This time around we've gone back in time to the late 50s. It's early in the Queen's reign and she has two young children. She and Prince Phillip have been married about 10 years and their marriage has more stressors than most, one being that a club Prince Phillip attends has been connected to a murder. Joan, the assistant private secretary, is bold, resourceful, and intelligent. She is the only one the Queen can truly trust, since in addition to the murder case, they are trying to figure out which of the Queen's advisors has been attempting to sabotage her trips abroad. The peeks into royal life are fun. The queen visits a few other countries in this one and...

The Antique Hunter’s Death on the Red Sea by C. L. Miller

January 31, 2025January 31, 2025 by CarolNo Comments

The Antique Hunter's Death on the Red Sea is the second in the series and it's probably better to read them in order. You'll get a better feel for the characters and why Freya ends up in her current position. We learned in the first book that Freya and her Aunt Carole inherited Arthur Crockleford's antique shop when he was murdered. They are also trying to continue his project of hunting down stolen treasurers and making sure they're returned to their rightful owners. Freya and Carole have officially founded “The Lockwood Antique Hunter’s Agency,” and the first case that comes their way is a painting that was stolen from a small semi-local Maritime Museum was stolen. The police are concentrating on the murder that accompanied the theft and the museum volunteer is afraid the painting will be forgotten. It turns out Arthur had donated the painting to the museum, making it even more interesting to Carole and Freya. The two follow...

The Library Game by Gigi Pandian

January 27, 2025January 27, 2025 by Carol8 Comments

The Library Game is the fourth in the Secret Staircase series, and I do think they are best read in order. Tempest, a former stage magician, is enjoying her work with her father’s Secret Staircase Construction company. This time around they're working on changing a Gray House, large private home, in to a classic mystery library and will be presenting an escape room/mystery play in the house for the town's "Summer Stroll" weekend. During a play rehearsal, one of the actors is murdered during a planned on-stage blackout, but the body disappears when everyone leaves the room to get their phones. Tempest's friend, Sanjay, aka "The Hindi Houdini," is one of the suspects - or maybe he was supposed to be the victim. Either way, Tempest and her "Scooby" gang, Ivy, Gideon, and Sanjay, need to solve the case. The author does a great job of weaving in the elements important in stage magic like forcing choices, misdirection, and sleight of...

Bait and Swiss by Korina Moss

January 23, 2025January 23, 2025 by CarolNo Comments

Curds & Whey has only been open two years and Willa needs to solve a sixth murder. Willa's ex-fiancé, Pierce, and his partner, Willa's former best friend, Riley, have opened a pop-up chocolate shop in the town's revamped bakery. Willa is, reasonably in my opinion, angry that the pair has chosen her town for their newest store, but when a reporter is killed by poisoned chocolates, she knows she's not guilty, even if the police chief isn't so sure. I felt a little bad for the character who got killed. We met him, saw he was pushy, and then he was dead. There was never much consideration that he was even the intended victim. The reader has several suspects to look at, although Willa would rather not believe any of them are guilty. And was destroying the business's reputation the point, or was someone trying to kill AJ, the newspaper editor, or Willa herself? Turns out Pierce is not a very...

The Secret of the Three Fates by Jess Armstrong

January 22, 2025January 22, 2025 by Carol2 Comments

The Secret of the Three Fates picks up a few months after the first in the series, The Curse of Penryth Hall, in October of 1922. This one probably works as a stand alone, but you'll have a much better feel for the characters and appreciate what we learn about their backgrounds here. This time around, Mr. Owen and Ruby are at a remote manor house in Scotland, supposedly to purchase illuminated manuscripts. Mr. Owen, however, has lied to Ruby and the two of them are actually there to attend a séance- Mr. Owen is hoping to speak to his son, Ben, who died in the War. The séance, hosted by three mediums going by the name of The Three Fates, is frighteningly real. One of the mediums, seemingly possessed by a spirit, delivers an ominous message: There’s nowhere on earth you can hide from the dead. We have not forgotten … we shall not forgive. The dead know what...

Haunting and Homicide by Ava Burke

January 16, 2025January 16, 2025 by Carol2 Comments

I love catching a new series at the beginning and Haunting and Homicide is a fun read and a good introduction to Tallulah “Lou” Thatcher and her family and friends, both living and dead. Lou lives with her grandmother in New Orleans and has a business doing ghost tours which makes perfect sense since she has been able to see and talk to ghosts since she was little. When a rival ghost tour guide dies Lou is unfortunate enough to stumble across his body. But now he's a ghost who begs her to make sure the police find out who killed him. She wants to help and she wants to clear her own name - she found the body, they were clearly not friends, and the murder weapon came from her store. The mystery is well-written with several twists and surprises. This is Lou's first outing as an amateur sleuth and she's not great at it yet, but she does...