Purchased – Carol's Notebook

Home Before Dark by Riley Sager

June 25, 2026June 25, 2026 by Carol2 Comments

The set-up is good. Twenty-five years ago, Maggie Holt's father wrote a book, House of Horrors, about their family's three weeks in the haunted Baneberry Hall. The book became a best seller, but now her father is dead and she's inherited the house. Maggie's convinced the book was fiction and remembers nothing from their time there, so she moves into Baneberry Hall to renovate it for sale and, hopefully, find out the truth of what really happened that summer. It turns out that the house is creepier than Maggie had expected. The book alternates between the present timeline and chapters from House of Horrors, using what her dad wrote to echo what she's living through. It turns out that more might be true than she thought. I listened to the audio and having two narrators, one for House of Horrors and one for Maggie's point of view, worked well. I don't read many horror books and this is my first...

Murder in an Italian Castle by Benedict Brown

June 22, 2026June 22, 2026 by CarolNo Comments

I've read a few of Lord Edgington and always enjoyed them. Now, Lord Edgington and his grandson, Christopher, have finally started their European tour. Their first stop is in Italy, at Castle Montegufoni, owned by Edgington's old friend, Lord Renwick Monroe. They've only just arrived when they hear arguing from the clock tower and see Renwick fall to his death. Turns out Renwick was not a nice man, but someone who enjoyed pushing buttons and causing tension. Unsurprisingly, we've got a host of suspects, including Renwick's three heirs, his secretary, and assorted townspeople. The mystery was clever. The clues all fit together well, but I still didn't guess the solution. The historic touches are fun and the food sounded delicious. Murder in an Italian Castle is light, enjoyable read. I'm looking forward to their next adventure in Italy....

Murder by Cheesecake by Rachel Ekstrom Courage

May 28, 2026May 28, 2026 by Carol2 Comments

I remember watching the Golden Girls back in the '80s and '90s when I was in high school and have caught reruns occasionally since then. It's not one of my favorite tv shows necessarily, but it's fun and the actresses are fabulous. So, of course I had to pick up Murder by Cheesecake for the nostalgia alone. In this first of the series, Dorothy goes on a very awkward first date with a guy. She doesn't plan on seeing him again. At the same time, Rose's niece is getting married in Miami instead of St. Olaf, and in the midst of the pre-wedding festivities, a dead man is found in the freezer - Dorothy's date, which makes her a prime suspect. The four women have to solve the murder to clear Dorothy's name while also helping Rose with the wedding. The book is set in the 1980s and I felt like the author was true to both the tv and...

Homicide and Halo-Halo by Mia P. Manansala

May 11, 2026May 11, 2026 by CarolNo Comments

Homicide and Halo-Halo is the second in the series, and while it would work as a stand-alone, Lila is still processing the events that happened in the first one a few months ago. Detective Park has given her the name of a therapist, but Lila is adamant that she doesn't need help - and worries how her aunt would view counseling. Lila has a lot going on. Not only is she dealing with PTSD, she is opening a new cafe with her best friend, Adeena, and Adeena's girlfriend, Elena, but is having trouble coming up with new recipes to serve, She's also a judge for the Miss Teen Shady Palms Beauty Pageant, which takes up an absurd amount of time. Do place still have pageants like this? At least it involves things like community service and creativity. It also brings up some of Lila's body image issues and mixed feelings about her mother, who died when Lila was a child. We're...

Arsenic and Adobo by Mia P. Manansala

May 7, 2026May 7, 2026 by CarolNo Comments

I don't know why it's taken me so long to pick up this series. I love culinary cozies, especially when the food featured is not a style I'm familiar with. Lila has returned to her hometown after a bad breakup to help her Aunt Rosie run the family Filipino restaurant. It's not going well, though, and then a local restaurant critic/Lila's high school boyfriend ends up dead, poisoned after eating at the restaurant. Lila becomes the primary suspect, which is her reason for investigating. Every amateur sleuth needs a legitimate reason to nose into the investigation, at least for the first couple of books. Lila's family and friends, mostly women, are wonderful- supportive and quirky. We have tons of yummy food and a couple of recipes in the back. Lila herself is not my favorite, yet, but has potential. I need her to be a little more focused and I don't like the potential love triangle forming for her. The...

The Vanishing at Hallwood Hall by Helena Marchmont

May 6, 2026May 6, 2026 by CarolNo Comments

I love the Bunburry mysteries. They're short little reads/listens that are perfect when I'm not sure what I want to commit to next. This time around, Alfie is enrolled at a writing course at Hallwood Hall - perhaps not the best place for him to go back to. The writers are an odd collection and there's clearly tension in the air, so when one of them leaves suddenly but with no way to get to town or the station, Alfie is suspicious. Adding to my list of things to not do if I'm in a cozy mystery book: let someone take my phone away because it's a "distraction" The mystery here is good. It's only 3 1/2 hours long, but we get several suspects and a couple of nice clues. This time, it's up to Alfie and Emma to solve the mystery and I kind of missed Liz and Marge - they're around but not really integral. I do wish...