Purchased – Page 8 – Carol's Notebook

Treats, Tricks, and Trespassing by Kathleen Suzette

October 23, 2023October 23, 2023 by CarolNo Comments

Treats, Tricks, and Trespassing picks up six years after the Pumpkin Hollow Mysteries left off. I haven't read any of the Pumpkin Hollow books, but this sounded like a perfect Halloween-ish read, so I picked it up. The author does a good job of introducing the characters, although there are a lot of them. The town itself is fun and quirky, embracing Halloween all year round. Mia and Christy are candy makers and have a cute shop in town. When a local woman is killed in the abandoned mansion, Mia's husband, Detective Ethan Banks, is put in charge of the case, but Mia and Christy decide to do some snooping, and trespassing, on their own. I didn't love the characters, maybe because I didn't know them well. The mystery was okay, with several suspects and a good mix of clues and red herrings. It was fun enough as a seasonal read, but probably not a series I'd pick up outside of...

Dead to Rights by Jasmine Webb

October 18, 2023 by CarolNo Comments

Who wouldn't love to find out they've inherited a house and bookshop near the sea in Cornwall? And from a relative they didn't even know? Sign me up. It's not going so great for Mack, though. First, someone else is living in her house - a grandmother she never knew. Then, there's a dead body in her bookstore, and somehow the police have settled on her as a main suspect. I liked a lot of things about Dead to Rights. Mack is a good character - funny, tenacious, a bit snarky. Her grandmother is a hoot. The two make a good team and even their bickering is funny. I like the town with the bookstore, Ugly Mug coffeeshop, and amazing hiking trails. I even like the cat. I didn't like how stupid the cops seem to be. Yes, the detectives in cozy mysteries tend to be a bit bumbling, but this was over the top. I didn't like how Mack trusted a...

The Map Thief by Michael Blanding

October 16, 2023October 16, 2023 by Carol2 Comments

I found The Map Thief absolutely fascinating, not so much because of map dealer turned thief E. Forbes Smiley, but because of all the information about the history of mapmaking and map collecting. I will admit that I did pick it up because it's a true crime story. Smiley was a respected antiquarian map dealer in who ended up over his head and began stealing rare and famous maps from universities and turning around and selling them. Eventually, he got caught, but it was surprising how little security the rare book/map rooms had. And how incomplete the record-keeping was. And collectors and most other dealers never questioned his finds either. My favorite parts of the book were when Blanding spent time explaining the maps that were stolen and their significance. It was well-researched and easy to read. I learned so much about maps, their uses, the history of map making, and the historical figures behind them. I probably won't remember much...

Murder at the Castle by M.B.Shaw

October 6, 2023October 6, 2023 by CarolNo Comments

Murder at the Castle is the second in the Iris Grey series, and while it can certainly be read as a stand-alone, events from the previous book are referenced. The author gives enough information that a new reader wouldn't be lost, but since that case is why Iris is in Scotland and does affect how she views things, I think it's worth reading. Iris is commissioned to paint a portrait of Kathy Miller, a beautiful American due to marry a wealthy elderly Baron, Jock MacKinnon. MacKinnon's adult children dislike Kathy intensely - she displaced their own mother in the castle and she's much younger than the Baron. The townsfolk don't like her because she has some new ideas about how things around the castle should be run - and she's American. Kathy's been receiving threatening letters, which she wants Iris's help putting a stop to. There's already plenty of tension before the two women's bodies are found buried on the castle...

Midnight Riot by Ben Aaronovitch

October 5, 2023October 4, 2023 by CarolNo Comments

Midnight Riot was so fun, in the way that murder, magic, ghosts, and British slang can sometimes be. Constable Peter Grant is on probation and about to be assigned a post where his days will be filled with paperwork. It is only by (bad?) luck, that he stumbles on a murder scene and meets an eyewitness who happens to be a ghost, a ghost he can see and talk with. Peter ends up being assigned to assist Detective Chief Inspector Thomas Nightingale, who runs the Special Operations Unit, responsible for investigating the "unusual" in London. In this first in the series, the two are dealing with a spike of unusual murders in the city while also trying to broker a deal between the gods and goddess of the Rivers of the Thames. Peter, from whose viewpoint we see the story, is a fabulous character. He has is self-deprecating and firmly rooted in the modern world. He also has an interesting family...

Unnatural Ends by Christopher Huang

September 16, 2023September 15, 2023 by Carol2 Comments

In April 1921, the three Linwood siblings, Alan, an archeologist, Roger, an engineer, and Caroline, a journalist, return to their family estate in Yorkshire for their adoptive father’s funeral. Their father, the late Sir Lawrence Linwood, had been bludgeoned to death in his study with a medieval flanged mace by an unknown assailant. Upon the reading of Sir Lawrence’s will, they are made aware of a “find my killer” clause wherein in the case of an unnatural death, the one who can solve his murder inherits his estate. As father has in fact been brutally murdered, this is the start of an investigation that will delve into the deeply buried secrets of the Linwood family. Lawrence Linwood was a terrible person, abusive to his children and wife, controlling and manipulative ov the entire village. I tend to read traditional and cozy mysteries and while abuse is sometimes a topic, it's not usually shown as often or in detail. Reading of...