Month: October 2023

Book Notes Review of The Fatal Folio

Cheryl Russell

 

Book cover with cat looking out big window while sitting on bookshelves

The Fatal Folio

Book Three in the Cambridge Bookshop Series
by Elizabeth Penney

If you’re going to commit a murder, do it on a night when mask-wearers abound.

 

The Fatal Folio Summary

During Guy Fawkes celebrations, student Thad Devine is murdered on the grounds of St. Aelred, one of Cambridge, England’s, oldest and smallest colleges. The prime suspect is Oliver Scott. A professor up for promotion, Scott held a grudge against Devine. Oliver Scott is also cousin to Kieran Scott.

Kieran is Molly Kimble’s boyfriend, and she has a knack for stumbling into murders. Having her boyfriend’s cousin the prime suspect in Devine’s murder isn’t a spot she wants to be in, but here she is.

Before Molly can make any headway on the murder, the priceless manuscript The Fatal Folio is stolen during the Gothic Literature symposium, and Molly finds herself in the middle of mystery #2.

As Molly investigates both cases, the circle of suspects widens beyond Oliver, but not by much. All of Molly’s murder suspects either work for or are students at St. Aelred’s and also have ties to the symposium, meaning not only are they murder suspects, but suspects in the theft of The Final Folio. Will her investigating lead to a murderer? Will she recover the stolen manuscript before it’s sold to the highest bidder on the black market?

My Thoughts on The Fatal Folio

The Final Folio is a quick and easy read. The number of suspects kept me guessing about the murderer’s identity and the murderer’s motivation. Another plus was the inclusion of an old library. Molly was hired to catalogue the library at Hazelhurst House, the Scotts’ ancestral home and that was a definite plus in my book. (Pun intended.) If you like old libraries, rare manuscripts, and murder, then this novel may be for you.

 

Publishing Information

St. Martin’s Press
Genre: Mystery, Cozy Mystery
ISBN 9781250787743

 

Thanks to #NetGalley and #StMartinsPress for providing a free copy of #TheFatalFolio for review. All opinions are my own.

Book Notes Review of Dating Can Be Deadly

Cheryl Russell

 

Book cover for Dating Can Be Deadly two goats pulling at a quilt with a skull on it.

Dating Can Be Deadly

An Amish Matchmaker Mystery #5
by Amanda Flower

In Dating Can Be Deadly, childhood friends Milly Fisher and Lois Henry are pulled into another murder mystery when a quilting contest turns deadly.

Dating Can Be Deadly Summary

Readers are back in Harvest, Ohio, this time for the county fair. Millie Fisher is, for the first time, entering a quilt into the quilting contest. Lois Henry, Millie’s lifelong best friend, is there to meet a man (potentially husband #5) she connected with on a dating app. But when the head judge for the competition is murdered, Millie and Lois make finding the murderer their top priority.

Thoughts on Dating Can Be Deadly

I love the pairing of Millie Fisher, a widowed Old Order Amish woman and Amish matchmaker, and Lois Henry, an over-the-top Englisher. The contrast between Millie, with her quiet demeanor, demure prayer cap, Amish dresses in dark colors, and Lois, with her spikey purple-red hair, bright colored patterned clothing, chunky costume jewelry, heavy use of eye shadow, and a bag Mary Poppins would envy for the amount of items it contains is one of the best things about the novel. Even though they are as different as night and day, their lifelong friendship is strong. They model what true friendship looks like-accepting of each other, even though they may not understand each other (esp. Millie when it comes to Lois’ English ways) or agree 100% of the time.
The small village atmosphere encompasses both English and Amish communities, and the friction as well as the friendships are well-written into the novel. While the Amish way of life is a strong part of the series, it isn’t a whitewashed way of life. Flower’s characters reflect both the good and bad of members in both cultures.
Characters from Flower’s Amish Candy Shop Mystery series also make appearances. It’s fun to see which ones make cameo appearances.

The plot is also strong. Flower excels at planting red herrings and plot twists, and I found myself going back and forth between several viable suspects. This one kept me guessing until the final reveal.

There are four other books in this series, and while you can read this as a standalone, I would recommend reading the other books in the series first. You can read a sample from Dating Can Be Deadly here. If buying the book is too much of a commitment, then check out a copy from your local library. However you obtain your books, get a copy and read Dating Can Be Deadly.

Publishing Information

Published by: Kensington
Imprint: Kensington Cozies
336 Pages, 4.11 x 6.79 x 0.86 in
ISBN: 9781496737489
ON SALE: 10/24/2023
FICTION / MYSTERY & DETECTIVE / AMATEUR SLEUTH

Thanks to #NetGalley and #KensingtonCozies for providing an electronic copy for review. Thanks to the author for providing
a hard copy for review. All opinions are my own.

Book Notes Review: Some of Us Are Looking

Cheryl Russell

Book cover For Some Of Us Are Looking by Carlene O'ConnorSome of Us Are Looking
Book Two  in the County Kerry Series

By Carlene O’Connor

 

Set in Ireland and Irish culture, O’Connor weaves a tight, tense tale of murder and revenge.

Description

In late summer, the Dingle peninsula is thronged with tourists drawn to County Kerry’s dark mountains and deep, lush valleys. For Irish vet Dimpna Wilde, who has returned to run her family’s practice after years away, home is a beautiful but complicated place—especially when it becomes the setting for a brutal murder . . .  

In Dimpna Wilde’s veterinary practice, an imminent meteor shower has elevated the usual gossip to include talk of shooting stars and the watch parties that are planned all over Dingle. But there are also matters nearer at hand to discuss—including the ragtag caravan of young people selling wares by the roadside, and the shocking death of Chris Henderson, an elderly local, in a hit-and-run.

Just hours before his death, Henderson had stormed into the Garda Station, complaining loudly about the caravan’s occupants causing noise and disruption. One of their members is a beautiful young woman named Brigid Sweeney, and Dimpna is shocked when Brigid later turns up at her practice, her clothing splattered in blood and an injured hare tucked into her shirt.

Brigid claims that a mysterious stranger has been trying to obtain a lucky rabbit’s foot. Dimpna is incensed at the thought of anyone mutilating animals, but there is far worse in store. On the night of the meteor shower, Dimpna finds Brigid’s body tied to a tree, her left hand severed. She has bled to death. Wrapped around her wrist is a rabbit’s foot.

Brigid had amassed plenty of admirers, and there were tangled relationships within the group. But perhaps there is something more complex than jealousy at play. The rabbit’s foot, the severed hand, the coinciding meteor shower—the deeper Dimpna and Detective Sargeant Cormac O’Brien investigate, the more ominous the signs seem to be, laced with a warning that Dimpna fears it will prove fatal to overlook.

Some of Us Are Looking-Likes
The characters.
First is Dimpna Wilde. Dimpna is a veterinarian and she’s returned home to take over her ailing father’s practice. Dimpna has had a hard life (the story is in No Strangers Here), but she is well on her way to rebuilding it. Her practice is thriving. She may or may not have a potential relationship in the works with Detective Sargent Cormac O’Brian.

Detective Sargent Cormac O’Brian isn’t sure what to make of his relationship with Dimpna either. There’s an attraction there, he thinks, but he’s not sure. He does know he is attracted to her and really doesn’t want her to find out about his latest indiscretion, one he needs to tell Sargent Barbara Neely about and the sooner the better.

Then there’s Sargent Barbara Neely. Instead of retiring, she transferred to the Tralee Garda Station from Dingle and is now regretting her life choices. Elderly Chris Henderson, on his third visit of the week, barged into her office and announced he caught a pervert. Inspector O’Brian obviously has something he needs to tell her, but Henderson interrupted O’Brian before he had a chance to start, and now she has a circus in her office. All before lunch. She has her hands full at the start of the book, but her life is about to get much more difficult when the murders start.

The Murders
First, Chris Henderson is killed in a hit-and-run and witnesses say he was targeted. Then Dr. Wilde discovers the body of Brigid Sweeny. The beautiful young woman had been in the news and in contact with the police as a member of a caravan. Her death is a gruesome one.
Someone has also vandalized shops in Dingle. They’ve chalked messages across several of the shops referencing a cold case from 1944, in England.
The murders take place against the backdrop of the Perseid meteor shower, giving Dr. Wilde, Sargent Neely, and DS O’Brien an endless pool of suspects and a short time to solve the murders. Once the meteor shower is over, the crowds will disperse all over Ireland, the killer going with them.

I really love the immersion into Irish culture and life.

Dislikes
I didn’t really buy into the gravity of O’Brien’s indiscretion, but that didn’t keep me from enjoying this book.

My Thoughts

If you’re familiar with O’Connor’s writing through her Irish Village cozy mystery series, the County Cork series is not that. Some of Us Are Looking is darker in tone than a cozy; the murders are more brutal and more detail is on the page (but not excessive, just enough to give this reader chills). To me it has more of a traditional mystery/thriller slant, but still has Connor’s distinctive sense of humor and complex characters found in her other books. I fell in love with this series with the first book No Strangers Here, and quickly read this one. Recommended.

Thanks to #NetGalley and #Kensington for providing a copy of #SomeOfUsAreLooking for review.

Publishing Information

Published by: Kensington
Imprint: Kensington
368 Pages, 6.00 x 9.00 in

ISBN: 9781496737557

ON SALE: 10/24/2023

FICTION / MYSTERY & DETECTIVE / INTERNATIONAL MYSTERY & CRIME

Book Notes West Heart Kill

Cheryl Russell

West Heart Kill

by Dann McDorman

ABOUT WEST HEART KILL

LOOKING FOR AN ANYTHING-BUT-ORDINARY WHODUNIT? • Welcome to the West Heart country club. Where the drinks are neat but behind closed doors . . . things can get messy. Where upright citizens are deemed downright boring. Where the only missing piece of the puzzle is you, dear reader.

A unique and irresistible murder mystery set at a remote hunting lodge where everyone is a suspect, including the erratic detective on the scene—a remarkable debut that gleefully upends the rules of the genre.

An isolated hunt club. A raging storm. Three corpses, discovered within four days. A cast of monied, scheming, unfaithful characters.

When private detective Adam McAnnis joins an old college friend for the Bicentennial weekend at the exclusive West Heart club in upstate New York, he finds himself among a set of not-entirely-friendly strangers. Then the body of one of the members is found at the lake’s edge; hours later, a major storm hits. By the time power is restored on Sunday, two more people will be dead . . .

My Thoughts on West Heart Kill

This book isn’t what I expected, and that isn’t a good thing.

First, this isn’t a murder mystery in the traditional sense, which makes this book unique but also is its weakness. The book concentrates on how a murder mystery is written, and the mystery itself is secondary. Various points of view are also employed in the book-first person, third person, and what really put me out of the story-second person.  Second person is used to tell the reader what assumptions the reader is making and when those assumptions were wrong, it really disrupted what was already a complicated read. Another format used in the book was that of a play. Personally, I don’t like reading plays to begin with. The format was used to make the reader a participant in trying to solve, at this point, multiple murders, but it added another layer of difficulty in trying to keep straight what was going on.

A multiple number of identical characters also made for a difficult read. There is really nothing to distinguish one from another—they are all unhappy, can’t cope without alcohol or drugs or both, cheat on their spouses, and are just difficult to keep straight. I really didn’t care about any of them.

-Recommendation

This book wasn’t for me, but if it sounds like something you might enjoy, give it a try, maybe by borrowing a copy from the library or a friend.

Thanks to #NetGalley and Knopf, Pantheon, Vintage, and Anchor, for providing a copy of the book. All opinions are my own.

Publishing Information
Hardcover | $28.00
Published by Knopf
Oct 24, 2023 | 288 Pages | 6-1/8 x 9-1/4| ISBN 9780593537572

 

Book Notes Review-Stalking Around the Christmas Tree

Cheryl Russell

Stalking Around the Christmas Tree
Book Four in the Christmas Tree Farm Mystery Series
by Jacqueline Frost

Publisher’s Summary

Tis the season to solve a murder—and innkeeper Holly White knows she’ll have to make her list and check it twice if she wants to catch the killer in the 4th Christmas Tree Farm mystery from bestselling author Jacqueline Frost.

For inn keeper Holly White, Christmas time in Mistletoe, Maine, is the ultimate holiday gift. Business at the Reindeer Games Inn is booming, her wedding to Sheriff Evan Gray is nearly here, and the annual parade is about to begin. The town is lucky to have another gift this year with the state’s ballet company staying for several performances of The Nutcracker. But disaster strikes when Tiffany, the lead ballerina, shows up dead on a float during the parade, the Rat King’s mask nearby. Holly will have to spruce up her sleuthing skills if she wants to catch the killer before Christmas—and her wedding day.

Immediately, Holly discovers that Tiffany had more than a few secrets. She finds out that the star of the show had a super fan that no one knows anything about. And the show’s understudy slips some other intriguing information Holly’s way: not only was Tiffany secretly seeing someone romantically, but there seems to be more than one rat in this company. When Holly discovers a secret passage leading to Tiffany’s dressing room, with footprints leading out; she wonders if this is evidence of a secret lover—or a stalking killer.

With an impending snowstorm and the ballet company on the way out of town, Holly must act quickly if she wants to find the person responsible for this terrible murder. Will she be able to save Christmas—or will her investigation turn cold like the weather?

My thoughts on Stalking Around the Christmas Tree


I’ll say it up front-this is one of my favorite series, even though the murders occur around Christmas. Reindeer Games is a Christmas tree farm Holly White’s family owns and they put their all into the business. There’s the café, Hearth, which Holly’s mom keeps stocked with all sorts of Christmas-y goodies. It’s a life-sized gingerbread house and popular with the locals and the visitors. The farm also has games-reindeer games-in the twelve days leading up to Christmas. Some are indoors, some are outdoors, but all are fun. There is also an inn on the property. Holly is the inn keeper and in this week before Christmas the inn is hosting a ballet troupe from Maine’s capitol. The ballet troupe going to perform The Nutcracker for several nights before returning to the capitol for a final performance on Christmas Eve. It’s all set for a perfect Christmas. But of course, this is Mistletoe and for the last three years a murder has occurred close to Christmas and this year is no exception.

What I like about Stalking Around the Christmas Tree


The setting. Mistletoe, Maine, and especially Reindeer Games Tree Farm, are places I’d want to visit. Frost does an excellent job immersing the reader into the fictional town and tree farm.
The characters. Over the series characters have broadened Holly’s circle of trusted friends. She has a solid relationship with her parents. She’s found a keeper in the sheriff. Her circle of friends includes old and new friends, and those friendships also cross generations.

The mystery in Stalking Around the Christmas Tree


There’s mystery upon mystery in this book. The super fan with the large online following and influence, that no one has ever seen. The dead ballerina-why would anyone kill her? The sheriff’s sister, Libby, has become withdrawn and no one knows why. All were well-written, with plenty of red herrings to throw a reader off. Solving one mystery doesn’t necessarily make solving the mystery of the killer’s identity or motive any easier.

Some of the tropes present in Stalking Around the Christmas Tree


Happily ever after
Enticing village
Close relationships.

My thoughts

Stalking Around the Christmas Tree is a tightly written cozy mystery that will keep

you guessing up until the reveal. Recommended.

Thanks to #NetGalley and #CrookedLaneBooks for giving me a copy of #StalkingAroundTheChristmasTree in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.