REVIEW: Survival of the Fritters

 Survival of the Fritters
Author: Ginger Bolton

I have a ponderous TBR (to be read) list.Unfortunately some mystery books have been languishing on the  list for years -- including the Deputy Donut Mystery series. I finally decided it was time to start reading this series. Glad I did! 

The basics: Emily Westhill runs a donut shop with her father in law. The shop is named after her cat, Deputy Donut or Dep for short. When a shop regular fails to show up one morning and they discover her dead in her house, Emily finds herself doing some amateur sleuthing. As the case becomes more and more complicated, Emily starts to realize just how dangerous the killer is. Can she discover who murdered her friend before the killer discovers she's on to them? 

I love it when I find a cozy mystery book that actually has a very intriguing mystery at the heart of it. I did not guess the killer before the end. The plot kept my attention from start to finish with several suspects and twists! The side plot regarding the donut shop and Emily's past rounded out the story. Very entertaining read! 

My favorite character? Dep, of course! 

The cover art for this series is wonderful! Very colorful and cute! There are also donut recipes in the back of the book. Unfortunately, I can't have donuts, but the recipes definitely sounded delicious! 

All in all, a nice start for this cozy mystery series! Moving on to book 2! 

REVIEW: The Lies that Bind

 The Lies that Bind
Author: Kate Carlisle

The Lies that Bind is the third book in the Bibliophile Mystery series. 

I'm enjoying this cozy-ish mystery series. I like the main character, the background plot of rare book restoration, the side characters and the plots so far. 

Brooklyn Wainright is a capable MC. She's intelligent, independent and a great amateur sleuth. I enjoy reading about her career and crafty skills as a book expert and bookbinder. I wish I could see the books detailed in the story! Some of the rare copies sound so wonderful! 

This time around Brooklyn is teaching a class on bookbinding in San Francisco when her nemesis is attacked and another person is killed. Brooklyn quickly finds herself sucked into another murder investigation, as the case seems to be getting more and more personal. 

Excellent story in this mystery series! The plot kept my attention from start to finish, although I did figure out who the killer was early in the story. I didn't mind though....I only figured out the who and not the why! 

This series still has a lot more romance angle than I really enjoy. But, the stories are good enough that it doesn't lessen my enjoyment of the books. If it gets to a point where the romance outweighs the mystery aspects of the plots, I might move on without finishing the entire series. We shall see!

Just a note for those who want clean cozies -- this series does use a few cuss words now and then, including the F word. And, there are some adult themes. I don't mind it and am enjoying this series. But those who want strictly clean cozies may want to try a different series.

REVIEW: If Books Could Kill

 If Books Could Kill
Author: Kate Carlisle

I enjoyed the first book in the Bibliophile Mystery series so much that I jumped right into the second one. This time, Brooklyn Wainwright is in Scotland for the Edinburgh Book Fair. The skilled bookbinder has been looking forward to this trip for months, but things take a dark turn due to a book of poetry with a scandalous history. The book certainly brings excitement to Brooklyn's book fair week, but she wasn't expecting murder, death threats and kidnapping!

I enjoyed this story. The plot moves at a nice pace and kept my attention from start to finish. There is a lot of action and investigation. I would have preferred less romance as it got to be a bit much and completely unrealistic, but the mystery portion of the plot was still strong. Brooklyn is intelligent and does a pretty good job as an amateur sleuth, but the romance angle hangs too much on her being "saved" by sexy men at almost every turn. Really? Ugh. It caused a few eye-roll moments as I read, but didn't really have a negative effect on my enjoyment of the book. 

Enjoying this series! I'd love to have a bit more detail on bookbinding and restoration thrown in. I'm hoping book 3 steps back a bit on the romance angle. More books, less groping. I hope. lol. 

From the cover art I thought there would be a cat come into the story line. And at one point, a cat did play an important part, but then disappeared. No cat yet.....I see a kitty on the cover for book 3 as well. Maybe this feline won't run off so fast? 

On to book 3! 

REVIEW: Homicide in Hardcover

 Homicide in Hardcover
Author: Kate Carlisle

I enjoy reading cozy mysteries. The stories usually have cute pets, interesting side plots, quirky characters, and a lot of amateur sleuthing. My job can be a bit high stress at times, and these books are a great brain break -- an escape into a story that I find relaxing, enjoyable and entertaining to read. No spurting blood. No majorly adult themes. Some cute dialogue and situations. A nice break from reality. Love it! 

I've been wanting to read Kate Carlisle's Bibliophile Mystery series for some time. I even checked book one out of the library TWICE and never got a chance to actually read it. Life, work, situations got in the way both times and I had to return the book (out of renewals) both times before I even cracked the cover to start reading. ARGH! 

So....I bought the first few books in the series so I don't have to return them on a due date. I figured if the books were in my bedroom on my bookshelf where I would see them every day, I would pick them up and read the series, right? Flash forward six months and I finally picked up book one and read it! 

So glad I did! I enjoyed every word! 

Brooklyn Wainwright is a great main character. She restores valuable, old books, has parents who live in a commune, and stress eats when things get too messy. She's just the right mix of feisty and intelligent, and does a great job of amateur sleuthing.

The plot moved along at a nice pace. The background plot of book restoration didn't overshadow the mystery, but added a nice flavor to the story. There were plenty of murder suspects and lots of investigation. The book kept my attention from start to finish and I didn't guess the murderer before the reveal. 

Very glad I finally started reading this series! 

I love the background of book restoration. I love old books.When holding an old book in my hands, I always wonder who owned the book before, how many people read and enjoyed the book before me, and what the book's history is. Love the fact that the main character in this series restores old, very valuable books. It's definitely a form of art restoration! 

I like the characters. There is variety in the people around Brooklyn and I felt each was represented in a positive light. For instance, Brooklyn's parents live in a commune. While Brooklyn made some comments about how their lifestyle was a bit cringe worthy at times, she also loves them, listens to their advice, and shares that she learned a lot from them and the people at the commune throughout her life. 

At the time I'm writing this review, there are 17 books in this series. I own 9 of them so far. I'm definitely going to read my way through this whole series! Already starting book 2!

REVIEW: City of Endless Night

 City of Endless Night
Author: Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child

City of Endless Night is the 17th book in the Aloysius Pendergast series. 

I've been working my way through this series over the past couple of years. Love it! It has such an interesting mix of suspense, crime investigation, supernatural and strangeness that I keep coming back to read more. There are 22 books in this series (newest one coming out in July 2024) as I write this review. So, I have almost caught up! 

Pendergast is a brilliant investigator. He's like a modern day Sherlock Holmes with an edge of weirdness and supernatural strangeness to him. Makes for a great read! 

This time Pendergast is working alongside Lieutenant Vincent D'Agosta once again to solve a string of grisly murders. The Decapitator is leaving a string of high profile people dead....their heads neatly severed and taken away from the scene. 

Although I was a bit disappointed at the killer's motivation for his killings, the investigation, suspects and surprises kept my attention on the story from start to finish. The last few chapters had me riveted! I wasn't sure how things were going to turn out!

There wasn't much character development in this book. It was all about the murder investigation. I'm curious about how some personal issues between Pendergast and Constance Greene are going to turn out. Much as I want that drama to play out, I was glad this book centered on the investigation rather than delving too much into side plots. It kept the suspense going until the very end. 

Another great book in this series!! 

In a way I want to catch up so I'm current on the series, but I dread finishing that last book. I am not patient and just hate waiting for a year or two to find out what happens to characters in my favorite books. But it will be awhile....I have 5 books to go before I catch up with Preston & Child! 

I listened to the audio book version of this Pendergast novel. The audio book is just shy of 11 hours long and narrated by Rene Auberjonois. Rene passed away in 2019. He narrated the Pendergast series through book 18. His performances were totally perfect! I get to enjoy one more before the narration changes over to the new voice actor, Jefferson Mays. I'm sure Mays is great, but I will miss the way Rene Auberjonois brought Pendergast to life! I will make sure to savor the audio for book 18!!

REVIEW: A Haunting on the Hill

 A Haunting on the Hill
Author: Elizabeth Hand

 

When I discovered this book is a sequel of sorts to The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson, I knew I had to read it. I fully realized that nobody could write a sequel to Jackson's book....but a return visit to Hill House? Yeah....had to read it. But, I read it as a completely separate story from Jackson's classic psychological horror masterpiece. There is just no "Hill House, Part 2" possible. This is a different story...set in the same place. 

That frame of mind is what allowed me to enjoy this book. If I had gone into the story expecting writing on the same par with Jackson's, I would have set myself up for disappointment. Elizabeth Hand writes a great creepy tale, but it isn't on the same level as Jackson's The Haunting of Hill House. 

The basics: Holly is a struggling playwright who scribbles in the evenings when she comes home from her teaching job. Gotta pay the bills, right? Her play -- a modernization of an old play called The Witch of Edmonton -- just might be her ticket to The Big Time and away from the drudgery of teaching. Her partner, Nisa, has a lovely, almost magical, singing voice and has reworked some dark folk songs for the play. Their friend, Stevie, brings his acting skills and Shaggy-esque character to the group. And a once famous actress now in the downhill slide of her career, Amanda Greer, rounds out the cast of characters who come to Hill House. Holly comes across the house quite by chance and rents it for two weeks. The perfect place for tweaking her play. She sees it as an intense creative space for read-throughs before they do a public reading in the city. 

Renting Hill House trumps any horrific AirBnB story you've ever heard.Total mistake. But, they don't realize it until it's too late. 

I enjoyed this story. I checked out a hardback copy from my lovely local library and bought a copy of the audio book. I love to have creepy stories read out loud to me. The audio book has some cool sound effects in places and the narrator even sings several times. The sound effects don't drown out the narration but augment it. Creepy footsteps in the background or muffled scary voices while the characters are exploring Hill House really adds to the strangeness of this tale. 

While this is a very good story about an evil house, it doesn't have the psychological build of Jackson's original. And the ending was a bit lackluster. But, all in all, I enjoyed this story.

Hand's story weaves its way in between the 4 main characters.Theater people. Creative minds. Competitive edges. Actors. Writers. Performers. Some wanting their break. Others wanting to revive what they once had. In a place like Hill House? Of course the evil house eats them alive -- preys on their insecurities, secrets, ambitions...... It makes for a very dark story. 

 Enjoyed it! Not as good as Wylding Hall (another very good book by Elizabeth Hand), but still a great read!