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Monday, June 1, 2020

May 2020's Monthly Reading Summary

Welcome to June!  Let's start the month by looking back at what I read in May.  I keep saying I don't feel like I'm reading that much more than normal, but this list proves otherwise.

After several months, I missed updating the index this month.  Next month!

All ratings are on a scale of 1 (bad) to 5 (great).  The links take you to my full review.

The Secret of Red Gate Farm by Carolyn Keene (Nancy Drew #6) – 3
Nancy and her friends Bess and George are returning from a shopping trip when they meet Joanne on the train.  She is heading to try to find a job to help her grandmother save her farm.  The four quickly become friends, and Nancy gets involved in helping her find a job.  However, several strange things happen to them along the way.  Can Nancy figure out what is going on now?

When I pick up a Nancy Drew book, I expect coincidence to drive the plot a little.  Here, there was so much of it early on that it was hard to overlook it.  Fortunately, that lessened as the story moved forward.  The story was still action packed and kept my attention.  The characters are thin as always, but I still enjoyed spending some time with them again.  Kids will probably more easily overlook both of these things.  They might get confused by a few dated references, however, including using an old, now unacceptable, term for a minority.  Still, I suspect they will enjoy this page turning story.

The Secrets of Bones by Kylie Logan (Jazz Ramsey Mysteries #2) – 5
It’s Assembly Day, a day set aside near the end of the school year when professional women from Ohio come to talk about their careers.  Jazz winds up as a last-minute replacement, so she sets up in the unused fourth floor, hiding a few bones for Gus, a friend’s cadaver dog, to find during a demonstration.  However, Gus goes to an unused closet.  Sure enough, Jazz opens it to find a skeleton.  Things left with the body make it easy enough to identify the victim as Bernadette Quinn, a teacher who resigned abruptly 3 years ago.  Obviously, she didn’t really resign, but what happened all those years ago?

After enjoying the first in this series, I couldn’t wait to get back and visit Jazz again.  I wasn’t disappointed at all.  The book is so well written I was engrossed from page one.  Jazz’s world and the characters all come to vivid life, and the animals are fun.  The plot gives us several good suspects and clues that are confusing until Jazz pieces it all together at the end.  If you are familiar with some of Kylie Logan’s lighter cozies, know that this is a few shades grayer, falling more in the traditional realm instead of being a pure cozy.  However, that is no reason to skip this book.  I was so engrossed in this book, I read almost two thirds of it in one day instead of saving some for the next day like I normally would.  Now comes the long wait for the next book in the series.

NOTE: I received an ARC of this book.

With a Vengeance by Annette Dashofy (Zoe Chambers #4) – 5
Paramedic Zoe Chambers is shocked to hear that two of her co-workers were ambushed when out on a call.  One of them is dead, and the other is in critical condition.  The sniper got away without a trace, leaving Zoe and police chief Pete Adams scrambling to understand what is going on.  Was it a random attack?  Or was someone out to settle a score with these two paramedics?  Will the shooter be caught before Zoe goes back on duty?

If you aren’t familiar with this series, you should probably back up to the earlier books first.  This one contains some spoilers to earlier books as Zoe deals with the aftermath of events from them.  Once you get here, you’ll b hooked on this entry.  The story is fast moving and, because of the personal nature of the plot, it becomes a thriller the further we go into the book.  That personal nature also makes it a bit more somber.  In fact, I classify this series as a traditional mystery because of that, as well as the smattering of foul language and violence we don’t see in the cozies I typically read.  The characters are sharp, both the main characters and supporting characters.  Zoe and Pete spend almost equal time as our point of view characters, and the transitions are always easy to follow.  This technique is used perfectly to ramp up the suspense as we neared the climax.  This is another excellent book in a fantastic series.

Cozy Up to Death by Colin Conway (Cozy Up #1) – 4
Today is Brody Steele’s first day running The Red Herring, a mystery bookstore in Pleasant Valley, Maine.  However, he’s not a reader.  So what is he doing here?  It’s a cover since Brody has just entered the Witness Protection Program after turning on his former motorcycle gang.  Brody is sure he will find his new life too quiet.  However, as he tries to settle into town, he begins to find questions.  Is there danger lurking just below the surface?

I’m always looking for something different, so I was intrigued by the premise of this book when I first heard about it.  It took a while for the story to get going, but once Brody started to realize something was wrong, I was hooked all the way until the climax.  I enjoyed the character growth we saw in Brody, and I liked several other characters as well.  I did think the writing could be a bit more polished.  I also found a few things about the Witness Protection Program, as described here, a little hard to swallow.  Then again, I haven’t done any research on it and instead learned everything I know about it from the TV show In Plain Sight, so I decided to sit back and enjoy the story, which I most certainly did.  Despite the series name and book title, we do get more violence than in a typical cozy.  Overall, I’m glad I gave the book a chance, and I’m curious to see where the series will go from here.

Leave Only Footprints by Conor Knighton – 3
When Conor Knighton’s fiancée left him, he wasn’t sure quite what to do until he saw a promotion talking about the National Park’s 100th anniversary.  Soon, he was making plans to visit all of the official National Parks in 2016, reporting on some of them for CBS Sunday Morning.  After experiencing sunrise on New Year’s Day in Acadia, he crisscrossed the country numerous times in his quest to experience all of them.

When I first heard about this book, I was intrigued.  I’ve long wanted to visit all of the parks myself, not that I’ve done much more than think about it.  When this book focuses on the parks and some of their history, it is fascinating.  The writing is excellent, and it is easy to feel you are right next to him as he experiences the parks.  However, at times he gets distracted trying to push an agenda on us, and when that happens, the parks get shafted.  A few of the parks he barely describes, focusing instead on the bad he feels needs to be fixed or pointing out the bad in the past that has been fixed.  Even when I agreed with his point, I found this frustrating because it’s not what I wanted to read about when I picked up the book.  He definitely made me want to visit several of the parks as soon as I can.  His brief stories about his life and his stories about the people he met along the way were fun and fascinating.  There are two inserts of pictures from his journey; I would have loved more, but I enjoyed what we got.  I wish the book had focused more on the parks themselves.  Then it would have been fantastic.

Going Nowhere Fast by Gar Anthony Haywood (Joe and Dottie Loudermilk #1) – 4
When Joe Loudermilk took his retirement from the Los Angeles police department, he and his wife, Dottie, bought an Airstream trailer and hit the road, enjoying the sights and sounds of wherever they decide to visit.  They also left their grown kids behind, so returning to their trailer one day, they are surprised to find their youngest son inside.  Even more surprising is their son’s announcement that there is a dead body in the bathroom.  None of them recognize the corpse.  Who is he?  Why is their son there?

I grew up camping, so this is one of several series I’ve wanted to try that involve camping.  The plot is fun, with plenty of twists and turns that kept me guessing until the end.  I did find a couple of the characters – Joe especially – annoying.  I’m sure he was supposed to be funny, but the fact that he seemed to always be mad at others didn’t make me laugh.  Still, this is a minor complaint, and I loved Dottie, our main character.  The book was originally released in the mid-90’s, so it provides a fun reminder of just how much our life has changed since then.  At least the physical book I read does; I don’t know if anything was updated before the ebook was released.  This book has been sitting on my to be read pile for years, and I’m glad I finally pulled it out and read it.

Sunrise at the Mayan Temple by Sigmund Brouwer (Accidental Detectives #14) – 3
Ricky Kidd is surprised when his younger brother, Joel, is given six tickets to spend 10 days down in Mexico.  He’s even more surprised when his parents agree to send the two of them plus his friend Mike, Ralphy, and Lisa, along with Old Lady Bugsby as their chaperon, down there.  When the group arrives, they learn they are there to be part of a dig at Chichen Itza.  It sounds great, but Ricky soon begins to get new worries.  Like why is everyone afraid of the leader of their dig?  Are the rumors of an ancient legend come back to life true?  Or is something more sinister happening?

Normally, I love this series, but this is definitely the weakest book.  The mystery starts slowly with a travelogue as Ricky and the gang head south.  Once the plot does begin, it moves quickly, but Ricky has to have much of it explained to him at the end.  He does have a few insights, but not the usual ones that solve the case.  The short story used to introduce the plot also causes some issues with the book overall, ignoring some of Ricky’s drive for justice we’d normally see.  It twists the broader story instead of just introducing it.  Fortunately, the characters are as wonderful as always, and I enjoy spending time with them.  It also has some funny moments, including a great running gag.  If you are already a fan, you’ll want to pick up this book, but if you are new to the characters, start with one of the earlier, better ones.

The Secret of the Mansion by Julie Campbell (Trixie Belden #1) – 5
Meet Trixie, Honey, and Jim as the trio form a friendship and hunt for the treasure that is supposed to be in Jim's great uncle's old house.

This is a very favorite series from childhood on, and I just love meeting the characters again for the first time.  They aren't quite themselves yet, and can be annoying as a result.  Just know they grow stronger from their friendships by the next in the series.  Meanwhile, the books packs so much action it is hard to believe everything that happens in just a few days.  I may know what is coming next, but I still get caught up in the action and friendships from the very first page.

Spiders from Mars by Diane Vallere (Sylvia Stryker #4) – 4
It’s been four months since we last checked in with Sylvia Stryker, and in that time, she’s had one thing on her mind – freeing Neptune, her mentor and friend, from prison for a crime he sort of committed.  She’s come up with the perfect plan, too.  She’s going to have him declared dead so she can slip him out of prison.  However, when she goes to file the paperwork, she learns that there has been a murder in the prison and Neptune is the only suspect.  Her original plan out the window, she has to act fast to free him and clear his name before he disappears for good.  Can she do it?

Yes, this sounds like many of the cozy mysteries I read a love, but there is a twist to it – Sylvia’s adventures all take place in space.  The setting is fun and detailed, but it never takes away from the action.  I got lost in Sylvia’s world very quickly, and I suspect you will as well whether you love science fiction or not.  The plot is fast paced with plenty of twists and turns.  Unfortunately, a few of them were a bit abrupt.  The story makes sense in the end, but I wish things had been explained a bit more.  The characters, some human and some alien, are all fully developed, and I was thrilled to get to spend more time with them.  If you are interested in something new and different, be sure to check out this series, and if you are already a fan, you’ll be happy with Sylvia’s latest case.

Murder Most Fermented by Christine E. Blum (Rose Avenue Wine Club #2) – 3
Annie “Halsey” Hall is enjoying her new life in Mar Vista, California, although she’s not so sure about her birthday present from the women in the Rose Avenue Wine Club – a plot of dirt in the community garden.  She’s hoping to turn it into a small vineyard, but her first day digging in it turns up the body of a missing elderly neighbor.  With the police again looking at Halsey as a suspect, she and her friends begin to try to find the killer.  Will they succeed?

I had a mixed reaction to the first book in the series when I read it last year, but since I already had book two, I decided to give this one a chance.  The plotting is better and more focused here with sub-plots that stay in the background.  I enjoyed the story and trying to figure out what was going on, although one part of the plot was dropped.  The rest reached a logical conclusion.  Once again, the story takes place over several weeks, but I was expecting that, so I wasn’t nearly as confused by the timeline.  Unfortunately, the characters are still thin outside of Halsey and one or two others.  I love the Southern California setting; those always appeal to me.  If you enjoy wine, you’ll enjoy the wine list and pairings at the end of the book.  I wanted to like this book more than I did, although there were definitely things that appealed to me, and it does show the author is improving.

The Study of Secrets by Cynthia Kuhn (Lila Maclean #5) – 4
Lila Maclean has been taking a fall semester sabbatical, staying with family friend Bibi Callahan while finishing up her book on mystery author Isabella Dare.  She’s become friends with the people in Bibi’s life, so she is delighted to join them one night for a book discussion of the first Isabella Dare mystery.  The night, which starts as fun and laughs, ends in tragedy when one of the women is murdered.  Bibi asks Lila to figure out what is going on, but the present seems to be fed by secrets from the past.  Which one of them lead to murder?

After the way the previous book in the series ended, I couldn’t wait to dive in and see what would happen next.  I was well rewarded.  The mystery starts quickly and is strong with some twists I didn’t expect and a logical climax.  The timeline was a bit squishy, but it didn’t impact the story itself – this is just a personal pet peeve.  The characters are strong, making us care about the story and the outcome.  A sub-plot involving Lila’s personal life felt a bit rushed, but I still liked how it ended.  This book is set during the Christmas season, and those elements added a fun, festive nature to the story.  The charming characters and engrossing plot made the pages fly by all too quickly.

NOTE: I received an ARC of this book.

The Murder of Twelve by Jessica Fletcher and Jon Land (Murder, She Wrote #51) – 4
With a record setting blizzard on the way to Cabot Cove, Maine, Jessica Fletcher is planning to hunker down in her temporary home – the Hill House hotel.  Before she can do that, she joins Sheriff Metzger when he gets a call about a man found in his car on the edge of town.  What at first looks like a tragic accident is indeed murder.  On arriving at the hotel, Jessica learns she will be joined for the weekend by a wedding party.  But with the bride and groom missing, tempers begin to flair.  Then a dead body appears.  Are they trapped with a killer?  Is it connected to the man outside of town?

This is another fast-moving mystery that obviously pays homage to Agatha Christie’s And Then There Were None.  I felt it was a bit more of a thriller (minus the language and violence) than a true cozy, but I’m not complaining since I couldn’t turn the pages fast enough to find out what was going to happen next.  Much of the book features Jessica and those trapped in the hotel with her, and they are all strong enough characters to carry the story.  Unfortunately, the little bit we did see of the recurring characters fell into predictable patterns, although I still enjoyed spending time with them.  The writing was so vivid, I felt the cold as I was reading.  Any complaints are minor, and I’m happy I picked up this fast-paced book.

NOTE: I received an ARC of this book.

Poppy Redfern and the Midnight Murders by Tessa Arlen (Women of World War II Mysteries #1) – 3
Poppy Redfern is the new air-raid warden for her village in England in 1942.  This has become an important job since an American Air Force base as recently moved into the area.  Some of the young women have started dating Americans, but when two of them turn up dead, it sets up a divide in the village.  Even though an American has been arrested for the murders, Poppy doesn’t think he is guilty.  She sets out with one of the American pilots to figure out what really happened.  But has she just made herself a target?

I’ve been trying to read more historical mysteries this year, and this one was already sitting on my shelf.  The author clearly did her research as the details of life at the time came to life.  Unfortunately, they tended to overshadow the plot, so the pacing was uneven.  Poppy was an interesting main character, and I can easily see her growing as the series continues, but much of the rest of the cast never really came alive for me.  While the book wasn’t bad, it wasn’t as good as I hoped it would be.

2 comments:

  1. Another great month! Happy June!

    ReplyDelete
  2. I haven't read a Trixie Belden book since I was a kid. You make me want to go find a couple.

    ReplyDelete

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