Book Review: Fatal Sign-Off by Sarah E. Burr (Book Blogger Mysteries #3)

Stars: 5 out of 5

Pros: Characters and mystery combine for a fun story

Cons: Insertion of politics

The Bottom Line:

Winnie’s latest case

Local podcaster is killed

Characters, plot mix

Local Podcaster Signs Off for Good

A new book from Sarah E. Burr is always good news. But I was especially excited to see she was returning to her Book Blogger Mysteries with Fatal Sign-Off. I think this may be my favorite of her series, and no, not just because I’m a book blogger myself. It was no surprise to me that I enjoyed this book as well. 

Our main character is Winnie Lark, who runs a very popular and influential book blog. She lives in the small town of Copper Bay, Massachusetts. When this visit begins, it’s been about five months, and the town has been murder free. 

But not drama free. Milton Mulligan has started a podcast where he covers local businesses. And by covers, I mean trash them. When he collapses in a local restaurant, Winnie’s mom is quick to recognize the symptoms as poison. Since the entire town are potential suspect, Winnie has to jump in to make sure that her friends and family aren’t falsely convicted for the crime. But are there too many suspects to find the killer?

Those who have been following the series know there’s been a story arc regarding Winnie and her relationship with her family. While things aren’t perfect, the progress we’ve seen is very heartwarming. I’m loving watching those relationships develop. 

Speaking of relationships developing, I’ve got to mention Winnie’s friendship with the local detective. I know it isn’t realistic, but I still love it. 

Obviously, it is the characters that are a draw for me with this series. We have quite a few regulars, and they all get their moments to shine. The growth we see late in the book is heartwarming. 

None of this takes away from the mystery. It is well plotted with plenty of twists and red herrings along the way. The pace never lagged. And the solution left me in awe of how it had been set up. 

I did find that the author inserted some politics into the book that didn’t need to be there.  They didn’t pertain to the plot and just made me roll my eyes.  The book would have been stronger if they’d been left out.  But it was a minor issue for me overall.

Since Winnie is a book blogger, she is up on modern books. She drops quite a few references to other books, including quite a few cozy mysteries. I got quite a smile out of those references. Their aren’t enough to distract from the story, but there just might be some recommendations in there for series you’ve missed.

I was sad when I turned the last page of Fatal Sign-Off. It was a pleasure to visit these characters and watch them solve a well plotted mystery. If you love cozy mysteries, this is a series you’ll devour. 

NOTE: I received an ARC of this book. 

Ornament Review: Scrumptious S'mores - Making Memories #18 - 2025 Hallmark Release

Stars: 5 out of 5

Pros: Great piece around a sweet memory

Cons: S’mores are a winter snack?

The Bottom Line:

Roasting S’mores on fire

Always a sweet memory

Now ready for tree

A Delicious Treat Filled with Memories

I feel like I’m missing something. Over the last several years, Hallmark has released S’more related ornaments in their various series. Including series specifically themed around winter. What gives? Aren’t they a summer thing you do when out camping? That issue aside, 2025 saw the release of Scrumptious S’mores in the Making Memories series, and it is fun

This series always features two snow people, a parent and a child. This year, they are out making S’mores. The child is about to take a bite of the treat, while the adult has two perfectly roasted marshmallow they are about to put on top of some chocolate and graham crackers. Neither of their pets are with them. I guess they are inside enjoying the warmth. In addition to scarfs and hats, the snow people are wearing boots. 

My issue with the season for the treats aside, this is a fun ornament. I was just making S’mores with my family last month, and it is definitely a memory making tradition. It’s hard not to smile when you think about times you’ve done this. 

As always, the scene is set on a snowflake base, and that means you can set these out to be displayed. I’ve always loved that touch. The series marker is on the bottom of the snowflake as well. 

When you go to hang this ornament, you’ll find that it hangs straight.

The biggest issue with this ornament is that it is going to make me crave S’mores. But that’s not a reason to miss Scrumptious S’mores. This is another fun and memorable ornament. 

Check out more of the Making Memories series.

August 17th's Sunday/Monday Post

Yep, it's that time of the week again.  Time for a Sunday/Monday post.  I'll be linking up to:

Sunday Post
Sunday Salon
Stacking the Shelves
Mailbox Monday
It's Monday, What Are You Reading?

As predicted, the temps cooled off here.  Only in the 80's!  But we're supposed to be close to 100 again by next weekend.  That's the August weather I want.

Tuesday night, I had dinner and played some games with some friends after work.  Nice to catch up with them.  And we played Flip 7, which is quickly becoming a favorite game.

Other than that, I worked.  Yeah, not exactly a news worthy or thrilling week.

Jokes of the Week:

I bought a wooden whistle.  But it wooden whistle.  So, I bought a steel whistle.  But it steel wooden whistle.  So, I bought a lead whistle.  But it steel wooden lead me whistle.

This Past Week on the Blog:

Sunday - Sunday/Monday Post

Monday - TV Show Review: The Amazing Race - Season 37

Tuesday - Book Review: A Trace of Poison by Colleen Cambridge

Wednesday - Book Review: The Dark Wind by Tony Hillerman

Thursday - Book Review: The Last Line by Scott Lyerly

Friday - Friday Post featuring Fatal Sign-Off

Saturday - Weekly TV Thoughts

This Coming Week on the Blog:

Sunday - Sunday/Monday Post

Monday - Ornament Review: Scrumptious S'mores

Tuesday - Book Review: Fatal Sign-Off by Sarah E. Burr

Wednesday - TV Show Review: Shifting Gears - Season 1

Thursday - Book Review: Halloween Night Murder by Various Authors

Friday - Friday Post

Saturday - Weekly TV Thoughts

Book Haul:

Would you believe I just have one book for the week?  I know, I'm shocked as well.

That book is O, Deadly Night, the latest in Vicki Delany's Year-Round Christmas Mysteries.  While I haven't started some of her other series, I keep up with this one.  The book doesn't come out for a couple of months, but I snagged the ARC just before it was pulled off NetGalley.  I'll be reading it closer to the release date in October.

What I'm Currently Reading:

As I'm typing this, I've just finished For Duck's Sake, the newest Meg Langslow Mystery from Donna Andrews.  I'm going to have to think on this one a bit, but I didn't enjoy this one as much as I normally do.  But maybe that's me, and that's what I need to think about.

Next up for me will be Don't Sweat the Small Stuff by Don Bruns.  It's the fourth in a non-cozy mystery series about two twenty-something friends who get in way over their head when they take on cases.  They are set in Miami.  That should keep me busy for the next few days.

Have a great week!

August 16th's Weekly TV Thoughts

American Ninja Warrior – I’m glad Joe made it on.  His announcement about his plans to take some time off surprised me, especially based on what he shared on social media.  But I can’t fault him for wanting more time with his family.  And yes, I’m glad Daniel Gill made it through as well.  Knowing the next round is single elimination – those will be interesting to watch.  I don’t like it, but I get it at that point.

The Quiz with Balls – I didn’t know who either of the celebs were, but I still enjoyed it.  The one guy cheated so the ball didn’t push him in, but I get it – it’s his persona.  I had to guess on some of those heart throb questions, too, but I did know the last one.

The Snake – It’s looking like people are seeing through the lies they are being fed.  Of course, there are so many liars that it is hard to keep them all straight.  And it will be interesting to see how the romance plays out.  It never seems like it is a good idea in a show like this.

The Challenge – Always hard to see a competitor go out on an injury.  But I’ve got to say, considering how she attacked her partner for being concerned about her knee makes it kind of ironic.  Not that he was a saint, but still.  Quite the challenge they had to do.  I wonder how they would have decided on the last place team if there hadn’t been the injured team that didn’t compete.

Match Game – The questions are definitely pushing it.  If there’s ever a week without celebrities I know, I’ll take a week off.  Pretty impressed with some of the matches and answers in general this week.

Press Your Luck – Whammie was pretty active at the beginning and end, but he lulled us all into thinking he was done there in the middle.  At least the winner got something from the bonus game.

August 15th's Friday Post

It's been a while since I did one of those, so it's time for another Friday Post.  I'll be linking up to:

Book Beginnings
First Line Friday
Friday 56
Book Blogger Hop

My teasers for the first three will be coming from Fatal Sign-Off by Sarah E. Burr.

This is the third book in her Book Blogger Mysteries.  And the book starts us right off with the book theme:

“As far as murders go, this one was pretty clever.” Joanie Nix turned her worn copy of He Didn’t See It Coming over in her hands as she shared her thoughts on our latest book club selection. “Did any of you figure it out before the big reveal?” She glanced around our circle with her wide gray eyes.

Meanwhile, at 56% into the book, the main characters are investigating a real murder.  So that leads to this exchange.

“I say we check the place out and go from there,” I suggested. “If we come in sounding too scripted, Remi might think something’s up.”
“Improv. My favorite.” Strider rolled his eyes at his own sarcasm.

The book doesn't come out until August 26th, but I'll have my review up this coming Tuesday, so I hope you'll come back to see what I thought.  (Okay, so I loved it, but come back to find out why.)

Let's close things out with the Book Blogger Hop.  This week's question is:

Do you visit and share books in Little Free Libraries in your area? 

I did for a couple of months, leaving behind some of my excess books.  But I stopped doing it.  I really need to start again.  Thanks for the nudge.

Have a great weekend!

Book Review: The Last Line by Scott Lyerly (Ellie Marlowe #1)

Stars: 4 out of 5

Pros: Strong characters in intriguing mystery

Cons: Ellie’s Tourette’s overwhelms; some head hopping

The Bottom Line:

Opening night death

Did murder happen on stage?

Strong leads pull you in

Murder in a Teacup…Live on Stage!

I bought two theater based mysteries when I was at Malice Domestic in April. The second of those was The Last Line, and it entertained me from the first line to the last. 

Our protagonist is Ellie Marlowe, who runs a small theater in Massachusetts. It’s struggling to survive, but she’s hopeful that the latest play, Murder in a Teacup, will be successful enough to give them a little breathing room. 

Unfortunately, the leading man is Reginald Thornton IV, a pompous arrogant jerk who seems to go out of his way to antagonize and alienate everyone he comes in contact with. At the play’s climax, his character is supposed to drink from a teacup and then die. On opening night, the scene’s a little too realistic since Reginald has really died. While the state police think it is a heart attack, something doesn’t feel right to Ellie and her friend Bill, the chief of police in their village. Even though neither have standing, can they figure out what really happened?

Before we go further, we need to talk about tone. I went into this expecting a cozy, but it became obvious as I went along that this isn’t that light hearted. This falls more into the traditional sub-genre, with some of the things that come out are more serious. Nothing gets too graphic, and there is only a smattering of foul language. Just know this going in, and you’ll be fine. And it is worth reading since the story touches on some things that give the book a bit more depth than a typical cozy.  I enjoyed that.

I had to give props to the author for the murder staging. Yes, it’s the kind of thing that would only happen in fiction, but I’m here for it. And yes, the how does make it plausible when we reach the solution. I was successfully distracted by some red herrings, so I didn’t figure out what was really happening until about the time Ellie and Bill did. 

Ellie has Tourette’s syndrome, something the author also struggled with. His purpose in including it was to show what it is really like, not the portrayals we see in much of the popular media. Sadly, the ticks she deals with become a distraction for us as we are reading. 

On the whole, I did love Ellie as a character. She and Bill are both strong leads that we truly get to know as the book progresses. This may be the first book they are in, but I feel like I’ve spent more time with them than that. The rest of the cast is also strong, but they aren’t as well developed. 

We get the story told from multiple points of view, mostly Ellie and Bill. Unfortunately, the book suffered a little bit from head hopping, which always distracts me.

I really appreciate how Ellie and Bill’s relationship is handled. They are friends who are married to other people. Those marriages felt realistic to me, with some issues but mostly strong. It was a nice change not only to see good relationships but also to see something different in the romance department. 

This is one of three books I’m aware of that Crooked Lane released last year that appear to be a standalone. Of all three, this one didn’t feel like it was trying to set up a series. Having said that, if a sequel were to appear, I’d definitely give it a chance. 

The Last Line mostly overcomes its weaknesses. I was pulled into the story and enjoyed getting to know the two leads. If you enjoy theater, give this book a chance. 

Book Review: The Dark Wind by Tony Hillerman (Leaphorn and Chee #5)

Stars: 5 out of 5

Pros: Great mystery with a good main character

Cons: None worth blowing into the light

The Bottom Line:

Witness a plane crash

But why was it running dark?

Well plotted story

Plane Crash Brings Mystery

I have three authors I’m rotating on audio at the moment, and I got to all three recently. The one I had the most trouble getting was the oldest, The Dark Wind, the fifth in Tony Hillerman’s Leaphorn and Chee series. Maybe that was because of the show on AMC that uses this book as the name of the show? Either way, I’m glad the wait at the library, where I get all my audios, wasn’t too long since I enjoyed it. 

While this is the fifth in the series, it’s the second to feature Jim Chee, and he still hasn’t really interacted with Joe Leaphorn yet. Not that I’m complaining too loudly since it is nice to get to know them separately for now. Anyway, Chee has moved to a new police station on the Navajo reservation, and he’s struggling to solve cases now that he’s in an area where he isn’t familiar with the residents and they don’t yet trust him. For example, he’s supposed to be solving the case of a John Doe, but he can’t even figure out who the man was. And he is supposed to stop the repeated sabotage of a windmill, but there are no clues. 

When Chee decides to spend a night staking out the windmill in the hopes of catching the vandal in the act, he is on hand when an airplane crashes nearby. A plane that was running without lights and flying below the radar. Clearly, it’s a Federal case, and Chee doesn’t intend to get involved. But the Feds seem to think he is involved. Can he figure out what happened without looking any more guilty?

This book came out in the early 80’s, and books were different back then. This really could be read as a standalone. There is no discussion of his personal life, including the potential love interest introduced in the previous book. We get some discussion about his family, but don’t meet them. In fact, if you wanted to jump in here, you easily could. 

Now, this isn’t to say that the characters are bad. They might not be how we expect them to be today, but they are still interesting a fleshed out enough for us to care about the outcome. 

The focus is on the mystery with little in the way of subplots to distract us, and it is very well done. There are enough complications to keep us engaged in the story, but when Chee pieces things together, they made sense. I even let a red herring distract me at one point. 

As always, the land of the reservation comes to life as we read the book. And we get some more insight into Navajo culture without it slowing down the story. 

I mentioned earlier that I read this via audiobook. George Guidall is still doing an excellent job of narrating these stories for us. 

All told, The Dark Wind is a strong second outing for Jim Chee. While I’m anxious for him to team up with Leaphorn, I’m enjoying getting to know him on his own for now. 

Here are the rest of the Leaphorn and Chee novels. 

Book Review: A Trace of Poison by Colleen Cambridge (Phyllida Bright #2)

Stars: 4 out of 5

Pros: Main characters, entertaining overall

Cons: Mystery could have been stronger

The Bottom Line:

Mystery writers

Gather with a murderer

Fun, could be stronger

Murderous Mystery Fete

Over the last few years, I’ve been enjoying Colleen Cambridge’s books.  I was late in starting her Phyllida Bright series, but I was happy to get to the second, A Trace of Poison.

Phyllida is a woman with a mysterious past.  She served in the Great War, which is when she met Agatha Christie.  The two women have maintained their friendship, even though Phyllida now serves as the famed author’s housekeeper.  Phyllida is also finding a talent for solving mysteries much like the ones her friend and employer writes.

The nearby village of Listleigh is hosting a Murder Fete, drawing in some of Agatha’s friends to help raise money for the orphanage, which desperately needs its roof repaired.  The village boasts several residents who are trying their hands at writing mysteries, and they are looking forward to some time learning from the masters of the genre.  The authors will be signing books for anyone who shows up.  And then there’s the writing contest that the unpublished authors are hoping to win.  The prize?  A chance to be published on both sides of the pond.

However, the local writers aren’t all friends, and there is one that is annoying, to put it mildly.  The opening night cocktail party ends when someone dies.  At first, everyone assumes it is a game for them to solve, but when they realize someone has really been poisoned, they are horrified.  Will Phyllida be able to solve a second real life murder?

This book does a good job of updating us on the lives and relationships of the characters we met in the first book.  Most of the story is told from Phyllida’s third person point of view, but we do get a few scenes from other characters, which was always used to great effect.  I enjoyed seeing some of those relationships grow, sometimes in some fun ways.  I’m looking forward to seeing how they play out as the series progresses.

Unfortunately, the suspects don’t get as much page time as they really need.  That makes the focus of the story a little too obvious.

The mystery did have a couple of good twists that surprised me.  I was stopped short when I, like Phyllida, thought I had something figured out only to be surprised.  And the ending made sense when I got there.  But it could have used a bit more to keep me guessing along the way.

Like the first book, we get a feel for life in the 1930’s, but not real references to the rest of the world.  The real-life mystery writers who have cameos on the page add to the fun, but they are just cameos.

As a mystery, A Trace of Poison could be stronger.  But it is still an entertaining read and mystery fans, especially fans of Agatha Christie, will be glad they picked up.

Here are the rest of the Phyllida Bright Mysteries.

TV Show Review: The Amazing Race - Season 37

Stars: 4 out of 5

Pros: Arm chair traveling with tasks along the way

Cons: Too many twists some that don’t work; some teams that have unhealthy relationships

The Bottom Line:

Can’t quite get away?

Watch show; race around the world

Mostly fun season

A Few Too Many Twists

This past spring saw season 37 of The Amazing Race. The producers tried to mix things up with some returning and some new twists to the formula. It made for a different season that was still mostly entertaining. 

If you aren’t familiar with the premise, it features teams of two who go on a race around the world. Each week, they have to follow directions to new locations and countries and complete tasks along the way to the pit stop, where host Phil Keoghan gives the winning team a prize and lets the losing team know they’ve been eliminated. 

Honestly, that right there is really enough for me. I love seeing where the teams go, which this season included Hong Kong, Dubi, Japan, and Portugal, among others. Watching the teams trying to deal with navigating without their phones or dealing with transportation creates some drama and unpredictability. It’s not like other reality shows where the contestants can game the game without any twists. All it can take is one unlucky break for a good team to go from first to last. 

But the producers decided to really shake things up this season by adding one twist per leg. Some were familiar to fans, like the UTurn, which requires a team to do both sides of a Detour. We also saw the return of the Express Pass and Fast Forward. Others were new, like the Fork in the Foad, where teams were on parallel tracks after the Detour. I feel like some of these weren’t well thought out. Others fizzled because of the teams more than the producers not thinking things through. It will be interesting to see which if any of these make a comeback in future seasons. 

The other thing that can be a problem with a season is teams that fight. Now, I get it. Your body clock gets off as you travel so you are tired. And you are stressed as you are racing. Everyone is going to get frustrated and snap at times. But some teams seem to fight constantly as the season goes along. That’s what I find hard to watch. And we get a couple of those teams here. There’s actually a very clear cut distinction between teams at one point. Both teams were frustrated by what was happening to them. One team was taking it out on each other. The other was trying to help each other deal with the frustration so they could focus. And that’s the difference between teams I root to lose and teams I enjoy watching. You really can see who has a healthy relationship and who doesn’t. 

But, as I say, the locations are fabulous and the tasks are mostly fun to watch. I wish we got more than one season of this show per year since I enjoy it so much. 

Like with the other recent seasons, the episodes were 90 minutes with commercials. This allows us to follow the teams a little better, which I enjoy. 

Overall, season 37 is another one that fans of The Amazing Race will enjoy. If you want a different travel show, be sure to check this one out. 

August 10th's Sunday/Monday Post

Welcome to the weekend and this week's Sunday/Monday Post.  As usual, I will be linking up to:

Sunday Post
Sunday Salon
Stacking the Shelves
Mailbox Monday
It's Monday, What Are You Reading?

It's been a fairly quiet week.  We finish up fiscal month end at work without too much extra drama, which is always nice.

It got hot late in the week.  Like touching 100 degrees.  The temps should drop in the next week.  Like it will be mid-80's.  In August!  That's almost unheard of here in So Cal for this time of year.  I want my summer heat!  And this isn't it.

There is a fire north of town.  Far enough away from me that I am not concerned for me, but the town to the north of me has faced some evacuations.  They've dropped them as of this morning, but the fire is still burning

You will notice that I swapped out one of my expected reviews from last week.  When you wind up seeing Freakier Friday on Thursday night, you post your review on Friday.  But don't worry, I'll post the original review planned for Friday on Monday.

Saturday is my monthly game day, so shall we get on with it so I can get there?

Joke of the Week:

New research suggests that towels are a leading cause of dry skin.

This Past Week on the Blog:

Sunday - Sunday/Monday Post

Monday - Movie Review: Signed, Sealed, Delivered - The Road Less Traveled

Tuesday - Book Review: Edam and Weep by Linda Reilly

Wednesday - Book Review: Dark Sacred Night by Michael Connelly

Thursday - Book Review: The Cardinal's Curse by LynDee Walker and Bruce Robert Coffin

Friday - Movie Review: Freakier Friday

Saturday - Weekly TV Thoughts

This Coming Week on the Blog:

Sunday - Sunday/Monday Post

Monday - TV Show Review: The Amazing Race - Season 37

Tuesday - Book Review: A Trace of Poison by Colleen Cambridge

Wednesday - Book Review: The Dark Wind by Tony Hillerman

Thursday - Book Review: The Last Line by Scott Lyerly

Friday - Friday Post featuring Fatal Sign-Off

Saturday - Weekly TV Thoughts

Book Haul:

I've got four new books to tell you about this week.

Up first are two Kindle deals I snagged early in the week.  Sadly, neither are still on sale.

The first of those was A Death in Corfu by Emily Sullivan.  This is the first in a series set in the early 1900's on a Greek isle.  I've been considering it for a while, so when it went on sale, I couldn't resist.

My other Kindle deal was The Word is Murder by Anthony Horowitz.  I was considering this as an audiobook series, which I always get from the library.  But I decided to snag the first while it was on sale.  I mean, this way, I can change my mind and decide how I want to consume it later.

Next up is my ARC for the week, Whiskey Business by Adrian Andover.  I met the author when I was at Malice Domestic back in April, and he made his book sound like lots of fun.  I'm glad I was able to get the ARC.  The book comes out at the beginning of September, so I will be reading it soon.

But not as soon as this next book.  My pre-order of For Duck's Sake by Donna Andrews came this week.  It's book thirty-seven in her very long running Meg Langslow series.  I always look forward to the entries, so I'll be reading it just as soon as I get the review copies I've got on my plate for August finished.  Speaking of which....

What I'm Currently Reading:

I'm actually working on the two review obligations I have for August this weekend.  I'm just about finished with Fatal Sign-Off by Sarah E. Burr.  This is book three in her Book Blogger Mysteries.  You can see the appeal for a book blogger who loves cozy mysteries, right?  It helps that Sarah's books are always nice and cozy, and this is no exception.  I've been enjoying it very much.

By Monday, I'm hoping to be well into the Halloween Night Murder novella collection.  I didn't get this one that long ago, so I know I talked about it then.  The stories are from Leslie Meier, Lee Hollis, and Liz Ireland.  Since I love Liz's Mrs. Claus series, I am reading the collection for her contribution.

Both of these books are coming out on August 26th.  But I'm hoping to have them reviewed on the 19th and 21st respectively.  But that's a discussion for next week's post, right?

Until then, have a great week!