Book Review: Murder on the Marlow Belle by Robert Thorogood (Marlow Murder Club #4)

Stars: 4 out of 5

Pros: The main characters in an entertaining mystery

Cons: Climax a bit of a stretch

The Bottom Line:

Deadly River cruise

Trip track down the killer

Play adding to fun

Murder is Dramatic

It wasn’t conscious at the beginning of the year, but I seem to be focusing on reading series I’ve already started this year instead of being distracted by every shiny new book that comes along. That’s one reason why I returned to Robert Thorogood’s Marlow Murder Club for their fourth case - Murder on the Marlow Belle. 

The first book showed us how these three women formed an unlikely friendship over a string of murders in the town of Marlow. There’s Judith Potts, an older woman who generally likes to be alone constructing crossword puzzles. There’s Becks Starling, the vicar’s wife. And there’s Susie Harris, dog walker and host of a local radio program. This is now the fourth time they’ve found themselves looking into a suspicious death in their community. 

This time, Verity Beresford seeks out Judith. Verity’s husband, Oliver, never returned from the maiden voyage of the Marlow Belle. The boat had been rented by the Marlow Amateur Dramatic Society, which Oliver heads. But then Oliver’s body turns up, and Judith can’t help but wonder if Verity was trying to divert suspicion from herself by asking for help. Can Judith and her friends figure out what really happened?

Yes, Judith is the real star of the books, although each of the ladies contribute a little toward the solution, as always. I did feel that Susie took more of a back seat in this book, while Becks does get a subplot that allows her to shine. Still, their personalities come through the page, and I can’t help but laugh at their antics and conversations. 

On the other hand, I am bugged by some of the comments that seemed to lean toward male bashing. I’m not sure if they were intended as a joke or not, but they certainly didn’t come across that way. 

The mystery was good. The suspects were strong and there were enough twists to keep me guessing. However, I found the climax a bit of a stretch. It does makes sense, at least. 

Since the victim was part of the local drama society, we spent some time behind the scenes at their current production. As a fan of the stage, I had a lot of fun reading about that. 

And that ending? I’m glad the next is due here in the states in a couple of months. 

Murder on the Marlow Belle might not be the strongest mystery in the series, but it is still fun. Fans of these ladies will still be glad they read it. 

Enjoy the rest of the Marlow Murder Club novels. 

Movie Review: Avatar - The Way of Water

Stars: 2 out of 5

Pros: Visuals are cool

Cons: Movie is slow and relies too much of the cool visuals

The Bottom Line:

The old threat returns

Movie too long and plodding

Not a much watch film

Sequel Does Little to Change My Mind on the Franchise

I wasn’t one of those who feel under the spell of the original Avatar.  I didn’t watch it in theaters and waited until I could record it on TV.  I wasn’t planning to watch the first sequel, Avatar: The Way of Water, but when I spotted in on TV, I changed my mind.  It did little to change my mind on the franchise, however.

For this movie, we are back on the planet Pandora.  Jake Sully (Sam Worthington) has fully embraced his new life living with the Na’vi.  He and his wife, Neytiri (Zoe Saldaña) have several children, and he is happy. 

That is, until the old commanders return to the planet.  Earth is still trying to colonize it.  But the leader is a clone of Miles Quaritch (Stephen Lang), and he is out to personally get Jake.  So Jake takes his family and flees to the islands.  Will they make their new realm their home?  Or will the Sea People reject them?  What will happen when Miles tracks him down?

Now, I fully admit that part of my issue with the film was the fact that it had been five years since I saw the original.  I was hazy on the details of the characters and their relationships.  That backstory might have helped me connect with what happened here.

But that wasn’t the only issue.

Most of the characters are blue aliens brought to life by motion capture CGI.  It might just be me, but I have a hard time telling them all apart.  When you are spending much of the film going “Wait, is that…?” it makes caring about the outcome harder.

Not that I’m blaming the actors.  They do a good enough job of bringing their characters to life.

There is a lot of debate right now about villains.  Do they need backstory, especially something that shows how they became evil?  While I subscribe to the view that we don’t, I really felt like the villains in this film were very one dimensional.  I had to wonder why everyone was going along with some of what they were being told to do.  There just seemed so little point.  So, some backstory here would definitely have helped.

Visually, the movie looks good.  It’s a lot of CGI.  I’d say the movie is more animated than real.  Most of it looks great, including the fanciful sea creatures we meet along the way.  Yeah, my eye starts to get more critical the further I go, but even so, there are some shots that are just outstanding.

But here’s the biggest issue I have with the movie.  It’s long.  Too long.  The movie clocks in at over 3 hours, and I could easily get 30 minutes cut without too much effort.  There’s an entire sub-plot that could have been trimmed.  And, I’m sure some other cuts could have been made to tighten things.  Having said that, there is a lot going on here, story wise.  It is complex, so trimming things further might have meant a major rewrite.  It certainly does seem like we have one more storyline than we need, especially when things slow down in the middle.

Yes, I’ll probably wind up watching the third Avatar movie at some point.  But I don’t think I’ll be rushing out to watch it.  The Way of Water has too many flaws to make me want to jump right into more of the franchise.

Book Review: Murder Most Trivial by Jessica Fletcher and Barbara Early (Murder She Wrote #63)

Stars: 4 out of 5

Pros: Familiar faces in a fun mystery

Cons: Pacing a little off early on

The Bottom Line:

Filming a game show

Hunting a killer on set

Characters we love

Can Jessica Answer the Killer Question Correctly?

My favorite episodes of Murder, She Wrote were always the ones set in Cabot Cove because I enjoyed the relationships that Jessica Fletcher had with her friends, but especially Seth Hazlitt and Mort Metzger. So, seeing that they were going to play a starring role in Murder Most Trivial, even if the book takes our characters to Los Angeles, made me anxious to read it.

When Jessica, Seth, Mort, and Mort’s wife, Maureen, take part in a trivia contest at the grand opening of an Irish themed pub in Cabot Cove, they never expect to win, much less that the prize will be a trip to Los Angeles to be contestants on Trivia Pub Live, a new live trivia game show. However, things take a deadly turn when one of the crew is found dead after the first day of tapping. Will the team be able to find a killer and stay in the competition?

The main mystery takes a little while to get going, but the time is spent on a few subplots and setting up the main mystery. Once the mystery gets going, the book kicks into high gear, and I was never disappointed. There are plenty of suspects and lots going on, which means everyone has to sort through what is and isn’t important to solving the mystery. I was satisfied with the resolution to the mystery. And I liked how the subplots played out as well. 

We really do get lots of the other Cabot Cove characters in this book, and I enjoyed getting to see Seth and Mort off the clock. Well, mostly off the clock since they were unofficially getting involved in the case. I even laughed a couple of times at their interactions. 

And those aren’t the only familiar faces we see. We also get one of Jessica’s nieces and her husband. I immediately remember who they were, too, which made it extra fun. 

There are a lot of suspects here, but I was able to keep them straight. Some come alive more than others, but that’s mostly a factor of how much page time they get. 

We also get a tour of Los Angeles via filming locations for various mystery TV shows. I’ve got to admit, I haven’t sought many of these places out, so I enjoyed this tourism via the page in my local area. Don’t worry, these scenes lead into discussions of the happenings in the mystery so they don’t slow things down. 

Once again, we are treated to a fun mystery with a fantastic sleuth. Fans of the show or the books will enjoy Murder Most Trivial. 

NOTE: I received an ARC of this book.

Movie Review: The Flash (2023)

Stars: 2 out of 5

Pros: Emotions at the end work

Cons: Very little else does

The Bottom Line:

Flash gets solo film

But more time spent on others

He deserves better

“Do You Want to Get a Bite?  I’m Still Hungry.”

Yes, I’d heard all the issues with The Flash and the rumors of reshoots even before it came out in 2023.  But, I always intended to give this movie a shot at some point.  It was pretty much as bad as I’d heard.

No, I don’t remember all the behind-the-scenes drama and delays at this point.  But it was one of the last movies in the failed Zack Snyder DC Universe.  That killed interest as well since, by the time it came out, we knew we were getting new versions of these characters.  Really, the movie was doomed.  Not that it was good.

Anyway, the story sort of focuses on Barry Allen, aka The Flash (Ezra Miller).  He’s a science tech in a crime lab who is attempting to clear his father (Ron Livingston) of a crime he didn’t commit – killing Barry’s mother Nora (Maribel Verdú).  But then Barry gets the idea to go back in time to keep his mother from being killed.  What could possibly go wrong?

Of course, we all know what could go wrong.  But in this case, it means a movie that is mostly set in an alternative universe.  Act one sets things up in pretty good fashion.  Yes, there’s an action sequence that could have been cut if they really wanted to speed things up, but that’s a minor issue.  It does what it needs to do to get the story going.

Act two is where the movie really falls apart.  Yes, it is fun at first watching Barry figure out what he’s done and then have to start interacting with a new version of himself.  But here’s the things.  This is called The Flash.  It’s supposed to finally be a chance for us to get to know the big screen version of the character.  But we quickly go meet Michael Keaton’s version of Batman and then rescue Supergirl, as played by Sasha Calle.  And who is our villain?  General Zod (Michael Shannon).  If we were going to have a Flash movie, shouldn’t these cameos from other characters be kept to a minimum?  And shouldn’t we have had one of his villains as the threat we are facing for much of the movie?  Barry felt like a supporting character in his own movie, which is ironic given his complaint early on during that first act action scene.

Now, I’m going to contradict myself.  The movie could have done with less Barry.  Essentially, we have two versions of the character through much of the film, both played by Ezra Miller.  And I found both versions annoying much of the time.  Now, I’m not talking about the acting.  This is the way the character is written to be played.  But seriously, could we make him less awkward?

And, to be clear, none of the complaints are aimed at any of the actors.  It is the script that lets them down.

Meanwhile, if I hadn’t watched the show, I wouldn’t have gotten that Kiersey Clemons’s Iris West is a pretty important character in Barry’s life.  She’s an afterthought.  Yes, the lead character’s comic book love interest is sidelined in his big movie.

The special effects are also poor.  Laughably poor at times.  You get a sense of where how things are going to look from that first act action sequence, and they don’t get any better.  For a big budget movie like this, it’s very surprising.

Given all I’ve been saying, I was surprised at just how much the climax touched me.  Yes, we still managed to get the emotional impact we should have.

Going into this movie, I did try to separate my expectations from the TV show The Flash, which I mostly enjoyed, especially the first few seasons.  While not exactly a story that show told, I still feel like that show did the similar story so much better.  Granted, they have multiple episodes to tell a story instead of only two and a half hours.  But this movie didn’t really even try to tell Barry’s story.

And yes, we get more cameos from various versions of DC characters, including those from the Zack Snyder series.  We could have done without most of them since they didn’t really add anything to the story.

The only reason to watch The Flash is if you are a die hard superhero fan, especially since this version of the character is no longer important.  You can just skip this mess of a film.

Mother's Day's Sunday/Monday Post

Welcome to this week's Sunday/Monday post, where I will be linking up to:

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

It was another quiet week.  Work, reading, and a little bit of TV watching.  I finished up my rewatch of season 7 of Once Upon a Time, something I've been going to do for about 4 years now.  My thoughts on the season haven't really changed since it first aired - some great moments and compelling but lots of stuff that they just didn't have enough time to fully develop.

Anyway, our temps stayed in the 60's early in the week, but we are in the 80's now with temps in the 90's predicted for Sunday and Monday.  Then, of course, we start to drop again, but fortunately not quite as far as the 60's.  It's May, after all.  Time for some warm weather.

And today is my friend's game day, so let's get to it, shall we?

Pun-Official Holiday of the Week:

May 13 – Take a leap and be hoppy for Frog Jumping Day.

This Past Week on the Blog:

Sunday - Sunday/Monday Post

Monday - Movie Review: My Dream is Yours

Tuesday - Book Review: Between a Roquefort and a Hard Place by Linda Reilly

Wednesday - Ornament Review: Sandal the Sandman #4

Thursday - Book Review: Stakeouts and Strollers by Rob Phillips

Friday - Friday Post featuring Murder Most Trivial

Saturday - Weekly TV Thoughts

This Coming Week on the Blog:

Sunday - Sunday/Monday Post

Monday - Movie Review: The Flash

Tuesday - Book Review: Murder, She Wrote - Murder Most Trivial by Jessica Fletcher and Barbara Early

Wednesday - Movie Review: Avatar - The Way of Water

Thursday - Book Review: Murder on the Marlow Belle by Robert Thorogood

Friday - Friday Post

Saturday - Weekly TV Thoughts

Book Haul:

I've got three books to talk about this week.

Up first is my preorder of One Final Turn, the fifth and final Electra McDonnell book from Ashley Weaver.  Yes, the books been out for a year, but I preordered the trade paperback, which came out this week.  I'm very much looking forward to seeing how things are wrapped up.  I'm planning to read it soon, with a review hopefully coming the beginning of June.

I've had my eye on Murder to My Ears by Rebecca McKinnon for a while now.  When the ebook popped up as free, I snagged it.  Looks like it's back to regular price of $3.99 now.

Finally, we have another free ebook that has gone back to regular price ($2.99 in this case).  Murder in the Cranberry Bog is the second in a series from Mike Cassidy featuring a reporter who is traveling the country.  I already have the first, but I haven't read it yet.  But free is a good price to grab book two in case I enjoy the first one.

What I'm Currently Reading:

Friday night, I finished up Harm Not the Earth by Liz Milliron.  Yes, I was just talking about getting this book a couple of weeks ago.  It's book four in her Laurel Highlands series, and I enjoyed it.  Got to get the review written.

Which means I've just started My Nightmare is Yours, the new Madison Night Mystery from Diane Vallere.  Since it doesn't come out for a couple of weeks, I'm reading an ARC.  I'd hoped to get a bit further into it before I left for game day, but that isn't looking good.  Either way, I'm only about 10% into the book, but I'm enjoying it so far.

Have a great week!

May 9th's Weekly TV Thoughts

Quiz with Balls – I always worry with a category like Books because, I feel like I should know what they will ask, but then they don’t tend to have books I know anything about.  So, this time, I was happy when I knew the answer to the question.  Other than that, the football rivalry theme didn’t mean much to me. 

Survivor – I was looking at the number of people and number of episodes left and thinking they had to do another double elimination (if not more).  So I think the only surprise was splitting in two.  Still not completely sure how I feel about that, but I’m more okay with it than I used to be.  Emily leaving on the same day was hard, but I really admire her spirit.  I was a little surprised that they voted the second go around and that Cirie got two votes again.  And Ozzy.  He was pretty bitter, but it is hard to see him go with the idol in his pocket again.  The person who gave him that idol is out, though, right?  So does it boomerang to anyone?  Or is it just dead?

May 8th's Friday Post

It's Friday again, which means it is 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 Murder Most Trivial, the new Murder, She Wrote novel from Barbara Early.

Obviously, this book is going to have a very specific fan base, but considering this is the 63rd book in the series of novels tied into the TV show, I'd say it is a large fan base.

Anyway, here's how the book begins:

Seth Hazlitt opened the door of Riley’s for me, and I’ll admit I hesitated to look around the room. The promise of a “genuine” Irish pub experience here in Cabot Cove, Maine, was one I found intriguing yet, I feared, was doomed to disappoint (not for lack of advertising).

Okay, so that first sentence might not be suspenseful, but it does a good job of setting up the first scene.

Meanwhile, at 56% into the ARC, we find this quote:

“Are we going to play the game?” Maureen asked.
“What game?” Mort said.

The book is coming out on Tuesday, but I was able to read an ARC, so I'll be reviewing it on Tuesday.

Let's switch over to this week's Book Blogger Hop.  The question of the week is:

If you designed a cover for a beloved book, how would it look, and how would it reflect the story? 

I'm am so not a visual arts person.  You should see what I cam up with when I had to do something liek that in school.  But I can appreciate a well done cover.  I'm not sure how I would improve on those.  So I think I will leave it to the visual artists and just enjoy their work.

(Yes, I know I am just dodging the question.)

Have a great weekend!

Book Review: Stakeouts and Strollers by Rob Phillips

Stars: 4 out of 5

Pros: Charlie and his family, good mystery

Cons: Charlie seems a bit reckless

The Bottom Line:

Changes in his life

And dangerous mystery

This debut is good

Low on Sleep. High on Crime

I’ve enjoyed several of the winners of the Minotaur Books/Malice Domestic Best First Traditional Mystery Novel over the years, so when I saw that Stakeouts and Strollers, the recently published debut from Rob Phillips, won the contest back in 2024, I had to give it a try. 

The book introduces us to Charlie Shaw, a first-time father who is also a newly licensed private investigator. Between the career change and a six-month-old who isn’t sleeping through the night, he’s struggling. 

While he’s out on surveillance, he meets a teenager who is looking for her father. Charlie can’t help but feel for her, and he decides to take on the case even though she can’t pay him. However, he quickly figures out that he’s brought a lot of danger on his family. Is his client’s father still alive? Can he figure out what is happening before the danger hits too close to home?

I was expecting a bit of a comedic PI novel when I picked this book up. While there are some humorous parts, especially Charlie’s banter with his wife, the book is fairly serious in tone overall. That includes some rough language and a bit more violence than I was expecting as well. Keep all that in mind when you go to pick up this book. 

The mystery itself kept me entertained the entire way through. There is a lot going on, but I never had trouble keeping up with the events and Charlie’s theories. The ending was suspenseful and logical. I was quite happy when I set it down. 

I really liked Charlie, and especially his relationship with his family. We really got to know him as the book progressed and could sympathize with what he was experiencing as a new father. His wife and daughter were also good characters. In fact, as the book progressed, I felt like everyone came to life on the page. 

I did feel like Charlie took a few unnecessary risks over the course of the book, especially for a new father. But that’s a minor critique. 

The book is set in and around San Francisco, not too far from where I grew up. There’s one place that doesn’t seem possible geographically, but I’m sure most people won’t be bothered by it. 

This book feels like it might be a standalone. If we do get a sequel, I will definitely be revisiting Charlie and family. Those looking for an enjoyable debut will be glad they picked up Stakeouts and Strollers. 

Ornament Review: Sandal the Sandman #4 - Eating a Sandwich - 2025 Hallmark Release

Stars: 3 out of 5

Pros: Sandal is still cute

Cons: How is this Christmassy?

The Bottom Line:

Enjoying picnic

Doesn’t tie to holiday

Ornament is cute

Picnic at the Beach

I was planning on passing on the fourth Sandal the Sandman ornament from Hallmark until I saw the series was ending with the fifth this year. So, I went ahead and snagged the fourth at a discount so I can have the entire series. 

For this entry, Sandal is enjoying a sandwich. He’s split it with his seagull friend. He’s about to take a bite, and from the look on his face, and he’s very happy about it. The Seagull? He doesn’t look quite as convinced. 

Here’s my issue with this ornament - how is it Christmas? What I’ve enjoyed about the series is the beach twist on Christmas traditions. This feels more like a picnic that could happen any time of the year. Now, I did like the ornament that featured Sandal paddleboarding, but that was an extra ornament, not an official part of the series. 

I do like that Sandal is wearing a beach hat and has a beach towel as a scarf. Those touches are fun. 

Since Sandal and his friend are on the beach, this has a nice flat base, so you can set it out to be displayed year-round. And the series marker is on the bottom of the ornament. 

When you go to hang the ornament, you’ll find that it tips slightly forward, but this isn’t anything that can’t be hidden by a few branches. 

The ornament itself is cute, But I wish this entry in the Sandal the Sandman series had a better holiday activity. 

Warm up with the rest of the Sandal the Sandman ornaments.

Book Review: Between a Roquefort and Hard Place by Linda Reilly (Grilled Cheese Mysteries #7)

Stars: 4 out of 5

Pros: Carly in an entertaining mystery

Cons: The supporting characters could be a bit sharper

The Bottom Line:

Renovation death

Carly must clear her husband

Delicious and fun

Shocking Murder at a Mansion

I wasn’t sure if we would get more Grilled Cheese Mysteries. The last book would have been a great ending to the series. So I was happy when I saw Linda Reilly was back with Between a Roquefort and a Hard Place. 

The series features newlywed Carly Hale Mitchell who runs a grilled cheese diner in her hometown in Vermont. Business is booming, but she can’t help getting involved in the various murders happening in the area. 

As this book opens, it’s been ten months since her wedding, and Carly and Ari are happily settling into married life. At her restaurant, she and her employees are working on a grilled cheese competition. But Carly drops everything when she is invited to Peppermint Mansion, the biggest and most mysterious house in the area, to cook a grilled cheese for the elderly owner. The mansion is undergoing renovations, and Ari is handling the electrical. But while Carly is there, the general contractor dies. The police quickly determine it wasn’t an accident and start looking at Ari as their prime suspect. Can Carly clear her husband?

The book does a good job of setting up the plot and getting to the murder quickly. We have several good suspects and the plot kept me guessing and engaged until we reached the logical ending. 

Over the course of the series, we’ve met quite a few supporting characters. While they all have had a book to shine, they didn’t stand out from each other here. This is mostly true of Carly’s employees. It can be a problem in  a long running series when we get so many characters we want to see again, but they wind up having very little page time as a result. The suspects, on the other hand, were good, as were the other new characters we met. And Carly and her husband are fantastic. 

As always, there are some grilled cheese recipes at the end of the book. We get three more, and they sound delicious. 

Between a Roquefort and a Hard Place is another delicious mystery. Grab a grilled cheese and enjoy. 

Pick up the rest of the Grilled Cheese Mysteries. 

NOTE: I received an ARC of this book.