Book Review: Birth of the Black Orchids by M. R. Dimond (Black Orchid Enterprises #1)

Stars: 3 out of 5

Pros: Strong characters I already love

Cons: The mysteries are after thoughts

The Bottom Line:

Meet trio of friends

Enjoyable to visit

But plots are not strong

Two Cozy Stories Introduce Us to a Fun New Trio

Every so often, it’s fun to dig around and see just what you might uncover from your to be read pile. That’s how I picked Birth of the Black Orchids. While this wasn’t what I was hoping for, I can see how others would enjoy it. 

This book is really two separate longish short stories that introduce us to JD Thomas and his friends Dianne Cortez and Johnny Ly. They have moved into a mansion in the town of Beauchamp, Texas. They have separate rooms upstairs and are opening businesses downstairs, lawyer, accountant, and vet. Days before Christmas, they hold an open house to show off the renovations and promote their businesses. Might something go wrong? Then, a couple of weeks later, a neighbor they are supposed to be helping vanishes. Where might she have gone?

Let me be perfectly clear. I really like this trio. They are fun, and their dynamic is great. While we don’t get the full background on them, you can feel the bonds between them. I enjoyed spending time with them. 

However, neither story had much going on in it. This is especially true of the first story, but even the second was uneven. Yes, there is a crime that the trio is able to solve both times, but it felt more like an after through than a main focus. 

But again, if you are looking for cozy vibes, you’ll find this book perfectly draws you in. And the Christmas setting of the first story helps add to the charm. 

So, if you are looking for a book light on the mystery but strong on the cozy, you’ll be glad you picked up Birth of the Black Orchids. 

TV Show Review: The Traitors - Season 4

Stars: 5 out of 5

Pros: Compelling fourth season of this reality contest

Cons: A couple of niggles, but nothing major

The Bottom Line:

Fourth trip to castle

This season is compelling

Good competition

“Maybe I Should Have Been Murdered.”

January brought us another season of lies, betrayal, and murder.  That’s when season 4 of The Traitors premiered on Peacock.  And I once again enjoyed every second of it.

The set up is the almost the same as always.  Twenty-three contestants, mostly from the world of reality TV, are bought to a castle in Scottland.  Host Alan Cumming picks a small portion of them to be traitors, whose job is to “kill” one contestant each night.  During the day, everyone competes in an over-the-top challenge to win money for the pot.  Then, all the contestants meet at the round table and vote on who they think is a traitor to banish from the game.  Really, it’s a game of Mafia, but spread out over several days and with bigger stakes.

The contestants this year are the usual mix of reality franchises.  There are several from Survivor and Real Housewives.  Mark Ballas from Dancing with the Stars was here as were figure skating commentators Johnny Weir and Tara Lipinski.  The one civilian (aka person with very little TV/media experience) included was Donna Kelce, soon to be mother-in-law to Taylor Swift.  And then there were a lot of people I wasn’t familiar with until I started watching this season.

The show really only tried one new thing format wise.  It was an interesting idea, and I hope they try it again.  But the pay off here didn’t quite work out the way they wanted it to.

On the other hand, I did enjoy the dynamic between the traitors this season.  And one was absolutely brilliant.  I got caught up in watching what would unfold each week.

And yes, I did watch it every week.  Unlike previous seasons when I binged it near the end of the season, I watched week to week.  I’m happy to say that I didn’t find the cliffhangers as annoying as I thought I would.  Will I watch this way going forward?  We’ll see.

Unlike season 3, where the swearing was out of control, here, it wasn’t as extreme.  It still happened, and still felt gratuitous, but it wasn’t so over-the-top, which I appreciated.

One aspect of the ending didn’t sit quite right with me.  But we’ve seen in in a couple of previous seasons, so I guess I shouldn’t be that upset by it at this point.

Overall, I really enjoyed season 4 of The Traitors.  I still need to make the time to watch other iterations of the show.  If you haven’t watched it yet, you’ll find yourself caught up in events unfolding as well.

March 22nd's Sunday/Monday Post

Welcome to this week's 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?

Fairly quiet week around here.  Went to work.  Came home.  That was about it.

It was very hot.  Like upper 90's all week.  As much as I am a summer/warm weather guy, I wasn't quite ready for it yet.  I would have preferred to have some spring weather first.  But I'm sure it will cool back down to upper 70's or low 80's here soon.  That's the sweet spot for me.

Joke of the Week:

Why did the turtle break up with the giraffe?  They never saw eye to eye.

This Past Week on the Blog:

Sunday - Sunday/Monday Post

Monday - TV Show Review: The Amazing Race - Season 38

Tuesday - Book Review: Death at Tidal Creek by Caleb Wygal

Wednesday - Movie Review: Nelly Knows Mystery - All Manners of Murder

Thursday - Book Review: Fatal Fried Rice by Vivien Chien

Friday - Friday Post featuring Broken Trust

Saturday - Weekly TV Thoughts

This Coming Week on the Blog:

Sunday - Sunday/Monday Post

Monday - TV Show Review: The Traitors - Season 4

Tuesday - Book Review: Birth of the Black Orchids by M. R. Dimond

Wednesday - Movie Review: Tremors 5 - Bloodlines

Thursday - Book Review: Broken Trust by Liz Milliron

Friday - Friday Post featuring Vengeance in Venice

Saturday - Weekly TV Thoughts

Book Haul:

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

Up first, is an audio book.  It's been a while since I listened to one, so I got Fair Warning by Michael Connelly.

I also got a finished copy of Vengeance in Venice by Erica Ruth Neubauer.

I was thinking that Stakeouts and Strollers by Rob Phillips came out this coming week, so I was surprised when my preorder shipped.  Yeah, it came out this past Tuesday.  It's the first book, and it won a publishing contest - one that a couple of authors I've really enjoyed previously won.  The main character is a new dad and a new PI trying to juggle the two.  It sounds fun, so I'm hoping to get to it...soon.

Finally, I got a comic strip book.  Been a while since I've bought one of those.  But I've become a huge fan of Strange Planet, a comic from Nathan W. Pyle.  I think between his social media posts and the page a day calendars I've had last year and this year, I've probably seen them all, but I still decided to get this collection of the strip.

What I'm Currently Reading:

You'll notice, I didn't say much about those first two books.  That's because I'm currently working on them.  So I saved talking about them for this part of the post.

Fair Warning is the third book Michael Connelly has written about reporter Jack McEvoy.  I'm about a quarter of the way into the book, and I'm definitely interested in seeing where it is going to go.  It's got a crazy connection, but I also really like that connection.  It's going to make for an interesting ride seeing how it plays out.

Vengeance in Venice is the seventh Jane Wunderly mystery from Erica Ruth Neubauer.  In this book, Jane and her new husband are taking a long delayed honeymoon in Venice, but they've gotten involved in murder.  It's set in 1927.  I always enjoy Jane's adventures.  I'm about a third of the way into this one.

That's it for me.  Have a great week!

March 21st's Weekly TV Thoughts

RJ Decker – I shouldn’t have been surprised by who the victim was, but it still hit me hard.  Interesting case, and I enjoyed the twists.  Overall, I’m enjoying the show, still.  Definitely planning to stick it out through the end of this first season.

Survivor – How is it that Emily sticks around?  At this point, you know you can’t trust her.  And again, they are voting out the people who can best help them in a challenge.  We’re back to my question on why you don’t keep those people around so you don’t have to go to tribal.  I’ve only wondered this for 50 seasons, so I guess I just don’t understand the strategy.  It must be something you would only understand by playing the game.

Happy’s Place – I’m a little surprised we got to meet Gabi’s mother.  I figured she’d be an off-screen character.  But I’m liking her, at least so far.  And I feel she is living up to the legend.  Some great laughs, too.  I like how they played with what was true or not.

March 20th's Friday Post

Welcome to this week's 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 Broken Trust by Liz Milliron.

This is book three in her Laurel Highlands Mysteries.  They lean more traditional than what I typically read, but I really enjoy them.

Anyway, here's how this particular book begins:

Pennsylvania State Trooper Jim Duncan climbed out of his cruiser to see the EMT crew walking, almost strolling, toward the parked ambulance. The blue bar lights were still on, but there was no gurney. No frenzy. No shouted words.

That doesn't sound good.  But at the beginning of a murder mystery, is it really that surprising?  And yes, that's how quickly we jump into the mystery.

On page 56, we are in the head of our other viewpoint character, Sally.  She and Jim are working toward starting a relationship.  With that context, here's the quote:

No reason to trouble Jim, especially with his family in town. Begin on vacation, he most likely would never hear about Ethan Haverton. Why stir things up unnecessarily?

How much do you want to bet that isn't true?

I enjoyed this book.  I hope you'll come back Thursday to see my full review.

Meanwhile, it's time to jump over to this week's Book Blogger Hop.  The question is:

If you could write the sequel to a classic book, which one would it be? What new characters or plot twists would you bring in? 

That is an excellent question.  I'm not sure I've read enough of the classics to really have a good answer.  Most of the ones I'm thinking of immediately really don't need a sequel.  Maybe a follow up to Lord of the Flies exploring how the boys' lives are impacted when they return to England.  Although it's been so long since I read the book, that might not be a feasible sequel.

Have a great weekend!

Book Review: Fatal Fried Rice by Vivien Chien (Noodle Shop Mysteries #7)

Stars: 4 out of 5

Pros: Lana and the rest of the regulars

Cons: Pacing could be better

The Bottom Line:

Deadly cooking class

Lana is in the hot seat

Slow start but still fun

Out of the Frying Pan, Into the Murder

I’m getting back to many series I have in progress this year, but I suspect soon the bright and shiny new releases will start distracting me. Before that happens, I managed to get another book from mount to be read in. This time, it was Fatal Fried Rice by Vivien Chien. 

This is book seven in a series set in Cleveland. Lana Lee, our main character, has taken over managerial duties for her family’s Chinese restaurant. But much to everyone’s dismay, she can’t actually cook any Chinese food. She decides to do something about it by signing up for a class at a local continuing education school. 

Lana is hoping to keep her class a secret, but that becomes much harder when she returns after class to find the instructor stabbed in the back. With the detective assigned to the case certain that Lana is responsible, she must figure out what happened. But with the victim a stranger, can Lana learn anything about her?

Honestly, that was the biggest issue I had with the book. Yes, I bought that Lana would investigate to clear herself. But it took us far too long to really start to learn anything about the victim or begin to get any suspects. Lana was frustrated as well, so at least I was in good company. As we headed into the final third, the story gained some traction, and we reach a logical conclusion. 

Fortunately, the series regulars are enough to keep us entertained. Lana has quite a fun group of family and friends, and I enjoyed checking in with the core cast again here. We don’t spend as much time in the shopping center in this book, so we don’t see some of those supporting players. And, once we started to gather suspects, they proved interesting. 

As always, this is one of the few culinary series without recipes. So you’ll have to have your favorite Chinese restaurant on speed dial to satisfy your cravings. 

While the pacing could be stronger, fans will still enjoy getting to check in with Lana in Fatal Fried Rice. 

Check out the rest of the Noodle Shop Mysteries. 

Movie Review: All Manners of Murder - Nelly Knows Mysteries

Stars: 4 out of 5

Pros: Solid mystery with fun lead characters

Cons: Nothing major

The Bottom Line:

A lavish dinner

Murder uninvited guest

Fun second movie

“I’ll Be Good Cop.  You Seem Like You’ve Already Chosen Bad Cop.”

I was surprised when I saw that we were getting a second Nelly Knows Mysteries from Hallmark.  It’s been a year and a half since we were first introduced to these characters, and I thought they were going to be yet another one and done mystery movie.  But I’m glad we got to see more of Nelly since I enjoyed All Manners of Murder.

In case you’ve forgotten, Nelly (Pascale Hutton) is an advice columnist in a small town.  Her latest column includes a letter from someone looking to reconnect with family to deliver bad news.  Somehow, that means Nelly is roped in when the letter writer hosts a lavish dinner party to reconnect with her estranged family and then deliver the bad news.  Suspecting trouble, Nelly invites Detective Mike Hogan (Kavan Smith) along.  That turns out to be wise since someone winds up murdered before dessert can be served.  Can Nelly and Mike team up again to solve the murder.

It’s been so long since I watched the first one, I mainly only remembered that it wasn’t my favorite.  Looking back at my review, I saw that one of my issues was Nelly’s official involvement in that case.  It happens again, although, somehow, it didn’t bother me as much this time.  I’m happy to say that my other complaint, the forced humor, wasn’t an issue here.  Overall, the characters seemed calmed down and more grounded, which I appreciated.

The mystery here was good.  One aspect was obvious to me early on, but the characters caught up with me not too much further into the film, and I didn’t figure out where things were going until Nelly and Mike did.  Along the way, the suspects kept me engaged.

If you are familiar with Hallmark movies, you know what to expect acting wise.  It was a little stronger than it can often be, which is always nice.

A new character was introduced that I’m sure we’ll be seeing more of as the series goes along, but I was a little confused as to why that happened in this movie since he had such a small part.  I’m assuming they are planning for future installments, but still.

On the other hand, we learned more about Mike, which I liked.  I really do like the chemistry between Mike and Nelly and hope we get to see their relationship develop further.

Yes, I’m definitely hoping for a third movie in this franchise, although nothing appears to be on the horizon yet.  If you are a Hallmark mystery movie fan, you’ll be glad you watched All Manners of Murder.

Book Review: Death at Tidal Creek by Caleb Wygal (Myrtle Beach Mysteries #5)

Stars: 4 out of 5

Pros: Clark, and a fun setting

Cons: A couple niggles with the plot, which is good overall

The Bottom Line:

Brewery murder

Clark gets pulled into the case

Relaxing beach vibes

Murder is Garbage

Certain books call out based on the setting. I was craving some beach time recently, so I picked up Death at Tidal Creek, the fifth Myrtle Beach Mystery from Caleb Wygal. It was the next best thing to heading to the beach. 

The main character here is widower Clark Thomas, the owner of a bookstore on the beach in the South Carolina resort community. Over the course of the series, he’s slowly pieced together clues that his wife’s death a few years before might have been murder. But the focus here again is on the latest murder in the area. 

Clark is slowing building a relationship with Andrea, who has just opened a business next door to his bookstore. So when two people are found dead near the garbage bins at Tidal Creek Brewery, near where Andrea lives, Clark takes note, especially when one of the is the president of Andrea’s HOA. But it’s only when Andrea finds herself involved in the HOA that Clark fully gets involved. It turns out the late president was up to some shady business. Is that why he was killed? 

If you are ready for summer, this book has the perfect vibes for you. While we don’t spend a lot of time at the beach, there are still scenes that make me look forward to relaxing days with warm weather. It’s getting closer. 

Clark’s life has gotten complicated recently with the introduction of a new love interested. We are dealing with a bit of a love triangle here, and I’m curious how that is going to play out. I suspect I know, but I’ll have to keep reading to see if I’m right. 

The book doesn’t feature a ton of recurring characters, and anything you need to know is included here. We get some growth in Clark, which is nice to see. And the new characters are interesting. Also, keep your eyes opened for what I’m sure is a cameo from the author. 

The mystery itself is good. I did have a big twist figured out early, but I didn’t have all the pieces until we got to the end. The climax is a bit exposition heavy as always, but my questions were all answered. 

Once again, we were left with a new clue to the murder of Clark’s wife. I’m curious to see where that will lead. In the meantime, Death at Tidal Creek was a welcome mystery in a resort town. 

Relax with more of the Myrtle Beach Mysteries.

TV Show Review: The Amazing Race - Season 38

Stars: 3 out of 5

Pros: Locations are fun as always

Cons: The drama between teams; lack of real suspense in race

The Bottom Line:

The Big Brother theme

Gave us some rather weak teams

Locations still great

This Season Wasn't as Big as Usual, Brother

Never having watched Big Brother, I wasn’t excited when I saw that season 38 of The Amazing Race would be tied into that show since at least one member of every team would be a former contestant on Big Brother. Still, it’s The Amazing Race, so I turned in ready for another exciting season. Sadly, it wasn’t one of their better seasons. 

As always, the show started out with 13 teams of two racing from one location to another in attempts to win the leg, or at least not come in last and be eliminated. For this season, the teams were in Europe for the entire race. Well, except the final leg, when they returned to the US. 

As much as I like watching people race all over the globe, I didn’t mind that the location was limited to Europe. They still went some cool places and did some cool things, which is ultimately why I tune in. The locations were arm chair traveling at their best. 

My issue was more with the teams. Mind you, I only knew one of the contestants before the season started (and from The Challenge, not Big Brother), so I didn’t come to the season with any preconceived ideas or opinions. 

But the contestants did. Some of them competed against each other on Big Brother, and they carried that baggage to this show. Others know each other from the brotherhood of former contestants. Either way, those rivalries and backgrounds made for more drama at the beginning than I really like. Heck, I prefer my Amazing Race with no drama, thank you. 

The other issue is that it quickly became obvious that success on Big Brother doesn’t necessarily translate to success on The Amazing Race. There were a couple of front running teams, but the rest? They were struggling. And it wasn’t fun to watch. It also meant that there were few surprises in the order the teams finished each week. 

If you’ve watched other seasons of The Amazing Race, give this season a go. But if you have others to catch up on, go watch them first. 

March 15th's Sunday/Monday Post

Welcome to 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 was a quieter week at work.  With the craziest deadlines behind us, I was able to focus on what I'd normally be doing.  And I got it all done.  So now I can spend the next couple of weeks working on some other projects that come up.  It never ends, does it?  I guess that's job security.

In addition to the extra daylight at night (love it!), we also got warmer temps.  It was in the upper 80's on Friday.  That's rare this time of year, but I will take it!

Last Sunday was my birthday.  I had a couple of celebrations this week, dinner with friends Tuesday and lunch with another friend on Thursday.  Plus, I've been using all those emails you get from loyalty programs for extras, like desserts.  I need to cut back this coming week!

I think that's about all the news around here.  And since Saturday (today) is the game day my friends host, let's get to it.

Pun of the Week:

We've got another punny holiday coming up on Saturday.  Third Saturday in March – Needle-less to say, Quilting Day is always sew much fun.

This Past Week on the Blog:

Sunday - Sunday/Monday Post

Monday - Movie Review: Sugar and Vice - A Hannah Swenson Mystery

Tuesday - Book Review: Vanished in the Crowd by Rhys Bowen and Clare Broyles

Wednesday - TV Show Review: The Brady Bunch - Season Two

Thursday - Book Review: Antihero by Gregg Hurwitz

Friday - Friday Post featuring Fatal Fried Rice

Saturday - Weekly TV Thoughts

This Coming Week on the Blog:

Sunday - Sunday/Monday Post

Monday - TV Show Review: The Amazing Race - Season 38

Tuesday - Book Review: Death at Tidal Creek by Caleb Wygal

Wednesday - Movie Review: Nelly Knows Mystery - All Manners of Murder

Thursday - Book Review: Fatal Fried Rice by Vivien Chien

Friday - Friday Post featuring Broken Trust

Saturday - Weekly TV Thoughts

Book Haul:

Of course, I got books for my birthday.

The first book I got was The Pirate's Secret by LynDee Walker and Bruce Robert Coffin.  It's the third in a treasure hunt series.  I enjoyed the first, but the second not as much.  I want to give the series another try before I decide on it one way or another.

My other gift was The Glass Thief, the sixth Jaya Jones Treasure Hunt Mystery from Gigi Pandian.  I need to read book five still, but I really want to get caught up on this series this year, especially since Gigi just announced she's be writing more with these characters, the first of those new books coming out next year.  Anyway, I will hopefully get to this book this summer.

This last book was a birthday gift from the author.  Only, she didn't intend it as such.  The ebook version of Campfires & Corpses by Nikki Weber went on sale this week for...free!  I've had my eye on this book for a while, so I snagged it.  Maybe this will be the summer I get to the camping themed cozies I've gotten over the years.  Anyway, this book looks like it is still free as of me typing this Saturday morning.  

What I'm Currently Reading:

I'm hoping to get Frozen Stiff Drink by James J. Cudney finished before I head to game day.  But we'll see if I make it.  This is book six in a series, and I am determined to finish the series even though the writing is weak, making the entire book less fun to read.

Up next will be The Maze in the Heart of the Castle by Dorothy Gilman.  She's one of my favorite authors, so I'm sure I will love it, although it's a bit different since this is more of a coming of age story than a mystery/adventure.  At least I think it is.  It will be interesting to see what I think of it and how it unfolds.  But it has a connection to her book The Tightrope Walker, which I read last fall, so it made me want to read it.

That's it for me.  Hope you have a great week!