Book Review: Death Down the Aisle by Colleen Cambridge (Phyllida Bright Mysteries #6)

Stars: 4 out of 5

Pros: Characters and an intriguing mystery

Cons: Romantic triangle in the subplot annoyed

The Bottom Line:

Murder at wedding

Killer among family?

This book delivers

Family Drama and Murder

Early in the Phyllida Bright series, I thought we were going to have a love triangle, so I was happy to see that being resolved.  In fact, one of the people involved in the love triangle is getting married in Death Down the Aisle.  No, it isn’t Phyllida, but she is still on hand for the drama and murder.

If you haven’t met her yet, Phyllida Bright is the housekeeper to Max and Agatha Mallowan.  Of course, you might know Agatha better as Agatha Christie.  Phyllida and Agatha became friends while working for the war effort during the Great War, and now it is the 1920’s and Phyllida has taken a job from her friend.  It gives me a bit more of a friendly relationship than many servants would have with their bosses.  Phyllida has found herself involved in some murders recently, this is book six in the series, and they are proving inspiration for her boss.

Dr. John Bhatt is getting married to Emily, a woman he met while home visiting in India.  Emily’s family, such as it is, live in Coatesworth Manor, not too far from Mallowan Hall, and the entire staff has been given time off to attend if they wish.  Of course, Phyllida has been involved with helping to plan it, which is why she is on hand to witness some of the dynamics in Emily’s extended family.  While things have been tense, Phyllida doesn’t expect murder, but after the happy couple depart, someone turns up dead.  Can Phyllida figure out what happened?

The book takes it time getting to the murder, but it is setting up suspects and motives.  I was intrigued by the twists we got along the way to the logical climax I didn’t see coming.  In fact, there were a couple of places that had me racing through the pages to find out what would happen next.

Each book in the series is an ode to an Agatha Christie story.  While I certainly found some similarities in the set up to Death on the Nile, the author says it is also a nod to the many romantic triangles in Christie’s books in general.  Unfortunately, that spread to the subplot involving Phyllida’s personal life.  The way it unfolded here is one of my least favorite story telling devices.  It definitely made me frustrated as I read, but it wasn’t as bad as it could have been.

While Phyllida is our viewpoint character most of the book, we do get some passages from other character’s points of view, which help flesh out the story.

The characters themselves are entertaining.  We’ve gotten to know a few of the other servants, and I enjoyed seeing them here again.  There’s something introduced here I hope to see followed up on in the next entry.  The suspects come to life as the book progresses, so I didn’t have an issue remembering how they were all related.

I’ve been working hard on catching up on this series this year, and now that I’ve done it, it’s going to be a little hard to wait to find out what case Phyllida finds herself caught up in next.  Fans of the series will enjoy their time reading Death Down the Aisle.

Enjoy the rest of the Phyllida Bright Mysteries.

NOTE: I received an ARC of this book.

Book Review: #TreatYourself to Murder by Sarah E. Burr (Trending Topic Mysteries #5)

Stars: 5 out of 5

Pros: Coco and crew solving a Christmas mystery

Cons: No cons in this treat

The Bottom Line:

Arson and murder

Are harshing the Christmas vibes

All fan will enjoy

This Christmas Cozy is a Treat

It’s October, which means we are in the heart of this year’s Christmas cozy releases.  Yes, I hear the argument that it is too early, but people do need time to get to the books to read in December.  And, for those of us who love Christmas, it’s always fun to slip into that time of the year.  So, I had no qualms about picking up #TreatYourself to Murder, the fifth Trending Topic Mystery from Sarah E. Burr, and settling in for some good old fashioned Christmas mayhem.

If you haven’t started the series yet, it features Coco Cline, influencer and social media maven.  She’s recently rebranded and is now using her platform to highlight unsolved mysteries, both old and new, in hopes of bringing attention to these cases.  But she’s going to jump in when crime hits close to her home in Central Shores, Delaware, which is what is happening this Christmas.

There has been a string of fires that started around Halloween, and the investigation doesn’t seem to be going anywhere.  But things take a tragic turn in early December when a body is found in the latest fire.  The victim is a young woman who had been living in her car, but had recently gone missing.  Coco was already trying to help find the victim, but when she is asked to help figure out what happened, she doesn’t hesitate.  With the help of her friends and fiancé, she finds that sleuthing and Christmas shopping make a good pairing.  But can she find another killer?

It’s no surprise to me that I enjoyed this book.  Sarah E. Burr has become a favorite author over the past few years.  Her books are cozy and fun while not forgetting they are mysteries, and this is another perfect example.

The plot jumps right in, and it isn’t long before we’ve found the body.  I had no idea where the story was going until we got to the ending, but it all made perfect sense when we did.  I was proud of myself for solving things at the same time Coco did.  The climax was suspenseful and logical.

The cozy comes from the characters.  Coco has some loyal friends, and I love getting to spend time with the entire gang.  Yes, the circle is ever growing, and that may mean it is hard for everyone to get the page time I would like, but I don’t mind too much.  I think, given the Christmas setting, I was a bit surprised to find that Coco’s family took a back seat in this book.  But, if they had a bigger presence, they would have just slowed down the story.  The suspects don’t get a ton of page time, but it works in this case, and I didn’t really think about it until just now.

And the Christmas touches are fun.  I’m not quite ready to start decorating yet (although I do decorate early), but this book made me want to do that.  And maybe listen to a Christmas carol or two.

Fans of the series are in for a Christmas treat.  If you are a cozy mystery fan who hasn’t found Sarah E. Burr yet, you really need to fix that.  Now that I’ve finished #TreatYourself to Murder, I’ll be waiting for Coco’s next adventure.

Enjoy the rest of the Treating Topic Mysteries.

NOTE: I received an ARC of this book.

Book Review: Death Walked In by Carolyn Hart (Death on Demand #18)

Stars: 4 out of 5

Pros: Growth for Max, fun mystery

Cons: Missing some regulars, relationship with police

The Bottom Line:

A hidden fortune

Was it motive for murder?

Some growth this entry

Is a Treasure Hidden in Annie and Max’s New House?

While Annie and Max, the main characters in Carolyn Hart’s Death on Demand series, have had their life change over the previous books in the series, it’s rare that a book builds on the previous book in the series.  But that’s what we get with Death Walked In, book 18 in this beloved series.

If you are unfamiliar with the series, it is set on Broward’s Rock, an island off the coast of South Carolina.  Annie Darling owns Death on Demand, the finest mystery bookstore north of Miami, while Max runs a consulting business that helps people with problems.  It’s not officially a PI business since Max doesn’t have a license.  Between the two of them, they find plenty of murder and mayhem on their island.

You don’t have to have read the previous book (Dead Days of Summer) to fully appreciate what happens here.  There are some references to it, and Max gets some character growth as a result, but everything you need to know is included here.  And all that happens without any spoilers.

As this book opens, it’s February, and Max hasn’t taken on any clients since what happened to him last summer.  Instead, he’s poured all his focus on restoring the Franklin House to its former glory so he and Annie can move in.  So, when a woman calls Max’s office saying she hid something in Franklin House, Max isn’t interested in hearing more.  Annie, on the other hand, goes to visit the woman only to find her dying.  Is there really something hidden in Franklin House?  Who killed the caller?

In the last few books, I’ve started to notice how little character development we are getting, so I appreciate that Max got some in this book.  And it made sense given what he went through in the previous book.  It will be interesting to see if anything comes of this arc or if he is back to his usual jolly self for the rest of the series.  Annie also showed a different side in this book, which was appreciated.

On the other hand, most of the regulars were off the island.  The main trio of supporting characters still found ways to connect, adding their fun to the story.  Annie’s family wasn’t even mentioned, which took me by surprise.  (Or did they move off island and I forgot?)

This also brings me to my biggest frustration with this book.  A trope of cozies in general and this series in particular is an antagonistic relationship with the police since the amateur is getting in the way of the police when it comes to solving the case.  (Of course, if the police were smarter in these books….)  At this point, the hoops that the author is having to jump through to keep that in place is getting a little crazy.  It made me roll my eyes a little, but at least we didn’t have characters flipping personalities to get this trope, which we’ve had in previous books.

The mystery itself was good.  I figured one part out early, but I didn’t have everything figured out, which is always nice.

This series is known for its references to other mystery novels.  There were more than the previous book, but not the overabundance we had early in the series.  I am recognizing more and more of them since this book came out in 2008, so I was reading some of the authors being mentioned.

As usual for this series, I was able to get the audio from the library.  Kate Reading continues to go a great job as the narrator.

It’s always fun to visit Annie and Max, and Death Walked In is no exception.

Demand the rest of the Death on Demand Mysteries.

October 25th's Weekend Catch-Up

Welcome to this week's weekend catch-up.  As always, I will be linking up to:

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

You know how some weeks, I say I don't have much to talk about?  This isn't one of those weeks.

It started on Tuesday.  I took the day off to go to a sitcom taping.  Yes, I said after I went to see Happy's Place last year I didn't need to do it again.  But I decided I wanted to do it again.  This time I went to see Shifting Gears, which stars Tim Allen and Kat Dennings.  And, I must confess, one of the draws was that it films on the Disney lot.  This DisNerd couldn't pass that up.  Not that this lot was that different; I was on a lot with a bunch of sound stages.  As to the taping, they have four sets from the show set up in front of the audience.  And the one I was sitting directly in front of wasn't used.  But it was still fun, especially with a few mess ups, which is something I didn't get last year.  And this time I mean it, I don't think I need to do it again.

Which brings us to Saturday.  Up first was a play.  The local theater company is doing Dial "M" for Murder, which I've wanted to see as a play ever since I saw the movie.  Of course, I saw the movie back 20 years ago or so, so I don't really remember it.  Now, I need to see the movie again to see how it compares.  Especially since what I thought was a hook to the movie wasn't part of the play.  But maybe that's just me misremembering something or it got changed for the movie.  Anyway, I went with a couple of friends.  We all enjoyed it, although it was a little longer than we were expecting.

Then, my church was hosting the annual Harvest Festival, so I went over there and hung out for an hour or so.  It's really aimed at kids, but I did play a couple of the games that are a little more all ages, and I voted in the pumpkin carving, cake decorating, and chili cook-off.

See, it's been a full week!

Joke of the Week:

Why did the skeleton go trick-or-treating alone?

Because he had no body to go with.

This Past Week on the Blog:

Sunday - Weekend Catch-Up

Monday - Movie Review: The Marvels

Tuesday - Book Review: 'Tis the Season to be Scary by Vicki Delany

Wednesday - TV Show Review: Wild Cards - Season 3

Thursday - Book Review: My Father Always Finds Corpses by Lee Hollis

Friday - Friday Fun featuring #TreatYourself to Murder

Saturday - Weekly TV Thoughts

This Coming Week on the Blog:

Sunday - Weekend Catch-Up

Monday - Book Review: Death Walked In by Carolyn Hart

Tuesday - Book Review: #TreatYourself to Murder by Sarah E. Burr

Wednesday - Book Review: Death Down the Aisle by Colleen Cambridge

Thursday - Movie Review: The Fate of the Furious

Friday - Friday Fun

Saturday - Weekly TV Thoughts

Book Haul:

I'm back in the land of the book acquirers with three books to talk about this week.

Up first, No One Sleeps on the Orient Express crossed my radar in the last couple of months.  It's the debut mystery from Irene Hagan, and it sounds like it could be lots of fun.  The Kindle version went on sale for $2.99, so I went ahead and snagged it.  It's still on sale as I'm typing this on Saturday night, but no idea how long it will stay on sale.

I've enjoyed previous books I've read by A. M. Loweecey when she was writing as Alice Loweecey, so when I saw she was starting a new cozy mystery series, I was looking forward to reading it.  Then I got a chance to sign up for the blog tour for Death of a Bad Penny, so I jumped on that.  I got the ARC this week, and I'll be starting it next week since the tour is the second week of November.

But first...

Remember that book I teased last week that was on the way?  It did indeed arrive this week.  That book is Split Screen, the newest Eve Ronnin Mystery from Lee Goldberg.

What I'm Currently Reading:

I'm currently reading Split Screen by Lee Goldberg.  I feel like I'm cheating a little claiming that since I am only one chapter in at the moment.  Go back and look at what I did today to understand why I haven't gotten more reading time.  But I'm sure I'll enjoy it when I get time to really dive in.

Have a great week!

October 24th's Weekly TV Thoughts

Celebrity Weakest Link – That was painful.  So many easy questions they got wrong.  I was rooting for Alexa and Carlos, so I was very glad he won.  I couldn’t believe Alexa stayed as long as she did given her performance.  I’m surprised that Carlos voted her out at the end like that.

Dancing with the Stars – I expected them to not eliminate anyone since they usually don’t on dedication night.  And when I saw the credits rolling, I knew for a fact that would be the case.  So many touching stories and dancing tonight.  I was tearing up several times, which I don’t always do.  Either I’m very emotional right now, the stories were extra touching, or both.

RJ Decker – Another very entertaining mystery, and I didn’t see the ending coming either.  This show has some great twists and turns to it.  Love the murder method, too.  Not for the victim, but for the creativity of it, but it fit.  I’m very curious where we are going to be with the cliffhanger next week.  (And how crazy is it that we are already at the season finale?  Say it ain’t so!)

The Challenge – It’s close.  Despite all the drama with Lete, she is definitely doing her best.  Still think she was over reacting, although I can kind of see her point.  And CT is being CT and dragging them down with anything physical.  That would be me, so it’s no shade.  But it’s no shocker either.  But he did do well on the puzzles for them.  It will be interesting to see who comes out on top next week.

Survivor – The challenge looked like fun.  Hard, but fun.  Not that it was really that close when they ran it.  The first tribal wasn’t that surprising, although with a team of three it’s going to be hard now if they don’t win or get slip up somehow.  But that second tribal was something else.  Have we seen a tribal go that way before?  I feel like the last time there was a tie, they drew rocks.  Not that I expect the other two to have any kind of leverage next week.  It will be interesting to see how they can come back from this.  Or if they can come back from this.

The Amazing Race – I will forever link Albania with the first Mrs. Pollifax book.  And then they had a spy challenge!  I’m always happy when the teams are driving since that seems to create the most chaos.  I was happy to see the grandfather/grandson team move up several places.  The sisters wouldn’t have stayed too much longer, I fear.  And the team in front now has a big target on their backs since they were in the Driver’s Seat twice.  Kind of hard not to be in front when there are two on the same leg. 

Traitors: New Blood – This is why I generally like to binge this series.  Where they end stuff should be criminal.  I’m sure they person who has the power is going to make the outcome of whether Victor goes or not obvious, so they couldn’t let us know.  But it’s so frustrating to wait a week to find out!  As much as he is right about the Traitors, he’s so annoying.  I really would like him gone.  And the tower is going to be awkward between Tamica naming Katie and then Katie voting Tamica.

Special Forces: World’s Toughest Test – We seem to have a fairly strong group of celebrities this season.  Oh, they are still failing regularly, but they aren’t quitting like they did the first season I watched.  Although with two of the men out in the jungle, who knows what will happen to them.  I get it.  I’ve been stuck in mud before, and it was exhausting.  It was fun, but then again, I was at a mud run.  But I slept well that night.

Happy’s Place – Glad this show is back!  Okay, so it wasn’t the funniest episode ever, but it was funny and just great to see the characters again.  I’m guessing they are going to keep the new office, but we will see I guess.  I have a feeling if it was just a one time set, they would resolved that by the end of the episode.

Newlyweds – There’s some promise here.  Not completely sold yet, but it was fun.  I hope that Jeanie calms down a little.  I’ll give it a few weeks before I decide anything one way or the other.  I will give the show this – I really bought the relationship between the leads.  It helps that they are married in real life.

October 23rd's Friday Fun

Welcome to Friday and this week's Friday Fun.  As usual, I will be linking up to:

First Line Friday
Friday Book Snippets
Book Blogger Hop

My teasers for the first two this week will be coming form #TreatYourself to Murder, the fifth in the Trending Topic Mysteries from Sarah E. Burr.

And yes, it's a Christmas cozy mystery.  Since I had an ARC of the book, I read it now instead of saving it for December.

Here's how the book begins:

I stared at the twenty-four-year-old woman’s black-and-white photo as I taped the neon pink flyer onto a stop sign pole. Where are you, Zelda? How did you just vanish into thin air?

It may not be murder, but that opening does grab you right away, right?

Meanwhile, much later in the book, we get this:

We turned to greet the newcomer, everyone’s faces falling slightly—save Maria’s—when we discovered Chief McInnis storming toward the counter. Uh-oh. Paint his face green, and he could’ve passed as the Grinch.

I loved that reference since this is a Christmas book.

And I loved the book overall, which is no surprise since I usually enjoy Sarah's books.  My full review will be up on release day, which is Tuesday.  I hope you'll come back then.

Meanwhile, let's flip over to this week's Book Blogger Hop.  The question is:

What’s the creepiest book you’ve read that isn’t officially horror, but gave you chills?

Back in the day, I read about half the Animorphs series.  Mind you, I was an adult when they were coming out, so I was well beyond the middle grade target audience.  The premise is that ordinary kids have been given the power to morph into any animal they've touched in order to fight off an alien invasion.  And let me tell you, some of the scenes with those aliens were downright creepy.  As in I had nightmares after reading them.  Okay, so they were more suspense than creepy like the question was asking about, but the villains turned into some weird creatures.  And it's the first thing that popped into my head even two decades later since I rarely read anything too creepy.

Have a great weekend!

Book Review: My Father Always Finds Corpses by Lee Hollis (Father/Daughter Mysteries #1)

Stars: 3 out of 5

Pros: The characters came to life; mystery was good overall

Cons: Pacing at the beginning; climax issue; some details seemed fluid

The Bottom Line:

Finding dead body

Makes Jarrod and Liv team up

Promise, but some flaws

Murder as Father-Daughter Bonding

Lee Hollis is a name I’ve long had in my list of authors to try.  I’ve bought some of Lee’s books when they were on sale, and I’ve read novella anthologies with Lee’s stories in them.  But I was determined to actually read a novel, so I sat down to read My Father Always Finds Corpses.  While it wasn’t bad, I didn’t enjoy it as much as I’d hoped.

For those who don’t know, half of the Lee Hollis pen name is author Rick Copp.  Years ago, Rick released three books starring Jarrod Jarvis, a child star now trying to navigate Hollywood as a young man.  And stumbling over dead bodies in the process.  Jarrod is back in this first in a new series.  At this point in his life, he’s left Hollywood behind and is living in Palm Springs, still grieving the death of his husband, Charlie, ten years ago.  While he’s still got his daughter, Liv, in his life, their relationship is distant.

For example, Liv hasn’t introduced her new boyfriend, Zel, to Jarrod yet.  But the chance for that to happen ends once and for all when someone kills Zel and Liv finds the body.  It’s been a number of years since Jarrod investigated a crime, but his old instincts kick in, especially when Liv decides she wants to figure out what happened to Zel.  Will solving this case bring them closer together?

I knew that Rick has released some books on his own before teaming up with his sister to write books as Lee Hollis, and I even knew he had one that featured an actor in Hollywood.  But I didn’t realize this series was a spin off/reboot of those books until I sat down to write the review.  So, if you are wondering if you need to track down those other books first or if you can jump in here, I didn’t have any trouble following the characters or their relationships in this book.  Are there some things I might have missed?  Sure.  But I would bet they are minor.  (But now I’m thinking some of the references to earlier events in his life we might have seen in those books.)

This book has a melancholy tone.  The grief Jarrod and Liv are still dealing with are very real.  We do see that start to break as the book goes along, but this isn’t as strongly comedic as I’ve heard Lee’s books can be.

But my issue really comes as we start looking at the plot.  It was a bit slow to get going.  Yes, there was quite a bit of stuff that had to be set up.  I get it.  But it still felt like it could have started faster.  The pacing did get better after we find the body.  Having said that, I had major issues with the climax.  There was a scene that seemed unnecessary.  Yes, it was fun, but it also made no sense.

We spend time with both Jarrod and Liv as they work to solve the case.  I enjoyed getting to know both of them better over the course of the story.  I feel it really worked in this case to truly understand where both of them are as the book begins.  I’m not sure that I completely bought their closer relationship at the end of the book, but I’m being a bit too nitpicky here.

And, speaking of being nitpicky, there were too many details I felt were fluid as the book went along, like how long Liv and Zel had been dating, for starters.  Either the book needed another edit to look for those details or I missed something as I was reading.

All the characters do come to life, not just Jarrod and Liv.  I loved some of them and loved to hate others.

One of the supporting characters is a former first lady.  When I saw that, my guard went up, expecting politics to come into the book.  While there are some moments, they are small.  Would the book have been better without them?  For me, yes.  But they were easy enough to ignore.

Will I give Lee Hollis another chance?  Yes, I’ll be willing to do that.  After all, I do already have some other of Lee’s books.  But My Father Always Finds Corpses didn’t make me want to rush out to read another one.

TV Show Review: Wild Cards - Season 3

Stars: 3 out of 5

Pros: Case of the week and banter still fun

Cons: Low budget (still) and poor story arcs

The Bottom Line:

Case of the week? Good

But arcs are overall poor

Average season

“You’re the One Who Wanted a Badge.” “But I Didn’t Know It Came with Paperwork.”

I’ve been charmed by Wild Cards during the first two season, so I was looking forward to season three.  While I found the case of the week and the banter to be fun, the story arcs for the season were disappointing.

The premise isn’t exactly new.  It’s another unusual amateur/cop mystery show.  In this case, the cop is Cole Ellis (Giacomo Gianniotti) and his partner is semi-reformed conwoman Max Mitchell (Vanessa Morgan).  Against all odds, their partnership has worked out.  And, naturally, there is a spark between them as well.  Not that true love comes easy in a show like this.

As expected, we start with the aftermath of the season two cliffhanger.  And what a cliffhanger it was.  Max was leaving to meet Cole to go to Mexico with him when she was interrupted at the door by her mother – her dead for years mother Vivienne (recurring guest star Tamara Taylor).  Turns out she faked her death in order to keep Max and her father George (recurring guest star Jason Priestley) safe from a crime boss Vivienne ran afoul of.  But, just as this happy reunion begins, the crime boss’s henchman shows up and demands they follow his orders or he will kill them all.

Meanwhile, Cole did take that vacation, but when Max didn’t show, he assumed she wasn’t interested in a romance, so he returned with a new girlfriend, reporter Jessica (recurring guest star Kaylah Zander).

But all this doesn’t keep Cole and Max from teaming up on new cases.  Over the course of this season, they investigate when a 90’s boy band reunites to murder.  They are called in when an ER doctor is stabbed in the middle of a busy shift.  They travel to a nearby town where a serial killer copycat is on the loose.  And they go undercover at a digital detox retreat to catch a killer.

As I said earlier, the cases of the week were still enjoyable.  They may not be the most twisty mysteries you’ve ever seen, but they are engaging and keep me entertained.  It helps that Max and Cole still have the banter I love.  Cole is less annoyed by Max, which makes sense if they’ve been working together for a while.  Well, and if they almost ran off on vacation together.

Unfortunately, the arcs for the season were very weak.  Admittedly, it’s never been the strongest part of the show, but season one and two had better arcs than this one.  I felt like they didn’t know what to do with Jessica once they introduced her.  She got one good episode, but other than that, they really under used her.

But that’s nothing compared to the storyline with Max’s mom.  The character development it brought about was good, and I appreciated it.  But they spend most of the season working on something to get the crime boss off their back.  Naturally, we get to see the plan go wrong in the final episode.  But the revelations we got in that episode underwhelmed at best and made no sense at worst.  Plus, the plan was just crazy even if…well I’m not going to spoil it.

This is a low-budget Canadian show, so keep that in mind when you go to watch it.  The acting and production values can reflect that, but I don’t find it bothers me too much.

There are ten episodes in season three, which matches the previous seasons of the show.

I’m hoping season four bounces back from the disappointments I had in season three.  Fans will still want to watch it, but it should have been better.

Book Review: ‘Tis the Season to be Scary by Vicki Delany (Year-Round Christmas Mysteries #9)

Stars: 3 out of 5

Pros: Enjoy the characters and the setting

Cons: Uneven pacing, paranormal element too strong

The Bottom Line:

A gala murder

With some supernatural

Only average

Murder is Always Spooky

I’ve been a bit disappointed with the last couple of books in the Year-Round Christmas series from Vicki Delany, so I was debating about picking up ‘Tis the Season to be Scary, the newly released book nine.  I finally decided to get it from the library.  Sadly, while this one wasn’t bad, it wasn’t any better than the last couple.

If you are a newcomer to the series, it features Merry Wilkinson, who lives in the town of Rudolph, New York.  Yes, the town has decided to trade on their name and bills itself as the destination for Christmas.  They go big for other holidays as well, which is a good thing since this book is set around Halloween.

Merry’s best friend, Vicky Casey, has been working on a cookbook for the last couple of entries in this series, and it is finally coming out.  But the night before the official book launch, the annual fundraiser for the local hospital is happening.  It’s a big gala at the Yuletide Inn, and everyone is there, including people from out of town.  One of those out-of-town guests is Cynthia, an online reviewer (those evil people!) who has panned Vicky’s new book.  As the evening is winding down, Cynthia falls over and then dies on the way to the hospital.  If Cynthia didn’t die of natural causes, what happened to her?

The mystery started out well, but, as often happens with this series, it stalled in the middle.  Honestly, I didn’t find that much was happening to move the story forward.  Instead, we have some subplots that take over.  I did enjoy them, but I wanted to feel like the mystery was moving forward, too.  Merry was a bit more active than she was in the previous book, but she still could have driven more of the story.  The suspects were good, but we could have seen more of them to better flesh them out.

Having said all of that, I did enjoy how the book ended.  Mostly.  (More about that in a minute.)  There were some good twists and a surprising resolution.

I do like the characters in this series.  There are family and friends we’ve gotten to know, and, if they don’t make me smile because I love them they make me smile because of their antics.  But I don’t feel like we are learning much more about them or that their relationships are moving forward.  Yes, it was fun to spend time with them, but it would be nice to feel like something new was happening in their lives.

This book includes a paranormal element.  On the one hand – I get it.  This is a Halloween book.  But the story relied too much on it a couple of times, which I didn’t appreciate at all.

Since this book is set around Halloween, we don’t have the Christmas vibes I usually love so much in this series, but that’s completely understandable.

With all the talk about Vicky’s cookbook, I wasn’t surprised to find three recipes at the end of this novel.  They do sound delicious.

‘Tis the Season to be Scary is another average book in this series.  I’m not sorry I read it, but I wish it were better.  We’ll see if I decide to continue or not.

Here are the rest of the Year-Round Christmas Mysteries.

Movie Review: The Marvels

Stars: 2 out of 5

Pros: The opening act was fun

Cons: Too much silly overall

The Bottom Line:

After opening

The film becomes too silly

This one’s skippable

“Is This an Avengers Test?”

I’ve let myself fall behind on the Marvel movies again.  (Let’s not even discuss how far behind I am on the shows.)  Part of that is because I stopped enjoying the movies, and what I was hearing about the movies I hadn’t seen wasn’t good.  Still, I’m hoping to catch up, at least on the movies.  And the first step toward that was The Marvels.  It was…interesting.

As the movie opens, the Kree, being led by Dar-Been (Zawe Ashton), are on the move, and Carol Danvers, aka Captain Marvel (Brie Larson), is trying to stop them.  Her stop at a wormhole that is sending out power surges coincides with Monica Rambeau (Teyonah Parris) investigating.  And, back on Earth, Kamala Khan, aka Ms. Marvel (Iman Vellani) is playing around with her bangle.  When an energy surge sends them swapping locations, chaos ensues.  But Dar-Been is still on the move.  Can the linked trio figure out a way to work together to stop her?

I’d heard lots of bad things about the movie, and for the first act, I was pleasantly surprised.  The opening action scene was quite fun.  Yes, Kamala and her fan girling was a bit much, but I was willing to look past that since it was appropriate for her character and her age.  It did go on a bit too long, but I was happy with how Carol responded to it.

As long as we are talking character stuff, the needed scene between Carol and Monica was way too short.  I get it, they only had 90 minutes or so of story time to work with, but it just didn’t seem like they earned the character reunion they pretended happened with the rest of the movie.

It was in the middle of the movie that things went off the rails.  The first time for me was the planet we visit half way through the movie.  Yes, it’s a fun gag at first.  But then, it goes on too long and just gets weird.

Then there’s the bit near the climax that, again, is just too weird.  Sorry, but I’m not buying it.

Overall, the movie seems to gloss over some plot details as well.  I felt like some crucial scenes were cut.  Or a major plot point was covered by one sentence of dialog.

Granted, I was watching this on Disney+, but I felt the special effects held up.  Which is good because, in many ways, the plot was just an excuse for special effects and stunts.

The acting was a bit of a mixed bag.  Some of the cast were fully committed, others felt like they weren’t that invested.

There was promise in this film, but it just got too silly by the end.  Unless you need to keep up with the MCU, there’s no reason to watch The Marvels.