Movie Review: Ready or Not (2019)

Stars: 2 out of 5

Pros: The acting is wonderful

Cons: Tries to do too much, and as a result fails

The Bottom Line:

Wedding night nightmare

Has too many ideas

Executions fails

“You Pulled the One Bad Card”

When Ready or Not came out, I remember hearing lots of good things about it.  And I thought that it might be something fun to watch at some point, especially with how much I enjoyed last year’s Scream requel (or is that legacy sequel?).  So when I caught it in TV, I decided to give it a chance.  I was pretty disappointed by it.

It should be the happiest day of her life for Grace (Samantha Weaving), who is marrying into the Le Domas family.  While they are extremely wealthy, she is marrying Alex (Mark O’Brien) because she truly loves him and is excited about starting a family together.

There’s just one catch, a trifle really.  After the wedding, each new member of the family has to play a game.  They pick a card to determine what the game is, and Grace picks the Hide and Seek card.  The one bad card.  Picking that card means the family will be hunting her until dawn, and if they find her, they will kill her.  Can Grace survive the night?

Honestly, one of the problems with the movie is that it takes us too long to get there.  I knew that much of the plot before I sat down to watch it, and we are quite a ways into the movie before Grace finds that out.  Yes, the movie is building the tension, and doing a good job of it.  There are also some fun laughs as Grace says or does things that she doesn’t realize mean something different to the family.

Once everyone is on the same page, there are some good moments.  This is a horror comedy, and it has great moments of both.  There are several tense scenes, and a few scenes that are wonderfully funny.

However, it just doesn’t all come together.  We are supposed to get some social commentary on the 1% from the movie, but I feel like those comments were cliched, especially since some of the characters were cliches themselves.

Speaking of which, I had a real hard time remembering who all the characters were and their places in the family.

There are some other plot threads introduced in the movie that don’t seem to go anywhere.  I found that frustrating.  They are referenced a couple of times and then dropped.  The same goes for some of the other social commentary they were trying to include.  I see what they thought they were doing, but it honestly didn’t translate.

Since I was watching this on TV, the violence and language were toned down from the film’s R rating.  I was impressed with some of the substitutes we got for swear words.  I laughed at some of them, and I mean that in a good way, not laughing at poor editing.

And none of this is a reflection on the cast, who are all fine.

Then came the climax.  I get what they were going for.  I’m trying to decide if my reaction to it was the lack of set up or just my different expectations.

Since I was curious about it, I’m glad I watched Ready or Not.  I’m even more glad I watched it on TV so I didn’t waste anything other than my time.

Podcast Review: How Rude, Tanneritos!

Stars: 4 out of 5

Pros: Laughs and warm behind the scenes stories from a classic sitcom

Cons: A few things, but I enjoy it overall

The Bottom Line:

Laugh with the Tanners

And get behind scenes stories

Fun rewatch podcast

A Chance to Look Back at Full House?  Have Mercy!

It’s no secret to anyone who has spend much time talking to me in the last couple of years that I have been hooked on Pod Meets World, the rewatch podcast for Boy Meets World.  That got me doing a deep dive for other rewatch podcasts to enjoy.  One I was specifically looking for was Full House.  So you can imagine my delight when I learned that Jodie Sweetin and Andrea Barber were going to start How Rude, Tanneritos!

That’s right, Stephanie Tanner and Kimmie Gibbler, great friends in real life, are teaming up to watch Full House from the very first episode.  They started a little over a year ago, which means we are currently in the middle of season three.  Each week, on Tuesday, we get a recap episode where the two look at the next episode in line, talking about what happened in it, their reaction to it now, and any memories they have of the episode.

When this podcast first started, the actors and writers were on strike, so we first just got the recaps.  Then they started doing minisodes where they would answer fan questions or just generally talk about life on a sitcom.  Once the strike ended, they started having interviews some weeks and minisodes other weeks.  The interviews often get split into two episodes released on back-to-back days.  They’ve interviewed all the other major living cast members of the show except the Olsen Twins.  They’ve interviewed guest stars.  And they have interviewed behind the scenes people as well.  Like them, I’m impressed with the pedigree of some of the people who were working on the show.  I think it shows in the final product, but maybe I’m a little biased since I’m a fan.  I’ve been enjoying hearing those stories.

I do wish that the entire She-Wolf Pack were involved.  While I am enjoying hearing Jodie and Andrea’s insights into the filming of the show, Jodie was young when the show started, and Andrea is only in about half the episodes even where we are in season three.  Adding Candace Cameron Bure into the mix would flesh some of these things out, or at least I feel like it would.  I don’t know why she isn’t involved, but yes, they did interview her, and the interview was very warm.  I do know that Candace is very busy with her own projects, so it could just be she doesn’t have the time.  I will say, I was disappointed when a recent guest threw some shade on Candace in a speculative way (they had no proof of what they were saying), and the hosts let that air.  Is that really the way to treat a friend?

Of maybe that’s just my take on things coming through.  I can’t help but feel like politics might be involved, especially since the hosts, especially Jodie, occasionally hint at their left wing politics in what they are talking about or how they talk about things.  When that happens, I can’t help but roll my eyes.

But on the whole, I enjoy the episodes.  Yes, we’ve gotten some in jokes now from the production of the show.  It’s given me a great excuse to revisit the show, and I’m reminded just why I enjoyed so much when I first found it almost twenty years ago (yeah, I was late to it).

Jodie is especially prone to taking off on tangents, and those can be fun.  Yes, there are stories from the set, but my favorites are when she is trying to come up with some explanation on why things happen in the show, like the exotic animals that show up, or the girls moving their furniture without any help.  They are quite creative and funny and provide some great laughs.

It is nice to see them both enjoying the show as well.  Yes, there are episodes they don’t like (and I typically agree with them from my rewatch from before I’ve listened to the podcast), but overall, they are finding the joy in the show and their work.

We also really are getting the sense for how much the show was family off the screen as well.  The stories they tell about their life growing up on the set are heartwarming.  They are also quick to acknowledge how lucky they were, not that they necessarily realized it then.

I’m enjoying this excuse to revisit a classic family sitcom.  If you are a fan of Full House, you need to give How Rude, Tanneritos! a listen.

October 19th's Weekly TV Thoughts

This list is missing Happy's Place.  I wasn't able to watch it last night.  But I'll catch up in a few weeks.  I really am hoping to enjoy this sitcom.  But that's a post for a couple of weeks from now.

For now, here's what I did watch this week.

Tracker – So glad the show is back.  But I’m not sure we need another ongoing storyline when we haven’t resolved the storyline about Colter’s family yet.  I’m still ready for a bit more background on his helpers.  The main storyline?  They started out with a banger.  Feel so sorry for the brother.  But the rest?  Intense as any story from season one.

Moonflower Murders – I was wondering where they were going with the “fiction” part of the story when Pundt started solving it.  Then they delivered that cliffhanger.  Obviously, he doesn’t mean it literally, but I wonder what is going on there.  And yes, I have to call out what they did – open with the body of the missing woman and then wait until near the end of the episode to tell us about it.  Not, technically a flashback, but still not my favorite thing by far.  I’m wondering how the revelations from this episode play into the case.  I feel like the husband did it is too easy, but what could it mean?

Rescue HI Surf – Wow!  That dad just doesn’t get what having a job entails.  I’m glad his son finally stood up to him.  I figured someone wasn’t going to make it through the day.  We can’t rescue everyone.  But this is going to make for a very depressing next episode at least if not longer.  And yes, how they filmed stuff made it very hard to follow the action.  I get it, they couldn’t really film on crazy wave days like that, but still, it was hard to follow.

Superman & Lois – I’d heard what the big event of the episode was, but I hadn’t heard how they were going to do it, what it would mean.  Wow!  I’m so impressed.  Yes, it was hard to watch, but the sacrifice Sam made.  This is one way to deal with not having the money for all the cast every episode.  I loved the flashbacks, too.  Especially the one with him first learning who Superman really is.  Not sure how I feel about Jonathan getting powers.  Jordan struggling is getting a little old as well.  Hopefully, we can change things up going forward.

Dancing with the Stars – Everyone is really stepping up their game.  It’s going to start being tougher from here on out.  This night is always emotional, and I like getting to know the stars a bit better.  But Derek and his wife’s dance was just wow!

Survivor – Been a while since we’ve seen someone that upset over getting voted out.  I really felt for her.  It’s got to be hard when you don’t even have a vote and get voted out.  Not that she could have done anything even with a vote.  I liked the egg negotiation.  But will those eggs get shared with everyone now that the merge is coming?  The twist for the reward wasn’t super revolutionary, but it was interesting for something different.  It will be interesting to see if anything more comes from it.

The Challenge – This episode made me so happy.  Not only did Rachel win (always rooting for the underdog), but she put in Vacation alliance members.  Always like to see the power fall.  I’m not sure how this is going to work with an individual game but still having targets, but I guess I’ll find out next week.

October 18th'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

For the first three, I'll be pulling quotes from The Baffled Beatlemaniac Caper by Sally Carpenter.

This one's been on my to be read pile for quite a while.  I'm glad I finally read it since I enjoyed it.  It features Sandy Fairfax, former Teen Idol trying to rebuild his career.  We get right into that with the opening:

"So what you're telling me is that my career is dead."
"I wouldn't say your job prospects are that hopeless. More like there' in intensive care on life support."

This book finds Sandy at a Beatles fan convention as a featured celebrity.  While there, we get this excerpt from page 56:

"John [Lennon] was murdered when he started recording again."
"Yes, it's a terrible loss."
"They should fry the man who killed him."
That uneasy feeling swept over me again. I glanced around for a polite way to get away from this nutcase.

This was a fun book.  I'll be doing my full review on Tuesday, so I hope you'll come back then to check it out.

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

What novel would you recommend that blends characteristics of your favorite genre with horror concepts, and why?

I'm drawing a blank on this one.  Can't think of any books that I know of that venture into the horror genre.  Especially that also have cozy mystery elements.

Have a wonderful weekend.

Book Review: Til Death by Annette Dashofy (Zoe Chambers #10)

Stars: 5 out of 5

Pros: Strong characters, strong story

Cons: None

The Bottom Line:

Two weeks til wedding

But mysteries abound first

Fans must attend book

Will Death Keep Zoe and Pete from Walking Down the Aisle?

I’d started reading Annette Dashofy’s books by the time Til Death, the tenth in her Zoe Chambers series, came out. But I was multiple books behind and knew I wouldn’t get to it for a while. Well, the day has come, I was finally ready for it, and it was worth the wait. 

Zoe and her fiancé, police chief Pete Adam’s, are finally getting married. Their Valentine’s Day wedding is two weeks out. Naturally, that means they have lots of last-minute details to take care of. But their jobs also aren’t slowing down. 

For Pete, that means one of his early murder convictions has come back into his life. Dustin Landis was convicted of killing his wife, but, after nine years, a judge has over turned the conviction. The DA plans to retry him, so Pete is going back over all the details, trying to make sure the man is convicted again. After all, he is guilty, right?

Meanwhile, Zoe has left behind her job as a paramedic and is working full time as the chief deputy coroner for the county. A casual friend from high school has just died, and the autopsy hasn’t revealed a cause of death. In fact, it’s a complete mystery. As she begins to investigate, someone else dies. Can she figure out what is going on?

When author Annette Dashofy was writing this book, she thought this might be the final book in the series. As such, there are lots of references to earlier books and she works hard to wrap up various storylines that have been weaving through the books. As a result, I don’t recommend you start here. While there is a spoiler for the previous book (there pretty much had to be), that’s about the only book that is outright spoiled. But you won’t fully appreciate what is happening here if you don’t have the background. 

But if you already know and love Zoe and Pete, you’ll love every page of this book. It is wonderful to see so many things from the series be woven effortlessly into this book. The growth we see in some of the regulars is great as well. And I may have cried happy tears during the last chapter. In the break room at work. 

There is a lot going on in this book, which again, isn’t a surprise to anyone who has read the series before. The result was a book I never wanted to set down. There was always something happening on some storyline. And don’t worry, the mysteries stay front and center. The climax made perfect sense when I got there. 

Given the main characters, I’m sure it’s no surprise that these go a little further than the cozies I often read. There’s just a smattering of foul language, and the violence is kept tasteful given who the characters are and the fact that this is a murder mystery. This is more a disclaimer than anything else. 

I know I’ve talked about how this book feels like it is wrapping things up. Yes, the series does have another three books in it to date. I can see a couple of threads that were planted “just in case.” I’m looking forward to seeing what comes of them in the next book. 

Fans who have yet picked up Til Death are in for a treat. And if you haven’t started this excellent series yet, you really should do so today. 

Be sure to check out the rest of the Zoe Chambers Mysteries.

Hallmark Ornament Review: Christmas Is... #1 - Connecting with Far-Away Friends - 2024 Hallmark Release

Stars: 4 out of 5

Pros: Cute scene to start a new series

Cons: A little bigger than I like, but not too bad

The Bottom Line:

Happy getting note

Starts new Peanuts themed series

But a little big

Christmas Is…Starting a New Ornament Series

I know I keep saying I need to cut back on Hallmark ornaments. And I really do need to. But I can’t seem to resist looking at the new series Hallmark starts each year. And since they are starting a new Peanuts series this year, I just couldn’t resist. So I snagged the first Christmas Is… ornament. 

This first entry finds Charlie Brown getting a Christmas miracle. You see, this year, he actually got a Christmas card. The ornament feature Charlie Brown holding that card in his hand. If you turn the ornament around you can see his name on the envelope. He’s walking away from the mailbox, which he left opened and some letters are falling out. He’s got the biggest smile on his face. 

All of this is on a nice round base. Around it, we can read the sentiment for the year, “Christmas is…connecting with far-away friends.”

Because of that base, this ornament is stable, and you can set it out to be displayed anywhere. You’ll also find the series marker on the bottom. 

Sometimes, these bigger ornaments are harder to balance, but we are in luck with this one - it hangs perfectly straight. That is, as long as the tree branches don’t get in the way. 

Hallmark seems to be making their ornaments bigger in recent years, a trend I’m not necessarily a fan of. They take up too much valuable tree space when they are bigger. This ornament is a little on the big side. It’s not as bad as some that Hallmark has released recently, but I wish it were about 3/4 the size it is now. 

On the other hand, I had to get at least this first one. It’s Peanuts, and I do love the characters. And it’s so cute. I also like the fact that Charlie Brown finally got a Christmas card. I identify with him quite a bit, and I wish he would have more go his way. (For the record, I do get Christmas cards despite the fact that I never send any out. I’m bad, I know. There just isn’t time to do everything I need to in December.)

I also love this play on the famous Peanuts Happiness Is … theme. 

I’m glad I at least got the first Christmas Is… ornament. We will see if I continue the series when we see what the next one is. But I am happy I added this one to my collection. 

Book Review: Comedy Can Be Deadly by Ryan Rivers (Bucket List Mysteries #3)

Stars: 5 out of 5

Pros: great characters, laughs, and mystery blended together perfectly

Cons: I laugh in the face of cons

The Bottom Line:

A play with murder

Mixing mystery and laughs

Always delightful

Murder Complicates Shakespeare

Ryan Rivers’ Bucket List Mysteries have quickly become one of my favorite series. The stories are a wonderful blend of comedy and mystery with characters we can’t help but root for. As a result, I couldn’t wait to dive into the latest, Comedy Can Be Deadly. 

For those new to the series, it features an unlikely pair of protagonists. Levi Blue is a former tween star who has landed the job of mayor in the town of Bluebonnet Hills, Texas. Our narrator is Sho Tanaka, a former ER murder who lost his job after he developed an addiction to prescription pills. He’s relocated to the town where his sister, Jenny, runs a popular local restaurant. 

In this book, Levi has landed the role of Puck in the local theater’s production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Sho is happy with his role as stage manager until an accident forces him to take on the role of Lysander. Things are anything but smooth sailing with all the personalities in the cast and crew. But then some dies after falling from the upper platform of the theater. Was it an accident or murder?

Okay, fine, it was murder. But for the longest time, Sho seems to be the only one willing to classify it as such. There are plenty of twists and surprises on the way to the climax, which is the best handled climax of this type I’ve seen. I just loved it! 

I said this was a comedic series, and then I talked about Sho’s addiction issues. Yes, this really is a comedic series. The comedy was toned down a bit this time around, which I appreciated. There were still plenty of laughs, but the balance between that and the more serious moments was better maintained. 

And we get some great growth for both Levi and Sho. Even Jenny gets some nice growth here. I really appreciate where these characters are going. And I appreciate how their relationships are growing as well. 

Meanwhile, we get some interesting suspects that help pull us into the story. 

As always, the next book sets up the next in the series, but I’m a little surprised at what it set up given some of what happens here.  I guess I’ll find out where things are going when that book comes out, and I can’t wait.

Over the course of the book, there are some references to previous cases, so if you want to read spoiler free, I recommend you read the stories in order. You’ll also appreciate the character growth more that way. 

Comedy Can Be Deadly is another fun ride from start to finish. If you want to laugh as you read, you need to pick up this series. 

Be sure to cross the rest of the Bucket List Mysteries off your list. 

NOTE: I received an ARC of this book. 

Movie Review: Forbidden Fruit - A Curious Caterer Mystery

Stars: 5 out of 5

Pros: Characters, fun, solid mystery

Cons: Little bit of cheese

The Bottom Line:

Catering concert

Opening number murder

Delightful for fans

“We Should Hire You.”  “You Can’t Afford Me.”

It appears we’ve reached the final Hallmark Mystery movie of 2024.  How do I know?  The only ads we got during this movie were for Christmas movies, which start this weekend.  After all, it is mid-October.  Anyway, Hallmark ended their mystery movies for the year with a bang with Forbidden Fruit, the newest Curious Caterer Mystery.

Caterer Goldy Berry (Nikki Deloach) and Detective Tom Schultz (Andrew W. Walker) are finally going to have their first date.  Tom has managed to get tickets to a reunion concert of The Faithful.  Goldy loved the band, but they haven’t played since one of their members died 20 years ago.  However, it becomes a working date for Goldy when she accepts a last-minute job to cater for the band before their one night only concert.

Then, it becomes a working date for Tom when one of the members is electrocuted on stage just as he’s about to sing.  His gut is telling him that it was murder, but all the evidence points to accident.  That is until something else happens.  Will Goldy’s knowledge of the band help Tom solve the case?

This is a solid mystery.  There are enough twists and red herrings that it kept me guessing until near the end.  Once Goldy and Tom figured it out, everything made sense.

And yes, they did figure it out together.  I love how the writers have made them a team in crime solving.  Yes, Goldy gets away with a lot she wouldn’t in real life, but I’m okay with that.  There are only so many times we have hear “stay out of the case” before it gets old.  Tom respects her skills as a detective, and she also respects him.  They also get some help from some very surprising sources, and that just added to the fun.

And fun really was the key word.  I enjoyed this movie the entire way through.  It helped that the subplot of Goldy and Tom’s first date attempts was amusing.  The two leads have such great chemistry; it’s a delight to see them together.

The writing and acting were both good in this movie, with minimal low budget cheese.  And the humor in the movie felt natural.  It was fun to see Sarah Strange from the Garage Sale Mysteries franchise show up here in a substantial role.

I’m glad the Curious Caterer franchise seems to be doing well, and I hope they continue to give us more movies with these characters.  If you enjoy these films as much as I do, you’ll enjoy Forbidden Fruit.

October 13th's Sunday/Monday Post

Time again for a Sunday/Monday Post.  I'll be linking up to:

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

Last weekend, I went down to Long Beach for a few hours.  I'd heard about Pixar Putt, a pop up Pixar themed miniature golf course.  Being the DisNerd (and Pixar fan) that I am, I decided to check it out.  And a good friend of mine who has done Disneyland with me many many times lives down there, so we met up and did it.  It was fun, but for the price, it was a little underwhelming.  Still, we had fun, and I'm glad we did it.  Plus, it was great to see her!

I'm adjusting to going into the office three days a week.  I wouldn't say I like it, but I'm not having the same feeling of dread I did that first week.  I'm also still trying to adjust to the distractions going on around me.  There are times I just need to be left alone to concentrate on what I'm doing, you know?  Otherwise, I forget where I am.  And I'm still trying to adjust to what is realistic for me to do in the evenings after work.  Even my short commute takes time out of my day.

And I finally used Canva for something.  I've long wanted to create a logo for my Saturday Weekly TV Thoughts post, and it finally dawned on me I could use that app to do that.  I debuted it yesterday.  It's pretty simple (there's a reason I'm not in graphic design), but I am happy with it for now.  I might try tweaking it a bit in the future.

This Past Week on the Blog:

Sunday - Book Review: The Sherlock Society by James Ponti

Monday - Movie Review: A Sprinkle of Deceit

Tuesday - Book Review: Pretty Lentil Liars by Cathy Wiley

Wednesday - Movie Review: A Case for the Winemaker

Thursday - Book Review: Send in the Clowns by Julie Mulhern

Friday - Friday Post featuring Comedy Can Be Deadly

Saturday - Weekly TV Thoughts

This Coming Week on the Blog:

Sunday - Sunday/Monday Post

Monday - Movie Review: Forbidden Fruit

Tuesday - Book Review: Comedy Can Be Deadly by Ryan Rivers

Wednesday - Ornament Review: Christmas Is.... #1

Thursday - Book Review: Til Death by Annette Dashofy

Friday - Friday Post

Saturday - Weekly TV Thoughts

Ebook Haul:

It's been two weeks, but I'm almost ashamed at how many books I have to talk about.  And I am going to be breaking this into two groups.  Mind you, all the books I'll be talking about will be digital books, but we'll start with the regular ebook haul.

I started out by snagging an ARC of Comedy Can Be Deadly by Ryan Rivers.  This is the newest in his Bucket List Mysteries.  I love the series, and I couldn't wait to dive in.  In fact, my review will be up on Tuesday, and I used it for teasers for my most recent Friday Post.  It was a lot of fun.

I got an alert that A Case for the Winemaker, the first in Candace Havens' Ainsley McGregor series was on sale.  Since this was the inspiration for Great American Family's first mystery movie franchise, I was interested in it, so I got it.  Then I realized that A Case for the Toy Maker, book three, was free and A Case for the Candle Maker, book four, was also on sale, so I went ahead and got them, too.  All three are still on sale as of my typing this.

Also still on sale is Murderous CONsequences by Nicole Lieren.  We've got a former con artist trying to retire but being pulled into a murder mystery.  It has sounded like fun, and I've been eyeing it, so when it went on sale, I snagged it.

I won a copy of the first in J.C. Kenney's new series - Panic in the Panhandle.  It sounds wacky.  Our main character is a wild life removal specialist.  And yes, it is set in Florida.  I've been eyeing it, so I was happy to win it.

Finally, for this section, I got You Feta Watch Out, a Christmas themed entry in the Grilled Cheese Mysteries from Linda Reilly.  This is another ARC for a book that comes out in just about a month.  November is getting pretty full of ARCs.  I'd better get to reading.  Anyway, I enjoy this series so I'm looking forward to the next in the series.

Audiobook Haul:

Yes, I've got enough audiobooks recently to have their own section.  You see, I'm gearing up for a road trip.  At this point, I think I have more audiobooks than I can listen to on the trip, but we'll see.  Always better to have too many than too few, right?

Actually, this first one is a happy coincidence.  Author Steve Hockensmith was giving away some of the Audible audiobook copies for the first in his new Double-A Western Detective Agency series - Hired Guns.  This is a spin off from his Holmes on the Range series, which I've been reading since it came out.  I had these books (book 2 is out already as well) on my list, but hadn't gotten around to getting them yet, so I snagged it.  Hopefully, it will be good listening, but I'm sure the story is great.

These other three I got from my library.  I love that I can get the digital audiobooks via an app.  So convenient and so easy to listen to in the car - no switching the discs around.

The first of these is Two Kinds of Truth by Michael Connelly.  This is the next of his books for me to listen to.  I usually enjoy them, so I'm looking forward to seeing what happens to the characters here.

I will definitely be listening to People of Darkness by Tony Hillerman on my trip.  His books are set in the Navajo reservation, and I'll be driving through it on my road trip.  It's just too perfect, and I can't resist.

Finally, I have a non-fiction audio book.  I know, shocking.  As a Full House fan, I was curious about John Stamos' memoir, If You Would Have Told Me.  And since he reads it, I wanted to go with the audio version.  I have a feeling this might be the one I don't get to.  Especially if the other audiobook I have on hold comes in.  But we'll see.  It might be nice to break things up a bit.

What I'm Currently Reading:

Saturday is game day.  I had hoped to get some reading time in before I leave, but that doesn't look promising.  That means it will probably be Sunday before I finish Death Checked Out by Leah Dobrinska.  It's the first in a series set in a small town in Wisconsin.  I've been enjoying it, although I think I've had the killer pegged early on.  We'll see if I'm right.  I've got about 60 pages left.

Next up will be The General's Gold, a treasure hunting thriller from LynDee Walker and Bruce Robert Coffin.  I've heard good things about the book, and it sounds like fun.  So hopefully, I will enjoy this first in a series.

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

October 12th's Weekly TV Thoughts

Why yes, I did have some fun with Canva Thursday night for the first time.  I'd been thinking about creating a logo like that for a while, and I finally realized I could use that to do it.  Now, I need to decide if I want to try to add color to it somehow, but for now, I'm happy with this.  Especially since I should have been in bed when I was creating it.

And now for this week's thoughts:

Moonflower Murders – I am not happy with this writer who is trying to come between Susan and Andreas.  At least she left when she did.  But he is still a completely horrid character.  As to the mystery, we got real life flashbacks and the novel and the current timeline.  I feel like we made a little progress, but I’m not sure we have enough to truly fill six episodes.  Still, I was entertained while I was watching

Dancing with the Stars (Monday) – I’m hoping the audience votes don’t save people longer than they should be around.  I got the urge, I really do.  There are some people it is fun to watch.  But this is a dance show, and it needs to focus on that.  Having said that, there are some amazing dancers.  We will see how things come together with the double elimination.

Superman & Lois – Two episodes, and they absolutely packed a one, two punch.  That was rough to watch.  I hope they don’t leave us there for very long.  I mean, we have to be there for a bit, and I get it, but I want to see Clark back sooner rather than later this season.  I’d be okay waiting if it weren’t the final season, but with it being the final season, I want to see everyone together.

Rescue: HI Surf – Nice to see one storyline dropped.  At least I hope it is.  The rescues seemed weak this time around.  Or two short.  Or something.  Oh, and those two rooming together?  It will be a disaster before they decide they are in love.  I mean, you know that’s where they are going for them.

Dancing with the Stars (Tuesday) – I had to keep reminding myself the stars had two weeks between performances because it seems like a lot to expect them to do two dances already.  Yes, it was back to back nights, but still, it is a lot.  I was impressed with quite a few of the performances, however.  They really stepped up and took the criticism from Monday night to heart even though they had 24 hours to turn it around.  Gene’s scores were all over the map.  The right couples went home.  Sadly, since I liked them both, but they clearly were going to be struggling going forward because of their age.  Like all athletics, this is a young person’s show in the end.  At least most of the time.

Survivor – Well, that was a twist.  I was blindsided by it.  What a crazy night to not have a vote at all.  I think they were crazy to not get Rome out.  I understand why Genevieve didn’t like what was happened and decided to make the move she did, however.  But still, Rome is going to cause trouble the longer he is in the game.

The Challenge – At this point, I’m wondering just how long Rachel can hang on by herself.  I definitely feel sorry for her.  And what is this going to mean for the other groups.  As was pointed out, there are only three male targets.  Do the two that don’t win automatically go into the arena?  It will be interesting to see what happens with that.

October 11th's Friday Post

Look at this - two weeks in a row, I'm doing the Friday Post.  As usually, I will be linking up to:

Book Beginnings
First Line Friday
Friday 56
Book Blogger Hop

For the first three, I'll be pulling quotes from Comedy Can Be Deadly by Ryan Rivers.

This is the third full length book in the series, and it was fun and funny.  The story involves our two friends, Levi and Sho, involved in a local theater production of A Midsummer Night's Dream.  Here's how it begins:

Sweat beaded on my forehead, catching in my eyebrows like tiny anxious dewdrops.

Nothing like starting out with a bit of suspense, right?

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

“Have faith, boys,” she called over her shoulder. “The show will go on.”
How? With two murders, a hospitalized fairy queen, and a director on the verge of a nervous breakdown, our Midsummer seemed more cursed than Mac—ahem—the Scottish Play.

I really enjoy this series, and this was no exception.  My review will be up Tuesday, so I hope you'll come back to read it then.

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

Do you have a favorite book or author you turn to every October to celebrate Halloween?

I don't.  I have a few movies I try to slip in this time of year (Halloween, the original The Haunted Mansion with Eddie Murphy, It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown), but no books or authors I try to read.  If a series I read has a Halloween book, I will try to read it this month if I bought it and didn't snag an ARC, but that's about it.

Have a great weekend!

Reading Challenge: COYER Autumn 2024

It's beyond time for me to sign up for the 4th chapter of the COYER challenge.  We are back to the spring rules.  Any format works, however, the book had to be free or nearly free.  Fortunately for me, library books and ARCs count since I will have plenty of those in the remainder of 2024.

I will list the books below as I complete them.

1. A Merry Little Murder Plot by Jenn McKinlay

2. Pretty Lentil Liars by Cathy Wiley

3. Comedy Can Be Deadly by Ryan Rivers

Book Review: Send in the Clowns by Julie Mulhern (Country Club Murders #4)

Stars: 4 out of 5

Pros: Fun mystery with great characters firmly set in the 70’s

Cons: A couple of things bother me

The Bottom Line:

Death in haunted house

Who would want to kill a clown?

Fun with Ellison

Killer Clown in a Haunted House

There are too many good series out there.  That’s the only reason I have for not getting back to the Country Club Murders sooner.  Granted, I did read a novella in the series earlier this year, but it was nice to pick up Send in the Clowns and revisit Ellison Russell with a full-length novel again.

If you are new to the series, or it’s been a while, Ellison is a recent widow raising her teenage daughter in 1970’s Kansas City.  And, for the past few months, it seems everywhere she goes, she is finding dead bodies.

Case in point – being at the local haunted house wasn’t her choice for a Sunday night activity.  But as she finds herself navigating the various rooms, she finds a room with two clowns.  Ellison already isn’t a fan of clowns, but she quickly realizes that one of the clowns was just stabbed, and he dies in her arms after asking for Ellison’s help by name.  When Ellison returns with help, she finds the room completely empty.  Who was the victim?  More importantly, who was the other clown?

The book wastes no time but jumps right into the plot.  The investigation does unfold a little differently than in some of the books I read, but it works.  I was hooked the entire way through and couldn’t wait to see what would happen next.  The ending was a little weaker than I would have liked, or at least presented that way to us.  On the other hand, it did answer all our questions.

Part of this series is looking at how society was changing in the 1970’s.  Honestly, I’ve got to say how this book tackled that bothered me.  In other case, Ellison is dealing with all the men in her life (well, except Mr. Coffee) telling her what to do and thinking she needs a man to protect her.  I get it – that was a social issue of the time.  But it is beginning to feel repetitive at this point.  Additionally, we are once again running into changing morals about sex.  Again, I didn’t care for that.  This second issue is enough to keep this from being a cozy for me.

On the other hand, I truly do love the characters.  Yes, even the regulars who are supposed to be annoying are fun in how they annoy.   We also have a love triangle going on.  I know that has been resolved in future books, so I’m anxious to see how that comes about since I could honestly see either guy winning at this point.  Since it’s only been a couple of months (and four books), I’m not too annoyed by the love triangle at this point.

Anyway, the characters overall are wonderful.  They feel real, and we can understand where they are coming from even if we disagree with them.  The suspects aren’t quite as well developed as the series regulars, but we also don’t see quite as much of them, so it makes sense.

I was born in the 70’s, so I don’t have solid memories of that decade myself.  However, from pictures and TV shows, I feel like this book nails the period.  I always enjoy those little touches that ground me in the period.

I didn’t intentionally pick up this book to read in October, but that was a nice bonus.  The season definitely plays a part in the story as it unfolds.

And I have to also mention the humor.  There’s a certain snark to the narration that I enjoyed.  It’s not overdone, but it’s a very fun touch.  There are some fun exchanges between the characters as well.

I already have the next couple of books in this series, so hopefully, I can get back to visit Ellison again soon.  If you haven’t read Send in the Clowns yet, it’s a great read at Halloween or any time or year.

Enjoy more of the Country Club Murders.

Movie Review: A Case for the Winemaker - An Ainsley McGregor Mystery

Stars: 4 out of 5

Pros: Charming characters in a good mystery

Cons: Writing at times, especially at the beginning

The Bottom Line:

Winery murder

Introducing characters

Enjoyable film

“I’ve Got to Get a Better Gate Keeper.”  “Wouldn’t Work on Me.  I’m so Small, I Would Slip Right Past Them.”

Since the Great American Family channel is trying to mirror Hallmark Channel, I figured it was only a matter of time before they started to create mystery movies.  It certainly helps that Candace Cameron Bure is the Chief Creative Officer for the channel.  So I wasn’t surprised that she is starring in the channel’s first movie franchise – the Ainsley McGregor Mysteries.  A Case for the Winemaker is the first movie, and it is off to a good start.

The series is set in Sweet River, Texas.  Ainsley’s moved there after an incident in Chicago, where she was a consultant with the police department as a criminologist.  Now, she’s teaching criminology at a nearby college and working to open Bless Your Art, an artisan market for local artists to sell their products.  Ainsely is thrilled that the market is finally ready to open.

In order to celebrate the market’s successful first day, her friend Shannon (Caitlin Stryker) invites Ainsley over for lunch.  Shannon and her husband, Michael, have a winery, but it isn’t doing as well as they think it should be doing, and someone is trying to buy it from them.  After lunch is over, the two find the potential buyer dead on the winery floor.  The police are quick to look at Michael.  Can Ainsley figure out what really happened?

The movie got off to a rough start.  The first issue is super obvious and super awkward exposition.  Yes, it gives us the background on the characters we needed, but it was so obvious what the writers were doing.  Then, after the body is found, we get a flashback to give some more background.  You know how much I hate flashbacks in this form.  Fortunately, this was just back one day, so it didn’t take us long to catch up to the present.

Once the movie got going, I started to really enjoy it.  The characters are fun and charming.  They are a little eccentric, but they are supposed to be.  This is a cozy mystery movie, after all.  I especially liked Jake (Aaron Ashmore), the love interest.  Their budding romance was cute.

The writing still needed a little work even at this point.  Some of the character relationships seemed overly harsh.  This was true of Ainsley’s relationship with her brother, Ryan (Robin Dunne), who also happens to be the sheriff.  Overall, I did like their relationship.  You can tell the two love each other and yet irritate each other at times.

So, how was the mystery itself?  It was good.  I did key in on the killer early, but there were enough red herrings to keep me entertained, and I didn’t have the motive figured out.  Everything made sense when we reached the climax, and I appreciated the way it played out.

The actors did a good job of bringing their characters to life.  There were some moments that felt a little awkward, but I blame that more on the writing than the acting.

The biggest question is will I come back for another one.  Absolutely.  Yes, I’ve picked on the writing.  Overall, I really did enjoy the movie.  The characters are charming, and I want to spend more time with them.  I hope the writing improves as the series goes along, but it wasn’t bad enough to ruin the movie.

One commercial I caught during the run of this movie talked about the second in the series coming in 2025.  As far as I am concerned, that’s great news.  I enjoyed A Case for the Winemaker, and I will be back to see what happens next to these characters.

Book Review: Pretty Lentil Liars by Cathy Wiley (Fatal Food Festival Mysteries #3)

Stars: 5 out of 5

Pros: Strong characters in a great mystery

Cons: Not even one lentil con

The Bottom Line:

Lentil festival

With mystery from the past

Another fun book

Can Jackie Find the Truth in a Town of Liars

I’m learning a lot from Cathy Wiley’s Fatal Food Festivals Mysteries. For example, I never would have guessed there would be a festival around lentils. Yet that’s where Jackie Norwood has landed in Pretty Lentil Liars, the third in the series. 

Jackie used to be a celebrity chef with a popular cable TV show until her struggle with alcoholism cost her her job and reputation. Now, she’s trying to rebuild her career by appearing as a judge and presenter at festivals all over the country. Sadly, murder seems to follow her as well. 

For this third novel, Jackie has landed in Holland, Washington for a lentil festival. Jackie quickly realizes it isn’t going to have the same crowd size as the more famous festival in Pullman. However, she’s not expecting the notes someone calling themselves “A” is leaving her.  These notes are hinting at something hidden from the past. 

Then her brother finds online articles about a high school senior who disappeared on prom night 12 years before. Might the notes be referring to more than the festival? What will Jackie and her team uncover?

I always appreciate it when a book sets things up in a creative manner, and that’s what we get here. Yes, it became clear early on exactly where the set up was going, but the story didn’t take any more time than necessary getting there. Jackie uncovers plenty of motives and suspects as she investigates. I thought I had the correct villain pegged early on, but the real solution made perfect sense to me. 

Jackie has a large group of friends who wind up showing up to support her. I’m happy to say that we get to see them again. One of these supporting players in particular got some great development here. I also like the growth we saw in Jackie. The suspects fit well into Jackie’s world. 

I can’t leave out the humor. There are some funny exchanges and some great puns in the book. 

And yes, we get some recipes at the end, all of which feature lentils. No surprise there, right?  They range from the usual suspects (soups) to the more surprising like vegetarian burgers or blondies. In total, we get 10 recipes, so if you like lentils, you’ll be especially happy. 

Each book in this series has been a treat. You’ll gobble down Pretty Little Liars quickly and be ready for Jackie’s next case. 

NOTE: I received an ARC of the book.

Movie Review: A Sprinkle of Deceit - A Hannah Swensen Mystery

Stars: 4 out of 5

Pros: Fun characters in a good mystery

Cons: A few things, but minor overall

The Bottom Line:

Deadly reunion

With Lonnie in the hot seat

Fun for movie fans

“When Has Anyone Ever Died of Natural Causes When You’re Involved.”

It’s looking like Hallmark is planning to end the year with a couple of entries in its two longest running still in production mystery movie series.  (At least I’m assuming this and next week are the last mystery movies we’ll get before they switch over to Christmas movies.)  While this coming Friday will see a new Curious Caterer Mystery, this past Friday, we got A Sprinkle of Deceit, a new Hannah Swensen Mystery.

Hannah’s business, The Cookie Jar, has been hired to cater a high school reunion.  Lonnie (Daylin Willis) is in charge of it, and since he’s Michelle Swensen’s boyfriend, Michelle (Tess Atkins) is making sure everything is perfect for him.  The night seems to go well, except for Darcy (Brittany Mitchell), one of Lonnie’s classmates, who clearly has too much to drink and is getting in constant fights with her boyfriend.  Lonnie winds up taking Darcy home, but when Hannah and Michelle head to Darcy’s house the next morning, they find her dead in bed.  Since Lonnie was the last one to see Darcy, he becomes a suspect, even being suspended from his job as a detective.  Can Hannah find the evidence to clear his name?

This movie is loosely based on Coconut Layer Cake Murder, one of the later books in the series.  Even so, I still can’t remember exactly what happened in the book other than Lonnie became a suspect in a high school classmate’s death.  But this series has veered wildly from the books, so even if I could remember, I’m sure things would have been different.

Speaking of which, why did The Cookie Jar move?  I’m a little confused as to why they needed a new set.  And I’m still confused as to why we now have the movie only love interest of Chad (Victor Webster) since they’d already introduced the other side of the love triangle from the books, Norman (Gabriel Hogan).  They could have just gone with him.  Instead, he doesn’t even appear in this movie.  Okay, deep breath.  I’ve got it out of my system now.

This is Victor’s second movie as Chad, and I’ve got to say, I’m warming up to him.  I’m still a little confused why the DA is so involved in solving murders and directing the sheriff, but if I’m going to question that, I should probably question why a baker keeps solving these murders.  So let’s not go there.

The mystery was well done, with several viable suspects.  I appreciated how Hannah was able to make a couple of the deductions she did.  They were perfectly set up and completely logical.  Speaking of which, the climax made sense as well.

The humor seems to be increasing as the series goes along, which I think is wonderful.  There were quite a few fun exchanges, and a sub-plot with Hannah’s mothers, Delores (Barbara Niven) was great fun as well.  I am also thrilled that Hannah’s middle sister, Andrea (Lisa Durupt) is a regular part of things again.  I like having all four of the Swensen women interacting.

And this humor doesn’t feel forced like I’ve complained about with some of the recent Hallmark movies.  Yes, Delores’s scenes can be a little over the top, but she is a supporting character, while in those other movies, we are looking at the main character being the over the top one.  Here, it’s fun and charming, in the others, it borders on annoying.

The low budget cheese factor is kept to a minimum.  The writing is decent, and the actors make the most of their scenes.  A couple of the suspects are a little weak, but overall, this is good.

Hannah’s movie fans will be happy with A Sprinkle of Deceit.  With a sprinkling of fun, you’ll be glad to watched it.

Book Review: The Sherlock Society by James Ponti (The Sherlock Society #1)

Stars: 4 out of 5

Pros: Fresh new characters and lots of fun in an inventive mystery

Cons: Some issues with the plot for me, but most kids won’t care

The Bottom Line:

New tween detectives

The story is uneven

But book is still fun

Solve a Case While Making New Friends

When I saw James Ponti was starting a new series, I was all in. Especially since it was called The Sherlock Society. That was pretty much all I needed to know. While I did enjoy the book, it did have some flaws. I’m sure the target middle grade audience won’t care. 

For this new series, we are heading to Miami Florida. The main character is Alex Sherlock, who attends middle school with his older sister, Zoe, and his friends Yadi and Lina. As the book opens, school is shutting down for the summer, and Zoe has a brilliant idea for a summer job - become detectives. While her plan doesn’t quite take off as they had envisioned, they are soon on an interesting case looking for a treasure. What will they find?

Right away, the book started out with one of my least favorite literary techniques - starting with exciting action and then flashing back to show us how the characters got there. It felt worse than normal this time to me for some reason. 

Additionally, the plot seems to wander quite a bit. Yes, I get that we are setting up the characters and the premise for the series at the beginning, but even then, I felt like we took longer than we should have to get to the heart of the book. 

Now, this isn’t to say that there isn’t plenty happening over the course of the book. I was intrigued by what the characters were finding. I also like the logical way they were taught to think about their cases. And the climax is great. 

Quite often in middle grade fiction, the characters have inattentive parents. That’s not the case here, and I appreciated how realistic the family dynamic felt. Alex and Zoe’s grandfather, a former reporter, does get involved in the case, and he was a fun addition to the core cast. The characters also face realistic consequences to their actions, which was nice. 

And the characters were fantastic. We get a feel for all of them, and one in particular got some nice growth. The story is narrated from Alex’s first-person point of view. As expected, the author once again creates a group of characters with a solid bond, and I enjoyed hanging out with them. 

Plus there’s the humor. The characters made me laugh multiple times as I was reading.

To be clear, I suspect my issues with the plot are more of an adult’s viewpoint of how things should be. I suspect that kids will be hooked from page one of The Sherlock Society and look forward to the next in this series. I’ll definitely be back for more myself. 

October 5th's Weekly TV Thoughts

Moonflower Murders – I’m not sure I have a lot of comment on with this one.  The story moved forward.  I am definitely interested in what is going on.  But I didn’t feel like there were any great revelations.  If this were real life, I think the missing woman would be dead by now, too.  But since this is fiction, she can still pop up alive.

Rescue: HI-Surf – Since the rescues are actually why I tune in, this was a disappointing episode.  The rescues were shortened in favor of the drama.  And those storylines are pretty predictable.

Survivor – Please, can we get rid of Rome already?  He is driving me up a wall, and I don’t have to live with him 24/7.  I don’t know how his tribe is doing it.  Glad he got rid of his idol already.  Granted, he couldn’t keep it, but still, it was nice to see it gone.  Hope he doesn’t find the next one.

The Challenge – I get the frustration from era 1.  I really do.  I’m rooting for them since I usually root for the underdog.  However, I get the strategy from everyone else.  Eliminating the era is a good thing.  Well, I guess it means if you don’t come in first you automatically go into elimination, so that might be bad.  Era 2 is going to be in trouble is the other two stay together. Since age plays a part in these types of challenges, I’m not surprised to see them winding up so decimated.  Yes, I was happy to finally see Michele fighting in an elimination.  Her arrogance irritates me, so I’m a little disappointed she survived.  But at least she had to step up for a change.

Scabble – I was curious how they were going to turn this into a game show.  It worked, but it didn’t work well enough for me to continue.  I feel like the person who goes second in the second round has an advantage.  Maybe I’m wrong on that, but they have more options in where to put letters and can use them a second time.  Anyway, my curiosity was scratched, and now I can move on.

Trivial Pursuit – This seems like more of a natural game show to me.  We have so many trivia based shows already, after all.  I liked the format and how it played on the game itself.  Not enough to keep watching it, however.  Part of that is the host.  I like LeVar Burton, but he doesn’t translate to a good game show host for me.  I hope all those who wanted him as Jeopardy! host are tuning in here, however, so they can keep watching him in action.

October 4th's Friday Post

Looks like I've been a bit negligent about doing Friday Posts.  Let's fix that this week, shall we?  I'll be linking up to:

Book Beginnings
First Line Friday
Friday 56
Book Blogger Hop

This week, I'll be featuring Send in the Clowns by Julie Mulhern.

This series is set in the 1970's.  It's a lot of fun, as you can see from the beginning.

I've tripped over a body.  I've run over a body.  I've even swum into a body.  I never imagined one would fall on me.

Then again, wandering around a place called The Gates of Hell, what did I expect?

See what I mean?  And when I read that opening, I knew I had to use it to restart my Friday Posts.

Meanwhile, on page 56, we find this:

"Jay and I had a nice time last night, and he mentioned he had four tickets to the ballet tonight. Would you join us?" She tried her best imploring look on me. I was impervious to that look. I'd seen it too often.

Unfortunately, Hunter was no as familiar with Libba's lexicon of expressions. "Of course we'll go." He fell for her please-it'll-be-fun-really-I-promise, hook, line, and sinker.

The ballet? Really?

"It sounds like fun," said Hunter.

No, it didn't.

Is going to the ballet fun?  I'll let you find out for yourself.  My review will be up on Thursday, so I hope you'll come back for it then.

Meanwhile, let's take a look at this week's Book Blogger Hop.  The question is:

Are there any books that you find creepy or unpleasant, even if they aren't horror novels?

The first thing that comes to mind are the Animorphs books.  These were a fantasy series aimed at middle graders about some kids who could morph into animals.  They'd been given the power to fight off an alien invasion.  And some of their encounters with the head alien were freaky.  I had to be careful what part of the book I read before I went to sleep or I'd have nightmares.  And I was reading these as a 20-year-old when they were aimed at people half my age.

(I read about half the series, then the final book came out, I saw how she ended it, and I lost interest since I didn't like the ending.)

That's it for me this week.  Have a great weekend!

Book Review: A Merry Little Murder Plot by Jenn McKinlay (Library Lover’s Mysteries #15)

Stars: 4 out of 5

Pros: Great mystery, fun characters, Christmas cheer

Cons: The book banning subplot annoyed me

The Bottom Line:

Visiting author

Combined with Christmas murder

Another fun book

A Shocking Christmas Murder

While we’ve had a book set in December in the Library Lover’s Series, it wasn’t a full-on Christmas book. As a result, I was looking forward to spending the holidays in Briar Creek with A Merry Little Murder Plot. 

It’s hard to believe it, but this is the fifteenth Library Lover’s Mystery from Jenn McKinlay. In that time we’ve really gotten to know Lindsey Norris, the director of the public library, and many other residents. As a fan, it’s always fun to jump in and see what everyone is up to. There are some references to past books, it nothing super spoilery, so if you wanted to jump in here you could. You’ll miss some of the fun character development, however, and you’ll want to go back to the earlier books when you see how much fun you have here. 

The library is hosting their first writer in residence this winter, and they are thrilled to have bestselling author Helen Monroe kicking the program off. She’s just killed off her popular FBI agent character, and she’s promised to reveal what she’s working on next at the end of her residency. 

However, Lindsey’s radar goes off when a stranger comes into the library very interested in meeting Helen. Since Lindsey has had a past experience with a stalker, she’s immediately on guard. But when the two of them meet, sparks fly in a completely unexpected way. Then Lindsey finds a dead body electrocuted by the town’s light display, Lindsey can’t help but ask questions. Will she find the truth?

Let’s get my issue out of the way up front.  There’s a character in this book who wants to ban books, including Helen’s.  Honestly, I’m a little surprised it’s taken this long for the topic to come up in the series.  This becomes a subplot in the book, and every time it was on the page, it annoyed me because it fell into the typical stereotypes.  This character is evil, and the librarians are wonderful.  One of them even fell into the logical fallacy of appealing to authority at one point, talking about how she took classes to curate the collection for the community.  Now, hear me carefully.  I am against banning books.  And I completely disagree with the character in this book.  But if you can buy a book, it isn’t banned.  And, we need to be able to have a conversation about age appropriateness of books.  And yes, there are some books that don’t belong in a library.  It certainly didn’t help that I was reading this right before Banned Books Week started, which always gets on my nerves.  Yes, there is nuance that should be had in this conversation, and this book didn’t even try to offer it.

Now that I’ve got that out of my system, let’s move on.  Because that really is a small part of the book.

The plot took me by surprise several times, including how it was set up.  I hadn’t read any description of the book before I started reading, so I didn’t know who the victim was going to be or anything.  I honestly could have seen a few different people being the victim, which is always fun.  There were several more good twists before we reached the climax, when things made perfect sense.

I’ve already talked about how much I like the characters in this series, and that holds true again here.  It was a blast to spend time with them again.  They are their usual charming selves, too.  There’s a large cast, and some stayed more in the background, but that’s how things usually are.  We still at least got to see everyone.  The new characters were good and we got to know them as the book progressed.

And there’s the humor.  I laughed multiple times over the course of the story, usually at the dialogue.  That’s always fun.

I also enjoyed the Christmas setting.  We get plenty of holiday events to enjoy as the book goes along, and it was a fun added touch for this entry in the series.

As usual, the book includes some extras, this time with a Christmas theme.  We get a discussion guide for a Christmas book, a fun ornament craft project, and two recipes.

Overall, I enjoyed my time in Briar Creek for A Merry Little Murder Plot.  Fans of Jenn McKinlay will be glad they picked this up, and if you want a fun Christmas mystery, this is a book you’ll enjoy.

Be sure to check out the rest of the Library Lover’s Mysteries.

NOTE: I received an ARC of this book.