July 27th's Weekly TV Thoughts

American Ninja Warrior – I know I harped on this last year, but here I go again.  I really don’t like the racing in the semifinals.  If you get paired with one of the speedsters, you are completely sunk.  I really wish it were still individual the entire way through.  Yes, some good ninjas still won’t make it through, but it’s fairer.  Having said that, there weren’t too many surprises to me, and I’m happy with who is going on to Vegas after the Olympics.  I was shocked to see Najee go out in the semis.  At least Joe is going to be in Vegas.

Race to Survive: New Zealand – The final leg pretty much ended as I expected it to.  I was surprised the team from Canada was ahead for so much of it.  But I expected the fire jumpers to win.

Press Your Luck – Wow!  Despite the round of Whammies, the winner did extremely well.  I would have been more upset for him during the bonus round if he had more of his prizes in his bank.  I’m sorry he didn’t get any of them.  But with his huge first half total, he did extremely well.  And he and his wife are so charming together.

Book Review: Sugarplum Dead by Carolyn Hart (Death in Demand #12)

Stars: 4 out of 5

Pros: Great mystery, Annie, Max, and Laurel

Cons: Mystery seemed to wander a bit before it really got going

The Bottom Line:

Returning father

Kicks off this Christmas myst’ry

Slow start but gets good

Can Annie Catch a Killer at Christmas?

I’ve often talked about how I try to read seasonally when I can. I knew that Sugarplum Dead, the Christmas entry in Carolyn Hart’s Death on Demand series, was coming soon. I’d thought about saving it for nearer Christmas, but I didn’t want to wait that long. Turns out, my audio book rotation was perfectly time to read it and call it part of Christmas in July. 

Once again, we are headed to Broward’s Rock, an island resort community off the coast of South Carolina where Annie Lawrence Darling runs the mystery bookstore Death on Demand. She gets the shock of her life 10 days before Christmas when her father, Patrick “Pudge” Lawrence, a man she hasn’t seen since she was a little girl walks into her store. She wants nothing to do with him, but she can’t help but be pulled toward getting to know him. 

Pudge is there as part of the gathering for his ex-sister-in-law, Marguerite Dumaney, an actress who has summoned the family together for an extended birthday party and Christmas celebration. Annie winds up on hand when Marguerite makes an announcement that upsets the rest of the family at her birthday dinner. The next night, someone is murdered, and Pudge is acting strangely. Annie may not like her father, but she can’t believe he’s a killer. Can she find the truth?

This book seemed to wander quite a bit before finally getting to the murder. Yes, it was setting up the characters and the threads we’d follow through the rest of the book, but it was still hard to figure out exactly what was going on since it seemed rather random.

When the murder happened, however, the book really took off. There were a few surprises along the way that kept me engaged, and the ending made perfect sense. 

I was a bit surprised how little we saw of some of the series regulars. Basically, they had cameos. Laurel, Annie’s mother-in-law, has a part to play in the story, however. I’ve really grown to love her character; she’s just enough to be funny without being over the top annoying. Annie and Max, her husband, are fantastic as always. And this gave us time to get to know some of the suspects more than we normally do, which was nice. 

We also didn’t get quite as many references to other mystery authors and books as normal. Considering I find those annoying when they are overdone, that’s a good thing. On the other hand, I loved the shout out to Mystery Lovers Bookshop, a real mystery bookstore that is still opened. 

The book came out in 2000. It’s kind of fun to watch the characters deal with the emerging technology. (Although I sure thought Max had a cell phone in previous entries in the series, something he didn’t seem to have here.)

We didn’t get as much Christmas cheer as I expected. There are some scenes that lean into the season but they are few. If you are looking for something to fully immerse you in the season, you’ll be disappointed, but the few touches we do get are fun. 

As always Kate Reading did a great job on the audio version. 

No matter when you read Sugarplum Dead, you are in for a great ride. I’m definitely glad I picked up this book. 

Immerse yourself in the rest of the Death on Demand Mysteries. 

Book Review: The Case of the Ghost of Christmas Morning by P.J. Fitzsimmons (Anty Boisjoly Mysteries #2)

Stars: 4 out of 5

Pros: Plenty of laughs with a fun main character

Cons: Pacing and suspects could be a little stronger

The Bottom Line:

Murder at Christmas

But when was the victim killed?

Plenty of laughter

A Little Murder for Christmas

I completely loved the first Anty Boisjoly Mystery when I read it earlier this year, and I was looking forward to reading the second, The Case of the Ghost of Christmas Morning.  Yes, I might typically have saved this to read in December, but I couldn’t wait that long, so I decided that Christmas in July was the best time to jump in.

These books are set in 1920’s England.  Anty is a man with social standing who specializes in working out problems for others.  Problems like murder.

This year, he’s planning to spend Christmas with his aunt Azalea, who is a bit of a recluse.  He hasn’t visited her in years, in fact.  When Anty arrives, Azalea informs him that she’s just discovered the body of her next-door neighbor, a man she’d begun to be friendly with.  The victim is a local war hero, and everyone in the village is upset by the news.  Unfortunately, the footprints in the snow make it look like Azalea is the only person who could have realistically killed the man.  Oh, and there’s also the fact that he was seen by many people in the pub hours after Azalea claims she found the body.  Can Anty figure out what really happened and prove his aunt innocent?

The book jumps right in, introducing the mystery in the first sentence.  However, I found it wandered a bit as the book progressed.  Don’t misunderstand, we had plenty of mysterious happenings and a few of them present more impossible problems for Anty to figure out.  But the pacing started out a little weak, growing stronger as the book went along.  The ending explained everything, including those impossibilities that drew me in.

Likewise, the suspects were a little flat.  I didn’t feel like we got to know most of them super well.  On the other hand, some of the other characters really helped draw me into the story.

Neither of these issues were too bad, so maybe I’m being too critical.  I was still engaged in the book as I was reading.  I was curious about how everything was going to be resolved.  And the suspenseful scenes really drew me in.  Maybe I was expecting more from this book based on how much I loved the first one.

One thing that was as good as I remember was the humor.  This book has a very dry wit, and I was laughing for much of the story.  And those suspense scenes I just mentioned?  They had some of the best laughs while still keeping me engaged in the story.

The book isn’t dripping with Christmas cheer on every page, but it does lean into the seasonal fun.  I enjoyed this glimpse at how the holiday was celebrated in England 100 years ago.

If you are looking for a comedic impossible crime novel, you’ll be glad you checked out this series.  Overall, I did enjoy The Case of the Ghost of Christmas Morning, and I’m looking forward to reading more in the series.

Be sure to read the rest of the Anty Boisjoly Mysteries.

Ornament Review: Seasons Treatings #16 - S'mores - 2024 Hallmark Release

Stars: 4 out of 5

Pros: Delicious and cute as always with this series

Cons: S’mores aren’t really a Christmas treat

The Bottom Line:

We get s’more entry

Does try to make Christmassy

Overall, it’s cute

Winterizing a Traditional Summer Treat

When I think of s’mores, I typically think of a camp fire during the summer.  But that didn’t stop Hallmark from using it at the theme for 2024’s Season’s Treatings ornament.  And I was anxious to add it to my collection.

All the makings of s’mores are laid out on a tray.  We’ve got a bowl of marshmallows.  We’ve got two skewers for roasting the marshmallows.  There’s a bowl with graham crackers and chocolate.  We’ve also got a burner to roast the marshmallows over.

The ornament does attempt to still these s’mores Christmassy.  The tray is green, and the bowls and burner are red with red and white on the skewers.  We’ve also got two s’more snowmen in the back of the ornament.

Having said that, I just can’t shake the fact that this is supposed to be a summer treat!  This isn’t the right season for this treatings.  Don’t get me wrong, I love s’mores (what’s not to love?).  But they just aren’t a Christmas treat.

On the other hand, I bought this ornament at ornament premier this month.  I couldn’t wait to get it.  After all, I love s’mores.  I might be tempted to display this one during the summer, but the red and green coloring really does make it a Christmas piece.  And those snowmen really are very cute.

The ornament is dated with the current year.  We get 2024 on the front of the tray.  The series marker in a Christmas tree is on the bottom of the tray.

Since the base of the ornament is a tray, you can easily set it out to be displayed any time or any place you want.

When you go to hang the ornament, you’ll find that it hangs perfectly flat.  I do enjoy the ornaments in this series that hang at a fun angle on purpose, but this isn’t one of them.  Given the s’more snowmen, I feel like that is the right choice with this one.

While I do have to wonder how a s’more fits into a series focused on Christmas treats, I’m not really complaining about this year’s entry in the series.  I find it cute and look forward to enjoying it for years to come.

Here are the rest of the Season’s Treatings ornaments.

Book Review: Dream Town by Lee Goldberg (Eve Ronin #5)

Stars: 5 out of 5

Pros: Engaging characters; strong mystery

Cons: Some content pushes the envelope for me personally

The Bottom Line:

When star is murdered

Eve starts a compelling case

Where pages fly by

Eve Uncovers Nightmares in an Exclusive Community

I’ve let myself get behind on Lee Goldberg’s books, so I made a point of catching up before his next one comes out in September.  That meant reading Dream Town, the fifth in his Eve Ronin series.  As always, it was enjoyable.

If you’ve missed it, Eve is a detective with the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department working out of the Lost Hills office.  She took a viral video and used it to become the youngest detective, and she’s uncovered corruption in the ranks, which hasn’t always made her popular with her fellow officers.  She’s also sold her story to be turned into a TV show, and the first episode is now filming.

Yet it’s another media family that draws Eve into her latest case.  She’s called out in the middle of the night because someone has killed Kitty Winslow, the oldest of the Winslow kids.  The Winslows are the stars of the extremely popular reality show Life with the Winslows, and they live in the exclusive town of Hidden Hills, an enclave of the rich and famous.  The video of the killing makes it look like it was a robbery gone wrong.  If that’s the case, will Eve ever be able to figure out what happened?

Of course, the plot is more complicated than that, but I will leave it for you to discover exactly what else is going on.  While this book didn’t have quite the thriller element of some of the other books in the series, the plot was still engrossing and kept me engaged the entire time.  There were plenty of dead ends and twists before we reached the logical conclusion.

Part of what drew me in here was the subplot of the TV show filming.  Eve and her partner show up several times to watch various scenes.  As a Hollywood addict, I enjoyed those scenes as well.  Since Lee Goldberg used to write for TV, those scenes had an extra element of truth to them, keeping in mind that they are supposed to be the comic relief of the story.

Those scenes also really let us see a different side of Eve.  I really like the growth we’ve gotten over the course of the series for her character, and that continues here.  Her partner is fun as always without being so over the top that we can’t take him seriously when we need to.  We don’t see as much of some of the other regulars, which is a good thing.  It’s nice for them to have a break.  The new characters make up for it, and fit right in with the rest of the cast.

Being a police procedural, the book contains more foul contentment than I would normally read.  There were a couple of scenes that pushed the edges for me, but some of the innuendo was toned town, which I appreciated.  I knew these would be there when I picked up the book.

Dream Town is another book you won’t want to put down until you reach the final page.  Lee Goldberg continues to write mysteries that fly by.

Book time with the rest of the Eve Ronin Mysteries.

TV Show Review: The Acolyte - Season 1

Stars: 1 out of 5

Pros: Lightsaber battles are cool

Cons: The writing makes no sense

The Bottom Line:

Disastrous show

Missing good story telling

Avoid at all costs

Yes, It Really Is That Bad

I haven’t been a big fan of most of the Star Wars series on Disney+, but I decided to go ahead and watch The Acolyte.  Mainly, it was because it was on in the summer, and I don’t have much else to watch at the moment.  It quickly became apparent that it was bad, but I kept watching it anyway.

If you’ve heard all the controversy surrounding it, let me confirm, yes, it is as bad as you have heard.  For the record, I watched all eight episodes.  This is based completely on what we got in season one.  Not what I read elsewhere.  Not that I think after the first five minutes.  I watched the entire first season.

The story is set roughly 100 years before the prequels and revolves around Osha (Amandla Stenberg), a mechanic on the farthest reaches of space.  She gets into trouble when someone who looks exactly like her kills a Jedi master across the galaxy.  Despite the fact that she wasn’t anywhere near the murder, the Jedi bring her in to face the consequences.  Of course, it turns out that it wasn’t her, but her identical twin sister Mae (also Amandla Stenberg).  And it all ties into what happened to Osha and Mae when they were kids sixteen years ago.

And in case you are worried I just spoiled a big plot twist, rest assured.  What I just teased all is explained in the first episode.

Yes, that’s part of the problem.  The show sets itself up as a mystery.  But it reveals too much of the big twists early on.  If we’d spent episodes watching Osha jump from planet to planet before learning that Mae was behind things, it would have worked.  Instead, we get that pesky detail out of the way early on.

Then, in episode three, we get a flashback to what happened sixteen years ago.  So even the mystery of the past is given away early.  Well, most of it.  Episode seven gives us another perspective on what happened sixteen years ago and has a few revelations in it.  But not enough to justify its forty-minute run time.  We could have seen those five minutes of new information as a flashback in another episode as one character confesses to another what happened from their perspective.

The idea behind the show was apparently to introduce some gray into the world of Star Wars, which has always said the Jedi are good and the Sith are bad.  Honestly, I’m of two minds about this.  I love seeing something as more complex than we originally were told.  And, any organization is going to get corrupted, especially as it grows bureaucratic.  However, do we need that in Star Wars?  Couldn’t we have a new story/universe/creation of some kind where that happened?  Either way, this show wasn’t the show to do it.  What drives everything?  A misunderstanding.  Yes, the result is tragic, but what we see happen isn’t truly evil.  In fact, what happened is understandable given what the characters knew and didn’t know.  So the premise itself, Jedi are evil, doesn’t work.  To pull off something like this, we would need to see something truly evil done by the Jedi.  Instead, we see the Sith taking revenge for something they don’t fully understand, and going above and beyond the true call for justice.  In other words, they are still pure evil.

This is a plot driven show.  What do I mean by that?  The characters will say and do anything needed to move the plot forward even if it contradicts what they said two minutes ago.  This is a real conversation that was had in an episode.

Leader: I don’t think we should all go in because it will be seen as a threat.

Subordinate: I think it will be better if we all go in together.

Leader: Okay.

Seriously?  That’s the best you can come up with?  Characters change their motivation from moment to moment as well, based on what best works for the story at that particular time.  Nothing shows this better than the final few moments that left me scratching my head.  How does any of that flow from what we’ve seen before?  Oh wait, it doesn’t matter.  It’s all about getting to the ending the creator wanted to get to.  Never mind if it makes any sense.  And there was such an easy way to not have that ending that anyone could have seen.  I certainly did.

The episodes range from a little over 30 minutes to just under 50 minutes.  Even then, this should have been a movie instead of a show.  There is that little story to tell.  I mean, one episode spends a lot of time with characters walking through woods talking.

Not to mention we get suspense from the infamous “I have something important to tell you later” or the dramatic screen cut.

And let’s not forget characters that have awesome powers in one episode lose them by the next episode.  Or even five minutes later.  And the stone fortress that catches fire.

Mind you, I’ll gladly go along with almost anything when I’m reading or watching something.  So if I’m nitpicking the show this much, you know it has that many issues.

I’m not enough of a Star Wars fan that I would have caught the timeline issues if they hadn’t been blown up all over social media.  So I’ll just note that the Sith should have been extinct at this point according to The Phantom Menace among other inconsistencies with the established lore.  And no, that plot hole is never addressed, at least here.

I also found the moral of the story to be very ironic coming from the left leaning people who created the series.  The entire thing could have been avoided if Osha’s mothers were just willing to let her go and be trained as a Jedi (which we learn in episode 3).  Something Osha wants.  But that’s not what her mothers want, which leads to the misunderstandings.  And we are supposed to think the Jedi are bad for pushing for it and encouraging Osha.  Yet today, we have the government in the US, mostly left leaning people, who are saying that parents shouldn’t have any rights over their kids, and kids know what is best for them when they are really too young to know any better.  In other words, the exact opposite of what this show demonstrates. 

And yes, you read that right, Osha and Mae have two mothers.  Honestly, the “woke” elements are the least of this show’s issues.  Although the show’s attempts to insert pronouns into an episode give us a hilariously poorly written 5 seconds.  If only that were the only example of poor writing in the show.  There’s one scene I am impressed the ensemble was able to get through without cracking up.  Or cringing.

There are a couple of stand outs in the cast who do the best they have with the material they are given.  The rest of the cast is adequate at best.  Although I am wondering if one of the performances was done the way it was on purpose given what we learn near the end.  Even so, it was still hard to watch and was bad acting overall.

I will give the show this – the lightsaber battles are epic.  Go on a little too long at times and filmed so that they are hidden at other times.  But when we get a good action scene, they are fun to watch.  Sadly, there aren’t nearly enough of them to justify watching the show.

If you haven’t watched The Acolyte yet, don’t waste your time.  If you’ve started, no it doesn’t get any better.  This show was a waste of time and money.  The ending of season one sets things up for another season.  If we are given more, I won’t be back to watch it.

July 21st's Sunday/Monday Post

It's time again for a Sunday/Monday Post.  I will be linking up to:

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

Yes, I took last week off from my Sunday/Monday post.  I knew Saturday was going to be a crazy busy day, and since that's when I normally work on these posts, I decided not to try to add that on.

Last Saturday was game day.  And last Saturday was ornament premier at Hallmark, so I had to stop by there and get some ornaments.  And an author I've read was doing a book signing at the used/independent bookstore in town.  It's about a mile and a half from me and pretty near the friends who host game day.  Sadly, it started at the same time as game day, but I had to go.  Fortunately, it didn't take me that long to get to game day when I was done.

As you can see, busy day.  But it was fun.

Then, last Sunday, I went to see a friend preach in his church.  And went out to lunch afterwards.  A great day, but I didn't get home until much later than normal.

This Saturday, I headed down to Santa Monica for a couple of hours.  I wanted to get out of the condo, and it's so hot around here.  It was cooler than I was expecting at the beach and foggy, but it was nice to get out of the condo for a bit.

Blog Spam Comment of the Week:

It's been a while since I had one of these I felt was worthy of sharing.  But this one made me laugh so I had to share.  They tried to post it on one of my rare podcast reviews:

I love how practical your advice is. It's clear you understand the challenges readers face and provide real solutions.

At least this one has good grammar and spelling.  But I didn't know there were such challenges and solutions relating to finding a good podcast to listen to.

This Past Week on the Blog:

Sunday - Book Review: Encyclopedia Brown Shows the Way by Donald J. Sobol

Monday - Ornament Review: Surf's Up - Spotlight on Snoopy #27

Tuesday - Book Review: Joshua Tree by Sandy Dengler

Wednesday - Movie Review: Caribbean Summer

Thursday - Book Review: A Very Woodsy Murder by Ellen Byron

Friday - Friday Post featuring The Case of the Ghost of Christmas Morning

Friday - Book Review: One Wrong Word by Hank Phillippi Ryan

Saturday - Weekly TV Thoughts

This Coming Week on the Blog:

Sunday - Sunday/Monday Post

Monday - TV Show Review: The Acolyte - Season 1

Tuesday - Book Review: Dream Town by Lee Goldberg

Wednesday - Ornament Review: Season's Treatings #16

Thursday - Book Review: The Case of the Ghost of Christmas Morning by P.J. Fitzsimmons

Friday - Friday Post

Saturday - Weekly TV Thoughts

Book Haul:

Can you believe it?  It's been two weeks, but I only have three books to tell you about.  In fact, if I'd done this post last week, I'd have no books to tell you about today.  I don't think that's happened since I started doing these posts.

Let's start with the book I got from the book signing.  Last Writes is the fourth in Sheila Lowe's series.  Best I could tell, she didn't have book three, which is actually the next one I need to add to my collection.  I've just read the first book, so I need to get moving on reading the series.  I now have four books in the series I haven't read yet.  Fortunately, for this read in order guy, I do have book two.

My other two books are both September ARCs.  Up first is French Quarter Fright Night, the third Vintage Cookbook Mystery from Ellen Byron.  This one is set around Halloween, so it should be a fun one.  And yes, it is set in New Orleans.

Finally comes A Slay Ride Together with You, the seventh Year-Round Christmas Mystery from Vicki Delany.  I always enjoy this series, so I'm looking forward to catching up with the characters.

What I'm Currently Reading:

As I type this, I just finished Public Anchovy #1 by Mindy Quigley.  It's the third in the Deep Dish mysteries.  This time, we are trapped by a storm in a mansion with a killer.  If only they could figure out who it is.  Believe it or not, this will be my first August review, so I've got a little time to write and schedule the review.

Meanwhile, I'm also working on an audio book.  Sugarplum Dead is the twelfth Death on Demand Mystery from Carolyn Hart.  Yes, it's set at Christmas, although that is in the background now that the mystery has finally gotten started.  I'm curious where this one is going to go.

Next up for me will be The Key to Deceit by Ashley Weaver.  I really enjoyed the first book in this series about a safe cracker who is forced to help England during World War II.  I'm hoping the second in the series is just as good.

That's it from me.  Enjoy the rest of your weekend.

July 20th's Weekly TV Thoughts

American Ninja Warrior – That bell obstacle looks so brutal.  It’s the reason there were so few finishers.  But I’m thrilled that Jessie was one of them!  Always love to see her do well.  Happy the science teacher who started the episode made it through as well.  It’s so rare the first one shown actually does well on the course.

Race to Survivor: New Zealand – I really did figure that one of the teams would be eliminated.  I’m honestly impressed they made it.  Yes, it was very close, but they all made it.  I wish the guy from the divorced couple wouldn’t be so arrogant.  After all, who made it to the check point first?  And by quite a margin, too.

The Acolyte – And it just got worse.  Again, why are the characters doing what they are doing?  They are turning on a dime, and it made no sense.  Both Osha and Mea did things I didn’t expect them to do.  There were things that could have been good about this series.  But the way this was executed?  Horrible.  At least we got some good fights again.

Press Your Luck – I only caught part of the episode.  Wow, the woman won big.  That’s always nice to see.  And nice to see her walk away when she did.  I think I would have, too.  Since it aired so wonky on my station due to the convention, I had no sense of how far into the episode I was, so I had no clear guess to what she was going to do.  It was kind of fun.

Book Review: One Wrong Word by Hank Phillippi Ryan

Stars: 3 out of 5

Pros: Characters, good story at times

Cons: Too much forced suspense to maintain my interest

The Bottom Line:

Restore innocence

Is Arden over her head?

Uneven thriller

Rehabbing the Innocent.  But Is He Innocent?

Navigating our modern world where our reputations can be ruined in an instant is a challenge.  Especially if a crime is involved.  That makes a great premise for One Wrong Word, the newest thriller from Hank Phillippi Ryan.

In this case, the crime is a car accident that cost a man his life.  Ned Bannister has maintained that he wasn’t drunk when he hit a man in a garage on New Year’s Eve.  Surprisingly, the jury found Ned innocent, but his wife, Cordelia, has realized that the innocent verdict doesn’t mean their lives will return to normal, so she turns to Arden Ward.

Arden has made a career out of helping people rebuild their reputations after a scandal, real or imagined, has threatened to sideline them.  But she is dealing with a crisis of her own – she’s just been fired from her firm as a result of a rumor.  Helping the Bannisters is her last assignment.  But when the case becomes more than she bargained for, can she save Ned’s reputation and figure out her own future?  Who can she even trust?

As much as I love Hank’s mysteries, I’ve found her phycological thrillers to be hit or miss.  That’s the case here as well.  I really liked the premise and found the set up pulled me in.  But then we got into the middle of the book.  The problem here is that we have manufactured suspense.  We get characters asking questions and not getting answers.  And then asking the same questions over and over again.  Sometimes, they are just asking themselves.  Now, I get that authors can’t let their characters learn the truth the first time a question is asked or it makes the story too short.  But in this case, some lies would have helped things.  We could have gone off in one direction for a while before veering back to the truth.  Instead, we just spun our wheels at times.

That’s not to say that things weren’t happening and the story wasn’t advancing.  We just had too many scenes that didn’t really move the story forward.

Having said that, the climax, when we get there, is great and really does answer all our questions.

Arden is the main character here, and most of the book is told from her third person point of view.  We get a few chapters from other character’s points-of-view, which does help build some suspense.  So I’m not saying there is no suspense, just that it is drawn out too much.

Anyway, the characters are solid.  I did find one to be annoying and whiney, but most of them are interesting, and I wanted to root for them to reach satisfying endings.

I am wondering if part of the problem is me.  I don’t typically read phycological suspense.  Maybe I’m expecting something different from the genre.

I listened to the audio again.  This time, it was narrated by Gail Shalan who does a good job of bringing the story to life.  Especially in a book like this, the narration could get in the way of the story, and she doesn’t do that at all.

If the premise interests you, there is a good story here.  But One Wrong Word needed a few more events to happen to be a fully engaging thriller.

July 19th's Friday Post

Welcome to Friday!  Time for this this week's Friday Post.  I will be linking up to:

Book Beginnings
First Line Friday
Friday 56
Book Blogger Hop

The teasers for the first three this week come from The Case of the Ghost of Christmas Morning by P.J. Fitzsimmons.

This is the second in a very funny mystery series set in England in the 1920's.  Here's how it begins:

“Merry Christmas, Anty Dear. There’s a dead body under the tree.” ...was very nearly the last thing I expected to hear upon arrival at my Aunty Boisjoly’s cosy, sixteen-bedroom burrow in snowy Hertfordshire. She was the shy aunty, you see, and not usually very clever at gift-giving.

Nothing like jumping into the book right away.  And you can see some of the humor I was talking about.

You can see some in this quote from 56% into the book:

Somehow the walk back to Herding House was roughly twice as far as the outbound journey, an anomaly I put down to the arctic headwind that had since taken up a defensive line.

I had a lot of fun with this one.  I will be reviewing it on Thursday next week.  Yes, a Christmas themed book on the 25th - Christmas in July.  I might have been aiming for the review that day on purpose.

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

July is a month for getaways and adventure. What is your favorite book that takes the reader on an exciting journey or transfers them to a captivating destination? 

I'm going to recommend one of my favorites - The Unexpected Mrs. Pollifax.  Mrs. Pollifax is a widow, grandmother, garden club member...and part time CIA agent.  The book is completely improbable and so very charming and fun.  This is the first in the series.  (And yes, if you read it, you might figure out where my internet name/blog name came from.)

Have a great weekend!

Book Review: A Very Woodsy Murder by Ellen Byron (Golden Motel Mysteries #1)

Stars: 5 out of 5

Pros: Charming setting and characters; good mystery

Cons: I didn’t read this in the mountains

The Bottom Line:

Murder in mountains

Delightful, charming debut

You will enjoy it

A Sitcom Writer’s Death Isn’t a Laughing Matter

I’ve been a fan of author Ellen Byron for a long time now, and I’ve enjoyed seeing how she works her background into each of her books.  She’s finally tapping into her former career as a sitcom writer for her new Golden Motel Mysteries, and the debut, A Very Woodsy Murder, is a delight.

Dee Stern has watched her career as a sitcom writer slowly die.  While on a trip in the Sierra Nevada mountains, she stumbles on the Golden Motel on the outskirts of Majestic National Park.  The motel needs some attention before it can be reopened, but Dee is inspired by the idea and talks her best friend, Jeff Cornetta, into investing in it together.

Their first customer is a former colleague of Dee’s, and she’s not that happy about it.  Michael Adam Baker was a jerk when they worked together on Dee’s first sitcom, and his reputation hasn’t gotten any better since then.  Still, Dee doesn’t expect to find Michael’s dead body.  Not only are Dee and Jeff suspects, but the murder is hurting their fledgling business.  Can Dee solve the murder in time to save the motel?

As you can see, being a sitcom writer is more Dee’s backstory than her current job.  However, we get to hear some about her career, and, honestly, those are some of my favorite laughs in the book.  As a Hollywood junkie, I got such a kick out of it.  And it does inform Dee and how she approaches the investigation at times, which I really appreciated.  The hook may be the hotel, but it was still a fun background.

And I’m ready to book a room at the hotel right now.  Yes, it and the area where the majority of the action takes place are all fictional, but anyone familiar with California will know the inspirations behind the fiction.  I’m ready to hop in my car and enjoy some fresh mountain air myself.  The hotel sounds charming, too.

Yes, this is a mystery.  The book takes a little time setting up the premise, but no more than it really needs to.  It isn’t that long before Michael Adam Baker is introduced, and we get some hints at who suspects might be before he turns up dead.  From there, we are off and running as Dee tries to save herself and the Golden.  I didn’t identify the killer early, but everything was logical once Dee figured it out.

And the characters are wonderful.  Yes, they are eccentric, maybe a little more than normal even for a cozy.  But that just added to the charm of the series as far as I was concerned.  Dee is meeting everyone here along with us, and I can tell that there are going to be some strong friendships formed as the series goes along.  I already can’t wait to visit everyone again.

While not technically being released as a culinary cozy, this is Ellen Byron.  She slips a couple of easy looking recipes at the end along with some road trip tips.

As I said, I’m booking my room now for the next Golden Motel Mystery.  If you want a fun debut for the second half of the summer, pick up A Very Woodsy Murder today.

NOTE: I received an ARC of this book.

Movie Review: Caribbean Summer

Stars: 4 out of 5

Pros: Good acting, fun story

Cons: A couple things with the plot and a bit of low budget issues

The Bottom Line:

A last minute trip

Will mix-up lead to romance?

A light, fun movie

Booking Mix-up Leads to Love

Back in the summer of 2022, Hallmark’s Caribbean Summer looked good to me, so I recorded it when it was on.  And there it sat on my DVR for a long time until I finally sat down to watch it.  I’m glad I recorded it because I enjoyed it.

Jade (Heather Hemmens) is a producer for a news station in New York City.  She is very committed to her job to the point that she drove her most recent boyfriend away.  But an on-air mistake leads to her being forced to take a vacation.  She has one of her assistants book her a vacation rental on a Caribbean Island.

There’s just one problem – it wasn’t a real vacation rental but a scam, as Jade finds out when the owner returns home that night.  Ford (Ser'Darius Blain) is very understanding and lets Jade use his guest room.  Jade tries to find another place to stay, but as they get to know each other, will something more develop?

Even though I knew where the story would go, that premise intrigued me enough to want to watch the movie.  I found it was an enjoyable set up with charming characters to draw us in.  And I’m not just talking about the leads (who were absolutely charming), but the rest of the characters are fun as well.  Ford’s best friends play an important part in the story and have a sub-plot of their own that I got invested in.

I also appreciated how a storyline that becomes important in the second half was set up early on.  I wasn’t expected that to mean anything when it was planted, so I was impressed.

On the other hand, there is a storyline that gets completely dropped.  Since it drove parts of the first half, it would have been nice to see it conclude in some fashion.

I get that these are romantic movies, so we are supposed to be happy when the couple profess their love and kiss.  Don’t get me wrong, I was.  But I felt like in this case, they had more they needed to work on to really make their relationship work.  I think they can, but it would be nice to see some acknowledgement of that before the film ended.

But this falls into the realm of me being nitpicky.  Overall, I did enjoy the story.

And who can complain about the scenery.  The island looks wonderful.  I’m definitely ready to head down there to visit.

The acting is good, especially for a Hallmark movie.  There are some other choices that are made purely for the need of a budget that were a little obvious, but that is typical with their movies.

If you are looking for a light romantic movie, Caribbean Summer will make you happy.

Book Review: Joshua Tree by Sandy Dengler (Jack Prester #7)

Stars: 5 out of 5

Pros: Great characters in a page turning mystery

Cons: A couple, but they are minor

The Bottom Line:

Case is not simple

Which means a great read for us

Could not put it down

Being Window Dressing Can Be Dangerous

When I reconnected with Jack Prester and the rest of the characters in the Jack Prester Mysteries earlier this year, I couldn’t wait to get back to them in Joshua Tree, the seventh book in the series.  When I picked it up, I was immediately under its spell and enjoyed every page.

If you are new to the series, Jack is part of a special unit of the National Parks that travels to various parks to assist them with investigations.  Either these are high profile cases or are cases where an outside viewpoint is needed.  His wife, Ev, is also a part of the unit; in fact, they first met on the job.

Naturally, this time, Jack is off to Joshua Tree.  He is asked to look into the death of a ranger who died of a drug overdose while riding a bull.  All the investigators, from the park to the local authorities, have declared it an accident, but the man’s family is threatening to sue.  Jack’s assignment is to poke around and confirm the official findings.  Essentially, he’s window dressing.  Should be an easy assignment for a change.

When Jack arrives, he begins to see some things that aren’t adding up for him.  Including things that make him think something is going on in the park itself.  Will he figure out what really happened?  How much danger is he in?

The mystery intrigued me right away, and I was happily pulled into the story.  I was caught off guard by a few of the developments, and I always had a hard time putting the book down.  There were a couple of things that I might have complained about, but author Sandy Dengler pulled it off in such a way that those things became minor issues at best.  And one thing in particular was explained to my satisfaction at the end.

Yes, this book does start out focused on Jack.  However, some of the other characters come into play as the story unfolds.  I figured that would happen, and I was thrilled to be right.  It’s always fun to see them in action together.  The new characters we met along the way are just as interesting.

I will say I found the use of profanity I little off-putting.  Not so much that it was used, it just didn’t seem to be needed the majority of the times it popped up.  It’s just a smattering of times, so it’s not a huge issue.

On the other hand, I have long loved this author’s use of language.  Her writing can be almost poetic at times.  Not only does it transport me to the locations and bring the characters to life, but it can make me smile and chuckle.  All this without slowing down the story in the slightest.  It’s well worth reading for that alone.

I enjoyed getting lost in Jack’s world again with Joshua Tree.  If you are looking for a fun story set around this National Park, you’ll be glad you picked it up, too.

Enjoy the rest of the Jack Prester Mysteries.

Ornament Review: Surfs Up! - Spotlight on Snoopy #27 - 2024 Hallmark Release

Stars: 5 out of 5

Pros: Snoopy surfing makes for a fun ornament

Cons: Surfing isn’t exactly Christmassy

The Bottom Line:

Snoopy catching waves

Might not fit Christmas spirit

Still fun ornament

This Ornament is Rad, Dude!

This year’s Spotlight on Snoopy ornament is one I’m surprised we haven’t had before.  Yes, it is number twenty-seven in the series, so we’ve had a few repeats or similar entries, but when I saw Surf’s Up! I couldn’t believe we haven’t seen it already.

Yes, Snoopy’s surfing for this entry.  He’s standing on a board in red trunks.  His arms are out and his ears are back, blown by the wind.  He’s got a big smile on his face.  The ornament is designed so we can see bits of the water splashing around his board.  Woodstock is with him as always.  The little yellow bird is standing on the front of the board leaning forward and smiling as well.

And I love it!  No, I’m not a surfer myself, but I love anything and everything have to do with water.  This captures that magic summer feeling for me.  It makes me think of warm summer days and fun at the beach.

So maybe this isn’t the best fit for a Christmas ornament?  No, I need something to make me think of summer when the cold rolls around.  I love it too much to even think about that.

The ornament is designed to sit flat, so you can leave it out year round to enjoy.  Or maybe put it out during the summer instead of hanging it on your tree.

If you do decide to hang it on your tree, you’ll find that it tips forward – and that’s a good thing.  It actually tips at such an angle that it adds to the illusion that Snoopy is actually surfing.  I love it.

And yes, you’ll find the twenty-seven in a Christmas tree series marker on the bottom of the ornament.

I’m sure that Surf’s Up! will be popular with Snoopy fans whether they’ve been collecting the Spotlight on Snoopy series or not.  And I can see it appealing to surfers as well.  I know I’m happy to have it in my collection.

Enjoy the rest of the Spotlight on Snoopy series.

Book Review: Encyclopedia Brown Shows the Way by Donald J. Sobol (Encyclopedia Brown #9)

Stars: 4 out of 5

Pros: 10 fun short mysteries to try to solve

Cons: Short stories, so few twists and little character development

The Bottom Line:

These ten short stories

Give you a chance to match wits

Dated but still fun

Ten More Mysteries with the World’s Smartest Ten-Year-Old

It’s been several years since I last matched wits with Encyclopedia Brown.  I decided to spend a little time rereading one of the books I have around the condo, so I picked up Encyclopedia Brown Shows the Way, which happens to be the ninth book in the series.

While not quite as well known as The Hardy Boys or Nancy Drew, this is another classic middle grade mystery series.  And yes, the series is an older series.  This particular book has a copyright of 1972.

The main character is Leroy Brown, but most people call him Encyclopedia Brown because of his encyclopedic knowledge.  Each book in the series features 10 short mysteries for you to solve along with Encyclopedia.  There’s some little detail that solves the case, and you have to pick up on it.  Then, you can turn to the back of the book to see if you were right or not.  While he will often help out his father, the chief of police, in a couple of stories (almost always the first one in the book), he usually spends the rest of the book helping his friends solve cases around the neighborhood.  Often, these cases involve Bugs Meany, the neighborhood bully, or Bugs’s gang The Tigers.  And at least once we run into Wilford Wiggins, who is attempting to swindle kids out of their money.

What cases does Encyclopedia take on this time around?  He helps his father prove who stole an electric drill.  He helps a kid get his harmonica back from Bugs.  When a girl wants to figure out who got her kicked off a baseball team, Encyclopedia Brown takes the case.  He figures out who stole a rattlesnake rattle from a display at a museum.  And he helps a friend who thinks he saw a ghost.

Obviously, there are more stories in the book, but this should give you some idea of what we deal with here.  As I said, each story is short – easy to read in just a few minutes.  Then, I often find myself pondering what I missed for a few second before I flip to the back.  Even all these years later, I often miss the vital clue, although sometimes I know I’m on the right track.  I just can’t pick up on the detail.  So I’m proud when I solve any before turning to the end of the book.  This time around, it was three and a half, which is a little above average for me.

Given how short the stories are, there aren’t really any twists to the story.  We learn the problem, Encyclopedia gets a few minutes at the scene, and then he solves things.  But for this story, that’s all we really need.  It works well, and it will give kids with short attention spans something to enjoy.

This also means the characters are fairly thin.  There just isn’t time for more than one or two traits.  But that’s okay.  They are developed enough to have fun with them.  And the kids who are reading it won’t care.

Being a middle grade series, you can read these books in any order.  The little background you need is provided for you.

I do wonder just how dated today’s kids will find the stories.  Heck, for most of them, what is an Encyclopedia?  Most of the clues and stories themselves aren’t dated, but a world without computers or cell phones might seem foreign to many of today’s kids.

It was a pleasure to spend a little time again with Encyclopedia Brown Shows the Way.  I hope he’s not too dated for today’s kids to enjoy.

July 13th's Weekly TV Thoughts

American Ninja Warrior – So many people close, but no one fast enough to officially take on the mega wall.  Not too many surprises this week.  The big names did well, the people new to it struggled more.  I am surprised that so many people struggled with the first obstacle.  We don’t see that happen very often, especially more than one per episode.

Race to Survive: New Zealand – I had assumed the issue was about food.  But I figured they would show us what it was when it happened, not in flashbacks.  So I was thinking it was some of the food gathering from this leg, not from a previous survival camp.  I get why it happened, but I’m glad they enforced the rules.  But wow, my money was on them to win.  Now, I’m betting on the fire jumpers.  But we’ll find out.  Sounds like a crazy final race.

The Acolyte – Seriously?  A second flashback?  While it was sort of interesting the first time, what did we really learn in these 40 minutes?  About two minutes worth of information.  It would have been much more interesting to have Sol say that in a scene.  Heck, we could have covered it in the last episode.  Maybe some scene with narration.  But this was a waste of an episode.  Yes, the lightsaber fight was cool, but that wasn’t enough to justify it.

Book Review: The Wrong Side of Goodbye by Michael Connelly (Harry Bosch #19)

Stars: 4 out of 5

Pros: Great characters and intriguing mysteries

Cons: One storyline’s ending gets short changed

The Bottom Line:

Even retired

Bosch’s cases entertain

A gripping entry

Trying to Juggle Two Cases

Retirement can’t keep a good character down.  I love seeing how author Michael Connelly has been able to extend the Harry Bosch series beyond Bosch’s second retirement from the Los Angeles Police Department, where he worked for most of the books in the series so far.  The Wrong Side of Goodbye has its challenges, but overall, it’s good.

Due to budget cuts, the San Fernando Police Department has been looking for creative ways to get crimes solved.  One of those is to bring in axillary officers, essentially retired cops who want to volunteer a few hours a month.  Bosch is more than happy to jump into one of those roles, and he is easily exceeding the minimum requirements.  That’s how he’s gotten involved in the Screen Cutter case.  He’s working with another detective to try to find a man who has been attacking multiple women in the area in their homes.

Meanwhile, Bosch is also working on private cases as a licensed PI.  His newest client is a reclusive billionaire who is about to die.  He has no heir to leave anything to…or does he?  Years ago, he got a young woman pregnant, and he wants to find out if that means he has an heir now.  Bosch doesn’t have much to work with, but he manages to pick up a trail.  What will he find?

Both of these cases intrigued me from the start, and I appreciated how Michael Connelly kept upping the stakes for both of them, making it obvious why Bosch was switching his focus from one to the other when he did.  The further I went along, the more I was hooked on the story and didn’t want to stop when I had to.

However, I didn’t feel the payoff for both stories was good.  One got a great climax, but I think Michael Connelly realized he’d run out of room to properly wrap up the other storyline.  Don’t misunderstand me, we did get a conclusion to both stories that was logical.  I just felt like some things in the second story were rushed or abruptly put into the story so we’d feel satisfied.  I didn’t get the closure I was supposed to, however.

Even though he’s retired, Bosch is still Bosch.  To a certain extent I love that.  I mean, it’s great seeing him relentlessly pursue a case.  However, at some point, I’d really like to have him not dealing with stupid bureaucracy.  Or maybe learn to navigate it a little better.  But I don’t expect we will ever really see that.  We do get to see just a little bit of his daughter, and Mickey Haller also appears.  Other than that, we get all new characters.

That’s not a bad thing since the cast is all strong.  They really do feel like real people with pasts that lead to the events of this book.

As always, keep in mind that these are police procedurals.  There’s a bit more content as a result.  A couple of scenes could have been trimmed as far as I was concerned, but this is a minor complaint as usual.

This book is Titus Welliver’s third time as narrator.  Again, I thought he did a great job at bringing the story to life without getting in the way of the events unfolding on the page.

Overall, The Wrong Side of Goodbye is another Harry Bosch book that fans will enjoy.  I know I did.

Be sure to enjoy the rest of the Harry Bosch Mysteries.

July 12th's Friday Post

We've made it to Friday again.  Time to celebrate with a Friday post.  I'll be linking up to:

Book Beginnings
First Line Friday
Friday 56
Book Blogger Hop

This week, I'll be featuring teasers from A Very Woodsy Murder by Ellen Byron.

Ellen is a favorite author of mine, and this is the first in a new series set in California.  Here's now the book begins:

Dee watched her best friend check out the potential gold mine across the narrow country road from them.

Yep, just one sentence this week (I feel like I usually share more than that).  I'll leave it to you to discover more of the context.

Meanwhile, on page 56 of my ARC, we find this:

"He stole everything about my new life, including that."
Jeff's eyes narrowed. "I'm gonna kill this guy. He's not gonna get away with this."

Pro tip - Never say something like that in a murder mystery.  Unless you want to become a suspect, that is.

I had a lot of fun with this one.  It doesn't come out until the 23rd, but I'll be back next Thursday with my review.  Assuming I finish writing the review.

Let's turn to the Book Blogger Hop.  This week's question is:

July is the month for reading by the pool or on the beach. What's your favorite summer beach book, and why is it suitable for a sunny day?

I've always been a little unclear about what exactly a beach read is.  Is it one set at the beach?  Something light and fluffy?  Something that will hook you with the twists?  If that's the case, is it dark?

Having said that, I usually go with the Jaine Austen Mysteries from Laura Levine.  These are typically set in LA, so the beach is close by.  And they are very light, funny mysteries.  Nothing too serious, but they will keep you turning pages.  I also have them on my mind since I reviewed the newest in the series, book 20, this week.

And, honestly, I think you could make a case that A Very Woodsy Murder, where I got my teasers, would work as a beach read.  It's set in the mountains, but still has that light, fun feel to it.

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

Movie Review: Guys and Dolls

Stars: 4 out of 5

Pros: Lots of fun, great songs and dances

Cons: Slow beginning, two leads aren’t strong singers

The Bottom Line:

A big musical

Lots of fun along the way

Overcomes slow start

“If You Can’t Attract Sinners, No One Can.”

Thanks to a friend who loves musicals and a local theater we both enjoy, I’ve started seeing more musicals on stage in the last few years.  One of those was Guys and Dolls, but I must admit I didn’t remember much of it.  I did remember enjoying it, so I decided to sit down and watch the movie version.  I’m so glad I did.

The movie takes place in New York City and revolves around two couples.  Nathan Detroit (Frank Sinatra) and Adelaide (Vivian Blaine) have been together for years, even though Nathan won’t marry her.  He keeps putting it off in favor of running his underground craps game.  The problem is, he has to keep moving the location so the police don’t find him and shut him down for illegal gambling.  Enter Sy Masterson (Marlon Brando), who is willing to bet on anything and everything.  Nathan needs money to rent the location for his latest game, and he hopes to get it by making a bet with Sy.  That bet?  That Sy can’t get a woman to go with him to Havana for dinner.  But it’s not just any woman.  Nathan picks Sarah Brown (Jean Simmons), a woman who has dedicated her life to savings sinners, like Nathan and Sy.

Naturally, Sarah wants nothing to do with Sy when he comes into the mission where she works.  Will Nathan win the bet?  Will he and Adelaide ever get married?  Will Sarah’s view of Sy soften?

I’ll admit, it takes a little bit for the story to get going as the movie introduces the main characters and the various sidekicks.  However, once the story gets going, it is a very fun ride.  There are quite a few funny lines that made me smile and laugh.  The story itself is fairly predictable, but this is definitely a case where I was having so much fun I really didn’t care that I could guess where the story was going to wind up.

Part of the reason I was having so much fun is the music.  There is plenty of singing and dancing here, and those numbers are wonderful.  While this movie may feature the most unique craps game ever filmed, it fits the movie, and the choreography is wonderful.  That’s just the highlight of several other great numbers over the course of the film.

And the cast is fantastic.  They doing a great job at bringing their characters to life and drawing us into the story.

This is despite the fact that Marlon Brando and Jean Simmons aren’t singers.  Yet, in a surprising move, they still did their own singing.  It works, but that is definitely a weakness of the film.

I was a bit concerned about the fact that Sarah is a Christian trying to save sinners.  This could have been turned into a case of mocking Christians.  I didn’t feel that film crossed the line.  It could have been more respectful, but it could have been much worse as well.

I’m glad I’ve now watched the movie version of Guys and Dolls.  No matter how you see it, this is a fun musical I definitely recommend you see.