March 2024's Reading Summary

 I'm not fooling around.  Time to kick off April with my reading summary for March.

I've got the index updated.

All ratings are on a scale of 1 (bad) to 5 (great).

Black List, White Death by Steven Hockensmith (Part of the Holmes on the Range Series) – 5

The book features two novellas featuring cowboy detectives Old Red and Big Red.  Up first, the two travel to the Arizona territory to try to find a list of names related to a murder that happened years before.  Then, they go undercover at a tuberculosis sanitarium in Colorado where patients have died of unnatural causes.  In between, we get a short story involving Big Red’s first solo case in which a package pickup goes wrong.

When you combine the three stories, you get a full-length book.  And all three stories are filled with fun.  I laughed multiple times while reading.  But they are solid mysteries, and I’m always amazed at how Old Red pieces things together.  As always, the brothers’ interactions are fun, and I really do enjoy spending time with them as they navigate cases in the 1890’s.

NOTE: I received an ARC of this book.

 

Knot Ready for Murder by Mary Marks (Quilting Mysteries #9) – 4

Martha Rose has finally agreed to marry her long-suffering fiancé, but Crusher has a shock for her.  He’s just learned that a marriage he thought was annulled decades ago never was.  Even worse, his wife is coming to LA to visit.  When Hadas arrives, she quickly makes it obvious that she is not going to let Crusher go easily.  But then she is kidnapped.  Can Martha figure out what is going on?  Or is Crusher now a widower?

The previously unmentioned spouse is a trope I hate for being too much like a soap opera, but once we get past that, this proves to be a good mystery.  There are plenty of surprises along the way to a great climax.  While we do get a new over the top character here, the rest of the cast have been toned down some, which I appreciated.  On the other hand, I wish we’d seen more of some of them, especially since this is the final book in the series.  Fans who have read the entire series will be delighted with the final chapter, which sends the characters out well.  As always, I enjoyed seeing towns I recognized pop up, but I really enjoyed seeing a local pizza place show up.  I’ll miss spending time with these characters, but I was smiling when I set the book down.

 

In Sunshine or in Shadow by Rhys Bowen and Clare Broyles (Molly Murphy #20) – 5

Summer of 1908 finds typhoid hitting New York City.  At the insistence of her husband, Molly heads to visit his mother in Westchester, taking the rest of the family with her.  But soon, she is bored and decides to visit her friends Sid and Gus in the Catskills.  They are making a reluctant visit to Sid’s family only to have murder crash the reunion.  With the police reluctant to let anyone leave until the case is solve, Molly starts investigating.  Can she find out what happened?

The book spends only as long as needed getting the characters into position before the story starts.  From there, we get some set up, so by the time the victim is found, we have plenty of suspects.  I loved watching the investigation unfold, and the solutions was perfectly logical.  The suspects get plenty of time to shine, and I grew to like them.  And Daniel is on his best behavior here, too.  I found it interesting to visit the Catskills just as they were beginning to turn into a summer destination.  Meanwhile, some very nasty prejudice is displayed without turning the book into a lecture at any point.  Molly’s fans will be rewarded with a fantastic twentieth book.

NOTE: I received an ARC of this book.

 

Lone Wolf by Gregg Hurwitz (Orphan X #9) – 4

Evan Smoak is trying to deal with some emotional baggage when he gets a phone call asking for his help.  It’s a girl looking for a lost dog.  Normally, this isn’t the kind of case he would take, but because of who she is, he agrees.  When he does find the dog, he also finds himself in a situation much more up his usual alley.  Can he figure out how to stop what he has found?

Because of the set up for this book, it starts a little slower than normal, but then the plot gets jump started with a bang and an extended action scene, and we are off and running.  The plot touches on AI and social media, and I found it interesting to think about what Evan was seeing here, especially in light of what’s been going on in the world recently.  We see a lot of Joey, Evan’s protégé, and I found her annoying at times.  On the other hand, I loved the growth we got for her and Evan over the course of the novel.  A couple of my favorite supporting players weren’t in this one, but I did like the new characters, and there is a great subplot involving Evan’s neighbors.  As expected, there is more language and violence in a thriller than the cozies I normally read, although I did find the language to be excessive, even for the genre.  Overall, the writing continues to be lyrical, and I get lost in it as I read.  If you are looking for a smart, fun thriller, you’ll be glad you picked up their series.

 

Stark Raving Mod by Diane Vallere (Samantha Kidd #13) – 4

Samantha Kidd has just purchased a mysterious trunk from the estate of a former British singer.  She’s planning to use the contents for her style column for the local paper, but before she can get it opened, someone tries to steal it and someone else offers to buy it for way more than she got it for.  When Samantha does sell it, the new owner is dead a few hours later.  What is going on?

As always with this series, we are in for a delightful romp.  We do have some editing glitches and timeline errors, but they are minor overall.  I got caught up in the mystery, which had some great twists along the way.  The climax was a bit abrupt, but it did answer my questions.  As always, Samantha is a great lead, and I enjoyed watching her grow again here.  Meanwhile, I’m curious what the developments here, especially at the end, will mean for the characters going forward.  There were plenty of laughs to be had as I read the book.  Fans old and new will enjoy this entry in the Samantha Kidd series.

 

Secrets of a Scottish Isle by Erica Ruth Neubauer (Jane Wunderly #5) – 4

Jane Wunderly is on the Isle of Iona off the coast of Scottland.  She’s joined the Golden Dawn, going under cover in an attempt to learn if their leader would be a good asset for the organization she and her fiancé, Redvers, works for.  But Jane has just barely joined the group when she finds the body of another female member on the moors.  Jane is driven to get justice for the victim.  But what exactly happened to her?  And what about Jane’s official investigation?

As a fan of the series, I was delighted to spend time with Jane and Redvers again.  They are a great pair.  We get plenty of new characters, and they are well developed, too.  Sadly, the plot was uneven, with Jane spending lots of time contemplating what was happening in between the twists.  This led to an abrupt but logical climax.  The writing brought Iona in March to life, and it made me shiver as I read.  It’s fun to see a poet from 1927 show up in the book, and be sure to read the author’s notes at the end to see where she got the inspiration for the tale.  Fans of the series will enjoy Jane’s latest adventure.

NOTE: I received an ARC of this book.

 

The Witless Protection Program by Maria DiRico (Catering Hall Mysteries #5) – 5

Mia Carina is impatiently waiting for her boyfriend, Shane, to propose, but her life gets turned upside down when she catches of glimpse of her supposedly dead first husband, Adam.  She thought he had died several years ago in a boating accident.  Why is he back?  What will this mean for Mia’s future?

When Adam was mentioned in the first book in the series, I knew he’d pop back up at some point, but as is always the case in something like this, it’s how the story is executed that matters.  This one was great, with plenty of twists to keep us engaged.  A couple of things get rushed in the climax, but that is minor.  Meanwhile, we get a couple of strong sub-plots that weave in and out of the mystery perfectly.  The characters are strong, even if over-the-top at times.  Mia and Shane keep things grounded for us, and we get plenty of laughs along the way.  Sadly, this is the final book in the series, but the author wraps things up well.  We even get another four delicious sounding recipes at the end.  Fans will be happy with how this book ends the series.  If you’ve missed reading these, don’t hesitate to pick up this delightful series.

NOTE: I received a copy of this book.

 

Listen, Do You Want to Know a Secret by Teresa Trent (Swinging Sixties #3) – 2

Dot Morgan has been the secretary at a local radio station for several months.  She enjoys the job, although she’d be happier if they played top ten hits like the Beatles instead of the old crooners.  Then one day, a strange woman comes in and accuses Dot’s boss of killing his first wife.  When that woman is murdered a couple of days later, Dot can’t help but wonder if it was true.  Can she find the truth?

This sounded like an intriguing mystery, and I enjoyed the first two, so I was looking forward to reading this one.  Sadly, it disappointed.  The mystery was very underdeveloped, and the climax just left me with a new question.  Instead, the book felt more like a soap opera, focusing on the love lives of the characters, both series regulars and new.  While I did like the sub-plots involving returning characters, the other storylines didn’t really interest me.  Meanwhile, we also got some lectures on how things were at the time.  A little bit would have been appropriate, but it got to be too much.  In the end, unless you are a diehard fan of the series, I recommend you skip this one.

NOTE: I received an ARC of this book.