July 2024 Reading Summary

That time of the month again - time for my reading summary for July.  Yes, I got the index updated again this month.  

All ratings are on a scale of 1 (bad) to 5 (great).  The links will take you to my full review:

Murder in Rose Hill by Victoria Thompson (Gaslight Mysteries #27) – 4

This book opens on September 6, 1901, when Sarah meets a young woman named Louisa who is researching an article she is writing for a magazine on patent medicine.  A few days later, Louisa’s father hires Frank.  Someone has killed Louisa, and he wants to know who did it.  As Frank and Sarah begin their investigation, they learn that little of what Louisa told Sarah was true.  But did those lies lead to her death?

Since I caught up on the series last year, it’s been a longer wait than I was used to before I got to return to these characters.  It was fabulous spending time with them again.  The series regulars all get appearances and are their usual charming selves.  We even got advancement on a plotline that had gone backwards in recent books.  The mystery itself could have been a little stronger; same with the suspects.  I still enjoyed it, but it’s not the best of the series.  I was expecting a certain historical event to show up in the series at some point, so I was happy seeing how the characters reacted to that.  Fans of this long running series will be glad they got to spend more time with characters they love.  I know I was.

 

Mother-Daughter Murder Night by Nina Simon – 3

When Los Angeles based real estate mogul Lana Rubicon is diagnosed with cancer, she moves to the central California coast so her daughter, Beth, and granddaughter, Jacqueline (aka Jack) can take care of her, a scary prospect since Lana doesn’t necessarily get along with them.  But when a kayak group that Jack is leading discover a dead body, Lana jumps into the case to help her granddaughter.  Will this prove to be the distraction and bonding agent that three of them need?

I really wanted to like this book, and there were things I did.  While a bit slow, especially at the beginning, the mystery did drawn me in.  On the other hand, I figured out the killer pretty early.  Lana has some rough edges, and it took quite a while to warm up to her.  Since most (but not all) of the book is told from her third person point-of-view, that was an issue.  It helped that I liked Beth and Jack and their relationship.  I was also pretty discouraged by how most of the men in the story were portrayed.  The setting came to life, and I enjoyed spending time there.  Overall, the book has a serious tone and is more a traditional mystery than a cozy.  It’s definitely not a thriller.  As I said, this was a mixed bag.  I’m glad I read it, but I will hesitate before I pick up anything else from this author.

 

Murder on Devil’s Pond by Ayla Rose (Hummingbird Hollow B&B Mysteries #1) – 5

Hannah Solace has returned to her small town in Vermont to help her sister run a B&B.  The only person she’s really reconnect with is Ezra Grayson, the town’s eighty-year-old recluse that most people want to see sell the house he’s lived in most of his life.  Then Hannah finds his dead body on the pond that borders the B&B.  When she finds herself on the suspect list, Hannah begins to investigate.  Is his death related to a secret from the past?  Or was one of his heirs, who are staying at the B&B, too impatient to inherit?

I’ll admit, it took me a couple of chapters to fully get pulled into this new world, but once it did, I was fully hooked.  The mystery is complex with a variety of motives.  I figured one thing out early, but the rest, including the killer, kept me guessing.  The characters, including the suspects, grew more complex as I read as well.  There are some relationships I’m looking forward to seeing explored further as the series goes along.  The environmental themes are well done, and the recipe at the end sounds delicious.  This book is a little more on the serious side for a cozy mystery, but as long as you know that going in, you’ll be fine.  If you are looking for a new series you can dig into, you’ll be glad you picked up this book.

NOTE: I received an ARC of this book.

 

Murder Buys a One-Way Ticket by Laura Levine (Jaine Austen Mysteries #20) – 4

Freelance writer Jaine Austen’s latest client is gym owner Chip Miller.  Chip has hired Jaine to ghost write a book on exercise, and she’s been invited to join Chip’s family on a train trip to Santa Barbara and back.  While on the train, Jaine learns what a bully Chip is, so it is hardly a surprise when someone kills him.  Meanwhile, Lance is trying to join a club in West Hollywood, and enlists Jaine.  And her father has decided he’s related to Elvis, and is planning an appearance at a costume party to honor his cousin.  Where will it all lead?

Fans of the series (and there are plenty after twenty books) will know what to expect here.  And they’ll love Jaine’s latest adventures.  I did figure out a key part of the mystery early, but there were other things I wanted to see filled in, and I enjoyed the journey.  The characters are more caricature, but they fit the story.  That’s because this is an over-the-top comedic mystery.  I laughed plenty along the way.  When you want a light mystery, this is a series to pick up.

 

The Wrong Side of Goodbye by Michael Connelly (Harry Bosch #19) – 4

Now retired from the LAPD, Harry Bosch is working as an axillary officer from the San Fernando Police Department, helping the small force clear back cases.  That’s how he gets involved with a case of man who is serially attack women.  Meanwhile, he’s hired as a PI to track down a billionaire’s potential heir.  Can he solve both cases?

These cases were both intrigued, and I appreciated how the stakes kept being raised, explaining why Bosch would focus on one case at any given moment.  While both stories resolved logically, I did feel like one got short changed, leaving me not completely satisfied with how that was wrapped up.  Even retired, Bosch is still Bosch, mostly for better, although a couple of subplots are predictable at this point.  We do get an update on his daughter, and Mickey Haller also shows up.  The new characters are well drawn and help pull us in.  Overall, this is a book that Bosch’s many fans will enjoy.

 

Encyclopedia Brown Shows the Way by Donald J. Sobol (Encyclopedia Brown #9) – 4

What is Encyclopedia up to 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.

The ten stories in this book are fairly short, which makes them easy to breeze through.  I still find I rarely solve the case before Encyclopedia does, but that’s okay.  I have fun with them.  There isn’t time for much in the way of twists here, and the characters are fairly thin.  I don’t think kids will mind either one.  What they might find off putting is the dated elements of the books.  Like, what’s an encyclopedia?  Still, if they are willing to pick it up, they’ll find these stories fun.

 

Joshua Tree by Sandy Dengler (Jack Prester #7) – 5

When a ranger dies while participating in a bull riding event, everyone chalks it up to a tragic accident.  Everyone except for the man’s family, who is threatening to sue Joshua Tree National Park, where he works, as well as local law enforcement.  So Jack Prester is sent out to poke around a little and back up the official investigation.  Basically be window dressing.  However, it isn’t long after Jack arrives when he finds a whole lot more going on that could shed new light on the death.  Can he figure out what is going on?

Once again, it was great to be spending time with these characters.  The plot drew me in and kept me turning pages.  There were a couple of things I might not like from another author, but this author pulled them off while answering all my questions.  The characters, both new and returning, are wonderful.  I was surprised at the bit of language in the book, mainly because most of the time when it showed up, it didn’t feel appropriate.  But that’s a minor issue.  Overall, I continue to love the author’s use of language.  It’s almost poetic at times, but never gets in the way of the story.  This is another great entry in a great series.

 

A Very Woodsy Murder by Ellen Byron (Golden Motel Mysteries #1) – 5

Dee Stern is looking for something new after her career as a sitcom writer declines.  When she spots the Golden Motel outside of Majestic National Park, she buys it with her best friend, Jeff Cornetta.  Their first guest is Michael Adam Baker, a former co-worker from Dee’s sitcom writing days.  She’s less than happy to see him again.  But then he’s murdered.  With Dee and Jeff both on the suspect list and all reservations cancelling because of the news, Dee has to figure out what happened to save her livelihood.  Can she do it?

While the motel and the areas where the action takes place are all fictional, anyone familiar with the Sierra Nevada mountains will pick up on the inspiration for the setting.  Between that and the motel itself, I was completely charmed and wanted to go visit in real life.  The characters we meet are a bit eccentric even for a cozy but also just as delightful.  Dee’s background as a sitcom writer provides some good laughs and adds to how Dee views the events.  The mystery sets itself up well so it can really get going once Michael is killed.  I was hooked and surprised by the logical conclusion.  While not a full-blown culinary cozy, there are a couple of recipes at the end.  I was utterly charmed by this debut and am already booking my return visit.

NOTE: I received an ARC of this book.

 

One Wrong Word by Hank Phillippi Ryan – 3

Ned Bannister, on trial for hitting and killing a man with his car, has been found innocent.  But the public isn’t so ready to forgive, which means life is still difficult for him and his family.  That’s why his wife, Cordelia, hires PR expert Arden Ward to help.  But Arden is having a crisis of her own, with her job on the line after being accused of an affair.  When the Bannister’s case takes an unexpected turn, Arden is left wondering who she can trust.  Can she figure out a way to help her client and find her future?

This book has an interesting premise, and I was quickly hooked.  But then we hit the middle, where we had questions asked multiple times with very few answers of any kind.  I would have been happy with lies, even, to advance the story and set up some twists.  We do reach a satisfying climax, but the pacing could have been better.  One character was whiney, but I found the rest of the characters likeable, and enjoyed spending time with them.  Most of the story is told from Arden’s third person point-of-view, which helps us get to know her better, but we get some chapters from other’s view points.  I’m wondering if I’m just not having realistic expectations for phycological thrillers.  If you like the genre and this premise sounds interesting, definitely give this book a chance.

 

Dream Town by Lee Goldberg (Eve Ronin #5) – 5

Eve Ronin is 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, that’s just one aspect of this book.  While this isn’t as much of a ticking clock thriller as some books in the series, there is still plenty here to keep the reader engaged and the pages turning.  The twists and dead ends lead up to a logical climax.  Meanwhile, I enjoyed the subplot involving the filming of the TV show based on Eve’s life.  I also like how Eve continues to grow; it’s been fun to watch that as the series progresses.  We get lots of new characters here who fit right in with the regulars.  The foul content pushes the edges for me personally, but I suspect others won’t be as bothered by it.  Still, know that is there.  Overall, this is another winner.  When you pick it up, you’ll find the pages fly by all too quickly.

 

The Case of the Ghost of Christmas Morning by P.J. Fitzsimmons (Anty Boisjoly Mysteries #2) – 4

This year, Anty Boisjoly is 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 doesn’t hesitate, jumping into the murder in the first chapter.  I found the pacing to be a little uneven, especially early on.  The further I got into the book, the more impossibility we saw, and the more I was engaged.  By the end, everything made sense.  I also found the suspects a little shallow.  I loved the first in the series, so maybe my expectations were too high here.  The one thing that was definitely the same as the first book was the dry wit.  I laughed so much reading this book.  We get some nice Christmas cheer over the course of the book as well.  Overall, I enjoyed it and recommend it for anyone looking for a humorous impossible crime mystery.

 

Sugarplum Dead by Carolyn Hart (Death in Demand #12) – 4

Annie gets a surprise this Christmas when her father, Pudge, walks into her store. He’s on the island because his ex-sister-in-law has summoned the family together. Annie winds up on hand when she makes an announcement that upsets everyone. The next night, someone dies and Pudge becomes the prime suspect. But Annie doesn’t think he’s the killer. Is she right?

This book seemed to wander a bit with the set up, and I was wondering when it was going to get to the point. But when it did, it was great with several twists that surprised me and an ending that wrapped everything up well. We didn’t see as much of many of the regulars, but Laurel has some fantastic scenes. We also get to know some of the suspects better than is often the case. The Christmas element was subdued, but the references to other mystery authors and books was toned down, which was great. This is another book that fans of cozy mysteries will love. 

 

Puzzle Me a Murder by Roz Noonan (Alice Pepper Lonely Hearts and Puzzle Club Mysteries #1) – 2

Alice Pepper enjoys having her friends over to work on puzzles most nights. Among the group is her childhood best friend Ruby Milliner. When Ruby arrives home from a business trip early, she catches her husband with his mistress. The next morning, Ruby’s husband is dead, and the police are looking at Ruby as their prime suspect. Alice jumps in to find the killer. But does she have all the pieces to solve this puzzle?

Despite the fact that I’m not much of a jigsaw puzzle guy, I thought this sounded like a fun premise for a series. Sadly, I was wrong. I didn’t feel like the characters ever went beyond being types, and it felt like they had too many interests or skills in their background. It felt like the author was checking boxes instead of making well rounded characters. There wasn’t attention to detail, so these things bumped me out of the book. The novel could have lost 60 pages without losing anything, the pacing was that off. And the climax, while logical, seemed abrupt to me. I really did want to like it more, but I won’t give this series another chance. 

NOTE: I received an ARC of this book.

Book Review: Puzzle Me a Murder by Roz Noonan (Alice Pepper Lonely Hearts and Puzzle Club Mysteries #1)

Stars: 2 out of 5

Pros: Some promise in the premise

Cons: Execution leaves a lot of be desired

The Bottom Line:

Puzzle mystery

Book has too many problems

This is one to skip

Missing Pieces

Over the last few years, I’ve come to realize I just don’t enjoy jigsaw puzzles. I don’t have the patience to put them together, spending forever looking for pieces that fit each other. But I figured that would be a skill that would really help those looking to solve a mystery, so I decided to give Puzzle Me a Murder by Roz Noonan a chance. Sadly, this first in a series disappointed. 

Alice Pepper and her friends love hanging out in her house solving puzzles. She’s blessed with a large house in a Portland suburb, and it’s where people usually gather. She’s also lucky to have her childhood best friend, Ruby Milliner in town. 

When Ruby returns home early from a business trip, she discovers her husband, George, with his mistress. Ruby spends that night with Alice. The next morning, they learned sometime during the night, someone killed George. Naturally, the police think Ruby makes a fine suspect. Can Alice find the pieces that prove someone else is a killer?

Alice and Ruby are closer to retirement than even middle age. Honestly, I liked the idea of a series featuring older sleuths. The more variety, the better, right? And I get that people can have multiple careers. But I feel like the author went too far trying to give the characters skills. For example, Alice is the head librarian who recently left the restaurant business. There were another couple characters like that. They felt more like ticking off boxes than anything else so we could cover anything that this book or future plots might need. The potential love interest with his mysterious past actually did work for me, however. Given the length of the book, I didn’t feel we got to know the characters super well, too. 

Then there was the lack of attention to detail. A character, who is a school superintendent, has parent teacher conferences. The problem? The book is set in July. They might be meeting during that time, but it didn’t feel realistic to me.  The time of the sunset appears to change by a couple of hours in a couple of days. 

And the book was just too long. Despite the murder happening pretty quickly, it still took quite a while for the plot to get going. We could have easily cut out 60 pages. I was okay with the way Alice kept getting info from the official investigation. It wasn’t realistic, but I give most cozies a pass on that particular plot point. While the climax was logical, it felt pretty abrupt to me. Ironic given the length of the book. 

Puzzle Me a Murder has promise. But it needed a good edit before it was released. I won’t be moving on with the series. 

Note: I received an ARC of this book. 

Movie Review: Please Don't Eat the Daisies

Stars: 4 out of 5

Pros: Actors and laughs in a charming film

Cons: Resolution is quick, a few other nitpicks

The Bottom Line:

New career and move

Factor into comedy

Sure to make you smile

“It’s Not That I Don’t Love You, but When Does the Next Train Leave?”

I feel like I may have watched Please Don’t Eat the Daisies as a kid.  I definitely know I’d heard the name before it became the inspiration for the next book in Diane Vallere’s Madison Night mystery series.  Either way, I recently sat down to watch it, and I enjoyed it overall.

The movie tells the story of the Mackay family.  Laurence (David Niven) is a newly minted full time theater critic in New York City, something he’s always aspired to.  However, the new found power and respect begins to go to his head after he has to trash the new play by one of his best friends, Alfred North (Richard Haydn).  Meanwhile, his wife Kate (Doris Day), is struggling to execute the family’s long planned move to the country.  And their four boys are creating havoc wherever they go.  Can they balance everything?

More importantly, can the movie balance everything?  Honestly, we spend about half the movie before we head out to the country.  I was enjoying the time in the city with the storyline about Laurence’s new career, especially the interactions with Deborah (Janis Paige), an actress he criticizes in a review.  But then the action tries to split itself between the move to the country and the city.  I think the movie would have been stronger if it had focused on one or the other storyline instead of trying to cram both into the same story.  Either could have provided enough material for a full movie.

Having said that, I did have fun watching the events unfold.  There are plenty of laughs at the banter between the characters.  The slapstick we got at times was fun, although I’m not completely sure it belonged in this movie.

One thing I absolutely loved here is how much Laurence and Kate love each other.  It is very plain that they are crazy about each other early on.  Yes, they do fight over the course of the film, but it’s easy to see they will make up by the time it is over.  Yes, it helps that this is a comedy.  Having said that, the resolution seemed very abrupt with little truly resolved on screen.  But I’ll take it.

The actors all do a great job here.  I enjoyed watching them, and their chemistry was wonderful.

Because this is a Doris Day movie, we also get her singing three songs.  I’m not sure they really add anything to the movie, but they are fun numbers, so I’m not complaining.

This is one of those movies where it is easy to see some flaws, but is still enjoyable overall.  If you are looking for something light, you’ll enjoy Please Don’t Eat the Daises.

July 28th's Sunday/Monday Post

Hi, and welcome to this week's Sunday/Monday Post.  As usual, I will be linking up to:

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

Tuesday night was the launch party for Ellen Byron's latest book, A Very Woodsy Murder.  Yes, I'd already read and reviewed it, but it was close enough that I decided to go anyway.  And I'm glad I did.  I left a little early and ate dinner in the neighborhood.  It was fun getting to see her and chat for a few minutes.  And it was just nice to do something fun after work one night.

Other than that, it's been HOT.  It cooled off to the low 90's today, but it was 100 pretty much all week here.  Even when I ran before work, it was hot this week.  Supposed to start warming up again Tuesday which isn't a surprise since mid-90's is more our summer temp with some time in the 100's.

This Past 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 - Book Review: Sugarplum Dead by Carolyn Hart

Saturday - Weekly TV Thoughts

This Coming Week on the Blog:

Sunday - Sunday/Monday Post

Monday - Movie Review: Please Don't Eat the Daisies

Tuesday - Book Review: Puzzle Me a Murder by Roz Noonan

Wednesday - July's Reading Summary

Thursday - Book Review: Public Anchovy #1 by Mindy Quigley

Friday - Friday Post (but subject to change)

Saturday - TV Show Review: Diagnosis: Murder - Season 8

Book Haul:

Remember how proud I was to have only three new books over two weeks?  Yeah, that was nice.  I've got five new books this week.

Yes, I bought two books at the book launch party.  I wasn't necessarily planning to buy anything, but they had a couple of books I'd been eyeing, so I caved and bought them.  The first was I Only Read Murder by Ian Ferguson and Will Ferguson.  It's the story of an actress who starred in a TV mystery series finding herself caught up in a real life murder mystery.  It sounds like a ton of fun to me.

I've had The Marlow Murder Club by Robert Thorogood on my radar for longer.  This is a series set in a British village with some senior sleuths.  I've heard some mixed things about it, but I still want to give it a try.

The other three books are books I ordered from Barnes and Noble when they were offering triple stamps to members.  I couldn't turn that down, now could I?

Crime and Parchment by Daphne Silver won the Agatha for best first traditional mystery back in April.  It was already on my radar, but this made me extra anxious to read it.

Secrets Don't Sink by K.B. Jackson is set in a small Washington town, and it sounds like a lot of fun.

Finally, Kilned at the Ceramic Shop by Donna Clancy caught my eye because my grandma did ceramics, and I did them with her for about a year when I was in late elementary school or jr. high (don't remember for sure which).  As far as I'm aware, this isn't a hobby that's been done in a cozy series before, but the theme sure hooked me.

What I'm Currently Reading:

I'm writing this later than I normally might on a Saturday night because I was working on finishing Please Don't Push Up the Daisies by Diane Vallere.  This is book eleven in her Madison Night series.  I'm all caught up on the series...until the next book comes out in October.  But I'll take it while I can.  Anyway, I enjoyed it despite some inconsistencies in the book.  Fortunately, they were minor and things made sense at the end.

Up next, I'm going traveling with Death in St. George's by M.A. Monnin.  This is the third in the Intrepid Traveler series, and I'm looking forward to seeing what happens to the characters in this one.

Have a great week!

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 what 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!