Book Review: A Fashionably French Murder by Colleen Cambridge (An American in Paris Mystery #3)

Stars: 4 out of 5

Pros: Interesting look at life in post-war Paris with a good mystery and fun characters

Cons: Pacing at times

The Bottom Line:

Fashion and murder

Return to post war Paris

With fun mystery

Tabitha Must Find a Well Dressed Killer

I’ve always enjoyed getting to meet real people via the pages of historical fiction, and Colleen Cambridge has found success with that in two mystery series. A Fashionably French Murder is the third in her An American in Paris series which features Julia Child. 

The main character is Tabitha Knight, who moved to Paris in 1949 to live with her grandfather. She just happens to be neighbors with Julia Child, and the two have become good friends. It’s now February of 1950, and the two are about to become entangled in another murder. 

Tabitha, who grew up learning both French and English, is making some money tutoring various people in French. She’s now landed a job as a translator for a diplomat’s wife who is looking to buy an haute couture dress for her daughter’s upcoming wedding. Their first stop is Maison Lannet, where they are treated to a fabulous fashion show. But when Tabitha realizes she left her gloves behind, she finds the designer dead. Can she figure out what happened?

Once again, we are plunged into post-World War II life in Paris. The war’s after effects are still playing a part in daily life. I appreciate that perspective on things because it isn’t something I think about too much. Yes, I find the war years fascinating, but I don’t think about how that horrible experience impacted people as they tried to rebuild their lives. 

Just because this book takes place in the fashion industry doesn’t mean we don’t have as much talk about French cuisine as in the first two books. Would you expect any less with Julia Child as a supporting character? Prepare for your mouth to water as you read. 

My observation from the previous books holds true again here. I find it weird that the French characters, who are supposedly speaking French, occasionally have a French word or expression in the middle of their dialogue. And yet it works to give them a French accent in my head as I’m reading. 

The mystery itself has some good twists to it, but I did find the pacing a little uneven in the middle. It never stayed that way for too long, and it helped that we had some subplots to distract Tabitha, and us, from the main mysteries. But I definitely liked the solution to this mystery. 

And the characters are entertaining as well. Several threads from the previous book continued here, and I’m especially interested to see what is going to happen next with one of them. 

Tabitha and Julia continue to be good guides to life in 1950 Paris. If that interests you, you’ll be glad you picked up A Fashionably French Murder. 

NOTE: I received an ARC of this book. 

Ornament Review: Sally and Pigpen - 2024 Hallmark Release

Stars: 5 out of 5

Pros: Two lesser produced Peanuts characters

Cons: None for me

The Bottom Line:

Sally and Pigpen

Dancing onto Christmas tree

In this mini set

Two More Peanuts Characters Get the Mini Treatment

Over the years, Hallmark has released various sets of Peanuts characters around themes.  Usually, they include Lucy, Linus, Charlie Brown, and Snoopy in those sets.  So when I spotted a two ornament collection of Sally and Pigpen in 2024, I snagged it.

This is a collection of two miniature ornaments.  It’s just as you’d expect from the name.  Sally is dancing, so she’s got one leg up.  While Pigpen doesn’t have his big cloud of dust around him, we can see smudges of dirt on his face and on the bass he’s playing.

I must admit, I didn’t realize until I was home with the set that these are both themed around A Charlie Brown Christmas.  These are the characters as they appear in the big dance scenes that are interrupting the pageant practice.  This makes me wonder if I should have paid more attention and we’ve gotten more miniature ornaments featuring other characters from the special in the past.  Either way, that was a fun bonus for ornaments I was already planning to get.

You see, I love Peanuts, and it is nice to have a variety of the characters.  I get that the most popular characters are going to be the ones that sell the most, but I appreciate that these lesser done characters get their day every so often.

As I said earlier, these are mini ornaments.  Pigpen is a little taller just because his bass is so much bigger than he is, but the characters themselves are about an inch tall.  As long as you know that when you buy the pair, you’ll be fine.

This probably means you don’t want to set the ornaments out to be displayed anyway.  But if you wanted to, you’ll find that Sally doesn’t stand on her own at all.  You can balance Pigpen, but he isn’t very stable, so he’ll probably fall over the first time someone walks by.

Fortunately, both ornaments hang straight, so you’ll be fine when you go to hang these on your tree.

The Sally and Pigpen set was fun to get.  If you are a Peanuts fan looking for some lesser produced characters, you’ll be glad you picked it up.

Book Review: Murder Runs in the Family by Tamara Berry (Seven Ponds Mysteries #1)

Stars: 2 out of 5

Pros: Some laughs along the way

Cons: One plot element I didn’t like, thin characters, derogatory attitude toward Christians

The Bottom Line:

Meeting her grandma

A death in community

Disappointing start

Retirement Community Filled in Intrigue

I enjoyed the three books in Tamara Berry’s By the Book mystery series, so when I saw she was starting a new series, I immediately put it on my to be read list. Sadly, Murder Runs in the Family didn’t work nearly as well for me. 

Amber Wilson has just left her long-term boyfriend behind and turned to her family for help. Of course, in this case, it’s her grandma Jade, a woman she’s never met before. Jade lives in the Seven Ponds retirement community in Arizona, and she is thrilled when Amber shows up. In the fact, the two are quickly on their way to making up for the lost decades. 

That is until murder and theft rear their ugly heads. The night that Amber arrives, one of the men who lives in the complex dies. Not too surprising in a retirement community, right? But in this case, the police think something isn’t right. Even worse, a ring belonging to the victim has vanished. And the man’s relatives think Jade was responsible for both. True, Amber doesn’t know Jade well, but she can’t let her go to jail. Can Amber call on her PI training and find the killer?

The estrangement in the family is a big part of the book. Amber’s mother has refused to let anyone have any contact with Jade. Early on, we learn that Amber’s mom is a Christian and Jade decidedly isn’t. As a Christian myself, this was a turn off, especially with the attitude Amber has toward her mom while this information is being delivered to us. Later in the book, we do get more insight into these family relationships, but I never really got beyond the bad taste that scene and attitude left in my mouth.

As a result, I found it harder to get into the story, with any flaws sticking out to me more. Like the pacing. This is one of those books where there is a lot happening, but what is happening isn’t necessarily advancing the plot. Amber does make some logical deductions along the way, which I appreciated, but there were other aspects of the plot I didn’t enjoy. That really put me off as I was reading, too. 

The characters were more caricatures than fully drawn characters. I get that they were designed for laughs, and I did laugh a little as I was reading. But I was left wishing I’d actually gotten to know the characters better. 

Yes, some of the humor did work for me. I got some laughs and grins along the way as I was reading. But it was not enough to overcome the flaws. 

I was really hoping for another series I would enjoy. However, I think Murder Runs in the Family will be my only visit with these characters. 

NOTE: I received an ARC of this book. 

Movie Review: John Wick - Chapter 3: Parabellum

Stars: 2 out of 5

Pros: Attempts to weave the action together with a story

Cons: Overly violent with cardboard characters

The Bottom Line:

More violence here

Some story elements that

Don’t really work out

Action Has Consequences

My first thought after watching the second part of the John Wick franchise was that I was done.  But then, I spotted John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum on TV.  By that point, I was curious enough to see what happened in part 3 to record it.  Besides, the price was right.  While it was better than the second movie, I’m still scratching my head over how this franchise has fans.

This movie picks up at some point after the second one.  We’re supposed to think it is immediately after, but it has to be a few hours at least since it finds John Wick (Keanu Reeves) on the run in the dark and the rain while the previous movie ending during daylight.  Anyway, he is trying to get some help into place before the target that The Table has placed on him goes into full effect.  Will he get the help he needs to survive the run of assassins targeting him?  And what might the consequences be for those who do decide to help him?

I will say that this movie was slightly better than the previous one.  While the action was still over the top, it wasn’t non-stop.  Attempts were made to give the story a plot.  I’m not saying the plot was good or made sense.  Seriously, what are these characters thinking?  Considering what The Table wants from people, why wouldn’t people run away from it given the chance?  But obviously, that’s just me being a normal human being, I guess.

And maybe that’s part of why I feel the characters are still paper thin.  Yes, there is some attempt to develop them, but it mostly falls flat for me.  It’s either cliched development, or it just doesn’t work like it is supposed to.

Part of that is Keanu Reeves’s fault.  He gets the most character development, which makes sense because he is the main character.  But his wooden acting makes those scenes laughable.  I’m a little surprised at some of the other actors here.  We’ve got the likes of Ian McShane, Lawrence Fishburne, Angelica Houston, and Hallie Berry.  Their acting is fine, but they aren’t given much to work with.

If you are looking for impossible action, this movie is for you.  While it isn’t as relentless as the previous movie, there are still plenty of action scenes.  You have to suspend lots of disbelief to go along with what is happening here, more so than most action movies, but there are some moments that are still fun.  But the improbability of it all gets to even the biggest fans after a while.

And yes, the movie is still excessively violent.  There are lots of scenes that I cringed away from as I was watching, even when airing on TV.  Know that going in.  I did appreciate the good editing of the foul language in the version I watched.  You could usually still tell what was taken out, but it was much more subtle than normal.  And, it wasn’t as much as I was expecting.  Or I missed the edits.

Honestly, there’s really still no need to start this franchise.  John Wick: Chapter 3 has little to redeem it.  This isn’t a franchise worth spending any time on.

Easter Sunday's Sunday/Monday Post

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

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

The temperatures were as predicted this week.  Sadly.  For the majority of the week, it was in the lower 60's.  We even had a couple of days that didn't get out of the 50's.  While we only got a little drizzle, we did have some cloudy days as well.  Not my idea of April weather.  That's January weather.

Today (Saturday) is in the 70's and sunny.  I'm much happier.  Supposed to be like that for the next few days as well.

Friday night, I went to the Good Friday service at my church.  A couple of the members of the congregation created a passion play incorporating some songs.  It was nice.

Saturday morning, I had walking book club (a localish library hosts - a small group of people come and talk about books we've been reading while we walk around the neighborhood).  I was a few minutes late since I left later than I intended (as always) and then hit some traffic on the way there.  Fortunately, the traffic had been cleaned up by the time I headed home.

Sunday, I'll be going to my church service in the morning and then spending the rest of the day with some friends.

And I think that catches you up on my incredibly exciting week.

Blog Spam Comment of the Week:

It's been a while since I had one of these.  But I got a pretty mockable spam comment.  This was posted on one of my book review from 10 years ago:

Thank you for sharing, I was just looking for something like this, you had a great time, greetings! Nice post thank's for sharing this information. it is really helpfull for us.

Yes, the spelling errors are in the original. Then, at the end, we got a link.  Got a nice laugh out of it.

This Past Week on the Blog:

Sunday - Sunday/Monday Post

Monday - Movie Review: A Lesson in Murder

Tuesday - Book Review: Death on the Golden Mile by Caleb Wygal

Wednesday - TV Show Review: The Traitors - Season 3

Thursday - Book Review: The Library Game by Gigi Pandian

Friday - Friday Post featuring A Fashionably French Murder

Saturday - Weekly TV Thoughts

This Coming Week on the Blog:

Sunday - Sunday/Monday Post

Monday - Movie Review: John Wick - Chapter 3

Tuesday - Book Review: Murder Runs in the Family by Tamara Berry

Wednesday - Ornament Review: Sally and Pigpen

Thursday - Book Review: A Fashionably French Murder by Colleen Cambridge

Friday - Movie Review: Get Him Back for Christmas

Saturday - Weekly TV Thoughts

Book Haul:

Just two books to tell you about this week.  And I'll be reading both of them pretty quickly.

The first is #Throwback for Murder, the fourth Trending Topics Mystery from Sarah E. Burr.  I'm really looking to it since I enjoy her books and I haven't read one yet this year.  Her main character in this series is a social media star, which makes for something outside of the ordinary for the books I typically read.  I'll be starting it soon since it comes out May 6th.

The other book is a book I got from the library.  Thanks to the Libby app, I got the digital version of A Killing in Costumes by Zac Bissonnette.  It's been out a couple of years, but I never have gotten around to reading it.  The main characters are former soap opera stars and former spouses who have opened a vintage Hollywood memorabilia shop in Palm Springs.  Sadly, it appears this was a one and done since it's been almost three years since the book came out and there's no sign of a sequel.

What I'm Currently Reading:

As promised last week, I did read Hidden in Smoke by Lee Goldberg.  In fact, I finished it after book club before I came home.  He has some of the typical issues I have with his books here, but overall, I enjoyed it.  The series features a couple of arson investigators in LA County, so I got to see some areas I know well, too.  My full review will be up on the 29th.

Up next will be A Killing Way by J.R. Sanders.  I'm sticking with LA, but going back to the 1930's and a book that will again bring the characters up to my part of the county.  The main character is a PI, and I'm looking forward to seeing what he gets up to this time around.

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

April 19th's Weekly TV Thoughts

Tracker – Another promising episode that went completely off the rails.  Yikes was that bad.  I definitely missed some things, but I stopped paying attention.  I just didn’t care.

Suits LA – Can we just get to the part where the brother dies in the backstory already?  I suspect it is coming this Sunday, but I’m just cringing waiting for it.  I forgot to jot down my thoughts right after I watched it, and I’m trying to think about anything in the contemporary story that was worth commenting on.  Honestly, not too much.  A couple of things were set up, so we’ll see what the payoff is.

Poppa’s House – The stuff with the phones was fun, but then the show just went a little too far with things.  Especially since I was trying to eat dinner with the fish scene.  Yikes!  I am curious what they did for the make up effects for when Jr. shaved his one eyebrow.  It was good.  Too good since clippers wouldn’t really erase all trace of it like that.  Still, it was very impressive.

Wild Cards – I wasn’t not expecting the episode to go there.  Pretty impressive.  I’m a bit more jaded than the characters were at the end, but I want to believe that they’d make it.  As to the scenes with Max’s dad, you can remember the past and move forward as well.  It’s important to be able to do both, in fact.

The Challenge – It was closer than I was expecting.  Very close, in fact.  But ultimately, I was right about who would win.  Not sure what I thought about Sam’s knee.  I hope it wasn’t really injured.  But I could see something like that being mental.  And I’m glad the winning team split the money.

Survivor – As someone who has played games with people who are playing in ways that frustrate you, I get where Chrissy was coming from.  I truly do.  But going at them head on rarely works like you want it to.  And I’m not sure there is a right perspective here.  It’s nice to see the strong guys teaming up for a change instead of getting voted out.  They are right.  But it’s always frustrating when you get in a situation with a strong alliance you can’t crack.  And that’s where Chrissy found herself.

The Amazing Race – I hate those needle in haystack challenges.  This one almost literally a needle in a haystack.  It’s crazy how the gamers were able to come back and not be eliminated.  Guess the brothers being saved last week wasn’t for very long.  Crazy to realize this is the first time the teams had to drive on the race.  Definitely a game changer.  And unlike when a taxi gets lost, I don’t feel as badly for the teams since it is their fault, not just bad luck in taxi drivers.

Good Friday's Friday Post

I'm back with another Friday Post.  As usual, I will be linking up to:

Book Beginnings
First Line Friday
Friday 56
Book Blogger Hop

For the first three, I'll be pulling quotes from A Fashionably French Murder by Colleen Cambridge.

This is the third book in her An American in Paris Mysteries, which are set in 1950 Paris.  The main character just happens to be the neighbor and friend of Julia Child.  Which gives us the opening quote:

"It's the easiest thing you'll ever make," Julia assured me gaily. "Just plop it all in a pot and let it cook."

Nothing too mysterious, or fashion related, in that line, I'll admit.  But it isn't too long before we jump into both.  Which is why we find this quote on page 56:

This morning, I begged off going to the market with her before my first appointment because I wanted to retrieve my winter coat from the police.

Confused?  It makes sense in context, but I'll leave it for you to figure out.

The book doesn't officially come out until April 29th, but I enjoyed an ARC and my review will be up on Thursday.  I hope you'll come back then to see what I thought.

But let's switch gears and take a look at this week's Book Blogger Hop.  This week's question is:

Do you know the Night Song in the Jungle?

Sorry, never heard of it.

Have a great weekend!

Book Review: The Library Game by Gigi Pandian (Secret Staircase Mysteries #4)

Stars: 5 out of 5

Pros: Tempest and crew in another fun, twisty impossible crime

Cons: Listing cons is not a game

The Bottom Line:

Rehearsal body

But where did the victim go?

The pages fly by

Murder Strolls into a Library

I keep saying I need to go back and read more of Gigi Pandian’s books. I’ve enjoyed the ones I’ve read, but I have quite a few I haven’t gotten to yet, including one series I haven’t started. But I am making sure I stay up to date on the Secret Staircase Mysteries, so I sat down to read The Library Game not long after I got it. 

This series features Tempest Raj, a retired stage magician. She’s now back in her hometown of Hidden Creek and helping with her family’s construction company. The company specializes in fun construction projects, things like hidden rooms and passageways. 

This is the fourth book in the series. While Tempest was on a quest early on dealing with some family tragedies, that storyline has been resolved. There are a couple of vague references here, but nothing that comes close to a spoiler. Honestly, if you wanted to pick this book up, it would work as a good standalone. 

Tempest and the rest of the team are working on turning a house into a new library in Hidden Creek, this one focused on classic mysteries. While the library isn’t ready to open yet, they are participating in the Summer Stroll program that kicks off in a few days. Their contribution will be an escape room and an interactive mystery play that Tempest wrote with her best friend, Ivy. Naturally, Tempest is there for a dress rehearsal. Unfortunately, it goes horribly wrong with one of the actors turning up dead after a scripted power outage. However, by the time they call the police, the body is gone. Is he really dead? If so, who moved the body?

This series firmly plants itself in the locked room, or impossible crime, mystery sub-genre. Believe me, what I’ve teased is only part of what else is going on in this plot. I was completely hooked by the mystery, and very satisfied when Tempest finally figured things out. It might have slowed down a little in the middle, but I’m probably just being nitpicky. If so, it wasn’t for very long. 

Tempest has a core group of friends who are an active part of each book. They are a great group, and I love spending time with them again. There are some interesting developments with them, and I’m curious to see where things pick up in the next book. Meanwhile, we also spend some time with Tempest’s family, which I also enjoyed. The suspects did their job of keeping me confused. 

While this isn’t a culinary cozy as such, there is lots of talk of food thanks to Tempest’s grandfather. And there’s a delicious sounding recipe for Blackberry Crumble Cobbler at the end of the book. 

As always, this series pays tribute to classic mysteries, especially of the locked room variety. I really need to make the time to read some of those older books mentioned here.

Series fans who might be concerned about the future of the series now that Tempest solved her big case need not worry. The Library Game is another strong mystery that will keep you turning pages until you reached the only possible ending. 

Check out the rest of the Secret Staircase Mysteries. 

TV Show Review: The Traitors - Season 3

Stars: 4 out of 5

Pros: Another fun hit for the Traitors

Cons: Too many shields in play each time

The Bottom Line:

Hunt out the Traitors

Fun watching how it plays out

Back stabbing galore

More Mayhem, Mystery…and Murder

Since I wound up keeping my Peacock subscription (thanks cheap renewal), I was able to catch the third season of The Traitors this winter. As before, I waited until it was almost done before I started so I wasn’t annoyed by the cliffhangers. And it was another fun ride. 

The premise, if you’ve missed it, is that a group of people arrive in a castle in Scotland. A few of them are the Traitors. The others are Faithfuls. Each night, the Traitors pick one Faithful to “kill,” aka kick off the show. During the day, everyone competes in a challenge to try to win money for the prize pot. Early evening, everyone gets together and the Faithfuls try to vote out a Traitor. And the cycle repeats. It is similar to the party game mafia, just with a big prize pot and reality tv cameras. 

Speaking of which, like with season 2 of the American version, the cast is almost completely made up of reality TV vets. We have people from Survivor, Big Brother, and the various Real Housewives shows. Honestly, outside of the former Survivor players, I didn’t know who most of them are. The biggest get, at least in my eyes, was Boston Rob from multiple seasons of Survivor. 

There are very few clues to go on as the Faithful try to figure out who is eliminating them each night. That means, they can make wild accusations based on a weird look. It’s fun in some ways and frustrating in others. After all, we know who the Traitors are. 

I’ve got to say, the way the Traitors treated each other this season was weird. Clearly, they didn’t think through strategy at all. But it made for great tv. 

Alan Cummings is the host, and he is definitely part of the fun. His outfits and delivery are delicious. 

On the other hand, there’s the swearing. Seriously, it is so over the top. I always forget how bad it is until I start a new season and I just cringe. And they start swearing over nothing. 

As I hinted at above, this show has some weird and mean cliffhanger endings. As we are about to find something out, we cut to the preview for the next episode. I highly recommend this as a binge rather than a once-a-week show. 

My only real complaint was the overabundance of shields. These are used to keep the Faithful safe from elimination by the Traitors overnight. Maybe I’m not remembering how many there were in previous seasons, but in most episodes, about half the people were safe. It’s much more interesting when the Traitors have their pick. It can also be much more revealing who the Faithful are. Although the Traitors did a good job of giving themselves away even with all the shields in play. 

All told, season three was another entertaining season of The Traitors. If you’ve enjoyed the show so far, you’ll enjoy this season as well. 

Book Review: Death on the Golden Mile by Caleb Wygal (Myrtle Beach Mysteries #3)

Stars: 4 out of 5

Pros: Clark leads a fun cast in a solid mystery

Cons: A couple of the cliches and an easy to spot clue

The Bottom Line:

Dinner party death

Leads to mostly good story

In fun location 

Murder on a Dark and Stormy Night

When I was looking at what book to read next, I was debating between several books. But when I realized that it had been a year since I had read the second book in the Myrtle Beach Mysteries, that bumped Death on the Golden Mile to the top. 

This series centers around Clark Thomas, a widower who owns a bookstore right in the touristy area of Myrtle Beach. The bookstore had been his dream with his late wife. This is now the third time he’s found himself getting involved with a local murder. 

In all starts when a woman walks into his store and offers Clark an invitation to dinner with her father later in the week. Her father just happens to be famous Hollywood composer John Allen Howard. Naturally, Clark accepts. 

However, the night of the dinner party turns out to be stormy as the remnants of a hurricane are coming through the region. Most of the other guests have some connection with the host, so Clark is feeling a little out of place. During the worst of the storm, suddenly, a shot rings out, and their host is dead. 

It’s then that Clark learns his purpose in being there was to uncover the person who has been attempting to kill John Allen Howard. He’s left behind some potential motives. While they wait for the police, Clark starts to investigate. Can he figure out what happened?

Yes, this book indulges in a few cliches of the genre and I rolled my eyes two or three times. I also figured out the location of a clue much earlier than Clark did. 

But these are minor complaints overall. I was very impressed with how things came together at the end. There were several clues that I didn’t pick up on. The solution was completely logical. 

We didn’t get as much time with the series supporting players as we might have, but they still made some appearances, and it was nice to catch up with them. We meet the suspects at once, but they were distinct enough that I didn’t have any issues keeping them all straight. 

There are a couple of timeline issues, but they are minor in the overall structure of the plot. 

Even with the storm, I still enjoyed the setting. It’s always fun picturing the world that tourists get to visit from the point of view of someone who lives there. 

And yes, we get a little more about the death of Clark’s wife. As with the previous book, it bookends the main mystery, and it left me very interested in what exactly is going on there. I’ve got to catch up on the series since I know that particular storyline has been resolved at this point. 

I’ve got the next several books in the series already, so I need to find the time to read them. Death on the Golden Mile will please fans of Clark’s first two mysteries. 

Be sure to check out the rest of the Myrtle Beach Mysteries.

Movie Review: A Lesson in Murder - Aurora Teagarden Prequel Mysteries

Stars: 4 out of 5

Pros: Good mystery with a fun climax

Cons: Usual problems for a prequel and a Hallmark movie

The Bottom Line:

True crime student dies

In second prequel movie

Mystery is fun

“I Have to Go.”  “To Play Detective?”  “No.  I’m a Librarian.”

I figured that eventually the movies that premiered on Hallmark+ would also air on the cable channels.  That’s one of several reasons I haven’t rushed to get the streaming service.  It’s taken a while, but I’m finally being proved right and am getting to watch the second of the Aurora Teagarden prequel movies – A Lesson in Murder.

It’s been a while since the first of these premiered.  It was all the way back in 2023.  Okay, that might not seem like a super long time, but considering this movie was on Hallmark+ last year, it makes it seem longer than it was.  Anyway, this is the second in a series of movies featuring Aurora as a graduate student.  And, while she may be officially studying library science, she is still fascinated by true crime.  In fact, she’s a TA for a true crime class.

One of the students in the class is struggling.  He also plays on the baseball team, so it’s important that he keep his grades up.  When he doesn’t show for a tutoring session, Aurora makes a horrible discovery.  He’s dead in his car.  Aurora feels compelled to figure out who killed him.  But can she do it?

With the first movie, I talked about the issues with the cast.  The only cast member to come back from the original movies is Marilu Henner as Aurora’s mother.  She still nails the part of Aida.  But, since the characters are supposed to be younger than they originally were, they’ve recast everyone else with Skyler Samuels playing Aurora, Evan Roderick as now rookie cop Arthur, and Kayla Heller as Sally.  Here’s the problem, they just don’t work as these characters.  Listen to me carefully.  They are not bad actors.  They just aren’t the characters we already know and love.  And it’s really hard to buy them as these characters.  Honestly, I wish they’d cast these actors in a new franchise.  That would have been great to watch.  As it is here, you have to pretend these are different characters.  If you can do that, you’ll enjoy this movie.

Which I did.

Before we move on, one more rant about the stupidity of these as prequels.  They are setting up a love triangle with Aurora, Arthur, and Jordan Buhat’s Daniel, a cook at the diner where Aurora has gotten a job.  We know that Aurora and Arthur dated at one point, but we’ve never heard of Daniel.  And we know that Arthur and Aurora wind up married to other people.  So, what’s the point of the romantic subplot, and especially it being a romantic triangle? 

Again, I’m not blaming any of the actors for this.  They are in a no-win situation.  And if you can pretend we’ve never met these characters before, you’ll get lost in the story and enjoy their performances.  And I enjoy Steve Bacic as the detective who keeps trying to get Aurora to stop investigating.

Yes, it is obvious this is a Hallmark production, although I am getting very used to it after all the movies I’ve watched over the years.

The mystery itself is solid.  I feel like the ending is a little rushed in the way of explanations, but the solution Aurora reaches does make sense.  And I loved the creativity of the climatic confrontation.

Despite all my rants, my actual rating is on the mystery itself and leaving all the prequel baggage behind.  Obviously, I’m not able to watch it while ignoring all of that.  If you aren’t able to do that either, you’ll have my same rants.

A Lesson in Murder isn’t a bad movie.  But it suffers from many of the problems that prequels have.

Palm Sunday's Sunday/Monday Post

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

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

It was warm in my corner of Southern California this week.  Temps were in the 80's for most of the week.  I loved it!  Sadly, looks like we are going to cool of this coming week and it will be in the upper 60's a week from now.  I'm ready for the full time warm weather at this point.

Thursday, I went to an author event here in town.  J.R. Sanders was at one of the libraries talking about his book A Killing Way, which partially takes place in the town where I live.  I'd already bought the book, so I took it with me to get it autographed.  I haven't read it yet, but I'm hoping to get to it in a couple of weeks.

Saturday is my monthly game day, so I'm working on this first thing.  Looking forward to it as always.

Joke of the Week:

Innkeeper: The room is $15 a night.  It’s $5 if you make your own bed.

Guest: I’ll make my own bed.

Innkeeper: Good.  I’ll get you some nails and wood.

This Past Week on the Blog:

Sunday - Sunday/Monday Post

Monday - Movie Review: Signed, Sealed, Delivered - One in a Million

Tuesday - Book Review: Hounds of the Hollywood Baskervilles by Elizabeth Crowens

Wednesday - Movie Review: The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938)

Thursday - Egg Drop Dead by Vivien Chien

Friday - Friday Post featuring The Library Game

Saturday - Weekly TV Thoughts

This Coming Week on the Blog:

Sunday - Sunday/Monday Post

Monday - Movie Review: A Lesson in Murder

Tuesday - Book Review: Death on the Golden Mile by Caleb Wygal

Wednesday - TV Show Review: The Traitors - Season 3

Thursday - Book Review: The Library Game by Gigi Pandian

Friday - Friday Post

Saturday - Weekly TV Thoughts

Book Haul:

Would you believe I have just one book to talk about this week?  I know, I'm shocked as well.  Even more surprising, it's not a book I should not even have yet.

My preorder of Hidden in Smoke by Lee Goldberg showed up this week.  It's not officially released until the 22nd of the month.  This is me not complaining.  It's the third in his series about a couple of arson investigators who work for the LA County Sheriff's department.  And it is going to cross over with his Eve Ronin characters again.

I'm reading a couple of ARCs that also come out this month at the moment.  Then I'll probably read this book.

What I'm Currently Reading:

Friday night, I finished one of those ARCs.  Murder Runs in the Family is the first in a new series from Tamara Berry.  I'm still ruminating on my thoughts, but I didn't enjoy it as much as I did her By the Book series.  

I have barely started my next book - A Fashionably French Murder by Colleen Cambridge.  This is the third An American in Paris Mystery which features Julia Child in 1950's Paris.  No, she isn't the main character, but she is a strong character in the series since her neighbor and friend is the main character.  I'm hoping to be about a third of the way into the book by the time the weekend is over so I can easily finish it up in the early part of the next week.

That's it for me.  Have a great week!

April 12th's Weekly TV Thoughts

It looks so weird to me when I have only one show not on Wednesday.  I'm sure I'm the only one who notices.

Suits LA – Nice tribute to John Amos.  I find it hard to believe he doesn’t have a star, although with some of the others they listed, I guess I can see it.  I hope someone does nominate him in a couple of years when he is eligible.  As to the rest, I really thought the PI would stay around.  Hadn’t paid attention to who the regulars are vs. the guest stars, I guess.  Not remotely happy with how the flashback is going, but I knew I never would be.  Not sure why we really need it like this.  We could just get the story at some point.  Or a full flashback episode.  Now, I’m just cringing waiting for his brother to be killed while they are trying to kill him.

Wild Cards – I don’t watch those types of reality shows, but I really did enjoy this episode.  It played into the best known tropes enough that I got the jokes.  Quite a few secrets coming out there at the end, too.

The Challenge – Lots of checkpoints, but so far none of them have seemed too terrible.  But I get how they can be tiring, especially if you are doing them out in the sun, which I assume they are.  And, since I’m so bad at the little details, that last one would have been killer for me.

Survivor – There is some poetry to Sai and Cedric being voted out the same night.  I do hope she fesses up to him about how petty she was now that they are both out.  Although I don’t know if they get to talk to each other since he’s on the jury and she isn’t.  And you know I’m happy about her being gone.  Her arrogance is finally off my TV!

The Amazing Race – That looked like fun.  I could have skipped the sky diving?  But the scuba and the board riding?  Sign me up!  Okay, so I probably wouldn’t do well at that second one just because I have such a poor sense of balance, but I’d still like to try.  I really liked the father/son team, so I’m sorry to see them leave.  If they caught that first train, they probably would have been okay, too.  Bummer!  Of course, I did like the team that barely beat them.  And they must have been close to those other teams as well.  And was it me, or did team basically spend 24 hours getting to the real beginning of this leg.  That right there is insane.  Tons of travel.

April 11th's Friday Post

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

Book Beginnings
First Line Friday
Friday 56
Book Blogger Hop

This week's quotes will come from The Library Game by Gigi Pandian.

This is the fourth book in her Secret Staircase series.  Here's how it begins:

Tempest Raj was late.
A former stage performer who relied on split-second timing, Tempest didn't do late.

Meanwhile, over on page 56, we find:

"So Lucas is playing a joke," said Sanjay, "and he roped me into it?"
"That's what the police said," Ivy said.

Is that what's going on?  You'll have to read the book to find out.

I actually finished this one about a week ago, and my review will be up next week on Thursday.  I hope you'll come back then to see what I thought.

Meanwhile, let's finish things off with this week's Book Blogger Hop.  The question for the week is:

How many days does it usually take you to finish reading a book?

I usually say three days.  Most of my books are around 300 pages, so that's a book every three days if I read 100 pages a day.  However, I don't always read 100 pages a day on the weekends.  It helps that I use my breaks and lunch time to read on work days, so that's most of my reading time those days.  With a little slower reading on the weekends, I actually finish two books most weeks.  Which I guess makes it three and a half days per book.

Have a great weekend!

Book Review: Egg Drop Dead by Vivien Chien (Noodle Shop Mysteries #5)

Stars: 5 out of 5

Pros: Strong mystery, Lana

Cons: None that stuck

The Bottom Line:

Birthday party death

Does it tie to hostess’s past?

Keeps getting better

Catering to a Killer

It’s always interesting when an author returns to characters and information from a previous book in the series and builds on it. I don’t see it too often in the cozy mysteries I read, but that’s exactly what Vivien Chien did in Egg Drop Dead, the fifth in her Noodle Shop Mysteries. 

In an effort to help expand her family’s restaurant, especially in the slow summer months, Lana Lee has branched out the business to include catering. Their first gig is providing food for Donna Feng’s birthday party. Donna owners the Asia Village where the Lee family has the restaurant, and she and Lana have become friends. 

Of course, this being a cozy mystery, the night ends in tragedy, when Donna’s nanny is found floating in the pool as the party is winding down. The police zero in on Donna because she had a very public fight with the victim during the party. Even her friends think that Donna has been building to something like this for a few months and finally snapped. But Lana finds some evidence that this might tie in to Donna’s past. If so, how could it have led to this murder?

Donna and her mysterious past were first introduced in the first book in the series, which I read seven years ago. If, like me, you are fuzzy on those details, don’t worry, this book does a good job of reminding us. Along the way, that first book is spoiled, so keep that in mind if you care about such things. 

That aspect of the story added an extra layer to the puzzle. And I loved that. It really complicates the investigation in many ways. We get some good clues along the way to the logical solution. As I’ve thought about the ending, I’m not sure the villain’s actions at the end made perfect sense, but I was so caught up in the suspense that I didn’t even notice at the time. 

One issue I’ve had in the series is Lana’s relationship with her family. They were more in the background, which I appreciated. Actually, many of the supporting players were given little page time, but we did still get plenty of Lana’s roommate and boyfriend. We also met some fun new characters here. I wouldn’t mind if one of them popped up again. 

As with other books in the series, there aren’t recipes at the end. So if the book makes you crave Chinese food, you’ll have to order some from your favorite restaurant. 

This series seems to be getting stronger as it goes along. Fans who are behind will enjoy catching up with Lana in Egg Drop Dead. 

Order up with the rest of the Noodle Shop Mysteries. 

Movie Review: The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938)

Stars: 4 out of 5

Pros: Great action movie that still entertains

Cons: Some dated production elements, but minor overall

The Bottom Line:

A classic story

The movie does show its age

But still entertains

Fun if Dated Adventure

I’ve grown up hearing about many classic movies and actors, including Errol Flynn and his version of The Adventures of Robin Hood from 1938.  It’s been on my list of movies to see someday.  Well, someday finally happened, and I’m glad I did because I enjoyed it.

If you are at all familiar with the legends of Robin Hood, you’ll know the story this movie tells.  We meet Robin Hood (Errol Flynn) just as Prince John (Claude Rains) decides to take over England due to the absence of King Richard during the Crusades.  It helps that Prince John has received word that King Richard has been captured.  Sir Guy of Gisbourne (Basil Rathbone) encourages John to really crack down on the citizens, making life unbearable with the help of the High Sheriff of Nottingham (Melville Cooper).

And it’s into this world that Robin Hood starts his campaign to help the citizens by attacking Prince John and Sir Guy any and every chance he gets.  It’s also how he first encounters Maid Marian (Olivia de Havilland).  Will he continue to successfully fight against the tyranny of Prince John?

While much of the story was familiar, there were a couple of surprises, like Sir Guy, who takes the place I normally associate with the Sheriff of Nottingham.  And, while I knew Maid Marian was the love interest, they had more of a sub-plot here than I was expecting.

This movie does put things in more of a historical context than I was expecting as well, bringing up the tension between the Normans and the Saxons.  I appreciated that.

Among the more familiar elements, we get to see how Robin Hood first met and recruited both Little John (Alan Hale) and Friar Tuck (Eugene Pallette) to his band.

This is definitely a movie from the 1930’s.  When exposition is needed, we get it printed on the screen.  That’s not something that is done at all today.  I can’t think of the last movie outside of Star Wars that did that.  Meanwhile, the acting is also dated, as are the stunts and effects, when needed.

And yet, that is part of the movie’s charm.  As long as you go into the film with the right expectations, you can get caught up in the story.  I do wish we’d gotten a bit more about who some of the characters are.  For example, I spent quite a bit of time trying to figure out who Will Scarlett (Patric Knowles) was since he’s never been a big part of the Robin Hood stories I know.  (And yes, I did feel stupid when I did since he was always wearing all red.)

Anyway, there are plenty of sword fighting scenes and, the further I got into the movie, the more I was drawn into the story and came to care about what would happen to the characters.  True, the suspense factor is never super high, but there is enough to keep us engaged.  Likewise, I got used to the acting styles.

I have to give the film credit for how it looks.  It was shot in early technicolor, and it is visually gorgeous.  Everything is so vibrant.  Again, it was a style in movies for a time, but I find that I miss it.  It isn’t right for every film, but it is nice to look at.

The Adventures of Robin Hood is fast approaching its 90^th anniversary.  The fact that this is still entertaining is a testament to how well it was made.

Book Review: Hounds of the Hollywood Baskervilles by Elizabeth Crowens (Babs Norman #1)

Stars: 2 out of 5

Pros: fun spending time with old Hollywood stars

Cons: Mystery is poorly plotted. 

The Bottom Line:

Old Hollywood stars

Are the draw for this story

But plotting is poor

Old Hollywood with a Dash of Mystery

Being the movie fan I am, Hounds of the Hollywood Baskervilles immediately caught my attention when it came out last year. What could be better than a mystery involving classic Hollywood stars, right? Sadly, this book was lacking a well plotted mystery. 

The year in 1940, and Babs Norman and Guy Brandt have set up a detective agency. But it is struggling to bring in any money, which is why Babs has just been evicted from her apartment. But the potential for positive cash flow comes when they learn that Hollywood isn’t going to the dogs since their dogs are disappearing. Basil Rathbone’s dog has been kidnapped as has the dog that plays Asta in the Thin Man movies. Since a new Thin Man movie is supposed to start production soon, the studio is desperate to get their canine star back. Can Babs and Guy figure out what is going on?

If you are looking for a book filled with Hollywood stars from the Golden age of Hollywood, this book is definitely for you. At times, I felt like actors and actresses outnumbered the fictional characters. And they are very involved in the plot since we have a bit of a competition between the actors who play Sherlock Holmes and Nick Charles to see who can solve things. Yes, Babs, as our main character, is also involved and ultimately does piece things together, but the actors do provide some important information. 

Unfortunately, the plot just isn’t that good. There are lots of ideas included, but they aren’t well developed. Often, I felt like things were shoved in instead of being more organically introduced. And there are a few storylines/complications that are more about the antics of the stars than about furthering the mystery, giving us uneven pacing. Things did reach a satisfactory ending. 

And we can’t forget the subplot that felt forced into things and unresolved.

While I did feel the historical aspect was mostly well done, I did find a factual error early on that made me question other things. And it was something that took me just a few seconds to learn for myself. 

The writing was also only passable. It kept us outside the story, more an observer than a full participant. It also kept us from getting to really know the characters. 

If you are a fan of old Hollywood and want to rub elbows with the stars of the era, you’ll enjoy Hounds of the Hollywood Baskervilles. But if you are looking for a well-developed mystery, you can skip this book. 

Movie Review: Signed, Sealed, Delivered - One in a Million

Stars: 3 out of 5

Pros: Acting, usual good resolution

Cons: Weaknesses along the way

The Bottom Line:

Retrieving letter

As mailboxes are robbed

Not franchise’s best

The Middle Lets Down the Rest

It took until the sixth movie in the Signed, Sealed, Delivered series, but it has finally happened.  I finally found a movie that I didn’t particularly care for.  Don’t get me wrong, there were aspects of One in a Million that I enjoyed.  But there were parts of I didn’t, especially the middle.

This movie opens on a Monday.  But not just any Monday.  It’s the Monday after Oliver and Shane (Eric Mabius and Kristin Booth) finally went on their big date.  Or was it a date?  Either way, it was awkward at best and a disaster at worst, and that’s carrying over to this work day as things are getting off to an awkward start.

Then Oliver is called into a meeting.  It seems that someone has been stealing the mail from various mailboxes around town and leaving weird clues behind.  The POstables are being called on to try to figure out who is responsible.  Meanwhile, the waitress from their date/non-date has shown up and asked Shane if she can intercept the letter she mailed over the weekend before it gets delivered.  Oh, and Rita and Norman (Crystal Lowe and Geoff Gustafson) have a misunderstanding in their relationship.

There were a couple of things that went wrong for me in this movie.  The first was Oliver and Shane’s relationship.  I sure thought it was pretty clear at the end of the last movie that they were going out on a date.  And yet, that wasn’t clear to Oliver (who did the asking) in this movie.  It felt like a manufactured misunderstanding just to drag out the romantic tension.  And Rita and Norman’s subplot felt like it was there just to give them a storyline.

Then there’s the storyline of the guy stealing the mail.  About half way through, Oliver and his dad (Gregory Harrison) figure out who it is, and then we get some scenes that are supposed to be funny.  I get what they were going for.  But they just had me rolling my eyes, thanks in large part of Lane Edwards’ Lester.  Now, don’t get me wrong, it isn’t the performance.  It’s the way the character is written.

So, what did I like?  The storyline with the waitress turned out to be very sweet.  In fact, despite my complaining, I did like how all the various storylines were resolved.  They were all handled with the usual realistic optimism the series is known for.

And the acting continues to be great.  The four main cast members are so great at bringing their characters to life.

I’m disappointed in One in a Million, but I’m still looking forward to finishing out this long running series.  I love the characters, and every franchise has an entry or two that don’t quite work.  I’m sure the next one will be back to Signed, Sealed, Delivered’s usual standards.

This movie is part of the Signed, Sealed, Delivered Collection Movies 5-8

April 6th's Sunday/Monday Post

Welcome again to the weekend!  It's time for this week's Sunday/Monday Post.  As always, I will be linking up to:

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

Another month end close is in the books at work.  Things seemed to be well.  No real surprises, which is always a good thing.

I survived another year without anyone playing an April Fool's Day prank on me.  Didn't see too many online, either.  Might have had something to do with being busy at work.  You see or pull off any fun ones?

It was cool this week, especially for So Cal at the beginning of April.  We're talking upper 50's most of the week.  That's winter weather!  Fortunately, we are in the 70's today and it's supposed to climb a little more the next few days.  Sounds wonderful!

Saturday morning was my walking book club (a few people who meet at a localish library to talk about books we've been reading while walking the neighborhood).  It was nice to be outside, and we had someone new show up.  Hope she continues to keep coming.

Pun of the Week:

For several years, the young magician insisted on a trap-door trick in every show he did.  He was just going through a stage.

This Past Week on the Blog:

Sunday - Sunday/Monday Post

Monday - March Reading Summary

Tuesday - Book Review: People of Darkness by Tony Hillerman

Wednesday - Movie Review: Mame

Thursday - Book Review: Ranch Dressing by Diane Vallere

Friday - Friday Post featuring Egg Drop Dead

Saturday - Weekly TV Thoughts

This Coming Week on the Blog:

Sunday - Sunday/Monday Post

Monday - Movie Review: Signed, Sealed, Delivered - One in a Million

Tuesday - Book Review: Hounds of the Hollywood Baskervilles by Elizabeth Crowens

Wednesday - Movie Review: The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938)

Thursday - Egg Drop Dead by Vivien Chien

Friday - Friday Post

Saturday - Weekly TV Thoughts

Book Haul:

Would you believe I almost had nothing to talk about this week?  I know, shocking.  But then I got wind of an ebook deal I had to snag, which lead me to finding another one.

The deal I had heard about was Murderous Means, the sixth Southern California Mystery from Lida Sideris.  Have I read any of the books in the series?  No.  I do have a couple of the books, however.  And there was no way I was going to pass up the ebook for 99 cents.

While I was on Amazon buying that, I also stumbled on the fact that Death in Reel Time, the second Family History Mystery from Brynn Bonner, was on sale for $1.99.  Have I read the first, which I got a few months ago?  Of course not!  But did I let that stop me from going ahead and getting this one?  Of course not!

What I'm Currently Reading:

As I'm typing this on Saturday afternoon, I'm currently between books.  That's because, after walking book club, I stayed at the library and finished reading The Library Game by Gigi Pandian.  That's right, I decided to go ahead and read one of the books from last week's haul right away.  I'm shocked at myself as well.  I really enjoyed it.  Now, to write the review, although I have a little time since I won't be reviewing it for a week and a half.

Up next will be The Unexpected Mrs. Pollifax by Dorothy Gilman.  This will be a reread for me (if you want to see my review, here it is).  I haven't read any of these books in years, so I'm looking forward to diving in again, especially since this first book in the series is one of my favorites.  I'm leading a discussion of it at Malice Domestic (a mystery convention) in just under three weeks, so this is a good time to refresh my memory of it.

That's it for me.  Have a great week!

April 5th's Weekly TV Thoughts

Tracker – Nice to see a couple of characters come back.  And a decent episode.  Not too dark for me, and definitely not too weird.  I normally don’t like prison themed episodes, so the fact that I didn’t think this one went too dark really says something.  Like that the prisoners weren’t stupid enough to spill their guts to a stranger.  I was rolling my eyes that they would think they could get away with that.

Suits LA – I know the original show was never about the court room itself, but I’m still so shocked that we have the trial over with already.  I guess I’m used to most modern shows where it would last until the end of the season.  So where are we going next week?  Frankly, I feel like a lot of things were resolved, so I’m curious about that in everything, not just the murder trial, which has been the driving force of the series so far.

Poppa’s House – I thought this episode sounded promising from the previews, but the court scene went on way too long and wasn’t that funny at all.  I found the B story with the women to be much better than the A story about the record.

Rescue: HI Surf – We actually had one rescue that took up most of the episode.  And it felt anticlimactic to me.  Maybe that’s why we don’t have this as a normal part of the episodes.  I liked how they wrapped things up.  Yes, a bit of a cliffhanger with Will, but I’d be okay if the show didn’t come back.  Which means I will probably drop the show if it does come back.

Night Court – I was just thinking about those guest stars and wishing they’d bring them back before I started watching this episode.  Then I remembered why I didn’t like them.  As much as I love Julia Duffy from her Newhart days, I do not like what they have this character doing.  Do still like Ryan Hanson’s character.  The other storyline with the horse was pretty good, and there were some nice lines.

Wild Cards – Puns!  Okay, so they weren’t original, but they were still fun.  And I was impressed with the set up.  I’m not quite sure I bought her moving so long after death, but whatever, it was still a very fun way to get us into the mystery.

The Challenge – Honestly, I didn’t know who to root for in that competition.  I didn’t want the team that did so many eliminations to go home, but I was hoping the other team would get a star back.  The team that won is going to be tough to beat in the finals.  Glad they didn’t throw another twist at us.  It’s been obvious this is when the final was going to come all season.

Survivor – So close to getting rid of Sai.  But maybe she’ll take that as a warning and tone things down a little.  However, if we’ve seen anything from her (like at the beginning of the episode), she’ll lose it when they get back to camp.  Like the fact that so many were vulnerable.  I always prefer that to the small groups they sometime still have at this point in the season.

The Amazing Race – I’m surprised that the parents got so many votes.  They were number one.  They were good, but not that good.  And I was sorry it took them out.  Having the double U-Turn after the Driver’s Seat was a bit rough.  I appreciate them trying new things, but I prefer the race without the twists/gimmicks/whatever you want to call them.  And I sympathize with the guy who was fighting dehydration.  Been there just mildly, and it isn’t any fun at all.