TV Show Review: Only Murders in the Building - Season 3

Stars: 4 out of 5

Pros: Laughs and a good mystery.  Other elements work better than I expected

Cons: Wanders a bit in the middle of the season

The Bottom Line:

Actor killed on stage

A bit slow in the middle

Season is still fun

“At Least You Had the Decently to Keep the Body Out of the Building This Time.”

This year, my cable company has slowly been adding streaming services to their customers.  I’ve been hoping they’d add Hulu since it seemed to have the most I wanted to watched.  And they finally did, so I jumped right into the third season of Only Murders in the Building since I’d seen the first two already on ABC.  As expected, I enjoyed it.

Season three kicks off exactly where we left the characters at the end of season two.  It’s been a year since Oliver, Charles, and Mable (Martin Short, Steve Martin, and Selena Gomez) solved the second murder in their building.  In that time, Oliver has staged his Broadway comeback as a director, putting on a murder mystery called Death Rattle.  He’s cast Charles in a small part.  Opening night, Mable is there to support her two friends.

The star of the play is Ben Glenroy (Paul Rudd), a movie actor making his Broadway debut.  However, Ben has the ego that sometimes comes with being a huge movie star, and he’s been rubbing the cast the wrong way.  Still, no one expects him to drop dead on stage within minutes of stepping onto it for the first time.

Mable was a huge fan of Ben’s work on a TV show before he became a famous movie actor, so she is immediately invested in figuring out what is going on.  Oliver, meanwhile, is more invested in salvaging his play, even deciding to turn it into a musical, Death Rattle Dazzle.  And Charles is distracted by his relationship with makeup artist Joy (Andrea Martin).  Can Mable figure things out on her own?  Or will the others help her out?

This season also introduces Meryl Streep in a recurring role as Loretta, an aspiring actress that Oliver casts in his play.  She’s a suspect and a love interest for Oliver.  Getting to watch her performance and interaction with the characters was a joy.  I remember hearing when she was cast and thinking it might be an odd choice.  But she fit in perfectly.

Speaking of being perfect, we also have to talk about the play.  I really, really want to see it in both the straight play and the musical versions.  Yes, we get quite a bit of it during the season finale, but I want to watch it unedited and without the distractions of a climax going on around it.  I’m curious about what really was going on with the plot.  And the songs are much better than they have any business being.  I want to hear them in their entirety.  The two we heard uninterrupted over the course of the season were great.  It just captured my mystery lover’s attention, and I think there it is something I have to see for myself.

In case you are wondering, yes, this story does wind up fitting into the Only Murders in the BUILDING premise.  And that’s all I will say about it.  The twist was great and I enjoyed watching that play out.

Overall, I will say the season stalled a little in the middle for me.  Or maybe it was me watching the season over the course of a week instead of a month like I did with the first two seasons.  It helped make the stall in the middle more obvious.  The middle gets clogged down with Oliver and Charles’s relationships.  Poor Mable gets a potentially interesting storyline about having to move out of the building, but that gets buried as the season goes along, with just a few references.

I accidentally got spoiled on this season when I was just a couple of episodes in.  That made it a bit more interesting, actually, watching how the season unfolded.  I’d already noticed that they tend to focus on one suspect early on and then focus on different ones in different episodes.  So I found it interesting watching the process play out.  I did pick up on a couple of small moments I might have missed overwise.  But it didn’t dampen my enjoyment at all for the season as a mystery.

I get what the writers were going for having the guys being so distracted this season.  But I missed having the trio working together on the mystery.  Those relationships are the heart of the show.  Plus, the guys’ love lives tend to make me cringe, and that was the case again here.  But when the trio came together again to solve the case, I was smiling.

And this isn’t to say I didn’t enjoy the season.  I did.  I’m just nitpicking some things that didn’t quite work for me.

What was still here in full force was the comedy.  There were so many lines that made me laugh or smile, and so many enjoyable moments.  The writers also worked a lot of in jokes and references to the cast’s previous work into the season, which I always love.

I already talked about Meryl Streep earlier, but the entire cast was great.  The show walks that fine line between comedy and mystery, and the cast balances it perfectly.  This includes the stars and the supporting players.  It’s hard to find any fault with anyone on screen.

When I’d watched the first two seasons on ABC, they had bleeped out the worst of the swearing.  Since I watched this on Hulu, they didn’t do that.  Honestly, I found the bleeping kind of fun, and I missed it.  Anyway, know that the TV-MA rating is there for this and other reasons before you sit down and watch it.

While this might not be as strong a season of Only Murders in the Building, season 3 still was entertaining.  If you enjoy mysteries and haven’t started watching it yet, I recommend you do so today.

Book Review: Essentials of Death by Kim Davis (Aromatherapy Apothecary Mysteries #2)

Stars: 4 out of 5

Pros: Characters, and a story that gets stronger the further you go

Cons: Carissa a bit passive easily on

The Bottom Line:

Nemesis murdered

Carissa again suspect

Great to revisit

Death of a Nemesis

Thanks to publisher issues, it’s been a few years since I read the first book in Kim Davis’s Aromatherapy Apothecary Mysteries. But with a new publisher, Essentials of Death has come out, and I’m glad. 

The series centers around Carissa Carmichael, who has moved back home to Oak Creek Valley in Southern California (which might bear a resemblance to Ojai) where she has opened Aromatherapy Apothecary, an essential oils store, to cater to locals and the abundant tourists that come to the small town. 

As this book opens, Carissa has a booth at the welcome event for a local playwright festival. Many of the local businesses are participating, but she is disappointed to find that her neighboring book is being run by Lacie, her childhood nemesis. The two have never gotten along, but it’s only been worse since Carissa has been back in town. True to form, Lacie makes the day unpleasant for everyone who encounters her. 

Later that night, Carissa finds Lacie’s dead body with some strange clues that seem to point to her as the killer. Since her father is the chief of police, he brings in some county detectives to avoid the taint of partiality on the case, but one of those detectives seems to have it out for Clarissa. Will she have to get involved to avoid being railroaded for murder?

If I remember right, I was a bit surprised that Lacie wasn’t the victim in the first book. So it wasn’t too surprising when Carissa found her in this book. I did find Carissa was a bit passive early in the book, but there was still plenty happening. The further I got into the book, the more I got caught up in the story to the point that I didn’t want to put it down. And the ending was satisfying and suspenseful. 

I loved getting reacquainted with the characters. I didn’t feel it was too long before I was right at home with them, and I didn’t struggle to keep them straight. They are a warm and welcoming group, and I loved getting to spend time with them. A couple of subplots allowed us to really get to know the series regulars, and the suspects were strong as well. 

This book has a couple of recipes at the end, one for an intriguing cookie and one for an essential oil. 

I’m glad this series found a new home, and I’m looking forward to book three. If you want a warm, cozy series, you’ll be glad you picked up Essentials of Death. 

NOTE: I received an ARC of this book. 

I'm reviewing this book as part of a blog tour.  Please stop by the tour's home page to see the rest of the stops.  

And please visit the tour wide give away below.

Movie Review: Signed, Sealed, Delivered - The Vows We Have Made

Stars: 4 out of 5

Pros: More time with the POstables for another wedding

Cons: Pales in comparison to the last movie, the letter is a subplot

The Bottom Line:

A second wedding

Satisfying for the fans

Franchise still so good

“I Need a YooHoo.”  “I Refilled the Refrigerator This Morning.”

It looked for quite a while that Hallmark was done with their Signed, Sealed, Delivered franchisee.  If that had been true, it would have had a good run – a pilot movie, a TV season, and then eleven movies.  But three years after that eleventh movie, Hallmark surprised everyone by releasing a twelfth movie – The Vows We Have Made.

It’s interesting that we had two movies with weddings back-to-back in the franchise.  But fans who have been following along weren’t at all surprised.  And we would have been upset if we hadn’t gotten to see both weddings.

All along, we’ve followed the four members of the Denver Post Office’s Dead Letter Office.  Dubbed the POstables, we’ve watched them build solid friendships and pair up romantically.  As this movie opens, newlyweds Rita and Norman (Yan-Kay Crystal Lowe and Geoff Gustafson) are looking at buying a house (with Ramon (Zak Santiago) as the realtor because what doesn’t this guy do).

But we are only days away from the wedding of Shane and Oliver (Kristin Booth and Eric Mabius).  Everything seems to be in order.  That is, until Shane’s mother, Sharon (Sherry Miller) shows up a day early.  Sharon is…interesting, and her unexpected arrival throws Shane into a tizzy.  Meanwhile, Eric is having his own issues coming to the forefront making him seem to be withdrawing from Shane.

And yes, they do have a new case to be solving.  In the midst of some mail stuck together after a syrup accident, they find a letter from a child in a hospital.  Can they figure out who he is?  And who might the letter be intended for?

There is a lot going on here.  Enough that the case of the week becomes more of a subplot.  But I’m not complaining because, let’s face it, we are all here for the wedding.  There is much less drama with the wedding itself than last time, which I was happy for.  The drama is all happening leading up to it, but I really truly appreciated how it was handled.  It came from what we know about the characters, which means longtime fans will appreciate the character growth.  It’s nice to see how this series has kept the continuity across so many years.

Speaking of which, the movie does fix a potential continuity issue with Oliver and his mother, one I must admit I missed originally because of how long it was between when I watched some of the earlier movies before the binge I went on this year.

On the other hand, this movie seemed to forget that Norman and Rita were planning to build a large family by adopting.  Then again, their storyline allowed us to meet Charly, a new character to the franchise.  She is played by Rhiannon Fish.  I was happy to see her pop up here since I’ve been enjoying her in other Hallmark and Great American Family movies.  Her storyline is a little ridiculous at times, but I’m being a bit nitpicky.

I will say, coming off of To the Altar, the previous movie, this one wasn’t quite as good.  If I had waited three years for it, I probably would have appreciated it more.  But since I waiting about six days, this one just didn’t feel as emotionally satisfying on a fan level like the previous movie did.

Now, this isn’t to say I didn’t enjoy the movie.  Yes, I teared up several times along the way, and the wedding was fabulous.  I loved the vows that Shane and Oliver had written.

And the actors, including the new ones I mentioned, were fabulous.

Fans will enjoy The Vows We Have Made.  It really makes me happy to find visiting these characters still so satisfying.

This movie is part of the Signed, Sealed, Delivered Collection Movies 9-12.

September 21st's Sunday/Monday Post

Happy weekend.  Time again for a Sunday/Monday Post, where I link up to:

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

We got a little rain this week.  Apparently, the remains of a storm in the Pacific made it up my way, and we got about .6 inches of rain on Thursday.  I know that isn't much, but for us in September, that's unusual.  They were predicting thunder and lightning with it, but if we got that, I never heard it.  It was still humid (again for us) on Friday when I went for my run.

Other than that, a fairly quiet week here.  I hit my work deadlines, although I wasn't as far ahead as I normally like to be.  But it's behind me, which is a good thing since I need to get my normal second half of the month stuff done next week since another month end close will be here before we know it.  The joys of life as an accountant.

Joke of the Week:

What did the fish say when he ran into the wall?

Dam!

This Past Week on the Blog:

Sunday - Sunday/Monday Post

Monday - Ornament Review - Ollie U. Halfpipe

Tuesday - Book Review: Claws Out by Cate Conte

Wednesday - Movie Review: Mystery Island - House Rules

Thursday - Book Review: Death on the Causeway by Caleb Wygal

Friday - Movie Review: A Carol for Two

Saturday - Weekly TV Thoughts

This Coming Week on the Blog:

Sunday - Sunday/Monday Post

Monday - Movie Review: Signed, Sealed, Delivered - The Vows We Have Made

Tuesday - Book Review: Essentials of Death by Kim Davis

Wednesday - TV Show Review: Only Murders in the Building - Season 3

Thursday - Book Review: Mrs. Claus and the Very Vicious Valentine by Liz Ireland

Friday - Movie Review: The Christmas Charade

Saturday - Weekly TV Thoughts

Book Haul:

Just two books to tell you about again this week.

Up first is a Kindle deal on a book I'd been eyeing for a while.  Big Scream in a Small Town is the first in a PI series from William Ade even though it is published under the name Nic Knuckles.  Nic Knuckles also happens to be the main character's name.  Yeah, I'm intrigued, so I couldn't pass it up when it went on sale for 34 cents.  The publisher is hit or miss for me, so hopefully this is a hit.

The second is an ARC of Contesting the Wool by Diane Vallere.  I always enjoy her books, so I'm looking forward to this one.  This is in her Material Witness Mysteries.  The book comes out in a little over a month, so I'll be getting to it soon.

What I'm Currently Reading:

As I type this, I'm almost done with Murder Comes Home by Rosalie Spielman, and I'll be finishing it before the evening is over.  It's book three in her Hometown Mysteries featuring a woman who has retired from the army and returned to her small town in Idaho.  The plots involves a TV show crew who has come to town, and I'm very anxious to finally learn what all is going on.

Up next for me will be Shady Hollow by Juneau Black.  Yes, it's a mystery, but the cast of characters are animals who live in a forest.  I've heard lots of good things about the series, and I've had this book for almost two years.  Think it's time I got it read.

Hope you have a great week!

September 20th's Weekly TV Thoughts

The fall TV season is slowly rolling out.  Two new shows for me this week, but more coming back over the next couple of weeks.  I don't think I'm going to try to start any new shows this year.  And I'll just have a couple of sitcoms and reality shows, at least on the networks.  Says something about the state of TV these days, doesn't it?

Marlow Murder Club – As expected, I wasn’t happy with how this story ended.  Not because it wasn’t well plotted.  I just didn’t want any of the suspects to be the killer.  And they changed up Beck’s secret, but that was still a fun scene when it was revealed.

Celebrity Weakest Link – Since I never watched Glee, I didn’t really know most of the cast.  But still, knowing Jane’s connection it was fun.  There were some I definitely didn’t know, but quite a few they missed that I did.  I feel like there were more of those than usual, but I’m probably just deluding myself.

Dancing with the Stars – The judges seemed to be especially tough tonight.  Yes, I get that the stars need room to grow, but there were more 5’s than usual, and I thought the dances were better than that.  I think I see one of next week’s to go, but we’ll see who the other one is.

The Challenge – Talk about an event designed for CT.  Yeah, it was fairly obvious early on he was coming back.  I do feel sorry for him since he really was trying during that challenge.  But I can see how others wouldn’t trust him.  I’m guessing after the next elimination we get the permanent partners for a while.  It will be interesting to see how that falls out.

Movie Review: A Carol for Two

Stars: 2 out of 5

Pros: Great renditions of Christmas carols from talented performers

Cons: The plot is more cringe than fun

The Bottom Line:

Small town to Broadway

Script lets performances down

You can skip this one

“Maybe You’ll Get Yourself a Hometown Christmas Miracle.  I’ve Never Seen One, but I’ve Heard Stories.”

When I was looking at Hallmark’s Christmas movie offerings, A Carol for Two caught my attention, not because of the stars, but because of the fact that singing was going to figure prominently in the plot.  I thought it sounded fun for that reason.  Unfortunately, the actual plot disappointed.

Violette (Ginna Claire Mason) has landed her dream, a part in a Broadway touring production.  So, just before Christmas, she leaves behind her small town in Idaho to head to New York City to start rehearsals.  However, when she arrives, she learns the production has been canceled.  No idea where to turn, she approaches her aunt’s best friend, Hazel (Charlotte d'Amboise), who owns a restaurant.  It’s filled with Broadway hopefuls, and she regularly gives her staff chances to shine.

It's there that Violette meets Alex (Jordan Litz), a fellow waiter who is upset by the preferential treatment that Violette is getting.  But she’s caught the eye of Alex’s cousin, Brad (Gino Anania), who enlists Alex’s help in winning Violette over.  What could possibly go wrong?

Yes, I did have to laugh at this twist on the Hallmark formula.  While Violette isn’t leaving anyone behind her, the small town girl going to the big city to find true love was fun for something different.

And, as expected, the singing was wonderful.  The cast is filled with some Broadway stars.  Okay, I didn’t recognize most of their names, but they definitely brought their talent to the production.

Sadly, they aren’t supported by a solid script.  First, there’s the fact that the writing is just poor overall.  Some of the dialogue is cringe inducing.  The cast makes the most of it, but I feel for them.  And some of the characters are introduced so haphazardly, it’s hard to follow who they are all until well into the film.

Then there’s Brad.  Obviously, we have a Cyrano de Bergerac love triangle going on here.  I thought that could be fun, but it wasn’t, and it was because of Brad.  He’s obnoxious.  Honestly, how Violette didn’t see through him in two seconds stretches credibility.  He’s supposed to be funny, but he just isn’t.  I’m not blaming the actor.  Again, it’s the writing.  I spent much more time cringing.  It even gets in the way of me enjoying the true romance between Alex and Violette.

Finally, I have to ask, is a Broadway musical about Christmas really something people are going to put on?  Yes, I know, the entire thing is really fantasy, but that kicked me out of the movie.

In the end, I think this is a movie to skip.  Yes, if you want to hear great renditions of Christmas carols, you’ll find something to like.  But, overall, I don’t think A Carol for Two is worth it.

This movie is part of this Christmas movie DVD collection.

Book Review: Death on the Causeway by Caleb Wygal (Myrtle Beach Mysteries #4)

Stars: 3 out of 5

Pros: Clark and the setting

Cons: Pacing to the mystery is off

The Bottom Line:

Helping a stranger

Uneven story pacing

But setting still shines

Chance Encounter Embroils Clark in Another Murder

I always enjoy reading cozies that take place in resort or summer settings, so I keep returning to the Myrtle Beach Mysteries. It also helps that I’m intrigued by the overarching story involving the death of Clark’s wife. Unfortunately, the pacing betrayed Death on the Causeway, the fourth in the series. 

Our main character is Clark Thomas, who has found himself caught up in some murders over the last year and a half or so. By day, he owns a bookstore on the boardwalk in Myrtle Beach, a dream he’d shared with his late wife. He also has ghost written books and his first novel under his own name has just come out. 

When this book opens, he’s returning from a book signing to promote that novel, but he’s stuck in Memorial Day Weekend traffic. That’s why he notices a young woman in obvious distress on the side of the road. When he stops to see if he can help, he discovers her name is Shelly, and she’s been traveling the country with her fiancé, Brian. But Brian has just abandoned her. 

The two set out to retrace Brian and Shelly’s steps in the last couple of days, hoping to determine what is going on with Brian. Can they catch up with him? Why did he take off? And what does that dead body they find along the way mean?

While I was originally intrigued by the premise of this book, I found the first half rather repetitive. We have the same thing several times, and I was more than ready for something different to happen. 

When it did, I was intrigued again for a while, but I spotted a key part of the plot early on, leaving me waiting for Clark to catch up. Yes, I did find the ending answered my questions. 

I do still like Clark and the other characters we’ve gotten to know along the way. Having said that, I wasn’t happy with one of the twists in Clark’s love life. 

And I find the setting fun, including the bookstore Clark owns. Reading these books really make me want to visit Myrtle Beach. 

I mentioned earlier that we have an ongoing mystery of what happened to Clark’s wife. As usual, we got a new twist at the end of this book. I’m happy to know this storyline has been resolved. I just need to get to the book where Clark figures it out. 

If you are looking for a light read set in a resort community, these books will fit the bill. Even so, pick up Death on the Causeway once you are already familiar with the series. 

Here are the rest of the Myrtle Beach Mysteries. 

Movie Review: Mystery Island - House Rules

Stars: 4 out of 5

Pros: Strong and entertaining mystery

Cons: Romantic subplot felt a little forced

The Bottom Line:

Expanding business

Did new team bring a killer?

Best of the franchise

“We Never Know How Many Days We Have.” “Especially on This Island.”

As I’ve been saying, I didn’t see how Mystery Island could become a franchise, and I’ve honestly struggled with all of them.  So I wasn’t exactly excited when I sat down to watch House Rules, the latest in the Hallmark mystery movie series.  Fortunately, it turned out to be quite entertaining.

 Before we got further, a word of warning.  This movie spoils the introduction of these characters.  So, if you haven’t seen the original Mystery Island, don’t just sit down to watch this one.  But that first movie was from 2023, so my guess is if you are interested in it, you’ve seen it by now.

Mystery Island is expanding.  They’ve been partnered with Mystery Mountain, a company that does the same thing but in the mountains of Colorado.  So that the new team can gain experience, they are coming to Mystery Island and putting on a mystery for the Island crew to make sure the mysteries they are writing are good.

All of this is happening as Dr. Emilia Priestly (Elizabeth Henstridge) is finally moving over full time from England.  She’s hoping to see where things go with her partner in writing, Jason Trent (Charlie Weber), although she’s still hesitant about fully committing to a relationship with him, much to the disappointment of their boss, Jane Alcott (Kezia Burrows).

But, as these things tend to do, a real murder takes place on the first evening the Mountain team is on the Island.  Worse yet, they get cut off from the mainland.  Can Emilia and Jason figure out what is happening?  Or will more murders happen?

I had to laugh at a line early on that gave us a number of the successful mystery weekends that the crew has hosted that were real murder free.  I mean, they’ve got to be getting some kind of reputation, right?

This movie does have the usual issues that plague this series.  We meet all the suspects and potential victims at the same time, and it is hard to keep their relationships straight.  I’m not sure if it helped or hurt that the movie tries to match them up with their counterpart on Mystery Island.  Honestly, I can only keep the three leads straight here.

Also, the movie didn’t really pull off the romantic subplot for me.  Those scenes felt forced in the writing.

I’m not blaming the actors for this.  The cast was uniformly good at bringing their characters and the dialogue to life.

The mystery itself was really well done.  I’ll admit, there are parts that only work in a fictional setting, but I am willing to go along with it.  I was impressed when we reached the end about how it had been pulled off and how the main characters figured it out.

House Rules is the best Mystery Island movie to date.  If we get more of them in the future, I’m hopeful that this will be a sign of better things to come for the franchise.

Book Review: Claws Out by Cate Conte (Cat Cafe Mysteries #9)

Stars: 4 out of 5

Pros: Creative way off the island for lots of characters and a solid mystery

Cons: Several small things added up

The Bottom Line:

A cat and lit fest

Is fun off island setting

With a strong story

Taking the Cafe on the Road for a Cat Lit Fest

I’ve often said that books that take a series outside the usual setting walk a fine line. Claws Out did that wonderfully for me, and I appreciated the creativity in the set up as well. 

This is book nine in the Cat Cafe series, which is usually set on the fictional Daybreak Island. But in this book, Maddie James and her family and a couple volunteers are taking the show on the road, literally. They’ve been given an extra-large food truck they are turning into a mobile cat cafe and heading to Provincetown, Massachusetts. They are heading over to a literature festival that features authors who write books that prominently feature cats. The weekend is benefitting a charity that helps cat shelters. Seems like a good fit, right?

When Maddie and the rest arrive, Maddie finds herself in the right place at the right time to hear bits and pieces of things that lead her to believe there is drama around one of the headlining authors. But she never imagines that the author will be found stabbed to death on the second morning of the festival. Will she figure out what is going on?

This book took its time getting to the actual murder. However, in this case I didn’t mind because the book was doing a good job of setting up the suspects and motives so that once the victim is found, we are off to the races. There are some nice surprises and red herrings on the way to a logical climax, although I did feel like Maddie was abandoning her responsibilities to investigate. I know it’s a feature of cozies, so I’m not sure why it bothered me more here than usual. I did feel the ending was rushed, leading to lots of exposition to explain everything.

I must praise series author Cate Conte for figuring out a way to take the characters on the road without completely leaving the cat cafe part of the series behind. I loved that creativity! I also had to smile at the talk of these cat books. The focus is on some romance authors, but we did get a couple mentions of a cozy mystery author who was also attending. 

On the other hand, I was really bothered by a couple of very misandrist comments that were in the book, both in Maddie’s first-person narration. They didn’t add to the book, but instead took away from it, at least for this male fan of the series. Especially since taking those lines out of the book wouldn’t have impacted the story at all. 

There were also a few things that I couldn’t quite tell if were poor editing or some rushed writing.  Either way, it threw me out of the book.

In addition to the creativity in bringing the characters off the island, I also appreciated that so many of the characters made the trip. Of course, one subplot involving two of them seemed to get forgotten for much of the book. Still, it was great to spend so much time with them in a fresh setting. And the suspects came alive for the page time they got. 

There were enough small issues with Claws Out to keep it from getting my full recommendation, but I did enjoy the book overall. If you want a mystery filled with cute cats, you’ll be glad you picked it up. 

Check out the rest of the Cat Cafe Mysteries.

Ornament Review: Ollie U. Halfpipe - Snowtop Lodge #21 - 2025 Hallmark Release

Stars: 5 out of 5

Pros: Cute snowman snowboarder

Cons: None for me

The Bottom Line:

Ollie snowboarding

Cute addition to series

U will enjoy it

Snowboarding Joins the Snowtop Lodge Family

I was surprised when I saw this year’s addition to the Snowtop Lodge series. I was sure we’d already gotten a snow boarder before. But I went back and looked, and Ollie U. Halfpipe is the first time this popular winter sport has shown up in the series. And he’s a great addition. 

Ollie is a snowboarder. And if you couldn’t guess that from his name, you’d quickly figure it out from the snowboard he’s holding in his right hand. He’s got ski goggles on his forehead, and he’s wearing a red cap and red and green sweater. 

Like all the ornaments in this series, the bottom part of the snowman is painted with a scene that ties into the theme. Yep, in this case, we get to see some snow people out snowboarding. 

What’s fun is that this scene is also on the front of the snowboard itself. I found that a great touch. 

And speaking of great touches, can we go back to the name? I’m not much of a snowboarder, but even I know how perfectly Ollie U. Halfpipe fits the theme. 

As always, the ornament has a flat bottom, as is befitting a snowman. This series is made of porcelain, so if you set it out, you’ll want to make sure it isn’t going to be bumped and broken. Unlike some ornaments in the series, the vest and cap are also porcelain, which was a little disappointing to me.

When you go to hang the ornament, you’ll want a nice, sturdy branch to hang it from. But the good news is that Ollie has just a bit of a forward tilt. That’s not unusual for the series and you usually don’t notice by the time it is surrounded by tree branches. 

And yes, the series marker is painted on the bottom of the ornament. Hard to believe we are at 21, isn’t it?

Snowboarders will absolutely love Ollie U. Halfpipe. Honestly, he will be hard to resist for just about everyone since he’s a cute snowman ornament. 

Check out the rest of the Snowtop Lodge series. 

September 14th's Sunday/Monday Post

Welcome to the weekend!  Time for another Sunday/Monday Post.  I'll be linking up to:

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

Work has been busy but good this week.  I'm where I need to be to easily hit my deadlines next week, which makes me very happy.  I should be in good shape for the rest of the month.

The weather has cooled off here, and I'm not happy about it.  Remember, I'm a summer person.  I'm not ready for autumn, and I technically have over a week before it comes.  Fortunately, I know that I've got a chance to get some hot weather again before we really move on.  It can be hot into October.  It is supposed to warm up again in a few days, but it will cool off again by next weekend.

I recorded some movies back at the beginning of the summer, but I got the last of them watched this week, so as of Friday, I had nothing on my DVR again!  Yes, only a few months this time, but it's nice.

With autumn comes football, and with football comes fantasy football.  Yes, I'm in a league with some friends, and I've been doing it over a decade now.  One year I won, which was crazy.  Still not sure how I pulled that off.  Anyway, for week one, I had the second highest score in the league.  Of course, the person I was playing had the highest score in the league by just a few points.  Sigh.  Not the sign of a good season to come.

But Saturday is game day.  Hopefully, I'll have some fun there.  (I'm typing this on Friday night.)

Joke of the Week:

What’s the best way to make your trousers last?

Make your shirt first.

(Yeah, sorry.  I know that one's especially bad.)

This Past Week on the Blog:

Sunday - Sunday/Monday Post

Monday - Movie Review: Signed, Sealed, Delivered - To the Altar

Tuesday - Book Review: The Tell-Tale Homicide by Daphne Silver

Wednesday - TV Show Review: Wild Cards - Season 2

Thursday - Book Review: Watching the Detectives by Julie Mulhern

Friday - Movie Review: Christmas Under the Northern Lights

Saturday - Weekly TV Thoughts

This Coming Week on the Blog:

Sunday - Sunday/Monday Post

Monday - Ornament Review - Ollie U. Halfpipe

Tuesday - Book Review: Claws Out by Cate Conte

Wednesday - Movie Review: Mystery Island - House Rules

Thursday - Book Review: Death on the Causeway by Caleb Wygal

Friday - Movie Review: A Carol for Two

Saturday - Weekly TV Thoughts

Book Haul:

I actually held back on two books last week thinking it might be a slow week.  Or, should I say hoping it would be a slow week.  And I'm glad I did because these two preorders are the only two new books I have to tell you about.

Up first is Player Elimination, the first Wren Winters Mystery from Shelly Jones.  The series has a gaming theme since Wren owns a game shop.  With how much I've been getting into gaming, this appeals to me, for obvious reasons.

The other new book is Hurricane Heist, the second Sherlock Society middle grade book from James Ponti.  I generally enjoy his books, so I'm looking forward to it.

What I'm Currently Reading:

As I'm typing this, I actually am between books.  Again!  Two weeks in a row.

I just finished up Mrs. Claus and the Very Vicious Valentine, the sixth Mrs. Claus Mystery from Liz Ireland.  I know I gush about this series every year, but I just love it so much.  The series has a slight fantasy element to it since this is the real Mrs. Claus, and the way the author has constructed the North Pole world is so magical.  I loved it so much!  The book won't actually be out until the end of the month, but I plan to review it in a week and a half.

Which brings me to what I will read next.  Hurricane Heist by James Ponti.  Yep, I'm going right into reading a book I just got.  It will be fun to revisit the characters, and I'm hoping to see their relationships grow.  Given his City Spies series, I'm sure it will happen.

That's it for me.  Have a good week!

September 13th's Weekly TV Thoughts

 While the few scripted shows I watch (only three this fall? and one of those already half over) won't be back for a few weeks yet, we've got some more summer shows winding down this week ahead of some premiers next week.  Yep, fall TV season is almost here.

The Marlow Murder Club – I’m enjoying this new mystery.  I was expecting a skeleton or body of some sort to be uncovered by the digging, but I’m curious who it is.  I think I’m not going to be happy with the grandparents not getting to move to France, but I hope I’m wrong.  Meanwhile, I was thinking this thing with Becks was a retread until I realized they didn’t include her subplot from the book in the first story, so I bet that’s what we are getting here.

Lego Masters Jr. – Honestly, I couldn’t tell who was going to win.  All three of those builds were amazing.  Since I’ve watched Alison Sweeney in Hallmark movies, I am happy she and her team won.  Those dragons were incredible.  It was a little trippy seeing Ozzy show up.  Obviously, this had been filmed a while ago.  Nice moment for him at the end.

The Quiz with Balls – I really was guessing at most of those categories.  A couple I would have gotten wrong as well.  But I would have done better with the prime numbers.  But I understand why so many people were eliminated.  The questions were tough tonight.

Match Game – The first super match was hard.  So many choices.  Happy to see the match in the second one.  The judges were wrong there in the last round.  And there were some extremely spicy prompts in there.

The Challenge – I really couldn’t follow the main challenge all that well.  Too many teams to keep track of.  That was quite the elimination challenge.  I hope that we keep getting Olivia’s minions out of the game if she herself don’t go.

Movie Review: Christmas Under the Northern Lights

Stars: 3 out of 5

Pros: Actors are good

Cons: Predictable plot without any fun twists along the way

The Bottom Line:

Christmas in the north

The story is straight forward

But actors are fine

Going Very Far North for Christmas

It was two of the stars who drew me to Christmas Under the Northern Lights, one of Great American Family’s Christmas offerings from 2024.  It’s a good thing I wasn’t expecting too much from it because it turned out to be average.

Erin (Jill Wagner) is a writer who hit it big with her first book, a non-fiction piece about the history of Boston as told through its streets.  But she’s struggling to find a compelling subject for her second book.  Her editor asks her to come up with something by the new year.

Hoping that some time away will help her do that, she agrees to go with her father, Doug (Bruce Boxleitner), to his home town of Aurora in Canada’s Northern Territory.  She’s excited about getting to see the Northern Lights at Christmas.  He’s there to see about the offer to buy his parent’s house.

He’s also hired a tour company to help get them reacquainted with the area and make sure they see the lights.  Trevor (Jesse Hutch) is their guide, and his company isn’t quite what Erin was hoping for.  But as they begin to spend time together, Erin begins to warm up to him.  Will she find a topic for her next book?  Will the two of them warm up to each other?  Will Erin get to see the lights?

It was Jill Wagner and Bruce Boxleitner that drew me to this movie.  I enjoyed getting to see them here.  The cast is fine.  The performances helped keep me in the movie.  Likewise, I didn’t find the dialogue too clunky.

However, the story itself was pretty pedestrian.  While I can usually figure out the big beats in these movies before we get to them, there’s usually a twist or two I didn’t expect.  In this case, there was about only one thing I wasn’t expecting going into the movie, and that became obvious early on as well.

Unfortunately, I found the story flat.  Yes, it went where I was expecting, but it just felt like it was going through the motions.  The characters got together because we expected it.  I didn’t feel like the story was really drawing them together.

And I have questions.  So many questions.  If Doug still owns the family home, which is filled with his family photos, why are he and Erin staying at a B and B?  Why do they need to hire a tour company if that’s where he grew up?  I mean, I get it that neither has been there for years, but come on!  Obviously, that just happened to allow Erin and Trevor to interact.

On the other hand, the sets in this movie scream Christmas.  Almost comically at times.

As I’m writing this, I realize it sounds like I absolutely hated the movie.  That’s not true.  While it is easy to see pick on the flaws, the movie isn’t horrible.  It’s also not a movie I would choose to watch again.

If you are curious about Christmas Under the Northern Lights, give it a shot.  But don’t go out of your way to watch it.

Book Review: Watching the Detectives by Julie Mulhern (Country Club Murders #5)

Stars: 4 out of 5

Pros: Laughs and a decent mystery

Cons: As always, ending weaker than I like. 

The Bottom Line: 

Body in study

Who killed in Ellison’s house?

Laughs are always fun

Decorating with a Dead Body Is Not Recommended

I really don’t intend to let so much time go between reading books in Julie Mulhern’s Country Club Murders. I always enjoy them when I pick them up. But here I am just now getting to book five, Watching the Detectives. 

If you need an introduction, the series focuses on Ellison Russell, a recent widow in 1974 Kansas City. Much to her mother’s consternation, Ellison keeps finding dead bodies and getting involved in the crimes. 

When this book opens, it’s been four days. Only four days since Ellison Russell was chased by a killer clown. (Seriously, with a title like Send in the Clowns, how did you expect the previous book to end?) Ellison has decided it is time to redecorate her husband’s study, and she’s brought in Khaki White, one of her potential boyfriend’s ex-wives. But Khaki is the go-to decorator among the country club set, so Ellison is getting a quote. 

That is until her housekeeper calls with car trouble, and Ellison runs out to get her. The two women return to find Mrs. White dead in the study, shot by a revolver. Can Ellison navigate the latest dead body in her life?

It may have been a bit since I read book four, but I easily slipped back into Ellison’s world. The characters are sharp, and I enjoyed spending time with them. As I hinted at above, we’ve had something of a love triangle going on, but it looks like that may have come to a head. Meanwhile, we also got an interesting development with Ellison’s teenage daughter, Grace. While Ellison’s mother is her usual self, she did seem toned down a little here, which is a good thing. 

Meanwhile, the mystery appears to get sidetracked a time or two with some other shenanigans, but it comes back to the forefront before too much time has passed. The climax is a little weaker than I like, but that’s been a constant in this series since the first book. 

Also consistent from the first book has been some content that pushes the book just outside of the cozy realm for me. Fortunately, this book toned down some of the sexual content, although it was a bit more violent than it could have been. 

This series does a good job of taking us back to the 70’s. It’s in all the details used to bring the scenes to life, and I can’t help but smile at them. This book did bring some of the politics of the time into play as well. 

One thing I love about the series is the humorous tone. Ellison’s first-person narration includes plenty of dry observations on the events, and I can’t help but smile and laugh as I read. Yet, it gets serious when it needs to.

I’m quite anxious to find out where Ellison finds a dead body next. Hopefully, it won’t be as long before I’m back to this fun series. If you are as far behind on it as I am, you’ll enjoy Watching the Detectives. 

Check out the rest of the Country Club Murders. 

TV Show Review: Wild Cards - Season 2

Stars: 4 out of 5

Pros: Fun mysteries each week

Cons: Lower budget quality, premise is a stretch

The Bottom Line:

Unlikely duo

Come back for more mysteries

Fun every week

“You Think You’re Getting a Pizza and You Get Murdered Instead.  Rude.”

One of my surprise favorites from the 2023-2024 TV season was Wild Cards. I even turned it on at the last minute that first episode. But I quickly became hooked then, and I found season two just as enjoyable. 

The show centers on Max (Vanessa Morgan), a con woman. She has found herself partnered up with a cop, Cole (Giacomo Gianniotti). Yes, the reasoning why is explained in the pilot. Pretty much, just go along with it and enjoy. While Cole isn’t happy to have a partner and definitely not Max, the two begin to fall for each other, although they are still at the denying their feelings for each other stage of the will they/won’t they. Max, meanwhile, is working to get a reduced sentence for her father (recurring guest star Jason Priestley, who is in jail for a con. 

As this season opens, Max has come back after successfully pulling off a con. The reason? She’s found the first lead in Cole’s brother’s death that the police have had in a couple of years. With that evidence, and returning the items she stole, Max gets enough into Cole’s good graces to reform their partnership. But will Cole trust her again? Should he? 

Yes, this show has a bit of an ongoing storyline. But it isn’t the main focus of most episodes. In fact, what Max is up to this season gets more of a through line than the brother’s murder storyline. But both come to a head by the end of the season in the great season finale. 

Instead most episodes focus on the case of the week. Among the cases the duo tackle over the thirteen episodes this season, we get a case involving the death of a stud horse, a Rear Window homage with Max witnessing a murder in the building across the street, a visit from Max’s best friend, a fellow conwoman, Max and the police chief trapped in police headquarters alone with a bomb, and a murder on the set of a reality TV show.

If you haven’t figured it out by now, this isn’t a hard-hitting realistic mystery show. It’s on the lighter end of the spectrum. Since that’s my preference, I’m really enjoying it. Yes, it takes the stories seriously each week, but there are some comedic moments, especially with a zinger or two from Max. 

The chemistry between the two leads is good as well. There is a bit of romantic tension, and they play off each other perfectly. 

An interesting note - Martin Sheen has a small recurring part this season on some videos that Max is watching. I would never have expected to see him pop up here. 

Because, as much fun as the show is, it is a lower budget show, and that comes through. I’m not saying it is bad, but it isn’t quite as good as it could be with a larger budget. As long as you go into the show expecting that, you’ll be fine.

Season two ended on quite a cliffhanger. The Canadian channel where the show originally airs has already renewed it for two more seasons. As I post this, there is no word on whether The CW will air it here in the States. I hope so because I need to see what happens next. 

This is one of those shows you need to just accept the premise. But once you do, you’ll find yourself enjoying season two of Wild Cards. 

Book Review: The Tell-Tale Homicide by Daphne Silver (Rare Books Cozy Mysteries #2)

Stars: 2 out of 5

Pros: Most of the returning characters

Cons: Poor editing, especially for the timeline, and poor pacing 

The Bottom Line:

Body with rare book

Poor editing and timeline

Other weaknesses

The Tale of the Poor Sequel

I enjoyed the first book in Daphne Silver’s first book enough to pick up the sequel, The Tell-Tale Homicide. Sadly, it was very disappointing. 

The series features rare books librarian Juniper Blume, who has just taken a job in Rose Mallow, Maryland. She grew up visiting the town in the summer, and she’s moving there to be closer to her sister and niece. She’s taken a job working for the Calverton Foundation to help turn their private collection into a museum. 

But on her first day, she starts to wonder if that is a good idea. She’s met with a group of protestors who are angry with the Calverton Family because of their plans for the town. Plus, there’s the fact that the incredibly handsome Leo Calverton is now her boss. Maybe she shouldn’t be dating him. 

But the second day is when things really get rocky. She finds a dead man in the Calverton’s private library holding what appears to be an early Edgar Allan Poe book that went missing from their collection. How did he get in? And who killed him?

What went wrong? Honestly, just about everything. 

Let’s start with my personal pet peeve. I haven’t commented on it for a while, but in this book it is too glaring to ignore. The timeline is all over the place. Days magically appear and disappear at random. Coincidentally, I read this book the week leading up to Labor Day. The book is supposed to be all set in September. It needs at least two weeks to take place. But the end takes place the Thursday before Labor Day. And everything suddenly all happened in a week. Yes, I was actually yelling at the book at one point there were so many of these errors.

Usually, these types of things are annoying to me but minor. I’d not them in passing because authors are human and can make mistakes. This time? The poor editing made me question is other inconsistencies were errors or characters hiding things. So yes, it impacted the rest of the book for me. And yes, there were some other editing errors that should have been caught with a solid front to back read. There were just too many to ignore.

Not that the plot was that great to begin with. It meandered all over the place with little focus until the final third. And part of what happened in the climax comes out of nowhere and is never explained. 

Then there’s the storyline with the protests in town. Aside from how Juniper is treated (don’t get me started on one scene in particular), there’s also the fact that the end here feels anti-climactic. 

This book makes a few comments that reflect some modern attitudes. While they might have made me slightly annoyed in another book, here, they were just one more annoyance on top of everything else. 

The one redeeming feature was Juniper. I really do like her, and most of the characters we met in the first book. It’s why I wish this book had been better overall. 

Most of the reviews I’ve seen for this book have been positive, so maybe it is just me. But I can’t recommend The Tell-Tale Homicide. 

Movie Review: Signed, Sealed, Delivered - To the Altar

Stars: 5 out of 5

Pros: Wonderfully emotional wedding movie

Cons: None for me

The Bottom Line:

First franchise wedding

A wedding dress mystery

Fans will love this film

A Wedding Dress Mystery

Once again, the movies in Hallmark’s Signed, Sealed, Delivered franchise have been building to something.  And we get the pay off in To the Altar, the eleventh movie in the franchise.

As the movie opens, it is the week of Norman (Geoff Gustafson) and Rita’s (Crystal Lowe) wedding.  While Oliver (Eric Mabius) has forgotten to plan anything for the bachelor party, something he is out of his element even thinking about, Shane (Kristin Booth) begins to work her own magic on a wedding guest that no one has been able to track down.

But as everything seems to fall apart at the last minute for the wedding, Shane finds a new clue on the POstables’ latest case.  They are trying to track down the owner of a mysterious wedding dress that was lost in the mail.  With the new clue, they find the trail.  But where will it lead?

The love story between Norman and Rita has been something we’ve been following since the beginning of the series, so it was fantastic to see it pay off here.  I get that movies and shows love to have unusual/memorable weddings, but I am not always a fan of that trend.  Here, I felt sorry for the pair, although the wedding we got was beautiful.

Fans of the other couple, Oliver and Shane, will be happy with the progress we get in their relationship as well.

The writers had to deal with some absences of supporting characters they’ve introduced.  I was impressed with how they did that, especially Carol Burnett’s character.  When I’d realized that Rita’s mother had been killed off between appearances, I was expecting something heartbreaking.  Yes, they acknowledge the pain that can bring, but it ties in well with the main mystery, and it really was beautiful overall.

And the main mystery?  I was impressed with how the team unraveled it.  Everyone contributes something along the way, and the end result is touching and powerful.  There are so many moments that are just perfect in this movie.  There really are.

Once again, the acting is great.  You can tell how much the leads care for these characters with the care they use bringing them to life.  The returning actors are just as good, and the new cast does a great job as well.

Those familiar with the franchise will know to be prepared for the water works.  Yes, it is mostly happy tears.  But the end of this one will hit you perfectly.

When this movie was filmed, the fate of the franchise was unknown.  And, given that the next movie didn’t come out until 2021, three years after this one was released, that uncertainty was for good reason.  (Although I suspect some global events kept us from getting another movie sooner.)  This movie feels like an excellent end to the series, and it will leave fans satisfied.  Not that any of us will stop here.  There are three more movies to enjoy as of my typing this.  Who knows what the future holds.  I just know I have another wedding to look forward to in my immediate future.

To the Altar will please fans of this franchise.  And I’m glad I still have more stories to enjoy with these characters.

This movie is part of the Signed, Sealed, Delivered Movies 9-12 DVD set.

September 7th's Sunday/Monday Post

Welcome to the weekend and 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?

I've been mentioning that is is quarter end at work, thanks for a slightly off fiscal year.  And yes, I'm an accountant for the company I work for.  Things are going well.  Having finished the extra work I needed to do before Labor Day, this week was fairly calm.  I have some extra reporting I do, and I managed to get both of those reports done on Friday, which was huge since I have a couple of other extras to do this month.  September is a sprint that is also a marathon.  I think I'm in good shape, but I'll breath easier when the next couple of weeks are behind me.

In other exciting news, I passed 5 million total views on my blog earlier this week.  I blew past it in fact.

This weekend, I'm trying to veg some.  I need the down time.  I do have my car in for an oil change as I type this early Saturday afternoon.  It's nice that I've found a place I trust half a mile from my condo, so I dropped it off and came home for the afternoon.

Joke of the Week:

I've got a picture joke this week.

This Past Week on the Blog:

Sunday - Sunday/Monday Post

Monday - Movie Review: Aurora Teagarden Mysteries - Death at the Diner

Tuesday - Book Review: Whiskey Business by Adrian Andover

Wednesday - TV Show Review: Happy's Place - Season 1

Thursday - Book Review: A Murder Most Fowl by Carmela Dutra

Friday - Movie Review: To Have and to Holiday

Saturday - Weekly TV Thoughts

This Coming Week on the Blog:

Sunday - Sunday/Monday Post

Monday - Movie Review: Signed, Sealed, Delivered - To the Altar

Tuesday - Book Review: The Tell-Tale Homicide by Daphne Silver

Wednesday - TV Show Review: Wild Cards - Season 2

Thursday - Book Review: Watching the Detectives by Julie Mulhern

Friday - Movie Review: Christmas Under the Northern Lights

Saturday - Weekly TV Thoughts

Book Haul:

I'll be telling you about three books this week, starting with a couple of Kindle deals I snagged early in the week.  Both of them are still on sale as I type this Saturday afternoon, so snag them quick if they appeal to you.

The first is Campervans, Cooking, and Corpses by Tyler Rhodes.  I keep saying I want to find a good camping themed series.  Granted, I haven't read the ones I've bought, but it doesn't stop me from buying them.  So I've added this to my collection.  It's set over in England and involved a burned out chef hitting the road.  We'll see what I think when I pick it up.

Up next is A Murder in Zion by Nicole Maggi.  It's the first in a series featuring a special agent solving cases in various National Parks.  Sounds like it will be darker than my usual cozies, although it's obvious I enjoy those mysteries as well.  The setting definitely appeals to me.

The final book is an ARC for a blog tour coming later this month.  (In fact...)  It's Essentials of Death by Kim Davis.  It's the second in her Aromatherapy Apothecary Mysteries.  It's been a couple of years since book one came out due to publisher issues, so I'm looking forward to revisiting the characters and setting.

What I'm Currently Reading:

As I'm typing this, nothing.  And not just because I'm working on a blog post.

I finished up a book on Saturday morning.  I was reading Death on the Causeway by Caleb Wygal.  This is book four in his series set in Myrtle Beach.  I struggled a bit with this one, but that will be fodder for my review.

Up next will be Essentials of Death.  I'm far enough ahead in my reading that it is the next thing on my to be read pile.  I'll be reviewing it on release day, which is September 23rd.

I think that's all for me this week.  Hope your week is great!

September 6th's Weekly TV Thoughts

Before we get to what I watched this week, let's talk about what I'm looking forward to watching.  The stars for this season's Dancing with the Stars were announced this week, and for the first time, I recognize more than one or two.  I'm very anxious to see how they all do.  I'm sure my favorites will become obvious as the season goes along because, yes, I will be rooting based on dance above any personal connection.  But Danielle Fishel is my early favorite since I've been a fan of Boy Meets World and listen to her on Pod Meets World.  Hard to believe that will be starting in just a couple of weeks.

Now, let's turn to what I watched this week.

The Marlow Murder Club – Well, they did finish it, but I think I’m glad I read the book first.  Not only did they take out some of the subplots (and change one), but they rushed some of the twists and explanations.  It would have been rough if I didn’t already know what was going on.  Fun, but they should have taken more time with the story.

American Ninja Warrior – They definitely have a pattern going with these women’s competitions.  Plenty of runners up winning the next year.  And I do love it when we get a rematch, too.  Lots of good races this year.  And somehow, I’m okay with races in this context vs. the regular season.

Lego Masters Jr. – Those were some creative uncommon common rooms.  I can see how working with siblings would make it easier to fight.  Glad they were able to work things out and win!  And is it just me, or are the consolation prizes almost better than the grand prize?

The Quiz with Balls – I feel like we had another tie earlier this season, but maybe it was just an almost tie because I didn’t remember the tie breaker.  Or maybe they just air them out of order.  I was excited for the children’s authors, but I knew she must not have gone far based on how much time was left.  Since I recognized 5 of the 6 authors, I really would have liked to know what the questions were to see if I would have gotten them all right.  I knew the one she missed.

The Challenge – I feel doubly sorry for that outcome.  First, it wasn’t remotely her fault she went in.  Second, Olivia should have gone home.  But seriously, CT cost her her game.  I get it.  I’ve been in positions like his plenty in mud runs.  But that was just painful to watch, especially with that outcome.

Match Game – Both halves had a question with an obvious answer.  I’m glad the contestant got it, but it hardly seems fair.  Those kinds of questions shouldn’t be part of the game.  Not too successful on either of the celebrity matches.