Book Review: Hell Hath No Fury by Annette Dashofy (Detective Honeywell Mysteries #5)

Stars: 4 out of 5

Pros: Strong characters and a compelling mystery

Cons: One of the subplots was weak

The Bottom Line:

Helping family

Murder complicates the trip

Another great book

Clearing Emma’s Friend of Murder

When I read book four of Annette Dashofy’s Detective Honeywell Mysteries last year, I thought that the ending set up book five, Hell Hath No Fury.  It’s always nice to be right.  It’s also always nice to have a new book in this series since you know you are in for a good mystery.

The series focuses on Detective Matthias Honeywell and crime reporter Emma Anderson.  The two met in book one, and, at this point in the series, they’ve started dating.

The first four books in the series have been set in Erie, Pennsylvania, but this book moves the action to Washington County, where Emma grew up.  Both Emma and Matthias are on leave from their jobs to recover from their injuries from the previous book, so when Emma’s best friend, Eric, calls saying that Emma’s drug addict sister, Nell, has come home, Emma and Matthias take off to help.  But it isn’t long before Emma’s sister gives them the slip again, and the developer who is trying to get his hands on Emma’s family property turns up murdered.  With Eric the prime suspect and Matthias well outside his jurisdiction, can he help?  Or will his efforts make things worse for everyone?

This book doesn’t contain any true spoilers for the previous book, but it does contain plenty of references to it.  I mean, it starts within a day or two of that book ending, so it makes sense.  So, if you are at all interested in this series, I highly recommend you at least start there.  And, let’s be honest, Annette’s books are so good once you start, you’ll want to read them all, so you might as well go back to the beginning.

While this might be the Detective Honeywell series, Emma is as much a main character as Matthias is.  As always, the two trade being the point of view character for the entire book, which is always used to wonderful effect to fully tell the story.

Since we were going to Emma’s childhood home, I thought she would get the majority of the character development, but that wasn’t the case.  While she certainly got her time in the spotlight, Matthias also got his moments to shine.  Eric and Nell have popped up in the past, and it was nice to really spend some time with them.  While that maybe it for returning characters with any significant page time, the new characters we meet along the way help pull us into the story.

I did find one of the subplots weak, but that’s my only complaint with the book.  As always, the main mystery is great.  I was confused as to what was going on and why until I reached the suspenseful climax. 

This is a police procedural, so keep that in mind when you pick up the book.  As long as you go in with your expectations set appropriately, you’ll be fine.

Hell Hath No Fury is another page turning read from Annette Dashofy.  Her fans will be delighted to pick it up.  If you aren’t already reading her books, you’ll want to fix that today.

Here are the rest of the Detective Honeywell Mysteries.

NOTE: I received an ARC of this book.

Book Review: A Taste for Murder by Matt Baker

Stars: 3 out of 5

Pros: Great writing and characters

Cons: Needed a better focus

The Bottom Line:

Grieving detective

Solving a case on Capri

Needed to focus

Two Books in One, and It Shows

When I was looking at upcoming book, A Taste for Murder caught my eye.  Not only did the title sound like a book I would pick up and enjoy, but the author’s name helped.  Matt Baker may not be related to me at all, but the name caught my eye.  I wasn’t sure about the book, but I decided to give it a shot.

The book introduces us to DCI Joe Mottram.  He’s leaving behind his native England and his job as a detective to spend the summer with his teenage daughter and his in-laws in Capri.  He’s hoping that the time will help him reconnect with his daughter and help him deal with the grief of losing his wife.

But then an English business woman falls of a cliff.  Mottram is brought in as a consultant since the victim’s father is powerful.  While at first it looks like an accident or a suicide, there are things that don’t add up for Mottram.  Can he figure out what is going on?

Despite the title, this isn’t a cozy but a police procedural, and includes the things that go along with that subgenre.  I was half expecting that when I picked up the book, so it wasn’t a big surprise to me.

My problem with this book is that it tried to do too much.  We get the story from three different points of view – Mottram, his daughter, Angelica, and the local detective that Mottram winds up partnering with, Lara Sarrancino.  That’s at least one perspective too many.  The issue is that Angelica gets her own storyline, which is one of the weakest aspects of the book and often slows things down.

While focusing on Mottram would help, the book still can’t quite decide what it wants to be.  Is it a mystery?  Or is it a story about dealing with grief?  They are both given equal weight.  Honestly, I was pulled into them, but the switches in focus were a bit jarring.  And the climax of the grief storyline is short changed.

Most of the characters are strong, which is what helped pull me into the story.  One, however, gets a twist part way through that was not handled well at all.

The mystery itself was solid, with plenty of twists and complications on the way to the logical climax.  Not all the twists surprised me, however, since the book leaned into cliches a few times.

While this is a police procedural, Mottram’s in-laws run a popular restaurant, so the culinary scenes are numerous and made me hungry as I read.

I’ve picked up a few books recently where the narration summarizes conversations for us, and this is another of them.  We’d be in a scene where we’d get a direct quote from one character, a summary if how the other person responded, and then a direct quote again.  It was weird and pushed me out of the book.

The book ends with a cliffhanger involving Mottram’s personal life and I just didn’t care.  I won’t be back for a second book with these characters.

Looking at reviews, I seem to be in the minority on A Taste for Murder.  I’m not sorry I read it, but it needed another edit to really polish what was there.

NOTE: I received an ARC of this book.

Book Review: Talking God by Tony Hillerman (Leaphorn and Chee #9)

Stars: 3 out of 5

Pros: Great climax; the two leads

Cons: Takes too long for the stories to merge; Chee’s love life still

The Bottom Line:

Separate cases

Too long to come together

Skip unless a fan

Weak Plot Didn’t Quite Work for Me

Every author has a book or two that doesn’t quite work the way they think it will.  For me, that was the case with Talking God, the ninth mystery from Tony Hillerman.

This series usually focuses on the Navajo reservation in the Southwest.  It features Navajo Tribal Police Lieutenant Joe Leaphorn and Officer Jim Chee.  This particular book kicks off with Leaphorn being asked to help with a dead body that was found near the train tracks just outside the reservation.  While he is only asked to help find any evidence around the body, he can’t help but work more on the case when no one can come up with the identity of the victim.

Meanwhile, Chee is asked to arrest Henry Highhawk for desecration of a grave and then fleeing across state lines.  It should have been as simple as arresting Henry at the ceremony where he shows up.  But Chee feels something else is going on.  Is he right?

There are a couple of issues I had with this book.  The first is that we, the reader, have enough clues to know the two cases are going to intersect at some point.  (Besides the fact that they are in the same book.)  But, since neither Leaphorn or Chee regularly talk to each other, they don’t make those connections until late in the book.  As a result, I grew restless waiting for the storylines to intersect.

Also, a good portion of the story takes place in Washington DC.  Like when an earlier book took us to Los Angeles, it doesn’t quite work for me.  The reservation is a big character in the series, and I miss it when we aren’t there.  It also stretched credibility when both cases take the characters to DC separately for an interconnected story.

Having said that, once the stories come together, we get a great climax.  I was fully on board for that.

I’m also very tired of what we’ve seen of Chee’s romantic life in the series so far.  A storyline that should have been finished a couple of books ago is still dragging on with nothing new added to it.  I’m hoping that things are really finally over there.

Having said that, I do like Leaphorn and Chee and the different perspectives they bring to the cases they get involved in.  There are other interesting characters here as well.  Even if the entire book isn’t set on the reservation, I enjoyed the look at Navajo culture we got here.

I also found it odd that the audio for this book was narrated by Christian Baskous.  I’ve no idea why the narrator changed, especially since we are back to George Guidall for the next one.

Talking God is not the book with which to start this series.  But fans will still be interested in what happens here.

Do check out the rest of the Leaphorn and Chee Mysteries.

Short Story Review: “Robber Crabs” by Joan Druett (A Wiki Coffin Short Story)

Stars: 2 out of 5

Pros: A few interesting tidbits about sailing

Cons: No real story

The Bottom Line:

A quick short story

But very little happens

Easy to skip this

Missing a Mystery.  And a Story

I stumbled on the Wiki Coffin Mysteries years ago in my local library and enjoyed them.  I discovered a few years back that the author had released a short story, “Robber Crabs” with the character, so I thought I’d give it a try.  It wasn’t worth my time.

The story (and I use that term loosely) takes place before the series and finds Wiki in the South Pacific of the 1830’s looking to make his way to America.  As a 19-year-old, he’s now at the bottom of the pyramid on his new ship, something that makes him willing to jump ship after a stop at Christmas Island.  What might happen before he does?

You’ll notice a problem with my teaser – where’s the story?  Yes, a couple of things do happen, but they happen and are resolved without pages.  We spend more time talking about what the giant robber crabs do and the story behind the Mutiny on the Bounty than anything else.  I figured out what Wiki did early on, but there are still some questions that remain.

And there really isn’t time in this story for us to get to know any of the characters either.

This story makes up half of the length of the digital book.  The other half is an extended preview for the fifth book in the series.

Those who enjoy sailing history might be glad they picked this up.  I enjoyed those aspects of the story.

But, honestly, most people can just skip this.  “Robber Crabs” is a fast read, but it’s not a good feel for the series and won’t entertain anyone looking for a mystery.

Do consider the books in the Wiki Coffin series.

Book Review: Dead Days of Summer by Carolyn Hart (Death on Demand #17)

Stars: 3 out of 5

Pros: Interesting mystery and characters we love

Cons: One aspect left dangling; slow middle

The Bottom Line:

A disappearance

Pace is sadly uneven

Fans will still enjoy

What Happened to Max?

I got tripped up a bit this year since none of the library systems I have access to had the next couple Death on Demand Mysteries on digital audio.  Heck, I had to dig out my hardcover of the previous book in the series.  But I was able to find Dead Days of Summer, book seventeen, on audio CD, so I just got it listened to.  While I enjoyed it overall, it did have flaws.

The series is set on the (fictional) island of Broward’s Rock off the coast of South Carolina, where Annie Darling runs a mystery bookstore.  Her husband, Max, runs an inquiry agency, which is helpful given the number of mysteries the two seem to get involved in.

As this book opens, Annie thinks the biggest problem she is facing is keeping the surprise birthday party she is planning for Max a secret, especially given how Laurel, Max’s mother, keeps thinking for herself.  But that’s before Max vanishes.  He’d taken a new case that Monday afternoon, and he let Annie know he’d be home late.  But he never comes home.  The search uncovers a dead body.  What does it mean?  Where is Max?

While I knew what the ultimate outcome of the book would be, I was quite caught up in the story at the beginning.  I needed to know what exactly was going on as well.  However, the story stalls out in the middle, with nothing new happening for quite a while.  Fortunately, it picks up as the story heads into the final act.  While the ending does make sense, it leaves a big why unanswered.  It was a pretty big question I had early on, too.

The usual characters are all here, and I enjoyed getting to spend time with them.  But I did feel that one character seemed to be pretty different from the last time we saw him.  It was a change I was happy to see since I felt his personality transplant last time was out of character.  But I do feel like the series relies a little too much on the trope of hostile authority figures, and that has driven some of the changes in the series, not necessarily for the better.  We don’t really get to know the suspects until the third act, but they are good for the page time they get.

Despite the more serious plot, I did feel we got some laughs, still, usually thanks to Laurel.  I really have come to love her character as the series has gone along.

While the language has calmed down from earlier books in the series, there is still more than you would usually expect in a cozy.

And Kate Reading did her usual great job bringing the story to life with her narration.

The early books in the series went overboard in the references to other mysteries.  Now that we are in 2006, I was looking for references to books I was reading back then.  Sadly, these references seem to be mostly gone with only a handful.  I liked the happy medium we had for a while and hope that comes back.

While Dead Days of Summer won’t be my favorite in the series, I’m still glad I got to read it.  Fans of the series won’t want to miss it despite the flaws.

Check out the rest of the Death on Demand Mysteries.

TV Show: R.J. Decker - Season 1

Stars: 4 out of 5

Pros: Good characters and fun mysteries

Cons: Still room to build the characters

The Bottom Line:

Ex-con detective

Rebuilding life in freedom

It’s a solid start

“I Got Work to Do.  Try Not to Get Sent Back to Prison Today.” 

When I first heard about the show R.J. Decker, I was hesitant to watch it.  It is based on a book by Carl Hiassen, and I didn’t particularly like the book of his I read.  Still, I didn’t have much else on, so I decided to give season one a try.  I’m glad I did because I wound up enjoying it.

R.J. Decker (Scott Speedman) has just gotten out of prison after serving several years for assault on a young man who stole his camera.  You see, R.J. was a photographer.  Now that he’s out, R.J. is changing careers, becoming a P.I.  He’s returned to Miami, where’s he connecting with his ex-wife, Catherine (Adelaide Clemens).  In fact, he’s crashing in Catherine’s garage, much to the dismay of Catherine’s new wife, Mel (Bevin Bru).  And Mel?  She just happens to be a homicide detective that R.J. just keeps crossing paths with.  Then there is, Wish (Kevin Rankin), R.J.’s former cellmate who is now the owner of a bar.  Rounding out the cast is Emi (Jaina Lee Ortiz), who R.J. doesn’t know if he can trust since she had a hand in sending him to prison.

Since this was a spring replacement show, we got nine episodes in season one.  Along the way, R.J. helps a friend of Wish’s who has been accused of murder, discovers why a little league coach’s family is being targeted, and helps a woman find out what happened to her boyfriend.  He also starts to learn what really happened the fateful day that got him sent to prison in the first place.

The cases on this show are a bit bizarre, but in a completely entertaining way.  By the time we reach the end, everything makes sense, even if you think “only in Florida” a time or two.  There’s definitely some laughs as we head toward a logical climax.

We also get to know the main cast better.  I’m still not completely sold on them and their relationships.  Some of their friction seems forced to me.  Hopefully, that will smooth out in season two.  With only nine episodes, there is plenty of room for them and their relationships to grow, which makes me glad we are going to get a second season this fall.

The cliffhanger is another reason I’m glad the show is coming back.  I’m very anxious to find out what is going to happen next.

The cast is getting to know their characters still.  They are doing a good job bringing them to life each week, and I’m sure they will grow into their roles as the writers get a better handle on things.

While the show does have some ongoing storylines, it doesn’t rely on them.  It features more case of the week with a few updates to the ongoing stories in most of the episodes.  This is my favorite kind of story telling for most shows.

R.J. Decker takes itself just seriously enough to make us care while still having plenty of fun along the way.  I’m hoping season two builds on the success of season one.

Book Review: The Glass Thief by Gigi Pandian (Jaya Jones Treasure Hunt Mysteries #6)

Stars: 5 out of 5

Pros: Another engrossing story

Cons: All cons shattered like glass

The Bottom Line:

A locked room murder

Plus a missing statue make

For compelling book

Treasure, a Ghost Story, and a Locked Room Murder

In recent years, author Gigi Pandian has become known for locked room mysteries.  That wasn’t as much the case with her early Jaya Jones Treasure Hunt Mysteries, but she did weave a locked room into the excellent sixth entry, The Glass Thief.

In case you aren’t familiar with the series, Jaya is a history professor living in San Francisco, but she’s discovered a talent for finding historical treasures lost to time.  In fact, she’s made a name for herself doing that.  But it is still a surprise when she gets a package from reclusive author Rick Coronado.  Her love of his best-selling Gabriela Glass novels is well known, but he hasn’t written anything in seven years.  Now, he’s working on his next book and wants Jaya’s feedback on it since it is written in her honor.

The story involves a man murdered twice in the family’s supposedly haunted mansion days before Christmas.  Along with the impossible crime, the statue of the Serpent King was stolen.  Yet, no additional footprints were found in the snow.  As Jaya begins to realize the story is heavily based on something that really happened, a dead body turns up in San Francisco.  Can Jaya sort truth from fiction, solve two murders, and figure out what happened to the missing statue?

If my teaser was a little confusing for you, don’t worry.  My summary may not be good, but the way the book unfolds, everything happening is very clear.  I was caught up in the story from the beginning and there are some twists along the way that just upped the stakes.  I couldn’t wait to see how it would all unfold.  Yes, a couple of twists were a little sudden in their reveal, but we do get explanations and everything does make sense if you are paying attention.

As always, this book is part travelogue, with stops in Paris and Cambodia.  I enjoy that part of the book as well.  It makes me want to go visit those places.

And yes, we do get some updates on the supporting players in the series, although I would have liked more than a brief mention for one of the characters.  A subplot involving Jaya’s personal life feels earned.  Meanwhile, the new characters feel real no matter how much page time they get.

Despite the story being set at Christmas time, that element isn’t a huge feature of the book.  So don’t expect a cozy Christmas story.  But the few touches that were there made me smile.

While I do still have a collection of Jaya Jones short stories to go, this does feel like a nice ending for the character.  If her adventures did end here, I would have been satisfied.  However, knowing that Jaya will be back in a new book next summer makes me very happy.  I can’t wait to see what she and her friends are up to next.

The Glass Thief mixes elements so seamlessly, you won’t even think about it.  Instead, you’ll be caught up in another whirlwind story.

Enjoy the rest of the Jaya Jones Treasure Hunt Mysteries.

Book Review: Belinda Blake and the Snake in the Grass by Heather Day Gilbert (Exotic Pet-Sitter Mysteries #1)

Stars: 4 out of 5

Pros: Belinda in a good mystery

Cons: A couple of niggles, but nothing big

The Bottom Line:

Body in garden

Overcomes a shaky start

A good beginning

How did the Body Slither into Belinda’s Garden?

In the first half of the year, I’ve been very focused on continuing series I’ve already started.  But I finally decided to break into some new to me series.  I have collected multiple books by Heather Day Gilbert, so I figured it was time to start one of them, specifically, Belinda Blake and the Snake in the Grass, the first in the Exotic Pet-Sitter Mysteries.

As we meet Belinda, she’s just moved from New York City to Greenwich, Connecticut, where she is renting the carriage house behind the Carrington estate.  And she is currently pet-sitting the python of one of her clients.  But she’s barely settled in when she finds a young woman dead in the flower bed outside her cottage.  The victim was a friend of the handsome Stone Carrington the Fifth.  With the body being so close to her new home, Belinda starts to investigate.  Will she figure out what happened?

As I was starting the book, I wasn’t sure if I was going to enjoy it.  Belinda found the dead body quickly enough, but the first couple of conversations with suspects seemed rather short and shallow to me.  However, as the book got going, I soon began to be pulled further into the story, and those conversations became more substantive.  The ending was a little weaker than I tend to like, but it did keep me turning pages and answer all my questions.

I did enjoy meeting Belinda.  I am curious to see who the regulars are going to be based on how this one ended.  I don’t think the series will go in the direction I initially expected, which would be a fun surprise.  Since there are only three books, it hopefully won’t take me long to find out.  Either way, the characters we met here were fun and developed enough to make me care about the outcome.

And yes, the snake does play a part in the story.  I wouldn’t say I have a phobia of snakes, but if you do, you might want to keep that in mind.

I enjoyed this book enough to be planning to revisit the series soon.  Belinda Blake and the Snake in the Grass has a bit of a different hook, but it is one that worked for me.

Book Review: All Aboard for Murder by Ellen Byron (Golden Motel Mysteries #3)

Stars: 5 out of 5

Pros: Great characters and mystery with plenty of fall atmosphere

Cons: No cons got on board

The Bottom Line:

An autumn murder

Showcasing California

Another fun book

Dee is Tracking Another Killer

Ellen Byron has long been a favorite author, but the setting and characters for her Golden Motel Mysteries couldn’t have been better tailored for me if she tried.  So, I was anxious to dive into All Aboard for Murder, the third in the series.

Ellen used to write sitcoms in Hollywood, a past she gave to her main character here, Dee Stern.  But Dee has given all that up and bought and restored a motel in California’s Sierra Nevada’s gold country right on the boarder of Majestic National Park (a thinly disguised Yosemite).  Between my love of sitcoms in particular and TV in general and being a California native, you can see why this series appeals to me so much.

Every October, the community of Goldsgone, which is near Dee’s motel, celebrates the birthday of Angus Sprockles, the man who made sure they got designated a historic landmark.  Of course, they are also celebrating Halloween.  Among the events is a Halloween themed fundraiser for the historic society on the railroad that Angus’s only living heir runs.  But the event ends with Moses Sprockles dead.  It originally looks like an accident, but there are things that don’t add up.  Dee’s father had become friends with Moses, and he asks Dee to poke around even though this murder doesn’t appear to have anything to do with her motel.  Can Dee find the killer?

Anyone familiar with Ellen Byron’s books will know there is plenty else going on.  The subplots are woven in and out of the main mystery expertly.  The result was that I was never bored, and the mystery was never sidelined.  Some of the storylines impact each other, which adds to the fun.

Speaking of adding to the fun, we also have some former child actors joining the plot of this book – again, Dee’s background coming into play.  I really liked that aspect of the story.

Anyway, everything comes to a logical climax that I didn’t expect, and I appreciated how Dee was able to figure a couple of things out.  This is a case where only she could have solved things, which I always appreciate.

As always with an Ellen Byron book, there are a lot of characters, and there’s a helpful list of characters at the beginning of the book.  Some of the characters feature more prominently than others, of course, but I enjoyed whatever time the characters got on the page.  I also appreciate how one relationship developed.  Dee is an entertaining main character, and the suspects did a good job of keeping me confused.

There’s also some great humor in this book, with parts that made me laugh and smile.  Yes, some of that comes from skewering Hollywood as well as some funny interactions and a few funny moments.

At the end of the book, you’ve got a tip for making a road trip memorable and a bonus recipe.

I mentioned the location earlier.  While I haven’t spent as much time in that part of California as I should, I still really enjoy getting to visit it fictionally via this series.

And yes, the story does play into the Halloween season more than I’ve teased so far as well.  Whether you read it now or wait for October, it will give you fall vibes.

All told, All Aboard for Murder is another winner for Ellen Byron.  This is one mysterious trip you’ll enjoy.

NOTE: I received an ARC of this book.

I'm reviewing this book as part of a blog tour.

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Book Review: Lie Down with Dogs by Liz Milliron (Laurel Highlands Mysteries #5)

Stars: 5 out of 5

Pros: Strong mystery with characters I love

Cons: Listing cons has gone to the dogs

The Bottom Line:

Changes for our leads

Set up compelling story

Curl up and enjoy

Changes Comes Racing at Jim and Sally

It’s always fun to see an author’s interests show up in their books.  Via her social media and newsletters, I learned that Liz Milliron has a retired greyhound dog.  So, when greyhound racing showed up in Lie Down with Dogs, the fifth Laurel Highlands Mystery, I smiled as I added it to my to be read list.

This series features Pennsylvania State Trooper Jim Duncan and defense attorney Sally Castle, who have started dating a few months back.  And they are both going through some job changes.  Jim has just transferred from regular patrol to the investigations division.  Meanwhile, Sally is taking a job with a law firm that her friend is starting, leaving behind her job as a public defender.

On Jim’s first day in his new job, he and his new partner land a case.  The victim has been dead in his house for a couple of days already, but they also find a greyhound in a cage in the back of the house.  They are able to learn that the dog has retired from racing, but they can’t figure out how the victim got him.

Meanwhile, Sally has taken on her first client in private practice – an accountant accused of taking money from one of her clients.  That client?  A greyhound adoption nonprofit.  Are Jim and Sally working two cases?  Or is there a connection?

As always, the book is told from both Jim and Sally’s perspectives, which allows us to see the story as it is unfolding and allows us to get to know them both better.  I really do like the characters, and I’m enjoying watching their relationship continue to grow.  And yes, they are dealing with something on that front as well.

Change is never easy, and that is reflected here.  I actually really liked how those storylines played out in relation to the larger mystery.  They felt realistic, and I appreciated how both Jim and Sally were there to support each other.  And yes, we still get to see some of the supporting players we’ve met in earlier books who bring fun to the series.

The plot was strong.  I was drawn into the book and had a hard time putting it down.  I wasn’t complaining when some time opened up in my schedule and I was able to read the second half in one day.  I needed to know how things were going to end.  And yes, things did make sense once we reached the climax.

I also learned a little something about greyhounds along the way, which added to the fun.

Lie Down with Dogs proves to be another entertaining mystery with great characters.  If you aren’t reading Liz Milliron, you are missing out.

Be sure to check out the rest of the Laurel Highlands Mysteries.

Book Review: Strong Medicine by Steve Hockensmith (Holmes on the Range #8)

Stars: 5 out of 5

Pros: Strong mystery, the leads, and the humor

Cons: None – you’ll want to take this Medicine

The Bottom Line:

Blackmail and murder

Brothers continue to shine

Brimming with laughter

Time For Your Dose of Fun Medicine

It’s always a treat when Steve Hockensmith has a new Holmes on the Range book.  So, when I was offered an ARC of book eight in the series, I jumped at it.  I’m happy to say I took my dose of Strong Medicine and every page was a delight.

If you aren’t familiar with this series, you are truly missing out.  The series focuses on Gustav “Old Red” and Otto “Big Red” Amlingmeyer.  They are brothers who were making their living as cowboys when we first met them.  But thanks to the stories of the famed Sherlock Holmes, Old Red has started using Sherlock’s methods to solve cases the brothers have found themselves part of.  At this point, they have helped start the A.A. Western Detective Agency.

This book finds them in Galveston, Texas, in 1894.  They aren’t on an official case, but they have gone down to help their friend Olivia Pertwee.  Her family has suffered from a blackmailer, but their business partner just died in a fire in his warehouse.  Is someone out to destroy the family’s business?

I must admit, I didn’t remember Olivia, who we met in the previous book in the series, but that didn’t matter.  I really liked getting to know her as the book went along.  The book is filled with suspects, and they are a colorful lot, and that made it easy to keep them straight.

Old Red and Big Red are the only returning characters we see here.  I really liked the development they both got.  Old Red’s arc was a bit of a surprise, but I’m not complaining.  And Big Red, while the narrator of the stories (in a Dr. Watson role), is beginning to gain some skills of his own, which I loved to see.

And the mystery itself?  I called one part early on, but the rest kept me guessing until the end.  Yet, when Old Red explained things, it all made perfect sense.  Yes, I do find the use of a prologue set during the action of the book frustrating as I do with many authors, but at least we don’t have to wait too long to get back to that scene.

I’m sure it’s no surprise that this isn’t a cozy series.  It’s mostly language that would keep it from that category, so as long as you are expecting that when you pick it up, you’ll be fine.

What I’d forgotten about with the series is just how funny it can be.  The main characters are brothers, after all, and they act like brothers do.  But there are some funny interactions with the suspects, and Big Red infuses his first-person narration with humor.

Strong Medicine is another strong mystery from Steve Hockensmith.  As always, I’m anxious to find out where his imagination and pen will take us next.

Roam with the rest of the Holmes on the Range series.

NOTE: I received an ARC of this book.

Book Review: Death on the Back Nine by Caleb Wygal (Myrtle Beach Mysteries #6)

Stars: 3 out of 5

Pros: Clark and a decent mystery

Cons: Needed a good edit to cut things down

The Bottom Line:

A golf course murder

There’s solid mystery here

But needed edit

Taking a Whack at Murder

I have gotten caught up in the Myrtle Beach Mysteries.  There’s an ongoing storyline that I really want to see through to the conclusion, which I know happens in book seven.  But first, I needed to go on a fatal round of golf with book six, Death on the Back Nine.

The series follows Clark Thomas, a widower who owns a bookstore in Myrtle Beach.  Over the last year plus, he’s found himself involved in a series of murders that have happened in the area.  Along the way, he’s been piecing together clues to what happened to his wife several years before.

This book finds Clark’s brother coming for a visit.  He hasn’t seen Bo in several years.  One thing Bo wants is to play golf on one of the fantastic golf courses throughout the area.  Clark arranges for the two of them to join Detective Moody for a round early one Saturday morning.  But, the foursome directly ahead of them isn’t the most fun to follow around the course.  When they get to one hole with a wicked dogleg, one of that foursome hits their ball into the woods…and never returns.  Someone has hit him with a golf club.  With Clark on the spot and Moody’s partner out of town, the mayor asks Clark to help out.  Will he be able to find the killer?

The series took a darker turn with this book.  Even Clark is bothered by what he learns about the suspects along the way.  It’s hard to find much sympathy for any of them.  So know this isn’t quite cozy going in and you’ll be okay.

Honestly, I felt like Clark’s involvement here was a bit of a stretch.  Yes, Clark has been recognized by the mayor for his previous help solving murders.  But there are still things that didn’t sit well.  And we really focus on the case to the point that some of the potential subplots are left to dangle.  I’m not talking about the ongoing storylines, but some things introduced here that get wrapped up in a rush at the end.

The author does acknowledge at the end that this is the longest book in the series to date.  It could have been shorter.  We got several repetitive passages that would have been easy to cut or summarize.  And, we got too much lead up to the murder.  Yes, we were getting to know the victim and suspects, but we could have gotten the feel for the characters in fewer pages.

We also got extensive use of foreshadowing to the point that it was annoying.

I can’t fault the plot itself.  It was very cleverly done, and I didn’t have it figured out before Clark did.

And I do like Clark.  I didn’t feel like we saw too much of the regulars except for Detective Moody, but it was nice to get to know him better.

As is usually the case, we got a cliffhanger related to Clark’s wife’s murder to pull us into the next entry in the series.  A predictable cliffhanger, in this case, but I am curious where it is all going to lead.

This series continues to be just okay.  I good edit would solve so many of the issues with Death on the Back Nine.  But I am hooked enough to give it at least one more book.

Here are the rest of the Myrtle Beach Mysteries.

Book Review: The Mysterious Affair of Judith Potts by Robert Thorogood (Marlow Murder Club #5)

Stars: 5 out of 5

Pros: Lots of laughs with a great plot

Cons: The ending is a bit overly convoluted

The Bottom Line:

Judith faces past

High profile victim in town

Filled with laughs and twists

Judith’s Past Comes Back to Haunt Her

I’ve really been enjoying the Marlow Murder Club books, and with the way book four ended, I couldn’t wait to get my hands on book five, The Mysterious Affair of Judith Potts.  When it arrived, I made it my top priority, and I am glad I did since I really enjoyed it.

This book picks up where the last book ended, which means no time has passed for the characters.  And poor Judith Potts, a seventy-something widow, is facing a woman claiming to be her step-daughter.  But this isn’t a happy family reunion.  The other woman is accusing Judith of killing her husband before the other woman was even born.

While Judith is trying to process all of this, her friend on the police force, Tanika, is contacting Judith and her two friends, Becks and Suzie, about the latest murder in town.  A famous footballer has just been shot on his property.  The ladies of the Marlow Murder Club are a bit surprised since Tanika doesn’t normally try to pull them into a case.  Why is she doing it in this case?  Can they solve it while also resolving Judith’s problem?

With two strong storylines, this book never lags.  I was engaged the entire time I was reading it, and this book juggles both storylines well.  At first, the climax felt a bit rushed, but as the ladies talked through it, I came around.  I still feel like a couple of things were a bit convenient, but I’m willing to let them slide.

Much of that is because I was having so much fun.  While Judith, Becks, and Suzie are great friends, they are all very different, and their reactions to the storylines as they unfold are comic gold.  We also get some fun escapades along the way.  I think I laughed at this book the most since book one.

Given her name is in the title, this is Judith’s story more than the other two.  We really get to see her develop more over the course of this book.  That’s not to say that the rest, including Tanika, don’t have their moments to shine.  And Suzie and Becks get plenty of page time as well.

And the new characters?  They work perfectly as the suspects in this case.  They certainly kept me guessing as the story unfolded.

Fans of these characters will devour this book and put it down satisfied.  While I think it will mean more if you’ve read others in the series first, anyone will find The Mysterious Affair of Judith Potts to be fun.

Enjoy the rest of the Marlow Murder Club Mysteries.

Book Review: Murder at Ochre Court by Alyssa Maxwell (Gilded Newport Mysteries #6)

Stars: 4 out of 5

Pros: Great characters and a solid mystery in a historical setting

Cons: Ending a bit rushed (as usual)

The Bottom Line:

Murder ends party

There are plenty of motives

Historic setting

Coming-Out is Murder

While I have prioritized other series this year, I am still trying to work in as many of the Gilded Newport Mysteries from Alyssa Maxwell as I can.  So I was happy to get to Murder at Ochre Court, the sixth entry.

This book picks up in July of 1898, a year after the events of book five.  Emma Cross, our main character, has spent the previous year in New York City working for the New York Herald.  She had hoped to spend the year working on real news stories, but instead she found herself once again covering society events.  She’s returned to her native Newport, Rhode Island, to cover the coming-out ball of Cleo Cooper-Smith.  But she also has another news story she is secretly hoping to work on.  And she is considering returning to Newport full time, although she’s not sure how she’d bring in income if she did that.

All that takes a back burner after the coming-out ball, which was being held at Ochre Court.  The house is one of the few getting in on the new technology of electricity.  But the highlight of the evening is ruined when someone is electrocuted.  Emma is friends with the electrician who was working on the cottage, and she feels compelled to clear his name of any wrong doing.  The more Emma investigates, the more potential motives she finds.  Can she figure out the truth?

The emergence of electricity as a new power source is not something I had really thought about.  I just take it for granted.  I appreciated how it played a part in this story.  It amazed me how it parallels some of what we are seeing in our society with new technologies now.  While those technologies might change, there truly is nothing new under the sun, is there?

But that was only one of the potential motives.  There are plenty of others, and they kept me guessing until the end.  While everything did make sense at the end, I felt like the plot was maybe a bit too complex, since there was a rush to explain things and a little more exposition than I felt we needed.  But that is often the case with the series, so I was expecting it when I picked up this book.

We’ve had a love triangle up until this point.  I was getting a bit frustrated with it in this book.  Normally, I am patient since it is often less time for the characters than it is for us since books are often set months apart even if they are released years apart.  In this case, it has been several years for the characters, and I am ready for Emma to have made her choice.  Fortunately, I believe she has.  We still have a bit more that needs to play out before it is all settled, but I can see the end of that coming.

One thing I love about this series is how the real-life people of the era rub elbows with the fictional characters so seamlessly.  That is true again here.  A large part of how successful this is is how real all the characters feel.  And we got some updates on both the real people and the series characters who populate the books.

Murder at Ochre Court is another great entry in this historical mystery series.  I’m not sure when I will get to revisit Gilded Newport, but I am definitely looking forward to a return visit.

Enjoy the rest of the Gilded Newport Mysteries.

Book Review: Pour Choices by Adrian Andover (Mixology Lounge Mysteries #2)

Stars: 5 out of 5

Pros: Great characters and a confusing mystery

Cons: Listing cons would be pour form

The Bottom Line:

Comic turns up dead

Case is no laughing matter

Can’t wait for the next

Laughing at Murder is a Poor Choice

I really enjoyed last year’s Whiskey Business, the debut from Adrian Andover.  And I wasn’t the only one since it has won both the Lefty and the Agatha for best first novel this year.  I was hoping that the follow up, Pour Choices, would be just as good.  Fortunately, it was.

The first book introduced us to Reece Parker, who has just opened Subplot, a literary themed speakeasy, in his hometown of Hope Mills, Pennsylvania.  He’s trying new things to promote his business, and as this book opens, he and his team are preparing for their first comedy night.  They’ve brought in up-and-coming comic Meghan Spencer.  While there are a few awkward moments, overall, the evening appears to be a success.

The next morning, however, Reece’s best friend finds Meghan’s body floating in the nearby Delaware River.  Not only does Reece want to make sure his friend doesn’t take the blame for the crime, but he is concerned his business will get a dark mark with another murder connected to it.  But it seems like each person he interviews just adds to his confusion.  Can he solve this murder?

The plot of this book is strong.  I’m not kidding about all the confusion that Reece encounters as he tries to unravel this second murder.  I was kept guessing since I was just as confused as Reece was.  However, he does begin to unravel things, and when we reached the climax, everything made sense.  And the climax has me turning pages as quickly as possible.

My favorite series are the ones that create a sense of community filled with characters we can’t wait to spend more time visiting.  That’s already present with this series.  In fact, I was a little surprised at just how much I felt it after just one book.  We got to spend more time with all the supporting players we met in the first book, and I enjoyed getting to know them better.  While the romantic subplot involving Reece’s potential love interest, Julian, wasn’t super surprising, I still enjoyed it.

And what reader wouldn’t love a literally themed speakeasy?  The names of the drinks are fantastic.  I like that we have non-alcoholic drinks as well.  There are definitely a couple I’d like to try if Subplot were a real place.

Pour Choices is going to please all the Adrian Andover’s fans and win him some new ones.  Grab your favorite beverage and prepare for a fun second mystery.

NOTE: I received an ARC of this book.

TV Show Review: Murder, She Wrote - Season 10

Stars: 4 out of 5

Pros: Jessica still solving murders each week

Cons: Not as charming as earlier seasons

The Bottom Line:

Still solving murders

Not as charming as before

But still worth watching

“Sheriff, Would You Mind if I Called Boston?”  “When You Get That Look, What Am I Going to Say?”

With it being summer, it is time for my annual season of Murder, She Wrote.  This year, we are hitting double digits with season 10 of the show.  Honestly, my thoughts from last year haven’t changed that much – the show is still enjoyable, but it has lost the spark it once had.

Of course, the premise remains the same.  The show follows mystery writer Jessica Fletcher, as played by Angela Lansbury, as she works to solve the murders she keeps stumbling upon in real life.  They may happen in her home town of Cabot Cove, Maine, in her new life in New York City, or anywhere in the world where she is visiting family and friends.

What is new for the 1993-1994 season is the new series opening.  For the first time, we see Jessica writing on her new computer during these quick snippets.  Of course, it does start with the iconic shot of her on her type writer, but then, we switch things up.

What kind of cases does Jessica deal with this season?  While visiting friends in Hong Kong, she gets involved in a kidnapping and murder.  When she writes the script for a virtual reality mystery game, she gets involved in a murder at the game company.  Murder and horse racing go together again.  A trip to London to help with a stage adaptation of one of her books finds her clearing an actress friend of murder.  And a trip to visit friends in Texas finds her clearing them of murder.

I didn’t count, but a good portion of the episodes this season take place in New York City.  Four of them find her working with Detective Artie Gelber, as played by Herb Edelman.  I was surprised to realize how few episodes of the show he did as Artie because I loved his character.  He always had some storyline going on as he was involved in the case.  Anyway, highlights of the New York City episodes included one involving racing pigeons, a musical maestro found dead in Jessica’ apartment building, and the murder of Jessica’s editor.

And, there are five Cabot Cove episodes this season.  In the first, Jessica is worried that her contractor is distracted by another client – until that client is found with a stake through his heart.  Jessica comes to town to confront her accountant about why he isn’t paying her bills.  A trip to throw a surprise party for her good friend Dr. Seth Hazlitt (William Windom) finds her getting involved in a case of petty theft and murder.  On one visit, there is a rumored prowler in town; then Seth disappears.  Finally, a carnival in town brings Sheriff Mort Metzger’s (Ron Masak) old girlfriend to town.  And, of course, murder.

It’s time to update my stats on the murder rate in Cabot Cove.  As I like to point out, there weren’t as many episodes in the small village as people try to claim.  5 of the 21 episodes this season take place there, 4 of them featuring residents and one focused on a group that comes to town.  We are up to 44.5 murders in Cabot Cove over ten seasons, 31 involving residents, and 14 involving strangers.  At this point, Jessica has solved 203 murders, meaning that 21.9% of the murders she’s solved have been in that community, up slightly from last season.  That’s not too bad, right?

I do feel the show has lost some of it’s spark this late in the series.  Most shows do if they are lucky to continue on this long, so that’s hardly a surprise.  Part of it is the reduced schedule that Angela Lansbury needed to keep from burning out.  She is the heart of the show, so having her in fewer scenes per episode cut down on the charm.  Again this season, we don’t see her with any relatives, just friends.

I also realized another issue is that, in the Cabot Cove episodes, we only see Mort and Seth this season.  We don’t see any of the other residents we’d gotten to know.  I miss them.

As always, I recognized some of the guest stars.  Among the stand out for me were David Warner, Alan Thicke, Kevin Sorbo, Tippi Hedren, Sean O'Bryan, Mickey Rooney, Shawnee Smith, Morgan Fairchild, Robin Sachs, Denise Gentile, Loretta Swit, Matt Mulhern, Lisa Wilcox, Robert Beltran, Kate Mulgrew, Ethan Embry (as Ethan Randall), Jay Underwood, Joanna Cassidy, and Patrick Cassidy.  Jeff Conaway also showed up again, but not as Jessica’s nephew-in-law Howard Griffin but a new character.  Finally of note, the season finale included Ron Masak’s new son-in-law Jimi Defilippis.  And yes, they do have scenes together.

While I keep saying that the show has lost some of its charm, it isn’t all gone.  Angela Lansbury is still wonderful as Jessica.  The guest cast entertains.  And it’s fun to see if you can figure things out before Jessica.  Even having seen these episodes before (granted, it’s been a long time), I usually can’t.

As I mentioned earlier, there were 21 episodes this season.  The DVD release includes all of them, but a bonus episode from season 11.  No, I didn’t watch it, so I’m a little unsure why it was included.  I’m waiting until next summer to watch season 11.

So, fans will enjoy sitting down with season 10 of Murder, She Wrote.  Even 10 years in, the show still entertains.

Book Review: The Quirky Quiz Show Caper by Sally Carpenter (Sandy Fairfax Teen Idol Mysteries #4)

Stars: 4 out of 5

Pros: More of Sandy’s family; overall, a good mystery

Cons: Quiz show comes in late; issue with the climax

The Bottom Line:

His brother accused

Sandy must find a killer

Good despite some flaws

Does Sandy Know the Answer to the Big Question?

It’s been almost a year since I checked in with Sandy Fairfax.  So when I finally got my hands on book four in the series, The Quirky Quiz Show Caper, I decided to dive right in.

If you have yet to meet Sandy, he was a teen idol in the 70’s, complete with a TV show (where he played a teen detective) and several number 1 singles on the radio.  Sadly, he spent the 80’s making headlines for all the wrong reasons, but it’s now November of 1993, and Sandy is trying to rebuild his personal and professional lives.  What he’s discovered is that the comeback trail is littered with dead bodies.

One Monday, Sandy stops by a small local theater to talk about an upcoming appearance and to talk to his brother, Warren, who moonlights at the theater’s organist when he’s not teaching at a nearby college.  As Sandy is going to leave, he stumbles on a dead body in the building’s basement.  The victim turns out to be one of Warren’s students, and the evidence seems to be pointing to Warren.  Can Sandy find the killer before his brother goes down for a crime he didn’t commit?

Now, I’m sure you’re thinking to yourself, “Mark, isn’t the title of this book something about a quiz show?  Why didn’t you mention it in your plot teaser?”  There is a quiz show that Sandy has agreed to appear on as a celebrity panelist.  And it does play into the mystery.  While it is set up early on, we don’t really get to it until the second half of the book.  It does feel a little weird to me for the title namesake to be sidelined for so long.

This isn’t to say we were spinning our wheels until we got to the quiz show.  There were plenty of motives and suspects before that part of the book came into play.  This added another layer to the mystery that helped keep me engaged.  It really does work even if it seems a little odd to me.

My other issue with the book is the climax.  I bought the identity of the killer and the motive.  As far as my questions go, they were all answered.  All my issues had to do with how the villain tried to silence Sandy.  It makes no sense!  But maybe that’s just me.

Over the course of the series, we’ve slowly been getting to know the people in Sandy’s life.  This is the first time that Warren has gotten much page time.  And we got to know his parents better as well.  I appreciate how these characters were brought to life and what they showed us about Sandy.  This approach has been nice since it meant we weren’t overwhelmed with supporting characters early on.

To be clear, I did enjoy this book.  The flaws are obvious, but they are minor.

I’m glad I got the chance to catch up with Sandy.  As long as you go into The Quirky Quiz Show Caper with the right expectations, you’ll enjoy it as well.

Be sure to read the rest of the Sandy Fairfax Teen Idol Mysteries.