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.

Movie Review: To Have and to Holiday

Stars: 4 out of 5

Pros: Surprisingly charming and sweet

Cons: Predictable

The Bottom Line:

Christmas Eve wedding

If they can pass father’s tests

Surprisingly sweet

Surprisingly Sweet Holiday Romance

The premise for To Have and Holiday was what caught my attention.  I thought it sounded like it could be fun, but I’ll admit I wasn’t expecting much.  So I was surprised at just how sweet it turned out to be.

Celeste (Madeleine Arthur) and Jason (Robert Bazzocchi) have only been dating three months.  They hadn’t planned to spend Christmas together, but at the last minute, Jason decides to go along with Celeste, surprising her parents, Judith and Mark (Kate Drummond and Eric Close).

That first night at dinner, the subject of the church that Mark pastors comes up.  Due to structural problems, it is going to close after the first of the year to be renovated.  Celeste is disappointed since it means she won’t get to get married in the church she grew up in.  That is until Jason proposes that they get married on Christmas Eve – three weeks away.

Naturally, Mark is less than enthused, but he goes along with it.  However, he has his usual condition – Celeste and Jason must go through his marriage bootcamp – something he makes all couples go through before he marries them.  Will they prove they are ready to get married?

I’ll admit, going into this movie, I was expecting lots of awkward scenes as Jason and Celeste get to know each other better.  We had a little bit of that, but not nearly as much as I was expecting.  And Jason makes some mistakes since he doesn’t know the traditions of the town.  But they are fun and funny and not embarrassing.

Instead, this movie is more about Mark coming to terms with his daughter being her own person and leaving home.  And it is truly a sweet film.  Even when he goes too far, it is never embarrassing and Mark does take responsibility for his actions when confronted with them.

As I’ve been saying, this movie is sweet.  Charming and heartwarming, too.  But it does that without being too over the top.  Oh, it is a Hallmark Christmas movie, so factor that in.  But it’s not nearly as bad as it could be.

There are some low budget cheese moments, but they are kept to a minimum.  The cast does a good job overall with the material they have.

Yes, I saw most of the plot points coming early on.  And there were another couple that I should have seen coming.  But I was having fun, so it really didn’t bother me.  And you have to go along with a lot to even think about them pulling off this wedding in three weeks.  But that’s movie magic, right?

I really do wonder exactly how this marriage bootcamp would work if it weren’t Christmas.  They activities are in keeping with the holiday.  I get it, this is a Christmas movie.  But what would they do if they were getting married in the summer?  I’ve got to hand it to the writers, however.  The tasks actually do show various aspects of a good relationship.

If you’ve missed To Have and to Holiday, do your best to fix that.  You’ll be charmed as you watch.

Book Review: A Murder Most Fowl by Carmela Dutra (Food Truck Mysteries #1)

Stars: 3 out of 5

Pros: Story does draw you in

Cons: Could have used some work to make it better

The Bottom Line:

When contestant dies

Food trucks become dangerous

Book could be better

This Debut Wasn’t Quite My Chicken Wing

When I spotted A Murder Most Fowl by Carmela Dutra, I couldn’t resist. Culinary cozies always catch my eye, and this one was set in the San Francisco Bay Area, and I grew up near there. I just had to give it a try. Sadly, it didn’t quite work for me. 

The book introduces us to Beth and Seth Lloyd, twins who have inherited a chicken wing themed food truck from their aunt Dolly. Beth has gotten the idea to enter them in a reality TV show for a food network, and Seth is going along for the ride. 

Unfortunately, among the competitors is Benji, a fellow food truck owner that Beth knows all too well. Another local, they have clashed in the past. So when Benji turns up dead in his truck at the end of the first day of filming, Beth finds herself answering lots of questions. Can she get a few answers of her own to figure out what really happened?

The book started out well. I was laughing at the first couple of chapters, and settled in for what I hoped would be a good read. Then the problems started. 

The first was the plot. While it started quickly, this was a classic example of events masking any real investigation. We learned little about any suspects and rehash the few things we do learn. Beth does figure some things out near the end, but we don’t learn what they were until later. I did feel the solution answered my questions, but I would have appreciated a bit more sprinkled throughout the book. 

As I said above, the suspects are pretty flat. Honestly, I had a hard time keeping most of the other contestants straight. Some of the other supporting characters did fare a little better. 

Even our main trio of Beth, Seth, and their friend Rylie were only a little better. I felt like their reactions to things was a little over the top. I found that funny early on, but it wore thin before the book was over. And Beth missed a few obvious things and was a bit too stubborn as things went along. 

Even the location turned out to be less than I’d hoped for. The setting was fictional, which I get and can enjoy. But there was little to anchor it to the San Francisco Bay Area. But I would bet that others have felt that way about fictional settings near areas they know well. 

This is one of those cases where the book’s flaws are obvious, but it doesn’t mean the book was bad. I still got caught up in the story as I was reading it. It just wasn’t as good as I’d hoped for. 

Yes, this is a culinary cozy with a couple of recipes at the end. They do sound good. 

If A Murder Most Fowl really appeals to you, give it a shot. You might find that you enjoy it more than I did. 

NOTE: I received an ARC of this book.