Susan's bookshelf: all en-US Fri, 25 Apr 2025 09:12:27 -0700 60 Susan's bookshelf: all 144 41 /images/layout/goodreads_logo_144.jpg <![CDATA[The Diva Poaches a Bad Egg (A Domestic Diva Mystery, #18)]]> 218155612 Northern Virginia’s own Martha Stewart returns in a brand-new mystery as an interior designer clashes with a killer . . .

Stylish brunches are all the rage this autumn in Old Town Alexandria, and everyone’s posting their parties on social media. But while Domestic Diva Sophie Winston juggles her event-filled calendar, she’s approached by local designer Mitzi Lawson—who is afraid someone is following her. The very next day Mitzi loses her best friend and business partner, Denise. The two were renovating a generations-old house where Denise died unexpectedly, and Mitzi fears that it wasn’t a medical condition to blame, but murder.

It could just be the shock talking, but Sophie agrees to help Mitzi involve the police. Then she receives a panicked phone call from Mitzi, and when she rushes to the old house, Mitzi is nowhere to be found. Now Sophie’s appetite for investigation is piqued even more than her appetite for eggs Benedict and mimosas.

Could Denise’s death be connected to her viper’s nest of in-laws or the house she was working on which her husband just inherited? What of the self-proclaimed etiquette expert with some improper secrets, or the scheming mistress? Or does the old house harbor secrets of its own? There’s a generous buffet of suspects to keep the Diva scrambling for an answer . . .

Includes delicious recipes and fabulous DIY decorating tips!
]]> 320 Krista Davis 1496743458 Susan 0 to-read 4.26 The Diva Poaches a Bad Egg (A Domestic Diva Mystery, #18)
author: Krista Davis
name: Susan
average rating: 4.26
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/25
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Hearth Witch's Guide to Magic & Murder (The Hemlock Saga, #1)]]> 222476100
When a rise in London's supernatural crime puts Fey society at risk of discovery, the Winter Council turns to an unlikely solution: Avery Hemlock, the changeling they sentenced to 500 Years of Nightmares. Inherently lacking social grace and missing approximately two centuries of world knowledge, Avery must find a way to acclimate and solve the case or lose her probationary freedom.

After being left at the altar and dropping out of medical school, Saga Trygg attempts to rekindle her faith in life, humanity, and witchcraft. But when her new neighbor, Avery, accidentally reveals the Fey that have been living among humanity all along, Saga realizes magic is far more than prayers, intention, and candles.

Each faced with navigating an unfamiliar world, the two form an unexpected partnership—but shortly into Avery's investigation, they discover the threat might be closer to Saga than either of them imagined, and Avery will do anything to protect the first friend she's had in more than two hundred years.]]> 448 Kiri Callaghan 1464233438 Susan 0 to-read 4.33 The Hearth Witch's Guide to Magic & Murder (The Hemlock Saga, #1)
author: Kiri Callaghan
name: Susan
average rating: 4.33
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/22
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Diva Runs Out of Thyme (A Domestic Diva Mystery, #1)]]> 3663410
But Sophie's search for the perfect turkey takes a basting when she stumbles across a corpse. And when the police find her name and photo inside the victim's car, Sophie will have to set her trussing aside to solve the murder, or she'll be serving up prison grub.]]> 292 Krista Davis 0425224260 Susan 4 3.92 2008 The Diva Runs Out of Thyme (A Domestic Diva Mystery, #1)
author: Krista Davis
name: Susan
average rating: 3.92
book published: 2008
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2025/04/16
shelves: cozy-mystery, entertaining-fun, exciting, murder-mystery
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Raven Scholar (Eternal Path Trilogy #1)]]> 212174157 From an electrifying new voice in epic fantasy comes The Raven Scholar, a masterfully woven and playfully inventive tale of imperial intrigue, cutthroat competition, and one scholar’s quest to uncover the truth.

Let us fly now to the empire of Orrun, where after twenty-four years of peace, Bersun the Brusque must end his reign. In the dizzying heat of mid-summer, seven contenders compete to replace him. They are exceptional warriors, thinkers, strategists—the best of the best.

Then one of them is murdered.

It falls to Neema Kraa, the emperor’s brilliant, idiosyncratic High Scholar, to find the killer before the trials end. To do so, she must untangle a web of deadly secrets that stretches back generations, all while competing against six warriors with their own dark histories and fierce ambitions. Neema believes she is alone. But we are here to help; all she has to do is let us in.

If she succeeds, she will win the throne. If she fails, death awaits her. But we won’t let that happen.

We are the Raven, and we are magnificent.]]> 656 Antonia Hodgson 152933988X Susan 0 to-read 4.48 2025 The Raven Scholar (Eternal Path Trilogy #1)
author: Antonia Hodgson
name: Susan
average rating: 4.48
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/16
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Knave of Diamonds (Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes, #19)]]> 218695923 Mary Russell’s allegiances are tested by the reappearance of her long-lost uncle—and a tantalizing case not even Sherlock Holmes could solve.

When Mary Russell was a child, she adored her black-sheep Uncle Jake. But she hasn’t heard from him in many years, and she's assumed that his ne’er-do-well ways had brought him to a bad end somewhere—until he presents himself at her Sussex door. Yes, Jake is back, and with a load of problems for his clever niece. Not the least of which is the reason the family rejected him in the first he was involved—somehow—in the infamous disappearance of the Irish Crown Jewels from a secure safe in Dublin Castle.

It was a theft that shook a government, enraged a King, threatened the English establishment—and baffled not only the Dublin police and Scotland Yard, but Sherlock Holmes himself. And now, Jake expects Russell to step into the middle of it all? To slip away with him, not telling Homes what she’s up to? Knowing that the theft—unsolved, hushed-up, scandalous—must have involved Mycroft Holmes as well?

Naturally, she can do nothing of the sort. Siding with her Uncle Jake, even briefly, could only place her in opposition to both her husband-partner, and to his secretive and powerful brother. She has to tell Jake no.

On the other hand, this is Jake—her father’s kid brother, her childhood hero, beloved and long-lost survivor of a diminished family.

Conflicting loyalties and international secrets, blatant lies and blithe sounds like another case for Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes.]]> 336 Laurie R. King 059387398X Susan 0 to-read, murder-mystery 4.51 2025 Knave of Diamonds (Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes, #19)
author: Laurie R. King
name: Susan
average rating: 4.51
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/12
shelves: to-read, murder-mystery
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Mango Murders (A Key West Food Critic Mystery, #15)]]> 221473756 The turquoise waters of Key West are stained with pink in this explosive 15th installment of the Key West Food Critic mysteries from USA Today bestselling author Lucy Burdette.

Food critic Hayley Snow’s employer, Key Zest, is throwing the event of the season, a lavish cocktail party catered by Janet Snow, Hayley’s mother. As Hayley boards the luxurious cruise, she anticipates a smooth sailing soirée filled with shimmering cocktails, mouthwatering mango-infused delicacies, and new supporters for the e-zine. But as the boat sets sail, the festivities take a tragic turn when an explosion rocks the vessel, plunging the party guests into chaos.

In the days that follow, Hayley learns that a local culinary entrepreneur died in the explosion and it was no accident–someone on board had a deadly agenda. With the tropical city of Key West as her backdrop, Hayley navigates a web of secrets and lies. Her investigation takes her from the shadowy corners of island politics to fierce competition between high-end event caterers and personal vendettas.

With the clock ticking and the stakes higher than ever, Hayley must rely on her keen intuition to unmask a cunning culprit before they strike again.]]> 288 Lucy Burdette Susan 0 to-read 4.35 2025 The Mango Murders (A Key West Food Critic Mystery, #15)
author: Lucy Burdette
name: Susan
average rating: 4.35
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/26
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The World's Greatest Detective and Her Just Okay Assistant]]> 220239079 A great detective's young assistant yearns for glory, but first they have learn to get along in this delightful feel good mystery.

Olivia Blunt doesn't want to be an assistant detective for the rest of her life. She's determined to learn everything she can from her mentor and renowned investigator, Aubrey Merritt, but the latter is no easy grader.

After weeks of fielding phone calls from parties desperate for the world-renowned detective’s help, a case comes across Olivia’s desk that just might be worthy of Merritt’s skills. On the evening of her sixty-fifth birthday party, Victoria Summersworth somehow fell over her balcony railing to her death on the rocky shore of Lake Champlain. She was a happy woman—rich, beloved, in love, and matriarch of the preeminent Summersworth family. The police have ruled it a suicide, but her daughter Haley thinks it was murder.

Merritt is ever the skeptic, but Olivia believes Haley. Plus, she’s desperate to prove her investigative skills to her aloof boss. But the Summersworth family drama is a complicated web.

Olivia realizes she might be in over her head with this whole detective thing... or she might be unravelling a mystery even bigger than the one she’d started with.]]> 400 Liza Tully 0593816773 Susan 0 to-read 3.65 2025 The World's Greatest Detective and Her Just Okay Assistant
author: Liza Tully
name: Susan
average rating: 3.65
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/26
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Silversmith's Puzzle (Captain Jim and Lady Diana Mysteries, #4)]]> 217388114 Captain Jim Agnihotri and Lady Diana Framji return to India as they investigate a murder amidst colonial Bombay's complex hierarchy in March's fourth mystery.

In 1894 colonial India, Lady Diana's family has lost their fortune in a global financial slump, but even worse, her brother Adi is accused of murder. Desperate to save him from the gallows, Captain Jim and Lady Diana rush back to Bombay. However, the traditional Parsi community finds Jim and Diana's marriage taboo and shuns them.

The dying words of Adi’s business partner, a silversmith, are perplexing. As Captain Jim peels back the curtains on this man's life he finds a trail of unpaid bills, broken promises, lies and secrets. Why was the silversmith so frantic for gold, and where is it? What awful truth does it represent?

Set in lush, late-Victorian India, Captain Jim and Diana struggle with the complexities of caste, tradition, and loyalty. Their success and their own lives may depend on Diana, who sacrificed her inheritance for love. Someone within their circle has the key to this puzzle. Can she find a way to reconnect with the tight community that threw them aside?]]> 320 Nev March 125034803X Susan 0 to-read 4.04 2025 The Silversmith's Puzzle (Captain Jim and Lady Diana Mysteries, #4)
author: Nev March
name: Susan
average rating: 4.04
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/26
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> The Game Is Murder 220999060 In this fresh and immersive murder mystery that riffs on crime classics, the reader is put in the role of the Great Detective, reinvestigating an infamous never-before-solved case from 1970s England.

You are invited to a very special murder mystery party. The game is simple: Listen to the witnesses. Examine the evidence. Solve the case. Be careful. Trust no one. All might not be as it seems.

If you agree to play the role of the Great Detective, you must undertake to provide a complete solution to the case. A verdict is not enough. We need to know who did it, how they did it, and why. Are you ready? Can you solve the ultimate murder mystery—and catch a killer?

A word of warning: Unsolved mysteries are not permitted. . . .]]> 464 Hazell Ward 0593952448 Susan 0 to-read 3.06 2025 The Game Is Murder
author: Hazell Ward
name: Susan
average rating: 3.06
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/26
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Boleyn Traitor (The Plantagenet and Tudor Novels, #11)]]> 220235413 From the author of The Other Boleyn Girl, legendary historical novelist Philippa Gregory returns to the court of Henry VIII with this dazzling and provocative tour de force about the high cost of loyalty, love, and betrayal.

Sister. Liar. Spy. Traitor.

Her secrets shaped a kingdom.

Her loyalty was deadly.

Jane Boleyn watches from the shadows of the Tudor court, where nothing is more powerful than a secret. And power rests on the edge of a tyrant King’s sword.

She wears many masks � loving wife, devoted sister, and obedient spy. It’s what a woman must do to survive.

The only weapon she has is her voice.

They say Jane’s whispers sealed the fate of two queens. They called her a liar and a traitor.

But the truth is far more dangerous�

Philippa Gregory brings the Boleyn traitor out of the shadows in an explosive story of one woman’s survival in the deadly dance of the Tudor Court.]]> 480 Philippa Gregory 0063439689 Susan 0 to-read 4.78 Boleyn Traitor (The Plantagenet and Tudor Novels, #11)
author: Philippa Gregory
name: Susan
average rating: 4.78
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/19
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Kiss Her Goodbye (Frankie Elkin, #4)]]> 222139807 #1 New York Times bestselling author Lisa Gardner returns with the 4th installment in her bestselling Frankie Elkin series, in which Frankie is called to Tucson, Arizona, to find a missing Afghan refugee, whose friend suspects she is in grave danger, before it is too late.

A young mother haunted by war, determined to make a fresh start. But sometimes, the sins of the past aren't so easy to escape.

Recent Afghan refugee Sabera Ahmadi was last seen exiting her place of work three weeks ago. The local police have yet to open a case, while her older, domineering husband seems unconcerned. Sabera's closest friend, however, is convinced Sabera would never willingly leave her three‑year old daughter. At her insistence, missing persons expert Frankie Elkin agrees to take up the search through the broiling streets of Tucson. Just in time for a video of the young mother to surface—showing her walking away from the scene of a brutal double murder.

Frankie quickly realizes there's much more to the Ahmadi family than meets the eye. The father Isaad is a brilliant mathematician, Sabera a gifted linguist, and their little girl Zahra—she has an uncanny ability to remember anything she sees. Which given everything that has happened during the girl's short life, may be a terrible curse. When Isaad also disappears under mysterious circumstances and an attempt is made on Zahra's life, Frankie realizes she must quickly crack the code of this family's horrific past.

Someone is coming for the Ahmadis. And violence is clearly an option. When everything is on the line, how far would you go to protect the ones you love?

Frankie is about to find out.]]> 416 Lisa Gardner 1538765101 Susan 0 to-read 4.32 2025 Kiss Her Goodbye (Frankie Elkin, #4)
author: Lisa Gardner
name: Susan
average rating: 4.32
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/19
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[A Wizard of Earthsea (Earthsea Cycle, #1)]]> 13642
Hungry for power and knowledge, Sparrowhawk tampered with long-held secrets and loosed a terrible shadow upon the world. This is the tale of his testing, how he mastered the mighty words of power, tamed an ancient dragon, and crossed death's threshold to restore the balance.]]> 183 Ursula K. Le Guin Susan 0 to-read 4.02 1968 A Wizard of Earthsea (Earthsea Cycle, #1)
author: Ursula K. Le Guin
name: Susan
average rating: 4.02
book published: 1968
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/12
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Story That Wouldn't Die (Jolene Garcia Mysteries, #2)]]> 217388216 Emmy Award-winning reporter Christina Estes uses her twenty-year career for inspiration for her mysteries. In The Story That Wouldn’t Die, Jolene Garcia refuses to stop investigating, but someone is determined to kill the story—and maybe her—for good.

Phoenix, Arizona TV reporter Jolene Garcia is fresh off winning her first Emmy and committed to covering stories that matter to her community. But Jolene’s managers want stories that grab immediate attention and generate clicks, not ones that take time to develop.

When a beloved small business owner dies in a car crash, Jolene isn’t convinced it was an accident. He’d been raising questions about who keeps getting lucrative deals at city hall—questions that powerful people don’t want answered. The deeper Jolene digs, the more suspicious things she uncovers.

Exposing greed, ambition, and deception could become the biggest story of Jolene’s career. Her bosses tell her to drop it. But there’s a story here, and Jolene’s going to find it.]]> 320 Christina Estes 1250364132 Susan 0 to-read 3.94 The Story That Wouldn't Die (Jolene Garcia Mysteries, #2)
author: Christina Estes
name: Susan
average rating: 3.94
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/02/28
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[No One Was Supposed to Die at This Wedding (The Vacation Mysteries, #2)]]> 217387750 The second in a witty, USA Today bestselling series following author Eleanor Dash as she goes from wedding guest to murder mystery investigator at her best friend’s wedding on Catalina Island.

Attending your best friend’s wedding should be a piece of (wedding) cake, but not for Eleanor Dash, bestselling author of the Vacation Mysteries series. Because murder seems to follow her every time she goes on vacation and is definitely her uninvited plus-one to the special occasion.

Emma Wood, Eleanor’s best friend since childhood, is starring in the movie adaptation of When in Rome, Eleanor’s first novel. Emma is also marrying Fred Winters, a major movie star and Emma’s co-star, who just happens to be playing Connor Smith, Eleanor’s ex and leading man of the series.

Filming wraps and they invite the whole cast and crew to their wedding at nearby Catalina Island. There may be a storm headed their way—because of course there is—but nothing will stop their nuptials . . . that is until Emma receives a note that says “Someone is going to die at the wedding.�

Eleanor is a professional at this point, and she’ll do everything she can to uncover the murderer so true love can prevail . . . before it’s too late for her and the rest of the storm-trapped wedding party.]]> 352 Catherine Mack 1250326133 Susan 0 to-read 3.98 2025 No One Was Supposed to Die at This Wedding (The Vacation Mysteries, #2)
author: Catherine Mack
name: Susan
average rating: 3.98
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/21
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> London A-Z Street Atlas 36470815 464 Geographers' A-Z Map Company 1782571329 Susan 3 4.43 1984 London A-Z Street Atlas
author: Geographers' A-Z Map Company
name: Susan
average rating: 4.43
book published: 1984
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 2025/01/13
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Chocolate Chip Cookie Murder (Hannah Swensen, #1)]]> 213870678 Celebrating the 25th anniversary of Joanne Fluke's bestselling culinary capers, a deluxe collectors' edition featuring sprayed edges with stenciled artwork, designed endpapers, reversible dust jacket, foil stamped cloth binding, and a brand new recipe!

No one cooks up a delectable, suspense-filled mystery quite like Hannah Swensen, Joanne Fluke's dessert-baking, red-haired heroine whose gingersnaps are as tart as her comebacks, and whose penchant for solving crimes—one delicious clue at a time—has made her a bestselling favorite. And it all began on these pages, with a bakery, a murder, and some suddenly scandalous chocolate-chip crunchies. Featuring a bonus short story and brand new, mouthwatering recipes, this new edition of the very first Hannah Swensen mystery is sure to have readers coming back for seconds . . .

Hannah already has her hands full trying to dodge her mother's attempts to marry her off while running The Cookie Jar, Lake Eden's most popular bakery. But once Ron LaSalle, the beloved delivery man from the Cozy Cow Dairy, is found murdered behind her bakery with Hannah's famous Chocolate Chip Crunchies scattered around him, her life just can't get any worse. Determined not to let her cookies get a bad reputation, she sets out to track down a killer. But if she doesn't watch her back, Hannah's sweet life may get burned to a crisp.]]> 448 Joanne Fluke 1496755278 Susan 0 to-read 3.73 2000 Chocolate Chip Cookie Murder (Hannah Swensen, #1)
author: Joanne Fluke
name: Susan
average rating: 3.73
book published: 2000
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/03
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Maid's Secret (Molly the Maid, #3)]]> 216351856 When a daring art heist takes place at the Regency Grand, Molly’s life is threatened. The question is who’s out to get her, and why? Long-buried secrets will be revealed in this intriguing and heartwarming novel from the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Maid and The Mystery Guest

A wedding. A heist. A secret.

Molly Gray’s life is about to change in ways she could never have imagined. As the esteemed Head Maid and recently promoted Special Events Manager of the Regency Grand Hotel, good things are just around the corner, including her marriage to her beloved fiancé, Juan Manuel, only two months away.

But Molly’s entire existence is upended when a film crew descends upon the hotel to shoot the hit reality TV show Hidden Treasures, starring popular art appraisers Brown and Beagle. On a whim, Molly brings in a shoebox containing a few of her gran’s old things for appraisal, and much to everyone's surprise, one item turns out to be a rare and priceless treasure. Instantly, Molly is both a multi-millionaire and a media sensation—the world’s rags-to-riches darling—until the priceless piece vanishes from the hotel in the boldest, brashest antiquities heist in recent memory.

The key to the mystery lies in the past, in a long-forgotten diary written by Molly’s gran. For the first time ever, Molly learns about Gran’s true-to-life fairytale, a young girl to the manor born, the only child of a wealthy magnate. But when Gran falls head over heels in love with a young man her parents deem below her station, her life is thrown into turmoil. As fate would have it, the greatest love of Gran’s life is someone Molly knows quite well�.

Together with her friends, Molly combs the past and the present to catch the thief before looming threats against her become real.

A spirited heist caper and an epic love story, The Maid’s Secret is a spellbinding whodunnit that will capture and warm your heart.]]> 336 Nita Prose 0593875419 Susan 0 to-read 3.94 2025 The Maid's Secret (Molly the Maid, #3)
author: Nita Prose
name: Susan
average rating: 3.94
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/03
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Shadow and Bone (The Shadow and Bone Trilogy, #1)]]> 35384793
Alina Starkov has never been good at anything. But when her regiment is attacked on the Fold and her best friend is brutally injured, Alina reveals a dormant power that saves his life—a power that could be the key to setting her war-ravaged country free. Wrenched from everything she knows, Alina is whisked away to the royal court to be trained as a member of the Grisha, the magical elite led by the mysterious Darkling.

Yet nothing in this lavish world is what it seems. With darkness looming and an entire kingdom depending on her untamed power, Alina will have to confront the secrets of the Grisha . . . and the secrets of her heart.

Shadow and Bone is the first installment in Leigh Bardugo's Grisha Trilogy.]]> 358 Leigh Bardugo 1250027438 Susan 0 to-read 3.91 2012 Shadow and Bone (The Shadow and Bone Trilogy, #1)
author: Leigh Bardugo
name: Susan
average rating: 3.91
book published: 2012
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/03
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[A Refiner’s Fire (The Commissario Guido Brunetti Mysteries, #33)]]> 175749504
Around one AM on an early spring morning, two teenage gangs are arrested after clashing violently in one of Venice’s squares. Commissario Claudia Griffoni, on duty that night, perhaps ill-advisedly walks the last of the boys home because his father, Dario Monforte, failed to pick him up at the Questura. Coincidentally, Guido Brunetti is asked by a wealthy friend of Vice-Questore Patta to vet Monforte for a job, triggering Brunetti’s memory that twenty years earlier Monforte had been publicly celebrated as the hero of a devastating bombing of the Italian military compound in Iraq. Yet Monforte had never been awarded a medal either by the Carabinieri, his service branch, or by the Italian government.

That seeming contradiction, and the brutal attack on one of Brunetti’s colleagues, Enzo Bocchese, by a possible gang member, concentrate Brunetti’s attentions. Surprisingly empowered by Patta, supported by Signorina Elettra’s extraordinary research abilities and by his wife, Paola’s, empathy, Brunetti, with Griffoni, gradually discovers the sordid hypocrisy surrounding Monforte’s past, culminating in a fiery meeting of two gangs and a final opportunity for redemption.

A Refiner’s Fire is Donna Leon at her very best: an elegant, sophisticated storyteller whose indelible characters become richer with each book, and who constantly explores the ambiguity between moral and legal justice.]]> 274 Donna Leon 0802162541 Susan 5 3.75 2024 A Refiner’s Fire (The Commissario Guido Brunetti Mysteries, #33)
author: Donna Leon
name: Susan
average rating: 3.75
book published: 2024
rating: 5
read at: 2025/01/03
date added: 2025/01/03
shelves: entertaining-fun, exciting, murder-mystery, thriller
review:
I think this is the best book Donna Leon has ever written - a truly GREAT novel because in a brilliantly gripping story she diagnoses the rise of fascism in Europe and America in recent years. Beginning as unassuming as her warm and justice-devoted protagonist, Guido Brunetti, Venice has a new menace, street gangs of young teenage boys. One, sympathetically portray turns out to the the son of a "convenient hero," convenient for the Italian Government that is, for rescuing from fire fellow soldiers on an ill starred overseas mission. Just what is beneficial versus toxic masculinity in these social media times? Might a hero be found in the vulnerable colleague of Brunetti who is attacked in his own home? Can Brunetti save boys who are children in the grip of a charismatic violent leader?
]]> <![CDATA[Love's Turbulent Sea: by Sophia Hollins (Love in Santa Sophia)]]> 221992655
As she and Edward sail to find her sister and liberate those caught in the monstrous commerce of human trafficking, they fall in love. But neither Jessamyn nor Edward are who they seem! The two lovers discover there are nefarious betrayals in motion, evil plans that will force them to use every resource they have to find their true destiny on love's turbulent sea!]]> 414 Angie Gia Bennett Susan 5 5.00 Love's Turbulent Sea: by Sophia Hollins (Love in Santa Sophia)
author: Angie Gia Bennett
name: Susan
average rating: 5.00
book published:
rating: 5
read at: 2024/12/26
date added: 2024/12/26
shelves: exciting, romance, thriller, entertaining-fun, erotic
review:
Love’s Turbulent Sea by Angie Gia Bennett represents not only the most joy I have had reading for a long time, but I know I will want to read it again and again. Imagine a love story that is romantic, tragic, erotic, overcoming all odds and then is fulfilled in luxuriating in so many of the pleasures of love. And that is not all as these lovers have to overcome betrayal, villainy, and evils from meticulously historically documented human trafficking and enslavement. What I most love about this book is its unusual combination of exploring erotic passion and a passionate uncovering of real historical injustice. Bennet weaves together Regency Romance worthy of Georgette Heyer with verisimilitude so poignant that we can taste the salt and weep for the exploited. In Jessamyn we have a woman who earns the term hero as she fights storms, pirates, imprisonment, assaults and through the perils and misunderstandings of true love. The morality of this novel is rich and satisfying; its characters become part of each other’s families and of the reader’s too! Buy this book. It is a marvel.
]]> <![CDATA[A Deadly Endowment (A Lady & Lady's Maid Mystery #7)]]> 57876528

To make ends meet, Lady Phoebe Renshaw and her lady’s maid, Eva Huntford, have decided to open up Foxwood Hall to guided public tours. Not everyone is pleased about it—even to the point of committing murder�

The lean times following the Great War continue to require creative solutions for England's noble class. But Lady Phoebe’s proposal to open up the Renshaw estate to guided tours for additional income strikes many in the family as a “vulgar enterprise.� Phoebe’s grandfather, the Earl of Wroxly, however, reluctantly concedes the necessity.

Their first tour group consists of members of the Historical Society, a magazine writer, and a flock of students. It’s a large group for Phoebe, her sister Amelia, and Eva to manage, and when the widow Arvina Bell goes missing, Eva goes in search of her—only to find her in the library, strangled with a silken drapery cord.

The schoolchildren are promptly sent home, but the members of the Historical Society—many of whom also wandered off at times—remain for interrogation. There is also, curiously, a framed photo missing from the library. As the police hastily zero in on a suspect, Phoebe and Eva weigh the clues. Does the crime have to do with rumors of hidden treasure at Foxwood Hall? But they must make haste to solve the widow’s murder—before someone else becomes history…]]> 278 Alyssa Maxwell 1496734939 Susan 4 4.14 A Deadly Endowment (A Lady & Lady's Maid Mystery #7)
author: Alyssa Maxwell
name: Susan
average rating: 4.14
book published:
rating: 4
read at: 2024/10/28
date added: 2024/10/28
shelves: cozy-mystery, entertaining-fun, murder-mystery, historical
review:
Somewhat embarrassed for money post WW1, Foxwood Hall is to open to tours guided by intrepid Phoebe Renshaw and her redoubtable Lady's Maid and friend, Eva, much to the disgust of her more conservative relatives. When one member of the first tour is found strangled by a curtain cord in the library, naturally Phoebe and Eva have to get involved in detecting. For it seems that those they love are in more danger - what with a midnight break in plus further deaths in the tour party. A rumor begins about hidden treasure at the Hall and even the servants start knocking on walls. It will take exceptional ingenuity to trace a path between sins past and present!
]]> <![CDATA[A Pinch of Poison (A Lady & Lady's Maid Mystery, #2)]]> 29857433
Good deeds build good character, and good character is what the Haverleigh School for Young Ladies is all about. Lady Phoebe—with the tireless assistance of Eva—has organized a luncheon at the school to benefit wounded veterans of the Great War, encouraging the students to participate in the cooking and the baking. But too many cooks do more than spoil the broth—they add up to a recipe for disaster when the school’s headmistress, Miss Finch, is poisoned.

The girls at Haverleigh all come from highly respected families, none of whom will countenance their darling daughters being harassed like common criminals by the local police. So Lady Phoebe steps in to handle the wealthy young debutantes with tact and discretion, while Eva cozies up to the staff. Did one of the girls resent the headmistress enough to do her in? Did a teacher bear a grudge? What about the school nurse, clearly shell shocked from her service in the war? No one is above suspicion, not even members of the school’s governing body, some of whom objected to Miss Finch’s “modern� methods.

But Lady Phoebe and Eva will have to sleuth with great stealth—or the cornered killer may try to teach someone else a lethal lesson.]]> 304 Alyssa Maxwell 1617738344 Susan 4 Also the school setting was both realistic and historically apt - complete with snobbery, class clashes and bitching that comes to No Good.
Hurrah for this dynamic female duo of young lady plus maid.]]> 3.82 2016 A Pinch of Poison (A Lady & Lady's Maid Mystery, #2)
author: Alyssa Maxwell
name: Susan
average rating: 3.82
book published: 2016
rating: 4
read at: 2024/10/28
date added: 2024/10/28
shelves: cozy-mystery, entertaining-fun, historical, murder-mystery
review:
I have just discovered this delightful series. Althought this is not the first book, it was more than accessible enough for me to decided to read the whole lot. Particularly attractive is the warm family setting of the slightly less wealthy than before WW1 Renshaws and Lady's Maid who has become a friend to adventurous Phoebe.
Also the school setting was both realistic and historically apt - complete with snobbery, class clashes and bitching that comes to No Good.
Hurrah for this dynamic female duo of young lady plus maid.
]]> <![CDATA[In Too Deep (Jack Reacher, #29)]]> 204432624 The gripping new Jack Reacher thriller from the #1 New York Times bestselling authors Lee Child and Andrew ChildReacher wakes up, alone, in the dark, handcuffed to a bed in a makeshift hospital room. His few possessions are gone. He has no memory of getting there. The last thing he can recall is the car he had hitched a ride in getting run off the road. The driver was killed. The people who staged the attack assume Reacher was the driver's accomplice and patch up his wounds as they plan to make him talk. A plan that will backfire spectacularly . . .]]> 324 Lee Child 0593725808 Susan 0 to-read 3.66 2024 In Too Deep (Jack Reacher, #29)
author: Lee Child
name: Susan
average rating: 3.66
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/10/28
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Mistletoe Mystery (Molly the Maid, #2.5)]]> 210040063 Molly the Maid has a whole new mystery to solve in this heartwarming novella from the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Maid and The Mystery Guest.

Molly Gray has always loved the holidays. When Molly was a child, her gran went to great lengths to make the season merry and bright, full of cherished traditions. The first few Christmases without Gran were hard on Molly, but this year, her beloved boyfriend and fellow festive spirit, Juan Manuel, is intent on making the season Molly’s mofinst joyful yet.

But when a Secret Santa gift exchange at the Regency Grand Hotel raises questions about who Molly can and cannot trust, she dives headfirst into solving her most consequential—and personal—mystery yet. Molly has a bad feeling about things, and she starts to wonder: has she yet again mistaken a frog for a prince?

A heartwarming, magical story about the true spirit of the season, The Mistletoe Mystery reminds us that love is the greatest mystery of all.]]> 112 Nita Prose 0593875443 Susan 0 to-read 3.41 2024 The Mistletoe Mystery (Molly the Maid, #2.5)
author: Nita Prose
name: Susan
average rating: 3.41
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/10/21
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[King of the Forgotten Darkness: A Raven's Tale Fantasy]]> 216632550 344 Erik D. Goodwyn 180341765X Susan 5 4.29 King of the Forgotten Darkness: A Raven's Tale Fantasy
author: Erik D. Goodwyn
name: Susan
average rating: 4.29
book published:
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2024/10/07
shelves: fantasy, entertaining-fun, exciting, romance
review:
King of the Forgotten Darkness is a revelation. Combining deep insight with a well textured visionary realms, the synthesis of mythology and psychology makes this a uniquely compelling read. The characters come alive and we care about their fates. There is action and surprise, beauty and darkness. I want more of this!
]]> <![CDATA[Murder Takes the Stage (Phyllida Bright Mystery, #4)]]> 205762581 A witty and inventive treat for lovers of all things Christie, Downton Abbey, and Knives Out, set in London and the English countryside and starring Phyllida Bright, fictional housekeeper to the great dame of detective fiction herself. “Dame Agatha would be proud� (Publishers Weekly). Housekeeper Phyllida Bright is quite in her element at Mallowan Hall, the charming English manor that she keeps in tip-top shape. By contrast, the bustling metropolis of London, where her famed employer Agatha Christie has temporarily relocated, leaves Phyllida a bit out of her depth. Not only must she grapple with a limited staff, but Phyllida also has to rein in a temperamental French cook who has the looks of Hercule Poirot, but none of the charm. When a man named Archibald Allston is found dead in an armchair onstage at the Adelphia Theater, first impressions are that he died of natural causes. But the very next day, the unlucky actor playing Benvolio at the Belmont Theater is found with his head bashed in. And when a third victim turns up, this time with double-C initials, the fatal pattern is impossible to ignore. With panic erupting among theater folk—a superstitious bunch at the best of times—Phyllida steps up to help with the investigation. The murderer’s M.O. may be easy to read, but can Phyllida uncover the killer’s identity before the final curtain falls on another victim?]]> 288 Colleen Cambridge 1496742591 Susan 0 to-read 4.05 Murder Takes the Stage (Phyllida Bright Mystery, #4)
author: Colleen Cambridge
name: Susan
average rating: 4.05
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/10/03
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Mastering the Art of French Murder (An American In Paris, #1)]]> 61678536
“Enchanting…Cambridge captures Child’s distinct voice and energy so perfectly. Expect to leave this vacation hoping for a return trip.� � Publishers Weekly

As Paris rediscovers its joie de vivre, Tabitha Knight, recently arrived from Detroit for an extended stay with her French grandfather, is on her own journey of discovery. Paris isn’t just the City of Light; it’s the city of history, romance, stunning architecture . . . and food. Thanks to her neighbor and friend Julia Child, another ex-pat who’s fallen head over heels for Paris, Tabitha is learning how to cook for her Grandpère and Oncle Rafe.

Between tutoring Americans in French, visiting the market, and eagerly sampling the results of Julia’s studies at Le Cordon Bleu cooking school, Tabitha’s sojourn is proving thoroughly delightful. That is, until the cold December day they return to Julia’s building and learn that a body has been found in the cellar. Tabitha recognizes the victim as a woman she’d met only the night before, at a party given by Julia’s sister, Dort. The murder weapon found nearby is recognizable too—a knife from Julia’s kitchen.

Tabitha is eager to help the investigation, but is shocked when Inspector Merveille reveals that a note, in Tabitha’s handwriting, was found in the dead woman’s pocket. Is this murder a case of international intrigue, or something far more personal? From the shadows of the Tour Eiffel at midnight, to the tiny third-floor Child kitchen, to the grungy streets of Montmartre, Tabitha navigates through the city hoping to find the real killer before she or one of her friends ends up in prison . . . or worse.

“Part historical fiction, part mystery, Mastering the Art of French Murder is totally delectable entertainment.� � The Washington Post

“Certain to appeal to a broad readership, especially fans of Jacqueline Winspear, Rhys Bowen, and Cambridge’s own Phyllida Bright series.� –First Clue, STARRED REVIEW]]> 304 Colleen Cambridge 1496739590 Susan 0 to-read 3.54 2023 Mastering the Art of French Murder (An American In Paris, #1)
author: Colleen Cambridge
name: Susan
average rating: 3.54
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/10/03
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Silent as the Grave (Molly Murphy Mysteries, #21)]]> 211003786
The movie industry is still experimenting with ways to get the best shot, like pretending to tie Bridie to real train tracks. But soon, their special effects start to malfunction. After a few mishaps where no one is hurt, the special effects turn deadly. With rumors of a feud between studios, Molly believes these malfunctions are sabotage. She is invited to go undercover on set to investigate the burgeoning film war. Once again, Rhys Bowen and Clare Broyles deliver an engaging mystery full of vibrant historical details and thrilling escapades featuring one of mystery's most beloved sleuths.]]> 336 Rhys Bowen 1250890810 Susan 0 to-read 3.97 Silent as the Grave (Molly Murphy Mysteries, #21)
author: Rhys Bowen
name: Susan
average rating: 3.97
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/10/02
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Murder at Marble House (Gilded Newport Mysteries, #2)]]> 20257078 For fans of HBO’s The Gilded Age, explore the dark side of the alluring world of America’s 19th century elite in this gripping series of riveting mysteries�

With the dawn of the twentieth century on the horizon, the fortunes of the venerable Vanderbilt family still shine brightly in the glittering high society of Newport, Rhode Island. But when a potential scandal strikes, the Vanderbilts turn to cousin and society page reporter Emma Cross to solve a murder and a disappearance. . .Responding to a frantic call on her newfangled telephone from her eighteen-year-old cousin, Consuelo Vanderbilt, Emma Cross arrives at the Marble House mansion and learns the cause of her distress--Consuelo's mother, Alva, is forcing her into marriage with the Duke of Marlborough. Her mother has even called in a fortune teller to assure Consuelo of a happy future.

But the future is short-lived for the fortune teller, who is found dead by her crystal ball, strangled with a silk scarf. Standing above her is one of the Vanderbilts' maids, who is promptly taken into police custody. After the frenzy has died down, Consuelo is nowhere to be found. At Alva's request, Emma must employ her sleuthing skills to determine if the vanishing Vanderbilt has eloped with the beau of her choice--or if her disappearance may be directly connected to the murder. . .]]> 336 Alyssa Maxwell 0758290845 Susan 5 3.83 2014 Murder at Marble House (Gilded Newport Mysteries, #2)
author: Alyssa Maxwell
name: Susan
average rating: 3.83
book published: 2014
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2024/09/11
shelves: cozy-mystery, entertaining-fun, historical, murder-mystery, romance
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Murder in First Position (On Pointe #1)]]> 56027695
New York City police detective Jonah Sobol fixes upon Leah as the prime suspect. After all, she was the one who found the body, she had the most to gain from Arianna’s death, and it was her name Arianna whispered, just before she died.

Leah is desperate to clear her name, and she begins her own investigation, collaborating with her best friend and her ballet coach. As the three dancers sort through backstage intrigues, attempted blackmail, and a tangle of romantic liaisons, the noose around Leah’s neck grows tighter.

Ballet, with its merciless discipline, is all Leah has ever known. Is that enough to keep her one step ahead of the police—and the killer?]]> 0 Lori Robbins Susan 4
Merged review:

Great to have a murder mystery so convincingly in the world of ballet. Also refreshing is that the protagonist is a star feeling her age, not an ingenue. This delightful book set up a lively dysfunctional family and makes us care about the heroine's problems with being accused of murder.]]> 4.04 Murder in First Position (On Pointe #1)
author: Lori Robbins
name: Susan
average rating: 4.04
book published:
rating: 4
read at: 2023/02/13
date added: 2024/09/08
shelves:
review:
Great to have a murder mystery so convincingly in the world of ballet. Also refreshing is that the protagonist is a star feeling her age, not an ingenue. This delightful book set up a lively dysfunctional family and makes us care about the heroine's problems with being accused of murder.

Merged review:

Great to have a murder mystery so convincingly in the world of ballet. Also refreshing is that the protagonist is a star feeling her age, not an ingenue. This delightful book set up a lively dysfunctional family and makes us care about the heroine's problems with being accused of murder.
]]> <![CDATA[An Art Lover's Guide to Paris and Murder (Countess of Harleigh Mystery, #7)]]> 200799237
Frances and her husband, George, have two points of interest in Paris. One is an impromptu holiday to visit the Paris Exposition. The other is personal. George’s Aunt Julia has requested her nephew’s help in looking into the suspicious death of renowned artist Paul Ducasse. Though Julia is not entirely forthcoming about her reasons, she is clearly a woman mourning a lost love.

At the exposition, swarming with tourists, tragedy casts a pall on the festivities. A footbridge collapses. Julia is among the casualties. However, she was not just another fateful victim. Julia was stabbed to death amid the chaos. With an official investigation at a standstill, George and Frances realize that to solve the case they must dig into Julia’s life—as well as Paul’s—and question everything and everyone in Julia’s coterie of artists and secrets.

They have no shortage of suspects. There is Paul’s inscrutable widow, Gabrielle. Paul’s art dealer and manager, Lucien. Julia’s friend Martine, a sculptress with a jealous streak. And art jurist, Monsieur Beaufoy. The investigation takes a turn when it’s revealed that George has inherited control of Julia’s estate—and another of her secrets. While George investigates, Frances safeguards their new legacy, and is drawn further into danger by a killer determined to keep the past buried.]]> 304 Dianne Freeman 1496745116 Susan 0 to-read 3.93 2024 An Art Lover's Guide to Paris and Murder (Countess of Harleigh Mystery, #7)
author: Dianne Freeman
name: Susan
average rating: 3.93
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/09/06
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Murder at the White Palace (Sparks & Bainbridge, #6)]]> 195790850 In post-WWII London, the matchmakers of The Right Sort Marriage Bureau are involved in yet another murder.In the immediate post-war days of London, two unlikely partners have undertaken an even more unlikely, if necessary, business venture—The Right Sort Marriage Bureau. The two partners are Miss Iris Sparks, a woman with a dangerous—and never discussed—past in British intelligence and Mrs. Gwendolyn Bainbridge, a genteel war widow with a young son entangled in a complicated aristocratic family. Looking to throw a New Year’s Eve soiree for their clients, Sparks and Bainbridge scout an empty building—only to find a body contained in the walls. What they initially assume is a victim of the recent Blitz is uncovered instead to be a murder victim—stabbed several times.To make matters worse, the owner of the building is Sparks� beau, Archie Spelling, who has ties to a variety of enterprises on the right and wrong sides of the law, and the main investigator for the police is her ex-fiancée. Gwen, too, is dealing with her own complicated love life, as she tentatively steps back into the dating pool for the first time since her husband’s death. Murder is not something they want to add to their plates, but the murderer may be closer to home than is comfortable, and they must do all they can to protect their clients, their business and themselves.]]> 320 Allison Montclair 1250854210 Susan 0 to-read 4.14 2024 Murder at the White Palace (Sparks & Bainbridge, #6)
author: Allison Montclair
name: Susan
average rating: 4.14
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/09/06
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Murder at the Breakers (Gilded Newport Mysteries #1)]]> 18167479 For fans of HBO’s The Gilded Age, explore the dark side of the alluring world of America’s 19th century elite in this gripping series of riveting mysteries�

Newport, Rhode Island, August 1895: She may be a less well-heeled relation, but as second cousin to millionaire patriarch Cornelius Vanderbilt, twenty-one-year-old Emma Cross is on the guest list for a grand ball at the Breakers, the Vanderbilts� summer home. She also has a job to do—report on the event for the society page of the Newport Observer.

But Emma observes much more than glitz and gaiety when she witnesses a murder. The victim is Cornelius Vanderbilt’s financial secretary, who plunges off a balcony faster than falling stock prices. Emma’s black sheep brother Brady is found in Cornelius’s bedroom passed out next to a bottle of bourbon and stolen plans for a new railroad line. Brady has barely come to before the police have arrested him for the murder. But Emma is sure someone is trying to railroad her brother and resolves to find the real killer at any cost…]]> 282 Alyssa Maxwell 0758290829 Susan 0 to-read 3.62 2014 Murder at the Breakers (Gilded Newport Mysteries #1)
author: Alyssa Maxwell
name: Susan
average rating: 3.62
book published: 2014
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/09/06
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Death at the Sign of the Rook (Jackson Brodie, #6)]]> 203164357 The stage is set. Marooned overnight by a snowstorm in a grand country house are a cast of characters and a setting that even Agatha Christie might recognize � a vicar, an Army major, a Dowager, a sleuth and his sidekick - except that the sleuth is Jackson Brodie, and the ‘sidekick� is DC Reggie Chase.

The crumbling house - Burton Makepeace and its chatelaine the Dowager Lady Milton - suffered the loss of their last remaining painting of any value, a Turner, some years ago. The housekeeper, Sophie, who disappeared the same night, is suspected of stealing it.

Jackson, a reluctant hostage to the snowstorm, has been investigating the theft of another The Woman with a Weasel, a portrait, taken from the house of an elderly widow, on the morning she died. The suspect this time is the widow’s carer, Melanie. Is this a coincidence or is there a connection? And what secrets does The Woman with a Weasel hold? The puzzle is Jackson’s to solve. And let’s not forget that a convicted murderer is on the run on the moors around Burton Makepeace.

All the while, in a bid to make money, Burton Makepeace is determined to keep hosting a shambolic Murder Mystery that acts as a backdrop while the real drama is being played out in the house.

A brilliantly plotted, supremely entertaining, and utterly compulsive tour de force from a great writer at the height of her powers.]]> 320 Kate Atkinson 0385547994 Susan 0 to-read 3.69 2024 Death at the Sign of the Rook (Jackson Brodie, #6)
author: Kate Atkinson
name: Susan
average rating: 3.69
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/09/03
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[A Cryptic Clue (Hunter and Clewe #1)]]> 62989600
Sixty-year-old Jane Hunter, forced into early retirement from her job as a university librarian, is seeking a new challenge to keep her spirits up and supplement her meager pension. But as she’s about to discover, a retiree’s life can bring new thrills—and new dangers.

Cameron “Cam� Clewe, an eccentric 33-year-old collector, is also seeking something—an archivist to inventory his ever-expanding compendium of rare books and artifacts. Jane’s thrilled to be hired on by Cam and to uncover the secrets of his latest acquisition, a trove of items related to the classic mystery and detective authors. But Jane’s delight is upended when a body is discovered in Cam’s library. The victim, heir to a pharmaceutical fortune, was the last in line of Cam’s failed romances—and now he’s suspect number one.

Cam vows to use his intelligence and deductive skills to clear his name—but with a slight case of agoraphobia, rampant anxiety, and limited social skills, he’ll need some help. It comes down to Jane to exonerate her new boss—but is he truly innocent?]]> 320 Victoria Gilbert Susan 0 to-read 3.63 2023 A Cryptic Clue (Hunter and Clewe #1)
author: Victoria Gilbert
name: Susan
average rating: 3.63
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/09/03
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[We Three Queens (A Royal Spyness Mystery, #18)]]> 207611575 New mother Lady Georgiana "Georgie" Rannoch finds herself trying to separate fact from fiction when a murder occurs while a film is being made on the grounds of her estate in a new Royal Spyness Mystery from beloved bestselling author Rhys Bowen.It's late 1936, and King Edward is in turmoil, having fallen in love with the scandalously divorced and even more scandalously American Wallis Simpson. He wants to marry her but knows that doing so will jeopardize his crown. Edward confides in his dear friend Darcy, Georgie's husband, and the couple agree to hide Wallis in their home while Edward figures out what to do. But unbeknownst to Georgie and Darcy, Sir Hubert, the owner of the estate, has given a film crew permission to shoot a motion picture about Henry the Eighth and Anne Boleyn on the grounds. Trying to keep Mrs. Simpson hidden while raising a newborn baby seems like it couldn't be any more stressful for the Rannochs, until one of the stars of the film is found murdered on set. Georgie must solve the murder for king and country before scandal threatens to envelop them all.]]> 336 Rhys Bowen 0593641361 Susan 0 to-read 3.86 2024 We Three Queens (A Royal Spyness Mystery, #18)
author: Rhys Bowen
name: Susan
average rating: 3.86
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/09/01
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Spring Festival in Akaiwa: An Akitada Novel]]> 199205004 313 I. J. Parker Susan 5 murder-mystery 4.33 Spring Festival in Akaiwa: An Akitada Novel
author: I. J. Parker
name: Susan
average rating: 4.33
book published:
rating: 5
read at: 2024/08/03
date added: 2024/08/03
shelves: murder-mystery
review:
I love the Akitada series because he continues to grow and struggle with life both as an administrator in a complex unfair hierarchy and as a well meaning patriarch. Here Akitada develops family problems after he loses his temper and dismisses his difficult secretary. It seems like everyone turns against him and his murder solving is not going too well either. Then the abbot complains to Akitada's superiors and more than his job is on the line. Time to fire up the old retainers and get on the road!
]]> <![CDATA[Evocation (The Summoner’s Circle, #1)]]> 123288408 The Devil knows your name, David Aristarkhov.

As a teen, David Aristarkhov was a psychic prodigy, operating under the shadow of his oppressive occultist father. Now, years after his father’s death and rapidly approaching his thirtieth birthday, he is content with the high-powered life he’s curated as a Boston attorney, moonlighting as a powerful medium for his secret society.

But with power comes a price, and the Devil has come to collect on an ancestral deal. David’s days are numbered, and death looms at his door.

Reluctantly, he reaches out to the only person he’s ever trusted, his ex-boyfriend and secret Society rival Rhys, for help. However, the only way to get to Rhys is through his wife, Moira. Thrust into each other’s care, emotions once buried deep resurface, and the trio race to figure out their feelings for one another before the Devil steals David away for good�

The first book in a spellbinding and vibrant new series from The Sunday Times bestselling author of A Dowry of Blood. ]]> 301 S.T. Gibson 191520268X Susan 0 to-read 3.61 2024 Evocation (The Summoner’s Circle, #1)
author: S.T. Gibson
name: Susan
average rating: 3.61
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/07/26
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[When Among Crows (Curse Bearer, #1)]]> 195790597 When Among Crows is swift and striking, drawing from the deep well of Slavic folklore and asking if redemption and atonement can be found in embracing what we most fear.

We bear the sword, and we bear the pain of the sword.

On Kupala Night, Dymitr arrives in Chicago’s monstrous, magical underworld with a perilous mission: pick the mythical fern flower and offer it to a cursed creature in exchange for help finding the legendary witch Baba Jaga.

Ala is a fear-eating zmora afflicted with a bloodline curse that’s slowly killing her. She's just desperate enough to say yes to Dymitr, even if she doesn’t know his motives.

Over the course of one night, Ala and Dymitr risk life and limb in search of Baba Jaga, and begin to build a tentative friendship. . . but when Ala finds out what Dymitr is hiding, it could destroy them both.]]> 166 Veronica Roth 1250855489 Susan 0 to-read 3.71 2024 When Among Crows (Curse Bearer, #1)
author: Veronica Roth
name: Susan
average rating: 3.71
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/07/26
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> The Briar Club 181110045 A haunting and powerful story of female friendships and secrets in a Washington, D.C. boardinghouse during the McCarthy era.

Washington, D.C., 1950. Everyone keeps to themselves at Briarwood House, a down-at-the-heels all-female boardinghouse in the heart of the nation’s capital, where secrets hide behind white picket fences. But when the lovely, mysterious widow Grace March moves into the attic, she draws her oddball collection of neighbors into unlikely friendship: poised English beauty Fliss whose facade of perfect wife and mother covers gaping inner wounds; police officer’s daughter Nora, who is entangled with a shadowy gangster; frustrated baseball star Bea, whose career has ended along with the women’s baseball league of WWII; and poisonous, gung-ho Arlene, who has thrown herself into McCarthy’s Red Scare.

Grace’s weekly attic-room dinner parties and window-brewed sun tea become a healing balm on all their lives, but she hides a terrible secret of her own. When a shocking act of violence tears apart the house, the Briar Club women must decide once and for all: Who is the true enemy in their midst?]]> 432 Kate Quinn 0063244748 Susan 0 to-read 4.26 2024 The Briar Club
author: Kate Quinn
name: Susan
average rating: 4.26
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/07/26
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Bear 196056205 A mesmerising novel of two sisters on a Pacific Northwest island whose lives are upended by an unexpected visitor � a tale of family, obsession, and a mysterious creature in the woods, by the celebrated, bestselling author of Disappearing Earth.

They were sisters and they would last past the end of time.

Sam and her sister, Elena, dream of another life. On the island off the coast of Washington where they were born and raised, they and their mother struggle to survive. Sam works long days on the ferry that delivers wealthy mainlanders to their vacation homes while Elena bartends at the local golf club, but even together they can’t earn enough to get by, stirring their frustration about the limits that shape their existence.

Then one night on the boat, Sam spots a bear swimming the dark waters of the channel. Where is it going? What does it want? When the bear turns up by their home, Sam, terrified, is more convinced than ever that it’s time to leave the island. But Elena responds differently to the massive beast. Enchanted by its presence, she throws into doubt the plan to escape and puts their long-held dream in danger.

A story about the bonds of sisterhood and the mysteries of the animals that live among us � and within us � Bear is a propulsive, mythical, rich novel from one of the most acclaimed young writers in America.]]> 304 Julia Phillips 0525520430 Susan 0 to-read 3.21 2024 Bear
author: Julia Phillips
name: Susan
average rating: 3.21
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/07/26
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Betrayal at Blackthorn Park (Evelyne Redfern, #2)]]> 203578919 With mystery, intrigue, and the hints of romance international bestselling author Julia Kelly is known for, Evelyne Redfern returns in Betrayal at Blackthorn Park.

Freshly graduated from a rigorous training program in all things spy craft, former typist Evelyne Redfern is eager for her first assignment as a field agent helping Britain win the war. However, when she learns her first task is performing a simple security test at Blackthorn Park, a requisitioned manor house in the sleepy Sussex countryside, she can’t help her initial disappointment. Making matters worse, her handler is to be David Poole, a fellow agent who manages to be both strait-laced and dashing in annoyingly equal measure. However, Evelyne soon realizes that Blackthorn Park is more than meets the eye, and an upcoming visit from Winston Churchill means that security at the secret weapons research and development facility is of the utmost importance.

When Evelyne discovers Blackthorn Park’s chief engineer dead in his office, her simple assignment becomes more complicated. Evelyne must use all of her—and David’s—detection skills to root out who is responsible and uncover layers of deception that could change the course of the war.]]> 320 Julia Kelly 1250865514 Susan 0 to-read 3.88 2024 Betrayal at Blackthorn Park (Evelyne Redfern, #2)
author: Julia Kelly
name: Susan
average rating: 3.88
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/07/26
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> The Gilded Cage of Woman 214968311 The Intimate Memoir of Margaret Bryan (1757�1836)

Even the most privileged woman’s glass ceiling in Georgian England was limited to a wealthy, titled husband and, if all things went well, perpetual pregnancy—boys first, please. But despite the pressures on her to marry, headstrong Margaret Bryan, always more drawn to numbers and stars than needles and threads, determines early in her life to courageously chart her own path to a world-class scientific education and an occupation of her own choosing.

When Margaret comes into an inheritance, she decides to make use of her hard-won scholarship and open her own school to teach girls math and science. There, she gains a newfound independence and the friendship of two of England’s most influential noblewomen, who teach her how to leverage her image to advance her publishing agenda. Ushered into the London Ton and the Royal Society, unwelcoming of educated and intelligent spinsters like her, Margaret uncompromisingly embarks on a journey to pursue her career and find personal happiness with the support of her unconventional family and the attentions of a progressive royal prince.

Drawing from her years of research on this extraordinary historical figure, Jayne Catherine Conway tells the forgotten story of her distant respected mathematician, astronomer, educator, and author who overcame tremendous societal oppression to redefine the limitations of her destined life.]]> 274 Jayne Catherine Conway Susan 0 to-read 3.91 The Gilded Cage of Woman
author: Jayne Catherine Conway
name: Susan
average rating: 3.91
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/07/24
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Gathering Mist (Timber Creek K-9 Mystery, #9)]]> 205015148 Secrets hide within the fog deep in the mossy forests of the Pacific Northwest, in this ninth thrilling installment in award-winning author Margaret Mizushima’s Timber Creek K-9 Mystery series. Deputy Mattie Wray, formerly Mattie Cobb, is summoned to Washington’s Olympic peninsula for an urgent search and rescue mission to find a celebrity’s missing child. With only a week left before her wedding, Mattie is hesitant to leave Timber Creek, but her K-9 partner Robo’s tracking skills are needed.Dense forest, chilling rain, and unfriendly locals hamper their efforts, and soon Mattie suspects something more sinister than a lost child is at play. When one of the SAR dogs becomes ill, her fiancé Cole Walker suspects poison. Fearing for Mattie’s and Robo’s safety, Cole joins the search and rescue team as veterinary support.Secrets that have lain hidden within the rugged terrain come to light and when it is uncovered that the missing child was kidnapped, the search becomes a full-blown crime scene investigation, forcing Mattie, Robo, and Cole into a desperate search to find the missing child before it's too late.]]> 256 Margaret Mizushima 1639108947 Susan 0 to-read 4.29 Gathering Mist (Timber Creek K-9 Mystery, #9)
author: Margaret Mizushima
name: Susan
average rating: 4.29
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/07/24
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Gilgamesh: A New English Version]]> 52329875 In the ancient city of Uruk, the tyrannical King Gilgamesh tramples citizens "like a wild bull". The gods send an untamed man named Enkidu to control the ruthless king, but after fighting, Enkidu and Gilgamesh become great friends and embark on a series of adventures. They kill fearsome creatures before Enkidu succumbs to disease, leaving Gilgamesh despondent and alone. Eventually, Gilgamesh moves forward, and his quest becomes a soul-searching journey of self-discovery.

Mitchell's treatment of this extraordinary work is the finest yet, surpassing previous versions in its preservation of the wisdom and beauty of the original.

©2004 Stephen Mitchell (P)2004 Recorded Books LLC]]> 290 Anonymous 0743261690 Susan 3 4.04 -1200 Gilgamesh: A New English Version
author: Anonymous
name: Susan
average rating: 4.04
book published: -1200
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 2024/06/16
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Brush with Death (Gray Whale Inn Mystery, #5)]]> 16159639
With an upcoming gallery show and a popular artist visiting Cranberry Island, art is on everyone's minds--especially innkeeper Natalie Barnes. When Gwen, Natalie's niece, is invited to present her paintings at the art show, Natalie is torn between worrying about stressed out Gwen, the arrival of her future mother-in-law, and the threat of foreclosure on the Gray Whale Inn. But then Natalie finds Gwen's mentor dead. Will she uncover the truth behind this murder masterpiece?]]> 322 Karen MacInerney 0738734594 Susan 5 3.91 2013 Brush with Death (Gray Whale Inn Mystery, #5)
author: Karen MacInerney
name: Susan
average rating: 3.91
book published: 2013
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2024/06/14
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Berried to the Hilt (Gray Whale Inn Mystery, #4)]]> 7946598 Myra Barton, the missing ship of island sea captain Jonah Selfridge? Or the elusive Black Marguerite, which belonged to one of the most notorious pirates of the 17th century and vanished without a trace--except for the ghost ship that old-timers say roams the water on fog-shrouded nights? Soon the island is swarming with marine archaeologists and treasure hunters. It's good news for Natalie--and for the Gray Whale Inn--until a body turns up floating near the wreck. Natalie finds herself immersed in the world of pirates and sunken treasure, both past and present. Will she solve the mystery and find the killer in time? Or will Natalie be the next to join the lost ship's crew, down in Davy Jones' locker?]]> 278 Karen MacInerney 0738719668 Susan 4 3.87 2010 Berried to the Hilt (Gray Whale Inn Mystery, #4)
author: Karen MacInerney
name: Susan
average rating: 3.87
book published: 2010
rating: 4
read at: 2024/06/14
date added: 2024/06/14
shelves: cozy-mystery, entertaining-fun, murder-mystery
review:
Who knew you could blend long dead pirates, cranberries and fabulous cooking to create a delicious cozy mystery. I am so enjoying this whole series. Please keep writing!!!
]]> <![CDATA[The Black Bird Oracle (All Souls, #5)]]> 203518955 Diana Bishop journeys to the darkest places within herself—and her family history—in the highly anticipated fifth novel of the beloved #1 New York Times bestselling All Souls series.

Deborah Harkness first introduced the world to Diana Bishop, Oxford scholar and witch, and vampire geneticist Matthew de Clairmont in A Discovery of Witches. Drawn to each other despite long-standing taboos, these two otherworldly beings found themselves at the center of a battle for a lost, enchanted manuscript known as Ashmole 782. Since then, they have fallen in love, traveled to Elizabethan England, dissolved the Covenant between the three species, and awoken the dark powers within Diana’s family line.

Now, Diana and Matthew receive a formal demand from the Congregation: They must test the magic of their seven-year-old twins, Pip and Rebecca. Concerned with their safety and desperate to avoid the same fate that led her parents to spellbind her, Diana decides to forge a different path for her family’s future and answers a message from a great-aunt she never knew existed, Gwyneth Proctor, whose invitation simply reads: It’s time you came home, Diana.

On the hallowed ground of Ravenswood, the Proctor family home, and under the tutelage of Gwyneth, a talented witch grounded in higher magic, a new era begins for Diana: a confrontation with her family’s dark past, and a reckoning for her own desire for even greater power—if she can let go, finally, of her fear of wielding it.]]> 444 Deborah Harkness 0593724771 Susan 0 to-read 3.95 2024 The Black Bird Oracle (All Souls, #5)
author: Deborah Harkness
name: Susan
average rating: 3.95
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/05/28
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Zodiac Pets 212010424 In his follow-up to Ring On Deli, Eric Giroux returns to the hard-luck hamlet of Pennacook, Massachusetts, for a misfit's quest to save the local democracy.

Wendy Zhou has just lost her father and is off to a brawling start in decrepit Pennacook, where wild boar roam the streets and dumpster living is the next big thing. She finds a new sense of mission after joining the other middle-schoolers staffing the town paper, the Pennacook Beat. But when dark forces aim to sell the town (“some assembly required�) and plunk a giant dome over it, can a still-shattered Wendy find the strength to fight them? And why does Graham Bundt—the supposed John Adams descendant who rules the Beat like some sloppy Perry White—keep tormenting Wendy with picayune assignments and inane Fun Fridays?

Wendy tells the tale as a college senior rewriting Zodiac Pets, her account of the Pennacook Dome debacle. She’s inspired to add new chapters in which she travels down the East Coast with Lena Ko—not only her chauffeur but her troubled and much-loved girlfriend—to interview her former Beat colleagues for the book. In the process of rewriting, she takes a fresh look at Pennacook, herself, and even the rascally Graham.]]> 306 Eric Giroux 1734224045 Susan 0 to-read 4.73 Zodiac Pets
author: Eric Giroux
name: Susan
average rating: 4.73
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/05/28
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> The Snap 202102030
But on the same morning that Poppy’s legendary head coach is found dead in his home, five notes ordering members to "tell the truth or pay the consequences" hit the WAGS like 300-pound linebackers.Who's aware of the little group they've tried to keep under wraps, and what reason would they have to threaten it? As long-buried secrets are brought to light, Poppy is forced to revisit a dangerous mistake from the start of her career that puts everything she's built at risk.]]> 288 Elizabeth Staple 0593686179 Susan 0 to-read 3.53 2024 The Snap
author: Elizabeth Staple
name: Susan
average rating: 3.53
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/05/28
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Death of a Country Fried Redneck (Hayley Powell Food and Cocktails Mystery, #2)]]> 13588298
As a single mom, Hayley Powell already has a full plate—she’s got deadlines to make and a teenage daughter with eyes for an aspiring singer-songwriter. But when country music superstar Wade Springer rolls into town, Hayley spies an irresistible side gig: personal chef to her all-American idol. After he tries her home cooking, Wade’s so impressed that he hires her on the spot—and invites her to dine with him alone.

Hayley and Wade are hitting all the right notes…until a body turns up. Wade’s tour bus was torched overnight and a roadie named Mickey Pritchett came out well-done. But the real cause of death isn’t barbecue: Mickey was shot, his mouth stuffed with one of Hayley’s trademark chicken legs. An ornery drunk, Mickey had already made plenty of enemies in town, but Wade’s reputation is on the rocks. Hayley reckons it’s up to her to settle this mess—a charbroiled mystery with all the fixin’s.]]> 304 Lee Hollis 075826738X Susan 0 to-read 3.79 2012 Death of a Country Fried Redneck (Hayley Powell Food and Cocktails Mystery, #2)
author: Lee Hollis
name: Susan
average rating: 3.79
book published: 2012
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/05/28
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Candy Cane Murder (Hannah Swensen, #9.5)]]> 300388 ’Tis the season for suspicion in these three Christmas crime-solving confections—with recipes! “Entertaining…a sweet holiday treat for mystery lovers.”�Publishers Weekly

’Tis the season for trimming the tree, caroling, baking cookies, and waiting for Santa to drop down the chimney. But in this festive collection of whodunits, murder is also paying a visit�

Candy Cane Murder by New York Times-bestselling author Joanne Fluke
When a trail of candy canes leads to a corpse outfitted in a Santa suit on a snowy bank, Hannah Swensen sets out to discover who killed Kris Kringle�

The Dangers of Candy Canes by Laura Levine
A wealthy suburbanite takes a lethal tumble off his roof while installing a giant candy cane. Now it’s up to Jaine Austen to sift through a long list of scheming neighbors with dirty secrets in their stockings to expose a murderer�

Candy Canes Of Christmas Past by New York Times-bestselling author Leslie Meier
Lucy Stone must learn the mystery of a glass candy cane found smashed to bits near a corpse—to unlock the doors of Christmas past and find a killer who got away with murder.

Includes over 10 luscious holiday recipes!]]> 388 Joanne Fluke 0758221983 Susan 0 to-read 3.83 2007 Candy Cane Murder (Hannah Swensen, #9.5)
author: Joanne Fluke
name: Susan
average rating: 3.83
book published: 2007
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/05/28
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Her Name Is Murder 50416051
“Equal parts, gripping, mesmerizing, and spellbinding, HER NAME IS MURDER is an engrossing, action-packed tale of love and intrigue...� -Halo Scot, author of Edge of the Breach, I Will Kill You.

TV pilot script is being developed to be shopped to the top networks!
But I need your help! Grab your ebook and join Murder and crew on this adventure that's like no other! Leave a review and let me know what you loved from the book and need to see more of in the series! More music? We can do that? More Levi? Tress? Yep, that too. The show will be diverse and by US for US. And by "US" I mean all progressive minded fantasy lovers who love to see diverse characters achieving, loving, and of course, surviving the odds to throttle the bad guys!

More
Aside from our bisexual leading lady...
Black/Gay/ Levi Esmund is a Protector of the Ageless sculpted from Clay by Murder’s mother to be her companion. No one knows how tied the fates of the Protectors are to their charges. Levi wants a good book and a hot guy. Maybe, just maybe, he’d like to be a real boy.

Trans/Goth : Tress is also a Protector. A Trans-woman, and white-out Victorian goth who has learned to excel at glamours and wards. The Curse Of the Ageless prevents her from physically becoming a woman permanently. She’s devoted her life to helping trans-girls in need. There is only one problem. She has yet to figure out how to save herself.


Mild content
I don't usually post content warnings. My books seldom stray too far into the darker thoughts. They are there, but more around the edges. My books aren't excessively violent, nor do they feature explicit sex.
I'm making an exception here for pop culture references to a boy wizard who I shall not name. I never followed that author outside of the very mainstream tip of her works and at the time had no idea that those works would become possible trauma for people under the trans umbrella. Mind you, I'm under here too.

In the sequel, London Calling, Tress adresses her own complicated relationship with that franchise, which in some ways mirrors my own. Please don't stop reading over a reference! I promise I strive to make it right with even more inclusion as the books progress!]]> 191 A.C. Merkel Susan 0 to-read 4.10 Her Name Is Murder
author: A.C. Merkel
name: Susan
average rating: 4.10
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/05/28
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Heartstone (Matthew Shardlake, #5)]]> 7027569 634 C.J. Sansom 0230711251 Susan 0 4.32 2010 Heartstone (Matthew Shardlake, #5)
author: C.J. Sansom
name: Susan
average rating: 4.32
book published: 2010
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/05/25
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Sovereign (Matthew Shardlake, #3)]]> 138684
Already in the city are lawyer Matthew Shardlake and his assistant Jack Barak. As well as legal work processing petitions to the King, Shardlake has reluctantly undertaken a secret mission for Archbishop Cranmer � to ensure the welfare of an important but dangerous conspirator who is to be returned to London for interrogation.

But the murder of a York glazier involves Shardlake in deeper mysteries, connected not only to the prisoner in York Castle but to the royal family itself. And when Shardlake and Barak stumble upon a cache of secret documents which could threaten the Tudor throne, a chain of events unfolds that will lead to Shardlake facing the most terrifying fate of the age . . .]]> 583 C.J. Sansom 0670038318 Susan 5 4.21 2006 Sovereign (Matthew Shardlake, #3)
author: C.J. Sansom
name: Susan
average rating: 4.21
book published: 2006
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2024/05/25
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Dark Fire (Matthew Shardlake, #2)]]> 138683 501 C.J. Sansom 0143036432 Susan 5 4.27 2004 Dark Fire (Matthew Shardlake, #2)
author: C.J. Sansom
name: Susan
average rating: 4.27
book published: 2004
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2024/05/25
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Dissolution (Matthew Shardlake, #1)]]> 138685 456 C.J. Sansom 0330411969 Susan 5 4.05 2003 Dissolution (Matthew Shardlake, #1)
author: C.J. Sansom
name: Susan
average rating: 4.05
book published: 2003
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2024/05/25
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Diva Goes Overboard (A Domestic Diva Mystery, #17)]]> 197522419
In Old Town Alexandria’s unlikeliest match, Natasha Smith’s free-spirited mother, Wanda, is engaged to notoriously pompous antiques dealer, Orson Chatsworth—leaving Natasha to plan the entire wedding, beginning with an elaborate engagement party. For the extravagant affair, Natasha splurges on trendy food boards created by rising social media star, Stella St. James. The sumptuous boards go way beyond basic cheese and crackers, as Stella dazzles guests with picture-worthy butter boards, dessert boards, and even doughnut boards. Just as Natasha planned, the food is to die for—until someone actually does.

When the groom collapses, it seems as if a heart attack is to blame. Then guests discover Orson was poisoned, and suddenly Stella’s bespoke boards look a lot less appealing. But with an event this big, the spread of suspects is sure to be impressive. Could Orson’s killer be a jilted ex-lover? A money hungry relative? A bitter former business partner? When even Sophie is not above suspicion, she knows it’s time to get on board and scrape together an investigation of her own . . . before murder becomes the town’s next trend.

Includes delicious recipes, fabulous decorating tips, and easy entertaining hacks!]]> 336 Krista Davis 1496743423 Susan 0 to-read 4.19 The Diva Goes Overboard (A Domestic Diva Mystery, #17)
author: Krista Davis
name: Susan
average rating: 4.19
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/05/21
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Killer Gourmet (Savannah Reid Mystery, #20)]]> 22557300
When the Moonlight Magnolia gang learns their friends Ryan Stone and John Gibson are planning to open a chic new restaurant, they eagerly offer their input on everything from what dishes to serve to how many calories they should contain. But all Ryan and John can think about is how excited they are to have hired the temperamental but talented chef Baldwin Norwood. Too bad the only thing being sliced and diced in the kitchen is the chef himself. . .

As Savannah turns her attention from munchies to murder, she quickly realizes the cantankerous chef left a bad taste in everyone's mouth, and any number of people could have whipped up a recipe for revenge. Could the jilted sous chef he stabbed in the back have done the same to him? Perhaps the loyal girlfriend he took for granted was finally fed up. Or maybe the business partner whose career he ruined had an appetite for blood. Savannah has her work cut out for her, and just when she thinks there couldn't be any more suspects, she uncovers a plot more precarious than a perfect soufflé. . .]]> 304 G.A. McKevett 0758276575 Susan 5 3.92 2015 Killer Gourmet (Savannah Reid Mystery, #20)
author: G.A. McKevett
name: Susan
average rating: 3.92
book published: 2015
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2024/05/18
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Candy Corn Murder (A Lucy Stone Mystery, #22)]]> 22750015 248 Leslie Meier 0758277075 Susan 5 3.49 2015 Candy Corn Murder (A Lucy Stone Mystery, #22)
author: Leslie Meier
name: Susan
average rating: 3.49
book published: 2015
rating: 5
read at: 2024/05/18
date added: 2024/05/18
shelves: entertaining-fun, murder-mystery
review:
A delightful visit with Lucy and her family. The murder mystery is skilfully done. I am enjoying this author more and more!
]]> <![CDATA[The Comfort of Ghosts (Maisie Dobbs, #18)]]> 199703402
The Comfort of Ghosts completes Jacqueline Winspear’s ground-breaking and internationally bestselling series.

“An outstanding historical series.”—The New York Times

“Winspear is a brilliant writer, mixing the history and the mystery with the psychology of criminals and victims.”—The Historical Novel Society

Psychologist and investigator Maisie Dobbs unravels a profound mystery from her past in a war-torn nation grappling with its future.

London, 1945: Four adolescent orphans with a dark wartime history are squatting in a vacant Belgravia mansion—the owners having fled London under heavy Luftwaffe bombing. Psychologist and Investigator Maisie Dobbs visits the mansion on behalf of the owners and discovers that a demobilized soldier, gravely ill and reeling from his experiences overseas, has taken shelter with the group.

Maisie’s quest to bring comfort to the youngsters and the ailing soldier brings to light a decades-old mystery concerning Maisie’s first husband, James Compton, who was killed while piloting an experimental fighter aircraft. As Maisie unravels the threads of her dead husband’s life, she is forced to examine her own painful past and question beliefs she has always accepted as true.

The award-winning Maisie Dobbs series has garnered hundreds of thousands of followers, readers drawn to a woman who is of her time, yet familiar in ours—and who inspires with her resilience and capacity for endurance. This final assignment of her own choosing not only opens a new future for Maisie and her family, but serves as a fascinating portrayal of the challenges facing the people of Britain at the close of the Second World War.]]> 342 Jacqueline Winspear 1641296062 Susan 0 to-read 4.26 2024 The Comfort of Ghosts (Maisie Dobbs, #18)
author: Jacqueline Winspear
name: Susan
average rating: 4.26
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/05/06
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[How to Solve Your Own Murder (Castle Knoll Files, #1)]]> 181350367 For fans of Knives Out and The Thursday Murder Club, an enormously fun mystery about a woman who spends her entire life trying to prevent her foretold murder only to be proven right sixty years later, when she is found dead in her sprawling country estate.... Now it's up to her great-niece to catch the killer.

It’s 1965 and teenage Frances Adams is at an English country fair with her two best friends. But Frances’s night takes a hairpin turn when a fortune-teller makes a bone-chilling prediction: One day, Frances will be murdered. Frances spends a lifetime trying to solve a crime that hasn’t happened yet, compiling dirt on every person who crosses her path in an effort to prevent her own demise. For decades, no one takes Frances seriously, until nearly sixty years later, when Frances is found murdered, like she always said she would be.

In the present day, Annie Adams has been summoned to a meeting at the sprawling country estate of her wealthy and reclusive great-aunt Frances. But by the time Annie arrives in the quaint English village of Castle Knoll, Frances is already dead. Annie is determined to catch the killer, but thanks to Frances’s lifelong habit of digging up secrets and lies, it seems every endearing and eccentric villager might just have a motive for her murder. Can Annie safely unravel the dark mystery at the heart of Castle Knoll, or will dredging up the past throw her into the path of a killer?

As Annie gets closer to the truth, and closer to the danger, she starts to fear she might inherit her aunt’s fate instead of her fortune.]]> 358 Kristen Perrin 0593474015 Susan 0 to-read 3.76 2024 How to Solve Your Own Murder (Castle Knoll Files, #1)
author: Kristen Perrin
name: Susan
average rating: 3.76
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/04/22
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Cyanide with Christie (Crime with the Classics, 3)]]> 42070913 A game of charades ends in coldblooded murder in this entertaining cozy mystery, third in the Crime with the Classics series. Having finished transforming Windy Corner, the grand Victorian mansion she inherited from her great aunt, into a writers' retreat, widowed literature professor Emily Cavanaugh is ready to receive her first set of guests. But her careful planning is thrown into disarray by the unexpected arrival of outrageous true-crime writer, Cruella Crime, whose unpardonably rude behaviour is causing great offence. As a ferocious ice storm rages outside, the guests entertain one another with a game of charades. But their revelries are brought to a sudden halt by the discovery of a body in one of the guest bedrooms. When it transpires the victim was poisoned, Emily decides to take a leaf out of the book of her favourite detective writer, Agatha Christie, and investigate. But as she pursues her enquiries, it becomes chillingly clear that she herself may have been the intended victim...]]> 208 Katherine Bolger Hyde 0727888447 Susan 4 3.56 2019 Cyanide with Christie (Crime with the Classics, 3)
author: Katherine Bolger Hyde
name: Susan
average rating: 3.56
book published: 2019
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2024/04/12
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Bloodstains with Bronte (Crime with the Classics #2)]]> 33602100 Bloodstains with Bronte is the second in a series that will puzzle and please fans of mystery and masterpieces alike.

It’s a dark and stormy autumn on the Oregon coast. Windy Corner, the Victorian mansion Emily Cavanaugh inherited in Arsenic with Austen, is being remodeled into a writers' retreat. Two of the young workers, Jake and Roman, are showing too much of the wrong kind of interest in Katie, Emily's young single-mother housekeeper. Their boss, Jeremiah, is a disturbing presence in a different way with his obsessive, tormented piety. Soon the passions in the house grow as dark and stormy as the weather, and Emily begins to feel as if she’s living in a Brontë novel.

Meanwhile, to raise money for the local clinic, Emily and Katie host a murder mystery dinner on Halloween night. All goes well until the supposed corpse turns up actually dead—with Katie standing over him, a bloody knife in her hand.

Luke Richards, local sheriff and Emily’s true love, is forced to regard Katie as a suspect, but Emily refuses to accept the situation. Her loyalty to Katie crashes against her duty to Luke and to the truth as she fights to save Katie from a murder charge.]]> 288 Katherine Bolger Hyde 1250065488 Susan 4 3.39 2017 Bloodstains with Bronte (Crime with the Classics #2)
author: Katherine Bolger Hyde
name: Susan
average rating: 3.39
book published: 2017
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2024/04/12
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Arsenic with Austen (Crime with the Classics #1)]]> 26114258
Emily travels to the sleepy coastal village of Stony Beach, Oregon, to claim her inheritance, centered in a beautiful Victorian estate called Windy Corner but also including a substantial portion of the real estate of the whole town. As she gets to know the town's eccentric inhabitants--including her own once-and-possibly-future love, Sheriff Luke Richards--she learns of a covert plan to develop Stony Beach into a major resort. She also hears hints that her aunt may have been murdered. Soon another suspicious death confirms this, and before long Emily herself experiences a near-fatal accident.

Meanwhile, Emily reads Persuasion , hoping to find belated happiness with her first love as Anne Elliot did with Captain Wentworth. She notices a similarity between her not-quite-cousin Brock Runcible, heir to a smaller portion of her aunt's property, and Mr. Elliot in Persuasion , and her suspicions of Brock crystallize. But as she and Luke continue to investigate and events speed toward a climax, Emily realizes that underneath the innocent-looking rocks of Stony Beach lurk festering jealousies that would have shocked even the worst of Jane Austen's charming reprobates.]]> 312 Katherine Bolger Hyde 125006547X Susan 4 3.27 2016 Arsenic with Austen (Crime with the Classics #1)
author: Katherine Bolger Hyde
name: Susan
average rating: 3.27
book published: 2016
rating: 4
read at: 2024/03/12
date added: 2024/04/12
shelves: cozy-mystery, entertaining-fun
review:

]]> <![CDATA[How to Solve Your Own Murder (Castle Knoll Files, #1)]]> 181344911
It’s 1965 and teenage Frances Adams is at an English country fair with her two best friends. But Frances’s night takes a hairpin turn when a fortune-teller makes a bone-chilling One day, Frances will be murdered. Frances spends a lifetime trying to solve a crime that hasn’t happened yet, compiling dirt on every person who crosses her path in an effort to prevent her own demise. For decades, no one takes Frances seriously, until nearly sixty years later, when Frances is found murdered, like she always said she would be.

In the present day, Annie Adams has been summoned to a meeting at the sprawling country estate of her wealthy and reclusive great-aunt Frances. But by the time Annie arrives in the quaint English village of Castle Knoll, Frances is already dead. Annie is determined to catch the killer, but thanks to Frances’s lifelong habit of digging up secrets and lies, it seems every endearing and eccentric villager might just have a motive for her murder. Can Annie safely unravel the dark mystery at the heart of Castle Knoll, or will dredging up the past throw her into the path of a killer?

As Annie gets closer to the truth, and closer to the danger, she starts to fear she might inherit her aunt’s fate instead of her fortune.]]> 366 Kristen Perrin Susan 0 to-read 3.96 2024 How to Solve Your Own Murder (Castle Knoll Files, #1)
author: Kristen Perrin
name: Susan
average rating: 3.96
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/03/31
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Grace Under Pressure (Manor House Mystery, #1)]]> 7457122 From the author of the successful White House Chef mysteries.

Everyone wants a piece of millionaire Bennett Marshfield, owner of Marshfield Manor, but now it's up to a new curator Grace Wheaton and handsome groundskeeper Jack Embers to protect dear old Marshfield. But to do this, they'll have to investigate a botched Ponzi scheme, some torrid Wheaton family secrets-and sour grapes out for revenge.

]]> 310 Julie Hyzy 0425235211 Susan 4 3.81 2010 Grace Under Pressure (Manor House Mystery, #1)
author: Julie Hyzy
name: Susan
average rating: 3.81
book published: 2010
rating: 4
read at: 2024/03/31
date added: 2024/03/31
shelves: cozy-mystery, entertaining-fun, murder-mystery
review:
Delighted to discover this series about Grace who returns to her birthplace and takes a job in a long admired grand house and museum. Not only does murder produce extreme pressures, so does it serve to start to unpick Grace's own twisted ties the wealthy family. Full of lively characters we want to know more of, this absorbing cozy mystery sets up a world I plan to return to again and again!
]]> <![CDATA[Revelation (Matthew Shardlake, #4)]]> 820480 550 C.J. Sansom 1405092726 Susan 5 historical 4.34 2008 Revelation (Matthew Shardlake, #4)
author: C.J. Sansom
name: Susan
average rating: 4.34
book published: 2008
rating: 5
read at: 2024/03/31
date added: 2024/03/31
shelves: historical
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Trouble in Queenstown (Vandy Myrick Mystery #1)]]> 195790826
Evander “Vandy� Myrick became a cop to fulfill her father’s expectations. After her world cratered, she became a private eye to satisfy her own. Now she's back in Queenstown, New Jersey, her childhood home, in search of solace and recovery. It's a small community of nine thousand souls crammed into twelve square miles, fenced by cornfields, warehouses, pharma labs, and tract housing. As a Black woman, privacy is hard to come by in "Q-Town," and worth guarding.

For Vandy, that means working plenty of divorce cases. They’re nasty, lucrative, and fun in an unwholesome way. To keep the cash flowing and expand her local contacts, Vandy agrees to take on a new client, the mayor’s nephew, Leo Hannah. Leo wants Vandy to tail his wife to uncover evidence for a divorce suit.

At first the surveillance job seems routine, but Vandy soon realizes there’s trouble beneath the bland surface of the case when a racially charged murder with connections to the Hannah family rocks Q-Town. Fingers point. Clients appear. Opposition to the inquiry hardens. And Vandy’s sight lines begin to blur as her determination to uncover the truth deepens. She’s a minor league PI with few friends and no resources. Logic pegs her chances of solving the case between slim and hell no. But logic isn’t her strong suit. Vandy won’t back off.]]> 320 Delia C. Pitts 1250904218 Susan 0 to-read 3.61 2024 Trouble in Queenstown (Vandy Myrick Mystery #1)
author: Delia C. Pitts
name: Susan
average rating: 3.61
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/03/19
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[A Murder Most French (American In Paris Mystery, #2)]]> 194477948
The graceful domes of Sacré Coeur, the imposing cathedral of Notre Dame, the breathtaking Tour
Eiffel . . . Paris is overflowing with stunning architecture. Yet for Tabitha Knight, the humble building that houses the Cordon Bleu cooking school, where her friend Julia studies, is just as notable. Tabitha is always happy to sample Julia’s latest creation and try to recreate dishes for her Grand-père and Oncle Rafe.

The legendary school also holds open demonstrations, where the public can see its master chefs at work. It’s a treat for any aspiring cook—until one of the chefs pours himself a glass of wine from a rare vintage bottle—and promptly drops dead in front of Julia, Tabitha, and other assembled guests. It’s the first in a frightening string of poisonings that turns grimly personal when cyanide-laced wine is sent to someone very close to Tabitha.

What kind of killer chooses such a means of murder, and why? Tabitha and Julia hope to find answers in order to save innocent lives—not to mention a few exquisite vintages—even as their investigation takes them through some of the darkest corners of France’s wartime past . . .]]> 272 Colleen Cambridge 1496739620 Susan 0 to-read 3.89 2024 A Murder Most French (American In Paris Mystery, #2)
author: Colleen Cambridge
name: Susan
average rating: 3.89
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/03/19
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Grace Interrupted (Manor House Mystery, #2)]]> 9727331 278 Julie Hyzy 0425241904 Susan 5
It's all about relationships as the best mysteries are. ]]> 3.95 2011 Grace Interrupted (Manor House Mystery, #2)
author: Julie Hyzy
name: Susan
average rating: 3.95
book published: 2011
rating: 5
read at: 2024/03/08
date added: 2024/03/08
shelves: cozy-mystery, entertaining-fun, murder-mystery
review:
Book 2 of this charming yet also thrilling series ups the suspense level with a murder of a real cad who has a queue of persons with good reasons to do him harm. Grace is caught between competing groups of interests in Marshfield Manor from Civil War re-enactors to a family she is developing a personal interest in. And that is before she has to fend off benefactor and employer Lord of the Manor who wants to severely restrict her independence in the name of solving her acute financial problems.

It's all about relationships as the best mysteries are.
]]> <![CDATA[Murder in the Tea Leaves (A Tea Shop Mystery, #27)]]> 174136859 It’s Lights, Action, Murder as tea maven Theodosia Browning scrambles for clues in this latest installment of the New York Times bestselling series.

When Theodosia Browning reads the tea leaves on the set of the movie, Dark Fortunes, things go from spooky to worse. Lights are dimmed, the camera rolls, and red hot sparks fly as the film’s director is murdered in a tricky electrical accident.

Or was it an accident? Though the cast and crew are stunned beyond belief, nobody admits to seeing a thing. And when Theodosia’s friend, Delaine, becomes the prime suspect, Theodosia begins her own shadow investigation. But who among this Hollywood cast and crew had murder on their mind? The screenwriter is a self-centered pot head, the leading actress is trying to wiggle out of her contract, the brand new director seems indifferent, and nobody trusts the slippery-when-dry Hollywood agent.

Between hosting a Breakfast at Tiffany’s Tea, a Poetry Tea, and trying to launch her own chocolate line, Theodosia doggedly hunts down clues and explores the seemingly haunted Brittlebank Manor where the murder took place. And just when she’s ready to pounce, a Charleston Film Board member is also murdered, throwing everything into total disarray. But this clever killer will go to any lengths to hide his misdeeds as Theodosia soon finds out when she and her tea sommelier, Drayton, get caught up in a dangerous stakeout.


INCLUDES DELICIOUS RECIPES AND TEA TIME TIPS!]]> 291 Laura Childs 0593200993 Susan 0 to-read 3.90 2024 Murder in the Tea Leaves (A Tea Shop Mystery, #27)
author: Laura Childs
name: Susan
average rating: 3.90
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/03/05
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Alchemy Fire Murder (Mary Wandwalker #2)]]> 94399604
Mary agrees to get the real scroll back as part of a commission for her three-person Enquiry Agency. However, tragedy strikes in Los Angeles. Before Mary can legally obtain the scroll, a young man is murdered, and the treasure stolen.

Murder and theft are complicated by the disappearance in the UK of a witch mysteriously connected to the scroll. While Mary's colleague, Caroline, risks her sanity to go undercover in a dodgy mental hospital, her lover, Anna resorts to desperate measures. These, and Anna's silence over blackmail, threaten the survival of the Agency. Mary teams up with the victim's brother to track the killer, and the real alchemy scroll. Solving crimes on two continents will involve a rogue pharmaceutical corporation, Janet the witch, the Holywell Retreat Center near Oxford, plus the trafficked women they support, a graduate school in California, and a life-threatening mountain-consuming wildfire. Can these inexperienced detectives triumph over corrupt professors and racist attempts to rewrite history? Can they remake their fragile family? Will the extraordinary story of Robert Le More prove a source of hope for today?]]> 352 Susan Rowland 1685031293 Susan 5 cozy-mystery 4.30 2023 The Alchemy Fire Murder (Mary Wandwalker #2)
author: Susan Rowland
name: Susan
average rating: 4.30
book published: 2023
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2024/02/25
shelves: cozy-mystery
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Murder on Family Grounds (Mary Wandwalker #3)]]> 205338088 334 Susan Rowland 1685032109 Susan 5 4.49 2024 Murder on Family Grounds (Mary Wandwalker #3)
author: Susan Rowland
name: Susan
average rating: 4.49
book published: 2024
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2024/02/25
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Date With Death (The Dales Detective, #1)]]> 68658197
Samson O’Brien has been dismissed from the police force, and returns to his hometown of Bruncliffe in the Yorkshire Dales to set up the Dales Detective Agency. However, the villagers aren’t that welcoming to a man they see as trouble.

Delilah Metcalfe is struggling to keep her business, the Dales Dating Agency, afloat as well as trying to control her wayward dog, Tolpuddle, when Samson’s first case � a supposed suicide � takes an unexpected turn, and a trail of deaths lead back to the door of Delilah’s agency.

With suspicion hanging over someone they both care for, the two feuding neighbours soon realize that they need to work together to solve the mystery of the dating deaths. But working together is easier said than done . . .

Full of wit, warmth and characters you’ll care about, continue the murder mystery series with Date with Malice.

‘A classic whodunit set in the spectacular landscape of the Yorkshire Dales . . . A satisfying read riddled with dry Yorkshire humour (and dry-stone walls)� � Cath Staincliffe, author of the Scott & Bailey series.]]> 400 Julia Chapman 1035002361 Susan 5
Delilah and Samson may be obvious names for a future pair, but they do not seem to have read the bible. Rather, they are on more of a collision course as the ex cop and the proprietor of a dating agency stuggle to share an office building. Plus clients in common is a problem when bodies pile up. Recommended for lovers of the quirky and atmospheric. ]]> 3.82 2017 Date With Death (The Dales Detective, #1)
author: Julia Chapman
name: Susan
average rating: 3.82
book published: 2017
rating: 5
read at: 2024/02/25
date added: 2024/02/25
shelves: cozy-mystery, entertaining-fun, murder-mystery
review:
When you start buying later books in a series only a third way in, you know you are on to something good. There is a real whiff of authenticity about this series getting stuck into the Yorkshire Dales which is more Reginald Hill than the over stickness of other authors mentioned.

Delilah and Samson may be obvious names for a future pair, but they do not seem to have read the bible. Rather, they are on more of a collision course as the ex cop and the proprietor of a dating agency stuggle to share an office building. Plus clients in common is a problem when bodies pile up. Recommended for lovers of the quirky and atmospheric.
]]> <![CDATA[Murder in the Piazza (Maggie White Mysteries #1)]]> 54888399 Jen Collins Moore 1947915711 Susan 4 3.76 Murder in the Piazza (Maggie White Mysteries #1)
author: Jen Collins Moore
name: Susan
average rating: 3.76
book published:
rating: 4
read at: 2024/02/25
date added: 2024/02/25
shelves: cozy-mystery, murder-mystery, entertaining-fun
review:
Very enjoyable American view of Rome and great twisty plot. The sleuth is so likeable that I felt very agitated when her domestic life threatened. I am definitely reading more of these. Especially plus is fuzzy relationship to the law of some characters that I hope to meet again!
]]> <![CDATA[The Proof of the Pudding (Her Royal Spyness #17)]]> 112974876
Georgie, back home at her estate in Eynsleigh, impatiently awaits the birth of her baby. But she has plenty to occupy her new chef, Pierre, has arrived from Paris, and Sir Hubert, who owns Eynsleigh, is back from his latest expedition. It's time for Georgie to throw her first house party to celebrate his return and show off her new chef. The dinner party is a smashing success. Sir Mortimer Mordred—famous author of creepy Gothic horror novels—is one of the guests. He recently purchased a nearby Elizabethan manor nearby because it has a famous poison garden. After the dinner, Sir Mortimer approaches Georgie and asks to borrow her new chef for his upcoming party, and Georgie and Darcy, her dashing husband, are invited!

The tour of the poison garden is fascinating, as is Sir Mortimer’s laboratory. Shockingly, just after the banquet several of the guests become sick. And one dies, apparently poisoned by berries from the garden. But how could this be when they all ate the same meal and the same delectable dessert? Georgie has to find the culprit to save her new chef and her own reputation—all before her bundle of joy arrives!]]> 292 Rhys Bowen 0593437888 Susan 5 Part of the delight of this book is re-visiting old friends, with the ghastly sister-in-law, unmaternal mother and Princess Zou Zou popping up. However it is up to Georgie to save Pierre from the way too blunt instrument of British justice. Of course she does acquire help and support from another guest at the fatal dinner, Agatha Christie herself.
One of the delights of this series is Bowen trying out various generic angles. Recently, Georgie and Belinda wandered into Rebecca territory - now they embrace Christies country-house murder mysteries. (although I hope we get Georgie and the abdication crisis soon!)]]> 3.89 2023 The Proof of the Pudding (Her Royal Spyness #17)
author: Rhys Bowen
name: Susan
average rating: 3.89
book published: 2023
rating: 5
read at: 2023/12/29
date added: 2023/12/29
shelves: cozy-mystery, entertaining-fun, historical
review:
Georgiana Rannoch-O'Mara is happy and very pregnant. Her very first dinner party with new french chef goes swimmingly so she agrees to loan out chef Pierre to a neighbor who writes macabre thrillers and has a poison garden. What could possibly go wrong?
Part of the delight of this book is re-visiting old friends, with the ghastly sister-in-law, unmaternal mother and Princess Zou Zou popping up. However it is up to Georgie to save Pierre from the way too blunt instrument of British justice. Of course she does acquire help and support from another guest at the fatal dinner, Agatha Christie herself.
One of the delights of this series is Bowen trying out various generic angles. Recently, Georgie and Belinda wandered into Rebecca territory - now they embrace Christies country-house murder mysteries. (although I hope we get Georgie and the abdication crisis soon!)
]]> <![CDATA[Hop Scot (A Last Ditch mystery Book 6)]]> 178653757 It's all aboard for a Campbell Clan Christmas! Lexy swaps cinnamon lattes for boiled sprouts when the Last Ditch crew travel from California to an idyllic Scottish village for the holidays, but something very unmerry is lurking below the surface . . .

Lexy Campbell is long overdue a trip to Scotland to see her parents, and an unexpected death in the extended Last Ditch Motel family makes Christmas in a bungalow in Dundee with nine others seem almost irresistible.
But when Lexy and the Last Ditch crew hop across the Atlantic, there's a change of plan and they're whisked off to Mistletoe Hall in the pretty village of Yule, where the surprises continue. The news that a man disappeared from the crumbling pile sixty years ago, along with an unsettling discovery in the bricked-up basement, means that Todd, Kathi and Lexy - Trinity for Trouble - must solve another murder.

Deadly secrets, snow, berry rustlers, ornithology, skeletons and Christmas Eve in the booze aisle at the Last Ditch crew won't forget their Scottish holiday in a hurry!]]> 283 Catriona McPherson 1448307864 Susan 5 3.91 2023 Hop Scot (A Last Ditch mystery Book 6)
author: Catriona McPherson
name: Susan
average rating: 3.91
book published: 2023
rating: 5
read at: 2023/12/29
date added: 2023/12/29
shelves: cozy-mystery, entertaining-fun, murder-mystery
review:
Hurrah, Lexy Campbell takes her new family of fabulous misfits and characters to Scotland for Christmas. Cue marvelous culture clashes and unexpected discoveries of potential new alliances. Could these wonderful Californians actually be stretching out tendrils of roots? Could the Last Ditch Motel be considering a longer hop across the pond? Meanwhile, Lexy's parents have swapped bungalow for stately manor and plan a new future as hoteliers. They plan to give the group the best Christmas ever as launch only... There is a wall where no wall should be and behind it, one of the former workers on the estate who proves to have connections to the ancestral family. Time for the investigating trio to get stuck in - despite and inconvenient owl egg! This book is even more perfect than the last in this hilarious and warm hearted series!
]]> The Mystery Writer 157020090
There's nothing easier to dismiss than a conspiracy theory—until it turns out to be true

When Theodosia Benton abandons her career path as an attorney and shows up on her brother's doorstep with two suitcases and an unfinished novel, she expects to face a few challenges. Will her brother support her ambition or send her back to finish her degree? What will her parents say when they learn of her decision? Does she even have what it takes to be a successful writer?

What Theo never expects is to be drawn into a hidden literary world in which identity is something that can be lost and remade for the sake of an audience. When her mentor, a highly successful author, is brutally murdered, Theo wants the killer to be found and justice to be served. Then the police begin looking at her brother, Gus, as their prime suspect, and Theo does the unthinkable in order to protect him. But the writer has left a trail, a thread out of the labyrinth in the form of a story. Gus finds that thread and follows it, and in his attempt to save his sister he inadvertently threatens the foundations of the labyrinth itself. To protect the carefully constructed narrative, Theo Benton, and everyone looking for her, will have to die.]]> 368 Sulari Gentill 1728285186 Susan 0 to-read 3.39 2024 The Mystery Writer
author: Sulari Gentill
name: Susan
average rating: 3.39
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2023/12/20
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Grilling Season (A Goldy Bear Culinary Mystery, #7)]]> 486041
Caterer Goldy Schulz has been hired to host a hockey party. But the proceedings won't be all fun and games. Unfortunately, her client won't be satisfied until Goldy adds a hefty serving of revenge.

An ex-husband from hell....

Patricia McCracken is certain that her obstetrician and her penny-pinching HMO are responsible for the loss of her baby. Now she is suing both, and she wants Goldy's advice on coming out on top. For Dr. John Richard Korman, aka the Jerk, is none other than Goldy's abusive ex-husband. Goldy knows all about John Richard's secret life--but even she is shocked when he's arrested for the murder of his latest girlfriend.

A dish best served cold....

As much as Goldy would like to see her ex get his just desserts, could he really be a killer? Soon she will find herself sifting through a spicy mix of sizzling gossip for clues to a mystery that threatens her catering deadline, her relationship with her son and new husband... and even her life.]]> 401 Diane Mott Davidson 0553574663 Susan 5 3.88 1997 The Grilling Season (A Goldy Bear Culinary Mystery, #7)
author: Diane Mott Davidson
name: Susan
average rating: 3.88
book published: 1997
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2023/12/15
shelves: cozy-mystery, murder-mystery, entertaining-fun, romance
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Catering to Nobody (A Goldy Bear Culinary Mystery, #1)]]> 269746 MULTIMILLION-COPY MYSTERY SERIES�
AS GOLDY SOLVES HER FIRST MURDER!

Diane Mott Davidson’s winning recipe of first-class suspense and five-star fare has won her and caterer Goldy critical raves and a regular place on major bestseller lists across the country. In Goldy’s tantalizing debut, she serves up a savory dish of secrets, suspicions, and murder....

Catering a wake is not Goldy’s idea of fun. Yet the Colorado caterer throws herself into preparing a savory feast including Poached Salmon and Strawberry Shortcake Buffet designed to soothe forty mourners. And her culinary efforts seem to be exactly what the doctor ordered...until her ex-father-in-law gynecologist Fritz Korman is struck down and Goldy is accused of adding poison to the menu. Now, with the Department of Health impounding her leftovers, her ex-husband proclaiming her guilt, and her business about to be shut down, Goldy knows she can’t wait for the police to serve up the answers. She’ll soon uncover more than one family skeleton and a veritable stew of unpalatable secrets–the kind that could make Goldy the main course in an unsavory killer’s next murder!

]]> 301 Diane Mott Davidson 0553584707 Susan 4 3.83 1990 Catering to Nobody (A Goldy Bear Culinary Mystery, #1)
author: Diane Mott Davidson
name: Susan
average rating: 3.83
book published: 1990
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2023/12/15
shelves: murder-mystery, cozy-mystery, entertaining-fun
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Main Corpse (A Goldy Bear Culinary Mystery, #6)]]> 376256 The Last Suppers, Killer Pancake, and Dying for Chocolate, returns with an irresistible five-star helping of suspense. When caterer Goldy Schulz takes a job with a multimillion-dollar financial firm, she finds herself in a high-stakes world where someone is out to make a killing....

Goldy, owner of Goldilocks' Catering, barely weathered a disastrous spring in which relentless rains and driving snow put a real damper on her business. But now, thanks to her best friend, Marla, the Colorado caterer is suddenly cooking up a storm...lovingly preparing Crab Quesadillas, Tomato-Brie Pie, and Gold Foil-Wrapped Fudge Bars for her wealthy new client, Prospect Financial Partners.

The Prospect Partners' financial whiz, Tony Royce, with whom Marla is having a tempestuous affair, and Albert Lipscomb, who is personally managing Marla's money, have hired Goldy to prepare a sumptuous party to kick off their latest venture: the reopening of the Eurydice Gold Mine. Anxious to take advantage of a golden opportunity, Goldy arrives at the mine site early, loaded down with goodies. Yet just when she thinks she can relax, all hell breaks loose--and the main culprit is Marla.

Her best friend is sure the mine venture is a scam. And when, several days later, Albert ends up missing, it looks as if Marla was right. Why, then, is the police captain treating Goldy's best friend as if she had committed a crime? And how can Goldy keep her fourteen-year-old son Arch and his unreliable bloodhound from making matters worse?

As Goldy works furiously to restore her business by whipping up hot, fragrant Sour Cream Cherry Coffeecake and featherlight Cinnamon Scones, she finds herself drawn into a most unusual situation of missing partners, stolen millions, and multiple homicides. And only when Goldy can discover which of the victims is the main corpse will she be able to unravel the mystery that threatens to cancel out her friend's dearest asset--her life.


From the Paperback edition.]]> 337 Diane Mott Davidson 055309999X Susan 0 3.85 1996 The Main Corpse (A Goldy Bear Culinary Mystery, #6)
author: Diane Mott Davidson
name: Susan
average rating: 3.85
book published: 1996
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2023/12/15
shelves: cozy-mystery, entertaining-fun, romance
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Tough Cookie (A Goldy Bear Culinary Mystery, #9)]]> 374148 Tough Cookie, Davidson's ninth culinary mystery, Goldy is waiting to reopen her catering business, which has been shut down by the health department for lack of adequate drains. She's got a PBS cooking gig for a few weeks, and is trying to build a reputation as a personal chef, but she's desperate for a little extra Christmas cash, so she agrees to sell a pair of vintage skis to Doug Portman, a local art critic and former sort-of-romantic interest.

When Portman's killed in a skiing accident at Killdeer Resort with Goldy nearby, the police treat her with suspicion. It turns out that Portman was the easily persuaded head of the Parole Board, and Goldy's ex-husband (a.k.a. The Jerk, who was imprisoned for domestic violence) is coming up for parole. But when Goldy herself narrowly escapes a chilly death after her van is forced off a snowy highway, she starts looking for connections and steps into a minefield of unsolved murders, including the three-year-old avalanche death of her friend Nate Bullock. There're a multitude of suspicious characters lurking around Killdeer: Barton Reed, a crazy ex-con who sent Portman a letter loaded with poison; Arthur Wakefield, whose wealthy mother was also killed in a skiing accident at Killdeer; Jack Gilkey, a handsome young chef who was convicted of manslaughter in the death of Wakefield's mother (and released by Portman); Boots Faraday, a local artist; and even Rorry Bullock, Nate's angry widow. As usual, Goldy manages to solve the murders (with the help of Chocolate Coma Cookies), save her own skin (just!), skewer a few local snobs in passing, and revive her catering business. Lots of fun, and recipes too. --Barrie Trinkle

]]> 291 Diane Mott Davidson 0553107232 Susan 0 3.89 2000 Tough Cookie (A Goldy Bear Culinary Mystery, #9)
author: Diane Mott Davidson
name: Susan
average rating: 3.89
book published: 2000
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2023/12/15
shelves: cozy-mystery, entertaining-fun, romance, thriller
review:

]]> <![CDATA[A Treacherous Tale (Cambridge Bookshop, #2)]]> 59808161
Having recently discovered The Strawberry Girls, a classic children's tale, Molly is thrilled to learn the author, Iona York, lives nearby. But while visiting the famous author at her lovely cottage in nearby Hazelhurst, an old acquaintance of Iona's tumbles off her roof to his death.

Then, when one of Iona’s daughters—an inspiration for the original Strawberry Girls—goes missing, Molly begins to worry this story might be more Brothers Grimm than happily-ever-after. Especially after Molly learns about the mysterious long-ago death of Iona’s husband and co-author of The Strawberry Girls…could past and present crimes be linked? Molly must put the clues together before someone turns this sweet tale sour]]> 288 Elizabeth Penney 1250787726 Susan 0 3.96 2022 A Treacherous Tale (Cambridge Bookshop, #2)
author: Elizabeth Penney
name: Susan
average rating: 3.96
book published: 2022
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2023/12/15
shelves: cozy-mystery, entertaining-fun, murder-mystery
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Fatal Folio (Cambridge Bookshop #3)]]> 69704979 In the third in Elizabeth Penney's delightful Cambridge Bookshop series, The Fatal Folio, Molly Kimball is learning that every killer has a story�

After moving to Cambridge, England, Molly Kimball has found a lot to love, including—of course—her family’s ancestral bookshop, Thomas Marlowe-Manuscripts and Folios. And though she’s not quite ready to use the “L� word when it comes to her boyfriend Kieran, she’s definitely fallen for his intimidating family’s library.

His family is paying her handsomely for an updated catalog when Molly discovers the original manuscript of a Gothic novel, A Fatal Folio by the pseudonymous Selwyn Scott. Kieran’s cousin Oliver, a professor specializing in Gothic literature, is eager to publish a paper on the mystery—especially because a troublesome student, Thad, is threatening to file a complaint against him and prevent his long-awaited promotion.

On Guy Fawkes Night, Molly, Kieran, and her friends set out to enjoy the costumes, fireworks, and fun—at least until a stray firework starts a panic, and the group stumbles upon a prone body, their face covered by a mask. It’s Thad, and he’s been stabbed to death.

It soon becomes clear Oliver isn’t the only one with a motive, and Molly must once again put on a few masks of her own to sleuth out Thad’s killer, prove Oliver’s innocence, and discover what Selwyn’s novel might have to do with this most atmospheric mystery…]]> 320 Elizabeth Penney 1250787750 Susan 0 4.06 2023 The Fatal Folio (Cambridge Bookshop #3)
author: Elizabeth Penney
name: Susan
average rating: 4.06
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2023/12/15
shelves: cozy-mystery, entertaining-fun, murder-mystery, romance
review:

]]> The Book of English Magic 6552764 562 Philip Carr-Gomm 1848540337 Susan 5 historical 3.90 2009 The Book of English Magic
author: Philip Carr-Gomm
name: Susan
average rating: 3.90
book published: 2009
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2023/12/12
shelves: historical
review:

]]> While I Was Waiting for You 199548569 While I Was Waiting For You is the expanded and revised edition of Joel Weishaus� Collected Poems, Feels Like Home Again, published in 2014. The present volume includes thirty poems since found, and an addendum of six very early poems. In this volume of poems made between 1965-2000, Weishaus addresses his experiences in San Francisco during the 1960s and 70s; a journey to Japan in 1968, building a Japanese-style garden in California, a one-year hermitage in a mountain cabin, and living in northern New Mexico. These poems form the foundation for Weishaus' later work, including his celebrated Digital Literary Art.]]> 265 Joel Weishaus Susan 5 poetry
Weishaus is an original poet of how humans do and do not find their roots in the land, how the world teaches us to be human and how humans are fine, fallible, frail and fascinating. See the collection on making a Japanese Garden to discern the Zen student in this wandering bard of the American West.
This work is a prelude to Weishaus's pioneering Digital Literary Art: see his open access digital archive at the University of New Mexico.
Weishaus is the invisible man of American letters. Find him here and online!]]> 5.00 While I Was Waiting for You
author: Joel Weishaus
name: Susan
average rating: 5.00
book published:
rating: 5
read at: 2023/12/12
date added: 2023/12/12
shelves: poetry
review:
This is an amazing book of poetry that charts a life on the fringes of the Beat scene in San Francisco in the 1960s, years as a poetic hermit in the mountains, followed by immersion in the wild lands of New Mexico.

Weishaus is an original poet of how humans do and do not find their roots in the land, how the world teaches us to be human and how humans are fine, fallible, frail and fascinating. See the collection on making a Japanese Garden to discern the Zen student in this wandering bard of the American West.
This work is a prelude to Weishaus's pioneering Digital Literary Art: see his open access digital archive at the University of New Mexico.
Weishaus is the invisible man of American letters. Find him here and online!
]]> <![CDATA[Lamentation (Matthew Shardlake, #6)]]> 20892558
Summer, 1546. King Henry VIII is slowly, painfully dying. His Protestant and Catholic councilors are engaged in a final and decisive power struggle; whoever wins will control the government. As heretics are hunted across London, and radical Protestants are burned at the stake, the Catholic party focuses its attack on Henry's sixth wife - and Matthew Shardlake's old mentor - Queen Catherine Parr.

Shardlake, still haunted by his narrow escape from death the year before, steps into action when the beleaguered and desperate Queen summons him to Whitehall Palace to help her recover a dangerous manuscript. The Queen has authored a confessional book, Lamentation of a Sinner, so radically Protestant that if it came to the King's attention it could bring both her and her sympathizers crashing down. Although the secret book was kept hidden inside a locked chest in the Queen's private chamber, it has inexplicably vanished. Only one page has been recovered - clutched in the hand of a murdered London printer.

Shardlake's investigations take him on a trail that begins among the backstreet printshops of London, but leads him and his trusty assistant Jack Barak into the dark and labyrinthine world of court politics, a world Shardlake swore never to enter again. In this crucible of power and ambition, Protestant friends can be as dangerous as Catholic enemies, and those with shifting allegiances can be the most dangerous of all.

©2015 C.J. Sansom (P)2015 Hachette Audio]]> 656 C.J. Sansom 0316254967 Susan 5 4.36 2014 Lamentation (Matthew Shardlake, #6)
author: C.J. Sansom
name: Susan
average rating: 4.36
book published: 2014
rating: 5
read at: 2023/12/12
date added: 2023/12/12
shelves:
review:
It is slow to begin with but more than compensated for by the gradual deepening of fear and better and better understanding why so many in this book rightly fear being burned at the stake for heresy. Shardlake is imperfect yet incredibly brave. He loses almost everything and his reward is all to play for.
]]> <![CDATA[A Guilty Thing Surprised (Inspector Wexford, #5)]]> 866318
“The best mystery writer anywhere in the English-speaking world.”� The Boston Globe

Elizabeth and Quentin Nightingale. A happy couple who lived quite graciously at Myfleet Manor in the gentle English countryside.

Elizabeth Nightingale found peace and tranquility on her nightly walks through the rich, dense forests surrounding Myfleet Manor. But the peace she treasured was shattered one night when she found death waiting in the woods.

Chief Inspector Wexford and his colleague Inspector Burden find a most unsavory case on their hands—and must use all their wit and wisdom to solve it . . .

“Undoubtedly one of the best writers of English mysteries and chiller-killer plots.� � Los Angeles Times

“You cannot afford to miss Ruth Rendell.� � The New York Times Book Review

“For readers who have almost given up mysteries . . . Rendell may be just the woman to get them started again.� � Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine]]> 193 Ruth Rendell 0345348117 Susan 0 3.75 1970 A Guilty Thing Surprised (Inspector Wexford, #5)
author: Ruth Rendell
name: Susan
average rating: 3.75
book published: 1970
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2023/12/07
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[From Doon With Death (Inspector Wexford, #1)]]> 748989 From Doon with Death, now in a striking new paperback edition, is her classic debut novel -- and the book that introduced one of the most popular sleuths of the twentieth century.

There is nothing extraordinary about Margaret Parsons, a timid housewife in the quiet town of Kingsmarkham, a woman devoted to her garden, her kitchen, her husband. Except that Margaret Parsons is dead, brutally strangled, her body abandoned in the nearby woods.

Who would kill someone with nothing to hide? Inspector Wexford, the formidable chief of police, feels baffled -- until he discovers Margaret's dark secret: a trove of rare books, each volume breathlessly inscribed by a passionate lover identified only as Doon. As Wexford delves deeper into both Mrs. Parsons� past and the wary community circling round her memory like wolves, the case builds withrelentless momentum to a surprise finale as clever as it is blindsiding.

In From Doon with Death, Ruth Rendell instantly mastered the form that would become synonymous with her name. Chilling, richly characterized, and ingeniously constructed, this is psychological suspense at its very finest.]]> 226 Ruth Rendell 0345498453 Susan 0 3.67 1964 From Doon With Death (Inspector Wexford, #1)
author: Ruth Rendell
name: Susan
average rating: 3.67
book published: 1964
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2023/12/07
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Some Lie and Some Die (Inspector Wexford, #8)]]> 508905
In spite of dire predictions, the rock festival in Kingsmarkham seemed to be going off without a hitch, until the hideously disfigured body is discovered in a nearby quarry. And soon Wexford is investigating the links between a local girl gone bad and a charismatic singer who inspires an unwholesome devotion in his followers. Some Lie and Some Die is a devilishly absorbing novel, in which Wexford's deductive powers come up against the aloof arrogance of pop stardom.

With her Inspector Wexford novels, Ruth Rendell, winner of the Mystery Writers of America Grand Master Award, has added layers of depth, realism and unease to the classic English mystery. For the canny, tireless, and unflappable policeman is an unblinking observer of human nature, whose study has taught him that under certain circumstances the most unlikely people are capable of the most appalling crimes.]]> 181 Ruth Rendell 038507428X Susan 0 3.71 1973 Some Lie and Some Die (Inspector Wexford, #8)
author: Ruth Rendell
name: Susan
average rating: 3.71
book published: 1973
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2023/12/07
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[An Unsuitable Job for a Woman (Cordelia Gray, #1)]]> 365307 An Unsuitable Job for a Woman introduces bestselling mystery author P.D. James’s courageous but vulnerable young detective, Cordelia Gray, in a “top-rated puzzle of peril that holds you all the way� (The New York Times).

Handsome Cambridge dropout Mark Callender died hanging by the neck with a faint trace of lipstick on his mouth. When the official verdict is suicide, his wealthy father hires fledgling private investigator Cordelia Gray to find out what led him to self-destruction. What she discovers instead is a twisting trail of secrets and sins, and the strong scent of murder.]]> 256 P.D. James 0743219554 Susan 0 3.83 1972 An Unsuitable Job for a Woman (Cordelia Gray, #1)
author: P.D. James
name: Susan
average rating: 3.83
book published: 1972
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2023/12/07
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Jane and the Final Mystery (Jane Austen Mysteries, #15)]]> 123666725
March 1817: As winter turns to spring, Jane Austen’s health is in slow decline, and threatens to cease progress on her latest manuscript. But when her nephew Edward brings chilling news of a death at his former school, Winchester College, not even her debilitating ailment can keep Jane from seeking out the truth. Arthur Prendergast, a senior pupil at the prestigious all-boys� boarding school, has been found dead in a culvert near the schoolgrounds—and in the pocket of his drenched waistcoat is an incriminating note penned by the young William Heathcote, the son of Jane’s dear friend Elizabeth. Winchester College is a world unto itself, with its own language and rites of passage, cruel hazing and dangerous pranks. Can Jane clear William’s name before her illness gets the better of her?

Over the course of fourteen previous novels in the critically acclaimed Being a Jane Austen Mystery series, Stephanie Barron has won the hearts of thousands of fans—crime fiction aficionados and Janeites alike—with her tricky plotting and breathtaking evocation of Austen’s voice. Now, she brings Jane’s final season—and final murder investigation—to brilliant, poignant life in this unforgettable conclusion.]]> 312 Stephanie Barron 1641295058 Susan 0 to-read 4.24 Jane and the Final Mystery (Jane Austen Mysteries, #15)
author: Stephanie Barron
name: Susan
average rating: 4.24
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2023/12/07
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Lantern's Dance (Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes, #18)]]> 154462653 Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes, hoping for a respite in the French countryside, are instead caught up in a case that turns both bewildering and intensely personal.

After their recent adventures in Transylvania, Russell and Holmes look forward to spending time with Holmes' son, the famous artist Damian Adler, and his family. But when they arrive at Damian’s house, they discover that the Adlers have fled from a mysterious threat.

Holmes rushes after Damian while Russell, slowed down by a recent injury, stays behind to search the empty house. In Damian’s studio, she discovers four crates packed with memorabilia related to Holmes� grand-uncle, the artist Horace Vernet. It’s an odd mix of treasures and clutter, including a tarnished silver lamp with a rotating an antique yet sophisticated form of zoetrope, fitted with strips of paper whose images dance with the lantern’s spin.

In the same crate is an old journal written in a nearly impenetrable code. Intrigued, Russell sets about deciphering the intricate cryptograph, slowly realizing that each entry is built around an image—the first of which is a child, bundled into a carriage by an abductor, watching her mother recede from view.

Russell is troubled, then entranced, but each entry she decodes brings more questions. Who is the young woman who created this elaborate puzzle? What does she have to do with Damian, or the Vernets—or the threat hovering over the house?

The secrets of the past appear to be reaching into the present. And it seems increasingly urgent that Russell figure out how the journal and lantern are related to Damian—and possibly to Sherlock Holmes himself.

Could there be things about his own history that even the master detective does not perceive?]]> 300 Laurie R. King 0593496590 Susan 0 to-read 4.24 2024 The Lantern's Dance (Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes, #18)
author: Laurie R. King
name: Susan
average rating: 4.24
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2023/11/02
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[In Sunshine or in Shadow (Molly Murphy Mystery #20)]]> 126918027 Retired Detective Molly Murphy Sullivan is back with In Sunshine or in Shadow, the latest book in this beloved series by New York Times bestselling author Rhys Bowen and Clare Broyles.

New York, 1908: The days are getting longer—and warmer—in Manhattan. Molly Murphy Sullivan doesn’t want to leave her home in the city, but typhoid is back, and she’s expecting. So she heads north with the children to summer with her mother-in-law in Westchester County. Molly tells herself it won’t be so bad, after all the countryside is pretty, and she’s determined to make the best of it. Even if she’s leaving her husband, Daniel, behind. And at least she’s not the only one heading north. Her great friends, Sid and Gus, are headed to the Catskills to visit Sid’s family.

Though her mother-in-law is a surprisingly excellent host, Molly quickly grows bored. And when Sid and Gus invite her to visit, Molly jumps at the chance to stay with them at an artist’s community. What a pleasant time they’ll have, so far from the city, although Sid isn’t so enthusiastic about having to visit her family in the nearby Jewish bungalow community. But deep in the Catskills, tensions are running high, and it’s not long before a body delays Molly’s return to Westchester.]]> 279 Rhys Bowen 1250890799 Susan 0 to-read 4.20 2024 In Sunshine or in Shadow (Molly Murphy Mystery #20)
author: Rhys Bowen
name: Susan
average rating: 4.20
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2023/11/01
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Third Time's the Charm: A Heartfelt Murder Mystery]]> 199913455 256 Michale Mohr Susan 5
She operates a ‘Heartfelt� physical therapy clinic where radiates warmth so expanding the family circle to spill into what becomes a heart-oriented investigation. Ultimately Melinda saves lives by leading with her heart, making this new series an inspiring development. An art thief is convinced she has the missing charms, while realizing that his criminal sideline has become a threat to his own life. Throw in a dodgy politician, a crazed sick billionaire and a cop trying to exploit his position for blackmail, and you have an enthralling story with people you want to stay in your life. I am so happy to know that Mohr has two more stories soon to be published. More heartfelt mysteries please!
]]> 4.83 2023 Third Time's the Charm: A Heartfelt Murder Mystery
author: Michale Mohr
name: Susan
average rating: 4.83
book published: 2023
rating: 5
read at: 2023/10/30
date added: 2023/10/30
shelves: cozy-mystery, entertaining-fun, murder-mystery, romance
review:
Superb plotting, engaging characters and a gripping story mark the debut of sleuths Melinda Stark and Dominic Gallo in this terrific new cozy mystery series. I fell in love with the mixture of family drama, thrilling love stories, grief and renewal. For murder causes Melinda to investigate the death of her son’s best friend. Stepping out of her comfort zone for her distressed son, alarms her cop boyfriend and his boss is not happy either. Fortunately Melinda learns fast and contributes imagination and love to their detecting.

She operates a ‘Heartfelt� physical therapy clinic where radiates warmth so expanding the family circle to spill into what becomes a heart-oriented investigation. Ultimately Melinda saves lives by leading with her heart, making this new series an inspiring development. An art thief is convinced she has the missing charms, while realizing that his criminal sideline has become a threat to his own life. Throw in a dodgy politician, a crazed sick billionaire and a cop trying to exploit his position for blackmail, and you have an enthralling story with people you want to stay in your life. I am so happy to know that Mohr has two more stories soon to be published. More heartfelt mysteries please!

]]> <![CDATA[Murder at Kensington Palace (Wrexford & Sloane, #3)]]> 43420405 Wrexford and Sloane must unravel secrets within secrets—including a few that entangle their own hearts—when they reunite to solve a string of shocking murders that have horrified Regency London...

Though Charlotte Sloane’s secret identity as the controversial satirical cartoonist A.J. Quill is safe with the Earl of Wrexford, she’s ill prepared for the rippling effects sharing the truth about her background has cast over their relationship. She thought a bit of space might improve the situation. But when her cousin is murdered and his twin brother is accused of the gruesome crime, Charlotte immediately turns to Wrexford for help in proving the young man’s innocence. Though she finds the brooding scientist just as enigmatic and intense as ever, their partnership is now marked by an unfamiliar tension that seems to complicate every encounter.

Despite this newfound complexity, Wrexford and Charlotte are determined to track down the real killer. Their investigation leads them on a dangerous chase through Mayfair’s glittering ballrooms and opulent drawing rooms, where gossip and rumors swirl to confuse the facts. Was her cousin murdered over a romantic rivalry . . . or staggering gambling debts? Or could the motive be far darker and involve the clandestine scientific society that claimed both brothers as members? The more Charlotte and Wrexford try to unknot the truth, the more tangled it becomes. But they must solve the case soon, before the killer’s madness seizes another victim...]]> 359 Andrea Penrose 1496722817 Susan 0 to-read 3.96 2019 Murder at Kensington Palace (Wrexford & Sloane, #3)
author: Andrea Penrose
name: Susan
average rating: 3.96
book published: 2019
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2023/10/24
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Murder at Half Moon Gate (Wrexford & Sloane, #2)]]> 35607916 A wealthy lord who happens to be a brilliant scientist . . . an enigmatic young widow who secretly pens satirical cartoons . . . a violent killing disguised as a robbery . . . Nothing is as it seems in Regency London, especially when the Earl of Wrexford and Charlotte Sloane join forces to solve a shocking murder.

When Lord Wrexford discovers the body of a gifted inventor in a dark London alley, he promptly alerts the watchman and lets the authorities handle the matter. But Wrexford soon finds himself drawn into the murder investigation when the inventor’s widow begs for his assistance, claiming the crime was not a random robbery. It seems her husband’s designs for a revolutionary steam-powered engine went missing the night of his death. The plans could be worth a fortune . . . and very dangerous in the wrong hands.

Joining Wrexford in his investigation is Charlotte Sloane, who uses the pseudonym A. J. Quill to publish her scathing political cartoons. Her extensive network of informants is critical for her work, but she doesn’t mind tapping that same web of spies to track down an elusive killer. Each suspect—from ambitious assistants to rich investors, and even the inventor’s widow—is entwined in a maze of secrets and lies that leads Wrexford and Sloane down London’s most perilous stews and darkest alleyways.

With danger lurking at every turn, the potent combination of Wrexford’s analytical mind and Sloane’s exacting intuition begins to unravel the twisted motivations behind the inventor’s death. But they are up against a cunning and deadly foe—a killer ready to strike again before they can recover the inventor’s priceless designs . . .]]> 220 Andrea Penrose 1496710800 Susan 4 4.18 2018 Murder at Half Moon Gate (Wrexford & Sloane, #2)
author: Andrea Penrose
name: Susan
average rating: 4.18
book published: 2018
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2023/10/24
shelves:
review:
I very much enjoyed catching up with Charlotte Sloane and the Earl of Wrexford as they stumble across a murder case that draws upon Charlotte's social conscience and at least makes Wrexford ponder having one! A genius inventor is killed in London before he can register a patent for a new steam engine that could make him fabulously rich. Are his nearest and dearest behind the plot or could a set of radicals be to blame?Another pertinent question concerns shady pasts of the suspect and of Charlotte herself. Again, engaging characters and complex relationships are to the fore. Regency London is vividly drawn. Penrose has gifted us an absorbing fictional world.
]]> <![CDATA[Murder on Black Swan Lane (Wrexford & Sloane, #1)]]> 33024254
The Earl of Wrexford possesses a brilliant scientific mind, but boredom and pride lead him to reckless behavior. He does not suffer fools gladly. So when pompous, pious Reverend Josiah Holworthy publicly condemns him for debauchery, Wrexford unsheathes his rapier-sharp wit and strikes back. As their war of words escalates, London’s most popular satirical cartoonist, A.J. Quill, skewers them both. But then the clergyman is found slain in a church—his face burned by chemicals, his throat slashed ear to ear—and Wrexford finds himself the chief suspect.]]> 340 Andrea Penrose 1496710770 Susan 4 3.78 2017 Murder on Black Swan Lane (Wrexford & Sloane, #1)
author: Andrea Penrose
name: Susan
average rating: 3.78
book published: 2017
rating: 4
read at: 2023/10/24
date added: 2023/10/24
shelves: historical, murder-mystery, romance
review:
It is a delight to re-visit the world of Georgette Heyer and find both her genres united in a Regency Romantic series with a murder mystery per episode. Also like Heyer, Penrose does children endearingly as her heroine, the mysterious Charlotte earns her living by daring satirical cartoons, supports two street urchins and becomes embroiled with Heathcliff descendent, the Earl of Wrexford. These two flare excitingly against each other before deciding to join forces to expose a murderous collision between alchemy and science in Regency London. There will be more...!
]]> <![CDATA[Murder on the Christmas Express]]> 85150686 Eighteen passengers. Seven stops. One killer.

In the early hours of Christmas Eve, the sleeper train to the Highlands is derailed, along with the festive plans of its travellers. With the train stuck in snow in the middle of nowhere, a killer stalks its carriages, picking off passengers one by one. Those who sleep on the sleeper train may never wake again.

Can former Met detective Roz Parker find the killer before they kill again?

All aboard for . . . Murder on the Christmas Express ]]> 272 Alexandra Benedict 1728284414 Susan 0 to-read 3.15 2022 Murder on the Christmas Express
author: Alexandra Benedict
name: Susan
average rating: 3.15
book published: 2022
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2023/10/24
shelves: to-read
review:

]]>