This series has been cute and funny, but number three was just more of the same. This is the last of the Aunties books, which is good! It gives a satiThis series has been cute and funny, but number three was just more of the same. This is the last of the Aunties books, which is good! It gives a satisfying ending to the series....more
It's Elementary adds a new sarcastic, smart amateur detective to the book world.
Mavis has an adorable little girl, Pearl, who is in second grade at KIt's Elementary adds a new sarcastic, smart amateur detective to the book world.
Mavis has an adorable little girl, Pearl, who is in second grade at Knoll Elementary. She gets roped into chairing the PTA's DEI Committee (given that she is one of the few minority parents at the school). She has avoided the meetings so far, and it is all that she feared. Women are trying to prove they are the better mom, the principal and PTA president are fighting, and she just wants to go home and go to bed. While walking her dog after the PTA meeting, she sees the PTA president Trisha doing something suspicious - walking out of the school with giant black trash bags, wearing yellow rubber gloves.
The next day, the school principal is missing, and Mavis is wondering if Trisha was disposing a body last night. She teams up with the cute school psychologist to try to solve the principal's disappearance. Meanwhile, she has to content with changing friendships, bullying, her real job, her ex husband who might be coming back to town for good, and her father, who lives with her and Pearl. It's a lot, and every woman will be able to relate!
This book is a fun read, with some sharp commentary on race, parent culture in affluent schools, and adult friendships. The culprit didn't surprise me, but it still was a satisfying mystery.
Thanks to Netgalley for the advance copy of this book....more
Content warnings: abuse, death of family, suicide, homophobic hate.
Lenny Marks lives a very regimented life. She eats the same things each week, exercContent warnings: abuse, death of family, suicide, homophobic hate.
Lenny Marks lives a very regimented life. She eats the same things each week, exercises the same way most days, goes to work at the local elementary school and comes home. She doesn't really have friends, although she is trying to befriend (the wrong) fellow teachers.
At first, you'll ask yourself why she's like this. As the story unfolds, the why is shared, bit by bit, until you want nothing more than to save Lenny. But she has to do that for herself.
Despite all of the tough topics in this book, there also is hope, friendship and love. Reading this book will make you feel brave enough to be like Lenny and take a chance.
Thanks to Netgalley for the advance copy of this book....more
Although I am sad to see the Maisie Dobbs series end, this was a very worthy conclusion.
Maisie is sent to the Compton's London house to roust a groupAlthough I am sad to see the Maisie Dobbs series end, this was a very worthy conclusion.
Maisie is sent to the Compton's London house to roust a group of squatters. What she finds is a group of teenagers who served as spies in England, deployed to disrupt the Nazis if they made it ashore, and a recently released prisoner of war who happens to be her long time assistant Billy's son Will. Soon she is helping the teens, who witnessed a murder, find safety and employment, and Will to recover and find a home again with his family. She solves a Compton family mystery as well, and wraps up everything in a neat bow of sorts before riding of into the sunset with Mark and Anna.
Long time readers of this series well love its ending. It's everything we loved about the series and these characters, and it answers some of the questions we are asking, and leaves others to our imagination. Thanks to Jacqueline Winspear for an extraordinary series that thought me so much about the tumultuous years of the 1910s to the 1940s in England.
Thanks to Netgalley for the advance copy of this book....more
The Rip Through Time series has become one of my favorite series! You need to read these books in sequence, so make sure you've read Book 1 and 2 befoThe Rip Through Time series has become one of my favorite series! You need to read these books in sequence, so make sure you've read Book 1 and 2 before reading this one.
Mallory is now acting as Dr. Gray's assistant and is no longer a maid in his household. They are invited to a mummy unwrapping by Sir Alastair Christie. Alastair is an Egyptologist who has brought back a mummy and is hosting all of society for an unwrapping. When he can't be found, Gray is asked to do the honors. But when he begins to unwrap the cloths, it isn't an ancient body inside, but Sir Alastair.
Mallory and Gray, along with McCreadie and Isla, investigate to find out who killed Alastair. The story also includes historical characters like the Edinburgh Seven ( the first women admitted to the University of Edinburgh). Mallory fangirls a bit when she meets them, because wouldn't the best part of traveling through time be meeting those who change the world?
This story has a lot of surprises, so be prepared to do a little bit of gasping! The story ends very satisfactorily and sets up the next book.
If you love historical mysteries and time travel, you'll love this series. The characters are very well developed and fascinating people I'd love to know.
Thanks to Netgalley for the advance copy of this book....more
I love reading books that warm your heart like The Fellowship of Puzzlemakers!
Pippa is an intelligent woman who sets crossword puzzles, but has few fI love reading books that warm your heart like The Fellowship of Puzzlemakers!
Pippa is an intelligent woman who sets crossword puzzles, but has few friends. She decides to convene a group of like-minded puzzlers at a pub, and creates the Fellowship of Puzzlemakers.
Years later, the Fellowship has moved into a mansion she inherited, and someone leaves a baby on the front stoop. Clayton is raised by Pippa. Earl, and the other members, but never knows where he came from.
When Pippa passes away, she leaves him with puzzles to solve to lead him on the journey of discovering his heritage, and his future.
The story jumps back and forth in time, sharing the Fellowship's early days, and the present-day quest that Clayton is on. The mystery of who his parents are might surprise you, but even if you figure it out, you will be charmed by the puzzlers living in this communal space.
The book also contains several puzzles for you to solve along with Clayton. Being that I read this on my tablet, I didn't put too much effort into solving them myself, but it was fun nevertheless!
If you enjoy puzzles, cozy mysteries, and journeys of discovery, you'll love this book! Thanks to Netgalley for the advance copy of this book....more
If you like your mysteries with a good dollop of horror, you'll enjoy Bless Your Heart.
The Evans family has run the funeral home in a small town in TeIf you like your mysteries with a good dollop of horror, you'll enjoy Bless Your Heart.
The Evans family has run the funeral home in a small town in Texas for years. Ducey, the matriarch, her daughter Lenore, her daughter Grace, and her daughter Luna make four generations of Evans women in one house, all in the family business (well, Luna is still in school, but she helps out when made to).
But they aren't just "normal" undertakers - when a body rises, they know what to do to send them permanently to the grave. Fifteen years ago, there was an incident, referred to as That Godawful Mess, but other than that, there's been little vampire activity. However, there have been several attacks and multiple people coming back to life after death. The original Strigoi (vampire) are back, and the Evans women must take care of business and put the Strigoi to rest once and for all.
This book was a little too graphic for me, and I guess I don't love horror with my mysteries! But it's not a bad book, just not the right one for me.
Thanks to Netgalley for the advance copy of this book....more
I love mysteries that have larger-than-life characters like How to Solve Your Own Murder!
Frances Adams is paranoid. When she was a teenager, a fortuneI love mysteries that have larger-than-life characters like How to Solve Your Own Murder!
Frances Adams is paranoid. When she was a teenager, a fortune teller gave her a chilling prediction: that she would be murdered. For sixty years, she's kept detailed files on everyone in Castle Knoll and looked for signs that the prediction is coming true. One of her best friends also disappeared shortly after this prediction, fueling her paranoia.
But now, Frances has invited several of her potential heirs to her home to discuss her will. Unfortunately, before they can meet, someone kills Frances, finally fulfilling the prophecy. Annie is Frances' grand-niece, and has been invited to her home, even though she's never met her. Her mom, Laura, was one of the presumptive heirs until a few weeks ago, when Annie mailed several trunks from their basement to Frances' home. For some reason, this causes Frances to change her will, and Annie is there to find out why.
Annie and her uncle Saxon (and his wife) are pitted against each other by the will. Solve the murder of Frances, and you inherit the property. If neither Annie or Saxon solve it, or the police solve it first, the property goes to Oliver the property developer, and is most likely sold to make apartments or something equally as ghastly for the village. But really, there are two mysteries to solve, because Annie is pretty sure this murder is related to the disappearance of Annie's best friend Emily in the 1960s, and if someone is willing to kill Frances to keep the truth from coming out, she knows they won't hesitate to kill her as well.
This book was set in two time periods, with Frances' diary serving as a detailed description of what happened in the 1960s, and Annie narrating what is happening in the present day. Foreshadowing is a key to solving the murder(s), but I certainly didn't figure it out ahead of time! Annie laments that she only got to know her great-aunt through her diaries, and readers will feel the same way. You will wish you could sit down in one of her comfy chairs and talk about her life.
I look forward to reading the next book in this series! Thanks to Netgalley for the advance copy of this book....more
This is one of my favorite mystery series in the past few years!
Tempest Raj has been trying to solve the disappearance and murder of her mother for tThis is one of my favorite mystery series in the past few years!
Tempest Raj has been trying to solve the disappearance and murder of her mother for the last five years. She moved home when her magic stage show in Las Vegas ended abruptly after a tragic accident, and now works for her father's construction company, Hidden Staircase Construction. As you might guess from the name, they specialize in hidden rooms, secret panels, puzzle walls and anything else whimsical and magic. Tempest creates the stories that fuel their construction, and with her experience in designing set pieces, she has found a worthwhile second career she loves.
She's finally ready to do a farewell show at the local Whispering Creek Theater, which is where her mother disappeared. She doesn't have all of the answers to her aunt and mother's deaths, but she is ready to stage a show that shares their stories. But when a local man (who had filled a frivolous lawsuit against Hidden Staircase Construction) is stabbed by a booby trap in the door of the theater, her attention shifts to solving the crime.
Tempest, her family and her friends are such great characters. The mysteries are laced with stage magic, and this one had plot twists I never saw coming. I imagine this is the last of this series, which is a little bittersweet, but I am sure I'll love what Pandian writes next!
Thanks to Netgalley for the advance copy of this book....more
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