Hard Christmas - a Cat Marsala Mystery - by Barbara D'Amato
Having enjoyed my first Cat Marsala mystery, I thought I'd keep going in this series and I'm glad I did! I enjoyed this book as much, if not more, than the first.
Cat, freelance journalist, decides to write a piece about Christmas trees. Who grows them, how they are cut and where they finally end up. She's thinking of a feel good piece for Christmas time and heads out to a family farm in Michigan where a small family has been growing and selling Christmas trees since the 1900's. She arrives on Thursday of Thanksgiving weekend in time for the beginning of the harvest and leaves that Monday. In between, of course, there is a murder of one of the workers.
The characters where great, the mystery a true page turner. The farm remote and the only possible suspects are memebers of the family. I hated to put this book down because I couldn't figure out who did it. Even worse, I couldn't find any character that I wanted to be the murderer. There were all good characters. As the plot unfolded and the clues began to point to one person, I found myself reading faster and faster because I so didn't want to believe it. Unfortunately, no punches where pulled and I was slightly sad when the killer was revealed.
Definately going to have to find the rest of this series. Her characters are wonderful and her plots are great. Hope the library has more!
The Edge of Doom - A Kate Fansler Novel - by Amanda Cross
Since I enjoyed the first Amanda Cross novel, I thought I'd try another. This story focuses on the main heroine, Kate Fansler, as she discovers that her rigid and distant mother had a torid love affair and a child. Kate is dumbstruck when a man appears with DNA evidence that he is her biological father. Not only is he her father, but he has recently left the Witness Protection Service and is on the run from the man he testified against and sent to jail.
As a "literary mystery", this novel also delves into the later works of Shakespear and the recurring theme of fathers redeeming themselves through their daughters. The parallels to the plot line where clear. Kate's true father hopes that coming clean to Kate about her origins will help to clear his conscience as to some crimes he committed later in life.
While this is very interesting, there just wasn't enought to this novel. I suppose if you had read all the others in this series, you might be more interested in learning about Kate's past. But a good half of the book is filled with musing and revelations by Kate as she tries to figure out who she is once she learns her father is not her father. The murder and mystery are negligable and rather boring and the resolution totally unsatisfying. I would barely even call this a mystery.
I'm hoping this novel isn't par for the course. I have a feeling it would be much more interesting if I had read all the previous Kate Fansler book so this new twist regarding her past would be more illuminating. As it was, I had a hard time getting excited over this book. It wasn't bad, but it wasn't great either.
Coup de Grace by J.S. Borthwick
This was another random library pick and falls in the middle of an on-going series featuring amature detective Sarah Deane. Having just received her Ph.D. in literature, Sarah accepts a temp posiition teaching english lit at a all-girls boarding school. While there, she become involved in the murder off a fellow teacher and helps the police uncover the crime.
This is a good, solid mystery. A nice large cast of characters who all have something to hide. This leads to a host of suspects as everyone appears to have some sort of a motive for the crime. Sarah Deane isn't a true PI but rather happens to be at the wrong place at the right time. The killer is unmasked, all the loose ends tied, and all in all this was a very fun mystery. I'll have to check out more of the series but this one was a good solid read!
The Tale of Holly How - Book 2 in the Cottage Tales of Beatrix Potter by Susan Wittig Albert
This is the second book in this mystery series and it is just as sweet as the first. I have even come to enjoy all the talking animals! Amazing.
Ms Potter returns to her little farm and once again stumbles upon a murder in progress and a murder committed. Her sharp observations and compassionate heart lead her to unmask both the killers. The characters are wonderful and the dual mystery plot lines ensure this is another good page turner. There's even a hint that there might be a touch of romance in the next in this series!
This is a very sweet and refreshing book. I'd recommend it to anyone who would like to settle down with a cup of tea and a good read.
Goodnight Nobody by Jennifer Weiner
My mom-friend lent me this book. She said it was a fun "beach read" and I'd have to agree. It's very "Desperate Housewives" in that it's set in a seemingly ideal suburb with perfect moms and families. One mother is murdered and as you look closer at these seemingly perfect lives, you discover lots of dark secrets keep in very large walk-in closets.
The heroine is Kate who has recently moved to Upchurch with her husband and three kids. Her husband is gone travelling most of the time and she is totally overworked and stressed out at a mom trying to keep up with the Jones' of her new community. For example, when she takes her kids to the local park and snack time rolls around, all the other perfectly styled moms pull out home made flax wheat muffins while poor Kate scrounges around her old gym bag only to find two old breath mints and half a stick of gum.
There was a very sad undertone to this novel. Kate is a lost soul stuck raising her kids in what seems a loveless marriage. While reading Goodnight Moon to her daughter, there's one page that says, "good night noboby.... good night mush". Her daughters askes who is "nobody" and Kate thinks to herself, "I'm nobody." This book definately pushed the idea that moms who leave their careers and stay home with their kids lose their identity and are basically unhappy and underappreciated. Kate spends most of the book longing for her old job, old boyfriend, old wardrobe and counting the minutes until her kids are in school and she is free. Rather sad really.
While I could identify with some of the pressure to keep up with other moms and the mystery of "whodunnit" was good, I found the book a little too depressing over all. It sure makes staying at home with your kids seem like the worst thing ever. Which is kind of sad, really. Ah well. I suppose there are two sides of every coin.
Hard Evidence - A Cat Marsala Mystery by Barbara D'Amato
From the cover, I thought this was a catering mystery. Turns to it's a series about a freelance journalist named Cat. She picks up dinner ingredients at her favorite independent market and whips together a lasagna for her boyfriend. Before that sit down to eat, she tosses her friend's dog a soup bone she picked up at the store's deli. Her boyfriend takes one look at the bone and calls the police. It isn't a beef bone. It's a human bone.
And so the mystery begins. Cat goes undercover as a catering assistant to help the store owners, and her friends, discover how human meat ended up in the deli counter. Of course, issuing a recall causes quite a stir when the public realized what, exactly, they have eaten! The mystery was good as were the characters and plot. This book is in the middle of the series and it's been added to my list of authors to explore. Cat is a strong, independent, funny, and realistic character and the book was a good page turning mystery. You can't ask for anything more!
The Ill-Made Mute The Bitterbynde - Book 1 by Cecilia Dart-Thornton
This was another book I grabbed during my .5 seconds of browsing. It was a new fanstasy novel so I thought, what the heck. When I got it home, I found was compared to The Fellowship of the Rings. Hmmm. Not my favorite series but I gave it a go.
Yeah, this book has all the things I didn't like about the Fellowship series. Lots of random poetry and songs that have no bearing on the plot but take up space. Lots of detailed description about odd plants and animals and creatures. The first third of the book consisted almost entirely of people telling scary creature stories that, as far as I can tell, are totally beside the point. The plot, when present, was ok and I found that my Tolkien technique worked well on this book. I basically read the first and last sentence of each long paragraph and skimmed down the page looking for dialogue. Unfortunately, the main character is mute and doesn't regain her voice until the last sentence of the book so dialogue was scarce to say the least.
I suppose this was a richly written book but I found it rather boring and dull. If you liked the detail of the Fellowship, you'll probably enjoy this story. If you are like me and found most of the Fellowship rather slow, pass this book by. Unless, of course, you need a good sleep aid!
Honest Doubt - A Kate Fansler Novel by Amanda Cross
I stumbled upon this book at the library. I had approximately .5 seconds before Leina managed topple a shelve while trying to scale to the top and Kulia was .5 seconds from ripping out a few pages from a nearby book and stuffing them in her drooly little mouth. I suppose I was also about 10 seconds from getting kicked out of the library so I just grabbed this book and ran. If I had time, I probably would never have chosen it. It was the 13th in the series and features a motorcycle rider on the front. But it was a mystery and desperate times call for desperate measures.
So imagine my surprise upon reading Honest Doubt and finding a very good new series. This mystery reminded me a bit of an old-school mystery novel a la Sherlock Holmes or Agatha Christie. There are no car races, gun battles or other craziness. Just good old fashion dectective work.
The main character is a former lawyer turned PI who is hired to investigate the murder of a crochety old english professor. She undertakes this task by speaking with the suspects, brainstorming with her allies, and eventually solving the crime. I found it very refreshing.
I gather that this series is known as a literary crime - each novel centers around a literay figure; in this case Tennyson. It appears that this is a spin off book so the main sleuth, Kate Fansler, only appears as a minor character. No worries, I have already requested more in this series and am quite pleased to have a back list of 12 books to catch me up to speed. If you are looking for a good old fashioned who dunnit, I can say this book is a good pick.
The Other Side of the Sun by Madeline L'Engle
This book was given to me by a friend long, long ago. Back when I was still a working stiff and I just now unearthed it. It reminds me of the novel Rebecca in many ways and I definately enjoyed it as a nice suspenseful novel.
Set in South Carolina after the Civil War, a yound english woman arrives at a house called Illysia to await the return of her new husband. She meets his eccentric family members, unearths secrets and evil plots. I loved the old Aunties and the touch of brush magic thrown in. It was a real page turner and very beautifully written. Nothing like a classic tale of good vs. evil.