Book Review - The Murder of Patience Brooke

The Murder of Patience Brooke (Charles Dickens and Superintendent Sam Jones #1)
Author:  J C Briggs
Publisher:  Sapere Books
Publication Date:  December 27, 2018
4 Stars

Imagine Charles Dickens not only as a famous writer but also as an amateur detective.  This is the premise of the Murder of Patience Brooke.  Patience Brooke is the matron’s assistant at a home that Charles Dickens established for fallen women.  She is found brutally murdered outside the home.  Dickens is determined to find Patience’s killer to not only bring him to justice, but also to protect the future of the women’s home.  Dickens turns to his friend, Superintendent Sam Jones, to help him unravel this mystery.  Besides insisting that she had never been a prostitute, Patience was very secretive about her past.  This complicates the investigation as Dickens and Jones are not sure who Patience really was, and they have very little to go on in regards to motive.  The only lead seems to be the mysterious presence of a man with a crooked face.

What a great start to the Charles Dickens and Superintendent Sam Jones mystery series.  I truly enjoyed all the aspects of this story:  setting, plot, and characters.  The setting is Victorian England, and the author does such a great job of painting a vivid picture of this time.  The story takes us through the streets of London (many of them notable) and beyond.  We are taken on a ride through the dark, seedy side of London, where we are given a look at the dangerous lifestyles and the desolate situations that many Londoners were in.  This is starkly compared to how the upper class of England lived.  The author does a great job showing the great disparity of the two.  A fact that Dickens himself was really dismayed with.

The plot was intricate and intriguing, and it had many surprising twists and turns, much like the back alleys of London.  Nothing was as simple as it first appeared.  I found myself very much invested in the investigation, and it was hard to put the book down.

The plot is supported by a great variety of interesting and realistic characters.  The historically accurate attributes of Dickens himself are seamlessly woven together with the fictional components of the story.

I loved this story, and I’m looking forward to reading more books in this series.  I think if you enjoy historical mysteries and mysteries set during the Victorian Era that you will enjoy this book.

Thanks to Net Galley and Sapere Books for an ARC of this book.  #NetGalley #TheMurderOfPatienceBrooke

Book Review - In Peppermint Peril

In Peppermint Peril
Author:  Joy Avon
Publisher:  Crooked Lane Books
Publication Date:  November 13, 2018

Callie Aspen returns home to Hearts Harbor to spend Christmas with her great aunt Iphy.  Iphy runs a tea room called the Book Tea Shop, which also offers catering services.  It is a catering job that brings Callie to Haywood Hall.  Callie had spent a lot of time at Haywood Hall as a child, and she has many fond memories of it.  Some of those memories include Leadenby, Haywood Hall’s gardener, whom she runs into while preparing for the party.  Dorothea Finster, owner of Haywood Hall, has gathered family, friends, and town VIPs for a reading of her new will.  A will that is rumored to contain big changes.  Stephen DuBouvrais, the only living relative of Dorothea, along with his wife, Sheila, and daughter, Amber, are also at the reading.  Sheila has her own agenda for the party.  She waylays the reading by setting up a surprise engagement for her daughter and boyfriend.  The engagement is thwarted too, however, by the disappearance of the ring.  Things deteriorate even more when Leadenby is found murdered.  Callie tries to sort through everyone’s movements and motives to figure out Leadenby’ s killer.

Peppermint Peril is the first book in the Tea and Read mystery series.  I was entertained by the book, and it was an enjoyable start to this new series.

I was a little confused at the beginning of the book about the reference to book clues left in the sweet treats that Iphy made.  I felt like I was missing information as if its purpose had previously been described.  Even at the end when they tie up the book clues, I still felt like I was missing something.  The book theme seemed a little weak.

Although Callie plays a major role in the investigation, Deputy Falk is officially in charge.  I liked the way the author handled their relationship.  Callie is not completely honest with Falk in the beginning, and so he initially distrusts her.  He is also offended that Callie is interfering in the investigation as though he is not competent enough to solve it himself.  The relationship starts off rocky therefore making it completely realistic.  As they get to know each other better, their relationship improves.

The plot is both interesting and moves along at an enjoyable pace.  The author does a good job with Callie ferreting out answers from the players in this book, and thus eliminating suspects along the way.  She continues to do so until there is really only one other person left.

The book wraps up with a feel good Christmas spirit.

I plan on picking up the next book in this series, Sweet Tea and Secrets.

Thanks to Net Galley and Crooked Lane Books for an ARC of this book.  #NetGalley #InPeppermintPeril

Book Review - Who Moved My Goat Cheese

Who Moved My Goat Cheese (Farm-to-Fork Mystery #1)
Author:  Lynn Cahoon
Publisher:  Kensington Press – Lyrical Underground
Publication Date:  March 06, 2018
3 ½ Stars

Angie Turner returns to her high school hometown, River Vista, Idaho, to open up a new restaurant, the County Seat.  All the menu items will be prepared with food produced by local farms.  One of Angie’s vendors is Gerald Moss, a local goat farmer.  One Sunday morning, before the restaurant’s grand opening, Angie meets with Gerald Moss at his farm to cement a deal for Mr. Moss to supply the restaurant with his goat cheese.  The next day, Moss is found dead, and the coroner’s evidence points to murder.  While many in the small town found Gerald Moss to be ill-tempered, Angie’s grandma had liked him, and that sways Angie’s feelings as well.  Angie does not believe that Gerald deserved to die so she decides she needs to find some answers to questions concerning his death.

Who Moved My Goat Cheese is a good start to the new Farm-to-Fork mystery series.  I think those that enjoy culinary cozies will find this a pleasant book to read.  It has a unique slant to the genre and an interesting plot.  The author does a great job of capturing the small town atmosphere.

The main characters in the store are likable, and I’m looking forward to getting to know them better in future installments.  While the murderer seemed fairly easy to guess, their reason for doing so remained a mystery until the end of the story.  Furry friends feature prominently in this story including Dom, a St. Bernard puppy, and Precious, a baby goat.

Overall, this book was an appetizing read.  I’m looking forward to reading the second book in the series.

Book Review - Sifting Through Clues

Sifting Through Clues (Cookbook Nook #8)
Author:  Daryl Wood Gerber
Publisher:  Beyond the Page Publishing
Publication Date:  April 23, 2019
4 Stars

Residents and tourists alike are gathered in Crystal Cove to celebrate Book Club Bonanza Week.  Jenna’s Cookbook Nook is getting in on the fun with literary themed cookbooks, culinary mysteries, and other book related merchandise.  One of the featured events that Jenna is participating in is a moving book club discussion group with food at each house along the tour.  At each of the first three houses, everyone seems to be having a good time discussing books and enjoying good company and good food.  When the book club members arrive at the last house, owned by Ivy Beale, they are dismayed when Ivy doesn’t answer her door.  They find the door ajar though, and the book club members pile in believing that Ivy must have gotten held up doing something.  Jenna heads to the kitchen where she finds Ivy.  She is lying on the ground with a rose quartz shard sticking out of her chest.  Jenna’s friend Pepper (who is also the daughter of Police Chief Cinnamon) becomes the primary suspect.  She enlists Jenna to help clear her name.  As Jenna scrutinizes people’s motives and alibis she finds there are plenty of other suspects.  Jenna must race against the clock to find the real killer before Cinnamon is forced to arrest her own mother.

Sifting Through Clues is the eighth book in the Cookbook Nook Series and follows Wreath Between the Lines.  It is another fabulous installment in the series.  The author does a great job with characterization.  She brings back many previously developed characters and introduces us to some new ones as well.  As a reader, I really feel like I understood these fantastic characters and the motives for their actions.

The plot and movement of this book are excellent as well.  The further I got into the book, the harder it was to put down.  There are plenty of clues to help the reader figure out whodunnit, but there are also lots of plot twists and turns to keep you guessing.  I particularly liked how the author wrapped up this story.

I can definitely recommend this book as it was great from start to finish!

In addition to a delicious mystery, the reader is introduced to many delightful sounding cookbooks, and many yummy sounding recipes are included at the end of the story.

Thanks to Net Galley and Beyond the Page Publishing for an ARC of this book.  #NetGalley #SiftingThroughClues

Book Review - Trouble on the Books

Trouble on the Books
Author:  Essie Lang
Publisher:  Crooked Lane Books
Publication Date:  March 13, 2019
3 Stars

Shelby Cox returns home to Alexandria Bay to help operate Bayside Books while her aunt Edie is recovering from knee surgery.  Shelby’s main responsibility is to manage the store’s second location which is located in a castle on nearby Blye Island.  Even when Shelby finds out she is part owner in the stores, she is still very nervous as she doesn’t have any experience in running a bookstore.

Before the store on Blye Island has a chance to open, Shelby finds Loreena Swan, curator of the exhibits and the heritage attraction of Blye Castle, dead in the island’s grotto.  A grotto that was used by smugglers during the Prohibition Era.  Matthew, the caretaker of the island, becomes the main suspect.  Matthew is a close friend of Edie’s, and she entreats Shelby to find out what really happened to Loreena.  Shelby realizes that she knows nothing about investigating except what she has read about in mystery books, but she agrees to help by asking some questions.  Besides, she is curious about what the grotto has to do with Loreena’s death.  How many questions can she ask though before she steps on the wrong person’s toes?  And if she does, what will that mean for her?

This book is a good start to the new Castle Bookstore Mystery series.  It has such a fun setting.  It is always fun to see a bookstore as a jumping off point for a cozy mystery.  This story adds a unique twist by having the bookstore situated in a castle (it’s not often we have a castle setting in an American novel) and on an island which is just offshore from the small town of Alexandria Bay.  Small towns provide such a good setting to uncover information because everyone seems to know everyone else’s business. Town gossip definitely fuels Shelby’s investigation, and spreads the word that Shelby is looking into the murder.

The investigation is somewhat slow.  It feels like it takes Shelby a long time to gather any information and then to come to any conclusions.    However, the author uses this time to really develop the background stories of the inhabitants of the town, many of which will probably be recurring characters in future installments.  Since Shelby (and the reader) are just getting to know people, it is hard to cross anyone off the list of possible suspects.  So that creates a rather large suspect pool, but it helps to keep the reader guessing.

On top of the murder mystery there is a secondary mystery embedded in this book.  Shelby’s mother died when she was three.  She knows very little about her since she was so young when she died, and her father would never talk about her.  Shelby guessed it was just too painful for him to relive the memories.  Since she is back in her hometown though, Shelby sets out to find out more about her mom.  She tries to talk to her aunt about her, but aunt Edie always seems to dodge the questions and then changes the subject.  She tries to track down her mother’s grave, but turns up empty handed.  She wonders why she is having such a hard time of finding people in this small town that actually knew her mother.  All Shelby wants is to find out more about her mother, but all she finds are closed doors.

Thanks to Net Galley and Crooked Lane Books for an ARC of this book.  #NetGalley #TroubleOnTheBooks

Book Review - The Daughter of Sherlock Holmes

Holmes and Watson

The Daughter of Sherlock Holmes
By:  Leonard Goldberg
Publisher:  Minotaur Books
Publication Date:  June 6, 2017
Rating:  3 1/2 Stars

The game is afoot once again.  This time Watson is paired up with his son, John Watson Jr., and Joanna Blalock.  Joanna is the secret daughter of Sherlock Holmes and Irene Adler.  The spirit of her father definitely lives on through her.  These three are pitted against Charles Moran who is the son of Sebastian Moran, Moriarty’s lieutenant.

In this case, a man by the name of Charles Harrelston has fallen to his death at the house of Charles Moran.  Between the note left by Harrelston and Moran’s assertion that he jumped, the police, led by Inspector Lestrade (the son of the original Lestrade), rule his death as a suicide.  Harrelston‘ s sister does not believe her brother would kill himself, and she goes to Watson looking for help.  The  Watsons agree to take the case on.  There are two additional witnesses to the death of Harrelston.  The first is a gardener that swears he saw Harrelston jump.  The second is Joanna Blalock’s son who said he saw Harrelston’s body float down.  The Watsons go to interview the boy, but it is Joanna’s keen observations and deductive reasoning that grab their attention.  Joanna teams up with the Watsons to solve the mystery of Harrelston’s death.  While the three suspected this may be case of murder, it is after they talk to Moran that Joanna is sure Moran is the murderer.  Now the three must look for the evidence that will lead Moran to the gallows.

I love the mysteries of Sherlock Homes, and I enjoy reading derivatives of them.  I found the premise of this story, which is that Sherlock Holmes and Irene Adler had a daughter, very intriguing.  Joanna never knew her father, so the Watsons believe her deductive skills were inherited from her father.  The story did not disappoint, and I found it very fascinating.  Joanna is a very likable character.  She is just as brilliant as her father, and while sure of herself, she is not as arrogant.  While at first many of her deductions come across as impossible to come by, they seem obvious once she explains her reasoning.  The Watsons are as equally enjoyable characters.  Realistically, John Watson’s skills have slowed somewhat, but he is still a strong presence in this mystery.    His son provides the narration for this story. Moran seems to be almost as cunning as Joanna, and his character is a good match for hers.

Even though the murderer is known early on, this is still a very good mystery that keeps you entranced chapter after chapter.  We get to see the mystery unwound as Joanna and the Watsons put together the clues to form a case against Moran.  There are bumps in the road along with unexpected turns that help to make this an entertaining story.  I think fans of Sherlock Holmes will enjoy this book both as a homage to Holmes and a good continuation of what could have happened after his death. I look forward to reading the next book in this series.  I listened to the audio book version of this book, and I found the narrator very pleasant to listen to.

Book Review - Mrs. Pollifax on Safari

Mrs. Pollifax on Safari
By:  Dorothy Gilman
Publisher:  Fawcett
Published:  November, 1983

While practicing Karate at home in New Jersey, Mrs. Pollifax gets a call from Carstairs, her CIA contact, and he asks her if should would be willing to go to Africa on a new mission.  Mrs. Pollifax readily agrees.  Carstairs sends his assistant, Bishop, to explain the particulars of her assignment.  Bishop informs her that there is an assassin on the loose, and they need him (or her) captured before he kills again. They don’t know what he looks like, but they have received intelligence that he will soon be on a safari in Zambia.  Her mission will be to go on the same safari and take pictures of all her traveling companions.  After she returns, the CIA will go through the pictures and try to identify the assassin in the group.  The task sounds easy enough, and Mrs. Pollifax is excited to be visiting Zambia.  Once on the safari though, Mrs. Pollifax decides it might be fun to catch Aristotle herself and then turn him over to Carstairs.  That would not be the first or the last mistake she would make on her mission.

This book is another brilliant installment in the Mrs. Pollifax series.  These are such fun books!  The author has done a great job of developing Mrs Pollifax’s character.  She is a character you can’t help but love.  In real life she is an everyday mother and grandmother who likes to garden, go to church, and volunteer at the hospital.  In her spare time though she is a secret spy.  She is a spy unlike any other in your typical spy novels.  For one, her spy work is definitely a side job in her life.  Even when she tells Carstairs she will accept this assignment, it was contingent on her being able to find someone to water her geraniums.  She also doesn’t rely on super secret weapons or unrealistic motorcycle chase scenes to get her man. Instead, even though she always seems to find herself in hot water, she remains calm and collected and seems to find her way out of it.  Despite the fact that her work forces her to look at the dark side of life, her personality remains upbeat and she stills sees the good in people.

The backdrop of the story is an African safari that is adventurous and exciting.  The characters get the opportunity to see animals such as lions and elephants in their natural habitat.  They also get the opportunity to camp in the middle of it all.  The safari gives Mrs. Pollifax the perfect opportunity to study and get to know her fellow travel companions. The author does a exceptional job developing these second characters as well.  Among the sightseers, Mrs. Pollifax also meets a love interest in this book.  Time will tell if she has fallen for the wrong guy.  I didn’t find there was an obvious villain among the group.  Every time I thought I knew who the assassin was, the novel progressed, and then I was sure it was another character.  The novel kept me guessing like this all the way to the end.

For those that like a political twist, the novel has a light take on the morally wrong practice of apartheid.

Although this is a spy novel, I think anyone who enjoys cozy mysteries such as Agatha Christie will adore this series.