Aunt Dimity and the Village Witch by Nancy Atherton
Hmm....how do you write a murder mystery without a body? Nancy Atherton answers that question in the latest in the Aunt Dimity mystery series. When a reclusive artist comes to the small English village of Finch, it's to complete the quest of her deceased (by natural causes) to discover the rest of the story of the Witch of Finch, Mistress Meg and her death as told by Gamaliel Gowland in a parchment from the 17th century. There is a modern day crime occurring, but the bulk of the story revolves around Amelia Thistle and her quest to find the full story.
I enjoyed this change of pace, no dead body, no smoking gun or bloody knife. The modern day crime was almost a distraction as I was sucked into the search throughout the village for the hiding places of each piece of the story of Mistress Margaret Redfearn..
I always enjoy my visits with Lori Shepherd and the rest of the population of Finch. Nancy Atherton always serves up a light and warm read for anytime of the year. I look forward to my next visit to Finch
Thursday, August 9, 2012
Some Like It Hawk soars....
I hope I whet your appetite for more of Donna Andrews world of Meg Langslow with my previous post on "Murder with Peacocks". 'Cause "Some Like It Hawk" is wonderful! I do want to mention that if you skipped "The Real Macaw" you might not understand all the backstory, but Donna does a wonderful job of filling you in on the highpoints at the onset. Here's the blurb:
Meg Langslow is plying her blacksmith's trade at “Caerphilly Days,” a festival inspired by her town’s sudden notoriety as "The Town That Mortgaged Its Jail." The lender has foreclosed on all Caerphilly's public buildings, and all employees have evacuated —except one. Phineas Throckmorton, the town clerk, has been barricaded in the courthouse basement for over a year.
Meg Langslow is plying her blacksmith's trade at “Caerphilly Days,” a festival inspired by her town’s sudden notoriety as "The Town That Mortgaged Its Jail." The lender has foreclosed on all Caerphilly's public buildings, and all employees have evacuated —except one. Phineas Throckmorton, the town clerk, has been barricaded in the courthouse basement for over a year.
Mr. Throckmorton's long siege has only been possible because of a pre-Civil War tunnel leading from the courthouse basement to a crawl space beneath the bandstand. The real reason for Caerphilly Days is to conceal the existence of the tunnel: the tourist crowds camouflage supply deliveries, and the ghastly screeching of the tunnel's rusty trap door is drowned out by as many noisy activities as the locals can arrange. But the lender seems increasingly determined to evict Mr. Throckmorton—and may succeed after one of its executives is found shot, apparently from inside the basement. Meg and her fellow townspeople suspect that someone hopes to end the siege by framing Mr. Throckmorton. Unless the real killer can be found quickly, the town will have to reveal the secret of the tunnel—and the fact that they've been aiding and abetting the basement’s inhabitant. Meg soon deduces that the killer isn't just trying to end the siege but to conceal information that would help the town reclaim its buildings—if the townspeople can find it before the lender destroys it in a gut-busting caper that will have giggles and guffaws coming as fast as a four-alarm fire.
All my favorite characters are back with Meg. Donna has delivered a wonderful whodunit with her usual flair for dialogue. I enjoyed the twists and turns that she led me on while giving me moments to laugh. The villian made sense - once he was, literally, unmasked. And the conspiracy - I won't give that away here. And yes, I've read it 5 times already.
Another reason for joy - IT'S ALSO AVAILABLE AS AN AUDIOBOOK!!! Yes, I read - and I read alot. But, I also listen to audiobooks as I do housework, take my walks, etc. I have listened to "Crouching Buzzard, Leaping Loon" (which is hilarious - no matter how you discover it) and "We'll Always Have Parrots" (which offers a slight wink to the world of cult tv fandom) so many times that if they weren't MP3 files, I might have worn them out by now. Bernadette Dunne does a fantastic job bringing Meg's adventures to life. Now, if only the other 11 books would become available this way....
So, my suggestion - Run, don't walk to your favorite bookseller (or surf the net as fast as you can) for the latest hilarious, twisy-turny Meg Langslow mystery. You won't be sorry you did.
Thursday, August 2, 2012
Pies and Prejudice are baked with love!
Pies and Prejudice by Ellery Adams Published by Penguin
This is a new series from Ellery Adams. And, if I may say, an excellent start to this new series.
Meet Ella Mae LaFaye. A member of the LaFaye family from Havenwood, Georgia, she returns home after finding her husband, well, I won't go into that here. Once home, with the help of her mother and her three aunts, she opens the "Charmed Pie Shoppe". The fly in the pie is her childhood nemesis, Loralyn Gaynor. Loralyn wanted the building Ella Mae is opening her pie shop in for a third nail salon. When Loralyn's fiance is found murdered in one of the Loralyn's nail shops, the murder weapon is a rolling pin Ella May has been using. But who really wanted Bradford Knox dead?
Finding out you have a "gift" that causes everyone to feel what you felt while you baked a pie is nothing compared to finding you have a gift for solving murder!!
I already love Ellery Adams' other series, Books by the Bay, and have fallen in love with Ella Mae and the rest of the inhabitants of Havenwood. I can't wait to pay another visit to this wonderful town.
This is a new series from Ellery Adams. And, if I may say, an excellent start to this new series.
Meet Ella Mae LaFaye. A member of the LaFaye family from Havenwood, Georgia, she returns home after finding her husband, well, I won't go into that here. Once home, with the help of her mother and her three aunts, she opens the "Charmed Pie Shoppe". The fly in the pie is her childhood nemesis, Loralyn Gaynor. Loralyn wanted the building Ella Mae is opening her pie shop in for a third nail salon. When Loralyn's fiance is found murdered in one of the Loralyn's nail shops, the murder weapon is a rolling pin Ella May has been using. But who really wanted Bradford Knox dead?
Finding out you have a "gift" that causes everyone to feel what you felt while you baked a pie is nothing compared to finding you have a gift for solving murder!!
I already love Ellery Adams' other series, Books by the Bay, and have fallen in love with Ella Mae and the rest of the inhabitants of Havenwood. I can't wait to pay another visit to this wonderful town.
It's Murder! With Peacocks?!
Murder With Peacocks by Donna Andrews, published by St. Martin's Press
Sorry I've been MIA, but I'm back and ready to read. One of my all-time favorite cozy series is the Meg Langslow mysteries by Donna Andrews and she just released "Some Like It Hawk", so I've decided to go to the beginning with this post.
Sorry I've been MIA, but I'm back and ready to read. One of my all-time favorite cozy series is the Meg Langslow mysteries by Donna Andrews and she just released "Some Like It Hawk", so I've decided to go to the beginning with this post.
Meet Meg Langslow, decorative blacksmith and maid of honor for 3 weddings this summer. Who knew murder was also on the calendar!
After putting her life on hold for the summer, Meg Langslow heads home to Yorktown, Virginia. Once home, she begins juggling planning chores for the 3 weddings she has ended up being a part of. Her best friend, Eileen (the flighty one), her future sister-in-law, Samantha (the bridezilla) and her mother, Margaret (the unexpected bride) have all scheduled their nuptials for this summer. Between dealing with finding peacocks to decorate the venue for Samantha, discovering Eileen never selected either her wedding gown or the bridesmaids dresses (the wedding is in 54 days), and her mother's decision to select the perfect blue to redecorate with, Meg really doesn't have time to deal with the murder of her mother's fiance's sister-in-law from his first marriage. But when suspicious incidents begin to occur that seem to be aimed at her father, she has no choice but to discover what happened.
Donna Andrews has created a wonderful group of characters that I just can't get enough of. If I've read the Meg Langslow books once, I've read them a dozen times. The dialogue is fun, the characters have depths that are still being shown in the 14th novel "Some Like It Hawk". This is definitely a series to love.
Monday, May 7, 2012
Crystal Gardens leads you down the paranormal path
Crystal Gardens by Amanda Quick (aka Jayne Ann Krentz), published by G P Putnam Sons (a Penguin Group Member)
The first in the Ladies of Lantern Street series, this book continues Ms. Quick's trademark blend of romance, mystery and the psychic. While not a listed book of the Arcane Society, at this point the Society is always in the back of my mind. This book features the usual strong-minded female lead character (Evangeline Ames), the not-always-traditionally handsome brooding male character (Lucas Sebastian), the close female friends (Beatrice Lockwood and Clarissa Slate - sure to be the female leads in future books), a murder (or murderous plot to be foiled - or both) and psychic talents.
Yes, you may have seen the formula before - but with Ms. Quick, the fun is that she always manages to tweak it so that, instead of becoming repetitive, the story remains fresh and fun to read. If you've never read Ms. Quick - or her other incarnations (Jayne Ann Krentz or Jayne Castle), this is an excellent introduction to her worlds. Although, since she got her start writing Harlequin & Candlelight (I'm pretty sure) romances, you may have already read \& enjoyed her worlds already.
Ms. Quick/Krentz/Castle has been, and remains one of the authors that I willing spend the cash for in Hardcover. (And if that's not an endorsement - I don't know what is!)
If you are wondering about the Arcane Society - check out Ms. Krentz's website at www.jayneannkrentz.com. Her full backlist is there - from all 3 of her writer's voices.
The first in the Ladies of Lantern Street series, this book continues Ms. Quick's trademark blend of romance, mystery and the psychic. While not a listed book of the Arcane Society, at this point the Society is always in the back of my mind. This book features the usual strong-minded female lead character (Evangeline Ames), the not-always-traditionally handsome brooding male character (Lucas Sebastian), the close female friends (Beatrice Lockwood and Clarissa Slate - sure to be the female leads in future books), a murder (or murderous plot to be foiled - or both) and psychic talents.
Yes, you may have seen the formula before - but with Ms. Quick, the fun is that she always manages to tweak it so that, instead of becoming repetitive, the story remains fresh and fun to read. If you've never read Ms. Quick - or her other incarnations (Jayne Ann Krentz or Jayne Castle), this is an excellent introduction to her worlds. Although, since she got her start writing Harlequin & Candlelight (I'm pretty sure) romances, you may have already read \& enjoyed her worlds already.
Ms. Quick/Krentz/Castle has been, and remains one of the authors that I willing spend the cash for in Hardcover. (And if that's not an endorsement - I don't know what is!)
If you are wondering about the Arcane Society - check out Ms. Krentz's website at www.jayneannkrentz.com. Her full backlist is there - from all 3 of her writer's voices.
Brownies & Broomsticks make for a tasty mystery!
Brownies and Broomsticks: A Magical Bakery Mystery by Bailey Cates, Published by Obsidian (a member of the Penguin Group)
The first in a new series, this introduction to Katie Lightfoot, her Aunt Lucy and Uncle Ben, the Spellbook club ladies and of course, Mungo the Magnificent and Honeybee is a delightful reading experience with well-defined characters, locations and a full-blown murder mystery.
Katie Lightfoot's life has taken a decided turn - for better or worse remains to be seen. With her love-life taking a nose-dive (and since it was a workplace relationship her job tanked too), she's moved to Savannah to open the Honeybee Bakery with her Aunt Lucy and Uncle Ben. She's found the perfect small cottage to live-in, and is looking forward to stretching her pastry-chef chops in her own kitchen. But then one of the most hated women in Savannah is killed after forcing the Honeybee to cater the monthly meeting of the Savannah Downtown Business Association. With her Uncle Ben being the primary suspect, Katie dives into a search for the real killer. Along the way, she discovers that she is the latest in a long line of hedgewitchs. And her new pup, Mungo the Magnificent, is her familiar. It's enough to knock anyone off-center.
This delightful read is sure to become one of your favorite reads (it's now one of mine!). Be sure to put this on you "Must Read" pile right away - you won't be sorry.
The first in a new series, this introduction to Katie Lightfoot, her Aunt Lucy and Uncle Ben, the Spellbook club ladies and of course, Mungo the Magnificent and Honeybee is a delightful reading experience with well-defined characters, locations and a full-blown murder mystery.
Katie Lightfoot's life has taken a decided turn - for better or worse remains to be seen. With her love-life taking a nose-dive (and since it was a workplace relationship her job tanked too), she's moved to Savannah to open the Honeybee Bakery with her Aunt Lucy and Uncle Ben. She's found the perfect small cottage to live-in, and is looking forward to stretching her pastry-chef chops in her own kitchen. But then one of the most hated women in Savannah is killed after forcing the Honeybee to cater the monthly meeting of the Savannah Downtown Business Association. With her Uncle Ben being the primary suspect, Katie dives into a search for the real killer. Along the way, she discovers that she is the latest in a long line of hedgewitchs. And her new pup, Mungo the Magnificent, is her familiar. It's enough to knock anyone off-center.
This delightful read is sure to become one of your favorite reads (it's now one of mine!). Be sure to put this on you "Must Read" pile right away - you won't be sorry.
Monday, April 16, 2012
Death Drops lead to good reading
Death Drops by Chrystle Fiedler, published by Gallery Books
First in the Natural Remedies Series, this is a good read with interesting characters, romantic potential, a bothersome ex, a dysfunctional family and, oh yeah, a murder. I enjoyed this book a lot. I am hoping to have more opportunities to learn about Willow, Jackson, Merrily, Hector and Allie. My one complaint is that I'd have liked to have had fewer "letters to Dr. McQuade" tips. Maybe have a naturopathic hint every couple of chapters instead of one per chapter. The story is well-structured, with well defined characters and their interactions. My suggestion: try the Natural Remedies way - you'll feel better if you do.
First in the Natural Remedies Series, this is a good read with interesting characters, romantic potential, a bothersome ex, a dysfunctional family and, oh yeah, a murder. I enjoyed this book a lot. I am hoping to have more opportunities to learn about Willow, Jackson, Merrily, Hector and Allie. My one complaint is that I'd have liked to have had fewer "letters to Dr. McQuade" tips. Maybe have a naturopathic hint every couple of chapters instead of one per chapter. The story is well-structured, with well defined characters and their interactions. My suggestion: try the Natural Remedies way - you'll feel better if you do.
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