Monthly Archives: December 2023

I may have found another new-to-me author worth following. Welsh author Clare Mackintosh has been around and writing crime novels for years but I don’t think she’s had a lot of play over here, or maybe I just haven’t noticed … Continue reading →

This book is solidly in the tradition of Agatha Christie (and I almost never voice that observation – maybe once prior) and it’s done so well that my saying so is definitely a compliment.  Benedict Brown has penned a  gently … Continue reading →

I suppose this might be considered “history lite” but toward the end Butler makes a definite point and gets quite heavy-handed about it – imo.   While totally ignoring 1 factor in the issue but …  White Evangelical Racism:The Politics … Continue reading →

“Nothing says Christmas like foliage and an outlined corpse.” That’s a line from the book which is repeated a couple times. The  Christmas Jigsaw  Murders by Alexandra Benedict 11/9/2023Read by Sandra Duncan, 8h 56mRating, A / Crime fiction  So this is a cozy … Continue reading →

Another YA (imo) novel where the main story (taking place 10 years prior) concerns 17-year olds in a small town. These kids are in their 20s now, Christmas is coming and Madeleine Miller’s bookstore is busy. A pod-cast creator and … Continue reading →

Loved it!!!!! This is just the book I was looking for this Christmas season!  The Christmasy part is NOT just slapped onto a fair mystery. This time we have some skullduggery based on the town’s new Christmas tree and decorations … Continue reading →

This started out fine. It’s mysterious and somewhat spooky, but still fun and it got better with more of the story behind it. Then about 1/3 through it turned occult in some way, and I’m not into occult unless it’s … Continue reading →

I loved this show when it was on TV and I’ve enjoyed the books, too, even  if most of the ones I’ve read have been kind of corny. That’s okay – they’re relaxing. With the books,  Jessica Fletcher is always … Continue reading →

This is #10 in the Liz Talbot series of murder mysteries by Loretta Rawlings.  Our protagonist, Liz Talbot, is a private investigator who works with the local police from time to time as required. There are prior stories referred to … Continue reading →

This is #19 in the Alex Cross series by James Patterson but it’s a Christmas book “available now” in audio via my library (Grand Forks ND).  Who knows”. I enjoy Patterson writing with Maxine Paetro for Women’s Murder Club but … Continue reading →

Well it’s Christmas and this year at first I was kind of hard pressed to find good Christmasy mysteries that I hadn’t read.  Then it picked up so I have a LOT to pick from! I’ve already read the new David … Continue reading →

This was not the right book for me to be reading during the difficulties we’re having in the US and the world.  There’s no need to invent this kind of troubles. And yet there’s Ukraine and Israel/Palestine and who knows? … Continue reading →

I knew I was going to read this book from the time of the first announcement, back in Sept I think it was. So this past Wednesday, when I realized it was available at Audible, I grabbed it.  I had … Continue reading →

I found myself looking at a list of a history bloggers best history books and chanced upon this one. I checked it out, listened to the audio sample and read the Kindle sample.  I decided the Audio would be enough. … Continue reading →

I’ve been reading Christmasy Mysteries since 2005 or so when I found Crewel Yule by Monica Ferris and proceeded to read her whole Needlecraft series to that point, then I kept going with the new ones as they were released … Continue reading →

I’ve been following Allen Eskens since, The Life We Bury, his debut novel in 2015, which was super-good  Saving Emma is his 9th novel and has been on my radar since its release in September of this year. This is … Continue reading →

This gets more sexually graphic than I’m used to in crime thrillers.  Box’s Cassie Dewell sseries gets pretty rough, but I think this is a step worse on the scale.  These are “females in jeopardy” books – aka Fem-Jep and they … Continue reading →