A Most Curious Murder - Review

A Most Curious Murder (A Little Library Mystery #1) by Elizabeth Kane Buzzelli

Rating: Very Good
Source: NetGalley

Description:  Jenny Weston moves home to Bear Falls, Michigan to nurse her bruised ego back to health after a bitter divorce.  But the idyllic vision of her charming hometown crumbles when her mother's little library is destroyed.  The next door neighbor, Zoe Zola, a little person and Lewis Carroll enthusiast, suspects local curmudgeon Adam Cane, but when he's suddenly found dead in Zoe's fairy garden, all roads lead back to her.  Jenny, however, believes Zoe is innocent, so the two women team up to find the true culprit, investigating the richest family in Bear Falls, interrogating a few odd townspeople and delving into old hidden transgressions - until another body turns up.  Inspired by Alice in Wonderland, Elizabeth Kane Buzzelli's quaint and compelling series debut A Most Curious Murder will delight cozy mystery readers new and old.

Genre: Mystery - Cozy

Why I Picked This Book:  Really all I saw were the words "library" and "fairy garden" and I knew I had to have it!

My Impression:  I'm very glad I didn't read this blurb too closely because if I'd really noticed the Alice in Wonderland inspiration I might have passed on this one.  I think I would have worried about how the nonsense of Alice would translate into a modern day mystery.  Instead it turned out to be a delightful whimsical touch to a solid mystery.

The story starts with newly divorced Jenny Weston arriving at her mother's and discovering her mother's beloved little library smashed to pieces.  While processing that she encounters her mother's new neighbor Alice fan, author and lover of all things fairy, Zoe Zola.  Most of the Alice-ness is concentrated in Zoe's big personality as she loves to quote from the book and goes into her own nonsensical ramblings frequently dragging Jenny along with her in the banter.  Jenny is a likable main character.  She has her hangups but even her seeming fixation on an old boyfriend works because it doesn't feel like she's still in love with him but more that their breakup is tangled up in so much emotion that she's never taken the time to deal with.  The mystery soon goes from trying to figure out who would destroy the little library that the community loves so much to a murder investigation and Zoe has a gift for being in the wrong place at the wrong time.

As the evidence adds up against Zoe Jenny can't help but become involved in trying to prove the woman's innocence and trying to figure out the real murderer is.  Along the way Jenny's sister Lisa, her mother Dora, carpenter Tony, and old high school classmate turned lawyer Penelope all join the merry band of misfits to figure out just what is going on in the Cane family.  While I did figure out the who relatively early on there were lots of why I couldn't wait to find out about.  I'm really looking forward to seeing where this series goes next.  It's off to a strong start!

Would I Read More of this Series/Author?: Definitely!  I'm looking forward to reading the next book in this series and more books from the author.

Would I Recommend this Book?: Absolutely!  If you enjoy cozy mysteries this is one not to miss.  You don't have to like Alice in Wonderland but it's an extra treat if you're familiar with the story.

Top Ten Tuesday - Ten Facts About Me

This week's Top Ten Tuesday topic from The Broke and The Bookish is Ten Facts About Me.

1. It took me forever to be able to listen to audio books because I had spent so much time tuning kids out in the car that I had to relearn how to listen.

2.  I was born and have lived my entire life in Alabama but I dislike grits, cornbread, collard greens, white gravy, okra, and a number of other things that are deemed things that all Southerns must like.  I'm also neutral on sweet tea.

3.  I'm addicted to crime shows - true crime, fictional crime it doesn't matter I've watched it.  I don't tend to enjoy shows with lots of character development nearly as much.  I want a dead body at the beginning of the show and the killer in handcuffs at the end.  If I learn one of the detectives is having trouble at home or trying to quit smoking or something that's great but I don't want much time spend on that.

4.  Up until I was in my late 20s I had no food allergies though I had noticed that handing raw shrimp gave me a little bit of a rash on my hands and goat cheese made my mouth tingle a little bit.  Then all of a sudden I can't eat either shrimp or goat cheese anymore which is really sad because I love them both.  It doesn't seem quite fair that I can be allergic to things I really enjoy!

5.  I would take hot temperatures over cold any day.  I don't mind being hot but I absolutely hate being cold and it makes me grumpy.  Unfortunately, the rest of my family doesn't feel the same way.  I have been known to wear a sweatshirt and fuzzy socks in July and still be cold.

6.  I'm super competitive. I have a hard time playing board games because I absolutely hate to lose.  I also ended up coaching soccer for seven years because the previous coach drove me crazy with his lack of strategy.  Despite not being able to actually play the sport my team consistently had a winning record and ended up in regional and divisional tournaments.

7.  When I was in 3rd grade I went to a slumber party where the girl wanted to watch horror movies.  The mom rented Pet Semetary for a bunch of 8 year olds.   This was right after it came out so the effect weren't nearly as cheesy looking as they are now.  It scared me half to death and for years I couldn't roll over in bed because I was afraid I'd see the guy who had fallen off the building who kept showing up to give warnings to the main character.  I've yet to read anything by Stephen King and I fully blame this movie.

8.  I have awful vision.  Like -9 in one eye and -7.5 in the other.  I very rarely take my contacts out because I'm completely helpless without them.  I do have glasses but I have absolutely no peripheral vision so I end up with an enormous headache.  Thankfully with a Kindle I can at least read without them if I put the font on the largest setting and hold it fairly close to my face.  Before I couldn't get my face close enough to a book to actually read.

9.  I have always been a mystery fan.  The earliest books I remember getting from the library were Cam Jansen and Encyclopedia Brown followed by Nancy Drew.   I have broadened my genres a little bit as an adult but mysteries are still my go to read.

10. I'm only a recent coffee addict.  I drank pots of it in college but once I graduated I stopped because I was actually sleeping occasionally and didn't need it as much.  However when the Tornado was born it became extremely evident that neither my husband or myself was as young as we used to be when it came to operating without sleep.  Out of desperation I pulled out some instant coffee I usually used for baking and it saved the day.  We've both been drinking coffee every morning ever since.

So there's 10 things about me!  Tell me something about you!

The Light of Paris - Review + Giveaway

The Light of Paris by Eleanor Brown

Rating: Loved It!
Source: Publisher

Description:  Madeleine is trapped - by her family's expectations, by her controlling husband, and by her own fears - in an unhappy marriage and a life she never wanted.  From the outside, it looks like she has everything but on the inside, she fears she has nothing that matters.  In Madeleine's memories her grandmother Margie is the kind of woman she should have been - elegant, reserved, perfect.  But when Madeleine finds a diary detailing Margie's bold romantic trip to Jazz Age Paris, she meets the grandmother she never knew: a dreamer who defied her strict staid family and spent an exhilarating summer writing in cafes, living on her own, and falling for a charismatic artist.  Despite her unhappiness, when Madeleine's marriage is threatened, she panics, escaping to her hometown and staying with her critical, disapproving mother.  In that unlikely place, shaken by the revelation of a long hidden family secret and inspired by her grandmother's bravery, Madeleine creates her own Parisian summer - reconnecting to her love of painting, cultivating a vibrant circle of creative friends, and finding a kindred spirit in a down-to-earth chef who reminds her to feed both her body and her heart.  Margie and Madeleine's stories intertwine to explore the joys and risks of living life on our own terms, of defying the rules that hold us back from our dreams, and of becoming the people we are meant to be.  (from Goodreads)

Genre: Fiction

Why I Picked This Book:  I've been wanting to try Eleanor Brown since I saw reviews for The Weird Sisters a few years ago.  Plus, I couldn't turn down the grandmother's diary and Jazz Age Paris!

My Impression:  I'm trying to restrain myself from being to gushy but I absolutely thoroughly enjoyed this book.  It's a relatively simple story.  A woman who has never felt good enough starts to realize that her marriage and her life aren't making her happy and aren't turning her into the person she feels like she needs to be finds the journals of her grandmother, a woman she had always found perfect and intimidating and instead finds a kindred spirit beginning a journey of her own.

I have mixed feelings about books with dual timelines.  Very rarely are they both equally interesting and frequently the bulk of the book is set in one time period with the occasional flashback that can be jarring.  In The Light of Paris Brown alternates chapters so we get equal time with Madeline in 1999 and Margie in 1924.  I loved that at the beginning of Margie's chapters we often get the voice of Madeleine as she explains what she has found in the journal or ponders what she thought she knew about her grandmother.  I had no problem slipping in between timelines and felt instantly connected at every chapter change.  It was interesting to see very similar emotions and situations over such a large gap of time and to see what opportunities Madeline is able to grab that Margie didn't have access to.  I really loved both stories equally and was rooting for them both and holding my breath for each of them as they struggled with what they really wanted and what they had to do.

I really liked how clearly Brown draws the characters and how well we're able to see what's going on in their heads.  I liked how complex the choice of making yourself happy is shown.  There are consequences and pressures not to disappoint and years and years of habit all of which make decisions far from easy.  And making yourself happy isn't just about choices but about taking the responsibility for that happiness.

Overall, I loved this book.  The characters are wonderfully vivid and so easy to connect too.  My heart ached for them and sang for them at different times and I was sad to see the last of them.

*Giveaway*

Thanks to the publisher I have one gorgeous hardcover of this book to giveaway!  All you have to do is comment below, tell me your favorite read so far this year, and leave an email address I can reach you.  On the morning of Tuesday the 19th I'll draw a random number and get in touch with the winner!   Giveaway is open till 11:59PM CST on Monday, July 18, 2016.  Unfortunately, US addresses only.

Would I Read More of this Series/Author?: Definitely!  I really loved this book and am looking forward to visiting more worlds that Brown creates.

Would I Recommend this Book?: Absolutely!  I can't recommend this book enough.

This Week in Reading - July 10

It's Sunday Post time!  This is hosted by the awesome Caffeinated Book Reviewer and gives us all a chance to recap our week.

What I Got:

A Child's Garden of Death (A Lyon and Bea Wentworth Mystery) by Richard Forrest - A children's book author solving a 30 year old crime!  I'm definitely looking forward to this one and this is a series I've never read before and don't know all that much about.  (NetGalley)

A Turn for the Bad by Sheila Connolly - This is the 4th book in Connolly's cozy mystery series that is set in Ireland.  I've read the first one and really enjoyed it.  (Paperbackswap)

Read to Death by Terrie Farley Moran - This previous book in this series was one of my favorite cozy mysteries last year so I had to pre-order this newest one! (Amazon)

The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman - I've been wanting to read Neil Gaiman and this book for ages and I couldn't resist picking it up when I saw it at the bookstore.  (Parnassus Books)

Meet Me in Atlantis: My Obsessive Quest to Find the Sunken City by Mark Adams - I know nothing about this book but I love travel/research books and what I read looked really funny.  (Parnassus Books)

The Greatest Books You'll Never Read: Unpublished Masterpieces by The World's Greatest Writers by Professor Bernard Richards - This is kind of a coffee table book that has all kinds of info on unpublished works from famous authors.  It's fascinating!  (Parnassus Books)

Currently:

Reading:  Better Get to Livin' by Sally Kilpatrick.  I'm also finishing Thornyhold by Mary Stewart and then will pick up Death on the Nile by Agatha Christie again.  I had put the last two on hold for review books but I'm glad to be back to them!

Listening:  I'm still loving podcasts.  I just finished listening to the The History Chicks' 2 parter on Mary Todd Lincoln and found it fascinating.  I've got some Super Serials podcasts to catch up on too.  I have one about Sweet Valley (which I love listening too even though I didn't really read the books) and a Babysitter's Club coming up and I can't wait!

Watching:  Still not much.  This week I've been trying to go to bed early and we haven't watched much TV but it'll probably spike up a bit next week.

Off the Blog:

It's been a long week.  On Monday we dropped Paul off at the recruitment center here and then the next day met him in Nashville to see him take his oath and then get on the bus to Parris Island.  We were able to spend a lot more time with him Tuesday than I expected so that was really good.  He was one of 9 Marine recruits going up that day.  The rest were Air Force with a few Army.  Seeing him off wasn't as emotional as I expected.  I think we've seen various kids off to college or other trips so often that it didn't feel all that different.  We knew we would be getting a phone call when he was processed in on Parris Island to let us know that he had made it but that it would be a scripted call so we wouldn't be able to say anything.  I don't think I was quite prepared for how unsettling that call was.  The phone rang around midnight and he read his script and hung up and I think that's when it really hit us what was happening.  We're still in a communication blackout and it's really the first time I haven't known what was going on or been able to check in on a regular basis.  Right now I'm just sending strong thoughts in the direction of Parris Island, SC and if you have any to spare please consider sending some that way too.

Once we saw Paul off we spent the rest of the afternoon in Nashville.  While it's only about 90 miles north it's not somewhere we go very often.  I live right between Nashville and Birmingham and people tend to pick one or the other as the primary place they go.  Since I'm from Birmingham we've always gone that direction since there was family there and I knew my way around better.  But I'd definitely like to spend more time in Nashville.  We grabbed lunch in this fun restaurant downtown and then headed over to Parnassus Books which is the bookstore started by Anne Patchett.  It a great little bookstore and the children's section was amazing. Plus it had this little child size door to go through to get to it which the Tornado loved.  We're hoping to head back to spend a weekend soon.

My car decided not to start Sunday night (it's fine now) and with all the stuff with Paul there was just not time to even think about it so we ended up renting a car.  I ended up with a Ford Escape which I was pleasantly surprised by.  It's a fun car to drive and I really like the interior layout.  But why is renting a car always such a disaster?  J travels a lot for work and has to rent cars regularly and I've rented a few for various reasons and every time it's a surprise to see what you end up with regardless of what you reserved in the first place.  The whole Jerry Seinfeld skit about car rental places - "You know how to take the reservation but not hold the reservation which is the most important part OF the reservation." is still so true.  Most of the employees I've dealt with are super friendly but always seem legitimately surprised that I expect not only a car but the kind of car I reserved.  The thing is - especially with the internet - the reservation tracking shouldn't be THAT hard.  Please, if you know about this industry explain all this to me!  

On the Blog:

What Happened:

Monday: Me Before You - Fiction Review

Tuesday: Top Ten Great Books That Need More Buzz

Wednesday: Finding Fontainebleau - Nonfiction Blog Tour Review

Thursday: Lowcountry Book Club - Cozy Mystery Review

Friday: Friday Linkups with The Light of Paris

Saturday: Caught Bread Handed - Cozy Mystery Review + Recipe

What's Coming Up:

Monday - The Light of Paris - Fiction Review

Tuesday: Top Ten Tuesday - Ten Facts About Me

Wednesday - A Most Curious Murder - Cozy Mystery Review

Thursday - James Bond: Live and Let Die - Book vs Movie Review

Friday: Friday Linkups with Current Book

Saturday: Home Cooked - Cookbook Review + Recipe

Have a great week and happy reading!

Caught Bread Handed - Review + Recipe

Caught Bread Handed (A Bakeshop Mystery #4) by Ellie Alexander
Rating: Very Good
Source: NetGalley

Description:  Jules Capshaw is working long hours keeping the family bakery, Torte, going, trying to figure out just what kind of relationship she wants from estranged but very present husband Carlos, and keeping her friendship with Thomas who may or may not want to be more than friends.  The last thing she needs is to stumble across a dead body.  But that's exactly what happens early one morning when she discovers the body of the controversial developer Mindy in her neon green and very un-Shakespearean new restaurant.  Suspects and motives abound and Jules can't help but stick her nose in a little to figure out just who wanted Mindy dead.

My Impression: I so enjoy this mystery series!  When I start on page one I feel just like I'm walking into Torte and catching up with old friends.  I love watching Jules and her mom work together, seeing how Sterling and Stephanie are getting along, and finding out what new coffee creation Andy has come up with (can he have more page time next book please?).  The food itself is absolutely mouthwatering from pastries to savories it all sounds amazing.  Watching Jules' process as she comes up with a booze soaked cake was such fun and had me wanting to go play with marzipan and Grand Marnier.  I was also wanting to go whip up a red velvet cake at midnight but I resisted the temptation!  I did end up buying a piece from a local bakery the next day though!
It was interesting seeing Jules and Carlos together as the first 3 books have focused so much on their estrangement.  I was predisposed to not like Carlos as I have been fully Team Thomas (though I knew he didn't have much of a chance) but I warmed up to him as the book went along.  He and Jules do not have an easy road of it and I'm very curious to see how it plays out as the series goes along.
With all the character development the mystery did feel a bit like it was in the background.  However, that didn't mean that it wasn't fully fleshed out.  We got bits and pieces of clues as the story went along as well as red herrings galore.  The final wrap up was definitely a page turner and made perfect sense when it was all explained.
Once again Ellie Alexander kept me turning pages and thoroughly entertained.  I love the characters and always enjoy the mystery.  This has me wanting to head to Ashland, Oregon with a cinnamon roll in one hand and a bowl of soup in the other!

And speaking of soup, Jules makes 2 different delicious sounding soups for lunch at Torte but the one that really caught my attention was her Tomato Orange Soup.  Now it's July here in Alabama and soup is not something I normally crave but I'm up to my elbows in fresh tomatoes and the splash of citrus with the tomato just sounds amazing.  I have this coming up on my menu next week with some cheesy bread!

Tomato Orange Soup 

from Caught Bread Handed by Ellie Alexander

1/2 cup butter
1 medium onion
10 fresh tomatoes or 2 (14.5 oz) cans of diced tomatoes
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon pepper
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon fresh rosemary
1/2 teaspoon fresh thyme
1 cup fresh orange juice
3/4 cup half and half

Melt butter in a saucepan.  Add chopped onion and saute until translucent.  If using fresh tomatoes, was and cut slits in the tomato skins.  Boil for 5 minutes.  Remove from water.  The skin should easily peel away.  Dice tomatoes and add to the onions, or add cans of diced tomatoes.  Then add salt, pepper, baking soda, and chopped rosemary and thyme.  Bring to a boil, reduce heat to low, and simmer for 10 to 15 minutes.  (I loved that in the book Jules explains the use of the baking soda as she's making the soup.  Apparently it balances out the acidity of the tomatoes and citrus.)

Use an immersion blender or food processor to puree.  Once the mixture has been pureed, return to saucepan and whisk in orange juice and half and half.  Bring to a simmer and serve hot.

Today I'm linking up with Weekend Cooking hosted by Beth Fish Reads

Friday Linkups: The Light of Paris

It's Friday linkup time!  I'm linking up with the Book Blogger Hop hosted by Coffee Addicted Writer, Book Beginnings of Fridays hosted by Rose City Reader, and the Friday 56 hosted by Freda's Voice

This Week's Book Blogger Hop Question:
I've been a little off on my questions lately so I don't know if I don't have an updated list or what exactly is going on but today my question is -
Who is your favorite fictional couple?

My Answer:
This is a tough one!  There are a lot of fictional couples I really love but I guess if I had to pick a favorite it'd be Anne Shirley and Gilbert Blythe from the Anne of Green Gables series by L.M. Montgomery.  Second is Valancy and Barney Snaith also from an L.M. Montgomery book, The Blue Castle.

This week's book is one I've really been looking forward to reading and so far does not disappoint.  I've had The Weird Sisters by Eleanor Brown on my TBR for ages but somehow never got around to it.  When I was offered a review copy of Brown's newest book called The Light of Paris I absolutely could not resist.  Even if I hadn't been wanting wanting to read Eleanor Brown's books this one would have tempted me with the dual time lines - one in 1920s Paris - and the discovery of a box of letters that that give the main character a much deeper understanding of her grandmother.

The Beginning:
I didn't set out to lose myself.  No one does, really.  No one purposely swims away from the solid, forgiving anchor of their heart.

My Thoughts:
This sounds very final.  I wonder what changes she made and how it really is affecting her life.

The 56:
Margie, who had been cooped up inside all day, nearly fled for her wrap.  Even a walk with Mr. Chapman was better than sitting with him and her parents for the length of coffee and polite conversation in the parlor.

My Thoughts:
I can feel the awkwardness of this sentence.  You can tell Margie is absolutely desperate to get out of that house and I don't get the feeling she's all that fond of Mr. Chapman either!

So what do you think?  Keep reading?  Who is your favorite fictional couple?

Lowcountry Book Club

Lowcountry Book Club (A Liz Talbot Mystery #5) by Susan M. Boyer
Rating: Very Good
Source: NetGalley

Description:  Somebody pushed Shelby Poinsett out her second floor library window and it wasn't her husband. At least that what Charleston's most prestigious law firm wants Liz Talbot to prove.  Liz must run the spectrum of Southern society, from the local homeless shelter where Shelby volunteered to the one-hundred-year-old book club where Charleston's genteel ladies are dying to join, to bring a killer to justice.  (from Goodreads)

Genre: Mystery

Why I Picked This Book:  This is one of my favorite series and I can't resist books that have mentions of books in the title!

My Impression:  When Boyer's last book,  Lowcountry Bordello,  ended we were at Liz and Nate's wedding and while things didn't go as planned I've been looking forward to checking back in with the newlyweds since I finished it.  I was delighted to start this one and see how life was treating Liz and Nate.  I absolutely love that now Nate can see Colleen.  He's not nearly as thrilled about it but it makes for a funny little twist and it makes things a little bit easier since they can both see her now.

The mystery itself was entertaining and solidly done.  We have a murder and an obvious suspect who has no motives and seems genuinely innocent.  As for the victim herself there just doesn't seem to be any reason anyone would want Shelby dead.  I read a lot of mysteries where it seems like everyone had motive and opportunity so I really enjoyed this one that was almost the exact opposite with no real suspects.  I love seeing Nate and Liz work together on an investigation.  I definitely feel like I'm puzzling it all out right along with them.

We get a little further with Colleen's subplot which I very much enjoyed.  Her part in this book isn't quite as large as it seemed in the previous book but we do see quite a bit of her.  I enjoyed watching her drive Nate crazy but it was also interesting to get a little more about her mission.

This has consistently been on of my favorite cozy mystery series and this newest entry did not disappoint.  Liz and Nate are likable and good investigators and I love going along for the ride.  Plus, I absolutely loved all the politics that went along with the 100 year old book club!   This is a series I'll definitely be keeping up with!

Would I Read More of this Series/Author?: Definitely!  Go on and sign me up for the next one!  I really enjoy this series.

Would I Recommend this Book?: Yes!  I think this series as a whole is a great starter cozy.  I think it would appeal to all mystery lovers and would be a good way to explore the cozy sub-genre without getting too cozy.