The Last Word - Cozy Mystery Review

Goodreads: The Last Word by Gerri Lewis

Rating: Liked It (3 Stars)
Source:   Publisher

Description:  Obituary writer Winter Snow is no stranger to grief, and writing obituaries for the citizens of Ridgefield, Connecticut, is her way of providing comfort to those who have been in her shoes. But funerals and eulogies are meant for the dead, so when the very much alive Leocadia Arlington requests her own obituary by the end of the week, Winter’s curiosity is piqued. Even more so when she finds Mrs. Arlington dead soon after. Officer Kip Michaels and his relentless partner Tom Bellini make it clear that Winter is under suspicion for the death.

Drafting an obituary for someone who hadn’t died yet certainly looks bad, but Winter knows that it wasn’t her, and she becomes obsessed with trying to figure out the real killer. She dives headfirst into the investigation to give Mrs. Arlington and herself some peace. When Winter realizes Mrs. Arlington was working on a revealing memoir that has now gone missing, Winter begins to wonder if the death wasn’t exactly random–accident or otherwise.

With the help of her foodie Uncle Richard, her wise octogenarian neighbor Horace, her best friend Scoop, and Diva, the Great Pyrenees puppy she inherited from Mrs. Arlington, Winter must uncover the killer before the next obituary written is her own.

Genre: Mystery - Cozy

Why I Picked This Book:  The first in a new cozy series, a dog on the cover, and unusual job for the main character - how could I resist?

My Impression: There was a lot I liked about this series.  I like Winter's close relationship with her uncle and her friend Scoop's ability to find out all kinds of information.  I have a serious weakness for Great Pyrenees and I love books involving digging into someone's past.   Winter's profession of writing obituaries is an interesting one and works well for amateur sleuthing.  The mystery itself was an interesting one that did make me guess a bit and I enjoyed Winter's investigation.

That said I found the pacing on this one a bit slow.  I understand that there's a decent amount of world building that needs to be done in the first book in the series but this skirted the line into tedious at times.   I felt a bit like I was being told what Winter was doing instead of following along with her.  

I like the premise and the characters enough to pick up the next book in the series and I'm just hoping the pacing there will be a bit faster.

Would I Read More of this Series/Author? I will definitely give the series another try.

Would I Recommend this Book?  Yes with some caveats about the pacing.

* I received this book in exchange for an honest review.  As always my opinions and impressions are completely my own. *

Top Ten Tuesday - Seven Things That Will Make Me Fall in Love with a Book and 3 That Won't

Today I'm linking up with Top Ten Tuesday hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl which is all about lists.  Since lists are one of my favorite things this is one of my favorite linkups!  Today's topic is a romance freebie so I'm looking at 7 things that will make me fall in love with a book (and 3 things that won't).

1.  Old Things - The old things can be houses, or antiques, or clothes, or books or just about anything but if the history of an item or location is involved I'm usually going to love a book.

2.  Characters that bring out the best in each other - I love relationships between characters where they really prop each other up and bring out the best in each other.   The type of relationship doesn't matter but if I see this aspect of a relationship between characters I get warm fuzzy feelings.

3.  A Bookish Career - I love when a character has a bookish career - be it selling books, checking books out, cataloging books, writing books, or any thing else.  If the character talks about books I'm a happy reader.

4.  A Book with a Storyline I can't Wait to Get Back To - If I'm listening to an audio book and I start coming up with cleaning projects so I can keep listening or if I'm tempted to go hide in a corner with a book for "just one more minute" when I really should be doing other things then I know I'm loving the book.

5.  A Book I Want to Talk About - This happens especially with nonfiction.  If a book really hooks me and I find myself thinking about it when I'm not reading I can't help but talk about it which is a sign I've definitely fallen in love.

6.  A Book That Breaks My Heart but Gives Me Hope - I tend to avoid books that are sad or cover really heavy topics but every once in awhile I pick up a book that makes me cry but I'm smiling by the end and I just know that book will end up on my Keeper Shelf.

7.  Ghosts - This kind of plays in with the first item of old things but I do love a book that involves a good ghost story.  I can't resist a book with a bit of history and a bit of spookiness.

Things That Will Cause Me To Fall Out of Love With a Book:

1.  Adultery - Especially if it's a romance and one of the main characters is involved in a relationship with someone else.  I just can't root for an HEA.

2.  Lack of Communication - Be it mystery or romance or fiction when characters make giant leaps or assumptions and refuse just to talk to each other even though it would make everything so much easier it drives me crazy!

3.  To Stupid to Live Behavior  - I read a mystery recently when the main character broke into the house of a trigger happy family to snoop for no real reason and it took my enjoyment of the book down by at least a star.  All I could do was cringe.  

What will make you fall in love with a book?  Or out of love with a book?

The Lantern's Dance - Historical Mystery Review

Goodreads: The Lantern's Dance (Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes #18) by Laurie R. King

Rating: Really Liked It! (4.5 Stars)
Source:  Publisher

Description:  After their recent adventures in Transylvania, Russell and Holmes look forward to spending time with Holmes' son, the famous artist Damian Adler, and his family. But when they arrive at Damian’s house, they discover that the Adlers have fled from a mysterious threat.

Holmes rushes after Damian while Russell, slowed down by a recent injury, stays behind to search the empty house. In Damian’s studio, she discovers four crates packed with memorabilia related to Holmes’ grand-uncle, the artist Horace Vernet. It’s an odd mix of treasures and clutter, including a tarnished silver lamp with a rotating an antique yet sophisticated form of zoetrope, fitted with strips of paper whose images dance with the lantern’s spin.

In the same crate is an old journal written in a nearly impenetrable code. Intrigued, Russell sets about deciphering the intricate cryptograph, slowly realizing that each entry is built around an image—the first of which is a child, bundled into a carriage by an abductor, watching her mother recede from view.

Russell is troubled, then entranced, but each entry she decodes brings more questions. Who is the young woman who created this elaborate puzzle? What does she have to do with Damian, or the Vernets—or the threat hovering over the house?

The secrets of the past appear to be reaching into the present. And it seems increasingly urgent that Russell figure out how the journal and lantern are related to Damian—and possibly to Sherlock Holmes himself.

Could there be things about his own history that even the master detective does not perceive?

Genre: Mystery - Historical

Why I Picked This Book:  I've read and really enjoyed other books in this series so of course I couldn't pass up this newest book.  

My Impression: I have been reading this series since the first book came out and have always enjoyed it.  This book might just be my favorite.  I normally don't enjoy when Holmes and Russell are separated but in this case it really worked and I found each POV equally compelling.  As well was the POV of the journal entries that reveal the life of a vivid and extraordinary character.  This completely hooked me as I was fascinated by the story and was looking for clues to see just how the stories would come together.  

The mystery was one that kept me guessing and I enjoyed Holmes' more active role played against Russell's more research role.  I really enjoyed digging more into Holmes' past as well as learning more about Damian's.  Holmes and Russell are both characters that I have come to feel like I know and I always enjoy checking in with them.  Pair this with an interesting and compelling mystery and this made for a story that I didn't want to put down and was sad to see the end arrive.  

If you enjoy mysteries and like some history mixed in this is a book I think most readers would enjoy.  While all series are better read in order I do think this is a book that you could jump into here (though this is not always the case for this series) and get caught up in the story.

Would I Read More of this Series/Author? Absolutely!  This is a series I always enjoy and one I'd really like to go back and reread from the beginning.

Would I Recommend this Book? I would recommend this book and this series.  Even if you're not a fan of the original Holmes books this is a fantastic mystery series.

* I received this book in exchange for an honest review.  As always my opinions and impressions are completely my own. *

This Week in Reading - February 11

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:

Speculations in Sin by Jennifer Ashley - I really enjoyed the first few books in the series but then kind of neglected it for a bit.  I'm really enjoying getting caught up and I can't wait to read this latest book.  (Publisher)

Revved Up 4 Murder by J.C. Eaton - I love this fun and quirky cozy mystery series so of course I couldn't resist picking this newest one up! (Publisher)

Four-Alarm Homicide by Diane Kelly - I've enjoyed the previous books in this series and this one sounds like a fun cozy mystery.  (Publisher)

Booked on Murder by Allison Brook - This is one of my favorite cozy mystery series and I can't wait to read this one!  (Publisher)

Currently:

Reading:  The Last Word by Gerri Lewis and House of Shadows by Nicola Cornick

Listening:  The Pleasures of Passion by Sabrina Jeffries

I am not sad to see the end of January.  It was a bit of a crazy month.  So far February is proving a lot calmer.

We got Will's yearly scans out of the way and all of his bloodwork came back perfect so he is officially 1 year cancer free.  He was at a birthday party the weekend before we had to go to Memphis for the bloodwork and he was running around in the woods with all the other kids and I couldn't help but get a bit teary.

I had my first turn at jury duty a few weeks ago and ended up on a civil trial involving a residential swimming pool.  I now know way more about contract law and building swimming pools than I ever wanted to know but the experience was interesting.

I hope everyone has a fantastic week and happy reading!

The Mysterious Affair at Styles - Classic Mystery Review

Goodreads: The Mysterious Affair at Styles by Agatha Christie

Rating: Loved It! (5 Stars)
Source:   Publisher

Description:  Agatha Christie's debut novel was also the first to feature Hercule Poirot, her famously eccentric Belgian detective.

A refugee of the Great War, Poirot has settled in England near Styles Court, the country estate of his wealthy benefactor, the elderly Emily Inglethorp. When Emily is poisoned and the authorities are baffled, Poirot puts his prodigious sleuthing skills to work. Suspects are plentiful, including the victim’s much younger husband, her resentful stepsons, her longtime hired companion, a young family friend working as a nurse, and a London specialist on poisons who just happens to be visiting the nearby village.

All of them have secrets they are desperate to keep, but none can outwit Poirot as he navigates the ingenious red herrings and plot twists that contribute to Agatha Christie's well-deserved reputation as the queen of mystery.

Genre: Mystery - Classic

Why I Picked This Book:  I'm doing the Read Christie 2024 Challenge from Agatha Christie Ltd and this was the first pick.

My Impression: I think every time I reread this book I enjoy it and appreciate it more.  There's something a bit thriller about reading Hercule Poirot's debut on the printed page and it gives me a little shiver every time.  This is the first of what will become a classic Christie mystery.  There is a variety of characters with varying amount of means and motive and so many threads to unravel.

This isn't the fastest paced mystery but it is entertaining from start to finish and keeps me guessing even though I know the end.  I love seeing how Poirot's mind works and the exchanges between him and Hastings are always wonderful.  This is such a good mystery with fantastic detective work and is the world's introduction to Hercule Poirot, Captain Hastings, and Inspector Japp.  

Would I Read More of this Series/Author? Of course!  I always enjoy reading a Christie mystery!

Would I Recommend this Book? Definitely!  If you enjoy mysteries than you absolutely need to read this one.  

Friday Fives - Books on My TBR I Just Know I'm Going to Love

 I'm taking a bit of a break from my usual Friday Linkups to try something a little different.  I'm in a list making kind of mood so I thought I'd start making random five lists.  Sometimes they'll be bookish other weeks not so much.  Since February is the month of Valentine's Day I'm focusing on love, romance and warm and fuzzy feelings.  Today I'm looking at 5 books on my TBR that I just know I'm going to love (now fingers crossed I do!).

1.  Tara Road by Maeve Binchy - I have read a few books by Maeve Binchy though not nearly enough and every book has been wonderfully warm and cozy.

2.  When the Lights Go Out by Mary Kubica - I listened to another book by this author and absolutely loved it.  This sounds even better and I can't wait to read it.

3.  The Shadow of the Wind by Carols Ruiz Zafon - I'm not sure I've read a bad review of this book and I love the cover and the premise so what can go wrong?

4.  Tiny Little Thing by Beatriz Williams - I read the first book in the Schuyler Sisters series and really liked it and this looks like another bit of mid-century gorgeousness.

5.  A Skeleton in the Family by Leigh Perry - This is an older cozy series with a bit of a bonkers premise that I've heard fantastic things about.  Plus there's a dog on the cover so that right there is a good sign!

Have you read any of these?  What books are on your TBR that you just know you'll love?

Books from the Backlog - Someone to Love

Today I'm linking up with Carole from Carole's Random Life of Books for Books from the Backlog.  I really enjoy the chance to feature a book that's been hiding in the piles of books for far too long!

Goodreads:  Someone to Love by Mary Balogh

Blurb:  Anna Snow grew up in an orphanage in Bath knowing nothing of the family she came from. Now she discovers that the late Earl of Riverdale was her father and that she has inherited his fortune. She is also overjoyed to learn she has siblings. However, they want nothing to do with her or her attempts to share her new wealth. But the new earl’s guardian is interested in Anna…

Avery Archer, Duke of Netherby, keeps others at a distance. Yet something prompts him to aid Anna in her transition from orphan to lady. As London society and her newfound relatives threaten to overwhelm Anna, Avery steps in to rescue her and finds himself vulnerable to feelings and desires he has hidden so well and for so long.

Why It Needs to Come Off the Shelf:  Mary Balogh used to be a favorite author who I've been seriously neglecting for the last few years and this is the first in a series.