All the Secret Places - Mystery Review

All the Secret Places: A Gin Sullivan Mystery by Anna Carlisle (Amazon)

Rating: Just Okay
Source: NetGalley

Description: Gin Sullivan is back in Pittsburgh on an extended leave from her job at the Chicago medical examiner's office and rekindling an old flame with her high school sweetheart, Jake. Gin is readjusting to life at home when Jake receives harrowing news early one morning. The new housing development his construction firm is building has caught fire and underneath one of the burnt homes is a dead body. When the body is identified as a man who may very well be the violent offender who terrified Gin's childhood town years ago, the pool of suspects broadens and it becomes a greater challenge to pinpoint his killer. Gin is determined to unearth old demons, hers included, but soon finds some people will kill to keep them buried. Small town secrets cast daunting shadows in All the Secret Places, Anna Carlisle's riveting second Gin Sullivan mystery.

Genre: Mystery

Why I Picked This Book:  I really like that the main character is from the medical examiner's office and that this seemed to focus on an older mystery.

My Impression:  I wanted to like this one - I really really did.  I love a medical examiner MC and am always on the lookout for one since Beverly Connor seems to have stopped writing my favorite Diane Fallon series a decade ago.  This one sounded like it might fit the bill but it came up a little short.  It isn't bad - in fact I found it incredibly readable with excellent pacing but I can't say I especially enjoyed it either..

I found it to be more character driven than I like my mysteries to be and to have serious leanings towards the overwrought side.  Gin has a lot going on - she's recovering from a devastatingly personal case (book #1), trying to figure out her relationship with her parents, trying to determine what to do with her life, and navigate an increasingly complicated relationship with her former high school sweetheart/ current significant other Jake.  There's also quite a lot of business trouble for Jake and political issues between Gin, Jake and the police department who were convinced Jake committed murder in the previous book.

While the mystery itself was solid I felt like it was overshadowed by the personal drama and conflict which kept me from fully enjoying this mystery.  That said, this was an easy mystery to be pulled into.  Even when I was irritated by Gin's or one of the other character's behavior I was never tempted to put the book down and I felt invested enough that I did want to see how everything worked out.

Would I Read More of this Series/Author?  Probably not.  While I do think there are a lot of positives in this book I don't think Carlisle is the author for me.

Would I Recommend this Book?  If you enjoy a character led mystery I think you might enjoy this one.

This Week in Reading - September 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:

The Silent Fountain by Victoria Fox - I know nothing about this author but I love the cover and there's crumbling villas, film stars, and all kinds of old secrets.  (NetGalley)

Deck the Halls by Donna Alward - I love Donna Alward and have always really enjoyed her Christmas stories so I couldn't turn down this novella!  (Publisher)

Hope at Christmas by Nancy Naigle - There's coming home, finding your footing again AND a bookstore in this holiday romance that looks like it's got quite a bit of heart in it.  (Publisher)

Always You by Denise Grover Swank - I've really enjoyed the first two books in this contemporary romance that's centered around weddings (though it makes me very glad I went the courthouse ceremony myself) and am excited to read this one.  (NetGalley)

Death and the Viking's Daughter by Loretta Ross - With its strong history element this cozy mystery series that's centered around a PI and an auctioneer has quickly become one of my favorites.  And this one involves a 20 year old missing person's case which has me doubly excited.  (NetGalley)

Currently:

Reading:  The Summer That Made Us by Robyn Carr and To Be Where You Are by Jan Karon

Listening:  Finishing up Splintered by A.G. Howard.  So far it's been really good and really weird!

Watching:  I've been watching a show on Hulu called Supersizers Go which has Sue Perkins from The Great British Bake-Off except in this one she and a restaurant critic are exploring the food and general daily life of different time periods.  I just finished the 1920s and before that was The Regency Era.  This is actually a rewatch but I'm enjoying it just as much this time as the first time around.  Just don't watch it when you're eating - especially some of the older time periods.

Off the Blog:

So our drama this week was hearing a crash Friday morning and going out to find a car on top of our once large brick mailbox which is now lying on the ground.  No one was hurt and it really wasn't that big of a deal.  Their insurance will cover it and we had a nice chat while waiting for the police to get there to right the incident report.  However, after everyone had left (though I must say watching a SUV get towed off a pile of brick is pretty entertaining) we had one of those "What now?" moments.  Yes, I'm sure we'll hear from their insurance company but until then how do we get mail?  And how do you get the big pile of brick off the grass?  And just how exactly does one find a brick mason?   It's just one of those many innocuous moments that they really don't prepare you for.  My last one was when my SodaStream exploded (tip - when they say put the soda syrup in AFTER you carbonate the water they mean it).  Turns out a liter of soda can make quite a mess in high velocity spatter.  I figured we'd have to move because the mess was never going to get cleaned up.  However, it all worked out (well except for the SodaStream - that was kind of the end of that) and I'm sure this one will too.

J and the Tornado had a Boy Scout camp out this weekend so I've been home by myself except for the dog and cat who have been tormenting each other - mostly cat tormenting the dog if I'm being honest.  I'm a bit of a nervous person so any noise is automatically someone coming to kill me so I try to only watch happy non-violent shows when I'm by myself at night.  Which made me realize just how violent my TV taste is!  All but maybe one show involves murder.  I'm thinking about rewatching the Anne of Green Gables mini-series with Megan Follows.  Not much is happier than that!

Like most people my thoughts are on Florida right now.   There's so much to say and to worry about and to hope that I'm struggling for words but my thoughts and prayers are there.

On the Blog:

What Happened:

Monday:  Reviews from the Children's Section: The Saturdays and The Four Story Mistake
Tuesday:  Top Ten Tuesday - Books I Struggled With But Ended Up Loving
Wednesday:  Cherry Cake and a Cadaver - Cozy Mystery Review
Thursday:  Conspiracy in Belgravia - Historical Mystery Review
Friday:  Something Like Happy - Fiction Review
Saturday:  All Facts Considered - Nonfiction Review

What's Coming Up:

Monday:  All the Secret Places - Mystery Review

Tuesday:  Top Ten Tuesday - Throwback Blogger Favorites

Wednesday:  Chesapeake Bride - Romance Review

Thursday: TBD

Friday:  The Summer That Made Us - Fiction Review

Saturday: TBD

Have a great week and happy reading!

All Facts Considered - Nonfiction Review

All Facts Considered: The Essential Library of Inessential Knowledge by Kee Malesky (Amazon)

Rating: Good
Source: Purchased

Description:  For the bestselling miscellany market, an NPR librarian's compendium of fascinating facts on history, science, and the art.

How much water do the Great Lakes contain? Who were the first and last men killed in the Civil War? How long is a New York minute? What are the lost plays of Shakespeare? What building did Elvis leave last? Get the answers to these and countless other vexing questions in a All Facts Considered. Guaranteed to enlighten even the most seasoned trivia buff, this treasure trove of "who knew?" factoids spans a wide range of intriguing subjects.

Written by noted NPR librarian Kee Malesky, whom Scott Simon has called the "source of all human knowledge"
Answers questions on history, natural history, science, religion, language, and the arts
Packed with valuable nuggets of information, from the useful to the downright bizarre

Genre:  Nonfiction - Reference

Why I Picked This Book:  Years ago I listened to an interview with Kee Malesky and really enjoyed it so I figured I needed this book.

My Impression:  This book isn't quite what I wanted it to be.  I think I wanted more of a memoir of the experience of being the librarian in charge of digging up crazy assortments of facts - with facts included of course - but this book is much more of a reference book.  There is no personal element to it at all.

The book is divided into 3 broad categories: history, science, and art.  Each category is divided into a few more subcategories and than each subcategory has dozens of subjects with as little as a paragraph to as much as a page and half written about them.  There is a little bit about everything you could ever possibly want to know about in this book and it is one of those that I find myself opening to a random page and reading a little bit about Hometown Names, Lost Words of the Bard, or The Secret Ballot.

While this isn't a book you'd sit down and read from cover to cover it is a fun book to have around as a coffee table or guest room book.  There's bound to be something in here that everyone finds interesting.

Would I Read More of this Series/Author?  I probably wouldn't buy another reference type book but I'd love to know more about the librarians that run all these facts down and their process.

Would I Recommend this Book?  If you enjoy reference style books this is a very fun one to have around.

Something Like Happy - Fiction Review

Something Like Happy by Eva Woods (Amazon)

Rating:  Very Good
Source:  Little Bird Publicity

Description:  Annie Hebden is stuck. Stuck in her boring job, with her irritating roommate, in a life no thirty-five-year-old would want. But deep down, Annie is still mourning the terrible loss that tore a hole through the perfect existence she'd once taken for granted—and hiding away is safer than remembering what used to be. Until she meets the eccentric Polly Leonard.
Bright, bubbly, intrusive Polly is everything Annie doesn't want in a friend. But Polly is determined to finally wake Annie up to life. Because if recent events have taught Polly anything, it's that your time is too short to waste a single day—which is why she wants Annie to join her on a mission…

One hundred days. One hundred new ways to be happy. Annie's convinced it's impossible, but so is saying no to Polly. And on an unforgettable journey that will force her to open herself to new experiences—and perhaps even new love with the unlikeliest of men—Annie will slowly begin to realize that maybe, just maybe, there's still joy to be found in the world. But then it becomes clear that Polly's about to need her new friend more than ever…and Annie will have to decide once and for all whether letting others in is a risk worth taking.


Genre: Fiction

Why I Picked This Book:  I loved The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin and all the Happiness Project movements so I thought it'd be fun to see a fictionalized version of a project.

My Impression:   This wasn't an easy book.  I mean it was an easy book to connect with and an easy book to read but I don't feel the author took the easy way out on this.  These aren't happy people doing a project involving Instagram and hashtags.  There aren't magic tricks that make all their problems go away because they're remembering to smile at strangers and dance in the rain.  Annie and Polly have problems that legitimately suck.  Problems that would be too much for anyone to bear.  And at the end they still have those problems.  However, can you be happy with such opposition and can being happy make those problems a little easier to bear?

It was interesting to see the project progress and how it changed their lives.  There aren't unicorns riding rainbows and eating cotton candy at the end but there's is more laughter, more joy, more hope, and maybe a few tears.  I loved watching the project evolve and getting to know the characters.  I loved that while Annie's world especially opened up she was still very much herself.

This was a really wonderful read and just the read I needed at the moment.  It inspired me to shift my focus a little bit and focus on the positive.    This is a fantastic read if you're looking for characters you can really connect to and need your own bit of inspiration.


Would I Read More of this Series/Author?  Absolutely!  This was a really great read.

Would I Recommend this Book?  If you enjoy a heart felt women's fiction that doesn't get too sappy this is one not to miss.

A Conspiracy in Belgravia - Historical Mystery Review

A Conspiracy in Belgravia (Lady Sherlock #2) by Sherry Thomas (Amazon)

Rating:  Very Good
Source: NetGalley

Description:  Being shunned by Society gives Charlotte Holmes the time and freedom to put her extraordinary powers of deduction to good use. As “Sherlock Holmes, consulting detective,” aided by the capable Mrs. Watson, she’s had great success helping with all manner of inquiries, but she’s not prepared for the new client who arrives at her Upper Baker Street office.
Lady Ingram, wife of Charlotte’s dear friend and benefactor, wants Sherlock Holmes to find her first love, who failed to show up at their annual rendezvous. Matters of loyalty and discretion aside, the case becomes even more personal for Charlotte as the missing man is none other than Myron Finch, her illegitimate half brother.

In the meanwhile, Charlotte wrestles with a surprising proposal of marriage, a mysterious stranger woos her sister Livia, and an unidentified body that surfaces where least expected. Charlotte’s investigative prowess is challenged as never before: Can she find her brother in time—or will he, too, end up as a nameless corpse somewhere in the belly of London?

Genre: Mystery - Historical

Why I Picked This Book: I really enjoyed the first in the series and was excited to see what adventures Charlotte gets into in this book.

My Impression:  I had some issues with the first book.  It took awhile to get things setup and Charlotte isn't the easiest character to connect to.  I had hoped that these would not be problems with the second book and I was right!  This book hits the ground running and while Charlotte is still Charlotte I was thrilled to see her again.  As well, the end of the first book had raised an issue that could become a problem for Charlotte and Mrs. Watson's relationship and that had me very concerned.  However, I loved the way it was handled.  It seemed fitting to both characters and I was very relieved.

If you like your mysteries to focus on the main mystery this is probably not the book for you.  There is a LOT going on in this mystery.  There are several different cases, some connected and some not, as well as personal issues for several characters.  However, the story never felt cluttered and I was caught up in wanting to see how all the different issues worked out.  While a few threads are left open ended most are resolved by the end of the book and I was thoroughly satisfied at the end.

This is a complex and enjoyable historical mystery.  Things are not easy for Charlotte despite being able to have the career that she wants to have.  She feels an obligation to her sisters and to a lesser degree her parents to make their lives better.  As well not everyone in Charlotte's life is able to get past her scandalous past and it colors their opinion of her and her supporters.    I thought that added a more realistic element to the book and really enjoyed it.  Conspiracy in Belgravia lived up to all my expectations and hopes from the previous book and my only real complaint is that I have to wait a year for the next book!  This is a fascinating historical mystery with interesting characters and all kinds of juicy problems!

Would I Read More of this Series/Author?  Yes!  I can't wait for the next book and I'd really like to go try some of Thomas' historical romances.

Would I Recommend this Book?  Absolutely!  If you enjoy historical mysteries like Laurie R. King's Mary Russell series I think you'd love this series.

Cherry Cake and a Cadaver - Cozy Mystery Review

Cherry Cake and a Cadaver (A Lily Gayle Lambert Mystery #2) by Susan Boles

Rating: Good
Source: Author

Description:  Lily Gayle and the gang set out to find a killer after local baker Luxen Natolovich is found dead hours before the grand opening weekend at the new Bed and Breakfast in town, Midnight Dragonfly.
As Lily Gayle deciphers the clues around Luxen's death she uncovers a conspiracy of lies and half truths that could very well be tied to a refugee camp in Mississippi during World War II.

The deeper Lily Gayle digs the deeper the consipiracy runs and the closer she comes to being the killers next victim.

Genre:  Mystery - Cozy

Why I Picked This Book:  The first book in the series had interested me so when I got the chance to review this one I couldn't pass it up.  Plus, I've been spending quite a lot of time in small town Mississippi (though my small town is much farther south) so I thought this sounded like fun.

My Impression:  For starters Susan Boles is my hero for mentioning the massive variety of Southern accents.  On television almost everyone from the south sounds like they're from Texas and it drives me CRAZY.  Someone from Georgia will not sound like someone from Mississippi and neither of them will sound like someone who lives on the coast.  But that really doesn't have much to do with the mystery or the book.

Luckily, the book made me just as happy as the comments about the accent.  This is just such a cute read with all kinds of quirky characters.  The murder happens a little later in the book so I had plenty of time to get to know Lily Gayle and her friends as well as getting a bit of an idea about the town.  I really loved getting to know more about the mysterious victim and it was fun to see Lily Gayle realize how little she knew about him even though he's been around all her life.

This is a super quick read and a thoroughly entertaining one.  It's on the light side and drifts over into cutesy territory a time or two but I still enjoyed the read.  It's perfect for when you're wanting a mystery but aren't looking for anything dark or grim.  This is a fun and light hearted read and not even a dead body can dim Lily Gayle's spirits or cure her nosiness!

Would I Read More of this Series/Author?  Definitely!  This was really cute and I'd like to spend some more time with Lily Gayle and the rest of the characters.

Would I Recommend this Book?  If you love a quirky cozy this is a fun read!  While this is the 2nd book in the series I think you could jump in here with no problems.

Top Ten Tuesday - Books I Struggled With But Ended up Loving

This week's Top Ten Tuesday topic from The Broke and the Bookish is Books I Struggled with But Ended Up Loving.  This doesn't happen all that often but just enough to make DNFing a book a hard decision!  What if I give up on a book I would have loved too soon?

1.  A Study in Scarlet Women by Sherry Thomas - The beginning of this one felt dry and disjointed.  There's a lot of series setup and at times it was just so slow.  I'm not sure how well I would have gotten through the book if I wasn't listening to it on audio.  Once the story gets going though I really began to enjoy it and I'm loving the 2nd book in the series.

2.  Ready Player One by Ernest Cline - This is another book that I'm not sure I would have stuck with if not for the audio.  I loved Wil Wheaton's narration!  I loved the parts about the quest but when I got too real world (at least for the first half) I found myself wanting to put it down for awhile.

3.  Serafina and the Black Cloak by Robert Beatty -  I actually think the audio on this one made me like this one less.  I usually love Cassandra Campbell's narration but something about her voice didn't mesh well with the story for me.  I didn't think I liked the book at all until about 2/3 of the way through but the more I've thought about it the more the book has stuck with me and I'm looking forward to reading the 2nd book.

4.  Before the Fall by Noah Hawley - I really enjoyed this book which was a little strange because I typically don't enjoy disaster books.  However, about halfway through there came a point where I was just done with all the speculation and my heart was breaking for the little boy and it was all I could do not to put this one down.  I'm glad I didn't because I really enjoyed it!

5.  The Blood of an Englishman by M.C. Beaton - Agatha Raisin is a hard character to like.  She's a horrible flirt and a schemer and there is at least one point in every book where I just can't take another minute of her.  And then something weird happens and I realize I actually like her.  She still exasperates me but in a fond way.

6.  Attachements by Rainbow Rowell - This book is told through emails for the bulk of the book and for the first third or so I was completely lost.  I couldn't keep track of who was who and I just didn't get it.  And then it clicked and I loved it!

7.  The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin - I think my problem with this book was my expectations going in.  I think I was expecting a light memoir when instead this book is far more like a self help book.  Once I got past that I ended up really enjoying this book and really got a lot out of it.

8.  Call Me Irresistible by Susan Elizabeth Phillips - I like Susan Elizabeth Phillips' romances for the most part but in the first part of this one everyone was just so mean to the heroine that I was seriously annoyed with it!  It got better and I ended up really enjoying the romance but I still didn't like most of the side characters.

9.  The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins - This was really the first dystopian type book I ever read (It's still not really my genre) and while I really enjoyed the writing style I struggled with the aspects of the book but ended up really liking it.

10. The Monogram Murders by Sophie Hannah - This was the first Hercule Poirot book that Hannah wrote and I really struggled with the first half of it because it was close this was not Agatha Christie's Hercule Poirot and I got really caught up in the comparison.  Once I was able to let that go I did enjoy it and I really liked the 2nd book.  And I've just reminded myself I need to go check and see if there's a 3rd book!

What books did you struggle with but end up loving?