Wings of the Falcon - Keeper Shelf Review

Goodreads:  Wings of the Falcon by Barbara Michaels

Rating: Really Liked It!
Source:  Purchased 

Description:  The death of her English father left Francesca alone and unprotected, with nowhere to turn but to the noble Italian family of her late mother. Adrift in a strange land, surrounded by cold and suspicious relatives who had disowned her mother on her wedding day, Francesca is determined to make the best of a bad situation. But nothing could have prepared her for the nest of dark secrets and oppressive cruelty she has been cast into. And her fate now rests in the hands of a mysterious horseman known as the Falcon, whose appearance will speed her salvation ... or hasten her doom.

Genre: Mystery - Gothic

Why I Picked This Book:  I'm rereading all of my Keeper Shelf books to see if they still deserve their place on that shelf.

My Impression: This book is basically the basis for anything I know about Italian history!  I remember when I first read it being shocked by the structure of the Italian government in the 19th century as well as the amount of strife and turmoil.  I'm not normally a fan of the "had I but known" style of narration but here it works well.  I think part of this is because Michaels has a writing style that pulls me in immediately but the other part is that there's a bit of a twist on it in this book.  Instead of "had I but known" Francesca's voice is more along the lines of "wow I was such an idiot back then it's almost embarrassing" which made her a bit more human and easier to relate to her.  

The plot is compelling if a bit on the over the top Gothic style.  Franceseca's romantic tendencies are balanced by the more practical mannerisms of her companion Miss Perkins who may be one of my favorite side characters in all of Michaels' books.  Andre and Stefano are also an interesting juxtaposition.  The family dynamics and their politcal place was also interesting.

While there is a bit of Italian political and social history in this book for the most part it's a fun Gothic style mystery with a helping of romance.  It's an easy an fun read and one I always enjoy.  It has definitely re-earned its place on the Keeper Shelf.

Would I Read More of this Series/Author? Definitely!  Barbara Michaels' books are some of my favorite escapism reads and this is one I will reread.  

Would I Recommend this Book? If you enjoy a good Gothic style read that is fast paced then this is an author and a book I'd definitely recommend.

Life with Leukemia and a Puppy (And Some Reading) - December 12

 
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:

Spirits and Sourdough by Bailey Cates - I enjoy supernatural cozies and enjoyed the last book in this series that I read.  (Publisher)

The Librarian Always Wings Twice by Marty Wingate - This cozy series involves a library full of classic mysteries.  I've enjoyed the previous two books in the series and am looking forward to this one.  (Publisher)

Currently:

Reading:  Curse of Salem by Kay Hooper and Through the Wall by Patricia Wentworth

Listening:  Murder in the Bayou Boneyard by Ellen Byron

It has been a crazy busy week!  Rover is doing fantastic and is pretty much sleeping all night with no issues.  We are working on housebreaking and biting and he's doing great on the first and we are starting to make progress on the second.  He and Will are the best of friends and have spent a lot of time running around together.  At the end of the week Will has been having a lot of foot pain which is unfortunately pretty normal andit has kept him from running around as much.  Rover sits up very straigt and looks at him and it is the cutest thing.  

We've been keeping my dad's dog this weekend because they had to go out of town and that dynamic has been a bit exhausting.  Rover is enthusiastically convinced they should be besties but Cam has a somewhat different opinion of the whole situation. 

As well a foundation run by the absolute kindest man here in town did a Family Night for all the St Jude patients and their families.  They rented a skating ring/laser tag/arcade place and the kids had unlimited coins to play as many games as they wanted.  Santa arrived in a helicopter which was amazing and Will got to play two rounds of laser tag.  In the second round Santa and his elf joined in the fun along with a bunch of the kids and some of the nurses.  It was such fun.  Between cancer and Covid these kids have had such a rough couple of years and it was magic to see them get a bit of normalcy.  

Have a great week and happy reading!

Miss Silver Comes to Stay - Classic Mystery Review

Goodreads: Miss Silver Comes to Stay by Patricia Wentworth

Rating: Loved It!
Source:   Purchased

Description:  When James Lessiter returns to Lenton after many years to claim his family estate, his reappearance opens old wounds never healed. Then he is found bludgeoned to death by a fire poker and the suspects are too numerous to count. Thank heavens Miss Silver is in town to visit a friend.

Genre: Mystery - Classic

My Impression: Wentworth excels at writing thoroughly detestable characters and James Lessiter is pretty much at the top of the list.  He's angry and spiteful and pure meanness all hidden behind a façade of smooth businesslike politeness.  He has a genius for detecting weakness and a total disregard for the wellbeing of those around him.  Really the only thing that was surprising about him being murdered is that it took so long for someone to finally kill him.

As with most mysteries when the victim is not the nicest suspects abound.  Basically everyone who ever came into contact with Lessiter wanted to kill him but Rietta Cray and her nephew Carr Robertson have the strongest motive and opportunity - or so it seems.  Luckily for them, Miss Silver is visiting an old school friend who happens to live right next door.  And Miss Silver's old pupil Rietta's old friend Chief Constable Randall March is brought into the investigation.  

As the investigation gains traction more and more people hold clues and have motives until finally Miss Silver steps in to clear things up.  Miss Silver is a bit behind the scenes but she is involved from the very beginning which I very much enjoyed.  As well I liked seeing her with an old school friend and getting to know her on a somewhat more personal level.  I really enjoyed this one and it is one of the books that reminds me just why I love Wentworth and Miss Silver.  

Would I Read More of this Series/Author? Definitely!  I've got the next Miss Silver book ready to read.

Would I Recommend this Book?  If you enjoy Miss Marple you should definitely give Miss Silver a try.  

Friday Fives - Puppy Pictures!

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.  This week has been a crazy one but for a fantastic reason!  Here are 5 pictures of that reason! Meet Rover - our 8 week old (soon to be 9 weeks) Golden Retriever puppy.

Sleeping soundly!

Ignore my dirty shoes.  It's been raining a lot so these are taking a beating.  I have lots of napping puppy pictures because if he's awake he's rarely still.  I took this one for scale so when he's 75 pounds we will remember just how little he was!

His face in this picture is already different from how he looked when we first brought him home and he looks different even now.  I love his little black nose!

He adores Will (and the feeling is mutual) but this day Will wasn't feeling very well and was resting a bit.  Rover kept coming up and sitting down next to him very sweetly like he was asking him to play.  

I love how he's standing in this picture because his stance and posture looks so much like a big golden retrienver just in a puppy.  His mom is what they call an English Cream Golden Retriever so she has a much blockier head and body and kind of a wider face.  I'm thinking he's going to look more like her.

Happy Friday!  

Books from the Backlog - Agatha Christie's Secret Notebooks

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:  Agatha Christie's Secret Notebooks by John Curran

Blurb:  Agatha Christie died in 1976 at 85, the world's most popular author. After the death of her only child, 73 handwritten notebooks came to light, from single jots to lists, to full outlines of memorable plots and characters, plus grocery and schedule memos from a bountiful creative mind - a complex web of connections to unravel and link. Actual notebook page reproductions. 2 unpublished Hercule Poirot short stories: "The Capture of Cerebrus", and "The Incident of the Dog's Ball"

Why It Needs to Come Off the Shelf:  I was so excited when this came out I bought it brand new in hardcover.  Not sure how many years ago that was but it was more then a couple.  I've really enjoyed the Agatha Christie Miss Marple reread that I did this year so I need to pick this one up.

Absence of Mallets - Cozy Mystery Review

Goodreads: Absence Of Mallets (A Fixer-Upper Mystery #9) by Kate Carlisle

Rating: Liked It!
Source:    Publisher

Description:  Shannon could not be happier that her hunky thriller-writing boyfriend, Mac, has moved in, and it is a good thing they are living together because they are both busier than ever. Mac is hosting writing retreats at his now vacant lighthouse mansion, while Shannon and her crew build Homefront, a quaint Victorian village of tiny homes for veterans in need. Mac’s latest guests are proving to be a handful though, and Shannon has heard some grumbling from the luminaries of Lighthouse Cove about her latest passion project. But nothing can throw a wrench in their plans except a malicious murder.

When one of Shannon’s new friends is found brutally bludgeoned with a mallet near the lighthouse on Mac’s property, the couple hammers out a suspect list and searches for a motive. As they drill deeper for clues, more violence strikes and a new victim winds up in a coma. The pressure is on, and Shannon and Mac will have to move fast to find an unhinged killer dead set on demolishing anyone who gets in their way…

Genre: Mystery - Cozy

Why I Picked This Book:  I've read other books in this series and enjoyed them.

My Impression: I really like this series and I always enjoy getting to spend with the characters.  It always annoys me when characters in a series have really interesting jobs but other then the occasional mention the job gets no page time.  That is not the case here.  Shannon is a hands on fully in contractor and while she is in charge she never sits on the sidelines and delegates.  I also like that Shannon's sister, Chloe is also in the construction business but in a different but no less interesting way.

This book does a good job of balancing Shannon's job as a contractor working on the veteran's project and Mac's job as an author hosting a writing retreat.  Both aspects adds in characters that are interesting and complex and makes for a fascinating dynamic.  Figuring out what everyone is hiding and all their secrets had me hooked and kept me intrigued from the beginning.  The actual murder doesn't occur until halfway through the book and there were a few decisons that were made that didn't seem particularly logical.  

I enjoyed this read and found it a light entertaining mystery.  Because there were a few things that didn't quite work for me with the mystery I don't think this is the strongest book in the series but it was still a lot of fun. 

Would I Read More of this Series/Author? Absolutely!  This is a series I'm looking forward to going back to the beginning and catching up with and will definitely continue with it.

Would I Recommend this Book? If you enjoy cozies then this is definitely a series (and author!) you should try.  

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

Cozy Mysteries with Christmas-y Titles on My TBR

One of my favorite things about cozy mysteries are the fantastic titles.  Here are 10 Christmas-y titles to get ready for the upcoming holiday.  I do love a good pun of a title and a murdery Christmasy pun is just even better.  Here are 10 of my current favorites.

1.  'Twas the Knife Before Christmas by Jacqueline Frost

2.  A Killer Carol by Laura Bradford

3.  A Murder Yule Regret by Winnie Archer

4.  Decked with Folly by Karen Kingsbury

5.  Duck the Halls by Donna Andrews

6.  Gingerdead Man by Maya Corrigan

7.  Hark the Herald Angels Slay by Vicki Delany 

8.  Silent Knife by Shelley Freydont

9.  Let It Snow by Elizabeth Lynn Casey

10.  Ornaments of Death by Jane K. Cleland 

Do you have any Christmas-y books on your TBR?