Books from the Backlog - Pinot Red or Dead

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:  Pinot Red or Dead by J.C. Eaton

Blurb:  As the vineyards in Seneca Lake, New York, prepare for the seasonal “Deck the Halls Around the Lake” festivities, someone is determined to keep pinot noir off the wine list. Hijacked trucks and sabotaged ingredients have made it a hard-to-acquire vintage for the six local wineries—including Norrie Ellington’s Two Witches Winery. 

The case of the stolen and spoiled wines gets stranger when Arnold Mowen, owner of the company distributing the wine, is found dead, the apparent victim of a hunting accident. As Norrie tries to find the connections between the pinot’s problems and Arnold’s death, she uncovers a conspiracy among many locals whose hatred for the wine distributor was bottled up for far too long . . .

Why It Needs to Come Off the Shelf:  I really love another series by this author but never got into this one.  I want to give it another try and this one has a dog AND a goat on the cover so how can I resist it?

Frozen Detective - Cozy Mystery Review

Goodreads: Frozen Detective (Piper and Porter Mystery #2) by Amanda Flower

Rating: Liked It (3 Stars)
Source:   Publisher

Description:  A wealthy doctor invites many of his associates to spend a week at a giant, luxurious ski villa. Darby Piper, a seasoned private eye, and Tate Porter, her new partner at the detective agency, are among the guests, going undercover as a romantic couple. They were hired by the doctor’s much-younger wife to investigate anonymous threats against her husband’s life. But before long, Darby and Tate are investigating a murder instead.

As they dig up buried grudges, Darby’s jealous ex-boyfriend on the police force thinks they’re wasting their time. Will Darby and Tate figure out who the killer is…or will it become another cold case?

Genre: Mystery - Cozy

Why I Picked This Book:  I've really been enjoying another series by this author and this looked fun.  

My Impression:  This was a cute read.  I love when the main character in a mystery is a private investigator and Darby was an interesting take on that.  While she is a competent investigator and has been in business for awhile she's been a bit thrown off her game by her new partnership with Tate Porter and then when her ex-boyfriend who also happens to be a police detective is pulled onto the scene when their case turns into a murder scene she's on even more unsure footing.  

The mystery was in interesting one.  I do love when there is no shortage of suspects and Dr. Madd had been going out of his way to make enemies.  From an ex-wife/business partner to a current wife who may or may not be on her way out and a heaping helping of unhappy colleagues there are a lot of people who aren't grieving the doctor's death and they're all stuck at a ski resort.  

While I did enjoy the read I never really connected with the characters.  While the book focuses on Darby and what she's doing I never feel like I got into her head and got to know her.  As well, the book leaned a bit to more telling less showing.  This was still a fun read and this is a series I'm looking forward to continuing with but those two issues kept it from being a standout for me.

Would I Read More of this Series/Author? Yes!  While this wasn't a standout I did enjoy it and I've really enjoyed other books by this author. 

Would I Recommend this Book?  If you're looking for a light read in a snowy setting this is a fun read.

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

Top Ten Tuesday - Ten Christmas Books I Want to Read Next Year

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 freebie.  This year I've done almost no seasonal reading and will probably be spending the rest of December trying to finish up a few other projects.  Next year I'm going to try and plan a little seasonal reading into my reading and here are ten books that might be on reading list next year.

1.  Winter Solstice by Rosamunde Pilcher

2.  'Twas the Knife Before Christmas by Jacqueline Frost

3.  Sleigh Bells Ring by RaeAnne Thayne

4.  Last Christmas in Paris by Hazel Gaynor

5.  Duck the Halls by Donna Andrews

6.  Wrapped up in You by Jill Shalvis

7.  A Christmas Mourning by Laura Bradford

8.  Seven Days of Us by Francesca Hornak

9.  Candy Slain Murder by Amanda Flower

10. Ghosts of Greenglass House by Kate Milford

Have you read any of these?  What Christmas books are on your TBR?

Knits, Knots, and Knives - Cozy Mystery Review

Goodreads: Knits, Knots, and Knives (Craft Fair Knitters Mysteries #4) by Emmie Caldwell

Rating: Liked It! (3.5 Stars)
Source:  Publisher

Description:  For once things seem to be running smoothly for knitting enthusiast Lia Geiger. Her daughter is living on her own and happy with her new job on the alpaca farm. Plus, Lia and her Ninth Street Knitters have been knitting for the Civil War reenactment being held on the grounds next to the Crandalsburg Craft Fair. It's all fun and battle games until one of the injured soldiers turns out to be the very real victim of a murder, and Lia's friend and neighbor falls under deep suspicion.

Suddenly, the good folks of Crandalsburg are spinning all kinds of yarns and pointing fingers at one another. Lucky for Lia, she has the combined wits of the Ninth Street Knitters to help her ply the truth from this crafty killer.

Genre: Mystery - Cozy

Why I Picked This Book:  Not going to lie - it was mostly because of the alpaca on the cover.

My Impression: This was a fun read!  Lia is a strong main character.  She's intelligent, capable at running the Ninth Street Knitters, and is good at getting people to talk - and listening to what people have to say.  I also really liked her relationship with her adult daughter Haley.  They're close but Lia treats her like an adult and even more importantly - Haley asks like one.

The mystery kept me hooked.  I did have a few inklings of the outcome but it was still a bit of a surprise - especially how it unraveled.  The pacing was excellent and kept me reading and not wanting to put the book down.  I liked the bits about knitting and the Civil War reenactment which provided enough information to flesh out the setting and the background but not so much that it detracted from the mystery.

I'm looking forward to going back to the beginning of the series and getting to know these characters from the start.  

Would I Read More of this Series/Author? Absolutely! I'm looking forward to reading more of this series.

Would I Recommend this Book? If you enjoy cozy mysteries with a good group of side characters this is a great series to try.

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

Life with Leukemia, A Puppy, and Some Reading - December 4

 
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:

Six Sweets Under by Sarah Fox - I've been wanting to try a book by this author and when I saw this was the first book in a new series I couldn't resist! (Publisher)

Fatal Fascinator by Jenn McKinley - I thought this series was over so I was super excited to see this new book in McKinley's series about an American milliner in London.  (Publisher)

Murder, She Wrote: Death on the Emerald Isle by Jessica Fletcher and Terrie Farley Moran - I adore Jessica Fletcher and have really been enjoying the books.  (Publisher)

Currently:

Reading: Frozen Detective by Amanda Flower and The Listening Eye by Patricia Wentworth

Listening:  The Janes by Louisa Luna

This week was a bit of a long one. Will's clinic visit was a tough one - no bad news just I think he's done with getting chemo and being poked and prodded and his body is just exhausted by it all.  Only 8 more weeks of treatment and we are clawing our way to the end.  

Dog classes are wrapping up for the year.  We have one more week of the classes that I assistant teach and two more classes for one of the ones Rover is in (the other already ended).  I'll really miss some of the dogs in the classes that I work in but other then that I'm looking forward to the break.  All classes will start back in January and I'm going to be assisting 4 - Puppy, Manners, Beyond Manners, and Pre-Novice Obedience and Rover and I will be taking too - Novice Rally and Scent Work.  Rover is still super enthusiastic at times but he is doing so well and definitely maturing.  We had company over for Thanksgiving and he was so good.  He only leapt for joy a few times!

We had a good Thanksgiving - we celebrate with my family on Thursday and with Jason's family on Friday.  Then on Saturday my mother and I went shopping for Small Business Saturday.  It was so fun to visit a number of small local boutiques and stores.  I was able to get a decent number of Christmas presents and a few extras for me!  The good thing about living in Alabama is that #1 it's not that cold and #2 when the Alabama vs Auburn football game comes on pretty much every place empties out so we had the stores mostly to ourselves.  Sunday I slept pretty much all day and for the rest of the week didn't feel absolutely exhausted which was really nice.  I'm trying to take a day or two to get really solid sleep because I really don't have to time to take a day a week to get 22 hours of sleep!  

Have a great week and happy reading!

Reading Recap - November 2022

 

Monthly Total: 19 - Not my best month but not bad.

Monthly Breakdown: 

Print: 6

Ebook: 5

Audio:  8

Mystery:  12

Fiction:  2

Nonfiction: 1

Romance: 4

Favorite Book of the Month:

The Family Upstairs by Lisa Jewell (Audio) - I listened to this one early in the month and was completely pulled in by this weird and twisty story.  It was a good reminder of just how much I enjoy Lisa Jewell's books.

Twice Upon a Time by L.M. Montgomery (Print) - Montgomery has been one of my favorite authors for decades and this recently published collection of short stories was an absolute delight.  

Least Favorite Book of the Month:

The Sanatorium by Sarah Pearse - This wasn't bad but felt a bit slow and there was a mix of too much going on with not enough plot progess.

Where Have My Books Taken Me This Month?

The only new state I visited this month was Colorado.

Internationally I was quite busy and as well as going to England several times I also visited:

France(twice)

Switzerland

and World War II era Iran

How was your reading in November?  Where have your books taken you lately?

Friday Fives - December TBR

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 it is the first Friday in December I'm picking out 5 books I hope to read this month.

1.  The Choice by Nora Roberts - I have really enjoyed the first two books in this trilogy and am so excited to listen to this third book!

2.  Nothing Bundt Trouble Ellie Alexander - I love this series and am so excited to read this next book plus this title is just fantastic.  

3.  Murder at the Book Group by Maggie King - I was so excited when I got the ARC of this book years ago but ended up not reading it because it got some mixed reviews and I got distracted by newer shinier books.  This month is the time though!

4.  A Streetcar Named Murder by T.G. Herren - Antiques and New Orleans are two of my favorite things so I'm so excited to read this first in a new cozy series.  

5.  Poison in the Pen by Patricia Wentworth - I've got the last few Miss Silver books to read before the end of the month and this is one I'm looking forward to reading!

So not the most holiday themed TBR but I'm using this month to finish up as many of my reading goals as possible.  What are you hoping to read this month?