Bookplate Special

Title: Bookplate Special
Author: Lorna Barrett
Published: November 3rd 2009 by Berkley Prime Crime
Format: Paperback, 310 pages
Genre: Cozy Mystery
Series: Booktown Mystery #3

Tricia Miles is the owner of Haven’t Got a Clue, a new and used bookshop specializing in mysteries. By this third book, the reader would be under the impression that murder just finds her and I could not say that they were wrong. This time, an old college roommate has overstayed her welcome and after having to ask her to leave; Tricia is the one to find her dead body in a trash can behind her sister’s café.

Pammy was not a nice person and even her own family had nothing to do with her but that is no reason to kill a person. She was bragging about coming into a financial windfall and had gotten herself involved with a local group of dumpster diving freegans, but that too did not explain her death. Add in a local philanthropist that she has been trying to visit and some say blackmail, but that too does not add up. What could all of these clues amount to?

What does come out in the end is something that is so far away from what cozy mysteries usually surround themselves with that I actually did a double take. This is a subject matter that might have some scratching their head, but once again, if you are a writer in this genre, occasionally you have to do something that is outside of the norm.

Now of course Tricia stirs up a bit of a problem and she has to fix it, but that is taking its turn with putting a last minute wedding together for one of her most loved employees, helping her sister run her businesses and not lose her mind, and ending one of her own relationships and possibly starting another.

I do like this series and how all the bookstore owners have their own specialties and come together to make this a delightful experience for all of their customers. I am not sure if there is literally a place like this outside of Ms. Barrett’s imagination, but if there were, I would most definitely find myself in this literary tourist trap in Stoneham, New Hampshire.

Dead and Breakfast

Title: Dead and Breakfast
Author: Kate Kingsbury
Expected Publication: January 10th 2017 by Crooked Lane Books
Format: eBook, Hardcover Pgs 288
Genre: Cozy Mystery
Source: My thanks to Netgalley and Crooked Lane for an opportunity to read an advanced copy of this book.
Series: A Merry Ghost Inn Mystery #1

First in a new series by Kate Kingsbury introducing Melanie West and Liza Harris, a grandmother and granddaughter team that are the new owners of a bed and breakfast in Sully’s Landing on the Oregon coast. This is just not any inn; The Merry Ghost Inn comes complete with a spirit that reveals a sense of humor complete with a merry laugh.

During a remodel, a mysterious door is revealed and behind it, Melanie finds the decomposed remains of a woman in a nightgown. At this time, no one is sure who she is but as the story unfolds and the secrets of the area are exposed, Melanie and Liza have more questions than answers.

Of course, it is not a cozy mystery without the token eye-catching sheriff, the pet and a business owner determined to solve the mystery - and of course, they are all here. Ms. Kingsbury does throw in the background of both her main character (her ex-husband and missing mother) and a bit of the town (many characters to get to know). All of which are not necessary for the first book and feels more like filler then moving the story along. I am sure that somewhere down the line, in future books, it will all be necessary, but it did feel like too much to start with.

If you are a steady reader of cozy mysteries, the plot and formula are repetitive. The who is no shock and if you know that, the why is obvious.

Kate Kingsbury is the pseudonym for romance author Doreen Roberts Hight.

Fool Moon

Title: Fool Moon
Author: Jim Butcher
Published: January 9th 2001 by Roc
Format: Paperback, 401 pages
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Series: Dresden Files #2

I did not like the second book as well as the first, for me, there was not as much humor and the werewolf plot just seemed to be never ending.

The basic strategy is that Lt. Murphy has called Harry out to investigate some horrific murders. It takes a couple of dots connecting before Harry realizes that they are all happening on full moons. As Johnny Marcone is mentioned, Harry is on-board and since Murphy is still a bit weary of Harry, he is determined to show that he is actually the good guy.

I am sure that it is written somewhere that if you have a full moon, you must also have werewolves and thus the lesson begins. This is where you needed to take notes since Bob, my favorite character, goes into depth on the different types. Suffice it to say, for the most part, Harry will be dealing with both the conventional type and the shape-shifter type.

Now throw in the FBI and yet another type of wolf – lycanthropes. Then add in a loup-garou, which is the biggest, scariest, and hardest to contain of all. This one ends up killing someone very close to Harry and wreaks havoc throughout the book. Finishing up with the hexenwolves that are able to turn because of some magical furry belt. Yep, I almost lost it with that silly turn.

The final showdown is on Marcone’s estate. This part was very dramatic and will have you flipping the pages quickly. Turns out that you cannot really trust the FBI and the whole book boils down to a silly plot to get to Marcone.

Others have stated that this is the worst of the Dresden series and if that is true, and I was able to get through it, I will try the next. I hope that Bob will make more of an appearance and we will hear more about Harry’s mother and what her role was in the wizarding world.

A Study In Scarlet Women

Title: A Study In Scarlet Women
Author: Sherry Thomas
Published: October 18th 2016 by Berkley
Format: eBook, Paperback, 336 pages
Genre: Mystery
Source: My thanks to Netgalley and Berkley Publishing Group for an opportunity to read an advanced copy of this book.
Series: Lady Sherlock #1

What is so frustrating about this book is that for every part that I loved, there were three times as many that I despised. The pacing is slow, the repetition is unbearable and from time to time, I had a hard time figuring out who was who and who was currently talking. Unfortunately, that all overshadowed the humor that was Charlotte Holmes.

As the reader gets to know Charlotte, it is no wonder the lengths that she went to get out from under her parents. After being lied to by her own father, she was determined to find her own place and if necessary to create a separate persona. What she had not understood at the time was that she, all along, had the ability to create the life that she wanted and the ability to financially take care of both herself and her two sisters.

Creating a duel personality of sorts, she helps to solve what Scotland Yard is calling a triple murder. It is with deduction and reason that Charlotte, with the help of her new friend Mrs. Watson, sees through the ruse that is in front of them. Not to say that there is no romance in this book since Sherry Thomas began her writing in that genre, but amorousness is not in the forefront in this book, just a slight distraction between two characters. There is deviancy but that does not come out until the conclusion and you realize the clues that were sprinkled in the ending chapters.

This is the first book of a new series that will not be worth keeping for me. Though Charlotte was brilliant and relatable, everyone one else was a blur of indefinable qualities that I had a hard time separating.