Long Overdue at the Lakeside Library

Title: Long Overdue at the Lakeside Library
Author: Holly Danvers
Published: February 8th 2022 by Crooked Lane Books
Format: Kindle, Hardcover, 304 pages
Genre: Cozy Mystery
Source: My thanks to Netgalley and the Publisher for an opportunity to read an advanced copy of this book.
Series: Lakeside Library Mystery #2

First Sentence: Change. So much had happened in the last nine months, Rain Wilmot almost didn't recognize her own life.

Blurb: A glowing wood stove, a cozy log cabin, and shelves full of books are all Rain Wilmot needs to ride out the Wisconsin winter, now that she's made her family's Lofty Pines library her year-round home. But the warm-hearted librarian's blood runs cold when local man, Wallace Benson, is found dead during the annual Ice Fishing Jamboree.

After Benson's body is found in his ice shanty, Rain recalls that she recently saw the victim in her library, borrowing a few cookbooks to prepare for the fishing tournament's communal "chili dump." She later finds these same books returned to the library's drop box, with an enigmatic note from Benson to Rain.

As Rain seeks to understand the message, the prime suspect becomes Rain's friend Nick, who was the last person to see Wallace alive and who returned to the Jamboree with a nasty cut on his hand. The knife found in his tackle box only makes Nick's troubles worse. But Rain keeps fishing for other suspects. Was the killer Danny, who lost his arm to a logging accident involving Wallace? Or Danny's bitter father, whose dreams of retirement were dashed by his son's accident?

With the help of her friends Julia and Jace, Rain sets out to hook the real culprit and clear Nick's name. But can her sleuthing skills protect her from a killer who'd like to take her out of circulation? (GoodReads)

My Opinion: Another series where I am going to part ways.

From the beginning, the who-done-it was obvious. The author spent most of the book, which could have been skimmed without losing any context, beating around multiple bushes while dragging her readers through uninteresting dialogue before revealing the absurd reason and murder weapon.

Don’t be disheartened by this series; there are better cozy mysteries out there. So, keep looking, and soon you will find the right author, setting, and series which works for you.

The Inheritance

Title: The Inheritance
Author: Charles Finch
Published: November 1st 2016 by Minotaur Books
Format: Hardcover, 304 pages
Genre: Historical Mystery
Series: Charles Lenox Mysteries #10

First Sentence: London was silent with snow; soft flakes of it dropping evenly into the white streets; nobody outside who had somewhere inside to be.

Synopsis: Charles Lenox has received a cryptic plea for help from an old Harrow schoolmate, Gerald Leigh, but when he looks into the matter he finds that his friend has suddenly disappeared. As boys they had shared a secret: a bequest from a mysterious benefactor had smoothed Leigh’s way into the world after the death of his father. Lenox, already with a passionate interest in detective work, made discovering the benefactor's identity his first case – but was never able to solve it.

Now, years later, Leigh has been the recipient of a second, even more generous bequest. Is it from the same anonymous sponsor? Or is the money poisoned by ulterior motives? Leigh’s disappearance suggests the latter, and as Lenox tries, desperately, to save his friend’s life, he’s forced into confrontations with both the most dangerous of east end gangs and the far more genteel denizens of the illustrious Royal Society. When someone close to the bequest dies, Lenox must finally delve deep into the past to uncover at last the identity of the person who is either his friend’s savior – or his lethal enemy. (Goodreads)

My Opinion: You know it’s a dull book when you reach the end, and if not provided a recap of sorts, you would not remember how it started. For every one step forward in a Lenox novel, there are three side steps where Charles Finch needs to give the reader a description of the room, the clothing, the underside of a rock, or the norms of the time. There are a few interesting historical tidbits, but for the most part, the narration drags on. The author pulls you back during the last 50 pages, but that too began to feel long-winded.

Charles Lenox is another series where I will continue to muddle on since I have made it this far. For me, there is always hope that Charles Finch will spark the right mix of storytelling and history where I won’t, in mid-sentence, wonder when I last cleaned out the hall closet.

The Ursulina

Title: The Ursulina
Author: Brian Freeman
Published: February 1, 2022, Blackstone Publishing
Format: Kindle, Hardcover, 300 Pages
Genre: Police Procedural
Source: My thanks to Netgalley and the Publisher for an opportunity to read an advanced copy of this book.
Series: Shelby Lake #2

First Sentence: Believe me, I'm not trying to convince you that I'm a better person than I am, or asking you to find any sympathy for me in your heart.

Synopsis: The mythical beast goes by many names. Bigfoot. Sasquatch. Yeti.

In Black Wolf County, he's called ... the Ursulina.

But to Deputy Rebecca Colder, the beast is no myth. A serial killer has taken on the identity of the monster--and with each body left behind, there's a chilling message written in blood. I am the Ursulina. (Goodreads)

My Opinion: The Ursulina is a prequel to the Deep, Deep Snow; yet a story that could not be told first.

The reader may not have grasped what was going on in the first couple of pages, but they catch on quickly. By midway, the story was beginning to lag, but then you realized Brian Freeman was letting you catch your breath, much like the top of the roller-coaster, before all heck breaks loose and you are in for a ride, and a conclusion, you hadn’t anticipated.

Brian Freeman is adept at sudden left turns. In retrospect, the clues might have been there, but he was one step ahead, leading you towards a path well-traveled, knowing all along you were with him one hundred percent and he was going to zing you with your gullibility.

2 Sisters Detective Agency

Title: 2 Sisters Detective Agency
Author: James Patterson, Candice Fox
Published: October 5th 2021 by Grand Central Publishing
Format: Paperback, 416 pages
Genre: Fiction

First Sentence: Prologue. She was a killer. Jacob Kanular knew it, as soon as the girl put the gun to his head.

Synopsis: Attorney Rhonda Bird returns home after a long estrangement when she learns her father has died. There she makes two important discoveries: her father stopped being an accountant and had opened up a private detective agency, and she has a teenage half sister named Baby. Baby brings in a client to the detective agency, a young man who claims he was abducted. During the course of the investigation, Rhonda and Baby become entangled in a dangerous case involving a group of overprivileged young adults who break laws for fun, their psychopath ringleader, and an ex-assassin victim who decides to hunt them down for revenge. (Goodreads)

My Opinion: James Patterson and Candice Fox team together again to bring us the Bird sisters and how the bad choices of their father have created a never-ending week of adventure, revenge, humor, family challenges, fights for dominance, insight from the strangest places, and wacky characters.

There are three or four storylines going on in this book, and as they say, if you do not like one, hold on we will get back to you in a moment. The assassin narrative had me flashing on Ben Affleck in the Accountant, and I could not shake the comparison. Granted, Jacob is not on the spectrum, and Ben was not a family man, but the planning and precisely measured movements of both could not be denied.

For me, Patterson's books are a hit-or-miss reading journey, but this, what I hope is a new series, will have me looking forward to what Rhonda and Baby will be up to next.