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Mark @ Carstairs Considers (2585 KP) rated Scone Cold Dead in Books

Jul 23, 2019

Can Natalie Find a Scone Cold Killer?

It’s late spring on Cranberry Island, but the beautiful weather is doing nothing for the tensions building. Something is going on with the lobstermen on the island. There are rumors of illegal activity, but no one seems to have any proof. Natalie Barnes is concerned about that, but she is also concerned that her bed and breakfast doesn’t have reservations like in years past. Fortunately, she does have some guests thanks to the new artists commune her niece, Gwen, has opened. But when the tension on the island leads to murder, will Natalie figure out what happened?

It’s always a pleasure to visit Cranberry Island, and this book is no exception. The characters are old friends by this point, and there are a couple of sub-plots that focus on them that helped pull me into the book early. Not that the mystery itself wasn’t compelling, and the sub-plots and mystery weave in and out of each other expertly. There are several good fully developed suspects we meet and plenty of turns before we hit the suspenseful climax. Natalie is working on recipes for a scone competition, so it is no surprise that three of the recipes at the end of the book are scones. Fans of the series will be happy with our latest visit to the island, and this book is fun enough to hook new fans as well.

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Awix (3310 KP) rated A History of Heavy Metal in Books

Jan 7, 2020 (Updated Jan 7, 2020)

Knockabout trot through the history of the genre makes up for in enthusiasm what it lacks in objectivity, probably. Full disclosure: I'm not a huge fan of metal, but I'm always interested in learning new stuff , and you'd think that would make me the ideal audience for this book. However, there's an in-jokeyness here, a level of gushy fannishness, and a way in which the book prioritises jokes over facts, that leads me to suspect it's aimed at the devoted rather than newcomers.

It is good on the origins and early years of the music (or so it seems to me), but as it gets closer to the present day the narrative becomes increasingly fragmented and coloured by the author's personal tastes. Do you really need to try to be funny when writing about a genre featuring artists like Ozzy Osbourne and Lawnmower Deth? The book keeps the one-liners coming regardless. The blokey familiarity of it also feels inappropriate sometimes - subjects are referred to by their first names, even when they are white supremacists and convicted murderers (oh, the metal lifestyle). It's okay, but I didn't learn as much as I hoped and am not even that inspired to listen to more of this music after finishing the book.

(It may be a bit more satisfactory if you just approach it as a comedy book for metal fans. Didn't really make me laugh though.)