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Mark @ Carstairs Considers (2346 KP) rated The Art of Vanishing in Books

May 4, 2018

Someone is Out to Destroy Arts Week

Every spring semester, Stonedale University puts on an arts festival, and Lila has been roped into serving on the committee. The big name for the week is author Damon Von Tussel, who has just released his second book decades after his critically acclaimed debut. Lila is sent to interview him before the big event to gain some publicity, but before she can talk to him, he disappears. Then everyone on the committee starts to get threatening e-mails. What is going on?

I don’t read too many mysteries set in the academic world, so I enjoyed changing that with this book. The internal politics of the college and Lila’s worries since this is her first-year teaching there overshadowed the mystery at times. The mystery itself is a little different than many of the books I read, and I found it a refreshing break. The characters are fun, especially Lila’s mother, and I am curious how some of these relationships will develop in the future.

Kudos

Mark @ Carstairs Considers (2346 KP) rated Prose and Cons (Magical Bookshop, #2) in Books

Mar 9, 2018

It’s time for the annual Food and Wine festival in town, and this year Violet Waverly is adding a Poe-try reading at Charming Books to the week’s line up. However, when one of the readers is found dead at the bottom of the shop’s steep stairs during the event, things take a tragic turn. The police quickly decide it was murder and start looking at Violet’s friend Sadie. An Violet prove her friend is innocent?

I absolutely love the bookstore in this series, a shop where the perfect book finds you. That’s really the only bit of magic in the series, and Violet is left to use old fashion methods to sift through clues and motives to find the killer. I did feel some of the characters could be stronger, but the mystery is strong with plenty of red herrings before things fall into place at the end.

NOTE: I received a copy of this book.

Read my full review at <a href="http://carstairsconsiders.blogspot.com/2016/12/book-review-prose-and-cons-by-amanda.html">Carstairs Considers</a>.

Kudos

Mark @ Carstairs Considers (2346 KP) rated Here Today, Gone Tamale (A Taste of Texas Mystery #1) in Books

Mar 9, 2018

Josie Callahan is back working at her family’s Tex Mex restaurant while she figures out what is next in her life. She’s just in time for the Wild Wild West Festival that brings in the tourists to the small town of Broken Boot. But the tamale making party at the restaurant ends in tragedy when a local artist is found murdered behind the restaurant. Who would want to kill her?

It took me a little while to fully get into this book. There were a bunch of characters early on, and I struggled to keep them all straight. Likewise, the mystery got off to a slow start. But as I kept reading, I grew to like the characters and really got into the story. The ending was surprising and suspenseful. I can easily see this growing into a charming series.

NOTE: I was sent a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Read my full review at <a href="http://carstairsconsiders.blogspot.com/2015/12/book-review-here-today-gone-tamale-by.html">Carstairs Considers</a>.

Kudos

Mark @ Carstairs Considers (2346 KP) rated One Fete in the Grave in Books

Jul 6, 2018

This Fourth of July Ends with the Bang of Murder

When the fireworks show ends, party planning Liv McKay thinks her day organizing her town’s Fourth of July festival is over. Unfortunately, someone finds the body of councilman Bubba Rowland. Despite being on the council, Bubba had his enemies, and one of them was Earl, her mother’s new fiance. Can Liv help her mother by clearing Earl’s name?

This book starts with a bang – of fireworks, but it isn’t too long before we find Bubba’s body. Unfortunately, the book does still have some pacing issues as Liv’s party planning business slows things down. I did find one sub-plot lots of fun, however. The mystery does have some good suspects and twists before we reach the logical climax. Liv’s family and friends, including best friend Di, are as charming as ever. The suspects work, although we don’t get to know them as well as we might in some mysteries. This is a fun cozy for a relaxing summer read or any time of the year.

Kudos

Ross (3284 KP) rated The Boys Volume 7: The Innocents in Books

Oct 29, 2019

The Boys Volume 7: The Innocents

Garth Ennis | 2010 | Comics & Graphic Novels

8.0

(1 Ratings)

Book Rating

More silliness, but cracks start to appear

In the seventh volume of The Boys, Hughie is again sent undercover to find out what is going on with a team of superheroes. This time it is to get in touch with Superduper, a sweet and innocent group of young supes keen to start helping people, but completely clueless. They have just received a new and very unsuitable leader in the form of Malchemical, like an evil Captain Planet who can also shapeshift. Hughie, as he did with the young G-Men team, develops a soft-spot for the hapless crew and defends them against Malchemical's abuse. He is saved by Butcher, whose appearance makes Hughie start to grow suspicious of his motives.
This continues in the second story, as Butcher sends Frenchie to eavesdrop on Homelander at the Christian supe festival, BELIEVE. We start to appreciate that Homelander is planning something outside his agreed work with Vought. Meanwhile, Butcher shows Hughie something that turns his world upside down and sees him leave The Boys.