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Mark @ Carstairs Considers (2165 KP) rated While the Clock Ticked in Books

May 10, 2021 (Updated May 10, 2021)  
While the Clock Ticked
While the Clock Ticked
Franklin W. Dixon | 1962 | Children, Mystery
8
8.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Can Frank and Joe Solve the Case Before Time Runs Out?
When a man comes to the Hardy home, Frank and Joe are only too happy to offer their detective services in place of their vacationing father. The man just bought a home, and he is receiving threatening notes inside a secret room. Not only does he worry about who is threatening him and why, he is also puzzled by how the notes are getting into the secret room, which only opens on a timer. Meanwhile, the Bayport harbor is being plagued by thieves. Can the Hardy Boys figure out what is happening?

Anyone familiar with the series can guess how parts of the plot will come together, but there is plenty of action and narrow escapes along to way to keep the reader interested. Plus the locked room part of the story proves to be interesting. The characters are thin, but I didn’t notice as a kid, and I still get caught up in the action as an adult. There are some dated references, which isn’t surprising for a book from the 1960’s, but they are minor and most kids probably won’t notice. The action will make kids of all ages glad they read it.
  
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Mark @ Carstairs Considers (2165 KP) rated Four Funerals and Maybe a Wedding in Books

Aug 17, 2018  
Four Funerals and Maybe a Wedding
Four Funerals and Maybe a Wedding
Rhys Bowen | 2018 | Mystery
8
9.0 (2 Ratings)
Book Rating
Is It the Summer of Weddings for Lady Georgianna?
Lady Georgianna, Georgie to her friends, is finally planning her wedding to Darcy O’Mara. However, before they get married, they need to figure out where they are going to live. The answer comes from an unlikely place, and soon Georgie is out to the country to get their new home ready for them. She isn’t surprised when she arrives to find the house is running on a minimal staff, but the staff that is there is extremely surprising. Something is definitely up, but can Georgie figure out what is going on? Will she finally get married?

As is typical for the series, the book started off a little slowly for me, giving us updates on the various people in Georgie’s life and talking about the wedding plans. There was also a recycled sub-plot in this section that annoyed me. However, once the action moves to Georgie’s potential new house, things really picked up. I was intrigued by what she was facing and couldn’t wait to see how it all was resolved. There is some great character growth for Georgie and another series regular here; overall, the cast is great like always. I was very satisfied with how this book ended.
  
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Mark @ Carstairs Considers (2165 KP) rated Academic Curveball in Books

Oct 16, 2018  
Academic Curveball
Academic Curveball
James J. Cudney | 2018 | Mystery
5
5.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Kellan Faces One of Life's Curveballs – Murder
Kellan Ayrwick has returned home for a few days to attend a dinner in honor of his father's retirement from Braxton College. While Kellan's there, he is supposed to meet up with a woman who has done some research for the true crime TV show that he works on. However, Kellan gets distracted when, near the end of the dinner, he finds a dead body. The victim was a professor at Braxton. With everything swirling around the at college, Kellan is afraid that someone he loves will be arrested for the crime. Can he figure out the truth before that happens?

I wanted to like the book, but I felt it had some flaws to it. It was overly wordy, especially with some rehashing of things we already knew and theories we'd already considered. Additionally, there were several nitpicks, like this dinner several months before Kellan's father planned to fully retire. The mystery, overall, was strong, however. There were several believable suspects that kept me guessing until Kellan figured things out. Likewise, I really liked the potential series regulars, and the book introduced several threads that will make for great future books in the series.
  
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Deborah (162 KP) rated The Perfect Murder (Inspector Ghote, #1) in Books

Dec 21, 2018  
TP
The Perfect Murder (Inspector Ghote, #1)
H.R.F. Keating | 2004
4
4.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
This is the first in a series of mysteries featuring Inpector Ghote of the Bombay CID recently rereleased as a Penguin Modern Classic. I don't know how many titles there are in the series, but as in the introduction we are told the author didn't set foot in India until the first nine were written I'd hazard a guess there are at least ten!

Now, I do love a good mystery, or what my mother calls 'a nice murder' and although I was entertained enough by this I don't think it will finding a permanent home on my bookshevles. It's not that there is anything particularly wrong with it, perhaps it just wasn't my cup of tea? I found most of the characters in the book to be completely frustrating and unhelpful so I felt frustrated too! Lala Varde I could have quite cheerfully strangled myself with his obstructiveness and childish rhyming language!

One thing I do usually enjoy in mystery novels is trying to work out the solution and then feeling particularly pleased with myself if I get anywhere near the truth. I think that was difficult to do here, so maybe another reason why I wasn't taken with it?