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The Marlow Murder Club
10.0
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A delightfully clever new mystery from creator of BBC One's hilarious murder mystery series Death in...
Egg Drop Dead
9.0
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In the fifth in Vivien Chien's Noodle Shop delectable mystery series, Egg Drop Dead, the Ho-Lee...
Mark @ Carstairs Considers (2470 KP) rated Engaged to Die in Books
Jul 30, 2025
Announcement Postponed by Murder
This book opens in January, and it involves a family that owns an art gallery on the island of Broward’s Rock. They are gearing up for an opening for a well-respected artist, but Virginia, the owner, is also going to use it to announce her engagement to a much younger man, much to her step children’s dismay. Naturally, Annie Darling is going to be there with her husband, Max. But when the time comes for the announcement, it gets postponed, and soon after, a dead body is discovered. Will Annie solve the latest mystery?
While I was reading this book, I was enjoying it. But as I thought about it later, I started to have issues. The subplot was front loaded, giving us more time before the mystery really got started. The ending felt rushed, with no explanation of how Annie fingered the killer, which means I’m struggling a little to see how it all makes sense. And one relationship had to devolved for us to get the usual antagonist relationship Annie has with the local police. Fans will still enjoy this visit with the characters even if it isn’t the strongest.
While I was reading this book, I was enjoying it. But as I thought about it later, I started to have issues. The subplot was front loaded, giving us more time before the mystery really got started. The ending felt rushed, with no explanation of how Annie fingered the killer, which means I’m struggling a little to see how it all makes sense. And one relationship had to devolved for us to get the usual antagonist relationship Annie has with the local police. Fans will still enjoy this visit with the characters even if it isn’t the strongest.
The Fatal Saving Grace (Ed Earl Burch Crime Thriller #5)
Book
MAYHEM WITH A BADGE After wandering the peephole wilderness of a private detective for two...
Crime Thriller Western
Lee (2222 KP) rated Black Christmas (2019) in Movies
Dec 13, 2019
Back in 1974, a low-budget Canadian horror movie by the name of Black Christmas was released and was one of the first to define the slasher movie template that we've now become so heavily accustomed to. Black Christmas already got a remake back in 2006 and now we have another, coming this time from powerhouse movie studio Blumhouse and directed/co-written by Sophia Takal.
Black Christmas retains its campus setting as a group of sorority sisters, all seniors at Hawthorne University, prepare for the end of term and the Christmas holidays. While a group of girls are celebrating one night, one of their friends is being terrorised by a robed killer as she walks home alone down a quiet snowy street, adorned with Christmas decorations. It's all pretty generic stuff so far, and in terms of horror and suspense, that's all we get for about the next 30 minutes or so while the movie shifts down a few gears and tries to introduce us to some characters and some kind of plot.
Riley (Imogen Poots) is one of only a couple of characters who you'll remember come the end of the movie. After passing out at a frat party a few years earlier, Riley was sexually assaulted, and she and her friends are now preparing to sing at another frat party which her accused rapist will also be attending. While looking around the house for a friend who seems to have gone missing, Riley opens the door on a hidden room where she observes a strange ceremony - pledges, wearing medieval robes and masks, are being daubed with some kind of black goo that's oozing from the eyes of a bust depicting the University's founder. She leaves them to it, and heads back to the party, not before rescuing her lost friend from the unwanted advances of another frat boy in his room.
Riley goes on to perform with her friends, a routine which turns out to be a carefully choreographed prank song - worded as a call out to the toxic masculinity and frat rape culture that Riley and so many other girls have experienced first hand. Needless to say, this doesn't go down too well with the boys, even more so when a video of the routine goes viral the next day.
Meanwhile, another one of the sisters is currently in the process of gathering signatures for a petition, in an attempt to get their English professor (Cary Elwes) sacked for not including enough diversity in his curriculum. So, when some of the lesser known female characters begin disappearing, and our main cast begin receiving mysterious and threatening messages on their phones, there are certainly plenty of potential suspects to choose from. Eventually, the killer makes it into the sorority house where Riley and her friends are, and it's up to them all to work together in order to outwit and defeat the killer.
I'm a big fan of the 'final girl' movie, where the seemingly indestructible female lead goes from downtrodden victim to badass warrior (see 'You're Next', or this years hugely enjoyable 'Ready Or Not'), remaining as sole survivor once the dust has settled and the movie comes to its satisfying conclusion. I was really hoping for Black Christmas to follow in that vein, and it's clearly what the filmmakers were aiming for too. But, despite its well-intentioned premise, Black Christmas completely fails to deliver. Death scenes are rushed, not even particularly inventive, and because it is so drearily written and poorly directed, you barely know or even care who most of the victims are anyway. Following a slow and messy first half, the movie then takes a turn towards the supernatural, culminating in a frankly ridiculous final act and cementing this movie firmly in my worst 5 movies of 2019!
Black Christmas retains its campus setting as a group of sorority sisters, all seniors at Hawthorne University, prepare for the end of term and the Christmas holidays. While a group of girls are celebrating one night, one of their friends is being terrorised by a robed killer as she walks home alone down a quiet snowy street, adorned with Christmas decorations. It's all pretty generic stuff so far, and in terms of horror and suspense, that's all we get for about the next 30 minutes or so while the movie shifts down a few gears and tries to introduce us to some characters and some kind of plot.
Riley (Imogen Poots) is one of only a couple of characters who you'll remember come the end of the movie. After passing out at a frat party a few years earlier, Riley was sexually assaulted, and she and her friends are now preparing to sing at another frat party which her accused rapist will also be attending. While looking around the house for a friend who seems to have gone missing, Riley opens the door on a hidden room where she observes a strange ceremony - pledges, wearing medieval robes and masks, are being daubed with some kind of black goo that's oozing from the eyes of a bust depicting the University's founder. She leaves them to it, and heads back to the party, not before rescuing her lost friend from the unwanted advances of another frat boy in his room.
Riley goes on to perform with her friends, a routine which turns out to be a carefully choreographed prank song - worded as a call out to the toxic masculinity and frat rape culture that Riley and so many other girls have experienced first hand. Needless to say, this doesn't go down too well with the boys, even more so when a video of the routine goes viral the next day.
Meanwhile, another one of the sisters is currently in the process of gathering signatures for a petition, in an attempt to get their English professor (Cary Elwes) sacked for not including enough diversity in his curriculum. So, when some of the lesser known female characters begin disappearing, and our main cast begin receiving mysterious and threatening messages on their phones, there are certainly plenty of potential suspects to choose from. Eventually, the killer makes it into the sorority house where Riley and her friends are, and it's up to them all to work together in order to outwit and defeat the killer.
I'm a big fan of the 'final girl' movie, where the seemingly indestructible female lead goes from downtrodden victim to badass warrior (see 'You're Next', or this years hugely enjoyable 'Ready Or Not'), remaining as sole survivor once the dust has settled and the movie comes to its satisfying conclusion. I was really hoping for Black Christmas to follow in that vein, and it's clearly what the filmmakers were aiming for too. But, despite its well-intentioned premise, Black Christmas completely fails to deliver. Death scenes are rushed, not even particularly inventive, and because it is so drearily written and poorly directed, you barely know or even care who most of the victims are anyway. Following a slow and messy first half, the movie then takes a turn towards the supernatural, culminating in a frankly ridiculous final act and cementing this movie firmly in my worst 5 movies of 2019!
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Jamie (131 KP) rated Dangerous Behavior in Books
May 24, 2017
Extremely slow start (1 more)
Heavy focus on the romance can be off-putting
Killer Couples
I could almost tag this book as a straight up romance given how much time is dedicated to Sam and Jules’ love story. While the romance could be a good hook for some I personally just found it distracting and kind of eye roll worthy. Sam and Jules were high school sweethearts, Sam cheats, and after getting dumped Jules finds her way into the arms of his brother, who took care of her through her family troubles. The book spends an inordinate amount of time on Sam’s miserable love life and how he never got over his first love despite a plethora of women throwing themselves at him. This made the earlier parts of the novel slow down to a crawl as the narrative focus was more about the romance than the actual murder.
It got worse when Jules started getting her memory back and remembers nothing of the love she shared with her husband and instead keeps thinking about Sam and all the great sex they had. Days after her husband is murdered. I groaned. I guess I shouldn’t be surprised and it’s predictable, it’s just so distasteful and was just sort of a big middle finger to Sam’s brother Joe. I couldn’t get behind the romance in the story at all and it really decreased my enjoyment. So much that I actually was really struggling to like the book and had been thinking about rating it lower until I got to the second half of the book.
Thank goodness for the second half, when the mystery really started to come together. The thrill killers were an interesting pair that bring to mind several serial killer couples. It was a confusing twist on an otherwise average murder mystery and at first I had been wondering why they were even in the story at all. As I dug deeper into the story, however, things pulled together nicely and I actually found these characters to be pretty interesting.
This was the part of the book that was actually good, and the ending alone convinced me to push my rating just a little bit higher. It was worth slogging through the romance to get to the good stuff. While I found certain parts predictable and had figured out the dastardly duo immediately when they were introduced I still enjoyed unraveling the mystery and finding a few surprises along the way.
It got worse when Jules started getting her memory back and remembers nothing of the love she shared with her husband and instead keeps thinking about Sam and all the great sex they had. Days after her husband is murdered. I groaned. I guess I shouldn’t be surprised and it’s predictable, it’s just so distasteful and was just sort of a big middle finger to Sam’s brother Joe. I couldn’t get behind the romance in the story at all and it really decreased my enjoyment. So much that I actually was really struggling to like the book and had been thinking about rating it lower until I got to the second half of the book.
Thank goodness for the second half, when the mystery really started to come together. The thrill killers were an interesting pair that bring to mind several serial killer couples. It was a confusing twist on an otherwise average murder mystery and at first I had been wondering why they were even in the story at all. As I dug deeper into the story, however, things pulled together nicely and I actually found these characters to be pretty interesting.
This was the part of the book that was actually good, and the ending alone convinced me to push my rating just a little bit higher. It was worth slogging through the romance to get to the good stuff. While I found certain parts predictable and had figured out the dastardly duo immediately when they were introduced I still enjoyed unraveling the mystery and finding a few surprises along the way.
Billie Wichkan (118 KP) rated On My Life in Books
Mar 15, 2019
Framed. Imprisoned. Pregnant.
Jenna thought she had the perfect life: a loving fiancé, a great job, a beautiful home. Then she finds her stepdaughter murdered; her partner missing.
And the police think she did it...
Locked up to await trial, surrounded by prisoners who'd hurt her if they knew what she's accused of, certain someone close to her has framed her, Jenna knows what she needs to do:
Clear her name
Save her baby
Find the killer
But can she do it in time?
This is the first time I have read any novels by this author and I really loved this book.
I could not put this novel down. I read it from cover to cover in the space of a day. It was gripping, compulsive and a truly engaging and absorbing read!
This book is beautifully written, full of red herrings and her description of prison life for a Nonce was well researched. All the way through this book I had to stop reading as it was very distressing at times.
The novel opens with Jenna under arrest for the murder of Emily, her partners 14-year old daughter, after being found covered in blood cradling her dead body. Her partner, Robert, is missing, presumed also murdered and shocking images have been found on her laptop.
She is placed on remand and locked up in HMP Fallenbrook surrounded by prisoners who would certainly harm her if they learn of the crimes that she is accused of. Fearing that she has been framed by someone close to her, she then discovers that she is pregnant. Jenna is determined to clear her name and find the killer. An almost impossible task from inside prison with almost no resources. The cards certainly seem stacked against her.
Along with Jennas harrowing experiences in the prison, there are also flashbacks to her developing relationship with Robert and Emily.
What made this novel different from other novels in the thriller genre is the engagement with social issues associated with inmates, including new and expectant mothers, incarcerated in the U.K. prison system. In her Authors Note Clarke cites her sources and influences. In addition, she visits and teaches in prisons and was provided with firsthand accounts so that she can depict authentically the day-to-day life in a U.K. prison.
I would like to thank the author, Hodder and Stoughton and Netgalley for the advanced copy in return for giving an honest review.
Jenna thought she had the perfect life: a loving fiancé, a great job, a beautiful home. Then she finds her stepdaughter murdered; her partner missing.
And the police think she did it...
Locked up to await trial, surrounded by prisoners who'd hurt her if they knew what she's accused of, certain someone close to her has framed her, Jenna knows what she needs to do:
Clear her name
Save her baby
Find the killer
But can she do it in time?
This is the first time I have read any novels by this author and I really loved this book.
I could not put this novel down. I read it from cover to cover in the space of a day. It was gripping, compulsive and a truly engaging and absorbing read!
This book is beautifully written, full of red herrings and her description of prison life for a Nonce was well researched. All the way through this book I had to stop reading as it was very distressing at times.
The novel opens with Jenna under arrest for the murder of Emily, her partners 14-year old daughter, after being found covered in blood cradling her dead body. Her partner, Robert, is missing, presumed also murdered and shocking images have been found on her laptop.
She is placed on remand and locked up in HMP Fallenbrook surrounded by prisoners who would certainly harm her if they learn of the crimes that she is accused of. Fearing that she has been framed by someone close to her, she then discovers that she is pregnant. Jenna is determined to clear her name and find the killer. An almost impossible task from inside prison with almost no resources. The cards certainly seem stacked against her.
Along with Jennas harrowing experiences in the prison, there are also flashbacks to her developing relationship with Robert and Emily.
What made this novel different from other novels in the thriller genre is the engagement with social issues associated with inmates, including new and expectant mothers, incarcerated in the U.K. prison system. In her Authors Note Clarke cites her sources and influences. In addition, she visits and teaches in prisons and was provided with firsthand accounts so that she can depict authentically the day-to-day life in a U.K. prison.
I would like to thank the author, Hodder and Stoughton and Netgalley for the advanced copy in return for giving an honest review.
Billie Wichkan (118 KP) rated Final Betrayal (Detective Lottie Parker, #6) in Books
May 22, 2019
She lifted the flap of the envelope and pulled out the single white page. As she opened it up she stared, open mouthed. Four words were typed on the page. I am watching you.
When Amy Whyte and Penny Brogan leave a local nightclub in the early hours of Sunday morning and dont arrive home, their families are beside themselves with worry. Conor Dowling has just been released from prison, a man full of hatred for Amy, the girl who put him behind bars in the first place.
The case is given to Detective Lottie Parker, when the girls blood-soaked bodies are found, days later, in a derelict squat. Chillingly, both girls are clutching silver coins in their hands what message is this killer leaving behind? All the signs point to Conor but his alibi is water tight.
As Lottie examines Penny and Amys final days alive in a desperate search for clues, two more girls are found stabbed to death in a luxury apartment complex. Caught up in what is fast becoming her toughest case yet, Lottie is unaware that somebody is watching her every move.
Then Lotties two daughters, Katie and Chloe suddenly disappear from the town centre. Terrified that the killer has her girls, the stakes have never been higher for Lottie.
But as Lottie puts everything on the line to find her daughters and solve the case, shes about to find herself in terrible danger someone has a personal axe to grind with her and they know the best way to get to her is to hurt the ones she loves the most.
This is book #6 of the D.I. Lottie Parker series. It can be read as a standalone novel.
This book is fast paced and full of action. The story line twists and turns and kept me hooked from the very first page.
When Amy Whyte and Penny Brogan leave a local nightclub in the early hours of Sunday morning and dont arrive home, their families are beside themselves with worry. Conor Dowling has just been released from prison, a man full of hatred for Amy, the girl who put him behind bars in the first place.
Full of red herrings, thrilling circumstances, and dark and devious characters; 'Final Betrayal' is an atmospheric, twisted read and I LOVED every second of it
Looking forward to the next one already.
Highly recommend reading.
I would like to thank Netgalley and Bookouture for an advance copy of Final Betrayal.
When Amy Whyte and Penny Brogan leave a local nightclub in the early hours of Sunday morning and dont arrive home, their families are beside themselves with worry. Conor Dowling has just been released from prison, a man full of hatred for Amy, the girl who put him behind bars in the first place.
The case is given to Detective Lottie Parker, when the girls blood-soaked bodies are found, days later, in a derelict squat. Chillingly, both girls are clutching silver coins in their hands what message is this killer leaving behind? All the signs point to Conor but his alibi is water tight.
As Lottie examines Penny and Amys final days alive in a desperate search for clues, two more girls are found stabbed to death in a luxury apartment complex. Caught up in what is fast becoming her toughest case yet, Lottie is unaware that somebody is watching her every move.
Then Lotties two daughters, Katie and Chloe suddenly disappear from the town centre. Terrified that the killer has her girls, the stakes have never been higher for Lottie.
But as Lottie puts everything on the line to find her daughters and solve the case, shes about to find herself in terrible danger someone has a personal axe to grind with her and they know the best way to get to her is to hurt the ones she loves the most.
This is book #6 of the D.I. Lottie Parker series. It can be read as a standalone novel.
This book is fast paced and full of action. The story line twists and turns and kept me hooked from the very first page.
When Amy Whyte and Penny Brogan leave a local nightclub in the early hours of Sunday morning and dont arrive home, their families are beside themselves with worry. Conor Dowling has just been released from prison, a man full of hatred for Amy, the girl who put him behind bars in the first place.
Full of red herrings, thrilling circumstances, and dark and devious characters; 'Final Betrayal' is an atmospheric, twisted read and I LOVED every second of it
Looking forward to the next one already.
Highly recommend reading.
I would like to thank Netgalley and Bookouture for an advance copy of Final Betrayal.