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Mark @ Carstairs Considers (2536 KP) rated A Little Class on Murder in Books

Apr 7, 2022  
A Little Class on Murder
A Little Class on Murder
Carolyn Hart | 1989 | Mystery
9
9.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Annie Finds Murder in College
When Annie is asked to teach a class on The Three Grand Dame of the Mystery for the journalism department at the college in Chastain, she quickly warms to the idea. Her enthusiasm is only dimmed slightly when she sees the tension in her fellow faculty members and who decides to crash her class. However, when the student paper starts printing stories that lead to deaths, Annie and her new husband, Max, begin to investigate. Can they figure out what is going on?

This is the book where the series seems to finally be finding the right mix. There is plenty of humor, and I laughed quite a bit. The characters are still on the thin side, but they work to keep us engaged and entertained. We get plenty of references to other writers and characters, mostly the three authors Annie is teaching in her class (Christie, Sayers, and Rinehart), but they never overwhelm or feel like a list dropped into the story. And the mystery weaves all around, keeping us guessing until the end. There is still more foul language than in a typical cozy, but as long as you know this, you’ll be fine. I hope this mix continues as the series goes forward.
  
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ClareR (6134 KP) rated The Lock Up in Books

May 15, 2023  
The Lock Up
The Lock Up
John Banville | 2023 | Crime, Fiction & Poetry, Mystery
8
8.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
The fact that I haven’t read the previous three books in this series didn’t mean that I enjoyed it any less. It’s a character driven murder mystery, with lots of background of the pathologist, Quirke. His wife died in the last book, and whilst it’s unclear whether this is a thing with him in other books, he’s most certainly an alcoholic in THIS book. He’s deeply unhappy.

The mystery however, centres around the death of a young Jewish woman, found in her car in a lock up. DI Strafford is called in to solve the case, which becomes more complicated ass the story goes on. The beginning of the book is about a young man travelling into the mountains in Germany to escape the allies. This seems unconnected to begin with,but of course it isn’t!

The Church very much makes it’s presence felt, and there are obstacles put in the way of Strafford and Quirke solving this case.

I really liked this, and very much appreciated the descriptions of Strafford, Quirke and the other characters too. It added to the sense of time and place.

Yet another book that I’m very glad that I picked up on The Pigeonhole!
  
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Mark @ Carstairs Considers (2536 KP) rated In the Spirit of French Murder in Books

Apr 29, 2026 (Updated Apr 29, 2026)  
In the Spirit of French Murder
In the Spirit of French Murder
Colleen Cambridge | 2026 | Mystery
5
5.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Nine Bluets Gathered for Dinner
One March afternoon, Tabitha Knight is returning home from Julia Child’s when she sees a strange woman leaving the house where Tabitha lives. It turns out that she is a medium, and her warning to Grand-pere has left him shaken. But the next night, when Tabitha’s messieurs are hosting a dinner for the seven other members of their old resistance network, the evening ends with a murder. Should Tabitha be taking the warning seriously?

I tend to avoid the paranormal in the books I read, and I was disappointed to see it was a major part of this book. Worse yet, it really slowed down the beginning of the mystery. Fortunately, we did get a decent mystery with some good twists and a nice climax. And the book, at least the ARC I read, could never decide which part of March the story was set in. However, I was interested to see what happened to the characters next. And I appreciated the look at what life was like in the resistance in Paris during World War II. All told, this was a mixed bag that fans of the series will still appreciate.
  
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Mark @ Carstairs Considers (2536 KP) rated Knot in My Backyard in Books

Feb 5, 2020  
Knot in My Backyard
Knot in My Backyard
Mary Marks | 2014 | Mystery
9
9.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Murder Hits Close to Home
Martha Rose’s neighborhood in the San Fernando Valley of Southern California used to be peaceful and quiet until a local private school built a baseball stadium in the open space that used to boarder her street. She and her neighbors have tried to fight it, even after it was built, but no one is willing to listen to them. While out for a walk one morning, Martha finds the dead body of Dax Martin, the school’s baseball couch. The police begin to quickly focus on her neighbor Ed Pappas, who had a fight with the victim recently, but Martha doesn’t believe he is guilty. Can she prove it?

Quilting doesn’t play as big a part of this mystery as it did the first in the series, but it is still an active part of Martha’s life, as are her quilting friends. It’s hard to complain since this book is filled with a strong mystery. Martha strikes out early, which only adds to her drive to solve things, and makes the solution more satisfying for us when she does. Some of Martha’s attitude and actions early on were a little frustrating for me, but it made me appreciate the character growth we saw in her later in the book. The rest of the cast are great, and I enjoyed spending time with them, returning characters and new characters alike. When I read the first book in the series, I found some needless political comments off putting, but they were absent in this book. The plot does bring up a few political issues as a natural part of the plot, but they are kept in the background here – the book never stops to peach and they only come up very briefly. As a Los Angeles resident, I enjoyed seeing places I know pop up in this book, especially a few key scenes that took place near where I played ultimate Frisbee for years. Overall, this is a fun second mystery that will please cozy mystery readers.