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Hazel (2934 KP) rated The Midnight Man in Books

Oct 10, 2021  
The Midnight Man
The Midnight Man
Caroline Mitchell | 2021 | Crime, Mystery, Paranormal, Thriller
7
7.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Deliciously creepy and full of tension.

I haven't read anything by Caroline Mitchell before but I was initially drawn by the cover and then intrigued by the blurb which sounded like something I would enjoy and, overall, I wasn't disappointed.

There are some great characters and a fabulous plot which combines urban legend, creepy house, serial killer, murder mystery, police procedural and the paranormal. The pace is pretty good and the twists and turns provided suspense from the start.

This is a good spooky read and certainly made a nice change to the usual crime thrillers and I have to give a thank you to Embla Books and NetGalley for my copy in return for an honest, unbiased and unedited review.
  
I have found the series to be lots of fun. It features a spunky heroine who is at home in all the great cities in Europe, is great at her job, and takes the more than occasional murder in stride.

The thing I find most intriguing and also most inviting about this series is the fact that the murder takes place so late in the story that you almost forget that this is supposed to be a murder mystery. Instead, you get to meet all the characters, learn their secrets and affiliations, begin to develop feelings for them. It is very Agatha Christie like and very cool. The great characters added to the brilliant descriptions of European cities, tour stops, and culture makes the reader feel like they are taking part in the tour and gives them a personal stake in discovering whodunnit.

Death of Leprechaun is no exception. Lana has secured a spot on her current tour for dear friends of hers and she is really looking forward to touring Dublin. Unbeknownst to her, almost every member of the tour has a connection to a corrupt reporter who ends up dead. Everyone he has written about or even for has a motive to want him dead, but only Lana’s tour group had access to the murder weapon.

Beyond the search for the murderer, I have to admit my favorite part of this book is when Dottie and later Lana hang a lantern on the fact that guests in Lana’s tours always seem to turn up dead. Though I will give kudos for the switch up here in that the tour group is still suspect, but the victim, is an outsider.

Readers who enjoy travel fiction, epic character development, and clever mysteries will enjoy this series.

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 4.5 out of 5.
I received an advance review copy for free through Great Escapes Virtual Book Tours, and I am leaving this review voluntarily
  
A Link To Kill (Hawthorne & Horowitz Mystery #3)
A Link To Kill (Hawthorne & Horowitz Mystery #3)
Anthony Horowitz | 2021 | Crime, Mystery
8
8.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
I haven't read anything by Mr Horowitz before and was a little apprehensive about reading this, with it being the third in the series, but I needn't have worried - this is a unique and enjoyable mystery.

I have never read a book where the author puts himself as one of the main characters in a book but here he is joining up with an ex-Detective Inspector Hawthorne and, I must say, it really worked for me. Mr Horowitz doesn't take himself too seriously and he comes across as a Dr Watson-type character to Hawthorne's Sherlock Holmes - which, let's face it, isn't a bad thing at all. How much the fictional Horowitz is like the real Horowitz, I don't know but I like him!

Anyway, Horowitz and Hawthorne have been invited to take part in a literary festival on the island of Alderney. A murder ensues and Hawthorne is asked to assist the local constabulary to investigate with Horowitz in tow. The relationship between the two is a complex one ... do they really like each other or do they just tolerate each other for the purposes of writing books? I am still working that one out but I am liking it.

This is a proper old-style mystery with a cast of excellent characters many of whom have their own secrets which creates multiple suspects and I for one must have said "I knew it was them all along" numerous times and was wrong! There is a lot of humour and tongue-in-cheek moments which make this a fun and enjoyable read with a very satisfying ending.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book and it was quite nice to read a murder/mystery without a plethora of violence for once and I am very much looking forward to more "adventures" from Hawthorne and Horowitz.

A thank you must go to Penguin Random House UK / Cornerstone via NetGalley for my copy in return for an unbiased and unedited review.
  
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Heather Cranmer (2721 KP) created a post

May 20, 2022  
Sneak a peek at the culinary cozy mystery novel IT'S A MAD, MAD MURDER by Cindy Vincent on my blog, and enter the giveaway for a chance to win a signed copy of the book, a sweetheart-neckline apron, a set of multicolored, Farberware measuring cups, and a set of stainless steel, oblong measuring spoons!

https://alltheupsandowns.blogspot.com/2022/05/book-blitz-and-giveaway-its-mad-mad.html

**BOOK SYNOPSIS**
Things are a little too hot to handle for famous culinary-mystery author, Maddie Montgomery, in her normally quiet neighborhood set in the Houston suburb of Abbott Cove. Especially after her neighbor, Randall Rathburn, has a heart attack and rams his vintage car into a light pole. Though his death is ruled an accident, another of Maddie’s neighbors insists that Randall was murdered, and he implores her to investigate. But Maddie isn’t on board with the half-baked idea, not until she attends the over-the-top funeral where she develops some suspicions of her own. That’s when she decides to take the leap from crime writing to crime solving. After all, she doesn’t exactly want a killer running around her cul-de-sac . . .

But the murder of her neighbor isn’t the only mystery she’s got cooking. When her publisher goes belly-up and her agent happily dumps her in favor of younger, dystopian authors, Maddie boils over into a full-blown career crisis. And while she tries to simmer down, her new role as amateur sleuth only stirs the pot even more. Then from car chases to stakeouts, and from a neighbor who owns a suspicious amount of spy gadgetry to a widow who seems a little too merry, Maddie’s first case has her head spinning like the beaters on her handheld mixer. And soon Maddie finds that solving a crime in “real life” is a lot more difficult . . . and a lot more dangerous . . .