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The Sinner - Season 2
The Sinner - Season 2
2018 | Crime, Drama
After being disappointed by the first season, I was curious as to what the second could possibly about - but looked forward to hopefully finding out more about Bill Pullman's character, Detective Harry Ambrose.

A different town, a different killer and another mystery that goes far beyond the deaths that we see in the first episode. Sadly, I still got the same feeling of "oh, that's it?" when it was all over.

Once again, the story comes to us via the medium of flashbacks, and, once again, the characters are just so unlikable.

We catch glimpses of Ambrose's past and are treated to flashbacks of, for instance, interactions between the "mother and son" who are the main focus of this investigation - but where you never really find out what the actual point of these scenes was.

I really do love a good crime thriller - sadly, this show just isn't the one for me.
  
TM
10
10.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
When Eli Marks looks into the projection booth of the theater next door late one night, the last thing he expects to see if the projectionist dead on the floor of the locked booth. Against his will, he finds himself involved in the case and interviewing the eccentric suspects. But which of them is a killer? And how did they pull off the crime?

This is a wonderful mystery with the added locked room element. I had no clue where the book was going, but I couldn’t believe I didn’t figure it out when the clues and killer were presented at the end. The eccentric cast of suspects are fun, and the series regulars are great as always. Eli’s job as a magician is a great hook that makes this series stand out from the others.

Read my full review at <a href="http://carstairsconsiders.blogspot.com/2017/05/book-review-misers-dream-by-john.html">Carstairs Considers</a>.
  
Kneaded to Death
Kneaded to Death
Winnie Archer | 2017 | Fiction & Poetry
8
8.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Ivy Culpepper has come back to her home town of Santa Sofia and is trying to put her life back together after her mother was killed in a hit-and-run accident. When a murder occurs outside the local bakery where Ivy is taking a baking lesson, the three sisters who own the bakery are suspected of the crime. Sure that they wouldn’t kill anyone, Ivy starts investigating on her own.

The author did such a great job with the descriptions that I could almost feel the warmth from the ovens and smell the bread baking in Yeast of Eden. The characters were true-to-life, and the mystery well thought out. This book will leave you hungry – for more of Ivy Culpepper, and for fresh baked bread!

Kneaded to Death is the first book in Winnie Archer’s new Bread Shop Mysteries series.

<i>Thank you to Netgalley for an advanced review copy</i>
  
GF
Get Fluffy (Pampered Pets Mystery #2)
10
10.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
When Mel gets stuck with Fluffy, the famous dog of Mona Michaels, all Mel wants to do is return the dog. However, when the two arrive at Mona’s mansion, Mona has been murdered. Mel wants to stay out of the investigation, but she keeps learning things that the point her toward the killer. Will she solve the crime?

I wanted to get to book two in this series soon to meet Mel, the cousin of the main character in the first in the series. This book was just as delightful as that first one. We get a mostly new cast of characters, who are all very strong. The mystery is great with lots of secrets and surprises on the way to the logical conclusion. And the antics of the pets in the book are delightfully fun.

Read my full review at <a href="http://carstairsconsiders.blogspot.com/2016/09/book-review-get-fluffy-by-sparkle-abbey.html">Carstairs Considers</a>.
  
CM
Courage Matters: (Ray Courage, #1)
10
10.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Disclaimer: I received a copy from the author in exchange for an honest review.

This book has everything you could want in a mystery: an interesting detective, a fascinating crime, a bevy of information and connections to wade through, and of course, a love interest.

Lionel Stroud, stockbroker to the wealthiest of investors, suspects an employee of rather egregious charges. He hires our man Courage to help dig up some dirt on the man at the bequest of his estranged daughter, who happens to be Courage's ex-lover. *cue the intrigue*

Things seem to be going all fine and dandy for the investigation until Courage drops by the employee's house, only to find someone beat him to the punch, and with a firearm, no less. Now, there's a much deeper case to solve, and it looks like all the evidence is pointing to one man: Courage.

Who did it? How'd they do it? WHY did they do it? Grab your own copy to find out.

5 stars
  
R(
Resurrectionist (Matthew Hawkwood, #2)
8
8.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
The sequel to 2006's <i>Ratcatcher</i>, <i>Resurrectionist</i> again follows the exploits of Matthew Hawkwood: a former army officer now working as a Bow Street Runner.

While <i>Ratcatcher</i>, in many respects, was a straight-forward action/adventure set in Regency London, this novel is more of a mystery/crime novel. This time, Captain Hawkwood is on the trail of body-snatchers - colloquially known as 'Resurrection men' - and of an escaped convict from Bedlam Hospital. Initially believing the two cases to be distinct, this later proves to be far from the case ...

Body-snatching was - and is - a pretty gruesome business, and McGee doesn't shy away from the full import of what the grave-diggers were involved in, with some of the scenes described not for the squeamish! Similarly, the early years of medical science are also touched upon - again, some of those scenes are not for the squeamish.