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Mark @ Carstairs Considers (2589 KP) rated A Feast Most Foul in Books

Jun 8, 2024  
A Feast Most Foul
A Feast Most Foul
Sarah E. Burr | 2017 | Mystery
10
10.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Murder in a Neighboring Kingdom
Duchess Jacqueline is making her first official trip after becoming ruler of her kingdom. She’s attending a two-week tournament hosted by her grandfather, a duke in a neighboring kingdom. They have a strained relationship (at best), so she isn’t looking forward to it. But the first night, a knight is killed and the evidence points of Jax’s intended. Can she find more evidence to clear his name?

I enjoyed the first book in the series, so I was really looking forward to this one. I wasn’t disappointed. We are still in the novellas that started this series, so it is a fast read, but it doesn’t skimp on plot with plenty of twists that kept me engaged. I enjoyed watching the relationships grow for the returning characters, and the new cast are just as engaging. If you haven’t read the first book, be aware there are some hints as to what happened in that book. I also am really enjoying the light fantasy setting of the series. I’m looking forward to catching up with Jax again soon.
  
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Mark @ Carstairs Considers (2589 KP) rated Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff in Books

Aug 27, 2025  
Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff
Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff
Don Bruns | 2010 | Mystery
5
5.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Finding Danger at a Pop Up Carnival
Best friends James Lessor and Skip Moore are spending the weekend at a traveling carnival so that James can get a feel for it in his new job as their marketing director. Then the owner asks them to put their new PI license to use finding out who is sabotaging the rides. There have been injuries and one death due to these accidents. Will the two get the help from the carnies they need to solve things?

My love/hate relationship with this series continues. I do like the characters and want to see them succeed. But I also wish they were a little smarter and that Skip would stand up for himself. The mystery was good, but the ending could have been stronger. The suspects were interesting. Do keep in mind that these books aren’t cozies and are just old enough for the technology to be dated. I’m hoping some growth we saw here carries over to further books, but I’ll find out when I get to the next book.
  
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Mark @ Carstairs Considers (2589 KP) rated A Thief of Time in Books

Apr 16, 2026  
A Thief of Time
A Thief of Time
Tony Hillerman | 1988 | Mystery
8
8.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Missing Anthropologist
Lieutenant Joe Leaphorn is dealing with the loss of his wife. He’s been on leave and plans to retire when his leave is over. But when a colleague invites him along to execute a search warrant in an area Joe knows well, he agrees to go along. Only, when they arrive, they learn the woman they are supposed to serve the warrant on has been missing for two weeks. Meanwhile, Officer Jim Chee is trying to find a piece of heavy equipment that vanished on his watch. The trail leads him to dead bodies. How are these cases connected?

The title of this book caught my attention years ago, so I was glad to finally get to it. I enjoyed the slow yet natural progression of Leaphorn and Chee’s working relationship. I did find Chee’s personal subplot a bit repetitive. The pacing of the plot slowed down a couple of times, but by the time we reached the end, I was completely hooked. Overall, this book makes it easy to see why the author has so many fans.