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Mark @ Carstairs Considers (2352 KP) rated A Sticky Situation (Sugar Grove Mystery, #3) in Books
Mar 9, 2018
It’s sugaring season, which means Dani Greene is super busy with the sap running, the annual Maple Festival, and the annual visit from her difficult great-aunt. The last things she needs is the body in the town hall basement. The remains are identified as a drifter who came through town 30 years ago and stole cash before he left. Now, Dani is asked to figure out who really took the money. Can she do that without getting in a killer’s crosshairs?
This series has some great characters, and it was a treat to get to visit them again. The new characters are just as strong. The main mystery and some sub-plots weave in and out of each other, and the result is a book I didn’t want to put down.
NOTE: I was sent a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.
Read my full review at <a href="http://carstairsconsiders.blogspot.com/2015/04/book-review-sticky-situation-by-jessie.html">Carstairs Considers</a>.
This series has some great characters, and it was a treat to get to visit them again. The new characters are just as strong. The main mystery and some sub-plots weave in and out of each other, and the result is a book I didn’t want to put down.
NOTE: I was sent a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.
Read my full review at <a href="http://carstairsconsiders.blogspot.com/2015/04/book-review-sticky-situation-by-jessie.html">Carstairs Considers</a>.
Mark @ Carstairs Considers (2352 KP) rated A Puzzle to be Named Later (Puzzle Lady #18) in Books
Mar 9, 2018
When Yankee’s pitcher Matt Greystone moves to town to rehab after a car accident, Cora Felton is thrilled. That is before a therapist’s house is broken into and Cora is asked to solve a puzzle that points to something in the therapist’s files. When a second puzzle shows up on the dead body, she knows she has to figure out what is going on.
Like some others in the series, the mystery is the weak link in this book. The action is quick even if it doesn’t always lead us anywhere. The climax is a bit convoluted as well. However, I read these books for the word play and comedy, and that’s here in spades. I laughed multiple times in the book and smiled throughout. Plus, it’s fun to spend time with the gang again, and I liked the new characters as well.
Read my full review at <a href="https://carstairsconsiders.blogspot.com/2017/07/book-review-puzzle-to-be-named-later-by.html">Carstairs Considers</a>.
Like some others in the series, the mystery is the weak link in this book. The action is quick even if it doesn’t always lead us anywhere. The climax is a bit convoluted as well. However, I read these books for the word play and comedy, and that’s here in spades. I laughed multiple times in the book and smiled throughout. Plus, it’s fun to spend time with the gang again, and I liked the new characters as well.
Read my full review at <a href="https://carstairsconsiders.blogspot.com/2017/07/book-review-puzzle-to-be-named-later-by.html">Carstairs Considers</a>.
Sarah is running a sport equipment exchange in a local school gym. The night before, as she is about to leave, someone attacks her. Despite the attack, the event goes off without a hitch – until Sarah finds the dead body of the school superintendent. What is going on?
This is another fabulous, fast paced read in one of my favorite series. There are several different avenues that Sarah investigates along the way, and they all come together beautifully for the climax. Meanwhile, we get some development in several series threads and a very funny sub-plot. Sarah continues to grow as a character, and the rest of the cast, both new and returning, are fantastic. The writing makes me feel like I’ve visited Sarah’s corner of the world.
NOTE: I received an ARC of this book.
Read my full review at <a href="http://carstairsconsiders.blogspot.com/2018/02/book-review-i-know-what-you-bid-last.html">Carstairs Considers</a>.
This is another fabulous, fast paced read in one of my favorite series. There are several different avenues that Sarah investigates along the way, and they all come together beautifully for the climax. Meanwhile, we get some development in several series threads and a very funny sub-plot. Sarah continues to grow as a character, and the rest of the cast, both new and returning, are fantastic. The writing makes me feel like I’ve visited Sarah’s corner of the world.
NOTE: I received an ARC of this book.
Read my full review at <a href="http://carstairsconsiders.blogspot.com/2018/02/book-review-i-know-what-you-bid-last.html">Carstairs Considers</a>.
Awix (3310 KP) rated Barry Lyndon (1975) in Movies
Jun 27, 2018
Famously demanding costume drama/endurance challenge from Stanley Kubrick. Handsome but dimwitted Irish lad does his thinking with the wrong body parts, becomes fugitive from justice, soldier, duellist, deserter, gambler, and spy before marrying into money; his attempts to climb further up society's tree go badly wrong.
Sounds like a rollicking tale, but many will probably find the, erm, stately pace at which events unfold to be rather punishing; there's also the problem that Ryan O'Neal is basically just an absence of hiatus in the middle of the film - you never really care about Barry Lyndon himself. On the other hand, the film is stuffed with wonderful character cameos and subtly magical moments, and the appearance of the thing is utterly gorgeous. If you're prepared to treat the film essentially as a visual feast peppered with incidental pleasures such as Leonard Rossiter's dancing or the climactic duel, then you will probably find it rather mesmerising - as a conventional piece of entertainment, probably less so.
Sounds like a rollicking tale, but many will probably find the, erm, stately pace at which events unfold to be rather punishing; there's also the problem that Ryan O'Neal is basically just an absence of hiatus in the middle of the film - you never really care about Barry Lyndon himself. On the other hand, the film is stuffed with wonderful character cameos and subtly magical moments, and the appearance of the thing is utterly gorgeous. If you're prepared to treat the film essentially as a visual feast peppered with incidental pleasures such as Leonard Rossiter's dancing or the climactic duel, then you will probably find it rather mesmerising - as a conventional piece of entertainment, probably less so.
ClareR (5879 KP) rated The French Girl in Books
Jul 11, 2018
Another unreliable narrator?
Six Oxford University friends go on holiday to France and stay in the holiday home of one of their parents. Everything seems fine, everyone seems to be enjoying themselves, until the neighbour, Severine, turns up. And then she disappears. They’re all questioned at the time, they go home and get on with their lives.
Ten years later, the case reopens when Severine’s body is found down the Farmhouse’s well which had been filled in. Everyone is under suspicion. And it feels that way as you read it. Even the the character that we see the story through, Kate, seems likely to have murdered her.
This isn’t one of your pacy thrillers, there’s lots of description and back story concerning Kate’s new business, but it’s actually quite interesting. The relationships between the five surviving ‘friends’ shows an interesting dynamic.
Not a neat little ending either - which I really like. I enjoyed this.
Thanks to the Pigeonhole and Lexie Elliott for reading along!
Ten years later, the case reopens when Severine’s body is found down the Farmhouse’s well which had been filled in. Everyone is under suspicion. And it feels that way as you read it. Even the the character that we see the story through, Kate, seems likely to have murdered her.
This isn’t one of your pacy thrillers, there’s lots of description and back story concerning Kate’s new business, but it’s actually quite interesting. The relationships between the five surviving ‘friends’ shows an interesting dynamic.
Not a neat little ending either - which I really like. I enjoyed this.
Thanks to the Pigeonhole and Lexie Elliott for reading along!
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