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Mark @ Carstairs Considers (2502 KP) rated Partners in Crime in Books

Jan 4, 2024  
Partners in Crime
Partners in Crime
Steve Hockensmith | 2023 | Mystery
9
9.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Five Cases of Crime in the Old West
This book collects five stories featuring Old Red and Big Red, the stars of the Holmes on the Range series. They are set during late fall 1893 and winter 1894, and find the brothers solving a variety of cases. The first story finds the brothers returning to their home town in Kansas with mixed results. When the brothers set out to find a Christmas tree for their landlady, they find a dead body instead. A series of strange events leads them to go to Idaho to try to help the sheep ranchers involved. A request in Colorado finds them in the middle of newspaper wars. Finally, they have to clear their own names when their landlady thinks they are responsible for the things that have been disappearing around their boarding house.

Combined, these five stories reach novel length. Individually, they vary in length. The first one seems to wander a bit at first, but as a fan of the series, I didn’t mind. The stories take place around two of the novels, but there aren’t any spoilers. Instead, we get Big Red and Old Red and some great new characters in each story to keep us engaged. The crimes don’t always involve murder, which I enjoyed seeing. If you haven’t tried the series yet, this would be a fun way to sample the characters. If you’re already a fan, you’ll enjoy seeing what the brothers get up to here.
  
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Amanda (96 KP) rated Two Can Keep a Secret in Books

Mar 11, 2019  
Two Can Keep a Secret
Two Can Keep a Secret
Karen M. McManus | 2019 | Mystery, Thriller, Young Adult (YA)
9
8.6 (9 Ratings)
Book Rating
I was partially right in my assumption as to who had done it, but I don't see that as a bad thing. I was a bit taken a back as to what happened and who was behind it, but I'm not counting that as a negative thing.

I talked about McManus' debut novel, but I never reviewed it. Those were back in my days before discovering reviewing books. I did read that book in a bookclub and it was fun, but I had mixed feelings about that book. I'll have to re-read the book to really get into it, so I won't do that right now.

I felt horrible for Malcolm to have to overcome the crap that he did with his older brother, Declan. I honestly do not like how much of a pushover and weak character Malcolm and Declan's mother is. I almot feel like she was put there to say that the boys did indeed have a mother. I understood WHY she was like that and the reasoning behind it, but I felt like she didn't have much of a true purpose in the story.

The twist was unexpected, but it was a twist that was not too terribly bad. The story kept me guessing and it ended well, even gave you a bit of a 'oh wow' kind of feeling.

Like I said, I liked the story better than McManus' first novel. They aren't connected, so this isn't a series that you have to start from the beginning.

As much as I found Ellery a bit of an annoyance with her questions and constant suspicions, it was hard not to like her. She paid attention and even if she is a bit obsessed with her true crime novels, they made her aware when nobody else was, or willing to be.

I did enjoy the mystery and the turn of events in this book. Each character had a role, no matter how minor or cliche, to play in the story. Nobody was tossed aside or mentioned but never seen again. It had me guessing and definitely had me not wanting to put it down even after finishing a chapter.