Sign up
Search
Advanced search settings

Search only in certain items:

Search results
All (3294)
Content
People
Apps
Books
Orbs
Movies
Music
Podcasts
Shows
Tabletop Games
Tech
TV
Video Games
YouTube Channels
Videos
40x40

Mark @ Carstairs Considers (2273 KP) rated Furbidden Fatality in Books

Feb 24, 2021  
Furbidden Fatality
Furbidden Fatality
Deborah Blake | 2021 | Mystery
10
10.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Glad I Adopted This Debut
Kari Stuart had been working as a waitress in a town in the Catskills until she won the lottery. She’s not quite sure what she is going to do with her winnings until she hears about an animal sanctuary on the edge of town that is for sale. Impulsively she buys it and sets about getting it ready to reopen. Unfortunately, that’s also when she runs across Bill Myers, the local dog warden, who seems to have targeted the sanctuary. After Kari finds Bill dead just outside the sanctuary’s fence in the middle of the night, she becomes the police’s prime suspect. Can she figure out what really happened?

I started to hear some early buzz about this book, so I decided to give it a try. I’m so glad I did. This may be the first in the series, but I already love the characters. Kari leads a great cast, and there are just as many charming four-legged characters as there are humans. The plot is inventive, with plenty to keep us engaged over the course of the story. Yet everything Kari uncovered helps make for a satisfying resolution when we reached the end. While this is Deborah Blake’s first mystery, she has written quite a few other books, and that shows through in the writing. If you are looking for a promising new mystery series, adopt this book right away.
  
40x40

Mark @ Carstairs Considers (2273 KP) rated A Side of Murder in Books

Feb 26, 2021  
A Side of Murder
A Side of Murder
Amy Pershing | 2021 | Mystery
8
8.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Murder Mars a Return to Cape Cod
Samantha Barnes, Sam to her friends, grew up in Cape Cod, Massachusetts, but left to go to culinary school and become a famous chef. Thanks to an inheritance and a new job writing about food in the area for a local paper, she is back. Her first assignment is to review a new restaurant in town, but the good food is quickly forgotten when she finds a dead body floating in the water next to the restaurant. The police think it was an accident. After all, the victim was a known drunk, so she could have easily fallen in and drown. Sam thinks something more sinister is happening. Can she prove it?

There is a good mystery here, and I enjoyed seeing how Sam figured everything out. Unfortunately, there is just as much set up, introducing us to the people in Sam’s life and filling us in on her past. The result was a pace that was uneven. I did still enjoy it since I liked Sam and the supporting characters. We saw hints of the depths to the characters that I’m sure we’ll see more of in future books in the series. I was bothered by a cliché that several of the characters fell into, however, especially since it doesn’t fit one of the characters at all. The book ends with recipes for a suggested four-course casual dinner with friends. Overall, I enjoyed this virtual vacation debut.