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Mark @ Carstairs Considers (2560 KP) rated Claws Out in Books

Sep 17, 2025 (Updated Sep 17, 2025)  
Claws Out
Claws Out
Cate Conte | 2025 | Mystery
7
7.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Taking the Cafe on the Road for a Cat Lit Fest
Maddie James and her family and friends are taking their cat cafe on the road thanks for a giant food truck donation. They are heading off island to Provincetown to a literary festival that focuses on cats in fiction. But Maddie keeps hearing things that show not all is well behind the scenes. On the second morning, one of the headlining authors is found murdered. Who killed her?

I love how the author came up with such a creative way to take the cat cafe on the road. The murder took a bit of time to happen, but there was enough set up I didn’t find my interest waning. Maddie seemed to abandon her responsibilities a bit more than normal to investigate, but we got some good twists along the way to a logical if rushed climax. I was bothered by a couple needless misandrist comments that were irrelevant to the story. There were also a couple of glitches that I couldn’t tell if were poor editing or unclear writing. I appreciated how many series regulars we got, although one subplot with them wasn’t developed as well as it felt like it should have been. While there were lots of small things that annoyed, overall, I did enjoy this entry in the series.
  
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Mark @ Carstairs Considers (2560 KP) rated Reckoning at the Riviera Royale in Books

May 20, 2026  
Reckoning at the Riviera Royale
Reckoning at the Riviera Royale
P.J. Fitzsimmons | 2022 | Mystery
8
8.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
The Elephant in the Case
Anty is off to the French Riviera at the invitation of his mother. They have a strained relationship, but Anty goes because he thinks this will be a good chance to confront his mother over a nagging question about his father’s death. But when he arrives, he discovers there’s been a more recent death. There’s a floating circus on the island where Anty is, but the headliner has been killed, trampled to death by his elephant. The animal is set to be executed for this crime, but Anty isn’t buying it. Can he find the real culprit in time to spare the beast?

I was happy when my schedule allowed me to slip in the next book in the Anty series. While this is the wildest case he’s taken on yet (pun always intended), the book does take the murder seriously with a good number of suspects and motives leading to the logical climax. Only Anty and his valet return here, but the rest of the suspects feel real while also maximizing comedic potential. And yes, the dry wit is still on full display. At times, it could be tone down, but I was still laughing as I puzzled over the clues. This book is a circus in the best way possible and fans old and new will be glad they picked it up.
  
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Mark @ Carstairs Considers (2560 KP) rated Death of the Party in Books

Jan 28, 2026 (Updated Jan 28, 2026)  
Death of the Party
Death of the Party
Carolyn Hart | 2005 | Mystery
8
8.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Will This Party Be the Death of Someone?
Annie Darling is taking a break to head to the smaller, private island of Golden Silk when her husband, Max, is hired to help find a killer. A year ago, media mogul Jeremiah Addison died when he fell down the stairs of his mansion. At the time, only his sister-in -law knew it was something more than an accident. But now, she’s inviting the guests from the weekend back, and she’s hoping that Max will be able to help her find the killer despite his insisting that this is a job for the police. With Annie tagging along, can they determine which guest turned it into a killer party?

When a series moves the setting, it’s always risky. In this case, the risk paid off. Yes, I missed the other regulars, but Annie and Max really got to shine, and the suspects got more time to develop. The mystery was a little slow getting going, but once it did, I was along for every twist. The ending was a bit abrupt, but it did answer my questions. I did miss the references to other mystery novels, but I loved that we didn’t see more of Annie being furious with the police. Any other fans who haven’t gotten to this book yet will be happy with this entry.
  
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ClareR (6225 KP) rated Freckles in Books

Oct 25, 2021  
Freckles
Freckles
Cecilia Ahern | 2021 | Contemporary, Fiction & Poetry
9
9.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Freckles by Cecilia Ahern is about Allegra Bird, aka Freckles, and her quest to find the mother she has never known.

Freckles moves from her small island home to Dublin, in the hope that she will be able to track her down. She lives a solitary life in Dublin, seems to have few friends and lives by her rigid rules and routines - although I do think she has more friends than she knows. Those few friends are people who seem to genuinely care about her. Freckles is full of self-doubt though, and when a frequently ticketed Ferrari owner (she’s a traffic warden!) tells her that she’s the sum of the five people that she spends the most time with, she decides that the best thing to do, is to choose those five people herself.

This was quite the emotional rollercoaster. Allegra is such a vulnerable young woman, and I was rooting for her happy ending from the start. This book made me laugh out loud and cry - and genuinely want to be one of her five!

So, I’m re-evaluating my opinion of Cecilia Ahern books. I may not have got on well with the books I’d previously read, but Freckles really did hit the spot. I loved it.
Highly recommended.

Many thanks to The Pigeonhole for serialising this.