Search
Search results
For Duck’s Sake
5.0
Rate It
Book
Donna Andrews returns with her latest charming addition to the bestselling Meg Langslow mystery...
Lindsay (1812 KP) rated Shadows of the Missing ( A Chris Matheson Mystery #5) in Books
May 5, 2026
Lauren Carr does it again. Pulling out all the stops for a hidden secret family disappearance. How the siblings react and what happened years later. This book brought tears to my eyes a few times. I love what a plot. I loved it. The plots, twists, and turns were always a surprise, keeping you guessing to the end.
We met Helen in her 5th-grade classroom as she waited for school to be out and had to go home with her mother and siblings.
We also meet Helen's best friend, Stacey. We know her mother pulled in, but did she return to take Helen and her siblings home?
We get a glance at Chris and a few helpers, including his daughters, by Nikki, who is helping out.
When Chris spots his wife after she pulls in, he is in the barn.
As they review the cold case Doris has received, they are looking up information. Just before dinner is ready. Somebody came up to the house, and it seems that they forgot to close the security gate.
Who could this person in the company be?
Kassie seems to drop by out of nowhere, and why? Why would she bring up her father or think she might have found him? Then bring up her mother's disappearance, and think she was abducted by someone named Pee Wee Herman?
The Geezer Squad gets more info and another cold case. Could Lady in Barrel be connected to two missing parents? Are Helen's parents another cold case unrelated to the one the Geezer Squad is working on? Or is it?
We met Helen in her 5th-grade classroom as she waited for school to be out and had to go home with her mother and siblings.
We also meet Helen's best friend, Stacey. We know her mother pulled in, but did she return to take Helen and her siblings home?
We get a glance at Chris and a few helpers, including his daughters, by Nikki, who is helping out.
When Chris spots his wife after she pulls in, he is in the barn.
As they review the cold case Doris has received, they are looking up information. Just before dinner is ready. Somebody came up to the house, and it seems that they forgot to close the security gate.
Who could this person in the company be?
Kassie seems to drop by out of nowhere, and why? Why would she bring up her father or think she might have found him? Then bring up her mother's disappearance, and think she was abducted by someone named Pee Wee Herman?
The Geezer Squad gets more info and another cold case. Could Lady in Barrel be connected to two missing parents? Are Helen's parents another cold case unrelated to the one the Geezer Squad is working on? Or is it?
ClareR (6253 KP) rated The Dog of the North in Books
Mar 3, 2024
I can remember reading Elizabeth Mckenzie’s The Portable Veblen when it came out, and thinking “What on earth am I reading? This is marvellous!!”. I felt exactly the same way when I read The Dog of the North.
Penny’s life is a mess - she will be the first to admit it. Her marriage is over, she has walked out on her job and her house, and now has nowhere to live. However, she finds herself rushing to her grandmother’s rescue when it looks as though Adult Protective Services are going to get involved in her life unless her house is cleaned. Along the way, she meets her grandmother’s accountant whose living conditions also leave a lot to be desired, her biological father makes an appearance, her grandfather needs her help because of his frankly awful second wife, and we get to see Penny’s sister in Australia as Penny and her grandfather make a last ditch attempt to find her mother and stepfather. They had gone missing in the outback five years before, and Penny is finding it difficult to accept that they’re really dead.
This is a really funny book, but boy is it dark. Whilst I was laughing at the predicaments that Penny found herself in, I realised that she seemed to be helping everyone else, and none of these people seemed to be helping or caring for her. She is a quiet voice amidst the shouting and misadventures of her family (her grandmother is really VERY entertaining!), and she just needs someone to take her side and give her a hug (if she’ll let them!).
It’s an uplifting story all in all, and well worth reading.
Penny’s life is a mess - she will be the first to admit it. Her marriage is over, she has walked out on her job and her house, and now has nowhere to live. However, she finds herself rushing to her grandmother’s rescue when it looks as though Adult Protective Services are going to get involved in her life unless her house is cleaned. Along the way, she meets her grandmother’s accountant whose living conditions also leave a lot to be desired, her biological father makes an appearance, her grandfather needs her help because of his frankly awful second wife, and we get to see Penny’s sister in Australia as Penny and her grandfather make a last ditch attempt to find her mother and stepfather. They had gone missing in the outback five years before, and Penny is finding it difficult to accept that they’re really dead.
This is a really funny book, but boy is it dark. Whilst I was laughing at the predicaments that Penny found herself in, I realised that she seemed to be helping everyone else, and none of these people seemed to be helping or caring for her. She is a quiet voice amidst the shouting and misadventures of her family (her grandmother is really VERY entertaining!), and she just needs someone to take her side and give her a hug (if she’ll let them!).
It’s an uplifting story all in all, and well worth reading.
Mark @ Carstairs Considers (2607 KP) rated Lone Wolf in Books
Mar 15, 2024 (Updated Mar 15, 2024)
A Missing Dog Leads to…an Assassin?
Evan Smoak is trying to deal with some emotional baggage when he gets a phone call asking for his help. It’s a girl looking for a lost dog. Normally, this isn’t the kind of case he would take, but because of who she is, he agrees. When he does find the dog, he also finds himself in a situation much more up his usual alley. Can he figure out how to stop what he has found?
Because of the set up for this book, it starts a little slower than normal, but then the plot gets jump started with a bang and an extended action scene, and we are off and running. The plot touches on AI and social media, and I found it interesting to think about what Evan was seeing here, especially in light of what’s been going on in the world recently. We see a lot of Joey, Evan’s protégé, and I found her annoying at times. On the other hand, I loved the growth we got for her and Evan over the course of the novel. A couple of my favorite supporting players weren’t in this one, but I did like the new characters, and there is a great subplot involving Evan’s neighbors. As expected, there is more language and violence in a thriller than the cozies I normally read, although I did find the language to be excessive, even for the genre. Overall, the writing continues to be lyrical, and I get lost in it as I read. If you are looking for a smart, fun thriller, you’ll be glad you picked up their series.
Because of the set up for this book, it starts a little slower than normal, but then the plot gets jump started with a bang and an extended action scene, and we are off and running. The plot touches on AI and social media, and I found it interesting to think about what Evan was seeing here, especially in light of what’s been going on in the world recently. We see a lot of Joey, Evan’s protégé, and I found her annoying at times. On the other hand, I loved the growth we got for her and Evan over the course of the novel. A couple of my favorite supporting players weren’t in this one, but I did like the new characters, and there is a great subplot involving Evan’s neighbors. As expected, there is more language and violence in a thriller than the cozies I normally read, although I did find the language to be excessive, even for the genre. Overall, the writing continues to be lyrical, and I get lost in it as I read. If you are looking for a smart, fun thriller, you’ll be glad you picked up their series.
ClareR (6253 KP) rated The Safekeep in Books
Jan 26, 2025
The house in The Safekeep is at the centre of this story. Isabel lives alone in the large family home in the countryside, whilst her brothers, Louis and Hendrik, live in the city. Isabel and Hendrik are invited to meet yet another of Louis’ girlfriends, and they don’t seem to take either one of them seriously. Shortly afterwards, Louis has to leave for France on business, and his girlfriend doesn’t want to stay in their city flat alone. So she asks to stay with Isabel.
Isabel lives a very rigid life. Not religious as such, but close to the Calvinist religion that their mother brought them up in. She’s paranoid about things going missing from inside the house, she constantly counts everything and tries to keep the house as her mother would have done. It becomes clear towards the end why she does this.
Isabel clearly doesn’t want Eva to stay. She wants to be alone in the house. Isabel also doesn’t want the attention of a rather over-enthusiastic male “friend”. She goes on dates with him, barely tolerating his company.
As Isabel and Eva’s relationship develops, we see another side of Isabel, and in the latter half of the book there are diary entries that explain a lot about her (I love a book with diary entries). This is a love story, but also a story about what happened to the property of returning Jews after WW2. It’s a psychological novel with a lot of secrets at its heart. It must have been a tough call for this book NOT to win the Booker in 2024.
Isabel lives a very rigid life. Not religious as such, but close to the Calvinist religion that their mother brought them up in. She’s paranoid about things going missing from inside the house, she constantly counts everything and tries to keep the house as her mother would have done. It becomes clear towards the end why she does this.
Isabel clearly doesn’t want Eva to stay. She wants to be alone in the house. Isabel also doesn’t want the attention of a rather over-enthusiastic male “friend”. She goes on dates with him, barely tolerating his company.
As Isabel and Eva’s relationship develops, we see another side of Isabel, and in the latter half of the book there are diary entries that explain a lot about her (I love a book with diary entries). This is a love story, but also a story about what happened to the property of returning Jews after WW2. It’s a psychological novel with a lot of secrets at its heart. It must have been a tough call for this book NOT to win the Booker in 2024.
Debbiereadsbook (1783 KP) rated Daddy Protector (Night Ops Daddies #1) in Books
Aug 21, 2025
cute read
Independent reviewer for GRR, I was gifted my copy of this book.
I'm not sure whether or not I liked this book, so I will try to keep my comments positive. There are a couple of negatives that DO need adressing though.
I liked the story. It's an easy read, with very little brain power required. The plot is not complicated, or full of twists that you can't keep up with. It was one of those reads that you go to bed early to read a bit and the next thing, you've finished the book.
I liked that Richie and Cole both have a say. I liked that Cole took the fact that Richie was a little in his stride, and slotted himself into the Daddy role accordingly.
This is point one, though. One minute Cole is just Richie's bodyguard, the next, calling him Daddy. I know these sorts of relationshops move fast, but still, felt a little too fast for me. there was no discussion about punishments or rewards or anything. It was just straight in.
The emotional connection between Richie and Cole was missing, for ME. I stress the ME bit. Others might find it perfect but not so much for me.
And there is MUCH repetition of certain phrases. Night Ops Guard is one. Richie is the son of Hunter is another. Almost every page, there was one or the other, sometimes more than once a page. It was annoying to say the least.
A nicce book, an easy read. Maybe I'll try something else by this author, this was my first.
3 stars
*same worded review will appear elsewhere
I'm not sure whether or not I liked this book, so I will try to keep my comments positive. There are a couple of negatives that DO need adressing though.
I liked the story. It's an easy read, with very little brain power required. The plot is not complicated, or full of twists that you can't keep up with. It was one of those reads that you go to bed early to read a bit and the next thing, you've finished the book.
I liked that Richie and Cole both have a say. I liked that Cole took the fact that Richie was a little in his stride, and slotted himself into the Daddy role accordingly.
This is point one, though. One minute Cole is just Richie's bodyguard, the next, calling him Daddy. I know these sorts of relationshops move fast, but still, felt a little too fast for me. there was no discussion about punishments or rewards or anything. It was just straight in.
The emotional connection between Richie and Cole was missing, for ME. I stress the ME bit. Others might find it perfect but not so much for me.
And there is MUCH repetition of certain phrases. Night Ops Guard is one. Richie is the son of Hunter is another. Almost every page, there was one or the other, sometimes more than once a page. It was annoying to say the least.
A nicce book, an easy read. Maybe I'll try something else by this author, this was my first.
3 stars
*same worded review will appear elsewhere
Mark @ Carstairs Considers (2607 KP) rated A Nun in the Closet in Books
Mar 9, 2022
Laughs and Thrills
The nuns in the Abbey of St. Tabitha are shocked when they are left a house and estate in New York State, several hundred miles from where they live in cloister. However, they must decide what to do with it, so Sister John and Sister Hyacinthe are elected to head up there and get a feel for what they’ve been left. Within hours of arriving, they’ve discovered a suitcase full of cash in the well and a man bleeding out from a gunshot wound in an upstairs closet. What is happening on this property? Why was it left to the nuns?
While I have loved the Mrs. Pollifax series for decades, I have never read any of Dorothy Gilman’s non-Mrs. Pollifax books. I’m glad I decided to fix that since this one was delightful. Yes, I had the broad strokes of the plot figured out early on, but I was missing a few pieces, and the twists along the way kept me highly entertained. The characters are good. They could be a little stronger overall, but they work to draw us into the story. Since the book came out in 1975, some of the references are dated, but that’s only worth noting in passing. I appreciated how one subject was handled without the book crossing into lecture mode. And the laughs were plentiful. I was smiling each time I picked up the book knowing that I was in for more fun. A lesser authors couldn’t have pulled this mix off, but Dorothy Gilman makes it look easy. I’m glad I finally picked it up.
While I have loved the Mrs. Pollifax series for decades, I have never read any of Dorothy Gilman’s non-Mrs. Pollifax books. I’m glad I decided to fix that since this one was delightful. Yes, I had the broad strokes of the plot figured out early on, but I was missing a few pieces, and the twists along the way kept me highly entertained. The characters are good. They could be a little stronger overall, but they work to draw us into the story. Since the book came out in 1975, some of the references are dated, but that’s only worth noting in passing. I appreciated how one subject was handled without the book crossing into lecture mode. And the laughs were plentiful. I was smiling each time I picked up the book knowing that I was in for more fun. A lesser authors couldn’t have pulled this mix off, but Dorothy Gilman makes it look easy. I’m glad I finally picked it up.
Mark @ Carstairs Considers (2607 KP) rated Whale Done in Books
Apr 3, 2023
Message Drowns Out Plot
Teddy Fitzroy is on vacation again, this time in Malibu with his girlfriend, Summer McCracken, and Summer’s mother. They are visiting a friend of Mrs. McCracken who lives right on the beach in Southern California. Unfortunately, the beach stinks right now since a whale has beached itself and died. The head veterinarian from FunJungle is there as well, as he is planning to assist his friend who works for NOAA on the autopsy to find out exactly what happened to the whale, but before they can do that, the whale explodes. Obviously, someone is trying to hide something. Can Teddy figure out what is really happening?
Since the last book was also set away from FunJungle, I was disappointed we didn’t get to spend much time at the park again here. I did enjoy the LA setting since I live here, but it didn’t completely make up for missing the park and regular characters. The plot spends time speculating on why the whale died and why someone who want to hide their involvement, which turns into several lectures on how humans are destroying oceans. Yes, this is an important topic, but it took over and slowed down the story at times. On the other hand, Teddy once again makes some logical connections with great clues that figure things out in the end. The characters we meet along the way are fun, and I liked the development we got for Teddy and Summer. If you are new to the series, I suggest you start with an earlier book. Fans will still enjoy this one.
Since the last book was also set away from FunJungle, I was disappointed we didn’t get to spend much time at the park again here. I did enjoy the LA setting since I live here, but it didn’t completely make up for missing the park and regular characters. The plot spends time speculating on why the whale died and why someone who want to hide their involvement, which turns into several lectures on how humans are destroying oceans. Yes, this is an important topic, but it took over and slowed down the story at times. On the other hand, Teddy once again makes some logical connections with great clues that figure things out in the end. The characters we meet along the way are fun, and I liked the development we got for Teddy and Summer. If you are new to the series, I suggest you start with an earlier book. Fans will still enjoy this one.
Merissa (14082 KP) rated Her Druid Fantasy (The Amber Druid Series #2) in Books
Mar 31, 2023 (Updated Apr 10, 2023)
If you haven't read any of the Amber Druid series yet then you are sure as heck missing out. These books take you on a sensual and romantic journey, peppered with arguments, 'real' life and passion.
This particular book tells the story of Ramsey and Vivienne. You know that they are just perfect for each other but with their own stubbornness and outside circumstances get in the way? I won't say for sure but I will say that I was gripped by their story, in turn, I was sad, happy, and concerned - you name it, I think the emotion will be in this book.
I love how the druids can tell if another one of them is nearby, even without seeing them. And I also loved how they knew that something was going to happen even before Vivi's symptoms became known. It almost reminded me of the Jedi Knights - "there's a disturbance in the Force!"
This series just keeps getting better and better. We greet old friends and get to know new ones. Personally, I love the time spent on drawing away each layer of the characters so that you get a deeper, more intimate knowledge of them. I know Brenan's book is out next which should be good but I really can't wait for Kale's story! He intrigues me ;)
Highly recommended for all Paranormal fans out there.
* A copy of this book was provided to me with no requirements for a review. I voluntarily read this book, and my comments here are my honest opinion. *
Merissa
Archaeolibrarian - I Dig Good Books!
August 25, 2016
This particular book tells the story of Ramsey and Vivienne. You know that they are just perfect for each other but with their own stubbornness and outside circumstances get in the way? I won't say for sure but I will say that I was gripped by their story, in turn, I was sad, happy, and concerned - you name it, I think the emotion will be in this book.
I love how the druids can tell if another one of them is nearby, even without seeing them. And I also loved how they knew that something was going to happen even before Vivi's symptoms became known. It almost reminded me of the Jedi Knights - "there's a disturbance in the Force!"
This series just keeps getting better and better. We greet old friends and get to know new ones. Personally, I love the time spent on drawing away each layer of the characters so that you get a deeper, more intimate knowledge of them. I know Brenan's book is out next which should be good but I really can't wait for Kale's story! He intrigues me ;)
Highly recommended for all Paranormal fans out there.
* A copy of this book was provided to me with no requirements for a review. I voluntarily read this book, and my comments here are my honest opinion. *
Merissa
Archaeolibrarian - I Dig Good Books!
August 25, 2016
Arbor Day Can Be Deadly
8.0
Rate It
Book
He came to stay out of trouble. But when a new friendship pulls him deep into danger, can he make it...