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Mark @ Carstairs Considers (2464 KP) rated Wreathing Havoc in Books

Sep 29, 2021 (Updated Sep 29, 2021)  
Wreathing Havoc
Wreathing Havoc
Julia Henry | 2021 | Mystery
8
8.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
The Drama of Theater
Thanksgiving week has opened on a somber note since it starts with the funeral for Leon Tompkin, the owner of the local theater. Lilly Jayne and the rest of the Garden Squad aren’t the only ones in town mourning his passing, and it even brings some of the people who used to work with Leon at the theater back to town. When one of the visitors is murdered, Lilly can’t help but wonder if Leon’s death was from natural causes. If it wasn’t, are the two deaths connected?

Thanksgiving isn’t usually a setting for fall themed cozy mysteries, but I enjoyed seeing this book starting with November’s holiday, although we do get a few early Christmas activities as the book goes along. The mystery takes a little while to set down roots before it starts to fully grow, but once it does, we wind up with a wonderful mystery. I love how everything came together. Lilly and the rest of her friends in the Garden Squad are as delightful as always, and the new characters are equally likeable, making it hard for me to pick out the killer. Late autumn isn’t the best time for gardening, but we still get a bit of that and a few gardening tips over the course of the book. This is an entry that fans of the series will be thankful for.
  
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Mark @ Carstairs Considers (2464 KP) rated City of Fortune in Books

Dec 8, 2022  
City of Fortune
City of Fortune
Victoria Thompson | 2022 | Mystery
8
8.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Racing to Pull off a Con
Elizabeth Bates is accompanying her new husband, Gideon, to the race track. One of his clients wants Elizabeth’s help in making his daughter, Irene Nolan, fit for society, which is funny since Elizabeth is still learning how to fit in herself. The day of horse racing doesn’t go the way the Nolan’s had planned however, when neither of their horses do well. But as Elizabeth gets to know Irene, Elizabeth realizes that Irene needs more help than fitting into society. In fact, Elizabeth’s skills as a conwoman might prove to be extremely helpful. Can she come up with a way to solve Irene’s real problems?

Obviously, this is more a caper than the typical mysteries I read, and I enjoyed the change of pace. I did feel the plot could have used an additional twist or two and some personal stakes for Elizabeth to truly draw me in, but I still really enjoyed it. And there are a couple of twists, one I didn’t see coming. The characters are strong. Elizabeth and Gideon are great lead characters, and we continue to get to know them well as we see the story unfold from both of their points of view. There are some funny moments that come from the characters including one line that really made me laugh. The 1919 setting is brought to life wonderfully as well. This is a fun addition to a fun series.
  
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Mark @ Carstairs Considers (2464 KP) rated The Christie Caper in Books

Mar 29, 2023  
The Christie Caper
The Christie Caper
Carolyn Hart | 1991 | Mystery
8
8.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Honoring Agatha Christie Turns Deadly
Annie Laurence Darling is hosting The Christie Caper, a week-long tribute to the queen of crime on her one hundredth birthday. But the event is being crashed by Neil Bledsoe, a reviewer who hates all but the most hard boiled mysteries and has made lots of enemies. Things have hardly started before the attacks on Neil begin, but he still goes ahead with tearing down Agatha Christie. Can Annie figure out what he is up to and stop him before someone stops him permanently?

Obviously, this book came out quite a few years ago since it was tied to Agatha Christie’s centennial. But that hardly matters since this is a great puzzle worth of Christie herself. I did find the pacing a little slow as it neared the middle of the book, but things picked up again not too long after that. All the characters we know and love are here once again, and they are fantastic. I do find Annie’s temper a little annoying, and hope it tones down as the series progresses. The suspects are strong as well. We get a great dose of humor as the book goes along. As with the others in the series, there is more foul language than I would expect for the genre. All told, this is another fine addition to a well-loved series. Fans of Christie will also enjoy it.
  
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David McK (3663 KP) rated Murder on the Orient Express in Books

Dec 27, 2021  
Murder on the Orient Express
Murder on the Orient Express
Agatha Christie | 2017 | Fiction & Poetry
5
8.4 (65 Ratings)
Book Rating
As a general rule, I'm not really big into murder mystery whodunnits, generally finding them boring, (sometimes) obvious and just, well, generally a little bit stale.

That may be why I'd never read perhaps Agatha Christie's most famous murder story before, or even had any interest in which any of the (numerous) films, TV series or plays based around the same.

Which is a long way of saying that I came into this 'cold', as it were, knowing little beyond the fact that it was a Hercule Poirot mystery (thanks to the 2017 Kenneth Branagh movie, which I hadn't seen), and that the murder was on a train (d'uh!) just as it ran into snow whilst on a journey.

Now that I've read it, I have to say: I found little to cause me to revise my opinion of murder mysteries in general.

That's not to say that it is bad, per se, just that it never really hooked me all that much: indeed, at times it felt more like a chore to read than something enjoyable. Indeed, I'm sorry to say, the reveal of just who carried out the crime also completely failed to elicit any form of surprise or emotion at all from me: not that I saw it coming but just that, well, it almost felt like a relief when it did.

All I can say is: sorry, any Poirot fans!