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Mark @ Carstairs Considers (2538 KP) rated Puzzle Me a Murder in Books

Aug 2, 2024  
Puzzle Me a Murder
Puzzle Me a Murder
Roz Noonan | 2024 | Mystery
3
3.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Missing Pieces
Alice Pepper enjoys having her friends over to work on puzzles most nights. Among the group is her childhood best friend Ruby Milliner. When Ruby arrives home from a business trip early, she catches her husband with his mistress. The next morning, Ruby’s husband is dead, and the police are looking at Ruby as their prime suspect. Alice jumps in to find the killer. But does she have all the pieces to solve this puzzle?

Despite the fact that I’m not much of a jigsaw puzzle guy, I thought this sounded like a fun premise for a series. Sadly, I was wrong. I didn’t feel like the characters ever went beyond being types, and it felt like they had too many interests or skills in their background. It felt like the author was checking boxes instead of making well rounded characters. There wasn’t attention to detail, so these things bumped me out of the book. The novel could have lost 60 pages without losing anything, the pacing was that off. And the climax, while logical, seemed abrupt to me. I really did want to like it more, but I won’t give this series another chance.
  
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Mark @ Carstairs Considers (2538 KP) rated Murder Runs in the Family in Books

May 1, 2025  
Murder Runs in the Family
Murder Runs in the Family
Tamara Berry | 2025 | Mystery
3
3.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Retirement Community Filled in Intrigue
Amber has never met her grandma Jade, but when she breaks up with her boyfriend, she winds up heading to Jade’s retirement community. Amber is thrilled to be welcomed with open arms, but the night she arrives, a man in the community dies. The police suspect it was murder, and the man’s family begins telling anyone who will listen that Jade is responsible. Can Amber lean on her PI training and figure out what really happened?

I enjoyed a previous series from this author, but this one didn’t really work for me. I was put off by a negative attitude toward Christianity we get early on. I get it that this is a personal issue, but it did make me read more critically. The characters are thin and more caricature to drive the comedy. The plot is more events than mystery driven, although Amber does make some good deductions along the way. Still, there was an aspect of the plot that I didn’t enjoy. The book does provide some laughs, but over all, it didn’t work for me. This will probably be my only visit with these characters.
  
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Mark @ Carstairs Considers (2538 KP) rated Murder in Manhattan in Books

Dec 10, 2025  
Murder in Manhattan
Murder in Manhattan
Julie Mulhern | 2025 | Mystery
5
5.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Freddie’s First Case Gets off to an Uneven Start
Freddie Archer is a columnist for Gotham Magazine focusing on fashion and gossip, but when she mentions someone in her column that turns up murdered, the police ask for her help in identifying the victim’s companion. Not content to just observe and report back, Freddie soon finds herself getting in over her head, especially as the body count starts to rise. Can she identify the culprit?

I’ve enjoyed some of the author’s other books, but this one was very uneven. While Freddie’s world of 1925 New York City came alive early on, it really slowed down the plot to the point I was getting annoyed by Freddie and the name dropping of famous people in the book. Once the story really took off, it got better. I grew to like Freddie, and I enjoyed seeing her famous friends. Still, there was a thread that just got dropped on the way to an otherwise logical climax. There’s a sheen of humor to the story that balances out the more serious moments. I’ll give this series another try, but hopefully, the next is overall stronger.
  
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Mark @ Carstairs Considers (2538 KP) rated Between a Roquefort and Hard Place in Books

May 6, 2026  
Between a Roquefort and Hard Place
Between a Roquefort and Hard Place
Linda Reilly | 2026 | Mystery
8
8.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Shocking Murder at a Mansion
It’s been ten months since Carly and Ari got married, and they are happily settling into married life. At her restaurant, she and her employees are working on a grilled cheese competition. But Carly drops everything when she is invited to Peppermint Mansion, the biggest and most mysterious house in the area, to cook a grilled cheese for the elderly owner. The mansion is undergoing renovations, and Ari is handling the electrical. But while Carly is there, the general contractor dies. The police quickly determine it wasn’t an accident and start looking at Ari as their prime suspect. Can Carly clear her husband?

I was happy to see another entry in this fun series. The mystery gets started quickly and kept me engaged with some good suspects and twists on the way to the logical conclusion. We did get to see the supporting characters again, although they blended a bit into each other. Carly and her husband still shone. We also get three more delicious sounding grilled cheese recipes. Fans of the series will be glad they picked this one up.