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Yearly Archives: 2018
Murder at the Mushroom Festival–beautiful setting for terrible mayhem
Murder at the Mushroom Festival
by Janet Finsilver
Murder, poisoning, blackmail, theft, destruction of Native American lands, assault, and threats! There’s plenty of action in Redwood Cove, a coastal town in northern California where lots of folks are gathering for the Mushroom Festival. Kelly Jackson, new manager of the Redwood Cove Bed-and-Breakfast finds herself in the middle of trouble when she and the Silver Sentinels, a group of amateur sleuths with wisdom and connections on their side, try to find a murderer and determine if the other crimes are related.
Murder at the Mushroom Festival kept me wondering at the identity of the villain as suspicion was thrown on various characters. The solution is much more complicated than one might imagine. Kelly and her Miss Marple-like fellow sleuths are likable. Two children, several dogs and a truffle snuffling pig add further interest. I enjoyed learning about mushrooms and about sinker redwood as the mystery progressed.
I would like to extend my thanks to netgalley.com and to Lyrical Underground (Kensington Press) for giving me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.
Rating: 5/5
Category: Mystery
Notes: #4 in the Kelly Jackson Mystery Series, but worked well for me as a standalone.
Publication: April 17, 2018—Kensington Press (Lyrical Underground)
Memorable Lines:
He parked, and we got out in what I felt was an enchanted forest. I breathed in the life of the woodland around me. Musty, sweet, earthy, topped off with a sprinkling of salt from the nearby ocean. Spears of sunlight cut through the towering redwoods like beacons to highlight certain areas. A raven cawed, loud and raucous, as we walked through a sunlit glen. A hawk drifted overhead, soaring on the wind currents.
The waves varied in intensity. When a strong one hit the rocky shoreline, water exploded high into the air. The rise and fall of the swell, like a creature breathing, made the ocean a living body.
People who were sure their way was the only way could make life unpleasant.
Bad Neighbors–another fun ride with Agnes and Effie
Bad Neighbors
by Maia Chance
Grab your hat for a whirlwind ride with Agnes, a self-professed nerd, and her wacky Aunt Effie in Maia Chance’s new cozy mystery Bad Neighbors. Agnes, recovering from the breakup of a long term relationship, has still not unpacked her boxes as she continues to try to figure out her future. Meanwhile Agnes, Effie, and cousin Chester take on their first four guests at the Stagecoach Inn, which they have only barely begun to remodel. Their four nonpaying guests are part of a tour group who have come to small town Naneda to view the changing leaves. Unfortunately their bus broke down. The whole town scurries to accommodate the tour bus participants because the town is also hosting their Harvest Festival along with the obnoxious judge of a yearly contest among towns in the area.
With this autumnal backdrop, the plot thickens as one of the locals is found murdered and Agnes’ old high school flame Otis is a suspect. Along the way there is a lot of suspicion thrown on various characters, and Agnes picks up a lot of ridicule from various townspeople who resent her sleuthing. Her arch rival turns out to be the snarky cupcake queen Delilah who sets her eyes on Otis.
Agnes, Effie, and their gaggle of equally quirky guests engage in numerous adventures in the name of investigations. Agnes has some close brushes with death and seriously considers leaving the craziness of the Stagecoach Inn behind to return to graduate school. What will it take to discover the murderer and to invest Agnes fully in life in Naneda? The end of this fun and humorous cozy mystery will reveal all.
I would like to extend my thanks to netgalley.com and to Crooked Lane Books for giving me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.
Rating: 5/5
Category: Mystery
Notes: #2 in the Agnes and Effie Mystery Series, but works as a standalone
Publication: April 6, 2018—Crooked Lane Books
Memorable Lines:
…in my “new” car. This was a fifteen-year-old whitish minivan that looked like a cross between a handheld Dustbuster and the Space Shuttle. Its undercarriage was about two inches from the ground and bumped and scraped on every last pebble. At speeds over forty-five miles per hour, it felt in danger of disintegration.
To say I had butterflies in my stomach is an understatement. It felt as if I had pterodactyls swooping around in there.
Over the past weeks, our new relationship had felt like a fragile, enhanced bubble. I had made sure not to get too comfortable, because if I got comfortable, settled in, made myself at home, it would hurt that much more when the bubble inevitably popped.
My Teacher’s Not Here!–read this to your class!
My Teacher’s Not Here!
written by Lana Button
illustrated by Christine Battuz
My Teacher’s Not Here! is an endearing story designed to help children adapt to change, particularly the fear of a substitute teacher in the early childhood years. In so many cases, teachers become substitute parents and much more as they guide twenty or more students through a specially designed routine and know the needs of each student.
The teachers and children in this book are adorably depicted as a variety of animals. The story is told in predictable rhyming patterns from the viewpoint of a cute, apprehensive kitten. Their loving teacher has left a note for the children saying she is counting on them to help Mr. Omar (a giraffe), and so the little kitty overcomes her fears and does everything she can to be helpful.
I highly recommend this book for reading to a classroom. It will help allay anxieties and prepare students for that inevitable time when the teacher will be absent. Although the illustrations depict a preschool classroom, students in K-2 would also enjoy the message and the rhymes.
I would like to extend my thanks to netgalley.com and to Kids Can Press for giving me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.
Rating: 5/5
Category: Children’s Fiction
Notes: Ages 4-8
Grades P-2
Publication: April 3, 2018—Kids Can Press
Memorable Lines:
Smiling Miss Seabrooke should be here to meet me.
But my teacher is missing and NOT here to greet me.
Someone is standing
in MY teacher’s spot.
He’s ginormously TALL.
Miss Seabrooke is not.
Fiction Can Be Murder–death by poisoning
Fiction Can Be Murder
by Becky Clark
What does a pickle jar have in common with an unpublished manuscript used as the blueprint for murder? Take a trip to beautiful, sunny, snowy Denver to meet mystery author Charlee Russo and her writing support group who suddenly find themselves under suspicion of murder along with about ten other people in Becky Clark’s Fiction Can Be Murder.
This book follows the fairly standard expectations for a cozy mystery. The main character tries to solve the crime to clear herself and her friends. She has romantic entanglements to work through. Her brother, who plays a very small role, is a cop, but Carlee mainly deals with two detectives in an antagonistic role. The characters range from interesting to quirky.
While Fiction Can Be Murder will not go down as one of the greats in mysteries, it provides an enjoyable read that will keep you guessing at “whodunnit.” I particularly enjoyed Clark’s humorous turn of phrase in descriptions and dialogue, and I will be looking for the next book in the series.
I would like to extend my thanks to netgalley.com and to Midnight Ink for giving me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.
Rating: 4/5
Category: Mystery
Notes: #1 in the Mystery Writer’s Mystery Series
Publication: April 8, 2018—Midnight Ink
Memorable Lines:
The closest I came to having servants was watching Downton Abbey.
This was one of the few times I longed for a sturdy landline I could slam down. Hanging up with attitude was simply not satisfactory on cellphones.
I will admit to getting sucked into the Grocery Store Apocalyptic Group-Think Drama once, the day before a blizzard. I saw there were only two pounds of butter on the shelf and I grabbed them both. I didn’t need butter, and certainly not eight sticks of it, but I felt the pull of that panic. What if I did need it? What if I ran out? How would I survive for two whole days with only the single stick of butter I’ve had in my refrigerator for the last three months?
Dr. Coo and the Pigeon Protest–pigeons just want to be loved
Dr. Coo and the Pigeon Protest
written by Sarah Hampson
illustrated by Kass Reich
Dr. Coo and the Pigeon Protest is a sweet but nonrealistic story for children. I don’t mean unrealistic in the sense that it is fiction. Indeed it is fiction and talking birds can be expected. My issue with the book is that its goal is to show how even those with differences can work to get along with each other…and I believe in that. The problem is that the basis for compromise is based on promises the pigeons can not keep such as refraining from “splatting on cars (and heads)” and instead use only designated compost areas for their droppings, keeping public areas clean. In exchange people will not put spikes on ledges, shoo pigeons away, or run them down with cars. These are nice sentiments but the pigeons, being pigeons, can not keep up their end of the bargain. This concept just does not translate over to two groups of people trying to live in harmony.
The book is well written and the illustrations are appealing, their style going well with the text. The best part of the book is the idea Dr. Coo, a pigeon, has for getting people’s attention so they can negotiate. I would say to the team, “Give it another go with a different idea or even a different solution. I just would not buy this for my own children or for my classroom as is.
I would like to extend my thanks to netgalley.com and to Kids Can Press for giving me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.
Rating: 3/5
Category: Children’s Fiction
Notes: Ages 4-8
Grades P-2
Publication: April 3, 2018—Kids Can Press
Memorable Lines:
The conversation started out as it normally did.
They cackled about the supply of corn kernels in the park.
They nattered about the nearing of winter.
They prattled about new perches.
Ebb and Flow–some good in everyone
Ebb and Flow
by Heather T. Smith
Ebb and Flow is a sad, emotionally laden story of sins, redemption and forgiveness. It is written in free verse and as such leads to tremendous teaching opportunities. Because rhyming poetry is so easily identifiable for children, it can be difficult to explain the difference between poetry and prose when the poetry does not rhyme. Ebb and Flow is a whole book of examples to demonstrate the concept. It also is an excellent exemplar of poetry as a form of storytelling. The poems in this book demonstrate the effectiveness of well-chosen words. All of these ideas are appropriate to the intended age range of eight to twelve years (grades four to seven).
As an adult I was moved by the book which lets Jett tell his own story of a father in jail, a move to a new town intended to provide a fresh start, and a disastrous year in the new surroundings. There is hope for Jett in a summer visit to a think-outside-the-box grandmother who sees the good in Jett and provides opportunities for him to work through his issues. Although the problems addressed in the book are a reality to be endured for some children, in general they are above the maturity level of most eight year olds: child abuse, spousal abuse, incarceration, homelessness, and the maturity level of some special needs adults. While it could be helpful to some children, it could be frightening to others. Some parents would also object to the expletives found in two places in the book; personally I didn’t understand their inclusion as they did not add to the book in any way.
Thus I recommend the book with the reservation of parental guidance needed for language and content. There is little that is graphic but the overtone is emotionally charged despite the hopeful ending.
I would like to extend my thanks to netgalley.com and to Kids Can Press for giving me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.
Rating: 4/5
Category: Children’s Fiction, Poetry
Notes: 1. warnings for domestic violence and swearing
2. Age Range: 8-12 years
3. Grade Level: 4-7
Publication: April 3, 2018—Kids Can Press
Memorable Lines:
I just wanted to say
I’m glad you are here.
And all of a sudden,
I was more than just air.
So,
you think,
when I grow up,
I can be someone?
Grandma’s face went soft.
You ARE someone, dear.
You’re my Jett.
She gave me the room in the attic,
the one with the view of the sea.
Of all the rooms
in all the world
it was the awesomest room
of them all.
It made me feel cozy
and glow-y
and warm,
like a light had turned on
in my heart.
Whisper the Dead–complex mystery
Whisper the Dead
by Stella Cameron
Whisper the Dead starts off with anything but a whisper. The reader and Alex Duggins, owner of the pub The Black Dog in Folly-on-Weir, are thrown immediately into a violent scene which segues into fire and explosions. This cozy mystery focuses more on the mystery than the cozy as Alex finds herself caught up in a chain of events with threads that go off in multiple directions and soon become a tangle involving a real estate developer and his family, seemingly unrelated townspeople, and Alex’s own mother and her personal history. It’s hard to see initially how all of these can be related and understand how and why Alex can be at the center of it all.
Author Stella Cameron works magic with words, characters, and plot. If you have been following the series, you will be glad to reconnect with the locals of Folly-on-Weir. If not, you will find that you get to know them quickly, including the likable veterinarian Tony who is always Alex’s support and sounding board. Should you be searching for a complex mystery in the cozy mystery genre, look no further than Whisper the Dead.
I would like to extend my thanks to netgalley.com and to Severn House for giving me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.
Rating: 5/5
Category: Mystery
Notes: #5 in the Alex Duggins Mystery Series, but good as a standalone
Publication: April 1, 2018—Severn House
Memorable Lines:
Too much emotion had rushed in since yesterday and it muddied her thoughts. This pile up of personality clashes made a hard time harder.
Smoke from cottage chimneys rose straight into the still, pink-tinged, early-morning sky. Snow sliding from the bare branches of an oak tree swished to softly pepper the drifts below.
The windows, cranked open a measly half-inch, had lost any battle with the coating of hot air and thick, grimy steam that painted the glass. More falling snow closed away the scene outside, but they all knew it was as cold as hell wasn’t, and sleet was starting to strafe the land.
The Most Magnificent Thing–experimentation
The Most Magnificent Thing
by Ashley Spires
The first thing you will notice about The Most Magnificent Thing is the quirky art style. The main character, a little girl, is drawn with a large head and body and pencil thin arms and legs. Her “best friend in the whole wide world” is her dog, drawn in the same style without any softness. The background is mainly black and white line drawing. This is not an art style that typically attracts me to a picture book, but it is the perfect backdrop for this story.
The main character is described as a “regular girl” and remains unnamed. This is the story of how she makes the most magnificent thing ever. Her project turns out to not be as easy as she anticipates, but she perseveres through various versions to the point of total frustration. She works through her anger, redirects her experimentation, building on her past failures, and in the end is satisfied with the results.
I really enjoyed reading this story and wished I had a child with me to share the experience. The Most Magnificent Thing opens up a wealth of opportunities for discussions about creativity, experimentation, success, failure, and persistence. It would be fun to read to a classroom or an individual child.
I would like to extend my thanks to netgalley.com and to Kids Can Press for giving me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.
Rating: 5/5
Category: Children’s Fiction
Notes: Ages—3-7 years
Grade Level—Preschool-2
Publication: April 1, 2014—Kids Can Press
False Pride–follow the money
False Pride
by Veronica Heley
Do you like mysteries with very complicated plots? If so, then you’ll want to read Veronica Heley’s False Pride. Bad things happen faster than the police can keep up with them, and Bea Abbot, owner of the Abbot Agency, an employment service, finds herself in the middle of events surrounding the mysterious and secretive Rycroft family. Is this a power play or could the motive be greed or maybe revenge? Is one person behind all the crimes? Bea is forced to unite forces with her ex-husband Piers as he too is unintentionally pulled into a slew of deadly happenings.
While Bea is trying to survive threats, violence, and home invasions, she also has to deal from afar with the willfulness of her precocious ward Bernice. Romance is in the air for some of the characters, but these personal affairs take a back seat to a series of crimes so involved that the main characters unite to create a timeline to try to piece together the information they have acquired in order to discover who is behind these robberies and deaths.
I would like to extend my thanks to netgalley.com and to Severn House for giving me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.
Rating: 5/5
Category: Mystery
Notes: #12 in the Bea Abbot Agency Mystery Series, but works well as a standalone
Publication: April 1, 2018—Severn House
Memorable Lines:
Magda reacted to difficult situations like cardboard in a downpour.
Piers managed to lever off the damaged hinges. They came away with a screech of tortured wood. It was a big, heavy door. The early Victorians had built to last. She wasn’t so sure that she would.
Bea reflected that there was no use getting at Piers for flirting. He didn’t mean it. It was something in the water. Charisma. Call it what you like. He didn’t do it on purpose.
Natural Thorn Killer–flower power in Portland
Natural Thorn Killer
by Kate Dyer-Seeley
Kate Dyer-Seeley, author of the Pacific Northwest Mystery Series, continues to share her love of that area in her new series, Rose City Mysteries. In the first book of the series, Natural Thorn Killer, Britta leaves her deadbeat husband, freezing Minnesota winters, and several unimaginative jobs to return to Portland, Oregon, to the nurturing and creative home of her childhood and the aunt who raised her. Both women are artists with flowers and woven into the book are tips on creating floral arrangements and maintaining their beauty, a personal view of the Riverplace Village area of Portland which is “like its own little city within the city,” and Scandinavian traditions and language. Her aunt Elin owns Blomma, the only flower shop-wine bar in Portland.
Natural Thorn Killer is packed with personal exchanges, a potential romance with a cute detective, interesting characters, outstanding descriptions of food, flowers, and wine, and a taste of Portland culture. At the heart of the book and woven throughout, the main focus of this book is the mystery. Britta discovers a body in her aunt’s flower shop, and life becomes very complicated. She readily shares her findings and insights with the close-lipped detective and mutual respect develops as the story progresses.
I liked the characters in this book and learned a lot about flowers and Portland. I am looking forward to the next book in this series, Violet Tendencies, and anticipate this will be another successful series for this author.
I would like to extend my thanks to netgalley.com and to Kensington Books for giving me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.
Rating: 5/5
Category: Mystery
Notes: 1. #1 in the Rose City Mystery Series
2. There are lots of floral tips in a section in the back of the book.
Publication: March 27, 2018—Kensington Books
Memorable Lines:
Usually the flowers guide me. It’s as if they tell me when they know the arrangement is complete. I liked the subtle pink tones and texture. The antique silver bowl gave the arrangement a nostalgic vibe, while the white strawberries made it feel springlike.
I was excited about the now, yet if I didn’t do some serious self-reflection I was worried that I would be doomed to repeat my past.
My instructor at the Floral Institute had shared a study that noted people who stopped to smell the roses were happier and reported being more satisfied with life. The simple act of taking a minute to appreciate a flower’s sweet scent or cheerful bloom had a direct impact on health and well-being.
education pathways 