Penned In–Idaho Halloween tale
Penned In
by Lynn Cahoon
Penned In is a novella in Lynn Cahoon’s excellent Farm-to-Fork series which does not typically contain paranormal references. This novella has a paranormal twist to it, however. The story takes place on the night before Halloween at the old Idaho Penitentiary where the County Seat Restaurant’s staff goes for a team building exercise. The book contains a little history which is interesting. As a novella, neither the plot nor character development are extensive.
My enjoyment of the novella was probably colored by my dislike of both paranormal novels and team building exercises. As a diversion, it was satisfactory, but not something I would ever reread. If you are a fan of locked room mysteries, you would probably enjoy this little mystery!
I would like to extend my thanks to NetGalley and to Kensington Books for giving me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.
Rating: 3/5
Category: Mystery
Notes: 1. Would work as a standalone.
2. Includes paranormal, but is not scary.
3. Locked room mystery.
4. Includes a recipe for chocolate chip muffins.
Publication: August 31, 2020—Kensington Books
Memorable Lines:
“Anyone that mean, he has to be the killer. The other people are nice. Tad doesn’t have a nice bone in his body, as my grandmother would say.” Hope leaned back in her chair and folded her arms. No one was going to mess with her logic.
“They said I wasn’t smart enough to sell computers. Hell, I could sell ice to Eskimos.”
It was all just posturing for him. He didn’t want her but he wasn’t sure he wanted her to be happy with another guy.”
Dead-End Detective–murder of a P.I.
Dead-End Detective
by Amanda Flower
Romy is a large Maine Coon cat with a propensity for climbing ninety-year-old Mrs. Berger’s tree on her forty beautiful acres of lakefront property in Herrington on the shores of Seneca Lake. Darby, a P.I., is frequently enlisted, as she passes by on her morning runs, to perform a voluntary rescue operation. Darby’s real job as 40% owner of Two Girls Detective Agency involves helping her business partner Samantha with normal investigations—pilfering, marital affairs, etc. Never major violent crimes. Until Samantha’s car is forced off the road. Was it an accident or caused by malicious intent?
The plot involves lots of threads. Business owner Matt Billows wants to buy Mrs. Berger’s land to restore his Lake Waters Retreat. Samantha’s nephew Tate suddenly returns to town and stands to inherit 60% of Two Girls. Samantha has been negotiating with Billows over a job as his head of security. Billows’ ex-wife is full of stories, and jealousy rules the day in their relationship. The green-eyed monster also rears its head as sparks fly between Darby and Tate as her on again, off again former boyfriend investigates the crime and tries to keep Darby from being charged with murder.
Dead-End Detective is a fun and fast read. I enjoyed meeting the characters in this new series and look forward to seeing them again. If you think you know Amanda Flower as an author, you’ll want to try her new series which is a departure from her previous books, but every bit as satisfying and engaging.
I would like to extend my thanks to netgalley.com and to Hallmark Publishing for giving me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.
Rating: 5/5
Category: Mystery
Notes: 1. A Piper and Porter Mystery
2. Recipe for Berry Trifle included.
Publication: August 25, 2020—Hallmark Publishing
Memorable Lines:
She blamed Austin for everything that went wrong in our relationship. Maybe that wasn’t fair, but it was girl code. The guy was always wrong in girl code.
“I took the liberty of pulling a number of books for you that will help. We have a nice section in the library about grief and dealing with adversity.” I nodded. I should have expected this. There was nothing that my mother didn’t believe was fixable with the right book.
My father had liked Austin just fine when we were dating, but every time we’d broken up. he’d hated him again. He was a good dad the way.
The Mockingbird’s Song–love rises from the ashes
The Mockingbird’s Song
by Wanda E. Brunstetter
The saga of the King family, an Amish family that suffers the tragic loss of three males in the family in an accident, continues in The Mockingbird’s Song, the second book in Wanda Brunstetter’s trilogy called the Amish Greenhouse Mysteries. The women in the family are the focus as they try to work through their grief and decide when it is time to move on. Amish men are important to the story as well in their interactions with these women.
Most of the characters are likable and the book is a pleasant relief from more intense genres. Several characters are a puzzle. Maude is a homeless woman who goes a step too far in taking things that don’t belong to her. Monroe held a romantic interest as a teenager in Belinda, the recently widowed matriarch of the King family. Now he reappears in her life with renewed attentions, but she is unsure of his motivations. Virginia is a non-Amish character. She seems to have had a rough life, but she is currently self-centered and prejudiced. Could any of these characters be behind the vandalism, destruction, and threats the King family is enduring in what seems to be a plot to destroy their greenhouse business? The answers will be found in the third and final book in the series, released March 2021.
I would like to extend my thanks to NetGalley and to Barbour Publishing (Shiloh Run Press) for giving me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.
Rating: 5/5
Category: Christian, Mystery
Notes: #2 in the Amish Greenhouse Mysteries, but the author does a good job of reviewing the main points in the previous book.
Publication: August 1, 2020—Barbour Publishing (Shiloh Run Press)
Memorable Lines:
Belinda felt the emptiness in her house, all the way to her bones.
Getting the first month’s rent and giving Dennis a key to the home she used to share with Toby made his death seem so final—like coming to the end of a novel. Only, Sylvia didn’t feel the satisfaction that came from reaching the end of a book. Her heart ached more than ever.
Thought all I needed was a happy life with the woman I love. I’m beginning to realize I can never find true happiness until I’ve learned to forgive.
A Man Called Ove–tale of a curmudgeon
A Man Called Ove
by Fredrik Backman
Ove is a puzzle of a man—a man you will grow to love, as his wife Sophia did, as you learn more about him. Almost any details about Ove’s background would be spoilers. Let’s just say that his father was a good role model for him, he came from a loving home, and he found himself on his own too soon.
In Fredrik Backman’s A Man Called Ove, the main character Ove runs his life according to routines and has undeniable moral standards and an impeccable work ethic. His wife is the color in his black and white life, and he loves her completely, always trying to do things that will please her. Sophia can tease him about things they don’t agree on, and she is the only one who can do so without angering him.
This novel is filled with interesting characters who bring out the best in Ove who might be described as a curmudgeon. Of special note is Parvaneh, the Iranian, pregnant mother of two, who is persistent in her attempts to bring Ove out of his shell and interacting with neighbors. Gradually, as the plot develops, more characters are introduced, and we learn how things came to be the way they are—why the kitchen counters and cabinets at Ove’s house are all low, how his neighbor Rune and Ove over the many years have both cooperated and feuded, and why Ove feels so passionately about the government “white suits.”
I smiled, laughed, and cried my way through A Man Called Ove. It is impossible to read it without reaction. Backman has a talent for relating Ove’s character and actions in a humorous way. The story is told in the third person, but in such a manner that the reader feels present. The narration goes back and forth between the present and the past with fluidity. New chapters begin with no segue or introduction. The reader is dropped abruptly into the action and setting as in Chapter 21 which begins with “Of course, the bus tour was her idea. Ove couldn’t see the use of it.” This style of writing works well in relating the tale. In concluding the story of the unforgettable Ove, the plot threads all tie together nicely and there is closure with a feeling of satisfaction and hope.
Rating: 5/5
Category: General Fiction (Adult)
Notes: 1. Originally published in Swedish.
2. Contains some foul language, but it is appropriate to Ove’s character, and he attempts to curb it around children, etc.
Publication: 2012—Simon & Schuster (Washington Square Press)
Memorable Lines:
And then he utters seven words, which Parvaneh will always remember as the loveliest compliment he’ll ever give her. “Because you are not a complete twit.”
“What sort of love is it if you hand someone over when it gets difficult?’ she cries, her voice shaking with sorrow. “Abandon someone when there’s resistance? Tell me what sort of love that is!”
…Ove had probably known all along what he had to do, whom he had to help before he could die. But we are always optimists when it comes to time; we think there will be time to do things with other people. And time to say things to them. Time to appeal.
The Suicide House–psychological puzzler
The Suicide House
by Charlie Donlea
Thrillers are not generally my cup of tea, but Charlie Donlea’s books are good examples of the fine line between thrillers and classic mysteries. His The Suicide House is a solid mystery with multiple murders, many possibilities of felons, quirky investigators, and threads crossing each other at odd angles. The Suicide House also has a psychological edge, journal writings that will send chills up your spine, and spooky settings, thus moving it along the continuum with a thriller bent.
Upper grade students at the renowned Westmont Preparatory School all know something about the school’s secretive, selective society whose initiates undergo dangerous rites of admission involving The Man in the Mirror. Dangerous turns gruesomely deadly in 2019, followed by several student suicides, but no one is talking. Eventually Rory, an autistic forensic deconstructionist, is invited to conduct an unofficial investigation at the same time her partner Lane, a forensic psychologist, is persuaded to consult with a podcaster who is producing shows that garner a wide following. Neither Mack, the show’s producer, nor anyone else who has investigated, is totally convinced that the accused teacher, Charles Gorman, committed the crimes. There is no physical evidence that he did, and there also is blood from a fourth unidentified person at the crime scene.
My favorite character is Rory who channels her various quirks into finding solutions to cold cases by identifying with those involved and by making connections garnered from the evidence she finds. She is highly intelligent, but her special abilities and what the author calls her “afflictions” make life difficult for her. She finds relief in the details of her work and through reconstructing antique dolls. Her main social contact is Lane who knows her well and goes the extra mile to adjust circumstances to meet her needs.
I recommend this book as an exciting and complex mystery and a bit of a thriller. It goes back and forth by chapter in time frame, setting and perspective. Not particularly good for bedtime reading, The Suicide House will keep you puzzling, guessing, and turning those pages up to an exciting revelation. Four more chapters will bring closure and leave you with a satisfied smile.
I would like to extend my thanks to Netgalley and to Kensington Books for giving me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.
Rating: 5/5
Category: Mystery and Thriller
Publication: July 28, 2020—Kensington Books
Memorable Lines:
Every day brought a funneling twister of emotions. It was how her brain waves fired. If she wasn’t worrying, she was obsessing. And if she was’t obsessing, she was planning. Her mind never really settled down. There was always a low hum of activity going on in her head.
As they made their way through the forest, their steps were fueled by a steady dose of trepidation and curiosity. They had only the seniors to deal with, the summer to get through, and initiation to conquer.
The files represented the case that had woken him up at three in the morning the previous summer. He hadn’t gotten a good night’s sleep since.
Tea & Treachery–new cozy mystery series
Tea & Treachery
by Vicki Delany
People who enjoy the experience of indulging in a specially prepared tea at a tearoom will also enjoy reading about it in Tea & Treachery, the first book in Vicki Delany’s new cozy mystery series Tea by the Sea. Lily has left behind the fast paced life of a Manhattan pastry chef to fulfill her dream of owning her own teahouse. It is located in a restored house next to Lily’s grandmother’s B & B. As part of their agreement, Grandmother Rose lets Lily live in a cottage on the property. Lily prepares breakfast at the B & B in addition to doing all the cooking for her own tearoom.
The property overlooks the Cape Cod Bay, but its appeal is marred when Jack, a local developer, is found dead at the bottom of a bluff. Unfortunately, Rose previously had a very public disagreement with Jack. The lead detective is focused on pinning the murder on Rose so Lily, of course, has to find the real killer.
The plot is inventive, and the author’s descriptive powers shine. We are introduced to a number of interesting characters. Some are employed at one of the two businesses. Others already are or become friends of Rose and Lily. Lily’s best friend Bernie (aka the Princess Warrior) is a spunky, red-headed, aspiring writer. Simon hires on as a gardener; he is not only handsome, but is talented in horticulture, has culinary skills and a British understanding of tea, and rides a motorcycle. The locals include police officers along with town councilmen and a mayor who have interests in rezoning issues that affect Rose and Lily and their businesses.
There are lots of suspects to keep the reader guessing, some romance in the air, and dangers that arise from the ladies’ investigations. You will be exhausted just reading about Lily’s efforts to juggle her two jobs. Rose and Bernie add some humor to the tale. The book ends with hints of future developments for the tearoom, the B & B, and the main characters.
I would like to extend my thanks to Netgalley 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 Tea by the Sea Mystery Series
2. Recipes included for scones, coconut cupcakes, and tea-scented bath salts
Publication: July 28, 2020—Kensington Books
Memorable Lines:
It was a day full of promise: the sun was a huge yellow circle in a pale blue sky, and the lightest breath of wind carried the scent of salt off the ocean.
A wave of warm sugar and spicy cinnamon goodness washed over me, and I almost groaned in pleasure. No matter how many pastries I’ve made over my lifetime, I never get tired of these scents. Or of the pleasure in producing beautiful food and having it enjoyed.
More than once, people have complained when they saw the prices. We never apologize. Good food, well prepared with excellent ingredients, much of it sourced locally, costs money. Not to mention fresh flowers on the table and real china and silver and linen at every place. Afternoon tea isn’t an everyday thing, not even in the UK and certainly not in America. It’s a treat, an indulgence, and I believe it needs to be presented accordingly.
Happy 4th of July!
Whether you call it Old Glory, the Stars and Stripes, or the Red, White, and Blue, our flag represents the United States of America. The Declaration of Independence, our founding document, was signed on July 4, 1776.
Here are some patriotic displays I saw this week walking around a subdivision in Oklahoma.
From Beer to Eternity–librarian to barkeeper
From Beer to Eternity
by Sherry Harris
When an author you like starts a new series, there are always some questions. Will I like this series as well as the last one? Will this just be a rehash of the previous series with new names for the characters and a different setting? Will the plot be fresh and intriguing? I can answer those questions for Sherry Harris’ Sea Glass Saloon Mystery Series. I really enjoyed the first book, From Beer to Eternity. She has started a completely different series, and it is good!
Chloe Jackson goes to Emerald Cove in the Panhandle of Florida when her best friend Boone dies while on deployment in Afghanistan. She had promised him that she would help his grandmother Vivi, owner of a bar on the beach, if something happened to him. Chloe takes a leave of absence from her position as a children’s librarian in Chicago to attend his memorial service and help Vivi who doesn’t seem to want her help.
It is hard to fit into the tight knit community of Emerald Cove, especially as a Northerner. After a local is found knifed outside the back door of the bar, it is hard to know whom to trust. From Beer to Eternity is populated with interesting characters. The first person Chloe finds she can open up to is Joaquín, a very handsome and skilled barkeeper. He puts on a show for the ladies to earn great tips, but his heart belongs to his husband Michael. Rhett is another interesting local—good-looking and always on hand to help Chloe. Is he a murderer keeping her in his sights? Who is this Ann Williams that Chloe keeps hiring as a handywoman? How about the two cowboys who try to run Chloe off the road?
As Chloe tries to find the killer and get the focus off of Vivi, she also struggles to find a place to live during high tourist season. She hopes to develop a relationship with Vivi who seems to want nothing to do with her. So Chloe starts working at the bar without being hired and noses around town, trying to ask questions without being killed.
Someone is not happy with Chloe and her investigation. Chloe turns over a lot of seashells that are hiding relationships and secrets and puts herself in danger. It must be time to return to bustling Chicago and immerse herself in books and children once more, leaving behind Emerald Cove and the small group of Heritage Business owners who are resisting change.
I would like to extend my thanks to Netgalley 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 in the Sea Glass Saloon Mystery Series
Publication: July 28, 2020—Kensington Books
Memorable Lines:
The desk was old and scarred. The chair, modern and ergonomic. almost seemed like a metaphor for this area—the old and new trying to work together, but not always succeeding.
I wished I were back at my job in the library, wiping snotty noses and recommending books. That job was like being Santa Claus. Finding the right book for the right child was a great gift. To see their shiny, happy faces at story time brought me joy.
“Rumors? About me?” As far as I could tell, Emerald Cove thrived on rumors and innuendo. Unfortunately, so far almost everyone but Leah and Ivy had doctoral degrees in how to say something without saying anything.
A Severe Mercy–love and the struggles of life
A Severe Mercy
by Sheldon Vanauken
Sometimes good books, even nonfiction, can be a rollercoaster ride, and A Severe Mercy falls into that category for me. Sheldon Vanauken is a very good writer with a special devotion to words. His subject in this work is actually two-fold—marriage and Christianity. In the first part of the book, he focuses on the “pagan” love he and his wife Davy share and the commitment they make to be completely and solely taken up with each other. He tells of their conversion to Christianity and how their new relationship to God affects their lives and their union as a couple. They are both adventurous and intellectual. In their pursuit of God they begin a friendship with C.S. Lewis that proves to be very important in their daily walk with Christ, especially during a health crisis that confronts them.
My opinion of Vanauken as a person changes several times in the course of the events recounted in A Severe Mercy as he changes and grows as a person. It is not light nor easy reading as it mines the depths of their efforts to achieve a perfect union, to talk everything through, and to glory in Beauty. In making decisions, they always choose based on what would be best for their love. Vanauken describes their two different paths to Christianity: Davy through her need for absolution from sin and Sheldon through a yearning for the Jesus he learned about as he studied the New Testament. Vanauken has lengthy discussions on believing despite doubts, the “Oxford experience” of intellectual friendships, and the difficulties of readjusting to life in the United States. He devotes a chapter to Davy’s illness and another to his grief at her death. It is in these chapters that his love for her shines most clearly and that his writing takes the more theological bent as he tries to reconcile his devastation with his belief in God. He examines these events in the light of human views on time and eternity. Included are eighteen letters from C.S. Lewis with whom he shared a special bond as Lewis also suffered through the illness and death of his wife Joy. The letters from Lewis are clear, straightforward and understandable, mincing no words.
I needed a tissue during the chapter recounting Davy’s struggles with her sickness. I didn’t always like Sheldon. It was, however, his story to tell, and he told it from his viewpoint with soul searching honesty. I am glad that I read A Severe Mercy. It is the love story of Sheldon and Davy, and also of their love for Christ.
Rating: 5/5
Category: Memoir, Christian, Nonfiction
Publication: May 26, 2009—Harper One (first published January 1, 1977)
Memorable Lines:
He stood there in the stillness, looking. A tiny breeze touched his face like a brief caress. He closed his eyes for a second or two, fancying as always that she was in the wind. “Davy?” he murmured. “Dearling?”
If one of us likes anything, there must be something to like in it—and the other one must find it. Every single thing that either of us likes. That way we shall create a thousand strands, great and small, that will link us together. Then we shall be so close that it would be impossible—unthinkable—for either of us to suppose that we could ever recreate such closeness with anyone else.
The grim and almost fierce will to do all and be all for Davy that I had held before me like a sword for half a year became now, upon her death, tired though I was, a no less resolute will to face the whole meaning of loss, to drink the cup of grief to the lees.
Lineage Most Lethal–secrets from the past
Lineage Most Lethal
by S.C. Perkins
Having read a very positive review of the debut novel in S.C. Perkins’ Ancestry Detective Mystery Series, I decided, when the opportunity arose, to give Lineage Most Lethal, the second book in the series, a try. I am fairly neutral on the interest continuum when it comes to genealogies, but this cozy mystery afforded a different perspective for me on family trees. I also learned a little about the intricacies of researching lineages.
Lucy Lancaster is an outgoing young woman who shares office space with two friends in downtown Austin, Texas. Currently she is spending a week at the high-end Sutton hotel working for Pippa Sutton to investigate her family’s history and compile the information into a video to be presented at a family gathering. As the plot progresses, we learn about Lucy’s own beloved grandfather’s involvement in World War II and a little about her former boyfriend, Ben, an FBI agent who has ghosted her.
Lucy’s research turns dark when a stranger dies before her eyes, Pippa’s mother Roselyn begins acting strangely, and Chef Rocky is found dead. Lucy’s grandfather shares secrets from the past, and suddenly it seems many in the present are in a dangerous state. As Lucy tries to juggle all the balls, she is pushing against a murderer’s timetable as well as her professional and personal commitments.
Although I suspected the identity of the murderer, I did not grasp the intricate connections of the victims, potential victims, a nutcase who appeared sane, and their descendants. The tale includes a few red herrings dealing with cipher codes and given names as well. The solution is definitely complicated. Well played, S. C. Perkins!
I would like to extend my thanks to NetGalley and to St. Martin’s Press for giving me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.
Rating: 5/5
Category: Mystery
Notes: #2 in the Ancestry Detective Mystery Series, but worked well for me as a standalone.
Publication: July 21, 2020—St. Martin’s Press/Minotaur
Memorable Lines:
“The point is, do yourself a favor and halve your problem by sharing it with someone.”
I would do my part to protect these people, even if I would never meet them and got branded by the APD as a genealogist who was a taco short of a combination plate.
Ben took my hand and led me out the French doors into the winter wonderland, the white fairy lights making the falling snow glitter like diamonds.
education pathways 