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O, Deadly Night–very Christmasy cozy
O, Deadly Night
By Vicki Delany
Some supposed “Christmas” cozy mysteries are only loosely connected to the season. That is not the case with O, Deadly Night. The story begins with a Christmas parade in the fictional town of Rudolph, New York, which boasts that it is “America’s Christmas Town.” As a tourist town, the citizens celebrate hard and heavy during November and December bringing in enthusiastic visitors from multiple states. They celebrate again in the summer and find ways to promote the little town on other holidays.
The protagonist is Merry. Her father, Noel, plays the role of Santa in parades and walking about town greeting tourists because he looks like he was born into the role. Merry’s boyfriend Alan is a skilled woodworker who keeps her supplied with items to sell in her shop Mrs. Claus’s Treasures which also features jewelry, gifts, and linens. His nutcrackers, angels, train sets, and components of Santa’s village sold out this year. In fact, Alan is so busy that his part in this book is minor. A more important character is Mattie, a Saint Bernard. He appears frequently and his interactions with Detective Diane Simmonds make me smile. He absolutely adores her, and she always notices him and treats him with respect. He obeys the detective much better than he does Merry. Detective Simmonds always calls him by his full name Matterhorn. There are many other characters you will get to know if you read this book—other shopkeepers, friends, family, and citizens of the neighboring town of Muddle Harbor.
As you can tell, I like the characters and setting in this book, but I would be remiss if I did not talk about the mystery. Merry lives in an apartment in a renovated Victorian house. Her landlady on the first floor is a likable, nosy woman who is “gossip central” for the town. She has noticed that someone moved into the house across the street and a large part of the book revolves around the comings and goings (and lack of them) at that house. The mystery involves a murder and kidnapping. Merry becomes involved when she realizes her landlady is missing. In typical Merry fashion she follows up leads on her own rather than contact the police. As often happens in cozy mysteries, there are positive and negative results from her informal investigations. All of this occurs during the busiest season of the year in the town and especially in her shop. Other locals might be suspects and Merry tries to determine if any could actually be murderers.
I really enjoyed this mystery and was irritated by interruptions that made me put the book aside. I began to suspect who might be involved, but my guesses were only partially correct. In the end, there was even more action and the solution to the crimes was a surprise.
I received a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.
Rating: 5/5
Category: Mystery
Notes: 1. #8 in the Year-Round Christmas Mystery series, but the author provides needed character information as the story begins so it could be read as a standalone. I have read several of the more recent books, but discovered in writing this review that the series began in 2015 so I have some catching up to do.
2. Includes a recipe for Amaretto Fruit Cake (for people who think “they don’t like Christmas cake.”) Its preparation is not quick as it initially takes 2 days and then needs to sit for a month. She also has a recipe that kids can help with for Molasses Spice Cookies. She also has a recipe for Sausage and Sweet Potato Soup which features both sweet and white potatoes.
Publication: October 14, 2025—Crooked Lane Books
Memorable Lines:
I smiled to myself. Families could be trying indeed, but they were there for us when we needed them.
In the circles in which she moved, the more spectacular the gossip, the more it was worth. And thus the more prestige it gave the presenter of the gossip. Truth was sometimes a secondary consideration. If not tertiary.
“What’s happened? Are you okay?” “I’m fine. Well, sort of fine. Ranger is not. He’s been sprayed by a skunk.” “What!” “Yup. Full on, right in the face. As for me, I went outside to see what he was barking at, and I caught some of the, shall we say, fallout.”
An Amish Christmas Star—three Amish Christmas stories
Buggies, Trains, and Automobiles
by Shelley Shepard Gray
Ellie Coblentz is called back from vacation to help her Grandmommi. John Miller receives a phone call that his father, from whom he has been estranged for almost fifteen years, is on his deathbed. John needs to travel quickly if he wants to get to the nursing home before his father passes, something he is not sure he wants to do. It is a few days before Christmas when the two meet at a bulletin board searching for ways to get from Pinecraft, Florida, to Holmes County, Ohio, in bad weather. As strangers, they make for unusual travel partners, but God has a way of bringing them together under the difficult travel circumstances as they find themselves stranded several times along the journey. In addition to some crazy hired drivers, they also encounter some very kind and helpful people who think helping others is a wonderful way to celebrate Christmas. This is a sweet Christmas story that I think I would enjoy rereading.
Star of Wonder
by Charlotte Hubbard
Lizzie Zehr is a young Mennonite woman with a flamboyant, creative flair. Raised by her two sisters, first one who passed with MS, and then the other who was a talented, but perfectionist baker, Lizzie has felt stifled by them. She finds freedom in a job in a new bulk store in Promise Lodge. A lot of the Old Order Amish have moved there to be away from a mean-spirited Bishop.
Raymond Overholt is another creative who travels from Coldstream to Promise Lodge. His goal, however, is to sell art he has created from barnboard wood decorated with Christmas messages and stars. He just doesn’t enjoy or fit in well in his family’s dairy farm. So when offered a seasonal temporary job at the store in Promise Lodge, he accepts.
If Lizzie and Raymond have a future together, there will be a lot of opposition to overcome arising from the Amish leaders in Coldstream and Raymond’s family. It will take a change of heart by the leadership there and perhaps a change of circumstances. It will take a Christmas miracle!
Starlight Everlasting
by Rosalind Lauer
Rachel and Luke Coblentz began courting when they were quite young. They kept putting off their wedding in hopes that Rachel’s mother would recover from cancer and be able to be a part of the ceremony. Unfortunately, she passed away, leaving the family with seven children and a mountain of medical bills. As young marrieds, they feel an obligation to pay off the debts, but Luke is unable to find a job in the town of Joyful River. He gets a low paying factory job in Maple Run, but that means he and Rachel must live apart 5 days out of the week. This becomes a crisis for the young couple when Luke is required to work on both Thanksgiving and Christmas. Meanwhile, Rachel has restored an abandoned Christmas store in Joyful River. It is doing quite well, and she is able to help with the care of her younger siblings, but she misses Luke so much! They reach out to God and rely on him to give them the wisdom and faith required to help them through this difficult season.
Truman is one of Rachel’s young siblings, and I came to love him as much as Rachel does. As Rachel describes him, he is “odd.” He doesn’t understand social signals, but he “has a good heart.” Although bullied, he doesn’t retaliate. He is very smart and memorizes things quickly.
I enjoyed all of these novellas. They were able to tell a whole story in less space than a novel, and I didn’t feel that anything was missing.
I received a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.
Rating: 5/5
Category: Christian, Religion, Romance
Notes: These novellas offer the reader the Christmas spirit relying on the story of Christ’s birth as well as the cultural decorations and themes that are celebrated by non-Amish.
Publication: September 30, 2025—Kensington
Memorable Lines from Buggies, Trains, and Automobiles:
When she looked back for Kramer, he was gone, and the truck was too. “I didn’t hear Kramer’s truck leave. Did you?” John stopped and stared. “It was like he vanished. That sure was strange, ain’t so?” “Usually I would agree, but I’m starting to think that he was our own guardian angel,” Ellie said.
Memorable Lines from Star of Wonder:
Best of all, though, she had a new circle of friends who shone as brightly as one of Raymond’s gold stars when the morning sunlight hit it. And for that, Lizzie felt extremely blessed.
Memorable Lines from Starlight Everlasting:
Gott had guided the wise men with a star. It seemed simple and yet profound. Gott was guiding all of his believers each and every day. And that was what had led Luke here tonight. Faith.
Christmas K-9 Patrol—suspense
Two audio novellas in the Dakota K-9 Unit series:
Deadly Christmas Trap
by Lynette Eason
narrated by Cindy Kay
An attempt to kidnap tech analyst Cheyenne Chen begins the excitement in Deadly Christmas Trap. Her previous training as a police officer may be what keeps Cheyenne alive when a bounty is put on her head. With the help of Officer Jack Donadio and his K-9 partner Beau, Cheyenne tries to figure out who is behind the hit. What has she done that would cause someone to pay to have her killed? This is a story with a lot of tension but also includes a developing romance between Cheyenne and Jack.
Dangerous Holiday Manhunt
by Lenora Worth
narrated by Callie Beaulieu
Standing on its own is another good K-9 story. In Dangerous Holiday Manhunt, US Marshal Lorelai Danvers has recently transferred from Savanna, Georgia, to North Dakota. She and her Australian Shepherd Bixby experience a terrific snowstorm as they follow a deadly fugitive who returns to Drake’s ranch. What is his motive—does he seek revenge or something else? The fugitive shows that nothing is too horrific for him as he treks through blizzards and wreaks havoc along the way. If you like action, you will certainly find it in this story along with a little romance and some spiritual inspiration.
I received a complimentary copy of this audiobook in exchange for an honest review. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.
Rating: 4/5
Category: Christian, Romance
Notes: 1. Books # 9 & 10 From Harlequin’s Love Inspired Suspense: Dakota K-9 Unit series with themes of courage, danger, and faith.
2. Good as standalones.
3. Clean
4. Good narrators
Publication: November 25, 2025—Harlequin Audio
The Party Line–life changing secret
The Party Line
by Carolyn Brown
Once upon a time, phones had no dials or buttons. To place a call, you spoke to an operator who made the connection. To be affordable, several people shared the same phone line—and could stealthily listen in on neighbors’ conversations. What a way to spread gossip! That was the birth of the “party line.” What could happen if someone overheard something confidential never meant to be disclosed? Gracie, at fourteen, heard a secret that changed her life forever.
Gracie grew up to be a strong, independent woman of means. She shared her life and love with Sarah whose own parents kicked her out when she became pregnant out of wedlock. Gracie helped Sarah raise her daughter Lila and became a grandmother to her in every way except by blood. When Gracie passed away, she left her home and much of her fortune to Lila whose life was changed as she tried to live up to Gracie’s example and expectations in the little town of Ditto. She also devoted a lot of time to discovering Gracie’s secret.
The first chapter left me floundering a little trying to orient myself within this story. I gradually became more comfortable as history caught up with the present and the characters were somewhat sorted. Along the way, we are introduced to Sarah (Lila’s mom), Jasper (Gracie’s 90 year old best friend), and Connor (Lila’s love interest).
I didn’t enjoy this novel as much as other books by Carolyn Brown. She seemed to be searching for herself to understand ghosts, what happens to a person’s spirit after they die, and communicating with the dead. There was a lot going on in the book which could be viewed positively as a variety of plot threads or negatively as an inability to focus on the important points of the story. Although most of the characters were likable enough, none of them were particularly interesting to me. The premise of the book, a secret, was good, but not well executed and not surrounded with any tension.
I received a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.
Rating: 3/5
Category: Fiction, Romance
Notes: clean
Publication: November 5, 2024—Montlake
Memorable Lines:
“ ‘Ladies do not dance around like heathens in the rain. What would people think?’ ” Then her tone softened, and she smiled at me. “Don’t ever let anyone tell you that you can’t dance in the rain.”
“Sometimes our choices determine our fate. Sometimes we just follow where we are led and are amazed when we find happiness,” Connor said.
“Do you think this secret stuff will ever completely die down?” “Someday,” she said. “The next generation won’t be interested in something that old any more than they are interested in their grandmother’s crystal and silver.”
Gathering Mist–Excellent K-9 Mystery
Gathering Mist
By Margaret Mizushima
Deputy Mattie Wray and her K-9 partner are based in Colorado, but in Gathering Mist they travel to Washington to help hunt for a missing child. Her patrol partner Robo is an extremely smart, well-trained 100 pound German shepherd. He has an excellent reputation, as does Mattie as his handler. In trying to locate the child, Robo uses both his well-established ground tracking skills and the air scenting that the pair has been working on.
River, the missing child, is the son of a famous movie star. He disappeared while he was supposed to be in his trailer doing his homeschool work. Mattie is not supposed to solve the case, but just find the boy in the deep woods with difficult terrain during a season of rain and cold. Other search and rescue dogs have been brought in as well as other types of law enforcement officers and lots of volunteers from the community. With no solid hits, they fear time is running out. Mattie and others begin to speculate on who might have taken the child and what the motive would be. Some wonder if it is just a public relations stunt to publicize the mother’s upcoming movie.
There are other complications. Some of the isolated homeowners living there off the grid resist having the search teams and their dogs on their property. Dead animals show up near a stream with no apparent cause of death. When a volunteer’s dog gets sick with the closest veterinarian an hour away, Cole, Mattie’s fiancé who is a vet, volunteers to travel to Washington to be with the team in case there are further health issues for the dogs. Other issues arise, but I don’t want to include any spoilers. Suffice it to say that the book includes exciting action and opportunities for Robo to show off his skills. Just as the search takes time, so does the revelation of River’s story. Added tension arises because this all happens the week before Mattie and Cole’s planned wedding. Some people would have turned down the assignment, but Mattie couldn’t bear the thought of a child lost in the cold, wet and dangerous woods.
The book includes sweet dog moments and opportunities to learn more about the skills of a K-9 officer. This is a series that is well-written with good plots and character development. The descriptions are so authentic that I felt wet and chilled along with the characters, and I looked up once or twice to make sure I wasn’t trying to find my way through the misty, foggy forest along with Mattie.
I received a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.
Rating: 5/5
Category: Fiction, Mystery
Notes: 1. #9 in the excellent Timber Creek K-9 series, but could be read as a standalone.
2. Clean
Publication: October 8, 2024—Crooked Lane Books
Memorable Lines:
Yes, the cop side of her recognized that someone could hide a body that would never be found in this place, even while her spiritual side felt a connection to this lush earth where plants were nurtured by the fertile soil and plentiful rain. As the early morning light brightened, it was like entering an emerald cathedral.
When Robo heard the word “work,” he pranced on the back seat and leaped out to join Banjo on the ground. The bloodhound, older by several years, gave Robo a stolid look as if to say “Kids.” His face drooped more than usual and he looked worn out as he sat near Sarge’s left heel.
That dog is so smart. At Mattie’s command, he could take down a dangerous criminal, or on his own, he could sense a child’s emotional distress. Either way, he was there for people.
An Unexpected Christmas Helper–support dog
An Unexpected Christmas Helper
By Lee Tobin McClain
This book checks off lots of boxes for me, especially:
Thanksgiving
Christmas
Support Dog (Snickers)
Inspirational Romance.
When Evan’s ex-wife drops off a toddler he didn’t know he had, he heads to Chesapeake Corners to get advice from Gramma Vi who raised him. Unfortunately, she is in the hospital. Her caregiver Vanessa and her son Declan live with Gramma Vi. There is immediately conflict because Vanessa had broken Evan’s heart when they were in high school. They now have some troubled waters to navigate as they try to coexist in Gramma Vi’s house.
Both Vanessa and Evan had troubled homes as children that caused trust issues as they became adults. Vanessa is caring, kind, and a good mother to her son Declan. Evan is smart and generous and wants to be a good dad to his neglected daughter Lily. They are both Christians, but that doesn’t mean they are perfect. Sadly, Vanessa’s past causes self-worth issues, and Evan has a judgmental streak. They need to work on individual issues before they can have a successful relationship.
The dog Snickers and the two children, Declan and Lily, are key characters throughout the book. All three are delightful and realistically portrayed. Both Vanessa and Evan make their children’s well-being a priority in all of their decisions. This is a great read (or listen) for the holiday season.
I received a complimentary copy of this audio book in exchange for an honest review. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.
Rating: 4/5
Category: Romance, Fiction
Notes: 1. #38 in the K-9 Companions series which seems to consist of standalone books dealing with K-9 companions.
2. Narrated very well by Tanya Eby
Publication: October 28, 2024—Harlequin Audio
Christmas in Harmony–fun seasonal novella
Christmas in Harmony
by Philip Gulley
This sweet novella will put just the right touch on your Christmas season. Author Phillip Gulley returns his readers to the fictional town of Harmony to join the citizens celebrating Christmas. Even if this is not a return visit to Harmony, readers can quickly jump into the nostalgic small town feel. The narrator is a Quaker pastor, and he infuses his tales and reminiscences with both humor and gentle inspiration. Probably the most interesting (stunning?) idea that his congregation tries is a progressive Nativity scene, kind of like a progressive dinner but harder to wrap your mind around! You really should read this novella to find out how parishioner Dale Hinshaw’s money making Nativity scene idea pans out. What a great start to the Christmas season!
Rating: 5/5
Category: Fiction, Humor, Christian
Notes: #2.5 in the Harmony Novels, but could be read as a standalone
Publication: October 15, 2002—Harper One
Memorable Lines:
Every Christmas she would send the cards she’d received the year before back to the very people who’d sent them. She’d add her name below theirs, and write, We return your greetings and wish you a Merry Christmas. She’d written up the idea and sent it to Heloise as a hint, under the pseudonym Cautious Christian.
“I want you to know I love you, son. I’m proud of you, awful proud of you. Have been since the day you were born.” Then he hugged me. It was the best Christmas present he ever gave me, those words.
The old-timers walked in, saw the hordes of people sitting in their pews, and were appalled. Pews, which had been in their family for generations, now occupied by total strangers!
My Three Dogs–rescue dogs
My Three Dogs
by W. Bruce Cameron
If you enjoy a good dog story, you’ll like this one. Three rescue dogs—Riggs, a miniature Australian shepherd; Luna, a Jack Russell; and Archie, a Labradoodle puppy—take center stage in My Three Dogs. Their humans are Liam, a builder, and Sabrina, a schoolteacher. Liam’s brother Brad has a major role too. He has been Liam’s rock since Brad was sixteen and is still trying to protect him. Their parents were unstable and in and out of their lives.
The author does a good job of describing what the dogs are thinking, what motivates their actions. The book gives the perspective of the dogs as they navigate life in the shelter, on the streets, and with adoptive parents. None of the options are good, and they all just really want their people back. Life changes dramatically for all of the humans and the dogs after there is an automobile accident. The dogs, unfortunately, learn that not all humans are good and kind and safe. If you are not drawn in by the dogs, which I think you will be, there are some plot twists that will keep you reading.
I received a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.
Rating: 5/5
Category: Fiction
Notes: 1. Contains four instances of minor swear words and is clean otherwise.
2. Cameron has written a lot of books, and most have dogs as the main characters. Humor abounds in many of his books. His website says, “Cameron is most famous for his novel A Dog’s Purpose, which spent 63 weeks on the New York Times bestseller list.” That book and several others have been made into movies. Although this book is written for adults, Cameron also has several series of children’s books about dogs.
Publication: October 29, 2024—Tor Publishing Group
Memorable Lines:
Sabrina was on what she called a keto diet, though she still ate several small squares of chocolate fudge every night, and Liam had learned that to comment on this fact was considered treason.
The dogs went on full alert when the doorbell rang. It didn’t ring very often, and when it did, it was incumbent upon the dogs to alert every human in the room that there was something going on that needed their attention.
Liam wasn’t here and might never come back—a dog’s singular most dreaded fear, but one that occupies all canine minds when they’re alone without their people.
The Memory of Old Jack–evocative language
The Memory of Old Jack
by Wendell Berry
Author Wendell Berry is loved and even revered by many of his readers. This is the third book I have read by him with my book club. He has written a series of novels describing the land and the people of the fictional Port William community in rural Kentucky from shortly after the Civil War to 1952. As a part of this series, The Memory of Old Jack’s timeline is a little jarring as it jumps repeatedly between Jack on a special September day and the memories he dredges up from a lifetime of experiences. A hard working farmer, he soaked in wisdom about farming and about life from an older neighbor.
My opinion of the character Jack also bounced around as I read about the various events of his life; sometimes I found him admirable and at other times an enigma. He is a rough man, tied to the land he loves so much. He has some regrets about his choices in life, but doesn’t seem to be able to make different choices or fix past mistakes and still stay true to himself.
Perhaps it is because of my own creeping age or the recent deaths of many loved ones, but I found the book very sad. Another member of my book club called it “grim,” and I must agree. It is not sprinkled with uplifting light spots, nothing to raise the heavy veil. There are some supporting characters that I liked, but they did not make up for the melancholy of this tale. Wendell Berry is a good writer in the sense that he effectively writes what I will call poetic prose. A few chapters into The Memory of Old Jack, I was struggling to want to finish this book. I made an attitude changing decision to do a read/listen and that made all the difference. The written language took on a beauty when it became oral.
There is no plot per se; the book moves along from anecdote (in this case memories) to anecdote. Although Berry tells his tale through the main characters, I never found them likable. To like this book, the reader would need to find the characters engaging. For me, it was more a matter of waiting for the next shoe to drop as the story moves to its inevitable conclusion.
The Memory of Old Jack is a vehicle for Berry’s expression of his philosophies about preserving the land and the customs and knowledge necessary for self-sufficiency. Berry was a farmer for forty years in addition to expressing his ideas through environmental activism. A poet, novelist, and essayist, he also worked as a professor. His use of story to promote socio-political thought is reminiscent of the writings of Sinclair Lewis.
This dichotomy of beautiful language in a novel that plods along makes reviewing and ranking it difficult. It deserves five stars, top in my rating system, for eloquent, descriptive language. For elements such as plot and character, I can only award it three stars as a book that I would never read again and am unable to recommend.
Rating: 4/5
Category: Fiction, Historical Fiction, Literary Fiction
Notes: 1. #3 in the Port William Series but all can be read as standalones.
2. Some profanity
3. Narrator Paul Michael of the audio version produced by Christian Audio is good with women’s voices as well as men’s.
Publication: October 8, 1999—Counterpoint
Memorable Lines:
That is what Old Jack has always given him—not help that he did not need but always exactly the help he has needed.
His vision, with the the finality of some physical change, has turned inward. More and more now the world as it is seems to him an apparition or a cloud that drifts, opening and closing, upon the clear, remembered lights and colors of the world as it was. The world as it is serves mostly to remind him, to turn him back along passages sometimes too well known into that other dead, mourned, unchangeable world that still lives in his mind.
…it is hard to keep his mind, ranging around the way it does, from crossing the track of his hard times.Though he would a lot rather let them lie still and be gone, once his mind strikes into his old troubles there is no stopping it; he is in his story then, watching, as he has helplessly done many times before, to see how one spell of trouble and sorrow led to another.
The Bletchley Riddle–young code breakers
The Bletchley Riddle
By Ruta Sepetys and Steve Sheinkin
Written specifically for Middle Grade students, The Bletchley Riddle will appeal to those interested in World War II but not ready for the torturous aspects of the conflict. This book deals with code breaking efforts that were a critical support to the military in winning the war.
Jakob, with mathematical talents, has been recruited from Cambridge and becomes part of the secretive code breaking team at Bletchley Park. His much younger sister Lizzie, who prides herself in being straight forward, escapes from Fleetword, her chaperone who is supposed to escort her from England to live with her Gram in Cleveland, Ohio. Lizzie wants to stay in England to investigate the death of her mother Willa as she does not believe that she died in an explosion in Poland.
This novel becomes very involved as the two youths form relationships with a variety of other interesting characters who live in the area. It’s hard to determine who is a spy and who is not, but Jakob also needs to restore his relationship with Lizzie.
The Bletchley Riddle deals with official decoding using the Enigma machine and with personal riddle solving of secretive messages the pair receives. The book is well written and appropriate for middle grades; the authors knew their audience. While some books written for young people can be captivating for older readers as well, The Bletchley Riddle is not one of them. I have enjoyed other books about Bletchley Park that are more interesting and engaging for adults.
I received a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.
Rating: 4/5
Category: Fiction, Middle Grades, Historical Fiction
Notes: Appropriate for Ages 10+ and Grades 5+
Publication: October 8,2024—Penguin Group (Viking Books)
Memorable Lines:
“Do you always speak your thoughts aloud?” “I do. I’m half American. I’m straightforward. Does that make you uncomfortable?”
She looks with disapproval toward the crumpled papers on the floor. And she’s right. It’s sloppy. I get up to gather the scraps. Even our rubbish is secret here. All of it must be burned.
But the past months have shown that circumstance can be the thief of choice.
education pathways 