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Unnatural Habits–Phryne at her best
Unnatural Habits
by Kerry Greenwood
Kerry Greenwood created a much more complex mystery in Unnatural Habits than others of the Phryne Fisher Mystery Series that I have read. There are several significant investigations occurring simultaneously as well as some minor threads to be unravelled. I remember viewing the movie version of this book years ago. With this series, I usually like the movie better than the book, but in this case I must insist that the book is, in fact, light years past the movie which can not begin to do justice to the intricate plot or character development.
Greenwood, through Phryne Fisher, takes up the cause of girls and women who are treated like sexual property in a time when most women receive little respect and the Catholic church ignores various kinds of ill treatment of girls, women, and boys. Phryne is unable to rest until all of the immediate problems are solved, and she puts her own life at risk to rescue less fortunates.
This particular tale is enhanced by the frequent inclusion of her “minions” as she calls her willing helpers—Tink, her apprentice; Dot, her assistant and companion; Jane and Ruth, her adopted daughters; Burt and Cec, socialist taxi drivers; and Mr. and Mrs. Butler, providers of specialty drinks and food. Each character is called upon to use their unique skills to aid in the investigations.
Australia of the 1920’s comes to life with descriptions of dress of various levels of society, examinations of attitudes, laws, and customs, and use of unique terms. Some of the moral issues examined in the book would be considered reprehensible by most people today. Others are still being debated. There are some actions taken in the novel by Miss Fisher and others that are illegal, but are ignored because ignoring them promotes the general good and provides food for thought for the reader.
I would like to extend my thanks to netgalley.com and to Poisoned Pen Press for giving me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.
Rating: 5/5
Category: Historical Fiction, Mystery
Notes: All of the Phryne Fisher books may be enjoyed as standalones, but the characters are more interesting if you have read a few of the books in the series.
Publication: July 4, 2017—Poisoned Pen Press
Memorable Lines:
She was pursuing a very perilous line of enquiry and appeared to have the sense of self-preservation of a chocolate Easter egg in a blast furnace.
“Assume the rules do not apply to you, and they don’t.”
The tone of voice could have been used in the fishing industry for freezing prawns.
“Government reports are like that,” Phryne told her. “Not altogether meant to be understood, thus easily denied.”
Lowcountry Bonfire–is it a paranormal?
Lowcountry Bonfire
by Susan M. Boyer
When is a paranormal not a paranormal? When it is part of the Liz Talbot Mystery Series. When it deals with ghosts who are not angels of any type, but are guardian spirits. When the guardian spirits have a mission assigned by the Almighty, not the devil. When the town psychic doesn’t tell fortunes, but does share gut feelings about people.
Lowcountry Bonfire takes place in a small South Carolina town where everybody knows everybody else, iced tea and fried foods reign, and houses are built a story above ground level to avoid water damage. Liz Talbot and her husband Nate are private investigators working on contract for the local police department headed by Liz’s brother Blake. When Tammy Sue learns her husband Zeke has been cheating on her, she sets his classic car on fire. With the neighborhood watching, a corpse is found, and in the course of the investigation Liz discovers she does not know her neighbors as well as she thought.
Author Susan M. Boyer has developed a good plot with interesting characters. Many are suspected of murder with a surprise ending ahead. The semi-paranormal aspect was initially puzzling. As this is the sixth book in the series, I assume the guardian spirit’s presence was explained thoroughly in an earlier book. Not normally a paranormal reader, I did not find that aspect bothersome in a demonic sense; it’s a fictional tool whose purpose is to add a comedic touch. I would compare it to Shakespeare’s use of Falstaff.
I would like to extend my thanks to netgalley.com and to Henery Press for giving me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.
Rating: 4/5
Category: General Fiction (Adult), Mystery
Notes: #6 in the Liz Talbot Mystery Series
Publication: June 27, 2017—Henery Press
Memorable Lines:
“It’s hard to believe anyone in this town is that isolated.”
“Small towns can be the loneliest places on earth if you feel like you’re on the outside looking in at all that closeness.”
“I told him he didn’t pay me enough for how hard I worked. He said if I was more contentious I might get a raise. We went back and forth a while.” I rolled my lips in and out, nodded. Zeke must’ve told him to be more conscientious. Good grief.
“People often do things that make no sense to the rest of us,” she said. “The challenge is to love them anyway.”
The Trouble with Harriet–what is in that urn?
The Trouble with Harriet
by Dorothy Cannell
The Trouble with Harriet is different from many cozy mysteries that start with a crime to immediately draw the reader in. Instead the reader is enticed with more personal events—a chance meeting with a gypsy, a prospective getaway trip to France, and the appearance of a surprise visitor.
Replete with quirky characters displaying a flair for the dramatic, this book reads like a play from the era of Arsenic and Old Lace. I can picture cousin Freddy climbing with little ado through the living room window to make his entrance. Ellie’s father possesses a penchant for the dramatic. The Hoppers, who resemble stacking Russian dolls, are the things comedy is made of. The vicar in his dotage who rarely remembers what he should be doing provides all kinds of interesting possibilities. This book is quite enjoyable and would make an amusing theatrical production, featuring a play within a play.
The mystery develops gently during the course of the book, but with the reader unaware of it. It begins simply, but adds complexity as the book progresses. The Trouble with Harriet is an enjoyable book in an enjoyable series.
I would like to extend my thanks to netgalley.com and to Random House (Alibi) for giving me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.
Rating: 5/5
Category: Mystery, Historical
Notes: #8 in the Ellie Haskell Mystery Series (which currently has 13 books). In spite of having previously read only #7, I found this book delightful. I’m sure reading the whole series would be fun, but not necessary.
Publication: June 13, 2017—Random House Publishing Group (Alibi)
Memorable Lines:
She had a fatal flaw as a listener. She enjoyed the sound of her own voice.
And the world is filled with qualified interior designers, although possibly not in Chatterton Fells, where people tend to consider switching a picture from one side of the room to another a major renovation.
“You can’t go through life being an irresponsible charmer and not expect impressionable females to fall all over you.” “Sometimes I feel like a pound of bacon during wartime rationing.”
Fatal Facade–What does it take to be famous?
Fatal Facade
by Wendy Tyson
Fatal Facade is the fourth book in the Allison Campbell Mystery Series by Wendy Tyson. It is the first book I have read in this series, but I am already a fan of this author’s Greenhouse Mystery Series. Tyson displays her versatility as I found this book to be very different from her Greenhouse Mysteries in characters, setting, and plot development.
Although the solution to the mystery was unexpected for me, I enjoyed the journey to that point. The way the clues were revealed reminded me of action on a stage where the spotlight hits one character briefly and then moves to a different part of the stage focusing a larger circle on another character. As the spotlight pings around the plot, different characters are revealed.
Tyson uses her law and psychology background to good advantage to flesh out her amateur detective, Allison, who professionally creates images and brands for her clients. Allison’s fiancé is a lawyer and their personal relationship plays a role in the story, but Allison’s original goal is to rebrand a rock singer’s daughter who is famous for…being famous, a concept familiar to the current generation, but previously unheard of.
I would like to extend my thanks to netgalley.com and to Henery Press for giving me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.
Rating: 5/5
Category: Mystery, General Fiction (Adult)
Notes: #4 in the Allison Campbell Mystery Series, but I read it as a stand alone without problems
Publication: June 13, 2017—Henery Press
Memorable Lines:
The Dolomite Mountains were stunning, but at night their splendor was matched only by the depth of their darkness. Night so complete it felt like a tomb, silence so pervasive you could hear the blood pulsating in your carotid.
Wildflowers in a rainbow of colors waved their stalky necks in the breeze. Tiny pastel butterflies buzzed from flower to flower. And past the pasture, the Dolomite Mountains stood tall and imposing, their granite-colored caps jagged reminders of nature’s awesome brutality.
“…we all think it’s great to be rich and famous. It’s not. It just distorts your sense of what’s important.”
Bad Housekeeping–a humorous cozy mystery
Bad Housekeeping
by Maia Chance
Bad Housekeeping is a fairly typical cozy mystery that will keep you laughing and shaking your head in dismay as Agnes, recently dumped by her professor boyfriend, and Effie, her quirky great aunt, drive from adventure to misadventure in a “borrowed” Cadillac. This is a fun read, not intended to shake your world or be a realistic portrayal of anything. It is a great diversion as a summer beach read or a session curled up on the couch.
Agnes, freshly returned to her Dad’s home, has literally the clothes on her back. Effie gives her a job helping save the condemned Stagecoach Inn. Agnes stumbles over a body at the inn, precipitating a murder investigation and leading to the uncovering of lots of personal secrets in the little town of Naneda.
The plot clips along at a good pace with some twists and turns as the story develops. The characters are predictable in a comfortable sort of way with a stuffy ex-fiancé and an old high school flame with boy-next-door kind of appeal. The police hover in the background, but all of the successful investigation is done by Agnes. While this book is not destined for number one on the New York Times best seller list, it will provide a good afternoon’s entertainment.
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: 4/5
Category: Mystery
Notes: #1 in the new Agnes and Effie Mystery Series
Publication: June 13, 2017—Crooked Lane Books
Memorable Lines:
Maybe salvaging a wreck of a building is a metaphor for salvaging the wreckage of our own lives. It’s like we’re telling ourselves, See? It can be done. It’s never too late. I’m not sure if it’s tragic or inspirational.
I tried not to notice Otis’s tanned biceps. Yes, I know, women may have evolved to be attracted to muscles as a way to select mates with better survival odds. But this is the twenty-first century. The wise thing these days is to find a little nerd like Bill Gates if you’re interested in survival odds.
“I cannot believe you’re wearing poor little dead animals,” I said. “It’s vintage, darling. Vintage fur doesn’t count. These little animals have been dead since the Nixon administration.”
Raisins and Almonds–even the title is a mystery
Raisins and Almonds
by Kerry Greenwood
Raisins and Almonds is a typical Phryne Fisher mystery, but somewhat more cerebral. Evidence of that is found in the inclusion of a bibliography reflective of the author’s research and a glossary of Yiddish words. This mystery is strongly tied into the Jewish community that settled in Australia, the politics of Zionism, and a sub-sect focused on alchemy. Phryne has to do a lot of research in addition to her usual methods of sleuthing in order to find the murderer of a young Jewish scholar and free an innocent bookseller from prison.
Greenwood excels in this book in three ways. She uses the supporting characters to good advantage in solving the mystery as she sends her adopted daughters, her assistant Dot, and friends Bert and Cec out on different missions which play to their strengths. Phryne and Jack agree on the bookseller’s innocence enabling them to cooperate in their separate missions to solve the mystery. The ending of Raisins and Almonds is a fun surprise which wraps up the mystery and the title quite satisfactorily.
I would like to extend my thanks to netgalley.com and to Poisoned Pen Press for giving me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.
Rating: 5/5
Category: Mystery, Historical Fiction
Notes: #9 of Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries
Publication: June 6, 2017—Poisoned Pen Press
Memorable Lines:
Phryne smiled guilelessly into the policeman’s face. He winced. Miss Fisher was at her most dangerous when she was smiling guilelessly. It was a sign that someone, somewhere, was about to be shaken down until their teeth rattled and the Detective Inspector was uneasily aware that he was the closest available target.
Bert was nervous because he didn’t know what to look for in this big bustling market. Neither did Cec, but his Scandinavian ancestors had bequeathed him some Viking fatalism. If they were meant to find out, they’d find out.
Kadimah was as ordinary as a church hall, and as extraordinary as a landing of Well’s Martians. It was as sane as porridge and as lunatic as singing mice.
Fatal Forgeries–4th in the series
Fatal Forgeries
by Ritter Ames
Fatal Forgeries focuses on returning stolen art work and on discriminating forgeries in the art world. Laurel heads up a team for the Beacham foundation. She also uses her connections to solve related personal issues that threaten her safety and life and that of her team. Three men who may be related to her are suspects in crimes against her.
Fatal Forgeries is the fourth book in Ritter Ames’ Bodies of Art Mystery Series. The author has conceived a complicated and continuing plot in this series. This feature is different from most cozy mysteries in that it is not just the characters that continue from book to book, but the actual plot. Fatal Forgeries begins with an unidentified, and therefore puzzling, action scene followed by the author’s concerted effort to bring the reader up to speed by summarizing the plot and the relationships of the characters as delineated in the first three books. The major flaw of this book is that the first half rambles. In the second half, the pace picks up and the plot has some clarity. The only way I can recommend this book is if all the preceding books in the series are read first and in order.
I would like to extend my thanks to netgalley.com and to Henery Press for giving me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.
Rating: 3/5
Category: General Fiction (Adult), Mystery
Notes: This book needs to be read as part of the sequential Bodies of Art Mystery Series.
Publication: June 6, 2017—Henery Press
Memorable Lines:
“She’s as happy or unhappy as she wants to be.”
There’s something magical about this place. Barcelona’s sun, sea, sangria, and street food seduces me every time.
A full moon in the dark sky not only lit up the heavens, but bathed the sea in light as well, the rippling waves appearing to bring the luminescence to shore.
Lies that Bind–a family’s survival depends on lies
Lies That Bind
by Stella Cameron
Lies That Bind is a complex mystery with strong threads. Throughout the book is the underlying story of Sid Gammage who struggles to support his two sons alone. Alex Duggins is the landlady of the pub The Black Dog, where all the locals gather to gossip in Folly-on-Weir, a village where little goes unnoticed.
Author Stella Cameron provides strong characters in Alex and her boyfriend Tony, the village vet, as well as Dan and Bill, tight lipped law enforcement agents who are sent to investigate a murder and end up with so much more. Cameron peoples her book with supporting figures who are interesting without being stereotypes. This is a good mystery that moves along quickly. Although there are some personal aspects to the story, the suspenseful plot takes the lead. There is a surprise ending as a minor thread emerges assuming major importance.
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: General Fiction (Adult), Mystery
Notes: #4 in the Alex Duggins Mystery Series, but worked well for me as a standalone
Publication: June 1, 2017—Severn House
Memorable Lines:
The other man, going back and forth between Mr. Nice and something vaguely threatening, unnerved him.
Never mind the game of pass-the-parcel, this was the age-old copper pastime of pass-the-blame—to anyone farther down the food chain than you. Dan O’Reilly didn’t usually play that one but this time he had a list of inept culprits to skin.
A long arch of crooked branches, reaching for each other across the road, closed her in. The bicycle lamp bounced off one tree trunk after another in an eerie ballet that sucked her through a moving, low-light tube enclosed in darkness.
Mulch Ado about Murder–love the punny title
Mulch Ado about Murder
by Edith Maxwell
The Local Foods Mystery Series is set in the small Attic Hill Organic Farm in New England with owner Cam Flaherty as the main character. In Mulch Ado about Murder, Cam (short for Cameron) tries to deliver some basil and lettuce seedlings to Nicole Kingsbury at her new hydroponic greenhouse. She is blocked by a group of protestors which includes her visiting mother. The bigger surprise, however, awaits Cam inside the greenhouse where she finds Nicole in a different state than she expected. This discovery sets in motion a series of events that spiral out of control mystifying Cam, the state police, including her boyfriend detective Pete, and local law enforcement.
There is a backdrop of Cam’s relationship to her parents that is integral to the mystery rather than a distraction for the reader. Cam has never had a close relationship with her parents, both anthropology professors. During their visit, Cam finds herself drawing closer to her father, but puzzled by her mother’s continued reticence about the past.
The reader is given critical information as Cam discovers it and so is able to try to solve the mystery along with her. There is action as well as sleuthing and the mystery ends on a satisfactory note. It was quite an enjoyable read.
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. There are some recipes at the end of the book reflecting foods that Cam’s father prepared or that the characters enjoyed at local restaurants in the story.
2. #5 in the Local Foods Mystery Series, but I enjoyed it as a standalone.
Publication: May 30, 2017—Kensington Books
Memorable Lines:
A breeze picked up, fluffing the leaves on the old oak behind the barn like a teenager fixing her hair. A cloud blotted out the slanting sunlight. Cam sniffed. Let it be rain coming. Let it be rain.
The gentle spray from the watering wands arched over the table to wet the infant plants. Watering was definitely meditative for Cam. Watching the spray calmed and cleaned her jangled thoughts. Smelling the wet soil reassured her that life continues, that despite the apparent murder of a fellow grower, the cycle of growth was universal and never-ending.
“You can’t believe how good that smells,” Cam said. What it smelled like was her childhood. Every night her father would make them both toast before bed. Their similar tall, thin frames gave them similar appetites, what Albert used to call Hollow Leg Syndrome.
Hospitality and Homicide–does evil exist?
Hospitality and Homicide
by Lynn Cahoon
Hospitality and Homicide is the eighth book in the Tourist Trap Mysteries. I have not read any others in the series, but the number of characters are limited and it was easy to jump into the story. The plot is fairly simple; too much emphasis is on the characters’ everyday lives, rather than on the mystery. Halfway into the book the reader knows with certainty Jill’s daily activities, her favorite dessert, her relationship issues, etc. Despite that, the author details them over and over throughout the book. There are undoubtedly some tense moments and some twists, but no cliffhangers. Another issue was the disappearance of a boy. It was unclear how long he had been missing, making that thread somewhat unbelievable. I did enjoy the book and was curious as to how the mysteries would be resolved, but it was not outstanding.
This book has two main plot threads—a brutal murder and a disappearance. One of them involves a psychic who communes with spirits. As a Christian, I usually avoid books with paranormal aspects, but this one slipped under my radar. Initially the theme seemed mild. At the end there was an unresolved issue as to why the psychic was successful in one case and not in another. Holding even more impact for me, however, was the statement made by police detective Greg about someone who committed a horrific, sadistic murder: “I don’t believe in evil, but if I did, this guy would be the picture next to the dictionary definition.” The Bible makes it clear that evil exists, and I would think that anyone who reads news reports would be convinced of that as well. Regardless, I want to clarify that the viewpoint of this book is not a reflection of my beliefs, nor is it a Biblical viewpoint. In looking at teasers of other books in this series, I did not see evidence that the other books in the series contain paranormal elements.
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: 3/5
Category: Mystery
Notes: #8 in the Tourist Trap Mystery series. Contains paranormal elements.
Publication: May 16, 2017—Kensington Books
Memorable Lines:
“Honey, I don’t have to make you sound like a wimp. When it comes to other people, you are a pushover. Everyone in town knows that.”
I know, I own a bookstore and I should be anti-e-readers. But honestly, I’m more concerned that people read than exactly how they read.
A readers’s pride and joy is having an author personally sign their copies of well-loved stories. That’s the reason bookstores will never be replaced by the e-reader. People need their keeper shelves.
education pathways 