Book Review: “Brighton Belle” by Sara Sheridan

This book captivated me. There is just no other way to say it. I was and am quite taken by the Belle. By about 20% of the book I had become immersed in the story. Then I was always reading, and I could not set the book down.
Belle is not your average woman from the post-World War II era. She is surprising on many levels. There were twists and turns that I do not even think Belle knew coming.
Read this book and you will thank me later. I will most assuredly be reading more books by Ms. Sheridan and I know you will too after you read about Brighton Belle.

Book Review: “Murder Past Due” by Miranda James

The cover of this book hooked me. I mean a cat, books, and well, books in a library! What is not to love?

Murder Past Due is set in a small Mississippi town named Athena. Athena is a small, quiet town where Charlie and Diesel live. Charlie had recently moved back and brought Diesel with him. As they walk the streets they make quite a pair. Charlie and Diesel tag team in the library. Charlie works there, and Diesel sleeps there. The perfect setup for the impending trouble.

Small town gossip flies as Geoffrey, the best-selling novelist, slides into town on a book tour. Then things and life become interesting for Charlie & Diesel.

This book is the first in the new (new to me) series, Cat in The Stacks. At first, I found the book sluggish. I believe it was the characters and not the plot. After a period of the time, the characters did develop, and the plot moved sufficiently forward that I could see the characters more clearly in my mind’s eye. In saying that, I did not find myself sympathetic to some of the characters as I knew I was supposed to feel. Those few characters had much to do and say in the plot, but I felt they were more two-dimensional than the book needed.

Let me add this, Charlie does an excellent job of sleuthing, and several people have taken notice. I will read the next book in the series. And if you read /follow my reviews you know that I will not complete a set if I do not like the first book I read whether it is the first book in the series or the last book in a series. So yes, I think ‘Cat in The Stacks’ books are worth my reading time and dollars.

Book Review: “The Big Kitty” by Claire Donally

This book was my Cozy Mystery book for January 2016.

I almost gave up on this book. I am glad I did not.

I am not sure why but the book seemed to go at a snail’s pace in the first 120 pages. I will allow it could have been me and not the writing/book. So you may think, ‘wow! Why did you not give up on this book earlier than 120 pages?’ Here is your answer, I wanted it to get better. I wanted to like the characters sooner than later. And I did, finally, find my emotional attachment that we all seek when reading a book.

The setting is in Maine (many cozies are in Maine) yet the town is fictional. You won’t find trivia about a small town that you may have heard about nor will you have much to go on about how this building or that building looks. And maybe that was a part of what threw me off in the first 100+ pages. For me, it was hard to picture where Sunny was. An example, a park where Sunny goes to eat lunch. Okay, so describe the park to me. Make me understand ‘why’ this park is a park Sunny would want to eat her meal. That did not happen. I can only assume there was only one park, therefore, no other choice but to eat in that park. Even so, I would still like to see what Sunny saw/felt, etc.

I did like the book and will go on to the next book in the series. I am hoping the next book develops well and sooner.

Before I forget, there is Shadow. Shadow is certainly worth my attention. Cats are one of my favorite animals in cozies. So I was hoping Shadow developed quickly, and he did. By the end of the book, he was, oops, I can’t tell you as that will spoil it. Now you have to read and find out yourself.

Book Review: “Shivaree” by J.D. Horn

I have read J.D. Horn’s ‘Witching Savannah’ series, so when the opportunity to read/review his new book “Shivaree” came about, well I jumped at the chance.

The author has written a note before the story even begins, making you aware that this book is ‘a work of Southern Gothic fiction’. In case, you may not know what ‘Southern Gothic’ means, here is a definition: “Southern Gothic literature is a genre of Southern writing. The stories often focus on grotesque themes. While it may include supernatural elements, it mainly focuses on damaged, even delusional, characters.” Fair warning, indeed.

“Kudzu vine, rapacious and never sleeping, had nearly swallowed the old Cooper house whole.”  Shivaree has an ‘Edgar Allen Poe’ feel about it. You can feel the story beating like a ragged heart even though you do not see that heart clearly. It is in every little tidbit that you read. Each line brings you closer to knowing and understanding what lurks just out of your view. As you read deeper into the world that is Conroy, you realize that every person in the book has more than a casual knowledge of what goes on in this sleepy, dirty little Mississippi town.

“Fog, denser than any she had ever witnessed, had descended on the train, swallowing it whole.” Yes, I do recommend you leave a light on should you read at night.

If you like depth to your characters, and undercurrents that move you along at a steady

Shivaree by JD Horn

pace, read Shivaree.*I received a free, advance copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for my unbiased review*

The review is also here, GoodReads Review ~ Shivaree by J.D. Horn

Book Review: “Checked Out ~ An Aimee Machado Mystery” by Sharon St. George

Checked Out ~ An Aimee Machado Mystery by Sharon St. George.  This book is second in the series.

Paperback, 328 pages. Publication date: October 2015 by Camel Press. ISBN: 978-1-60381-225-2 (Trade paper). ISBN: 978-1-60381-226-9 (eBook).

Disclaimer:  Although this ARC book was given to me by the publisher, my opinions and thoughts are solely my own.

Synopsis:  When rodeo cowboy Cody O’Brien is found dead in his horse trailer, it appears that his horse, Game Boy, is the culprit. Aimee Machado, a health sciences librarian at Timbergate Medical Center, has no reason to doubt the preliminary finding—at first. Cody had been in the hospital awaiting an operation the night he died, but he checked himself out. Had he reason to believe his surgeon, Dr. Phyllis Poole, was incompetent? Or is his death related to his complex relationship with his family? ~ from Goodreads.

“I wasn’t surprised when rodeo cowboy Cody O’Brien vanished from Timbergate Medical Center the night before his testicle surgery,…” ~ Aimee

Okay, I have to say, the beginning sentence of “Checked Out” hooked me. Sure, I don’t have testicles but I can empathize with someone who would be concerned about having that type of surgery. As I read I agree with Aimee, ‘sure, he would be reconsidering surgery’. Now I have to read on. I have to know what happens.

I found it hard to pick just one character that I preferred over another. Each main character had their good points and their flaws as we all do. So how do you pick someone over the others?

Aimee has lots of help in this mystery. And she is such a force, you just know it will be solve. So if I choose my favorite character, it would be Aimee. You can feel her energy and her resourcefulness. Finding little-known information is every librarian’s job description but Aimee is very good at linking information. She is also good at getting into trouble.

Aimee and Cleo are such a likable pair of friends. These are people who you believe exists in life. Their attitudes, their concerns, their lives are credible. Even when they do things that might not quite be the best option, they are there for each other.

Then there’s Aimee and Nick. You want to feel for them. You will want to make them say this or that. You want them to have a romance. That is up to them.

“perfume of the barnyard” is one of my favorite phrases from the book.  No way I would think of stinky barnyard smell as ‘perfume’. This phrase made me stop and think. When someone enjoys the farm life, it would be perfume.  Another phrase that struck me was, “A lonesome cry in the night.” That sentence set the tone in that particular part of the book like nothing else could. Read the book and see if you agree.

If I told you who I least liked in the book, well that would ruin it for you. So read and make your choice.

There are many levels and layers in the book. It surprised me. I did not see how it was going to play out, and that keep me reading. I recommend “Check Out” to cozy mystery readers and mystery readers in general. And if you like llamas, you are certainly in for a treat!

~ Reviewer: Debra Saturday ~