On Hiatus But Still Reviewing

 This blog is currently on hiatus because I am just... tired. Alas, I am still reviewing but they're only being posted on Goodreads at the moment. Yes, I am finding I haven't the time I used to have to post them here with all the nice formatting. I lost my joy for it for now, but it may return in the future. My side bar showing my most recent Goodreads reads is to the right side of this page so if you're yearning for my thoughts on the books I'm reading... feel free. If not, I may regain my verve for this blog again & I'll see you then. 

Until then, stay safe, wash your hands & smile (whether you're masked or not).

Mwah! 😘

Book Review: The Disappearing Act by Catherine Steadman

 

The Disappearing Act
by
Catherine Steadman

Title: The Disappearing Act by Catherine Steadman

Rating: 🌟🌟🌟🌟(4 stars)

Publisher: Ballantine Books

Quite the page-turner. It reminded me of Lynch's Mullholland Drive and the tv show The Arrangement. Both for the "something's not quite right with this dreamy place" feels and also the feeling of falling down a seemingly bottomless pit of crazy.

Book Review: The Husbands by Chandler Baker

 

The Husbands
by
Chandler Baker

Title: The Husbands by Chandler Baker

Rating: 🌟🌟🌟🌟(4 stars)

Publisher: Flatiron Books

This was a page-turner, mostly in the second half and the final quarter was amped up even higher. I enjoyed it as a bit of domestic noir. It was at times, creepy, witty, poignant and hilarious. My feelings were all over the place as I read which is unusual for me. 

Book Review: Wastelands: Stories of the Apocalypse (Wastelands #1) by John Joseph Adams

Wastelands: Stories of the Apocalypse
by
John Joseph Adams

Title: Wastelands: Stories of the Apocalypse by John Joseph Adams

Rating: 🌟🌟🌟(3 stars)

Publisher: Night Shade

I've had this on my shelf for years and finally pulled it from my bookshelf to read. There were 22 stories and as with all anthologies, some resonate more than others. 3.5 stars overall.

Thoughts on my favourites:

Book Review: The Murder of My Aunt by Richard Hull

The Murder of My Aunt
by
Richard Hull

Title: The Murder of My Aunt by Richard Hull

Rating: 🌟🌟🌟🌟(4 stars)

Publisher: The British Library

This was a great story! Edward and his Aunt Mildred Powell are two of the most disagreeable and quarrelsome relatives I've ever read trapped together. It almost becomes too much but there's ample opportunity to laugh along the way in this macabre tale of pettiness.

Book Review: The Sussex Downs Murder by John Bude

The Sussex Downs Murder
by
John Bude

Title: The Sussex Downs Murder by John Bude

Rating: 🌟🌟🌟 (3 stars)

Publisher: The British Library 

Three stars because I figured out who did it early on and didn't find the How-dunnit to be as compelling as I'd hoped. 

Book Review: Body on the Island (Smart Women's Mystery #2) by Victoria Dowd

Body on the Island
by
Victoria Dowd

Title: Body on the Island by Victoria Dowd

Rating: 3 stars (🌟🌟🌟)

Publisher: Joffee Books

 I'm torn between two and three stars. This is the second in this series and while I enjoyed parts, I was also rather tired of some of Ursula's quirks. Like seriously, I stopped caring about the green eyes she kept seeing (it turns out to be important to the solution but the repetition of it was too much), along with her dearly departed father fixation (which I was really over in the first book), whatever is going on with those possibly supernatural visions and hints or whatever and even her acerbic wit wore thin.

Book Review: Oracle by Julie J. Anderson

Oracle
by
Julie J. Anderson

Title: Oracle by Julie J. Anderson

Rating: 4 stars (🌟🌟🌟🌟)

Publisher: Claret Press

 Cassandra "Cassie" Fortune is only a few weeks removed from her traumatic experiences that took place in Plague. She's dispatched by the Prime Minister to a conference in Delphi to give a presentation on tax policy but most importantly to secure a connection with a high-level official on the PM's behalf. That would be stressful enough but Cassie has some additional challenges, her stalker may be closing in and there's the murder she's roped into investigating as well.

Book Review: The Kensington Kidnap by Katie Gayle

 

The Kensington Kidnap
by
Katie Gayle

Title: The Kensington Kidnap by Katie Gayle

Rating: 4 stars (🌟🌟🌟🌟)

Publisher: Bookouture

This was a fun cozy mystery that kept me reading past midnight.

Book Review: Nemesis Games (The Expanse #5) by James S.A. Corey

Title: Nemesis Games (The Expanse #5) by James S.A. Corey

Rating: 4 stars (🌟🌟🌟🌟)

Publisher: Orbit

 This was what I enjoy about The Expanse! After a bit of a disappointment in reading Cibola Burn, I was a little reticent to jump right into another. My husband decided he wanted to get back to watching the show so I figured I'd read the book for the season before we did.

Book Review: Shiver by Allie Reynolds

 

Title: Shiver by Allie Reynolds

Rating: 4 stars (🌟🌟🌟🌟)

Publisher: G.P. Putnam & Sons

This was the perfect read for a snowy weekend (especially when the Superbowl is... not as good or competitive a game as you had anticipated). This totally saved my Sunday night with a taut conclusion.

Book Review: Midnight at Malabar House by Vaseem Khan

Title: Midnight at Malabar House by Vaseem Khan

Rating: 4 stars (🌟🌟🌟🌟)

Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton

This was a very enjoyable historical mystery/police procedural. Set in the first days of 1950 with the consequences of Partition still churning, Persis, the first woman police officer in her country is tasked with a complicated and politically sensitive murder investigation. Her being the first woman is a major theme here and she's inundated with obstacles along the way but of course, she persists. Her colleagues, all male, were an interesting bunch and had surprises to the very end. I liked Persis and also the insight into her personal relationships with her family. She was determined and cared to find the truth, not just any answer served up to her for expedience. I adored the family bookstore her father maintained and her deep love for him. Even her Aunt Nussie was a good character with her overbearing ways.

Book Review: Death on the Cherwell by Mavis Doriel Hay

Death on the Cherwell
by
Mavis Doriel Hay

 Title: Death on the Cherwell by Mavis Doriel Hay

 Rating: 3 stars (🌟🌟🌟)

 Publisher: British Library Crime Classics

The body of Miss Denning, the bursar of Persephone College has been found dead in her canoe floating down a river and this sets off an inquiry into how that happened. She has a head injury and her clothes are wet, though the interior of the canoe is dry. It's sussed quickly that there's friction between her and the students of the college and also two nearby landowners as she was tasked with the acquisition of a tract of land to expand the college. The question of course is if that was what really led to her death.

Book Review: Cibola Burn (The Expanse #4) by James S.A. Corey

Cibola Burn (The Expanse #4)
by
James S.A. Corey

  Title: Cibola Burn (The Expanse #4) by James S.A. Corey

  Rating: 3 stars (🌟🌟🌟)

  Publisher: Orbit

I fell off on my Expanse reading but I feel like this is a bit of a detour in the series and it's one I could have skipped. I had been excited to see what the first adventure after the Ring gate opened would be so I was primed to love this. Alas, I didn't.

Book Review: Logan's Run by William F. Nolan

Logan's Run
by 
William F. Nolan

  Title: Logan's Run by William F. Nolan

  Rating: 3 stars (🌟🌟🌟)

  Publisher: Vintage

Over the last several years I've watched a number of 70s science fiction movies: ( Logan's Run, Soylent Green, Westworld, etc.) and read the books when I could. I finally got a copy of Logan's Run and gave it a read.

Book Review: The Pint of No Return (Sloane Krause #2) by Ellie Alexander

 

The Pint of No Return
by 
Ellie Alexander

Title: The Pint of No Return by Ellie Alexander

Rating: 4 stars (🌟🌟🌟🌟)

Publisher: Minotaur Books

The autumn fairs and Oktoberfests that I usually headed off to in autumn with my family weren't happening in 2020. That doesn't at all change the fact that I was in that mode and so I went on a hunt for some thematic cozy mysteries. I found Sloan Krause in a short novella Trouble Is Brewing where she's introduced to readers while helping baker, Jules Capshaw, solve a keg theft. I have some of the baker books on my TBR but Sloan living in Leavenworth WA really captured my attention so I bought this to read immediately.

Book Review: Eight Perfect Murders (Malcolm Kershaw #1) by Peter Swanson

 

Eight Perfect Murders
by
Peter Swanson

Title: Eight Perfect Murders by Peter Swanson

Rating: 4 stars (🌟🌟🌟🌟)

Publisher: William Morrow

This is a love letter to lovers of Classic Crime & mystery fiends so right up my lane.

Book Review: The Case of the Famished Parson by George Bellairs

 

The Case of the Famished Parson
by
George Bellairs

Title: The Case of the Famished Parson by George Bellairs

Rating: 3 stars (🌟🌟🌟)

Publisher: Ipso Books

I read this several days ago and held off writing a review because I couldn't think of what I wanted to say. While that can be a good thing when I finish a book, it wasn't in this case. This was left me decidedly neutral.

Book Review: The Pact by Dawn Goodwin

 

The Pact
by
Dawn Goodwin

Title: The Pact by Dawn Goodwin

Rating: 4 stars

Publisher: Aria

The cover of this caught my eye on Netgalley and after reading the blurb, I had to request it. It definitely sounds like Strangers On a Train (without the train). Two women with man troubles and one muses after too many glasses of wine that killing hers would improve her life. Unfortunately, the other is a lunatic and takes this as a "Game on!" moment and that can't end well.

Book Review: Death of a Busybody by George Bellairs

 

Title: Death of a Busybody by George Bellairs

Rating: 4 stars (🌟🌟🌟🌟)

Publisher: British Library Classics

This was a great village mystery and I'm so glad for the British Library Crime Classics including it in their reissues because I can't imagine I'd have come across it any other way!