I passed the dogs days of summer immersed in murder and mayhem.
Weycombe by G. M. Malliet I've read and enjoyed other books by Ms. Malliet, so was excited to read her newest book. But it's a bit of a departure, and while the author may have enjoyed stepping out of her usual spot, I confess I didn't enjoy it very much. I didn't like the main character, Jill, from the beginning. She was in a very bad place in her marriage and I thought we were supposed to be either sympathetic or annoyed, and I was annoyed. As the book progressed, I began to actively dislike her. By halfway through, I knew who the murderer was, and now for confession 2--I was pissed off at having invested all that time in order to be hoodwinked. But because I was reviewing this for NetGalley, I persisted, only to be disappointed by the last two pages. I don't want to spoil this for other genre lovers, but I found the book exasperating and unenjoyable. (NetGalley)
Spider Woman's Daughter by Anne Hillerman This is the first of the Jim Chee novels written by Anne Hillerman after the death of her father, Tony Hillerman. While it was nice to revisit a series I've enjoyed for years (not the least because I know that part of the southwest well and can see the highways and the mesas and the sky in my mind as I read), I'm not sure I enjoyed this book as much as I'd expected to. Having both Jim and Bernie encounter people whose interest in them was clearly physical laid it on a bit thick and was not something I could imagine Tony doing. Revisiting a character from an earlier novel as a pivotal character in this one was clever, and the southwest does spin its magic over some folks and bring them back over and over. But Anne's style is flatter than her father's, which had more magic and a greater appreciation of the physical setting than this book had. A little tighter editing might have eliminated a few scenes that were unnecessary and distracting. But all in all, it's nice to visit with old friends, and I was kept on tenterhooks wondering what would happen to Joe Leaphorn, a situation I rarely find myself in with mysteries. (Audiobook)
A Knit Before Dying by Sadie Hartwell I enjoyed the first Dorset Falls mystery enough to try the second in the series. There's less physical description of the yarn store, the setting in Connecticut, and the town than last time. I did appreciate that Josie's character was growing a bit and beginning to enjoy her new life in unexpected ways. The mystery was not completely riveting, and i would have like it that much more if Josie's participation had been a little more inadvertent (a knitting clue? Seriously? That stretches even my incredulity and I happily suspend disbelief when reading.)--that would have made the series a bit more unusual and would save the author from the curse of Cabot Cove (which, if you've never heard of it, refers to the remarkable number of murderers and victims in the Murder She Wrote franchise who live in such a small town). But I enjoyed this quick read, and would recommend the series to cosy mystery lovers and knitters alike. (NetGalley)
The Best of Doctor Thorndyke Detective Stories by R. Austin Freeman I first discovered R. Austin Freeman's Dr. Thorndyke on manybooks.net. The Dr. Thorndyke series date to the early 20th century and number nearly 2 dozen novels, so I was excited to find a new Golden Age of Mysteries author with a large number of books to discover. Today we'd call Dr. Thorndyke a forensic scientist, and I enjoy seeing this kind of intuiting and detecting taking place without the conveniences of modern technology. Eight short stories are reissued in this anthology, and while there are elements that are dated or even a little cringeworthy when attitudes or words are used that are now out of date or unacceptable, this is a great introduction to genre lovers in search of a new and enjoyable series to dive into. (NetGalley)
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