Middle Sister's Belated October Reads

Things got a little crazy busy in October, but here it is, better late than never. I took a wee fictional trip to Scotland this month in a couple of books, and began reading holiday books, a theme which will continue in November.

Murder at a Scottish Social by Traci Hall I've read two others in this series, and I'm rather ambivalent about it. My family long ago came from Scotland; I love bagpipes, so this must true, so I want to like the series.  The little village in which Paislee lives sounds adorable and I'd love to visit. But I'm not exactly fond of Paislee, and as she's the main character, that's not a good thing. I find her a wee bit silly, which I've tried to excuse because the character is half my age. In this entry in the series, Paislee and her best friend Lydia have a new friend, Blaise. Blaise's husband is a golf pro and the wives of several of his clients have welcomed Blaise into their circle. But they are grown up high school mean girls, and Blaise is trying to ease herself out of their clutches without affecting her husband's career. The ringleader of the mean girls is killed at a charity event, and the first suspect is Blaise, so Paislee springs into action. I found the immediacy of the best friendship between the two women not developed enough to convince me of the sincerity of it, and that meant some of Paislee's actions and thoughts rang hollow. The unrelenting meanness of the surviving clique members to each other was depressing and I didn't care what happened to any of them because there was nothing sympathetic about any of them. There is still no additional information on the mystery surrounding Craig, Paislee's uncle; in fact, there are further indications that he may not even exist, which would mean Paislee's grandfather is delusional. This subplot has been dragging on long enough, Ms. Hall; it's now annoying some of us readers. Paislee acts completely contradictory at times: Brody can't have his own cell phone, but she doesn't even blink an eye when he drives a golf cart? The story is okay but not arresting, the characters are, as mentioned, unsympathetic, and several characters have very odd reactions to events that make no sense. And frankly, how fast can Paislee knit that she can replace the sweater inventory in her shop at the pace implied in the book? Not bad, but just kind of blah, so I'd give this book a C. (Net Galley)

The National Parks Scavenger Hunt by Stacy Tornio Fun and creative book for kids to take along on summer vacation. Ms. Tornio has created scavenger hunts for some of the most popular national parks in the United States. The flora and fauna to search for are often distinctive to the local region the park is in, and facts and drawings supplement the searches. For kids not sold on a long car trip or camping vacation in the parks, this is a great way to pique their interest. Families can search together, or kids could compete with each other to find all the items in the park. Great idea, and a fun present to include in the childrens' luggage or to stick under the Christmas tree in anticipation of summer vacation. (NetGalley)

A History and Guide to Scottish Castles by Jenna Maxwell I forget how many castles there are in Scotland; Miss Maxwell does give us this fact in the introduction to her book, but she focuses on some of the best known, easiest visited, and most haunted castles in Scotland in this appreciation. The histories of each castle vary in length and detail, and for a history lover like me, there wasn't enough background information, and for the most part, that supplied was very superficial. Ms. Maxwell tells us which castles were used as movie or television locations, and as the book was originally published in the UK, many of these references are unknown to a US audience. As someone who did not read or watch Outlander, the many references to different set scenes from that popular series was a waste; I'd rather have had another two sentences on the real history of the castle in question than another reference to Jamie being imprisoned in this or that castle. The photos were black and white in the advanced reader copy I read, which is fine, although a few in color would be a great addition. This isn't a very academic or historical summary of the castles, but Ms. Maxwell''s writing is engaging. The inclusion of personal comments about a visit with her family or when she was very pregnant, or which haunted areas were too spooky for her to go explore, were fun to read and make the guide book aspect successful. (NetGalley)

The Lady and the Octopus by Dana Staaf Interesting biography of someone I'd never heard of, who studied something I never would have thought I'd find interesting. The Lady in question is Jeanne Villepreux-Power, a Frenchwoman whose remarkable life story began with a modest birth into a family in which a tragedy required young Jeanne to find a job. Jeanne set off for Paris, where she ultimately had a successful career as a clothes designer. But a happy marriage and a move to Sicily allowed Jeanne to begin to explore the mysteries of marine life, and in particular, the argonaut octopus. In order to properly study these creatures, Jeanne created the aquarium, which I found fascinating. Full disclosure: the book disappeared off my Kindle app on my phone when it was archived by NetGalley before I'd finished it. But it was fascinating, and is a quick read. Ms. Staaf's writing style is quite informal, but that opens this book up to a wider audience than a more traditional biographical approach would have encouraged. (NetGalley)

The Christmas Murder Game by Alexandra Benedict Lily left Endgame House, the family home turned into a hotel in which she had been raised, as a young teenager after her mother killed herself. Many years later, Lily's aunt begs her to return for Christmas, and after she dies, Lily decides to honor her by returning home. A family reunion at Christmas has one goal: to solve one of Aunt Liliana's famous puzzle games, but this time, the winner will get Endgame House itself. As the cousins assemble at Endgame House, a terrible blizzard sets in, and per the terms of Aunt Liliana's will, they must all be locked in, with no outside contact, for the twelve days of Christmas. They have to solve the puzzle before the end of the holiday, or the house reverts to an outsider. Of course, there are family intrigues and old resentments and alliances. Lily is haunted by memories of her mother and finding her dead in the garden maze. But as Lily solves the clues to the puzzle, she finds other clues that indicate that her mother did not kill herself, and that Aunt Liliana did not die naturally. And then the cousins begin to die, one by one. Ms. Benedict has themed anagram puzzles scattered throughout the book for the reader to solve. I found the book slightly tedious and a bit long; I think it needed some editing to tighten some of the long scenes where Lily has  repeated mini emotional breakdowns. And I really disliked the book being written in the first person. Also, for readers who prefer a conservative storyline, Lily is openly bisexual and her romantic entanglements are a significant subplot. (NetGalley)

Middle Sister's Mid-month Review

I will admit, I've made fun of some of the mystery sub-genres the publishing houses produce. Oh, I love the tea shops, the inns, the bookstores and libraries. But it seems like they will publish a series no matter how outlandish the core concept. After all, look at the sheer numbers of mystery series with witches, vampires, and ghosts (regular Gentle Readers know how I feel about paranormal mysteries). There are series centered on knitting--full disclosure, I'm a knitter and crocheter and read several of these series, but how many of them do we need?--, scrapbooking, a gift basket store, ice cream parlors, pet groomers, a couple of crossword puzzle series, cooking shows, record shop/coffee shop combo--if you can think of it, there's probably a series centered on it. Even vampire knitters! So when I saw one centered on a gourmet cheese shop, I groaned. But dang if I didn't like Gone for Gouda by Korina Moss. Willa owns a cheese shop in a small town in Sonoma Valley, California, and when the story begins, she is excitedly getting ready to host a visit by the latest super popular influencer cum cookbook author, Phoebe Winston, who is making a comeback with a book on vegan cuisine after a scandal. Phoebe is a graduate of the local culinary school, but not everyone in Yarrow Glen is happy to see her coming home. Then Phoebe is murdered, and Willa's employee is the main suspect, so she investigates out of guilt--he wouldn't have been the last person to see Phoebe alive if Willa hadn't insisted he be Phoebe's assistant that day. I like Willa and her best friend Baz, and I wish we had seen more of Mrs. Schultz. There's enough cheese talk to ground the book in its' setting but not so much that the reader would be annoyed (even readers like me, who love cheese). I'm not sure how long a cheese shop can function as a mystery setting, but I suppose it will do just as well as a bookstore. The characters are likable, and enough time is spent on the setting and on the town to make me want to visit again. Net Galley

Middle Sister's September Reads

Autumn is subtle in the desert. The air begins to dry out and the view to the mountains becomes clearer. It's still hot, but overnight temperatures start to drop slowly, so that one can stand outside under the inky black sky sprinkled with stars, and breathe. My flagging energies are always renewed this time of year. Reading comes less of an escape from oppressive heat and more a simple delight.

In the Shadow of Vesuvius by Tasha Alexander I often listen to audiobooks while doing other things around my house or while driving. My library's collection is ever increasing, but they don't often have series in their entirety, so I often jump into a series well in its arc. Such happened this month with In the Shadow of Vesuvius, the fourteenth book in the Lady Emily series, a series of which I had never heard. The brief description mentioned murder in Pompeii and archaeology; I was sold. I'm not sure I like Lady Emily; she's strong and late twentieth-century modern yet falls back into simpering nineteenth-century femininity by turns, so she and several of the other women in the novel, set in 1902, are not convincing in their presentation. I truly dislike when authors and publishers set stories in historical settings and yet then have the characters speak as if they were walking around today: "turns out" and "you lot" used by a convent-educated woman, for example, seemed incongruous. The constantly shifting point of view, between 1902 and 79 AD, was handled well but the ancient story was so predictable that it detracted from the murder Lady Emily  and Colin were investigating. The character of Kat was as annoying as one might expect, but did demonstrate some character growth that will make her less of a distraction in future books. The mystery was intriguing: while touring Pompeii, Emily, Colin, and Ivy, Emily's friend, discover a modern body encased in an ashy cement and posed between the remains of humans killed during the ancient volcanic eruption. The investigation is handled well enough considering the author set her story in time long before telephones and instant access to information. I may read another in the series to see if they are more interesting as straight-up mysteries. While many like shocking family secrets, I am not a fan of melodrama and soap operas, and there was a lot of that in the background. The narration was adequate. (Audiobook)

From Here to There: The Art and Science of Finding and Losing Our Way by Michael Bond I used to use and survey maps for a living, which (only partly) explains my love of books with maps. A book about how humans navigate sounded fascinating to me, and it was indeed engrossing. Mr. Bond started off with a detailed but not too esoteric background on the biological basis of how our brains map spatial data, and then moved on to some cultural differences between different human groups and their perceptions of space and how they learn to perceive locations. Particularly poignant were the stories of people who got lost and died, reminding us all that even in the day of GPS on our phones and watches, there are still wild areas where one can get dangerously lost. I would have to agree that current reliance on GPS is causing some humans to lose their navigating abilities. I worked with someone who, for an entire week, took the same wrong turn because the GPS told him to. Well written, fascinating and recommended.

After reading The Plot Thickets last month, I decided I had to read the first two books in the series. Pruning the Dead by Julia Henry is the first entry in the Garden Squad series, and it's here that the Garden Squad forms and begins its clandestine beautification projects around Goosebush. Lily's husband died two years ago, and she's been living in a fog since then. But her friends have managed to convince her that her beloved garden needs her tender care, and that a garden party would be a gentle way to rejoin Goosebush society. It's a huge success and Lily begins to slowly emerge from her widowhood, only to find that some changes in town have happened over those two years that she doesn't like. But what she really doesn't like is when her ex-husband's wife is murdererd, so Lily decides to find out who the real murderer is. One note: Roddy is introduced here with an Irish accent, but later books say his accent is English; one notices little things like this when you read three books back to back. All in all, it's a good first book, with a mystery that's not too intricate for the reader to guess but which is a pleasant introduction to the small town and the loyal friends who make it special.

Tilling the Truth by Julia Henry I love Lily Jayne's best friend, Tamara; she's bright, funny, and in a wonderful marriage. But someone is out to destroy Tamara's reputation as a realtor by playing nasty pranks that ruin her open houses. Tamara is determined to sell a coveted beach house despite the pranks, but it may not be just the commission she loses when the woman who lives next door is found dead, with Tamara standing over her. The entire Garden Squad swings into action to help save one of their own from being falsely accused of murder. The mystery in this series is secondary to the warm, considerate, kind cast of characters that Ms. Henry has created in the people that surround Lily. Goosebush is a pleasant place to visit, despite the murder rate. I envy the close and supportive relationships this group have with each other, and that's really the draw for the series for this reader. 

Dashing Through the Snowbirds by Donna Andrews I guess I'm in a sentimental frame of mind, wanting to vicariously live in either a town like Goosebush, where strong friendships have created a fictive family that takes care of each other, or in Caerphilly, where the extremely large Langslow family, with its dozens of cousins and aunts and uncles, constantly pour in and out of Meg's kitchen and life, always ready to pitch in and help with the task at hand, whether that's cooking for a crowd or solving a murder. Meg Langslow has so many relatives that pepper her mysteries that sometimes I get confused over who is who, but that's not the case this time, in the latest book in this long running series. It's Christmas in Caerphilly, and Meg's house is overrun with the employees of a genealogy company her brother's company is in the process of buying. There's a deadline looming on the project they are all working frantically on so that they can return to Canada for Christmas. But then the boss is murdered, and everyone's plans change. Ms. Andrews has this formula down to an art, yet somehow manages to make each book read fresh, and this is no exception. Meg's large family is still present, but their involvement in the murder investigation is scaled back from other books in the series, which means the cast of characters is not unwieldy and their oft-crazy shenanigans don't upstage the murder. I wish I had a big family that was always underfoot, like Meg, so a visit to Caerphilly is always wonderful. This soon-to-be-published book is a great holiday read, and I recommend it (and the whole series). Net Galley

Mystery at Magpie Lodge by Clare Chase I know there are a number of Eve Mallow mysteries in print, but this is the first for me (number 7 in the series). I love a mystery set in a small English village, and I loved that the protagonist of this series, Eve, is a fifty-plus woman with a career, a secret lover, a dachshund, and a life she's comfortable with. The black sheep of a local prominent family returns, down on his luck and desperate for money. He starts leading tours around the village, but he focuses on the scandals the locals would rather were forgotten. When he is murdered, there are several villagers who are happy he's no longer around to stir up trouble, but Eve is troubled. She liked Emory and found him sincere, and she is determined to find out who killed him. I figured the whodunnit out about three-quarters of the way through, which is much later than usual; Ms. Chase did a good job of sprinkling her clues and red herrings about. I enjoyed this book enough that I may have to back track to read more about Eve and how she came to the little town of Saxford St. Peter and her clandestine romance. Net Galley

Middle Sister's August Reads

We had a particularly rainy August this year, and there's nothing I like better than hearing raindrops on the roof and windows while I read. 

The Game Is Afoot by Vicki Delany Ms. Delany is an extremely prolific cozy mystery author, with currently 6 series in publication. I always worry when an author puts themselves in this position, because quality goes right out the window as they struggle to meet all the deadlines for all their different series. Or worse, they employ a ghostwriter who can't recreate the original style that earned the second and Thord contracts. I enjoy her Tea by the Sea series, and being a mystery lover, couldn't resist trying a title in the Sherlock Homes Bookshop series. I'd enjoy living in a community that not only supported a mystery bookstore (our local mystery bookstore closed shop in December 2020 because of the pandemic) but one that was so specialized that it only dealt with books of and about Sherlock Holmes. Gemma Doyle (get it?) owns the bookstore, located in the small town of New London (get it?) on Cape Cod, and after some success in solving local mysteries, she has been called in to investigate the potentially paranormal activities going on at the local historical museum, Scarlet House. She is certain that a very alive human is behind the unexplained incidents, but before she can convince the board of directors to implement her practical advice to change the locks, someone dies. Was it murder by a human or a ghost? To complicate matters, Gemma's sister Pippa, who works for some mysterious British government agency (get it?) shows up unannounced and in pursuit of something. I wish Gemma's boyfriend, policeman Ryan Ashburton, maintained the lines between public and police a little more, but overall that trespassing back and forth was handled quite well. There were a few coincidences that stretched belief, but  the setting was well done, the pace never slacked, and overall I enjoyed the book and will look out for others titles. (Net Galley)

The Plot Thickets by Julia Henry I've read the last three of five in this series, with The Plot Thickets the latest (and soon to be publishe. I remain a little skeptical of Lilly Jayne--she's too perfect. Oh, the author has her complain about aches and pains, but she's always right and everyone in town defers to her opinions and tastes, and I find her a little supercilious and obnoxious because of that. But I really like some of the secondary characters, like Ernie and Tamara, and I love the setting: a small town in Massachusetts where everyone knows each other. The fictive family they have created includes everyone in holidays and dinners, looks out for each other, and everyone's social and political sensibilities are in line (if they are not, they will be a major suspect or the next victim). I like this fictional town, despite it's silly name, and I read the series for the cosiness I feel stepping into that place. In this book, Lilly discovers something odd is happening at the town cemetery, and she and Delia dive deep into the historical records and the funeral business to figure out who is behind the shenanigans and why. There is character development across the series, but you can read them out of order without feeling lost. I was inspired to get books 1 and 2 from my library to get a little more of the backstory. Some of the plot devices felt a little underdeveloped and others felt stretched, but I enjoyed the book and my visit to this caring, too-perfect little town. (Net Galley)

The Murder Mystery by Alice Castle This is the first in the Beth Haldane series, and I really liked the opening. Beth was a fresh protagonist, with her practical voice, recounting daily struggles as a single mother and very excited to have finally found a full time job. Better yet, it's at a prestigious local public school (read private school; this takes place in England) that she's hoping her son will be able to attend in a few years, and having mum on staff can't hurt.  I even enjoyed learning that she was not close to her parents; that there was no awful reason why, they were just dissimilar people who weren't involved in each others' lives. I found that refreshing. Unfortunately for Beth, her new boss is murdered the morning of her first day. Unfortunately for the reader, we quickly became quite disenchanted with Beth as she convinces herself that the police think she is the number one suspect because she found the body. She met her boss exactly twice; it is obvious to both fictional police and reader alike that Beth is not and could not be murderer since she lacks any motive. But Beth is almost hysterical about this as the reason she has to investigate the crime, and by the third or fourth repetition of this ridiculous pretext, I was starting to hope the handsome inspector would arrest her to validate her completely unfounded conviction. Beth also accuses others of doing exactly what she is doing ("...amazed at his imperturbability. If someone had decided to put her own archive in order, say, she'd be furious." Yet this exactly what Beth is doing. Americanism: pot, meet kettle.) There are also some weird situations that defy credulity: Beth was never invited to her grandparents' parties as a child staying with them. Really, a child would want to spend the entire evening with people 60 years older than them and no one to play with? And yes, of course, our amateur detective doesn't think the police will investigate the victim's finances (really?)  because they are clearly not competent because they are not telling her everything about their investigation. At one point, Beth just flat out admits that she's going to obstruct the police: "Beth wasn't sure whether, if she revealed what she'd found to Inspector York, she'd get into such huge trouble that she would just regret it. And also, if she did tell the police, how could she then get any further with her digging? They wouldn't obligingly tell her how they were getting on." How I hate this attitude in mysteries. Naturally, because he doesn't tell the police what she learns, she gets into terrible trouble after she confronts the murderer on her own.  I have two more Beth Haldane mysteries on my Kindle and am not sure I want to read them if this is the attitude of our main character, because it doesn't make me sympathize with her. On the plus side, I did learn some British words I'd love to use, like wodge and Grand Panjandrum. I may just take a break and see if I feel like fi ending out if she grows as a character. (Net Galley)

Middle Sister's July Reads

Hot, hot, hot, and now, finally, rainy, rainy, rainy! To combat the steamy weather, I undertook my annual summertime reading of books set in the winter to take my mind off what the humidity is doing to my curls and the rampaging weeds taking over my backyard.

A Brush with Murder (A Watercolor Mystery) by Gail Langer Karwoski I've recently commissioned my artist sister to paint several things for my house, so a painting-themed mystery was on point. Four friends, who all belong to the same local painting group, go to an artistic retreat together. Unfortunately, the friends find that murder can happen even in the most beautiful of places. What I liked about the book: the four women are all middle-aged or late middle aged, with grown children (if they have children; Jane Roland, our POV in this novel, doesn't have children), which is where I am in life now. They are active people, pursuing their interests, and not obsessed with youth or trying to regain their youth, which is refreshing. The circumstances of how the amateur detectives are drawn into the investigation are realistic; I hate farfetched plot devices to get the amateur detective involved. The watercolor retreat is not sidelined by the investigation; our heroines continue to attend workshops and pursue their intent, rather than get sidelined to throw everything into pursuing the mystery, and the watercolor tips they learn certainly read as legitimate. The police were treated with respect by our amateurs, who gave them information and never tried to interfere--hooray! In fact, I loved that when Jane suddenly realized the key to solving the murder, she immediately texted the sheriff. I enjoyed that the final confrontation with the murderer took place out of the reader's view, and we were told about it through the women talking about it afterwards. Great way to move the denouement along and wrap the story up. Things I wasn't so happy about: some of the characterizations of the women made them seem too one-dimensional: Jane is too organized and calm, Donna is too dotty and silly. I'd have liked a little more nuance to their characters as perfect characters are very boring to me. Some of the comments the women said to each other were verging on snarky. and I'm tired of snark and putdowns and even subtle means masquerading as supposed wit or cleverness. So what if Donna wears a bright orange beret? The name of the retreat, Gardens and Horses, felt distinctly at odds with the hoity-toity, elite horse racing community it represents. Something like Magnolia Springs or some other more evocative and snobby name would have worked better to underscore the ritzy country club atmosphere; this sounds like a plant nursery for someone with no imagination. Someone needs to tell the author that black labs don't have fur that your can tousle atop their heads; they have a short coat; minor quibble, but it irked me. And for goodness' sake, if Donna is always fainting because of her high blood pressure, she needs to see a doctor stat and be put on appropriate medication! It looks like this might be the first in a new series, and sometimes it takes the author a while to get the feel of her characters, especially when she's juggling 4 main characters, as Ms. Karwoski is here. This is light read, heavy on horses (not my personal interest) but pleasant summer reading and it shows promise. I'm interested in the characters enough that if a second book appears, I'll read it. (NetGalley)

A Murder at Balmoral by Chris McGeorge It's Christmas Day, and the fictional royal family of England, headed by King Eric, have gathered at Balmoral to celebrate the holiday, as they do every year. But this year, the king has dismissed everyone except his chef, Jon, and the security head, in order to have a real family holiday. Poor Jon! He has to do all the cooking, the serving, and the cleaning up afterwards. He didn't expect to have to solve a murder, too. With a blizzard raging outside, the family are trapped in their castle, and when murder strikes, it is up to Jon to discover which royal is also a royal murderer. I enjoyed the book, although I'm not sure I liked anyone in it. I sympathized with Jon and his circumstances, both private and re: his relationships with the royal family, but I'm not sure I cared for his blind devotion to the king. It also felt that some scenes dragged on a little too much, even though the book takes places over just 36 hours or so. However, kudos to Mr. McGeorge for giving me an ending I was not expecting at all, and which therefore delighted me. And all the descriptions of swirling snow and blinding wind certainly helped me escape these hot desert summer nights. An enjoyable and fairly quick read with a surprise ending that should entertain mystery readers who like locked door mysteries set in English country estates, and those still yearning for more Downton Abbey. (NetGalley)

The Dog Behavior Answer Book by Arden Moore Well illustrated book for new dog owners that provides answers to common questions in short, concise articles. Updated since the first edition in 2006, the book is well organized to help owners find answers to questions ranging from why does my dog drink out of the toilet bowl to common sense training tips for both the dog and the owner. Because as we all know, 90% of dog training is training the owner! Most articles are at most one or two pages long, are written in a loose, conversational style, with lots of stock color photos of cute dogs (always a plus!), along with side bars like Breed Bytes, Sniff it Out, and safety tips that even experienced dog owners, like me, will enjoy reading. (NetGelley)

The Adventure of the Peculiar Protocols by Nicholas Meyer The author of the Seven Percent Solution returns another Sherlock Holmes mystery culled from the unpublished diaries of Dr. John Watson. Sherlock is drawn into a puzzling mystery by his brother, Mycroft, that rapidly escalates into an international intrigue that could contribute to a war that would engulf all of Europe, unless Sherlock can stop it. I enjoyed the book, and the recorded version I listened to was well narrated. The book is based on real events and involves real people, although artistic license has certainly been taken with the physical descriptions of some of them. The parallels with what is happening today are blunt and obvious but no less powerful for that, although the book was published in 2019 and I listened to it in 2022. This is one of my favorite authors to take on Sherlock as Mr. Meyer always does so with great respect to Arthur Conan Doyle but yet he manages to create a Sherlock that is still very much Doyle's creature but also that much more: more fleshed out, more relevant, more interesting. 

Middle Sister's June Reads

 I read the most delightful book this month, the third of three really good books that I enjoyed (see my Mid-month Review in the previous post). June was a good book month.

Cold Clay by Juneau Black The second entry in a series of three books (to date). Shady Hollow is a small, quiet town inhabited by animals (yes, animals). Reminiscent of Susan Wittig Albert's Cottage Tales series, 8 equally delightful (and I was so sad when Ms. Albert stopped writing the series), this charming book has memorable characters and a lovely setting (and a map--you know how I love a book with a map!). Vera Vixen, fox reporter, is our amateur detective, and she is ably assisted by her best friend Lenore Lee, the raven who owns Nevermore Books, and her boyfriend, Deputy Orville Braun, bear. I loved this book. It was so charming and sweet, the animal characters kind and realistic and relatable. Shady Hollow and its inhabitants were enchanting and I immediately looked for the other two books in the series. The mystery is well plotted, the characters are fully fleshed out, and while there was one aspect of the whodunit conclusion that was a little bit of a stretch to believe, it was still a great read. It did not escape my notice that Vera appears to be a vegetarian, and every meal she has at Joe's Mug read deliciously. I am eager to return to Shady Hollow, especially during these tumultuous and scary times. A sweet, innocent murder mystery that is appropriate for both advanced child readers and adults--perfect. 

Steeped in Evil by Laura Childs I know I vowed to stop reading this series, but I thought one from  earlier in the series might still be good, without all the annoying inconsistencies that beset the more recent Tea Shop Mysteries. And I enjoyed the first half of the book. Theodosia was not annoying and arrogant in her sleuthing, the professionals were not ridiculed as incompetent, and I had high hopes. And then it started, first with a few little things: Theodosia never tells Maggie that Andrew is looking to buy a house, just that she knows someone who could use a realtor, yet Maggie jumps to the assumption he's a buyer. OK, that's perhaps not an unreasonable assumption; he's either buying or selling. And then world class tea sommelier Drayton doesn't know what a Banbury tart is? And he says "Seriously?!" like a tween girl? Drayton is a little fussy but very gentlemanly, an American version of the stereotypical Englishman, and his exclamations and vocabulary would not include 'Seriously?!" And speaking of the food, how does Haley manage to do all the cooking, cleaning, and planning for not only the tea room but also the catering events? Miss Dimple is there to help serve when needed, but honestly, there's no way Haley could do all that work, especially if the Indigo Tea Shop is open 6 days a week (I think they're closed one day a week, but even if closed for two, it's just not realistic that she has no help). I've suspected for years that Ms. Childs employed a ghost writer, and the fact that Theo's boyfriend Max actually says the sentence "We're going to pretend we're not snuggle bunnies?" proves it. Then it was there, in full force: Theo muses that maybe the sheriff would figure the mystery out. "Or maybe pigs would sprout wings and fly." At this point, Theo has exchanged about 12 words with the sheriff, so how she has the temerity to think she judge his progress in his investigation is beyond annoying. She gets very annoyed when the manager of Smiley's won't let her interrogate one of his employees when that man is supposed to be working, and the entire exchanges when she trying to wheedle her way into the restaurant were embarrassing at best and insufferable at worst. They witness the car accident, but don't call 911, and Drayton was so upset he couldn't dial those 3 numbers? That is not the competent man we know. But the most egregious violations were this: private hospital rooms do not share a bathroom, so the entire scene where Theo escapes discovery by sneaking out the shared bathroom was ridiculous. Clearly the ghost writer backed themselves into a corner and created this plot device to fix a major shortcoming in the story. But that episode was  surpassed by her behavior at the silent auction, when, instead of voicing her suspicions about the bottle of wine to either law enforcement or the auction organizers, she grabs it and opens it to prove her point. Stop insulting your readers! Cell phones have the numbers and/or names of incoming calls showing nice and bright and big right there on the screen, so Theo would never have been surprised by who was calling her; she'd have known the instant she looked at the phone. This is beyond insufferable and beyond excuses. Stop dialing it in, Ms. Childs. Either slow down your mass production of multiple series or perhaps just stop writing. 

Murder on the Moor by Julianna Deering Drew and Madeline Farthering are asked by his former schoolmate, Beaky, to look into some mysterious happenings in the moor that surrounds his estate.  His wife Sabrina has been spooked by noises when walking her dog and feels certain someone has been watching her. Drew and Madeline immediately drive up to the estate to look into things, while their friend Nick impersonates a rough traveling man so that he can investigate things from the village's perspective without suspicion. Set in the 1920s, this is reasonably accurate portrayal of that time between the wars when society and economies were in turmoil, and the landed aristocracy was having to face the new realities of the early twentieth century. I liked the book, although Drew and Madeline were a little too cutesy for me. The secondary characters were interesting and useful and not merely there to fill in the pages; they each advanced the story in important ways. All in all, an nice, quick read.

Middle Sister's Mid-month Review

 I just finished two great books and had to jump on and review them while both were still fresh in my mind, Completely opposite genres and styles, but both were so good.

Fen, Bog, & Swamp by Annie Proulx This non-fiction book by acclaimed author Annie Proulx is her heartbreaking swan song to the death of the fens, bogs, and swamps that nurtured all life on earth and which seem destined to disappear from our besieged planet. She traces the geomorphological origin of each landform, its importance to the development of human society and local culture, and then details how modern society has destroyed the very thing that allowed us to flourish in situ in the first place. The cultural history of specific areas was very interesting (I had never heard of Doggerland), and I loved learning about the geomorphological development of each landform. While she includes as tiny glimmers of hope the attempts around the world to save areas of intact bog or swamp, or efforts to re-create natural landforms, the overall tone is very depressing. It's hypnotic and depressing at the same time. Beautifully written and achingly despairing and heartbreaking. I rank it right up there with Rachel Carson's writings. Highly recommended. (Net Galley)

The Woman in the Library by Sulari Gentill One of the best mysteries I've read this year! Ms. Gentill has written an absorbing and fast-paced mystery novel with a unique, semi-epistolary structure and a story within a story that is riveting. I stayed up late last night to finish it, and I'll be frank, I rarely do that. I will admit I had to go back and re-read the ending to make sure everything has been explained and tied up accurately. While I had guessed The Whodunnit by the last fifth or so of the book, I couldn't put it down. The one thing I didn't like was Ms. Gentill's decision to write in the present tense. It's just me--I really dislike that. That is an indication of how good the book is, that I could persevere with a book whose literary style I intensely dislike. I know it's a choice used to build intensity, but I don't think her story needed that. It's so unique and compelling that I think it would have survived a more traditional verb tense just fine. But I quibble. Even if you don't like mysteries, I think you will enjoy this novel, which includes romance, redemption, and asks the bigger question of how do we know who to trust and when? Highly recommended. (Net Galley)