Paint the Town Dead by Sybil Johnson

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    Rory Anderson is an IT consultant and artist who has recently returned to her childhood hometown to live. She is attending an art convention at the recently opened Akaw Resort.
     While attending an art class, one of Rory's friends, Jasmine, collapses and dies. The death is ruled an accidental overdose of her anti-narcolepsy medication, but Rory feels that someone deliberately poisoned Jasmine. She and her best friends Liz, begin to track down Jasmine's movements at the convention to try to piece together what actually happened. Along the way, they uncover several secrets that could have played a part in silencing Jasmine.
     This is the second book in this new series, but easily stands alone. There are enough plot twists and turns to keep the reader interested and guessing right up to the end. Prepare to do nothing else until the book is finished!
     A great post-holiday read with a cuppa tea and a comfy easy chair.

Life in the Time of Murder by D E Haggerty

     This is the third installment of The Gray Haired Knitting Detectives. I have not yet read the first two books, but after the fun romp of this book, I will be going back to read the back stories.
Dee is a 30ish woman who recently left her abusive husband, and moved in with her grandmother until she can get settles and find her own place. Grandma runs in a posse of older women who love to knit and solve murders. There are various other friends that hang out together, including Izzy (the granddaughter of a former knitter), her husband, Mike, a police detective, Jack, Dee's boss and the owner of the store where she works, and his partner, Damien, and Tommy, and local firefighter with a major crush on Dee.
When Dee's husband visits her and demands that she move back with him, the gang kick into gear to protect Dee. A few days later, he is found dead, and Dee becomes the number one suspect. The knitters, et. al., kick into high gear to find the real killer before the detective assigned to the case arrests Dee. Of course mayhem ensues.
If you like fun, quirky characters, fast-paced repartee', and people who supposedly work full-time, but never have to be at work when a crisis arises, you will love this book. Part of the fun comes from Dee trying to find ways to escape the posse when she wants to talk to someone without their interference.
I give this a four out of five stars for inventive fun, twists and turns, and lots of laughs!

Between A Rock and a Hard Place (Potting Shed Mystery series Book 3)

 This is # 3 in the Potting Shed Series, and I have thoroughly enjoyed all three entries. And at $2,99 for the Kindle edition of this volume, it is a great bargain.

Pru Parker is a 50-something Texan, drawn back to her mother's birthplace in England. She is a master horticulturist, and looks for work that will allow her to remain in England. She has met and fallen in love with Detective Chief Inspector Christopher Pearse at her first position – and first murder scene. By Book 3, she has completed a 6-month travel time with Christopher which has culminated with his proposal and her acceptance.

Now as they plan their wedding and decide where they will live, Pru takes a 3-month assignment at Royal Botanic Gardens in Edinburgh., researching recovered documents that could prove to be the missing diaries of ‘Archibald Menzies. Menzies had been an 18th-century plant hunter, and part of his diaries had been missing until, possibly, now. She would validate it based on the botanics he wrote of.

Pru is assigned to special collections curator, Iain Blackwell, and is given a part-time assistant, Saskia Bennet. Iain makes it very clear that he is upset that Pru has been hired to research the journal, and not assigned to him. After a particularly heated exchange, overheard by Saskia, Iain is found dead, and Pru becomes the prime suspect. Christopher travels to Scotland to help support Pru and work with her to clear her name. Twists and turns ensue.

With each book, the characters have been become deeper and more interesting people. The books are well-written and provide information about real gardens and true historical horticultural information.
If you enjoy cozy mysteries, this is for you. If you love gardening, this is for you. And while the arch of the story grows over each installment, each book also stands alone. I give this a strong 4 out of 5 Stars! 

The Rhyme of the Magpie by Marty Wingate

     The Rhyme of the Magpie is the first book in a new series by Marty Wingate. I read the first in her Potting Shed series and signed up through Netgalley to review this book as well.
Julia Lanchester has just started a new job as the public relations promoter for Smeaton-Under-Lyme, hired by the local earl to make his village a tourist destination. We soon learn that she has recently quit working for her father, the famed birder, Rupert Lanchester, who hosts an award-winning show on BBC Two. It was not an amicable split, so when Rupert comes to try to patch things up, Julia quickly asks him to leave without hearing him out. Julia's step-mother calls the next day to say that Rupert has gone missing and she is concerned. Julia decides to visit the family retreat to see if Rupert hqas holed up there to plan next season's shows, but stumblews across a dead body while searching the grounds. Rupert's new assistant, Michael Sedwick, has shown up, and offers to help Julia look for Rupert, and now clear any suspicion that he had anything to do with the death on his property.
Many twists and turns occur as Julia digs more deeply into her father's recent activities. She is not quite sure if Michael is a help, or part of the problem. And several people around Rupert appear "freindly" but also taking advantage of Rupert's broadcast fame. Who to trust?
This is a fun, light-hearted cozy mystery with interesting characters and sites. Warm a pot and pour your tea as you follow Julia on the quest to find her father and save his reputation. I give this 4 solid stars!

Apparent Wind by Dallas Murphy

     Apparent Wind is an outlandish romp through southern Florida. Dennis "Doom" Lewis is a con man easily talked into doing crazy projects (i.e. writing a novel promoted as being by Eleanor Roosevelt, and spending 5 years in prison when his cohorts took off and left him holding the bag.) His father has died and he has inherited a sailboat and piece of land in Florida that is sinking into the sea. When he arrives in Florida, it quickly becomes clear that others have their eyes on his land and are working hard to con him out of it.
The characters are beyond believable and offer overflowing silliness. Doom falls in love with a beautiful woman who teaches scuba diving, and, whose grandmother is is a Seminole native. An addicted history professor who had been involved in the fake novel shows up. Two women named Anne are filming a documentory and become interested in Doom's fight for his land. They all conspire together to out con the cons trying to take Doom's land. Unbelievable craziness ensues.
If you want clever, silly fun, this book is for you. A perfect beach book!

As Chimney Sweepers Come to Dust by Alan Bradley

 Banishment to Canada feels awful to Flavia de Luc, as if she is being punished for discovering the fate of her mother, and, being the youngest in the family. At Miss Bodycote's Female Academy, Flavia discovers that her mother was a renowned former student. The first night at the school, Flavia discovers a mumified corpse when it falls from the chimney. This begins a quest to find out why she has been sent here, how the body came to be in the chimney, and what type of training her mother actually received at the scvhool.
Flavia is a 12 year old chemistry prodogy and inveterate snoop. Miss Bodycote offers rumors of ghosts, disappearing students and a teacher who is a convicted murderer. All this is making Miss Bodycote's a much more interesting place than Flavia first assumed.
I had feared the series had ended with the previous entry, The Dead in their Vaulted Arches. I am so grateful the series continues. While each book can stand alone, the force of Flavia is best experienced by starting at the beginning and reading the entire series. I give this 5 stars!

The Blanche White Series: Two Books (and counting) of Excellent Intrigue

 Blanche on the Lamb is the beginning of a sassy new series. Blanche White is an intelligent, middle-aged, African-American domestic worker in North Carolina. She is The Help in current time, with attitude. In this book, one of her employers stiffs her with a bad check which cause her checks to bounce, so she lays low by working for a rich family at their country estate. The only member of the family who seems humane and caring is the family's slightly mentally challenged Cousin Mumford. None of the others are worth the air they breathe.  The murder and subsequent antics of the family seem silly and at times comedic, against Blanche's commentary on race relations in Southern America. If you enjoy southern Gothic with attitude, you will love Blanche.


 Blanche Among the Talented Tenth tackles the ugly truth of discrimination among people of color. Her children are attending an elite private school in Boston, and are beginning to bring home uppity attitudes that Blanche does not like one bit. when the kids are invited to an exclusive Maine resort for wealthy blacks, Blanche decides to allow this romp through exclusive, black America. When one guest commits suicide, and another death leads to complicated questions, Blanche is dragged into finding the truth. This idyllic resort is littered with deceit, snobbery and generations of history, along with a bit of romance.
     Blanche is her usual sassy self, with wit and insight that uncovers secrets and a long history of racial discrimination. I cheer for Blanche once again, and for her integrity and her courage to face heart-wrenching decisions. I can't wait until the next volume is published!

Saving Paradise

     I recieved this book for free from NetGalley in exchange for a review of the book. This review is completely my own opinion.
     Pono Hawkins, an Afghan vet-turned-surfer, literally bumps into the dead body of a beautiful journalist, Sylvia Gordon, and, he becomes obsessed with finding out why she died and who killed her. He searches Hawaii for her friends and finds out what story she was working on. His quest drags him into the underbelly of paradise. Bond writes a scathing story of government and company corruption and a total cover-up of the journalist's murder.
     Sylvia has been following the trail of corruption from the Governor's Office to Hawaii's Electric Utility to Hong Kong businessmen who want to build casinos and subdivisions to land companies that control large parts of Hawaii. A company called Wind Power wants to build huge wind farms on Molokai and lay underground cables through coral reefs and habitats of endangered species. All of it will destroy much of Hawaii's paradise, but the powers that be want the money more. Pono won't give up and keeps digging, to the point where the police have to admit that Sylvia was murdered. But then the tables are turned on Pono and he has to go on the run when the police accuse him of the murder. Except for his best friend, Mitchell, he never knows who he can trust, and each interaction is laced with the possibility of being turned over to the police.
     This story has more twists and turns, false starts and red herrings than a corn maze. The depth of corruption portrayed is disturbing, both in it's success and in it's propensity to ring true. I found my paranoia level triggered to a record high. If you want to be scared and to think over what happens behind the scenes, this book is for you. Pono is someone to whom I might not be able to relate, but I cheer him on in his stubborn determination to uncover the truth and expose the corruption. Four Stars for a good thrill ride.

Film Noir Mystery set in Quebec

I received a review copy of this book through NetGalley in return for writing a review. This is my true and personal opinion.


 This is currently on sale for $3.99.

Pray for Us Sinners by Peter S Fischer, in #7 in the Hollywood Murder Mysteries. I had not read any of the earlier book, but had no difficulty in understanding the story. The Hollywood Murder Mysteries is for the late 40's and 50's What The Toby Peters Mysteries by Stuart Kaminsky was for the early 40's. Brushes with Hollywood stars, period pieces, with a film noir vibe.

The protagonist in the Hollywood Murder Mysteries is Joe Bernardi, a press publicist for Warner Brothers studios. In Pray For Us Sinners, he is in Quebec overseeing the publicity needs for the production of the movie, "I Confess" starring Montgomery Clift, Anne Baxter, and Karl Malden, and, directed by Alfred Hitchcock. While having dinner with the beautiful Jeanne d’Arcy with the Quebec Province Film Commission, assigned to assist Joe in his publicist work for the film. A gentleman the Joe does not know approaches the table, obviously drunk, and begins to argue then yell with Miss d'Arcy. The argument is in French and Joe does not speak French, but he gets the feeling that there is more to this relationship than Jeanne is sharing. The next morning, the gentleman is found dead and all the evidence points to Jeanne. Being the eager, caring guy that he is, Joe becomes embroiled in finding the real killer and clearing Jeanne of the charges.

There are behind the scenes info on the filming of the movie, the relationships of the stars with Hitch and with each other (Clift is a "method" actor and Hitch just wants the actors to follow his orders), the world of broad sheet publishing, the back scene production office, etc. Mr Fischer is very gifted in setting a mood, developing realistic interactions, and creating interesting, multi-layered characters. this is a fun, interesting read, and I intend to get started reading the entire series. I give it 4 out of 5 stars.

Lost Legacy: A Tale of Murder, mystery and self-discovery

I received a free copy of this book through NetGalley in exchange for my review. This is my personal and true opinion.



Lost Legacy by Annette Dashofy is a second novel in the Zoe Chambers series. I have not read the first book and did not feel I was handicapped in understanding the story in any way. As a paramedic, Zoe responds to a call at a local farm. There she and her partner discover a farmer hanging from a beam in the barn. What at first appears to be a suicide is soon questioned as a possible homicide. Zoe remembers that some 40+ years ago another body had been found in this barn, part of a murder/suicide of two brothers. With a link to her family, she tries to ask her mother and step-father what they remember of the incident. Their side-stepping and irritability when questioned, leads Zoe to question what else is going on. A note left by the dead farmer, opens the possibility that her own father, killed in a car crash 20+ years earlier, may still be alive. With all these open questions, Zoe is on the hunt for the truth about all these events, and, an understanding of how they are related.

As Zoe searches deeper and deeper, Police Chief Pete Adams, struggles with his personal feelings for Zoe, and his fear that the truth will bring more pain and disappointment for Zoe. After two more citizens are killed, they realize that the killer is still at work. Zoe has a difficult relationship with her mother, and as Zoe begins to question what role her mother and/or step-father may have played in this tangled web, their relationship only deteriorates more.

This is an excellent book, with well sculpted characters, and complicated, gripping plot, and an assortment of small town characters that provide some comic relief. An excellent novel! I will definitely be waiting for the next book in the series!

Debut of the Potting Shed Mysteries

The Garden Plot: If you like mysteries, gardening, England, romance and amatuer slueths, this book is for you. Written by Marty Wingate, she brings her vast experience of gardening, traveling and writing, into her first foray into mystery writing.
Pru Parker is a bi-national English-American gardener, raised in Texas and recently replanted to England. Her mother has recently died (the English half of her parents), and Pru has always wanted to live in England. She has given herself a year to find a full-time head-gardener job in England or return to her job in Texas.
Her year is winding down with no full-time prospect, when she is hired to beat back an over-grown garden in two days, in time for a garden party. Pru uncovers a small shed in the back corner of the garden, and a floor with a beautiful mosaic, looking similar to Roman tiles discovered all over the country. Has she discovered another Roman villa or garden deeply buried. Instead, she falls over a dead body, and the game is afoot.
Pru meets Detective Chief Inspector Christopher Pierce. In her personal curiosity to understand what happened, she keeps crossing paths with the inspector to his alternating annoyance, amusement and concern.
This is an engaging first novel. The details of the historic gardens of England was fascinating. Pru's personal back-story was complicated but interesting. Pru was pretty naive for a 50's something woman, and occasionally acted in very stupid ways. But the overall story was interesting, filled with fun, quirky and sometimes crazy characters, beautiful surroundings, and a touch of romance. I suspect with all of Ms Wingate's gardening and writing experience, this series will grow with experience. I give it 4 stars out of five!

Flavia de Luce

The Dead in Their Vaulted Arches: A Flavia de Luce Novel

This is the 6th book in the Flavia de Luce series. Flavia is an 11 year old, eccentric, genius chemist. She lives with her father and two sisters in the family estate owned by her mother, Harriet, who disappeared in Tibet 10 years earlier, while on a mission draped in mystery.

This book opens as Harriet's remains are returned to the crumbling estate. Her body was found frozen in the Himalayas in Tibet. And now the government is bring her home, including Winston Churchill. Flavia cannot imagine what her mother had been doing when she died that would warrant the former prime minister to be involved.

As the family is moving from the train platform to the waiting limo, a tall stranger falls from the platform and is crushed by a train. As Flavia reaches his body, he whispers a strange message that makes no sense to her. "The Gamekeeper is in danger."

Flavia retreats to her beloved uncle's chemistry lab, that has been her refuge as far back as she can remember. She is initially focused on finding a way to bring her mother back to life. Flavia has finagled to stand vigil with her mother in the middle of the night when everyone else is asleep so that she can be alone to try her idea for reviving Harriet. In preparation she opens the coffin, and sees her mother for the first time in her memory. She reaches inside her mother's frozen coat and discovers an oilcloth wallet containing her will. Then she hears a commotion in the hallway outside her mother's room. She hides her items under the catafalque holding her mother, and sneaks out through the door into her father's bedroom.  Agents from the Home Office take over the vigil, and Flavia can no longer gain access to her mother's body.

To go any further with the plot outline would ruin the story for those who haven't yet read the book.

I am a huge Flavia de Luce fan and hope others will enjoy these well written, creative and often funny adventures of Flavia. But The Dead in Their Vaulted Arches is a huge departure from the previous 5 books. This story is much darker with excruciating sadness. This is not the Flavia without a care in the world trying to find useful ways to exercise her genius curiosity. This book explains many family secrets only hinted at in previous books. It ties up loose ends. It feels as if it is the end of an era, and possibly the end of the series. I sincerely hope that Mr. Bradley will continue the series with new adventures as Flavia grows and matures. But if he doesn't, it has been a grand journey!

Though this book can probably stand alone, the richness of the characters will be lost if you haven't read the series. Start at the beginning and work up to this 6th installment. For those who have read the earlier books, wild horses won't keep them away from this book.

Unraveling Raveled

     Raveled by Anne McAneny is an excellent story. It starts slowly and gains momentum as it moves along. Allison Fennimore is called to her small, southern hometown by her brother, Kevin, who is currently in addiction rehab and a ward of the court. Mom has begun "slipping" mentally, and has been troubled for the last 16 years since her husband stood trial for killing a teenage boy, son of the mayor, and accused of also killing a young teenage girl. Kevin want Allison to reopen their father's case. He is haunted by nightmares of the night before the boy was found tied to a bumper in the garage owned by their father, Artie, and shot in the abdomen. 
     Allison is hesitant to stir things up at this point. The trail is cold, and she was only 14 years old when the murders took place. She finds out that the prime players that fateful night are in town cor a class reunion. Allison decides to ask a few people some questions and see if anything new emerges. The town reaction is strong and leads Allison to more purposefully find out what happened that night. Many unforeseen  actions occur as Allison delves deeper. I thought I had figured things out, and then another piece of evidence would prove me wrong.
     This book is well-written, with an adult vocabulary (not dummied down for a 5th grade reading level), multi-layered characters, and, plot worthy of Byzantine twists and turns. I will be looking for Anne McAneny's other books. Definitely worth reading!

Refreshing, Creative Teens; not just a young adult read.

The Vigilante Poets of Selwyn Academy by  Kate Hattemer


I receive advance copies of books through NetGalley in order to write and share reviews of the books. I am not paid other than to receive the books, and I have no association with either the authors or the publishers.

I enjoyed the book very much. I am a sucker for anyone who stands up for what is "right", for stories of friendship, and for intelligent, creative young people. I was a bit put off initially by the three "beginnings" to the story, but as it progressed, I realized the creative approach to sharing background information. And the three endings provided a way to gather the threads together.
I loved the self-effacing Ethan, the intellectual geek Jackson, and the bold Elizabeth. I was very disappointed in Luke's changes, but that just demonstrated how invested I became with the characters. 
I loved the study of Ezra Pound's Cantos and the juxtaposition of the students' ContraCantos. The parallel was very powerful. And I was never taught half the information about punctuation and English form when I was in high school.
My only "hesitation" about promoting this book wholeheartedly is that I wonder how many teens are self-reflecting enough, intellectual enough, and have a broad enough vocabulary to enjoy this book. I know there are teens very much like the Vigilantes but are there enough to make this a best seller. And I doubt there are very many 12 year olds who would be able to "get into" this book.
Because of all the different layers in this story, many adults will thoroughly enjoy this book, and I hope it is marketed for adults as well as teens.

A Nice New England Lawyer Follows a Trail Through Time

I receive advance copies of books through NetGalley in order to write and share reviews of the books. I am not paid other than to receive the books, and I have no association with either the authors or the publishers.


Death at Charity's Point: 1 (The Brady Coyne Mysteries) [Kindle Edition]
William G. Tapply

This is a reprint of the first in the Brady Coyne series, written almost 30 years ago. The story has held up over time. You have to think back to the early 80's and realize they didn't have cell phones to whip out, and folks were not connected by the Internet.

Brady Coyne is a Boston lawyer with just enough ambition and enough luck to have fallen into a lucrative practice serving the super-rich elderly. He draws up wills, fights minor battles, and does a lot of hand holding to earn his money. One of his clients, Florence Gresham has never needed nor wanted hand-holding; not when her elder son died in Vietnam, not when her husband committed suicide. But when she was told her younger son, George, jumps off of a cliff near the school where he taught, she is sure it is not true. She asks Brady to investigate, even though he is concerned this is the beginning of a break with reality for Florence. When Florence offers to pay him 10% of George's insurance, Brady feels enticed enough to help Florence find the truth.

Brady talks to the medical examiner, the police chief, and several faculty at the prep school where George taught. No one seemed to know him well, but all agreed that the behavior didn't seem in line with what they did know of George, and, none had noted a downturn of his always dour demeanor.

In helping Florence to clear out George's apartment on campus, Brady finds a paper written by one of his students. Having only rated a "C" grade, Brady was curious why the perfectionist George had kept it. Brady also sees that George has been doing some research on the same topic as the student paper: the bombings in 1971 by radical groups wanting to overthrow the government.

Brady ploddingly follows each piece of a clue he can muster up, as we get to know several students and faculty at George's school, and the day-to-day life of Brady's law practice. There are interesting people, and enough twists and turns to keep it interesting. I give this book 4 stars for being well-written, moving forward (though slowly at times), and developing some interesting characters. I will be interested to see which ones become regulars in subsequent stories.

For those who like well thought out characters, a nice lawyer with little ambition, and little to no gore, this book is for you.

No Show: A Person's Worst Nightmare

No Show is the story of an English scientist (Terry Sheffield) who fell in love while on vacation, met with Sarah several subsequent times, married her in Las Vegas, and is relocating to CA to live with Sarah. He arrives at SFO, but Sarah is not there to meet her. The rest of the book is Terry's journey to find his wife.
I have a mixed response to this book, and from other reviews, I am not alone. The premise of the story is interesting and full of intrigue. But the characters often come across as caricatures, with predictable good guy/bad guy traits. Terry is befriended by an arcade owner, Oscar, and their dialogue is repetitive and oftens drags on too long. And there are two mysteries that emerge, but are eventually not related. The second theme seems to be more of a red herring than a necessary element. And I found the ending personally dissatisfying. But I am someone who always wants to good guys to win, and real life often does not follow this inner wish.
With all that said, I still enjoyed the book and recommend it. It is tense and surprising throughout the story, it is believable and drew me into the desire to find Sarah. I give it 3 1/2 stars.