Fudge Cupcake Murder by Joanne Fluke

Started: 5/27/2025

Finished: 5/29/2025

Year: 2004

Pages: 299

Genre: mystery

Grade; B-

Reason for reading: library book, continuing with series

Type: paperback

Blurb (from Amazon): "For Hannah, life seems to be lacking a certain flavor lately. Maybe it’s the local sheriff’s election that’s got her down. For years, Sheriff Grant’s been the iron hand in town. But now, Hannah’s brother-in-law, Bill, is giving the old blowhard the fight of his long, dubious career—and Grant’s not taking it well, especially once the polls show Bill pulling ahead.

"But before anyone can taste victory, Hannah makes a very unappetizing discovery: Sheriff Grant’s body in the dumpster behind the high school where she’s teaching her cooking class. Worse, the poor man still has fudge frosting on his shirt from one of her cupcakes.

"The number one—and only—suspect is Bill, but Hannah’s not swallowing it. Plenty of people had reason to hate Sheriff Grant. Soon, Hannah’s dishing up scandalous secrets, steaming hot betrayals, and enough intrigue to keep the gossip mill at The Cookie Jar going through several pots of decaf. And the closer Hannah gets to the truth, the closer she gets to smoking out a murderer with a very nasty recipe for silencing people . . ."

Opinion: Predictable but still entertaining

We Should Have Seen It Coming by Gerald F. Seib

Started: 5/26/2025

Finished: 5/27/2025

Year: 2020

Pages: 247

Genre: politics

Grade: B-

Reason for reading: Goodreads.com giveaway

Type: paperback

Blurb (from Amazon): "In 1980, President-Elect Ronald Reagan ushered in conservatism as the most powerful political force in America. For four decades, New Deal liberalism had been the country’s dominant motif, creating such popular programs as Social Security and Medicare, but it had become creaky in the face of soaring inflation, high unemployment, and a growing sense that the United States was no longer the dominant force on the world stage. Reagan's efforts to reshape the government with tax cuts, deregulation, increased military spending, and a more conservative social policy faltered at first. But the economy roared back, and the Reagan revolution was on.

"In We Should Have Seen It Coming, veteran journalist Gerald F. Seib shows how this conservative movement came to dominate national politics, then began to evolve into the populist movement that Donald Trump rode to power. Conservative institutions including the Heritage Foundation, the National Rifle Association, Americans for Tax Reform, Rush Limbaugh and Fox News gave the conservative movement a support system, paving the way for Newt Gingrich's Contract with America and George W. Bush's compassionate conservatism. But we also see multiple warning signs, many overlooked or misread, that a populist revolution was brewing. Pat Buchanan, Ross Perot, Sarah Palin, and the Tea Party—all were precursors of the Trump takeover.

"With behind-the-scenes anecdotes, Seib explains how Trump capitalized on that populist movement to victory in 2016, then began breaking from conservative orthodoxy once in office. He shows how Trump altered Republican relations with the business world, shattered conservative precepts on trade and immigration and challenged America’s long-standing alliances. This scintillating work of journalism brings new insight to the most important political story of our time."

Opinion: An indepth look of how we got from Nixon/Carter/Reagan to the first term of Trump. 

The Demon of Unrest by Erik Larson

Started: 5/26/2025

Finished: DNF

Year: 2024

Pages: 491

Genre: history/Civil War

Grade: C

Reason for reading: library book

Type: hardcover

Blurb (from Amazon): "On November 6, 1860, Abraham Lincoln became the fluky victor in a tight race for president. The country was bitterly at odds; Southern extremists were moving ever closer to destroying the Union, with one state after another seceding and Lincoln powerless to stop them. Slavery fueled the conflict, but somehow the passions of North and South came to focus on a lonely federal fortress in Charleston Harbor: Fort Sumter.

"Master storyteller Erik Larson offers a gripping account of the chaotic months between Lincoln’s election and the Confederacy’s shelling of Sumter—a period marked by tragic errors and miscommunications, enflamed egos and craven ambitions, personal tragedies and betrayals. Lincoln himself wrote that the trials of these five months were “so great that, could I have anticipated them, I would not have believed it possible to survive them.”

"At the heart of this suspense-filled narrative are Major Robert Anderson, Sumter’s commander and a former slave owner sympathetic to the South but loyal to the Union; Edmund Ruffin, a vain and bloodthirsty radical who stirs secessionist ardor at every opportunity; and Mary Boykin Chesnut, wife of a prominent planter, conflicted over both marriage and slavery and seeing parallels between them. In the middle of it all is the overwhelmed Lincoln, battling with his duplicitous secretary of state, William Seward, as he tries desperately to avert a war that he fears is inevitable—one that will eventually kill 750,000 Americans."

Opinion: Is history repeating itself? I didn't finish it because you get a jist of what happens. Like with other Larson books, you can tell that he did extensive research on the topic.

Dog Tags by David Rosenfelt

Started: 5/22/2025

Finished: 5/26/2025

Year: 2010

Pages: 360

Genre: mystery

Grade: B-

Reason for reading: library book, continuing with series

Type: hardcover

Blurb (from Amazon): "A German Shepherd police dog witnesses a murder and if his owner--an Iraq war vet and former cop-turned-thief--is convicted of the crime, the dog could be put down. Few rival Andy Carpenter's affection for dogs, and he decides to represent the poor canine. As Andy struggles to convince a judge that this dog should be set free, he discovers that the dog and his owner have become involved unwittingly in a case of much greater proportions than the one they've been charged with. Andy will have to call upon the unique abilities of this ex-police dog to help solve the crime and prevent a catastrophic event from taking place."

Opinion: Slightly different format than the previous books. Another pup was saved but was his owner?

Seam of the Crime by Jan Fields

Started: 5/21/2025

Finished: 5/22/2025

Year: 2014

Pages: 202

Genre: mystery

Grade: B

Reason for reading: TBR pile, continuing with series

Type: hardcover

Blurb (from Amazon): "Emma Cotton is sure in her heart that the trail to the killer of her friend, Rose Peterson, is nearing an end. Chase Meyer has to be the murderer. And Emma and her aunt, Dottie Faye Sinclair, intend to prove it once they find him. It seems Meyer has recently gone missing from his Upstate New York home. Joining Emma and Dottie Faye in the hunt for Meyer is private investigator Alex Manning. Emma isn't sure if she is extremely impressed with Alex's abilities or downright irritated at his macho attitude. But his prowess may come in handy as the trio navigates the dangerous world in which Meyer has become embroiled. The hunt proves difficult among the tight-lipped community, but it becomes even more complicated when death by cherry pie derails the trio. Emma and Kelly must decide whether the suspect of a fifteen-year-old murder case has struck again, or if the killing is purely a coincidence. Emma is certain that Meyer holds the key to Rose's murder, and she won't rest until justice is finally served."

Opinion: Decent continuation of the series. Not sure why Kelly was left behind.

Kills Well with Others by Deanna Raybourn

Started: 5/21/2025

Finished: 5/21/2025

Year: 2025

Pages: 354

Genre: mystery/action

Grade: B-

Reason for reading: library book, continuation of series

Type: hardcover

Blurb (from Amazon): "After more than a year of laying low, Billie, Helen, Mary Alice, and Natalie are called back into action. They have enjoyed their time off, but the lack of excitement is starting to chafe: a professional killer can only take so many watercolor classes and yoga sessions without itching to strangle someone...literally. When they receive a summons from the head of the elite assassin organization known as the Museum, they are ready tackle the greatest challenge of their careers.

"Someone on the inside has compiled a list of important kills committed by Museum agents, connected to a single, shadowy figure, an Eastern European gangster with an iron fist, some serious criminal ambition, and a tendency to kill first and ask questions later. This new nemesis is murdering agents who got in the way of their power hungry plans and the aging quartet of killers is next.

"Together the foursome embark on a wild ride across the globe on the double mission of rooting out the Museum’s mole and hunting down the gangster who seems to know their next move before they make it. Their enemy is unlike any they’ve faced before, and it will take all their killer experience to get out of this mission alive."

Opinion: Decent action scenes. Decent mystery.

A Page Marked for Murder by Lauren Elliott

Started: 5/19/2025

Finished: 5/20/2025

Year: 2020

Pages: 299

Genre: mystery

Grade: B

Reason for reading: library book, continuing with series

Type: paperback

Blurb (from Amazon): "January isn't the season for the seaside, but the big Fire and Ice festival is keeping bookstore owner Addie busy. Amid the plans for a fireworks display and an ice-carving competition, she's also dog sitting for a friend in the hospital. When Addie goes to her friend's house to gather supplies, she notices an interesting item on the nightstand which belongs to her shop assistant, Paige: a very valuable copy of the beloved children's book The Secret Garden.

"But Addie's blood runs cold when she finds something else: a dead body behind the bakery next door to her shop. Martha, the bakery owner, has no alibi--and has been seen in a heated argument with the victim. And the next thing Addie knows, that first edition has gone missing. Is there a connection between the body and the treasured tome? If there is, it's up to Addie to find a killer with a motive as hidden as Frances Hodgson Burnett's famous garden . . ."

Opinion: Murderer was not as clear cut as in other murder mysteries. Twisted protective family.

The Tale of Hill Top Farm by Susan Wittig Albert

Started: 5/19/2025

Finished: DNF

Year: 2004

Pages: 269

Genre: mystery

Grade: F

Reason for reading: bookcrossing.com book

Type: paperback

Blurb (from Amazon): "The author of Peter Rabbit and other tales, Beatrix Potter is still, after a century, beloved by children and adults worldwide. In this first Cottage Tale, Albert introduces Beatrix, an animal lover and Good Samaritan with a knack for solving mysteries. With help from her entourage of talking animal friends, Beatrix sets out to win over the human hearts of Sawrey, where she's just bought an old farm--and plans to stay."

Opinion: I just could not get into it. Too many animals to keep track of even with the italicized font.

The Orphanage by the Lake by Daniel G. Miller

Started: 5/16/2025

Finished: 5/19/2025

Year: 2025

Pages: 306

Genre: mystery

Grade: C+

Reason for reading: library book

Type: paperback

Blurb (from Amazon): "Hazel wants a new life.

"She's thirty years old, single, and her private investigation business is months away from folding.

"Her luck takes a turn when Madeline Hemsley, a mysterious socialite, pays Hazel a visit with an offer too enticing to resist. An orphan girl has disappeared from a children's home―The Orphanage By The Lake, as the locals call it―and Madeline wants Hazel to find her.

"At first glance, it appears to be a standard runaway case, but as Hazel plunges into the investigation, she finds signs of something more: unexplained blood stains, cryptic symbols, sinister figures shadowing her every move. The more she digs, the more she realizes that The Orphanage By The Lake holds terrifying secrets, and even worse…

"…so does Madeline."

Opinion: Interesting twist near the end. Obession is real.

The Bone Code by Kathy Reichs

Started: 5/15/2025

Finished: 5/16/2025

Year: 2012

Pages: 351

Genre: mystery

Grade: B-

Reason for reading: library book, continuing with series

Type: hardcover

Blurb (from Amazon): "On the way to hurricane-ravaged Isle of Palms, a barrier island off the South Carolina coast, Tempe receives a call from the Charleston coroner. The storm has tossed ashore a medical waste container. Inside are two decomposed bodies wrapped in plastic and bound with electrical wire. Tempe recognizes many of the details as identical to those of an unsolved case she handled in Quebec fifteen years earlier. With a growing sense of foreboding, she travels to Montreal to gather evidence.

"Meanwhile, health authorities in South Carolina become increasingly alarmed as a human flesh-eating contagion spreads. So focused is Tempe on identifying the container victims that, initially, she doesn’t register how their murders and the pestilence may be related. But she does recognize one unsettling fact. Someone is protecting a dark secret—and willing to do anything to keep it hidden."

Opinion: Interesting how cases from both Charleston and Montreal were connected. Lots of vaccine information-fitting for when this written-during COVID.

Silent Prey by John Sandford

Started: 5/12/2025

Finished: 5/15/2025

Year: 1992

Pages: 388

Genre: thriller/mystery

Grade: B-

Reason for reading: TBR pile, continuing with series

Type: paperback

Blurb (from Amazon): "Dr. Mike Bekker, a psychotic pathologist, is back on the streets, doing what he does best—murdering one helpless victim after another. Lucas Davenport knows he should have killed Bekker when he had the chance. Now he has a second opportunity—and the time to hesitate is through."

Opinion: Interesting twists. Gruesome murders 

Predictably Irrational by Dan Ariely

Started: 5/10/2025

Finished: DNF

Year: 2009

Pages: 322

Genre: psychology/business

Grade: C

Reason for reading: fan of the show Irrational which this is the basis for, library book

Type: paperback

Blurb (from Amazon): "Why do our headaches persist after we take a one-cent aspirin but disappear when we take a fifty-cent aspirin? Why do we splurge on a lavish meal but cut coupons to save twenty-five cents on a can of soup?

"When it comes to making decisions in our lives, we think we're making smart, rational choices. But are we?

"In this newly revised and expanded edition of the groundbreaking New York Times bestseller, Dan Ariely refutes the common assumption that we behave in fundamentally rational ways. From drinking coffee to losing weight, from buying a car to choosing a romantic partner, we consistently overpay, underestimate, and procrastinate. Yet these misguided behaviors are neither random nor senseless. They're systematic and predictable—making us predictably irrational."

Opinion: The show made these concepts a lot easier to immediately see and understand. Too bad the show has been cancelled. Even though I didn't finish it, I did find some of the experiments described interesting and I would not have fallen through the predictable irrational thinking which I found interesting.

Lemon Meringue Pie Murder by Joanne Fluke

Started: 5/8/2025

Finished: 5/10/2025

Year: 2003

Pages: 320

Genre: mystery

Grade: B-

Reason for reading: continue with series, library book

Type: hardcover

Blurb (from Amazon): "While scouring her boyfriend's new house for antiques, occasional sleuth and bake shop owner Hannah Swenson and her mother stumble upon the dead body of Rhonda Scarf, the house's former owner, as well as one of Hannah's legendary lemon meringue pies, plunging Hannah into her latest mystery."

Opinion: Predictable but still enjoyable. Glad to see that Hannah's mom found the body instead of Hannah for once.

Beauty Killers by Kathy Braidhill

Started: 5/7/2025

Finished: 5/8/2025

Year: 2010

Pages: 229

Genre: true crime

Grade: C

Reason for reading: TBR pile

Type: paperback

Blurb (from Amazon): "Janeen Snyder was only fourteen when she moved in with Michael Thornton, his wife, and teenage daughter. Michael was a successful entrepreneur and family man with eight beauty salons and a six-figure income-but two years later, he gave it all up to run away with Janeen. At last, on the road with his new young lover, Michael could indulge his darkest, wildest obsessions ...

"They worked together as a team, luring girls into their twisted world of violence, and depravity. They drugged them, trained them, bound them, abused them. And for many years, Michael and Janeen were never caught...until police uncovered the body of a Las Vegas teen in a horse trailer. One by one, detectives found other victims-the lucky ones who survived, but had been too terrified to come forward. Soon, the world would learn just how sick and deranged these lovers really were.

"Beauty Killers is a terrifying true story of sex, torture and murder--an illicit affair between two people who discovered a desire to kill..."

Opinion: Most of the book flips between the crimes and when Thornton was in prison awaiting trial. Not a lot of time was spent on the trial-just mostly the horrific crimes.

Murder by Cheesecake by Rachel Ekstrom Courage

Started: 5/6/2025

Finished: DNF

Year: 2025

Pages: 329

Genre: mystery

Grade: D-

Reason for reading: library book

Type: paperback

Blurb (from Amazon): "Things are heating up, and not just because of Blanche’s hot flashes. Rose’s cousin is eloping to Miami, and Rose is playing host. If she can't balance the groom’s family’s snobbery against the traditional St. Olaf wedding week guidelines, her hometown may never accept her cousin again!

"Dorothy quickly realizes she needs a date with whom she can exchange wedding-related wisecracks. Turning to a newfangled VHS dating service, she believes she’s found the ideal conversationalist. Unfortunately, what looks good on TV can actually be a total jerk in real life. It seems she’ll just have to enjoy the company of Sophia, Blanche, and whomever Blanche has targeted for a hookup.

"As the Girls all pitch in, Rose is thrilled that the tea-and-fish-themed kickoff event is perfect, not a herring out of place. That is until Dorothy’s date is found dead—face-planted in an otherwise scrumptious-looking cheesecake. With every guest a suspect (especially Dorothy) and a marriage on the line, the four besties must ID the real killer, get the should-be-happy couple down the aisle, and make sure nobody from St. Olaf gets lost in the wilds of Miami. It’s up to the Golden Girls to sleuth out a way for friendship and love to win the day!"

Opinion: Took too long to get to the mystery. Way too much dealing with the wedding plans. If you remember the show The Golden Girls, the characterization of each lady is pretty much on the mark.

New Tricks by David Rosenfelt

Started: 5/5/2025

Finished: 5/6/2025

Year: 2009

Pages: 309

Genre: mystery

Grade: B

Reason for reading: library book, continuing with series

Type: hardcover

Blurb (from Amazon): "Andy Carpenter gains possession of an adorable Bernese puppy whose owner was brutally murdered. Few can rival Andy's affection for dogs, and he will do whatever it takes to insure that this little pup doesn't fall into the wrong hands. However, his playful new friend is valued by several people, many of whom are willing to resort to violence to get what they want. It will take more than Andy's usual courtroom theatrics to save this dog, including a little help from his beloved golden retriever, Tara. Andy soon discovers that anyone around him is in danger, including his long-time girlfriend Laurie, and he will have to muster all of his wits to save those he holds most dear."

Opinion: Interesting twists involving mafia/mob killings, synthetic DNA and of course puppies.

Unsavory Notions by Amy Lillard

Started: 5/4/2025

Finished: 5/5/2025

Year: 2014

Pages: 219

Genre: mystery

Grade: B

Reason for reading: TBR, continuing with series

Type: hardcover

Blurb (from Amazon): "Emma Cotton and Kelly Grace have followed many strange trails in their search for the murderer of their good friend, Rose Peterson. But they never expected one of those trails to lead them to Amish country in upstate New York. Now they and Emma’s flamboyant aunt, Dottie Faye Sinclair are knee-deep in buggies and bonnets as they search for an elusive suspect in the unwelcoming folds of the Amish community."

Opinion: A decent continuation of the series...not to solve an Amish mystery

Famous Last Words by Gillian McAllister

Started: 5/2/2025

Finished: 5/4/2025

Year: 2025

Pages: 324

Genre: thriller

Grade: B-

Reason for reading: library book

Type: hardcover

Blurb (from Amazon): "It is June 21st, the longest day of the year, and new mother Camilla’s life is about to change forever. After months of maternity leave, she will drop her infant daughter off at daycare for the first time and return to her job as a literary agent. Finally. But, when she wakes, her husband Luke isn’t there, and in his place is a cryptic note.

"Then it starts. Breaking news: there's a hostage situation developing in London. The police arrive, and tell her Luke is involved. But he isn't a hostage. Her husband - doting father, eternal optimist - is the gunman.

"What she does next is crucial. Because only she knows what the note he left behind that morning says..."

Opinion: Not everything is what it seems. Interesting twist to a what appears to be a typical hostage/escape situation.

Proof of Murder by Lauren Elliott

Started: 4/30/2025

Finished: 5/2/2025

Year: 2020

Pages: 216

Genre: mystery

Grade: B+

Reason for reading: library book, continuing with series

Type: paperback

Blurb (from Amazon): "The seaside New England town of Greyborne Harbor is home to many grand estates, including the Queen Anne Victorian Addie inherited from her great aunt. Now one of those mansions is holding an estate sale, which is just what the bookshop owner needs to replenish her supply of rare editions--even if the house is rumored to be haunted. Assisting an overwhelmed insurance appraiser with the inventory, Addie discovers an 1887 magazine containing Arthur Conan Doyle's first Sherlock Holmes novel, A Study in Scarlet, which she estimates to be worth over one hundred and fifty thousand dollars.

"But when Addie later finds the appraiser dead in the estate's private library, with the door bolted from the inside, and the priceless edition missing, it's a mystery worthy of the Great Detective himself. She's certain the death and the robbery are connected--but who, other than a ghost who can walk through walls, could have gotten in to do the deed? It's up to Addie to find the key to the crime--before she's the next one cornered by a killer..."

Opinion: Probably my favorite in the series so far. Classic mystery tied in with current cozy style.