Betrayal at Blackthorn Park by Julia Kelly

Started: 12/26/2024

Finished: 12/30/2024

Year: 2024

Pages: 310

Genre: mystery

Grade: B

Reason for reading: library book, continuing with the series

Type: hardcover

Blurb (from Amazon): "Freshly graduated from a rigorous training program in all things spy craft, former typist Evelyne Redfern is eager for her first assignment as a field agent helping Britain win the war. However, when she learns her first task is performing a simple security test at Blackthorn Park, a requisitioned manor house in the sleepy Sussex countryside, she can’t help her initial disappointment. Making matters worse, her handler is to be David Poole, a fellow agent who manages to be both strait-laced and dashing in annoyingly equal measure. However, Evelyne soon realizes that Blackthorn Park is more than meets the eye, and an upcoming visit from Winston Churchill means that security at the secret weapons research and development facility is of the utmost importance.

"When Evelyne discovers Blackthorn Park’s chief engineer dead in his office, her simple assignment becomes more complicated. Evelyne must use all of her―and David’s―detection skills to root out who is responsible and uncover layers of deception that could change the course of the war."

Opinion: A pretty good mystery. Good continuation of the series. I continue to like how strong this main female character is especially given the time that the books take place.

Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt

Started: 12/10/2024

Finished: 12/26/2024

Year: 2022

Pages: 355

Genre: literature

Grade: B

Reason for reading: library book

Type: hardcover

Blurb (from Amazon): "After Tova Sullivan’s husband died, she began working the night shift at the Sowell Bay Aquarium, mopping floors and tidying up. Keeping busy has always helped her cope, which she’s been doing since her eighteen-year-old son, Erik, mysteriously vanished on a boat in Puget Sound over thirty years ago.

"Tova becomes acquainted with curmudgeonly Marcellus, a giant Pacific octopus living at the aquarium. Marcellus knows more than anyone can imagine but wouldn’t dream of lifting one of his eight arms for his human captors—until he forms a remarkable friendship with Tova.

"Ever the detective, Marcellus deduces what happened the night Tova’s son disappeared. And now Marcellus must use every trick his old invertebrate body can muster to unearth the truth for her before it’s too late."

Opinion: Predictable but enjoyable. Not worth the hype but any book that can get people reading is a good thing. The book is easily readable for most but I don't think that it lives up to the hype that it got-but then again, I don't think that most of the more popular books are good or my cup of tea.

The Bone Collection by Kathy Reichs

Started: 12/18/2024

Finished: 12/23/2024

Year: 2016

Pages: 379

Genre: mystery

Grade: B

Reason for reading: library book, continuing with series

Type: paperback

Blurb (from Amazon): "In First Bones, a prequel to Reichs’s first novel, Déjà Dead, she at last reveals the tale of how Tempe became a forensic anthropologist. In this never-before-published story, Tempe recalls the case that lured her from a promising career in academia into the grim but addictive world of criminal investigation. (It all began with a visit from a pair of detectives—and a John Doe recovered from an arson scene in a trailer.) The collection is rounded out with three more stories that take Tempe from the low country of the Florida Everglades, where she makes a grisly discovery in the stomach of an eighteen-foot Burmese python, to the heights of Mount Everest, where a frozen corpse is unearthed. No matter where she goes, Tempe’s cases make for the most gripping reading."

Opinion: Unlike most collections, I enjoyed all of the stories. It was interesting to see how Tempe got into becoming a forensic anthropologist. There was some reference to stuff that hasn't happened in the main books but nothing that takes away from Tempe's story.

Does the Noise in my Head Bother You? by Steven Tyler

Started: 12/16/2024

Finished: DNF

Year: 2011

Pages: 376

Genre: memoir

Grade: F

Reason for reading: library book, fan of Aerosmith

Type: hardcover

Blurb (from Amazon): "Does the Noise in My Head Bother You? is the rock memoir to end all rock memoirs — the straight-up, no-holds-barred story of Grammy Award-winning, Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall of Fame inductee, and all around superstar legend Steven Tyler, lead singer of Aerosmith (and celebrity judge on American Idol).

"The rock and roll epic that is Tyler’s life begins with Tyler’s youth in the Bronx, tracing his early music career and influences, his legendary partnership with Joe Perry, the meteoric rise, fall, and rise of Aerosmith over the last three decades, their music, Tyler’s battles with substance abuse, his epic romantic life, his relationship with his four children (including actress Liv Tyler), life on the road and in the spotlight, the economics of the rock star business --and all the sex, drugs, and rock and roll that anyone could ask for.

"In Tyler’s own words: 'I’ve been mythicized, Mick-icized, eulogized and fooligized, I’ve been Cole-Portered and farmer’s-daughtered, I’ve been Led Zepped and 12-stepped. I’m a rhyming fool and so cool that me, Fritz the Cat, and Mohair Sam are the baddest cats that am. I have so many outrageous stories, too many, and I’m gonna tell ’em all. All the unexpurgated, brain-jangling tales of debauchery, sex & drugs, transcendence & chemical dependence you will ever want to hear. And this is not just my take, this is the unbridled truth, the in-your-face, up-close and prodigious tale of Steven Tyler straight from the horse’s lips.'"

Opinion: I knew that Tyler had a drug history-never realized it was to the extent that it was. There was just too much and hard to tell what was true and what wasn't, given his mindset at the time. 

Body over Troubled Waters by Denise Swanson

Started: 12/13/2024

Finished: 12/16/2024

Year: 2021

Pages: 283

Genre: mystery

Grade: B

Reason for reading: library book, continuing with series

Type: paperback

Blurb (from Amazon): "Stupid Cupid is making School psychologist Skye Denison-Boyd regret returning to work after her maternity leave. It starts with an emergency school lockdown, continues with her godfather's arrest by the state police, and ends with a dead body!

"It's every teacher and administrator's worst nightmare―a school shooter lockdown. And even worse for Skye because she's trapped in a tiny room with the district's creepy superintendent, Dr. Wraige while they wait for the all-clear.

"When Dr. Wraige turns up dead in his home just a short time later, is it a coincidence, or something more?

"Skye joins her police chief husband, Wally, in an investigation that becomes more complicated by the minute. With a dead boss and a mysterious killer on the loose, Skye is caught between a rock and a heart place―but she won't give up until Scumble River is safe once again."

Opinion: Predictable mystery within a murder mystery. Decent continuation of Skye and Wally's personal lives.

Bury the Lead by David Rosenfelt

Started: 12/6/2024

Finished: 12/10/2024

Year: 2004

Pages: it261

Genre: mystery

Grade: B-

Reason for reading: library book, continuing with series

Type: hardcover

Blurb (from Amazon): "Asked to help safeguard the innocence of a reporter who has been selected as the mouthpiece for a serial killer, defense attorney Andy Carpenter finds his job proving more difficult than anticipated when the reporter is arrested for the murders."

Opinion: A decent next addition to the series. The ending was dragged instead of just ending it. It felt like the author was trying to meet a page or word goal instead of the ending being concise. 

A Traitor in Whitehall by Julia Kelly

Started: 12/2/2024

Finished: 12/5/2024

Year: 2023

Pages: 291

Genre: mystery

Grade: B

Reason for reading: library book

Type: hardcover

Blurb (from Amazon): "1940, England: Evelyne Redfern, known as “The Parisian Orphan” as a child, is working on the line at a munitions factory in wartime London. When Mr. Fletcher, one of her father’s old friends, spots Evelyne on a night out, Evelyne finds herself plunged into the world of Prime Minister Winston Churchill’s cabinet war rooms.

"However, shortly after she settles into her new role as a secretary, one of the girls at work is murdered, and Evelyne must use all of her amateur sleuthing expertise to find the killer. But doing so puts her right in the path of David Poole, a cagey minister’s aide who seems determined to thwart her investigations. That is, until Evelyne finds out David’s real mission is to root out a mole selling government secrets to Britain’s enemies, and the pair begrudgingly team up.

"With her quick wit, sharp eyes, and determination, will Evelyne be able to find out who’s been selling England’s secrets and catch a killer, all while battling her growing attraction to David?:

Opinion: A decent mystery that takes place in early WWII England.

Now or Never by Janet Evanovich

Started: 11/26/2024

Finished: 12/2/2024

Year: 2024

Pages: 312

Genre: mystery

Grade: B

Reason for reading: library book, continuing with series

Type: hardcover

Blurb (from Amazon): "She said yes to Morelli. She said yes to Ranger. Now Stephanie Plum has two fiancés and no idea what to do about it. But the way things are going, she might not live long enough to marry anyone.

"While Stephanie stalls for time, she buries herself in her work as a bounty hunter, tracking down an unusually varied assortment of fugitives from justice. There’s Eugene Fleck, a seemingly sweet online influencer who might also be YouTube star Robin Hoodie, masked hero to the homeless, who hijacks delivery trucks and distributes their contents to the needy. She’s also on the trail of Bruno Jug, a wealthy and connected man in the wholesale produce business who is rumored to traffic young girls alongside lettuce and tomatoes. Most terrifying of all is Zoran—a laundromat manager by day and self-proclaimed vampire by night with a taste for the blood of pretty girls. When he shows up on Stephanie’s doorstep, it’s not for the meatloaf dinner.

"With timely assists from her stalwart supporters Lula, Connie, and Grandma Mazur, Stephanie uses every trick in the book to reel in these men. But only she can decide what to do about the two men she actually loves. She can’t hold Ranger and Morelli at bay for long, and she’s keeping a secret from them that is the biggest bombshell of all. Now or never, she’s got to make the decision of a lifetime."

Opinion: A good continuation of Stephanie's story and a wedding has finally happened. Decent but predictable mystery.