Murder by the Book by Lauren Elliott

Started: 1/29/2025

Finished: 1/30/2025

Year: 2018

Pages: 286

Genre: mystery

Grade: B

Reason for reading: library book

Type: paperback

Blurb (from Amazon): "Addie left some painful memories behind in the big city, including the unsolved murder of her fiancé and her father’s fatal car accident. After an unexpected inheritance from a great aunt, she’s moved to a small New England town founded by her ancestors back in colonial times—and living in spacious Greyborne Manor, on a hilltop overlooking the harbor. Best of all, her aunt also left her countless first editions and other treasures—providing an inventory to start her own store.

But there’s trouble from day one, and not just from the grumpy woman who runs the bakery next door. A car nearly runs Addie down. Someone steals a copy of Alice in Wonderland. Then, Addie’s friend Serena, who owns a nearby tea shop, is arrested—for killing another local merchant. The police seem pretty sure they’ve got the story in hand, but Addie’s not going to let them close the book on this case without a fight …"

Opinion: A decent start to a cozy mystery series but too many people all connected and all for one thing. 

Ocean Selvage by Jan Fields

Started: 1/28/2025

Finished: 1/28/2025

Year: 2014

Pages: 203

Genre: mystery

Grade: B

Reason for reading: TBR, continuing with series

Type: hardcover

Blurb (from Amazon): "When Emma Cotton, Kelly Grace, and members of the Nimble Thimbles group decide to embark on a quilting cruise to investigate the latest suspect in their friend's murder, they don't plan on getting mixed up in a missing person's case onboard. But thanks to Dottie Faye Sinclair, Emma's wild aunt who insists on coming along, they do. Within a day of departure, Dottie Faye's antics land her under a cloud of suspicion, forcing Emma to solve a mystery she hadn't planned on. And the surprises don't stop there."

Opinion: A decent continuation of the mystery series. 

At the Scene of the Crime Edited by Dana Stabenow

Started: 1/24/2025

Finished: 1/27/2025

Year: 2008

Pages: 262

Genre: mystery

Grade: B

Reason for reading: library book

Type: paperback

Blurb (from Amazon): "With the long-term success of procedural shows dominating prime-time television, the readership for a forensic anthology extends well beyond traditional mystery readers.

Collected by Martin H. Greenberg—the King of Anthologists—this volume features the following contributors:

Brendan DuBois
Edward D. Hoch
Michael A. Black
Max Allan Collins and Matthew Clemens
Jeremiah Healy
Kristine Kathryn Rusch
Julie Hyzy, John Lutz
Maynard Thomson
Noreen Ayres"
Loren D. Estleman
Jeanne C. Stein"

Opinion: Like with any collection of short stories, some work better than others. The majority of these I enjoyed. I didn't dislike any one story which is a rarity for me.

Bones of the Lost by Kathy Reichs

Started: 1/21/2025

Finished: 1/24/2025

Year: 2013

Pages: 320

Genre: mystery

Grade: B

Reason for reading: library book, continuing with series

Type: hardcover

Blurb (from Amazon): "When Charlotte police discover the body of a teenage girl along a desolate stretch of two-lane highway, Temperance Brennan fears the worst. The girl’s body shows signs of foul play. Inside her purse police find the ID card of a prominent local businessman, John-Henry Story, who died in a horrific flea market fire months earlier. Was the girl an illegal immigrant turning tricks? Was she murdered?

"The medical examiner has also asked Tempe to examine a bundle of Peruvian dog mummies confiscated by U.S. Customs. A Desert Storm veteran named Dominick Rockett stands accused of smuggling the objects into the country. Could there be some connection between the trafficking of antiquitiesand the trafficking of humans?

"As the case deepens, Tempe must also grapple with personal turmoil. Her daughter Katy, grieving the death of her boyfriend in Afghanistan, impulsively enlists in the Army. As pressure mounts from all corners, Tempe soon finds herself at the center of a conspiracy that extends all the way from South America, to Afghanistan, and right to the center of Charlotte."

Opinion: A decent mystery of a Jane Doe. It took too long for a connection to another case to be made. This didn't seem like this type of connection was needed.

W is for Wasted by Sue Grafton

Stated: 1/14/2025

Finished: 1/21/2025

Year: 2013

Pages: 590

Genre: mystery

Grade: B

Reason for reading: continuing with the series

Type: paperback

Blurb (from Amazon): "The first victim is a local PI of suspect reputation, gunned down near the beach at Santa Teresa. The second is a John Doe found on the beach six weeks later with a slip of paper with private detective Kinsey Millhone’s name and number in his pocket.

"Two seemingly unrelated deaths: one man murdered, the other apparently dead of natural causes.

"But as Kinsey digs deeper into the mystery of the John Doe, some very strange links begin to emerge. Not just between the two victims, but also to Kinsey’s past. And before long Kinsey, through no fault of her own, is thoroughly compromised..."

Opinion: Too almost 500 pages to connect. 

Homer and the Holiday Miracle by Gwen Cooper

Started: 1/14/2025

Finished: 1/14/2025

Year: 2018

Pages: 47

Genre: animal non fiction

Grade: C

Reason for reading: library book

Type: hardcover

Blurb (from Amazon): "Fifteen years earlier, doctors had warned that Homer—a tiny, sightless kitten—was unlikely to survive and probably wouldn't have much of a life even if he did. Miraculously and against all the odds, however, Homer grew into a feline dynamo who scaled seven-foot bookcases with ease, saved his human mom's life when he chased a late-night burglar from their apartment, and rose to global fame—paving the way for other special-needs animals once considered "unadoptable."

"Now, only two weeks before Christmas, with doctors once again decreeing that Homer didn't have much time—that he wouldn't even make it to Christmas Eve—Homer showed everyone that he still had one more miracle left in him. The heroic blind cat proved again, once and for all, that hope and love aren't things you see with your eyes. You see them with your heart."

Opinion: A very quick read about how Homer survived to one last Christmas.

See How She Dies by Lisa Jackson

Started: 1/7/2025

Finished: 1/14/2025

Year: 2004 (this edition)

Pages: 430

Genre: mystery

Grade: C

Reason for reading: library book

Type: paperback

Blurb (from Amazon): "London Danvers disappeared almost twenty years ago. The youngest child of hotel tycoon Witt Danvers—and the only child with his second wife, Kat—London hasn’t been seen since. Over time, many women have claimed to be the long-lost heiress. Adria Nash is the latest. But from the moment Zachary Danvers sees her, he believes Adria is different. For one thing, Adria looks just like Zachary’s former stepmother. For another, Adria knows personal details only London could have known.

"Just four years old at the time of the kidnapping, Adria can’t be sure if what she feels in her gut, and what she’s been told, is true. She has no memory of the abduction, and confronting Zach is the only way to get answers. Yet she feels a deep sense of dread. London’s nanny also vanished that terrible night. And Kat Danvers fell to her death under suspicious circumstances soon after. If Adria really is London, she stands to inherit a fortune—but will she also become a target?

"Adria is right to be afraid. Because someone does believe her. Someone who has killed before and is watching her every move, waiting for the right moment to see how she runs . . . see how she screams . . . see how she dies . . ."

Opinion: A little bit too long but a decent mystery mixed with some questionable romance

The Indifferent Stars Above by Daniel James Brown

Started: 12/23/2024

Finished: 1/7/2025

Year: 2009

Pages: 288

Genre: History

Grade: B+

Reason for reading: library book

Type: hardcover

Blurb (from Amazon): "In April of 1846, twenty-one-year-old Sarah Graves, intent on a better future, set out west from Illinois with her new husband, her parents, and eight siblings. Seven months later, after joining a party of pioneers led by George Donner, they reached the Sierra Nevada Mountains as the first heavy snows of the season closed the pass ahead of them. In early December, starving and desperate, Sarah and fourteen others set out for California on snowshoes, and, over the next thirty-two days, endured almost unfathomable hardships and horrors."

Opinion: Recent shows have brought new light to this horrific journey. This book goes into depth about the daily struggle that everyone faced.

Sudden Death by David Rosenfelt

Started: 1/1/2025

Finished: 1/5/2025

Year: 2005

Pages: 306

Genre: mystery

Grade: B

Reason for reading: library book, continuing with series

Type: hardcover

Blurb (from Amazon): "First at the crime scene, Andy Carpenter wishes he had never seen the folded torso with the large red stain on its back. The victim is Tony Preston, wide receiver for the New York Jets, and the suspect is Kenny Schilling, the New York Giants' star running back, whose upcoming high-profile murder case will be the benchwarming Andy's chance to get back into the legal game."

Opinion: An interesting case...an interesting twist to Andy's personal life. 

Shallow Depths by Milan Skrecek

Started: 12/31/2024

Finished: DNF

Year: 2024

Pages: 228

Genre: literature

Grade: F

Reason for reading: librarything.com Early Reviwers program

Type: paperback

Blurb (from Amazon): "Our hero is a burnt-out cruise line Shopping Guide named Christina Delgado - a mid-twenties Latina spitfire. In a desperate bid to resolve her financial woes, Christina ventures into dangerous waters by starting to offer escort services to cruise ship guests.

"Christina's antagonists are formidable and reflect the seedy underbelly of the industries tied to cruise tourism. Sebastian Baeza, known as Bas, is the Cuban-born owner of an escort agency from which Christina begins to poach her recruits. He is ruthless and sees Christina's actions as a direct threat to his dominion. Then there's Artem Hadad, the vindictive manager of the largest jewelry chain across the Caribbean islands, Caribbean Diamonds and Gems. Artem is incensed by any sales that bypass his stores and will do anything within his considerable power to ensure Christina fails.

"But at its core, this book series is about Christina's internal battle. Her relentless pursuit of debt freedom blinds her to the risks she takes and the relationships she sabotages. Her inability to accept help due to her pride and stubbornness only isolates her further, driving her deeper into her vices. By the series end, Christina faces a pivotal moment of self-realization.

"She begins to understand that true courage isn't just about facing external dangers but also about confronting and accepting her vulnerabilities.

"Throughout this novel, and the book series, the interpersonal dynamics aboard the cruise ship add layers of intrigue and drama. Christina’s relationship with Emily Baker, her unlikely ally and confidant, provides a counterpoint to her conflicts with Artem and Bas. Emily, with her polished appearance and kleptomaniac tendencies, offers a mirror to Christina’s own flawed nature but also represents a potential pathway to redemption. Their partnership, fraught with risks and reluctant trust, explores themes of loyalty and betrayal within the claustrophobic ecosystem of the ship."

Opinion: A thorough review is posted on Library Thing. The blurb from Amazon is an example of how scattered the writing seems to be.