Murder at Mallowan Hall by Colleen Cambridge and World of Wonders by Aimee Nezhukumatathil

It is the season for garden clean up, Halloween crafting, and fall house cleaning.  And a raft of new book possibilities.  All of these activities can require decisions that I'm reluctant to make.  Which will take precedence today?  Setting a schedule is difficult for me and as a result, I meander through the day doing a little of this and a little of that.   The garden, then a letter, then the garden again.  Back and forth, a little here and a little there.  I keep track of all that on the other blog.

I have made some progress on the garden, and I've been good about catching up on correspondence. A letter every day or so for the last couple of weeks.  The fall housekeeping chores have been neglected this week, but I'm working on some purging of drawers and cabinets.  A box for GoodWill sits on the washing machine, and I add a little at a time, pulling things from hangers and deciding whether or not I'll wear it again.  That extra pound of weight a year became "slightly" more during the pandemic, and I must face the fact that some items will never fit again.   

And Every Single Day There Are Books To Be Read.

Once in a while, I find a cozy that genuinely appeals to me.  Murder at Mallowan Hall by Colleen Cambridge (Agatha Christie fans may recognize the name of the country estate of Christie's second husband, Max Mallowan) proved surprisingly fun.  

It must be a challenge to write a mystery set in one of Christie's homes and have the housekeeper be the protagonist--it could easily end up more of a parody than a mystery. 

Phyllida Bright, however, turned out to be efficient, self-assured, and often inadvertently amusing.  A former army nurse, Phyllida and Agatha are more than employer and employee, having known each other during the war. Agatha's appearances are minimal; it is Phyllida's show.

Unsurprisingly, Phyllida is fond of detective novels and fictional detectives, especially Hercule Poirot.  When Phyllida discovers a body in the library (!) during a country house party at Mallowan Hall, the fun begins.  Confident that she can do a better job than the police, she goes about her own sleuthing, assured that she knows the household and its doings better than they do and will notice what they may miss.  

Parody, or homage, or a little of both, Murder at Mallowan Hall proved to be a thoroughly enjoyable romp with a character who has no difficulty handling whatever comes her way.  We've been introduced to the household, including Bradford, and I'm eager to see what happens in the next book.

NetGalley/Kensington Books

Cozy/Historical.  Oct. 26, 2021.  Print length:  304 pages.

World of Wonders: In Praise of Fireflies, Whale Sharks, and Other Astonishments. I've a fondness for personal essays and Aimee Nezhukumatathil's love of the natural world, lyrical language, and her personal experiences combine in this series of essays.   

The essays have no chronological order, Nezhukumatathil takes a cue from nature (a catawpa/catalpa tree, a peacock, a ribbon eel, fireflies) and pulls together information about the object of her attention, combining it with her personal experiences and her poetic voice. 

While some combinations are a stretch, each element in each essay (the nature writing and the personal anecdotes) has much to offer.  Her mother is a microbiologist and her father a geneticist, so the author's close observation and comprehension of the natural world is understandable. 

There is no need to hurry through the book, an essay or two at a time, and a little time to ponder the words and the importance of say, fireflies, to our lives.  The human touch and Nezhukumatahil's appreciation of the world around us--and it's vulnerability--becomes more intriguing and remarkable as we face the loss of species of both flora and fauna.  

I can't remember where I saw this mentioned, but I'm glad I made the effort to find and read World of Wonders.  I'm susceptible to covers and this one is both curious and beautiful, as is  the author's prose.

Have you read this one?  Did I see a review on your blog?

Purchased.  Milkweed Editions

Nonfiction/Nature/Essays.  2020.  Print length:  165 pages.  

The Postscript Murders by Elly Griffiths

When I finished my review of The Stranger Diaries, I added, "The book is a stand-alone, but I'd like to see Elly Griffiths continue this Gothic mystery style or at least give DS Harbinder Kaur another case."

Happily, I got the second part because The Postscript Murders is Harbinder Kaur #2.  But the book isn't Gothic at all, it's a cozy.  While I'm not especially fond of the cozy genre,  I found The Postscript Murders delightful!

A cast of characters you'll fall in love with, crime writers who acknowledge the contributions of a ninety-year-old "murder consultant" (with cards to prove it), murders, a literary festival in Aberdeen, and the inimitable Sikh DS Harbinder Kaur.  

In conclusion, this time I want more Natalka, Benedict, and Edwin.  

Read in September.  Blog review scheduled for 

NetGalley/Houghton-Mifflin

Cozy Mystery.  March 2, 2021.  Print length:  368 pages.

Death and the Singing Birds by Amy Myers and Bone Canyon by Lee Goldberg

 

A cozy mystery set in the 1920's with Nell Drury as the chef in a historic old mansion.  I found Nell a little annoying, especially at first.  The dialog is a little stiff, the humor, forced.

New neighbors to Wychbourne Court are not quite fitting in.  Sir Gilbert and his wife Lady Saddler host an artistic event. A murder, a friend of Nell's who suffers from shell shock is arrested.  The Wychbourne Court crowd, both upstairs and downstairs, are sure that Mr. Bailey is innocent.

Cozy mysteries are hit or miss with me.  This one was a miss.

Read in Sept.; blog review scheduled for Dec. 27.

NetGalley/Severn House

Cozy Mystery.  Jan. 5, 2021.  Print length:  224 pages.  

I read Goldberg's first Eve Ronin book (Lost Hills) in January and enjoyed it.  

In this second entry, a brush fire reveals scorched bones and further investigation reveals more bones.  As Eve and her partner Duncan investigate, the situation may prove dangerous as secrets are uncovered.  The relationship between Eve and Duncan, who is due to retire shortly, helps make this series more engaging.  Eve needs Duncan's experience; she is aware of her own inexperience, but she does tend to annoy others and is insistent when she feels she is right.

There is already a good deal of resentment over Eve's promotion, add to that her suspicion about corrupt members of the department, and Eve finds herself in a dangerous position.

I look forward to the next book.

Read in Sept.; blog review scheduled for Dec. 27.

NetGalley/Thomas & Mercer

Police Procedural.  Jan. 5, 2o21.  Print length:  287 pages.

 

 

Walking the Bones and The Liar in the Library

My first exposure to Randall Silvis was Two Days Gone, and Walking the Bones picks up the story of Ryan DeMarco as he is still recovering from the death of his friend.  

Walking the Bones begins as a road trip instigated by his girlfriend Jayme, but the cold case of seven young women drags him (kicking and screaming) into investigating who killed the young women and stacked them behind a hidden wall in a church.  

The book was simultaneously interesting and slow.  For me, the most interesting characters were the three elderly "detectives" who involve DeMarco in the case and are treated rather disdainfully.  

The two books featuring Ryan DeMarco are markedly different from Silvis' Blood and Ink, a dark comedy.  All three of the books I've read by Silvis feature his love of literature and skillful descriptions, but my favorite is Blood and Ink with the hapless protagonist, Nick.

Read in Oct.;  blog review scheduled for Jan. 4, 2018.

NetGalley/Sourcebooks

Crime/Mystery.  Jan. 23, 2018.  Print length: 464 pages.


I read several of the first Fethering mysteries years ago, but have not kept up with this cozy series.  

When Jude knew Burton St. Clair twenty years ago, he was plain Al and a bit of a womanizer, now he is a well known author with a more sophisticated version of his name.  

Invited to speak at the Fethering library, St. Clair has changed little, except that he now has a more towering ego than ever.  He offers Jude a ride home, makes an advance, is repulsed, and Jude walks home.

St. Clair, however, never leaves the car, and the next day, Jude finds herself suspected of murder.

I fear the most interesting element in this mystery (for me) concerned the challenges British libraries have been facing in recent years.  

Read in Sept.; blog review scheduled for Jan. 4, 2018.

NetGalley/Severn House

Cozy Mystery.  Jan. 1, 2018.  Print length:  192 pages.

The Rhyme of the Magpie

The Rhyme of the Magpie  is a cozy mystery by Marty Wingate.

Julia Lanchester, unhappy with her father's remarriage too soon after her mother's death, quits her job on his popular BBC program, A Bird in the Hand.  She retreats to a small village, taking a job in tourist management.

Then her father goes missing, a man is murdered, and Julia reluctantly joins forces with her father's new assistant to discover just what is going on.

Marty (Martha) Wingate has another cozy series about gardening:  The Potting Shed Mysteries.  In addition to her mysteries, Wingate has written four books on gardening, writes for various gardening publications, and gives garden tours.  

"She is a member of the Arboretum Foundation, Northwest Horticultural Society, the Royal Horticultural Society, Sisters in Crime, and the Mystery Writers of America."  (via The Garden Show Blog)

Read in February.  Blog post scheduled for June 13, 2015.

NetGalley/Random House/Alibi

Cozy Mystery.  June 22, 2015.  

ARCs in the Mail

Bitter River   was an ARC that arrived in the mail and gave me another author to follow.

Publishers Weekly:        The murder of 16-year-old Lucinda Trimble, whose strangled body is found in a car in the Bitter River, propels Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist Keller's worthy sequel to her well-received adult fiction debut, A Killing in the Hills (2012). As West Virginia prosecutor Bell Elkins and the rest of closely knit Acker's Gap struggle to fathom who could have wanted to kill the popular high school honor student, a sniper fires at the county courthouse, almost killing Bell's assistant. Days later, a devastating explosion levels Ike's diner, moments after the divorced attorney finished breakfast with her much younger lover, Clay Meckling. Suddenly, remote Acker's Gap seems under siege, with Bell, stalwart sheriff Nick Fogelsong, and their team scrambling to find answers before the next attack. Ultimately, some of them prove less interesting than the questions Keller, a native West Virginian, poses about the nature of friendship and family—as well as the engaging, unsentimentalized Appalachian community she has created.  

Keller is a skillful author, and I thoroughly enjoyed this novel.  I will be reading more of Julia Keller in the future, including the first one in the series.

Read in July

Mystery/Crime.  Sept. 3, 2013.  397 pages.

Strange Shores by Arnaldur Indridason.  Another ARC in the mail.  I've only read one other book by Indridason, and I didn't like it at all.  This one was better, but still not something I'd have read if it hadn't just arrived in the mail.  He has many devoted fans, but I don't happen to be one.

From Booklist

*Starred Review* Erlendur, the doleful Reykjavik police inspector (Outrage, 2012), has taken leave from his job to return to Iceland’s remote Eastern Fjords. He is camping very rough in the collapsing remains of the farmhouse his family abandoned after his younger brother, Bergur, disappeared in a savage blizzard that Erlendur barely survived. Walking the moors, Erlendur meets an old man named Boas who took part in the search for Bergur, and the voluble Boas tells him of another disappearance. A woman named Matthildur set out for her mother’s house in 1942 and disappeared in another blizzard. Erlendur begins to visit surviving people who knew Matthildur, and he ultimately stitches together a tale of lies, betrayals, and murder. But all the while, it is Bergur’s disappearance—and Erlendur’s guilt—that obsesses him. His interviews with people who knew Matthildur, all in their eighties and nineties, recall the voices of Norse sagas: pithy, concise, and very matter-of-fact about everything, including their own impending deaths. These encounters are brilliantly written, and the Matthildur “case” is wonderfully convoluted. The dour detective courts hypothermia each night in the farmhouse, has ethereal encounters with an augur from his youth, and finds some respite from his lifelong grief. Strange Shores reads as if it could be the last entry in the Erlendur cycle. If so, it’s a superb end to a haunting series. --Thomas Gaughan

There were elements in this one that interested me, but overall I found it slow and not "brilliantly written or "wonderfully convoluted."  That's just me, you might love it and many other readers did, indeed, love it.

Read in Aug.

Scandinavian/Crime/Mystery.  Aug. 26, 2014.  305 pages.

The Cat Sitter's Nine Lives by Blaize & John Clement is a cozy mystery.  I'm not always satisfied with cozies, but I did enjoy this one.  Publishers Weekly about the Dixie Hemingway Mysteries:  "...blends elements of cozy and thriller to produce an unusual and enjoyable hybrid."

What I liked:

The setting and Dixie's "profession."  Dixie is a former Sarasota, Florida deputy sheriff and current pet sitter on Siesta Key, a barrier island in the Gulf of Mexico, just off of Sarasota.  Most of her clients are cats.

A bookstore, a missing cat named Cosmo, a crumbling mansion.

It is a light read, not to be taken too seriously, but I enjoyed it.  This one was written by John Clement after the death of his mother, and evidently some devoted fans of the series are disappointed with this novel; others appear to like it just fine.

Since I haven't read any others in the series, I have no opinion on that score.  It provided me with a few hours of entertainment while I imagined myself sipping margaritas under a beach umbrella on Siesta Key.

Read in July

Cozy Myster.  July 8, 2014.  318 pages.

The Thinking Woman's Guide to Real Magic by Emily Croy Barker is described as "Fun, Seductive, and Utterly Engrossing" by Deborah Harkness in a blurb.  Huh?  In fact, the book has garnered quite a few glowing descriptions, but I'm at a loss to see why.

It is long and slow and did not have much to do with the title.  There were a few interesting sections interspersed with the tedium.  Remember this is just my opinion.  I read the entire thing, but had to read other books in between, only coming back to it when I had nothing much else to read.

In spite of positive blurbs from many sources including Publishers Weekly, Kirkus, and Library Journal, I was glad to see that many actual readers found it as disappointing as I did.  You can check Goodread Reviews to see the wide variety of opinions. 

Read in Aug.

Fantasy.  Aug. 1, 2014.  577 (endless) pages.

Hamlet's Ghost

Hamlet's Ghost 

I haven't read anything else by Jane Tara, but this was a great light summer read complete with witches and the ghost of an actor who was dying to play Hamlet.

I'm not a regular reader of romance, in fact, I generally avoid anything that appears to be a "romance novel." On the other hand, I love mysteries, Shakespeare, witches, and ghosts...and I didn't know Jane Tara was considered a romance writer.  Which is all to the good because this is a confection of sugar and spice.

Now that my likes are listed, I'll turn to my dislike.  Oh, boy, I nearly put the novel down in the first chapter when Rhi discovers her boyfriend and best friend engaged in a new and unique yoga position.

Once that was out of the way, the book proceeds into a cozy mystery set in the tiny hamlet of Hamlet.  I'm not really trying to play on words, but can't seem to avoid it.  Witchcraft is brewing in Hamlet, and Rhi finds friends and supporters that she didn't have in New York as she tackles turning an abandoned theater into a showplace and heart-felt dream.

If you are looking for a hard-edged murder mystery, you won't find it here.  In fact, although there is a death, it was not a murder.  This is more of a ghostly mystery with mysterious relationships thrown in.

NetGalley/Momentum Books

Cozy Mystery.  July 24, 2014.  
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I'm saving the first in this series, Forecast for Carl's R.I.P. Challenge.  Thinking ahead for once.

I think I'd want it based on the cover alone!

Fest by Mark McCrum

Fest   

An entertaining mystery about a literary festival where authors and critics gather to give talks about their books or their genre, etc.

When a famous (and often brutally cruel) critic is murdered, Francis Meadows, a crime writer, can't help but begin his own investigation.

A nice light read that provides an interesting look at the literary scene and an engaging writer/sleuth playing amateur detective.  

Who killed the critic who killed so many careers?  And who killed the young woman who had been filming and interviewing some of the people who knew him?

A cozy with a little spice.  Forget the cover pic.  Poor choice.

NetGalley/Prospero Press

Mystery.  July 2014.  279 pages.

Murder on Thames by Matthew Costello and Neil Richards

From the book description: 

Murder on Thames is the first in an innovative Crime series written in English but published by Bastei Entertainment – an imprint of one of Germany’s leading publishers Bastei Lübbe. Published in English first, to be followed by German in March 2014, the crime series features 12 self-contained episodes written by co-authors Neil Richards (UK based) and Matthew Costello (US based).

In a revival of the Dickensian tradition, a new eBook episode will be published each month with the second episode Mystery at the Manorto be published in the UK on the 19th January 2014.

A New York detective has retired to a houseboat on the Thames in the small village of Cherringham.  Jack Brennan is looking for a quiet life after his career as a homicide detective, and when Sara Edwards asks him to look into the death of an old friend, Brennan at first refuses.  The quiet life might appeal to him, but the puzzle of the death does as well, and he changes his mind about helping Sara when he finds himself agreeing that maybe the death of Sammi Jackson was not an accident after all.  

Jack and Sara investigate further, determined to discover the the truth.  

Murder on Thames is an interesting little cozy.  Cozy mysteries are not my favorite sub-genre, nor is the novella approach something I seek out, but this does everything it is supposed to within the parameters the authors have set, and I enjoyed it for what it is.

NetGalley/Bastei Entertainment

Cozy Mystery.  2013.  Print length:  119 pages.