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Read this yarn – Dead Men Don’t Crochet

March 29, 2022 / 2 minutes of reading / Leave a Comment

I am currently reading Betty Hechtman’s Dead Men Don’t Crochet, a well-woven cozy mystery with some unexpected twists and tangles… okay, I’ll lay off the puns now! Dead Men Don’t Crochet has all of the expected tropes — a protagonist who works at the library and takes part in a crocheting club, solving murders on the side. Her boyfriend is a cop, of course, and while he keeps telling her not to interfere with the investigation, I assume he will give her a hand the moment she is in trouble. Good characters and a nice tone so far. Curl up by the fire for this cozy read.

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Follow the Clues in Aunt Dimity and the Summer King

March 22, 2022 / 3 minutes of reading / Leave a Comment

I have read several books with rather dark themes lately, and even though I have enjoyed them, I decided I needed a lighter pick-me-up for my next read. Scrolling through my library app wasn’t bringing me much joy—it must be the season for darker mysteries and thrillers—and then I spotted an Aunt Dimity book. I’ve read a few books in this series, so I grabbed it and started in. Well, a couple of chapters in now, and Aunt Dimity & the Summer King by Nancy Atherton is more than just a reintroduction to some familiar characters—I’ve read it before. But I remember it as being a fun, pleasant read, with interesting characters and a good premise. Not just fluffy, but something I could sink my teeth into. So I’m going to read it again!

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Tracking a Killer in Blind Search

March 15, 2022 / 2 minutes of reading / 1 Comment

y current read is Blind Search, by Paula Munier, the second book in the Mercy Carr mystery series. It is set in Vermont and includes lots of description of local flora and fauna (though not in so much detail that you want to skip over it.) Mercy Carr, the main sleuth in the book, is ex-army and has an army-trained dog (Elvis) to help her out with her investigation. Her sidekick is a game warden and also has a dog (Susie-Bear) trained to track.

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What is Behind Her Eyes

March 8, 2022 / 3 minutes of reading / Leave a Comment

I have recently begun Behind Her Eyes, by Sarah Pinborough. This is a psychological suspense that has apparently come to Netflix, though I haven’t watched it. Pinborough weaves a complex web between three characters, David, his wife Adele, and his secretary Louise. There is definitely something wrong in David and Adele’s marriage, but Pinborough only hints at what is going on, and from the various reviews and descriptions of the plot, I can only get that what you think is going on is definitely not what’s really going on behind the scenes here.

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Making some time for Mrs. Jeffries in the Nick of Time

March 1, 2022 / 2 minutes of reading / Leave a Comment

This week I am reading Mrs. Jeffries in the Nick of Time, by Emily Brightwell. I’ve read a couple other books in the Mrs. Jeffries series (this is book 25 of 40 in the series, so there is plenty for you to binge on! If you enjoy a good British cosy mystery set in Victorian London, then this is a series for you. Mrs. Jeffries is police inspector Witherspoon’s housekeeper, and she and the household staff help to solve the murder cases he is working on and subtly feed him the solutions so that he thinks he solved it himself.

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Devoured: Cobblered to Death

February 22, 2022 / 2 minutes of reading / Leave a Comment

One of the books I read this week was Cobblered to Death by Rosemarie Ross. It is a culinary cozy mystery, the first in the Courtney Archer series. Host of a television show about rural cooking, Courtney is helping to cohost a cooking competition, and wouldn’t you know it—somebody dies. There are plenty of twists and turns as Courtney (and the local security guy and the sheriff) try to figure out which of the other contestants might have done the dirty deed.

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A Complex Web in A Slow Fire Burning

February 15, 2022 / 2 minutes of reading / Leave a Comment

Hawkins introduces you to a number of widely varying characters in the wake of a murder of a young man on a longboat. Then she slowly starts to weave the connections between each of these characters, their relationships and their pasts. Even when the murderer confesses, you don’t yet know everything and are in for a few more plot twists before it all comes together.

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All fired up over: From the Ashes

February 8, 2022 / 4 minutes of reading / Leave a Comment

Wow, this one is an amazing read. In From the Ashes, My Story of Being Indigenous, Homeless, and Finding My Way, Jesse Thistle tells about the road he travelled, homeless and in and out of prison for decades before managing to overcome his addiction, enter university, and discover his heritage while working on a BA in history. He is now a speaker on indigenous history, homelessness, and intergenerational trauma.

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Chew on this: Thirty-Three Teeth

February 1, 2022 / 2 minutes of reading / Leave a Comment

Thirty-Three Teeth by Colin Cotterill is the second book that I have read in the Dr. Siri Paiboun Mystery series. (And though it is the second book in the series, the other one that I have read is actually #4, Anarchy and Old Dogs.) This mystery series is very different from any I have read before. It is steeped in the Lao setting and culture, with lots of fascinating plant names (like dog fart flowers and bull testicle trees), political red tape, and history.

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A chilly read: Cover of Snow

January 25, 2022 / 3 minutes of reading / Leave a Comment

has an interesting premise. The main character’s husband (a policeman) commits suicide, and she is digging down, trying to understand why. It turns out there are a number of secrets hidden in the past, and at this point (more than halfway through the book) there are many indicators of a police coverup and conspiracy to keep her from finding anything out.

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