Cozies

Review: THE SECRET LIFE OF ANNA BLANC by Jennifer Kincheloe

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Back in the fall I was contacted by my friends at Prometheus Books to see if I’d like to read and review THE SECRET LIFE OF ANNA BLANC. The book sounded great, but it soon disappeared into the piles of things I had around during the holidays, only to be rediscovered recently. What a treasure! I loved this laugh-out-loud funny book about intrepid socialite Anna Blanc and her foray into the dark world of detective work in Los Angeles in turn of the century California.

Here’s how they describe the novel on Edelweiss:

It’s 1907 Los Angeles. Mischievous socialite Anna Blanc is the kind of young woman who devours purloined crime novels—but must disguise them behind covers of more domestically-appropriate reading. She could match wits with Sherlock Holmes, but in her world women are not allowed to hunt criminals.

Determined to break free of the era’s rigid social roles, Anna buys off the chaperone assigned by her domineering father and, using an alias, takes a job as a police matron with the Los Angeles Police Department. There she discovers a string of brothel murders, which the cops are unwilling to investigate. Seizing her one chance to solve a crime, she takes on the investigation herself.

If the police find out, she’ll get fired; if her father finds out, he’ll disown her; and if her fiancé finds out, he’ll cancel the wedding and stop pouring money into her father’s collapsing bank. Midway into her investigation, the police chief’s son, Joe Singer, learns her true identity. And shortly thereafter she learns about blackmail.

Anna must choose—either hunt the villain and risk losing her father, fiancé, and wealth, or abandon her dream and leave the killer on the loose.

Story Locale: 1907 Los Angeles

Series Overview: Los Angeles police matron Anna Blanc bucks society’s mores to solve crime in the early 1900s.

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I would LOVE if this became a series! What a fun and well-written read, but it also had a lot to think and talk about in terms of women’s changing roles in society. Poor Anna fought against all the mores holding her in firmly in place,  though I particularly liked the horrid chaperone who was supposed to accompany her everywhere.

I also am not aware of too many cozies set in turn of the century LA. Between the historical mystery, the humor, and a little romance, I give this one top marks!

Thank you so much for my review copy!

This book is available at bookstores near you and online (and of course – check your library!).

Review: DEATH OF A NURSE by M.C. Beaton

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If you know me, you know I LOVE MC Beaton’s cozy mysteries with both Hamish Macbeth or Agatha Raisin. I was thrilled to get the latest Hamish Macbeth one from Net Galley (I’ve read them all!).

Here’s what Net Galley has to say:

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Review: Murder on St. Nicholas Avenue – a Gaslight Mystery by Victoria Thompson

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If you know me, you know I love the cozy mystery series of “Gaslight Mysteries”, following the adventures of midwife Sarah Brandt in turn-of-the-century NYC. A new one came out at Christmas time and my husband bought it for me – MURDER ON ST. NICHOLAS AVENUE.

Unlike the former novels – all of which I’ve read – this one has Sarah and Frank off to Europe on their honeymoon with the house and children left in charge of assistant Maeve, with Mrs. Malloy and Mrs. Decker (Sarah’s mother) assisting. When a family friend comes to them because she feels her daughter is unjustly accused of murdering her husband, Maeve and the rest of the family – along with friendly police officer Gino – know they must work together to solve the mystery. Of course nothing is simple and the events keep the characters and this reader guessing right up to the last chapters!

I enjoyed this installment in the series, which Ms. Thompson mentions in the afterward she was asked to write for the holidays. Seeing further character development of some of the minor characters (e.g. Mrs. Malloy, Mr. Decker, Gino) was gratifying. I was never fond of the Felix Decker character, but he was much more multi-dimensional after reading this novel.

The characters hint at the fact that they will work together on future mysteries for the “Malloy Detective Agency” so I trust that Ms. Thompson has many more creative plot lines in store for us!

If you like historical cozies, this is a series for you. Each title can stand alone, but reading them in order is a treat as you get to know the characters along the way.

Find this title at a bookstore, library, or online – below is to Amazon where I am an Associate:

Murder on St. Nicholas Avenue: Gaslight Mystery (A Gaslight Mystery)

Historical Fiction Virtual Tour for TAMING THE TWISTED by Jodie Toohey

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Here I am today as part of one of my favorite things – an HFVBT blog tour! Today we are featuring TAMING THE TWISTED by Jodie Toohey.

Here’s what HFVBTours has to say:

TAMING THE TWISTED
BY JODIE TOOHEY

Publication Date: August 15, 2015
Wordsy Woman Press
eBook & Paperback; 242 Pages

Genre: Historical Fiction

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READ AN EXCERPT.

Taming the Twisted is written in a similar style to Laura Ingalls Wilders’ Little House books though updated for modern times. It might read as if she’d left in all of the juicy tidbits about things people didn’t talk about during the time when she was writing. Taming the Twisted is a story of destruction, romance, mystery, and deceit set against a back drop of an actual historical event.

In early June, 1860, Abigail enjoyed a peaceful home life with her parents, younger sister, and twin toddler brothers. Their home in Camanche, Iowa, where they’d emigrated from Pennsylvania, was almost complete and her beau, Joseph Sund, had recently proposed marriage.

That changes the evening of June 3rd when a tornado rips through town, killing her parents. At the mass funeral for the over two dozen people who perished in the storm, she learns Marty Cranson, with whom Abigail witnessed Joseph having a heated argument, died, but at the hands of a person rather than the tornado.

In addition to being faced with raising her young siblings, Joseph has disappeared without a trace and a stranger, Marshall Stevenson, appears, offering to help Abigail repair the families’ home and cultivate the newly planted farm crops.

Abigail, while developing romantic feelings for Marshall, tolerating the scorn of town woman Pamela Mackenrow, and working as a seamstress and storekeeper to support her siblings, becomes obsessed with finding out who killed Marty, hoping that and not that he no longer loved her, was the reason Joseph left without saying goodbye.

AMAZON | BARNES & NOBLE | BOOK DEPOSITORY

About the Author03_Jodie Toohey

Jodie Toohey is the author of four additional books, two poetry collections – Crush and Other Love Poems for Girls (2008) and Other Side of Crazy (918studio, 2013) – as well as two novels, Missing Emily: Croatian Life Letters (2012) and Melody Madson – May It Please the Court? (2014).

When Jodie is not writing poetry or fiction, she is helping authors, soon-to-be-authors, and want-to-be authors from pre-idea to reader through her company, Wordsy Woman Author Services.

WEBSITE | BLOG | FACEBOOK | TWITTER |GOOGLE+ | GOODREADS | PINTEREST

 

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Here I am again!

While I enjoyed this story I did have a few issues with it. For me, personally, I find it challenging when books jump around in time (unless it’s a clear flashback/telling of a story for the majority of the book). The beginning of this book moved around from the tornado then backstory then back to the tornado. I think it could have built to the tornado without starting there. That said, I also have some issues with the “mash-up” genre, which is quite popular now and which most people find exciting, especially as it relates to YA/kids books. Is this historical fiction? Romance? A problem novel? A mystery? All of the above? To me at least, I like my books (and my theater, too) to commit to a genre and stay there! I know that many would disagree.

All that aside, I enjoyed reading this book and liked the characters. I was rooting for the main characters as life was not easy for them. I also love a good clean read, and a happy ending! I found it really interesting that this book was based on a real tornado that occurred in Iowa and which wreaked much havoc.

Thank you for my review copy!

Oh my Ears! What I’ve Been Listening to in the Car…Part One

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The crazy commute continues, and while I love my NPR and the Broadway channel, Audible is keeping me sane. I have to say, though, that I often miss things because I have (wait for it —- ) concentrate on driving! I don’t “rewind” or whatever you’d call it digitally simply because I need to focus on driving, not fiddle with my audio player. However, if the choice is listen or not get a book at all, then I’m definitely up for listening!

In this last stretch I listened to six books – one was an Audible gift for the holidays while the rest I either got with my monthly credit or purchased because I couldn’t wait until the end of the month.

After All the Stars in the Heavens (reviewed earlier and separately), I purchased WONDER by R. J. Palacios. Yes, I know I am the LAST PERSON IN THE WORLD to get to this book, but it never seems to be in at the library. Well, it was worth the wait and the $9.99 I paid for it because this book (which you’ve probably all read already) is a gem. WONDER tells the story of Auggie Pullman, a fifth grader who has always been schooled at home because of his physical differences (which are facial). It’s a year in Auggie’s life as he integrates into school and navigates the social scene. I loved this story! When I first heard the main narrator (Diana Steele for Auggie) I thought it was Paula Poundstone trying to sound like a little kid, but eventually it grew on me and I decided it was just perfect. I can still hear that voice in my head!

Next I received a free download from Audible also a holiday treat – the short story of THE CHIMES by Charles Dickens. Wow – this was a miserable and depressing story. I guess Dickens published three stories about Christmas with THE CHIMES coming after A CHRISTMAS CAROL. Anyways — while superbly written, the story centered on this poor, hapless man named Toby “Trotty” Veck whose whole happy life is just a big illusion because everyone’s really dead. Whew — Merry Christmas!

Anyway – after that pick-me-up, I got the NEW Agatha Raisin by MC Beaton – DISHING THE DIRT. I couldn’t wait for it so I bought it for myself as a treat. Agatha is dealing with a new gal in town – a therapist – who not only seems to know a lot about people (including about Agatha’s past), but she uses it to her own devices. That said, she promptly ends up dead (the therapist that is) and Agatha needs to figure out who dunnit! This story was ably read by Alison Larkin.

Over the actual week of Christmas I listened to THE TIME BETWEEN, which I got on sale. It is by Karen White and I really like her stories. Understandably though, close to Christmas is not a good time for listening as there are many crazy people on the roads (or at least there are around here/Boston). This is a story of family and relationships, sisters and secrets. It takes place in the South, which many of Ms. White’s stories do. It was really good and had my fave themes of redemption and forgiveness in it. It had more than one narrator/voice for the women portrayed and all were very good and appropriate: Jennifer Ikeda, Barbara Rosenblat, and Angela Goethals. I may go back and listen to it again.

Well this ends Part One! Part Deux will be coming — featuring a YA novel I really wanted and loved called Nightfall by Jake Halpern and Peter Kujawinski and Isabel Allende’s new novel: The Japanese Lover.

Quick Review: A Maggie Hope Mystery — Mrs. Roosevelt’s Confidante by Susan Elia MacNeal

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I love the Maggie Hope cozy mystery series! Maggie is a plucky and intelligent WWII coder and mathematician who has adventures and solves mysteries. Maggie is so realistic, though, that I just love her stories and love learning more about WWII and women who worked in the war department in England.

In this installment, Maggie is headed to America with Churchill and his entourage and she will be meeting up with the Roosevelts, and particularly with Eleanor. However, Maggie has hardly arrived when a young woman is found dead of an apparent suicide and with a note implicating Eleanor in her death. Maggie is determined to find out who is behind this gruesome act and to set things right. At the same time, there are subplots with Maggie’s friends and Maggie’s sometimes hapless romantic life. All in all, it was an enjoyable story that I read straight through as I didn’t want to put it down!

I got my ARC through Net Galley — thank you for the chance to read and review it!

Find yours at an Indie near you — your local library — or online!

(google image of Ms. MacNeal and book cover)

Review: THE BODY IN THE PIAZZA by Katherine Hall Page

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I love Katherine Hall Page’s Faith Fairchild mysteries. They are cozies that combine some of the things I love most: family, food, and New England. This installment (#21 in the series) takes place in one of my favorite places: Italy.

Faith and Tom have gone to Tuscany on an anniversary trip, but it isn’t long before Faith has a dead body on her hands (a gentleman they knew from the tour) and her friend Francesca’s cooking school is in danger. Can Faith find the murderer before it’s too late?

This book has lots of fun characters and is Faith at her finest. Talk of the sights in Florence and Rome, the food, and the weather made me want to go back to Italy!

A solid contributor to this cozy series. If you like it, you should know that the latest, #22- The Body in the Birches, is set to publish in May.

I got mine via Amazon for my kindle.

BLOG TOUR == YA/Kids’ Review: ENCHANTMENT LAKE by Margi Preus and GIVEAWAY!

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I grabbed this fun YA mystery off of Net Galley a while ago, but then was asked to take part in the blog tour for it!

In this story, seventeen year old Francie leaves New York to go to a remote part of Minnesota to help her elderly great aunts whose neighbors seem to be dying every time you turn around. Francie is an actress who once played a detective on television, so everyone refers to her as “that detective”. Eventually she gives up correcting them. She’s dealing with land developers, pushy summer people, legends of treasure, and some dark secrets from her family’s past that she never knew. While she works to figure out who is behind the sudden deaths, Francie realizes that she might be next!

This was a cute book – reminded me of Nancy Drew or something similar. Francie is a brave and intelligent young woman, but she had me laughing at times, too. Perhaps this is the start of a series? I can’t wait to introduce my daughter to Francie.

This book is published by University of Minnesota Press. Author Margi Preus is the New York Times bestselling author of books for young readers, including Shadow on the Mountain, West of the Moon, and Heart of a Samurai, which won a Newberry Honor.

Here’s a picture of Ms. Preus, credit to Shirleen Hieb Photography:

Preus, Margi credit to Shirleen_Hieb_Photography

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But wait — there’s more!

My friends at University of Minnesota Press is offering not one, not two, but THREE giveaway copies — SIGNED by Ms. Preus (hey – I want one!) to winners from the U.S. and/or CANADA. Yipee!!

Leave me a comment below (one entry per person) and I will use random.org to pick winners. Enter up until 12:01 am on April 19 – because that’s my birthday and this will be my gift to you!! 🙂

REVIEW: DREAMING SPIES by Laurie King

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When I saw DREAMING SPIES come up on Net Galley, I thought it looked like something I’d enjoy: Sherlock Holmes and his wife, Mary Russell, solving mysteries. I am not sure how I’ve missed this series as I’m a HUGE Holmes fan. Of course just about everyone is a fan of the new series with Benedict, and I enjoy it, but I’m a Holmes fan from way back. I’ve read all Conan Doyle’s stories numerous times (there aren’t a ton) and I love love loved the PBS series with Jeremy Brett. He was just the perfect Holmes to me. So what fun to find a whole series of stories that are about Holmes and his wife — who is obviously created for this series if you know Holmes – the intelligent and intrepid Mary Russell.

In this story, the time line moves back and forth, from a mystery worked on a few years earlier in Japan to the present (1920’s) in Oxford, England. Holmes and Russell were traveling aboard a cruise ship to Japan when they met a pleasant young woman, Sato, who offers to help educate the crew in the culture and manners of Japan. It turns out that she is a ninja, from a family of ninjas, and she needs their help. A book was given by their Emperor to the King of England as a gift, but it has something tucked inside it which must not be seen. Now the Emperor is being blackmailed in order for him to get the book back.

The storyline takes place in basically three locales: aboard the ship, in Japan, back in England. Ms. King has filled her novel with interesting details about life and the culture in Japan in the 1920’s. Having just taken a cruise last summer, I found the cruise ship part interesting, though I think our Disney Magic was more comfortable than Holmes’ and Russell’s ship!

I have to be honest, I did fear that I would start to read this book and Holmes would not seem like Holmes to me; or Mary would seem anachronistic, or something else would happen that would make me feel it was an absurd attempt to incorporate this iconic character into something new (remember I didn’t read the whole series or even know about it until afterwards). I was not disappointed. Holmes behaved just like Holmes should. Mary is front and center, but that is no surprise as this is somewhat her series. Stylistically, the writing was what I would expect from a classic British mystery. All in all, I just loved it!

For a few more days, I’m running a giveaway:

https://drbethnolan.wordpress.com/2015/02/07/giveaway-for-dreaming-spies-by-laurie-r-king/

You can see this book at an indie near you — check out the whole series! (I am an indie bound affiliate) and thank you, Net Galley, for my ARC!:

Find it at an Indie!

HFVB Tour of THE SCHOOL OF NIGHT by Colin Falconer

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So happy today to be part of THE SCHOOL OF NIGHT blog tour to review Colin Falconer’s first book in the “William Shakespeare Detective Agency” series.

William Shakespeare is not that William Shakespeare; he is his cousin from the countryside, come to London to visit cousin Will and find something worthwhile to do as he escapes drudgery as a glovemaker. William has a bit of penchant for attracting trouble and he is hardly in town long before he’s disgruntled his cousin (with whom he is staying) and been requested to find a lovely young woman’s missing husband. Peril exists at every corner and William must use his strengths (both physical and mental) to figure out the mystery and set things right.

I really enjoyed this book – the start of a series. William has a dry wit and makes little asides to the reader throughout that are quite humorous – I particularly like his takes on the people and conditions of London back in the day.

Mr. Falconer is a fairly prolific historical fiction author. Here’s some info on him from HFVB tours:

Born in London, Colin first trialed as a professional football player in England, and was eventually brought to Australia. He went to Sydney and worked in TV and radio and freelanced for many of Australia’s leading newspapers and magazines. He has published over twenty novels and his work has so far been translated into 23 languages.

He travels regularly to research his novels and his quest for authenticity has led him to run with the bulls in Pamplona, pursue tornadoes across Oklahoma and black witches across Mexico, go cage shark diving in South Africa and get tear gassed in a riot in La Paz.

He currently lives in Barcelona.

I look forward to reading the next installment in this series. Thank you for my review copy!

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