A Smoking Bun by Ellie Alexander

Posted on February 19, 2024 by Carol Early Cooney

Dear Fellow Readers,

Do you use your local library very much? I will admit that there were times in my life when I didn’t. I don’t think that I appreciated everything that libraries can do for a community. When I moved eight years ago, one of the first places that I headed was the local library. They had a book group that met one time a month in the afternoon and I decided that I should try it. (By the way, I decided that for anything thing new I tried I needed to go to at least three meetings to decide if the activity was right for me. An arbitrary decision but it worked out to be a good choice.)

The first meeting that I went to was to discuss Alice Hoffman’s A Marriage of Opposites. It was a great book with lots of different things to talk about. Apparently, I was not the only one who enjoyed the book. The meeting was very well attended and there was lots of discussion. I won’t go into it now but there are comments from that discussion that I can still remember, mostly because they were so amazing. I told everyone about the things that went on in that meeting. I couldn’t wait to go back. Now, there have not been any sessions to rival that one since, but I always enjoy going. One of the other regular attendees and I have only agreed on two books in the last 3 or 4 years. And our agreement was that we felt neutral about those two books. It always makes for a good session when there are varied opinions about a book.

Today’s book is A Smoking Bun by Ellie Alexander. The book’s publication date is tomorrow. The book takes place in Ashland, Oregan, the home of Jules Capshaw, who is a baker who owns Torte, the local bakery. The town is home to Mount A, which is home to a ski resort. The book revolves around the murder of Fritz who had been annoying the ski patrol, the resort owner, and just about anyone who encountered him. He seemed to be a know-it-all who didn’t care or listen to rules. His body was discovered during the “Downhill Dummy” event, a special event that the whole town and many visitors attend. The ski resort owner was quick to point out someone she thought was the murderer and the police and ski patrol captured him.

But was he really the murderer? What was Fritz doing on the mountain? With Jules busy because her husband’s family from Spain was visiting, she didn’t think she had time to look for a killer, but she couldn’t keep away from it. Besides, when the police chief is dating your mother, you might be able to get some insights.

It seems that this is book 19 in the series of books subtitled, A Bakeshop Mystery. I had no idea. I did think when reading the book that it was not the first in the series (because so much was mentioned of things from the past.) I would never have dreamed it was the 19th. I think it can be read without the others in the series but it was obvious there were some things from the past that I didn’t know.

Because I was given the book to give an honest review, I would pass on this book. I did finish it, so it wasn’t awful, but I found all of the descriptions long. The bakery had a lot of employees and they each did different things, and I just didn’t care that much. It didn’t add to the story. It seemed that there was a lot of extraneous information.

Having said that, I might try the first book and see if it is better. It could be that #19 was just a dog in the series. The first book is Meet Your Baker.

Thanks for reading!

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Of Hoaxes and Homicide by Anastasia Hastings

Posted on January 31, 2024 by Carol Early Cooney

Dear Fellow Reader,

It is the end of January already. While January can be dreary where I live (and it was) there is the hint of light at 5 p.m. which we haven’t seen for a while. There is hope. There must be, I have even been thinking about the garden, and by the end of the season, I never think I will want to think of it again.

This week I have a (not too much of a surprise) brand new cozy mystery for you. This is the second in the series of Dear Miss Hermione mysteries. No, I have not read the first one, Of Manners and Murder. While I would always encourage you to start at the beginning, I didn’t have any trouble reading this second book without having read the first. I was given a copy of this book for my honest review.

Of Hoaxes and Homicide takes place in about 1885 and is the story of Violet Manville and her half-sister Sephora. Violet is the commonsense sister while Sephora cares about society and clothes and being a lady. Both women live in a house owned by their aunt, Adelia, who has left town with her latest lover. One of the secrets that she left behind with Violet is that Aunt Adelia was London’s very popular Agony Aunt, Miss Hermoine. Violet is now Miss Hermoine. She fills this role with the help of Bunty, the housekeeper. (She has a secret room where she works and everything.) 

Sephora is bored and Violet is a bit restless also. They had been involved in a murder mystery and it was quite exciting. It was hard to go back to their regular lives. Violet is hiding it but is especially on edge because of the mysterious Eli Marsh, whom she met when investigating the murder. He may have captured a bit of her heart. Sephora is especially missing her best friend, who is off visiting relatives.

Or is she?

Miss Hermoine receives a letter asking for her help and Violet connects the letter to Sephora’s friend. It seems the friend has been caught up in a cult, the Hermetic Order of the Children of Aed. The stories about the cult have been made infamous by the mysterious Count Orlando.

Was the cult really having orgies?

Were there ritualistic sacrifices?

Violet decides to go to the Cult to see what it is all about and while she is there, a man is murdered. Who did it? Can she find the missing girl and return her to her family? Will the mysterious Eli March arrive? Sephora comes into her own in the story and surprises Violet in the best way.

I found it to be a very pleasant story. I liked the writing. The style reminded me a bit of the Enola Holmes stories in that Violet occasionally has an aside with the reader when she is frustrated about something. This book is available now so you can buy it or try your local library. (I just checked and my library system has 4 copies.)

On to something different…

I won’t be writing a full review (because you can read about 100 of them if you try) I would highly recommend The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store by James McBride. I just finished it, and I LOVED it. I am in awe of the mind that can come up with such interesting characters and plot. Hats off to Mr. McBride!

And because we are on the eve of it, Happy Library Lovers Month! Go forth and tell those librarians how much you appreciate what they do! In some ways, they are the Guardians of our Galaxy.

Thank you for reading!

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Public Anchovy #1 by Mindy Quigley

Posted on December 7, 2023 by Carol Early Cooney

Dear Fellow Reader,

The holidays are rushing up on us. I knew this would happen; it always does. December is but a passing glance.

Do you listen to audiobooks? I might have talked about this before. I have a terrible time listening to fiction audiobooks. For some reason, non-fiction ones are fine but when I listen to fiction all I can think of is that I can read them faster. Yes, I know you can speed up the audio, but still. But I keep trying. Also, I didn’t know when I would listen to them. I know that people listen to them while doing all sorts of things around the house and garden, but I just don’t think of it. In December I am trying to make myself knit for 15 minutes a day. (I have several projects going and lots of yarn to use.) I decided to combine the two activities. I knit and I listen. So far it is going okay. I am not sure that I like the book that I picked. It is not horrible, but I keep wondering why there needs to be so much description. It is a book by an author that I have read before and liked. I think that when I read, I skim over parts but when I listen I hear it all.

Yes, I do end up knitting for longer than 15 minutes but by committing to 15 minutes a day, I might finish a few projects…

 Public Anchovy #1 by Mindy Quigley is the third in the Deep Dish Mysteries. I have reviewed the first two books ( Six Feet Deep Dish and Ashes to Ashes, Crust to Crust). I enjoyed them and enjoyed the newest book in the series. I was given a copy of the book in exchange for my honest review.

Delilah O’Leary’s focus is on keeping her restaurant open. Winter is the slow season in Geneva Bay, Wisconsin. To keep going, she hopes to get catering jobs to supplement her restaurant business during the long winter. As the story opens, she is loading up to cater a party for le crème de la crème of Geneva Bay’s society. They are catering the Friends of the Library’s fundraising gala. The theme for the event is “Speakeasy Soiree”. Delilah is providing a menu of Chicago-themed food like Delilah’s signature deep-dish pizzas and Prohibition-era cocktails. The party is being held at Pam Philips’ house, which is located out on Bluff Point. (A key element – it is the house isolated out on a point.)

On the way to the party, Delilah receives a call from Isabel Barney, the head librarian, asking her to create and serve a “free from” pizza for one of the special guests. The pizza must be free from gluten, animal products, dairy, and no tomatoes. (Does she know what a pizza is, was the question.) This means that Delilah needs to make a stop at her house. Because of that stop, Delilah was picked up by Pam Philips’ boat and taken to her house. This throws her plans off and she is running late for the event. But her staff is at the house getting everything ready. When she gets to the kitchen and goes into the box to get her mixer, she finds the box empty. There is a mixer she can use in Pam’s kitchen but still, she finds it odd. Wouldn’t you have noticed that the box was empty on the way over in the boat?

The evening starts with drinks and canapes. Lola Capone, the mother of Delilia’s almost-boyfriend, Detective Calvin Capone, is the musical entertainment for the evening. Delilia goes out to check and see if all is going well and discovers that Calvin is his mother’s piano player. This is a surprise but Delilah decides just to ignore him and she will make it through. All is going well when the speeches start. And then a guest falls down the stairs and lands at the bottom of the staircase dead. Did he die from the fall? At the same time the party attendees are in shock from the body at the back of the room, a storm is raging outside. Most of the people who left right away get home but some of the party attendees are stuck in the house. A tree falls and blocks the driveway and with all the emergencies, the police cannot make it to the house until morning. As the night wears on, Delilah finds more and more suspicious things happening. There is another murder in the house and an attempted murder of Delilah’s best friend and sous chef. Can Delilah and Detective Capone solve the mysteries before everyone leaves in the morning when help arrives?

Another good cozy mystery by Mindy Quigley. Since I have read the books in order it is hard for me to say if reading them out of order would make a difference. I think it would as far as the almost romance of Delilah and Calvin goes. Also, many of the characters are the same (Delilah’s kitchen staff). I would suggest that you read them in order and that isn’t just my always-present desire to read all series in order.

Have a happy holiday season. I hope you find ways to make it last as long as possible.

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Act Like a Lady, Think Like a Lord by Celeste Connally

Posted on November 14, 2023 by Carol Early Cooney

Dear Fellow Reader,

Are you on Instagram? I know I am late to the party but I have been using my Instagram account more lately, I have not been using it the way one probably should use it, I rarely post photos there. I use it to post quotes that I think are funny or poignant, Partially to put out positive messages but also to practice using design ideas, I am certainly not an artist – I cannot draw at all but I like to fiddle around with a graphic design program to see what I can come up with,

Do you have an outlet like that? Somewhere that you can practice something that you like but may not be particularly good at? I hope you do, It is just fun and we can all use that!

Act Like a Lady, Think Like a Lord is this week’s book. I was given a copy of this book in exchange for my unbiased review.

This book is billed as “Bridgerton  meets Agatha Christie … a dazzling first entry in a captivating new Regency-era mystery series with a feminist spin”  Wow, that is a lot to live up to, Although I am not totally sure what that means,

Lady Petra Forsyth is the daughter of the Earl of Holbrook and is her own person, She was in love and going to be married but her love died, She has since announced that she has no interest in marrying. This has taken her social set by storm and is definitely not what a lady of that era should do, But she was left funds by her mother so she can survive without a man,

When Lady Petra is told that a friend of hers has died, she is upset, She then sees some evidence that the friend is not dead but is barely alive and hidden somewhere. She becomes interested because she hears whispers about a doctor. The whispers are coming from the married men in her social circle who seem to want to see their wives disappear, She decides that she must follow up on the mystery. At the same time, the man she grew up with and felt was her close friend until they had a terrible fight, is back and she isn’t sure about their relationship. Is he there to help her?

Despite the description above, it is a pretty good story, It has lots of twists and turns and if you like the Regency era, you might like this, I know nothing much about the Regency era, so I don’t know if it is true to form but I liked it. (My understanding is that the Regency era had very strict behavioral codes and people love that era. I don’t know enough to judge whether this book follows the rules.)

I liked it and I suggest that you try it,

Thanks for reading.

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A Christmas Vanishing by Anne Perry

Posted on November 7, 2023 by Carol Early Cooney

Dear Fellow Readers,

I know, I know… A Christmas book? Why am I reviewing a Christmas book? It just so happens that this book comes out today so you can blame the gods of publishing for having a Christmas book out so early.

I took this book for a reason. I have never read Anne Perry before. She was a prolific writer. She has two series to her credit that were set in Victorian England, plus two other series, 5 World War I novels, and 21 holiday novels. She even has a historical novel set in the Byzantine Empire. She was born in 1938 and died this year at the age of 84.

How could I have missed her books?

I had heard of her. I think that I always confused her with Ellis Peters, who I have not read either. But while I had somehow not read Anne Perry, I had heard her story, which is unusual. Anne Perry is not the author’s real name. Her name is Juliet Hulme. At the age of 16, Juliet Hulme was convicted with her close friend, Pauline Parker, of murdering Pauline’s mother. They were jailed for five years. It is believed that they never spoke after the trial and were released separately. Anne Perry then went on to be a flight attendant and an author. She published her first novel in 1979.

In 1994, the film, Heavenly Creatures, came out. The film was the story of the murder. Kate Winslet played Juliet Hulme. It is said that Anne Perry had no idea about the film. Her identity was discovered by journalists several months after the movie came out.

It seemed so unfair. Everything I had worked to achieve as a decent member of society was threatened. And once again my life was being interpreted by someone else. It had happened in court when, as a minor, I wasn’t allowed to speak and I heard all these lies being told. And now there was a film, but nobody had bothered to talk to me. I knew nothing about it until the day before release. All I could think of was that my life would fall apart and that it might kill my mother.

The Guardian 12 November 2023

https://www.theguardian.com/books/2003/nov/12/crimebooks.features11

Pretty intriguing life for a mystery author, right? So, while I had meant to read her for years, I finally have. I read her latest (and perhaps last?) book. I was given this book in exchange for my honest review.

A Christmas Vanishing is the story of Mariah Ellison going to visit her friend Sadie Alsop and her husband Barton Alsop for the holidays. We are told Mariah is in her 80s. She had known Sadie for a very long time, but they had a falling out and she has not seen her for years. When Mariah gets to Sadie’s home in St. Helens in Dorset, she is nearly frozen and is looking forward to warming up. After several rings of the bell, Barton Alsop opens the door and tells Mariah, in not the friendliest of tones, that Sadie is not home, he doesn’t know when she will be home, and that she will have to leave. With that, he closes the door. Mariah has not been to St. Helens for years but asks the driver to take her to another old friend’s house, Annabel Spears, and her husband John. While they welcomed her to the house and provided warmth and afternoon tea, they also told her that she could not stay with them but arranged for her to stay with Annabel’s maiden sister, Gwendolyn. Mariah is very upset about where Sadie could be. Annabel tells Maraih that she saw Sadie the previous day and that Sadie was getting ready for Maraih’s visit.

Where could Sadie be? Had she forgotten Mariah was coming? Is she having memory issues? Is she outside in this terrible weather? Had her husband done something to her?

Mariah and Gwendolyn decide that they must find her, and they start talking to people in town. The talk turns into just gossip and Mariah can’t stand it. She goes into a bookstore and starts talking to the owner, Oliver. Mariah tells Oliver all about Sadie’s disappearance. Oliver shares with Mariah an experience that he had with Sadie that gives Mariah her first clue as to what could be wrong.

  After putting together pieces of the puzzle, they feel confident that they know why Sadie has disappeared, but they feel that they need to rush to find her before she dies from exposure. If, in fact, she is still alive.

So, I would say that it is not a Christmas book in that it brings in a lot of Christmas elements. It is a mystery that happens to take place at Christmastime. It could be read any time of the year and the Christmas element would not make any difference as it is not central to the theme.

It is a short book. I enjoyed it. Mariah is a flawed character who is looking for redemption. She was trying to better herself. I wondered if she was in other stories just because her backstory was referred to so often. It could just be the style.

I think it is worth a read – and not necessarily at Christmas.

Thanks for reading.

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