Review--The Plot and the Pendulum by Jenn McKinley

 

Setting: Connecticut

Lindsey Norris, library director, is thrilled to find out her library will be getting a local family's large and valuable book collection, due to the owner having to go to a retirement home, and forced to sell her home.  Her adult son, living out of state for over 30 years, is not interested in dealing with it.

While checking out the collection, and deciding beginning to transport some of the most valuable books to the library, Lindsey and members of her staff discover a secret room hidden behind a book case.  When investigating the room, they find a skeleton trapped inside.

The police are notified, and it is suspected it is the body of a young woman who had disappeared over thirty years ago.

Interesting read, thought the book was good, but not my favorite.

Books Read the week of Jan. 8-Jan. 21 , 2024

Well, the title of this blog is a little off, as I only finished one book during this two week period.  I'm more than half finished with two others, and have another couple I've started.  

One of my half finished books is a bit of a struggle, but I'm determined to finish it.  It bounces back and forth from the present to the past to the present again, which for some reason I find annoying at this time.  Perhaps it's because of the current weather, which apparently is making me a little grumpy.  Snow and bitter cold are not things I enjoy--at all!

The one book I actually finished is--

Death Walked in by Carolyn Hart.

This is #5 in my Goodreads Challenge, Reading by the Numbers Challenge, and my Mt. TBR Challenge (bought Nov 2023).  It is also D in my Alphabet Soup Challenge, and South Carolina in my Literary Escapes Challenge.

 I will be doing a monthly update in the future, updating all of my challenges at that time, so I will be doing one more with my total for January, and then the next one at the end of February.

 

Review--Death Walks In by Carolyn Hart

Setting: South Carolina

This is the eighteenth book in the Death in Demand series.  I've read several others, and have enjoyed them.

 Max Darling is left a message that a woman has left something hidden in his and his wife's soon to be home. When his wife, Annie, finds out, she goes to the woman's house and finds her dead. Looking for a motive, and curious about what she had hidden, Max and Annie search their house for the hidden item, but they are unable to find it.

Knowing that the victim worked for a home that had just been robbed of valuable coins, they assume she knew something about the crime, and that was the reason she had been killed. When the victim's son is suspected of the murder of his mother, Max and Annie believe him to be innocent, and work to prove it.

Enjoyed this book, as I have the others in this series that I've previously read. 

Review of Christmas Corpse at Caribou Cabin by Laura Hern

Setting: Minnesota

While this is the fourth book in this series, it is the first one I've read.  It was an "okay" read, but I did not find it outstanding in any way. 

It had the expected characters; the young woman who gets involved investigating a crime, her helpful girl friends, a protective man (in this case two-her mentor/boss, and a local police officer). There were also two good-looking males to be possible love interests.
The plot was easily followed, and the "bad guy" was pretty obvious fairly early on to someone who reads a lot of mysteries. 

It certainly wasn't awful, and reading it is a pleasant way to spend an afternoon or two. If I come across another book in the series, I might read it to see if the writing has improved as it had potential.

Review of Tea and Treachery by Vicki Delany

Setting: Cape Cod, Massachusetts

I enjoyed this book.  The characters were interesting, and the plot was pretty good.
Lily is a pastry chef, running her own newly opened Tea Room, next to her grandmother's Victorian home in Cape Cod. Her grandmother, Rose, is running it as a Bed & Breakfast.  
Rose finds out that the house next door is going to be sold, and the person interested in buying it wants to tear it down and build a hotel, if he gets it rezoned.  

Rose has a public argument with the owner, developer, and one of the councilmen voting on the zoning, and the next day the developer is found dead on her property.  Rose becomes the main suspect if the man was pushed, rather than accidentally falling down some steps from the bluff to the beach.
Lily and her best friend Bernie, along with Rose try to determine, if the death was not an accident, who else would be a good suspect.
Looking forward to reading additional books in the series.

Books Read the week of Jan. 1-Jan 7, 2024

2024 Challenges

Goodreads--

1. Blotto,Twinks and the Stars of the Silver Screen by Simon Brett

2. Archie Goes Home by Robert Goldsborough

3. Tea & Treachery by Vicki Delaney

4. Christmas Corpse at Caribou Cabin by Laura Hern

Reading by the Numbers

1. Blotto,Twinks and the Stars of the Silver Screen by Simon Brett

2. Archie Goes Home by Robert Goldsborough

3. Tea & Treachery by Vicki Delaney

4. Christmas Corpse at Caribou Cabin by Laura Hern

 

Mount TBR 

1. Blotto,Twinks and the Stars of the Silver Screen by Simon Brett bought 25 Jan 2023

2. Archie Goes Home by Robert Goldsborough bought 23 Dec 2023

3. Tea & Treachery by Vicki Delaney  bought  6 July 2022

4. Christmas Corpse at Caribou Cabin by Laura Hern  bought 15 Nov 2023

 

Alphabet Soup

A--Archie Goes Home by Robert Goldsborough

B--Blotto, Twinks and the Stars of the Silver Screen by Simon Brett

C--Christmas Corpse at Caribou Cabin by Laura Hern

T--Tea and Treachery  by Vicki Delaney

 

Literary Escapes

California--Blotto,Twinks and the Stars of the Silver Screen by Simon Brett

Massachusetts--Tea & Treachery  by Vicki Delaney

Minnesota--Christmas Corpse at Caribou Cabin by Laura Hern

Ohio--Archie Goes Home by Robert Goldsborough

Review of Blotto, Twinks and the Stars of the Silver Screen by Simon Brett

I've read several of the Blotto and Twinks books, and enjoyed them all.  The main characters are exaggerations of stereotypes of the English aristocracy, and totally unbelievable.  Twinks is described as brilliant intellectually, and breathtakingly beautiful.  Blotto, her brother, is good at cricket, driving his car, and riding his horse, but dumber than a box of rocks.  He is also extremely brave (willing to take on multiple armed gangsters with only a cricket bat), and doesn't even realize he is in danger.

In spite of this, I have read several of the books and find them all entertaining (in a weird way).  Probably says more about me than about the books themselves.

 

Review of Archie Goes Home by Robert Goldsborough

Setting: Ohio

 

Archie Goodman, assistant to Nero Wolfe, is subtly nudged by his Aunt Edna to return home to Ohio, to visit his mother, although she is not having any problems.  His first impulse was to stay in New York and wait for his mother's planned visit in the fall, but with Nero's encouragement, he decides to drive to Ohio and make the visit. 

He discovers his Aunt's real motive is to get him to investigate the death of a disliked banker, although the police are sure the death was a suicide. He decides to check out the death, and ends up agreeing with his gossip-prone aunt that the death was not self-inflicted.  

The story was interesting, and there were several unexpected happenings during the investigation.

I was not totally surprised by the ending, but it took me most of the book to get to that point.

2024 Reading Challenges

 Back to posting after quite a while. I've decided to sign up for a few challenges again, just a few, to start this year's blog.

The first one I signed up for is the 2024 Goodreads Challenge.  My goal is 12 books, but hopefully will read more than that.

 

 

The second one is from My Reader's Block.  This is the Reading by the Numbers Challenge.  You don't have to pick a level, but my personal goal is at least 12 books.  They will probably be the same books as the 2024 Goodreads Challenge.

 

 

 

 

 

The third one is also from My Reader's Block.  I've signed up for the 2024 Mount TBR Reading Challenge.  My goal is Mount Blanc--read 24 books from my TBR piles.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 I signed up for the 2024 Alphabet Soup Reading Challenge.  The goal is to read a book starting with each letter of the alphabet.  I'm not sure I will succeed with this one, some of the letters are pretty hard to find.

 

 The last one I signed up for is the 2024 Literary Escapes Challenge.  The goal is to read a book that takes place in each one of the fifty states, and Washington, D.C., with bonus points for different countries.