What Cozy Are You Reading? > Likes and Comments
I finished Cherry Pie or Die
by CeeCee James. Book one of series. characters need more developing. Okay overall
Finished Murder at the Dinner PartyAnother enjoyable twisty mystery. I didn't guess who and suspected someone else. I was listening while I worked so I didn't catch every word. The romance was progressing but stalled again for the usual class reasons.
There’s No Murder Like Show Murder by M. S. Greene
A Most Agreeable Murder
I started listening to this at work. At 20% there's no murder yet but a young lady has a very ghoulish interest in murder and for 1815, that would make her unmarriageable if anyone found out. It would ruin her sister's prospects and the heir is already trying to declare Papa incompetent. This story seems to be a cozy mystery pastiche of Pride and Prejudice. It's pretty fluffy and silly so far but passes the time.
The Catalogued Corpse: Doro Banyon Cozy Historical Mysteries
I really liked this one. It's different. It's set in the 1920s on a small college campus and the heroine has a Masters' in Library Science, a new degree at the time. Unfortunately the new college president and his cronies want to make the school an elite institution of learning - no women, no sports, no townies and no scholarships for "riff raff" farmers and others who need to stay in their place. This means clashes with Doro and friends as well as the basketball coach and students. Doro discovers someone killed by library card catalog! That's ingenuous- one method I haven't read before.
I liked Doro and the new campus security officer and the setting. It's a little scary how history repeats itself. I kept thinking of a certain college in Florida that's been taken over and changed from a progressive institution to something entirely different.
Just finished #14 from one of my favorite dog cozies (Cozy Corgi). Watson's personality changes are a kick!
Precarious PastaFinishing up a short story from one of my favorite humorous cozies (Davis Way aka Belissimo Casino Mystery):
Double Jinx.I'll be starting the next in yet another favorite dog series (Chet and Bernie) after I write up a challenge first:
Scents and Sensibility
Love Chet! He's one of my favorite book animals :)
Barb wrote: "Love Chet! He's one of my favorite book animals :)"He's the best 🥰
I finished Deadly Dog Days
by Jamie Blair. Set in Indiana. Cute cozy lots of dogs and varied characters.
I read an uncorrected e-ARC of The Tell-Tale Homicide
. The mystery was good. It kept me up until 2 AM reading. It was somewhat predictable with some big twists. My problem in reviewing and rating it is that it's uncorrected and large chunks of the cozy storyline were repetitive and inconsistent. Do I expect that will be fixed and rate the story based on the mystery? How many stars do I give it? Corrected it would probably be 4, maybe not quite.
I was on vacation this last week, but here's what I reviewed during that time:
The Baffled Beatlemaniac Caper by Sally Carpenter https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Death Checked Out by Leah Dorbrinska https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
QNPoohBear wrote: "I read an uncorrected e-ARC of The Tell-Tale Homicide. The mystery was good. It kept me up until 2 AM reading. It was somewhat predictab..."My understanding is that only things that should be changing from an ARC to a finished product are minor spelling or grammar issues. but it is always hard to judge when I read an ARC like that myself.
I enjoyed the first one, so I'm sorry to hear the second has issues like this.
QNPoohBear wrote: "I read an uncorrected e-ARC of The Tell-Tale Homicide. The mystery was good. It kept me up until 2 AM reading. It was somewhat predictab..."That sounds more like unedited early draft rather than usual ARC. When asked to review those I did it based on character and plot and sometimes mentioned looking forward to reading completed book. I didn't do ratings on early drafts.
L J wrote: "That sounds more like unedited early draft rather than usual ARC. When asked to review those I did it based on character and plot and sometimes mentioned looking forward to reading completed book. I didn't do ratings on early drafts.."She said it was proofread but not copy edited. I went back and reviewed the questions I had and the inconsistencies are minor but bugged me because it made the book too long and repetitive. Just get to the plot already!
Thank you for your advice. I will review it based on the mystery and note the inconsistencies for the cozy.
QNPoohBear wrote: "L J wrote: "That sounds more like unedited early draft rather than usual ARC. When asked to review those I did it based on character and plot...""...I will review it based on the mystery and note the inconsistencies for the cozy."
That seems fair and you are quite welcome.
Years ago was given ARC supposed to be cozy or traditional mystery according to PR. In review I said something like "Intriguing mystery with interesting characters but the writing style is more suited to courtroom drama or suspense."
QNPoohBear wrote: "I read an uncorrected e-ARC of The Tell-Tale HomicideThe mystery was good. It kept me up until 2 AM reading. It was somewhat predictable with some big twists. My problem in reviewing and rating it is that it's uncorrected and large chunks of the cozy storyline were repetitive and inconsistent."
I just read that same book yesterday and noticed the same things. Your comment made me notice the repetitions more than I might have otherwise, but I got really frustrated with the spaces inserted in words where they shouldn't be, like "h is" and "t hat". I *did really like the mystery though :)
Barb wrote: " I got really frustrated with the spaces inserted in words where they shouldn't be, like "h is" and "t hat""Me too but I knew it was not copyedited so I let it go. I decided to email the author and let her know I'll be leaving a review but may not give it stars or as many stars as a corrected copy but I am looking forward to reading the final version and Juniper's next adventure. I offered to be a consultant because I'm basically doing the same thing more or less and with less experience than Juniper. I expect she'll be tearing her hair out and crying "WHAT is this and WHY do we have it?" a lot. At least her donors are still alive to ask.
QNPoohBear wrote: " I decided to email the author and let her know I'll be leaving a review but may not give it stars or as many stars as a corrected copy but I am looking forward to reading the final version and Juniper's next adventure."That's a good compromise. I was going to give stars based on the mystery alone, which kept me guessing throughout :)
"At least her donors are still alive to ask."
For now, at least :)
Barb wrote: ""At least her donors are still alive to ask."For now, at least :)."
Ha ha You're right. That may not last long. I sent Daphne Silver and email with my thoughts and she's going to check out her book and see if it needs more editing. I assured her the mystery was very good and told her I basically do the same thing as Juniper with less experience so I liked that plotline. I was going to write my review tonight but time got away from me and now it's time for bed so I can go to work tomorrow and tear my hair out over photos left in the 1 hr photo development envelopes tossed in a box without labels!
A Dark and Stormy Murder… it’s really good so far.
Currently reading “The Unfortunate Side Effects of Heartbreak and Magic” by Breanne Randall. I knew I would love it the moment it was compared to Gilmore Girls. 😍
A Most Agreeable Murder I finished this Regency(ish) mystery yesterday reading on the tablet because I was listening at work and couldn't put it down. Set in a weird alternate 1799 county of Swampshire, the story is part parody of Jane Austen and part Agatha Christie and totally funny! It's full of anachronisms but who cares? It's not a REAL serious Regency romance. It took WAY too long to get into the story but the world building was fun. I liked Beatrice for the most part and never guessed any of the secrets. Only one that was kind of obvious and Mary's secret which is only hinted at. I never saw ANY of the twists coming and kept gasping as I was listening! It's a fun diversion from the doom and gloom of the real world.
I've got this one on my Kindle WL and will be picking it up very soon after reading your compelling review!
I am kicking off November by looking at
Murder at Marble House by Alyssa Maxwell https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Mark wrote: "I am kicking off November by looking at Murder at Marble House by Alyssa Maxwell https://www.goodreads.com/review/show..."Oh excellent choice! I love this series and can't wait to go to Newport later this month. I've been to The Breakers and Marble House, and Beachwood was my favorite when it was a living history museum. Murder at Rosecliff is coming up soon and I've been there too. The sweetheart staircase is pretty distinctive.
QNPoohBear wrote: "Mark wrote: "I am kicking off November by looking at Murder at Marble House by Alyssa Maxwell https://www.goodreads.com/review/show..."Oh excel..."
I actually got to visit Newport a couple of weeks ago. Sadly, I was only there for one day as part of a cruise. Got to tour The Breakers, but only got to see the outsides of many of the other houses. But I did buy a copy of book 4 in the series in the gift shop for The Breakers.
Kicking off the week with the Thanksgiving themed novella
Sheer Window by Diane Vallere https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
The Village by the Sea
4 stars
Female author. 1982 book. Feelgood story.
Based in India.
reminded me of the classical European stories.
My review - https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
I went on a mystery binge in October (though I still read more romance). I've just updated my
2024 challenge page
with the reading I've been doing. Drop by to see my comments and/or mini reviews!**
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* A Charming Hexocist
The latest in the Magical Cures series by Tonya Kappes. I don’t know if there are going to be more or if this was written to remind us of the characters, etc. now that there’s a sequel series. There hadn’t been a new entry in this series since 2020.
* Southern Magical Bakery
The first book in the new series Southern Magical Bakery by Tonya Kappes. The series features Lo Heal Park, June & Oscar’s (Magical Cures) now grown daughter. Lo seemingly has no magical gift and by law cannot live in Whispering Falls. She longs to open her own bakery and decides to move to the nearby, non-magical town of Celestial Falls. Her childhood frenemy, Orin (a wizard)—longing to escape his overprotective mother—shows up. Turns out both Lo and Celestial Falls are not as non-magical as thought.
* Striped & Strangled
Book four in the Knitty Kitty series by Tracey Drew.
* Of Hoaxes and Homicide
Book 2 in the Dear Miss Hermione series by Anastasia Hastings. This is an historical.
* Death by Smoothie
* Murder Buys a One-Way Ticket
Books 19 and 20 in the Jaine Austin series by Laura Levine. Though I’ve liked some books more than others, this is one of my all-time favorite series. Ms. Levine retired in July, posting a farewell on her Facebook page. She says she might write novellas in the future and I, for one, can’t wait. However, if this is truly the end of this series, it is a good one to go out on.
* Chili Chili Bang Bang
Book 4 of the Chef to Go series by Denise Swanson.
* Neighbourhood-Swatch
The prequel to the new-to-me series Knitorious by Reagan Davis. This is an "Encyclopedia Brown"-like short story introducing the main characters of the series.
For anyone who is on NetGalley and read/enjoyed Daphne Silver's Crime and Parchment, I noticed today that the next book in the series, The Tell-Tale Homicide, is available as a Read Now book. The caveat is that it's due to be released on Nov. 12, so if you care about reading and reviewing before the pub date, there's not much time!
Karen wrote: "I went on a mystery binge in October (though I still read more romance). I've just updated my 2024 challenge page
with the reading I've been doing. Drop by to see my comments and/or mini review..."
Thanks for the news that Laura Levine is retiring. Like you her series was/is one of my longtime favorites. I have Death by Smoothie on my tbr for November, and the apparently last title on my Kindle WL. I'll be rooting for future novellas!
Sticks and Scones
Pretty good in terms of mystery. I didn't guess 100% why but I wasn't totally surprised. Lance annoys the heck out of me most of the time and managed not to in this one until the end. The new characters were rather two-dimensional. The "cozy" personal plot for Jules was obvious and and now here's another series I will be quitting.
My next stop this week was
A Matter of Life and Depths, the second Cruising Sisters Mystery from K.B. Jackson https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
I'm currently reading Stitched in Crime by Emmie Caldwell. I'm also about to start The Diva runs out of Thyme by Krista Davis and once I finish one of those I'll start When the Crow's Away by Auralee Wallace.
I'm ending the week with
The Gardener's Plot by Deborah J. Benoit https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
After a rough week, I needed some light humor so A Merry Little Murder Plot
it is. About halfway through and it seems kind of obvious who the murderer is - two or three suspects so far but I already added to my TBR list and am enjoying catching up with the library staff and friends. It's so funny this story is set in a fictional village in a town where I used to live but don't remember.
A Merry Little Murder Plot
is less suspenseful than the previous two books but still had twists I didn't see coming. The murderer was not obvious but I was wishing it was a certain character. There's a subplot about Robbie and Emma I found annoying but plenty of Christmas cheer and library charm. She addresses the book ban controversy, finally. I was hoping she would when I saw the censors tried to ban 2 books from the library in the town next to the one where Jenn grew up, right near the fictional Briar Creek! My TBR pile got one book bigger thanks to Lindsey's recommendations. Fortunately I've read the other books she chooses!
Getting a jump on next week's new releases, and Christmas, with
You Feta Watch Out by Linda Reillyhttps://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
I started listening to The Body in the Bookstore
but it's not available in print at any library at any library in the state so I wait for next week to listen again while I work. I didn't get too far. I'm not sure how I feel about the heroine and her background yet. Her backstory is kind of sad and so far, the story is not really funny or cute. I read two pages of Pekoe Most Poison. More good looking rich people for oh so beautiful Theo to associate with. My appointment ran on time for a change so I didn't get any farther than Theo and Drayton have arrived at a fancy rat party.
Pekoe Most PoisonWell I did not care for Theo's investigation. I don't know how this shop has lunch AND afternoon tea. I've never seen a tea room that does both. "High Tea" yes and afternoon tea yes but never just food like that but as always, the tea information was great and added to my ever growing tea wish list.
I finishedChristmas Scarf Murder
by Carlene O'connor, Maddie Day and Peggy Erheart The novellas all tied together by a Christmas scarf in the plot. Very nice Christmas cozy
I started out the week with
We Three Queens, the latest Royal Spyness Mystery from Rhys Bowen.https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
QNPoohBear wrote: "A Merry Little Murder Plot is less suspenseful than the previous two books but still had twists I didn't see coming..."I was able to get hold of this! It's now in my to-do queue (like a TBR, but more likely to be read sooner rather than later/never). :o)
Currently I'm reading Tracey Drew's (aka Tracey Alvarez) Striped & Strangled from her Knitty Kitty series. Sadly, this looks like the last one in this fun and funny series. There hasn't been a new book in the series since 2021. I picked up the series because it (sort of) featured knitting and crochet and found a winner (and though I'm not a cat person, I even like the cats). On top of that, it hits a series-set-outside-the-US (New Zealand) tick in the annual challenge I do. It's the last book I need to hit the sub-genre goal again this year (yay, threepeat!), though I still have to read at least six more cozies this year to hit the full goal(s) of the challenge.
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...