Time Out for Family

You probably noticed that last week was a book review marathon here on the blog. Five reviews in one week because some of the publishers decided to change the original release dates. Why the first week of March looked like the ideal time to release all those books into the wild, I don't know, but I did get them all reviewed.

You're probably wondering what's going on here at Casa Kittling. How's Denis? Has Karen arrived yet? 

Denis is doing well after the first surgery. He says that his spine "feels solid," and I've seen him working with the hospital physiotherapists to stand unaided while brushing his teeth, etc. There has been a slight hiccup in the scheduling of the second surgery, the one that will be building Denis a new vertebra to keep the shape of his spine, so plans are afoot to move him to the rehab side of the Banner medical complex. (I'm writing this on Sunday, March 9.) Denis is looking forward to getting down to work on improving his mobility, and I don't blame him one bit. I think he's been going slightly stir crazy doing little but lying in bed or sitting in a chair.

Our niece Karen will be arriving tomorrow evening, and I can't wait to see her. I'm hoping we can get out to a few places besides the hospital while she's here. It's a shame that Denis won't be able to come with us, but I know that seeing another smiling face will cheer him up even more. (After all my visits to the hospital, some of the Dial-a-Ride drivers and I are becoming good friends.)

So... I've been busy, and I'll be even busier the next two weeks so posts here will be few and far between. Before I go, I want to show you something I made for Karen. I told her to leave plenty of room in her luggage. It's a pattern I've shared with you before, and the yarn is 100% acrylic from Michael's. The yarn is so soft and warm, and I love the name of the color: Tickled Pink!

Karen's afghan

Closeup

The Four Queens of Crime by Rosanne Limoncelli

 

First Line: Detective Chief Inspector Lilian Wyles stood behind her father as he sat in his wheelchair, facing the front window of their second floor sitting room in their home on the eastside of London.

It's 1938, and the four women the media have named "The Four Queens of Crime" (Agatha Christie, Dorothy L. Sayers, Ngaio Marsh, and Margery Allingham) have all agreed to attend a charity event at Sir Henry Heathcote's Hursley House. The elite of London society are there, and it's a brilliant success... until the next morning when Sir Henry is found dead in the library.

Now a fifth queen of crime, Detective Chief Inspector Lilian Wyles (the first woman to serve as a ranking officer in the CID at Scotland Yard) makes an appearance. Accompanied by DCI Richard Davidson, it is Wyles' task to sort through all the guests for potential suspects, and she thinks she has just the right sort of people to help her: the Four Queens of Crime.

~

In Rosanne Limoncelli's Preface, she introduces the real-life people she is portraying fictionally. I was already familiar with the four best-selling crime writers of their day-- Christie, Sayers, Marsh, and Allingham-- but I'd never heard of DCI Lilian Wyles, and I enjoyed watching these five characters work with each other. Wyles had a particularly difficult time of it because her male counterpart thought the four writers would have absolutely nothing worthwhile to add to the investigation. The five women had to learn how to work around him.

The mystery revolved around a typical British aristocratic family in a large country house just before the start of World War II. Although the whodunit was rather easily deduced, the upstairs-downstairs tension worked well. Those who are familiar with the four authors' books will also find amusing moments along the way, as in Agatha Christie getting the germ of an idea for And Then There Were None.

All in all, The Four Queens of Crime was a pleasant way to spend a few hours, but I really didn't find it to be a standout.

The Four Queens of Crime by Rosanne Limoncelli

eISBN: 9798892420617

Crooked Lane Books © 2025

eBook, 320 pages

Historical Mystery

Rating: C+

Source: Net Galley 

The Vanishing Kind by Alice Henderson

 

First Line: After the recent rash of campus burglaries, the last thing Dane Fisher wanted was to be alone in this building late at night.

Wildlife biologist Alex Carter is thrilled when she's tasked with locating jaguars on a desert preserve in New Mexico. Jaguars once roamed throughout the Southwest, but now there are only a handful left. Alex hopes some of the elusive cats have found their way to this protected piece of land.

Nearby the preserve, a team of archaeologists is excavating the gravesite of a sixteenth-century Spanish conquistador. Alex meets the team and also comes in contact with a violent group of anti-immigrant vigilantes who demand that the archaeologists leave. 

When the vigilantes learn of Alex's job, they want to stop her as well. Since jaguars are federally endangered, concessions might be made so that wildlife can cross the border wall-- and these people want nothing to cross that wall.

Alex is working right in the middle of a powder keg, and jaguars aren't the only ones whose lives are in danger.

~

I have become a big fan of Alice Henderson's Alex Carter thrillers. I love their settings, all the information I learn about wildlife, and the strong, intelligent character of Alex herself. Unfortunately, I found The Vanishing Kind to be a bit disappointing. The book was trying to be too many things to too many people. Wildlife lovers. Remote settings lovers. Archaeology lovers. Spanish treasure lovers. Wilderness survival lovers. Then there are the white supremacists, and the resident billionaire who thinks his word is law. 

I'm also a bit tired of one character repeatedly showing up just in the nick of time to save Alex's bacon. If Alex is going to get in that type of mess, I'd love to see her get herself out of it instead of relying on a deus ex machina. 

I still love Alex's character, and I liked learning more about the jaguars, especially since I keep my eyes peeled for news of El Jefe, a jaguar roaming southeastern Arizona. Henderson includes how readers can learn more about these marvelous big cats at the end of the book. There is even timely information about the work (or lack thereof) of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. I'm just hoping that Alex's next adventure is a bit more... streamlined. 

The Vanishing Kind by Alice Henderson

eISBN: 9780063223073

William Morrow © 2025

eBook, 320 pages

Thriller, #4 Alex Carter

Rating: B-

Source: Net Galley

Don't Tell Me How to Die by Marshall Karp

 

First Line: At six-feet eight, three-hundred and sixty pounds, Irv Hollingsworth was not only the biggest TV weatherman in Heartstone, New York, his larger-than-life personality and his flair for showmanship had made him the most popular in the county.

At the age of forty-three, Maggie Dunn has it all: a fantastic husband, two great kids, and an exciting career as mayor of her hometown. Then the ax falls. A rare genetic blood disease will kill her before her next birthday.

Maggie's mother also died of the same illness, and when Maggie was seventeen, her mother warned her about the women who would surround her suddenly single father. Those women did, and one of them almost destroyed him, Maggie, and her sister. 

Maggie is not about to let that happen to her family. In the three months she has left, Maggie will spend every second searching for the perfect woman to take her place, and she will do whatever it takes to find her.

~

I became a fan of Marshall Karp after reading his Lomax & Biggs books. Karp then went on to team up with James Patterson in the NYPD Red series. I was happy to see him back with a solo title, Don't Tell Me How to Die, and this fast-paced tale certainly does not disappoint.

Maggie Dunn is a woman who knows how to get things done. She knows how to succeed. She has a younger sister and friends who will support her no matter what. She's been living with the threat of a rare genetic blood disease hanging over her, so when she's told she only has three months to live, she knows what she has to do.

I love Marshall Karp's writing style. Each chapter is headed by how much time is left before Maggie's funeral, and that adds urgency to the story. There are also laugh-out-loud moments that can catch readers off guard, and if you're a fan of plot twists, you'll love the ones in in this book. 

Maggie is a force of nature, and although I ultimately did not like her, I did like her absolute honesty. I couldn't stop following her every move. If you're a fan of fast-paced books filled with twists and turns and an indomitable main character, pick up a copy of Marshall Karp's Don't Tell Me How to Die.

Don't Tell Me How to Die by Marshall Karp

ASIN: ‎ B0D7W4DZMR

Blackstone Publishing © 2025

eBook, 320 pages

Standalone Thriller

Rating: A

Source: Net Galley

The Boxcar Librarian by Brianna Labuskes

 

First Lines: Millie Lang could hear the girls gossiping through the thin walls of the boardinghouse. They were talking about her.

On the wrong side of a political scandal, Works Progress Administration (WPA) editor Millie Lang is shipped off to Montana to work on the state's American Guide Series-- travel books intended to put the nation's destitute writers to work.

Upon her arrival, staff members claim their missed deadlines are due to sabotage, possibly from the state's powerful mine owners who don't want their long and bloody history with union organizers available for the rest of the country to read. Instead, Millie suspects that the answer might lie with the town's mysterious librarian, Alice Monroe.

A decade before, Monroe created the Boxcar Library to deliver books to isolated mining towns where men craved entertainment and connection. Monroe thought miner's daughter Colette Durand would be the perfect librarian to staff the train car. Now no one in Missoula will tell Millie why Alice and Colette went out on the inaugural journey of the Boxcar Library, but only Alice returned.

What happened to Colette Durand?

~

The Boxcar Librarian pulled me right in and wouldn't turn me loose. The characters of Millie Lang, Alice Monroe, and Colette Durand were well-drawn, and they all made me care about their well-being.

While the mystery was a good one that kept me guessing, I think the setting had the strongest grip on me. The Depression-Era time period was fascinating. I loved learning about the Boxcar Library (based on Montana's Lumberman's Library-- don't miss the author's note at the end), Montana's mining history, and the Federal Writers' Project. I have a reprint of the Arizona edition of the American Guide Series, and this book made me take it off the shelf to reread sections.

Strong setting, story, and characters. I definitely recommend The Boxcar Librarian.

The Boxcar Librarian by Brianna Labuskes

eISBN: 9780063376311

William Morrow © 2025

eBook, 464 pages

Historical Fiction, Standalone

Rating: A

Source: Net Galley

Broken Fields by Marcie R. Rendon

 

First Line: Cash stepped out of the cab of her Ranchero onto the soft, black dirt of the field she was to plow under.

It's spring in the Red River Valley of 1970s Minnesota, and Cash Blackbear is out working the fields of a local farmer... until she finds him dead in a rented farmhouse on his property. The Native couple renting the house are nowhere to be found, but Cash finds their young daughter, Shawnee, hiding under a bed. Shawnee, a possible witness to the killing, is too terrified to speak.

Cash is suspicious of the farmer's grieving widow, and she spends every spare second scouring the countryside for Shawnee's parents before the little girl is put into the foster care system. When another body turns up, Cash knows she has to find out the truth of what happened in the farmhouse before the clock runs down.

~

Cash Blackbear is a young Ojibwe woman I've come to care about deeply in this series (of now) four books. Broken Fields is a tapestry tightly woven with details of Native American life in northern Minnesota, abusive farm labor practices, and women's liberation. 

Rendon's depiction of the landscape and farming aspects takes me right back to my childhood in a small farm town in central Illinois. Sights, sounds, smells-- Rendon's descriptions are incredibly vivid. 

Equally vivid are her characters. There's Sheriff Wheaton, the great rescuer, who keeps a close eye on Cash and is doing his best to further her education and work experience.  No one wants to see Cash succeed more than he does. But no character shines more brightly than Cash, battle-scarred survivor of the harsh foster system. Her fierce protectiveness of little Shawnee shows how deeply she cares-- and sometimes she cares so deeply that her anger takes control of her actions. After what happened in the previous book (Sinister Graves), Cash doesn't trust her intuition the way she used to. She sleeps with the lights on. She drinks too much. It's been a long time since I've been so invested in a character. I want this young woman to succeed. I want her to thrive. 

And I want this series to continue for a good long time. If you like good mysteries with a strong main character, a superb sense of place, and a writing style that draws you right into the heart of each book, you have to make the acquaintance of Cash Blackbear. Start with the first book, Murder on the Red River. You can thank me later.

Broken Fields by Marcie R. Rendon

eISBN: 9781641296595

Soho Press © 2025

eBook, 272 pages

Historical Mystery, #4 Cash Blackbear

Rating: A+

Source: Net Galley

The Case of the Elusive Bombay Duck by Tarquin Hall

 

First Line: "Without doubt, this is the best day of my life!" declared Vish Puri to his executive secretary, Elizabeth Rani, as he sat beaming with pride behind his desk in his Khan Market office in New Delhi.

Vish Puri is euphoric-- he's won the long-coveted International Detective of the Year award. It's supposed to be a secret, but within hours it seems as though everyone in New Delhi knows, and his indomitable Mummy-ji announces that she's coming with him, and the lack of an official invitation isn't about to stop her.

To make matters even worse, a senior government bureaucrat gives him an undercover mission he can't refuse: track down India's most wanted fugitive, a billionaire pharmaceutical fraudster rumored to be hiding in London.

Puri is only spending a week in London, and he's already promised his wife that he won't work during this once-in-a-lifetime trip. But desperate times require desperate measures. Once in London, he enlists the help of his nephew Jags. Only time will tell if he can make the government official happy... as well as his wife and meddling mother.

~

It's been a long wait for this latest installment of the adventures of private investigator Vish Puri. I have missed the humor, the food, and the insider's look into life in India so much that I couldn't wait to get my hands on The Case of the Elusive Bombay Duck. I'm thrilled to say that the chubby private investigator's London experiences do not disappoint.

There is plenty of humor to be found in Puri's trip to London. He finds that the food is not up to his high standards, although he might make an exception for Harrods Food Hall. He's also not a fan of London's DYI (Do It Yourself) culture; he likes having things done for him wherever possible. With the help of his employees in New Delhi, Puri soon finds clues to the wanted man's whereabouts, and his detective work just manages to fly beneath the radar of his wife and mother because they have a "case" of their own. 

As much as I enjoy the mystery and the humor, I love Hall's insights into Indian culture, and this time it's Indian culture transported to England. If you're an armchair sleuthing foodie who likes strong mysteries filled with humor and the appreciation of other cultures, you will love Tarquin Hall's Vish Puri mysteries. Although it's not necessary to begin with the first book, don't be surprised if you read The Case of the Elusive Bombay Duck and find yourself looking for all the others in this entertaining series. 

The Case of the Elusive Bombay Duck by Tarquin Hall

eISBN: 9781448308200

Severn House © 2025

eBook, 224 pages

Private Investigator, #6 Vish Puri

Rating: A

Source: Net Galley

A Calling Dial-a-Ride Weekly Link Round-Up

 

I've been visiting Denis in the hospital as often as I can in between my own doctor appointments and people coming to the house. Today is Wednesday, and tomorrow is the first of Denis's two surgeries. I'm sharing his most recent MRI...

It's pretty easy to see that large chunk of bone pressing into Denis's spine. No wonder he couldn't even stand up! And no wonder he's been in so much pain!

Tomorrow, the surgeon is going to clean up the area and redo all the hardware in his back and extend it as needed so that his spine will be supported completely.

Next week, the surgeon will remove that large chunk of bone that's causing all the problems and replace it with a cage that will keep the form of the spine. In effect, the cage will be an artificial vertebra.

Denis has been such a trooper through all this, and the nurses at the Banner University Medical Center are stars. Denis has somehow kept his sense of humor and occasionally regales his nurses with some of his Royal Navy tales. 

Unlike last time when I had no way of visiting him, Dial-a-Ride, although sometimes infuriating, has been a blessing. And I have a lot to try to get done at home with one of our nieces in the UK coming for a visit. It's been so long since we've had a chance to see her, that I can't wait. It's unfortunate that Denis will be in the hospital, but you do what you can with what you've got. Just having Karen here will be a huge boost to our morale.

One last photo before I start sharing my latest batch of links. This is the view from Denis's hospital room. The photo was taken Monday, and they had the roof open on Chase Field. Denis can also watch planes landing and taking off at Sky Harbor.

A room with a view

A smile and a virtual hug to everyone. Enjoy the links!

►Books & Other Interesting Tidbits◄

• Every book lover dreams of it. Few ever get it. The library ladder.
• The CIA book smuggling operation that helped bring down communism.
• Amazon is stripping away your ability to download your eBooks.
• Indiana cuts Dolly Parton's Imagination Library from the budget.
• How soulless "fiction factories" became publishing's dirty little secret.
• Publishers have sued the State of Idaho over library book bans.
• AI-generated slop is already in your public library.
• Love books? You still might suffer from bibliophobia.

►Channeling My Inner Indiana Jones◄

• An artist noticed a leak in his studio. The repairs revealed a mysterious ancient engraving hidden inside the walls.
• A miniature workplace was found buried in a tomb from Egypt's Middle Kingdom.
• Archaeologists say they've discovered the first ancient Egyptian pharaoh's tomb since Tutankhamun's in 1922.
• Vivid wall paintings have been unearthed at a 2,500-year-old Etruscan necropolis in Italy.
• Lasers have revealed a 1,000-year-old Indigenous road near Chaco Canyon that aligns with the winter solstice.
• Divers recovered an ancient shipwreck that sank 2,600 years ago off the coast of Spain.

►Channeling My Inner Elly May Clampett◄

• Reintroducing wolves to Yellowstone helped the entire ecosystem thrive.
• Are there plenty of fish in the sea? Ask an elephant seal.
• Scientists make a shocking discovery after interviewing fishermen at the Panama Canal.
• Labord's chameleon: the color-changing lizard that drops dead in four months.
• Researchers use AI to find an elusive and "odd" Australian bird. It hadn't been recorded in the area since 1989.
• A lost baby seal found wandering in downtown New Haven, Connecticut, has been rescued and has attained local fame.

►The Wanderer◄

• Meet the "Wooly Devil," the first new plant genus discovered in a national park since 1976.
• Khartoum and the crime writing of Sudan.
• Watch a breathtaking drone flight through the French Alps.
• A train station in Japan has been built around the Deai-sugi cedar tree that's over 1,000 years old.
• The Lekki Conservation Center in Nigeria is home to the longest canopy walkway in Africa.
• Stop by the Dew Drop Jazz and Social Hall in Mandeville, Louisiana.

►Fascinating Folk◄

• The real story behind the "Nickel Boys" and the brutal Florida reform school that inspired the film.
• From the antebellum South to the Civil Rights Movement, Black American women have long told their stories through quilts.
• Artist Ira Volkova captures the delicate beauty of flowers through large-scale oil paintings.
• Belle da Costa Greene, the trailblazing Black librarian who rewrote the rules of power, gender, and racial passing.
• Ella P. Stewart, Toledo's most singular pharmacist.
• Nadia Odunayo, the woman taking on Goodreads owner Amazon.

►I ♥ Lists◄

• The ten best films about diamond heists.
• Mystery, history, and strong heroines: 8 books by Heather Terrell (AKA Marie Benedict).
• Endearing and humorous mystery TV shows like A Man on the Inside.
• 8 must-read mysteries by Black authors.
• 14 books about surviving dystopias.
• 18 books about real women as fascinating as any novel.
• The other side of the story: Retellings of classics from minor characters.

That's all for this week! No matter how busy you may be, don't forget that quality Me Time curled up with a good book!