Mark These Read

 

Welcome to the latest edition of my feeble attempts to catch up on my reviews. These catch-up reviews are going to be short and sweet, but at least you'll have an idea of what pages I've been turning the past few months! (I'll also provide links to Amazon in each title if you want to learn more about any of the books.)

Let's get started!

The Last Supper by Rosemary Shrager

#1 Prudence Bulstrode cozy mystery

Rating: B

My Thoughts: This mystery revolving around a murder during an English country house shooting party started a bit awkwardly, but soon hit its stride. The author is a celebrity chef, and readers certainly get an insider's look at both celebrity chefs and cooking. 

One thing I liked about Prudence Bulstrode (besides her name!) was the fact that she planned all her sleuthing around the meals she had to prepare for the guests at the country house. So many times, amateur sleuths seem to forget that they have bills to pay and blithely skip away to look for clues. 

Filled with interesting characters, a solid mystery, and plenty of humor, I'll be returning to see what Prudence cooks up next.

Michael's Wife by Marlys Millhiser

Standalone Suspense

Rating: C+

My Thoughts: Having enjoyed Millhiser's book, The Mirror, I looked forward to this tale of a woman with amnesia who finds herself thrown into one of those rich, entitled families that would put a nest of vipers to shame. Unfortunately, I found the book to be pedestrian and lacking suspense.

My advice: Skip this one, but if you like excellent time travel stories, find The Mirror.

Circling the Sun by Paula McLain

Standalone Historical Fiction

Rating: A

My Thoughts: After watching the film, Out of Africa, I read many non-fiction books about that time period in Africa (fascinating!) One of the books that made my all-time favorite books list was Beryl Markham's memoir, West With the Night.

When I began to read Circling the Sun, I immediately fell under the spell of Markham's voice. This woman lived an incredible life, mixing the early days of aviation (she was the first person to fly solo west across the Atlantic), growing up with the Kikuyu in Kenya, African wildlife, and horse racing.

McLain's book is a tale well told, and I'll be reading more of her work.

The Spy Coast by Tess Gerritsen

#1 Martini Club thriller

Rating: A

My Thoughts: Maggie Bird lives in the seaside village of Purity, Maine-- along with several other retired CIA operatives. When Maggie's past rises up, she goes to those friends to take advantage of the more than 100 years of experience they share. 

As Maggie showed me how careful she is with every single move she makes, I was exhausted-- and grateful that I'll never have to live that way. Local police chief Jo Thibodeau is a hoot ("Outmaneuvered by a bunch of old folks"), and I'm looking forward to seeing more of her as well as Maggie's neighbor, Luther Yount, and his granddaughter Callie.

Side note: I've learned more about the state of Maine by reading mysteries!

There you have it-- four more books that I read over the summer. When will I catch up? Your guess is as good as mine!

Have you read any of these? Which ones? What did you think? Did I tempt you with any of them? Inquiring minds would love to know!

 

Trying to Catch Up on Reviews

 

I'm so far behind in my book reviews that I didn't know where to start until I took a deep breath and realized that the best place to begin was with the books that have been waiting the longest. 

These catch-up reviews are going to be short and sweet, but at least you'll have an idea of what pages I've been turning the past few months! (I'll also provide links to Amazon in each title if you want to learn more about any of the books.)

Let's get started!

The Frozen People by Elly Griffiths

#1 Ali Dawson mystery

Rating: A

My Thoughts: Many of you know that I love Elly Griffiths' writing so much that I pre-order the UK editions of her books. In this book, she combines two of my favorites: mystery and time travel. 

A local MP sends time traveler Ali Dawson back to 1850 to answer a question about an ancestor. Good plot twists, a good sense of humor, and a good setup for the next book in the series. I loved fifty-year-old Ali Dawson with her fire engine red hair, working class roots, three ex-husbands, her son Finn, and her Siamese cat, Terry.

Bring on the next book, Elly!

The Queens of Crime by Marie Benedict

Standalone Golden Age thriller

Rating: A

My Thoughts: Told from the point of view of Dorothy L. Sayers, five bestselling mystery writers band together against the misogynistic males of the Detection Club to prove they're every bit (if not better) than the men.

The five women: Sayers, Baroness Emma Orczy, Ngaio Marsh, Margery Allingham, and Agatha Christie. I enjoyed how these women approached the investigation and learned how to play to each other's strengths. 

Yes, this is very similar to Rosanne Limoncelli's The Four Queens of Crime, but I much preferred this one.

The Forbidden Garden: The Botanists of Besieged Leningrad and Their Impossible Choice by Simon Parkin

Non-Fiction

Rating: A

My Thoughts: In the summer of 1941, German troops surrounded the Russian city of Leningrad and began the longest blockade in recorded history, one that would ultimately claim the lives of three-quarters of a million people. 

I learned so much from this book, not only about the siege of Leningrad, but also about seed banks, their importance, and the lives of the botanists who chose to risk starvation in order to preserve those seeds. Mind-boggling history that I couldn't devour fast enough. (Somehow the pun seemed inevitable. Sorry.)

The Wife, the Maid, and the Mistress by Ariel Lawhon

Standalone Historical Mystery

Rating: B+

My Thoughts: Lawhon's The Frozen River was one of my Best Reads of 2024. I was so impressed that I wanted to read more of her work.

Once again inspired by a real-life unsolved mystery, Lawhon spins the tale of Judge Joseph Crater, a man who steps into a cab and disappears just as rumors of corruption begin to  circulate about him. Thirty-nine years later, his wife Stella is ready to reveal what she knows. It's a story that involves not only Stella herself, but a showgirl named Ritzi and the Craters' maid, Maria Simon.

This was so entertaining that I will be looking for more of Ariel Lawhon's books. She's one of my favorite discoveries of the past two years.

Well, I made a little dent in my list of reviews. Have you already read any of these books? Which ones? What did you think of them? Or... did I tempt you to add any of them to your own reading lists? Inquiring minds would love to know!

An Inconvenient Wife by Karen E. Olson

 

First Line: They came in the early morning.

 

Kate Parker thinks she knows what she's getting into when she becomes the sixth wife of billionaire Hank Tudor-- after all, she was by his side (as his assistant) when his fifth marriage to actress Caitlyn Howard fell apart. 

 

But their honeymoon hasn't even begun when a headless body is found near Hank's summer home. This forces Kate to contend with Wife #1, Catherine Alvarez, who lives as a shut-in with her computers carefully following all business aspects of Tudor Enterprises; and Wife #4, Anna Klein, who runs a bed-and-breakfast where she and her wife keep an eye on things-- in particular Hank's children, Lizzie and Teddy.

 

A deadly game of cat and mouse ensues, not only between Kate, Catherine, and Anna but with Hank and Hank's fixer, Tom Cromwell. Who is the headless woman who was found on Hank's property, and does her death have any connection to that other headless body from eight years ago?

~

When I was in my twenties, I devoured all sorts of fiction and nonfiction about Tudor England-- including the book mentioned by the author in her Afterward. I could not resist An Inconvenient Wife, Olson's modern retelling of Henry VIII and his six wives. (Are you familiar with "Divorced, beheaded, died, divorced, beheaded, survived" as a way to keep those six women's fates straight?)

Don't worry. If you're unfamiliar with Henry and his wives, you'll still enjoy this book. The machinations of several characters are well worth the price of admission all by themselves. However, if you are familiar with that particular period of history, that knowledge will add some zest-- and some smiles-- to Olson's story. Not only that but there will be surprises, too, because this modern retelling is not a slavish imitation of the past. 

An Inconvenient Wife is one of those books in which you can't say much about the story or its characters without giving something inadvertently away, so I am going to resist temptation and merely say that I enjoyed this book and the surprises I found along the way. Give it a try.

An Inconvenient Wife by Karen E. Olson

ISBN: 9781639365654

Pegasus Crime © 2024

Paperback, 320 pages

 

Standalone Thriller

Rating: A

Source: The Publisher

The Frozen River by Ariel Lawhon

 

First Line: The body floats downstream.

 

Maine, 1789. Men trying unsuccessfully to get down the Kennebec River before it freezes find a dead man in the ice. Local midwife Martha Ballard is summoned to examine the body and determine the cause of death. Through her work, she is privy to much of what goes on behind closed doors in town, and her daily diary is a record of every birth, death, crime, and disaster in the area. 

The dead man is one of two accused of rape-- both men being prominent and well-respected citizens. When a local physician declares the man's death to be an accident, contrary to Martha's findings, she is forced to investigate the murder on her own.

 

Over the course of the winter, the trial nears, and the whispers and gossip grow louder. As Martha searches for the truth, her diary is at the center of the scandal as it implicates those she loves and makes her question her own loyalties.

 

~

 

Ariel Lawhon's The Frozen River came to my attention shortly before its release, but it wasn't until I watched the author's event at The Poisoned Pen that I knew that I had to read it. I am so glad that I did.

The Frozen River is based on the life of Martha Ballard, a midwife in Maine who delivered over 1,000 babies without ever losing a mother. Ballard is the great-aunt of Clara Barton and the great-great-grandmother of Mary Hobart, one of the first female physicians in the U.S. She is a woman who would've vanished from history if not for her diary. In Lawhon's story, Martha's voice is so real, so sure, so compelling, that I immediately fell under her spell.

 

The Frozen River is incredibly rich in historical detail: the sexist laws, the aftereffects of the French and Indian War, and the ebb and flow of life during a winter in colonial Maine. I felt as though I were right beside Martha each and every day. Occasional chapters fill in her backstory. A silver fox Martha named Tempest makes several appearances, and the relationship between Martha and her husband Ephraim is a thing of beauty. Coleman's General Store is the place where Martha barters for books and the latest gossip, and I love how she would gift newlyweds with one of her quilts: "Everyone must sleep, and to do so beneath a warm quilt, tenderly made, is the first thing that helps a house become a home."

The Frozen River is wonderfully evocative of its time and place. It's a compelling mystery. It's based on the life of a remarkable woman. Read it.

The Frozen River by Ariel Lawhon

eISBN: 9780385546881

Doubleday © 2023

eBook, 448 pages

Historical Mystery, Standalone

Rating: A+

Source: Purchased from Amazon.

Bad Little Falls by Paul Doiron

First Line: The last time I saw Lucas Sewall, he left a school notebook under the passenger seat of my truck.

 

Just because Maine game warden Mike Bowditch has been sent into exile in a remote area at the Canadian border doesn't mean his life has gotten quiet and uncomplicated. When a blizzard roars in, he's sent to a cabin where a frightened couple has given shelter to a raving and half-frozen man who claims his friend is still out there, lost in the storm. 

 

What starts out as a search and rescue mission turns into a murder investigation, for the friend lost in the storm turns out to be a known drug dealer, and the half-frozen man becomes their prime suspect. Mike isn't so sure but decides to stay out of it. His vow to not get involved is sorely tested when he becomes strongly attracted to the half-frozen man's sister and her strange young son. The boy seems to know something about what happened out in the blizzard, but he's not saying anything, choosing instead to keep all his thoughts locked up in a notebook filled with drawings and ciphers.

Alone in an area filled with people distrustful of game wardens, Mike is going to have to rely on his own wits-- not only to find a killer but to survive.

~

I like Paul Doiron's Mike Bowditch mysteries because I love stories about sparsely inhabited areas and because I get to watch an impulsive, heart-on-his-sleeve, young man solve mysteries and grow up along the way. He is very...very... slowly learning that he doesn't know better than everyone else, and it's an attitude that needs to change before it kills him.

Bad Little Falls, like the other books in the series, gives readers an excellent feel for the wilds of Maine and the independent-minded, insular people who live there. As Doiron states at the end of the book, "No law enforcement organization in Maine has suffered more deaths in the line of duty than the Warden Service." That statement alone gives readers a better perspective on what Doiron's main character has to face.

Reading about an impulsive, know-it-all, looking-for-love, young man could wear a person out, so it's good that the cast also contains folks like veteran bush pilot Charley Stevens, "gimlet-eyed lesbian" county sheriff Roberta Rhine, and Lucas, the strange little boy who fills his notebooks with all the words he will not say and all the thoughts he refuses to share. In many ways, Lucas is my favorite character in Bad Little Falls. He can provide a little light humor when he ponders the subject of "Abnormal [Abominable] Snowmen," and he can also give you the shivers or even break your heart.

Populated with interesting characters, this solid mystery has plenty of misdirection to keep you guessing. It also provides a harrowing portrait of an area in this country that most of us know very little about. I enjoy gaining knowledge with my fiction. That's why I'll keep coming back to Mike Bowditch deep in the Maine woods.

 

Bad Little Falls by Paul Doiron

ISBN: 9780312558482

Minotaur Books © 2012

Hardcover, 320 pages

 

Law Enforcement/Police Procedural, #3 Mike Bowditch mystery

Rating: B+

Source: Purchased from Book Outlet.

Every Vow You Break by Peter Swanson

 

First Line: She first spotted him at Bobbie's Coffee Shop on Twenty-Second Street.

 

Never in a million years had Abigail Baskin ever dreamed of marrying a millionaire. Then she met Bruce Lamb, a good guy who's stable, level-headed, and kind. In other words, a man very different from those in her previous relationships. The wedding is going to plan until Abigail's bachelorette weekend. She has a drunken one-night stand with a complete stranger. She puts the sexy stranger out of her mind and gets set to spend the rest of her life with Bruce.

 

Their honeymoon on a luxurious secluded island is the stuff dreams are made of, but when One-Night Stand Man shows up, Abigail's future starts to unravel. He insists that their fling was something much more meaningful, and he's tracked her down to prove it. Should Abigail tell Bruce what happened? Or should she deal with her stalker on her own? 

 

~

 

I decided to read Peter Swanson's Every Vow You Break on the strength of how much I enjoyed his previous book, Eight Perfect Murders. I have to admit that I did have a couple of reservations. First, the title. I found the Police's mega-hit Every Breath You Take to be downright creepy and could never understand why anyone in their right mind would want to play it at their wedding. It's stalker music, folks, and Swanson's book title directly refers to it. My second reservation was my spotty track record with domestic thrillers. Especially in this subgenre, if there's not at least one character I can like, chances are slim that I'm going to like the book.

Well, my reaction to Every Vow You Break was decidedly lukewarm. To begin with, I had to wade through all of Abigail Baskin's previous relationships in order to understand how different Bruce Lamb was. All that did was make me care less and less about Abigail. Sooner or later, Abigail's going to find fault with anything no matter how perfect it originally was. Her drunken one-night stand made me roll my eyes because it was so obvious something was going to go wrong, and even Bruce seemed too bland and too good to be true, no matter how much money he had. 

Okay. I didn't like Abigail. I didn't like Bruce. Having been the victim of a stalker, I wasn't about to find One-Night Stand Man appealing. So what kept me reading Every Vow You Break? I kept reading because I knew something was going to go wrong and I had to know what it was and how Abigail would manage to get herself out of it. That's why I kept reading.

How did that work out for me? I can see something like that actually happening, but more than anything else, it made me angry. Angry that something like that could actually happen. If you couldn't finish watching The Handmaid's Tale because it made you so angry (like me), you might want to avoid Every Vow You Break. And that's all I'm going to say about what Abigail had to deal with at the end. 

I said that my reaction to Swanson's book was lukewarm, but that's not exactly true, is it? My Dislike button was firmly pushed several times. My curiosity was totally engaged, and a match was struck to my temper. Swanson kept me reacting and kept me turning the pages all right. I just wish I'd paid more attention to my track record with domestic thrillers. Of course, your mileage can certainly vary, and I hope it does.

Every Vow You Break by Peter Swanson

ISBN: 9780062980038

William Morrow © 2021

Hardcover, 320 pages

 

Psychological Suspense, Standalone

Rating: C+

Source: Purchased from The Poisoned Pen.

Eight Perfect Murders by Peter Swanson

First Line: The front door opened, and I heard the stamp of the FBI agent's feet on the doormat.

When an FBI agent came knocking on bookseller Malcolm Kershaw's door, he had no idea that a blog post he wrote years ago was about to come back to haunt him. Titled "Eight Perfect Murders," the post listed his picks of the mystery genre's most unsolvable murders-- those that are almost impossible to crack-- and now there's someone who's using that list to kill people. To make matters even worse, the killer is watching Malcolm's every move, and he knows way too much about Mal's personal life, including secrets that have never been told to anyone. To protect himself, Mal has no choice but to do some investigating of his own.

The voice of Malcolm Kershaw in Peter Swanson's Eight Perfect Murders won me over immediately even though it's crystal clear within the first few sentences that he's an unreliable narrator. (He even admits it.) Furthermore, he's the owner of a bookstore specializing in mysteries, and he doesn't read the genre. Interesting, eh? So the more readers fall under Mal's spell, the more they wonder just how much they can trust what he's telling them.

The city of Boston came alive for me as I read, and I loved all the literary and mystery allusions. By about the halfway mark, if readers stop and think about it, the identity of the killer is rather obvious, but I found myself not wanting to think about it and just let the story take me along for a very enjoyable ride.

One of my favorite passages in the book is this: "Books are time travel. True readers all know this. But books don't just take you back to the time in which they were written; they can take you back to different versions of yourself." I've found this to be true. If you're in the mood for a damaged main character with a compelling voice who will draw you into the world of books and mysteries and killers on the loose, pick up a copy of Eight Perfect Murders. It's a good'un, and I'm hoping to hear from Mal Kershaw again.

Eight Perfect Murders by Peter Swanson

ISBN: 9780062838209

William Morrow © 2020

Hardcover, 288 pages

Amateur Sleuth, #1 Malcolm Kershaw

Rating: A

Source: Purchased from The Poisoned Pen.

 

The Institute by Stephen King

First Line: Half an hour after Tim Jamieson's Delta flight was scheduled to leave Tampa for the bright lights and tall buildings of New York, it was still parked at the gate.

In the middle of the night on a quiet street in Minneapolis, a house is silently broken into. Inside, Luke Ellis's parents are slaughtered and he is drugged and loaded into the back of a black SUV. When he wakes up, he's in the Institute, in a room that looks like his room but isn't. When Luke opens the door, he finds other kids with special talents-- telekinesis and telepathy-- who got to the Institute the same way he did. These kids are in the Front Half. Other kids have graduated to the Back Half, the Institute's version of the Hotel California: these kids can check out... but they will never leave.

The director and staff of the Institute are dedicated to extracting from these children the force of their extraordinary gifts. No compassion. No scruples. If you do what they say, you get tokens for the vending machines. If you don't, punishment is swift and brutal. No one has ever escaped from the Institute, but as his friends begin disappearing into the Back Half, Luke is determined to get out and get help.

In any reading of the synopsis of The Institute, it should be clear that the torture of children figures highly in the story. If this is something you simply cannot read about, do not pick up this book. I've always seemed to have a higher tolerance level for some things and having read many Stephen King novels, I knew that the payback for the perpetrators would be extremely satisfying. King takes time in setting up his story, laying out plots and subplots, populating his landscape with memorable characters, and using pop culture references like spaghetti Westerns, Dr. Seuss, and Reese's peanut butter cups to make us feel as though we're part of the story, too.

Those who have read The Institute will know what I'm talking about when I mention the humming that can be felt with increasing frequency. I experienced my own hum... more of a visceral thrum of anger... as it became more and more clear what was being done to these children. King made me want to take part in his payback, oh did he ever!

King has written before about the amazing power of what children can do together as a group, and as I neared the climax of The Institute, I realized once more that there's nothing better than the end of a Stephen King novel when the Forces of Good finally have their act together and have taken aim at the Forces of Evil. Payback can be a wonderful thing in the hands of a master.

The Institute by Stephen King

eISBN: 9781982110598

Scribner © 2019

eBook, 576 pages

Standalone Thriller

Rating: A+

Source: Purchased from Amazon.


 

Thread on Arrival by Lea Wait

First Line: "How many from Haven Harbor died?"

Ike Hamilton has fallen on hard times. He lives in a garage and subsists on disability checks and deposit bottles. Most of the residents of Haven Harbor know Ike and do what they can to help him out. When Ike is found dead, suspicion immediately falls on the teenage boy who's been living with him the past few weeks.

Angie Curtis is convinced that young Leo is innocent, and in trying to help the boy, she soon learns that, although Ike may have been simple-minded, he knew secrets that may well have gotten him murdered. Now all Angie has to do is trace Ike's bottle-collecting route. He witnessed something that cost him his life, and Angie is determined to uncover the killer.

Although I have to admit that my enthusiasm for cozy mysteries is waning, Lea Wait's Mainely Needlepoint series is still a favorite. Chalk it up to a cast of characters that's always interesting, mysteries that are always intriguing, evocative chapter headings that remind me of the samplers I stitched in my childhood, and a setting that has Maine in the top three on my list of states that I want to visit.

In Thread on Arrival, readers learn about Haven Harbor's annual Blessing of the Fleet, when those who have died at sea are remembered and the boats of the locals are blessed. It's a moving ceremony that is undoubtedly performed in coastal towns around the world where fishermen brave the elements to make a living.

We also get to know Dave Percy, one of the Mainely Needlepointers, better because he is the one who is adamant about helping prove homeless teen Leo's innocence, although others in the group are quick to offer their help. In fact, helping others is one of the themes in Thread on Arrival (and in the series as well).

Needlepoint, helping others, Maine traditions, interesting characters, and a mystery that has a long suspect list-- just five of the reasons why I continue to enjoy this series. If you haven't already, I urge you to give it a try.

Thread on Arrival by Lea Wait

eISBN: 9781496716743

Kensington Books © 2019

eBook, 320 pages

Cozy Mystery, #8 Mainely Needlepoint mystery

Rating: B+

Source: NetGalley


 

Thread Herrings by Lea Wait

First Line: "This is an adventure?" I grumbled, still half asleep, as I maneuvered my sweatered-parkaed-and-booted self into the passenger seat of the faded red van Sarah Byrne used for her antiques business.

Angie Curtis didn't expect to enjoy her first auction so much; she even bid on an old embroidered coat of arms and won. At first glance, there's nothing special about the piece of embroidery. In fact, it's in bad shape. But when Angie takes it out of the frame, she finds a document dated 1757-- a claim for a child left at a foundling hospital.

Angie's imagination is completely fired up, and she has to know more. Her friend, news reporter Clem Walker, airs a local interest spot on TV in an attempt to get more information. What they get are death threats, and Clem is shot to death in a parking lot the next day. Everything points to that tattered coat of arms being the catalyst, so Angie's own life is in danger. Now all she has to figure out is how to solve a mystery when she's hiding from a killer.

I've enjoyed Lea Wait's Mainely Needlepoint cozy series from the beginning. I've painlessly learned a lot about Maine through these books-- from its fascinating history to its landscape and weather to the customs of present-day Mainers. And I am happy to announce, Thread Herrings is the best of the series so far.

I loved the reminder of how much fun attending auctions can be, and I can imagine many other readers being tempted to attend their first one from Wait's description of Angie's experience at the beginning of the book. But the one thing that takes center stage in Thread Herrings is the mystery. Angie's friend is shot to death on her way to meet Angie at a local restaurant. From strangers asking locals where she lives to death threats by email and other means, it's clear to see that Angie's life is well and truly in danger and Wait skillfully ratchets up the suspense (and the need to read faster to make sure Angie doesn't come to harm).

And guess what? Wait doesn't create this palpable tension by having Angie do something stupid! I can't tell you how refreshing that is. Angie gets a bad case of cabin fever, but when the local and state police tell her to stay put and stay inside, she does it-- and the book is still scary and suspenseful. (There are authors who need to make note of this because I'm not the only reader who can't stand characters who are TSTL-- Too Stupid To Live.)

The reveal at the end of Thread Herrings is a satisfying one, and now I have to settle down and wait for the next installment. It can't come fast enough for me.

Thread Herrings by Lea Wait

eISBN: 9781496716729

Kensington Books © 2018

eBook, 304 pages

Cozy Mystery, #7 Mainely Needlepoint mystery

Rating: A

Source: Net Galley

Death by Chocolate Cherry Cheesecake by Sarah Graves

First Line: It was a bright summer morning, the first day of July in the remote island village of Eastport, Maine-- three hours from Bangor, light-years from anywhere else-- with a salty breeze snapping in the banners over the seawall and the sun glittering on the bay.

Best friends Jacobia (Jake) and Ellie have been through a lot together, from fixing up Jake's old house to homicide investigation. Now it's time to move on, and with Ellie's old family recipes their new bakery, The Chocolate Moose, should be a hit with visitors and locals alike there in Eastport, Maine. There's only one--large-- fly in the ointment: Matt Muldoon, a local bent on closing the bakery down. When he's found dead in the bakery kitchen, Ellie is first and foremost on the police department's suspect list. With no alibi for the night of the murder, Ellie is in serious trouble, and it's up to Jake to find the real killer.

I have an embarrassing confession to make. I began reading Sarah Graves' Home Repair is Homicide cozy series, enjoyed it a lot, but didn't keep up with the books. Shame on me, but I am trying to make amends by starting afresh with her Death by Chocolate series. I don't know if you all are aware of it, but there's a group of very talented mystery writers in Maine, and Sarah Graves is one of them. Her series is set in Eastport, Maine, which is a real place on an island within spitting distance of Canada. There is a vibrant sense of place in Death by Chocolate Cherry Cheesecake that adds a great deal to the book. (And should I mention that I love the name of the bakery?)

After sixteen books in her previous series, it was obvious that Jake really needed to call a ceasefire on the repairs to her house. After all, they'd taken almost twenty years. (Well, in publishing time, anyway!) But the characters weren't ready to retire just yet, and I'm glad because the characters were the best part of the other series. Jake and Ellie are two strong, intelligent women, Jake has a wonderful relationship with her husband, and Jake's son is a loving, caring young man, but he's not the generic Stepford Kid you usually run into when reading a cozy.

There's a good, solid mystery to be found in Death by Chocolate Cherry Cheesecake, and it's a fast-paced, almost exhausting book. Why exhausting? Because Jake and Ellie keep getting more and more demands for those cheesecakes, that's why! And... although the dessert was mouthwatering when the book began, I found myself to be a bit sick of them after witnessing so many being made. However, I know I will recover in plenty of time for the next book in the series.

Good mystery, good setting, good characters. Here's a new series to enjoy from the very first book!

Death by Chocolate Cherry Cheesecake by Sarah Graves

eISBN: 9781496711304

Kensington Books © 2018

eBook, 240 pages

Cozy Mystery, #1 Death by Chocolate mystery

Rating: B+

Source: Net Galley

Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout

First Line: For many years Henry Kitteridge was a pharmacist in the next town over, driving every morning on snowy roads, or rainy roads, or summertime roads, when the wild raspberries shot their new growth in brambles along the last section of town before he turned off to where the wider road led to the pharmacy.

In a series of thirteen vignettes, author Elizabeth Strout sets out to illuminate a small town in coastal Maine and one of its inhabitants, a retired schoolteacher named Olive Kitteridge.

Readers are the voyeurs in Olive Kitteridge. While we peep into the lives of a piano player in a lounge, a troubled teenage girl, and Olive's own husband and son (among others), we see people dealing with all sorts of problems... and we see that Olive is-- for the most part-- considered to be a rather unpleasant and unpredictable force of nature. But as our knowledge of the people of Crosby, Maine increases so does Olive's self-awareness. The lessons she learns are sometimes painful and always ruthlessly honest.

I loved how my understanding of the characters deepened with each new chapter. Initially seen in an unflattering light, some characters changed as the light shone upon them from different angles.

This is a little gem, although I can see some readers believing that nothing ever happens in it. I found this book to be mesmerizing and to contain one brilliant character study after another. Quiet, unassuming writing can sometimes wield great power and beauty, and this is exactly what I found in the pages of Olive Kitteridge.

Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout

eISBN: 9781588366887

Random House © 2008

eBook, 271 pages

Fiction, Standalone

Rating: A+

Source: Purchased from Amazon.

Thread the Halls by Lea Wait

First Line: After ten years of not celebrating December 25 other than by listening to carols on my car radio during surveillance gigs, I was determined this Christmas would be perfect.

Movie star Skye West is bringing her costars, screenwriters, and director to her home in Maine for The Perfect Christmas, which means her son Patrick and Patrick's girlfriend, Angie Curtis, have to shuffle all their own priorities to make it so. If not for Angie and her group of Mainely Needlepointers, Patrick would find himself buckling under the weight of his mother's to do list, and for a while, things are running smoothly. But once the celebrity guests arrive, strange things begin to happen. Christmas cookies make Patrick ill, and an unscripted tragedy occurs. It's imperative that Angie and her group of friends catch a killer before Santa appears at the town pier on his lobster boat.

Lea Wait brings readers a wonderful Maine Christmas in this sixth book in her Mainely Needlepoint series, which has been one of my favorites from the very first book. Since Angie worked for a private investigator for ten years while living in Phoenix, she has the background to make her one of the strongest amateur sleuths you'll find. She shares all her findings with the local police, and she doesn't do anything stupid-- both things that I really appreciate.

There hasn't been much needlepoint being done in the last few books, but that's not really a problem. Wait begins each chapter with a quote from an historic sampler, and those quotes can tell readers quite a bit about the embroiderers and the times they lived in. (People really can live on through their stitching.)

The mystery is a good one with a large suspect pool, and the motive for the crimes isn't easily deduced. I had my eye on one suspect in particular, and I enjoyed watching the mystery unfold. What I didn't enjoy were Skye West and her son.

A week before Christmas, and this woman decides that she wants her large Victorian mansion lavishly decorated, a never-ending gourmet food supply on hand, and needlepoint gifts stitched for each of her guests. Everyone in town is supposed to drop what they're doing and dance to her tune because-- after all-- she does pay well for what she wants. (Her son behaves the same way.) I won't tell you what my response would have been, but you can tell that I felt like a put-upon member of the Mainely Needlepoint family.

Chances are excellent that you will, too. A wonderful Maine setting, strong mysteries, and an excellent cast of characters. Come join the family. I promise I won't make you learn needlepoint!
 

Thread the Halls by Lea Wait

eISBN: 9781496706317

Kensington Books © 2017

eBook, 320 pages

Cozy Mystery, #6 Mainely Needlepoint mystery

Rating: A

Source: Net Galley

Gwendy's Button Box by Stephen King & Richard Chizmar

First Line: There are three ways up to Castle View from the town of Castle Rock: Route 117, Pleasant Road, and the Suicide Stairs.

Twelve-year-old Gwendy is on a mission to lose weight. That's why she takes the Suicide Stairs up to Castle View every single summer day of 1974. One day while she's at the top catching her breath, a stranger calls out to her. This is how she meets Richard Farris, a man in black jeans, a black suit coat, a black hat, and a white shirt unbuttoned at the collar. Farris has been watching Gwendy, and he has an offer for her that she can't refuse.

Readers quickly see that although Gwendy is young, she's not stupid, and for the next ten years of her life, we are able to observe how this young woman deals with being in possession of something that bestows great gifts, great temptations, and great responsibilities.

The collaboration between Stephen King and Richard Chizmar is seamless. Not only do we get another chapter in the saga of Castle Rock, Maine, we're given another unforgettable character in Gwendy. This cautionary tale never loses its momentum and was a pleasure to read from first page to last. If only it were longer!

Gwendy's Button Box by Stephen King & Richard Chizmar

ASIN: B06XC9VTBV

Cemetery Dance Publications © 2017

eBook, 180 pages

Novella, Standalone

Rating: A-

Source: Purchased from Amazon.

Tightening the Threads by Lea Wait

First Line: Haven Harbor's streets and yards were littered with green leaves that had fallen too soon.

If there's one thing Sarah Byrne, the antiques dealer from Australia, has been keeping close to her chest, it's her past. Even friend and fellow Mainely Needlepointer Angie Curtis doesn't have a clue. But now Sarah has the one thing she's always wanted: family, in the form of wealthy elderly artist Ted Lawrence who owns an art gallery in Haven Harbor.

Ted and Sarah are ready to announce their secret to the rest of Ted's family, and Ted has called all his children home for the occasion. Unfortunately, those adult children of his aren't thrilled with Sarah-- especially when Ted announces that he's going to change his will. When Ted is poisoned at the family lobster bake, fingers begin to point at Sarah. Angie has to work fast to prove her friend's innocence.

It's now fall, and Angie Curtis has seen a lot of death in Haven Harbor in the four months she's been in town. As much as I like this series, I think she should take a trip back to Phoenix for a while where a dead body or two won't have as much impact. In Tightening the Threads, Angie comes across a mystery of her own while clearing a huge tree that fell during a storm, but her best friend's dilemma takes priority. 

For those of you who, like me, enjoy Lea Wait's ensemble cast in this series, you won't find much of them here, except for Dave whose poison garden comes in handy for answers to some of Angie's questions. The action has Sarah front and center over a long weekend. Although the truth behind her relationship to Ted Lawrence is really interesting, as the family dynamics unfold Ted is seen as a rather despicable man. His children have all gone their separate ways, haven't kept in touch with each other, and don't really seem to care about each other-- which points to something in the solution to the murder that rang false with me, although I can't talk about it without giving things away.

Tightening the Threads isn't the strongest book in this series, but it's still a good read. I love Wait's blend of setting, art, history, and Maine traditions; they all create the perfect backdrop for a cast of characters I've grown to care about a great deal.
   

Tightening the Threads by Lea Wait

eISBN: 9781496706294

Kensington Publishing © 2017

eBook, 304 pages

Cozy Mystery, #5 Mainely Needlepoint mystery

Rating: B+

Source: Net Galley  


 

Dangling by a Thread by Lea Wait

First Line: The August fog felt damp and soft on my face as I sat on a bench on Wharf Street, sipped my coffee, and watched anchored boats in Haven Harbor appear and disappear.

Hermit Jesse Lockhart has post-traumatic stress disorder. He lives alone on a tiny island three miles east of Haven Harbor, Maine where he's created a private sanctuary for the endangered Great Cormorant sea birds. He keeps to himself so much that Angie Curtis of Mainely Needlepoint didn't even know he was on King's Island.

When a wealthy family decides that Jesse's island would be the perfect place to build their summer home and enlists Jesse's brother to help them in acquiring the land, Jesse's only friend, Dave Perry, rallies all the other Mainely Needlepoint members to his defense. All to no avail. When Angie visits the island, she finds Jesse dead. Now in addition to saving the Great Cormorants, she and her group must find a killer.

I continue to enjoy Lea Wait's series, although I do have to admit that Dangling by a Thread is not its strongest book. There are two reasons for my opinion. First, the killer's identity was rather obvious, and two, the plot had much more to do with relationships and pitching in to help those in need than it did with the actual mystery. That said, there's nothing wrong with relationships and helping others; I'd just like more mystery.

As always, Wait knows how to bring her Maine setting to life. Each chapter begins with a quote and information about an antique needlework sampler. (I stitched a sampler when I was a child, but I have a feeling that they're "gone with the wind" now.) You may find it difficult to believe but these headings give quite a look at early life in Maine and other areas, and sometimes these glimpses can evoke strong responses. The author also puts us firmly on location with Jesse's protection of the endangered birds and how miserable the rich can make life for people living along the coast. (After all, the wealthy are the only ones entitled to a good view out their windows and a short commute, right?)

All in all, I did enjoy Dangling by a Thread. I found it to be an emotional read-- and not just because kittens destroyed some pieces of needlepoint. Jesse may not have lasted very long, but he made quite an impact on me. Wait hit home runs with her characters, their relationships, and with Maine, but I'm looking forward to more mystery in her next Mainely Needlepoint book.

 

Dangling by a Thread by Lea Wait

eISBN: 9781496706270

Kensington Books © 2016

eBook, 325 pages

Cozy Mystery, #4 Mainely Needlepoint mystery

Rating: B+

Source: Net Galley