It’s been a couple weeks and I’ve been reading—and listening—to some really good books. I’m going to talk about the two I’ve finished, and really enjoyed. They’re both cozy mysteries, which is my favorite genre. I’m actually in the middle of about three books right now, some cozy, some not. I’ll talk about those in a couple of weeks. Spoiler alert! One of them is the new JD Robb book, Abandoned In Death.
Devonshire Scream by Laura Childs
This is the next book in the series, and probably one of my favorites so far. I think I say that after each book! The book starts with a trunk show at Heart’s Desire Jewelry. The show is shattered when thieves break in, and chaos ensues. I won’t tell you any more because it is such a good book, and I don’t want to spoil anything. The book is filled with unique speciality teas held at the Indigo Tea Shop, which has influenced me to start drinking tea. I haven’t given up coffee! I just slip in a few cups of tea for a nice change of pace. All the characters that I love so much are present, and the mystery had me guessing right up until the end. It was a total surprise! Laura Childs’ writing is so well done it never drags or becomes tedious. I wanted to spend as much time as possible in the world she’s created in Charleston, South Carolina. If I had to pick one thing I didn’t like—and there is only this one thing—it would be the number of suspects. The list kept growing and I found myself a little confused. But that is a small nitpick. Once the suspects started to be eliminated, the sheer joy of the mystery unraveled satisfactorily. I give this one five out of five.
A Tale of Two Cookies by Eve Calder
This is the third book of the Cookie House Mystery series. Now, here’s the thing. I read the first book and thoroughly enjoyed every moment. I borrowed it from the library, and immediately put the next two books on hold—there are only three books in the series so far. Having done that, I waited for about two weeks, and the third book became available to borrow. I didn’t really want to read the third book first but I also didn’t want to wait the four weeks for the second book. I decided to read the third book and hope there weren’t too many spoilers. I was pleasantly surprised to find there were none. Oh, there were mentions of things that had happened in the second book, but Ms. Calder didn’t get into the details, much to my relief.
The book was excellent, and wasn’t a murder mystery, which was a nice change of pace. The center of the story is a missing person, and the efforts of our amateur sleuth, Kate, to find him. In this series, Kate McGuire, a trained pastry chef, has moved to Coral Cay, Florida to recover from a break up. She finds a job as a pastry chef at The Cookie House bakery. The books are a balance between solving mysteries, and the satisfying scenes of baking and socializing with friends who are murder mystery buffs. The second book, which came available yesterday, is still on hold because the hold time elapsed. I honestly didn’t see the notification. I am not a happy reader.
I love this series so far and Ms. Calder is an excellent writer. The main character is very lovable, and the supporting cast of characters are interesting and fun. Oh, and there’s a dog. Who doesn’t love a dog in a story. I highly recommend this series, and give this book a five out of five.
MY TBR PILE
I’m listening to JD Robb’s newest In Death book and so far it’s pretty good. I’m also listening to the third book, Bedeviled Eggs, in Laura Childs’ Crackleberry Club cozy mystery series. I’m at the end of Pekoe Most Poison, the next book in Laura Childs’ Tea Shop Mystery series. I’m also reading A Curious Incident by Vicki Delaney. This is a book about the owner of a Sherlock Holmes bookshop and emporium who solves crimes in the fashion of the famous sleuth. It’s a good series, and a different take on Sherlock Holmes. I’ll write more about this book in my next blog post. I have a few other books I’m in the middle of but I think this list covers my current focus.
A little news, the next Robert Jackson Bennett book, third of the trilogy, will be coming out in June 2022. I’ve already put in my pre-order on Amazon. I’m very excited about this next book so I can learn how Mr. Bennett wraps up the story.
So, there you have it, what I’ve finished and what I’m in the middle of at this time. I’m enjoying my reading journey, and I’m happy to be back to blogging. I’ll have more books in two weeks, if my TBR is any indication. Until next time, snuggle up with a good book and take a break. We all deserve one.
Therese
P.S. Libby has been doing really well. We had a bit of a scare last Sunday. The D&D podcast I work on is doing some special segments for our 200th episode, one of which is a real life D&D game. I was playing online, Libby was a little freaked out, and she fell off the bed, which is pretty high. I panicked but she was fine, and she went downstairs to sleep in her bed in the powder room. I found her there four hours later looking very put out when I turned on the light. This Saturday we’re live streaming our episode for sixteen hours so Libby is NOT going up on the bed. No way!