Bibliography: Hart, Carolyn. (2009).  Merry, Merry Ghost.  New York: William Morrow.  ISBN: 978-0060874377 (hc) 978-0061962929 (pb)

Plot Summary:  The late Bailey Ruth Raeburn is chosen to return to her old stomping grounds, Adelaide, OK just in time for Christmas and to help four-year-old orphan Keith meet his grandmother Susan.  When Susan decides to change her will to leave everything to Keith, someone makes sure that she can’t.  Bailey Ruth must catch the murderer and protect Keith.

Critical Analysis:  I have long been a fan of Carolyn Hart, especially the Death on Demand series.  When I found out she was writing a new series, I decided to give it a try, even though I am so tired and so over anything paranormal.  Well, am I ever so glad I did!  Bailey Ruth and the heaven she inhabits and the Oklahoma she visits are delightful all around.  Bailey Ruth is as feisty in death as she must have been in life, but her heart is in the right place.  I love the details of the world that Hart has created–Bailey Ruth’s ability to imagine a new wardrobe, to appear and disappear and carry things (but the items remain visible).  She pretends to be a police officer and provides clues to the sheriff.  She breaks all the “precepts” and is worried that she won’t get sent on any more missions.  In this series entry, lots of Christmas details and cerebration, a very dysfunctional family, and a very funny scene where Bailey Ruth and the ghost of the murder victim are pulled over while driving a car.  Well, and a murder.  Delightful and cozy and I recommend it highly (along with the others in the series.)  If you can get the audio version, even better, as the reader is excellent.

Review Excerpts: “When murder and mayhem ensue, Hart’s ghostly detective gets on the track of a clever killer. Bailey Ruth’s pleasure in her earthly wardrobe, her keen observations of the other characters and her unorthodox but expert sleuthing will engage readers from start to finish.”–Publisher’s Weekly

“A cute and cozy mystery.”–Library Journal

Reviewed from public library  audio book copy.  Amazon Affiliate: If you click from here to Amazon and buy something, I receive a percentage of the purchase price.

 Bibliography: Washburn, Livia. J. (2008). The Christmas Cookie Killer.  New York: NAL Trade.  ISBN: 978-0451225344(t) 978-0451226662 (pb)

Plot Summary: Retired Weatherford, Texas teacher Phyllis Newsom  is sure that her lime snowflake cookies will win the local newspaper cookie contest.  She decides to take some to her next door neighbor Agnes who asks if she might make them with her grandchildren.  Phyllis runs home to find her special snow flake cutters.  Minutes later, she finds Agnes dead and is knocked out by a blow from behind.  Phyllis is determined to track down the killer.  Was it Agnes’ grandson, hiding in the attic and from the law?  the loan shark he borrowed money from?  One of the neighbors with a secret Agnes discovered?

Critical Analysis:  I am a sucker for cozy culinary mysteries. and this one was a Christmas one to boot! I don’t usually jump into a series in the middle, but I didn’t find myself lost or confused by not having read earlier entries.  I did enjoy Phyllis and her roommates and their dynamics, and all of the Christmas touches.  The mystery itself was maybe not the best part, but Washburn has the small town Texas dynamics down pat, and I may seek out another in the series to see what I think.  The recipes also sound divine, and I want to try injecting a ham with Coca-Cola just because it sounds like a great idea.

Reviewed from public library  copy.  Amazon Affiliate: If you click from here to Amazon and buy something, I receive a percentage of the purchase price.

Bibliography: Fluke, Joanne; Laura Levine and Leslie Meier. (2010). Gingerbread Cookie Murder. New York: Kensington.  ISBN: 978-0758234957 (hc) 978-0758234957 (pb)

Plot Summary:  Three wonderful holiday whodunuits.  In “Gingerbread Cookie Murder” by Joanne Fluke, Hannah Swensen just wants neighbor Ernie to turn down the music on his over the top Christmas display.  When she finally goes to his condo to confront him, she finds him sprawled on the floor with her gingerbread cookies scattered around him.  In “The Danger of Gingerbread Cookies” by Laura Levine, Jaine Austen is visiting her parents at their retirement complex in Florida where she has to suffer through an awful amateur holiday play.  It may be bad, but she didn’t wish for the “accidental” death of one of the actors.  In “Gingerbread Cookies and Gunshots” by Leslie Meier, intrepid local reporter Lucy Stone knows that there is more than meets the eye to the disappearance of a little boy from the back of his parents’ car.  Between her own holiday preparations, she races to track down the boy.

Critical Analysis:  These shorter novellas are perfect for holiday reading.  They are little treats to fans of the respective authors’ mystery series, and serve as introductions or light diversions for readers who may be less familiar.  I am a long time reader of Fluke and Meier, and also read 2007′s Candy Cane Murder, featuring three stories from the same authors.  (Which reminds me to seek out Levine’s series as well.)  I continue to read Fluke, although I have found the last couple of entries in her series to be uneven.  I actually love her shorter stories because the mystery and action are so tight.   I think the short story and novella are under-utilized forms these days, and look forward to more of these collections.  Plus I am a sucker for holiday stories and Fluke’s recipes.

Review Excerpts:  ”Fluke, Levine, and Meier each offer a yuletide whodunit treat in this entertaining follow-up to 2007′s Candy Cane Murder.”–Publisher’s Weekly

Reviewed from personal copy.  Amazon Affiliate: If you click from here to Amazon and buy something, I receive a percentage of the purchase price.

Bibliography

Plot Summary:  Sylvia left Dreyerville and her fiance, Joe,  8 years ago to deal with a health scare.  Joe never got over it, or her, and now that she is back, he’s angry and hurt.  Sylvia rents a room from the Culvers, an old married couple who have let the years put distance between them.  They all come together and rally around next door neighbor Lottie and her grandson Teddy when Lottie’s Alzheimer’s worsens.

Critical Analysis:  There are no miracles here, but lots of love and small town charm.  I thought this quick delightful read was just what someone might want to fill in an evening while getting in the Christmas spirit.  Martin does an excellent job of moving the story forward with vignettes and snippets of peoples’ lives that show glimpses into their hearts.  A true romance that will appeal to anyone with the holiday spirit.

Review Excerpts: “Charming and romantic….A must read….”–Library Journal

“It’s standard-issue sentimental holiday fare, peopled with wholesome and one-dimensional caricatures, though, notably, there’s no late-book miracle. It has plenty of competition with other seasonal titles, and there’s little to distinguish this from the others.”–Publisher’s Weekly

Reviewed from public library e-book copy.  Amazon Affiliate: If you click from here to Amazon and buy something, I receive a percentage of the purchase price.

Plot Summary:  Former MI5 agent, current Episcopal parish priest, Max Tudor finds the gossip and goings on of Nether Monkslip to be just his speed.  But when the brash president of the Woman’s Institute turns up dead during the village Haverst Fayre, Max’s intuition tells him it was no accident.  He cannot believe that anyone in the idyllic village could be to blame but almost everyone admits to disliking the victim.  But who hated her the most?

Critical Analysis:  Malliet has another winning cozy mystery series on her hands ( see Death of a Lit Chick and Death of a Cozy Writer).  I would love to know more about her reading history, as she seems to know just how much of a twist to apply to genre formulas to create a cast of characters, a place, and a murder mystery that are both so typical and yet fresh and funny and utterly readable.  Max Tudor (could his name be more British?) is as much an interest for being a very eligible bachelor as a former intelligence agent.  Malliet gives him a back story  which she uncovers a little at a time (I am hopeful that future installments will reveal more.)  But more than just Max, we have the wonderful cast of village characters, including the buxom older blonde, the mousy owner of a farm, the blustery Major, the antique shop owner, the elderly school teacher who sees all, and the new age shop owner.  All are far more nuanced and subtle then one might expect, and all are welcome to return in the next in the series.

Readalikes:  At the same time I was reading Wicked Autumn, I had downloaded the audio of 12 Drummers Drumming.  (The first of the new Father Christmas series–not, as I had thought, a mystery series starring Santa Claus.)  Rather, Father Christmas is the new vicar of a small village…the book opens at the village May Fayre…has a wonderful cast of characters…it was so similar I had to set it aside to listen to later to focus on the Malliet.

Review Excerpts:   ”Malliet has mastered the delights of the cozy mystery so completely that she seems to be channeling Agatha Christie.. . [with] ironic humor that contribute[s ] a little spice to the village charm, making the story even more delicious. Religion, espionage, tea, and crumpets: a winning menu.” — Booklist

“Agatha Award–winning author Malliet ( Death of a Cozy Writer ) debuts a superb new series. .. You’ ll marvel at the author’s low-key humor and crystal-clear depictions of small-town life… Malliet, like Louise Penny, brings a contemporary freshness to the traditional mystery.”– Library Journal

Reviewed from publisher provided advanced copy.  Amazon Affiliate: If you click from here to Amazon and buy something, I receive a percentage of the purchase price.

Plot Summary:  Heavy rains have caused the Williamette River to swell, threatening the city of Portland.  Several people have been caught in the swiftly rising waters and appear to have drowned.  The medical examiner discovers that the latest victim was poisoned before she ever went into the water.  Other drownings are soon shown to be poisonings as well, and Archie Sheridan has a new serial killer on his radar.  Susan Ward is sure that the killings have something to do with the Vanport Flood of 1948.  Archie and Susan are racing against the rising waters, trying to track a killer without becoming his next victim.

Critical Analysis:  It hardly seems fair to the author or the reader to advertise this as book 4 in the Archie Sheridan/Gretchen Lowell series.  Gretchen barely makes an appearance, and when she does, it is secondary to the action and the story.  Don’t worry, there is still plenty of action, thrills, suspense and murder to go around.  But even more than that, the looming presence of the river, the rain and the rising waters add to the atmosphere, sense of place, a sense of urgency.  The story feels leaner and tighter than the previous entries in the series, perhaps because the focus really is on the core group of Archie and Susan with Henry and Clare, and the events are clustered within a short time frame.  It seems reviews are quite mixed, but count me as one who is pleased to see that Cain can write quite a story without an assist from the Beauty Killer.

Review Excerpts: “Perfect for readers who want to mix true crime history with their contemporary serial killers….The pace is as relentless as the floodwaters engulfing Portland.”–Library Journal

“[T[he story is deftly handled, the suspense is plentiful and Cain’s evocation of the gloomy atmosphere and Portland setting is superb.”–Kirkus Reviews

“Cain easily weaves the history of the real-life Vanport flood with her trademark heart-stopping moments, and fans will be pleased to see the series flourishing without Gretchen on every page.”–Publisher’s Weekly

“The enveloping floodwaters are every bit as terrifying as the octopus-toting killer (many of the key action scenes take place in or under the black water), and the river itself takes on a kind of evil persona, a superhuman antagonist of unfathomable power.”–Booklist

Reviewed from public library audio book.  Amazon Affiliate: If you click from here to Amazon and buy something, I receive a percentage of the purchase price.

Plot Summary:  Sherlockian and minor researcher Harold White is thrilled to be inducted into the Baker Street Irregulars.  And then a real-life murder mystery worthy of Holmes himself lands in his lap–a prominent Doyle scholar is dead after announcing he has found a long missing diary of Doyle.  Harold and his encyclopedic knowledge of Holmes is on the case, criss crossing the Atlantic in hopes of finding the diary and the killer.  Unless someone else gets there first…

Critical Analysis:  I liked but did not love this book.  I found the beginning at the convention to be wonderful, and the end with the solution and denouement also well done.  I liked the character of Harold, but I thought the story dragged quite a bit in the middle.   The character of Harold is quite endearing as are all the details from Holmes stories.  I felt like there was too much of Harold and the female journalist and not enough else.  The parallel story with Doyle and Bram Stoker held my interest a little more, I enjoyed the details of the Suffuragists and the writing and theater scenes of the time, but left me thinking what I really want is a mystery series featuring Stoker.  That sounds like fun to me.  I will most likely read the next in the series to see how it fares.

Review Excerpts: “Moore’s debut cleverly sets an accidental investigator on the track of an old document within the world of Sherlock Holmes buffs, though the results may please those with only a superficial knowledge of the great detective.”–Publisher’s Weekly

“The problem with Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes stories is that there aren’t enough of them. Fans try to fill the gap with spin-offs, some of which work better than others. This engaging riff on the familiar themes by first-novelist Moore is one of the best.”–Booklist

“…Moore does an excellent job of making his characters and settings feel real, using his thorough knowledge of the Holmes stories to good effect. Given the enduring popularity of Sherlock Holmes, this title is an excellent choice for public libraries and historical mystery fans…”–Library Journal

“While occasionally heavy-handed and coincidental, Moore’s fiction provides a shrewd take on the noted author and his legendary scion.”–Kirkus Reviews

Reviewed from public library copy.  Amazon Affiliate: If you click from here to Amazon and buy something, I receive a percentage of the purchase price.

Wow this is a busy week.  First Mystery Series Week, and now Great Books.  According to the website, “Great Books Week 2011 is honoring Great Expectations in its 150th anniversary year.”  They suggest all kinds of activities surrounding the book, including reading it online, watching the 1946 movie, and participating in their blog challenges.

I first read Great Expectations in maybe 3rd (?) grade in a paperback adaption from the Great Illustrated Classics series.  I had received a set for Christmas and felt rather grown up to read the classics.  (Nowadays I am torn–a part of me wants to say read the original!  But then, I read the adaption first and still went on to read and enjoy the full version of this and many others later.)  I remember reading the full novel in 9th grade Honors English.  It was a perfect kind of story for teenagers.  I think if I were to read it again now, I might feel differently.

Matter of fact, for anyone interested in the classics, I highly recommend finding audio versions.  I spent one summer listening to Pride and Prejudice on my mp3 player.  Austen’s writing (especially the dialogue) really came alive.  So I am off to my public library site to see if they have Great Expectations for me to download.  You can see what your library has as well.

Amazon Affiliate: If you click from here to Amazon and buy something, I receive a percentage of the purchase price.

How did I not know about this special week?  According to Chase’s Annual Events, “[m]ystery series week is a celebration of continuing characters in mystery fiction.”  I have always said I was a mystery junkie.  But really, I LOVE mystery series.  The best series deliver great characters, settings and an excellent mystery, volume after volume.  Even better is the growth of the characters and the glimpses the reader has into their lives.

Again from Chase’s: “Two-thirds of all new mysteries each year feature a series detective. The series tradition has been alive and well for more than 100 years.  Series readers today can choose from more than 20,000 adult mysteries featuring more than 4,000 continuing characters from living writers.  Mystery Series Week celebrates fictional cops, private eyes and amateur sleuths from all walks of life—solving crimes from 55 BC to the 22nd century.”

I am now and have almost always been a mystery junkie and most of those in series.  I started with the Bobbsey Twins, and then moved on to Nancy Drew, Trixie Belden and even a few Hardy Boys for good luck.  I think it was the summer after 8th grade that I read every Agatha Christie from the public library down the street.  In 10th grade my wonderful English teacher allowed us to explore adult mysteries as part of our free reading.  Thanks to her recommendations, I discovered Sue Grafton, Anne Perry, Martha Grimes, Lilian Jackson Braun, Nancy Pickard and I am sure several more I am forgetting.  I babysat for several ladies in the neighborhood, one had almost all the Jeeves and Wooster books.  Another had more contemporary series.

Nowadays, I spend a lot of time reading the newest titles, but I am always happy to discover a new series and welcome the return of an old.  Here are some that I have enjoyed recently:

Myron Bolitar series by Harlan Coben: One False Move

Hannah Swensen series by Joanne Fluke: Devil’s Food Cake Murder

Maise Dobbs series by Jacquline Winspear: Pardonable Lies

Lena Jones series by Betty Webb: Desert Run

Detective Sargeant Emmanuel Cooper series by Malla Nunn: Let the Dead Lie

Baker Street series by Michael Robertson: The Baker Street Letters

The Abbott Agency series by Veronica Heley: False Charity

Curriculum Connection:  When I was searching for more information on this week, I found this excellent lesson plan for introducing students to the mystery genre on the Scholastic website:  Exploring the Mystery Genre

The same teacher provides a great list of recommended mysteries.

Plot Summary: Basketball star Brenda Slaughter is as beautiful as she is tough.  Twenty years ago, Brenda’s mother disappeared, and just as she is set to join the women’s pro basketball scene, her father disappears too. She reluctantly agrees to accept sports agent Myron Bolitar’s protection and help.  Despite Myron’s long time girl friend, they discover their mutual interest might be more than professional.  But nothing comes easy, and there are secrets and lies some people will kill to keep hidden.

Critical Analysis:  I can’t remember which librarian friend recommended the Myron books to me, but I am glad she did.  The mystery or problem at the center of the story is always complicated and suspenseful.  Each book focuses on a different client and often a different sport.  But what makes me return is the characters–Myron, Win, Esperanza, Big Cindy, Myron’s parents.  These people love each other, would do anything for each other and often crack wise and make jokes to cut the tension of high stress situations.

The BEST books of the series so far have been the personal ones, the ones that feature Myron directly in some way.  Fade Away had Myron returning to the professional basketball world as an undercover investigator and revealed what really happened to end his professional sports career, but this one is even more intimate.  With Brenda, he gets a glimpse of the life he longs for.  I recommend this series not only for sports lovers, but for fans of buddy mysteries and humor.  I think the series is also very teen friendly.

Review Excerpts:  ”Standard plotting, then, but authentic conversation, colorful characters, and exciting New York and New Jersey surrounds more than compensate. Strongly recommended.”–Library Journal

“Undaunted, Myron and his Spenser-inspired entourage…take on every soul in New Jersey with a gun, a bank account, and a bad attitude, and uncover a satisfyingly complex tangle of skullduggery. Could Myron, who pushes his wisecracking charm hard, be any more tough and adorable? “–Kirkus Reviews

“[R]ealistic portrayal of the contemporary sports world while dishing up a bit of murder and mayhem. Bolitar is a solid protagonist who is plenty tough but also smart enough to accept his shortcomings.”–Booklist

Reviewed from public library audio book.  Amazon Affiliate: If you click from here to Amazon and buy something, I receive a percentage of the purchase price.