Rom-com meets action-adventure spy novel in The Blonde Identity. It’s full of danger, chase scenes, and action sequences, but it’s also funny and sexy and frothy in all the right ways. And it hits some familiar romance and spy novel tropes in ways that somehow feel comfortingly familiar and fresh at the same time.
A cozy mystery set on a generation spaceship, Murder by Memory features a practical, wise, and observant detective who unexpectedly finds herself inhabiting the body of… a murderer? A victim? Or both?
The Verity Kent series gets off to a good start with This Side of Murder. Huber revisits the classic “trapped on an island with a killer” trope, but gives it tension and immediacy… Huber is skilled at plotting, characterization, and atmosphere. I found all three here, plus a believable, complex heroine.
I generally enjoy Agatha Christie, and I love Miss Marple, but this is not one of my favorite of her books. On the other hand, the 1985 BBC adaptation starring Joan Hickson is a longtime favorite and a comfort movie for me.
The Most Wonderful Crime Of the Year by Ally Carter Published by Avon Genres: Holiday, Cozy Mystery, Contemporary Romance Pages: 303 Format: Kindle or ebook Source: purchased Purchase: Amazon | Bookshop | Audible | Chirp Add to Goodreads Also by this author: The Blonde Identity Knives Out gets a holiday… Read more »
A Midnight Puzzle is the third book in the Secret Staircase Mysteries, a delightful cozy mystery series featuring Tempest Raj, a stage magician/illusionist, and her family. The series gets its name from her father’s architecture-and-construction company, which specializes in secret rooms, hidden staircases, and other architectural puzzles. Tempest’s skills in creating and figuring out illusions come in very handy as she and her friends investigate several murders, each involving the Secret Staircase firm’s clients or jobsite in some way.
I was very excited to read The Lantern’s Dance, the first new Mary Russell & Sherlock Holmes mystery since 2021’s Castle Shade. Once started, I could hardly put it down, staying up until 2:30 in the morning to reach the denouement. Like The Murder of Mary Russell, the novel alternates between past and present narratives, slowly revealing hidden connections that surprised and enchanted me.
Mistletoe and Murder by Connie Berry Published by Crooked Lane Books on October 17, 2023 Genres: Mystery, Cozy Mystery Pages: 154 Format: Kindle or ebook Source: the publisher Purchase: Amazon | Audible | Chirp Add to Goodreads Also by this author: A Legacy of Murder, The Art of Betrayal In… October 13, 2023 Lark_Bookwyrm Book Reviews 3 ★★★★½
A Fatal Illusion by Anna Lee Huber Series: Lady Darby #11 Published by Berkley on 6/20/2023 Genres: Historical Mystery Pages: 384 Format: Kindle or ebook Source: the publisher Purchase: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Audible | Chirp Add to Goodreads Also in this series: The Anatomist’s Wife, A Perilous… September 4, 2023 Lark_Bookwyrm Book Reviews 6 ★★★★½
Mrs. Pollifax and the Whirling Dervish by Dorothy Gilman Published by Fawcett on Kindle: June 30, 2020 (orig. published 1990) Genres: Mystery Pages: 229 Format: Kindle or ebook Purchase: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Audible | Chirp Add to Goodreads Also by this author: The Amazing Mrs. Pollifax, The… June 29, 2023 Lark_Bookwyrm Book Reviews 8 ★★★½
