“The Tail of the Tip-Off”   

 By Rita Mae Brown and Sneaky Pie

        A Corgi and Felines Mystery

2011 Book Review #122

BookList Review

Brown's eleventh Mrs. Murphy mystery finds Mary Minor ("Harry") Haristeen... who is postmistress in the small town of Crozet, Virginia, and also runs a farm... insinuating herself into a murder investigation...again!

When H. H. Donaldson, head of a local construction firm, is murdered in the parking lot of a sports arena, Harry and her fellow four-footed amateur detectives--tiger cat Mrs. Murphy; the fat gray Pewter; and corgi, Tee Tucker--try to figure out how and why he was murdered.

 Suddenly, Harry is looking at her longtime friends and neighbors with an uneasy suspicion and getting an inkling of the level of corruption in the construction industry. Meanwhile, the animals have their own agendas, as they amuse themselves by raiding the supply closet of the local Lutheran church and offer wry running commentary (set off in italics) on the foibles of humans.

The politics of small-town life and the building trade are seamlessly woven into this lighthearted, facile tale that will appeal to loyal fans of the series. Others may find the anthropomorphic aspects of the story difficult to take, but it's hard to dislike Harry's giggle-prone, furry brood.

My Thoughts:  Whenever I want something light and fun to read, I read this series.  The plots are very mysterious and the antics of the animals are fun!

“Ten Big Ones”  By Janet Evanovich

     A Stephanie Plum Mystery

 

2011 Book Review #101

BookList Review

Although, the strain of keeping her formula fresh and funny, shows a bit in this latest adventure of New Jersey's most unusual bond enforcement agent, Stephanie Plum, there's still enough to entertain readers hooked on the wacky, wildly popular series.

Plenty of familiar characters and running gags are here: Lula and Grandma Mazur are as comical as ever, and Stephanie still can't hang on to handcuffs and cars or decide between the two men in her life--sexy cop Joe Morelli and scary Ranger, who is hot, hot, hot.

This time, though, the tale starts quickly (Stephanie pegs a convenience-store robber as a member of a vicious Trenton gang, then becomes a target on a hit list) but, seems swamped by more than the usual absurdities.

Fortunately, a dynamite finish…unexpected and very funny…saves the day for both Stef and her fans. Also on the plus side this time are some extraordinary new, hope-to-see-again additions to the roster, particularly the cross-dressing rocker Sweet Sally. Not the high mark of an outstanding series, then, but still good fun for the legions of devotees.

My Thoughts:  Comic Relief!  I love the Stephanie Plum mysteries because of the characters!  They never fail to entertain!

“Cat of the Century”  By Rita Mae Brown

A Mary Minor “Harry” Harristeen Mystery

with Harry's pets…cats, Mrs. Murphy and Pewter, 

and corgi, Tee Tucker

 

2011 Book Review #101

 Publishers Weekly Review

Aunt Talley Urquhart is looking forward to celebrating her 100th birthday at her Fulton, Mo., alma mater, real-life William Woods University, but all is not well at WWU. 

As usual, Stockbroker Flo Langston, class of '74, is sure her hated classmate, Mariah D'Angelo, who heads the WWU Alumnae Association, has mishandled university funds. Mariah misses Aunt Talley's party and vanishes. Then someone shoots Flo dead at home in St. Louis after Flo reveals that Mariah has been selling fake high-end watches.

Taunting messages (e.g., "Catch me if you can") begin arriving in computer in-boxes of various WWU alumnae, including Inez Carpenter, Aunt Talley's 98-year-old best friend.

Faithful fans already familiar with the characters will enjoy the cozy antics, but others may struggle to pay attention until people start dying.

My Thoughts: Brown has always been one of my favorite authors.  Harry and her pets have always been fun mystery solvers for me in my need for lighter reading.  However, this one is far from the best of the series. I got bored about half way through it.

“Smokin’ Seventeen”

            By Janet Evanovich

  

2011 Book Review #86

               Book Cover Summary

Where there’s smoke there’s fire and no one knows this better than New Jersey bounty hunter Stephanie Plum.   Dead bodies are showing up in shallow graves on the empty construction lot of Vincent Plum Bail Bonds. No one is sure who the killer is or why the victims have been offed, but, what is clear is that Stephanie’s name is on the killer’s list.

Short on time to find evidence proving the killer’s identity, Stephanie faces further complications when her family and friends decide that it’s time for her to choose between her longtime off-again-on-again boyfriend, Trenton cop Joe Morelli, and the bad boy in her life, security expert Ranger.

 Stephanie’s mom is encouraging Stephanie to dump them both and choose a former high school football star who’s just returned to town. Stephanie’s sidekick, Lula, is encouraging Stephanie to have a red-hot boudoir bake-off.  And Grandma Bella, Morelli’s old-world grandmother, is encouraging Stephanie to move to a new state when she puts the eye on Stephanie.

With a cold-blooded killer after her, a handful of hot men, and a capture list that includes a dancing bear and a senior citizen vampire, Stephanie’s life looks like it’s about to go up in smoke.

My Thoughts:  Evanovish’s books are always fun!  This one is no different.  Loved it!

“LACED”      By Carol Higgins Clark

A Regan and Jack Reilly Mystery

2011 Book Review #84

   Publishers Weekly Review

Newlyweds Regan, a PI, and Jack Reilly, head of the Major Case Squad in New York City, are anticipating an idyllic honeymoon in western Ireland.  But their hopes of tranquility are soon dashed.

Early the first morning at their hotel, Hennessy Castle, Regan wakes up and thinks she sees a ghost out their window; the next moment a fire alarm sends her and Jack and the hotel's other guests to the lobby. Later, a rare lace tablecloth on display at the castle disappears. Legend says it was made by May Reilly in the early 19th century, but because May was never paid for her work, her ghost haunts the castle.

Jack's receiving a note signed by two thieves he's been trying to track down in New York complicates matters, as do the efforts of an American couple to cheat a talented local artist.

In an atmospheric mystery loaded with quaint characters, Clark gives the reader a unique tour of Ireland from narrow country roads to the city of Galway.

My Thoughts:  Another fun mystery with Regan and her new husband, Jack!

“ICED”  By Carol Higgins Clark

       A Regan Reilly Mystery

2011  Book Review #75

      Booklist Review

Thirty-something private investigator Reilly is headed for the ski slopes of Aspen for the Christmas holidays, parents in tow. Mom and Dad are to be houseguests of television actress, Kendra Wood, while Regan visits with an old friend who's opening a new restaurant.

But the Reillys walk into more than just a cheery holiday ski party.  Kendra Wood's valuable art collection has been stolen, and her trusted housekeeper, Eben Bean, is missing. That's all Regan needs to know to send her off in pursuit of Eben and the sneaky thieves.

After assorted hi-jinks, adventures, false alarms, and--yes--plain old silliness, the plot finally gets all tied up in a nice, neat, mostly happy ending that will no doubt charm even the most Scrooge-like reader.

Solidly entertaining, mostly clever, occasionally funny, and always fun, this one is sure to please the author's growing audience. 

My Thoughts:  Clark’s books are always fun to read.  Regan Reilly is an intelligent and fun character.

"SNAGGED"  

              By Carol Higgins Clark

A Regan Reilly Mystery

2011 Book Review #73

  Publishers Weekly Review

In Miami for a friend's wedding, PI Regan Reilly acquires a new friend in the bride's uncle, Richie Blossom, who has invented ``run-proof, snag-proof'' pantyhose. If Richie can sell his patent to a manufacturer, he'll have the funds to buy the retirement home where he and his friends live. 

A year earlier, the residents acquired an option on the home from Dolly Twiggs before she died under suspicious circumstances; now the option is about to expire, and if Richie's endeavor fails, the extremely valuable property goes on the open market. 

Meanwhile, Ruth Craddock of Calla-Lilly Hosiery, who has her hands on a pair of the prototype pantyhose, realizes that Richie's invention could put her out of business. 

When an aggressive driver nearly mows Richie down, Regan appoints herself his protector and determines to learn more about what happened to Dolly. Although Regan gets the job done and is generally pleasant company, her gripes about such trivial matters such as hotel-room hangers and health-food aficionados occasionally make her seem a whiny sort of lass. 

My Thoughts:  This is what I call a "fun" mystery!  This is Clark's second Regan Reilly novel, (she has written about 10 of them), and it is fun to read, but I think I prefer her later novels after Regan meets Det. Jack Reilly (no kin).  They become much more interesting!!! If you want a light mystery, this is one!

“Naked Heat”   by Richard Castle

2011 Book Review #68

Book List Review

‘Castle’ is the title of a television cop show in which a mystery novelist, Richard Castle, teams up with a female NYPD detective (under the pretense of conducting research).  In the show, Castle writes novels about a female New York cop, Nikki Heat, who reluctantly pairs up with a writer, Jameson Rook, who's a fictionalized version of Castle himself.

Got all that? Anyway, ‘Naked Heat’ is the second Nikki Heat novel, credited, like the first (Heat Wave, 2009) to Richard Castle.  Leaving aside the fiction-within-another-fiction concept, it's a pretty fair mystery.

Heat and Rook are written in the familiar contempt-breeds-familiarity style: they start out antagonists and wind up partners (and more). We've seen them before, with other names in other stories, and we like them because they're comfortable. The story, which begins with a pair of murders that appear to be connected only by their MO, is slick and enjoyable without being too taxing on the reader's imagination. The book is exactly what it's supposed to be: an entertaining but undemanding mystery that should draw attention to the TV series from which it's spun off.

HIGH-DEMAND BACKSTORY: The TV series Castle is a big hit, and many of its fans will be curious to read a real book by their favorite fictional mystery writer.

My Thoughts:  I agree with the reviewer.   I have read both Nikki Heat books and enjoyed both.  It’s not as complicated as the review would make it seem.  It’s a spin off of the TV show, ‘Castle’.  Just as simple as that!

“CURSED”  by Carol Higgins Clark

A  Private Eye Regan Reilly Mystery

 

2011 Bood Review #58

Summary…

PI Regan Reilly moved from Los Angeles to New York City when she married Jack "no relation" Reilly, head of the NYPD Major Case Squad. To help a friend, Regan takes on a case that takes her back to her old stomping grounds.

On a snowy day in New York City, PI Regan Reilly gets an urgent call from her former neighbor, Abigail Feeney. A Hollywood hairdresser, Abigail believes her life has been cursed since the day she was born…Friday the 13th. Always unlucky in love, Abigail now needs Regan's help in tracking down an ex-boyfriend who was just spotted in downtown Los Angeles…a "no good bum" who borrowed $100,000 from her three months ago, then promptly disappeared.

Abigail desperately needs to get that money back, money given to her by her grandmother who is heading to L.A. Grandma Feeney, no shrinking violet, has plans to buy an old friend's condo for Abigail and will need that hard-earned money to make the deal.

With hubby Jack away, the weather in New York miserable, and the guilt provoking memory that Abigail had brought her chicken soup when she was sick, Regan agrees to hop a plane. Before long, the hunt for Abigail's ex takes some dangerous turns. . . . But when Abigail becomes a suspect in a murder investigation, Regan begins to wonder if the curse is real--and possibly contagious!

My Thoughts:  Clark’s books are always fun Mysteries!  This is no exception!

"HITCHED"  by Carol Higgins Clark
A PI Regan Reilly Mystery

2011 Book Review #56

                           

 Publishers Weekly Review

Nervous brides may want to wait until after the wedding to read this one!

With her wedding to Jack "no relation" Reilly, head of the NYPD Major Case Squad, only a week away, Regan thinks she has everything under control.  But when she arrives to pick up her wedding dress at Alfred and Charisse's Coutures in Little Italy, she finds the young husband-and-wife designers bound and gagged, a wedding dress shredded on the floor and four others missing, including her own.

In spite of all she must do before the wedding, Regan agrees to investigate. Jack, hoping to solve a big bank robbery case before their nuptials, is more than supportive. To Regan's surprise, not all the brides-to-be who've lost their gowns are that distraught.

Regan's and Jack's cases convincingly intertwine as the sleuthing trail leads them from the streets of New York to Las Vegas. With her usual cast of quirky characters, Clark's lighthearted romp will keep readers guessing who will and who won't make it to the altar. 

My thoughts:  It’s a mystery and fun to read!

“Back Spin”   by Harlan Coben

                   A Myron Bolitar Novel

2011 Book Review #43

  Publishers Weekly Review

Golf takes center stage, but the sharp plotting and emotional density, as well as nonstop wisecracks, make this a book even for the golf-averse.

When someone kidnaps the son of golfer, Jack Coldren,  just as he's poised to win the U.S. Open and the boy's grandfather asks Myron to help. The mother, golf champion, Linda Coldren, is afraid to notify police and Myron sees an opportunity not only to save a life but, also to sign up a couple of new clients.

Bodies and clues pile up and, as the past unravels, Myron discovers that the Coldrens' skeletons touch even his close but, enigmatic friend, Win.

The characters are deftly etched and the details keenly observed (regarding a group of mall girls: "There were four girls. Or, maybe five or even six.  Hard to say. They all seemed to blend into one another"). 

My Thoughts:  I enjoyed the seemingly off-handed humor in this book.  The plot was believable and I liked the characters.

 “Between the Plums”

    By  Janet Evanovich

2011 Book Review #36

                            Summary

Together at last! From America’s favorite #1 New York Times bestselling author comes a very special edition containing not one, but three Between-the-Numbers books:  Visions of Sugar Plums, Plum Lovin’ and Plum Lucky.

Visions of Sugar Plums:  It’s five days before Christmas and things are not looking merry for Stephanie Plum. She hasn’t got a tree. She hasn’t bought any presents. The malls are jam-packed with staggering shoppers. There’s not a twinkle of light anywhere to be seen in her apartment—and there’s a strange man in her kitchen.

 Plum Lovin’: Mysterious men have a way of showing up in Stephanie Plum’s apartment. When the shadowy Diesel appears, he has a task for Stephanie…and he’s not taking no for an answer.

Plum Lucky:  Stephanie Plum is looking to get lucky...In an Atlantic City hotel room, in a Winnebago & with a brown-eyed stud who has stolen her heart.

My Thoughts:  LOVE Stephanie Plum!

"To Have And To Kill"  
       by Mary Jane Clark

2011 Book Review #32

Booklist Review

Struggling actress Piper Donovan moves back in with her parents in New York City. With no immediate prospects for work, she helps out with the family bakery business. When her friend Glenna, star of a daytime soap opera, gets engaged, Piper agrees to create the wedding cake.

Then Glenna's costar, Travis York, dies at a charity auction of cyanide poisoning. There's no shortage of suspects, including Glenna's fiancé, Casey Walden, and her ex-con ex-husband, Philip. But who was the real target?

When Piper learns that Glenna has been receiving threatening letters, she decides to investigate, with the help of her ex-neighbor Jack, an FBI agent.

Clark's latest mystery is the first in a new series, in which all the entries will involve wedding cakes. The intriguing premise will interest fans of foodie crime.

My Thought:  I liked this book.  The plot was believable and the characters are fun.

"The Midnight Show Murders"
           By Al Roker and Dick Lochte
                                     A Billy Blessing Novel


2011 Book Review #20

When celebrity chef Billy Blessing goes to L.A. to guest on a popular late-night show, hilarity and murder ensue.

 Publishers Weekly Review

Billy's network bosses have tapped him to be the first weekly guest announcer of a new show, O'Day at Night, hosted by Irish comedian Des O'Day. When a bomb explosion blows an important cast member to bits on the set of O'Day at Night, Billy once again turns sleuth. 

The case awakens unpleasant memories of the beginning of Billy's career as a cook in L.A. when he unsuccessfully tried to undermine the alibi of Roger Charbonnet, an arrogant but well-connected young chef suspected of killing Tiffany Arden, a failed starlet turned restaurant bookkeeper. 

A cop who remembers the Arden murder thinks Roger may have been responsible for the bombing. Wry humor lifts this above most celebrity-written fiction.

My Thoughts:    It is the first of Al Roker's books I have read and I enjoyed it.  It's a fun mystery!

"Southern Ghost"   by  Carolyn Hart

2011 Book Review #12
A Death on Demand Mystery

Booklist Review

According to the news story published in the Chastain (South Carolina) Courier at the time, leading citizen Judge Augustus Tarrant suffered a fatal heart attack on May 9, 1970, after learning of the accidental shooting death of his 21-year-old son, Ross. 

What has prompted young Courtney Kimball to hire Max Darling to investigate this family tragedy 22 years later? And why does Courtney subsequently disappear? 

Old sins cast long shadows and rouse avenging ghosts in Tarrant House as Max and his mystery aficionado wife, Annie (who owns a bookstore called Death on Demand), search for an answer to both questions. 

Hart's southern-gothic mystery offers a wealth of suspects (forced to one-room confrontation after murder has been established), a generous scattering of literary allusions and peripheral ghost stories, and a chain of intriguing flashbacks that will leave most readers puzzled to the end.

My Thoughts:  I love all Carolyn Hart's mysteries and this one is no exception!
                             They are always fun!   

"Murder Walks The Plank"
                By Carolyn Hart

2011 Book Review #9
A Death on Demand Mystery


Book List Review 


Annie and Max Darling return and this time mystery bookstore owner Annie plans a mystery cruise as a benefit for the Island Literacy Council of Broward's Rock, South Carolina. 

Unfortunately, before the mystery is solved, one of the guests falls overboard. Or was she pushed? Annie believes she was pushed and becomes even more convinced when a suspicious death occurs soon after the cruise. Max and Acting Police Chief Cameron believe the two incidents are either accidents or suicides and are unconnected, leaving Annie, Emma Clyde (Broward's Rock's own mystery author), and mystery reader extraordinaire Henny Brawley no choice but to solve the crimes themselves.

While investigating, Annie must also deal with her father's new romance, her stepsister's unhappiness, and her mother-in-law's cryptic messages.

A good story boasting quirky characters, a fine sense of place, and, of course, plenty of clever literary references to mystery books and authors. Great fun for cozy fans.

My Thoughts....  I love this series of books.  The characters are fun and the mystery is always well planned!

"Death Walked In"   by Carolyn Hart

2011 Review #7

A Death On Demand Mystery

Synopsis

Max Darling hasn't been interested in crime since his brush with a seductive young woman put him in danger of losing his freedom. He even refuses to talk to a woman who calls for help and says she is afraid. The caller leaves word she's hidden something in the antebellum house Max and his wife, Annie, are restoring. When Annie finds out, she hurries to the woman's home, only to discover her shot. Annie hears her final whisper as she holds the dying woman's hand.

Evidence links the dead woman to a nearby home, where a fortune in gold coins has gone missing. The gold coins, rare Double Eagles, were stolen from a house filled with visiting family members, twenty somethings hungry for money and several with secrets they must keep. 

Gwen’s dropout son, Robert, is implicated in both the theft and the murder, but, Max believes Robert’s been framed and works to clear his name.

My Thoughts:

As usual, Hart has put together an intriguing and attention holding mystery.  The characters are their usual interesting selves and I love the results!  A mystery to the very end!

“And thereby hangs a tale”  

          by Jeffrey Archer

Review #186

This book is one of Archer’s  collection of short fiction features…stories based (sometimes rather loosely) on true incidents or people. Of the 15 stories in this book, 10 are supposed to be based on known incidents, which means, for example, that something similar to the very clever method of stealing jewelry described in “Stuck on You”, might actually have been tried...or that someone like Benny, the too-clever-for-his-own-good prison stoolie, might really have sentenced himself to a life of looking over his shoulder.

Aside from the fact that they're marked with an asterisk, it's hard to tell the true stories from the outright fictional ones.  In all of them, Archer creates engaging characters and puts them into situations that range from tragic to comic to . . . a little strange.

Doesn’t really matter because I enjoyed all of them!

“Agatha Raisin and 
the Day the Floods Came”           

             by  M.C. Beaton

 

Review #181

Tetchy Agatha Raisin's attempt at a little R&R in the wake of her beloved husband's defection to a French monastery gets her revved up for another mystery.  During her getaway, she notices a newlywed couple; within days, the groom drowns the bride. 

But, the real story takes place upon Agatha's return to her Cotswold home. During a dramatic flash flood, Agatha sees another dead bride, wearing a white gown and clutching a bridal bouquet, sweeping past on the river, an apparent suicide.  Agatha decides to investigate with the aid of her new neighbor, the dashing, cultured and vaguely lascivious mystery writer, John Armitage.  She also, discovers her own surprising flair for deceit and disguise.

Funny book!

“Resort To Murder”  

        by Carolyn Hart

         Review #179

         A Henrie O Mystery

In this highly entertaining puzzle, 70-ish sleuth Henrietta O'Dwyer Collins (aka Henrie O) is in a somber, reflective mode, as befits her age and her life experiences. Recovering from pneumonia, Henrie O isn't sure she feels up to the task of dealing with the emotional maelstrom stewing around the Bermuda wedding of her son-in-law, Lloyd Drake, and beautiful Connor Bailey, a wealthy widow.

A granddaughter, unhappy about her father's marriage, is bent on making mischief, while the bride-to-be can't seem to stop herself from attracting the attentions of any male within eyeshot. Lloyd doesn't cope well with his fiancé’s penchant for flirtation, and Connor's lawyer, Steve Jennings, appears to have more than Connor's financial interests at heart.

The hotel where the party has gathered witnessed tragedy the year before, when Roddy Worrell, the manager's husband, plunged to his death from a tower. According to rumor, Roddy had been infatuated with Connor, who spurned his advances. When a ghost is sighted at the tower, word spreads that Roddy has come back to haunt Connor.

The subsequent death of a hotel employee who knew more than he should about the apparition puts Henrie O on the murder scent once again.

This series has a deeper and darker emotional texture than Hart's more lively and lighthearted ‘Death on Demand’ series, but her fans will enjoy the complex plot, local color and vivid characters. 

I love Henie O books!