Reviews

Lynn Cahoon: Confessions of an Amateur Sleuth

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Bainbridge Island #2

In Lynn Cahoon’s second Bainbridge Island mystery, Meg Gates has taken to island life, being embraced as one of the locals rather than a tourist. She’s working at her mother’s bookstore, Island Books, and is dating a childhood friend, Dalton, who works on the ferry. Things are looking up from the absolute dumpster fire that her life had become when her ex-fiancé broke off their engagement and went on their honeymoon with one of her bridesmaids. Quite a way for her life to fall apart, but she got to go home again and found a place to live renting from her aunt and working at the bookstore for her mother. She’s also begun to write, thanks to encouragement from her job working for the famous, yet reclusive, author Lilly Aster. read more

Colleen Cambridge: In the Spirit of French Murder

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An American in Paris #4

In the Spirit of French Murder is the fourth book in Colleen Cambridge’s An American in Paris Mystery series set in post-World War II Paris, about Tabitha Knight, a former Rosie the Riveter and best friend of Julia Child.  At the time this novel takes place, in March of 1950, Tabitha, the daughter of an American policeman father and a French mother, has been in Paris for almost a year.  After growing up near Detroit, she has gone to live with her French grandfather and his life partner, Oncle Rafe.  Tabitha’s cooking skills are not up to making the French dinners her “messieurs” love, but, luckily for her, she has Julia Child as a neighbor.  At this time, Julia is a student at the prestigious Cordon Bleu chef school, and she is happy to cook meals for Tabitha and her messieurs or to direct Tabitha in making them. read more

Kang Jiyoung: Mrs. Shim is a Killer

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Mrs. Shim is a Killer is not your average mystery. Indeed, Kang Jiyoung’s most recent novel is unlike anything I’ve ever read. A bizarre, multi point of view tale, Mrs. Shim is at times a compelling examination of what it means to live a desperate life, at times simply a straight up drug trip. The Korea in the book is a bleak place. Every character seems to be struggling. I was deeply surprised to see it described as a “darkly comedic” work, as I generally missed out on what was supposed to be funny. read more

Ashley-Ruth M. Bernier: The Bush Tea Murder

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Debut

Short story writer Ashley-Ruth Bernier’s debut proclaims those roots – this sweetly moving novel is told via short episodes.  The episodes connect, and are longer than the typical short story, packing more of a punch, and by the end of the novel, the ends are neatly tied up.  Our heroine is culinary TV star Naomi Sinclair, who tells stories through her reporting on, and love, of food.

Naomi is from the island of St. Thomas, and it’s her Crucian heritage that shines through on every page of this novel.  As the book opens, she and a fellow host on EAT TV are pitching their true crime-food episodes, and Naomi is leaving her audience in suspense.  She has a great story to tell and her audience of TV producers are hanging on her every word to find out the solution to the long ago murder of Ursula Merchant, a well known island chef and entrepreneur. read more

Simon Brett: A Disorganised Death

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Decluttering Mystery #5

I love series fiction.  I’m sure I love it for the reasons many others love it – the deep and extended look at characters we grow to love as readers.  Some we love so much they seem real, to the point where when a series character is occasionally killed off, readers revolt and grieve, as though the characters actually were real, not fictional.  Simon Brett has written several series (Charles Paris, Mrs. Pargeter, Feathering) but I am hooked on this one.

This series follows Ellen and her family – she’s a widow with two twenty something children and an irritating and self-involved mother, Fleur.  By book five they are now old friends I am happy to reunite with, though Brett writes in such a way that a reader could enjoy the books in any order.  Ellen works as a home declutterer – often helping hoarders come to terms with their reasons for hoarding and letting go of some of their stuff. read more

Erica Ruth Neubauer: Vengeance in Venice

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Jane Wunderly #7

Vengeance in Venice is the seventh full-length novel in Erica Ruth Neubauer’s Jane Wunderly series, set in the 1920s in various locations around the world.  The adventurous Jane is an American war widow whose abusive first husband was killed in World War I.  Now she is much more happily married to the Englishman Redvers, who conducts secret missions for the British government.  Jane is a full partner in Redvers’ investigations, and their witty dialogue is one of the outstanding features of the series.  The couple met in Egypt in the first novel, Murder at the Mena House, and their adventures have taken them to, among other places, Istanbul, a Scottish island, and, most recently, India.  The series also includes a delightful Christmas novella, Murder Under the Mistletoe, which should not be missed.  Part of the fun of the series is trying to figure out where Jane’s and Redvers’ adventures will take them next. read more

Mark Pryor: The Most Mysterious Bookshop in Paris

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Series Debut

The main character in Mark Pryor’s new series is Hugar Marson, the ex-head of security at the US embassy in Paris and FBI profiler. These are two excellent occupations to set Hugo up for his own sleuthing future, except he isn’t looking to be one.  Instead, he is opening his own antiquarian bookshop in Paris and looking forward to living the small business owner’s life – a dream much easier said than done, as it turns out,  because of his talent in the field as well as his own innate curiosity and need to solve a mystery once it has been presented to him. read more

Hattie Fox: Baking up a Murder

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Debut

In Hattie Fox’s debut, Madeline is our amateur sleuth and prestigious French pastry chef who is unfortunately going through the loss of her grandfather. To help out her Grandma Ruth, Madeline has returned to their home of Solvang, California where her grandparents run a Dutch bakery in the Dutch themed town. Madeline took over the bakery while her grandfather was on the decline, allowing him to rest and her grandmother to spend time with him without worrying about the shop. But when he passed, Madeline couldn’t bear the thought of Grandma Ruth selling the place and finding a job elsewhere. Staying was a difficult decision, as she had made wonderful progress back in LA at a famous restaurant. Staying meant leaving that job. Her grandmother’s only caveat to Madeline taking over the bakery? Madeline would do it her way and make the French pastry she loves. read more

Naomi Hirahara: Crown City

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Japantown #3

I’ve enjoyed all the books in this series, but in some ways I would say Naomi Hirahara is almost more of an historian than a mystery writer, evidenced by this latest installment of this extremely enjoyable series. There is in fact a mystery in Crown City, but the time period and setting are the real stars of the show. Another attraction is main character, Ryui Wada, an accomplished carpenter who emigrated to America from Yokohama in 1903 after the death of his father.  Although he has a job waiting for him, he’s just 18, speaks little English, and has a lot to learn, something that’s brought home when he discovers Pasadena, the “Crown City,” a place that astonishes, fascinates and horrifies. read more

J.D. Brinkworth: The Pie and Mash Detective Agency

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Debut

This charming, funny book, set in present day London, follows the adventures of Jane Pye and Simon Mash, a dating couple who decide to take a detective class at their local learning center.  (To a US reader, this will translate as a community college course.) Jane is between jobs, aka unemployed, and while Simon is working, he’s still willing to go along with Jane on her lark, which started with a book on detection that proved only too inspiring.

As a final assignment, the teacher (and working private eye) Gavin, assigns each team in the class a case to be solved.  He gives the only unsolved case to Jane and Simon, and, as it later becomes clear, it’s one he himself has been frustrated by for decades. Jane and Simon plunge right in, going to interview the witness, Dev, whose girlfriend has vanished.  The only problem is that the police don’t believe she ever existed as Dev doesn’t have a photo of her, she doesn’t seem to be a voter, be on National Health, or have a passport or driver’s license. read more