Bimini Twist:  A Jane Bunker Mystery

by Linda Greenlaw

Jane has been a wonderkin at bringing down the drug traffic in Green Haven, Maine.  However, the temperature is warming up and tourist season is getting underway. The local businesses and city’s politicos aren’t too keen to have the summer visitors scared off by the drug related press, so the sheriff has asked her to cool it on the busts and points her to the cold case files.  Eager to escape she takes on a case of a missing girl who has been working at a local resort on a student visa, unaware it has a tie-in to a cold case from the previous year. 

For me, Greenlaw’s books get better with every addition.  Running her own lobster boat pays off big time as she describes the action in and around Green Haven.  Though mystery fans will likely figure out what is going on, the story is still intriguing and well written.  Her descriptions of small town life and how the boating community works is engaging.  As Jane heads out on one exploration, Greenlaw’s realistic description of what it’s like to work a boat in the fog with a good-looking guy and the actual way your appearance ends up is both tragic and hysterical.  (Though I’m sure Jane would disagree.)  This is an entertaining and satisfying book for a good afternoon in the hammock.  Teens who are interested in possible summer work visas could pick up a few pointers from this one. 

I wish to thank Minotaur Books and Macmillan Group for providing an advanced review copy of this title for my honest review.

PUB:  Minotaur Books/Macmillan Publishing Group

PUB DATE: June 26, 2018

ISBN:  9781520107589

Genre:  Fiction/Mystery

Murder at the Mansion

by Sheila Connolly

Having just received the news that the hotel she was running has been purchased by a large conglomerate and they wish to install their own personnel, Kate finds herself able to consider a proposal brought to her by her high school best friend.  Her home town of Asheford, Maryland is slowly dying.  The city council has purchased the large Victorian mansion once owned by Henry Barton.  The same mansion where Kate was humiliated by the clique queen and high school nemesis, Cordelia.  Now Cordy wants to take over the mansion and turn it into a high chrome, flashy hotel by ripping out the historical charm that has been painfully maintained with funds left by Barton.   As Kate is finishing up her tour of the mansion with the caretaker, they find the troublesome Cordelia, dead on the front steps.  Can Kate figure out what Cordelia was up to and why she was so interested in the mansion?

Books with storylines that deal with historical treasures hidden in basements and attics are a big draw to me.  Kate’s story moves along though clues and ideas do not come easy.  Connolly does not give Kate a smooth and effortless path to figure things out.  She stumbles and trips like a ‘regular’ person would.  Fans of Connolly’s Museum Mysteries will be happy to see Nell Pratt featured.  My one whine is against reading this book on an e-reader.  It abruptly ended.  I was so engrossed in the story that when the last line came up and I turned the page, I was agog that the book had ended.  I was not prepared.  Needless to say, that last line leaves it wide open for more installments. I will be waiting patiently.

I wish to thank the generosity of the publisher and NetGalley for providing an Advanced Reader’s Copy for my honest review.

PUB:  St. Martin’s Press

PUB DATE:  June 26, 2018

ISBN: 9781250135865

GENRE:  Cozy Mystery

A Word About Summer Reading

With summer around the corner and schools opening their doors and releasing the wild hoards of offspring into the communities, I hope you will lasso yours and take them to your local library to indulge in some summer recreational reading.  What I wish to stress here is the word summer and recreational.  Having worked so long in a public library, I was witness to gaggles of kids embracing the fun time of being able to read what they wanted, what they enjoyed. Mysteries, adventures, tall-tales, and fairy tales.  We didn’t care as long as they were continuing to practice and exercise those reading skills. 

Parents!! Nothing will kill the joy of reading quicker than telling your child they must read something classical.  Something of merit, educational.  YUCK!  They get SO much of that nine months out of twelve.  Give them a break and allow them to pick up a graphic novel.  Who cares?  If they are not sitting in front of a television or computer, let them read it.  There are some great authors out there whose works will introduce your child to the wonders of the world through fiction.  Allow them to stretch their imaginations while reading a book of fantasy or science fiction.  (Do you honestly know how many modern contraptions have been developed because of a man who pushed the boundaries of imagination on a little scifi program called Star Trek?)

How many kids have learned how to stand up to bullies by reading Harry Potter?  How many have picked up a biography or non-fiction title because they read one of the Dear Diary series or a Magic Tree House? Summer is a time to rest the brain a little but keep it exercised by reading and exploring realms they don’t see a lot of during regular curricular cramming. 

How about this idea?  Why don’t you grab that bodice ripper, who-done-it or spy adventure and join them on the sofa for some page turning escape time?  Order out for pizza and enjoy.  You’ll be so glad you did. 

Still Here

Letting you know I’m still around and breathing.  I may not post consistently but I’m always reading a book, listening to a book, all while probably purchasing a book or checking one out of the library.  LOL  I don’t have a lot of followers, nor do I expect many.  Those who do follow my blog know that if I’m not posting here, I’m probably reading.  Now, that reading activity may take place on the shore of the lake, in the parking lot of Home Depot, Tractor Supply or North 40.  Mostly it’s on my patio when it’s warm or in front of the fire when it’s cold.  Yes, I do need to get more exercise and I’m working on that.  Think I might just have to knuckle down and sync my phone to my Bluetooth head phones and my Libby app so I can listen to my downloaded audios without dragging my tablet on a bike or a hike.  (see what I did there?  Uh huh!  A little rhyme time.)   Hang in there, folks.  If you want to know about what I’m reading or have read.  Stay tuned.  (plus, my old laptop died a slow and painful death.)  We’ll be holding services for it at the end of the week.  In lieu of flowers, go to your local indie bookstore or library and give generously in the name of my old technology.  We thank you for your thoughtfulness.

A Sharp Solitude

by Christine Carbo

When attending an author signing, I have often heard the question, “How do you know what to write about?  Where do you get your ideas?”  The answer is always, “Write what you know.”  Carbo does exactly that and does it very well.  Her fourth novel takes us back to Glacier National Park.  Unlike most mystery and thriller authors, Carbo does not have one recurring character or protagonist that is forever falling over dead bodies.  Her main protagonist is the park.  Shrouded within the million acres of breath taking beauty lies a natural system of nature at its best and its worst.  This novel involves Reeve Landon, a man who has decided to live on the outskirts of society choosing the company of his specially trained dog.  Together they round up information and samples to be studied by scientists at the University of Montana.  At the urging of his supervisor he reluctantly agrees to meet with a journalist who has led them to believe she wants to write a paper on their special program.  This simple request will send Reeve’s life and the lives of several others spiraling out of control when the journalist turns up dead after meeting with him. 

Carbo provides us with a gripping story that slowly gathers speed. Her characters are well developed and all fit within the landscape of the lives Carbo has created for them.    At the core of the beautiful descriptions of Flathead, Montana and the surrounding landscape she has infused a horrifying trail of events that will leave you breathless and shivering.  The only advice I can offer is, remember to keep breathing.

PUB:  Atria Books/Simon and Schuster

PUB DATE:  May 29, 2018

ISBN: 9781501156335

Genre:  Fiction/Mystery

Spook in the Stacks:  A Lighthouse Library Mystery

by Eva Gates

It’s late October and Halloween is just around the corner.  What better place for tales of ghost ships and scary haunts than a lighthouse converted into a library located on the Outer Banks?  Librarian Lucy Richardson is not a believer but is looking forward to the book group discussion of Sleepy Hollow and the upcoming programs that promise creepy tales of local ghostly legends.  When former resident and owner of the most complete collection of North Carolina historical documents turns up dead in the library it puts a darker spin on tales of ghosts and wrong doings. 

I really enjoy books that give hints of ghosts and historical tales.  This one is a little light in that department but doesn’t disappoint in the general story telling.  Gates’ fourth installment in the Lighthouse Library series is a fun read filled with a little romance, spooky ghosts and the feel of autumn in the air.  This series makes me want to visit the Outer Banks. It will be a perfect read in front of the first fire of the season and a cup of hot cider.

I wish to thank the publisher and NetGalley for providing an Advanced Reader’s Copy for my honest review.

PUB:  Crooked Lane Books

PUB DATE:  June 12, 2018

ISBN: 9781683315803

GENRE:  Cozy Mystery