Tag: book review

Book Review: The Zig Zag Girl

~ tahenryauthoress ~ 4 Comments

I grabbed The Zig Zag Girl on a whim because of the time period, post World War II, is most definitely in my wheel house. After my long slog of cozy mysteries I was hoping this one would not disappoint with weak, holey plots and characters that irritated me. It did not. This is the first in Elly Griffiths’ Magic Men Mysteries but it has none of the common teething issues a new series often suffers from. This book is smooth, well written, and intriguing.

There are a pair of main characters, however Griffiths manages to make even that a surprise. She starts firmly rooted in the Detective Inspector Edgar Stephens and allows the story to bring Max Mephisto in when the plot is ready. It takes skill to allow things to build naturally and Griffiths does this brilliantly through out the book. A series of murders has DI Stephens investigating across half of England and delving into his own painful past. Both characters are demonstrably changed by the events of the novel, which is refreshing for a murder mystery.

I think half my love for this book comes from my own confusion. I always know who done it. Always. And while I had my first flicker of “I know who done it” early on, Griffiths managed to make me change my mind back and forth between 3 characters several times. Griffiths really had to reveal it for me and that is rare for me. I raise my cuppa in her honor.

℘℘℘℘ – 4 Pages – Satisfying read. I will definitely grab the next book in the series.

Book Review: The Boy Is Back

~ tahenryauthoress ~ 3 Comments

If you say Meg Cabot, chances are people think Princess Diaries. Yeah, ok, she wrote them. But she also has several adult series books that I adore. (1800WhereAreYou, Heather Wells) The “Boy series” is not a typical series. The books are all written. There is no dialogue. She uses emails, journal entries, text messages to communicate the story. And only a few characters bleed over from one book to the next. Generally minor characters appear over and over.

The Boy is Back, I read it in one day. Small town girl gets an unexpected chance with the boy who broke her heart. Awww. It was funny, fast moving, sadly a little predictable. Maybe just because I know how she writes or maybe I just over analyze as I read now. But I still enjoyed the book. In all the boy books there’s this trend of misunderstanding coming between people. It’s very Austenesque. And in this book, Cabot fully embraces Austen, quoting from her novels. It was a nice little turn. Makes me think she might not be writing anymore boy books though. Don’t ask me why, I just get that vibe.

Then again Cabot often comes back to a series after a long spell away to provide closure to her readers. Talk about a win win. Give the readers what they want and they give you more money. LOL.

℘℘℘℘℘- Five Pages. Read it in one day. Will of course read anything she writes. I actually follow her on twitter, not that she’s very active.

Book Review: Frindle

~ tahenryauthoress ~ 2 Comments

I grabbed this at the library to read with the kiddo fully expecting he would argue but he didn’t. There’s a post coming about that on Friday. LOL.

Frindle by Andrew Clements.

I cannot say enough about this book. The premise is simple but complex. A boy gets the idea that if words come from people then he can make up his own word. And he does. And he gets all the kids to use it. Of course the adults rebel which only makes the kids want to say it more. Along the way the boy learns you can’t always control a rebellion once you start one. LOL But you can use your influence for good.

It’s definitely the kind of book that leads to serious conversations if you have a child like mine. Possibly no matter what kind of child you have. But the book itself is amazingly well done and amusing. I had no idea I would find myself crying until the last 5 pages. It’s just entertainment. And then it sneaks up on you.

℘℘℘℘℘ – Read it in one afternoon. Already picked up two more of Clements books to read with the kiddo. But hey, even if you’re a grown up (or like to pretend you are) this is an awesome book, all about the power of words. Take an hour and read it over coffee or a beer. It won’t be a wasted hour.

Book Review: Kill Switch

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I had Kill Switch by Jonathan Maberry on my TBR shelf for a couple of weeks waiting for a nice empty weekend. I knew from previous experience, see my review of Patient Zero, that once I pick up a Joe Ledger adventure, there is no stopping until the last bad guy gasps out his dying wail.

In the latest installment, Joe faces an EMP like weapon that works only for a short period of time, that terrorists are testing in the US. A weapon that allows people to take control of other people. Plague, betrayal, murder, suicide, attacks by friends, and over sized enormous albino penguins.

Kill Switch is delightfully long and complicated and just on the bleeding edge of science. Really nothing new for Maberry who turns out brilliant work that gives me night terrors. And makes me jealous as all hell, because he writes like I do, only much better. But I digress from the point of this review.

It’s good. No ifs, ands, or butts about it. The action is harsh, quick, and occasionally breath-taking. The psychological ramifications well drawn. The true horror of war is abundant in this one. And it’s not just that half the team dies, yet again. It’s what happens to those who are left. I don’t know if Maberry is trying to draw attention to the plight of our soldiers but he does an amazing job of it whether he is trying or not.

℘℘℘℘℘ – Five Pages. One weekend read. Always checking his name, every time I’m at the library.

Book Review: Bridget Jones, Mad About the Boy

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I was a singleton in the 90’s when the original Bridget Jones books came out. I loved them. On one hand I could relate to the trials and tribulations of being single. And on the other hand I could be a bit snug about not being quite as old as Brig. Fast forward a small lifetime of years and I am now happily married and Brig…well she’s got my worst nightmare.

Bridget Jones, Mad About the Boy by Helen Fielding was a hard book to read. Brig is still herself. Funny and charming. Totally wrapped up in the appearance of things more than the essential functionality. That was one of the best parts of the previous two books. Despite Bridget’s quirks she found a man who loved her for them and steadied her life.

I’m just gonna slap it out there, the book is several years old and you figure it out quite early on, so it’s not exactly a spoiler. Darcy is dead. They got married, had two adorable little children and then wham. Unexpected horror. My worst nightmare. And I relate because in some way I was Bridget in my 20s. I think that’s Helen Fielding’s gift. She makes you feel like the story is about you. Even in her non Bridget books which I read and loved. The story feels like it’s about me. If I was English, obviously.

℘℘℘℘ – Four Pages. Charming Brig at her most chaotic. 380 pages I breezed through in three days with all the normal things I must do.

Book Review: Dressed to Kilt

~ tahenryauthoress ~ 12 Comments

I know, I know, you’re totally ready to scream enough cozy mysteries, aren’t you? Well guess what, this is the end my friend. I have read or tried to read every cozy mystery on the shelves at six different libraries. Dressed to Kilt by Hannah Reed is the last one to get a full review. Although you will see a number of them on my One Star rehash at the end of fourth quarter.

This was a fun little mystery. Set in a small hamlet in Scotland, I felt like Reed did a good job of giving the book a Scottish flair which I enjoyed. However she did a less good job with really placing her setting. Things floated, if you know what I mean. The accented lines were flavorful but still readable. Reed included a rude idiot American, allowing for lots of Scots terminology and colloquialisms to be explained without a full “as you know bob” going on.

The book includes three mysteries in one. A) the actual murder. B) the story behind her father’s disappearance 30 years earlier. And C) which guy?  I was super on board. Really grooving. Really wondering. And then 180 pages in, it happened. A flaw in the story logic so large I’m surprised it didn’t cause a rip in the time space continuum. As a character is being arrested she insists she has never met a certain person nor been to the local hospital before to the inspector and the deputy. And no one calls her on it. It flies. I had to go back and check but yep the day before the inspector, the same one, had driven this character to the local hospital to visit said person.

I finished the book but the bloom was off. The ending was disappointing. It was all gray. Overcast. Besmirched by bad story logic.

Rating this one is difficult.

Overall: ℘℘, two pages. I finished this book after the logic debacle out of sheer stubbornness. And to see if she hooks up with the inspector who is a much better match for her than the idiot she’s currently dating.

For the plot, characters, and writing: ℘℘℘℘, four pages. Really well done. But that one instance just sticks too far in my craw for me to get over it.

Book Review: Cheddar off Dead

~ tahenryauthoress ~ 3 Comments

Yes, I know, it has been a long slog of cozy mysteries but every time I go to a different library they have different series and we have 50 some odd libraries for me to choose from. Life is good in the rainy northwest, they know we need many many books when the snow starts to fly, which according to Grey’s Anatomy it does regularly in Seattle. ROFL

Back to Cheddar off Dead by Julia Buckley. I might have skipped this one if I had realized this was the same Julia Buckley who wrote one of the one star books I totally panned in the 4th quarter but I didn’t and I am super glad. This one was good. Funny.

Cheddar is the 2nd in the series starring Lilah as a secret chef. She cooks, you pretend it’s your food. She witnesses a murder. Again. And then because she’s chatty and talks to everyone and people tell her things…she uncovers the murderer. Lilah is likable. Her crazy family is likable.

I want to compliment this book but I don’t want to give away the who dun it. So let me try to phrase this in a way that covers all my bases. I read a lot of murder mysteries. Some cozy, some not so cozy, some true crime. So I know who the most likely suspect is, and Julia totally leads me down the garden path beautifully. I seriously did not know who dun it. Well, not until I was supposed to know.

℘℘℘℘- Four Stars, I totally would have killed it in one day but the kiddo came and demanded cuddles and by the time I got him back to sleep I was too tired to finish it. But I got up and finished it first thing the next morning. I will definitely keep an eye out for more books in this series.

Book Review: Much Ado About Muffin

~ tahenryauthoress ~ 6 Comments

And the cozy mysteries just keep on coming. Much Ado About Muffin by Victoria Hamilton.

I don’t know what to say about this one. It’s another one I read all the way through but not with any real joy. It was ok. The mystery was easy to figure out and some of the clues….well there were many opportunities for the amateur sleuth to apply some logic but she never does. I’d like to think the author was saving the deduction for the big reveal but since we hear the main character’s thought process constantly….

I couldn’t really identify with the main character either. Her problems were just too far a field from my own maybe? I don’t know, I had trouble buying into them. They keep referring to taxes she has to pay but she already has possession of the house she inherited and in the US the executor pays the estate taxes before the inheritor gets the property. I don’t know. I suppose I am over thinking what should be fluffy reading but I like my books to follow factual lines.

℘℘℘ – Three Pages, it was readable. I won’t get more books in the series although there are several others.

Book Review: Parchment and Old Lace

~ tahenryauthoress ~ 5 Comments

Cosy mysteries abound my friends. This one, Parchment and Old Lace by Laura Childs, was the blahest book in the blah blah world. Laura Childs has published 37 novels and 2 anthologies, so she must have something going for he somewhere but it wasn’t this book. This book was boring. And to be honest I think I only finished it because I needed a review to post, that wasn’t one star. LOL

Ok, my first problem is that the author paints the victim as a vacuous and brain dead and then you find out she’s and ADA. Really?

Problem number 2: the book is slow and not all that interesting, possibly because it’s baseline is scrap-booking. Long passages about how she scrap-booked something. Long passages describing the things you would buy to scrap book. Or maybe they just seemed long because I could not care less about scrap booking. LOL

Problem number 3, the main character isn’t all that bright. She breaks the law, big time. She does stupid things constantly, like tainting chain of evidence or running screaming at the bad guy – spooking him and causing him to take a hostage just 90 seconds before the cops arrive to arrest him, which she knows is about to happen but still she acts like an ass.

℘℘ – Two Pages. It’s not at all offensive, it just lays there.

 

Book Review: Death Among the Doilies

~ tahenryauthoress ~ 2 Comments

Feeding my new addiction I went to the library and grabbed every cozy mystery I could find before my SoCal trip. I expected to read a number of them while waiting for people to get off roller coasters and I did.

Death Among the Doilies by Mollie Cox Bryan was …. ok. A day later I had to think hard to remember who committed the murder. It just sort of was. It laid there, not doing much but not offending, so I read on.

Cora and Jane are our main characters. They have started a crafting retreat business. It’s a cute idea but the reality of it sticks in my craw. Perhaps because I have a hard time imaging people paying enough money to support both of them, pay an expensive mortgage on a historical mansion, and pay back investors. For crafting? shrug. I don’t buy it.

Jane is accused of a local murder. Then a second murder occurs all while their first weekend retreat is occurring. A lot of the issues turn on Cora’s complete failure to run background checks on anyone she hires. Which given her double digit years as a counselor in a women’s shelter is completely believable. LOL

℘℘℘- Three Pages. It was fine. I read it. I can’t say it was funny. But it was ok.