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I had two wonderful weeks off work and was able to read or listen to 11 books. A few of them were short Christmas stories that I listened to while wrapping presents or riding in the car. Most though were books from my review pile. I've already published some of those reviews, today I have the last of the books I read in 2024.
Amazon affiliate links are used on this site. Free books were provided for an honest review.
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| October 2024; MIRA; 978-0778368212 ebook, print (368 pages); holiday fiction |
This book is the reprint of two previously published novellas in the Cedar Cove Series: A Cedar Cove Christmas and 1225 Christmas Tree Lane. I haven't read the series but I didn't have any trouble with these stories.
A Cedar Cove Christmas was definitely easy to read as a stand-alone as the main character Mary Jo Wyse isn't a resident of Cedar Cove but goes there looking for the family of the man who fathered her unborn child. This story was first published in 2007 and it has aged well. I didn't like her oldest brother's attitude. He was a bit of a caveman. He treated Mary Jo like she was just the "little woman" and needed a man to protect her and make decisions for her. The other two brothers weren't much better but were overshadowed by Linc. I really enjoyed the parts of the story where the brothers weren't in.
1225 Christmas Tree Lane was first published in 2011 and there were more references to people and events that were probably covered in other books. The main storyline involving Beth and Kent's adult daughters trying to get them back together was easy to follow as a newcomer to the series. But there were also plenty of little pieces that were probably more of a gift to fans of the series, particularly towards the end as we "visit" Christmas day with other people in Cedar Cove who weren't really featured in the rest of the story.
I love reading Debbie Macomber's Christmas books and have started to read some of her older stories (I listened to The Christmas Basket while on Christmas vacation this year). This was a nice way to read some of those older Christmas stories if you haven't already.
Buy Mistletoe and Mischief at Amazon
Death Comes at Christmas edited by Marie O'Regan and Paul Kane
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| October 2024; Titan Books; 978-1803369419 ebook, print (368 pages); crime fiction |
I was really looking forward to reading this book since the day it arrived on my front porch. Even though it came out in October I always keep a few of the Christmas stories I receive for the actual holidays. Since I had a print copy, I knew it would be perfect to read while I was on Christmas holidays.
I've read a few crime fiction Christmas stories and anthologies this year but this one was my favorite. Of the 18 stories included I think I only disliked one or two. I loved the nods to Dickens, Poe, and Christie.
"Christmas Yet to Come" by Helen Fields was probably my favorite. I liked that it featured the next generation of characters from A Christmas Carol. "O Murder Night" by J.T. Ellison tied for my favorite. Ellison did a great job of capturing the Victorian ghost story style with nice touches of Poe.
I read The Christmas Jigsaw Murder by Alexander Benedict back in October and was happy to see a short story featuring the characters. You don't have to have read the novel to enjoy "The Midnight Mass Murders". There are a couple of other stories that feature characters from series, such as "Upon a Midnight Clear" which features Joseph Spector from Tom Mead's Spector Locked Room Mysteries and Vaseem Khan's "Indian Winter", which features characters from the Malabar House series. I haven't read either of those series but I thoroughly enjoyed both short stories. And I will probably check out those series now Tom Mead's Cabaret Macabre is one of the books my mystery book club is reading this year).
There's a nice mix of detective stories, mystery, suspense, and other crime stories. While none are overly dark or gruesome there are a few lighter ones. I found "The Wrong Party" by Claire McGowan to be quite fun and will have to see if there are more stories featuring Jayne Smyth.
It was a great read.
Buy Death Comes at Christmas at Amazon
My library recently added a bunch of audiobooks to the digital library Libby as well as offering a new digital library option Palace Project, so some of my older review books were available as audiobooks so I took advantage of the offerings to play catch up.
All That is Hidden by Rhys Bowen and Clare Broyles
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| March 2023; Minotaur Books; 978-1250808097 audio, ebook, print (320 pages); historical cozy mystery |
While I love Bowen's Royal Spyness series, I haven't really gotten into the Molly Murphy series she writes with her daughter. The first book I read in this series was a Christmas book back in 2017 - The Ghost of Christmas Past (book 17) - in my review I mentioned that I had trouble connecting with the characters. Even so, I picked up (book 18) Wild Irish Rose in 2022. We get a lot more of Molly's background so I enjoyed the book more. Which is why I agreed to review All That is Hidden (book 19) in 2023. However, since I wasn't totally sold on the series it fell to the bottom of the review pile.
As I haven't read this series for a couple of years I'm not sure if the murder mystery is typically delayed until so late in the novel. I knew this was a cozy mystery series but I was starting to think they had changed direction with the series and it was more historical fiction. I enjoyed it greatly as a historical fiction story as we get a look into New York politics in the early 1900s. I liked that I got more information about Tammany Hall as it has come up in a couple of novels I've read recently.
The murder mystery was okay. The murder didn't occur until nearly halfway through the novel so there wasn't a lot of time for developing that plotline.
I'm still not sure if I will continue with this series. The characters are growing on me and I like the historical aspects of the series. I don't think it really has anything to do with the series. I think it is more the fact I'm reading so many cozy mystery series right now that I'm not sure I have time to invest in another one.
Buy All That is Hidden at Amazon
Love at First Book by Jenn McKinlay
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| May 2024; Berkley; 978-0593545744 audio, ebook, print (368 pages); romance |
I enjoy a couple of McKinlay's cozy mystery series (Library Lovers and Cupcake Bakery) and a few years ago I discovered her summer "beach" reads and enjoyed her quirky characters without murder.
I wasn't sure about reading a summer book during winter but thought sunny skies and warm weather might be nice (if it was just in the pages of a book) during the cold, cloudiness of winter. I don't know if it is because it is set in Ireland or perhaps it isn't summer, but whatever it was it wasn't warm or sunny.
I loved the setting of the small Irish village and all the characters living there. Of course, since there is a bookstore and the main character is a librarian, it's practically the perfect book.
This is an enemies-to-lovers romance as Emily takes a sabbatical from her library job to work in a bookstore and be the assistant to an author.
The author is someone Emily has idolized since she was a child. The author's children's story was an escape from Emily's chaotic and traumatic childhood. Imagine if JK Rowling had ended Goblet of Fire with Harry Potter being transported out of the labyrinth and then nothing for 10 years. That is how Emily felt about Siobhan Riordan when she decided to write the final novel in her children's series.
There is only one little problem. Siobhan's son and owner of the bookstore doesn't like the idea and doesn't everything he can think of to make sure Emily doesn't feel welcomed in hopes she returns to Martha's Vineyard.
If you are going through Hallmark Holiday movie withdraws, this book just might be the fix you need. It's heartwarming and a little sad. It's predictable but the journey is enjoyable anyways.
Buy Love at First Book at Amazon
An Impossible Imposter by Deanne Raybourn
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| February 2022; Berkley; 978-0593197295 audio, ebook, print (336 pages); cozy mystery |
This is another cozy mystery series that I'm not sure I'm super thrilled with. I love the covers of this series so I really wish I enjoyed the stories more.
An Impossible Imposter is book 7 and I did read book 6 An Unexpected Peril, but I haven't read any others and as I mentioned in my review of book 6 these can be read as stand-alone novels.
I picked up this series in the first place because there is another 1800s cozy mystery series I enjoy but hasn't had a new book in a while. The 1880s is not really my favorite time period so I'm not shocked that this is partly why I'm not enamoured with this novel.
I'm also not thrilled with the main character Veronica Speedwell. She is not the typical lady of the 1800s but I think her attitude is too much (maybe it is a case of "she doth protest too much"). I get that the time period wans't great for women but she doesn't have to constantly point out the injustice.
While I appreciate that it isn't a murder mystery, the mystery is pretty lackluster and I'm not a fan of everything being explained at the end instead of letting the reader follow the clues.
As I felt with the previous book. I really think fans of the television show Miss Scarlett & The Duke will love this series. (I'm not a fan of the TV show either)
Buy An Impossible Imposter at Amazon
Donna Huber is an avid reader and natural encourager. She is the founder of Girl Who Reads and the author of how-to marketing book Secrets to a Successful Blog Tour.
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