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At Bertram’s Hotel, Pt. 2: a failure of peak TV coziness
I mentioned last week that At Bertram’s Hotel is one of my favorite Miss Marple stories, period. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for either of the adaptations of the book. Neither sufficiently capture that cozy (yet slightly unsettling) feeling of reading about Bertram’s hotel. Instead of unsettling perfection, we get either unsettling claustrophobia or…
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TCO Reviews: Last Word to the Wise
You can tell that after weeks of reading spy stories and fantasies, I’m in the mood for something cozy. So I’m delighted that the Christie sisters returned for some more bookshop-based sleuthing in Last Word to the Wise. Like any good cozy + Agatha fan, I had a great time with Dead and Gondola, the…
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A truly cozy mystery at Bertram’s Hotel (Part 1)
At long last, we return to our Marples – and joyfully, one of my very favorites. At Bertram’s Hotel is, in my opinion, one of the peak Miss Marple novels. There’s an element of coziness to it, perhaps because it involves more known characters and setting. Instead of a Caribbean resort or a rich man’s…
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TCO Reviews: The Hexologists by Josiah Bancroft
I love stories about magic. I love stories abut mystery. And I love stories of adventure. So when I came upon The Hexologists by Josiah Bancroft, I knew I had to give it a try. (Thanks to NetGalley and Orbit for the gift copy!) The Hexologists follows a wife-and-husband duo of adventurers, the Wilbys, who…
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TCO Reviews: Emily Wilde’s Map of the Otherlands by Heather Fawcett
Emily Wilde’s Encyclopaedia of Fairies is an Autumn book in spirit, but not in practice. Despite the academic vibes, the book actually takes place over a dark, frigid, Norwegian winter. But the latest entry in the series, Emily Wilde’s Map of the Otherlands is a perfect fireside material. (Thanks to NetGalley and Random House for…
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An introverted adventurer: Emily Wilde and pushing boundaries
The start of Fall is, for me, inextricably linked with Academia, not just because it’s the start of school. When the wind gets nippy there’s no better place to escape than a library, full of books and blankets. Warm sweaters and overcoats are Peak School Vibes. And the candles of Autumn decor seem to mesh…
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TCO Reviews: Starter Villain by John Scalzi
There’s nothing like a good Evil Villain scheme to get Autumn well on its way. As the leaves turn and the wind gets nippy, it seems like the world itself is starting to plot against us. And while I may not be able to impact the earth’s movements around the sun, I can at least…
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TCO Reviews: Board to Death by CJ Connor
The exploration of the small-business cozy mystery continues, with a different “flavor” of the subgenre. We’re moving from an ode to independence in Color Me Murder to a more nuanced look at the small business experience (and some of the other beats that ride along). And Board to Death, a recent release by CJ Connor,…
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Cozy capitalism in Color Me Murder
OK, so the hiatus has gone on a bit longer than expected, but I am planning to be SOLIDLY back. The good news is, I’ve been doing so much reading in the interim, and so I’m very very excited to share some great new reads with all of you. This week, we’re going full entrepreneurial…
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A Caribbean Mystery, Part 2: Social capital and social awareness
Summer in the Bay Area is cold and foggy – I literally walk to work in a puffer jacket. And so I’ve been looking forward to escaping into the BBC (1989) and iTV (2013) adaptations of A Caribbean Mystery. Who could fault hours and hours of palm trees and ocean vistas? Well… maybe me, as…