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Abby Collette’s cozy, culinary delights
I’ll start Black Mystery Month off with some of my favorite cozy mysteries, period. There’s so much to love in Abby Collette’s Ice Cream Parlor and Books & Biscuits mysteries. These are the books I turn to when I want peak cozy mystery – mostly shenanigans, with a heap of family interactions. Reading these got…
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TCO Reviews: The Kamogawa Food Detectives by Hisashi Kashiwai
The January rain in San Francisco always makes me want to curl up with a blanket, a steaming mug, and a cozy book. After the rush of holidays, it’s nice to use the quiet space to rest my body and my spirit. So I have been looking especially forward to this next ARC of The…
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TCO Reviews: The Antique Hunter’s Guide to Murder by C.L. Miller
Perhaps my favorite class in high school was Art History. I loved everything about it – learning about the stories behind each slide, both the depictions and the stories of creation. And, surprising nobody, the art world has always intrigued me, particularly art crime. (I have a sizable collection of books on forgery!) So when…
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Modern(ish) mystery: First impressions of Cover Her Face
New year, new… murder mystery series, I guess. This year’s holiday reading binge introduce me to P.D. James, and I enjoyed her writing enough to try and explore it further. The short stories I read had flavors of the classic English mysteries I love, but with a little more darkness. There was something about the…
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TCO Reviews: Everyone on This Train is a Suspect by Benjamin Stevenson
One of my very first ARC reviews was Benjamin Stevenson’s Everyone in My Family Has Killed Someone. I still remember inhaling it on the plane last year, amazed at every new twist and turn. It had been so long since a modern mystery excited me, and I felt so lucky to be reading it. And…
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A matter of perspective: Ensemble intros and finales in The Murder Game
Happy New Year! It’s Monday the first and that means we are BACK to more typical TCO fare. And what better way to ring in the New Year than with a closed-circle murder mystery that takes place on New Year’s Eve? Tom Hindle’s The Murder Game promises all of the above, with a fun twist:…
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Advent of Mystery 2023: Some wrapping up
Merry Christmas, my reading friends! Thank you for following along on this seasonal murder mystery ride. I hope you’ve had as much fun as I have – it’s great to be able to read and share thoughts on books with so many lovely people. I’ve got a couple of thoughts on how to wrap this…
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Advent of Mystery, Day 12: The Christmas Appeal
It’s Christmas Eve and we’ve got a real treat for today. Long-time readers will know I am an avid fan of Janice Hallett and have been since she first wrote The Appeal. So when I heard about The Christmas Appeal, a holiday spin-off of that novel, I knew I had to read it. The Christmas…
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Advent of Mystery, Day 11: The Last Devil to Die
I will admit outright that I am stretching to the limit the definition of a Christmas story. Technically, Richard Osman’s latest in the Thursday Murder Club series takes place immediately after Christmas, spanning dead week and beyond. But I love The Last Devil to Die, and I think it perfectly encapsulates what I want from…
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Advent of Mystery, Day 9: Murder at Maybridge Castle
Last up in Ada Moncrieff’s Christmas Mysteries is Murder at Maybridge Castle*. We’re sticking with Daphne as our protagonist – but this time, she’s supporting her family member, Charles, as he soft-opens a new hotel at the titular Maybridge Castle. Plus, local legends (and Charles) say the hotel is haunted! It all adds up to…