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TCO Reviews: Mastering the Art of French Murder by Colleen Cambridge
Looks like it’s cooking cozy week here at The Cozy Owlet, and this time we’re exploring a historical cozy set in 1950s Paris. Fun fact – when I first realized I could get access to ARC as a book blogger last year, Mastering the Art of French Murder was one of (if not the) the…
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Tita Rosie’s Kitchen: cooking up the ultimate cozy mystery
First Piranesi, now Tita Rosie’s Kitchen – I suppose 2023 will be the year of catching up on the books everyone has been raving about. I picked up Arsenic and Adobo to satisfy the “culinary cozy” entry on my Cruisin’ Thru the Cozies challenge, and ended up reading all three books. And while it’s rare…
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TCO Reviews: Final Draft by Shelley Burbank
For our next March review, I’m excited to share Final Draft by Shelley Burbank! The book follows Olivia Lively, a P.I. in Portland, Maine, as she deals with a criminal ex, overbearing parents, and a plagiarism scandal that threatens one writer’s reputation and another’s future. There’s been so much rain here in the Bay, and…
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A Pocket Full of Rye, Part 2: Motivation matters
Welcome back to our deep-dive on Agatha Christie’s sixth entry in the Miss Marple series, A Pocket Full of Rye. When we left off last week, we discussed features that make this novel unique: Miss Marple’s social engineering, and an increased emphasis on her drive for Justice. Where we’ve previously been treated to Miss Marple’s…
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A Pocket Full of Rye, Part 1: Miss Marple the social engineer
Next in our Miss Marple series, we’re taking a look at A Pocket Full of Rye. This is the first of what I’d consider the “iconic” Miss Marples. The “first half” of the series tends to feature Miss Marple in settings that are closer to home, investigating murders in the English countryside. Starting with this…
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TCO Reviews: Death Comes to the Costa del Sol by M.H. Eccleston
When I’ve got the January blues, I find myself longing for sunshine and warm beaches. So when I came across Death Comes to the Costa del Sol by M. H. Eccleston, I was excited to escape endless rain to the seaside resort of Estipona. (Thanks to NetGalley and Aria & Aries for the digital review…
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TCO Reviews: Crime and Punctuation by Kaitlyn Dunnett
When it comes to linguistics, I go back and forth between prescriptivist and descriptivist. I know, intellectually, that language flows with the people, and forcing “correct” rules on it ignores how languages evolve to accommodate new needs. Still, there’s part of me that loves the clear meaning that you get with a well-defined, broadly accepted…
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Magicians and mystery: unraveling the secrets of the loneliest sleuths
In a mystery series, the protagonist is key to a reader’s enjoyment. The proper selection of protagonist can have critical impacts on a reader’s willingness to accept the investigation. Does it makes sense that this character investigates this crime? Does her expertise seem actually relevant to her solution? And, to an equal extent – does…
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The World of Pondside: Cozy mystery with a video-game twist
I’ve always loved the idea of video games as interactive art. Growing up, cozy puzzle-solving games like Professor Layton were a welcome interactive escape. Later, in college, I discovered channels like Extra Credits that got me thinking critically about how the interactivity of games sets them apart. And Cozy Grove, with its wholesome story of…
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They Do It With Mirrors, Part 2: creating a character ecosystem
It’s time to take a closer look at the two TV adaptations of They Do It With Mirrors. This is a bit of a tricky one, because the novel has distinct strengths and weaknesses. Specifically, the novel features quite strong character portraits but a questionably consistent theme. Last week, we discussed that the overall effect…