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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: 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…
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A Caribbean Mystery, Part 1: Compare and contrast, setup and payoff
The Summer of Scandal continues with perhaps one of my favorite Miss Marple stories: A Caribbean Mystery. This one has it all – an exotic resort setting, a unique Marple challenge, and so many rich people behaving so, so badly. Affairs? Got ‘em (multiple!). Gossip? Got it. And it wouldn’t be a Miss Marple book…
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TCO Reviews: A Most Agreeable Murder
I was lucky enough to find not just books but ARCS for my Summer of Scandal! For this week’s edition of “rich people behaving badly”, we’re rewinding to the Regency era with A Most Agreeable Murder by Julia Seales. (Thanks to Netgalley and Random House for the gift copy!) I was so excited to sit…
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The Three Dahlias: an adventure for Golden Age mystery-lovers
I have this hypothesis that many modern “mystery” novels are actually adventures with a mystery skin on top. It may just be that I have a stricter definition of “mystery” than others, but in my opinion, a true mystery must be clued up by the author. An adventure, on the other hand, can involve as…
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The Mirror Crack’d from Side to Side, Part 1: a more expansive world
I’m back! And with a great Miss Marple to come back to. I’ll be honest, I didn’t remember The Mirror Crack’d from Side to Side that much when I started it. I recalled there being an irritating victim and some kind of Hollywood drama – but I did not remember how smooth a read it…
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Vera Wong’s Unsolicited Advice for Murderers: The power of a cozy Sunday read
Only two point twenty-five years into the 2020s, and the decade is shaping up to be a lot. From the pandemic to a crazy economy, it feels like these few years will go down as both Historically and personally memorable. And while some days I wake up ready to dive right in, other days all…
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4:50 from Paddington, Part 2: Battle of the Lucys
We’re back with 4:50 from Paddington, and this week I want to take a look at how the BBC and iTV chose to adapt Lucy Eyelesbarrow. As a quick recap: Lucy Eyelesbarrow is one of my favorite Christie characters – a smart, independent woman who knows her strength in the domestic sphere and has the…