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Advent of Mystery ‘25, Day 8: A Scrooge Mystery
We’re coming to the end of this year’s Advent of Mystery—and to the end of the traditional mystery novels. Today’s read is A Scrooge Mystery by Andreina Cordani, a familiar name for repeat Advent readers. Typically, her holiday crime books take a tradition (a country house party, Christmas shopping) and add a dark twist. This time, however,
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Advent of Mystery ‘25, Day 7: Miss Winter in the Library with a Knife
It’s time for the last of our luxurious Christmas vacation stories, and this one comes with an extra-mysterious twist. Martin Edwards’ new standalone, Miss Winter in the Library with a Knife, promises his usual fair-play sensibilities with a distinctive wintry edge. For those not familiar with Edwards, he’s the current president of the Detection Club and
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Advent of Mystery ’25, Day 6: The Dead of Winter
Today, we’re sticking with luxury holidays, but moving from the present to the past. After reading The Christmas Clue, I decided to look a bit further into Nicola Upson. I quickly learned that she writes a series of mysteries featuring Josephine Tey. Not only that, but the series has a Christmas entry — so of course
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Advent of Mystery ’25, Day 5: The Christmas Cracker Killer
It’s time to move on from cozies to slightly darker fare—which also means it’s time to return to one of my favorite holiday mystery writers, A. K. Benedict. In a first for the author, she continues the story of one of her protagonists, crossword setter Edie O’Sullivan. This sequel to The Christmas Jigsaw Murders brings Edie and
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Advent of Mystery ’25, Day 2: The Christmas Clue
Day 2 of our annual holiday mystery celebrations, and we’re sticking with the novella format for just a little longer. Today’s read blends Christmas, murder mystery, and board games. Nicola Upson’s The Christmas Clue follows the creators of Clue as they set up a murder mystery game at Tudor Close—only to encounter a real murder in the
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A Cozy Austen Celebration: Re-reads and re-imaginings
December always feels like a month for traditions—holiday baking, cozy reading, and, this year, something extra special: celebrating Jane Austen’s 250th birthday. With presents piled under my tree and the scent of fresh-baked cookies still hanging in the air, I’m feeling especially inclined to honor the season with a few Austen rereads (and one intriguing
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Giving sorrow words: exploring grief and loss in murder mysteries
So. I’ve been a big flake the last few months. In that period, I have: What I have not done, however, is write a non-travel blog post… but not for lack of reading. (In fact, I may have pulled an all-nighter last night devouring a new-to-me fantasy series about djinn.) I’ve read everything from bibliomysteries
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March 2025 Roundup: a packed month ahead of a promising April
The sun finally came back out to play this month in the Bay. Of course, this meant lots of lovely reading picnics or afternoons with the Kindle on our sunny rooftop. Spring has sprung – and so, apparently, has my reading pace. 52 Book Club: A series of beneficial binges I managed to read 13
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Reading adventures: Mysteries in the Tahoe snow
It is truly Winter here in the Bay – the skies are grey, the streets are drenched. Which means, of course, that it’s the right time of year for a trip to Lake Tahoe. I love Lake Tahoe, even though I find Winter Tahoe to be strictly worse than its summer sibling. I’ve been up
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January 2025 Roundup: Falling further in love with reading
I committed this year to monthly updates on my 52 Book Club Challenge, with short blurbs on anything I hadn’t written about yet. I am pleased to share that this approach seems to be working! I’ve already tackled 16 books from the challenge in January, and many are books I may not have touched if