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TCO Reviews: West Heart Kill by Dann McDorman
Mystery stories exist on a spectrum. Some are adventures, masquerading as mysteries: they set up a puzzle that can’t be solved with the textual information. Others are “pure” mysteries – the only puzzle is the plot, with all the focus on figuring out whodunnit. And then a third, rare category adds another set of layers…
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Murder in the Family: Cara Hunter plays at investigation
It is a truth universally acknowledged that a modern mystery novel must have a recommendation from Janice Hallett to stand any chance of success. OK, so maybe this isn’t strictly true. But Murder in the Family is the second book to cross my path this month with such a recommendation on the cover. And like…
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Grave Expectations: a spooky, cozy sensation
So I have a teeny-tiny confession to make: I’ve been deliberately avoiding one of my reading challenges. Specifically, I owe a paranormal cozy mystery for my Cruisin’ Thru the Cozies Challenge. But I have simply… not read any this year. In large part this is because I already find myself so frustrated by the lack…
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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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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…
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TCO Reviews: Everyone in My Family Has Killed Someone by Benjamin Stevenson
I was really excited to get the chance to read Everyone in My Family Has Killed Someone by Benjamin Stevenson. Many thanks to the publisher for the gift! This fun take on the manor house mystery will release January 2023, and I honestly liked it so much that I’ll probably buy myself a copy to…
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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…
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They Do It With Mirrors, Part 1: A suite of character studies
Welcome back to our series on the art of literary adaptation, using the Miss Marple series as a guide. For those of you who are new, I’ve been re-reading the adventures of my favorite spinster sleuth, and comparing the novels with both the BBC and ITV adaptations. It’s been a fascinating way to see how…
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Cozies, fantasies, and more: the most exciting books of 2023
Happy New Year! We just finished a roundup of some of my favorite books of 2022, and it’s time to look ahead to the new year. While I do my best to vary my reading diet and not only take in new books, there are a few I’m particularly excited to get on my shelf.…