Category Archives: mysteries

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This week I read two books by members of my writing group – the Mavens of Mayhem.

A Wedding Gone to the Dogs is the fourth in Kazlo’s cozy Samantha Davies series. In this outing, Samantha and her cousin Candie are preparing for Candie’s wedding. Of course, nothing goes smoothly. One of Candie’s previous suitors has photos of her – and those photos might disrupt her relationship. More concerning, a dead man is found in Candie’s house and it looks suspiciously as though she has murdered him. Samantha is convinced her cousin could not be involved and investigates.

Frothy and fun.

The second mystery could not be more different. Autumn Embers by Tina De Bellegarde is a more traditional mystery.

While Sheriff Mike is worried about his upcoming election (and is already upset over his separation from his wife, Bianca is heading to Kyoto, Japan to visit her son. A murder, witnessed by Bianca, upsets everything. J.C. was universally disliked so there are many suspects, including Bianca’s son Ian. In a foreign country with none of her usual supports, Bianca calls Mike for help. He runs background checks on some of the other expats and gradually Bianca unravels the mystery.

De Bellegarde’s admiration and affection for Japan shine thorough out this beautifully written mystery. It really inspires me to visit Japan myself. Highly Recommended.

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This week I read two books.

This title, written by Jacqueline Boulden is the winner of several Indie awards.

At a corporate function, Emily Archer, tired of the sexist comments and harassment, slaps a man who gropes her. Since he is an important client of her company, she is immediately threatened with dismissal. Her boss manages to keep that from happening but she is suspended. Therapy reveals a long ago trauma.

Now sensitized, she is made uncomfortable by the behavior of a new hire. This evolves in the reveal of a sexual predator, and puts her life in danger.

Although not a whodunit, engrossing. Recommended.

I also read the new mystery of Donna Leon.

I’ve read all of Leon’s books and greatly enjoyed them but I found this one disappointing. The book starts with a bang. The members of two gangs are arrested and brought into the station. When the father of one of the boys, does not pick him up, Griffoni walks him home. At the same time, Brunetti is asked to vet that father, Dario Monteforte, for a job.

Monteforte, lauded as a hero twenty years previously, was never awarded a medal. Why the contradiction?

The case becomes even more serious when the forensic scientist, Enzo Bocchese, is attacked in his apartment.

I found this book confusing. The two halves don’t mesh well and it felt to me as though two different stories had been mashed together. Leon’s writing is, as usual, lovely and her characters are wonderful but I felt the story was disappointing.

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The third of Amy Myer’s cozies, Marsh and Daughter’s murder mysteries, Murder in Hell’s Corner, finds Georgia and her father investigating the murder of Patrick Fairfax, a revered WWII pilot.

As Georgia and Peter investigate, especially looking into a close knit group of pilots who knew Fairfax, they realize that he was not as universally admired as his family believed.

Was the murderer one of his many women? Or one of the other pilots? Or his business partner? The solution, and the twist at the end, is surprising.

What I found captivating, though, was the descriptions of WWII. The relentless bombing by the Germans, the loss of friends and comrades that occurred almost hourly, the sheer scale of a war pounding at this small country. Like Foyle’s War, it is a reminder that England was almost destroyed and was metaphorically hanging by its fingernails.

Highly Recommended.

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On a Bookbub recommendation, I bought the set of Marsh and Daughter mysteries by Amy Marsh.

So far, I have read the first two and begun the third.

Georgia and her father, a retired police detective, research cold cases. Anything that piques their curiosity – a little bit of supernatural here – and then write books solving the mystery.

In the first one, The Wickenham Murders, a young gardener Davy Todd is accused of murdering Ada Proctor, the Doctor’s daughter. But so many parts of the story don’t make sense. The villagers don’t want the Marshs poking around but there is that strange music indicating someone doesn’t believe Davy was guilty. Then Georgia discovers Davy’s old sweetheart, still alive, and convinced of his innocence.

In the second book, Murder in Friday Street, a rock musician, Fanny Star, is murdered when she returns to the village to give a concert. Although her partner is accused of the crime, serves time and is murdered almost immediately upon his release, Georgia and her father don’t believe he was the guilty party. Suspects abound but the investigation into ‘the gang’, the friends of Fanny when they were kids, leads to the solution.

These are darker than Agatha Christie but, like her mysteries, show that murders happen even in cozy villages.

Terrific!

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Since I am watching the Summer Olympics, my usual reading has taken a hit. I am about half way through Finlay Donovan Knocks ‘Em Dead.

The previous book in the series ended with a cliffhanger: Finlay sees a proposed hit on her husband with a bounty of $100,000. She is pretty sure Theresa is not behind it since she is in jail for her connections with the Russian mob.

Since Finlay is nothing if not impulsive, she not only looks at the hit, she responds to it. The coded response comes to both Finlay and ‘EasyClean”, saying whoever murders Steve first will get paid – and she wants it done by Christmas.

Finlay and her nanny/friend begin investigating and are in Steven’s trailer at his business when someone firebombs it. The discovery of a body in a storage unit rented under Theresa’s name further complicates the case.

Like the first in the series, it is funny. But also full of contrivances. Finlay does a lot of foolish things, impulsively and without thought. I would give the series a B to a B+. It’s funny and the story keeps moving but I find Finlay’s thoughtlessness and impulsivity annoying.

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Lost Birds, the newest mystery by Anne Hillerman, has a lot going on.

Joe Leaphorn, working as a private detective, is searching for the history of a woman who was adopted by a white couple., before the law forbidding such adoptions was passed. Her only clue to her past is a photograph with a Navaho child’s blanket. The Lost Birds of the title refer to those children adopted out and who are now missing from their culture.

At the same time, Leaphorn receives a call from a man who met him as a child. Bowlegs’ wife is missing but before he can give too many details, the call is interrupted by an explosion. Leaphorn is not even sure if Bowlegs survived. Bernie Manuelito becomes involved in this case when she is called to the scene; a school with a newly built addition. A school, moreover, where Bowlegs’ wife worked.

Bernie is distracted by other cases and her mother’s increasing frailty. She cannot live on her own and Bernie’s sister is unable to fulfill that responsibility.

Complicated as the cases collide. The underlying theme is these missing children who lose their heritage. Hillerman continues her father’s legacy of showing this exotic and amazing culture. Captivating.

Minoan Tea

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One of the reviewers for On the Horns of Death commented on the fact Martis and her mother, as well as other women in the mystery, drink tea. She questioned whether this might be an anachronism.

In fact, I was not thinking of the teas we get from India and China but instead of an herbal tea made from herbs well known in Crete.

Both sage and dittany were known then. Dittany is an herb that has been used for centuries, right down to early America, as a medicinal plant. A potent and fragrant herb related to oregano, the name comes from Mount Dikte in Crete. And, of course, one of the names for Britomartis, the maiden in the Cretan pantheon, is Diktynna. It is marketed now as a tea called Dictamnus.

Sage is another herb we believe was known and used in ancient times. We use it primarily as a culinary herb but, like oregano today, it also was used as ritually and as a medicine.

Finally, an herb that is marketed as an herbal tea today is malotira. This herb grows at high altitudes on Crete and is valued for its medicinal properties. It is commonly used to treat respiratory illness and digestive problems as well as skin irritation. It has anti-inflammation, anti-fungal and anti-microbial properties.

When I described Martis and company drinking tea, I was visualizing an herbal concoction. Maybe one of the herbs alone, maybe a combination

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Forty Acres and a Soggy Grave by Frankie Bailey is the fifth of her Lizzie Stuart Mysteries. In this, the last so far, Lizzie accompanies her fiancé, John Quinn to a weekend with some of his old friends. Lizzie is quite nervous about meeting them – will they like her? But she quickly senses undercurrents swirling around the group, from Mitch and his extra young girlfriend, to the rumors that Bree is involved in smuggling undocumented migrants.

When one of the migrants if found hiding in the horse barn, and then Mitch’s girlfriend is shot right in front of Lizzie, she knows she is deep into something she doesn’t fully grasp.

Another wonderful mystery delving into the intersection of race and gender, now complicated by feelings about immigration. Highly recommended.

Forget me Never by Susan Witting Albert is the 29th China Bayles mystery. In this outing, China investigates the death of her friend Olivia Andrews. She hosts a true crime podcast and now she claims she has a bombshell story about an upstanding citizen of Pecan Springs. One morning, while out running, she is hit by a car. At first the death is ruled accidental but as China digs, she quickly realizes it was murder.

Another murder follows and all signs point to the second husband of a wealthy widow who died, it was thought murdered, twenty years previously. Is he the citizen of Pecan Springs? And who is he?

The usual gang appear and as usual the herbs and information about them is front and center.

Nancy Drew

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Why am I blogging about Nancy Drew? I am beginning a new series set in the late 1920s and into the thirties. Like most girls, and certainly almost all women mystery writers, I started my career by reading the Nancy Drew mysteries. Nancy, and her friends George and Bess, are so much a part of the culture, I, at least, can’t imagine the world without them. I thought I should reread a few.

What I didn’t know was that the first Nancy Drew was published in 1929, only nine years after women won the right to vote. The Secret of Shadow Ranch was published in 1931.

There are few descriptions of clothing or anything else that might be too era specific so the books can stretch across decades without sounding dated. And Nancy is brave, smart and independent, a new role model for girls who wanted something else besides the domestic sphere. Later revisions have, of course, adapted some of her traits and history.

Her spunky personality is usually ascribed to Mildred Wirt who wrote many of the early mysteries.

These books are targeted to girls 3rd to 6th grade. I read them mostly in the fourth and fifth grades and had a number of favorites. (I am now rereading The Sign of the Twisted Candles which I loved.)

To an adult, the mysteries are lightweight, the writing pedestrian at best, but I can see the appeal to a girl. The mysteries have some danger, but Nancy always escapes it. I loved stories with secret rooms and here we are. Plus, Nancy does everything well, money is never a problem, and no one tells her what to do. Not even her father, Carson.

I imagine the young women in my new series will know of Nancy Drew even if they have not read her books.

Malice Domestic

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Malice is one of my favorite conferences. This year was no exception. I had a great time in the Malice Go Round. Twenty tables, eight people and two minutes at each table to describe my books. )No pictures from that. A participant barely has time to breathe.) A shout out to my wonderful tablemate – Jacqueline Bouldin.

I also moderated a panel on the importance of setting. ( am on a Saturday morning, ugh.) But quite a few brave souls attended.

My wonderful panel consisted of Heather Weidner,, Cathi Stoler, Judy Murray and Paula Charles.

Since these are all funny ladies, we had a great time.

We all signed afterwards. Very pleased to see several people from the panel audience and from Malice Go Round turn up and ask me to sign some books.

I also attended the panels for all the nominees. I have not read everything – but I will.

I have already signed up for next year!