Murder at Haven's Rock, Hallmark Mysteries, PBS

 Hey all! I see I started a post April 5th and then nothing. Well there was something. HVAC went out. In Texas. No can do. That whole week was getting someone in and yes getting a new unit. Research, estimates, workers in the house. All great now. Just in the nick of time.

Meanwhile I listened to:

Murder at Haven's Rock by Kelley Armstrong book #1 in the series.

This is a spin off of the Rockton series which has seven books in the series. I listened to two books in the Rockton series and then jumped to Haven's Rock. Why did I do that? I wanted to see if the Haven's Rock series is as good as the Rockton series and can you read Haven's Rock without reading all of the Rockton books.. If so, I want to recommend it for my Mystery Book Club. Unfortunately, our library system doesn't have enough of each book for everyone to get a copy about the same time. So my collaborator suggested we do a Kelley Armstrong month. 

My assessment? Yes and Yes!

About: "Deep in the Yukon wilderness, a town is being built. A place for people to disappear, a fresh start from a life on the run. Haven’s Rock isn’t the first town of this kind, something detective Casey Duncan and her husband, Sheriff Eric Dalton, know first-hand. They met in the original town of Rockton. But greed and deception led the couple to financing a new refuge for those in need. This time around, they get to decide which applicants are approved for residency.

There’s only one rule in Haven’s Rock: stay out of the forest. When two of the town's construction crew members break it and go missing, Casey and Eric are called in ahead of schedule to track them down. When a body is discovered, well-hidden with evidence of foul play, Casey and Eric must find out what happened to the dead woman, and locate those still missing. The longer Casey and Eric don’t know what happened, the more danger everyone is in."

Casey and Eric have left Rockton to start their own town and run it more like they want. They have a construction crew building out the town in an isolated spot in the Yukon. They do have a "backer" or "sponsor" from Rockton. A few of the citizens from Rockton are on site and participating in the building of the town. Some are new and hired only for the construction phase. Casey and Eric come to the town for the first time after being called out to find the two missing workers. They also find disgruntled employees. 

The book jumps right in to the action. I like how Casey and Eric plan and solve together. They also bring in Will to help. Is the dead woman their employee Penny? Whose mining camp did they stumble onto? Who is this strange women who has a wolf for a pet? Lots of suspects, lots of things happen out in this developing settlement/town out in the wilderness. 

I did really like it and will recommend it. I am anxious to see how the new town turns out. I would say if you like Joe Pickett, these books have a similar atmosphere. 

Have you checked out the new Hallmark Mystery channel? The have a new Hannah Swensen movie on this month.

One Bad Apple: "Hannah meets a new side of law & order as she investigates a murder and crosses paths with by-the-books prosecuting attorney Chad Norton. Meanwhile, Delores has a secret. Starring Alison Sweeney, Victor Webster and Barbara Niven.:

Hannah's love interest Mike has left town for the FBI. Hannah is teaching a baking class at the local college and one of the professors is found dead. Hannah gets involved of course. She has to work with a new DA on an old case and he doesn't want her getting her nose in these things anymore. Hannah's mother has a new career path. I found her part in this movie pretty funny.

Curious Caterer Mysteries are back, based on the books by Diane Mott Davidson.

Foiled Plans Premiere Date: Friday, April 26, 2024

"Goldy Berry's Medieval feast at Hyde Castle gets interrupted by a murder. She teams up with Detective Shultz to solve the mystery before the murderer strikes again. Starring Nikki DeLoach and Andrew Walker."

Family Practice Mysteries: Premiere Date: Friday, May 17, 2024

"A former Army surgeon moves back to her hometown and joins a practice of family doctors, but when she’s drawn into solving the mysterious death of a patient, her quiet life becomes upended. Starring Amanda Schull and Brendan Penny."

PBS:  Guilt starts April 28th for it's third and last season. Bummer.

"Max and Jake find themselves back in Edinburgh where they soon face a familiar danger. Kenny tries to help a family member, while dramatic action plays out at a farm.

Now in its third and final season, the award-winning TV series Guilt is a darkly funny Scottish thriller. Mismatched brothers Max and Jake McCall are reunited, but enemies old and new cause them to seek ever more desperate solutions to their ongoing problems. Digging deep into their past, Max (Mark Bonnar, Napoleon, World on Fire) and Jake (Jamie Sives, Annika, Chernobyl) hope to finally find a future free of danger…and each other."

There you have it. 

I read Where are the Children? and the new book Where are the Children Now? for our May Mystery Book Club. I will tell you what I thought about those soon. 

Two Nights in Lisbon, A Darkness Absolute

 Happy Spring! Here is a picture from a drive we took last week. After several really dry years, it is so nice to see so many wildflowers coming up this year.

Our Mystery Book Club read Two Nights in Lisbon by Chris Pavone for our April book.

I think this was the first book by this author that 99% of the group had read.

About: "Tautly wound and expertly crafted, Two Nights in Lisbon is a riveting thriller about a woman under pressure, and how far she will go when everything is on the line.

You think you know a person . . .

Ariel Pryce wakes up in Lisbon, alone. Her husband is gone―no warning, no note, not answering his phone. Something is wrong.

She starts with hotel security, then the police, then the American embassy, at each confronting questions she can’t fully answer: What exactly is John doing in Lisbon? Why would he drag her along on his business trip? Who would want to harm him? And why does Ariel know so little about her new―much younger―husband?

The clock is ticking. Ariel is increasingly frustrated and desperate, running out of time, and the one person in the world who can help is the one person she least wants to ask."

I liked it. It is a long book but it moves very fast. I liked how the story unfolds with Ariel discovering her husband of three moths is gone from the hotel room in Lisbon, her thought process of what to do, wait? report it? And then convincing people to take action. I liked reading what the local police are thinking and what the Embassy thinks about the kidnapping. More people are brought in for the investigation. I like reading how the professionals work through the issue, investigating not just the crime but Ariel and her husband John. We gradually find out more about Ariel and John. Without giving away spoilers, the story really escalates in the last third of the book. Many twists and surprises. There is a lot more going on than we know.

What did our book club members think? It was 50/50, like/didn't like. Those that liked it, liked the pace, the writing and the suspense. Those that didn't, didn't like specific characters. Those that liked it, want to read more by this author. The book does deal with a tough subject. Again I don't want to give away too much. Nevertheless, we had a good discussion with the varying opinions.

I listened to an interesting interview with Chris Pavone, who talked about his writing style. His style and twists and when they occur are very purposeful. I did not listen do the entire interview due to time but the first part was very informative.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SkicMd_coRw

I am also enjoying listening to the Rockton series by Kelley Armstrong. 

I recently finished book two: A Darkness Absolute.

About: " It's winter in Rockton, a little town hidden deep in the wilds of the Yukon. The town exists for people who need to escape their pasts, though it's not clear if those in hiding are victims or perpetrators. Or, when the lines gets blurred, maybe both. Ask Casey. She's been used, betrayed, beaten. But she's also killed someone. She moved to Rockton to help her best friend, Diana. Ex-best friend. Diana lied to get Casey to come with her; she used her and she almost got her killed. But Casey decided to stay anyway, to work as a detective alongside her new boyfriend and the town's sheriff, Eric Dalton. Fresh off solving a series of grisly murders, Casey and Deputy Will Anders get stranded in a blizzard while they're tracking a runner from the town. Seeking shelter in a cave, they stumble across a woman who's been imprisoned in a deep well. Nicole Chavez--whom everybody thought had run away from town and died in the woods more than a year earlier--is alive. Barely. But she can't identify her captor: she's never seen his face.

Was she taken by one of the hostiles who inhabit the wilderness around the town? Or is Casey facing something even worse? In a town where everyone lies about their past and lives under assumed identities, it's very easy to hide your true nature..."

This series is definitely suspenseful. The writing is very descriptive to the point that you can picture the wilderness, the snow and cold and the desolation of the forest. These stories are not cozies. The main characters, Casey, Eric and Will, are people you can like and want to know more about. The stories are developing their work and personal relationships. We learn more about the town and it's workings.  I like how the characters work together to solve the case. Some very unexpected things happen, some "oh-no" moments, and some "was that a good idea" moments. But all and all, I am liking the series. 

I would recommend it if you like very suspenseful books with characters you can root for and get to know.

https://www.kelleyarmstrong.com/series/rockton/

Killers of a Certain Age by Deanna Raybourn

 Hi all!

For our March Mystery Book Club we read Killers of a Certain Age. 

About: "Older women often feel invisible, but sometimes that's their secret weapon.

They've spent their lives as the deadliest assassins in a clandestine international organization, but now that they're sixty years old, four women friends can't just retire - it's kill or be killed in this action-packed thriller.

Billie, Mary Alice, Helen, and Natalie have worked for the Museum, an elite network of assassins, for forty years. Now their talents are considered old-school and no one appreciates what they have to offer in an age that relies more on technology than people skills.

When the foursome is sent on an all-expenses paid vacation to mark their retirement, they are targeted by one of their own. Only the Board, the top-level members of the Museum, can order the termination of field agents, and the women realize they've been marked for death.

Now to get out alive they have to turn against their own organization, relying on experience and each other to get the job done, knowing that working together is the secret to their survival. They're about to teach the Board what it really means to be a woman--and a killer--of a certain age." 

I really liked this book. The four women are all 60 years old now. They are on what they think is a retirement cruise, all expenses paid by the Museum, their employer for the last 40 years. When Billie thinks she recognizes one of the crew members, the women all put their spy hats back on and soon figure out they are to be retired permanently. The book describes all the steps they take to figure our who, what, where, when and why, traveling to England and France incognito. There are disguises that are hilarious but work. There are late night planning meetings, including a My Little Pony murder plan, a Menopaws app for their phones and potatoes as weapons. While that may sound silly, the women are deadly serious. Afterall, they are trained assassins. The book also shows us how they were recruited in the 1970's to join the Museum. There are lots of references to '70s culture and music mentioned that will make you smile if you are of a certain age.

We had a large group attend the MBC to discuss this book. We had several new young women and I was afraid they would not have liked it since they are much younger. But then, if they read it and came to the meeting for the first time, they must have like it. Most of the ladies at the meeting really liked the book.  They liked the strong personalities of the women, that it showed women could still do such active, physically demanding activities and were smart. Very smart. Surprisingly the very few that did not like it were all, but one, of a certain age, not the young women. But that's why we try to read a variety of mysteries.

We were happy to hear that the second book will be coming out in the spring of 2025: Kills Well With Others. 

Deanna Raybourn writes two very different series set in Victorian time; Veronica Speedwell series set in 1887 and Lady Julia Gray series. There is a another series set in the 1920's.

You can find out more about Deanna Raybourn here:

https://www.deannaraybourn.com/

Sam Spade, Hallmark Mysteries and PBS

 Happy Friday! 

I haven't mentioned any movies lately and a couple of things caught my attention...today.

Sam Spade: Monsieur Spade/The Maltese Falcon

Did you watch the six part series Monsieur Spade this winter? The story starts in 1963 in Bozuols France, where Sam Spade has "retired". We flip back to 1955 where is is hired to bring a young girl Teresa from Algiers to her father after the death of her mother. We learn about how Sam is connected to her mother Brigid and why she would ask him to bring her to France. 

The series allegedly picks up after the story of The Maltese Falcon - 1941 movie with Humphrey Bogart as Sam Spade and Mary Astor as Brigid O'Shaunessy of the above story. So...

TCM (Turner Classic Movies) is showing The Maltese Falcon Saturday March 9, 2024 at 10 a.m. CST. I have seen this movie years ago but I want to watch it again with the backstory we learned about in Monsieur Spade. 

Just sayin' in case there are others interested like me.

Did you know that Hallmark Movies and Mysteries has changed to Hallmark Mysteries as of March 6, 2024? I did not know that until today. They will feature "cozy mysteries" only, from what I understand. No more romance movies in the summer...which is fine by me. I only watch the mysteries. lol

March 11: True Justice: Family Ties

About: "A law school student and her friends, set out to prove her brother's innocence but the only way to clear his name is by finding the real killer. Stars Katherine McNamara, Markian Tarasiuk, Nikki DeLoach and Benjamin Ayres."

March 15, 2024: Crimes of Fashion: Killer Clutch starring Brooke D'Orsay and Gilles Marini.

"An American psychologist, hired to coach a fashion designer, helps a guarded French detective unravel a list of fashionable suspects after a murder happens backstage of a Paris fashion show".

They also promise new Curious Caterer (Nikki DeLoach and Andrew Walker) movies and a sequel to The Cases of Mystery Lane (Paul Campbell and Aimee Garcia). Another Hannah Swensen movie is slotted for later this year.

Take a look around at https://www.hallmarkmystery.com/movies

Coming up in April for PBS:

Mr. Bates and the Post Office 4/7/24

About: "Mysterious financial losses lead the Post Office to fire and prosecute village Subpostmasters, who have no way to prove their innocence.

Toby Jones, (Empire of Light, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, Sherlock), stars in this real-life David and Goliath story that chronicles the jaw-dropping plight of hundreds of postal workers accused of a crime they didn’t commit—but went to jail for and worse. It’s a story that UK journalists have reported on for years but once dramatized for TV, set off a firestorm of public outrage that forced the Prime Minister to act."

It is based on true events. There are four episodes.

Guilt Season 3 premiers 4/28/24

About: "Max and Jake find themselves back in Edinburgh where they soon face a familiar danger. Kenny tries to help a family member, while dramatic action plays out at a farm.

Now in its third and final season, the award-winning TV series Guilt is a darkly funny Scottish thriller. Mismatched brothers Max and Jake McCall are reunited, but enemies old and new cause them to seek ever more desperate solutions to their ongoing problems. Digging deep into their past, Max (Mark Bonnar, Napoleon, World on Fire) and Jake (Jamie Sives, Annika, Chernobyl) hope to finally find a future free of danger…and each other."

Oh oh. Did you catch "final season?" There are four episodes for this season.

So that gives us some things to watch when we aren't reading.

I read/listened to two books last week and this week but they were not mysteries.

The Women by Kristen Hannah: "The Women is the story of one woman gone to war, but it shines a light on all women who put themselves in harm’s way and whose sacrifice and commitment to their country has too often been forgotten. A novel about deep friendships and bold patriotism, The Women is a richly drawn story with a memorable heroine whose idealism and courage under fire will come to define an era." The women in the story are nurses who served in the Vietnam war. Very good but definitely a roller coaster of emotions. 

Magic Lessons for Margo: A Follow Up to The Adventures of Miss Vulpe by Maria Elena Sandovici. This book is "literary fiction" and follows two sisters trying to find themselves, where can they fit into the world and confront the ghosts of their childhood. I received and ARC from the author. I did enjoy the story. 

Last but not least, currently reading Killers of a Certain Age by Deanna Raybourn and listening to A Darkness Absolute, book 2 in the Rockton/Casey Duncan series by Kelley Armstrong. 

I will let you know how I liked those books, next week.

Happy reading!

Kilned at the Ceramic Shop by Donna Clancy

 Donna Clancy has a new series with the first book coming out March 12, 2024! 

Donna has written several cozy mystery series: The Jelly Shop Mysteries, Shipwreck Cafe Mysteries, Thelma and June's Mystery Adventures and also contributed to some anthologies. 

Kilned at the Ceramic Shop: A Braddock Mystery (#1)

About: "Tammy Wright, a bestselling mystery author returns to her hometown to give her Aunt Clara a hand with running her ceramic shop during tourist season. She discovers that two vindictive realtors have been bullying her aunt and others into selling their properties to make room for new housing developments. Those who don’t comply pay the consequences.

Tammy stumbles upon a body, and when her aunt refuses to give in to either realtor she disappears without a trace.
With the help of an old schoolmate turned policeman, the writer must step out from behind her computer screen and her fictional mysteries to confront real life crime. If she doesn’t, she may never see her aunt again."

I like to mix up the genres of mysteries I read. I will read pretty much any type of mystery. I just do not read not ultra violent or gory books. I especially like to throw in a cozy mystery after reading too many "bad people acting badly" stories.

This book is an excellent start to this new cozy mystery series. The story grabbed me right away. Tammy's Aunt Clara is being bullied into selling her ceramic shop. When Clara is kidnapped, Tammy uses her knowledge and observation skills from writing mysteries, to help the Sheriff try to find Clara before it's too late. But more and more things happen in attempts to scare Tammy. Two realtors in Braddock, Toby Brown and Wilmot Sawyer, seemed to be likely suspects. They are trying to buy up as much real estate in the quiet little tourist town as they can to build housing developments and mini malls. Brown is even seen verbally harassing another elderly lady in an attempt to have her sell him her property. When Clara's delivery man is found dead at the ceramic shop, things look even more sinister.

I love the setting of Braddock - small tourist town, woods, cabins, shops and homestyle food restaurants. Tammy, Clara, the Sheriff and Zeke the deputy (an old classmate) are characters you can root for. It is a good mystery and I was surprised at the ending.

I have read some of the Jelly Shop series and enjoyed it.

If you are looking for a book or series for a good mystery with likeable characters, check out Donna Walo Clancy.

"About the author:

Donna Walo Clancy (Donna Clancy) lives on Cape Cod, Massachusetts in the U.S.A. She is a single mom of three grown children and happily divorced.

Her first passion is writing. She also loves to read and all kinds of crafting. Flea markets and yard sales can hold her attention for hours.

In her down time, she loves to walk the beach with her dog, Zumiez, and her metal detector searching for lost treasures.

Not holding herself to a single genre, she writes whatever story she feels needs to be worked on at the time. Her favorite genre is cozy mysteries and she has several series on Amazon at the present time; The Jelly Shop Mysteries, The Shipwreck Café Mysteries, and Thelma and June's Great Adventures.

Several standalone books will also be released in the coming year.

You can visit her social pages on Facebook or Amazon. She can be reached at dwaloclancy@yahoo.com."

Here the Road Ends - Jack Benton and The Fallen - David Baldacci

 Happy sun and warmer temperatures! The sun is out and it has been quite nice here in Central Texas. I grew up in the Midwest and further north and just cannot tolerate that cold anymore. Now I am not asking for 90's either. Don't get me wrong.

I finished two books in two of my favorite series this week.

I listened to The Fallen by David Baldacci. This is Amos Decker #4 in the Memory Man series.

About: "Amos Decker and his journalist friend Alex Jamison are visiting the home of Alex's sister in Barronville, a small town in western Pennsylvania that has been hit hard economically. When Decker is out on the rear deck of the house talking with Alex's niece, a precocious eight-year-old, he notices flickering lights and then a spark of flame in the window of the house across the way. When he goes to investigate he finds two dead bodies inside and it's not clear how either man died. But this is only the tip of the iceberg. There's something going on in Barronville that might be the canary in the coal mine for the rest of the country.

Faced with a stonewalling local police force, and roadblocks put up by unseen forces, Decker and Jamison must pull out all the stops to solve the case. And even Decker's infallible memory may not be enough to save them."

If you haven't read this series, here is the background on Amos Decker. From book #1, The Memory Man.

"A big, towering athlete, he was the only person from his hometown of Burlington ever to go pro. But his career ended before it had a chance to begin. On his very first play, a violent helmet-to-helmet collision knocked him off the field for good, and left him with an improbable side effect--he can never forget anything.

The second time was at home nearly two decades later. Now a police detective, Decker returned from a stakeout one evening and entered a nightmare--his wife, young daughter, and brother-in-law had been murdered."

Decker goes on to join the FBI in book #2. 

In The Fallen, Decker has gone on "vacation" with Alex Jamieson as above. While siting on the back deck the very first night, Decker sees lights and flame across from Alex's sisters house. He can't help himself from going on over to see what it was all about. Finds two bodies. Calls local law enforcement. He quickly senses that he knows more about what may have happened then they do. They seem incompetent.

As the story goes on, Decker finds more and more signs of something illegal going on in the town, involving many of the citizens of Barronville. The citizens seem to want to blame John Barron (of the founding family) for the demise of the economy in town. He is threatened. Decker gets beat up and it seems like he has lost some of his unique memory abilities. Some vacation.

I really like this series. I like how Decker methodically solves the mysteries. The stories are complex and interesting. They are unique. When I read one, I don't feel like I just read a similar story last month. 

There are seven books in this series.

I also read Here the Road Ends by Jack Benton. It is book #9 in the Slim Hardy series. (Chris Ward is the authors real name but writes a few different genres and for the Slim Hardy books, writes under Jack Benton) I have posted about this series before.

About: "When her mentally disabled son develops a strange obsession, Audrey Johnson contacts private investigator John “Slim” Hardy for help. Andy Johnson has been making teddy bears and leaving them on the memorial of a nine-year-old girl who drowned on Dartmoor more than forty years ago. When nothing will put him off his bizarre tribute to a child who died before he was even born, Slim moves to the peaceful rural community of Brentor to investigate. However, as he digs deeper into the past, overturning stones that do not wish to be overturned, he uncovers a bombshell that will rock the quiet, private community to its very core. And soon he will be looking over his shoulder, because there are people out there on the moor that want their secrets to remain buried."

Background: Slim Hardy is a loner and a private detective. He was in the army and has PTSD. He struggles with remaining sober because of his demons. But he is a really good detective and is called upon by individuals to solve cases that no one else can, often cold cases. He moves around to wherever  these unsolvable cases take him. He likes black coffee, preferably a day old. 

In this story, Slim follows Andy and finds he is taking a teddy bear to the memorial of a young girl who died on a school trip 40 years ago. Andy is autistic and in his 30's. He wasn't even born when the school girl was drowned. Why is Andy obsessed with her.  He makes the bears himself and changes out the bears that are weather damaged. Slim notes the the expressions have been altered on the bears when Andy brings them back. The story of the girl is that she became separated from her class, on a visit to the moors. One of the male teachers went to find her and came back screaming that he saw a girl with a yellow smile and the vision has driven him to insanity.

As in all small villages, no one wants to talk about it. He has doors shut in his face, and is threatened. Slim has two people that he calls in most of the books, to do research for him, looking up police records, information on the internet or looking at old pictures. They are always "favors." Slim really doesn't have any money to pay them. His cell phone is an old Nokia that doesn't do anything other than make calls, when he is lucky.

I really like this series too. It is kind of a noir series. Always a "dark" feel to it. Slim is a very likeable character and you feel kind of sorry for him, with all that happened to him. But he gets up everyday, puts one foot in front of the other and keeps on going. And he is very good at what he does.

Here the Road Ends just came out February 15, 2024. 

I recommend you start at the beginning of both of these series because the background information is important and for the character development.

https://www.davidbaldacci.com/landing-page/david-baldacci-amos-decker-series/

http://www.amillionmilesfromanywhere.net/tokyolost.html

The Paris Apartment by Lucy Foley

 For our February Mystery Book Club (MBC) we read:

About: "From the New York Times bestselling author of The Guest List comes a new locked room mystery, set in a Paris apartment building in which every resident has something to hide…

Jess needs a fresh start. She’s broke and alone, and she’s just left her job under less than ideal circumstances. Her half-brother Ben didn’t sound thrilled when she asked if she could crash with him for a bit, but he didn’t say no, and surely everything will look better from Paris. Only when she shows up – to find a very nice apartment, could Ben really have afforded this? – he’s not there.

The longer Ben stays missing, the more Jess starts to dig into her brother’s situation, and the more questions she has. Ben’s neighbors are an eclectic bunch, and not particularly friendly. Jess may have come to Paris to escape her past, but it’s starting to look like it’s Ben’s future that’s in question.

The socialite – The nice guy – The alcoholic – The girl on the verge – The concierge

Everyone’s a neighbor. Everyone’s a suspect. And everyone knows something they’re not telling."

Lucy Foley is a very popular author currently. I chose this book for our book club and I will tell you I was a little nervous about it once I got to reading it. 

It is a very good mystery, lots of twists. Each chapter is from the viewpoint of a specific character and it goes back and forth and around from each character as they tell their part in the story. It is a "locked room" mystery. It is a fast read and a surprise ending.

Well I was pleasantly surprised. Most of the MBC loved it. They loved the mystery, the story and how the author led them in other directions. We all liked Jess, the main character. But she is really the only likeable character. It seems like so many books right now are about bad people doing bad things. 

There is a fair amount of "bad language" and some edgy and weird scenes. If you that doesn't bother you, and you don't mind chapters that go back and forth between characters and time, you will probably love it too. 

Many in the group had also read The Hunting Party and The Guest List by this author and highly recommend those books also. 

"Sony Pictures' 3000 Pictures has acquired film adaptation rights to Lucy Foley's new book, The Paris Apartment, which became an instant No. 1 New York Times bestseller,"

You can learn more about Lucy Foley here:

https://www.harpercollins.com/blogs/authors/lucy-foley-44526