Tiggy Jones Mysteries by Virginia King

Hi all. We are having second summer here and I can't wait for it to leave.

I want to share the newest mystery series by Virginia King. You may remember me talking about the Selkie Moon series.  This series has three books with the fourth book coming out 10/18/24. I have read all of them and really enjoyed them.

Tiggy, short for Antigone, is a 30 something young woman from Australia that inherits a boathouse in an English village from a grandmother she never met. As she settles in, she meets Baxter, a teenager who is taking care of the grandmother's dog, Raider. Raider is a Dalmador (dalmation/labrador mix). Baxter is on the spectrum, but becomes an important character in the series. Raider joins Tiggy in the boathouse and is never too far away in all they mysteries that come up. Tiggy writes mysteries, by the way.

A Scrap of Silk is Tiggy Jones book one.

About: "A surprise inheritance. A locked cellar. A shocking secret from her family's past.

When 30-year-old mystery author Tiggy Jones inherits an old boathouse in England from the grandmother she never knew, her shock turns to excitement.
Until she stumbles upon the hidden cellar and can’t find the key.
Soon she’s tangled in a desperate search through mysteries past and present, threats, betrayals and misdirections to uncover a long-hidden secret.
All the time struggling against someone determined to stop her.
As her new life unravels, what horrors will Tiggy discover about her family history?
And will she survive them?"

A Missing Signature (book two)

About: "A friend with secrets. A dangerous painting. A tangle of clues that don’t add up.

When mystery author Tiggy Jones leaves a London auction house, she glimpses a woman who looks a lot like her missing friend, Nessa.
The chance encounter spirals into a complex and deadly mystery that won’t let Tiggy go: coded messages, strange disguises and an old French portrait that she fears is a fake.
Will the unscrupulous art dealer really stop at nothing to get his hands on it?
And why won’t Nessa tell Tiggy the truth about what’s going on?
As the mystery deepens, and a second person is found dead, Tiggy realizes that her amateur sleuthing is not safe.
For others. And for herself."

A Deadly Concoction (book three)

About: A bag of baffling clues. A string of mysterious deaths. A race to expose the truth 

When mystery author Tiggy Jones launches Mystery Week in her local town in Devon, she opens a donated bag of ‘mystery items’ to entertain the audience. But the first thing she holds up has a nasty stain on it. Is it blood? Or is someone playing a trick to embarrass her?
Tiggy rescues the moment and takes the bag home, only to discover it’s full of perplexing evidence. With her curiosity piqued, she begins to untangle the connections between the clues.
Why has the isolated distillery at Larrington Hall on Dartmoor seen so many deaths over the last twenty years?
Does the 500-year-old legend behind its exclusive blue liqueur hide a dangerous secret?
And when Tiggy gets close to uncovering one truth too many, will the purpose behind the bag of evidence turn deadly?
Join Tiggy Jones, with her dog Raider, as she discovers that researching a mystery novel is usually safe but investigating a murder or two is perilous."

A Trace of DNA (book four will be out October 18, 2024)

About: " A glittering reputation. A dogged amateur sleuth. Sinister secrets that won’t stay buried.

When mystery author Tiggy Jones receives an email from a famous forensic scientist, she’s shocked that Dr. Helena Loxton is offering her private life as the plot for her next book. Tiggy’s dangerous curiosity is piqued.
But there's a catch.
In exchange, Dr. Loxton wants Tiggy to research some things she’s forgotten from her past, especially one crucial thing that’s keeping her awake at night.
Wouldn’t she do better with a private investigator?
And after too many real mysteries that have turned out to be crimes, Tiggy has sworn off acting like an amateur PI.
Hasn’t she?"

Don't you love the covers of the books? I would say these books are traditional mysteries. There is a bit more to them than a cozy mystery. Tiggy is an amateur sleuth. They take place in and English village and there are a lot of locals. There is a dog. But the stories are not light and humorous. Tiggy gets into a lot of jams, plenty of danger and thriller type moments. We find out (and so does she) a bit more about her life with each book. They are just enjoyable to read and I highly recommend the series.

As I mentioned, book four comes out next Friday. I found this one very interesting as there is a DNA aspect in the investigation. We see so much of that in crime dramas now and because I dabble in genealogy, I loved that thread in book four. 

Bonus:  A Scrap of Silk will be $.99 on Kindle Daily Deal on October 31, 2024. Good chance to give this series a try.

The Library Book and Expats

 October is here but it still feels like summer here. Looking forward to cooler weather.

After the Mystery Book Club read Two Nights in Lisbon by Chris Pavone, I read: 

The Expats by the same author. It is the first book in the Kate Moore series.

About: "Kate Moore is a working mother, struggling to make ends meet, to raise children, to keep a spark in her marriage . . . and to maintain an increasingly unbearable life-defining secret. So when her husband is offered a lucrative job in Luxembourg, she jumps at the chance to leave behind her double-life, to start anew.

She begins to reinvent herself as an expat, finding her way in a language she doesn’t speak, doing the housewifely things she’s never before done—play-dates and coffee mornings, daily cooking and unending laundry. Meanwhile, her husband works incessantly, doing a job Kate has never understood, for a banking client she’s not allowed to know. He’s becoming distant and evasive; she’s getting lonely and bored.

Then another American couple arrives. Kate soon becomes suspicious that these people are not who they claim to be, and terrified that her own past is catching up to her. So Kate begins to dig, to peel back the layers of deception that surround her. She discovers fake offices and shell corporations and a hidden gun; a mysterious farmhouse and numbered accounts with bewildering sums of money; a complex web of intrigue where no one is who they claim to be, and the most profound deceptions lurk beneath the most normal-looking of relationships; and a mind-boggling long-play con threatens her family, her marriage, and her life."

I liked it pretty well. It is a good spy/espionage book. You aren't sure who are the good guys. Plenty of twists. Similar to Two Nights in Lisbon with the hidden identities and sneaking around. If you like Two Nights in Lisbon or other books by Chris Pavone, I think you would like this book. 

There is a second book in the series: The Paris Diversion. Kate Moore book #2. 

I also started The Library Book by Susan Orlean on audio. 

About: "On the morning of April 29, 1986, a fire alarm sounded in the Los Angeles Public Library. As the moments passed, the patrons and staff who had been cleared out of the building realized this was not the usual fire alarm. As one fireman recounted, “Once that first stack got going, it was ‘Goodbye, Charlie.’” The fire was disastrous: it reached 2000 degrees and burned for more than seven hours. By the time it was extinguished, it had consumed four hundred thousand books and damaged seven hundred thousand more. Investigators descended on the scene, but more than thirty years later, the mystery remains: Did someone purposefully set fire to the library—and if so, who?

Weaving her lifelong love of books and reading into an investigation of the fire, award-winning New Yorker reporter and New York Times bestselling author Susan Orlean delivers a mesmerizing and uniquely compelling book that manages to tell the broader story of libraries and librarians in a way that has never been done before.

In The Library Book, Orlean chronicles the LAPL fire and its aftermath to showcase the larger, crucial role that libraries play in our lives; delves into the evolution of libraries across the country and around the world, from their humble beginnings as a metropolitan charitable initiative to their current status as a cornerstone of national identity; brings each department of the library to vivid life through on-the-ground reporting; studies arson and attempts to burn a copy of a book herself; reflects on her own experiences in libraries; and reexamines the case of Harry Peak, the blond-haired actor long suspected of setting fire to the LAPL more than thirty years ago.

Along the way, Orlean introduces us to an unforgettable cast of characters from libraries past and present—from Mary Foy, who in 1880 at eighteen years old was named the head of the Los Angeles Public Library at a time when men still dominated the role, to Dr. C.J.K. Jones, a pastor, citrus farmer, and polymath known as “The Human Encyclopedia” who roamed the library dispensing information; from Charles Lummis, a wildly eccentric journalist and adventurer who was determined to make the L.A. library one of the best in the world, to the current staff, who do heroic work every day to ensure that their institution remains a vital part of the city it serves."

This is a nonfiction/true crime book. I like some true crime and since this is about books and libraries I wanted to give it a try.

I did find the information the author discusses about how libraries work - how books are acquired and processed for libraries, interesting. How many staff it takes to manage a library, especially one the size of the Los Angeles Public library. All the roles a public library plays in a community - besides checking out mystery books for me. :) I found it interesting that the LAPL played/plays an important role in serving the homeless community, helping them use the resources to hopefully better their lives. I also found the history of libraries interesting.

The book also tells the story of the main suspect and his life.

I did not finish it but I thought I would talk about it anyway for people that may be interested in this topic. I think it is a good nonfiction book. I wanted to get to the crime sooner though and ended up not finishing it.  But if this interests you, give it a go. It did win a  Goodreads Choice Award and was nominated for a Best Nonfiction award in 2018. 

Just finished Beware the Woman by Megan Abbott. I will be telling you what the Mystery Book Club and I thought about it.

 

Never Try To Catch a Falling Knife by Skye Alexander

One of my book friends is an acquaintance of Skye Alexander who writes a mystery series about an entertainer in the 1920's turned amateur sleuth named Lizzy Crane. I have had the book on my "TBR" list and read it recently. I enjoyed it! 

About: "In the summer of 1925, ambitious and beautiful New York jazz performer Lizzie Crane and her troupe land a plum job that could give them their big career a week-long engagement celebration for the daughter of a wealthy (and shady) industrialist to a Russian count. But Lizzie barely has time to enjoy her good luck––which includes the amorous attentions of the heir to her employer’s vast fortune––before the group’s saxophonist is stabbed to death. The local police suspect her and her musician friends and place them under house arrest, where they’re at the mercy of the very people who have the most to lose if the murder is solved. As Lizzie delves into her slain colleague’s mysterious past, she discovers secrets worth killing to protect and risks her own life in the process."

The setting of this first book, made me think of Downtown Abby. Although this is set in Ipswich Massachusetts, not England, it is set at the estate of a wealthy family. Everything is very proper and planned. There's fancy dress for the entire week of planned entertainment and fancy food. I liked the time period. There are fun colloquialisms in the conversation of the characters. Lizzie is very much a modern thinking woman for the times, not agreeing with the idea of finding a "suitable" husband for a daughter as in this high society family. She senses there is something off about this engagement and is it tied to the murder of the troupe's saxaphone player? Although the local authorities worn Lizzie off, she of course continues to pry. 

I thought the story moves along well. As I said, I liked the time period. I would call it a historical cozy mystery. There are funny likeable characters. The end sets you right up for book two.

There are three more books in the series: What the Walls Know (sounds intriguing), The Goddess of Shipwrecked Sailors and  Running in the Shadows. Book two takes place at a castle in Gloucester Ma. The third and fourth books take place in Salem. All look like they may have a vibe I may like.

Skye Alexander has written many other books also. 

Find Skye and her books at:

https://www.simonandschuster.com/authors/Skye-Alexander/2137649846

Check out Lizzie Crane!

The 6:20 Man by David Baldacci

 Well our "false fall" is over and we are back to summer. Ugh. I was hoping to back here sooner but here I am.

For September, the Mystery Book Club read The 6:20 Man, book one in a new series by David Baldacci. It was published in June of  2022 actually. We have read the first books in two of his other series, The Memory Man and the Mercy series, and those were well liked.

About:  "Every day without fail, Travis Devine puts on a cheap suit, grabs his faux-leather briefcase, and boards the 6:20 commuter train to Manhattan, where he works as an entry-level analyst at the city’s most prestigious investment firm. In the mornings, he gazes out the train window at the lavish homes of the uberwealthy, dreaming about joining their ranks. In the evenings, he listens to the fiscal news on his phone, already preparing for the next grueling day in the cutthroat realm of finance.

Then one morning Devine’s tedious routine is shattered by an anonymous email: She is dead.

Sara Ewes, Devine’s coworker and former girlfriend, has been found hanging in a storage room of his office building—presumably a suicide, prompting the NYPD to come calling on him. If that wasn’t enough, Devine receives another ominous visit, a confrontation that threatens to dredge up grim secrets from his past in the Army unless he participates in a clandestine investigation into his firm.

This treacherous role will take Travis from the impossibly glittering lives he once saw only through a train window, to the darkest corners of the country’s economic halls of power…where something rotten lurks. And apart from this high-stakes conspiracy, there’s a killer out there with their own agenda, and Devine is the bullseye. "

I thought it was a good read. It is very fast paced and kept my attention. Travis is likeable. He is working as an investment analyst but only to please his parents, even at this stage in his life. He is renting a house with three other people, who were unknown to him prior to moving to this house. There are two young women, one is studying to be a lawyer and one is building a "unique" online dating service. The one other man is a person from Russia who is a professional hacker. He actually adds levity to the story. The roommates all plate a part in the story. 

After being approached by a special branch of the government, Travis agrees to help them investigate what is going on at his company. They suspect an illegal money scheme. Oh, and if he doesn't help them, he will be sent to prison for something that happened when he was in the Army. 

Our discussion of the book was good. Everyone at the book club that night, are big fans of Baldacci. Some loved the book and read it in just a few days. Some felt parts of the book were over the top. But as one person pointed out, Baldacci is great at diversions for the reader. Overall I enjoyed it.

There are two more books in the series:

Book 2 is The Edge was published November 2023: "The 6:20 Man is back, dropped by his handlers into a small coastal town in Maine to solve the murder of a CIA agent who knew America’s dirtiest secrets—can Travis Devine uncover the truth before his time runs out?"

Book 3 is To Die For and will be released November 12, 2024. "... the 6:20 Man returns, this time sent to the Pacific Northwest to aid in a complicated FBI case—and he’s about to come face-to-face with his nemesis, the girl on the train. "

Travel Month and Forget Me Never by Susan Wittig Albert

 I can't believe the entire month of August is gone! I am glad though. It is our hottest month here in Central Texas. I guess I got pretty wrapped up with butterflies. Monarchs to be exact. I have some milkweed and hatched 15 monarchs this August. One more waiting to hatch. Here is one. Some flew off as soon as I opened the butterfly habitat. A couple I had to let grab onto a branch and set in a plant. This is one of those I had to coax out. There is a certain amount of daily tasks to make sure all is well. It tasks month from egg to caterpillar to butterfly. With that and trying to keep plants alive and work, I guess I took a break from here.

We did have out monthly Mystery Book Club. For August we traditionally read "vacation" books. Read a book set where you went for vacation or have a vacation planned. Or read a book set in your favorite destination or dream vacation. We had four books set in Texas and three in Hawaii, three in the Navajo nation and seven outside of the continental US. Interesting mix and we learned a lot of history about the settings actually. We went overtime, up to closing!

I chose to read a mystery set in Texas and gave me a chance to catch up on a series that takes place nearby.

Forget Me Never by Susan Wittig Albert

About: 

"Olivia Andrews is locally famous for her blog and podcast, “Forget Me A Crime Victim’s Storyboard,” which is dedicated to telling the stories of victims of crime. Now, she has a stunning story to tell about a decades-old murder mystery involving a prominent citizen of Pecan Springs—someone who isn’t the man everybody thinks he is. But she is killed by a hit-and-run driver while she’s out jogging early one morning. Was it an accident—or something else? Her sister wants to know.

And Olivia’s friend China Bayles also wants to know, urgently. Who is the prominent citizen Olivia was about to expose? How did he manage to get away with murder twenty years ago? Did he kill Olivia to keep her from revealing his secret? What is local lawyer Charlie Lipman trying to hide? And when there’s another murder . . . well, it has to be a part of the same story, doesn’t it? And so does the scrapbook a cousin has compiled to honor the memory of one of the victims and make sure she won’t be forgotten. It might hold the answer—except that the one person whose face China wants to see has been scissored out of every photo.

Forget Me Never asks the compelling questions Who remembers? What do we choose to remember? Why do we forget? Like other novels in the China Bayles series, Susan Wittig Albert’s book is an engaging mix of mystery, murder, and herb lore, past sins and present secrets, and characters who are as real as your friends and neighbors."

This is book 29 in the China Bayles series and brings me up to date. It was a good story. It brought in current times with the young blogger/podcast character. This story title is a reference the the flower Forget Me Nots. China, who is owner of an herb shop, is currently writing a series for the local paper about herbs that can help with memory. I like how the characters have evolved over the years. I like the references to places and terrain that is local. This time, China drives out to Fredericksburg and visits a coffee shop and a diner. The food sounded so good, I looked them up and they really exist! May need to take a road trip.

There are a couple more books I have read or listened to this month and will get them posted. 

Looking forward to Masterpiece Mystery kicking off September 15 with Moonflower Murders and Van Der Valk. 

Currently reading: The 6:20 Man for our next mystery book club.

Hallmark and PBS Fall line up

As PBS/Masterpiece Mystery winds down for the summer, I am looking ahead to what is coming up in the Fall. I am also checking in on the Hallmark Mystery channel. I haven't looked at them in awhile. If you are like me, even if you have two books going or several mystery shows going, you are looking for the next read or watch.

PBS Masterpiece:

I loved this season of Professor T, (shocking ending) and DI Ray (good wrap up). I do hope they are returning for another season. Grantchester has two more episodes to go here in the US. We are having to get used to another new Vicar (I just got used to Will). But I love so many of the long term cast and characters and the stories are so good, I will keep on watching.

Here is what Fall looks like according to the PBS Masterpiece website.

Vandervalk -Season 4 begins September 15, 9 p.m. CST. There isn't any info about how many episodes etc. yet.

Moonflower Murders 9/15/24 - 10/20/24 8 p.m. CST Six episodes (clap clap)

This is the sequel to The Magpie Murders.

"Susan Ryeland has left publishing and is living in Crete with her long-time boyfriend, Andreas. But her idyll is disturbed by the shadow of a murder committed at a British country hotel eight years ago. Alan Conway visited the hotel and wrote a novel based on what happened there. Cecily Treherne, the young woman who helps run the hotel, read the book and believed the wrong man had been arrested. Now she has disappeared. Can Susan uncover the secret hidden in the book and find Cecily before it is too late? Moonflower Murders is based on the bestselling novel by Anthony Horowitz."

The Marlow Murder Club 10/27/24 8 pm. CST Four episodes

An all-new adaptation of Robert Thorogood’s novel The Marlow Murder Club is coming to MASTERPIECE on PBS on October 27, 2024, 9/8c. The thrilling, four part series stars Samantha Bond who is joined by Jo Martin, Cara Horgan and Natalie Dew.

Samantha Bond (Downton Abbey, Home Fires) takes the lead as Judith Potts, alongside Jo Martin (Doctor Who, Back to Life) as Suzie Harris, Cara Horgan (The Sandman, Traitors) as Becks Starling and Natalie Dew (Sandylands, The Capture) as DS Tanika Malik. Steve Barron (The Durrells in Corfu, Mrs Sidhu Investigates) is set to direct.

Author and writer Robert Thorogood said: “After over a decade of working on Death in Paradise, I’m thrilled to be creating a brand-new murder mystery series for TV. I can’t wait for audiences to join Judith, Becks and Suzie on their adventures as they solve a series of fiendishly puzzling murders.”

There are three books in the series. Here is the blurb about book one - The Marlow Murder Club.

"To solve an impossible murder, you need an impossible hero…

Judith Potts is seventy-seven years old and blissfully happy. She lives on her own in a faded mansion just outside Marlow, there’s no man in her life to tell her what to do or how much whisky to drink, and to keep herself busy she sets crosswords for The Times newspaper.

One evening, while out swimming in the Thames, Judith witnesses a brutal murder. The local police don’t believe her story, so she decides to investigate for herself, and is soon joined in her quest by Suzie, a salt-of-the-earth dog-walker, and Becks, the prim and proper wife of the local Vicar.

Together, they are the Marlow Murder Club.

When another body turns up, they realise they have a real-life serial killer on their hands. And the puzzle they set out to solve has become a trap from which they might never escape." 

I have not read this series, but looking forward to watching this.

Hallmark Mystery Movies:

Here are new movies on the updated Hallmark Mystery channel.

Tipline Mysteries: Dial 1 for Murder: replay 8/2/24 4 pm. This was originally shown earlier this month and the replay is 8/2/24.

"A cryptic call about a planned jewelry heist draws a Detroit Free Press tipline operator, Maddie Moore, into a dangerous homicide case alongside a newly promoted detective. Starring Holland Roden and Chris McNally."

About Jazz Ramsey: A K-9 Mystery 8/2/24 8/2/24 8 pm

"When Jazz Ramsey and her crime detection dog Zeus stumble upon an old crime scene, the K9 trainer, her star pup, and ex-boyfriend and lead detective Nick are thrown into the investigation. Starring Rachel Skarsten and Corey Sevier.

Signed Sealed and Delivered: A Tale of Three Letters 8/2/24

"The POstables are back identifying the intended recipients of a trio of dead letters which have a surprising, personal impact on all of them. Stars Eric Mabius, Kristin Booth, Crystal Lowe, Geoff Gustafson and Rhiannon Fish." 

Nelly Knows Mysteries: A Fatal Engagement 8/23/24

"When advice columnist Nelly finds her childhood friend Dahlia's boyfriend dead, she joins detective Hogan to help find the killer. However, as suspicions creep in, Dahlia becomes a prime suspect. Starring Pascale Hutton and Kavan Smith."

Looks good to me. Get your DVR's ready!

Local Gone Missing by Fiona Barton

Hi all! My thoughts go out to all those people in Southeast Texas that are without power thanks to Beryl, in this typical 90's heat. The hurricane took a turn so we did not even get any rain from it.

For out July Mystery Book Club, we read:

Local Gone Missing by Fiona Barton

About: "Detective Elise King investigates a man's disappearance in a seaside town where the locals and weekenders are at odds with each other in this rich and captivating new novel from the New York Times bestselling author of The Widow.

Elise King is a successful and ambitious detective--or she was before a medical leave left her unsure if she'd ever return to work. She now spends most days watching the growing tensions in her small seaside town of Ebbing--the weekenders renovating old bungalows into luxury homes, and the locals resentful of the changes.

Elise can only guess what really happens behind closed doors. But Dee Eastwood, her house cleaner, often knows. She's an invisible presence in many of the houses in town, but she sees and hears everything.

The conflicts boil over when a newcomer wants to put the town on the map with a giant music festival, and two teenagers overdose on drugs. When a man disappears the first night of the festival, Elise is drawn back into her detective work and starts digging for answers. Ebbing is a small town, but it's full of secrets and hidden connections that run deeper and darker than Elise could have ever imagined."

 

A favorite line from this book: "When did you decide he was missing, Elise said quietly, Pauline shrugged, "When he didn't come back."

I really enjoyed this book. I found that line wryly funny and was a good insight into Pauline, who is the wife of the missing local - Charlie. 

I really liked Elise. She is a detective, on leave with after being diagnosed with cancer and then receiving treatment. She decides that a move to a small quiet town by the sea, where she can sit and gaze at the water is just what she needs to heal, physically and mentally. I like her neighbor, Ronnie who is a good neighbor to Elise and as the story moves along, a wannabe detective.

As you can guess, Elise gets slowly enticed into the investigation of the missing local, Charlie. Dee is the housekeeper to everyone in town and a bit of a gossip. The same night Charlie disappears, two teenagers overdose. Elise can't hlep but officially return to work to help with the investigation. A coworker who Elise was involved with romantically, Hugh, makes a short appearance. So many suspects as in all good mysteries set in a small English village - many people with agendas.

The end is very fast paced and entertaining. 

What did the MBC members think? All but a few liked the book. One person had an interesting comparison to an English zany comedy with so many characters doing so many kooky, absurd things. I agreed. lol Those that didn't like it, said they didn't like that the time frame changes; present, two days ago, a week before etc. But they clarified they just don't like that style and actually after hearing so many positives, said they may revisit the book and/or try book two.

I was happy to find out that that that there is a book two coming out August 15, 2024 - Talking to Strangers. (Thanks to Kay who is quicker than I to find out these things,) 

I definitely recommend this book.

Find out more about Fiona Barton and her other books at:

https://www.fionabartonauthor.com/