Holmes Marple & Poe, The Grey Wolf and Murder on Mulberry Bend

Mid April already! We are having some really nice weather here. It will be replaced soon by hot hot weather I suppose. (In case you are one of those that had snow this morning and think I am bragging).  I have had a little trouble with this site so will try to catch up.

For our April Mystery Book Club, we read 

Holmes, Marple & Poe by James Patterson and Brian Sitts. It is book #1 in a newish series.

About: "The three detectives make a formidable team, solving a series of seemingly impossible crimes which expose the dark underbelly of the city; from priceless art theft, a high-stakes kidnapping, and a decades-old unsolved murder, to a gruesome subterranean prison, and corruption and bribery at the highest levels of power.

But it's not long before their headline-grabbing breakthroughs, unconventional methods - and untraceable pasts - attract the attention of the NYPD and the FBI.

After all, it's no surprise that there's a mystery or two to unravel in the city that never sleeps . . . not least, who really are Holmes, Marple and Poe?"

Everyone in the book club enjoyed this first book. The three detectives get more cases right away then they were prepared for but tackle them. Each of the three have certain strengths and also certain flaws. There are similarities to characteristics of their "namesakes". There is  a play on other famous authors and characters. (See if you can find them.) There is some humor also, although the cases they are working on are dark. An unsolved mystery is who are these three really? Are these their real names? 

Most agreed they want to read the next book in the series to find out more about the characters.

Book #2 is Holmes is Missing and came out in January 2025.

If you want to read more about James Patterson and books written with Brian Sitts, start here: https://www.jamespatterson.com/landing-page/james-patterson-home/

I also finished The Grey Wolf by Louise Penny. This book is #19 in the Armand Gamache series.

About: "Relentless phone calls interrupt the peace of a warm August morning in Three Pines. Though the tiny Québec village is impossible to find on any map, someone has managed to track down Armand Gamache, head of homicide at the Sûreté, as he sits with his wife in their back garden. Reine-Marie watches with increasing unease as her husband refuses to pick up, though he clearly knows who is on the other end. When he finally answers, his rage shatters the calm of their quiet Sunday morning.

That's only the first in a sequence of strange events that begin The Grey Wolf, the nineteenth novel in Louise Penny's #1 New York Times bestselling series. A missing coat, an intruder alarm, a note for Gamache reading "This might interest you," a puzzling scrap of paper with a mysterious list—and then a murder. All propel Chief Inspector Gamache and his team toward a terrible realization. Something much more sinister than any one murder or any one case is fast approaching.

Armand Gamache; Jean-Guy Beauvoir, his son-in-law and second in command; and Inspector Isabelle Lacoste can only trust each other, as old friends begin to act like enemies, and long-time enemies appear to be friends. Determined to track down the threat before it becomes a reality, their pursuit takes them across Québec and across borders. Their hunt grows increasingly desperate, even frantic, as the enormity of the creature they’re chasing becomes clear. If they fail, the devastating consequences would reach into the largest of cities and the smallest of villages."

I am a fan of this series and have read all of the books in the series. Great writing as usual. The subject matter is very serious and dark though. Very intense at the end and quite the cliff hanger for book #20, The Black Wolf coming out 10/28/25. I did miss not having as much of the other characters from Three Pines in this book. Maybe next book. I would recommend this series to anyone who has not read it and looking for a series they can get into.

I also just finished Murder on Mulberry Bend by Victoria Thompson, book #5 of the Gaslight Mystery series. 

About: "Sarah Brandt, a midwife in turn-of-the-century New York City, has seen more than her share of joy and sorrow, birth and death. Now she will see for the first time how the squalor of the streets can breed madness and murder…

The Prodigal Son Mission on Mulberry Bend stands as a refuge for girls who otherwise would have to live by selling the only thing they have of value—themselves. The work being done there so impresses Sarah that she volunteers to help out however she can—with clothes, with medical assistance, with the organization of a benefit dinner. And when one of the girls is found dead and refused burial because of her former life, Sarah’s passion for justice is aroused.

Reluctantly, Sergeant Frank Malloy agrees to look into the death, if only to keep Sarah from endangering herself by pursuing the matter. But Sarah cannot be kept out of the investigation—and just as Malloy feared, her attempts to find the cause of the unfortunate girl’s death in the circumstances of her life put her in deadly danger—from an unexpected source…"

I am really enjoying this series which I would say is a traditional mystery. The characters are interesting and the character development is good. Sara is a character you can root for. The chemistry between Sara and Frank Malloy keeps you hanging. This is also a historical mystery and talks about the culture of the time. If you are a fan of Scarlett and The Duke, you would like this series.  I have recommended it to several people and they have loved it, some even finishing the series in a few months! To date there are 27 books in this series. Victoria Thompson passed in 2024. Originally I saw a note that book 28 was in process and her daughter (a writer) would be finishing it. Not sure if that was fact or speculation. I don't see that comment now. We will have to wait and see. An excellent series.

https://victoriathompson.com/

Have you tried using Copilot? There is lots of buzz at my work place about it and we were introduced to it. I used it on my last post but not this one. Well I did put it in Copilot and did like the changes it came back with. I may try it again next time but this post is truly my own. :)