Kinsey and Me: Stories

 By Sue Grafton. 1990 and 2013. Read on Libby. The first half of the book are short stories about Kinsey Millhone, published first in magazines or anthologies. The second half are stories about Kit Blue's life with alcoholic parents, similar to Sue Grafton's early life. I read parts of this a few years ago, but never got to part two, the best part. She Grafton passed away in 2017.

No One Saw

 A.L. McKittridge novel by Beverly Long. 2020

The Last Detective

 A Peter Diamond mystery by Peter Lovesey. 1991. The first of a new series by Lovesey, his first contemporary novel. Anthony Award for Best Novel, 1992. Accessed on Libby app. Very interesting presentation by the author at the end of the ebook. Lovesey relates where he first got the idea of Inspector Diamond, who is not onboard with new forensic methods and the use of computers in his investigation. Lovesey used Bath as the setting, his own hometown. I especially liked the setting. Bath is a feature in the story. Lovesey is also a master of language, an aspect of the book that I enjoy. This is the first of twenty two novels about Detective Superintendent Diamond.

Sugar Cookie Murder

A Hannah Swensen novel by Joanne Fluke. 2004. A beautiful Las Vegas stripper, a heirloom ring, and an antique cake knife converge into disaster in Lake Eden. Can Hannah Swensen and her sisters find the killer on a December night when a blizzard keeps everyone inside on the night of a Christmas buffet dinner. The menu is a tasting of all the recipes entered into the Lake Eden cookbook contest. Recipes follow at the end of the book.

Lady Tan's Circle of Women

By Lisa See. 2023.

No Cats Allowed

 A Cat in the Stacks Mystery by Miranda James. 2016.

Murder on a Summer's Day

 A Lady Shackleton mystery by Frances Brody. 2013.

Mardi Gras Murder

 By Ellen Byron. A Cajun Country Mystery. No. 4. 2018.

The Long Call

 Introducing Detective Matthew Venn  by Ann Cleeves. 2019. The Two Rivers Series, Book 1.

A Very Woodsy Murder

 A Golden Motel Mystery by Ellen Byron. 2024

Vineyard Deceit

 Martha's Vineyard mystery. Philip R. Craig. 1992. Aka The Double Minded Man.

Partners in Crime

 A Tommy and Tuppence short story collection by Agatha Christie. 1929. Tommy and Tuppence Beresford run Mr. Blunt's detective agency with the help of Mr. Carter, a British intelligence leader. They recover jewels, expose a smuggling ring, and capture a Russian spy in addition to other adventures.

Nightshade

 Detective Stilwell, book 1 by Michael Connelly. Published in 2025. Stilwell lives on Catalina Island in California and is under the jurisdiction of Los Angeles county sheriff. The book is a police procedural that takes place in the current year. The body of a young woman is found submerged in the harbor and leads to the investigation of her suspicious death.

Eligible

 A modern retelling of Pride and Prejudice. By Curtis Sittenfeld. 2016. A story about Mr. And Mrs. Bennet and their five unmarried daughters in Cincinnati, Ohio. I found it very engaging as I was completely wrapped up in the family drama. Mr. Bennet suffers a heart attack and bypass surgery which brings home Jane and Liz from New York. Jane starts a romance with Chip Bingley, friend of Fizwilliam Darcy. Liz is a writer for the magazine Mascara and is offended by Fitzwilliam Darcy at a party. She soon is attracted to him in a comedy of errors. Eligible is a reality tv series in which Chip Huntley is the most eligible bachelor. As the story continues the whole Bennet family is on Eligible as Jane marries Chip after an misunderstanding. I think the novel is quite humorous.

Vera Wong's Unsolicited Advice for Murderers

 By Jesse Q. Sutanto. 2023. I was looking for a really good cozy mystery and I came across this unusual book that was recommended. It didn't disappoint. Lots of quirky characters enrich the story. Vera Wong is a sixty year old widow who runs a tea house in Chinatown in San Francisco. She wakes up one morning to find a dead man who has broken in to her shop. She decides to do some detecting and solve the murder. Along the way she makes friends with a group of people who knew the dead man.

Coyote

 A Carlotta Carlyle mystery by Linda Barnes. Book 3. 1990. A Female Detective story that tells the story of a serial killer and the plight of undocumented immigrants from El Salvador.

Two Wicked Desserts

 A Kitchen Witch Mystery by Lynn Cahoon. 2021 Book 2 has charming atmosphere with a little romance. Mia Malone is dragged into another homicide when a strange man is murdered in her back yard. She rounds up all the help she can get to find the answers to this homicide. Her grandmother moves in, bringing along a suspicious character, Cindy, who just happens to know the deceased. Can Mia find the killer before someone else is killed?

Easeful Death

 A Bill Slider Mystery By Cynthia Harrod-Eagles. 2025. Well done police procedural. I've read them all and I always enjoy reading a new one, even with the darker themes. The characters are enjoyable and the humorous banter never lets me down, even if I don't get all the English lingo. What's not to love?

Now or Never

 Thirty-One on the Run by Janet Evanovich. 2024. A Good one and her apartment doesn't get firebombed. Stephanie Plum Had  to decide between Ranger and Morelli as she is engaged to both at the same time and she doesn't know if she's pregnant.

Cup of Holiday Fear

 A Bakeshop Mystery, no. 10 by Ellie Alexander. 2019. The Bookshop.mysteries are "Delicious" -RT Book reviews. "Marvelous" -Fresh Fiction. "Charming" -Kirkus Reviews. Filled with the descriptions of a busy holiday  madhouse at Torte, a bakeshop in Ashland, Oregon, this is a fun cozy mystery for the Christmas Season. It was a fast read that left me interested in more of this series. I would say that this is more cozy than mystery.

I Never Promised You a Rose Garden

 By Mannie Murphy. 2021 Published by Fantagraphics. YouTube Book Launch: I Never Promised You a Rose Garden with Mannie Murphy and Stephen R. Bissette. A live conversation on March 23, 2021. Posted by Fantagraphics.

Highest Duty

 My Search for What Really Matters by Captain Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger. With Jeffrey Zaslow. 2009.

Sometimes you find a really good book that you want to share with everybody. This book is it. The best I've read in a long time.

Bridget Jones: Mad about the Boy, the movie

 Watched it again. Loved it. Loved seeing some of the same actors, and some new ones. Highly recommended! I also love the music.

One Poison Pie

 By Lynn Cahoon. A Kitchen Witch Mystery. 2021

Chili Cauldron Curse

 By Lynn Cahoon. A Kitchen Witch Mystery. 2020

Honeymoon with Murder

 Death on Demand mystery by Carolyn Hart. 1988. Narrated by Kate Redding.

The God of the Woods

 By Liz Moore. 2024. Literary Mystery. Historical Fiction. Police Procedural. Her other books are The Words of Every Song, Heft, The Unseen World, and Long Bright River.

Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason

 By Helen Fielding. Book 2 of the Bridget Jones series. 1999

Spent my birthday night watching Bridget Jones's Diary

 The end to a perfect day. Sunny and 55 degrees. Went to lunch with my brother and his friend. Many phone visits over the course of the day. Received a birthday surprise from my sister. And calls from all my siblings.

Bridget Jones's Diary

 By Helen Fielding. 1996. Brought in the chick-lit genre to fiction. First read in the Independent in the UK.

Killer Pancake

 By Diane Mott Davidson. A Goldy Schulz mystery, book 5. 1995. Narrated by Barbara Rosenblat on the LibbyApp.

Peach Clobbered

 By Anna Gerard, a pseudonym used by Diane A. S. Stuckart. 2019. Georgia B&B Mystery, book 1

The Confession Club

 By Elizabeth Berg. 2019. Book 3 of the Mason series. A re-read for me, but this time I listened to the audio version. Narrated by Elizabeth Berg, the author. Accessed by the library through the Libby app.

The Year of Pleasures

 By Elizabeth Berg. 2005 This is a revisit of a novel I read years ago. It seems more relevant now that I can relate as a widow. It is the story of a middle-aged woman who decided to move to the Midwest as soon as her husband passes away from cancer. She drives into a small town in the end of October and buys the first house she sees. The friends she makes provide the story with interesting observations. 

The Woman in Me

 By Britney Spears.2023. This is a sad story of how Britney's family locked her up and spent her money. It's hard to believe this could go on in our society. I'm glad she got free. And everything she did while under the "conservancy" was just so she could see her kids. i only wish her love.

Bury Your Dead

 A Chief Inspector Gamache mystery by Louise Penny. 2010

2010 Agatha Award for best novel

2011 Anthony Award for best novel

2011 Macavity Award for best novel

2011 Dilys Award for best book

i gave up Louise Penny when I read The Brutal Telling. But this one was like part 2 of that novel. I'm glad I read this, and at this time of year. We're in the middle of a cold snap, with snow. I always like to read about snow-themed stories in the middle of winter. This story took place in Three Pines and Quebec City. There was a lot of history in this novel,  especially Canadian history. This is a good read it you like detailed description in your story. I liked the characters, especially the character of Jean-Guy Beauvoir, the second in command. Gamache sends Beauvoir to Three Pines to investigate a previous crime while Gamache himself is in Quebec City. This past Christmas I gifted a new Louise Penny novel to my daughter's boyfriend. He was set to travel to Toronto for a couple of weeks. I hope he took it along and enjoyed it. Maybe this one would have been better. 

Lady in the Lake

 By Laura Lippman. 2019

Reading Up a Storm

 A Lighthouse Library Mystery. Book 2 by Eva Gates. 2016

By Book or By Crook

 A Lighthouse Library Mystery by Eva Gates. 2012

The Many Lives of Mama Love

 A Memoir of Lying, Stealing, Writing, and Healing by Lara Love Hardin. An Oprah's Book Club choice. 2023. I didn't want to read this book. It was a book club choice. After I started it, I put it down and re-read " Cereal Murders" by Diane Mott Davidson, only this time I read the Large Print edition after I listened to the audio. Lara Love Hardin narrated the audio of her book. I finished it after our book discussion meeting. We couldn't relate. But sometimes that's why we read books. To understand other points of view and expand our compassion. I don't want to understand heroin addiction. I'm afraid of it. I'm afraid of drug adfiction. I'm afraid of drug addicts, because I'm afraid of the actions of drug addicts. Her story tries to help others have compassion. I understand that people need a second chance. I'm glad that Lara Love Hardin was given a second chance. But that's because I'm a reader, a lover of books, and books are her saving grace. I can relate to that. I can accept her value for her ability to write. I need to accept her for her value as a human being, someone with flaws who has a right to live, a right to being human on this planet. Just as I need to accept all people who have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. "For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God." Romans 3:23

2025