I Took A Vacation to Ireland Over The Weekend!

 The weather was gloomy Friday and Saturday, so I turned to reading and found myself quickly in the midst of murders and ghosts in Ireland. 

The first book I read, on my imaginary trip to the Emerald Isle, was Death in D Minor by Alexis Gordon.  This book is the second book in Dr. Gordon's  Gethsemane Brown Mysteries series and right off the bat, I found this book to be even better than the first. It is available free on Kindle Unlimited, or like me, you can probably find it at your local public library.  

One of the most enjoyable parts of this series is the focus on Fine Arts. In this book in addition to Gethsemane's classical music background. we learn about textile artwork and schoolgirl samplers. This isn't your average murder mystery: there is also an international art fraud ring!  

Here are some examples of schoolgirl samplers from the website Colonial Sense

Cleverly, this murder mystery takes place in a different town than the first book so we meet a whole new crop of shady characters.  We also get to meet one of Gethsemane's family members and Inspector O'Reilly and Frankie the math teacher are back.  Will there be a romance with either of them?  If not I don't mind because I do find their characters enjoyable on their own merits.  This second book cemented my affection for Dr. Gethsemane Brown. She is bold, tenacious, and unflappable. Plus she can see ghosts! 

5 stars for the second book in this series!  It's like a fine arts seminar wrapped in a murder mystery!  I loved it! 

The second book I am reading from Ireland is The Guest List by Lucy Foley. I'm about 60% finished as of Sunday afternoon so I am going to dive back into it and I'll share a review on Wednesday! 

The March Cozy Mystery Book Club Book! Who's Joining Us For the Live Stream Tomorrow?

 This month the Cozy Mystery Book Club is reading the first book in Alexia Gordon's award-winning Gethsemane Brown Mysteries series!  I have been waiting to read this book with the Club for a while now I am glad that the time finally arrived! Not only did I enjoy the writing, I also enjoyed the distinctive signature look of the covers in this series. 

I greatly enjoyed this cozy and am looking forward to immediately reading the next book in the series, not only because there is a cliffhanger that I need to find out more about but also because it's an engaging story. 

 Alexia Gordon is just brilliant, her descriptions are evocative reminding you that Ireland is an old and mystical place, so much so that it doesn't seem shocking at all when Gethsemane runs into a ghost or when the bodies start to pile up.  The mystery and the language used in Murder in G Major kept me on my toes.  I had to look up definitions for more than a couple of words and phrases in this book and I appreciated the opportunity to learn new vocabulary, as well as the proper pronunciations of Gaelic names.  

Gethsemane Brown makes for a wonderful amateur sleuth.  She starts out reluctant to get involved, she's an outsider and her background as a music scholar provides her with great researching skills and the ability to think outside the box.  Now that I think about it, Dr. Gethsemane Brown shares some traits with Sherlock Holmes; both play the violin, both are blunt in their words, and both are doggedly determined to find out who done it.  

This book has just the right of twist and turns and also a gothic flair.  Who has even heard of a church with a poison garden?  As Gethsemane says, only in Ireland. 

4.0 Stars to Murder in G Major. The only reason it wasn't a 5-stars for me was the motive and I have some qualms with how the killer was depicted not a fan of that particular trope. I don't want to say too much and give anything away.  

I loved Gethsemane and Eamon. Really nice duo!