The Second Book in Tracy Gardner's Avery Avers Antique Mystery Series! Thanks NetGalley!

And we are back to spend more time with Avery Avers and her families'  appraisal business.  One reason this series is interesting and enjoyable is that Avery's family business lends itself to lots of great mysteries surrounding the art and artifacts they are called upon to assess.  This book starts off with some forgery and potential thievery before we get to the murder. Avery of course is in the thick of it. 

The antique and appraisal business is my favorite part of this series, I think in those interactions is when Avery is at her best and the most interesting. I came away from this book still a little sad for Avery. She has a budding romance with Art, which is fine, I guess. I don't really like Art because he didn't tell her things he should have told her for far too long-- he makes decisions for Avery instead of with Avery. Hopefully, he has turned a page, and moving forward he will stop that behavior.  Now back to what makes me a little sad, Avery really, really needs some friends.  I hope in book three Avery has a friend's interest. 

Oh another note, for those of you who enjoy some romance in your cozy mysteries, Tracy Gardner is very good a writing those scenes!

In this book, there is a hint of a potential overarching villain and I hope that I am reading the tea leaves correctly because I like the idea of an ongoing international thief.  So I have my fingers crossed on that! 

3.75 stars for this book*

*If you enjoy antiques or historical art --do yourself a favor and read this series, you will enjoy it!   

 

Miss Tilley Lives! The lastest book in the Lucy Stone Series!

Here we are, book number 28.  I had to wait until my turn to get this one from the local library. So I'm not alone in reading this series.  There are other Lucy Stone fans around me. 

I was really happy to see that Miss Tilley, the oldest person in Tinker's Cove and possibly the world is still alive and kicking. Although she has had some health setbacks and is at an assisted living facility.  The reason for the murder is interesting, and there is a nice subplot about possible Medicare fraud. Lucy spends much of the book at the Assisted Living Facility so we meet some new people, but there's still time for breakfast at Jake's and scenes with Phyllis and Ted.

Sweet Zoe who was introduced as a baby in book one is now graduating from college and looking for her first apartment. In this book, she has taken over the title of the most annoying child. a title once held by all her older siblings in other books. 

This was an enjoyable entry in the series. I liked the easter egg and bonnet talk and as always I enjoy Maine weather talk. I don't know how many more books there might be left in this series, but I hope there are a few more to come! 

Ukrainian Easter Eggs 

 

Paper Girls Volume One - A Book Club Selection

I borrowed this graphic novel from my local library. It is the pick for my book club's February book.  The story takes place in 1988 and revolves around four 12-year-old paper delivery girls. Way back when I did a stint as a paper girl, I think I was a little younger than 12. In case you aren't familiar, back in the day kids would deliver papers and also have to collect the payments due from the subscribers!  

I spent the afternoon paging through and reading Paper Girls and when I was done with the first volume I realized I should have borrowed more than one volume from the library. Now I will have to wait to see what happens next. There are various timelines happening and we don't know yet who to trust who means the girls harm, but the illustrations really capture the 1980s and so does this story. 

Sometimes stories set in the late 1980s are too rose-colored. But I think this one so far is a more honest depiction of the stressors of the 1980s. In the back of the edition, I borrowed--how Nancy Drew- esque!  

And a picture of one of my favorite snacks -devilled eggs! This time I used Vidalia Onion Dressing mixed with the yolks.  

 

The Sunday Post! The Last Full Week of February is Upon Us!

 

The Sunday Post is a blog news meme hosted here @ Caffeinated Reviewer. It’s a chance to share news~ A post to recap the past week on your blog and showcase books and things we have received. Share news about what is coming up on your blog for the week ahead. Join in weekly, bi-weekly, or for a monthly wrap-up. See rules here: Sunday Post Meme 

How was your week?  I hope you had a good one!  Mine was pretty good, We got a bunch of snow on Thursday afternoon but fortunately, the sun is warmer the longer February goes on, so it is melting daily. Thank goodness! 

Via my local library, I participated in a Zoom Craft workshop and made a Korean Lotus Blosson Lantern. It turned out very nice! OH and also, a big victory for me, our taxes are filed. Woo Hoooooooo  How was your week? 

Reviews coming up this week--

  

This Thriller Had Me Dropping Everything to Read! State of Terror-

 I don't know offhand if I have read any of Louise Penny's thrillers before, but I think I will definitely read her in the future.  I really did drop everything and read this book, I started reading it Monday night and then I was up until 1AM last night finishing it.  Nuclear Bombs on US soil is a real page-turner!  I will say that within the first twenty pages I was invested in seeing Secretary of State Ellen Adams succeed in her newly confirmed role and then it was the needing to know that she and her best friend and counselor Betsy would not only stop the bombs but also that they would survive.  

I greatly enjoyed reading how their friendship enabled them to persevere. Sometimes when you read a thriller, especially a political thriller, there can be so much jargon it can be difficult for someone who doesn't have much bureaucracy experience to keep up, I didn't find that to be the case with this book. 

I would love to see this book made into a movie or a mini-series on one of the streaming services. My hope would be if it is, they would actually cast women in their 50/60s for the roles. 

If you read the acknowledgments for this book, you learn that the character of Besty is named and has attributes based on Hillary Clinton's lifelong friend Besty Johnson Ebeling and the main character Ellen Adams is based in part on Ellen Tauscher (former Congressional Rep and Under Secretary of State for Arms Control and International Security) another close friend of Hilary Clinton who died in 2019.  General Whitehead in this book is named for Louise Penney's husband who died from dementia.  So this book is filled with characters based on people Louise and Hillary loved.  An unlikely love letter of sorts.  

5 stars to a thriller you can't put down that is packed with the beauty of friendships.

Slow Burn Cozy Mystery Goodness! A Maggie and Jasper Caper- Books Two and Three

I was not familiar with the tradition of Mourning Beads, so that was interesting to learn!  I think one of the reasons many of us enjoy Cozies is that we learn about various crafts and traditions from these mysteries.  This is an enjoyable second book in the series.  I find that Barbara Cool Lee does a nice job of balancing dark themes of domestic abuse, drug addiction, etc with the light tradition of this genre.  I had a feeling who the bad guy was in this book, but I didn't guess how it all fit together until the end. And Oh how I hope Maggie gives Stanley a chance! I have to keep reading to see if they slowly change from friends to lovers! 

And Book Three... The Empty Noose

I received a free digital copy of this book from the author when I participated in a Facebook Event at the end of January. 

What a heartbreak-filled book. Reese is nearly broken by a terrible turn of events.  Fortunately for Reese, he has Maggie as a best friend.  This book takes place not long after the last book and I don't want to talk about it too much. The book isn't long and the story is concise. We do get to travel to Deep Creek and meet the rest of Reese's family.  Plus Jasper gets to meet cattle!  An exciting time for a herding dog, he was having so much fun and bringing so much joy to Reese's parents and Shane that I was afraid he might stay in Deep Creek! 

Fortunately for us, everyone came back to Carita. The moment Maggie solves the murder was nice because I figure out the clue just a moment before she did as I was reading.  

As always, I'm rooting for Maggie and Reese to start dating! I think Maggie is coming around to realize he is the one for her- 

This is a very enjoyable inexpensive self-published cozy series. I recommend you add it to your TBR if you haven't already! 

For me, these books are 4.5's 

 

Bake Sale Murder and Wedding Day Murder-

 I'm doubling up on some of my reviews this week since they are shorter books by the same author in the same series.  Today I'm talking about book 13 and book 8 in Leslie Meier's Lucy Stone series.

This is book number 13 in the Lucy Stone Mystery Series. This book focuses on the murder of course, but also on harassment and bullying going on with the high school football team and the cheerleaders.  In this book, I once again wonder if we are to draw the conclusion that Sara has an eating disorder.  This would probably be more clear if I read the series in order? At least I know that if she does, she must get help because in recent books she is doing well and is an adult. This book also contrasts moms with young kids vs. Moms whose kids have left the nest.  

I didn't like the resolution of who the killer was very much, this book on that front was a disappointment for me. 

I rate it as a 3.

Look at this original cover!  It looks so dated now!  Wedding Day Murder is book 8 in the series and was published in 2001!  It's as old as my middle child!  Time really flies. This book focuses on Sue, Lucy's friend that I find to be overbearing. In this book Sue's daughter is getting married. I don't think it is until about the halfway point in the book before there is a murder.  I assumed the person who was killed was going to be the victim so I was waiting around waiting for the murder to happen.  

Since much of the appeal for me in these books is actually the day to day happenings in Tinker's Cove and Lucy's internal monologue, I enjoyed this book. All the kids still live at home in the book--although Toby and Elizabeth are in college. Elizabeth has apparently taken up smoking, I hope she quits that pretty soon!  In the end the killer manages to get himself caught--and we do get a wedding just not the one advertised at the beginning of the book! 

I rate this one as a 4! 

The Sunday Post - Happy Football Day and Happy Valentine's Day!

 

The Sunday Post is a blog news meme hosted here @ Caffeinated Reviewer. It’s a chance to share news~ A post to recap the past week on your blog and showcase books and things we have received. Share news about what is coming up on your blog for the week ahead. Join in weekly, bi-weekly, or for a monthly wrap-up. See rules here: Sunday Post Meme 

I hope you had a nice week and that if you celebrate today with lots of wings, nachos, and tasty beverages you have a wonderful game and that your team wins!

And let me wish you a Happy Valentine's Day!  I have put together bags with little goodies for the kids and the hubs for Monday. I'm also planning to make a bar mix that looks very yummy and cheesecake-y 

I am hoping it is as good as it looks

This week I continue with talking about books in series I have been reading.  When I've not been reading I have been watching the series The Last Kingdom.  The beginning of the first season was a little slow as I tried to learn the characters but wow was Season Two great!  I have two more seasons to enjoy and then the final season--season 5 comes out March 9th. 

Uhtred, Son of Uhtred in the Middle, just a Saxon born, Dane raised Lord hanging with his two besties. 

How about you?  Any plans for Valentine's Day?  OH, I just remember I'll be spending my afternoon at the dentist-- fun times!  

One Foot In The Grave #Readalong 2022!

 

I'm so excited to talk about One Foot in the Grave, in general, I love the second book in a series!  Second books are where often learn deep dark backstories and they often have some great action because the main characters are already set up.  This book is no exception!  

Click to read the rest of my review on Books of My Heart's Blog today

 

Ah Yes More Leslie Meier...

 

I am not complaining whatsoever, so don't think I am, that being said.  I think Miss Tilley has stopped aging.  We see time passing, now Lucy's grandson is 3, but I swear Miss Tilley has been in her mid-nineties for at least 10 years now.  Which is fine with me, it's fiction she can live forever, I'll suspend my disbelief. 

In a twist from most Lucy Stone books, in this story, no one, including Lucy, is sure that the deaths in the book are actually even murders. The main storyline revolved around elder abuse and do people even care when a rich person is the one who is being abused--albeit in the most opulent of homes. 

For a change, in this book, I found Lucy's friend Sue, almost likable. (did you know that likable or likeable is the correct spelling- I did not!)   

Ultimately it turns out that the deaths were murders and once again Lucy is the one who figures it out, and the murderer once again tries to kill poor Lucy.  But as we like to see, all's well that ends well. In this book, I found that Lucy had really hit her stride in balancing knowing bad stuff can happen anywhere and doing what she could to help her community.  I find that is an overarching theme. I do love how she has grown in the role of an investigative reporter, albeit at a tiny paper that is called the Pennysaver.

I give this book a 4.25.

Now if you will indulge me for a moment, I have to share this quote from a book I reviewed previously.  I love this.  Phyllis is me! This is how I feel about March in Chicagoland!