I love, love, love the Sloan Krausemystery series—not so much for the puzzling whodunits, but more for the small Bavarian town surrounded by snow-topped mountains and German-themed breweries! Be still, my heart! Here in Texas, I jump at any chance to visit our very own little German town in the Hill Country called Fredericksburg. It’s just too much fun shopping at cutesy stores and dining at my favorite German-themed microbrewery. Oh, how I love the Enchanted Rock Ale… sigh.
Anyhoo, this mystery was a little weak. The killer reveal was kind of a no-brainer, but whatevs. I enjoyed accompanying Sloan and her fellow microbrewing partner/love interest as they puzzled over the mystery whilst visiting with his family, who, of course, are as charming and lovely as Sloan’s in-laws. Naturally, it would be boring if everything worked out perfectly, so Garrett has to come clean with a secret he’s been withholding for silly reasons. This is why romance books drive me nuts—too much secrecy and miscommunication! At least this time, Sloan chose to actually communicate with him instead of holding it all in. Way to go, girl! This might be the first time she’s gotten out of her own way, and I love this for her.
Overall, this book gave me all the wintry, Bavarian village vibes that made my cozy little heart brim with joy. However, die-hard mystery lovers may feel it’s lacking, so please note that this is more of a 100-piece children’s jigsaw puzzle than a 1,000-piece brain-scratcher. In this case, we’re dealing with a rather shady group of doctors and researchers at the local hospital who are about to announce a “breakthrough” medical miracle study that will rock the entire world off its axis. How this is happening in a tiny tourist town of two thousand residents is beyond me, but let’s not overthink it. As it happens, one of the researchers loses her mind when a flash drive goes missing, and she makes a big scene at Nitro while frantically searching for this thing that apparently will be the death of her. Oops… wrong choice of words. Anyhoo… a murder happens—on the ski slopes, of course—and all signs point to the shady doctors.
Again, I wasn’t too thrilled with the mystery in this installment, but I enjoyed the entire experience nonetheless. There’s a lot to be said for interesting characters, a romance you really want to root for, and a cozy Bavarian town that just brims with holiday charm in the wintertime. So grab yourself a hoppy winter ale—or a hot toddy—and curl up with this book for a cozy night in, away from the madness and crowds.
The gist: Told in alternating narratives (the “girl boss,” the husband, the mystery guest, the kitchen helper, the detective), this story revolves around a highfalutin, new-agey luxury resort called “The Manor.” Nestled deep in the English countryside, the resort is built on sacred ground rumored to be haunted by vengeful birds. The townsfolk hate it, yet they’re too busy enjoying the sweet life filled with lavish food and complicated cocktails (all gluten and tannin-free, of course). There’s a lot of bad blood between the Manor’s “girl boss” owner (think Gwyneth Paltrow meets Cruella De Vil) and a mysterious ghost from her past. Things escalate VERY QUICKLY, and I’m here to watch it all come crashing down!
The Plot: When I read the dust cover, I was sold. Lucy Foley had me at “haunted resort.” This was a fun ride with all my favorite elements: spooky lore, haunted woods, a super evil villain and vengeance–YES! With the multiple narratives and occasional time-skipping chapters, the book kept me glued to the pages, making me question everything about everyone! No one–not even the husband–is off the suspect list because the resort owner, Francesca, is EVIL AF! We soon learn that a dead body washed shore below the seaside cliffs, but the author doesn’t reveal the name until the very end. Way to dangle that carrot, Miss Foley! I had so many question marks, but thankfully, everything was answered at the end. And let me tell you, it was such a satisfying conclusion!
The atmosphere: There’s a reason why I’m always down to read a Lucy Foley book. She delivers on the atmosphere and weaves in elements of foreboding that give me the chills in the best possible ways. I felt like I was right there at the exclusive retreat surrounded by spooky trees and flocks of birds soaring through the dark clouds. I loved the creepy feeling of tree branches brushing against the windows in the guest cabin, where a mysterious guest had good reason to be afraid. Oh, how this would make such a fantastic movie. Why can’t Hollywood take a break from all the unoriginal superhero movies and turn these books into blockbuster hits?
Overall: If you are a fan of suspense and don’t mind the multiple narrator/time-kipping format, I highly recommend this one. This $30 hardback was worth every penny!
Reading slumps are never fun. 😦 That’s why I’m starting this off with some good news! I have added a new editorial assistant to my staff. Meet Princess Belle! She comes to the Bubble Bubble Books and Trouble Publishing House by way of Pflugerville Pets Alive. Adopt, don’t shop, folks!
Now for the bad news…it’s been a year of DNFs and one-star books. There’s been a few stellar reads sprinkled in the mix, which I’ll get into in a later post, but for now I must bring you my biggest flops of 2024 thus far.
The Stroke of Winter by Wendy Webb
I read this all the way through because Wendy Webb’s characters are always interesting, and her atmospheric descriptions of Wharton, Minnesota transport me to such a lovely place. I’ve been to Duluth (Wharton’s neighboring town) a couple of times to run the Grandma’s marathon (well, half marathon for me since I’m only half crazy…har har har), and I just fell in love with the idea of living in such a beautiful, yet sometimes spooky town right on Lake Superior. Anyhoo, I enjoyed the escape, but the story left much to be desired.
The mystery of the haunted artist studio took a backseat (we’re talking waaaaay in the back of a bus) to the romance between Tess and her new boyfriend. Apparently, he can do a little bit of everything, including assisting the resident ghost hunters next door. How convenient! So yeah, this is a sloooooooow, meandering read, yet I didn’t hate it. I did. However, the big reveal was vastly underwhelming. It was tacked on at the very end of the book in an info dump. Clearly, Miss Webb had a deadline and needed to hastily wrap things up!
If you’re looking for a gothic ghost story with a twist, give this a pass. But this might be a good read for someone who needs an escape to a quaint, wintery town full of kindly neighbors, good food and ice skating parks!
The House on Royal Street by Karen White
Karen White has quite the following for her “Tradd Street” series and hundreds (maybe thousands?) of glowing reviews. Clearly, she appeals to many readers who enjoy her meandering writing style. Me? Not so much.
Yeesh…this was bad, guys. I mean, where do I begin? We’re dealing with a cast of white-bread characters; the only people of color are construction workers who are nicknamed “the two stooges.” I don’t know if I’m being overly sensitive here, but that left a bad taste in my mouth. The ghostly mystery plot goes on all thesase meandering twists and turns that have nothing to do with the cold case mystery that needs solving to send the ghosts to the beeamign white light! Somebody, please call the Ghost Whisperer already!
And then there’s the antiquated “Southern Belle” attitude that harkens back to the bygone era when women were trained to sit up straight and act like “ladies.” A plucky, feisty Southern Belle side character keeps dropping patriarchal bits of wisdom like, “women should wear clothes tight enough to show off their figures, but not tight enough to no longer look like a lady.” And then there’s the main character…sigh.
Nola, has a lot going on. She’s an architectural engineer, a home renovator, a recovering alcoholic, a lover of spreadsheets, and a vegan living in the Big Easy—land of sausage jambalaya and crawfish boils. Readers will continuously be reminded of her vegan diet because she’s constantly picking food out of her plate, ordering tofu or avoiding eating altogether. I fully support veganism, but do her dietary restrictions need to be drilled into our heads in every chapter?
The author also wants to make it very clear that Nola is thin, beautiful and the object of desire for every man who crosses her path. I don’t have much to say about the haunted historic cottage because there’s not much to that cold case mystery. But I will say that this series is a one-and-done for me. Nola really got under my skin, especially when she micromanaged her contractors on her stupid spreadsheet by scheduling potty breaks. No wonder she couldn’t keep anyone on staff. Woof.
All Hollows by Christopher Golden
This was my second ho-hum Christopher Golden horror novel, and sadly it is my last. The man comes up with some great concepts but can’t deliver a good, campy horror story. This one checks all the boxes: Halloweenie book cover with a glowing jack-o-lantern: check! Halloween night slash-and-stalk horrors: check! Good old-fashioned 1980s trick-or-treating vibes: check! But yet, nothing about this book worked.
Here’s what went wrong: The book is 80% domestic drama (cheating spouses, money troubles, teenage crushes, etc.). Adding to the ick-factor is some pedophilia. Yuck. I could’ve done without that bit of grossness.
The characters weren’t very likeable or relatable, probably because there are too many narrators. I just couldn’t root for any of them, so it wasn’t a big deal when the “Cunning Man” and the evil costumed ghost children started knocking them off. If you’re looking for something spooky for Halloween, pick up a classic like “Something Wicked This Way Comes” or “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow.”
The Haunting by Natasha Preston
WTH? I thought this would be a slam dunk five-star read because “The Lake” was such a fun thriller, and surely I found a new favorite YA horror author. Nope! I’m failing to understand why this is titled “The Haunting.” Someone—anyone—please explain! There are no ghosts or paranormal happenings, just a gaggle of teenagers running around from one place to the next with a masked killer on the loose.
This is “Scream,” but without the snappy dialogue and interesting characters. With all the frenetic scenes of car crashes and fires, I’m still bored. The main character constantly gets scolded by her sort-of boyfriend for not eating. Why is this a constant thing throughout the book? We get it; she’s not good at self-care and throws herself in danger with reckless abandon. I wish I cared for her welfare, but nope.
I enjoyed a few atmospheric Halloweenie scenes, like being stalked by a killer in a haunted forest, but those thrills were few and far between. If you’re looking for a ghost story, this isn’t it. Don’t be fooled by that title!
Lying in the Deep by Diana Urban
I must confess, I had to DNF this at the 40% mark, so I have no idea how it all ended. There could very well be a very meticulously plotted twist, but I just couldn’t waste any more of my time on this turkey. I’m a good three hours into this audiobook, and nothing important is happening on this dang cruise ship. It’s just middle school-level drama with a lot of “he said, she said” drivel. Jade, the MC, is stuck on a “semester abroad” cruise ship with her cheating BFF and BF. Oh boo hoo, how horrible it must be to explore Western Europe on a luxury liner while getting academic credit.
Anyhoo, she has been mysteriously shunned by the two lovebirds, and throughout the cruise, they all cast each other dirty looks. Jade is confused as to why they hate her with a burning passion. Clearly, she did something terrible, and maybe we’ve got ourselves an unreliable narrator. Who knows? I guess they couldn’t stand her incessant whining. There’s an equally annoying cast of secondary characters who all have their own little gimmicks. One is trying to be a YouTube star (insert eye-roll emoji here), another is a glamorous, wealthy influencer, and then you’ve got the brooding bad boy with mysterious secrets.
They’re all supposed to be in college, but they seemed very middle-grade to me. I guess I’ll never know who killed Jade’s former bestie and why, but that’s cool. There are plenty of whodunnits on my TBR that might actually follow a cohesive plot! So there you have it! If you’re looking for a good YA mystery on the high seas, skip this and try “Death Sets Sail” by Robin Stevens.
My friends always laugh at me for being the only Murder She Wrote fanatic without blue hair and a walker. What they don’t realize is that J.B. Fletcher is a hip, hip lady, who exemplifies the meaning of Girl Power! Not only is she a snazzy dresser (love the khaki trench coat!), but she is also a brazen, balls-to-the-wall crime fighter who puts local law enforcement to shame. That’s what I love about amateur women detectives! And that’s why I had such a great time accompanying Esbeth Walters – a Texified Mrs. Marple – on her quest to help her pal “Boose” find the con artists who cheated his elderly mother out of $64,000.
A retired school teacher and full-time sleuth, Esbeth is the kind of woman that good ol’ Texas boys would call a ‘pistol.’ Much like my girl J.B. Fletcher, the sleuthing senior gets nothing but eye rolls and condescending remarks from local law enforcement. But that doesn’t stop her from taking on a new case when a friend in need comes knocking on her door. When Boose – an endearingly cantankerous rough-n-tough Texan – asked her to find the tricksters who stole his mother’s rest-home fund, she reluctantly answers the call of duty. After snooping around the local nursing home – run by a shifty director and an imposing nurse with about as much warmth as a prison guard – Esbeth discovers Boose’s mom wasn’t the only resident who was bamboozled by money-grubbing grifters. She soon stumbles upon another mystery when a damsel in distress enlists her help in proving her husband’s bizarre car accident was not a suicide. With the help of her elderly sidekick, Gardner Burke (who, if this ever became a movie, could be played by Clint Eastwood), Esbeth unearths (literally) connections between the two mysteries and discovers her cozy Hill Country hamlet is a hotbed for swindlers and cold-blooded murderers.
I’m not sure what disturbed me the most about this mystery, the two ruthless hit men who like their weapons a little too much, or Esbeth’s foreboding dread of living her last remaining years in a grim rest home that reeks of Lysol and death. This book definitely left me feeling a little uneasy in many ways. But that’s not to say I didn’t have a heck of a good time reading it!
This read is perfect to snuggle up to with a steaming mug of chai tea – my fave! With the nights getting darker and colder, what better than a good murder mystery with a good dollop of Texas grit thrown in too! Thanks Russ, for creating another fun and feisty female detective series. Keep em’ coming!
Do you have a favorite amatuer sleuth? If so, who?
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