Miss Kopp Just Won’t Quit (Kopp Sisters, #4)

Miss Kopp Just Won't Quit
by Amy Stewart
Rating: ★★★★
Series: Kopp Sisters #4
Publication Date: September 11, 2018
Pages: 309
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

While transporting a woman to an insane asylum, Deputy Kopp discovers something deeply troubling about her story. Before she can investigate, another inmate breaks free and tries to escape.

In both cases, Constance runs instinctively toward justice. But 1916 is a high-stakes US election year, and any move she makes could jeopardize Sheriff Heath’s future — and her own. Constance’s controversial career makes her the target of political attacks.

I always enjoy these books; they’re soothing reads in many ways, as Stewart doesn’t try to over dramatise or create more suspense than history dictates. (This series is based on the real events and life of Constance Kopp.) This 4th instalment surrounds the election for Sheriff, a pivotal point for Constance, because the sitting sheriff – the one that was bold enough to hire a woman – has hit his term limit and can run.

It’s a bittersweet story with an interesting ending. I look forward to finding out how the Kopp sisters fare.

Content copied from: http://jenn.booklikes.com/post/2800337/miss-kopp-just-won-t-quit-kopp-sisters-4.

Why Shoot a Butler?

Why Shoot a Butler?
by Georgette Heyer
Rating: ★★★½
isbn: 0434328499
Publication Date: August 11, 1979
Pages: 262
Genre: Mystery
Publisher: Heinemann : London

Every family has secrets, but now they are turning deadly...

On a dark night, along a lonely country road, barrister Frank Amberley stops to help a young lady in distress and discovers a sports car with a corpse behind the wheel. The girl protests her innocence and Amberley believes her--at least until he gets drawn into the mystery and the evidence incriminating Shirley Brown begins to add up.

Why Shoot a Butler? is an English country-house murder with a twist. In this beloved classic by Georgette Heyer, the butler is the victim, every clue complicates the puzzle, and the bumbling police are well-meaning but completely baffled. Fortunately, amateur sleuth Amberley is as brilliant as he is arrogant as he ferrets out the desperate killer--even though this time he's not sure he wants toknow the truth...

An accidental re-read, but an enjoyable one. As I started reading it, I remembered my frustration the first time around with the slow, purposefully vague start, but once into it, I enjoyed the banter and the mystery again – and had no recollection as to whodunnit.

Content retrieved from: http://jenn.booklikes.com/post/2634313/why-shoot-a-butler.

Amethyst Dreams

Amethyst Dreams
by Phyllis A. Whitney
Rating: ★★★
Publication Date: July 11, 1997
Pages: 276
Genre: Fiction
Publisher: Crown Publishers

For several years, time and circumstance have managed to separate Hallie Knight and her old friend Susan Trench, but when Susan disappears from her grandfather's seaside home on historic Topsail Island, it is Hallie whom Nicholas Trench calls for help.

When Hallie arrives from California, she finds the old man surrounded by an odd collection of friends and relatives, all of whom seem to know a little more than they're willing to tell about Susan Trench and her last days on Topsail. Underlying Hallie's anxiety about Susan as well as her growing concern for Nicholas Trench is the personal problem of her estrangement from a husband she loves. Threads intertwine and questions build to the pitch of what may be a fearful answer.

Like a lot of other authors who write romantic suspense, Whitney was very hit and miss. Most of the misses I’ve read are the ones she wrote in her later years, and this isn’t an exception. The woman could still write well – her island setting came alive – but the plot was soft and sentimental, and the resolution was not a resolution at all. In fact it was completely unrealistic, unless the poor dead woman meant less than nothing to her family.

Content retrieved from: http://jenn.booklikes.com/post/2634250/amethyst-dreams.

Cotillion

Cotillion
by Georgette Heyer
Rating: ★★★
Publication Date: January 1, 1952
Pages: 345
Genre: Fiction, Historical
Publisher: Heinemann

I was in the mood for a light read and while I was perusing my TBR piles, boxes, and shelves, I came across this and remembered that Lillelara had recently read it and enjoyed it.

I definitely enjoyed The Grand Sophy better, but this one got me through without complaint. I struggled to really feel invested in the story or any of the characters though; it seemed to missing just that little bit of depth – or else my reading slump had dulled my reading sense, rendering everything a bit duller. Given Heyer’s hit and miss record, either is possible. Or perhaps a bit of both: the final scene at Rattray’s rectory perked me right up; in that moment, the characters popped to life for me and I cared about what happened next.

I haven’t read even close to Heyer’s entire backlist, but I’d firmly place this midway on a scale of those I’ve read so far.

Anne of Green Gables

Anne of Green Gables
by L.M. Montgomery
Rating: ★★★½
isbn: 99582643
Series: Anne of Green Gables #1
Publication Date: September 1, 2013
Pages: 468
Genre: Children's Fiction

Yes, this is my first time reading it. I was book shopping back in January with my 9 year old niece and she was pressuring me to read Little Women, which isn’t going to happen, and in a panic, I volunteered to read Anne of Green Gables instead.

Keeping in mind that I’m 40 years beyond the target audience for this book, omg, it’s so twee. 468 pages and about 368 of them so twee and precious I almost gave up and dnf’d it. Suffice it to say, I identified most strongly with Marilla. But if I skimmed the gratuitous expository narrative, there was a charming story that kept me going (after a 3 month hiatus). And as Anne grew up, the story got progressively easier to read. That part of the story earned it the extra half star.

The reasons this book is a classic are clear, though I’m confident I wouldn’t have been much more enamoured of this book when I was in its target audience; even as a child I lacked the requisite imagination to feel like Anne was a kindred spirit, and Heidi pretty much killed the orphan sub-genre for me anyway. But I have one niece for whom this book might be a perfect fit, and I’ll be holding in on my shelf for her next visit, assuming that happens before she’s old enough to drive, given current border closures. Or maybe I’ll just send it to her in the post.

Love and Death Among the Cheetahs (Royal Spyness, #13)

Love and Death Among the Cheetahs
by Rhys Bowen
Rating: ★★★★
Series: Royal Spyness #13
Publication Date: August 6, 2019
Pages: 304
Publisher: Berkley

The author starts this instalment with an apology in advance; the book is set in Africa – Kenya – during the late 20’s/early 30’s, a time when race relations and the views of the British Empire (as were the rest of the world) were shameful.

This had me braced for difficult reading, but I have to say, that was not the disclaimer I needed. In true cozy style, Bowen acknowledged the dichotomy and inequality between white and black without really verbalising it. What caught me unawares (and shouldn’t have; I can only wonder if the pre-apology diverted me), was the casual references to hunting big game. Of course it was a thing back then, and of course I should have seen it coming.

The other unexpected part of the story was the behaviour of the upper class in Kenya; a risqué path for a cozy, but done well by the author, and based on actual events and a real person: Lady Idina Sackville. Bowen closes with a short bibliography of texts she used in an effort to write about the times accurately.

All in all, another enjoyable instalment in a long-running series that has remained fairly strong throughout, balancing cheeky naiveté and interesting murder plots.

A Sprig of Sea Lavender

A Sprig of Sea Lavender
by J.R.L. Anderson
Rating: ★★★
isbn: 312753772
Publication Date: January 1, 1978
Pages: 176
Genre: Mystery
Publisher: St. Martin's Press

I bought this a few years ago, when Otto Penzler was selling his collection through his bookshop, Mysterious Books. It’s a review copy of an author I’d never heard of, but the short catalog blurb made it sound interesting: mysterious death on a train, unknown works by Gainsborough, Turner and Constable found with the body, along with a sprig of – you guessed it – sea lavender.

This is a mid-century mystery, and it suffered from the usual quirks of that age: instant, yet chaste, romance, and a complete disregard of the fair-play rules of mystery plotting. As such, the reader, by the end, is presented with a fait accompli in both the romance and the mystery’s resolution, without having any idea whatsoever how the main character got there, although he does explain it all at the very end.

By today’s standards, it’s all a bit thin, naive and 2 dimensional, but I had fun with it nevertheless. It wasn’t trying to be anything other than an entertaining mystery and, while I’ve read others that are greater successes, it generally achieved its goal.

What Lola Wants (Lola Cruz, #4)

What Lola Wants
by Melissa Bourbon
Rating: ★★★
Series: Lola Cruz #
Publication Date: July 30, 2019
Pages: 244
Genre: Mystery
Publisher: Henery Press

The first three books in this series were published years ago, and, I’m guessing, got dropped from the publisher. I was disappointed at the time because I enjoyed the series, and I generally enjoyed the author’s mystery writing. Fast forward several years later, and Henery Press published this fourth instalment.

Meh. Either my tastes changed, or the author lost her groove during the hiatus. It was still an interesting plot, and I still enjoyed the characters, but a lot of her romance writing history bled through into the story and the chapters’ angst. And seriously, the editor or author need to repeat things over and over is grating on my nerves. Lola’s always wanted to be a detective; she knows jujitsu; I get it and I got it the first time it was mentioned. I’m smart that way.

Not sure this series is for me anymore.

Stick Together (Awkward Squad, #2)

Stick Together
by Sam Gordon, Sophie Hénaff
Rating: ★★★★
isbn: 9781635060157
Series: Awkward Squad #2
Publication Date: April 2, 2019
Pages: 299
Genre: Mystery
Publisher: MacLehose Press

I can’t remember how I discovered the first book in this series, The Awkward Squad, but I thoroughly enjoyed it; it felt fresh and it amused me, and I chalked up any small irritations to the translation from the French.

This second book was much the same, although there were more straight-up translation issues this time; errors that should have been caught in editing – like saying the ‘France people’ instead of the ‘French People’ in one spot. And a few things were just cultural references I didn’t understand, not being French myself. Glossing over them didn’t affect my understanding of the plot or the mystery, though undoubtedly I missed a layer of enjoyment.

The series focuses on a department of the police judiciaire, which was occasionally referred to as PJs, which made me giggle more than it should have. This department was created as a repository for all the misfits that couldn’t be fired; they were established in an old office building offsite with all the cold case files that have never been solved, and then left to fend for themselves.

I didn’t expect this to work as well as it does, but I enjoy reading about the individual misfits and how their odd contributions further the pursuit of criminals and solve cases. It’s far-fetched, sure, but it never feels silly or slapstick, somehow.

It’s not perfect, but it’s highly enjoyable, and I sincerely hope the author continues to write more in the series, and that they continue to be translated into English.

The Glass Thief (Jaya Jones Treasure Mystery, #6)

The Glass Thief
by Gigi Pandian
Rating: ★★★½
isbn: 9781635115550
Series: Jaya Jones Mystery #
Publication Date: November 1, 2019
Pages: 256
Genre: Mystery
Publisher: Henery Press

I never know what to say about these books. They’re cozy, but with an Indiana Jones/Where in the World is Carmen Santiago mash up vibe. All the mysteries in this series are rooted in off the beaten path historical fact, usually, but not always, India’s past, and always center on some type of treasure that’s been looted, or being searched for in order to be looted. It’s this that keeps me coming back to these books if I’m honest. I like the characters well enough, but I’m not as invested in them as I could be.

The Glass Thief is supposed to be an homage to Elizabeth Peters’ character Vicky Bliss, but – and admittedly it’s been over a decade since I’ve read them – I didn’t see it. The romantic relationship here is similar, but otherwise I’d have to re-read the Vicky Bliss books to see more. The plot twist was obvious from the beginning, so the ‘gasp!’ moment mid-way was less gasp! and more eye-roll. But overall it was a good story that kept me entertained, which is something of an accomplishment lately, so it deserves merit for that.