Book Review: Murder at Midnight by Katharine Schellman

 

Join Lily Adler as she solves her latest mystery in Murder at Midnight by Katharine Schellman. 

The widowed Lady Adler is a guest at a neighborhood Christmas ball in Hertfordshire thrown by Mrs. Grantham. Excited to spend time with her late husband's family, she is glad to see her old friend Jack Hartley and his family in attendance. However, she is disturbed to hear that Jack's sister Amelia has been the topic of neighborhood gossip and is unwilling to explain anything about what happened. 

An intense snowstorm forces many guests to spend the night with their host, and after Lily overhears an argument, she is certain all won't be well this holiday season. When the man who is scandalously linked to Amelia is found shot to death the next morning in the poultry yard, Sir John Adler asks for Lily's help in figuring out who is responsible. 

What could be better than a mystery set during Christmas? Not much if you like Christmas and mysteries as much as I do. Murder at Midnight by Katharine Schellman is the fourth book in her Lady Adler Mystery series, but you won't feel like you missed a beat since this is a total standalone novel. 

Admittedly, this plot took a while to set up, so if you are looking for a dive right into the action novel, this won't work. However, once the murder takes place, you are fully invested alongside Lily to uncover who the culprit is. And I encourage you to stick with it, because it is worth it in the end. This is a fabulous locked room historical mystery that will keep you guessing through all the twists and turns and numerous suspects. You'll need to have a keen eye to log some of those details that will reveal the identity of the murderer and why they resorted to such extremes as murder. There is a romantic element to this story, but it plays a backseat to the mystery most of the time. 

If you enjoy historical mysteries with great attention to historical details, locked room mysteries, or stories with female sleuths, you will want to pick up Murder at Midnight. I look forward to reading past and future Lady Adler mysteries.

• ASIN ‏ : ‎ B0BQLKMDJR
• Publisher ‏ : ‎ Crooked Lane Books (September 19, 2023)
• Publication date ‏ : ‎ September 19, 2023
• Language ‏ : ‎ English
• File size ‏ : ‎ 1379 KB
• Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
• Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
• Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
• X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
• Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
• Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
• Print length ‏ : ‎ 316 pages
• Page numbers source ISBN ‏ : ‎ 1639104321

I received a digital copy of this novel from the author. This review contains my honest opinions, which I have not been compensated for in any way.

Book Review: A Final Farewell by Marilyn Meredith

 

Join retired deputy, Tempe Crabtree, as she works to solve another Bear Creek mystery in A Final Farewell by Marilyn Meredith. 

When Jerod Garfield finds a body in his pond, the buzz quickly spreads throughout Bear Creek. Though Tempe is retired from the police force, she is curious who it is and why they ended up there. That curiosity, however, might just get her killed. 

In the final book of Meredith's Tempe Crabtree series, Tempe finds herself in the middle of a mystery. Despite her husband's protests, she can't help but find out all she can about the victim's past and who might have wanted them dead, especially if it's possible one of the two handsome suitors wooing her friend, Miqui Sherwood, might be involved. 

Tempe has always depended upon her good friend, Nick Two John, to guide her as she solves mysteries, but as his health deteriorates, she wonders how long she will be graced with his friendship and counsel. 

I've been a fan of Meredith's Tempe Crabtree series since I read Judgment Fire back in 2007. With this final installment, Meredith continues to bring readers a mystery filled with twists and turns and a list of plausible suspects, while ramping up suspense along the way. The more Tempe investigates, the more determined a killer is to stop her. Meredith has made it her trademark to blend her character's personal lives and relationships into the unfolding mystery. In A Final Farewell, Tempe and her husband Hutch, along with their friends Miqui, Claudia, and Nick Two John, all face some sort of change in their lives. 

While always keeping the series fresh with new ideas and some new characters, family, faith, and mysticism has run through this series in every book I've read. I am sad to see the Tempe Crabtree series end, but I feel Meredith left her beloved characters in the right place. 

If you enjoy engaging, well-written mysteries set in a small community, then A Final Farewell and the other books in the Tempe Crabtree series are for you. 

ASIN ‏ : ‎ B0C1J7KR7K

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Independently published (April 8, 2023)

Language ‏ : ‎ English

Paperback ‏ : ‎ 227 pages

ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 979-8390638750

I received a copy of this book from the author. This review contains my honest opinions, which I have not been compensated for in any way. 

Reading Now: The Vanishing at Castle Moreau by Jaime Jo Wright

 

In 1865, orphaned Daisy Francois takes a position as housemaid at a midwestern Wisconsin castle and finds that the reclusive and eccentric Gothic authoress inside hides more than the harrowing tales in her novels. With women disappearing from the area and a legend that seems to parallel these eerie circumstances, Daisy is thrust into a web that may threaten to steal her sanity, if not her life.

In the present day, Cleo Clemmons is hired by the grandson of American aristocratic family the Tremblays to help his matriarchal grandmother face her hoarding in the dilapidated Castle Moreau. But when Cleo uncovers more than just the woman's stashes of collectibles, a century-old mystery of disappearance, insanity, and the dust of the old castle's curse threatens to rise again, and this time, leave no one alive to tell its sordid tale.

Fan-favorite Jaime Jo Wright draws readers into a seamlessly woven dual-time tale of suspense, mystery, romance, and redemption. 

For more information and links to purchase, visit Goodreads.

First Chapter Review: Murder in Devil's Cove by Melisa Bourbon

 

I won a copy of this Outer Banks murder mystery from a Goodreads giveaway.

BLURB: After twenty years, Pippin Lane Hawthorne and her twin brother, Grey, return to their birth place—the Outer Banks island of Devil’s Cove. But what was supposed to be a chance at a new life turns sinister when their father’s old fishing boat reveals a dark secret.

Now Pippin must embrace her fate as a bibliomancer and learn how to ‘read’ the books she’s always shied away from. Only then will she be able to discover the truth about what really happened to her parents and continue their efforts to break the curse that has haunted the Lane family for two thousand years.

COVER:  What an awesome cover! It speaks to the genre, plot, and setting. I like the font color for the title and author name. 

FIRST CHAPTER: Twins Pippin and Grey return to their family's Outer Banks home after two decades away. Hesitant at first, Grey agrees with his sister that they can restore their childhood home. 

KEEP READING: Let me just say: if I didn't have review book commitments, I would stop everything I am reading to continue with this book. The author knows her setting and easily blends it into the storyline as the reader dives into a riveting prologue followed by a fabulous opening chapter. It is in that prologue readers learn of the Lane curse and get insight into Pippin and Grey's mother. The first chapter opens twenty years later, with Pippin and Grey back at their childhood home. The author brings forth all the emotions a return to your childhood home would conjure up. This looks like it will be an amazing story.

• ASIN ‏ : ‎ B088J48JY8
• Publisher ‏ : ‎ Lake House Press (September 22, 2020)
• Publication date ‏ : ‎ September 22, 2020
• Language ‏ : ‎ English
• File size ‏ : ‎ 2378 KB
• Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
• Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
• Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
• X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
• Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
• Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
• Print length ‏ : ‎ 316 pages

This First Chapter Review contains my honest opinions, which I have not been compensated for in any way.

Book Review: To Catch The Setting Sun by Richard I. Levine

 

An edgy thriller set on the island of Oahu awaits you in To Catch the Setting Sun by Richard I. Levine.

Honolulu police detective Henry Benjamin is tracking a killer targeting young, native-Hawaiian women on the island of Oahu. It appears the killer is taunting Henry, who seems to have known each victim, while his aggressive style that turns up few leads, fuels rumors that he might be the killer. Having spent more than a dozen years on the job, Henry expects nothing of this faux fantasy island except deceit and deception.

Levine writes one heck of a story. Twists and turns abound in this thriller set on Oahu. The author uses his knowledge of the area to depict a fascinating setting that might be different than what you would find in a travel brochure. Having been to Hawaii, I felt Levine did a superb job with it.

Henry is a New York transplant who long ago dropped the illusions of his job in "paradise." Drawn to the investigation because his wife Maya was the first name on the killer's list, his colleagues are stumped when his investigation lacks any progress. Not all of them are Detective Benjamin fans anyway. With a smart, sassy new partner, maybe things will change. 

While I am not a huge fan of third person omniscient point of view, I didn't mind it as much in To Catch the Setting Sun. I enjoyed how journal entries opened each chapter. They are deep and personal entries that captivate the reader with their poetic style. As with any suspense thriller, one must expect some grit and gore. To Catch the Setting Sun is an overall satisfying read.

• Publisher ‏ : ‎ Wild Rose Press (August 22, 2022)
• Language ‏ : ‎ English
• Paperback ‏ : ‎ 322 pages
• ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1509243291
• ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1509243297
• Purchase here!

I received a copy of this book from the author. This review contains my honest opinions, which I have not been compensated for in any way.