Category Archives: mystery

Murder on the Toy Town Express – Barbara Early

Posted on April 6, 2018 by stewartry

I think I start every review of a cozy mystery pretty much along the same lines: they’re either horrendous or wonderful, with very little in between. I’ve even started developing a list of Cozy Cardinal Sins and tropes. Such as … Continue reading →

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Perish from the Earth

Posted on April 5, 2018 by stewartry

I keep saying how uncomfortable I am with real people being used as characters in novels … but I keep reading novels in which real people are used as characters. I’m a masochist, I guess? But in this case I … Continue reading →

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Plum Tea Crazy – Laura Childs

Posted on April 4, 2018 by stewartry

In a book I read recently, someone’s “rules for writing and life” are cited – one of which was “don’t use more than two similes per page”. Laura Childs probably doesn’t actually exceed that … but her writing made me … Continue reading →

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The Art of Vanishing – Cynthia Kuhn

Posted on March 26, 2018 by stewartry

I’m a little surprised I requested this book from Netgalley. That cover looks an awful lot like the style used on so many not-to-my-taste cozy mysteries – I really don’t like that style. It might have been the “Academic Mystery” … Continue reading →

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Mrs. Jeffries and the Three Wise Women – Emily Brightwell

Posted on March 25, 2018 by stewartry

I know that I came across a description of this series a while back, and I found it – the idea of a detective’s housekeeper doing the lion’s share of the work to help him achieve arrests – off-putting. Perhaps … Continue reading →

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Rhyming Rings – David Gemmell

Posted on March 23, 2018 by stewartry

When I saw “David Gemmell” on Netgalley, I mashed the “request” button very quickly. Before I really registered that this was a completely unfamiliar title, and certainly before I read the book description, I assumed this was a reissue of … Continue reading →

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An Echo of Murder – Anne Perry

Posted on March 21, 2018 by stewartry

I want to say that I’ve been a fan of Anne Perry’s books for decades … but I think it’s more that I’ve been a reader of her books for that long. I’ve always liked reading them – but I … Continue reading →

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Death Shall Come – Simon R. Green

Posted on March 20, 2018 by stewartry

Quite a while ago I had read the first book of the author’s other series, enjoyed it very much, and somehow never got back into his work. When I saw his name pop up on Netgalley, it seemed like a … Continue reading →

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Death by Vanilla Latte –– Alex Erickson

Posted on March 19, 2018 by stewartry

Here it is again – the sign of something I think is either a really good or a really bad book: I made 140 highlights and comments on this book. Hint: I didn’t love it. There were so many cozy … Continue reading →

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Bloodstains with Bronte – Katherine Bolger Hyde

Posted on March 1, 2018 by stewartry

When I decided to read this, I seemed to have been doing better with Netgalley books. I hadn’t read a real failure in some time. No one- or two-star books in months. Oh well – it couldn’t last. Now, this … Continue reading →

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