Murder Has a Motive by Francis Duncan

Murder Has a Motive by Francis Duncan ISBN-13: 9781492651734 Paperback: 384 pages Publisher: Sourcebooks Landmark Released: Jan. 1, 2018

Source: ebook review copy from the publisher through NetGalley.

Book Description, Modified from NetGalley:
When Mordecai Tremaine emerges from the train station, murder is the last thing on his mind. But he has never been able to resist anything in the nature of a mystery—and a mystery is precisely what awaits him in the village of Dalmering.

A woman involved in a local amateur dramatic production--Murder Has a Motive--is found murdered much like a character in the play. Mordecai's reputation in the field of crime-solving precedes him. It is up to Mordecai to derail the killer’s performance…before the curtain closes on another victim.


My Review:
Murder Has a Motive is a mystery novel that was originally published in 1947 and is set in England. The real murders mimic the murders in a play that the locals are putting on. The play suggests whodunit, but the detective feels that the similarities are misleading.

The amateur detective, Mordecai, snooped around and collected clues. While it was a clue-based mystery, Mordecai seemed most taken by the atmosphere of evil that he felt about the place. While I did correctly guess whodunit and why early on, I was never sure that the author wasn't suddenly going to go in another direction as several possibilities were left open.

There were quite a few suspects to keep track of, and some were so bland that it was hard to remember who they were. However, the more important characters did have more distinct personalities. At the end, Mordecai hopes to end the killing spree by getting everyone together and pretending to know what he was only guessing. There was no sex. There was a minor amount of bad language. Overall, I'd recommend this interesting mystery.


If you've read this book, what do you think about it? I'd be honored if you wrote your own opinion of the book in the comments.


Excerpt: Read an excerpt using Google Preview.

Shattered Lullaby by Laura Scott

Shattered Lullaby by Laura Scott ISBN-13: 9781335490100 Mass Market Paperback: 304 pages Publisher: Love Inspired Suspense Released: Jan. 2, 2018

Source: ebook review copy from the publisher through NetGalley.

Book Description:
Lacy calls 911 when she overhears her sister arguing with a man. But when she hears gunshots, she's afraid that the shooter is coming for her sister's baby. She grabs him and runs. She quickly discovers that there's an Amber Alert out stating that she kidnapped her nephew. She can't trust the police because her sister's husband is an officer and was probably the one who put out the Amber Alert against her.

Matthew comes across someone shooting at a woman with a baby. After his K9 partner chases the man away, he realizes the woman is the one that the police are looking for. After hearing her story, he decides to help her. But how can they prove her innocence while on the run for their lives?


My Review:
Shattered Lullaby is a Christian romantic suspense novel. It's the fourth in a series, but you can understand this book without reading the previous ones.

The heroine was sleeping at her sister's house, helping watch the baby while her sister filed for divorce, when an argument and gunshots wake her. She calls 911, grabs her nephew, and flees the scene. But her brother-in-law is a police officer, and apparently he's put out an Amber Alert on her after killing her sister. Afraid of the police not listening to her and not having positive experiences with men in general, she's reluctant to accept help from the K-9 officer who soon saves her from gunfire when leaving a convenience store. Together, they figure out why the bad guys are after her while dodging bullets.

I liked the hero and heroine, and they were a good team. I can see why they fall in love. The suspense came from the bad guys frequently attacking the heroine and the main characters not knowing who to trust. The hero teaches the heroine to pray when in danger and trust God for protection. They both learn to care for each other (and the baby) as they care for the baby and work together to solve the case. She almost accidentally managed to find critical clues as to who the bad guys were while at the same time some of her assumptions initially led them off the right track.

There was no sex or bad language. Overall, I'd recommend this suspenseful novel.


If you've read this book, what do you think about it? I'd be honored if you wrote your own opinion of the book in the comments.


Excerpt: Read an excerpt using Google Preview.

In the Shadow of Agatha Christie by Leslie S. Klinger, editor

In the Shadow of Agatha Christie edited by Leslie S. Klinger ISBN-13: 9781681776309 Hardcover: 356 pages Publisher: Pegasus Books Released: Jan. 2, 2018

Source: ebook review copy from the publisher through NetGalley.

Book Description, Modified from NetGalley:
Agatha Christie burst onto the literary scene in 1920, with The Mysterious Affair at Styles; her last novel was published in 1976, a career longer than even Conan Doyle’s forty-year span. The truth is that it was due to the success of writers like Anna Katherine Green in America; L. T. Meade, C. L. Pirkis, the Baroness Orczy, and Elizabeth Corbett in England; and Mary Fortune in Australia that the doors were finally opened for women crime-writers. Authors who followed them, such as Patricia Wentworth, Dorothy Sayers, and, of course, Agatha Christie would not have thrived without the bold, fearless work of their predecessors—and the genre would be much poorer for their absence.

So while Agatha Christie may still reign supreme, it is important to remember that she did not ascend that throne except on the shoulders of the women who came before her—and inspired her—and who are now removed from her shadow once and for all by this superb new anthology by Leslie S. Klinger. Featuring: Mary Fortune, Harriet Prescott Spofford, Ellen Wood, Elizabeth Corbett, C. L. Pirkis, Geraldine Bonner, Ellen Glasgow, L. T. Meade, Baroness Orczy, Augusta Großer, M. E. Graddon, Anna Katherine Green, Carolyn Wells, Susan Glashell.


My Review:
In the Shadow of Agatha Christie is a collection of 16 short story mysteries that were originally published between 1850 and 1917. They were set in France, England, Australia, Austria, and America. Some of the stories were a person talking about a crime after it was solved, so it's more a "crime story" than a "mystery." The stories that followed someone as they solved a mystery were usually pretty straight-forward and involved few clues. Short stories can't be very complex, but some of the authors relied upon the clever crime to hold the reader's interest whereas others developed the main characters as well. I enjoyed about 2/3rds of the stories and thought "Jury of Her Peers" was the best of the collection. There was no sex. There was a very minor amount of bad language.

"The Advocate's Wedding Day" by Catherine Crowe (originally published 1850, set late 1790s)
"The Squire's Story" by Elizabeth Cleghorn Gaskell (pub. 1853, set 1769-1775)
"Traces of Crime" by Mary Fortune (pub. 1865)
"Mr Furbush" by Harriet Prescott Spofford (pub. 1865)
"Mrs. Todhetley's Earrings" by Ellen Wood (pub. 1873)
"Catching a Burglar" by Elizabeth Corbett (pub. 1893)
"The Ghost of Fountain Lane" by C. L. Pirkis (pub. 1893)
"The Statement of Jared Johnson" by Geraldine Bonner (pub. 1899)
"Point in Morals" by Ellen Glasgow (pub. 1899)
"The Blood-Red Cross" by L. T. Meade and Robert Eustace (pub. 1902, set Nov. 1899)
"The Regent's Park Murder" by Baroness Orczy (pub. 1901)
"The Case of the Registered Letter" by Augusta Groner (pub. 1910)
"The Winning Sequence" by M.E. Braddon (pub. 1896)
"Missing: Page Thirteen" by Anna Katherine Green (pub. 1915)
"The Adventures of the Clothes-Line" by Carolyn Wells (pub. 1903)
"Jury of Her Peers" by Susan Glashell (pub. 1917)


If you've read this book, what do you think about it? I'd be honored if you wrote your own opinion of the book in the comments.


Excerpt: Read an excerpt using Google Preview.

Avalanche! by Terry Lynn Johnson

Avalanche! by Terry Lynn Johnson, Illustrated by Jani Orban ISBN-13: 9780544970397 Hardback: 112 pages Publisher: HMH Books for Young Readers Released: Jan. 2, 2018

Source: ARC Review copy from the publisher through Amazon Vine.

Book Description, Modified from Goodreads:
A high-stakes adventure series perfect for fans of the I Survived series and Hatchet. Twelve-year-old twins Ashley and Ryan are skiing with their parents in Wyoming's Grand Teton Mountains where there is a ground-shaking rumble. Unstable snow rushes downhill and buries them in icy white. It will take all of their knowledge and grit to survive. With seventeen years of hands-on experience and training in remote areas, survival expert Terry Lynn Johnson (Ice Dogs; Sled Dog School) creates on-the-edge-of-your-seat storytelling featuring the real skills that kids need to survive a disaster. This page-turner with illustrations includes survival tips from the National Avalanche Center and U.S. Forest Service. You could have a better chance of surviving a real-life avalanche after reading this book!


My Review:
Avalanche! is an adventure story for children ages 7-10. The story follows the 12-year-old heroine and her twin brother on a day when they're caught in an avalanche when out skiing by themselves. The author included real information about how to avoid or survive an avalanche, working it into the story as things the heroine remembers from a survival course they took. The heroine shows great courage while getting her injured brother to help even though she's injured and they face scary situations. I'd recommend this interesting, quick read.

There was no sex or bad language.


If you've read this book, what do you think about it? I'd be honored if you wrote your own opinion of the book in the comments.

Paving the New Road by Sulari Gentill

Paving the New Road by Sulari Gentill ISBN-13: 9781464206917 Paperback Publisher: Poisoned Pen Press Released: Jan. 2, 2018

Source: ebook review copy from the publisher through NetGalley.

Book Description, Modified from NetGalley:
It's 1933. Rowland Sinclair is the bohemian younger son of the wealthy, influential, conservative clan headed by his powerful brother, Wilfred.

New Guard leader Eric Campbell is traveling to Germany to meet members of the Reichstag and, he hopes, Hitler. Old enemies have united to undermine Campbell's ambitions. The Old Guard has a man serving as Campbell's interpreter, but he needs backup since their man in Munich, Peter Bothwell, has been killed. Rowly's mission is to derail Campbell and, while at it, investigate Bothwell's death. Rowley's unconventional housemates, the poet (Jewish), the painter (Communist), and the sculptress (unpredictable), insist on coming along to watch his back. It's not your expected spy ring.

Their cover, aside from false passports, is buying art - at the Old Guard's expense. In Munich the friends pursue their joint missions while growing increasingly horrified at the goose-stepping euphoria, cruel acts, and book burnings of the rising Nazi movement. Yet they meet decent Germans like the tailor Alois Richter who's pursuing contracts for Nazi uniforms against rival Hugo Boss, and brave Albert Göring, Hermann's younger brother. And two besotted women: Unity Mitford, who stakes out the Osteria Bavaria every day at eleven a.m. intent on meeting her idol Hitler; and a photographer called Eva Braun, a rather ordinary young woman who's besotted with a man she calls Mr. Wolf.


My Review:
Paving the New Road is a historical suspense novel set in the spring of 1933 in Australia and Germany. This is the fourth book in the series. You don't need to read the previous books to understand this one, but this story did spoil some suspenseful events in the previous stories.

As Hitler rises in power in Germany, Australia has its own threat in Eric Campbell. He's in Germany trying to get support and ideas from the Nazis, and one of the Australian spies sent to disrupt Campbell's plans turns up dead. Rowly agrees to take the spy's place, and his quirky friends insist on going with him. But first they have to survive the airplane trip to get there! Once there, they work together to disrupt Campbell's plans, look into the suspicious death, pretend to be art dealers buying modern art, and run into famous people. The suspense came from the danger of torture and death from the Nazis (and others), but there was also a "we might as well have fun while we do it" humor to it all.

There was some bad language (if you're American) to a fair amount of bad language (if you count British/Australia bad words). There were no sex scenes. Overall, I'd recommend this interesting and exciting novel.


If you've read this book, what do you think about it? I'd be honored if you wrote your own opinion of the book in the comments.


Excerpt: Read an excerpt using Google Preview.

Honey-Baked Homicide by Gayle Leeson

Honey-Baked Homicide by Gayle Leeson ISBN-13: 9781101990827 Mass Market Paperback: 288 pages Publisher: Berkley Prime Crime Released: Dec. 5, 2017

Source: Review copy from the publisher.

Book Description, Modified from Goodreads:
It's fall in Winter Garden, Virginia, and business at Amy Flowers' Down South Cafe has never been better. So when struggling beekeeper Stuart Landon asks Amy to sell some of his honey, she's happy to help. The jars of honey are a sweet success, but their partnership is cut short when Amy discovers Landon's body outside the cafe early one morning. As Amy tries to figure out who could possibly have wanted to harm the unassuming beekeeper, some of the suspects start harassing her. She'll have to use all of her skills--and her Southern charm--to find her way out of this sticky situation.


My Review:
Honey-Baked Homicide is a cozy mystery. This is the third book in the series. You don't need to read the previous books to understand this one, and this one didn't spoil the whodunit of the previous mysteries.

Amy's a nice gal who asked questions and passed information on to her detective boyfriend. The mystery was clue-based. Suspense was added by a couple of young men harassing Amy because one of them got in trouble for reckless driving around her. It wasn't hard to guess the motive, which narrowed down whodunit. I wasn't certain who the actual murderer was until the confession, though.

There was one use of bad language. There were no sex scenes. Overall, I'd recommend this enjoyable mystery.


If you've read this book, what do you think about it? I'd be honored if you wrote your own opinion of the book in the comments.


Excerpt: Read an excerpt using Google Preview.

Comic Sans Murder by Paige Shelton

Comic Sans Murder by Paige Shelton ISBN-13: 9780425277270 Mass Market Paperback: 304 pages Publisher: Berkley Prime Crime Released: Dec. 5, 2017

Source: Review copy from the publisher.

Book Description, Modified from Goodreads:
As the owners of The Rescued Word, Clare Henry and her grandfather Chester specialize in restoring old typewriters and repairing beloved books. They've invited world-famous horror author Nathan Grimes to their shop to use their equipment for his next book. But all plans to work on the book take a step in the wrong direction when a tourist discovers an abandoned ski boot on the slopes--and the only sign of the owner is the dismembered foot he left inside! Then the body of Clare's high school friend Lloyd Gavin is discovered sans one foot.

When all toes point to a small, invitation-only class reunion gone wrong, Clare and her best friend, police officer Jodie Wentworth, hurry to track down the killer before more former classmates become Most Likely to Be Killed.


My Review:
Comic Sans Murder is a cozy mystery. This is the third book in the series. You don't need to read the previous books to understand this one, and this one didn't spoil the whodunit of the previous mysteries.

The mystery was clue-based. A critical clue was known by Clare before the big reveal, but the reader is left in the dark about what it is. Still, I was fairly certain of whodunit even before then, so whodunit is guessable. Clare illegally entered a building twice because she was too impatient to wait for her detective friend's help, but she was generally content to ask questions and tag along when Jodie (the detective) questioned people. The antics of the horror novelist filled out the "everyday" part of the story.

There was a minor amount of bad language. There were no sex scenes. Overall, I'd recommend this enjoyable mystery.


If you've read this book, what do you think about it? I'd be honored if you wrote your own opinion of the book in the comments.


Excerpt: Read an excerpt using Google Preview.