mystereity's reviews
1164 reviews

Monday Mourning This has been my favorite by far of this series. If it wasn't for the TSTL moment at the end (and really, I've come to expect nothing less) and all the mooning about Ryan, I'd probably rate it 5 stars.
 
An excellent plot in this one, three skeletons of young women found in the basement of a pizzeria, a friend who has just left her husband, Tempe's relationship with Ryan with a few red herrings, an excellent pace and a few surprises here and there.  I have to say, this one was a lot better than the last couple of the Bones books. 
 
Overall, a great book and I'm all fired up to read the next one.
 
 
 

Just...meh.   I spent most of the book wondering what the point was and why I cared enough to keep reading.  Not terrible, just boring.  I did find the parts about Wahhabism very timely given the recent Paris attacks.
 
Overall, a bit of a grind.  I've noticed a lot of this series is on-again, off-again in consistency.  This is one of the off-again books.

Hooked On Ewe The second book in the Scottish Highlands series, Hooked on Ewe was just....okay.  I really can't put my finger on exactly what it was that rubbed me the wrong way.  It just seemed....distracted, I guess.  That's the best word I can come up with.  You know when you call someone on the phone and are trying to get information from them and you can tell they're doing something else and they're not totally with you?  That's how this book felt; like the author was busy playing Candy Crush on her phone while writing this. 
 
I figured out whodunit fairly early on in the book, and despite several red herrings (or attempts at red herrings) I really never wavered on it.  There's also a potential love triangle in the works, and the more-than-a-little-implausible-plot-thread where Eden is made a Constable.  You know, because it's commonplace to deputize a foreigner into the police force.
 
Not a bad book, and I enjoyed it for the most part but a lot of little things detracted from a mediocre plot. 

The Casebook Of Forensic Detection As I said earlier, this was a fascinating book, it just felt like it took forever to read it.  And it was only 350 pages or so.
 
I liked the style of the book, a short summation of each forensic technique (time of death, fingerprints, DNA, etc) that gave a little bit of an explanation and a little history before delving into specific cases.  And a great selection of cases, from murder to forgeries to poisonings, all over the last few hundred years to show how each aspect of forensics moved the science forward.  Each case was given just a few pages to lay out the facts of the case and then another page or 2 to cover the science used and the outcome.  So each case was around 5 to 10 pages at the most. Which means there were a lot of cases, so much so that after a few, I was ready to move on to the next chapter, but unwilling to skip ahead and miss a good story. 
 
So I think that's why it felt like it took forever to finish the book.  It's not that it was dry and boring - far from it.  Just too much of a good thing, and I'm sure the author found it frustrating not to add "just one more case..."
 
Overall, riveting and fascinating read, but became overwhelming after awhile.  But if you love true crime stories and the science that goes along with solving them, then you will enjoy this book.

Pouncing On Murder I enjoy this series, it's really cute.  While a good read, it seemed a little loose.  I don't know if it's my not-in-the-mood-to-read mood I'm in or if the plot needed to be tightened up a bit but this was a hard book to stay with.  I knew I'd finish it in the end, but I just couldn't muster up much enthusiasm about it. 
 
The best thing about this book?  The MC has a TSTL moment at the end and actually admits it's a TSTL moment.  Beautiful. And I'm not being facetious, I thought that was truly awesome.  How many times have I (fruitlessly) said,  "JFC YOU ARE TOO STUPID TO LIVE!" because you know they can't hear you.  Well, I lost count, but this time, it was like being answered back.  YOU ARE TOO STUPID TO LIVE!"   "OMFG, I KNOW, RIGHT?" 
 
 
Overall, I liked it, despite my ennui.  Please don't let my lack of enthusiasm stop you from reading this book because it's actually really good.
 
 
 

I knew I'd love this book when the opening lines concerned seeing penguins on the front porch that turned out to be nuns. And so started a new mystery for The League of Literary Ladies, full of murder, betrayal, secrets and lies. I really enjoyed the intricate plot, with so many twists and turns that it was impossible to finger the real killer.

I enjoy how Bea and the other Literary League ladies have formed such a tight bond. Their squabbles always remind me of how sisters argue all the time but always have each other's back. I would like to see more of the ladies develop as time goes on. They're a little more than one dimensional but are still nothing more than wallpaper. Levi was better utilized in this book, you get a tiny bit more of a back story, but not much. I have to say, the whole Levi story line was my least favorite part of the book. It just seemed a little...melodramatic. I'd like to say that Bea's reactions were out of character but it occurred to me that I really don't know if it's out of character. The backstories really haven't been well developed. Then it occurred to me that I liked the stories the way they are and adding in a lot of backstory would just bog the books down, so, you know what? It's all good.

A fantastic read in a stand-out series, and the only disappointment was that the recipes for the really tasty dishes were not included at the end. *sigh* That super duper Special Day Hallelujah cake sounded pretty darn good.

Really loved this, it's like a blend of Neil Gaiman and James Oswald.

Fogged Inn is the fourth book in the Maine Clambake series and winter has arrived in Maine. Julia and Chris have just opened Gus's Too, transforming Gus's diner into a fine dining restaurant during the winter months. Just after they finally open the restaurant, a dead man is found in the walk in cooler and Julia is thrown into the middle of yet another mystery, this one spanning decades.

I really enjoyed this, the plot was really well done; I confess I had no idea where it was going until the end. So many twists and turns that my head was spinning! Truly, this plot of dizzying; very well crafted and kept me turning pages well into the night.

I liked that Julia, a tiny bit high and mighty because she helped the police solve 3 other murders, got a bit of a comeuppance in the story. Between that and the confrontation with Chris, I felt like Julia grew as a character. The hallmark of this series has always been the rich characters, and I enjoy that more dimension is added as the series progresses.

In that same vein, though, I don't understand this whole story line with Jaime. I don't feel it adds anything to the series. Perhaps it will at some point, but for now it's just filler.

Overall, a great addition to an already great series and one I highly recommend.

4 1/2 stars

This series would make a great drinking game; every time Scarlett's face turns flaming red, take a shot. Every time the names "Harry" and "Ginger" are used, take a shot. Every time Harrison makes Scarlett weak in the knees take a shot. Meanwhile, I guarantee you'll be passed out drunk by chapter 3.

Out of all the books I've read in this series, I like this one the best. The plot was really well done, I couldn't put the book down! While the moaning about the no-dating rule is grating on my last nerve, it really didn't feel like a big part of this book (like it was in the previous books.) The bombshell at the end was enough to make me immediately start the next in the series, though, so I will say that despite Scarlett and Viv acting like a couple of immature teenagers, I am hooked on this series.

Overall, very entertaining, engrossing and enjoyable. (I love alliteration. It fills me with joy)

In Holy Island, DCI Ryan is on temporary leave from his job as a homicide detective after a traumatic incident and holes up on an island off the north-east coast of England. A few months into his leave, an islander turns up at Ryan's cottage; she has found a young woman dead in the ruins of a priory. Not long after, 2 more people are found dead and Ryan is thrown into a dark world of ritual sacrifice, small town lies and long buried secrets.

Whew, after reading several cozy mysteries in a row, I was a little unprepared for the long slog getting through a real mystery.

Not that this book was boring in any way; the labyrinthine plot was well paced and bewildering. This was one of those books where I kinda figured early on that I probably wouldn't solve this one on my own and that I was just along for the ride.

I loved the island location, it's almost a classic mystery theme and it worked well with this story. Yeah, it made some aspects predictable, but it still fit well in the story.

This is one of those books where everyone has a tortuous back story and, if you're anything like me, you get impatient waiting for the story to stop tiptoeing around everything and spit it out. Most of the details of Ryan's past didn't come out until a good 3/4 of the way through the book. No, if you're going to set up such a detailed back story, you should really disclose it a lot sooner than it was. Ugh.

Overall, Holy Island was a solid story, and one I recommend for any British mystery lover.