leandrathetbrzero's Reviews (412)

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1. Sense and Sensibility
2. The Murder of Mr. Wickham
3. My Brilliant Friend

Emma lives a charmed life with her father at Hartfield in the English countryside near the village of Highbury. She’s intelligent, wealthy, beautiful and wants for nothing. Yet, her meddlesome matchmaking proves to get her into trouble time and again. From unwanted marriage proposals to misinterpreted turns of phrase, Emma depicts the Regency period with a brilliant humor and wit.

I paired my physical copy of Emma with a free audiobook version I had found on YouTube. And I definitely attribute the audiobook to my ability to finish this rather long Jane Austen title within a month. While I enjoyed the drama and wit within these pages, there were periodic lulls in the action that would have been more difficult for me to get through without the voice actor pushing the story forward at a nice clip. As unsurprising as the happily ever after for most characters is, Harriet’s ending seemed far too good to be true. And my thoughts are that Austen wrote it in this way so that Emma could truly enjoy her own HEA without feeling guilty about how much she screwed up her friend’s prospects.

All in all, I am glad I finally read the book that inspired Clueless. And, interestingly, this book made me take another look at my thoughts on the other Jane Austen books I have read. Currently, my rankings are thus:

Sense and Sensibility
Pride and Prejudice
Emma

But perhaps the most recent film adaptation Emma (2020) will make me reconsider my rankings once more! 

 A Dalmation Recommendation

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1. The Cheat Sheet
2. Ink (on my TBR!)
3. What’s YOUR favorite Hallmark-esque romance?

Turtle Beach has always been a one-Dalmatian town, that Dalmatian being owned by cupcake-baker Violet, the chief of police’s daughter. This changes when a new fire marshal, Sam, is hired and his trusty partner happens to be his Dalmatian. A rivalry ensues between Violet and Sam not only over who has the best Dalmatian in Turtle Beach but also over the annual Guns and Hoses softball tournament between the TBPD and the TBFD. Grumpy-sunshine meets enemies-to-lovers in this Hallmark-esque small town romance!

Life has been quite hectic and busy lately so, as I’ve been mood-reading for August, I wanted my next read to be wholesome and light-hearted and uncomplicated. A Spot of Trouble is exactly that! While I was definitely rooting for Violet and Sam the entire time, their adorable pups stole the show for me. Moreso, this book is filled with such phrases as a “Dalmatian altercation” and “Dalmatian distraction.” I could tell that Wilson had as much fun writing the story as I did as a reader.

It’s important upon starting this romance that there are lots of convenient coincidences and mayhem that goes beyond the bounds of reality. These characters also seem to fall in love in a matter of weeks which is a trope/tendency in romance narratives where I draw the line. With that said, this is a cute story and the perfect light-hearted distraction when your own life gets crazy. Definitely a Dalmatian recommendation. 

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The Christmas Murder Game involves a brutal family reunion. Cousins lie and scheme to give themselves an upper hand as they compete for the deed of Endgame House. Meanwhile, Lily wants to uncover the truth about her mother’s supposed suicide decades before. And her deceased Aunt Liliana has promised her the answers can be found only if she plays the game. 

I was quite intrigued by the premise of this novel. Estate settings involving murder and deceit are a favorite of mine. I thoroughly enjoyed the snowy atmosphere and sprawling Endgame House, and it was fun to watch the clues be analyzed and solved.

I had a difficult time pinning down this mystery’s tone and subgenre. Certain elements were reminiscent of Golden Age detective fiction and then a comment about Netflix would remind me abruptly that we were in modern times. Benedict also includes thriller/horror aspects in her writing – the possibility that Tom might knock on the door just seconds too late to join the game or Isabelle fearing for Lily’s life if she were pregnant and the other Cousins knew (thriller vibes), the warnings from Mrs. Castle about Endgame house wearing the “skins” of past families’ traumas/ghosts (horror vibes) – which added great tension but left me feeling confused and unsure how much further we would dip into those genres. 

Many of the characters are unlikable, and typically I don’t care if none are unlikable. However, there were some I felt we were meant to like – such as Aunt Liliana – but her cruel comments toward her daughter, Sara, felt unjust even if Sara was a brat at times. While I liked and rooted for Lily, our story’s heroine, her timidity and desire to be a wallflower frustrated me, and its repeated mentioning started to ring false for me. This was especially so when things started to become quite serious with her finding the coat her mother had wore the day she died, stained with blood, or the fact someone intentionally locked her in the ice house. And neither event seemed to alarm her sufficiently. Instead of alerting the others of the ice house incident, or strategically keeping it quiet, Lily’s friend Tom offers to say he was the one who was locked in to “protect” Lily from the spotlight when that is the last thing we should be worrying about.

In the end, I elected to DNF this book at 36%. While there were many aspects of this narrative that I didn’t enjoy, I do believe that I would willingly try something by this author again because she is clearly very creative, if not always realistic.

Thank you so much to Poisoned Pen Press and #Netgalley for gifting me an ARC of The Christmas Murder Game by Alexandra Benedict in exchange for this honest review! 

 Method Thriller Writer Turned Amateur Sleuth

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1. On Spine of Death
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Tess is a method thriller writer who is behind on her latest manuscript. Hence, her decision to stay in the cabin inherited from her grandfather in rural Washington. Her teenage daughter, Gertie, is none too pleased about the lack of wifi and running water. But when actual body parts descend around them during an illegal act of dynamite fishing by a trespasser on the property, Tess can hardly type fast enough.

And things only get stranger from there. Sasquatch sightings, exotic animals appearing one moment and disappearing the next, and a missing deputy. A wild mystery packed with humorous dialogue and metafiction, loveable characters, and many breadcrumbs to follow.

Listening to this on audiobook via Hoopla, I had a riot! At times I was laughing and gasping in one breath. Tess is an inquisitive, act-now-think-later woman, and the sheriff - no matter how much he physically resembles her main character Detective Gonzales - prefers to follow protocol and leave dramatic actions where they belong, in her books. Their chemistry was palpable! So much poking and teasing and opposition in the best ways. I cannot wait to see how their relationship develops as the series continues. As wild as the solution to the mystery was, I thought it fully matched the story’s tone and enjoyed the madness thoroughly. SO MUCH FUN WAS HAD.

Definitely a purchase after reading/listening situation, and my new copy sits on my shelf impatiently waiting for book 2 to join it there. 

 Magic, Murder, and So Much Sugar #PiesBeforeGuys

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1. Baking Bad (on my TBR!)
2. A Study in Scarlet Women
3. Still Lives

Daisy Ellery’s magical pies have the ability to make one tell the truth, feel confident or hopeful or calm…and for a particular few, one slice can kill. Unlike the Ellery women before her, Daisy uses her magic to free women from their abusive partners by making and delivering murder pies. She has lived a nomadic lifestyle with her pitbull, Zoe, for most of her adult life, but she finally begins to settle in Turnbridge, MA. There, she has loyal customers, a found family, and love in the air. One thing she also has, however, is a blackmailer. This person knows about Daisy’s murder pies and, in exchange for silence, she might be forced to serve up murder pies to three innocent women. Can Daisy unmask her blackmailer before she has to use her magic for true evil?

I am obsessed with this new cozy mystery series! And I cannot wait for a Pies Before Guys sequel. Listening to this title on audiobook through Hoopla, I instantly fell in love with Daisy as a vigilante badass with a 1950s wardrobe. I have purchased a physical copy since completing this gem. The cast of characters surrounding our heroine is just as vivid and endearing. I felt emotionally invested in their growing and fluctuating relationships. This is a fascinating mystery because it focuses on uncovering a blackmailer in order to prevent the death of innocents. Daisy has killed many abusive, violent men before, but she has protocols and rules that must be strictly adhered to before any of this takes place. I appreciated the system, and I honestly found it to be a sound one. She was a gray character with sense no matter where your own morals stand, and I believe that’s what a true gray character should be. This was a cozy with crucial messages and themes I 100% could get behind: domestic violence awareness, feminism, and women supporting women. Popp balances these important topics with some subplotted romance, an adorable dog and community, and a most captivating mystery.

As the series moves forward – hopefully to many, MANY more books – I hope Popp delves deeper into examples beyond domestic violence performed by straight cis men toward straight cis women. With the amount of diversity and care she has put into this first book, I have full faith in her and her characters to face these challenges head-on. 

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Awakening from a nap on the train from Paddington, Mrs. Elspeth McGillicuddy finds a train running parallel alongside hers. To her horror, there is a man strangling a woman in the other train. When the deed is done, the trains part ways. The victim, the murderer, and the crime scene disappear from sight. Since a body doesn’t turn up in the next few days, no one believes Mrs. McGillicuddy’s story. That is, except Miss Marple.

This Agatha Christie classic was the July pick for the @ShedunnitShow book club, so I could not miss the opportunity to pull it off my TBR shelves! Some readers have been disappointed with Miss Marple’s smaller role in this mystery, but I thoroughly enjoyed the introduction of Lucy Eyelesbarrow. The latter is a young intelligent woman who acts as Miss Marple’s eyes and ears at Rutherford Hall, the home of many suspicious characters. She also draws the interest of every man within the household, inviting a second mystery: Who will Lucy end up with?

Christie keeps us entertained with the many layers to the murder mystery. Not only will the body need to be found, but then she must be identified. These details are necessary before the actual murderer can be revealed. A slow-paced mystery, for sure, but I didn’t mind that at all because the plethora of characters and POVs utilized kept me well-distracted and well-invested.

Per usual, I have been able to correctly guess the culprit in most of the mysteries I have read this year EXCEPT for books by the brilliant Agatha Christie. Granted, she doesn’t always play fair, but I always find myself forgiving her because she is an expert at keeping her readers entertained. 

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Seven friends book a winter holiday together at an idyllic and isolated estate in the Scottish Highlands. It has been years since their days at Oxford and, although their lives have gone in very different directions, these thirty-somethings are hoping to reminisce about old times and unwind. But secrets old and new keep coming to light, and two days later one of them is dead.

While I own a physical copy of this book, I opted to listen to it on audiobook via Hoopla. [Special shoutout to my local library for offering its patrons a handful of Hoopla books per month!] This has been a great way to prioritize books on my TBR shelves that I would otherwise continue to neglect. And The Hunting Party was such a fun listen! As this is a multiple POV thriller, there were various voice actors who all did a brilliant job. They definitely enhanced the narrative and probably made me more invested than I would have been if I were physically reading it.

There is no question that this was written by the same author of The Guest List, another relationship-heavy (both romantic and platonic) thriller. It has many toxic relationships and unlikeable characters, POVs from before and after the incident, and most of the characters are members of society with many privileges and little empathy to those without said privileges. Replace The Guest List’s wedding on an isolated Irish island with a reunion of old friends in the isolated Scottish Highlands, and you’ve joined The Hunting Party.

If you prefer your thrillers with little to no sexual content, however, you might choose to skip this one. With that said, if you are all about the messy romances and secret infatuations contained in many thrillers, then what are you waiting for?

Highly recommended if you are looking for a fun audiobook in particular! 

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When Plum Lockhart loses her job at a travel magazine, she is forced to flee New York City and lick her wounds. Plum is forced to switch careers and become a villa broker on the Caribbean island of Paraiso. While most people would do anything for the opportunity to live and work in paradise, Plum is not like most people. She is desperate to return to the cold, fast-paced NYC environment. Her desperation increases when one of her clients in the villa, Casa Mango, is discovered dead. All are happy to label the death an accident, but Plum is certain it’s murder, and she is determined to find the killer before she leaves the island.

I had so much fun reading this with a handful of lovely fellow bookstagrammers. As someone who tends to read Golden Age detective fiction or mainstream modern mysteries/thrillers, I was glad to dip my toes into the cozy mystery with friends who are avid readers of the subgenre. While others in our reading group found Plum prickly and frustrating in the beginning (growing to appreciate her as the story progressed), I loved her from start to finish! I instantly pictured MC Beaton’s Agatha Raisin series joining forces with the British TV series Death in Paradise. Plum’s assertiveness and, at times, hypocrisy were shone in a brilliantly humorous light thanks to Doyle’s choice of a 3rd-person POV. Don’t get me started with why I avoid cozy mysteries with 1st-person POV! Doyle allowed us readers to laugh along with the narrator as Plum unknowingly contradicted herself. With that said, her flaws and insecurities humanized her, making her a great person to root for – both in solving the murder and in finally finding a place where she belonged. 

The mystery is filled with multiple suspects, all mixed up in suspicious activities, and many clues to keep the reader guessing. I thoroughly enjoyed the plot even though the solution, in my opinion, felt underdeveloped. I wished the culprit had been given more pages dedicated to their circumstance and their reason for killing the victim. However, many will disagree with me when I say the solution isn’t always a make-or-break for a mystery novel. I developed enough investment in Plum, in her workplace troubles and the romantic tension between her and her investigating partner, Juan Kevin, and the island atmosphere was exactly what I was looking for when I picked up this novel. A super fun island mystery, and the first in a series I am totally going to continue. 

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1. The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin
2. The Clackity by Lora Senf
3. The Art of Magic by Hannah Voskuil

Official publication date: 30 August 2022

Trex is a walking scientific experiment with a unique brain transplant that has an odd side effect: sometimes electricity shoots out of his fingers. Mellie is the school outcast with far too much free time to spy on her neighbors, learn all of their secrets, and hone her Sherkockian deduction skills. The two are forced into a friendship of convenience in order to uncover the mysterious figure prowling around their neighborhood. Could it be a spy sent from The Company, the scientists who saved Trex with their technology but now see him as their rightful property? Or is someone else spying on the children of Hopewell?

In this middle grade read, Christyne Morrell blends fun science fiction elements with an intriguing mystery plot. I thoroughly enjoyed the twists and turns that occur as the characters dig deeper into The Case of the Hopewell Hill Prowler. The rising action in the latter half of the book following a major reveal had me on the edge of my seat. This book was able to surprise me, get me laughing aloud, and it warmed my heart.

The growing friendship between Mellie and Trex was brilliant. Each character was in desperate need of a friend, and I am oddly happy the existence of a neighborhood prowler brought them together. Their dialogue was believable and funny. I loved that the reader is given access into each of their perspectives as well. Multiple POVs 100% suited the narrative structure, and it gave insight into the insecurities that both children were experiencing alone before they met each other. 

This is a lovely middle grade full of advanced technology, shady characters, and found friendship.

Thank you so much to Random House Children’s/Delacorte Press and #Netgalley for gifting me an ARC of Trex by Christyne Morrell in exchange for this honest review!

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Detective Inspector Richard Poole lives in paradise on the Caribbean island of St. Marie. Others would do anything for Poole’s beachy lifestyle, but this idyllic place is wasted on him due to his aversion to spicy Caribbean cuisine, relentless humidity, and…worst of all…sand. Poole’s only solace are the cases that threaten to stump him. And when the leader of a spiritual resort for the wealthy is murdered inside a locked room with five potential witnesses, Poole and his team must put their skills to the ultimate test.

I’m a huge fan of the British TV series Death in Paradise whose creator went on to gift us with this novel and others featuring the original and my favorite investigating team: Richard, Camille, Dwayne, and Fidel. The chemistry between Richard and Camille remains palpable as these opposite characters search for the killer. And the comedy, oftentimes at the expense of a quite grumpy Richard, was brilliantly sharp. While I was able to answer the “who,” I remained baffled by the “how” and “why” elements. Thorogood even made me question my chosen culprit at the very end, reminding me of Agatha Christie’s tendency to make any and all suspects capable. 

I highly recommend this book and the TV series that inspired it to anyone looking for a cozy mystery on an island setting.