This one has been on my To-Read list for awhile and I absolutely loved this well crafted slice of life in the Victorian times and the fashionable rise of Spiritualism. When a new phenomenon in the form of a spiritual medium named Miss Eustace takes Brighton by storm, Mina becomes worried that her mother and her financially well off friends will become the victims of fraud, Mina sets out to investigate the woman, her intentions and her mysterious past.

Afflicted with scoliosis, Mina Scarletti isn't expected to marry and have children, so she is free of many of the constraints and pressures that other Victorian women would face. She's already a successful author of horror stories, and her skepticism of the Spiritualist sensation sweeping Brighton has her free to do a little investigating without arousing displeasure from her family or the townspeople. Practical, clever, sensible and creative, she's fascinating and so gosh-darn likable. Along with her brother, Richard, friends Dr. Hamid and his family (Oh! Eliza's storyline was so sad!) it made for a warm and inviting read.

I love the level of realism in this series, it reads like non-fiction. Beautifully researched and rich in detail, from the descriptions of the Brighton seafront to Miss Eustace's demonstrations, it was brought to life handily and it was so easy to lose myself in the story. I also enjoyed that this was a clean no-murder mystery, just good old fashioned intrigue and deception. This is a a definitely a very highly recommended series for anyone who enjoys historical mysteries and a perfect pool read. Don't miss this one!

Updated review

Spoiler

So, after reading Proposals and Poison in which I questioned what Fenella's issue with the L Word was, I went back and re-visited this, the first book in the series. First, it is a real testament to the author's writing to see just how far Fenella has come in 16 books. In the first one, she's not at all confident, struggles with handling the attention of all the other guys who are competing for her affections. Over the series, she has evolved to know what (well, who) she wants and is much more comfortable with herself.

Second, the L word issue. I'd forgotten this, but in Arrivals and Arrests, Fenella recounts her first long term relationship and how bad it went, so I'm guessing that's why she won't use "the L word" but again, as she's grown and evolved throughout the series, I think that'll be short lived.

I'm not going to change the star rating, this was a good book and a great start to the series and I'm glad I re-read this one, because it's that good. Loved the ending!

Original Review
I've been a long time fan of Diana Xarissa's other series, so I was eagerly anticipating this book when I saw it come up on Amazon. Set in the familiar locale of the Isle of Man, Arrivals and Arrests has a whole new cast of characters to get to know. I liked it from the first paragraph and liked it even more when I saw Fenella moved from Buffalo, NY - my hometown! And not one joke about the weather! (People from Buffalo will understand.) I enjoyed this book so much, I read it in one afternoon, I couldn't put it down!

The book follows Fenella, a middle aged college professor who inherits a flat from her aunt, Mona. The day after she arrives, she stumbles upon Alan Collins, a shady businessman, laying dead in an alley behind her building. Fenella finds herself in the middle of the investigation and as if that's not stressful enough, Fenella finds that Mona hasn't "moved on" after her death, and keeps popping up unexpectedly to prod Fenella into investigating.

I really enjoyed the twisty plot. Having just arrived to the island, Fenella doesn't know anyone and you're just as much in the dark about the suspects as she is, and every motive she uncovers is as new to her as it is to you. With many misdirections, it was fun to join Fenella as she tracks down a killer while meeting new friends on the island.

Arrivals and Arrests brings a whole new crew of characters to love. Mona and Shelly were my favorites, I thought they were a real hoot, adding lots of humor to the story. Fenella also finds herself being courted by three eligible men, her neighbor Peter, the dashing Donald Donaldson and dishy detective Daniel Robinson. Which one will Fenella choose? (I'm partial to the dishy detective.)

Most of all, I loved the Tale and Tail pub! Like Fenella, I could easily spend hours there among the cats and the books. Is there an actual place like that on the Isle of Man? If so, I'm booking my flight tomorrow.

Overall, Arrivals and Arrests is an excellent debut to a promising new series and I look forward to more of Fenella's adventures. I definitely recommend this to readers looking for a fun cozy mystery to curl up with for an afternoon.

DNF The first 25% of the book was rehashing earlier events that happened to the MC, but as this is the first book in the series, it’s basically just dumping a backstory with no context. Once I got past that, I tried to give it a try but this is just not very well written, despite an excellent premise.

RTC

I needed an Indian author for one of the r/CozyMystery Book Bingo squares and someone suggested this one. It's novella length, so I was able to read it in an hour or so, but for such a short book, it packed an entertaining plot. Set in Mumbai, India, Chopra is a police inspector who had to retire due to a heart issue but is unwilling to give up the job he loved, he opened a detective agency that runs out of the restaurant he owns. One morning he is visited by a car dealership employee asking Chopra to investigate the theft of a $4 million dollar Mercedes that the dealership procured and customized as a birthday present for the son of a local gangster . If the car isn't found in time to be presented to the ganster's son, there will be trouble.

Despite being just over a hundred pages, this was well plotted and entertaining and it was easy to fall into the book. Chopra is a pragmatic sort of investigator and I loved that he has a baby elephant as a sidekick (that car wash had me giggling!) As other reviewers have said, it wasn't difficult to figure out how the car was stolen, but the culprit turned out to be a surprise. While it was a bare-bones investigation, it was interesting to see how Chopra tracked down every clue and I loved "seeing" the sights and sounds of Mumbai.

When quantum physics professor Roland is found dead in Sibyl’s house next to a half-eaten sundae, the detectives pin Sibyl as the prime suspect when evidence is found that implicates her! Along with Mr. Buttons, starts , Sibyl starts investigating to solve the murder and to find out who tried to frame her.

I love this series, always a light read and full of lively characters (Mr Buttons is in fine form in this one!) and great plots. As always, there's some real laugh-out-loud moments, and as always, it's usually Mr. Buttons, by far my most favorite character in this series (the false eyelashes had me rolling, as did the dinner Cressida and Sibyl "cooked".) The ending was soooo satisfying and Mr. Buttons finally got his greatest wish! (heh heh)

Another great read in this series and another spot filled on my r/CozyMystery Book Bingo card.

4.5 Stars

I've been meaning to get to this series for awhile now and I'm sorry it took me this long! I loved pretty much everything about it, from the characters to the setting to the well-paced plot. It was an easy read to sink into and I read most of it in one evening.

I'm an animal lover, so I loved hearing about all Harmony's menagerie and her cozy cabin in Alaska (Maybe I should think about moving there....no, then again probably not...) and I loved her idea for an animal shelter and how it came to be. The whole cast of characters were a delight, from Harmony and her special gift and her survivor's spirit to the Search and Rescue team, Harley the hometown boy who became a Hollywood action hero and the mysterious and dashing Shredder. I loved how Harmony went about looking into Tim's death and following along as she reasoned everything out. Just an enjoyable book from start to finish.

I only have a couple things that (very slightly) detracted from the book. First, the ending was rushed; after setting up the plot thoroughly as the book went on, the entire plot was wrapped up in just a couple of paragraphs and would've appreciated being more a part of the action rather than just reading a brief rehashing, and it felt like short shrift to such a great story. Not a big detraction, but one nonetheless. Also, there were a few dropped plot points that were just ignored. Why include them, only to never mention them again. Like the footprints Harmony found around her barn. What was the point of that?

The second thing is that the word "conscious" was substituted several times for the correct word "conscience" and since it happened more than once, could not have been a typo. I don't usually notice (or comment on) grammatical errors but this one was pretty blatantly wrong and it niggled at me.

But overall, this was a great book and I'm already well into book 2, so I've definitely been sucked into Harmony's world and I'm looking forward to seeing how the series grows as it goes on.

This is the second book I’ve read in this series and I have to concede that I am now a Gideon fan girl.

Anthropology professor Gideon Oliver, “The Skeleton Doctor" as he’s known in the media, returns to France at the request of French police detective Joly when a local dog brings home human bones. After tracking down the location where the bones were taken from, Joly and Gideon find themselves with a new case, as the bones were found not to be ancient, but just a few years old. Untangling all of the threads lead Gideon and Joly to a local history museum where they find a group of esteemed scientists who seem to have something to hide. Do they know how the bones came to be left in a cave?

I absolutely loved this one! While it seemed like Joly and Gideon were spinning their wheels, the plot actually moves along pretty quickly and all of that wheel spinning helped muddy up the waters enough that I constantly doubted who I thought was behind the murders. I loved that Gideon’s wife Julie was along for the ride and acted like Gideon's Doubting Thomas/sounding board, it really added a nice dimension to the story, as I read the other books in the series, I’m hoping to see more of her.

In the end, it turned out I was right about the culprit but I loved reading about the how and why. It turns out to be quite a twisted story, and made for a satisfying ending.

If you like books about archaeology/anthropology with a dash of action and amazing characters, a la Kathy Reich's Temperance Brennen or Elly Giffiths's Ruth Galloway, you’ll love this series. Definitely recommend!

DNF'ed this at 52%. I’m just not interested enough to finish it.

This one read more like a Da Vinci Code sort of espionage thriller, rather than a mystery. And while it wasn't a bad book, it's just not the sort of thing I enjoy reading. The book kicks off with Gideon "The Skeleton Detective" Oliver heading to Heidelberg, Germany to teach seminars at US/NATO bases in Europe. The first chapter was a nice "introduction" so to speak where Gideon meets his co-workers and learns that 2 previous people who held his Fellowship died or mysteriously disappeared. After that, the rest of the book (that I read) turned into a random spy thriller and Gideon gets attacked every couple of pages. There's no information or asides to tell you why this is happening and in the end, I didn't really care.

I did like "meeting" John Lau, as he was in the later book I read, Old Bones, and I like the guy, childish giggles notwithstanding and I enjoy the dynamic between Gideon and John Lau. "You don't have to call me Doc, my name is Gideon" "Ok, Gid!" "Ugh, why not just stick with Doc". Made me laugh, it seemed like such an organic exchange between 2 acquaintances.

I've read later books in the series and enjoyed them, and I've already started the second book in the series that's more of a mystery, so I'm just going to ignore that this book ever happened. So, if you like Da Vinci Code type thrillers, spy thrillers or action movies, you might get more out of this than I did.

I’m not really sure how to rate this one. On one hand it was compelling, exciting, picturesque, and not your ordinary mystery. On the other hand it was a bit convoluted, long winded and…well, a bit weird.

Gideon and new wife Julie are in England on their honeymoon (why they went to England in the winter, I can’t guess. Well, apparently to tour Thomas Hardy's old stomping ground but…?) Anyway, While they’re in Dorchester, Gideon goes to a museum to see a anthropologically exciting skull fragment, only to find it's been stolen. Next, Gideon and Julie head to Dorset to check into their hotel. Gideon plans to check in on an old friend's archaeological dig and finds the dig in a shambles and old friend Nate on the verge of being discredited by the archaeological groups in charge of the site. Much shenanigans ensue, Gideon is drawn in and in the end two people are dead and Gideon sleuths out the killer.

At the heart of the book, I really enjoyed the mystery and the picturesque scenery. I was able to figure out a lot of it as it happened (sorry, Gid!) but not the who, and it seems to me the story could’ve been wrapped up a lot faster without a lot of the extraneous information woven in, like the newspaper editor (none of that was relevant to the story really, and if it was a red herring, not a very good one.) but overall it was an interesting read. I liked it, but I didn't love it, so 3 1/2 stars.