Elle Hartford
I loved this cozy! I requested an ARC in exchange for an honest review, and quite honestly, I'm so glad I did. :) Normally I'm not a huge fan of puppets, but Jill and her friends and coworkers really made the book for me. I even came around to the puppets by the final scene! Plus, the book is set in NYC, which is a fun change from other cozies.
Jill, who normally works in PR, has taken up a side job running set tours at a children's show. The actors – and especially the puppets – have larger-than-life personalities, which makes the job difficult. However, when one of them is murdered, Jill agrees to help the police figure out who did it. What follows is a hilarious and heart-warming team up between Jill's friends and the PAs on set!
This is the second book in the series, but you can read it as a standalone if you like. Jill is very funny and relatable, and catches you up on anything you missed. I found her to be really relatable and would totally be part of her “posse” if possible. :)
Mystery-wise, [mild spoilers!!] I did not figure out who the murderer was until the very end. It made sense, though, and the end was satisfying. In fact, all the loose ends were tied up well (aside from one plotline which is going into the third book, but isn't really important for this story).
All in all, I would definitely recommend this book to any cozy reader. Or anyone with an interest in TV behind the scenes! And I'll be reading the third book for sure.
Honestly, I'd give 3.5 stars if possible. The book is well-written, but not for me. I picked it up because I was interested in a possible spin on Red Riding Hood, but the folklore played a smaller role than I hoped. It felt like seasoning for a dark, violent, painful outcasts-journey-and-become-rebels story. And that is fine! It's just not my cup of tea. I miss fantasy worlds that I actually might want to go to, you know? :) In any case, if you liked The Merciful Crow, chances are good you'll enjoy this one!
I absolutely love this series, and this installment does not disappoint! It's really fun to learn about the different sides of voodoo with Katie, and she shares more of her baking and general witchy knowledge throughout the book, too. The plot itself is suspenseful but [mild spoiler!!] I was a tiny bit unimpressed with the villain's motive. It did make sense, but I think I had expected the cult angle to be more important. The build-up had so much danger that the end felt a little anti-climatic. Maybe I just got too carried away in all the dramatic possibilities. :)
Overall, I would definitely recommend this book, even to someone who hasn't read the previous ones (although those are totally worth reading too!).
I'll admit I wasn't too sure about this one when I saw that Jeeves would be absent for most of the book, but I shouldn't have been worried! Bertie and Dahlia together are always hilarious, and the two couples in the book are particularly endearing. Some of the plot points are familiar, particularly if you've read the short stories, but the new twist of Bertie dealing with them mostly alone is amusing. I would also recommend this one for anyone with a soft spot for dachshunds!
The winter-storm setting of this mystery was incredibly cozy! And I adored the strong relationships between Mia, Christina, and Grans. The romantic interest was super sweet and the awful ex got his comeuppance, so all was well on the romance front too. :)
The mystery itself was interesting, but didn't pull me in completely. I think in part it was because everything in Mia's life was going at 110%. Romance, business, threats, family issues, even the weather, it was all coming on fast, crime or no crime. The pace made it hard to get to know Mia herself, and it meant she had little time to spare for thoughts about the murder until the end. It ended up feeling a little disjointed.
Overall, to be totally honest, I might have enjoyed this more as a fun, light romance novel without the mystery! But I would still recommend it for those who like witchy and/or wintery cozies.
This could be a good cozy for people who really like Shakespeare or NC beaches! There's also a super cute parrot. :)
I have to say though, I personally didn't relate to the characters and found the mystery unfortunately easy to solve [even just saying that is a spoiler, I think]. The amount of anti-cozy and anti-romance sentiment felt unnecessary. I can see it being a fun twist for a cozy protagonist to have that attitude, but only if it's handled with humor; otherwise it can feel like the author is dissing the reader. But I can see how humor might not have been an option because the murder hit pretty close to home, which I also wasn't super comfortable with. Overall, I was hoping for a lot from this cozy, but the threads didn't quite come together for me.
One of my favorite among the Jeeves & Wooster novels, which is saying something! The kid in it is absolutely hilarious. Plus, I love Nobby & Boko, and Jeeves gets to do some fishing! If you've watched the BBC show, you'll recognize parts of the plot from the episode in NY where Bertie's trying to help two business tycoons meet up (I forget the title/season). They adapted the setting and characters a bit though, so the novel feels familiar but fun and new.
A History of Murder is a great example of a well-thought-out cozy. The protagonist, Chloe, has a history in the small town she left behind, and that history intertwines with the present-day murder. Chloe herself is smart, takes initiative, and gets herself into some pretty funny scrapes. All of the supporting characters make sense – no one falls flat or becomes terribly annoying – and her love interest is super sweet. Oh, and she acquires a golden retriever, which of course is worth five stars all on its own. :)
My one complaint as I came away from the book [SPOILERS!] is the way that past-murder subplot was left. The ends aren't tied up. Now, that in itself isn't so bad – it must be a set up for the second book, right? But there's a diary left over from the past, and one clue which seemed like a blazing red flag to me as soon as the characters discussed it. After a moment's reflection, I had a strong suspicion who the past murderer was, and I kept waiting for Chloe to wrap up both murders by the end of book one. It was frustrating to me that she didn't, because it seemed quite simple (read the diary, Chloe!). But, I can understand that she was pretty busy with other big changes in her life, not to mention past trauma.
All that said, I still really enjoyed the book, and the main mystery was well done. I would recommend this to anyone with an interest in cozies, and particularly to people with an interest in history! Chloe's descriptions of her historic town and home are great. (I also loved the professor character!) And, my frustration aside, I will definitely be on the lookout for book two.
Bottom line: a very fun, engrossing read!
I really enjoyed the range of characters (and the explanations of some of the more unusual kinds of fae). [mild spoilers ahead!] It bothered me at first how the primary suspect seemed to be both very obvious and getting away with everything, but then came a great twist, so I was really pleased with the ending! Cari's utter obliviousness to guys being interested in her made me feel bad for her would-be suitors, but I'm excited to see how things develop in the future books. :)
Overall I would definitely recommend this book!
I would give 3.5 stars if possible. I admired the world-building, but I didn't enjoy the world. The bird-themed culture is interesting, but the violence between the castes is pronounced. Given the world, it makes some sense, but there's not much in the way of story or character connection to balance it out. The main character spends most of the book being very angry, and while she certainly has reason to be mad, her attitude meant that the romance didn't land for me (felt a bit odd and sudden) and the character who I think was supposed to be genuinely funny came across as overly suspicious.
Overall the book is alright, but bloody for my personal taste. I probably won't read the next one, but I might recommend it to folks who enjoy gritty fantasy.
Finished this in one lovely afternoon. It was fun to see Jeeves in a slightly different way – this book is in 3rd person, not 1st, so we get a new perspective. The characters are hilarious, and of course the plot moves along quickly! Definitely a must-read for fans of Jeeves and Bertie (even though Bertie's off learning to darn socks, haha).
I loved this!! Would give it 4.5 stars if possible. I'm not super into the Florida vibe (I like my beaches cold & rocky haha) and I prefer tea over coffee, so I wasn't really sure I'd get into this book. I was pleasantly surprised :) It's a perfect vacation cozy with fun characters and a great romance. I also 100% related to the main character's heartache over losing her previous job and starting over.
The main reason I didn't go for 5 stars was because [nonspecific spoiler alert!] there's one particular clue that, to me, was obvious enough that I got pulled out of the story for a moment. (Maybe because I am a DIYer and was paying attention to that kind of detail?) That's not a huge deal though; overall I would definitely recommend this book and I'll be reading the sequels for sure!
This book gave me a lot of Moulin Rouge/Phantom of the Opera vibes. The writing style is full of sensual metaphor, which on one hand is lovely, but on the other hand – the whole thing felt a bit over-blown to me. I didn't connect to any of the characters on a personal level. The ending left me struggling to parse what was metaphor and what had actually occurred – and maybe that's what the author wanted, but I just wasn't up for it. Overall I think the book has merit, particularly for teens/YA, but I as a busy adult reading for comfort and amusement am not the right audience for it.
I loved all the fairy tale references and the way the characters were true to themselves. The narrative is a little complicated; even though Ophelia is the main sleuth, several other characters are followed as well, and we jump between them without any pattern as far as I could tell. That said, the plot is very clever, and I'll definitely be reading the sequel!
The highlights of this book, for me, were the setting and the sweet budding romance with the main character (and, of course, the pets!). I had a hard time getting a feel for some of the side characters, and the end came all at once – it felt a little rushed. But, on the whole, this was a fun read and I'll be looking up the next one!
A thorough history of a scandalous case. The organization of the book was interesting, with the facts about the murders discussed first and context discussed afterward; but the fact-relaying was a little hard to follow. The author jumps around in time and has a tendency to switch quickly from one set of people to another, so it takes some work to form a clear picture of the story.