Elle Hartford

I was hesitant at first, but Peter Shandy won me over–particularly after Helen arrived on the scene; I found their relationship amusing and sweet. The actual mystery I did not follow as carefully, especially as there are lots of cutaway scenes toward the end. However, the characters were intriguing, as was the setting itself!

I picked this up because I adore the cover and the classic literature it references. However, in the end, I think it just wasn't really my genre (more contemporary fiction, whereas I prefer mystery these days). As a writer I can appreciate the voice of the narrative, but as a reader it felt a little pretentiously opaque rather than nostalgic . . . maybe I'm too removed from the author's world. The prose was lovely, certainly, but not something that made me personally love the characters or feel welcomed into the story: it was more something to be admired. There's certainly nothing wrong with that, particularly if you love contemporary lit and have a long afternoon ahead of you!

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 love the premise – alternate universe/magic and steampunk mystery. Wonderful! There can always be more books like that. :)

The one drawback for me was that even though Henri and Jamie (the main characters) were totally likeable, I personally didn't connect to them. I'm a super character-oriented reader, so this made it hard to get into the book. Henri, the primary narrator, embodies a lot of my favorite tropes – cold to most people/dedicated to one person, the intellectual forced into the field, etc – but unfortunately he didn't feel like more than those tropes to me. I think it's because I never really had a feel for what he wanted/why he was writing a novel rather than a sterile report. And while it's always pretty clear what Jamie wants – or at least what Henri thinks she wants, haha – I had a hard time sympathizing with her. She's gone through some incredibly traumatic events, but she presents as a Mary Sue with an addiction to pop culture references (some of which started to feel fan service-y, which may be why I didn't like her as much). She has friends in super high places who are all super protective and give her as much as they can, and she's kind of living her best life, aside from not having some Earth conveniences. She's never, ever vulnerable, which on one hand makes total sense given her backstory, but on the other hand was kind of alienating, because Henri spends a lot of time feeling sorry for her/worrying over her and meanwhile she's operating at a really high level in all situations, even when she's in bed for a few days. Maybe I'm just jealous? xD Rant over.

The bottom line is that the world here is really cool, and my reservations about the characters might just be because I'm weird. :) I'd recommend this to people looking for a mystery set in a nontraditional world. Especially people who love anime or steampunk.

I was looking forward to this one, and I wasn't disappointed by the Loch Ness/Nessie aspect! Anf of course, as usual, the characters really come together to solve the case. You could jump in here, I think, but because of the secondary plot (wedding planning) it may be more comfortable to read the other books first. I must admit, I was a little sad that we get thrown into Delaney's wedding plans without getting to see the relationship develop more . . .

Just a note on something I've been thinking as I read this series: a lot of the personal action in this series seems to happen off-screen between the books or even between scenes. On one hand I totally get that–it is a mystery series, after all–but on the other, I do feel like Delaney ends up telling me (the reader) more about her life than she shows me. It's kind of a bummer because her life is pretty cool!

I had a lot of fun reading this book! I did have to focus to keep track of the POV switches, especially since we see what's going on with the antagonist too. But I adored the dogs and I got a lot of good laughs out of it!

The mystery was twisty and the setting was good! To be honest though this is more of a 3.5 for me because I just didn't love any of the characters. Now, [slight spoiler] some of the truly hateful characters do turn around by the end of the book, and that's awesome. But it was a little hard getting far enough into the book to see them change.

Also – this is a super small, grammarian thing, so please forgive me for saying it! – the author writes dialogue in kind of a confusing way. Anytime someone does something while speaking, she breaks it into two paragraphs instead of one, often just using a pronoun to introduce the new dialogue. I find that makes me work harder to follow the conversation– and as an author who really works hard on my dialogue, it feels sloppy to me. I'm not a devoted Christie reader but I have noticed that Agatha Christie formatted dialogue in a similar style and her influence is really clear in this book. (In both good and – in this case, to me – less-good ways.) There might not be anything technically wrong with doing that, it just is a tiny pet peeve of mine. Rant over! xD

In short, Agatha Christie and classic mystery fans will probably want to give this one a look!

I thoroughly enjoyed this mystery–in fact, I've already looked up the rest of the books, in order to continue reading. ;) The setting and atmosphere drew me in, and I love the dynamic between the two main characters. Plus, of course, the cat. :D

As for the mystery itself, I had a few guesses–one of which came out correct–and overall it was, absolutely, a worthy Christie homage! The motive was fascinating, in its own way, and very intricate.

I love books that can make me feel welcome in another world, and this one absolutely fit the bill!

I picked up this book out of curiosity, not having read the others in the series but familiar with Mercedes Lackey's fantasy. I found it a little hard, as an incoming reader, to suss out exactly how the magic works; but the characters were all distinct and easy enough to follow.

In the end I had the same problem that I had with Lackey's fantasy, which is that she gets too graphic/dark for me. That's a personal preference, though. Aside from that any fans of Sherlock and magic might find this series an interesting one!

I really enjoyed the interweaving narratives, which were more complex than the book blurb had led me to believe. I also loved the setting, of course! But even more than that, it was really sweet to see the way the characters came together. A lovely rainy afternoon read.

I loved this retelling! I always thought Norse myth seemed intimidating somehow, but this narrative was completely accessible and engaging. :)

This one has been in my TBR for a long time. I'm glad I read it and I'm impressed by the world-building, though some of the themes weren't quite for me. I think perhaps I am not familiar enough with Wizard of Oz to have understood exactly how some of the side characters' stories come together; but if you are a big fan of Wizard of Oz, the amount of detail should be quite rewarding!

I enjoyed the world-building here, and the relationships between the characters! It was a fun vacation read with lots of potential for sequels, I thought.

I'll agree with previous reviewers right out of the gate: this book reads like it's set decades earlier than the actual publishing date of 1977(ish? working from memory here, haha). I didn't mind the description; and while it's true that the characters all will philosophize at the drop of a hat, I took that sort of as commentary (whether intentional or not) on the academic community at the time.

I didn't mind the philosophizing and I was intrigued by Cordelia, but there wasn't much warmth in the story–perhaps it's not expected in this kind of book. The mystery itself was familiar: I was able to see several of the twists coming. That may be because, again, this mystery has been around a while and the tropes are more common now!

Overall, I found it an interesting story but it may be more suited for folks who like mid-20th century somewhat-procedural mysteries.

I really enjoyed the homey and practical approach to the holidays in this book! Not to mention the mystery itself, of course. :) Technically this is the second in the series, and I didn't read the first, but I was able to follow along just fine. I must admit that at about 75% of the way through I did see the end coming, but it was very satisfying and thrilling all the same!

Make no mistake: “bone houses” means “skeletal zombies.” If I had fully realized that at first glance, I might not have picked it up; I'm not a zombie fan. That said, I love how death and the dead were handled in this book–thoughtfully and practically, without becoming in-your-face gross or scary.

And I loved the characters. That's always the main thing for me. :) Their relationships are steadfast and sweet. The actual quest/mystery of the story was straightforward at first, but developed into something deeply meaningful.

Overall, despite being a total wimp, I found it enchanting and moving!

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.

I was drawn to this novel by Abby herself, actually–the description of her in the blurb intrigued me, because she seemed a very different sleuth from the characters I usually read. She didn't disappoint, and the mystery was twisty and dramatic!

Such a fun trip to a Scottish town! I loved this start to the series. Fiona is a sweet MC, and her immediate chemistry with a certain someone added a lot of interest to the story. :) The actual action happens in such a short period of time–I found myself feeling a bit bad for her, she must have been so tired, haha–but it wraps up satisfactorily and leaves lots of room for growth in the next books.

Let me start by saying I loved the main character! And I admire the way her work and the mystery intertwined. It was refreshing to read a cozy from an older perspective (the sleuth is retired), too. The story came together naturally, but – that is a good thing and also the one drawback, for me. The story felt a little slow to really start, and I'd hoped for more from Tiffany's book (that the historic crime would have more detail: not necessarily violence-wise, but character-wise).

Really enjoyed this cozy! The main character is spunky and her friends – particularly the cat Simon! – are very fun. The mystery itself was satisfying; it was better than I expected. The blurb on the back of the book confused me a little by making it sound like the mc was randomly a victim of attacks, but the truth is she witnesses someone running from a scene (and hitting her car as they do so). Everything after that falls into place!

I loved it! The mystery had some clever twists and turns, and a great ending. :)

And I just have to say–I read some reviews which take issue with the portrayal of Americans here, and I think that's being a tiny bit oversensitive. The group of Americans in this book was a lot like the wedding group in the second book: dysfunctional and sometimes callous, sure, but mostly in a way that allows them all to seem like suspects. I don't think they were meant to be representative of the entire country. xD

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!

The mystery is good and I love Figaro and Aunt Ginny! I probably wouldn't recommend it to people struggling with their self-esteem or grief, though.

To be honest, this wasn't the right cozy for me. Though I know it was meant to be funny/realistic, I found Poppy's attitude difficult to read. As someone who has struggled with body image issues and grief, maybe I was extra sensitive to it. There were also stereotypes that again were probably meant to be funny but left me feeling uncomfortable. To me it seemed a bit like a book from a different time. I hesitated about reviewing this at all, but I felt like it might help people to know what they're getting in to.

Bottom line: it could be a fun read for people looking for a cozy set in NJ (Cape May is awesome!) but I personally won't continue with the series.

A fun cast of characters, especially since we don't often get to see so many sides of police & emergency responders in cozies. And I adored the cat, of course.

I was really hoping the murderer would turn out to be someone else, haha, but nonetheless the plot wrapped up well!