It’s time for our Sunday morning chat. On Sundays, I ramble about what’s been going on, whatthe rest of the familyand I have been reading and watching, andwhat I’ve been writing. Some weeks I share what I am listening to.
I rambled about what’s been occurring in my post yesterday if you want to read that.
Today I have to drive 45 minutes one way to pick up The Boy from his friend’s house and then we will have lunch at my parents afterward. Then I’m bringing him home to mow our lawn which is crazy high from all the rain we have been having.
The temps are supposed to be hotter this week which I am not actually looking forward to because I don’t enjoy the heat and our AC isn’t ready to go yet. We have to install an extra pipe into the window and set up this whole contraption because we have odd vertical windows. It’s a whole process.
What I/we’ve been Reading
Just Finished:
The Mysterious Affair At Styles (The first book in the Hercule Poirot series) by Agatha Christie.
The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett.
Do the New You by Steven Furtick
Operation Restoration by Kari Trumbo
This week I read that The Secret Garden was written by Burnett after her son died of tuberculosis. This helped me appreciate the book more because I just finished it for the first time with my daughter and I didn’t like the ending. I didn’t hate it but I wanted more. Now that I know the story behind the book I like the ending more because for Frances Colin being able to walk and be alive – like her son couldn’t be – was all she needed us to know.
To be started today or tomorrow:
The Fast Lane by Sharon Peterson (a romance)
And
Murder At the Rusty Anchor by Maddie Day
Soon to be read (or eventually at this point):
The Real James Herriot: A Memoir of my Father by Jim Wight
The Deeds of the Deceitful by Ellery Adams and Tina Radcliffe
Lost Coast Literary by Ellie Alexander
The Husband is reading London Rules by Mick Herron
The Boy just finished listening to 1984 by George Orwell (nope, I didn’t make him), is almost done with Horus Rising and is also listening to Around The World in 80 Days.
What We watched/are Watching
This week I watched episodes of Newhart, Midsomer Murders, and Brokenwood Mysteries – some with The Husband and some alone.
I am still listening to Around the World in 80 Days.
Photos from Last Week
Now it’s your turn. What have you been doing, watching, reading, listening to or writing? Let me know in the comments or leave a blog post link if you also write a weekly update like this.
Murder Always Barks Twice by Jennifer Hawkins follows a tea shop owner in England and her excitable and cute talking Corgi Oliver. Yes. The dog talks.
I was a little leery of the book at first because I don’t usually read cozy mysteries with magical elements (except the Magical Flowe Shop Mysteries by Amanda Flower).
When I realized that only the main character Emma could understand Oliver I liked the idea a little bit better.
The talking dog doesn’t overshadow the story at all. In fact, it seems pretty natural to the entire book which otherwise is completely realistic and doesn’t feature supernatural or magical elements. I think it also helps that the dog talks like you might imagine a dog talks. He’s a smart dog but not too smart. He’s just smart enough to know that there’s certain things he should tell Emma that he’s seen or smelled but not smart enough that he’s the one solving the mysteries.
Everything he wants to say is exciting to him. So he’s not sitting there and talking like a proper gentleman you might say. He’s sort of adorable really.
The supporting characters in the book are plentiful and that can make things a little confusing at times. Sometimes I had to go back and remind myself who someone was. Emma either works with or knows all the characters in some capacity and even though the town is small there doesn’t seem to be a shortage of people who Emma interacted with throughout the book.
I can’t say any of the supporting characters were that memorable to me other than Oliver. The three women she spoke to most all sounded the same to me in my head. They were sort of interchangeable sounding boards for her, even though one was supposed to be her best friend and the others more like co-workers. They offered a way for Emma to work things out clues in her mind but I part of me feels a couple of them could have been removed and the story still could have carried on just as well. At the same time, having a lot of support rallying around the main character was nice as well.
To clarify – just because I thought some of the supporting characters could have been cut out, that doesn’t mean I didn’t like the characters. I really liked the co-owner of the tea shop – Angelique – and her daughter Pearl but they weren’t super important to the plot for me, other than when Emma helped find some clues.
Emma’s friend Genny offered even more support but I lost track of what her job actually was — I think she owned a restaurant in town. It wasn’t really important to the plot.
I really enjoyed how this book was built around a festival celebrating author Daphne DuMaurier’s book Rebecca, which was made into a film directed by Alfred Hitchcock. The plot of that book/movie was skillfully tied into the mystery of this book, adding to the complexity of the plot. I was impressed with how much history the author knew about the DuMaurier and the area she lived in.
After a quick search online I learned there is a literary festival in Fowey, England that is inspired by DeMaurier, who wrote many books besides Rebecca.
Rebecca was, however, her most famous, partially because of the movie version of it.
I felt like the amount of red herrings thrown out in this one was enough to keep me guessing and second-guessing right up until the end. I had figured out the culprit toward the end but I still wanted to be sure and see how the author wrapped up how they committed the crime.
I would definitely read future books by this author.
It’s time for our Sunday morning chat. On Sundays, I ramble about what’s been going on, whatthe rest of the familyand I have been reading and watching, andwhat I’ve been writing. Some weeks I share what I am listening to.
I am reading Operation Restorationby Kari Trumbo, and will finish it this week.
It is pretty good but not necessarily what I enjoy reading right now. I am reading it for Clean Fiction Magazine, though, and I’m glad to have been introduced to the author.
I also just started The Mysterious Affair at Styles by Agatha Christie
Little Miss and I are almost done with The Secret Garden and I am listening to Around the World in 80 Days with The Boy.
Just Finished:
I just finished Apple Cider Slaying by Julie Anne Lindsey and enjoyed it – even if I thought the end dragged a bit.
I plan to have a full review next week.
Soon to be read:
The Deeds of the Deceitful by Ellery Adams and Tina Radcliffe
Lost Coast Literary by Ellie Alexander
The Real James Herriot: A Memoir of My Father by Jim Wight
What We watched/are Watching
I enjoyed watching a couple episodes of Lark Rise to Candleford this week because the scenery and cinematography is always so pretty.
I watched an episode of Poirot without my husband, which was weird because we always watch it together. He was at work, though.
Last night we watched the 2010 version of True Grit.
What I’m Writing
I am working on the third book in my Gladwynn Grant Mysteries. Books one and two are available on Amazon as an ebook and paperback. They will be available on Barnes and Noble June 1st and will be in ebook on Kobo at that time too.
I am also working on correcting Cassie, which you can pre-order here. Cassie is the eighth book in the Apron String Book series, which is being written by eleven authors. You can learn more about them here.
Now it’s your turn. What have you been doing, watching, reading, listening to or writing? Let me know in the comments or leave a blog post link if you also write a weekly update like this.
Shaken by her parents’ divorce and discouraged by the growing chasm between herself and her serious boyfriend, Nikki Werner seeks solace at her uncle’s farm in a small Missouri hamlet. She’ll spend the summer there, picking up the pieces of her shattered present so she can plan a better future. But what awaits her at the ancestral farm is a past she barely knows.
Among her late grandmother’s belongings, Nikki finds an old notebook filled with handwritten German recipes and wise sayings pulled from the book of Proverbs. With each recipe she makes, she invites locals to the family table to hear their stories about the town’s history, her ancestors–and her estranged father.
What started as a cathartic way to connect to her heritage soon becomes the means through which she learns how the women before her endured–with the help of their cooking prowess. Nikki realizes how delicious streusel with a healthy dollop of faith can serve as a guide to heal wounds of the past.
MY THOUGHTS:
When I first started reading this book, I wasn’t sure I was going to make it through. It wasn’t that the writing was bad, it was that it was a bit slower than other books I read. This isn’t a hard-hitting, fast-paced book, and that’s okay, but it was just not what I was used to. I kept going and before long the easy-going pace with detailed descriptions, paragraphs of deep thoughts, and messages grew on me. While the slower pace of the book isn’t a detriment to the story, I think it is an important observation to mention for those who prefer a story with a quicker pace. However, I would encourage those who aren’t usually into “slower” books to give this one a chance.
Even without adventure and action, this book is still capable of captivating the reader. Nikki grapples with the broken relationship with her father which leads to a broken relationship with her fiancé. The fiancé is not a major character in the book since he is thousands of miles away from where she is throughout most of the book.
Nikki is helped in this personal journey with wisdom passed down from her grandmother in a notebook full of personal observations and recipes. She receives further advice from her uncle whom she forms a sweet bond with as the story progresses. That bond helps her to learn not only about her uncle’s life journey, but also the life experiences that shaped her father and his actions.
I easily fell in love with Brunsvold’s characters, even though the main character was not really my favorite at first. In the beginning I found her actions to be selfish and childish but when I compared her reactions to some of my own reactions to past traumatic experiences in my life, I realized her reactions really were very realistic.
The characters who kept this story moving forward in a relatable way were the gentle uncle who wants to do all he can to help his niece and his brother heal their hearts; the spunky aunt/great aunt who adds both humor and spiritual depth; and the nurturing, supportive friend of the uncle who also becomes a friend of Nikki.
There is a bit of romance in the book, but it is not a plot driver. There are two romances and they are subplots meant to help the reader get to know the characters and their motivations better. The entire message of the book about forgiving others and ourselves for past mistakes wouldn’t entirely fall apart if either romance was removed, but the romances make the message even richer.
While I enjoyed both of the romance subplots, I was glad that the main plot dealt more with Nikki trying to come to terms with not only her father’s actions, but her reactions to what he did that led to the split of their family. This was a book that was about the baggage we bring with us through life and how if we don’t deal with the difficult things in that baggage, we will continue to hurt those around us.
Faith in God is the main foundation of this book. Not only do the characters attend church, but they have a personal relationship with Jesus. They ask for help from him and are guided by his message of forgiveness throughout the story. The cookbook that Nikki learns and cooks from is full of messages of how God works in our life. The messages in the cookbook provide a type of devotional within the book so it is almost as if The Divine Proverb of Streusel is two books in one.
This is a book I would not hesitate to recommend to others. It has an uplifting message, is void of swearing, sex, or violence, and weaves together the stories of characters who were so well developed it felt as if I knew them. It wasn’t until I had almost finished this review and was talking to my husband about a family situation that it hit me how much of an impression this book had made on me. It had been a couple of days since I had read it and yet it still had me thinking about how we forgive those who have hurt us when the person never offers an apology or even believes they did nothing wrong. Or maybe they do offer an apology but it is not in their words but in actions that we don’t feel are enough for us.
Maybe the person has passed away and we will never receive the apology we so craved. What do we do with that unresolved pain, the lack of closure? We can choose to hold on to bitterness or let it go and give it to God. This book is a reminder that even if the other person doesn’t meet us where we need them to, God always will.
I am a little late on this one but oh well. Life gets in the way of blogging. Gasp! I know. Shocking. *wink*
But seriously, I forgot that I wanted to write a post about what I read in April and what I “plan” on reading in May last week so I am doing it this week instead.
To explain, I always write what I plan to read in a certain month, but I almost never stick to my list of what I will read, as you can see if you ever look back on blog posts where I have shared what I plan to read.
First up, what I read in April:
The Cat Who Talked to Ghosts by Lilian Jackson Braun
I offered a longer review of this on the blog yesterday. You can find that HERE.
The short version, though, is that I liked this book and it became one of my favorites of the series for the different version of Jim Qwilleran, the fact they were investigating the death of a close friend (which made me sad) and just the humor offered between Qwill and a child and then Qwill and his girlfriend Polly’s new kitten.
The Mystery at Lilac Inn by Carolyn Keene
Oh Nancy Drew, I do love you.
Even though so much of these books are completely unbelievable and silly. I can’t help reading them, though, because even with some silly plot points mixed in, the overall plots actually do hold up and are interesting. The books are like fluffy Angel Food Cake. They just melt in your mouth – a quick and sweet treat that makes you roll your eyes and giggle and then reach for another one.
This one involved a mystery at an inn (obviously, by the title), Nancy’s identity being stolen, and missing jewels. And as always Carson Drew, Nancy’s father, gave her permission to chase after dangerous people and be nearly killed as long as she was “careful.”
A Troubling Case of Murder on the Menu by Donna Doyle
I shared a review of this one last week. It was cute and sweet without much bite or plot at all. And that was just fine with me. Sometimes we need something like that. The book was only about 100 pages and I’m sure I will read others in this cute and short series.
For a shortened version of the plot: a retired, older woman, decides to start blogging as a hobby to fill her days now that her husband has passed away. In the process of visiting restaurants to blog about them she stumbles onto a dead body. Emily Cherry is a cute main character and her supporting characters include curious cat Rosemary and her overprotective family and a good friend, Anita.
Night Falls on Predicament Avenue by Jaime Jo Wright
I did not like this book. Let’s just get that out of the way. I liked parts of it and it moved along fast to start with.
Then it got repetitive.
The main character lives in an inn that is known to be haunted and has a history of death. There is a cemetery behind the old Victorian-house that houses the inn. Her sister was found dead near the inn. She is surrounded by death and constantly feels like the bony fingers of death are strangling her (we are told this at the beginning and end of almost every chapter after all) and her life is sad and hopeless because of her sister’s death. She has become almost a recluse. We are reminded of all these things about ten to twenty times throughout the book – in case we forgot the other ten or twenty times it was mentioned.
This is a dual timeline book so there is a mystery in the past and that got a little weird for me because the girl in the past seemed to be falling in love with a married man or a murderer or … who even knows at some points which is the good part of the mystery.
I might have been able to push a 3.5 stars out for this one if it hadn’t been for the sick and twisted ending that made me want to throw up and gave me the ickiest feeling.
All of this might not have bothered me so much if it wasn’t for the book being promoted as Christian Fiction. I got scolded by a reader for having a long kiss but this book was demented and that same reader gushed over it. Christian readers can be really, really weird at times. Kissing bad. Demented murder and assault good. Ha. Ha. Weird, right?
The Divine Proverb of Streusel by Sara Brunsvold
This book was about a woman (Nikki) who finds out her father has cheated on her mother and is divorcing her and sort of has a mental breakdown.
Her entire foundation of what her family was and what love means is shaken. She is engaged to a man and worries the same could happen to their relationship one day. She takes off to her late grandmother’s house a couple of states away and stays with her uncle who she barely knows to try to find herself. Her uncle (who is her dad’s brother) is in the process of cleaning out his mother’s house. She finds an old cookbook filled with recipes but also wisdom and begins cooking her grandmother’s recipes as a way to distract herself. In the process she begins to learn about her family, including the difficult relationship that her father had with his father.
The bottom line is that I enjoyed this one and it had me thinking about it a couple days later even.
I will have a full review of it up tomorrow.
Murder in an Irish Village by Carlene O’Connor
This book follows the story of an Irish family who lost their parents a year before and are working hard to keep the family bistro/café running. The story is told from the perspective of Shioban O’Sullivan, the older sister who was going to go to college but couldn’t when her parents died and she was left to care for her siblings. While they are all trying to adjust to life without their parents, she walks downstairs one morning and finds a dead body in the bistro.
Shioban already has feelings for the Guarda (which is essentially a town cop in Ireland) and things get awkward when she decides she has to help solve the murder after her brother is accused.
I really enjoyed this one, which is the first in a series. The characters are either hilarious, sweet, or obnoxious in a good way and the Irish sense of humor is one I can relate to. There was some swearing in this one but no graphic violence or sex at all.
The Middle Moffat by Eleanor Estes
I read this middle-grade book in March and then read it again with Little Miss. The book is about Jane Moffat, the middle child in the Moffat family. She is a little girl who is being raised with her three other siblings by her mom. Her father has passed away.
The book begins with Jane deciding she would like to be introduced to people as The Middle Moffat. She meets the oldest inhabitant in town that day and a friendship forms when she slips and calls herself the Mysterious Middle Moffat. The oldest inhabitant is a 99-year-old Civil War veteran and thinks it is so funny that she calls herself mysterious and even when she tries to explain that she misspoke (she’d actually been trying to think of additional titles to add to the Middle Moffat) he continues to call her mysterious.
Each time he sees her he taps his nose and calls her mysterious. Jane, in turn, becomes concerned that something might happen to the man before he turns 100 and begins to try to protect him, including spending a day with him one day when it is really foggy because she is concerned he will walk out into the fog and be injured.
Each chapter is a type of story of it’s own, but there are always a few aspects that carry over, including the interactions with the oldest inhabitant.
We ended up reading this book around the same time as the solar eclipse and it worked out perfectly because there is also a chapter about Jane trying to see the solar eclipse with her friend Nancy. We also read a chapter about Jane having friend problems with Nancy around the same time Little Miss was having some issues with her friends.
There was only one chapter we didn’t like as much as felt like it dragged a bit.
I hope to read the other books in this series soon.
Coming up in May
I am already reading two books: Apple Cider Slaying by Julie Anne Lindsey and Operation Rescue by Kari Trumbo.
Apple Cider Slaying is a cozy mystery.
I don’t know that I really want to read Operation Rescue, to be honest, but I agreed to read it to review for Clean Fiction Magazine so it may surprise me and become one I like. It is a Christian Fiction book about a rehab center for people who have been rescued from human trafficking and I think there is going to be some romance mixed in between staff at the rehab center – not with any of the victims who are there for healing, thankfully.
I am reading The Secret Garden with Little Miss and we will finish it this month because we are more than halfway through it already.
I also plan to read The Mysterious Affair of Styles by Agatha Christie. It is the first Hercule Poirot book.
I don’t know if I will get to other books this month since I am a slow reader and am also listening to Around the World in 80 Days on Audible with The Boy but other books, I have on my list this month or next are:
Lost Coast Literary by Ellie Alexander
The Deeds of the Deceitful by Ellery Adams and Tina Radcliffe
Death At A Scottish Christmas by Lucy Connelly
The Women of Wyntons by Donna Mumma
The Real James Herriott by Jim Wight
And
Watership Down by Richard Adams
Right before I published this, though, Little Miss and I went to the library and I picked up The Strawberry Girl by Lois Lenski and Ginger Pye by Eleanor Estes so those two will probably get bumped in front of some of those in the above list.
How was your reading in April and do you have ideas of what you will read in May or will you just figure it out as you go (which is what I will probably do in the end because I am such a mood reader).
I have read almost all of the 29 books in The Cat Who series by Lilian Jackson Braun and there have been hits and misses and a couple all out duds – like any series.
Originally, I had skipped The Cat Who Talked To Ghosts because when I started it it seemed to be written in first person point of view and while I read books in first person POV, all of the other The Cat Who books are written in third. I wasn’t sure I would like the change.
It turns out, however, that only a section of the first chapter of the book is written in the first person point of view. The rest of the book is written in the third person.
I opened the book on my Kindle one night after a particularly hard day when I needed a comfort read. I’m glad I needed that type of read because this turned out to be one of my favorite books in the series.
For those who don’t know about this series, it features former big city newspaper reporter Jim Qwilleran (most commonly referred to Qwill in the series), now a small town newspaper columnist living in what I believe is Northern Michigan, though it’s never really said where the fiction town of Pickax in the fictional county of Moose County is.
Braun simply says Moose County is “north of everywhere.” According to the site Novel Suspects, “Though fictitious, Pickax is generally assumed to be based on the town of Bad Axe, Michigan, where Braun lived for many years.”
The series starts with Qwilleran living in the city (probably Chicago though it never really says), writing for a newspaper, and falling into a murder investigation or two. He ends up adopting two cats during that first book – a cat named Koko Kao Kung (Koko for short) and Yum-Yum. Koko is the one who has some mysterious skills that help Qwill solve crimes. Some of those skills include opening books, knocking things off shelves, or alerting Qwill to unsavory characters who look like nice people.
This installment deals with the murder of Qwill’s former housekeeper. She calls Qwill in the middle of the night, saying she has been hearing weird, ghostly noises at the apartment she lives in at the county museum, which she is the caretaker of.
Qwill heads out for the 20-minute-drive to her apartment but by the time he arrives, Iris Cobb is already dead on the floor of her kitchen, apparently frightened to death. Qwill wants to find out who killed her and the museum also needs a temporary caretaker so it works out perfectly when the chairman of the museum board asks if he knows anyone who can fill in temporarily. Qwill packs up the cats and moves into the museum himself to see if he hears the ghostly sounds Iris said she was hearing.
During the stay, Koko does his best to lead Qwill to the killer, including literally sniffing out clues and knocking particular books off shelves. In the process of trying to find Iris’s murderer, Qwill meets some interesting neighbors – a couple from the south who have a three year old daughter and a young woman living alone on a goat farm.
Qwill is thrown into a secondary mystery when another murder occurs but seems to be separate from the first. In all honesty, the first death very well could have been an accident since the woman had a heart condition and some health issues. Qwill will have to figure it out.
One thing to know about Qwill is that he is not a huge fan of children. He has no children. He doesn’t want children. The fact that a child was written into this story and he had to interact with said child offered a new layer to his character that was both funny and endearing.
This installment turned out to be one of my favorites even though one of the regular recurring characters in the series was the victim this time. There was a totally different feeling to this book than others. There seemed to be an actual focus on the mystery while in other books there is a lot of wandering around and rambling side stories that have nothing to do with the main mystery. That can be both a comforting and annoying aspect to the books.
I love reading about the quirky characters in Moose County but in some books, I think Braun forgot she was supposed to be writing a mystery.
Luckily The Cat Who Talked to Ghosts was not one of them. It revealed more of Qwill’s character as someone who cares more for children than he realized and who actually grieved more over a victim than in other books, most likely because he was so much closer to this victim than other victims.
This was also the book where we are introduced to Bootsie, Qwill’s girlfriend Polly’s cat who is hilarious referred to as a beast of a cat in future books.
The Cat Who books really do not need to be read in order since Braun briefly catches the reader up to who Qwill and the regular characters are in each book. I would highly recommend this one for any lovers of cozy mysteries.
It’s time for our Sunday morning chat. On Sundays, I ramble about what’s been going on, whatthe rest of the familyand I have been reading and watching, andwhat I’ve been writing. Some weeks I share what I am listening to.
Yesterday I woke up with insane sinus pressure. More than I have had in a long time. It hurt so bad I couldn’t smile or show much emotion so I think my family thought I was mad at them all day. I had to keep explaining about how bad it hurt and that it wasn’t them. This time anyhow. Ha!
I don’t know if it is an actual sinus infection or if it is just because of allergies, the temperature drop yesterday and the rain today. Whatever it is, it stinks, but hopefully it will clear up later this week.
Little Miss had a couple of friends over and they played all around outside, briefly at the playground, and inside. After they went home we watched the movie Migration as a family.
Today, if I can get off this couch after I finish this blog post, we will have lunch at my parents. If not I will just sit here and whine for the rest of the day while sipping tea.
What I/we’ve been Reading
Currently:
Apple Cider Slaying by Jennifer Anne Lindsey
Description:
Blossom Valley, West Virginia, is home to Smythe Orchards, Winnie and her Granny’s beloved twenty-five-acre farm and family business. But any way you slice it, it’s struggling. That’s why they’re trying to drum up business with the “First Annual Christmas at the Orchard,” a good old-fashioned holiday festival with enough delicious draw to satisfy apple-picking locals and cider-loving tourists alike—until the whole endeavor takes a sour turn when the body of Nadine Cooper, Granny’s long-time, grudge-holding nemesis, is found lodged in the apple press. Now, with Granny the number one suspect, Winnie is hard-pressed to prove her innocence before the real killer delivers another murder . . .
I’m also reading The Secret Garden which I am reading aloud to Little Miss.
Just Finished:
Murder Barks Twice by Jennifer Hawkins (will have a review up soon).
I was surprised to find the audiobook for this available for free on Amazon this week when I went to purchase a copy of a book for a friend. I downloaded it and it helped me get through it a little faster as I listened to it while driving to pick up groceries on Friday and yesterday while puttering around the house with the aforementioned sinus pressure. Most of the time I read it though because I found the narrator a little annoying. She made every character sound afraid no matter what they were saying. It was weird. I read the last few chapters instead of listening to it.
Soon to be read:
Operation Restoration by Kari Trumbo
The Deeds of the Deceitful by Ellery Adams and Tina Radcliffe
Lost Coast Literary by Ellie Alexander
The Real James Herriot: A Memoir of My Father by Jim Wight
What We watched/are Watching
This week I watched Booktubers, as they are called, and mainly those who read cozy mysteries. I gleaned a lot of book suggestions from those videos.
I didn’t watch other shows except for an episode of Midsomer Murders with The Husband because it was nice out and I mainly read a book outside on the back porch. What I’m Writing
I am listening to Around the World in 80 Days on Audible.
I do not like the song Angels by Sarah McClaulin (spelling) at all since it has been so overplayed, but just heard a version by David Phelps and liked it a lot more with his arrangement.
Photos from Last Week
Blog Posts I Enjoyed This Past Week
Now it’s your turn
Now it’s your turn. What have you been doing, watching, reading, listening to or writing? Let me know in the comments or leave a blog post link if you also write a weekly update like this.
Emily Cherry may be retired, but she’s not about to roll over and die!
Defying the doubts of her three adult children this plucky computer-shy grandma embarks on a unique path by launching her very own food blog. The only problem is thatduring her inaugural restaurant review, she stumbles upon a lifeless body.
In an instant, Emily’s envisioned future as a food blogger plunges into uncertainty – and a brand-new amateur sleuth is born!
Cozy up in your favorite chair and prepare for a thrilling first adventure in this brand-new senior sleuthing series.
You are guaranteed to fall in love with retiree Emily Cherry and giggle at her uncanny ability to stumble into one head-scratching mystery after another.
A troubling Case of Murder on the Menu (A Emily Cherry Mystery) by Donna Doyle
MY THOUGHTS: This was a very cute, very light mystery. Only about 100 pages it wasn’t hard hitting, there wasn’t much plot and there also wasn’t very much sleuthing but it was still a cute little book and it is the first in a 10-book series.
I loved the main character Emily Cherry and her cat Rosemary. I would love to see the characters and plots of the books expanded a bit into full-length novels but these are a nice little distraction from life if your mystery expectations are lowered and your expectations of loveable characters are raised.
In this first book Emily is adjusting to life after retirement. Now living alone after becoming a sudden widow (I don’t remember if the book says for how long she’s been a widow) she decides she wants to try her hand at something new – blogging. Her well-meaning, yet sometimes overprotective family, offers her all kinds of advice about what she should and shouldn’t do when she blogs. She takes some of the advice and discards the rest and decides to become a food blogger.
Things go awry, though, when a suspicious death occurs at her first restaurant visit. She suddenly finds herself thinking more about the death and less about her blog.
There are some very cute conversations and moments between Emily and investigators, who think she’s simply a little old lady who needs to sit down and rest all of the time.
She has similar cute interactions with her family, who clearly love her and care for her and are well-meaning but a little bit pushy in their opinions of what she should do with her life. When they think she believes her blog could be a money maker, she wishes they would understand that she wants to do something for fun after earning money and working her entire adulthood. Luckily, she has her friend Anita to help her navigate this new life and support whatever it is she wants to do for fun.
Through blogging Emily also reignites a love of cooking and learning new recipes.
I recently heard a reader say that what makes a good cozy mystery isn’t necessarily the mystery itself but the characters, their stories, their animals, and how they interact with their cozy world. I have to agree with this and that’s why I loved this little book so much. Emily, as I’ve mentioned already, is lovable and inviting and reading about her creates an easy going escape needed today.
I will be reading more in this series, especially when I need a light escape into a world of cute characters, caring family members, and a snuggly and curious cat.
Sidenote: This book is listed under religious fiction but there was nothing really religious about it at all. It was just a simple, clean read with no deep message and I think that’s what we all need at times.
You can find this series on Kindle Unlimited, incidentally.
It’s time for our Sunday morning chat. On Sundays, I ramble about what’s been going on, whatthe rest of the familyand I have been reading and watching, andwhat I’ve been writing. Some weeks I share what I am listening to.
Right before I hit post on that post, everything I wrote about having a relaxing Saturday afternoon was blown to smithereens when my husband called to tell me he was parked along the road because smoke and flames had been pouring from his right front tire while he was on his way to work 45 minutes away. He had gotten about 20 minutes away when he called me. He had to call 911 and I came back to edit that this will most likely not be an easy fix, sadly. It looks like a major injury to the truck my daughter has named Methuselah after an alligator character on a kid’s radio drama that we listen to.
My dad and I drove up so The Husband could take a car and continue on to work and then Dad and I waited for the tow truck. It was a cold, rainy, and windy day and I was glad that we didn’t have to wait long. Sadly, though, my relaxing afternoon was gone.
At least I was able to see a pretty view while I waited. The building below is where my son goes to school.
I was able to salvage some of the day by going home and watching a movie with The Boy. He groaned when I made him watch The King’s Speech, starring Colin Firth, but he started to like it after a half hour or so. I mean, he played a game on his phone through most of it so he sort of paid attention. He did, however, tell me this movie choice was a reason why I never get to pick movies for movie nights.
What I/we’ve been Reading
I’ve been reading a lot of cozy mysteries and have a lot on my upcoming reading lists.
Currently:
Murder Always Barks Twice by Jennifer Hawkins
The Deeds of the Deceitful by Ellery Adams and Tina Radcliffe
Listening to Around the World in 80 Days by Jules Verne with The Boy
Reading The Secret Garden with Little Miss
Just Finished:
The Cat Who Talked to Ghosts by Lilian Jackson Braun
The Mystery at Lilac Inn by Carolyn Keene
Soon/Eventually to be read:
The Women of Wyntons by Donna Mumma
The Real James Herriott: A Memoir of My Father by Jim Wight
Apple Cider Slaying by Julie Anne Lindsey
Death At A Scottish Christmas by Lucy Connelly
What We watched/are Watching
Last week The Boy and I watched Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Rings.
He and his sister also watched the first Harry Potter movie and I watched a little with them.
Last night, as I mentioned, we watched The King’s Speech.
I also watched an episode of All Creatures Great and Small this past week.
I found a new vlogger who I really enjoy and have enjoyed her book recommendations:
What I’m Writing
Cassie is with my editor and I’ve started on book three in the Gladwynn Grant Mystery series. The title is Gladwynn Grant Shook the Family Tree and I am excited to tell you all about it more in the future.
What I’m Listening to
I am listening to Around the World in 80 Days. Music wise I’ve been listening to Ellie Holcomb lately.
Photos from Last Week
I don’t have a ton of photos from last week but here are a few:
Now it’s your turn
Now it’s your turn. What have you been doing, watching, reading, listening to or writing? Let me know in the comments or leave a blog post link if you also write a weekly update like this.
