Weekend Traffic Jam Reboot November 7

November 6, 2025November 6, 2025 / Lisa R. Howeler / 5 Comments

Welcome to the Weekend Traffic Jam Reboot, where we offer a place for bloggers to link up and get a fresh set of eyes on their posts. We also feature one blog a week, letting our readers know about the blog and providing a link so readers can learn more about it. Please feel free to post new blog posts or old ones you want to bring attention to again.

Look for the post to go live about 9:30 PM EST on Thursdays.

Now, let’s introduce our current hosts for the Weekend Traffic Jam Reboot:

Marsha from Marsha in the Middle started blogging in 2021 as an exercise in increasing her neuroplasticity. Oh, who are we kidding? Marsha started blogging because she loves clothes, and she loves to talk or, in this case, write!

Melynda from Scratch Made Food! & DIY Homemade Household – The name says it all, we homestead in East Texas, with three generations sharing this land. I cook and bake from scratch, between gardening and running after the chickens, and knitting!

Lisa from Boondock Ramblings shares about the fiction she writes and reads, her faith, homeschooling, photography and more.

Cat from Cat’s Wire is a bookworm, movie fan, crazy cat lady, armed with beads, cabs, wire and a very jumpy brain which loves to go down rabbit holes!

Rena from Fine, Whatever writes about style, midlife, and the “fine whatever” moments that make life both meaningful and fun. Since 2015, she’s been celebrating creativity, confidence, and finding joy in the everyday.

We would love to have additional Co-Hosts to share in the creativity and fun! If you think this would be a good fit for you and you like having fun (come on, who doesn’t!) while still being creative, drop one of us an email and someone will get back with you!

WTJR will be highlighting a different blogger each week this year! We invite you to stop by their blog, take a look around and say hello!

This week we are spotlighting: Living Outside the Stacks

Thank you so much for joining us for our link-up!

And now some posts that were highlights for me this past week:

|| Spooky Season Superlatives by Still Life, With Cracker Crumb ||

|| Six Days In Branson, Missouri: Day Four, The Titanic Museum and “David by Amy’s Creative Pursuit ||

|| Here’s How to Fall in Love With Dark Romance Style by Your True Self Blog ||

|| Do You Love Decorating With Mirrors? By Distinctly Southern Style ||

Important things to know about the link-up:

You may add unlimited family-friendly blog post links, linked to specific blog posts, not just the blog.
Be sure to visit other links and leave a kind comment for each link you post (it would be too hard to visit every link, of course!)
The party opens Thursday evening and ends on Wednesday.
Thank you for participating. Have fun!

*By linking to The Weekend Traffic Jam Reboot Link Up, you give permission to share your post and images on the hosts’ blogs.

Hello! Welcome to my blog. I am a blogger, homeschool mom, and I write cozy mysteries.

You can find my Gladwynn Grant Mystery series HERE.

You can also find me on Instagram and YouTube.

Top Ten Tuesday: Ten books I randomly grabbed off my shelf

November 4, 2025 / Lisa R. Howeler / 18 Comments

Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl.

Today’s prompt was: The First 10 Books I Randomly Grabbed from My Shelf (Stand in front of your book collection, close your eyes, point to a title, and write it down. If you have shelves, point to your physical books. If you have a digital library, use a random number generator and write down the title of the book that corresponds with the number you generated. You get bonus points if you tell us whether or not you’ve read the book, and what you thought of it if you did!)

I did pick these books randomly, which you might question when you see the one. I was surprised that I have only read two out of all the picks I made. I did it by closing my eyes and just feeling around each shelf.

The Devil’s Hand by Jack Carr

I have not read this one. It is actually from my husband’s collection. He is a very avid reader (more so than me) so our books are mixed. He’s a big Jack Carr fan. I may read this at some point.

2. As The Crow Flies by Craig Johnson (A Walt Longmire Mystery)

This series is about the sheriff of Wyoming’s Absaroka County and the various cases he has to solve. Yes, the show Longmire is based on the series. Walt’s sidekick is Henry Standing Bear, and his deputies are Victoria “Vic” Moretti and Santiago Saizarbitoria. I have not read this one yet but I have read several in the series so far and enjoy them. They can get a little repetitive but I love the characters and Johnson’s writing.

One thing you come to expect from a Walt Longmire Mystery is that there is going to be a fairly gruesome murder, Walt is going to have to go on a long journey (often in the snow) where he will probably see his Native American spirit guides, Henry is going to be both a support and a smart mouth that provides the comic relief, and Vic is going to figure out how to make complete sentences using only the words “the” and the f-word. So, no, these are not “clean” books. But the writing is really great.

3. Summer HIll Sisters by Beverly Lewis

I have never actually read Beverly Lewis. We found this book and several Elm Creek Quilting books by Jennifer Chiavarini in our attic a couple of years ago. I am guessing the previous owner left them. I will probably read this at some point.

4. Very Good, Jeeves by P.G. Wodehouse

I have read two in this series but not this one yet. These are sort of like short stories. They were first published in either a magazine or newspaper back in the 1920s. I will read this one at some point.

5. Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers by J.R.R. Tolkien

I actually read this earlier this year. I will be reading Return of the King this winter

6. Known to Evil by Walter Mosley

Another of my husband’s books. He reads a lot of Mosley, but I have not yet. Hope to soon.

7. The Farmer’s Daughter by Lisa R. Howeler (yeah…me)

I promise I did NOT pick this one on purpose. I didn’t even know it was on that shelf. I considered putting it back and choosing another one but I wanted to keep true to the prompt so I kept it here. I won’t provide a link so I’m not being spammy. It is on Kindle Unlimited if you want to look it up. It is a Christian romance. I now write cozy mysteries instead of romance but at some point I need to write the last book in this series.

8. My Beloved by Jan Karon

My husband just bought this for me and it came out in October. I can’t wait to read it but I think I might let my mom read it first. She loves Jan Karon books and I do have some other books I can read first. Plus, she’s a very fast reader so I’ll have it back quick I’m sure.

9. Cold Company by Sue Henry

I haven’t read any books by this author. I had never even heard of her before my daughter picked this out for me at a used book sale. I’ll get to it eventually.

10. An Amish Inn Mystery: Plain Deception by Tara Randel

I have read other books in this series and enjoyed them but I have not read this one yet. Probably soon, though.

Have you read any of these books? Let me know in the comments!

If you write book reviews or book-related blog posts, don’t forget that Erin and I host the A Good Book and A Cup of Tea Monthly Bookish Blog Party. You can learn more about it here.

Hello! Welcome to my blog. I am a blogger, homeschool mom, and I write cozy mysteries.

You can find my Gladwynn Grant Mystery series HERE.

You can also find me on Instagram and YouTube.

A Good Book and A Cup of Tea Bookish Link Up For November

November 3, 2025November 4, 2025 / Lisa R. Howeler / 9 Comments

Welcome to the A Good Book & A Cup of Tea (A Monthly Bookish Link Party)!! This link-up is for book and reading posts or anything related to books and reading (even movies based on books!).

Each link party will be open for a month.

My co-host for this event is Erin from Still Life, With Cracker Crumbs! You can link up with either of us!

Some guidelines.

1. For Bloggers, you can link unlimited posts related to books and reading. They can be older posts or newer posts. These can be posts about what you’re reading, book reviews, books you’ve added to your shelf, reading habits, what you’ve been reading, about trips to the bookstore, etc. You get the drift.

2. Link to a specific blog post (URL of a specific post, not just your website). Feel free to link up any older posts that may need some love and attention, too.

3. Please visit at least two other bloggers on this list and comment on their posts. Have fun! Interact! Get some book recommendations.

4. Readers can click the blue button below to visit blog posts.

5. If you add a link you are giving me permission to share and link back to your post(s).

Thank you to those who linked up last month. Here are some highlights from that link party:

|| Books I Read in September by Slices of Life ||

|| Six Degrees of Separation: I Want Everything to Dear Mrs Bird by The Intrepid Reader ||

|| More Than One Copy? by Cat’s Wire ||

Sunday Bookends: My ebook is free, K-Pop Demon Hunters Sing Along, and classic Pizza Hut

November 2, 2025November 4, 2025 / Lisa R. Howeler / 23 Comments

It’s time for our Sunday morning chat. On Sundays, I ramble about what’s been going on, what the rest of the family and I have been reading and watching, and what I’ve been writing. Some weeks I share what I am listening to.

Last night, The Husband, Little Miss, and I went to a theater near us to watch K-Pop Demon Hunters Sing Along on the big screen.

There weren’t as many people as I thought there would be and Little Miss was a bit embarrassed by her old mom singing and trying to dance. I was trying to fill in for her friend who wasn’t able to attend with us.

Afterward we visited one of the last classic Pizza Huts in the country for some dinner.

Here is a video I saw on YouTube that talks about it.

I ordered a salad since I’m not supposed to be eating gluten but I did taste some of the pizza Little Miss and The Husband ordered. Little Miss ordered her own personal pan pizza with green peppers, roasted red peppers, banana peppers and extra cheese. She was so excited to have her own pizza and said, “I can eat the toppings off if I want to since it is my own pizza!”

The Boy was spending the weekend at a friend’s house. It felt weird to go out to eat without him.

Earlier in the week, the Cat Distribution System found us and dropped off an all-black cat. This is strange since all of our pets (the two cats and a dog) are black and white. We are not sure where this kitten came from but it wants in our house and is very lovable. An abandoned house was pulled down on the street below us and my son says a lot of stray cats lived there. We think they are trying to find somewhere warm to go but what I can’t figure out is why this one cat wants to adopt us. We really don’t need anymore pets and feel the cat is probably full of fleas so we’ve placed it our garage with some food and a bed at nights and plan to give it flea medicine today.

My kids had decided in less than five minutes we were adopting the cat while I was still trying to say it could be a neighbors. The cat hasn’t gone home since Thursday, however, and even The Husband who doesn’t even like the cats we have (because he misses the cats we had for 19 years and refuses to open his heart to other cats. Yes, those cats were that old!) has been cradling this cat and suggesting we can make it work with three cats.

Pray for me. I’m losing the battle to keep our household to two cats and a dog.

Erin and I are also hosting a monthly bookish link party called A Good Book and A Cup of Tea. You can find that link up for this month here.

Also, my book Gladwynn Grant Gets Her Footing is available for free in ebook form on Amazon until tomorrow (Monday) night. It’s a cozy mystery:

I am currently reading Hero Debut By Angela Ruth Strong and Rebecca by Daphne De Maurier.

Hero Debut is a romantic comedy and has most of my attention right now as it is light and easy to read.

I’m also reading At Home In Harmony by Phillip Gulley off and on before bed. Each chapter is like a short story of its own and centers around a Quaker pastor.

For November, I am planning on reading a selection of Nancy Drew books for an event I created for fun — Nancy Drew November.

I’ll be listing which books I am going to read in a post later this week.

I am very anxious to read My Beloved by Jan Karon but I think I’m going to wait to start it until further into November so I can read it slowly for the Christmas season.

Last week I watched a movie called Phffft! with Jack Lemmon and Kim Novak. It was funny and cute.

I also watched a couple of The Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew Mysteries episodes.

Last night I watched a couple of episodes of Murder, She Wrote from the early 1990s. It was interesting to see Kevin Sorbo and Mickey Rooney in the two episodes I watched. I’m fairly certain the one actor was Patrick Swazy’s brother. His name was Don and he looked exactly like Patrick so I’d say they were brothers. Of course, Mickey was playing a horse trainer. That’s a role he was used to from his movie days, that is for sure.

Last week on the blog I shared:

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.

This post is linked up with The Sunday Post at Kimba at Caffeinated Reviewer, The Sunday Salon with Deb at Readerbuzz, and Book Date: It’s Monday! What are you reading hosted by Kathyrn at The Book Date. Stacking the Shelves is hosted by Reading Reality.

Hello! Welcome to my blog. I am a blogger, homeschool mom, and I write cozy mysteries.

You can find my Gladwynn Grant Mystery series HERE.

You can also find me on Instagram and YouTube.

Weekend Traffic Jam Reboot Oct. 31

October 30, 2025October 30, 2025 / Lisa R. Howeler / 6 Comments

Look for the post to go live about 9:30 PM EST on Thursdays.

Good grief, Pennsylvania. What is with this super cold weather even before November hit? Wait. That’s pretty normal, I just don’t like to remember it because I’m not a fan of cold unless I can be inside wrapped up in a blanket? Oh. I see.

Well, anyhow, winter is upon us at the moment it seems as our temps dip into the low 30s and high 20s at night.

This gives us extra snuggle time with the pets who like to snuggle at the most inconvenient times these days. I’ll take it, though, because I always look forward to when they slow down a little and let me cuddle them a little bit. They had plenty of time to cuddle as I am writing this because it is pouring outside.

Now on to introducing our hosts.

Lisa from Boondock Ramblings shares about the fiction she writes and reads, her faith, homeschooling, photography and more.

Cat from Cat’s Wire is a bookworm, movie fan, crazy cat lady, armed with beads, cabs, wire and a very jumpy brain which loves to go down rabbit holes!

WTJR will be highlighting a different blogger each week this year! We invite you to stop by their blog, take a look around and say hello!

This week we are spotlighting: Caffeinated Frame

A little about Arpita:

Hi there! My name is Arpita Singh, and I believe myself to be a creative soul with an undying love for art and writing. I find myself constantly drawn to anything that allows me to express a matter creatively, and I am thrilled to have the opportunity to share my interest with you through this blogging website.

Nothing compares to starting the day with a fresh, warm cup of coffee, to get the energy and focus one needs to tackle the day ahead.

I have been fortunate enough to have lived two totally different lives in two distinct cities, providing me with an exceptional opportunity to learn from both. The experiences I have gained through these two vastly different worlds have taught me invaluable lessons that I am eager to share these with you.

Thank you so much for joining us for our link-up!

And now some posts that were highlights for me this past week:

Nancy’s showing how to wear a lacey skirt!

(Marsha is showing all the ways she can wear her skit)

(This was a fun surprise on a walk!)

What a sweet post from Joyce about her granddaughter!

Important things to know about the link-up:

You may add unlimited family-friendly blog post links, linked to specific blog posts, not just the blog.
Be sure to visit other links and leave a kind comment for each link you post (it would be too hard to visit every link, of course!)
The party opens Thursday evening and ends on Wednesday.
Thank you for participating. Have fun!

*By linking to The Weekend Traffic Jam Reboot Link Up, you give permission to share your post and images on the hosts’ blogs.

Hello! Welcome to my blog. I am a blogger, homeschool mom, and I write cozy mysteries.

You can find my Gladwynn Grant Mystery series HERE.

You can also find me on Instagram and YouTube.

Top Ten Tuesday: The ten most recent books I’ve read

October 28, 2025 / Lisa R. Howeler / 22 Comments

Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl.

This week’s prompt was Halloween Freebie, but since I don’t really read Halloween books, I chose to list my last ten most recent reads.

My last ten reads have been fairly simple reading with four Nancy Drew books and two Murder, She Wrote books mixed in. I’m going to go from my last read down to the tenth last read.

The Nancy Drew Files: Win, Lose, or Die by Carolyn Keene

2. Murder, She Wrote: Trick or Treachery by Donald Bain

3. Come, Tell Me How You Live by Agatha Christie Mallowen

4. A Fatal Harvest by Rachael O. Phillips

5. The Voyage of the Dawn Treader by C.S. Lewis

6. Nancy Drew: The Clue of the Broken Locket by Carolyn Keene

7. Murder, She Wrote: Gin and Daggers by Donald Bain

8. The Antique Hunter’s Guide to Murder by C.L. Miller

9. But First, Murder by Bee Littlefield

10. Nancy Drew: Password to Larkspur Lane by Carolyn Keene

What have you been reading lately?

If you write book reviews or book-related blog posts, don’t forget that Erin and I host the A Good Book and A Cup of Tea Monthly Bookish Blog Party. You can learn more about it here.

Hello! Welcome to my blog. I am a blogger, homeschool mom, and I write cozy mysteries.

You can find my Gladwynn Grant Mystery series HERE.

You can also find me on Instagram and YouTube.

Sunday Bookends: New additions to the TBR

October 26, 2025 / Lisa R. Howeler / 22 Comments

This past week I received book-related stickers in the mail and was thrilled because I love stickers and putting them in books. I don’t have a lot of places to stick these stickers but it is still fun to have them. I have a reading journal, so I stuck some there and Little Miss took some for her phone.

Do you keep a reading journal? I was all excited to get one (which is just a journal with blank pages that I fill in) but then I ended up not taking the notes about the books I was reading, or doing much of anything I planned to do with it. I do keep a list of the books I’ve read throughout the year (which is much lower this year than last year) in it. I also keep a list of books recommended to me, books I want to read, my favorite books read, movies I’ve watched, and movies I want to watch.

I have a list going of Nancy Drew books I’ve read so far in it and that list actually isn’t that big. I think next year I will start a list of The Hardy Boys books I’ve read. So far, it’s exactly one.

I also ordered a set of magnetic bookmarks with cats on them last week. That was also exciting for me, but I will lose them quickly because I always seem to. I don’t know how. I lay them down next to me, get up, and they’ve fallen into some sort of portal! For example, I stood up tonight while reading to go pick up my kids after they were trick-or-treating and I dropped the bookmark and it was gone. Just gone. It’s possibly buried in my all-black purse, but even the purse seemed like some sort of portal because when I looked inside, it was gone.

Luckily, I have about 20 other bookmarks I can choose from to replace it. And then lose them as well.

In addition to the stickers and bookmarks, I also received an order of five books from Thriftbooks.

One of them is for Little Miss for school. It’s called Secrets of Civil War Spies by Nancy LeSourd.

The other four were:

Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier

Bombs on Aunt Dainty by Judith Kerr

The Silver Chair by C.S. Lewis

Murder, She Wrote: Aloha Betrayed by Donald Bain

The week before I received three new Nancy Drew books via the True Drew Podcast shop.

Those books were two from the 80s and 90s: The Nancy Drew Files Win, Lose or Die and The Nancy Drew Files Pure Poison. I also ordered an original book, The Mystery of the Fire Dragon.

This week I finished Trick or Treachery by Donald Bain, a Murder, She Wrote book. I finished it in three days after Little Miss told me I couldn’t finish it by the weekend. I showed her. I finished it three days early. She may have had an ulterior motive because with me reading she could get away doing what she wanted during the day. Hmmm…wait a minute!

I also started Home to Harmony by Phillip Gulley and The Nancy Drew Files Win, Place, or Die by Carolyn Keene. The Nancy Drew book is one of the books from the 1990s series. I’m about 50 pages from the end, which isn’t saying much since these books are only 150 pages total. I’ll finish it today. I have to say, I know these books are for kids or preteens, but the plot of this one really isn’t that bad. This is the first one I’ve read as an adult from this particular series. I am certain I read one in high school.

The Husband ordered me a copy of the latest Mitford book by Jan Karon (My Beloved) as a surprise, and it came yesterday. I’d had a bit of a rough few days with a sore tooth and feeling overwhelmed in life, so it was a wonderful surprise that brought me to tears.

I am going to start it sometime in November or maybe even December because it has a Christmas theme. I will not lie, I opened the book after I took a photo of it and inhaled deeply. It was so comforting.

Little Miss and I finished The Good Master this week, and we have been listening to — I kid you not — a Murder, She Wrote book before bed at night.

She said she’s actually enjoying it, so she requests it.

We are also reading the Civil War themed book for school and finishing the second Caddie Woodlawn book, which we forgot to finish when we got distracted by The Good Master.

The Husband is reading….? Oops … forgot to ask but it was Boone’s Lick by Larry McMurty.

The kids and I watched Mrs. Doubtfire last night. It has been years since The Boy has seen it and Little Miss has never seen it.

Earlier in the week I watched Petticoat Junction and yesterday I watched part of The Big Trail with John Wayne from 1930. That movie — wow. That was a crazy journey with very realistic scenes of the wagon trains traveling into the West.

I think I will write a post about it once I finish it. I would love to know more about the making of that movie.

I also watched another two-part Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mystery. Yes, I’ll definitely recap this one because it was a crazy ride with more romance between Nancy and Frank.

Last week on the blog I shared:

This post linked to my blog post about Murder, She Wrote. That was interesting….Being used as a source for an article.

|| Throwback Tuesday: Why I Don’t Ask Comprehension Questions and What I Do Instead by My Slices of Life ||

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.

Hello! Welcome to my blog. I am a blogger, homeschool mom, and I write cozy mysteries.

You can find my Gladwynn Grant Mystery series HERE.

You can also find me on Instagram and YouTube.

Saturday Afternoon (Evening) Chat: Winter has come early and everything is 45-minutes away

October 25, 2025October 25, 2025 / Lisa R. Howeler / 13 Comments

*This was supposed to publish this afternoon, but I forgot to hit…yes…publish. Hahaha!

Winter is coming early to Pennsylvania, it seems.

Temps have dropped into the mid-to-high 30’s at night and aren’t reaching much above 55 most days.

We have been inside a lot, bundled up under blankets and sweaters, with The Husband determined not to turn the main heat on until November 1.

I, however, have been turning our electric heat on in the hallway upstairs at night to try to chase away some of the chill. Shhhh.. we will keep that our little secret.

I am a fan of curling up under blankets and tossing a warmed-up rice pack at my feet so I don’t mind keeping it cozy in the house but having it just a touch warmer on some nights would be nice.

This past week was fairly non-eventful. The Boy visited his grandparents most days, helping them with various household chores and projects.

On Thursday, Little Miss and I visited them and helped around the house.

Yesterday we stayed home and did some school and housework of our own. Tonight, I will be taking the kids downtown for a trunk-or-treat and then trick-or-treating around town if they want to do that.

I don’t usually walk around, but instead sit in the car, sipping hot cocoa and reading a book. I am hoping The Boy will go with us and walk around with his little sister and her friend so I don’t have to. I am not a huge fan of trick-or-treating or walking around a small town in the dark with a knee that sometimes gives out.

I think we will probably have lunch at my parents tomorrow and Monday night The Husband and I have to drive . . . can you guess how long of a drive to pick our car up from the mechanic?

If you guessed 45-minutes, you were right.

I swear everything is 45-minutes away from us now.

This is a mechanic we used when we lived up that way and was able to fix something on our poor, war-torn car that mechanics in our area couldn’t. The Husband hit a deer — again — with this car two weeks ago. We have now hit a deer with it every fall for the last three years. The last time, Little Miss and I were with him. Each time the deer has smashed in the hood and kept going. I’m not sure if they made it any of those times, but they weren’t along the road afterward. Those creatures are a lot more solid than they look out in our yard or fields. They are all muscle and that makes even more of an impact when you are going along at 40 miles per hour, which is about how fast he was going the last two times. Not sure about that first time.

On Tuesday, The Husband and I might go to a theater to see Pyscho on the big screen. Guess again how far away the theater is….

This past week I received some used books in the mail from Thriftbooks which I will talk about more tomorrow in my Sunday Bookends post, but I also received some book and reading related stickers.

I am such a nerd — I couldn’t wait to open them up and look through them and then decide where to put them. I placed them in my reading journal which is much messier than I intended for it to be. I always think I’m going to keep my journals neat but instead they become a bit of a free for all of all my notes about books and movies and blog post ideas.

I was also excited to receive some magnetic bookmarks earlier in the week.

Yes, my life is very, very exciting. You should be jealous.

This upcoming week promises to be just as “exciting”

The Husband ordered a special book for me that came today too. I was so excited to see a hardcover copy of My Beloved by Jan Karon. It will probably be the last Mitford book so I am excited to have it in my hands. I don’t even care if it is awful, though I doubt it will be. To read more of Tim and Cynthia’s story is just so exciting for me. And an update on Dooley and Lace too? Squeal! I can’t wait.

So how was your week last week? Do anything exciting? Let me know in the comments!

Book recommendation: Murder, She Wrote Gin and Daggers

October 24, 2025October 22, 2025 / Lisa R. Howeler / 6 Comments

I’ve recently started reading the Murder, She Wrote books, based on the TV show, of course.

There are currently a couple of authors writing the books, but I believe the original person to write them was Donald Bain. I like the books of his in this series that I have read so far which is exactly two. Ha! I am currently reading my third by him.

My husband bought me a copy of the first book in the series — Gin and Daggers — after I read Killer in the Kitchen and it was better than I expected.

This one doesn’t take place in Cabot Cove but takes us straight to England where Jessica has traveled to visit with good friend of hers – a famous mystery writer. Think Agatha Christie level.

The woman — Marjorie Ainsworth — isn’t in great health, though, and some are speculating she could pass away. That’s not all they’re speculating. She’s just released a new book and some staying at the mansion for the celebration don’t believe she even wrote it because of her declining health. Marjorie Ainsworth

It isn’t her declining health that leads to her death, though. It’s murder. Now Jessica must figure out who among the guests at her mansion killed her while avoiding being blamed herself.

One thing I’ve noticed about these Murder, She Wrote books is they take their time getting to the mystery. This gives the reader time to get to know the characters and really feel like they are invested in the story before the crime occurs. A lot of more modern mysteries rush right into the crime without letting the reader create an attachment to the potential victim and the possible suspects. Some readers like this and some find it boring and tedious. Whether I like it or not depends on what mood I am in. For this book, and the other Murder, She Wrote books I have read, I have not minded.

I like how these books make Jessica even more real than the show – in this one she cries over her friend passing away and when she remembers her late husband. She seems more vulnerable in the books than on the show.

The world of Jessica Fletcher is more in depth and real in the books, in other words, unlike the surface level portrayal from the show. Jessica’s close connection to Dr. Seth Hazlitt is also more pronounced in the books. Though a romance isn’t suggested, it is clear that she and Seth are very close.

This is very clear in this book where Jessica is accused of Marjorie’s murder and Seth hears about it back in Cabot Cove and hops a plane with Sheriff Mort Metzger to bring a bit of Cabot Cove to London.

There are a number of suspects in this one and while the story does drag at times and it gets a bit convoluted at the end, it held my interest and was a solid mystery. I wouldn’t say I would read this one again and again but I enjoyed it as fun, and well-written (prose wise) book.

One thing I find interesting about these books is how well Bain writes a female character. He isn’t perfect at it, but he does write Jessica as someone who is strong and bold, but also connected with her feelings more.

The bottom line on books based on shows is that they are never amazing literature but they are a good escape and some (usually clean) fun. What these books with Donald Bain have going for them is an extra cozy feel and solid writing.

Have you read any of the Murder, She Wrote books? If so, which one? If not, would you ever try one?