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Book Review: Children of the Shadows

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Children of the Shadows
Thorndike & Swann Regency Mysteries #3
by Erica Vetsch

My rating: 4.5 / 5
Genre: Christian historical mystery

While already working on a murder case, Bow Street runner Daniel Swann is brought a case of missing street children by more than one individual. With the Duke of Haverly’s help, he’s also attempting to prove his rightful status as Earl of Rotherhhide, and both his future with Lady Juliette Thorndike and his future as an agent for the Home Office are in question depending on the outcome of the suit. Lady Juliette has also been asked to re-examine her commitment as a spy and is given time to think it over, while not being allowed to work on any cases.

I don’t gush over a book often, but I don’t think I can avoid it with this book, especially considering that it is the end of a series that I have loved and also follows up another series that I loved (Serendipity & Secrets). Vetsch is hands-down my favorite writer of Regency fiction, and I am so very sad to see this series come to a close. It feels like it’s just getting started! I want more mysteries for Thorndike and Swann, especially since they didn’t really get to work together in this book. And I really want more Marcus Haverly! Though he was a side character in this book, he still stands strong as my favorite overall character from these 2 series. 

The mystery in this story is engaging and exciting. It works well as a wrap-up to the series, since it involves some of the characters that recurred throughout. I tried so hard to guess at the identity of the main villain, but even though the clues are right there, I totally missed them. I kept grasping at outlandish theories, but hey, that’s why I’m not an investigator. There was another hidden identity that I did guess correctly, though. Juliette’s forced break from any real spy work was the only reason I rated this slightly less than 5 stars—the series is all about them teaming up to solve mysteries, after all.

I’m already looking forward to starting back at the beginning of the Serendipity & Secrets series and going through to this final book again. And maybe by then, there will be more of Marcus, Daniel & Juliette, maybe even Sophia or Philippa Cashel or the Cadogans, to carry on with. I highly recommend this book and series for fans of this genre and time period, whether you like romance or not, because there is some, but it’s not the focus of the books. But I would also really recommend checking out Serendipity & Secrets, and maybe even consider reading that trilogy first.

I received a free review copy from the publisher in exchange for my honest unedited feedback.

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October in Review

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I read 14 books last month, a couple more books than September, but about 100 pages less than September. Of course, I spent half of the month listening to 80% of a very long audiobook, so the numbers are a bit skewed, since I didn’t finish it within this month, but oh well. It’ll boost next month’s numbers!

Here are the books I read in October:

talking
abby
hangman-audio
baskervilles
divergent
Right Ho, Jeeves
tcw-26
ramona-7
39-7
snow-place
the-event
hope
tcw-27
glipwood
white placeholder

Talking as Fast as I Can by Lauren Graham (4.5 / 5)
Abby’s Letters by Dana Romanin (2.5 / 5)
Hangman’s Curse by Frank Peretti (5 / 5)
The Hound of the Baskervilles by Arthur Conan Doyle (4 / 5)
Divergent by Veronica Roth (4 / 5)
Right Ho, Jeeves by P.G. Wodehouse (4 / 5)
The Cat Who Talked Turkey by Lilian Jackson Braun (2 / 5)
Ramona Forever by Beverly Cleary (4 / 5)
The Viper’s Nest by Peter Lerangis (3.5 / 5)
Snow Place for Murder by Diane Kelly (2 / 5)
The Event by Whitney Dineen (2 / 5)
Hope Was Here by Joan Bauer (3.5 / 5)
The Cat Who Went Bananas by Lilian Jackson Braun (3 / 5)
A Ranger’s Guide to Glipwood Forest by Andrew Peterson (5 / 5)

This list includes 2 ARCs and 1 re-read. My favorite book from October was Talking as Fast as I Can. I started 3 series, continued 4 series, and finished 1 series. My ever-changing short list of to-be-reads, as well as a flag for the book I’m currently reading and an ongoing list of those I’ve read and posted about can be found here.

I’m also keeping my Goodreads page updated with a more extensive list of to-be-reads. Despite my almost too-long TBR list, I’m always looking for more to add. Feel free to offer suggestions of your favorites or just recent reads you enjoyed.

Book Review: A Ranger’s Guide to Glipwood Forest

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A Ranger’s Guide to Glipwood Forest
by Andrew Peterson
Illustrated by Aedan Peterson

My rating: 5 / 5
Genre: Children’s fantasy

This travel guide through the dangerous and wondrous Glipwood Forest was written by one of the founding members of the Glipwood Official Rangers Guild (GORG). Not only does he share the best and safest (relatively speaking) path through the forest, he also tells of how he met each of the other original eight members of the GORG.

I really wasn’t sure what this book would be like when I first picked it up, and it turned out to be a really fun, quick read. The humor and whimsy of the original series can be found throughout this book. At times I felt like Andrew Peterson was making up as outlandish of names and descriptions of items as he could to try to stump his son, who drew sketches of Glipwood Forest flora as well as the members of the GORG for the book. I particularly loved the sketches of Owin and Chonis Ponius Groverly, the “in-world” author and illustrator of the guidebook. Fans of The Wingfeather Saga will enjoy this return to the land of Skree, with many references to locations they’ll remember from the series.

Thank you to Netgalley and WaterBrook & Multnomah for providing me a copy of this book to review.
Publication date: November 7, 2023

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Book Review: Snow Place for Murder

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Snow Place for Murder
Mountain Lodge Mystery #3
by Diane Kelly

My rating: 2 / 5
Genre: Cozy mystery

Misty Murphy, owner of a mountain lodge, becomes entangled in a murder investigation when a resort developer is found dead on her property. As suspects include the other guests in the lodge, as well as some locals, Misty takes it upon herself to dig into motives and opportunities to help the local law enforcement solve the crime.

I have not read the previous 2 books in this series, but figured if I enjoyed this one, I’d go back to them. I can safely say this is not a series I’m going to be delving into, though, as I didn’t care for the author’s style in this book. I am not used to quite so much hand-holding in a mystery book, as the narration includes every single thought the main character has about the case, large or small, sometimes repeated. As I read, I had to assume that her speculations through most of the book were all wrong because otherwise, it wouldn’t be a very engaging plot. Also, there is a lot of detail that was wholly unnecessary, including a long stretch of time before the mystery really got going. When Misty listens to conversations between others, just about every line of dialog is followed up with her thoughts about that statement—sometimes her doubting that they were telling the truth (even though she seemed to have little to no expertise in the matters they discussed most of the time), but most often bringing it back to herself with thoughts about how she would feel in that situation, how that situation reminded her of something that once happened to her, etc.

On top of all of that, Misty’s reactions to finding out the deceased man had actually been murdered, and later similar reactions to seeing a potential key piece of evidence, are over-the-top dramatic and not really what I look for in the MC of a mystery series. Finally, there were a few 1-page chapters scattered throughout the book that were from the POV of Misty’s cat Yeti. When the first of these chapters came up, it took me several minutes to understand that it was a cat’s head into which we’d just jumped, though that was probably my own fault. I thought at first that the cat’s POV would give us, the readers, some clues that would help us solve the case for ourselves, but in the end, the cat chapters provided absolutely nothing. I’m a cat person through and through, but this was unnecessary to me.

Add to that some personal preference issues, like the immediate assumption that a stranger is dangerous and could resort to violence at any moment simply because he has a gun on his hip; and the fact that the MC and her ex-husband were divorced simply because the “romance had wanted” (though he did try to romance her with a bottle of wine during this story…just saying) and they wanted different things from life. I’m really not a fan of cavalier divorce, much less celebrating it as a good thing. And I noted one glaring mistake involving characters returning from skiing twice in one day (and no, they did not leave to go skiing again in between). In the end, though I’m sure that there is an audience for this kind of cozy mystery, I am not that audience. If you think you might be, please do check out other reviews at the link below.

Thank you to Netgalley and St. Martin’s Press for providing me a copy of this book to review.
Publication date: October 24, 2023

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September in Review

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I read 12 books last month, which is pretty impressive, considering that audiobooks often boost my numbers, and I spent most of the month on one long audiobook. My understandable stretch of less reading earlier this year seems to be at an end.

Here are the books I read in September:

39-6
tcw-24
swirling-sky
witness-protection
mcgee-8
annabel-lee
The Inquisition
good-girls-guide
LOTR1
tcw-25
mv-7
bite-before-christmas

In Too Deep by Jude Watson (4 / 5)
The Cat Who Went Up the Creek by Lilian Jackson Braun (3.5 / 5)
Beneath the Swirling Sky by Carolyn Leiloglou (5 / 5)
Greetings from Witness Protection! by Jake Burt (5 / 5)
Take Me Out of the Ball Game by Bill Myers (4 / 5)
Annabel Lee by Mike Nappa (4.5 / 5)
The Inquisition by Taran Matharu (4 / 5)
A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder by Holly Jackson (4.5 / 5)
The Fellowship of the Ring by J.R.R. Tolkien (4 / 5)
The Cat Who Brought Down the House by Lilian Jackson Braun (3 / 5)
The Final Spark by Richard Paul Evans (2 / 5)
‘Twas the Bite Before Christmas by David Rosenfelt (4.5 / 5)

This list includes 2 ARCs and 3 re-reads. My favorite book from September was Beneath the Swirling Sky. I started 3 series, continued 5 series, and finished 0 series. My ever-changing short list of to-be-reads, as well as a flag for the book I’m currently reading and an ongoing list of those I’ve read and posted about can be found here.

I’m also keeping my Goodreads page updated with a more extensive list of to-be-reads. Despite my almost too-long TBR list, I’m always looking for more to add. Feel free to offer suggestions of your favorites or just recent reads you enjoyed.

Book Review: ‘Twas the Bite Before Christmas

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‘Twas the Bite Before Christmas
Andy Carpenter #28
by David Rosenfelt

My rating: 4.5 / 5
Genre: Mystery

When the Christmas party at the Tara Foundation, a dog rescue organization co-founded by defense attorney Andy Carpenter, is interrupted when one of the foundation’s dog foster volunteers is arrested for murder, Andy reluctantly takes his case. A witness in protective custody and a local crime family make this a Christmas to remember.

This is the 2nd book in this series that I’ve read now, the first being another Christmas-related book, and this has clinched my decision to start back at the beginning of this series soon. Though this book isn’t a traditional type of mystery story, giving the reader clues as they try to solve it along with the main character, it did still have some intrigue that I had a prediction about (and turned out to be right about). Like an episode of an old detective show like Matlock, we are shown not only the investigation, but also the courtroom scenes as he defends his (presumably) innocent client. Though some of the dog love is lost on me, since I’m a cat person, I enjoy the characters. What really stands out to me, though, is the wit and snark of the main character. Rosenfelt manages to make his detective funny without overdoing it.

There was a bit of repetitiveness here and there, and the ending felt pretty rushed, especially a final reveal. Otherwise, though, it’s easy to recommend it to fans of the mystery genre. The book isn’t exactly a Christmas story—it just happens to take place at Christmas time, and you really don’t need to have read the rest of the series to enjoy this book.

Thank you to Netgalley and St. Martin’s Press for providing me a copy of this book to review.
Publication date: October 10, 2023

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Book Review: Beneath the Swirling Sky

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Beneath the Swirling Sky
The Restorationists #1
by Carolyn Leiloglou

My rating: 5 / 5
Genre: Christian children’s fantasy

Though named after Vincent van Gogh and loving to paint when he was younger, 13-year-old Vincent wants nothing to do with art anymore, after realizing that he’s not as good as he hoped he’d be. So when his parents leave him with his great-uncle Leo, a painting restorer, during spring break, Vincent expects to be bored. He expects to be lectured about art. What he doesn’t expect is to fall into a painting of van Gogh’s Starry Night and find out that he has the ability to travel through paintings. Then his little sister gets lost inside the same painting, and it’s up to Vincent and his strange cousin Georgia to find her.

Full disclosure: I am not an art lover; in fact, I’ve never had more than a cursory interest in even famous paintings. Yet I really enjoyed this book and can say that one does not need to be really into van Gogh, Rembrandt, etc. to read and like the book. The author does a good job of allowing the reader to tap into the enthusiasm of the characters in the book, even Vincent, who tries to convince himself he doesn’t care about art anymore. The focus on that in the narration got a little repetitive and almost caused me to lower my rating by half a star. However, the story and characters outside of that, and the payoff to Vincent’s attempt at being dispassionate about art are all wonderful, so I couldn’t bear to give the book anything less than 5 stars.

As Vincent and Georgia try to track down Vincent’s little sister, they come across others that can travel through paintings—others whose intentions are not exactly noble. And Vincent comes face-to-face with his own worst qualities in a very real way. But in a fantastical twist, he also comes face-to-face with the One who sees everything he is and still loves him. I don’t want to say anymore about this, because it was the absolute high point of the book for me, the moment that I knew I was going to recommend this book to everyone, young and old, and that I will read it again and again in the future.

Thank you to Netgalley and WaterBrook & Multnomah for providing me a copy of this book to review.
Publication date: September 12, 2023

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August in Review

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I read 15 books last month, a 2nd month of reading a lot more than I did the first half of the year. The total page count was comparatively high as well, not much less than last month, when I read 8 more books than this month.

Here are the books I read in August:

molly-mystery
jeeves-4
click-here
little-house-9
ramona-5
tcw-22
waffles
mv-6
tcw-23
last-bow
dragonback-2
jeeves-5
lydia
ramona-6
songbirds

Spy on the Homefront by Alison Hart (3.5 / 5)
Very Good, Jeeves! by P.G. Wodehouse (4.5 / 5)
Click Here to Start by Denis Markell (2.5 / 5)
The First Four Years by Laura Ingalls Wilder (3.5 / 5)
Ramona and her Mother by Beverly Cleary (4 / 5)
The Cat Who Robbed a Bank by Lilian Jackson Braun (3 / 5)
Adventures with Waffles by Maria Parr (4 / 5)
Fall of Hades by Richard Paul Evans (4 / 5)
The Cat Who Smelled a Rat by Lilian Jackson Braun (4.5 / 5)
His Last Bow by Arthur Conan Doyle (3 / 5)
Dragon and Soldier by Timothy Zahn (4.5 / 5)
Thank You, Jeeves by P.G. Wodehouse (4 / 5)
The Woman from Lydia by Angela Evans (5 / 5)
Ramona Quimby, Age 8 by Beverly Cleary (4 / 5)
The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes by Suzanne Collins (4 / 5)

This list includes 1 ARC. My favorite book from August was The Woman from Lydia. I started 0 series, continued 6 series, and finished 2 series. My ever-changing short list of to-be-reads, as well as a flag for the book I’m currently reading and an ongoing list of those I’ve read and posted about can be found here.

I’m also keeping my Goodreads page updated with a more extensive list of to-be-reads. Despite my almost too-long TBR list, I’m always looking for more to add. Feel free to offer suggestions of your favorites or just recent reads you enjoyed.

Book Review: The Woman from Lydia

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The Woman from Lydia
The Emissaries #1
by Angela Hunt

My rating: 5 / 5
Genre: Biblical fiction

When Euodia, a Christ-follower in AD 51, sees a young slave girl being treated terribly by her master, she buys the slave to free her. But though the slave no longer brought a profit for her masters after a Jewish rabbi had robbed her of her “gift” of divination, one of her masters claims the sale was not done legally. He takes the girl back and travels to find someone who can restore her gift so she can continue to earn money for him. Euodia and her servants follow the master and slave in the hopes of rescuing the girl who should rightfully be free.

Hunt takes a couple of passages from the book of Acts and weaves them into a rich, heart-filled story that I absolutely loved! The bulk of the story is the journey east from Philippi, Euodia trailing behind Hector Hostilius, hoping to catch up to him before he manages to restore the slave girl’s gift with an unclean spirit or sells her for being worthless to him. Even before that, though, and throughout, I was caught up in the setting, from the work Euodia does making purple clothing to the travel on the Via Egnatia and so many other things. A warning for those who might be bothered by this kind of thing—Hunt doesn’t shy away from the harsh realities of life during this time period—violence, idol worship, sexual immorality, etc.

Euodia’s faith in Christ came from an encounter with the apostle Paul, who is also the rabbi that “cursed” the slave girl Sabina by casting a demon out of her (these are both of the parts that came from Acts). While most of us don’t face the kind of situation Euodia is in here, trying to literally free a girl in captivity, I mentally cheered her resolve and wholehearted trust in God. I was on the edge of my seat waiting to see how it was all going to play out. The book goes back and forth between Euodia and Hector for much of the book, and I’ll admit that that led me to expect a far different outcome to the book than it has. An unpredictable plot is a good thing, though, and there was not one thing about the plot or the ending that I would have changed. Well, maybe one thing, but it’s small and would be a spoiler to explain. And I did notice a few weird name discrepancies, wherein a slave was first given one name then later referred to by another and Hector’s business partner had 2 slightly different spellings for his last name. If either of these things was intentional, I didn’t pick up on it.

There is some romance in the story, but it also was not what I expected from early in the book, and it was my favorite kind—subtle and sweet. I appreciate that Hunt didn’t give us more than necessary in the way of physical interaction between the two involved, which I feel happens far too often in Christian fiction. Overall, I earnestly recommend this book for those who enjoy biblical fiction, especially from the time after Christ.

Thank you to Netgalley and Bethany House for providing me a copy of this book to review.

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