mystery

Book Review: The Inheritance Games

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The Inheritance Games
by Jennifer Lynn Barnes

My rating: 2.5 / 5
Genre: YA mystery, romance

When Avery Grambs finds out she’s been named in the will of a recently deceased billionaire, it turns her world upside-down, especially considering that she’s been practically living out of her car. On top of that, in order to be eligible to inherit, she has to live in Tobias Hawthorne’s massive estate for a year. The only problem is that the rest of his family still lives there, and for the most part, they aren’t happy with this young usurper. It doesn’t help that no one knows why the fortune was left to Avery at all. But one of Hawthorne’s grandsons explains his grandfather’s love of puzzles and suspects that Avery is just another puzzle to solve…if only she can survive long enough.

I went into this book expecting to be bothered by the teenage drama. I liked the idea of the mysterious inheritance and puzzles and such, but I’d read enough reviews to decide that it would probably be too angsty for me. Then my daughter got it for Christmas and read it and loved it, so…well, now I had to at least give it a try. And yeah, I got about what I expected. The story isn’t bad, but it’s so bogged down by the “romance”/love triangle. Every time Avery is in a room with one of the two middle brothers, she practically quivers. There is no chemistry or romance, really, just…way too much physical attention and tension for my preference. So since the actual story of why Tobias Hawthorne left everything to Avery takes a backseat to an aspect I didn’t like at all, it’s understandable that I didn’t enjoy the book as much as I could have.

Then the resolution to the mystery was incredibly lackluster—one might even say non-existent—so that detracted from my enjoyment even more. I think that some of the issue is that I thought the answer to why Avery was given the entire Hawthorne estate was the story goal for this book, but really, it turned out to be discovering who is behind some attempts on Avery’s life. But that means that either the set-up isn’t done very well, or I just didn’t follow along very well. I plan to keep reading the series, not so much because Barnes hooked me with this first book but because my daughter loves the entire series and says some of what I didn’t like about this one gets better later. For now though, it’s difficult for me to recommend this book to anyone, but I do think I might have liked it more if I’d read it as a teenager. And if you read my review and don’t feel that what bothered me would bother you and you’re interested in the story, you might consider trying it out yourself.

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Book Review: When Tides Turn

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When Tides Turn
Waves of Freedom #3
written by Sarah Sundin

My rating: 3.5 / 5
Genre: Historical Christian romance, mystery

Tired of only being used as a saleswoman in her job and wanting to be useful to the war effort, Tess Beaumont joins the newly established Navy WAVES program for women. She knows her tendency to be outgoing and peppy makes her look shallow to someone like Lt. Dan Avery, a deeply serious man who hopes to make admiral someday. Unfortunately, he’s been taken off the sea and assigned to a position that he doesn’t feel is as helpful to the Navy or to his own career advancement. As both Tess and Dan struggle to make themselves more useful, they also struggle to not be distracted by each other.

I’d put this book somewhere between the first (3 stars) and the 2nd (4.5 stars) in the series. Tess is a fun, energetic character, though difficult for me to identify with, since she’s far more outgoing than I am. I appreciated her desire to be known as more than just a pretty face (though again, I can’t identify, because that’s not an issue I’ve ever had) and actually be useful. Dan drove me crazy for a while with his strict workaholic ways, but I think that just made his character’s progression in the book that much more satisfying to me. I liked the emphasis on rest and integrity in his arc.

The mystery in this book was less engaging than the mysteries in both of the previous books. I think that was at least partly because it’s really just Tess alone working it out. Dan helps a little when he’s on land, but I like the way the mystery stretched across both MC’s stories in the previous book, and that didn’t happen here at all. In fact, after a while, I tended to start skimming during the scenes when Dan was at sea. I struggled to understand or frankly care about the work being done to help the Allies be able to find and combat German subs–not that that wasn’t super important work during WWII, but I’ve known Sundin to make history much more interesting in the past than this book did. That’s probably just personal preference though.

Overall, this is not my favorite of Sundin’s books or series. Still, I think many others wouldn’t be as bothered by those things that detracted from the book for me, so I do recommend it for fans of Christian romance, especially those set during WWII.

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Book Review: Outfoxed

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Outfoxed
Andy Carpenter #14
by David Rosenfelt
read by Grover Gardner

My rating: 4.5 / 5
Genre: Mystery

When a program to bring dogs into a prison for the prisoners to help train them results in convict Brian Atkins escaping, then Brian’s wife and former partner, whose testimony helped put Brian away, are found murdered, Andy Carpenter finds himself defending another fellow dog lover. But when the case inevitably turns out to be deeper than it looks on the surface, Andy may not be the only target this time.

There were a few new things about this book, enough to keep it fresh and keep me engaged. The basic formula is still intact, though, and in fact, this one seemed to have less of the 3rd-person narration showing us the more in-depth parts of the conspiracy. That’s just fine with me. I always prefer to stay with Andy and his crew anyway. I got a kick out of this technology-heavy case, because Andy is so out of his element, it’s endearing. If I ever go back through this series from the beginning (which I expect to do when I reach the end or catch up with new additions, because it has become a wonderful comfort read/listen for me), I may start keeping a tally of pocket-Marcus plots and Pete distrusting Andy, despite Andy being proven right so many times. I don’t want to make these sound like tired elements, though, because they’re part of what I love about the series. As always, Grover Gardner is the consummate Andy Carpenter, and I recommend this book for fans of mysteries and court dramas.

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Book Review: Day of Doom

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Day of Doom
The 39 Clues: Cahills vs. Vespers #6
by David Baldacci

My rating: 3 / 5
Genre: Middle grade adventure

Spoiler notice: The following review may contain some spoilers for the previous books in the series, starting with The Maze of Bones.

The Vespers have a doomsday device and still have control of the hostages that they’ve been using to control Amy and Dan for a while now. Can the Cahills free their friends and save the world?

The only reason I give this book 3 stars instead of less is because I still overall enjoy the world that has been set up here. But like the main series of books, the ending to this story arc left a lot to be desired. There were continuity and characterization issues, as well as story points set up earlier in the series that were forgotten or fizzled. I was cautiously excited to see how some of it played out, and it really wasn’t anything special in the end. I don’t know how much of that could be attributed to another brand-new author to the series, though, and how much was just a bad set-up. I have wondered throughout this entire series how much each author got to choose what was going to happen in their book and how much was dictated by someone at the publishing company.

The ending was fairly anti-climactic and contained one of the largest out of character moments in the entire season. I wonder if it would have been better if one of the authors who wrote many of the other books had written this one, but it is what it is. I do tend to think that this being a series meant for kids/teens has led the powers that be to feel that it’s good enough to throw action, adventure, and interesting locations out there and not worry so much about good plots and continuity of characters. Yet for all of that, as I said at the beginning of my review, I really do still like the story world and would recommend at least the first series to anyone who is interested in this kind of fiction. And I plan to read more of what was published later. But my interest in the overall series has diminished a bit at this point, so I may lose my momentum at some point.

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Book Review: Cards on the Table

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Death in the Clouds
Hercule Poirot #15
by Agatha Christie
read by Hugh Fraser

My rating: 3 / 5
Genre: Classic mystery

Not my favorite in the series, at least part of which is because it seems like a knowledge of the game of bridge would have helped me understand the story, or at least Poirot’s investigation, more. I also felt like I did near the beginning of the series—like the plot was a bit bloated. On the other hand, I enjoyed some of the characters involved, especially those who were working to solve the crime along with Poirot. There are a few twists at the end of this book, and because I’m gullible and these books aren’t exactly cozy mysteries (meaning they don’t necessarily give you the clues you need to solve the murder along with the investigator), I fell for each one of the misdirects. So overall, a decent read, but I still feel like it’s a bit of a let-down from some of the previous ones I enjoyed more.

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Book Review: Who Let the Dog Out?

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Who Let the Dog Out?
Andy Carpenter #13
by David Rosenfelt
read by Grover Gardner

My rating: 4 / 5
Genre: Mystery

When a dog is stolen from Andy Carpenter’s dog rescue organization and the thief is found dead with the dog still in his possession, Andy surprises himself by taking an interest in the case of the man accused of the murder. The accused man knows nothing about the dog theft, so Andy knows there has to be something else going on, and who better than Andy’s team to track down a conspiracy?

This was not my favorite book in the series, but not my least favorite either. It was still a fun listen—Andy is as witty and sarcastic as ever, and I love it. but the grand conspiracy that is the most common formula for these books is a little too loose this time. There were a lot of people who were involved for weak reasons. What bothered me most in this story, though, is how Andy treats his son. He’s always been very immature in his relationship with his wife, Laurie, but she’s mature enough to ignore and actually see past his idiocy. But Andy full-on pushes his favorite sport on Ricky, who flat out tells his dad he doesn’t enjoy it. I get that Andy had a son kind of dropped on him, so maybe it makes sense that he wouldn’t be the best dad, but I expect better from this series than a cliché like this. Overall, I enjoyed my time listening to the book, and I recommend the book (especially Grover Gardner’s narration) for fans of mystery, crime fiction, and courtroom dramas.

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Book Review: Death in the Clouds

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Death in the Clouds
Hercule Poirot #12
by Agatha Christie
read by Hugh Fraser

My rating: 3 / 5
Genre: Classic mystery

I don’t have a whole lot to say about this book, partly because I’m getting behind on my reviews due to being so busy right now and partly because this wasn’t a standout installation in the series for me. It was another locked-room-type setting, albeit it an interesting one. Other aspects of the story seemed a little too similar to previous books in the series as well. I did suspect some of the solution, but like normal, I was missing a lot still by the end. There were some slight twists, but overall, I wasn’t super engaged in the story. However, since I’ve started to enjoy the series a lot more than I did early on, I’ll just consider this a bump in the road of my trip through the series. And I still appreciate the narration by Hugh Fraser.

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Book Review: Hounded

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Hounded
Andy Carpenter #12
by David Rosenfelt
read by Grover Gardner

My rating: 5 / 5
Genre: Mystery

When one of Andy Carpenter’s few actual friends, police lieutenant Pete Stanton, is charged with murder, it’s no question whether or not Andy will defend him. At the same time, Andy and his live-in girlfriend Laurie take in the 8-year-old son of the man Pete is accused of killing, so he doesn’t end up in the system. Murder suspects Andy can handle, but a child is a whole other story.

I really enjoyed this book all the way through. I don’t know if it was just the mood I was in while listening this time, but I actually chuckled out loud while listening to it at least 3 times—I always find this series funny, but this book seemed even more so. I said in my review of the book literally before this one that I would be okay with smaller conspiracies in these books sometimes, since it seemed like they’d gotten pretty bloated in the last several installments I’d read. And then this book gave me just that. The addition of Ricky, the murdered man’s son, added a new dimension to the formula that I appreciated. Andy took some major steps in his life in this book, which I knew would happen, because I’ve read some of the later books in the series, and it was nice to see them finally happen. Overall, this was a solid addition to the series, and I recommend the book (especially the audio) for fans of mystery, crime fiction, and courtroom dramas.

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Book Review: Trust No One

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Trust No One
The 39 Clues: Cahills vs. Vespers #5
by Linda Sue Park

My rating: 4 / 5
Genre: Middle grade mystery, adventure

Spoiler notice: The following review may contain some spoilers for the previous books in the series, starting with The Maze of Bones.

Amy and Dan Cahill continue to jump through hoops for their enemy, Vesper One, trying to save the lives of their abducted friends and family members. Meanwhile, the in the Cahills’ inner circle will be exposed.

I kinda don’t know where to begin with this review. The story really ramps up in this penultimate book, and yet at the same time, it’s still stagnant in some ways. The fact that my synopses for these books basically always have some version of “Amy and Dan continue doing Vesper One’s bidding to try to save the lives of their hostage loved ones…” means that there’s not a whole lot of variation in the plots. And what they’re doing for the Vespers is always stealing something that’s priceless or super heavily guarded or just missing from history. I will say, though, the historical treasure involved in this book was really interesting. I was curious enough to look it up online and learn more about it.

I mentioned before that this series is a bit darker than the original, and that is especially true when you consider the body count to this point. Not that no one died in the original series, but here it seems like a Cahill or Cahill ally dies every book. I’m not a huge fan of that, especially considering who some of the characters are that are dying, some that I really like. Some of the danger elements in this book seem a little forced and unnecessary, which is the main reason for my lower star rating. There are some explanations given in this book as well as some questions left open still for the final in the series. I have my own theories as well, including a counter theory to one made by Dan near the end of this book. Then the book ends on a major cliffhanger, and I have high hopes for the last book (while also being trepidatious, since it’s written by an author brand new to this series and has quite a few loose ends to tie up).

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Book Review: The Murder at the Vicarage

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The Murder at the Vicarage
Miss Marple #1
by Agatha Christie
read by Richard E. Grant

My rating: 3 / 5
Genre: Classic mystery

After reading several Poirot mysteries, I thought I’d try out a Miss Marple. However, similar to the early Poirot novels that I didn’t care for before I started to really enjoy them, I felt this book was a bit bloated and slow. I don’t yet know if Miss Marple herself being such a side character, then swooping in to solve the murder, is normal for this series, but of course at the time, Christie might not have planned for her to be the star of a series of books. The investigation is conducted throughout the book by the vicar himself, in whose home the murder took place, at times working alongside a rather odious inspector. I didn’t mind his perspective and even liked his wife, despite his apparently negative feelings for her, shown to us right at the beginning of the book. Still, it’s a good thing I was listening to an audiobook, or it would have probably taken me forever to get through it, simply due to the plodding feel. The narrator took some getting used to, but he wasn’t at all bad. I will try another Miss Marple book or two in the future, but I’m going back to Poirot for now.

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