mystery

Book Review: The Seaside Homecoming

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The Seaside Homecoming
On Devonshire Shores #3
by Julie Klassen

My rating: 4.5 / 5
Genre: Christian historical romance

Spoiler notice: The following review may contain spoilers for the previous books in the series, starting with The Sisters of Sea View.

Two years past, eldest Summers sister Claire left her family in disgrace and spent those two years as companion to an elderly relative. Now that the older woman has died, Claire can’t help but want to be near her family again, though she knows at least some of them won’t want to see her. When she ends up as a partner in a boarding house that rivals her family’s, it threatens to make the rift between her and her family worse. Meanwhile, she also has to learn to run a boarding house and deal with the secretive and suspicious man who owns it.

The wrap-up to this main series was almost everything I wanted it to be. The author did a great job of setting up certain elements to provide emotional climaxes to at least two of the story arcs contained in this book. I enjoyed this book a good deal more than the previous two in the series, I think mostly because the annoyances and pet peeves I had with them were not an issue here.

I think that a little more time could have been spent exploring the character of the boarding house owner, William Hammond, since he seemed to have a fairly deep background of which we only get glimpses. Or maybe the reason it felt shallow to me was because I didn’t fully understand his past or because things were hinted at or presumed by Claire that ended up being incorrect, and so it felt like there was more to know than there was. I don’t know for sure, but this is overall not a huge deal to the greater story. It only stands out to me because of his role in the book.

Anything I felt was still missing from the story will hopefully be part of the related Christmas book that the author mentions in the author’s note (coming out in September 2025), and I look forward to reading that next year. As for this series, though 2/3 of it was rocky for me, I think the conclusion made it all worthwhile. I suppose this book could be read as a stand-alone and only one real aspect would be harmed by a lack of past knowledge (besides the two sisters that have already found love and gotten married, there’s Sarah’s inner turmoil about a particular man she rebuffed), but I think that Claire’s homecoming wouldn’t be as emotional without the build throughout the series. Based on past experience, I have good reason to believe that most fans of Regency-era Christian romance will enjoy this book and series.

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

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Book Review: The Dead of Night

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The Dead of Night
The 39 Clues: Cahills vs. Vespers #3
by Peter Lerangis

My rating: 4.5 / 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 finally get a chance to take the fight to Vesper One, though somehow he still always ends up ahead. With seven of their loved ones still being held hostage and Vesper One making impossible demands of Amy and Dan, Dan is more determined than ever to create the Cahill serum so that he can stop the Vespers.

I enjoyed the main 39 Clues series, but I’ve been liking this one all the more. It’s a little darker, and our heroes have a seen-too-much kind of maturity. They’ve grown and changed since the original series in a way that’s completely realistic. I love the allies they’re picking up along the way, though I could do without the love triangle…or square? There are some questions and mysteries that come up or advance in this book that have me really engaged. I’m halfway through this series now, and I don’t have any theories about what’s going on or what might happen. This book ends with with a shocking moment, and I can’t wait to continue. I can really see this book (and series) being a fun read for anyone who enjoys mystery and adventure for a younger audience, no matter their age.

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Book Review: Lord Edgware Dies

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Lord Edgware Dies
Hercule Poirot #9
 by Agatha Christie
read by Hugh Fraser

My rating: 4.5 / 5
Genre: Classic mystery

I enjoyed the twists and turns in this Poirot novel. As Poirot fixates on five questions that he thinks, when answered, will solve the mystery, I’m way too easily carried along for the ride. I actually did suspect the correct murderer early on, but it wasn’t much of a win, since I had no idea how it worked out. I think the guess was more about having read a few of these books now and getting a feel for how Christie wrote. I liked this book more than most of the others in the series and didn’t feel it was as bloated as many of the others are. Huge Fraser, as always, does a great job narrating, and I’m a little nervous about the next book (Murder on the Orient Express), which is almost definitely the most famous Poirot story. I hope it lives up to the hype.

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Book Review: The Clue in the Diary

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The Clue in the Diary
Nancy Drew Mystery Stories #7
by Carolyn Keene
read by Laura Linney

My rating: 4 / 5
Genre: Children’s classic mystery

Nancy again stumbles onto a mystery when a house she’s driving by explodes. But it’s all good, because she’s able to save a mother and daughter whose husband/father is blamed for the fire. Coincidences and Nancy-is-the-best moments aside, I enjoyed this story more than most of the previous books in the series. It didn’t feel as bloated, and I can’t pretend to not have liked the introduction of Ned Nickerson. He seems to be a bit of a stereotype himself, but I’d imagine that was on purpose. Giving the young readers these books were intended for ideals in the main characters seemed pretty important to the creators. Linney does a great job bringing Nancy to life, and I’m sad to learn that this is the end of those that were narrated by her.

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Book Review: An Honorable Deception

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An Honorable Deception
The Imposters #3
by Roseanna M. White

My rating: 5 / 5
Genre: Christian historical romance

When a young socialite who seeks the Imposters’ help in finding her missing ayah is subsequently shot, Yates knows there’s more to this case than it first appeared. And since two of his team are semi-incapacitated, it’s easy to accept help from his old friend Lady Lavinia, who is still reeling from the betrayal uncovered in her family in a previous Imposters case.

Yates was a semi-side character in the previous two books, but there were always sections from his POV, giving us a chance to get to know him as an Imposter, brother, and earl. In this book, he’s in the forefront, and his history with Lavinia shown in the first book is expanded upon. I always liked Yates, so I was happy to see more of him. And though his sister Marigold is married now, I love their sibling relationship in this book.

Besides Yates, this book has two other POVs—Lavinia and Lady Alethia, the woman whose ayah has gone missing. Alethia has her own dark past, and the way Lavinia and Alethia help each other through their healing is one of my favorite things about this book. There was one quote in particular that I found very moving:

“‘Whoever made you think you’re not worth it— they’re wrong. So very wrong. And you let them win when you keep thinking those thoughts. You are precious….You must not take any unnecessary risks. Your life matters.’”

After reading the first book in this series, I already knew I needed to read other books by Roseanna M. White, and after reading the author’s note and finding out that some characters from another series of hers appeared in this book, I’ll definitely be starting with that one. The ending makes it seem like there’s more to come in this series, though I don’t know if that will be the case, or if it will spill into a different series like the Shadows Over England series did into this one. I’ll definitely keep an eye on White’s future books, but in the meantime, I highly recommend this book for fans of Christian historical mystery (this is set during the Edwardian era in London).

Thank you to Netgalley and Bethany House for providing me a copy of this book to review.
Publication date: November 19, 2024

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Book Review: Dog Tags

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Dog Tags
Andy Carpenter #8
by David Rosenfelt
read by Grover Gardner

My rating: 4 / 5
Genre: Mystery

After taking part in a crime, former police dog Milo is freed from custody by reluctant defense attorney Andy Carpenter. Though at first Andy wants nothing to do with the dog’s owner who masterminded the crime and is in jail for murder, eventually Andy comes to see that there’s a lot more to the story than is being told. Getting to the bottom of a conspiracy is Andy’s specialty.

Grand conspiracies have become the bread and butter for this series, and this installment has plenty of that. Andy’s team is still a large part of what makes the book so good. Marcus makes an appearance, but I don’t recall him getting to come out and play much. Kevin is “replaced” by a pessimist (who calls himself a realist). And I noticed a distinct lack of song-talking in this book.

One major note is that this book has a largely different format. Normally, these books are 1st-person all the way through—Andy tells us the story. This time, we get a lot of 3rd-person sections to show us things that happen when Andy isn’t around. Listening to the audiobook makes it difficult to estimate accurately, but it seemed like somewhere in the 40-50% range was 3rd person. It would probably have been very jarring if I were reading the series normally, but since I’ve been reading the new installments as they come out (the last 3 so far), I’ve had a chance to start getting used to it. I can only guess that writing this way makes it easier for Rosenfelt to show the depth of the conspiracy without dumping it all on the reader at once at the end. I suppose it also might add some suspense. Normally I’m not a huge fan of this kind of meshing of perspectives, but I like these books enough that it doesn’t bother me.

There isn’t a lot of surprise in the ending of this book, and it wasn’t my favorite in the series, but I still completely enjoyed the journey. I recommend the book (especially the audio—Grover Gardner makes Andy’s sarcasm and wit come to life) for fans of mystery, crime fiction, and courtroom dramas.

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Book Review: Peril at End House

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Peril at End House
Hercule Poirot #8
 by Agatha Christie
read by Hugh Fraser

My rating: 5 / 5
Genre: Classic mystery

This was my favorite Poirot novel so far. Somehow it didn’t feel as bloated or muddled, or at least it managed to keep me more engaged throughout. I don’t know if it was due to there being a few less characters or less unnecessary side trails during the mystery, though there were certainly still some. Really, I can’t pinpoint the reason, but I enjoyed it quite a bit. Granted, I guessed at the culprit fairly early on and ended up being right, though I had no idea about the motive. Maybe that played a part in my enjoyment, but maybe not, since I second-guessed myself several times, since, without a motive various things that happened along the way made me doubt my theory. 

Huge Fraser does a great job narrating, and I hope to enjoy the next book as much as I did this one.

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Book Review: I Think I Was Murdered

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I Think I Was Murdered
by Colleen Coble and Rick Acker
read by Karen Peakes

My rating: 4 / 5
Genre: Christian mystery, romance

After Katrina’s beloved grandmother dies and the FBI goes after the CEO of the tech company for which she is legal counsel, she retreats to her hometown to figure out her next steps. She also lost her husband a year previous, and she eases her grief by talking to an AI chat program that is loaded with her his texts and emails. But then an innocuous question to her the bot returns a response that sets her world spinning even more: “I think I was murdered.”

The premise of this story intrigued me greatly, and the mystery aspect of the story was suspenseful and engaging. The book mostly takes place in a small town in California, where Katrina grew up with a Norwegian father and grandmother (called “Bestemor”), and there are a lot of references to Norwegian food and traditions, which I enjoyed. There is romance, but it’s not quite as front-and-center as a lot of these Christian romantic suspense books tend to be. The main male character has family issues that don’t connect to the main story, though they do provide an in-depth backstory for him that make him a well-rounded character.

However, there are several side stories, and I’m not sure all of them are particularly beneficial to the story. There are a couple of minor twists in the book, one of which I suspected from pretty early in the book. I don’t know if it was just that obvious or if I simply took a leap that happened to be correct. In the end, the book wasn’t a stand-out read for me, but I did enjoy listening to it. The narrator is decent, differentiating voices well enough to make the story easy to follow, though there were times when it seemed like her voice was more distressed-sounding than it needed to be. Overall though, I’d recommend this book for fans of Christian romantic suspense/mystery novels, especially those who are interested in the AI angle.

Thank you to Netgalley and HarperCollins Christian Publishing for providing me a copy of this book to review.
Publication date: November 12, 2024

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Book Review: The Secret of Red Gate Farm

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The Secret of Red Gate Farm
Nancy Drew Mystery Stories #6
by Carolyn Keene
read by Laura Linney

My rating: 4 / 5
Genre: Children’s classic mystery

The coincidences that occur around Nancy that lead her to solve this case would bother me if the book was meant for adults or even teens. But I often have to remind myself that the books are written for kids, and with that in mind, the elements that don’t seem connected at first might create an exciting story for the target audience. The plot of this book didn’t seem as bloated as the previous couple in the series did, but I was still annoyed by the “Nancy is the best at everything she does” aspect that I suppose I’ll just have to get used to. Whatever reason the writers had to think that was the role model kids needed at the time these were written, I’m sure it won’t be toned down at any point in the series. Linney does a great job bringing Nancy to life, and I’m looking forward to continuing.

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Book Review: A King’s Ransom

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A King’s Ransom
The 39 Clues: Cahills vs. Vespers #2
by Jude Watson

My rating: 5 / 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. This time, they’re given the impossible task of finding a map that’s been missing for decades.

The Cahills’ saga continues strong in this 2nd book in the sequel series. Amy and Dan are forced to make decisions beyond their years, and pick up some allies and enemies along the way. Some major developments happen in this book, more than I expected so early, though I have to remember this series is about half the length of the previous. I enjoyed the excitement in this book and the little hints at a greater hunt that the Vespers are on.

I feel like the different-author-per-book issues aren’t as noticeable so far in this series, which could be due to there being a lot more to look at and build off of. Plus, both of the authors so far have written at least one 39 Clues book already. Amy still struggles with nerves, yet it’s clear that her training has helped her overcome some of it. Dan, though he’s clearly more serious and troubled than he used to be, still has his goofy moments that are reminiscent of his younger self. I appreciate the growth seen in these two; it’s realistic for what they’ve been through. I recommend this book for young and old, anyone who enjoys mystery and adventure for a younger audience.

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