I think every review of the Flavia de Luce books contains the word “precocious” in it somewhere. Flavia is no ordinary 11-year-old. The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie is the first book in this mystery series, and introduces chemistry whiz, poison-obsessed Flavia, her widowed father, her two sisters, their retainer Dogger, and their housekeeper Mrs. Mullett. The de Luces own a slightly dilapidated country home in 1950s England. At the start of the novel, Flavia overhears her father arguing with a strange man, […]
Liked it even more this time!
Okay, so now having finished my first re-read of this book, I am so tempted to up the rating to five stars. A large portion of that desire comes from listening to the audio this time around. There’s something really satisfying about Robert Glenister’s voice narrating this story; it most definitely increased my enjoyment. Another part is that this just feels like the ideal murder mystery to me right now. It was exactly what I was craving, plus some. I love all the clues and […]
A Suspenseful Thrilling Mystery… NOT!
I chose I Am Watching You by Teresa Driscoll as my Kindle First book last September. It seemed the most appealing of the choices, and honestly, it’s the only Kindle First book I’ve read out of the handful residing on my e-reader. I needed a quick easy read after struggling through my previous book, and I can usually get sucked into good suspense. I Am Watching You tells the story of a missing girl, Anna, from the perspectives of a witness, her father, her best friend, a […]
Watered Down Pratchett Doing Columbo
Fifth Ward: First Watch is pretty standard in a lot of ways. It’s a standard fantasy story of the sort which largely takes place in a vaguely medieval city in which a variety of difference races interact including humans, orcs, elves, and dwarves. It’s also a standard buddy cop story in which the naive young trainee is paired with the gruff experienced veterans, they get on each other’s nerves a lot, but eventually through a series of trials become friends and partners. As is not […]
Adventures in magic
This review covers book 1 & 2 of the Magisterium series, which is another spin on the magician schooling of young people. It comes with the inevitable comparisons to Harry Potter, but other than having two boys and a girl as the main characters, there’s not a lot that is similar (at least in my eyes). The Iron Trial introduces us to Callum Hunt, who really has no desire to become a magician, or mage, as they call it. His father has in fact insisted […]
Stay Out of the Woods!
In reading a few of Ruth Ware’s books, I’ve learned that either I’m a genius or her plot twists can be seen a mile away. In this case, I guessed it when I was reading the synopsis on Amazon. But…hear me out, Ruth Ware’s writing is pretty tight and you’re still drawn in even though you’re going to know what’s going to happen. This wasn’t one of my favorites of hers because I thought that the last 1/3 of the book was blah. The building […]
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