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The Witness at the Wedding

CatherineAugust 8, 2022August 8, 2022Leave a comment

Simon Brett 2005 – Fethering Mysteries #6 Carole and Jude continue to fight crime without the help of the police. This time, in a story that picks up almost immediately where #5 left off, the two sleuths must (or want to) find out who wants to hurt Carole’s prospective daughter-in-law. … Continue ReadingThe Witness at the Wedding

Mystery

The Hanging in the Hotel

CatherineJuly 31, 2022July 31, 20221 Comment

Simon Brett, 2004 – Fethering Mysteries #5 Carole and Jude are on the case again – only this time, it looks like they might be wrong. Was Nigel’s hanging a suicide, or murder? The Fethering series is unique in that there’s a fair amount of conflict between the two main … Continue ReadingThe Hanging in the Hotel

Fiction

Elsewhere

CatherineJuly 31, 2022August 8, 2022Leave a comment

Alexis Schaitkin, June 2022 I’ve written some free discussion questions for use in your own book groups. High above the world in a mountain range is a town, populated by people who have lived in isolation for a long as anyone remembers. They don’t know how they got there and … Continue ReadingElsewhere

Fiction

Hester

CatherineJuly 29, 2022July 29, 2022Leave a comment

Laurie Lico Albanese, Expected in October of 2022 What if Nathaniel Hawthorne based Hester Prynne, the beleagured main character of his novel The Scarlet Letter, on a real woman in his life? Laurie Lico Albanese’s imagininings provide one possible answer to this question in her upcoming novel Hester. Isobel Gamble, … Continue ReadingHester

Fiction

The Scarlet Letter

CatherineJuly 24, 2022July 24, 2022Leave a comment

Nathaniel Hawthorne 1850 First of all, don’t buy the Kindle edition of this book – even the 45-cent one – without checking out the free editions on Project Gutenberg. I read this book in preparation for my review of an upcoming new release called Hester, written by Laurie Lico Albanese … Continue ReadingThe Scarlet Letter

Mystery

A Hanging at Lotus Hall

CatherineJuly 19, 2022July 19, 2022Leave a comment

Corrina Lawson 2019 – Steampunk Detectives Series #2 It was so much fun to enter the steampunk world of Joan Krieger and Gregor Sherringford just one more time – the last time for now, as there are no other books in the series to my knowledge. In this installment, some … Continue ReadingA Hanging at Lotus Hall

Memoir

Happy-Go-Lucky

CatherineJuly 17, 2022July 17, 20221 Comment

David Sedaris 2022 David Sedaris is never a bad bet when I’m trying to decide which new release to read. (In this case, I listened.) Whether he’s writing and speaking about the pandemic, travel in Eastern Europe, or his family, Sedaris’ gift for finding humor in the most absurd places … Continue ReadingHappy-Go-Lucky

Women's Fiction

Meredith, Alone

CatherineJuly 14, 2022July 14, 2022Leave a comment

Claire Alexander, due out November 2022 What an engrossing, very readable story. I couldn’t put it down. Meredith has not left her Glasgow home in over 1800 days. She has her routines: exercise, housework, baking, cooking, personal hygiene, the care and maintenance of Fred the cat. No sweatpants and hoodies … Continue ReadingMeredith, Alone

Mystery

The Curse of the Brimstone Contract

CatherineJuly 6, 2022July 7, 2022Leave a comment

Corrina Lawson – The Steampunk Detectives #1, 2014 Joan Krieger is a seamstress in a steampunk version of Victorian England. There is a death; is it murder? When she and her family become possible suspects, Joan seeks out the assistance of Gregor Sherringford, a man with a gift for solving … Continue ReadingThe Curse of the Brimstone Contract

Fiction

Mr. Penumbra’s 24-Hour Bookstore

CatherineJune 30, 2022June 30, 2022Leave a comment

Robin Sloan, 2012 Ajax Penumbra is a bookseller with a secret – a big secret, shared by a select few around the world. The secret is a question and a quest, and Mr. Penumbra is initially as shadowy as his name. Clay, our protagonist and 1st-peson narrator, is a master … Continue ReadingMr. Penumbra’s 24-Hour Bookstore

Mystery

Our Lady of Pain

CatherineJune 29, 2022June 29, 2022Leave a comment

Marion Chesney – Edwardian Murder Mysteries #4 Unlike my experience reading the ebooks for titles 1-3, I listened to the Audible audiobook of Our Lady of Pain. The book is not available on Scribd just yet (becomes available in mid-July), but the Audible version is free for those with a … Continue ReadingOur Lady of Pain

Mystery

Scarlet in Blue

CatherineJune 29, 2022June 29, 2022Leave a comment

Jennifer Murphy 2022 I once again grabbed a book from a display at random, and discovered that the majority of the book takes place here in my home state of Michigan – quite close to me, in fact, and I’m writing this review from one of the towns mentioned in … Continue ReadingScarlet in Blue

Mystery

Sick of Shadows

CatherineJune 24, 2022June 24, 2022Leave a comment

Marion Chesney – Edwardian Mysteries #3 Rose and Harry, engaged in name only, compete to solve crimes, with Daisy and Becket serving as the Fred and Ethel to their Lucy and Desi. Repeated romantic misunderstandings and foot-stamping rebellion on Rose’s part (against her parents’ rules, Harry’s rules, and Edwardian England’s … Continue ReadingSick of Shadows

Mystery

The Fever of the World

CatherineJune 23, 2022June 24, 2022Leave a comment

Merrily Watkins #16; written by Phill Rickman and narrated by Emma Powell I’m still wrapping my head around the emerging presence of the early pandemic in new fiction. In 2020 we dealt with contagion and social upheaval, and now, through story, we are reminded that we didn’t know if the … Continue ReadingThe Fever of the World

Poetry

Why I’m Yours, even though I’m Not Yours

CatherineJune 16, 2022June 16, 2022Leave a comment

Arina Avram This review, written by Catherine Beeman, originally appeared in Reedsy Discovery. Poetry is such a subjective medium; what inspired the poet, and will the same sentiment move the reader of the poem? Scholars, of course, are able to evaluate poetry based on literary merit – competent use of … Continue ReadingWhy I’m Yours, even though I’m Not Yours

Mystery

Hasty Death

CatherineJune 16, 2022June 16, 2022Leave a comment

Book 26 in the A to Z Mystery Tour Marion Gibbons writing as Marion Chesney – Edwardian Mysteries #2 – 2003 Lady Rose Summer, Captain Harry Cathcart, Daisy Levine, and Becket return for another round of crime-solving in Edwardian England. Marion Gibbons, whether writing as M.C. Beaton or Marion Chesney, … Continue ReadingHasty Death

Mystery

Snobbery With Violence

CatherineJune 12, 2022June 13, 2022Leave a comment

Marion Chesney 2003 – Edwardian Murder Mysteries #1 In case you didn’t know, Marion Chesney is one of the pen names for Marion Gibbons, who wrote the Agatha Raisin and Hamish Macbeth mysteries using the pseudonym M.C. Beaton. Being an Agatha devotee, I grabbed the the second book in this … Continue ReadingSnobbery With Violence

Fiction

The Latecomer

CatherineJune 5, 2022August 8, 2022Leave a comment

Jean Hanff Korelitz – 2022 Harrison, Lewyn, and Sally Oppenheimer (in alphabetical order) were born to a very wealthy New York City family back in the 1980’s, when they were called test tube babies – triplets, in this case. The Latecomer is their story – and also the story of … Continue ReadingThe Latecomer

Fiction

The Candy House

CatherineJune 1, 2022June 1, 2022Leave a comment

Jennifer Eagan 2022 Maybe it’s the format. It could be that a print version might have been more comprehensible. The premise sounded so intriguing: the ability to upload one’s consciousness to a collective online platform, making it available to others. The first chapter, which was the most coherent in the … Continue ReadingThe Candy House

Fiction

Three Things About Elsie

CatherineMay 19, 2022May 19, 2022Leave a comment

Joanna Cannon 2018 Thank heaven for Elsie, Florence Claybourne’s lifelong friend. What would Florence have done without her all these years? What would Florence do without her now, faced with the sinister presence of Gabriel Price? Thank heaven for Elsie. Mr. Price has just moved into Cherry Tree Home for … Continue ReadingThree Things About Elsie