Silence of the Lamb's Wool

Author:  Betty Hechtman
Genre:  Mystery

Five Stars

Dessert chef Casey Feldstein has learned one end of a knitting needele from the other after inheriting her aunt's yarn retreat business, but a murder threatens to unravel her latest event...

Casey's running a new retreat called "Sheep to Shawl" at a resort on the atmospheric Monterey Penninsula.  Participants will learn about sheepshearing, fixing up the fleece, and spinning, and will eventually knit a lovely shawl.

Nicole Welton has been hired to teach the fleece-to-fiber portion of the retreat.  She's an expert spinner, and her small shop in Cadbury by the Sea houses a beautiful assortment of spinning wheels and drop spindles.  But when the new teacher fails to show up for class and is found lying dead on the boardwalk, it leaves everyone's nerves frayed.

Now Casey has to knit together clues faster than she can count stitiches, before someone else at the retreat gets dropped...

********

Casey Feldstein lives in Cadbury by the Sea, having moved there after a failed run of semi-careers.  While her mother wants her to go to culinary school, because she knows Casey loves to bake, Casey has other ideas.  She has inherited her aunt's business of running knitting retreats, and wants to keep doing it.  So, in her latest retreat, her hiree, Nicole Welton, is found dead the first morning, of what is an apparent suicide.  But Casey thinks things don't add up, and although she can't convince Lieutenant Borgnine that Nicole was murdered, she herself is convinced and won't give up trying to find a killer.

But this may not be as easy to do as she thinks.  Given free reign of Nicole's workshop by Nicole's grieving widower, Will, she finds bits and pieces of what might point to blackmail.  When she starts thinking back of things she's seen, and begins to see things around her differently, she starts to piece together the whole picture.

To make matters more complicated, her crush on Dane, her policeman neighbor, is halted temporarily when she finds out there's a woman staying with him; a replacement knitting instructor has appeared out of nowhere; Cora Delacorte has become engaged to a smarmy man; and there has been another attempted murder - which only convinces Casey she was right all along.

This book was engaging indeed, and quite difficult to put down, so I just kept on reading until I finished.  Casey is intelligent, and thinks things through, which I like; but no one really seems to want to take her seriously except her friend Lucinda, whom she bakes for.  She is different in that she doesn't just rush off on tangents putting herself in danger, and I really like that a lot.  It's nice when you find a main character who actually has the foresight to think of a way out of a situation before she puts herself in a situation.  An excellent read and highly recommended.

http://www.amazon.com/Silence-Lambs-Wool-Retreat-Mystery-ebook/dp/B00HDMMF56/

Muffin But Murder

Author:  Victoria Hamilton
Genre:  Mystery

Three Stars

Muffin maker Merry Wynter hopes to find a buyer for the castle she's recently inherited.  But when she throws a party to draw interest, she finds someone who's bought the farm instead...

Merry's career as a New York City stylist has crumbled, but her passion for muffins has helped her rise upstate in Autumn Vale.  Everyone in town loves the tasty treats.  Still, she would like to return to her glamorous life.  Besides, the upkeep of Wynter Castle is expensive, and Merry's cup isn't exactly overflowing.

So in order to bring some prospective buyers into the mix, Merry whisks together a spooky soireee and decorates the castle with dashes of fabric and a sprinkling of spider webs.  Friends new and old are invited, and everyone has a blast.  But as the revelers empty out, Merry notices one partygoer who isn't leaving - or breathing.  Now Merry must hurry to unmask a killer before her perfect plans turn into a recipe for disaster.

********

Merry inherited the castle from her uncle, as his only living heir.  Unless you count Cranston Higgins, who showed up claiming to be Uncle Melvyn's long-lost grandson.  Which Merry isn't too sure about, and wants to consider the matter further - and do some DNA testing to make sure.  She lives there with her friends Shilo and Pish, and is renovating (slowly) the castle so that she can sell it.  In the meantime, she bakes muffins to take to the local bakery (!) and the retirement home, and a couple of other places.

When she decides to throw a not-so-Halloween party (not scary, just a little decorating), she invites some of her wealthier friends, hoping that one of them - or someone they know - will be interested in purchasing the castle from her, and she can go back to her life.  What she doesn't admit, though, is that she likes the new life she has and wants to stay.  She just can't afford to do so.  So, after cleaning up the night of the party, she comes across a dead body, her life suddenly becomes complicated.

Okay, here's the thing:  I really wanted to like this book.  A lot.  But it took over 90 pages before we got to the murder (and isn't that why you read a murder mystery?  To get to the murder and solving it?)  In my mind, that's like watching a murder mystery movie and the 'deed' doesn't occur until an hour in.  By that time, would you still be interested in the movie?  The first 90+ pages were basically revisiting people and getting background, which is fine, but it dragged on and on...

One thing I really didn't get is the fact that Binnie, the bakery owner, bakes things like ciabiatta and such, but refuses to bake mundane things like muffins!  Really?  In a small town?  A bakery owner?  Who does she think is residing there?  I'm not saying that there isn't a desire for things like that in small towns; not at all.  What I'm saying is the fact that if that's all you sell, you might as well put the 'for sale' sign up now.  I live in the big city, and if our bakeries didn't sell muffins and cookies, they wouldn't be in business.  People eat what they're used to, but no one (I hope) makes a diet of ciabiatta and foccacia bread. 

Okay, rant over.  That being said, there isn't a whole lot of time spent on her muffin-baking.  That's because she finds out one of her friends is sort-of-a-suspect, so she figures she has to find out who the real killer is, even after she's told to leave it alone by the hunky deputy, Virgil.  But she doesn't want to get involved with Virgil, because for some strange reason, she's still being loyal to her dead husband, who passed away eight years ago.  I get the fact that she loved him; but they were married only two years, and after eight years without him, a little of that memory might fade; and even if it didn't, she either needs to move on with her life or go into permanent mourning.

Now that I've said what's wrong with the book, let me tell you what's right:  The mystery itself is tight, and when all the information comes out, it makes sense.  It ties in with the first book of this series, Bran New Death, so it's recommended that you read that one first.  But if you haven't, you can always go back and read it to get the full picture.  I'm hoping the series improves as it moves along; and like a firm rule I have, I always read at least three books before I decide to either go or stay with it.  Recommended for mystery lovers; but be aware that the first part of the book drags a little.  As a bonus, there a few recipes in the back of the book.

http://www.amazon.com/Muffin-But-Murder-Merry-Mystery/dp/042525884X/

The House on Mermaid Point

Author:  Wendy Wax

Genre:  Fiction

Two Stars

Maddie, Avery and Nikki first got to know one another-perhaps too well-while desperately restoring a beach-front mansion to its former grandeur.  Now they're putting that experience to professional use.  But their latest project has presented some challenges they couldn't have dreamed up in their wildest fantasies-although the house does belong to a man who actually was Maddie's wildest fantasy once...

Rock-and-roll legend "Willliam the Wild" Hightower may be past his prime, estranged from his family, and creatively blocked, but he's still worshipped by fans-which is why he guards his privacy on his own island in the Florida Keys.  He's not thrilled about letting this crew turn his piece of paradise into a bed-and-breakfast for a reality show...though he is intrigued by Maddie.  Hard as that is for her to believe as a newly single woman who can barely manage a dog paddle in the dating pool.

But whether it's an unexpected flirtation with a bona fide rock star, a strained mother-daughter relationship, or a sudden tragedy, these women are in it together.  The only thing that might drive them apart is being trapped on a houseboat with one bathroom...

********

Maddie, Nicole and Avery became friends after losing everything they had to a ponzi scheme.  In order to build their finances up again, they decide to accept the offer of renewing old homes into something modern.  Their latest assignment is in the Florida Keys; the home of William Hightower, a former rocker known as "William the Wild."  They're there to turn his house into a bed-and-breakfast.  He's not happy about the idea; in fact, he wants them gone.  But having blown all his money and just getting out of rehab, he doesn't have a choice.  What he doesn't count on, though, is that Maddie's being there just might help him stay on the straight and narrow, and find himself again.

Now the bad:  The book sounded interesting from the blurb; but there are times when it can be misleading.  This was one of them.  Some things I just didn't understand:  Avery is an architect, but she actually wears a toolbelt and hard hat and does the work herself.  I have a friend who's an architect, and years ago I worked for one.  They don't do the work themselves.  They design the building.  (Here's an article describing what architects actually do:  http://www.lifeofanarchitect.com/what-does-an-architect-do/).  Nowhere in the article does it read that they do the work themselves.  So, if Avery is doing the construction part, I would really have liked to know her background.  We know that her father owned a construction company, but it doesn't make her a contractor.

Here's the Big Thing:  In my opinion, the book was a little too focused on Dustin, the child of Kyra and married actor Dan Deranian.  I don't read tabloids, but I know enough that they're not covered in photos of children of celebrities.  I can't even imagine it being so huge the paparazzi would be taking hours upon hours of film of the child just to increase ratings.  Honestly, no one cares.  You might want to see a famous actor/actress, but their children?  According to this book, the show is basically there because of Dustin.  Really?  I found it just too hard to believe.  The way actors/actresses cheat on their spouses, it's not a big deal to see the resulting child.  And I've yet to see paparazzi chasing them down every minute of the day.  In fact, I would guess that photographers would stay away from this kind of thing.  Plus, what kind of a mother does it make Kyra that she would basically put her child on a television show as if he were some kind of exhibit?  The producers says to make sure 'they get lots of shots of Dustin.'  Who is this actor?  Some kind of god that his child is the Favored One?  I just didn't get that storyline at all.  Also the fact that he's a child who can't even enunciate his words and they have him on a jobsite.  Yeah, that works.  It's also like a daily reminder that Dan cheated on his wife.  That's going to help the marriage (and humiliate his wife constantly).  Somehow, I don't think the press wants to alienate movie stars.  Besides, in the real world, if Kyra was exploiting her son for money, Dan would probably file for custody saying she was an unfit mother - and win.

As if that weren't enough, supposedly when they renovated the house of a former vaudvillian, Max Golden, something happened.  The show is being run on network television, and they all sit down to watch.  Well, there's a scene where someone is shooting at Kyra and Dustin, and Max jumps in front of Dustin and he gets shot...and killed, and they show that and the body being taken away...and they show this on TV.  On network TV, no less.  I'm no expert, but I'm pretty sure they don't show someone being murdered on television.  (We get the impression this is a 'filmed' show, so it's not live and they can edit out a murder.)  I'm pretty sure that episode never would have aired.  There are people across the country who wouldn't want to see that, you know.  (Can't you see the TV Guide:  Tonight on Do Over: Max Golden gets killed.  Tune in at 8).  How would you promo that one?  They might do a tribute, but...

The last thing is that this book is obviously part of a series.  You're given enough information to know that, but you really need to begin at the first one to get the whole picture, and the ending leaves you hanging, so that you have to read the next in the series (not that it doesn't resolve some things; it does, but there are new questions that aren't answered).

So, in my opinion, read this if you're already into the series.  If not, it's up to you if you want.  I just couldn't buy the whole Dustin-is-the-best-thing-that-ever-happened idea.  Or the fact that they show a death on television.  No offense to the author, but it just didn't make sense.

http://www.amazon.com/The-House-Mermaid-Point-Wendy/dp/0425263320/

 

The Red Bikini

Author:  Lauren Christopher
Genre:  Romance

Five Stars

For the last five years, Giselle McCabe's life has been about sippy cups and playdates. But when her husband suddenly leaves her, Giselle flees to her sister’s California beach house for a two-week getaway. Out of her element, she’s surprised to receive such a warm welcome—especially from gorgeous celebrity athlete Fin Hensen…

Fin is escaping his pro tour for a season, trying to lie low until all the hubbub over a huge mistake in his past blows over. And when he sets his sights on Giselle, he realizes that the beautiful good girl just might be the ticket to his success.
But Giselle never expected romance to enter the picture again—especially with a hot twentysomething from a completely different world. And even though it feels like Fin is everything she’s trying to run away from, she can't help coming back for more...

********

Giselle McCabe Underwood has just been divorced from her husband of eleven years, Roy.  He walked away without a backward glance for her or their five-year-old daughter, Coco; and now Giselle needs a break from her life in Indiana and decides to visit her sister Lia in California.  But Lia is in another city for business, and has offered the use of her beach house to Giselle and Coco.  Lia has also asked her next-door neighbor, Rabbit, to keep an eye out for them.

While visiting Rabbit and his friends, Giselle turns to the door and sees the most gorgeous man she has ever seen in her life standing there.  He's Fin Henson, a pro surfer, and there is an instant attraction that neither can shake.  After they see each other on the beach and get to know each other, he asks her for a favor: will she go to a business meeting with him so he can impress his boss; and she asks one in return:  will he go to her ex-father-in-law's funeral with her so she can let her ex-relatives know she's not pathetic.  Deal struck, the two tentatively enter into a fragile friendship that gradually turns into romance.

This book surprised me.  I finished it and thought 'wow.'  Really.  You have two damaged people: he, damaged by his parents and upbringing in the fact that he felt hungry in more ways than one; and her, damaged by a doctor husband who cheated on her throughout their marriage and made her feel like less than a woman.  In a sense, they are both impoverished, scared, and alone.  And they find each other.  But it is not an easy journey.  There are misunderstandings, because they are both afraid to share with another human being:  share love, share sorrow, share pain, share joy.  Their common bond of loneliness, and the fact that Fin obviously cares as much for Coco as Giselle does, goes a long way into bringing these two hurt souls together.  It is a final revelation - one that is a surprise to both Fin and Giselle - that finally gives them their strength.

Don't let the fact that this is a romance keep anyone from reading it.  It is very well-written, and carries the emotions of the characters well; and the secondary characters buoy the relationship between the two, sometimes without knowing they are doing so.  Highly recommended.

http://www.amazon.com/Red-Bikini-Lauren-Christopher/dp/0425274411/

Deadly Assets (An Allison Campbell Mystery Book 2)

Author:  Wendy Tyson
Genre:  Mystery; Suspense

Hardcover; Trade Paperback; Digital Book

ISBN #:  9781941962107; 9781940926211

Henery Press Publishing

304 Pages

$31.95; $15.95; $2.99 Amazon

April 1,6 2014

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

An eccentric Italian heiress from the Finger Lakes. An eighteen-year-old pop star from Scranton, Pennsylvania. Allison Campbell’s latest clients seem worlds apart in every respect, except one: Both women disappear on the same day. And Allison’s colleague Vaughn is the last to have seen each.

Allison’s search for a connection uncovers an intricate web of family secrets, corporate transgressions and an age-old rivalry that crosses continents. The closer Allison gets to the truth, the deadlier her quest becomes. All paths lead back to their sinister Finger Lakes estate and the suicide of a woman thirty years ago.

✽✽✽✽✽✽✽✽

Allison Campbell is an Image Consultant: That is, she teaches people how to better present themselves to the world, and this includes not only the outside trappings, but also the inside.  She has received a telephone call from Francesca Benini, who needs her help:  Francesca's brother Paolo is dying, and she intends to take over the family business.  The only problem is that Francesca has not left her home for almost forty years.  After meeting with Francesca, it is determined that she will leave her home and come to the city for her lessons.

On top of that, the latest client in her office is Tammy Edwards.  Tammy is a singer, poised to be on a television show, America's Next Pop Star.  The problem is - according to Tammy's manager, Denise Carr, and apparent to Allison - Tammy won't talk.  She won't do anything.  Denise leaves Tammy in Allison's hands, where she will be for a week to see if Allison can break through the surface.  Between these two, Allison will definitely have her hands full.

But something happens:  Allison sends her employee, Vaughn, to drop Tammy off at her home and pick up Francesca and bring her back to the city.  So he drops Tammy off at her apparently empty home, and heads back to the city with Francesca, with only a quick stop for a bathroom break...where Francesca disappears...and so does Tammy.

Panicked, Vaughn discovers that he was the last one to have seen both Tammy and Francesca.  Allison, knowing the terrible past of her employee, vows to find both women before something terrible happens to either of them. 

This book has more twists and turns than a roller coaster.  What starts out as a simple missing persons case turns into something darker and more sinister than either of them could have imagined.  And when Allison's ex-mother-in-law, Mia, decides to help on her own, things become even more tangled than anyone could have thought.  Little does Allison know that the more she probes into these cases, the more she discovers that they are tied into the life (and death) of Paolo's late wife, Gina.  While trying to discover the truth about the circumstances surrounding Gina's death, Allison is figuring out that she may be close to something more sinister than she ever would have believed.

It is sharp, intense, and immensely pleasing to read.  The story melds together all the pieces beautifully and keeps you interested.  The clues aren't that easy to deciper (at least not right away), and when you realize that what has happened to both Tammy and Francesca are tied together, it is woven in such a way to be believable. 

A highly enjoyable and satisfying read; highly recommended.

http://www.amazon.com/Deadly-Assets-Wendy-Tyson/dp/1940976219/

Goodreads:  https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3425380840

More on Wendy Tyson's Books:  https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3425380840

Grand Central

Author:  Various
Genre:  Fiction/Historical/War

Five Stars

A war bride awaits the arrival of her GI husband at the platform...

A Holocaust survivor works at the Oyster Bar, where a customer reminds him of his late mother...

A Hollywood hopeful anticipates her first screen test and a chance at stardom in the Kissing Room...

On any particular day, thousands upon thousands of people pass through New York City's Grand Central Terminal, through the whispering gallery, beneath the ceiling of stars, and past the information booth and its beckoning four-faced clock, to whatever destination is calling them. It is a place where people come to say hello and good-bye. And each person has a story to tell.

Now, ten bestselling authors inspired by this iconic landmark have created their own stories, set on the same day, just after the end of World War II, in a time of hope, uncertainty, change, and renewal....

Featuring stories from
   
Melanie Benjamin, New York Times bestselling author of The Aviator's Wife
Jenna Blum, New York Times bestselling author of Those Who Save Us
Amanda Hodgkinson, New York Times bestselling author of 22 Britannia Road
Pam Jenoff, bestselling author of The Ambassador's Daughter
Sarah Jio, New York Times bestselling author of Blackberry Winter
Sarah McCoy, New York Times bestselling author of The Baker's Daughter

Kristina McMorris, New York Times bestselling author of The Pieces We Keep
Alyson Richman, bestselling author of The Lost Wife
Erika Robuck, bestselling author of Call Me Zelda
Karen White, New York Times bestselling author of After the Rain

With an Introduction by
Kristin Hannah, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Home Front

********

This is an anthology of short stories that take place just after the close of World War II.  They are all connected to Grand Central Station, and much of the action takes place there.  The stories themselves are not all happy; many are filled with pain, fear, hope and love.  They all take place on or around the same day in September 1945.

Each story is separate unto itself, but many of the stories reference, ever so slightly, a character from the previous one.  It is in these pages that we are allowed to glimpse some of the fear of those traveling from overseas to America for the first time; their uneasiness and fright etched upon their very beings.  And yet they are understanding that America will be kind to them; that it is different from the world they have always known - that there will be no police to search them out, no one to as for their 'papers', no one to judge them.  Not all of the stories have to do with transplanted souls; there are a few that do center around Americans themselves, but even these show the horrors and aftermath of a terrible war.

I will admit, that as in all books, a couple of the stories I really didn't care for, as they left me feeling that I would have liked a conclusion of sorts; I do understand that there was not one because there was still a story to be told by these people; but as with anyone, you like to have some sort of resolution.  However, do not let this keep you from reading this wonderful book.

Highly recommended for anyone who is interested in history, World War II, or just a very good book.

http://www.amazon.com/Grand-Central-Original-Stories-Postwar-ebook/dp/B00G3L6N88/

Murder at the Mikado

Author:  Julianna Deering
Genre:  Mystery, Inspirational

Five Stars

When a celebrated actor is found murdered in his dressing room, all signs point to Drew's old flame.  But behind the curtains nothing is what it seems and it quickly becomes his most puzzling case yet.

Just as Drew Farthering thinks his life has calmed down some, Fleur Landis, a former girlfriend, reappears, in dire need of his help. She's married now, no longer an actress--but the lead actor in her former troupe's production of The Mikado has been murdered, and Fleur is the police's number one suspect.

Drew would rather focus on his fiancee, Madeline Parker, and their upcoming wedding, but he can't leave Fleur and her family in the lurch--even if she did break his heart once. As Drew, Nick, and Madeline begin investigating, they discover more going on behind the scenes of the theater troupe can could ever have been imagined. It seems nearly everyone had a motive, and alibis are few and far between.

Both the murder case and the presence of the beautiful, exotic Fleur put a heavy strain on Drew and Madeline's relationship. Will their still-young romance survive the pressure?

********

I was drawn to this book because it takes place in the 1930's, and I love to read books centered around that period.  When I began the book, the conversations felt stilted and mundane, forced, if you will; but as I read on the dialogue definitely improved and along with it, the book.

Drew, preparing for his wedding to Madeline, has a dinner party, and one of the guests, Fleur, is an actress he had a one-night-stand with several years ago.  Fancying himself in love with her, he proposed, only to be rebuffed immediately.  Now he sees that she is still as beautiful as ever, but married to one of his employees; and he doesn't feel the same.

When she approaches him the next day because she is a suspect in the murder of a fellow actor, she wants him to find the real killer because she has a husband and child and doesn't want any scandal.  Reluctantly, he agrees, but Madeline isn't too fond of the idea, being jealous of Fleur.  Still, he takes the case, and along with Madeline and his best friend Nick (who also happens to be the butler's son), they set out to prove Fleur innocent and find the real killer.

The book moved along nicely, the action quite in tune with the setting and time it takes place.  I enjoyed the interaction between the characters, but to be honest, I really didn't understand the irrational - yes, irrational - jealousy of Madeline.  I get that Fleur is gorgeous.  But since he obviously never mentioned her before during their relationship, I can't see that it would make any difference.  And after explaining it, toward the last third of the book, I understand; but that would be her own insecurity and have nothing to do with Drew nor his behavior.  It's not as if he were paying any attention to Fleur now.

Be that as it may, the book was good, and the plot was good.  When the killer was revealed, I don't know whether I was surprised or not, but it was certainly unexpected.  Just when you think you have it all figured out, something changes; in this case it was at the last of the book and made perfect sense. 

I urge you to supress the desire to peek to the end and see who the killer is.  You will enjoy the book much more if you do.  Recommended reading for anyone who likes mysteries.

Note:  This is a Christian mystery, so there are references to God throughout, but not so many that it will spoil the book for anyone who doesn't read the genre.


http://www.amazon.com/Murder-Mikado-Drew-Farthering-Mystery/dp/0764210971/