Wednesday, January 1, 2025

Happy New Year 2025

 




Just taking a moment to say thank you to anyone who read my blog, posted a comment, or suggestion, or got new inspiration for new books from it. 

My blog turns 3 today and I still love reading, reviewing, and posting each week. I also love that I am promoting authors new and old in some small way. I am in awe of those who write books and all the hard work that goes into it.

The book blog community is so wonderful and I can't think of a better hobby for me to be a part of.

I hope you all have a blessed day and wonderful 2025. See you soon with new reviews and content and Happy Reading!!!












Tuesday, December 31, 2024

Top Ten Tuesday: Best Books I Read in 2024

 




Happy New Year's Eve 2024....what better way to end the year than with a Top Ten list. Thank you to Jana at That Artsy Reader Girl for hosting. These are the best books I read in 2024. I am realizing how much I read books by certain, trusted authors and that are often a part of a series. I'd like to read new authors but have a hard time deciding where to start. 

It was interesting to go back and see that I spent the year with a lot more mysteries than I ever realized! 

What were your favorites? I hope you find many more ahead in 2025. 

1. When Christ and His Saints Slept by Sharon Penman 
2. The King's Commoner by David Field
3. Traitor's Arrow by David Field
4. Dark Clouds Over Nuala by Harriet Steel
5. The Virgin in the Ice by Ellis Peters
6. Covert in Cairo by Kelly Oliver
7. Secret of the Scarab by Isabella Bassett
8.The Secret Adversary by Agatha Christie
9.Elephants Can Remember by Agatha Christie
10.The Crusades by Hourly History (review coming soon)











Friday, December 27, 2024

The Mystery of Mistletoe Hall by Benedict Brown (Lord Edgington Investigates Book Four)

 

Publication Date:

November 11, 2021

Genre:

Cozy Mystery 

Series:

Lord Edgington Investigates Book 4

Length:

243 pages



Book Description (GoodReads):

England, 1925. When Lord Edgington receives an invitation to spend the Christmas holiday with an old colleague from the police, he expects fine food, good conversation and the warmth of a roaring fire. But on arriving at Mistletoe Hall with his family, they discover the house deserted and no explanation for where their host or his servants could be. As more guests appear, the master detective begins to question what could connect the disparate group of newcomers. A teacher, a comedian, a thief, a sportsman, a singer, a policeman and a racing driver will all have their roles to play when a killer crashes the party. Cut off from the outside world by the worsening weather, and with bodies piling up, Lord Edgington must rely on his wits, his years of experience, and the help of his bumbling grandson Christopher in order to solve "The Mystery of Mistletoe Hall" .

With hints of “And Then There Were None” and “The Sittaford Mystery”, the fourth "Lord Edgington Investigates…" novel is a spoiler-free, standalone whodunit with a wicked resolution all of its own. Filled with warmth, humour, a fiendishly twisting plot, an adorable canine sidekick and plenty of Yuletide spirit, “The Mystery of Mistletoe Hall” is an Agatha-Christie-style Christmas cracker that will baffle and charm you in equal measure.

My Thoughts:

This book was a stand alone in the series and I haven't finished book one yet. So I was glad I could read this at Christmas and enjoy it without series spoilers. The covers are so pretty and are what made me stop and notice. Then having a male detective made me want to try it more because as I've said there are so few cozies with them. It's almost always women so changing it up is fun. 

Lord Edgington is a great character. He and his grandson Christopher are always stumbling upon a crime or body and working together to solve the case. In this story I especially loved the author's descriptions of the mansion they visit, the snow, the sleigh they take to ride to the front, and then combining that with the creepiness of the woods and the sense of doom. As murders occur and everyone feels unsafe and uneasy, they must try to stay calm and find out what is happening and why.