Little Bookshop of Murder - A Review

 

Little Bookshop of Murder

by

Maggie Blackburn 

This book is a cozy mystery that did not meet my usual expectations for a great cozy. It starts off with a great premise - Summer Merriweather’s mother has died after suffering a heart attack. The police see no evidence of foul play, but Summer and her group of new friends are not so sure. They have two tasks - prove it was murder and find the murderer.

It is a great premise, but the book falls short in its presentation. A number of things bothered me. The biggest was that the book was predictable - I had the murderer identified very early in the book. The author spent most of the 300+ pages convincing me I was correct. In addition, the book ended with too many open ends. The potential love interest was dropped halfway through the plot, Summer’s occupational future had way too many holes to provide a satisfying ending to the story. The future of the bookstore was left hanging as the story ended. Many of these holes could be answered in a sequel, but with no obvious sequel in the character's future the reader is left with open wounds.

The book might find a place on the public library or on the shelf for those who are fans of Maggie Blackburn. For now, I’ll keep it off my shelf.
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This review is based on a free electronic copy provided by the publisher for the purpose of creating this review.  The opinions expressed are my own.

The Monastery Murders - A Review

The Monastery Murders

by

E.M. Powell

A Review

A well-written mystery taking place in the middle ages. The protagonist is an agent of the King and his assistant. A group of monks are being systematically killed off and unless Barling and Stanton could discover the culprit, all those residing at the Monastery could be at risk.

I have no problem recommending the book with two exceptions. There is no warning given to the reader that there is one explicit heterosexual scene and a longer (though not explicit) description of a gay romance. If this were apparent in advance, this reader would have chosen to not read the book. If made into a movie (as written), I expect the film would be rated ‘R’ - though, with a bit of gentle editing (of the book or the movie), it could easily receive a ‘PG-13’ rating. Because of the lack of warning and the possibility of these scenes being triggers for some, the book receives a 3-star rather than a 4-star review.
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This review is based on a free electronic copy provided by the publisher for the purpose of creating this review. The opinions are mine alone.

ICB GOLDEN PRINCESS SPARKLE BIBLE - A Review

ICB

GOLDEN PRINCESS SPARKLE

BIBLE

A Review

Based on a translation specifically designed for children, this easily held book may be attractive to girls in the 1st through 3rd grades. The Bible is rather bare bones - with the exception of translator notes, no helps are included in the body of the book.

That is not to say that study helps are not included. Most obvious, to the younger reader, will be the 24 full-color pages scattered throughout the book. To the older reader are a number of helpful indexes:

• A list of key verses on various topics of interest to kids
• A brief (22 pages) Bible dictionary
• A three-page list of “Where Do I Find It” pointing the reader to specific texts on key Bible people and themes
• A two-page listing (along with the Bible text) of some of the important promises found in the scriptures
• A three-page listing (along with the Bible text) of suggested memory verses

The back cover indicates that a concordance is also included; I suspect that the short lists mentioned above intended to serve as a concordance - they barely serve that purpose. Thus, this reader does wish these additions were a bit longer and included more content.

Given the minimalist approach taken by the editor in compiling this Bible, this reviewer is only giving three-stars to the final book. It would make a great gift, but not a helpful Bible for most young children.

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This review is based on a free copy provided by the publisher for the purpose of creating this review. The opinions are mine alone.

The Vines Expository Bible - A Review

The Vines
Expository

Bible

by

Jerry Vines

A Review

Dr. Vines has compiled a set of readings, helps, sermon outlines, and insights, to create something between a Devotional Bible and a Study Bible. Beyond being a collection of writings, there seems to be little that holds the various comments and articles together. And that left me disappointed.

When I see the title “Expository Bible”, I expect the focus to be on exposition. There is some of this — but this is not the focus of the various helps.  The back cover list the following contents:

205  "Presenting the Message” - detailed outlines from Jerry Vines' sermon archive

148  “Living the Message” - articles with illustrations for living the Christian life

237  "Applying the Message” - notes that help you see the relevance of Scriptures for your walk with Christ

311  "Discerning the Meaning" - word studies that illuminate the meaning of key words in Scripture

66     Book Introductions

But, with exception of the Book Introductions, there seems to be no consistency about which of these entries have been included. It feels like the author was allowed to license the New King James Version of the Bible and add notes as he saw fit.  The entries do hold some interest and may be of some help if they could be searched and located using an electronic text. But as a bound book with inaccessible content, the result is less than satisfying to this reader.

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This review is based on a free copy provided by the publisher for the purpose of creating this review. The opinions are mine alone.

Faith and the Future Force - A Review

Faith and the Future Force

by

Jody Houser

A Review

A disappointing comic from Diamond Book Publishers. The story seems inconsistent, the artwork seems more like something from Casper the Friendly Ghost. The comic was disappointing to this sexagenarian.

A group of superheroes “adopts” Faith to fight super evil beings. They work together to fight an enemy across time and space that looks more like a three-prong power outlet than like any kind of super-villain. The story did not hold my attention – Twice I put it down and took up more traditional books before again being disappointed in the story.

The comic consists of a four-part story that was originally published six months earlier – but coming six months later, did not improve the story. I normally enjoy comics; I did not enjoy this one.

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This review is based on a free electronic copy provided by the publisher for the purpose of creating this review. The opinions are mine alone.

The Sherlock Effect - A Review

The Sherlock Effect

by

Raymond Kay Lyon

A Review

Christopher Sherlock Webster received his unexpected middle name because his father was obsessed with his well-known namesake, Sherlock Holmes. The new London based private investigation firm, The Baskerville Agency, got its start when Christopher was approached by his college pal, Morris Rennie. Morris proposed the agency, and because both Sherlock and Mo were at a point where they were ready to find a transition in their lives. Mo would finance the agency, Sherlock would provide the brains, and they would share the profits 50/50.

Besides reviewing the early history of The Baskerville Agency, the book is a collection of first-person reports of five early cases thrust upon the new agency. The cases are interesting to read, but are not as satisfying as those by Arthur Conan Doyle. I found the first one fairly simple to solve long before reaching the end of the story. The last was a bit uncomfortable (I did not finish it) as it dealt with the production of pornography. The other three were somewhere in between - though none measured up to the original canonical Sherlock Holmes collection of works. Having said all these things, the stories are worth reading and provided several evenings of entertainment.

This edition is the third printing from a new publisher of a book originally written in 1997. Though it has been 20 years since the original was published, I expect there is little chance that additional works in this series might be forthcoming - but one can hope.

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This review is based on a free electronic copy provided by the publisher for the purpose of creating this review. The opinions are mine alone.

The Woman's Study Bible NKJV (e-book) - A Review

The Woman's Study Bible

NKJV

(e-book)

A Review

I have reviewed a number of Study Bibles and Devotional Bibles, but I have never been stymied to write a review by the nature of the e-book itself. At least until now.

I originally expected to receive a paper copy of this Bible - but received an e-book instead. The e-book was provided as both a mobi (i.e. Kindle) format and an ePub (i.e. Nook) format. I chose to explore the ePub version - and had a mixed reaction to what I found.

The footnotes, sidenotes, and essays, that I could find were well-written and helpful. However, unlike a paper copy, this reader found it difficult to “page” through the various notes and helps. I felt hampered - the most valuable material was hard to access. This was complicated by the fact that after following a link there often was no simple mechanism to return to the original location.

I expect that a paper edition would overcome most of these difficulties - so I have given it a three-star review. I would prefer to not rate this e-book at all (note - this is not saying zero stars). I would probably give a paper copy four or five stars. The material is useful and helpful - just not accessible.

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This review is based on a free electronic copy provided by the publisher for the purpose of creating this review.  The opinions expressed are my own.