The Coffee Club Mysteries - A Review

The Coffee Club Mysteries

Six authors contribute six cozy mysteries to this anthology. Murders and robberies seem to define the small town of Oak Grove, KS. The collection of stories has differing levels of quality - though the further this reader got into the book, the better the stories became - the last two stories were, to this reader, the best of the lot. The stories consist of 13-15 chapters each of about the same length:

          Coffee, Tea, or Murder by Cynthia Hickey          The Honey Hive Mystery by Dana Mentink           Chili Con Carne Murder by Candice Prentice           Nuts for Coffee by Darlene Franklin           In Hot Water by Elizabeth Ludwig           Nutty as a Fruitcake by Janice Thompson

The stories take place over a year with the members of a local book club that meet weekly on Tuesday evenings at the The Coffee Perk serving as the amateur sleuths. Along with the help of a few neighborhood friends, a newly arrived writer, and a weirdly suspicious sheriff (could he have been the killer?), crimes are solved and things are put right.

Each of the stories demonstrate a bit of faith, though, as I said earlier, the quality varies from story to story. Though the main protagonist of each story varies, the same characters continue to define the book club and the same community shops define the nature of the town. The stories tie loosely together much like a scripted TV show is tied together week by week - the stories do not rely on each other and can be read separately, they share characters and settings.

If a reader enjoys cozy mysteries, these stories and the book would be easily enjoyed over the course of a long weekend.
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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 Whole Art of Detection - A Review

The Whole Art of Detection

by

Lyndsay Faye

A Review

Though I like the legend of Sherlock Holmes, I am not a Sherlockian. If I like a Sherlock Holmes story, it is because I like it; not that it fit well within the Holmes canon as defined by those with a more scholarly bent. Having said that, I found The Whole Art of Detection to be a pleasant trip through Holmes’ life events. The book is a selection of short stories that span much of Dr. Watson’s interaction with Holmes. They are written from a variety of perspectives - most are a retelling of adventures had by Dr. Watson and Holmes, but the book also includes a few 1st person excerpts from Holmes’ personal diary.

The fifteen stories are a bit uneven - some are quite capable of holding the reader’s interest, while other seem a bit longer than necessary. The stories introduce details of Holmes’ and Watson’s life - including the reaction of friends to Watson’s wife’s, Mary, death. Similarly, we see a glimpse of Watson’s response to learning that Sherlock Holmes had returned to Baker Street from his supposed death in Switzerland.

I kept coming back each night to find out what was next in the life of our two friends. In the course of reading, of course, we again meet Mrs. Hudson and Inspector Lestrade. We travel throughout London and its environs.

For the fans of late 19th century London and Sherlock Holmes, this book might just fill the bill for a late night read. It did for me, it will others as well.

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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.