Tag Archives: books

Great Mysteries Part 1: Celebrating with Tea with Jam & Dread and Icing on the Murder

30 Jul

Tea with Jam & Dread
Vicki Delany
I was new to Vicki Delany’s Tea by the Sea series of which Tea with Jam & Dread is the sixth book in the series. Most are set in Cape Code where Lily Roberts owns a tea shop next door to her grandmother’s Bed & Breakfast. However, in this novel, Lily along with her grandmother Rose and best friend head to England for a special 100th birthday gala for Rose’s former employer and dear friend Elizabeth, the dowager countess of Frockmorton, whose family’s castle is now running a hotel. Elizabeth’s family are loath to lose their blood blood status which provides plenty of drama. When there is first a murder and then a missing priceless necklace the trip becomes even more exciting than Lily could have ever imagined. I enjoyed the vivid way that Delany brings the setting to life and gives us an interesting postcard view of Yorkshire. I plan to check out other books in the series. If like me you are charmed by this story, Delany has written several other mystery series including The Sherlock Holmes Bookshop Mysteries, The Year Round Christmas Mysteries, the Constable Molly Smith Mysteries and the Ashley Grant Series.

Icing on the Murder
Valerie Burns
The protagonist of Valerie Burns’ Icing on the Murder also has plenty to celebrate with her wedding day drawing near. But on top of baking her own cake and one for a bridal expo, Madison is soon drawn into the mystery of a diva of a wedding planner’s demise. This is the fourth in the Baker Street Mystery series, which I’ve been meaning to check out for awhile. Madison is a great and unique mystery protagonist, a young black woman who previously was a social media influencer, but is now running a bakery she had inherited along with a giant bull mastiff named Baby. There is a little something for everyone in this novel, a sweet romance between Madison and her fiancé, a curious crime with plenty of potential culprits, strong family and found family bonds, and even at the end some tempting apple recipes based on dishes mentioned in the book. You can enjoy reading this book without having read the previous in the series, but if you are curious about how it all started I’ll have a review of book 1 in the series in my blog post Great Mysteries Pt 2 out next week.

Written by:
Aimee Harris
Information and Digital Services Manager

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Super Speculative Fiction: The Twice-Sold Soul and Red Side Story

13 Nov

The Twice-Sold Soul
by Katie Hallahan
McKenna Ellerbeck is on the run since an epic magical battle occurred a decade ago. Currently she is hiding out in France when she attacked by hellhounds. Luckily she is saved by her ex, the shapeshifting Archdemon of Desire, Remi. Unluckily for McKenna, Remi has decided to call in a favor and demands McKenna come back to her hometown and stay at the hotel owned by another ex’s family, a hotel which just so happens to be hosting McKenna’s 10 year high school reunion. This is Hallahan’s first novel, but she has been involved in the creation of narrative fantasy games which is reflected in the fast pace and well-crafting of the story. Hallahan has created charming, diverse characters and an interesting world filled with magic. This feels like the reunion special of Buffy or Vampire Diaries, the what comes after high school. I think this novel will especially appeal to those who enjoy New Adult Fiction. If you are sad about the recent end of Lana Harper’s Witches of Thistle Grove series, than this will be one to check out. I loved all the twists and turns the plot took and the fact that the motivations and true identity of many of the characters is often not what it first appears. I hope we see more from Hallahan in the future and am looking forward to the sequel. If you are heading home for Thanksgiving this would be a great read on a long plane ride.


Red Side Story
by Jasper FForde
Red Side Story is the long awaited sequel to Fforde’s novel Shades of Grey: The Road to High Saffron. Fforde’s novels are always highly original and quirky whether it is imagining a world where you can enter books like in his Thursday Next Series or a world filled with anthropomorphic rabbits like in The Constant Rabbit. Shades of Grey takes place in a dystopian future where humans can only see certain colors; which colors they see gives them different levels of status with the greys on the bottom having the lowest status. Marriages are encouraged to create children with better color vision and discouraged to avoid those on the opposite ends of the color wheel. Color shown to people also has effect on everything from ovulation to the dreaded mildew which is deadly. This novel picks up from the last story and I would definitely recommend reading the previous novel first both due to spoilers and for a better understanding of the world. This novel focuses primarily on Eddie Russet (a red), Jane (born a Grey), and Violet (a purple). Jane and Violet were childhood friends, but Violet now looks down on Jane as being lesser. She has tricked Eddie into marriage in order that her child be able to see the redder spectrum of the color purple which she is weak on seeing more the blue end of the color. Eddie though is in love with Jane. Several adventures play out over the course of the novel that have them exploring the world. The ending felt a bit abrupt to me, but gave sufficient closure whether this is last of the series or if there is another long wait before the next edition.

Written by:
Aimee Harris
Information and Digital Services Manager

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