Maisie Dobbs by Jacqueline Winspear

Maisie Dobbs is the first book in a historical mystery series by Jacqueline Winspear. The series follows Maisie Dobbs, a former servant turned detective in 1929 London. 

I believe there are/will be soon 16 books in this series. You know I love a big series. When there's more than 10 books in a series in a genre that I love, I HAVE to see what the fuss is about. Knowing that so many love this series, I picked up the first one, expecting to fall head over heels for it. 

That didn't quite happen. 

The series starts with Maisie opening her own business as a detective and lands her first case. 

The writing was different than I was expecting, and in some places I found myself re-reading passages because they were just so beautifully written. I fell for the wording, time and again. 

The mystery was okay. Not as thrilling as I tend to like. It was a bit wrapped up in a lot of emotions, and caused Maisie to reflect on the war. I didn't mind it that much at first, except after a while the story moved away from the mystery and into a historical fiction story. Again, I enjoy historical fiction, but when I'm here for a mystery and I get something else, it changes how I feel about the book. 

I found it hard to connect with Maisie. I wanted more depth, more about her that goes deeper than the war. 

Overall, it was a good book, but I didn't find myself running to the store to buy up all the books. 

I think I will read another one though. I feel like this is a series that if I had come across it at the library, and accidentally picked a book in the middle of the series, I would have fallen in love with it. 

Recommendations: For those who love historical fiction with a bit of mystery. 

The Killings at Kingfisher Hill by Sophie Hannah

This book is the fourth of the New Hercule Poirot Mysteries written by Sophie Hannah. I LOVED this one just as much as the other three. Any time I get to read more Poirot is a good time! 

I think Sophie Hannah does an incredible job writing in Agatha Christie's style. I feel that she brings Poirot back to life and lets us continue to experience one of the best detective characters to ever have been put down on paper. 

It's possible I'm not as critical as I could be with these novels, particularly this one. I know there has been mixed reviews, but the enjoyment I get reading a new Poirot mystery overshadows everything else and I end up having a fantastic time reading! 

This mystery did start off a bit different and I was a bit perplexed as to where it was going, but once the plot picked up, I found myself glued to the page. I guessed a bit of what was happening, but not everything. I was still surprised by the ending as usual, which I love.  

I will say that I knew I wasn't reading a story by Agatha Christie, as some of the additional characters felt a bit different, but Poirot was present and accounted for. 

Recommendations: For the lovers of a good, classic mystery. For those who love Poirot. For those who love a thrilling, twisty read. 

The Secret Place by Tana French

I don't know what happened but apparently I have been asleep or day dreaming when Tana French and her books comes up in conversation/on bookstagram. I know I've seen her name and some of her books on shelves before but beyond that, I knew nothing.

This is my first Tana French book. I snapped it up on one of the sale racks at Chapters (I think I snagged this for $8) a year ago and it's been sitting on my shelf all this time. I am always into a good mystery and I remember thinking that when I bought this that people online talk about Tana French so I should probably read this.

The people were right. Tana French's writing style is magical, haunting, and so utterly interesting. I could not get over how different and exciting her writing was. If I could write like Tana French then I'll have reached the pinnacle of awesomeness. I don't think anyone could have accurately explained to me how her writing style is wonderful, so please, don't take my word for it. Please go read a book of hers for yourself.

This story is about a new officer who is looking to break into the Dublin Murder Squad. A former witness he knows comes to him with clues about a murder and he jumps in with one of the other detectives to try and solve it. The murder victim was a student who was found dead on the grounds of an all girls boarding school. The investigation takes them through the lives of teenage girls and all the mysteries that entails.

The book was written from the points of view of multiple characters, but in such a way that it just works. Getting the insight from all these different characters is great because there's so much going on that we really need to know what's happening in their heads.  Ordinarily I don't love it when author's do this, but in this book, it is perfect.

As far as mysteries go, it was a great one. I had no real idea who the murderer was until just before it was revealed in the book. I love it when I can't figure it out ahead of time. The trill of the hunt is always my favorite.

The Secret Place is actually the fifth book in the Dublin Murder Squad series, but from what I read online, the books don't actually have to be read in order so I feel better about that. I will be reading more of her books because this one was just so great. I need more of her writing in my life!

Recommendation: For the mystery lovers, for the lovers of great writing, for the lovers of good stories... this is for you!

The Mystery Of Three Quarters by Sophie Hannah

The Mystery of Three Quarters is the third new Hercule Poirot mystery written by Sophie Hannah.

I loved this book. It won't come as much of a surprise that I loved the other two Poirot mysteries written by Sophie Hannah. If it has to do with Agatha Christie and her beloved characters, I'm going to love it.

This book is about a group of people who have all received letters from Poirot claiming that they committed the murder of a man named Barnabas Pandy. Poirot finds this out because they come to him, very distraught, asking why he would say such a thing. Who is Barnabas Pandy? Poirot doesn't know, but he's going to find out!

It's an interesting sort of story, one that could have been penned by the marvellous Agatha Christie herself. I was totally swept up in the mystery and I loved every second of it!

For fun, I went on Goodreads and I checked out the reviews for this book, many of which were positive, but some we not happy. Of course Sophie Hannah cannot replace Agatha or write exactly like her, but Hercule Poirot comes to life on the page and it's clear that he lives on in her books. I am ever so grateful that we have (and hopefully will continue to have) more Poirot books out in the world.

Recommendations: If you love Poirot, you will love this book and the other two that Sophie Hannah has written. If you love a good mystery, check this one out! It is a wonderful read!

Murder at the Grand Raj Palace by Vaseem Khan

This completely new to me book was one I stumbled across by sheer luck on my last bookstore trip. It's bright beautiful cover was facing out at me on the shelf as I walked by. As soon as I read the back, I was hooked.

It's the 4th in a series and it's about a retired Inspector turned private investigator in India. The best part? He is quite often accompanied on his investigations by his baby elephant Ganesha!

This book has never crossed my feed on bookstagram, and I'm seriously sorry for that because this book/series deserves all the attention!

As I intend to gush about each and every one of these on my blog when I finish reading them, I'll tell you a little bit more about the actual story: There has been a death at the Grand Raj Palace hotel. An American billionaire business man has been found dead, the day after buying India's most expensive painting. Officially, the police and officials want to label it a suicide, but the man in charge of the investigation doesn't believe it's suicide. Chopra is called in to investigate, and along with his baby elephant Ganesha, he gets down to work on the case.

The writing is so good! The characters are phenomenal! The story is just so much fun that you just can't put it down! This is a more intricate cozy mystery. Books like this one are exactly the kind of reads I so adore!

There are four books in the series, with another one coming out later this year in August. I believe there are also two short stories as eBooks too that go along with this series. All I know is I need to get shopping and put these on my shelf A.S.A.P for a binge reading weekend! I will say I was a little miffed because even at the bookstore, I could tell this wasn't the first in the series, but they didn't have any of the other books in stock. After going online and checking my other local bookstores, they don't have them either, which I think is totally nuts.

Honestly, I don't even want to tell you anything else about the book because its so good. If you're reading this, you need to just go read the book and see what I mean Really though, I don't remember being this excited about a book I've read in a really long time. It's that freaking amazing!

Recommendation: If you love mysteries, this is 100% for you. It's got amazing characters, intriguing mysteries, and wonderful writing. You need to read this book!

The Lady Sherlock series by Sherry Thomas

I LOVE these books!

So far, there are three in the series. I didn't know they existed until I was approved to read the third one before it was released from First to Read (run by Penguin). The third book is out now, though and it's just as great as the first two! Also, I seriously hope there are more to come in this series because I adore them!!

This series is a pretty neat one. It's about a young woman who goes by the name of Charlotte Holmes. She's everything you would think of when you think of Sherlock. It's set back in the time of Sherlock too, so you get all that historical feel to the book that really makes it come alive.

I won't say anymore about the main characters though, because I think how the author created her world, and her version of Sherlock and company was something truly awesome that it needs to be experienced as you read! (and I don't want to spoil anything either.)

As usual these books are filled with all the mystery, deduction, and intrigue we all love from traditional Sherlock stories, but these ones have a little bit of romance thrown in. Nothing too crazy or distracting, but there is a little bit of love hanging around, which I really enjoyed.

In the first book A Study in Scarlett Women, Charlotte must do whatever she can to solve a mystery to save her father and her sister who are under suspicion of committing the crime.

In the second book A Conspiracy in Belgravia, the wife of one of Charlotte's good friends comes to Sherlock looking for help in finding her first love, who also happens to be Charlotte's half brother. Of course, he's missing.

In the third book The Hollow of Fear, the wife of her dear friend is murdered and the suspicion falls on her friend. Moriarty is ever present and wreaking havoc on their lives, but Charlotte, acting as Sherlock, must prevail.

I found the writing of this series to be quite lyrical and detailed. It's definitely more of a slow burn series, but honestly, that didn't matter to me. I was fully on board with this series right from page one!

I own the first two in paperback, and I will be adding the third one to my collection in physical form very soon. I don't often find myself re-reading mysteries, but I think this series will be one I'll grab off my shelf and read again.

Recommendation: Must read for the lovers of Sherlock Holmes, for the lovers of mystery, for the lovers of serious female characters.

My Husband's Wife by Jane Corry

I found this book on the shelf probably last year. It looked interesting, but I didn't grab it because I wasn't feeling this kind of thriller type of story. At the time I think I was pretty deep into YA books so I opted instead to snap up more of those.

Flash forward to a couple months ago. I was looking for a thriller, one that was messed up and weird, that would glue me to the page. I was having a hard time finding something that would interest me. 

Side note: H
as anyone else noticed that so many thrillers have to do with missing kids? Why?

Any way, this book stuck with me. When I was looking for a thriller I might really love, I remembered this book and I searched it out. 

This book is about a young woman who marries a  normal man, determined to make things work. She's a lawyer and meets another man in prison who she finds herself drawn to. There's also the neighbour child who starts becoming involved in their lives. Everyone has secrets, and when the neighbour child shows up on her doorstep years later all grown up, things start to unravel. 

This was a twisted, thrilling story. It wasn't really a full blown thriller, it was more of a slow burning one, but it totally satisfied my craving. 

Honestly, I didn't know what to expect, and I wasn't disappointed. 

It's definitely a book that sticks with you. Everyone had secrets in this one, everyone doing things that no one would suspect. It was twisted and strange, but it totally sucked me in and I couldn't let go. 

I read this one in two days, not really wanting to put it down. I guessed a little bit of what was going to happen, but honestly, I was surprised and it was great. 

Recommendation: If you're looking for a good thrilling read, this is it. I think you'll enjoy it as much as I did!

The Burning Room by Michael Connelly

This was the first book of Michael Connelly's I read that featured Harry Bosch as a main character. Before this one, I'd only read his Lincoln Lawyer series.

This series follows a detective by the name of Harry Bosch. He's a bit of a rough and tough cop who does what he needs to solve crimes. In this book, he's got a new partner and they are working on a case of some who died from a bullet wound almost 10 years after being shot.

I found this one to be just as interesting and just as engaging as the Lincoln Lawyer series. It had the same writing style I had enjoyed with the other series and it was a fairly easy read.

I didn't start this series from the beginning and I kind of wish I had. There are quite a few of these books though, and I wasn't sure if I was going to love them so I just grabbed a few that interested me. This one was actually book #17 in the series!

On Goodreads, some of the reviews say this one isn't as great as some of the other ones in this series and I'm wondering if I should actually make an effort to go back to the beginning and start the series fresh.

By the end I had questions (mostly about the story arc details that follow a reoccurring character from book to book) and I had to read the excerpt in the back for the next book to answer some things for me.

Have you read any of these? What did you think?

Recommendation: Great hard boiled detective book. Perhaps start with the first one though? Might enjoy it even more.

9 Dragons by Michael Connelly

This was the second book that I picked up in the Harry Bosch series by Michael Connelly. This one is actually book 14 in the series.

Again, I really need to read these all in order. I was still getting a feel for the series though before I jump in and start over at the beginning.

Honestly, I love detective novels, murder mysteries, all of that. However, this one was really heavy handed on the violence. I think I felt that way because I tend to read a lot of cosy mysteries that might have murder, but never overly violent ones.

This one follows Harry as he's investigating the shooting death of a Chinese liquor store owner. Then, his daughter who is living in Hong Kong with her mother, goes missing so Harry flies to Hong Kong to save her.

The details were pretty interesting. I really liked reading about the journey in Hong Kong, I found that really compelling. No idea how actually realistic it was, but I was still intrigued!

Another easy read, and I enjoyed it but there were some details that I think were lost on me because I haven't been following the character along over the series.

I'm still undecided on my overall feelings about this series. This is the third book I've reviewed in this series and I'm not sure how I feel. I loved the Lincoln Lawyer series which I seem to have forgotten to review on here and I will rectify that very soon.

Recommendation: For the lovers of hard boiled detective novels. For the lovers of easy to read, quick and rough mysteries.

July Wrap Up!

July was a busy month. In fact, the last few months have been pretty darn busy for me. My reading is suffering a little, but I'm not giving up! 

One of the things I think that really help are readathons! I can knock out two books in a weekend if I make it my goal to read for however many hours in two days. I think I might do my own little mini readathons more often! After all, to stay on track of reading 75 books this year, I need to be reading two a week (according to Goodreads!). 

On to the month of July: I read three books and two ebooks! 

It was funny, I went to do my wrap up the morning of July 31st but when I realized that I'd only read four books in total, I didn't feel like that was enough. Instead, I went and read another book! If only I could get myself to do that more often, I would have reached my goal for the year months ago!

The Dire King by William Ritter. 🌟🌟🌟

Brownies and Betrayal by Heather Justesen 🌟🌟🌟

The Beau & The Belle by R. S. Grey 🌟🌟🌟

A Study in Scarlet Women by Sherry Thomson 🌟🌟🌟🌟

Seraphina by Rachel Hartman 🌟🌟🌟.5

My review that includes The Dire King can be found here. As for the rest of the books, my reviews for them will be popping up soon (I hope!) 

I think for the month of August I want to shoot for 6 books read (hopefully more like 12 but let's start small!) 

The Crow Trap by Anne Cleeves

This is the first book in the Vera Stanhope series. I was not aware of this series or the author before reading this book. I've since learned that it was made into a t.v. series and it's part of a bigger series.

I picked this book up on my Kobo with a coupon, I believe. It was one of the oh so many recommendations that Kobo loves to give, and seeing as it's a British mystery (spoiler alert: I love British mysteries) I picked it up for next to nothing.

This book took me quite a long time to read. I tend to read e-books at work on my lunch break and occasionally late at night when I can't sleep. Because of this, I was reading this book for quite a long time.

Parts of it felt a little long winded and a little too detailed about things I didn't feel were important to the main story. It did pick up at the end though and I enjoyed the twists and turns the story took to solve the mystery.

I was a little surprised to learn that this was the first one in the series, because that is when you first meet the detective that will become the centre point of the series and I felt like I didn't get enough of her to connect with, that she wasn't the centre of it for me, that she didn't thrill me enough to make me run to the library for the second book.

This book follows three women who come together to do an environmental survey on some land. For one of the woman, the owner of a cottage on this land is a friend, and upon arrival, she finds her friend dead. There are secrets, lies, and many things that are not as they seem.

It's definitely a complex book, and even though it wasn't my absolute favourite, I do think I might pick another book up in this series at the library if I come across one. I will say that a lot of my feelings about this book might have to do with how I read it in little fits and starts here and there over a long period of time.

Recommendation: Check this out for yourself for sure, especially if you've got a hankering for British mysteries like I do.

Big Little Lies by Liane Moriarty

I might live under a bit of a rock. When it comes to having read the popular books before they end up being made into t.v. shows and movies, I am way behind. I am never on top of these things till way after everyone else has read and watched them.

Case in point: Big Little Lies. A big chunk of the reason I only just got to watching the show was because I was confusing it with the name of some other show I really didn't want to see. It wasn't until I realized that Reese Witherspoon and Nicole Kidman were in it that I had any interest.

While I was on vacation in North Carolina, I picked up this book on sale in a Barnes and Noble (which was totally cool to finally go to one of those book stores!!) and I figured I would give it a try.

Well, let me just tell you I read the whole thing in one sitting. Took me around 3 hours. Then I went right to my t.v. and binged the entire first season, all in one day.

The book is good. It's weirdly interesting. It's just a story about some people and what's going on in their lives. It's a bit of a mystery, it's a bit of a drama, it's a bit of suspense. Pure, honest, and real drama on the page.

Like if you break the book down in it's barest parts its just a few weeks in the lives of a group of women. So basic, yet so rich and colorful and riveting.

I was stuck to the page. I needed to know what was going to happen next. I needed to know who got murdered, and what that was going to mean. It was not really like a lot of other books that I've read before and I am really glad I snapped it up when I did.

The t.v. show, however, was a little lacking for me. Obviously, that's because we all know the book is better. How could it not be? Some of the choices with adding in extra storylines and then how the ending was executed left me a little sad, but overall, I think it was done well. I'm guessing some of the additions and such were done because they wanted to feed the flames for a second season. Which I know I'm going to watch because I'm in it now. There's no going back.

Recommendation: For fans of this author, for fans of murderous stories about average people, for the lovers of drama. This is for you. Sidenote: If you've watched the show and didn't love it, read the book. The book is always better!

Better Off Wed by Laura Durham

I grabbed this one for free a couple months ago as an ebook. I am a huge fan of BookBub and I always look forward to the deals that appear in my inbox. Especially when I'm trying to save money.

Anyway, this was a super cute looking cozy mystery that I snapped up and read fairly quickly.

It's about a wedding planner named Annabelle Archer who finds herself involved in murder. During a wedding she had planned, she finds the bride's terrible mother dead on the floor under suspicious circumstances and her friend and sometimes business partner is the one who ends up under  investigation!

There's humour, romance, intrigue, and of course good old fashion mystery in this one. It's totally a cozy mystery, so it's easy to read but involving at the same time.

I really liked this one. It was a little different than some of the other cozy mysteries that I find myself reading. A lot of the cozies I read revolve around someone and their family with a love triangle and a little shop on the small town street. Since this one only had one romantic interest and didn't involve family of the main character, it was different.

I liked this one, and I think that if I came across more of these at the library or as a super cheap ebook I would pick it up. Like most cozies, I tend to read through them quite fast and it makes more sense for my bank account if I don't collect them as real books on my shelf.

Recommendation: For the lovers of cozy mysteries with a bit of humour. This one is for you.

The Jackaby Series by William Ritter

This series was a total cover buy from Book Outlet a while back. I feel like I knew about this series but forgot about it along the way. The covers though, are just so cool.

The series is the Jackaby series, but it's told from the point of view of his new protege Abigail Rook. Abigail Rook is a girl just looking for adventure in 1892. She travels around the world and crosses paths with a man who goes by R. F. Jackaby, completely by accident shortly after she arrives. She's looking for work to fund her new life and he's got a job on offer.


Jackaby is a private detective that solves cases that involve the supernatural. Jackaby is like a cross between Sherlock Holmes and Newt Scamander. There's ghosts, trolls, fairies, shape shifters, and everything else you can imagine. He's as awkward and strange as Sherlock, if Sherlock could see all manners of the supernatural.
This series follows a pattern of events that all coalesce into the fourth novel with the need to stop the mastermind that's been behind what's been going on in the town of New Fiddleham. They cross down into the underworld to help a very dear friend who happens to be a ghost, attend a dig and stop a dragon. All good and wonderful things. Of course,  the culmination is the usual save the world type of mission, but who doesn't love that.

There's a whole big cast of interesting creatures and people who show up and help Jackaby and Abigail stop the danger from getting out of control that appear throughout the series. There's a little bit of romance, a little bit of dealing with a broken heart, and the whole third floor of their building looks like a local park complete with a water feature and a resident duck.

I enjoyed this series. It was easy to read, interesting and kept me coming back for more. It's a young adult series, but it didn't feel like I was reading a young adult book, which I always love.

I gave the first three books 4 stars, but I only gave the last one 3. It was the ending. It was a good ending but everything got flipped on it's side and then it just ends. Like it was a good ending, but there's so much more room for more now and it kills me that the series ends here. Well, as far as I know it's done. If it somehow turns out not to be done I will be overjoyed. The author just put a whole bunch of really cool things in motion in the last like 10 pages of the series and then it's just over. I want more! Still good though!

Recommendation: For fans of Sherlock and Fantastic Beasts. If you like supernatural things and mysteries, you'll love these!

Camino Island by John Grisham

I have been a fan of John Grisham for a long time now and when I heard he had a new book out and it was book/writer related, I needed to read it.

This was a good book. I read it quickly as I usually do his books, but that doesn't matter. It's still great. It might have helped that I read it during a readathon and finished it in like one sitting, but still.

Camino Island is about a writer who is asked by a mysterious organization to immerse herself in the lives of a bookseller and some writers on Camino Island where her grandmother had a cabin to catch thieves of priceless literary treasure.

The intrigue and the mystery part of things was good, but honestly I loved reading more about the lives that perhaps not well known authors lead. To think that authors get to go to parties with other authors, talk books and writing, spend their time writing was just good. I found it super inspiring although I don't think it was meant to be that way. Perhaps I'm just odd. Who knows.

Anyway, this book was good. A solid three stars for me only because I figured things out before they were revealed in the book. I much prefer not to guess what's going to happen or at least guess and be proven wrong when it comes to a mystery. I love being surprised.

There were aspects of this book that did surprise me, and I did enjoy it.

Overall, I think this is a pretty solid read. It's worth picking up, especially good as a summer read.

Recommendation: For lovers of John Grisham, for the lovers of mysteries, for the lovers of books about writers albeit fiction.

The Murder of King Tut by James Patterson and Martin Dugard

I have always been a fan of James Patterson. His books are interesting, fast paced, and easy to read.

I have also always been a fan of all things Egyptian.

This book came across my radar totally by accident. I was perusing the shelves at one of the many libraries in my new town and I wandered down the aisle of non fiction books and this popped out at me.

I was so not aware this was a thing before I found it, but it was totally something I wanted to read!

This book is a mix of truth with the story telling mastery of James Patterson.

It takes real known facts around the life of Howard Carter and what little is known about the boy king to come up with a plausible reason for the death of King Tut.

I didn't know that much about King Tut before this, I was aware of him, of course, but I didn't know a lot about the details of those around him and how his life could have possibly gone. I thought this was really, really interesting.

There was enough story magic along with the facts that it worked out to be quite a page turner.

It was a quick read for me, took me about two hours, but I was thoroughly entertained the whole time!

Recommendation: For fans of James Patterson, and fans of Egyptian history. This was a great read.

The Last of August by Brittany Cavallaro

This is the second book in a pretty cool series that follows Charlotte Holmes and Jaime Watson. They are the teenage Holmes and Watson who find themselves embroiled in exploits much like their original ancestors, and this time Holmes is a girl!

You can find out what I thought about the first book A Study in Charlotte here.

In The Last of August, we follow them trying to spend a relaxing break from the boarding school with Charlotte's family. Of course there's no rest for Holmes and Watson.

This one talks about the Moriarty family, the disappearance of Charlotte's beloved uncle Leander, and bringing back the past into stark reality. It seems Charlotte Holmes got along with the young August Moriarty at one time a lot better than past Holmeses and Moriarties have. 

By the half way point I still felt like we were very much still at the beginning of the mystery, and after 2/3's of the book I found myself becoming confused. I read this as a hardcopy book, but I felt like I was reading an ebook. 

Has anyone else ever felt that when you read an ebook, you don't actually have a clear and visual handle on how much of a book is left? Like because you aren't holding it in your hand as a real book, sometimes the endings can really sneak up on you and it can leave you disoriented? That's how I felt about this book.

It felt like we were still setting up so much of the beginning bits of the mystery that to realize that I had less than 20 pages left all of a sudden was weird for me. I read the end of the book really quickly because I was so surprised. I had to read the end more than once and I think I'm still missing so much. 

I'm just at a loss with this one. Like I love the characters, I love the stories, I love the idea, but this book on its own just missed the mark for me. 

I am going to be picking up the third book, which I do believe is out now, because I need to know what happens next. It's just weird for me to love so much about a series and have one of the books fall kind of flat for me. 

Recommendation: Read the first one. Don't skip it. If you love the first one, then go ahead with this one. You might love it so much more than me. Still a series worth a read for Holmes and Watson lovers. 

Nightshade for Warning by Bailey Cattrell

This is the second book in the Enchanted Mysteries series by Bailey Cattrell. You can find my review of the first one here. These books are 100% cozy and 100% awesome!

This book follows Ellie Allbright who runs the Scents and Nonsense shop with connected Enchanted Garden. Ellie has the ability to use scent and solve people's problems. She can sense what is wrong and what herbal mixture will make everything better. Somehow, she also finds herself getting caught up in murders.

Ellie is to be interviewed and photographed for her tiny house and garden efforts but before this can happen the journalist who was writing the piece gets killed. She now needs to find the killer before the wrong person is collared for the murder instead.

These books are just cute and simple and great. They are cozy stories that take you out of your normal life and throws you into a new place with new people and lets you follow along. It's a total bonus that this book has a little hint of magic to it too!

I totally recommend these books for the lovers of cozy mysteries that are challenging in that you probably won't guess whodunit before it's revealed by the author (I know I didn't know who it was!) but they are simple in that they take you out of your life and allow you to escape to a new one.

Also, can we just talk about this cover for a second?! I read this book quite a while ago but I waited for so long to post my review because I wanted to take the perfect photo of it outside in nature, but then winter hit. Ah well.

Recommendation: Totally great read for the lovers of cozy mysteries. Honestly, so good.

Dust and Shadow: An Account of the Ripper Killings by Dr. John H Watson by Lyndsay Faye

This was really cool book! The important details of this book are right there in the title. Ripper killings being investigated by Sherlock Holmes!?

Could this be any more perfect!?

I've never met a Sherlock Holmes book yet that I haven't liked and I am happy this book didn't break that streak.

This book was "written" by Dr. Watson, so we had is point of view on the whole situation from his eyes, which I loved. After all, he always wrote about Sherlock exploits!

There was a couple interesting characters that showed up that gave this book a different feel than the traditional Holmes story, but I was totally okay with that.

I've always been interesting in the Ripper killings and I was totally engrossed in the story right from the start. It's possible my love might be a little biased because there was virtually no way I wasn't going to love this book!

I really loved how the book ended, as well as the explanation of who the Ripper in this book was. It feels almost like it could have been a possible explanation of who the real Ripper was.

I've already loaned this book out and talked about it quite a bit. It's something that murder mystery and Sherlock Holmes lovers need to read!

Recommendation: Don't miss this one. It's great. 100% for the lovers of Sherlock Holmes and those curious about the Jack the Ripper murders!

Art in the Blood by Bonnie MacBird

This is a new Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson story. I say new because to me it feels just like the real ones that I am happy calling it that. I honestly don't think I've met a Sherlock story by any author that I haven't truly enjoyed yet. I hope I never do. 

This one finds Sherlock recovering from his investigation into the Ripper murders, and his return to health and detective work. It has himself and Dr. Watson going to Paris in pursuit of a missing child for a beautiful French performer, a priceless French sculpture, British aristocracy and, of course, it wouldn't be a Sherlock story if there weren't a nemesis or two popping up. 

Art in the Blood is a multifaceted story with three mysteries who are artfully solved by our hero and flawed human that is Sherlock Holmes at his usual best. This one does have a different feel because it deals of course with Paris, with a nemesis that we won't have seen before, but it does still have all the hallmarks of the great detective that I love.

There is a second book out already, but I haven't had the opportunity to grab it up yet. Don't worry, I will. Sherlock Holmes and all who do such a good job of writing about him will always be of interest to me. 

Recommendation: For the lovers of Sherlock Holmes and his many forms. This is a must read. I really can't see how you would regret it!