Tag: Writer’s Apprentice Mystery series

REVIEW: Death with a Dark Red Rose by Julia Buckley

REVIEW: Death with a Dark Red Rose by Julia Buckley

Posted on by Jaymie

[I received an electronic review copy of this book from Netgalley and Berkley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.]

Summary

Lena and her friends are settling into a quieter pace of life after their recent adventures. Fall has arrived, and everyone is enjoying the colors of the season. Camilla and Adam have a getaway planned. Lena and Sam are making wedding plans. And Doug and Belinda are also going on a trip. But when Doug goes to pick her up, he finds her gone. Her car, purse, phone and keys are still at the house. Doug, Sam and Lena start looking for her.

Belinda’s parents inform them that Belinda’s brother, Carl, is living nearby. Belinda adores her brother and might have met up with him. And if Carl hasn’t been taking his medication, he might have met up with Belinda unexpectedly.

While Belinda is found safe, Carl reached out to her because he thinks someone else isn’t. Carl’s friend, Luis, has been missing for 5 days. Luis’ wife seems unconcerned, and the management at work is dismissive. But Carl is certain something is wrong. And because Luis and Carl work for the mysterious Plasti-Source, the disappearance will give the police an inroad into the company so they can check it out.

Review

This was fantastic! I’ve been a fan of the Writer’s Apprentice Mystery series since book 1, A Dark and Stormy Murder. I’m two books behind, but I was able to drop into this one because I understood the primary characters, and the story didn’t require me to know all of the back story. (The larger over-arching mystery from the start of the series was wrapped up in the books I haven’t gotten to yet.)

I always feel like I get my money’s worth (so to speak) from this series because the books are dense with material. Yet none of it feels like fluff or filler. I love the ensemble and the ways they work together on the mysteries. The addition of Belinda’s brother Carl was great. What an endearing character! There are tidbits of character and relationship development here and there, but they are always well-balanced with the meaty mystery central to the book.

The mystery here was top notch as usual. Lots of twists that kept me guessing to the end. I also enjoy the writing pieces in the series with Camilla and Lena. Each chapter starts with either writing notes from Camilla or lines from the fictional story they are working on in the book. I appreciated the fact that they often throw out several ways for the fictional story to go, acknowledging that the details get sorted out in the writing process. Terrific!

I loved this book, and I highly recommend the whole series to mystery and cozy fans!

Rating: ♥♥♥♥♥

SATURDAY SMORGASBORD - Books about Books

SATURDAY SMORGASBORD – Books about Books

Posted on by Jaymie

I am such a book geek. And I say that with pride. I love finding people and authors and communities that love books as much as I do. Here are some books – for all ages – that share a love of books, reading and bookish places.

Books for Kids

Bunny’s Book Club – There are a couple books on this list that are TBRs rather than books I have read. This is one of those. I haven’t found this one in person to check it out, but it looks perfect. I hope to read this one soon.
Doris the Bookasaurus – Doris’ love of books is annoying to her little brothers because it keeps her from playing with them. When she shows them a book they love, though, everything changes. This is darling.
Library Lion – I always looked forward to reading this story about a lion in the library to my students. It’s lovely, and students really connect with it.
Madeline Finn and the Library Dog – Madeline struggles with reading, but a program at the library where she can practice her reading with a dog helps her grow as a reader. This is delightful. You can read my review here.
Wild About Books – This is one of the picture books we often by for new babies. Sure, it’s not a book they can enjoy right away, but it is such a great love letter to books that we are confident families will grow to love it like we did. This was another favorite to read aloud when I was teaching.

Books for Older Kids/Teens

Escape from Mr. Lemoncello’s Library – The epitome of books about books! This outstanding middle grade story about kids competing in a book-based contest in a futuristic library has been a hit with every student I ever handed it to. Book 3 in the series comes out this fall and a movie of this first book will be coming to Nickelodeon soon.
Finding Serendipity – First in a series about a girl who discovers a land where stories live. In book one, Serendipity gets help finding her missing mother by the main character in her mother’s famous books. I enjoyed sharing this series with students.
Fish in a Tree – The main thing I remember about this book is the origin of the title which is a quote reportedly from Einstein that says if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree it will always think it is stupid. The main character in this book has dyslexia and finally has a persistent and observant teacher who discovers it and helps her. This was a fantastic story!
The Losers Club – I just finished this AWESOME story (I’m still trying to find a review slot for it here on the blog). At the center of the story is a boy who is getting in trouble every day at school – for reading. So he starts a club for kids who want to read, but he calls it the Losers Club so a lot of people don’t join and mess up his quiet reading time. Not only did the story highlight reading, but it also talked about a lot of books kids might enjoy.
The School Story – Andrew Clements wrote The Losers Club and also The School Story which is about a girl who writes a book and secretly tries to get it published. This is one of my favorite early Clements stories along with Frindle, No Talking and The Last Holiday Concert.
Bookishly Ever After – Earlier this year I reviewed this book for older teens about a book nerd who tries to use the characters from her favorite books to help her negotiate a romance.
I Kill the Mockingbird – I adore this book about a group of teens who hide copies of To Kill a Mockingbird in order to get everyone talking about it.  While this one is written for a middle grade audience, I found that my older students connected with this better than the younger ones. This works for all teens.

Books for Adults

Classified as Murder – This is the second book (my favorite) of the Cat in the Stacks mystery series about a college librarian who works in the archives. Fantastic mystery series, terrific cat that adds a fun component to the series. Here you can read a review of the most recent book in the series.
A Dark and Stormy Murder – Outstanding mystery series about two writers collaborating on books while solving mysteries. You can read my review here.
The Eyre Affair – This is the other book on this list I have not read. I have several of the books in this series about a literary detective, but I haven’t tried it yet. I thoroughly enjoyed the author’s Nursery Crimes series.
Weird Things Customers Say in Bookshops – This nonfiction book is laugh-out-loud funny while also being a little sad when it comes to true stories from folks who work with books.
The Writing Desk – I recently read this fantastic Christian novel about two writers in different time periods and the ways their stories connect. Excellent.

 

Do you have any favorite books about books?

REVIEW: Death in Dark Blue by Julia Buckley

REVIEW: Death in Dark Blue by Julia Buckley

Posted on by Jaymie

Summary

Lena London may have proven her boyfriend, Sam West, innocent of murder. But his estranged wife, Victoria, is still missing. And plenty of people who were “certain” Sam was guilty – and treated him accordingly – need to eat crow.

That includes Victoria’s best friend, Taylor, a popular blogger who bashed Sam when he was being investigated. She promises to come to Blue Lake to apologize in person. But someone kills her before she can get to Sam.

It looks like Sam is in trouble again when Lena finds Taylor’s body on his property. The press have descended on Blue Lake like vultures. Lena is determined to clear Sam’s name and get back to some sort of peaceful existence and maybe pick up their budding romance. But even if she can find Taylor’s killer, they still have the mystery of Victoria hanging over their heads.

Review

This was excellent! And I am so pleased. I loved book one in the Writer’s Apprentice series, A Dark and Stormy Murder. I hoped Death in Dark Blue would be just as good and I was not disappointed.

The characters are great. I love Lena’s relationship with her boss/mentor, Camilla. We didn’t get to enjoy a lot of their writing work in this book, but it is still a fun thread. The core group working on the mystery is terrific. I loved the addition of the research librarian, Belinda. She totally earned an ARC of Lena and Camilla’s first book!

The mystery was good – solid suspects and great action. I could not puzzle out the solution until the end. What I love most about this series, though, is that unmasking Taylor’s killer isn’t the end of the story. The ongoing Victoria situation is still playing out as the story goes on, and it’s just as fun to watch that as it is the original mystery. Ms. Buckley does a great job of setting up this overarching plot between books – and may even have set up something else for future books down the line. It’s brilliant plotting and I love it. I highly recommend this series.

Rating: ♥♥♥♥♥

REVIEW: A Dark and Stormy Murder by Julia Buckley

Posted on by Jaymie

Summary

Lena became a writer because she has loved the books by Camilla Graham her whole life. So when she has a chance to work for her writing idol, Lena jumps at the chance. But her dream job in Indiana unfortunately comes with a dead body. And some suspicious characters around town. Pretty soon, Lena is writing, defending a new friend from the local gossip, and dodging assailants!

cozy mystery about authors

Review

Wow! This was an excellent mystery! The author does a great job introducing her characters so you know who is who without difficulty. I felt like I had read other things with Lena and Camilla because I was so comfortable with them immediately. The mystery for this book was great – I kept getting surprised by what happened. All my theories were wrong. I loved getting to be surprised by a well-plotted mystery!

I felt like I got a bonus with this book because there’s an over-arching mystery that comes up early in the book, carries throughout, and is the primary focus of the last chapter after the main mystery for this book was done. And the over-arching mystery will carry readers right into book 2. Death in Dark Blue  is currently scheduled to release on May 2, 2017 (release dates subject to change).

Rating: ♥♥♥♥♥