FOLLOW IT UP ~ Shades of Earl Grey by Laura Childs

"Indigo Tea Shop owner Theodosia Browning is finally invited to a social event that she doesn’t have to cater—but there’s more than champagne bubbling… 

Theo is mingling with the cream of Charleston society at the engagement soiree of the season. But as they eagerly await the dazzling young couple’s arrival—the groom meets with a freak accident. The exquisite wedding ring—a family heirloom from the crown of Marie Antoinette—is mysteriously missing.

Theodosia suspects that trouble is brewing. But when she goes to the authorities, they treat her like she’s been reading tea leaves—and that’s the surest way to put Theodosia’s kettle on the boil…"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

There is a bit of disappointment in writing this post. Why? Well, I found the third book in Laura Childs’ Tea Shop Mystery series, Shades of Earl Grey, uneventful and "gray". Earlier this year I did a video describing how I adored the series. I especially adored Childs’ red-headed amateur sleuth and tea shop owner, Theodosia Browning. Theodosia came across as the quiet type of character. She seemed reserved and soft-spoken. While standing as a determined type of character. I could see myself getting attached to her, as well as her murder mystery excursions down the road. You see, I gravitate towards the cozy sleuth who harbors a bold and witty and coy personality. Theodosia was the opposite, but she was cool. I adored my time with her within the first two books of the series.

Then came the third book, Shades of Earl Grey. Afterwards, my enthusiasm for Theodosia “regressed” a bit.

THE NOT-SO MURDER MYSTERY

But first things first–the actual story/murder mystery. So Shades of Earl Grey does contain a murder. And it's no doubt a murder of the wrong-place-wrong-time variety. Yet the book isn't about said death, per se. Instead the story orbits around the jewel-stealing, heist-plotting contrivances of a small-town cat burglar. This left some of the suspecting characters, as well as his or her various failings in connection to the victim, elsewhere. The need to care about the majority of the story seemed removed to me, as the focus wasn't on the victim (as in the dead one and not the victims of burglary, of course). This lacking may or may not be part of my eventual disillusionment with Theodosia from this entry. Either way these events need notice.

So back to my original point about Theodosia herself…

2020 Mystery Series Catching Up List

Hi, folks.  I wrote this list in Google Docs and just wanted to share it.  I have GOT to get these series under control.  With that said, while I won't say this listing is "tentative" I will stretch around when needed.  This is from just one single shelf–out of four.  I also want to focus on this list to see what's going to stick around and what isn't. 

2020 Mystery Series Catching Up List

1st BOOK SHELF

I’m making this list because I’m tired of myself starting a new series, while having series I already need to read hanging around my shelves.  

This list will be used to help me stay focused!  Other genres in-between will come as well.

Mrs. Murphy Series by Rita Mae Brown

Book #13: Cat’s Eyewitness

Book #14: Sour Puss

Book #15: Puss N’ Choots

Book #16: The Perrfect Murder

(The rest of the series I’ll check out from the library)

John Le’ Carre Smiley Spy Series

Book #3 The Spy Who Came Out of the Cold

Book #4 The Looking Glass War

Stand-Alone: A Small Town in Germany (This’ll be my first read)

Suzanne Arruda’s Cameron Del African Series

It is vital that I finish this series this year.  I only have five books left to read.  The last two I’ll have to order.  Nevertheless, I must finish this series in 2020.

Book# 3: The Serpent’s Daughter

Book #4: The Leopard’s Prey

Book #5: Treasure of the Golden Cheetah

(I have to order the following two for my personal library.  Will not do until I’m done with BOOK #5)

Book #6: The Crocodile’s Last Embrace

Book#7: Devil Dance

Elizabeth George’s Inspector Lynley Series

Book #3: Well-Schooled in Murder

I have to either order or check out the following books in this series.  I’m still in limbo about my approach with this series.  Maybe after I wrap up a few other series will I come back to this one.

Nikki Bakker’s Virginia Kelly Series

(Will be completed with these three books)

Book #2: The Lavender House

Book #3: The Long Goodbye

Book #4: The Ultimate Exit Strategy

Charlotte Carter’s Nanette Hayes Series

(Will be completed with these two books)

Book #2: Rhode Island Read

Book #3: Drumsticks

Tanya Huff’s Torin Kerr Series

(Will be completed with these three books)

Book #1: An Ancient Peace

Book #2: A Peace Divided

Book #3: The Privilege of Peace

Tony Hillerman’s Joe Leaphorn/Jim Chee Series

(Really excited to continue forward in this series.  I will not buy the following 3-book collection UNTIL I finished the one I currently am up-to-date with)

Book #4: People of Darkness

Book #5: The Dark Wind

Book #6: The Ghostway

Elizabeth Peter’s Amelia Peabody Series

This is probably going to take the longest.  I have all the remaining books in this series, and they’re all long-winded reads.  But, if able, maybe I can finish this series in 2020.  It’s possible with nine books left.  One or two books a month, perhaps?

Book #13: Lord of the Silent

Book #14: The Golden One

Book #15: Children of the Storm

Book #16: Guardian of the Horizon

Book #17: The Serpent on the Crown

Book #18: Tomb of the Golden Bird

Book #19: A River in the Sky

Book #20: The Painted Queen

I will focus on these series for the time being.  That is before starting any new series.

CHOP IT UP: The Little Death by Michael Nava (Henry Dios Mystery #1)

Published in 1986, The Little Death is the first book in Michael Nava’s Henry Rio legal mystery series. Henry Rios is a gay, Latino public defender based out of San Jose. At the opening of The Little Death he acquires a case involving of a young socialite named Hugh Paris. Hugh has found himself arrested for being under the influenced of PCP as well as in possession of it. Which turned into an arrest and battery of an officer situation for him. During Rio’s prodding toward building Hugh's case, the two become lovers. Until Huge turns up dead underneath a bridge.

A budding companionship soured by death; with a few bizarre family-related clues in hand, Rio begins to question Hugh's death. And it's here where Rio unravels dark, generation-long secrets surrounding Hugh's family. These secrets involve the wealth and control behind the patriarchal governing of the Paris family. With, of course, many resulting family murders to unbury.

The character of Henry Rios is a direct reflection of the author, Michael Nava, himself. Both identify as gay. Both are Latino. And both are attorneys. All three landed me this book into my "trust" box. I knew the author was going to give it to me straight (no pun intended) from all three angles. Yet, the glowing reason I wanted to read this book was because of the gay lead element in a mystery series.

CHOP IT UP: Alibis & Angels by Olivia Matthews (Sister Lou Cozy Mystery #3)

50 Pages a Day Keep the Good Reading... I Don't Know What Goes Here...

What’s on my reading plate after abandoning half of my October TBR?

SHELL GAME BY SARA PARETSKY

"When V.I. Warshawski gets word that her close friend and mentor Lotty Herschel’s nephew has become a murder suspect, the legendary detective will do everything to save him. The cops found Felix Herschel’s name and phone number on the unknown victim’s remains, but Felix insists he doesn’t know why. Soon Vic discovers that the dead man was obsessed with Middle Eastern archaeology—the first clue in a bewildering case. 

But the trouble multiplies when Vic’s long-lost niece, Reno, goes missing. Reno is harboring a secret that may cost her her life. V.I. can hear the clock ticking on her niece’s safety and is frantic in her efforts to find her. She won’t leave any stone unturned until these very personal cases are cleared—a complex investigation that will entangle the Russian mob, ISIS backers, rogue ICE agents, a nefarious corporation preying on the poor, and a shady network of stock scams and stolen antiquities stretching from Chicago to the East Indies and the Middle East."

Mystery Books Pet Peeves: Friends, Family & Pets Edition

{FauxCast} CHOP IT UP: Abby Cooper, Psychic Eye by Victoria Laurie

More Hillerman with a Good Ole Jim Chee Collection

What I got in the mail yesterday! Yay! Finding Hillerman's three-Leaphorn-books-in-one collection at the FotL sale last weekend got me thirsting. So I had to order the follow-up collection containing the next three books in the Leaphorn series. Yet, People of Darkness (book 4), The Dark Wind (book 5) and The Ghost way (book 6) introduce Hillerman’s other Native American detective, Jim Chee. Which was always fine and cool with me, but...

...I was always curious why the first three books were Leaphorn-led. Then how the following three books were for Hillerman's Jim Chee detective. Later down the series the two become a team. Still what was behind this move? In this video, the late Hillerman breaks down why the difference.

I can see myself grabbing these Jim Chee stories now. I can taste it now. Navajo reservations. Native American culture. A murder mystery with mystic themes. Setting. Setting. Setting. And, well, this is what I’ve been craving.

The Irresistible 25-Cent Friends of the Library Sale This Weekend

The timing couldn’t be more than perfect. I spent the latter of Saturday morning prowling around the public library’s 25-cent book sale. Who could resist? Who does resist? Plus, earlier that morning, I returned a few new releases and detoxed a shelf. So why not see what one can pick up for 25-cent? :)

Contents Under Pressure is the first book in Edna Buchanan’s Miami-based crime reporter, Britt Montero, mystery series. I had it for years in mass market; spotted this hardcover, and made the exchange.

More male crime writers are on my reading agenda. Having never read a Le Carra British spy novel, this three-book collection seems fitting. The Spy Who Came in from the Cold is the third book in Le Carra’s Smiley series. While The Looking Glass War is the 4th. A Small Town in Germany is a stand-alone. These books released in the ’60s. Another edge of interest and joy for something new to taste.

I could have screamed when I spotted this book containing the first three books in Tony Hillerman’s Joe Leaphorn series. I checked out an exact copy from my library back in June, and read each story back-to-back in less than a week. Matter-of-fact, I read the first book, The Blessing Way, in less than five hours. So when I saw this at the sale for 25-cent, I snatched it and held it close for my personal library. Now I need to get the follow-up omnibus collection to continue Leaphorn’s stories. My excitement for finding this particular book is an understatement.

While I looked around at the sale, nothing else really caught my attention.  So I left it at this.  Adding the Hillerman book to my personal library was worth it all! Serendipity at its finest!

What's in a REBOTCO TBR?

WEEK ONE: AUGUST BLACK WOMEN MYSTERY AUTHORS SERIES CLEAN UP

Do you ever start a mystery series and it takes you years to complete it? Or, if the series is on-going, it takes you years to catch up with the latest release? Too many books, two little time? Or is it the other way around?

Either way...

I also find myself starting new (usually exciting) mystery series each year. I also find myself juggling too many series each year. Then I find myself losing sight of one or two series each year–in favor of a new love. And, hell, each year I’m spending more money on books instead of reading what I already got! (Or that's speculation and not fact–I'll have to check my wallet.) So with all that in the air, there comes a season of buckling down and finishing what one has started ages ago. And that season is now.

So with that all in mind... here's my latest focus...

I must finish the last two books in Barbara Neely’s Blanche White series. As well, I have to finish the final book in Nora DeLoach's Mama series. Both series written by black women mystery writers. Both carrying respective protagonists sharing her unique crime-stopping traversals through the genre. I began both series years ago, and have been collecting/reading entries in each series off and on for too long. Until now–this week.

2 Popular Cozy Mysteries I'm CANCELLING| #MarchMysteryMadness

Don't cuss me out, Sis.  But life is life, 'cause life is life.  And things of that nature.  LOL.  No, seriously.  I just couldn't get with these books.  Tell me where I went wrong, okay?

1.  The Long Quiche Goodbye (Cheese Shop Mystery Book 1) by Avery Aames

Welcome to the grand opening of Fromagerie Bessette. Or as it's more commonly known by the residents of small-town Providence, Ohio-the Cheese Shop. Proprietor Charlotte Bessette has prepared a delightful sampling of bold Cabot Clothbound Cheddar, delicious tortes of Stilton and Mascarpone, and a taste of Sauvignon Blanc-but someone else has decided to make a little crime of passion the piece de resistance. Right outside the shop Charlotte finds a body, the victim stabbed to death with one of her prized olive-wood handled knives.

2.  Knit One, Kill Two (Knitting Mysteries, No. 1) by Maggie Sefton

Kelly would be the first to admit her life in Washington, D.C., is a little on the dull side. But coming back to Colorado for her beloved aunt’s funeral wasn’t the kind of excitement she was seeking. The police are convinced that her Aunt Helen’s death was the result of a burglary gone bad, but for the accountant in Kelly, things just aren’t adding up. After all, why would her sensible, sixty-eight-year-old aunt borrow $20,000 just days before her death? With the help of the knitting regulars at House of Lambspun, Kelly’s about to get a few lessons in cranking out a sumptuously colored scarf—and in luring a killer out of hiding...

IT IS WHAT IT IS!  BOOOOOMMMMMMM!  GOTTA JET!

CHOP IT UP: Inner City Blues by Paula L. Woods

What's going onnnnnnnn?  BHAH!  Y'all bare with me.  Y'all know my struggles.  Anyway, this book really did taste like some Inner City Blues.  And one I can't wait to slurp up in the book's follow-up.  Somebody go tell that MOFO to COME ONNNNN!  

:) 

Ohhhh, Sis!  I forgot to mention we get to actually go into the morgue in this book.  TWICE, bihhhhh!  Color me weird, but I love morgue and autopsy scenes in a mystery book.  I guess mystery lovers can relate (as well as those who stay glued to the ID Channel/A&E), but those tantalizing scenes amplify my mood to solve some murders with whatever given protagonist.  It's a rush.  It's a high.  

Now in real life...  Hunniiiiiii, you wouldn't catch my ass NO WHERE NEAR a damn morgue!  Baby, ME-NO play around the dead.  Anyway, major props to Woods for this.  Often times authors only allow the investigator to get the final report–instead of being present with the medical examiner.  So Woods hit the spot with this.  I can't express how her allowing the reader and Charlotte into the bowels of a city morgue raised my confidence in her work.  She was serious about her story.

Inner City Blues (Charlotte Justice #1) by Paula L. Woods (Amazon affiliate link)

"Meet Detective Charlotte Justice, a black woman in the very white, very male, and sometimes very racist Los Angeles Police Department. The time is 48 hours into the epochal L.A. riots and she and her fellow officers are exhausted. She saves the curfew-breaking black doctor Lance Mitchell from a potentially lethal beating from some white officers ― only to discover nearby the body of one-time radical Cinque Lewis, a thug who years before had murdered her husband and young daughter. Was it a random shooting or was Mitchell responsible? And what had brought Lewis back to a city he'd long since fled?"

Hey, Hey, HEY! New Susan Wittig Albert Novella Release

"From NYT bestselling author Susan Wittig Albert comes the first novella in the mesmerizing Crystal Cave series.Ruby has a rare gift for seeing things that others can’t...

Ruby Wilcox (owner of the Crystal Cave, Pecan Springs’ only New Age shop) has always tried to downplay her psychic gift—until she experiences a horrifying nightmare that just won’t stop. Again and again, she dreams that a woman is abducted on the hike-and-bike trail and knows that the victim is in deadly danger. 

Prodded by her friend and partner, China Bayles, Ruby goes to the police—only to find that her dream has already become far too real. Police chief Sheila Dawson puts Detective Ethan Connors in charge of this no-body case. But Connors is a skeptic who is convinced that all psychics are frauds. And Ruby herself still has plenty of doubts. What will she have to do to prove to Detective Connors—and to herself—that her gift can be trusted?  

Ruby Wilcox has always known that she has a rare gift for seeing things that others can’t. But how can she learn to use it when she’s haunted by the memory of loss, and by all the possible consequences?"

Well, guess this'll hold all the China Bayles Herbal Mysteries lovers over until the 27th Bayle's book's June release.  Especially given we normally get a Bayles book around this time each year.  Sooooooo... novella it is.  Here's to Susan Wittig Albert's NoBODY: A Novella (Crystal Cave Series Book 1).  At least Ruby Wilcox fans will be happy.  Bhah.  That includes me! 

FauxCast: CHOP (DUB) IT UP ~ High Hand by Gary Phillips

What's up, y'all? I hope everyone is having a blessed 2019. Shootttt. I'm LOVING mine. How about you guys? Yes. Yes. Ye-HAH. I had to do a voice over. I wanted to capture my thoughts about the book RIGHT away. Otherwise, time would slip away and I'll push it over until... well... probably never. Considering I don't think of my videos as reviews (chile, I ain't got that kind of finesse), I figured this casual approach will suit. Actually, that's why I use the slang phrase CHOP IT UP. LOL. I just want to talk about the ish. :) Anyway, thank you all for your support over the years. Hope you have fun and enjoy! And yes. Udder it is. LOL. High Hand by Gary Phillips (Amazon affiliate link).

3 Popular Cozy Mysteries I'm ADORING | #MarchMysteryMadness

Wellllllll, in keeping with #MarchMysteryMadness, I had to share three cozy mysteries (series, I guess) I recently read (as far as December) that I am ADORING.  These are older series.  I find myself liking series that's been around a while, more than the recent ones.  Following this video, I got three series I'm FENCING.  

FYI.  I'm pulling out of a cold here.  If I happen to sound funny; heck, that's why.  Nevertheless, the trick to stunt a cold: BLACK SEED OIL!  

Anyway.  As always READ WHAT YOU LOVE TO READ AND LOVE WHAT YOU LOVE READING.  BOOM.  Look at all those "READS".

And thanks everyone!

Books mentioned:

1.  Crewel World (A Needlecraft Mystery) by Monica Ferris 

2.  Them Bones (A Sarah Booth Mystery) by Carolyn Haines 

3.  Tea For Three (First Three Tea Shop Mysteries) by Laura Child  

Now I'm off to read!  And probably eat an orange or something.  TAKE CARE!

Sara Paretsky's V.I. Warshawski Ebay Lot Sale Unboxing

So I'm suiting up for my 2019 Sara Paretsky V.I. Warshawski project.  Which, I guess I'll simply name, my 2019 Paretsky Project (mainly because those two P's sound so sweet together).  

Anyway, I made this purchase off Ebay–just as I did for my 2018 Marcia Muller Sharon McCone Project.  And just as with that one, I'm reading the entirety of the fictional female private-eye (Chicago-based) detective work of V.I. Warshawki this year.  

Have begun the project with book #9, I'm currently almost through book #11, Blacklist.  This leaves me with 9 entries (only pillar release and no short stories) left. But I'm taking them on a book-by-book bases; breaking whenever I need to.  So long as I get them all done before the end of 2019 to fulfill my project–I'm good.  Nevertheless, I'm doing so happily because I love challenging myself as an endurance reader.  And like with my reading of McCone, I'm taking on Warshawski in honor of Sue Grafton's Kinsey Millhone.  These are her peers, after all.

Okay, done babbling.

BOOK 10.  Total Recall (2001)
BOOK 11.  Blacklist (2003)
BOOK 12.  Fire Sale (2005)
BOOK 13.  Hardball (2009)
BOOK 14.  Body Work (2010)
BOOK 15.  Breakdown (2012)
BOOK 16.  Critical Mass (2013)
BOOK 17.  Brush Back (2015)
BOOK 18.  Fallout (2017)

Random BOOK - Nightseer by Laurell K. Hamilton

COVER REVEAL ~ Nevada Barr's What Rose Forgot

Sooooooo, YEAH. We all know I love me some Nevada Barr. And, well, I love me some of her park ranger murder mystery solving character, Anna Pigeon. True enough Anna is somewhere on hold–after her last adventure in 2016's release of Boar Island. Yet, Nevada Barr is back with a stand alone titled, What Rose Forgot. I learned about this book last summer, and have since kept watch on any and everything related to it. But now, we finally have the cover! I miss Anna dearly, and hope Barr at least give us a book twenty in the series. Until then… well… you know where I’ll be come this September 17th!

"Rose Dennis wakes up in a hospital gown, her brain in a fog, only to discover that she's been committed to an Alzheimer's Unit in a nursing home. With no memory of how she ended up in this position, Rose is sure that something is very wrong. 

When she overhears one of the administrators saying about her that she's "not making it through the week," Rose is convinced that if she's to survive, she has to get out of the nursing home. She avoids taking her medication, putting on a show for the aides, then stages her escape. 

The only problem is―how does she convince anyone that she's not actually demented? Her relatives were the ones to commit her, all the legal papers were drawn up, the authorities are on the side of the nursing home, and even she isn't sure she sounds completely sane. But any lingering doubt Rose herself might have had is erased when a would-be killer shows up in her house in the middle of the night. Now Rose knows that someone is determined to get rid of her. 

With the help of her computer hacker/recluse sister Marion, thirteen-year old granddaughter Mel, and Mel's friend Royal, Rose begins to gather her strength and fight back―to find out who is after her and take back control of her own life. But someone out there is still determined to kill Rose, and they're holding all the cards."

Anna Pigeon or no Anna Pigeon, this is how I am for What Rose Forgot

2019 #MarchMysMadness Announcements & Things

Okay.  #MarchMysteryMadness...

March Mystery Madness Challenges...

1.  Old
2.  Again
3.  New
4.  Borrowed
5.  Blue
6.  Optional: Mystery featuring or themed around a wedding!

Connections in Death - J. D. Robb & Eve Dallas TIME!

"Homicide cop Eve Dallas and her billionaire husband, Roarke, are building a brand-new school and youth shelter. They know that the hard life can lead kids toward dangerous crossroads―and with this new project, they hope to nudge a few more of them onto the right path. For expert help, they hire child psychologist Dr. Rochelle Pickering―whose own brother pulled himself out of a spiral of addiction and crime with Rochelle’s support.

Dust jacket/Flaps

Lyle is living with Rochelle while he gets his life together, and he’s thrilled to hear about his sister’s new job offer. But within hours, triumph is followed by tragedy. Returning from a celebratory dinner with her boyfriend, she finds Lyle dead with a syringe in his lap, and Eve’s investigation confirms that this wasn’t just another OD. After all his work to get clean, Lyle’s been pumped full of poison―and a neighbor with a peephole reports seeing a scruffy, pink-haired girl fleeing the scene.

Inside flap.  A New York map marked with all the 1st murders from each book

Now Eve and Roarke must venture into the gang territory where Lyle used to run, and the ugly underground world of tattoo parlors and strip joints where everyone has taken a wrong turn somewhere. They both believe in giving people a second chance. Maybe even a third or fourth. But as far as they’re concerned, whoever gave the order on Lyle Pickering’s murder has run out of chances…"

A puzzle.  Can you solve where the next book's murder will take place?

Connections in Death by J. D. Robb (Amazon affiliate link)