Author: Lesa Holstine

I have been a library manager/administrator for over 40 years, in Ohio, Florida, Arizona, and, now, Indiana. Recipient of the 2022 Raven Award from Mystery Writers of America. Library Journal Mystery Reviewer of the Year 2018. Recipient of the 2018 David Thompson Memorial Special Service Award from Bouchercon Board. Winner of the 2011 Arizona Library Association Outstanding Library Service Award. I am a mystery columnist for Library Journal, Mystery Readers Journal, and ReadertoReader.com. Author of the “Mystery Fiction” chapter in Genreflecting: A Guide to Popular Reading Interests (7th ed.) Winner of the 2009 and 2010 Spinetingler Awards for Best Reviewer.

The Pumpkin Spice Cafe by Laurie Gilmore

Don’t let the sweet cover of The Pumpkin Spice Cafe fool you. The novel is filled with small-town charm, as author Laurie Gilmore says, but it’s also a spicy romance, quite spicy at times. Welcome to Dream Harbor, a New England twon. After Jeanie Ellis found her boss dead in his office, her Aunt Dot… Continue reading The Pumpkin Spice Cafe by Laurie Gilmore

Something to Look Forward to by Fannie Flagg

I’m sure someone here already mentioned Fannie Flagg’s Something to Look Forward To. I was disappointed in it. In fact, I told my mother not to bother reading it. The book is not a story. It’s a collection of stories, with several of them linked by the same characters. It begins with a special agent… Continue reading Something to Look Forward to by Fannie Flagg

Catch Up Day

We had a busy four days doing party planning. I didn’t get home until almost 5 PM yesterday. So, today’s a catch up day – laundry, the bank, the library. I’ll actually get a chance to read, so I should have a book review then. In the meantime, happy reading!

Kevin’s Corner Annex – The Monk by Tim Sullivan

Are you familiar with The Rap Sheet blog? Since we all like mysteries, you should at least check it out, https://therapsheet.blogspot.com/ I ask because Kevin Tipple’s review of Tim Sullivan’s The Monk was linked there this week. Since I’m still at Mom’s with a busy day today before going home, I’m sharing that review here… Continue reading Kevin’s Corner Annex – The Monk by Tim Sullivan

Kevin’s Corner Annex – Two Truths and a Lie by Mark Stevens

I’m up at my Mom’s for the weekend, so I have a couple of Kevin Tipple’s reviews to share. Thank you, Kevin. Today’s review is of Two Truths and a Lie by Mark Stevens. Two Truths and a Lie: A Thriller by Mark Stevens is the second book in the series that began with No… Continue reading Kevin’s Corner Annex – Two Truths and a Lie by Mark Stevens

Orris and Timble: Star Stories by Kate DiCamillo

For the past three years, I’ve been featuring Kate DiCamillo’s Orris and Timble stories, with charming illustrations by Carmen Mok. Orris and Timble: Star Stories completes the trilogy about the rat and the owl. Although the series is designed for young readers ages 5 to 8, I read it to a four-year-old the other day.… Continue reading Orris and Timble: Star Stories by Kate DiCamillo

A Hard Ticket Home by David Housewright

When they say “mean streets”, it means Minneapolis/St. Paul, at least where “Mac” McKenzie is concerned. The first of David Housewright’s Rushmore McKenzie novels, A Hard Ticket Home, sucked me in. I’m happy to say there are twenty-two more books in the series. Mac was a cop in St. Paul for eleven years before a… Continue reading A Hard Ticket Home by David Housewright

Love and Other Flight Delays by Denise Williams

I enjoyed Denise Williams’ contemporary romance, The Re-Do List, enough that I picked up Love and Other Flight Delays at the library. It’s a collection of three novellas all centered around the same airport. It’s light and fluffy, and the stories are so short there’s not enough time for the romantic misunderstandings to become problematic.… Continue reading Love and Other Flight Delays by Denise Williams