The Curious Poisoning of Jewel Barnes by Terry Shames

December 03, 2025

While I’m a big fan of Terry Shames’ character Police Chief Samuel Craddock, I’m not a big fan of her latest book, The Curious Poisoning of Jewel Barnes. I love Craddock and the familiar characters in the series. However, there are a few too many...

The Snow Lies Deep by Paula Munier

December 02, 2025

I used to turn to Louise Penny’s Armand Gamache books when I wanted beautiful writing. Now, I do the same with Paula Munier’s mysteries. In The Snow Lies Deep, the seventh Mercy Carr mystery, Munier describes a Vermont Christmas with poetic, magical turns...

Murder in Four Parts by Bill Crider

November 30, 2025

Sheriff Dan Rhodes has learned a little in Bill Crider’s Murder in Four Parts. The Blacklin County sheriff never seemed to physically get the best of the bad guys. By the time the sixteenth mystery rolls around, he’s learned to defend himself, and it makes...

Sugar and Spite by Carol J. Perry

November 22, 2025

Rhys Bowen, author of Her Royal Spyness series, recently said one of the biggest mistakes an author can make is to add a baby to an amateur sleuth’s life. I wonder if Carol J. Perry decided to end her Witch City mystery series by giving Lee and Pete Mondello a...

Slight Mourning by Catherine Aird

November 19, 2025

The sixth book in Catherine Aird’s Calleshire Chronicles, Slight Mourning, was not one of my favorites. Despite one funny report about a regimental reunion at a hotel, this mystery was slow-paced, in fact, plodding. After a dinner party at his home, Bill Fent...