Review: A Cold Day In Paradise

A Cold Day In Paradise by Steve Hamilton

My rating: 2 of 5 stars



I enjoyed the first 15 chapters of the book. In fact, I mentioned it to a friend as a book to look for. And then we reached chapter 16 and the entire book went weird. As in, I wondered if I had accidentally plugged in the wrong book. A suspect suddenly appears, the former cop makes a series of stupid B-movie decisions and an implausible showdown occurs. At that point, the end seems clear but I listed to the next few chapters while I waited for him to figure it out. I finally reached chapter 22 and I was so irritated by the author's closing technique that I'm still annoyed by it, hours later. I feel that a good mystery wraps up with a solid closing and all questions are answered in a quick conversation. I'm even fine with epilogues. But a monologue? And a suggestion of illegal revenge? I feel like I started a great book, lost it in the middle and ended with a bad book.



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Review: Miss Marple's Final Cases: Complete & Unabridged

Miss Marple's Final Cases: Complete & Unabridged by Agatha Christie

My rating: 3 of 5 stars



I am a huge Agatha Christie fan and some of these short stories were up to her usual standards...but others weren't. Miss Marple's understanding of human nature is always impressive.

What ruined these stories for me was the reader. The first few are read by someone that sounds like they are trying multiple characters at once - a British accent, a lisp, an elderly woman and someone with a constant mouthful of drool. All in one voice. Luckily, the last two stories had other readers!



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Review: Dark Tort

Dark Tort by Diane Mott Davidson

My rating: 2 of 5 stars



This book, in non-audio form would have likely been on par with the Hannah Swenson series, which is a light reading, 3 star book. In audio form, though, it was horrible. Based on the reader's voice, I had a vision in my head of what the character would look like. The image didn't match the character, however. At one point, Goldy sees herself in a mirror and comments on her blond curls. She's described as being in her early thirties. The voice, though...it isn't. It distracted me from the story and I eventually googled her to see what she looked like in real life. She's not a 32-year old blond caterer :) If I were at the beach and looking for something that I could skim through as I soaked up some sun, it would be okay, though, which brought it up to 2 stars.



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Review: Curtain

Curtain by Agatha Christie

My rating: 5 of 5 stars



Poirot's last case? It was inconceivable. Surely Agatha Christie wouldn't kill off one of the greatest detectives of all time! Alas, that is exactly her intent.

This is one of my favorite Christie books. It's a return to Styles and includes both Poirot and Hastings and it shares the quaintness that all her books have gained over the decades. It's so difficult to write a review for a mystery so I will say only that I was completely surprised by the end of the book - both the revelation of the murderer and the last thoughts of Poirot.



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Review: Five Little Pigs

Five Little Pigs by Agatha Christie

My rating: 3 of 5 stars



This earns 3 stars simply because I don't think any Agatha Christie can be less than that. The mystery is always excellent and a reader always has a chance to figure it out. This one was one of my least favorite, though. The story was dissatisfying - I wish I had a better word for it but I'm drawing a blank. It was simply too implausible for me.



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Review: Broken

Broken by Karin Slaughter

My rating: 4 of 5 stars



Fabulous cast of characters. If Will is a recurring character, I'll definitely read other books. A severely dyslexic crime investigator for the bureau and a still-grieving former coroner made for interesting conversations. The unlikely duo were only a portion of the story, though, as an officer and several victims had past to discover. And, as it's a major factor in my reviews, I'm happy to report that I had not figured out the answer before the end of the book.



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Review: The Westing Game

The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin

My rating: 4 of 5 stars



This book is from 1978 but I had not heard of it. In fact, I only picked this up because it was a featured book at the local library! When I logged that I was reading it and saw the high review count and the 4 star average, I was surprised.

Bottom line - it was a good book even though it is almost as old as me! It was a quick read with an interesting collection of people. And, as is important to me, I did not predict the ending.



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Review: Break No Bones

Break No Bones by Kathy Reichs

My rating: 3 of 5 stars



I like the tv show. I like the books. I wish I could love the books...but I can't. I have read enough of them to realize that the plot format is:
1. Random death that Tempe can't explain
2. Personal crisis in Tempe's life
3. Other related deaths magically discovered and they conveniently link together to prove Tempe's theory
4. At some point, Tempe will make a bad decision that could include going alone to a dangerous spot, keeping secrets from the police or trusting someone not worthy of trust
5. Case closed, everyone goes home

This one had enough forensic information to push it to 3 stars but the story itself is more of a 2 1/2 star.



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Review: Bone by Bone

Bone by Bone by Carol O'Connell

My rating: 3 of 5 stars



If there was an option for 3.5 stars, I would use it for this book. It wasn't a page turner. It wasn't a book I had to read in one setting. It was, however, an interesting book with a good ending. At no point in this book did I expect the book to end as it did.

The characters were interesting. Too bizarre for reality but they added dimension to the book. Isabelle, though, was a distraction. The random violence and consistently odd behavior was too much for me.



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Review: Death in the Clouds

Death in the Clouds by Agatha Christie

My rating: 4 of 5 stars



Yet again I was convinced I had had the mystery solved. Once again I was wrong. Love that! So few authors can truly surprise you in a story that includes every detail you need to know but Agatha Christie is fabulous.

Oh, and I love the 'aerodrome' and the 'sewing maid' and all of the other terms that evoke these images of quaint English villages and women in gloves.



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Review: Midnight Angels: A Novel

Midnight Angels: A Novel by Lorenzo Carcaterra

My rating: 1 of 5 stars



I had high expectations of this book. It sounded like it might be the art history version of Indiana Jones or The Librarian...but it wasn't. Implausible situations, unlikeable characters, unrealistic reactions to situations...and bad guys that simply can't understand the concept of 'kill the targets instead of chatting with them.' I tried to like this book but finally gave up and quit reading it after Edwards and Raven had a completely ludicrous conversation where they talked about killing each other but walked away instead.



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