A Study in Scarlet by Arthur Conan Doyle

Title: A Study in Scarlet

Author: Arthur Conan Doyle

Publisher: 1887

Genre: Mystery

Pages: 160

Rating: 5/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Fall into Reading; Ebook; Monthly Key Word - Red; Well-Rounded Reader - Mystery; Back to the Classics - Mystery

"There's the scarlet thread of murder running through the colourless skein of life, and our duty is to unravel it, and isolate it, and expose every inch of it.".... Arthur Conan Doyle ..."A Study in Scarlet" Here, in "A Study in Scarlet", Sir Arthur Conan Doyle introduces us to one of the most popular and studied characters in fiction; Sherlock Holmes. In this first novel of this most complex and some would argue, tortured man, he relates the first meeting of Holmes and the narrator of these adventures, Dr. Watson. Amazed by his amazing perception and the depth of what Holmes knows (and what he apparently has no need for) Watson is soon to learn that "No man burdens his mind with small matters unless he has some very good reason for doing so."

My first official Sherlock Holmes story. I've only ever seen the movie and tv adaptations. Yeah I know... bad. But I am fixing it! So I read A Study in Scarlet where we meet Holmes and Watson and investigate their first case together. Well, I really enjoyed the mystery, it was the characters that kept me reading. The main characters are a delight to get to know. I also really enjoyed the sparring with Lestrade and Gregson. Fun fun! While it probably won't be soon, I definitely want to read the rest of the Sherlock Holmes stories.

Acceptance by Jeff Vandermeer

Title: Acceptance (Southern Reach #3)

Author: Jeff Vandermeer

Publisher: FSG 2014

Genre: Thriller

Pages: 340

Rating: 4/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Fall Reading Challenge; Read Your Freebies; Seriously Series; 52 Books - W46

It is winter in Area X, the mysterious wilderness that has defied explanation for thirty years, rebuffing expedition after expedition, refusing to reveal its secrets. As Area X expands, the agency tasked with investigating and overseeing it--the Southern Reach--has collapsed on itself in confusion. Now one last, desperate team crosses the border, determined to reach a remote island that may hold the answers they've been seeking. If they fail, the outer world is in peril.

Meanwhile, Acceptance tunnels ever deeper into the circumstances surrounding the creation of Area X--what initiated this unnatural upheaval? Among the many who have tried, who has gotten close to understanding Area X--and who may have been corrupted by it?

A fitting and satisfactory end to a very strange science fiction trilogy. I'm still working through all the information presented in this last volume. We get answers, but those answers aren't always so clear. I like the ambiguity in the hows and whys of Area X. I liked getting into the brain of Ghost Bird and the Director a bit more. But my favorite part was learning more about Saul. I found the sections about the lighthouse keeper to be my favorites. Very well written character and great back story. I wanted to know more and more about him. Sadly I knew it was all going to end. I'll just have to fill in the gaps with my own imagination. Overall, a great unconventional trilogy.

Southern Reach:

1. Annihilation
2. Authority
3. Acceptance

Silent in the Grave by Deanna Raybourn

Title: Silent in the Grave (Lady Julia Grey #1)

Author: Deanna Raybourn

Publisher: Mira 2006

Genre: Mystery

Pages: 511

Rating: 5/5 stars

Reading Challenges: TBR Pile; Monthly Motif -- March; 52 Books -- W27; New Author; Lucky 14 -- Visit the Country

"Let the wicked be ashamed, and let them be silent in the grave."
These ominous words are the last threat that Sir Edward Grey receives from his killer. Before he can show them to Nicholas Brisbane, the private inquiry agent he has retained for his protection, he collapses and dies at his London home, in the presence of his wife, Julia, and a roomful of dinner guests.
Prepared to accept that Edward's death was due to a long-standing physical infirmity, Julia is outraged when Brisbane visits and suggests that her husband was murdered. It is a reaction she comes to regret when she discovers damning evidence for herself, and realizes the truth.
Determined to bring the murderer to justice, Julia engages the enigmatic Brisbane to help her investigate Edward's demise. Dismissing his warnings that the investigation will be difficult, if not impossible, Julia presses forward, following a trail of clues that lead her to even more unpleasant truths, and ever closer to a killer who waits expectantly for her arrival.

I don't know why it took me this long to finally start this series. It was an absolute delight. Right away I was taken in with the mystery of Lady Julia and her husband's death. Then we get the entrance of Nicholas Brisbane and a whole host of interesting side characters. I love that the reader is right along with Lady Julia in finding the truth in the case. She holds nothing back from the reader even if she does keep things from other characters. I loved how the truth eventually came out and the story ends. Or at least this chapter of Lady Julia's life is ended. I can't wait to read the next story.

Lady Julia Grey

#1 Silent in the Grave
#2 Silent in the Sanctuary
#3 Silent on the Moor
#3.5 Midsummer Night
#4 Dark Road to Darjeeling
#5 The Dark Enquiry
#5.5 Silent Night
#5.6 Twelfth Night
#5.7 Bonfire Night

Jane and the Unpleasantness at Scargrave Manor by Stephanie Barron

Title: Jane and the Unpleasantness at Scargrave Manor (Jane Austen Mystery #1)

Author: Stephanie Barron

Publisher: Crimeline 1996

Genre: Mystery

Pages: 353

Rating: 3/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Jane Austen; Mount TBR; Fall into Reading; 52 Books -- W47

How I Got It: iPad read

On a visit to the estate of her friend, the young and beautiful Isobel Payne, Countess of Scargrave, Jane bears witness to a tragedy. Isobel's husband—a gentleman of mature years—is felled by a mysterious and agonizing ailment. The Earl's death seems a cruel blow of fate for the newly married Isobel. Yet the bereaved widow soon finds that it's only the beginning of her misfortune...as she receives a sinister missive accusing her and the Earl's nephew of adultery—and murder. Desperately afraid that the letter will expose her to the worst sort of scandal, Isobel begs Jane for help. And Jane finds herself embroiled in a perilous investigation that will soon have her following a trail of clues that leads all the way to Newgate Prison and the House of Lords—a trail that may well place Jane's own person in the gravest jeopardy.

I picked this up in my exploration of Jane Austen adjacent books. I thought it might be a fun mystery, but I was fairly disappointed. Overall the book just didn't grab me at all. It was a fairly dry mystery without any interesting characters or plot twists. Everything was super predictable. I didn't like the character of Jane Austen. This series is just not for me.

Jane Austen Mystery (DNFed series)

1. Unpleasantness at Scargrave Manor
2. Man of the Cloth
3. Wandering Eye
4. Genius of the Place
5. Stillroom Maid
6. Prisoner of Wool House
7. Ghosts of Netley
8. His Lordship's Legacy
9. Barque of Frailty
10. Madness of Lord Byron
11. Canterbury Tale

The Lace Reader by Brunonia Barry

Title: The Lace Reader

Author: Brunonia Barry

Publisher: William Morrow 2009

Genre: Mystery; Paranormal

Pages: 416

Rating: 5/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Witches and Witchcraft; Mount TBR; Fall into Reading

How I Got It: I own it

Every gift has a price . . . every piece of lace has a secret.
Towner Whitney, the self-confessed unreliable narrator, hails from a family of Salem women who can read the future in the patterns in lace, and who have guarded a history of secrets going back generations. Now the disappearance of two women is bringing Towner back home to Salem—and is bringing to light the shocking truth about the death of her twin sister.

This book has been sitting on my shelves for awhile now. I finally brought it down to read and I am so glad I did. To be completely honest, I was not sucked in right away. The story is a slow build. We only get bits and pieces of the past and why it matters. And yet, I knew there would be some amazing if I just kept reading. Towner is an interesting character. I don't necessarily relate to her, but she intrigues me. In fact, all of the women in the novel were intriguing. I feel like the male characters weren't as fleshed out at the women, but it's a nice change of pace from male centric novels. I loved the mystery of the story. I love the way everything came together in the mind, even if it wasn't what I thought was going to happen. I loved the atmosphere of Salem. The town seemed almost like another character in the story. Overall, this was such a joy to read.

MoM #24: Safe Haven

Title: Safe Haven

Year Released/Rating: 2013 PG-13

Starring: Julianne Hough, Josh Duhamel

Directed By: Lasse Hallstrom

Written By: Dana Stevens, Gage Lansky, Nicholas Sparks

Genre: Romance, Drama, Mystery

Star Rating: 4/5 stars

Where I Got It: Netflix

Summary: A young woman with a mysterious past lands in Southport, North Carolina where her bond with a widower forces her to confront the dark secret that haunts her.

Review:

I don't usually like movies based on Nicholas Sparks books with the exception being The Notebook. This one was much better than I thought it would be. I really enjoyed the storyline. And the characters were decent. The overall mystery was very predictable, but that's not what kept me watching. I liked the sections involving Katie and Alex. Decent romance...

Best Bits:

Roger: When did we start selling paint? Alex: Today.
Jo: Good, you can keep me from peeking inside neighbors windows, it's a bad habit of mine.
Jo: The good thing Katie, is that life is full of second chances.
Jo: Promise me something Katie, you'll take a lot of pictures and only regret the ones that you didn't take.
Lexie: Whatcha paintin'? Katie: My floor! Lexie: Floor? Usually people don't paint floors!

Pride and Prescience by Carrie Bebris

Title: Pride and Prescience (Mr. and Mrs. Darcy #1)

Author: Carrie Bebris

Publisher: Forge 2004

Genre: Mystery

Pages: 287

Rating: 3/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Jane Austen; Women Authors; TBR Pile; Bingo - 3 from series

How I Got It: I own it

The lovely Caroline Bingley is engaged to marry a rich and charismatic American. Unfortunately, this windswept courtship is marred by many strange events-- nocturnal wanderings, spooked horses, carriage accidents, and even an apparent suicide attempt. Soon the whole Bingley family seems the target of a mysterious plot, with only the Darcys recognizing the danger.

I finally convinced myself to read one of the Jane Austen sequels. This one was a mystery story featuring the characters from Pride and Prejudice. Overall I found it a fairly decent mystery novel. The characters are true to their real Austen selfs. The mystery is intriguing. The setting in London and Netherfield is fairly fun. I was okay with the book until the last 30 pages. The ending to too unbelievable. I was very disappointed. Because of my thoughts those last few pages, I will not be continuing on in this series.

Mr. and Mrs. Darcy (DNFed series)

Pride and Prescience
Suspense and Sensibility
North by Northanger
The Matters at Mansfield
The Intrigue at Highbury
The Deception at Lyme

The Beekeeper's Apprentice by Laurie R. King

Title: The Beekeeper's Apprentice (Mary Russell #1)

Author: Laurie R. King

Publisher: St. Martin's Press 1994

Genre: Mystery

Pages: 347

Rating: 4/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Sub Genre - Mystery, Classic Whodunit; New Author; Library Loan; Eclectic - Historical Mystery

How I Got It: Library loan

In 1915, Sherlock Holmes is retired and quietly engaged in the study of honeybees when a young woman literally stumbles into him on the Sussex Downs. Fifteen years old, gawky, egotistical, and recently orphaned, the young Mary Russell displays an intellect to impress even Sherlock Holmes--and match him wit for wit. Under his reluctant tutelage, this very modern twentieth-century woman proves a deft protégée and a fitting partner for the Victorian detective. In their first case together, they must track down a kidnapped American senator's daughter and confront a truly cunning adversary--a bomber who has set trip wires for the sleuths and who will stop at nothing to end their partnership.

A few weeks ago a friend invited me to see Laurie King speak at the local library. Turns out she's a Bay Area native. She was funny and self-depreciating and insightful. I loved hearing her talk. Unfortunately, I couldn't read any of her books before the talk. I received her first Mary Russell book from the library soon after. I am not disappointed at all. We get a classic Holmes style story starring Holmes and a refreshing newcomer. The books starts a bit slow, but really King's easing us into the crazy adventures soon to come. The capers were entertaining and lots of fun. I think I will definitely be adding this series to be TBR lists.

Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes

#0.5 Mary's Christmas
#1 The Beekeeper's Apprentice
#2 A Monstrous Regiment of Women
#3 A Letter of Mary
#4 The Moor
#5 O Jerusalem
#6 Justice Hall
#7 The Game
#8 Locked Rooms
#9 The Language of Bees
#10 The God of the Hive
#10.5 Beekeeping for Beginners
#11 Pirate King
#12 Garment of Shadows
#12.5 Mrs. Hudson's Case
#13 Dreaming Spies
#13.5 The Marriage of Mary Russell
#14 The Murder of Mary Russell

A Foreign Affair by Caro Peacock

Title: A Foreign Affair (Liberty Lane #1)

Author: Caro Peacock

Publisher: Avon 2008

Genre: Historical mystery

Pages: 331

Rating: 4/5 stars

Reading Challenges: T4MC -- Historical Mystery; Sub-Genre -- Thriller, Historical; New Authors; TBR Pile

How I Got It: I own it!

The year is 1837. Queen Victoria, barely eighteen, has just ascended to the throne of England, and a young woman named Liberty Lane has just had her first taste of true sorrow. Refusing to accept that her gentle, peace-loving father has been killed fighting a duel, she vows to see justice done. . . .
The trail she follows is a twisting and dangerous one, leading the spirited young Englishwoman into an intricate weave of conspiracy. Contacted by secret agents, she is asked to pose as a governess in order to infiltrate cold, rambling Mandeville Hall and spy on its master, Sir Herbert Mandeville, who is at the center of a treasonous plan.
Nothing at the hall is what it seems, and every turn reveals another deceit, another surprise, another peril, leaving Libby to wonder who to trust and embroiling her in a deadly affair that could destroy the young queen and place Libby herself in mortal peril. . . .

I picked this up at the Omaha Public Library sale almost two years ago. And it's taken me that long to finally pick it up and read it. And then I realized it was the first in a series. Oh well. I still read it and enjoyed it. The story is well crafted. I didn't see all the twists and turns coming. I didn't call the other villan right away. This kept me entertained through the story. The characters were fine. Nothing too exciting, but solid characters. I'll be on the lookout for the other books in the series, but probably won't be going out of my way.

Liberty Lane

#1 A Foreign Affair (Death at Dawn)
#2 A Dangerous Affair (Death of a Dancer)
#3 A Family Affair (A Corpse in Shining Armour)
#4 When the Devil Drives
#5 Keeping Bad Company
#6 The Path of the Wicked
#7 Friends in High Places

2013 Sub-Genre Reading Challenge

From Book Dragon's Lair:

Requirements:
read three books from each genre
each book must be a different sub-genre (sub-genres can be found here at Writer's Digest)
each book counts only once for this challenge
books may overlap with other challenges
any format allowed (print, ebook, audio)
reviews are not necessary but a list of books read is.
a blog is not necessary, just comment that you want to join in
*addition* if you do have a blog, write up a post and link up
Now for the genres. . .
ROMANCE
Chick-Lit: often humorous romantic adventures geared toward single working women in their twenties and thirties.
Christian: romances in which both hero and heroine are devout Christians, typically focused on a chaste courtship, and mentioning sex only after marriage.
Contemporary: a romance using modern characters and true-to-life settings.
Erotica: also called “romantica,” a romance in which the bedroom doors have been flung open and sexual scenes are described in candid language.
Glitz/Glamor: focused on the jet-set elite and celebrity-like characters.
Historical: a romance taking place in a recognizable historical period.
Multicultural: a romance centered on non-Caucasian characters, largely African-American or Hispanic.
Paranormal: involving some sort of supernatural element, ranging widely to include science fiction/fantasy aspects such as time travel, monsters or psychic abilities.
Romantic Comedy: a romance focused on humor, ranging from screwball antics to witty interplay.
Romantic Suspense: a novel in which an admirable heroine is pitted against some evil force (but in which the romantic aspect still maintains priority).
Sensual: based on the sensual tension between hero and heroine, including sizzling sex scenes.
Spicy: a romance in which married characters work to resolve their problems.
Sweet: a romance centered on a virgin heroine, with a storyline containing little or no sex.
Young Adult: written with the teenage audience in mind, with a suitably lower level of sexual content.
HORROR
Child in Peril: involving the abduction and/or persecution of a child.
Comic Horror: horror stories that either spoof horror conventions or that mix the gore with dark humor.
Creepy Kids: horror tale in which children are often under the influence of dark forces and begin to turn against the adults.
Dark Fantasy: a horror story with supernatural and fantasy elements.
Dark Mystery/Noir: inspired by hardboiled detective tales, set in an urban underworld of crime and moral ambiguity.
Erotic Vampire: a horror tale making the newly trendy link between sexuality and vampires, but with more emphasis on graphic description and violence.
Fabulist: derived from “fable,” an ancient tradition in which objects, animals or forces of nature are anthropomorphized in order to deliver a moral lesson.
Gothic: a traditional form depicting the encroachment of the Middle Ages upon the 18th century Enlightenment, filled with images of decay and ruin, and episodes of imprisonment and persecution.
Hauntings: a classic form centering on possession by ghosts, demons or poltergeists, particularly of some sort of structure.
Historical: horror tales set in a specific and recognizable period of history.
Magical Realism: a genre inspired by Latin-American authors, in which extraordinary forces or creatures pop into otherwise normal, real-life settings.
Psychological: a story based on the disturbed human psyche, often exploring insane, altered realities and featuring a human monster with horrific, but not supernatural, aspects.
Quiet Horror: subtly written horror that uses atmosphere and mood, rather than graphic description, to create fear and suspense.
Religious: horror that makes use of religious icons and mythology, especially the angels and demons derived from Dante’s Inferno and Milton’s Paradise Lost.
Science-Fiction Horror: SF with a darker, more violent twist, often revolving around alien invasions, mad scientists, or experiments gone wrong.
Splatter: a fairly new, extreme style of horror that cuts right to the gore.
Supernatural Menace: a horror tale in which the rules of normal existence don’t apply, often featuring ghosts, demons, vampires and werewolves.
Technology: stories featuring technology that has run amok, venturing increasingly into the expanding domain of computers, cyberspace, and genetic engineering.
Weird Tales: inspired by the magazine of the same name, a more traditional form featuring strange and uncanny events (Twilight Zone).
Young Adult: horror aimed at a teen market, often with heroes the same age, or slightly older than, the reader.
Zombie: tales featuring dead people who return to commit mayhem on the living.
THRILLER/SUSPENSE
Action: a story that often features a race against the clock, lots of violence, and an obvious antagonist.
Comic: a thriller played for laughs, whether through a spoof of the genre or wisecracking interplay between the protagonists.
Conspiracy: a thriller in which the hero battles a large, powerful group whose true extent only he recognizes.
Crime: a story focused on the commission of a crime, often from the point of view of the criminals.
Disaster: a story in which Mother Nature herself is the antagonist, in the form of a hurricane, earthquake or some other natural menace.
Eco-Thriller: a story in which the hero battles some ecological calamity Ð and often has to also fight the people responsible for creating that calamity.
Erotic: a thriller in which sex plays a major role.
Espionage: the classic international spy novel, which is enjoying a resurgence with one important change: where spies used to battle enemy spies, they now battle terrorists.
Forensic: a thriller featuring the work of forensic experts, whose involvement often puts their own lives at risk.
Historical: a thriller taking place in a specific and recognizable historic period.
Horror: a story—generally featuring some monstrous villain Ð in which fear and violence play a major part, complete with graphic descriptions.
Legal: a thriller in which a lawyer confronts enemies outside as well as inside the courtroom, generally putting his own life at risk.
Medical: a thriller featuring medical personnel, whether battling a legitimate medical threat such as a world-wide virus, or the illegal or immoral use of medical technology.
Military: a thriller featuring a military protagonist, often working behind enemy lines or as part of a specialized force.
Police Procedural: a crime thriller that follows the police as they work their way through a case.
Political Intrigue: a thriller in which the hero must ensure the stability of the government that employs him.
Psychological: a suspenseful thriller in which the conflict between the characters is mental and emotional rather than physical—until an often violent resolution.
Romantic: a thriller in which the protagonists are romantically involved.
Supernatural: a thriller in which the hero, the antagonist, or both have supernatural powers.
Technological: a thriller in which technology Ð usually run amok Ð is central to the plot.
Science Fiction/Fantasy
Alternate History: speculative fiction that changes the accepted account of actual historical events, often featuring a profound “what if?” premise.
Arthurian Fantasy: reworkings of the legend of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table.
Bangsian Fantasy: stories speculating on the afterlives of famous people.
Biopunk: a blend of film noir, Japanese anime and post-modern elements used to describe an underground, nihilistic biotech society.
Children’s Fantasy: a kinder, gentler style of fantasy aimed at very young readers.
Comic: fantasy or science fiction that spoofs the conventions of the genre, or the conventions of society.
Cyberpunk: stories featuring tough outsiders in a high-tech near-future where computers have produced major changes in society.
Dark Fantasy: tales that focus on the nightmarish underbelly of magic, venturing into the violence of horror novels.
Dystopian: stories that portray a bleak future world.
Erotic: SF or fantasy tales that focus on sexuality.
Game-Related Fantasy: tales with plots and characters similar to high fantasy, but based on a specific role-playing game like Dungeons and Dragons.
Hard Science Fiction: tales in which real present-day science is logically extrapolated to the future.
Heroic Fantasy: stories of war and its heroes, the fantasy equivalent of military science fiction.
High/Epic Fantasy: tales with an emphasis on the fate of an entire race or nation, often featuring a young “nobody” hero battling an ultimate evil.
Historical: speculative fiction taking place in a recognizable historical period.
Mundane SF: a movement that spurns fanciful conceits like warp drives, wormholes and faster-than-light travel for stories based on scientific knowledge as it actually exists.
Military SF: war stories that extrapolate existing military technology and tactics into the future.
Mystery SF: a cross-genre blend that can be either an SF tale with a central mystery or a classic whodunit with SF elements.
Mythic Fiction: stories inspired, or modeled on, classic myths, legends and fairy tales.
New Age: a category of speculative fiction that deals with occult subjects such as astrology, psychic phenomena, spiritual healing, UFOs and mysticism.
Post-Apocalyptic: stories of life on Earth after an apocalypse, focusing on the struggle to survive.
Romance: speculative fiction in which romance plays a key part.
Religious: centering on theological ideas, and heroes who are ruled by their religious beliefs.
Science Fantasy: a blend in which fantasy is supported by scientific or pseudo-scientific explanations.
Social SF: tales that focus on how characters react to their environments Ð including social satire.
Soft SF: tales based on the more subjective, “softer” sciences: psychology, sociology, anthropology, etc.
Space Opera: a traditional good guys/bad guys faceoff with lots of action and larger-than-life characters.
Spy-Fi: tales of espionage with SF elements, especially the use of high-tech gadgetry.
Steampunk: a specific type of alternate history in which characters in Victorian England have access to 20th century technology.
Superheroes: stories featuring characters endowed with superhuman strengths or abilities.
Sword and Sorcery: a classic genre often set in the medieval period, and more concerned with immediate physical threats than high or heroic fantasy.
Thriller SF: an SF story that takes on the classic world-at-risk, cliffhanger elements of a thriller.
Time-Travel: stories based on the concept of moving forward or backward in time, often delving into the existence of parallel worlds.
Urban Fantasy: a fantasy tale in which magical powers and characters appear in an otherwise normal modern context, similar to Latin American magical realism.
Vampire: variations on the classic vampire legend, recently taking on many sexual and romantic variations.
Wuxia: fantasy tales set within the martial arts traditions and philosophies of China.
Young Adult: speculative fiction aimed at a teenage audience, often featuring a hero the same age or slightly older than the reader.
Mystery/Crime

Amateur Detective: a mystery solved by an amateur, who generally has some profession or affiliation that provides ready access to information about the crime.
Child in Peril: a mystery involving the abduction or persecution of a child.
Classic Whodunit: a crime that is solved by a detective, from the detective’s point of view, with all clues available to the reader.
Comic (Bumbling Detective): a mystery played for laughs, often featuring a detective who is grossly unskilled (but often solves the crime anyway, owing to tremendous good luck).
Cozy: a mystery that takes place in a small town—sometimes in a single home—where all the suspects are present and familiar with one another, except the detective, who is usually an eccentric outsider.
Courtroom Drama: a mystery that takes place through the justice system—often the efforts of a defense attorney to prove the innocence of his client by finding the real culprit.
Dark Thriller: a mystery that ventures into the fear factor and graphic violence of the horror genre.
Espionage: the international spy novel—here based less on action than on solving the “puzzle”—is today less focused on the traditional enemy spies than on terrorists.
Forensic: a mystery solved through the forensics lab, featuring much detail and scientific procedure.
Heists and Capers: an “antihero” genre which focuses on the planning and execution of a crime, told from the criminal’s perspective.
Historical: a mystery that takes place in a specific, recognizable period of history, with much emphasis on the details of the setting.
Inverted: a story in which the reader knows “whodunit,” but the suspense arises from watching the detective figure it out.
Locked Room: a mystery in which the crime is apparently committed under impossible circumstances (but eventually elicits a rational explanation).
Medical: generally involving a medical threat (e.g., a viral epidemic), or the illegitimate use of medical technology.
Police Procedural: a crime solved from the perspective of the police, following detailed, real-life procedures.
Private Detective: Focused on the independent snoop-for-hire, these have evolved from tough-guy “hard-boiled” detectives to the more professional operators of today.
Psychological Suspense: mysteries focused on the intricacies of the crime and what motivated the perpetrator to commit them.
Romantic: a mystery in which the crime-solvers fall in love.
Technothriller: a spinoff from the traditional thriller mystery, with an emphasis on high technology.
Thriller: a suspense mystery with a wider—often international—scope and more action.
Woman in Jeopardy: focuses on a woman put into peril by a crime, and her struggles to overcome or outwit the perpetrator.
Young Adult: a story aimed at a teenage audience, with a hero detective generally the same age or slightly older than the reader, pursuing criminals who are generally less violent—but often just as scary—as those in adult mysteries.

My TBR List:

Romance

Contemporary -- P.S. I Love You by Cecelia Ahern
Historical -- The Hostage by Susan Wiggs
Chick Lit -- Love the One You're With by Emily Giffin

Horror

Religious -- Year Zero by Jeff Long
TBD
TBD

Thriller/Suspense

Historical -- A Foreign Affair by Caro Peacock
Action -- Heat Stroke by Rachel Caine
TBD

Scifi/Fantasy

Vampire -- The Passage by Justin Cronin
Dystopian -- Crossed by Ally Condie
Epic Fantasy -- A Game of Thrones by George Martin

Mystery/Crime

Historical -- Silent in the Grave by Deanna Raybourn
TBD
TBD

Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie

Title: Murder on the Orient Express (Hercule Piorot Mystery #9)

Author: Agatha Christie

Publisher: Harper 1934

Genre: Mystery

Pages: 336

Rating: 5 / 5 stars

Reading Challenges: Mixing it Up -- Mystery; Support Your Local Library; Semi-Charmed -- Always wanted to read

How I Got It: Library loan

Famous Belgian detective Hercule Poirot must sift through clues--some real and some planted--to find a murderer aboard a crowded train speeding through the snowy European landscape.

This is one of those books that I have always wanted to read, yet somehow never got around to it. I finally snatched it off of the library racks and took it home. A classic mystery that had me guessing until the very end. Loved it! The characters are colorful. The setting is inspired. The clues are given but not completely obvious. Now I understand why this is such a classic. It has everything you want for in a great mystery. I just can't believe it took me this long to get around to it.

Hercule Poirot

The Mysterious Affair at Styles (1920)
The Murder on the Links (1923)
Poirot Investigates (1924)
The Murder of Roger Ackroyd (1926)
The Big Four (1927)
The Mystery of the Blue Train (1928)
Peril at End House (1932)
Lord Edgware Dies (or Thirteen at Dinner) (1933)
Murder on the Orient Express (or Murder in the Calais Coach) (1934)
Three Act Tragedy (Murder in Three Acts) (1934)
Death in the Clouds (Death in the Air) (1935)
The ABC Murders (1936)
Cards on the Table (1936)
Murder in Mesopotamia (1936)
Death on the Nile (1937)
Dumb Witness (Poirot Loses a Client) (1937)
Murder in the Mews (Dead Man's Mirror) (1937)
Appointment with Death (1938)
Hercule Poirot's Christmas (A Holiday for Murder) (1938)
Sad Cypress (1940)
One, Two, Buckle My Shoe (An Overdose of Death) (1940)
Evil Under the Sun (1941)
Five Little Pigs (Murder in Retrospect) (1942)
The Hollow (Murder After Hours) (1946)
The Labours of Hercules (1947)
Taken at the Flood (There is a Tide) (1948)
Mrs McGinty's Dead (Blood Will Tell) (1952)
After the Funeral (Funerals are Fatal) (1953)
Hickory Dickory Dock (1955)
Dead Man's Folly (1956)
Cat Among the Pigeons (1959)
The Clocks (1963)
Third Girl (1966)
Hallowe'en Party (1969)
Elephants Can Remember (1972)
Poirot's Early Cases (1974)
Curtain: Poirot's Last Case (1975)

Cooking Up Murder by Miranda Bliss

Title: Cooking Up Murder (Cooking Class Mystery #1)

Author: Miranda Bliss

Publisher: Berkley Prime Crime 2006

Genre: Mystery

Pages: 233

Rating: 3/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Local Library

Annie and Eve are life-long best friends who have absolutely nothing in common-except a lack of skill in the kitchen. So when they sign up for a cooking class at the local gourmet shop, they figure the only things at risk are a few innocent fruits and vegetables. But on the first night, Annie and Eve see their fellow student Beyla arguing with a man-a man who later turns up dead in the parking lot. Now the friends feel bound to uncover whatever secrets she's hiding, before someone else's goose-perhaps one of their own-gets cooked. -- From Amazon.com

Wow... I don't have much to say about this book. It was quick, it was predictable, it was fun. There wasn't anything really wrong with it. It just wasn't an amazing book. That's all. The one part that I really liked--the character of Annie. She's normal, but just neurotic enough to make her interesting and quirky. I loaned out the other books in the series, but have decided to pause and pick up a different book.

Cooking Class Mystery (DNFed series)

#1 Cooking Up Murder
#2 Murder On the Menu
#3 Dead Men Don't Get the Munchies
#4 Dying for Dinner
#5 Murder Has a Sweet Tooth

Unusual Suspects edited by Dana Stabenow

Title: Unusual Suspects: Stories of Mystery and Fantasy

Author: edited by Dana Stabenow

Publisher: Ace Trade 2008

Genre: Paranormal; Mystery

Pages: 320

Rating: 4 / 5 stars

Reading Challenges: Support Your Local Library; April Read-a-Thon

Interesting collection of fantasy and mystery stories. Like all collections, I liked some and not so much for others. Instead of trying to summarize the entire book, I thought I would list all the stories, share a few thoughts, and rate the stories.

"Lucky" Charlaine Harris -- A great Sookie Stackhouse short story. A nice fill in between novels with some great characters (both new and old). 5 stars
"Bogieman" Carole Nelson Douglas -- Loved the plot. Really want to read more of her work. 5 stars
"Looks are Deceiving" Michael Stackpole -- I got very confused very quickly. His world sounds pretty interesting, but I obviously need to read some of his other works first. 2 stars
"The House of Seven Spirits" Sharon Shim -- Great ghost/mystery story. I was definitely impressed. 5 stars
"Glamour" Mike Doogan -- Interesting world, but really couldn't get into the story. 3 stars
"Spellbound" Donna Andrews -- Witches, mages, gremlins, and origami? Perfect crazy story. Reminded me of Terry Pratchett's Discworld series. 5 stars
"The Duh Vice" Michael Armstrong --Good sci fi story. 4 stars
"Weight of the World" John Straley -- Wow! What an awesome story featuring Santa Claus, elves, and "the list." 5 stars
"Illumination" Laura Ann Gilman -- Good start to what looks like an interesting character. 4 stars
"The House" Laurie King -- Loved loved loved this ghost story with a twist. 5 stars
"Appetite for Murder" Simon Green -- Great mystical whodunit. I really want to read more of his Nightside world. 5 stars
"A Woman's Work" Dana Stabenow -- Too many names and odd plot lines. I couldn't even finish this story. 1 star

The Monsters of Templeton by Lauren Groff

The last few days have been crazy busy with snow days, household chores, birthday parties, and distractions. My regular blogging schedule was majorly disruppted, but hopefully I'll be getting back to it in the next few days.

Title: The Monsters of Templeton

Author: Lauren Groff

Publisher: Voice (Hyperion) 2008

Genre: Young Adult

Pages: 361

Rating: 5/5 stars

Reading Challenges: YA; 2011: YA or YA Not; Support Your Local Library: A to Z Authors: G

"The day I returned to Templeton steeped in disgrace, the fifty-foot corpse of a monster surfaced in Lake Glimmerglass."
So begins The Monsters of Templeton, a novel spanning two centuries: part a contemporary story of a girl's search for her father, part historical novel, and part ghost story, this spellbinding novel is at its core a tale of how one town holds the secrets of a family.
In the wake of a wildly disastrous affair with her married archaeology professor, Willie Upton arrives on the doorstep of her ancestral home in Templeton, New York, where her hippie-turned-born-again-Baptist mom, Vi, still lives. Willie expects to be able to hide in the place that has been home to her family for generations, but the monster's death changes the fabric of the quiet, picture-perfect town her ancestors founded. Even further, Willie learns that the story her mother had always told her about her father has all been a lie: he wasn't the random man from a free-love commune that Vi had led her to imagine, but someone else entirely. Someone from this very town.
As Willie puts her archaeological skills to work digging for the truth about her lineage, she discovers that the secrets of her family run deep. Through letters, editorials, and journal entries, the dead rise up to tell their sides of the story as dark mysteries come to light, past and present blur, old stories are finally put to rest, and the shocking truth about more than one monster is revealed.

I've recently started reading young adult fiction, and I must say I am surprised at the good quality. I picked this book up based off of recommendations from lost of book bloggers. The beginning of the book was a bit confusing. I really couldn't tell if I liked it or not. Thirty pages in, I really started to get into the story.

The story has everything: monsters (both supernatural and human), a paternity mystery, family relations, and historical research. The various elements wove together to form a layered story that really kept my attention. The characters (likable or not) were complex. I didn't find a single one-dimensional character in the bunch (and that's saying a lot considering there are a lot of characters).

I won't spoil the ending, but let me say it's a biggie. The ending did a nice job of wrapping up all the story lines. I especially loved the ending to the "monster's" story. This will definitely go on my favorites list for 2011.