Category Archives: Book Reviews

This is a thinking person’s mystery. It is set in the outlying provinces of eighteenth century China. The Emperor (who is not Chinese) has not been fully accepted in this area and is coming to show his power over the heavens. He will order an eclipse of the sun to happen at his command. The well kept secret is that he gets his information from the Jesuit astronomers that are present at his court. The city to host the event is bustling and packing full with individuals (including foreigners) who have been invited to see the Emperor’s power.

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“Pretty Baby” is a book that got inside my head – both during the time I was reading it and for days afterward. In odd moments, I would start thinking about what I had read and pondering it, both good and bad moments, as if it were something that had happened to someone I actually knew. For an author to have such an impact on me is very unusual. Especially in a good that is anything but “feel good”. Some of the scenarios played out in the story may haunt my waking hours and dreams for some time to come. This is not a horror book but rather a book in which some very traumatic events occur.

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I discovered Lea Wait as a new (to me) author with the first book in the Mainely Needlepoint mystery series. I was very happy to see a second book in this series and even happier still when it turned out even better than the first.

Angie Curtis has returned home to Haven Harbor after ten years as a private investigator’s assistance in Arizona. She has agreed to stay for six months to help sort out her soon-to-be-married grandmother’s needlework business. Angie gets drafted into helping a new resident in town (movie star Skye West) sort out the wrecked estate Skye has just purchased. In the midst of this, a death from the past resurfaces and the question is suddenly whether or not the death was from natural causes (as originally determined) or whether a murderer has been on the loose for many years. Angie and her needlepoint crew once again help to solve a crime and do so in a fun and charming fashion.

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The third book is the charm as far as I am concerned. “Gone but Knot Forgotten” is the third book in Mary Marks Quilting Mysteries series. I enjoyed the first book, thought the second book was even better, and now the third book is my favorite. It is great to see a fairly new author grow in her craft and improve with each succeeding book. Considering that the first book was great (apart from some political comments that are not present in either the second or third books), that is quite an achievement.

In the newest book, Martha Rose is once again embroiled in a mystery. The question is – was it a routine death or was it murder? Martha is tapped to become the executor of the estate of her childhood friend. It turns into more than she bargained for and a lot of her old friends are tapped to help her again.

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I enjoyed reading “Knot In My Backyard” by Mary Marks. It is the second book in her Quilting Mystery series and, in my opinion, is even better than the first book. Thankfully, the author did not include the political remarks that made her first book a little hard for some readers to get through. I prefer not to be badgered by the left or the right when I am reading a cozy mystery – I want to get away from all of that and just simply enjoy myself.

In this book, our sleuth, Martha Rose, is back and is better than every. Martha has a passion for quilting, and while it is not the focus of this book as it was in the first in the series, there are lots of references to quilting in the story. It is really obvious to anyone who has quilted that the author is also a quilter. I made my first quilt 35 years ago when my first child was born. I still consider myself an advanced beginner because I have not progressed that far in my abilities. There were some clues for hand-quilting in this book that will be of help to me.

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