Category Archives: Mystery/Suspense/Thriller

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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“Forget Me Knot” is the first book I have read by Mary Marks and it is the first in her series of Quilting Mysteries. It was a really good first book. I just wish the author had stepped off the political soapbox as it probably offended some readers early enough in the book that they put it down and didn’t finish it. That is a real shame as the story, plot, and characters made the book a really worthwhile read. This is the primary reason I rate it 4.5 instead of a solid 5.

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A cozy mystery set in a fictional town on the coast of Maine, “Twisted Threads” is the first in the Mainely Needlepoint series by Lea Wait. Angie Curtis was raised by her grandmother Charlotte in Harbor Haven after her beloved but wild mother abandoned her nineteen years before. Angie left town ten years ago but is now returning home from Arizona because her mother’s body has been found. What seemed like abandonment turns out to have been murder.

Once home again, Angie finds out that Charlotte has started a custom needlepoint business along with a few other townspeople. The business has had a bad turn as their agent has double-crossed them. Angie steps in to help right the business and, at the same, using the skills she learned as a private investigator’s assistant to find her mother’s killer.

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“The Drowned Boy” is the first Inspector Sejer Mystery that I have read. I often read books translated into English and generally give them some lee-way for things such was awkward phrasing or references that make less sense. In this case, the translation was so well done, that it read very smoothly.

What was different is the type of detective who is in charge and how the investigation is conducted. Inspector Sejer is an introspective man who wants to do the right thing. He is also very concerned about some health issues he is facing, and assuming the worst (as most of us do), he is reluctant to seek medical advice. He is a thoughtful and reflective man who follows rules and seems to care about his victims and those who are left behind. He also seems to have accepted that sometimes people who do bad things can get away with it but continues to try to bring those he can to justice.

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Sometimes when I take a long plane flight or before taking a vacation, I will pick a book that is a little bit different just because it is a good time to try something a little out of the ordinary. This is that type of book for me. What intrigued me about this book was the subject matter. Once I started reading it, I found myself engrossed and knew I had made a good choice. At approximately 330 pages long, the book is fast paced and an easy read.

“Drone Command” is a political thriller that centers around a crisis between China, US, Japan where the main character, Troy Pearce, and others need to fix things quickly before the world plunges into war.

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“Protocol Zero” was a bit of a let-down following James Abel’s debut thriller, “White Plague”. These are the first two books of a series involving Joe Rush, a Marine Colonel who is also a medical doctor and a bio-terrorist expert.

While the author gives the reader a lot of information about a lot of various things in this book, what it lacks is a moment in which I am, as the reader, so caught up in the action that I can’t put the book down. “White Plague” was a book that I wanted to read in one sitting. I read this book over the space of a week and the last 50 pages or so over three days by themselves.

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“Between a Rock and a Hard Place” is the third in a series of Potting Shed mysteries by Marty Wingate. I have read all three and also her debut mystery in another series. After four books, I know and am comfortable with her style.

In this story, the relationship between our gardening sleuth, Pru Parke and her beau, Detective Chief Inspector Christopher Pearse, have progressed and wedding bells are in the future. In the meantime, Pru has accepted a temporary position in Edinburgh, doing research and writing a to-be-published paper on the subject.

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“Unleashed” is the second in a series of mysteries about Dr. Kate Turner by Eileen Brady. Kate is a veterinarian who has moved to Oak Falls to fill in for the established vet, who is off on a prolonged vacation. She has been in her position for a number of months and is settling in quite well.

In this story, Claire, the owner of Toto, a Cairn terrier who is one of Dr. Kate’s patients, has committed suicide… or has she? While almost everyone in town is willing to accept her death, Kate has lots of questions. Further, she is fairly indiscriminate as to who she is asking the questions of. She starts getting caught up more and more in trying to figure out how Claire actually died and if murder might actually be involved.

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