Jane and the Unpleasantness at Scargrave Manor, Being the First Jane Austen Mystery

by Stephanie Barron

Review by Joy L. (vintagejoy)

This is an excellent book! A great blending of a cozy mystery and Jane Austen.

The premise reminds me of Susan Wittig Albert‘s “Cottage Tales of Beatrix Potter.” In that series, Beatrix is the mystery solver and it is written in the time frame she lived in, as this series is.

Here in the first novel we find Jane at Scargrave Manor, invited by her dear friend, Isobel, newly married to the Earl of Scargrave, to attend a ball given in her Isobel’s honor by her husband on their return home from a three month long honeymoon.

Here Jane witnesses a tragedy, the death of the Earl from a mysterious and agonizing illness. In time, Isobel and the Earl’s nephew are charged with not only adultery, but of the murder of the Earl as well.

Isobel begs Jane to help her, and so Jane embarks on the investigation.

I enjoyed this novel, the plot is well done, the characters are introduced well, and it includes many twists and turns throughout.

An important part in the novel is Jane’s introduction to Lord Harold Trowbridge, a gentleman rogue who plays a great part in subsequent books.

Jane perseveres in her quest to find the murderer of the Earl of Scargrave to clear her good friend Isobel.

There is a lot of action going on, and to me the ending was not at all what I thought it would be.

I love that the author explains certain words, customs, lifestyles, etc. for the time period (1802) throughout the book as they come up.

I will definitely be continuing on with the series.

The Coupon Mom’s Guide to Cutting Your Grocery Bills in Half by Stephanie Nelson

Review by Brenna B. (demiducky25)  

I saw this book advertised in a local bookstore when it first came out, but I didn’t pay it much attention.  Fast-forward to now, and I decided to check it out of my local library after it came to mind recently. I’ve been a member of CouponMom.com for about a year, maybe a little less, and I don’t know what made this book come to mind, but I am glad that I checked it out.  Most of the information that Stephanie Nelson gives in this book really is good, old-fashioned common sense, but most of us are too busy and involved in our own lives to really think about it until it is pointed out to us.

The first few chapters give the reader insight into their own shopping and spending mentality.  There are concepts to think about and a quiz on spending that I do recommend taking since the names she gives to each type of spender are used throughout the book.  That way as you read, you can understand in which particular scenarios you might be a “Busy Shopper,” a “Rookie Shopper,” or a “Varsity Shopper.”  (I ended up as a Rookie Shopper, and I’d say that’s fairly accurate based on the description- though I’d one day like to become a Varsity Shopper)!

After those introductory chapters, Ms. Nelson discusses her “Strategic Shopping” concept and how to make it work for you.  She details using grocery lists and meal planning and how to effectively plan a variety of meals around what’s on sale this week at your local grocery store.  She also discusses how to track prices so that you know how to recognize a true bargain when you see it.  Of course there is also a discussion on how to use coupons to their maximum potential, and lots of name drops for CouponMom.com, but that’s to be expected.  Ms. Nelson also discusses alternatives to grocery stores (wholesale clubs, the local pharmacy, etc) that can sometimes offer better deals on certain grocery items if you are willing to do the research.

The last portion of the book really gets into how to save in each category of shopping (dairy, meat, produce, health & beauty, etc) and each category gets its own chapter and advice.  The second to last chapter gives recipes that use a number of “good deal staples” (things that can be acquired frequently at low cost using a combination of price tracking and coupons).  Oddly enough, this might be my second favorite part of the book since nearly every recipe seemed doable and most didn’t contain any weirdo ingredients that would be difficult or expensive to acquire.  My favorite part of the book, which is also my favorite part about using CouponMom.com, is the last chapter which details how you can use this new-found savings knowledge to purchase products for people in need at little to no cost to you.  As someone who volunteers at my local food pantry, I really liked getting some tips and ideas that I could use to increase the donations I make without spending more than I can afford.  The excerpts she includes in that chapter from site members about their experiences sharing their deals with others were a pleasure to read.

The book is written at an easy to understand level, but it doesn’t talk down to the reader.  Each chapter is prefaced with an outline of what will be contained in that section, so it is easy to skip around to what you are looking for if you aren’t planning to read the entire thing like I did.  Again, most of the information is common sense, but it does make you think of ways to stretch your grocery dollar, and it does offer some advice that you might not have thought of on your own (I know I never thought of price tracking, so I might try to give that a go on a few items), but it isn’t a dry read and if you are looking for some basic information on how to start saving money by cutting your grocery bill, then this book is a good start.  Overall I give this book 4 out of 5 stars.

Maigret’s Pipe by Georges Simenon

Review by Matt B. (BuffaloSavage)

Simenon’s police inspector Maigret is best known from the 70 or so novels that are short enough to be read in an evening.

Lesser known are the short stories, though the quality of plot and action is as high as in the novels.

In Maigret’s Pipe, a collection of seventeen stories, Maigret solves murder cases in evocative  surroundings in Paris, such as the Quai des Ortevres and neighborhood bistros and shops. Platform buses. Chestnut trees. Chic clothes.

What a wonderful place Paris must have been when these stories were set, from the late 1940s coming back to life after the occupation to the early 1960s when the authorities started forcing modern conveniences on Parisians.

Maigret also ends up in the provinces investigating cases of drowning, hanging, and knifing.

Well worth reading for those who like Simenon and mysteries set abroad.

Little Heathens by Mildred Armstrong Kalish

Review by McGuffyAnn M. (nightprose)

This book honours a time, place and way of life that unfortunately is lost to most of us today. This book is a joy to read, allowing one to live vicariously the happy childhood that Ms. Kalish so joyously shares.

Family is the central focal point. It is, in fact the importance of family ties that drive the entire book. Each story stresses the bonds that hold family together through the thick and inevitable thin of farm life and the Great Depression.

It was the love and commitment of family that made each experience, each memory so ingrained and important to Mildred, as a child and sustained her throughout her life.

It is both a pleasure and a privilege to read this book. While not an easy life given the hardship of the times, it was a beautiful life. That Ms. Kalish immortalizes this time and life makes it all the more special. The way of life, the innocence and true simple pleasures may be gone. But thanks to Mildred Armstrong Kalish they will remain in hearts and minds. The spirit remains in this beautiful memoir.

Relic Master: The Dark City by Catherine Fisher

Review by Janice Y. (jai)

The Premise: Raffi is a teenager who lives on Anara, a world with seven moons. A long time ago, it is said, the Makers came from the sky, and made the seas, the salt and soil, the trees and the animals. They left a long time ago, but they left ancient relics with sublime powers behind on Anara. The Keepers are those who safeguard the relics, but twenty years ago, their Order was destroyed. Now those of them left are in hiding, while those in power, The Watch, continue to root them out. Raffi is an apprentice Keeper, learning magic under the tutelage of his gruff mentor, Galen. They have been careful for a long time, but recently Galen has been reckless and unhappy. Raffi is concerned when a man shows up at their secret hideout, asking for their help. Things don’t seem right, but Galen accepts the job anyway. This kicks off a journey that takes them far from home in search of a powerful relic that could save the world.  If they get to it before anyone else does.

My Thoughts: This is the type of story that just begins and lets the world building occur organically. People spoke of Keepers and Watchers and Makers without qualifying what they were, and I gleaned their meaning from the words themselves and the context. Often clues about the world come as quotes from religious texts and scholars of Anara that serve as placeholders between chapters. In order to review the book I had to at least explain what the Keepers and Watchers were, but I did leave a lot out so that people can figure out things on their own. Part of the charm of the story is the puzzle that is Anara, although this technique also has its drawbacks (I’ll come back to that later).

The Dark City is told in the third person but the focus is mostly on the teenager Raffi, occasionally switching focus to a Watcher that is following the two of them across Anara. My ARC was 372 pages, but I easily read the story in a few hours. What made this such a fast read was that the language is very simple and readable. The writing and the story’s focus primarily on adventure puts the story on a middle grade to young adult level. I think I could easily recommend this to my ten year old nephew and be fine, but an older teen (not to mention me), could also read this without feeling bored.

I think the simplicity of the language brings to mind the writing of Megan Whalen Turner, particularly in comparison to her book, The Thief, which also a “journeying in search of a special item” story. In terms of characters, The Dark City doesn’t have the same complexity though. It may be because the story has been broken up into four installments, but in The Dark City, we only begin to go beyond the surface of the main characters. By far the most complex is Galen, Raffi’s tutor, who is very obviously scarred by something that happened to him. Raffi is his worrying, cautious apprentice who we get the story from, but he’s a simpler to understand character. The Watcher is the third member of their group, and their character is one that gives us a glimpse of the other side and what the Watchers believe. There is an interesting dynamic once the Watcher shows up because of the web of lies and suspicion results, but it never becomes truly diabolical.

I think that the story is more plot centric than it was character centric. And the plot surrounds the mystery of Anara. Throughout the story I wondered why the Watchers originally attacked the Order and the original Anaran rulers, and who the original Makers were. The Order of the Keepers could do magic, and Raffi does show magical ability throughout the story, but the relics that he and Galen safeguard seem awfully familiar. I am certain the relics were technological in nature, but Raffi and Galen treated them as powerful sources of magic. I was very curious about that – are these relics really advanced technology or magic? If it’s not magic, how is the magic that the Keepers can do (not to mention the magic that the race of Cat people that also live on Anara can do) explained? Can they be both? This is where the drawback in the storytelling comes in. I think that it is the intent to hold back information from the reader and to give small pieces of the puzzle as the series goes on, but it can be frustrating. I am used to having my world building established within the first book of a series, but in this series, it is the draw for continuing. A great device for reluctant readers (I also noticed that each chapter ended in a mini-cliffhanger, another technique for keeping a reader reading), but it can feel a little manipulative.

Overall: This is an entertaining adventure story that should appeal to young readers. I love stories that straddle both magic and technology in their world building so that really appealed to me, but I did feel a little frustrated that some information is held back about Anara. This is a technique works for getting reluctant readers into a story, and this is a book whose audience is younger than I am (I’d put this in a high MG to YA range), but I didn’t expect it to work on me too. I feel compelled to keep reading the series just to figure out what’s going on.

Nicotine Kiss by Loren D. Estleman

Review by Vicky (VickyJo)   

For the past 25 years or so, Loren Estleman has been entertaining readers with his Shamus-award-winning series of mysteries starring Amos Walker, a private investigator based in Detroit, Michigan.  The 21^st Walker mystery is due to come out in early July, but in the meantime, let me tell you about an earlier novel in the series, Nicotine Kiss.

Amos is on the trail of a dead-beat dad in Grayling, Michigan, on the opening day of deer season.  He’s hanging out in a bar called Spike’s Keg o’ Nails, because sooner or later, all deer hunters end up here. This particular dead beat dad may not pay his child support, but he’s never missed opening day.

While hanging out, he runs into an old acquaintance named Jeff Starzek, an active cigarette smuggler who mysteriously mentions that he has “diversified” his smuggling activities.  Before Amos can get any details, his dead beat dad arrives, but seems to sense that Amos is on his tail, and leaves immediately.

He follows him to the parking lot, where Amos is unexpectedly shot.  By the time he’s aware of anything else, Amos is told that his assailant committed suicide after shooting him, and that a mysterious man drove him to the ER…a man who fits Jeff Starzek’s description.

Amos, now with a limp and a cane, finally makes it back to work after the New Year.  His first walk-in client hands him a business card…Amos’s own business card.  He says his wife Rose has a brother named Jeff Starzek who smuggles cigarettes.  Jeff told Rose that if she didn’t hear from him by the first of the year, to hire Amos to find him.  Amos agrees to look for Jeff.

A few minutes later, a local police officer arrives, with a Homeland Security Fed in tow.  They’re looking for Jeff too…a coincidence?  Amos doesn’t think so.  They know Amos and Jeff go way back, and wonder if he’s been in touch.  But then they drop an interesting bit of information… according to the Feds, Jeff has an older brother, but no sister.  So who was the man in Amos’s office, claiming to be Jeff’s brother-in-law?  What has Jeff gotten into?  It’s not just cigarette smuggling; what has Jeff diversified into?  And how can Amos help?  He owes Jeff for saving his life back in Grayling.

His search takes him to the frigid shores of Lake Huron and a strange little church called the Church of the Freshwater Sea.  Amos begins finding clues that perhaps his old friend Jeff has left cigarettes behind and is now involved with a terrorist counterfeit ring.  Post 9/11, this isn’t good.  Not good at all.

No one today writes noir fiction, or the hard-boiled detective character better than Estleman.  His writing is witty, sharp, smart…and the action is steady.  From his first Amos Walker novel, Motor City Blues in 1981, Estleman has given us consistent, high-quality noir mysteries. Nicotine Kiss is the 18^th book in the series, but I really feel his books can be read as stand-alones.  If vintage Raymond Chandler is your cup of tea, and you’ve never picked up a Loren Estleman novel, you’re in for a real treat.