Publisher: Poisoned Pen Press

A- #BookReview: Field Guide for the Formerly Villainous by Autumn K. England

Posted on by Marlene Harris | Author : | A- Reviews> book reviews
A- #BookReview: Field Guide for the Formerly Villainous by Autumn K. EnglandField Guide for the Formerly Villainous (Everyday Magic, #1) by Autumn K. England
Format: eARC
Source: supplied by publisher via Edelweiss
Formats available: hardcover, paperback, ebook, audiobook
Genres: cozy fantasy, queer fantasy
Series: Everyday Magic #1
Pages: 368
Published by Poisoned Pen Press on June 2, 2026
Purchasing Info: Author's Website, Publisher's Website, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Bookshop.org, Better World Books
Goodreads

STARDEW VALLEY meets STUDIO GHIBLI in a charming cozy fantasy about healing, redemption, and the subtle magic of simple living. Perfect for fans of Can't Spell Treason Without Tea and The Spellshop. Welcome home, weary traveler.
When Oaklin Nettlewood accidentally joined an evil world-ending cult, mind control magic forced them to do unspeakable things. Years later, the realm's heroes have finally saved the day, defeated the villain, and shattered the last remnants of the spell...leaving destruction in their wake. And so, with a spell-damaged memory and whole bushel of trauma, Oaklin escapes to a small farm on the edge of Mossley's Rest and swears an oath: After all the things they were forced to do with their magic, they will never use it again. Ever.
The no-nonsense ghost granny who lives in Oaklin's house has other ideas. As she coaxes Oaklin out of their shell and back into the world, they find companionship (a grumpy horse and a very good dog), friendship (a local bard and magical baker who should just kiss already), and tentative romance (a paladin-librarian who makes Oaklin's heart come alive for the first time in ages.) Magic even seems possible again―though strictly for foraging magical mushrooms and protecting the farm from bugs.
Healing comes in gentle waves, and Oaklin doesn't have to do it alone. So what does it mean when an inquisitor comes to town to hunt former cultists just as Oaklin begins to think that maybe, just maybe, they deserve a happy ending after all?

My Review:

Oaklin Nettlewood has found themselves on the thorns of a dilemma. I know that phrase is normally HORNS of a dilemma, but not in Oaklin’s case. Not just because of their name, but seriously because they are caught among WAY more than just two dilemmas. They’re working their way through a whole thorny nettlebush of the things, and they’ve just barely gotten started.

Oaklin has just taken possession of their new farm, on the outskirts of the friendly, flourishing village of Mossley’s Rest. They are in dire need of a fresh start, and they’re hoping that the new job and the new location will help them get that start, well, started.

Which is where the first of many, many of those thorny dilemmas crop up.

Oaklin needs a fresh start because their original start, in a farming village in a different part of the country, was wiped out as part of the villainous Enchantrix’s War of bloody destruction. Oaklin survived, while his former village did not, because Oaklin was on the other side. The Enchantrix’s side.

Not willingly, and not even knowingly, for multiple senses of both phrases. The Enchantrix’s troops, one and all, were mind controlled by the Enchantrix’s magic. (Sort of like a powerful, wide-spectrum, widespread Imperius curse only longer lasting and with more magical oomph.)

Oaklin lost six years of their lives to that mind control spell – which was so thorough it made even the years before the spell dim, hazy and covered in shades of darkness. They remember bits and pieces, but nothing coherent or cohesive.

The spell broke along when the Enchantrix was defeated and slain. Leaving Oaklin and the other survivors a guilty, tattered remnant of who and what they used to be. While Oaklin and the remaining mind-whammied former cultists were officially pardoned for the crimes their bodies committed while their minds were controlled, that doesn’t mean that there aren’t a whole lot of people who STILL want to punish them for what happened.

Oaklin has come to Mossley’s Rest to hide – and to hide themself from their own magic which made them vulnerable to the Enchantrix’s control in the first place. Which leads right smack dab to another one of Oaklin’s dilemmas. The farm they’ve just sunk their meager savings into was originally the property of the village’s land witch, and it was protected so that it could only be purchased by someone capable of taking the witch’s magical place.

Something that Oaklin has vowed not to do, ever again, because of just how much and how terrible the evil they committed with their magic was – even if it wasn’t under their control.

But the last one of Oaklin’s dilemmas is also the first part of their healing. The farmhouse is haunted. The ghost of the prior owner, the village’s beloved land witch, is determined to coax, cajole or outright pester Oaklin into becoming the farmer, land witch and protector that the village needs to survive.

Whether Oaklin or any random Inquisitors, want them to or not.

Escape Rating A-: There’s a LOT to love about this Field Guide, but the reason that this is a A- rating instead of higher is that Oaklin Nettlewood begins – and middles – the story not loving themselves AT ALL. While there are plenty of reasons they believe they shouldn’t love or even like themself, they’re wallowing in guilt and self-loathing. It’s not a question of whether they deserve the abuse they are heaping upon themself, because that’s not the point. They don’t deserve any of it but they’re not ready to hear that yet. AND they’re suffering from flashbacks and PTSD and PTSD about the flashbacks, all of which make sense but are hard to read and go on a bit too long or in too much detail from a reader’s perspective.

Oaklin is bogged down in guilt, and the story gets a bit bogged down along with them, even though they deserve none of it (and neither does the reader). It’s also very dark – again, with good reason – but it does make this reader wonder about the actual level of coziness in this supposedly cozy fantasy. The setting itself is plenty cozy, but Oaklin’s journey through it isn’t nearly so cozy along most of its way, although they do achieve a happy ending with a mere, but appropriate, touch of bittersweet.

The setting is a cozy fantasy like Adenashire, but the story is as much sad fluff as it is cozy. The story as a whole is very much Violet Thistlewaite Is Not a Villain Anymore, but set in Adenashire with Violet’s levels of angst, regret and reaching for a new start after a villainous first act. Also, like Violet Thistlewaite’s story, there is a romance in this one but the romance is not the center of the story.

So, while this is a story about getting away from yourself, it’s also a story about coming into yourself. Oaklin starts out in a very dark place for some terribly excellent reasons. Along their way, they reach outside themselves – or reach back into themselves for who they might have been if they hadn’t thoroughly disrupted their life.

But as much as this is Oaklin’s story, and it very much is their personal journey, it is also a story about the power of community to support, the way that connection fosters growth and happiness, the joy of being both wanted and needed and the contentment of finding a place of one’s own writ both large and small.

But the heart of the story, the thing that gives it just that perfect note of bittersweetness to make Oaklin’s happiness earned in the fullest measure, is the healing power of forgiveness. Because above all else, Oaklin needs to forgive themselves and they need to feel forgiven by those they have wronged. The story can’t end until they do.

An ending that gives Oaklin the strength and the closure that they need to move on with the life they finally feel they’ve earned. And if that ending also manages to leave the reader with just a bit of a tear in their eye, well, even thorns need a bit of watering every now and again.

A- #BookReview: Death Meets Cute by J. Penner

Posted on by Marlene Harris | Author : | A- Reviews> book reviews
A- #BookReview: Death Meets Cute by J. PennerDeath Meets Cute by J. Penner
Format: eARC
Source: supplied by publisher via Edelweiss
Formats available: paperback, ebook, audiobook
Genres: cozy fantasy, fantasy, fantasy romance, grumpy/sunshine romance, romantasy
Pages: 304
Published by Poisoned Pen Press on April 28, 2026
Purchasing Info: Author's Website, Publisher's Website, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Bookshop.org, Better World Books
Goodreads

"Filled with so much love, heart, and delicious baked goods." —Rebecca Thorne, USA Today bestselling author of Can't Spell Treason Without Tea
I am more than capable of being evil today. I think…
Iris Weyward wants to be bad. Truly bad. Terrifyingly, gloriously villainous. But after helping her sisters unleash a spell to throw the realm into chaos, Iris is left feeling strangely empty—and still not the villain of her dreams. So, she sets off for the quiet town of Fraywell to build her wicked legacy alone. 
Things start a crooked little cottage, a reputation for curses and potions, and a healthy dose of fear from the locals. But when her ogre bodyguard disappears, Iris needs new muscle. Good thing a fearsome orc just toppled over in her yard. Naturally, she decides to reanimate him. It's a perfect solution. 
Only, Talon isn't the brooding warrior she was hoping for. He's gentle. He bakes. Worst of all, he's nice. But Iris can't possibly have a thing for her new employee. She's supposed to be the most wicked witch in town! 
While Iris struggles to turn Talon into the enforcer she deserves, her sisters arrive seeking help—their magic is fading, and the cause may be closer than any of them realize. The timing couldn't be worse, and falling for an orc wasn't supposed to be part of her villain era, but it might turn out to be the best spell she's ever cast…

My Review:

What’s a witch to do when a blessing has curdled into a curse? Not that the Weyward Sisters generally have much to do with blessings because they have a well-earned reputation for evil to maintain. After all, they’re the ones responsible for the recent mess with that Scottish King who came to such a terrible end.

Then again, he did kind of ask for it. Which is precisely the kind of wickedness that Dahlia, Iris and Poppy Weyward are (in)famous for. But it’s hard to do anything really evil when one’s magic is fading, and that’s been true for the Weyward Sisters for the past year. Since they went their separate ways.

Because they couldn’t stand the sight or sound of each other a minute longer.

Which is exactly why Iris Weyward keeps putting off reading the letter her sisters sent her. No matter how much its presence taunts her amid the chaos piling on the table in her slightly out of the way cottage. A cottage that is JUST far enough outside the village of Fraywell to seem appropriately mysterious for her villainous intentions.

Intentions that aren’t going well. A deadly potion here, a poisonous apple there, earning just enough to keep herself afloat – barely – with her dreams of glorious villainy waging a seemingly unending battle with her lack of magic and occasional impulses that are much too good-adjacent to be comfortable for an evil witch.

The only person Iris intends to be ‘good’ to is her familiar, Quince. Because their relationship is symbiotic, and being good to Quince is also being good to herself. And because Quince is a hedgehog with attitude who will poke her with all his quills if she doesn’t feed (and cuddle) him on a regular basis.

Iris is just certain she needs to impress her villainy on the local population more than she has been. They’ve gotten used to her after a year in residence. She needs a menacing new bodyguard to project her evil image with a bit more villainous ‘oomph’ than the one that left her to take a vacation with his family. (A concept that makes Iris shudder with, well, horror.)

When ‘providence’ provides her with a half-orc conveniently just expired in her garden, she’s sure it’s a sign. Even with her fraying magic, she’s sure she can raise him from the dead and bind him to her service. But she’s not a monster. She summons his spirit and asks for his consent before she starts on necromancy.

Iris gets absolutely nothing she expected from this transaction. She was looking for a mean, menacing mercenary. Talon Gefroy may look the part – and look better than Iris wants to think about – but he’s NICE. Even (cringe, shudder) sweet. He cooks, he cleans, he bakes cookies. He even gives names to her chickens!

She’s thinking that he’s just not right for the job until her sisters arrive. Just as they said they would in that letter Iris never read. They’ve all lost their magic. They’ve figured out that they are cursed AND that they need to work together to find the counter.

They’re planning to stay in Iris’ little cottage, WITH IRIS, until they find the answer. However long THAT might take. Even though they get on each other’s last nerve even more than they did a year ago when they separated.

Suddenly, Iris needs Talon. Not for the role she intended for him, but for the role that he’s actually filling. Iris is not about to cook, clean, wait on and cater to her sisters. But she doesn’t have to. She has Talon for that. And just possibly for a whole lot more.

But first, she’ll have to tell him the evil truth about herself. Curses, sisters, and all.

Escape Rating A-: I had a good time with the author’s Adenashire series (start with A Fellowship of Bakers & Magic and prepare for a delightfully cozy and delicious read) and was hoping for more of the same with this book as it’s a bit of a wait until the author’s next Adenashire book, A Fellowship of Curses & Cats comes pussyfooting out.

I almost referred to Death Meets Cute as the start of a new series, and that might turn out to be right after all. It absolutely could be. This story stands alone, and Iris certainly gets her happy ever after, BUT she has two sisters to think about. So hopefully…

But first there’s this story, and it’s one of those ‘book in a blender’ things, even if all the books that get thrown into that blender are all cozy fantasies in one way or another.

Of course there’s Adenashire, and Fraywell sounds like the kind of place that would fit right into that world. If it turns out to be after all, I would be pleased but not surprised. Either way, it’s a very similar vibe, in that it’s a place where magical and non-magical people and beings live side-by-side and tolerate each other – or sometimes don’t – in the ways that people in small towns in other cozy genres generally do and don’t.

So if you like cozy fantasy, particularly in series like Adenashire, Legends & Lattes and Tomes & Tea (Can’t Spell Treason Without Tea), you’ll probably enjoy visiting Fraywell as well.

But there are two other books that need to go into that blender, books that add a little bit of danger and spice to what would otherwise be a sweet grumpy-sunshine fantasy romance. Because there are two stories at the heart of Death Meets Cute. The obvious one is that grumpy/sunshine romance between grumpy Iris and sunshine Talon.

The second, however, is the story of the fraying sisterhood between Dahlia, Iris and Poppy Weyward, and the way they’ve brought this curse upon themselves. That’s a story about the very fine line between curses and blessings, and how easy it is for the one to turn into the other – in either direction. If that’s the part of Death Meets Cute that appeals, take a look at The Crescent Moon Tearoom by Stacy Sivinski because it also tells a heartwarming story about the bonds of sisterhood and how easily those bonds can be frayed, or even broken. And that there can be terrible consequences when there’s magic involved.

The part of this that’s most purely interesting, at least to this reader, revolves around the question of what it means to be ‘evil’ along with the question of whether evil and villainy are in the eyes of the beholder. At first, that part of the story made me think of both Wooing the Witch Queen, the first book in the Queens of Villainy series, and Violet Thistlewaite Is Not a Villain Anymore. The so-called Queens of Villainy are only really considered villainous by members of the patriarchy who are pissed that they’ve chosen to rule their kingdoms themselves, while Violet has rejected real villainy and is doing her damndest to make amends for her previous actions.

Because it seems like the Weyward Sisters don’t REALLY want to be EVIL. And, that the image they want to project is in conflict with their core selves, causing them to lash out, mostly at each other. None of them want to be ‘goody-two shoes’, but that doesn’t mean they can’t be helpful and supportive and even friendly to people who act the same way towards them.

And they are all more than willing to do terrible things to people who deserve it. Or who ask for it in the same way that you can’t cheat an honest person. So they’re not really evil after all, although they might be a bit like Gretsella, the Somewhat Wicked Witch of Brigandale. Like Gretsella, the Weyward Sisters are all more than willing to deliver retribution to the deserving. And is that so bad?

Hopefully, we’ll get to find out!

#BookReview: A Fellowship of Games and Fables by J. Penner

Posted on by Marlene Harris | Author : | B Reviews> book reviews
#BookReview: A Fellowship of Games and Fables by J. PennerA Fellowship of Games & Fables (Adenashire, #3) by J. Penner
Format: eARC
Source: supplied by publisher via Edelweiss
Formats available: hardcover, paperback, ebook, audiobook
Genres: cozy fantasy, fantasy, fantasy romance, foodie fiction, romantasy
Series: Adenashire #3
Pages: 295
Published by Poisoned Pen Press on September 9, 2025
Purchasing Info: Author's Website, Publisher's Website, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Bookshop.org, Better World Books
Goodreads

From cold rivalry to hot cocoa and warm hearts.
Jez, a grumpy fennex, wants nothing to do with the cold, snow or bustling winter games descending on the charming town of Adenashire. She’d rather curl up for a nap. But a drunken boast lands her smack in the middle of the festivities and, even worse, fake dating her friend, Taenya, a woodland elf.
Plagued by chronic fatigue and past heartbreak, Jez has long guarded her heart. Not to mention she has a secret she’d rather not share. Yet, Taenya’s warmth and patience begin to melt her icy exterior. Together, the two women tackle challenges (from ice sculpting to scavenger hunts) and their pretend relationship sparks genuine feelings.
With the unwavering support of her friends, and amidst the cozy, festive cheer of winter, Jez discovers that love and acceptance are within reach, even for those who would rather hibernate in the shadows.
Escape to Adenashire for a heartwarming tale of friendship, romance, resilience, and the magical spirit of the season.

My Review:

The Adenashire series has been cozying up to each of the friends who ‘conquered’ the legendary Langheim Baking Battle since the first delightful book in the series, A Fellowship of Bakers & Magic.

At the delicious end of the Baking Battle, although Taenya won the competition, it was the fellowship of Arleta, Doli, Taenya and Jez that collectively walked away with the real prize in that contest – each other’s lifelong friendship.

So they all followed Arleta back to her home in Adenashire. Both because it sounded charming, AND because each of them – except Arleta of course – had a strong desire to make a fresh start somewhere far away from the homes they sorta/kinda ran away from to enter the Baking Battle in the first place.

They’re all adults, so they didn’t EXACTLY run away from home. But they didn’t exactly not, either. They each wanted to start over, on their own, outside the influence of well-meaning but overbearing and VERY influential families who loved them but had made it entirely too clear that they’d be more acceptable if they followed in the family footsteps and remained under the family thumb.

The second book in the series, A Fellowship of Librarians & Dragons, is the dwarf Doli Butterbuckle’s discovery of her happily ever after. That the dwarf falls in love with a librarian who happens to be a gargoyle just added to the story’s charm – especially for this reader.

This third story circles back around to the actual winner of the Baking Battle, the elf Taenya, and the other remaining unmatched member of the Baking Battle fellowship, grumpy fennex Jez. Who begins this entry in the series even grumpier than she usually is.

It’s not merely winter, but it’s winter in Adenashire and the Yule Games are just about to begin – much to Jez’ EXTREME consternation.

As a desert creature, Jez simply hates winter. It’s cold. It’s really, really cold. It snows. The paths ice over. And did I – or rather Jez – mention that it’s COLD?

As if that’s not enough to make a fennex grumpier than usual, Adenashire’s Yule Games are a really big deal, drawing vast numbers of visitors to the cozy little town to either participate or spectate – or speculate – on which team will win the Games this year.

Jez has made very firm plans for this year’s Yule Games. She’s planning to hide her antisocial self inside the bookstore for the entire length of the Games, staying out of the way of the crowds that have invaded her sanctuary, clogging up every street and all of her usual haunts.

That the increased crowds are making her secret and oversensitive ‘scent magic’ so reactive that she’s constantly bombarded with headaches and chronic exhaustion couldn’t possibly be influencing her mood. At all.

Which is why it’s a complete, not so much surprise as outright shock, when a drunken Jez refuses to back down from the challenge of some blowhard, out-of-town Games participants to not just participate but actually win at the side of the elf she’s trying to pretend doesn’t make her feel better just by entering the room.

And that’s how Jez and Taenya decide to take that bet, not just to participate in the Games, but to fake-date their way through the competition. They’ll still be friends – just friends – when the games are over, won’t they?

Sure they will.

Escape Rating B: It may be a bit early for OUR holiday season, but I couldn’t resist the coziness of Adenashire this week. The earlier books this week had plenty of dark moments – although not the same kind of dark – and I was looking for something light and cozy. Places don’t come much lighter and cozier than Adenashire.

(Although Thune in Legends & Lattes and Tawney in Tomes & Tea absolutely are right up there with it, along with Shady Hollow. Also, we’re just at the beginning of fall, and it got hot again around here. The descriptions of Adenashire’s picture perfect chilly winter sounded delightful in comparison.)

The thing I enjoy about series like Adenashire is that it’s a nice visit with friends. I start out wanting to see how everyone is doing. The chance to catch up with the ‘gang’ is ALWAYS worthwhile no matter what else is happening around them. That there’s a lovely story to sink into while catching up is the icing on a very tasty cake. (They’re all bakers. ALL the cakes are tasty. Do NOT read this series while hungry. It comes with recipes!)

The romance this time around is a bit low-key. It takes Taenya and Jez the whole story to admit that they’re in love with each other. Jez has a bit of a case of the “I’m not worthies” of the “I screw up all my relationships” variety, so her part in that is figuring out that her friends accept her as she is – and that Taenya loves her as she is. Also that nobody’s perfect, no matter how together they appear.

Jez’ variety of this particular romantic tangle was interesting in its own way, as she’s suffering from the magical equivalent of chronic fatigue syndrome. Her magic is overwhelming when she uses it (everybody smells all the time, after all) and painful and debilitating when she suppresses it. Her attempts at self-medication have had their own consequences, which is how she gets herself into this mess in the first place.

The games were cute and very winter-appropriate, but what gave the story that extra bit of zing was the little touch of infuriating irritation at the blowhards that tempted her into that bet. Jez was sure that they were cheating the whole way – but she’s naturally suspicious to begin with. Because cozy fantasy tends to be refreshingly light on violence and other forms of criminality, the discovery of what those ‘blowhards’ really were manipulating turned out in the end to be a surprising and delightful bit of business after all of Jez’ signature grumpiness.

Of course the story ends in a happy ever after for all concerned, as well as a marvelous bit of news that is sure to be at the heart of the next book in the series, A Fellowship of Curses & Cats. Arleta’s ‘Fated’, Theo, is planning to open a cat cafe next door to Arleta’s bakery – under the ‘supurrvision’ of his magical feline friend Faylin. What could possibly go wrong?

We’ll certainly see later this season!

#BookReview: A Fellowship of Librarians and Dragons by J. Penner

Posted on by Marlene Harris | Author : | B Reviews> book reviews
#BookReview: A Fellowship of Librarians and Dragons by J. PennerA Fellowship of Librarians & Dragons (Adenashire, #2) by J. Penner
Format: eARC
Source: supplied by publisher via Edelweiss
Formats available: hardcover, paperback, ebook, audiobook
Genres: cozy fantasy, dragons, fantasy, fantasy romance, foodie fiction, romantasy
Series: Adenashire #2
Pages: 304
Published by Poisoned Pen Press on June 3, 2025
Purchasing Info: Author's Website, Publisher's Website, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Bookshop.org, Better World Books
Goodreads

Spilling the tea has never been so cozy…
In the quaint town of Adenashire, Doli Butterbuckle, a people-pleasing sunshine dwarf, is content with her simple tea magic and circle of friends. It’s true she’s never quite lived up to family expectations, but life is just fine...until her parents arrive with an inherited dragon egg and then a charming gargoyle harboring a secret strolls into her life.
As Doli grapples with her newfound responsibility and discovers a long hidden side of herself, she must face an overbearing family, a sinister plot, and a mischievous dragon that refuses to stay out of trouble.
But with the help of her loyal friends and newfound love, Doli embarks on a heartwarming adventure, revealing that embracing her true self is the most enchanting path of all.
Escape to Adenashire for a whimsical, cozy fantasy where every steaming cup of tea holds the promise of inner strength.

My Review:

After scooping up the magically delicious series opener, A Fellowship of Bakers & Magic, I knew it would be impossible for this reader to resist this second book in the Adenashire series. So I didn’t even try,

Who could resist this combination of books and dragons? Certainly not this reader.

This second book is a direct follow up to the ending of Bakers, with the baker contestants from the Langheim Baking Battle following second-place winner Arleta back to her cozy hometown of Adenashire.

The human Arleta has returned home because she loves the place – in spite of the way she’s sometimes been treated as a non-magical human. And because her adopted fathers, the orcs Verdreth and Ervash, are there and she loves them to bits – admittedly fairly large bits – and vice versa. That she’s returned from the Baking Battle with new recipes, new confidence, a new love in her life and a new partner in her fledgling business means that while Arleta may not have won the Baking Battle, she’s still come out on top in every way that matters.

Even better, especially from Arleta’s perspective, the friends she made during the contest followed her home, because Adenashire just sounded like it would be a lot cozier, and more comfortable in more ways than one, than whatever and wherever they came from.

That’s particularly true for dwarf Doli Butterbuckle, a woman with a magical gift for making tea and providing hospitality and comfortable surroundings for all her friends. Even if her innate desire to be a ‘people pleaser’ makes her the one uncomfortable person among the people that she’s made oh-so-comfortable.

Because Doli may be comfortable – mostly, more or less – in her own skin and with her own magical gifts, but that gift is VERY unusual for a dwarf and her loud and overbearing parents seem to never tire of reminding her that she’s unacceptably different from her sisters and not who or what they think she’s supposed to be.

They don’t see the real Doli, they don’t hear the real Doli – mostly because her mother never shuts up about ALL of Doli’s many, many failings – with the result that Doli was more than happy to head to Adenashire and be far away from their loud and constant expressions of disappointment.

That she might just be about to embark upon a relationship that has the potential to put ALL of the romance novels that she loves so much into the shade should be icing on a very tasty cake indeed.

Which is just when she finally opens all the mail that she’s been avoiding for WEEKS to discover that her parents are arriving in Adenashire the very next day and it’s making her miserable. Because they do – even if they don’t REALLY mean to. And Doli’s life has already been upset enough by her family, as her legacy from her late uncle has arrived – and hatched into a rare, adorable, manipulative baby dragon that entirely too many people will do anything to take advantage of.

Including her mother.

Escape Rating B: This series is every bit as comforting as the tea made by Doli’s magic. Even if – as is true in this case – Doli herself isn’t particularly comfortable while she’s making it. Then again, this is very much Doli’s story of becoming comfortable with her magic AND herself – and of finally getting her mother to listen long enough to STFU.

(Doli’s parents – especially her mother – were a bit of a trigger for me. Your reading mileage hopefully varies a LOT.)

Howsomever, as much as Doli’s parents pained her – and me – what they represent seems to, well, represent a big part of what this series is built on. Arleta went to the Baking Battle, however reluctantly, to come into herself.

Doli followed Arleta to Adenashire to be in a place where she can fully come into herself – far away from the outsized shadows that her parents cast over everything. (Based on hints, it also looks like the final two members of the team followed Arleta to Adenashire for the same reason.)

Just as Arleta needed to learn to stand up for herself – with more than a little help from her friends – this time around it’s Doli who needs to learn to make herself seen and heard for who she really is. Which leads to the agency for that transformation – in this case baby dragon Evvy.

Evvy’s part in this story reminded me of The Baby Dragon Cafe, meaning that baby Evvy is every bit as cute AND destructive as the baby dragons in THAT story. (That’s also a hint for a readalike for this particular entry in the series, along with Legends & Lattes,  Can’t Spell Treason without Tea, AND That Time I Got Drunk and Saved a Demon if you don’t mind a LOT more sexytimes with your cozy fantasy.)

The third element that makes this series so cozy is, of course, the romance that develops, in this case between dwarf Doli and gargoyle Sarson. (I’m kinda glad that the sex scenes in this story are strictly fade to black because I don’t think it fits. So to speak. Ahem. Even though Doli and Sarson certainly do. Somehow. Again AHEM.)

I think if I hadn’t already loved A Fellowship of Bakers & Magic the mess with Doli’s parents might have made me bail, but I persevered because I KNEW the good stuff was coming – and it SO did.

The romance between Doli and Sarson was as adorably sweet as Doli herself is, with just enough tension added by her parents and his secrets to make their HEA entirely earned. Evvy, the baby dragon with a BIG purpose was delightful even as she pushed the story forward AND pushed breakables off the table when she didn’t get her share of the deliciously described baked goods.

Most important of all, Doli found her way to herself, to getting her parents to see her as she is, and that she is happy with who she is, while taking on board that she didn’t have to twist herself into a pretzel to please everyone around her so that she could be loved. That she was already loved for exactly, precisely, herself – and had been all along.

I left Doli and her crew with smiles on their faces and mine as well. I smiled even more when the eARC for the third book in this delightful cozy fantasy series, A Fellowship of Games & Fables, popped up within a few minutes of my closing the last page. It will be a sweet treat of a read to pick up this fall.

#BookReview: A Fellowship of Bakers and Magic by J. Penner

Posted on by Marlene Harris | Author : | B Reviews> book reviews
#BookReview: A Fellowship of Bakers and Magic by J. PennerA Fellowship of Bakers & Magic (Adenashire, #1) by J. Penner
Format: eARC
Source: supplied by publisher via Edelweiss
Formats available: hardcover, paperback, ebook, audiobook
Genres: cozy fantasy, fantasy, fantasy romance, foodie fiction, romantasy
Series: Adenashire #1
Pages: 288
Published by Poisoned Pen Press on April 15, 2025
Purchasing Info: Author's Website, Publisher's Website, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Bookshop.org, Better World Books
Goodreads

A human, a dwarf and an elf walk into a bake-off…
In the heart of Adenashire, where elfish enchantments and dwarven delights rule, Arleta Starstone, a human confectionist works twice as hard perfecting her unique blend of baking and apothecary herbs.
So when an orc neighbor secretly enters her creations into the prestigious Elven Baking Battle, Arleta faces a dilemma.
Being magicless, her participation in the competition could draw more scowls than smiles. And if Arleta wants to prove her talent and establish her culinary reputation, this human will need more than just her pastry craft to sweeten the odds.
While competing, she'll set off on a journey of mouthwatering pastries, self-discovery, heartwarming friendships and romance, while questioning whether winning the Baking Battle is the true prize.
Escape to for a delightful cozy fantasy where every twist is a treat and every turn a step closer to home.

My Review:

It sounds like the start of a joke, that opening line in the blurb, “A human, a dwarf and an elf walk into a bake-off…” It’s not a joke at all, it’s the start of a heartwarming cozy fantasy – even if it’s not quite correct in the particulars.

The elf strides in, the dwarf bounces, a fennex skulks in and the human rushes in at the very last second, still not convinced that she belongs in the contest or has even half a chance of making it past the first round.

The elf, the dwarf, and the fennex ‘belong’ in the competition because they all have magic. Although the Langheim Baking Battle began as a competition for elves and there are still plenty of people around who believe that the tone has gone WAY DOWN since they started letting in members of other magical races.

It’s not that entry is technically restricted to those with magic, but everybody ‘knows’ that non-magical bakers like Arleta Starstone somehow never make it into the contest. They must not be considered good enough. Or the game is rigged.

Of course the game is rigged, and Arleta knows it. Because it’s part of the story of her whole entire life that no matter how good her confections are, she’s always going to get the worst spot in the local market and she’s always going to pay the most for it and her potential customers are always going to expect her to discount her prices because ‘everyone’ knows that magical baking is ‘better’.

Whether it is or not. In Arleta’s case, it’s definitely not. Winning the Langheim Baking Battle would prove that to everyone who has ever looked down their magical nose at her – even if they’ve had to look up to do it.

But Arleta has been beaten down too much for too long to even think she has a chance. However, her ogre neighbors, her unofficial adopted fathers Verdreth and Ervash, are certain she has an excellent chance if she just puts herself in the running. So they do it for her.

And with the help of a little bit of unintended misdirection, she gets in. And then proceeds to try and get herself out. But between her dads pushing her from behind, and a very handsome elf encouraging her – and facilitating her participation with travel and transport – she can’t quite make herself refuse.

Although she keeps trying all the way to Langheim. And once she’s standing on that stage, adding her little bit of special savory goodness to the sweetest of recipes, she has all the chances she needs to make it to the top.

With more than a little help and encouragement from the friends she makes along the way.

Escape Rating B: This first book in the Adenashire cozy fantasy series (there are at least three more!) is definitely one of those “book baby” situations. As in, if either Legends & Lattes (or Can’t Spell Treason without Tea) and The Great British Bake Off had a book baby, it would be A Fellowship of Bakers & Magic.

And it would be delicious. There would also be delicious recipes in the back – because there are.

This first entry in the series has a bit of heavy – but delicious – lifting to perform in order to get to the sweet, gooey, tasty center of things. As the series opener, there’s the intro to this fantasy world and especially to Arleta’s home village of Adenashire. Then there’s the plot centered around the Baking Competition, which is where Arleta’s new friends – and the main characters of the other three books – get introduced. And last but absolutely not least there’s the romance between Arleta and the literal elf of her dreams, Theo.

The world Adenashire inhabits is a place where magic is what makes the world go around, and anyone who doesn’t have magic is definitely considered lesser. Humans CAN have magic, some do, but Arleta doesn’t happen to be one of them. So Arleta faces prejudice at pretty much every turn and she’s internalized all those feelings of being ‘less than’ to the point that she expects to be trodden upon at every turn.

The Baking Competition is a chance for her to get out of that mindset – if she can. And it’s a hard slog every step of the way that is not helped by the voice in her head telling her that she it’s wrong to accept help from anyone. That we don’t know where THAT voice originated gave me fits and explains the B rating. It’s not that feelings like that don’t happen to plenty of people and don’t cause internal strife and dramatic tension, it’s rather that they don’t come completely out of nowhere and Arleta already had more than enough pushing her down without piling that on. (YRMMV – your reading mileage may vary)

The competition – and all of the baked in tension of those shenanigans – is lots of fun with lots of stress for everyone. Anyone who loves cooking and baking contest shows is going to find that part a hoot!

Then there’s the romance, which is as sweet as Arleta’s baking while also playing back into the baked in prejudices of this world AND manages to check off a whole bunch of the more fun romantic trope boxes along the way and fill them with flowers. And a cat. Mustn’t forget Faylin because that cat won’t allow that for an instant.

All in all, there’s a LOT to savor in this story. Including those recipes in the back. There’s a recipe for Salted Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies that I’m planning to try. I loved the setting and the setup, enjoyed the baking competition but probably not as much as someone who is really into those shows, adored the group of found family that gathers around Arleta in spite of herself AND finds its way to Adenashire afterwards. I was looking for a sweet treat of a fantasy and this definitely satisfied that craving, so I’ll be back with the next book, A Fellowship of Librarians & Dragons, because I can’t resist either part of that combination!

#BookReview: The Marlow Murder Club by Robert Thorogood

Posted on by Marlene Harris | Author : | B Reviews> book reviews
#BookReview: The Marlow Murder Club by Robert ThorogoodThe Marlow Murder Club (Marlow Murder Club, #1) by Robert Thorogood
Format: eARC
Source: supplied by publisher via Edelweiss
Formats available: hardcover, paperback, ebook, audiobook
Genres: cozy mystery, mystery
Series: Marlow Murder Club #1
Pages: 340
Published by Poisoned Pen Press on January 7, 2021
Purchasing Info: Author's Website, Publisher's Website, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Bookshop.org, Better World Books
Goodreads

To solve an impossible murder, you need an impossible hero…
Judith Potts is seventy-seven years old and blissfully happy. She lives on her own in a faded mansion just outside Marlow, there’s no man in her life to tell her what to do or how much whisky to drink, and to keep herself busy she sets crosswords for The Times newspaper.
One evening, while out swimming in the Thames, Judith witnesses a brutal murder. The local police don’t believe her story, so she decides to investigate for herself, and is soon joined in her quest by Suzie, a salt-of-the-earth dog-walker, and Becks, the prim and proper wife of the local Vicar.
Together, they are the Marlow Murder Club.
When another body turns up, they realise they have a real-life serial killer on their hands. And the puzzle they set out to solve has become a trap from which they might never escape…

My Review:

Being in a murder-y mood this week, I was searching through the virtually towering TBR pile for mysteries, especially mystery series, that I hadn’t dipped into, and lo and behold The Marlow Murder Club popped to the top of the pile.

Recommended, pretty much everywhere as a readalike for The Thursday Murder Club, which I liked very much the second time I tackled it, I decided to give this other Murder Club a try. Even though that readalike recommendation isn’t quite on the nose – if anything Marlow turned out to be a teensy bit closer to An Elderly Lady is Up to No Good, this still turned out to be a fun cozy that fit right into both that murder-y mood and to be the second book this week featuring surprisingly successful amateur detectives aiding, abetting and looked down upon by less than stellar local police.

At least the local police in Marlow have a really good excuse for their less than stellar performance – and they do manage to redeem themselves in the end, which was certainly not the case in Monday’s A Mischief of Rats or its entire series so far.

Let me go back to the beginning – at least the beginning of The Marlow Murder Club.

One evening, eccentric, reclusive Judith Potts hears a murder. Specifically, she hears a gunshot at her nearest neighbor’s house and punts along the Thames from her house to his to see if he’s alright. He’s not – not that she quite knows that at the time.

So she calls it in, the local police come out to their remote corner just outside Marlow, and discover – absolutely nothing.

Judith can’t let that rest, so she goes over the next day – better prepared – and investigates for herself. She discovers something the police missed – her neighbor’s dead body, caught in the rushes, with a bullet hole in the center of his forehead.

The police try to pass it off as an accident – or even suicide – but Judith is having none of THAT. When a second body turns up, complete with forehead-centered bullet hole, and the bullets are proved to be from the same antique pistol, it’s clear that there’s a serial killer in a tiny, peaceful little Home Counties village that has never experienced anything like this. At all. Ever.

The local police, in the person of Detective Sergeant Tamika Malik, are in over their under-equipped, under-trained and under-staffed heads. There should be a Detective Inspector in charge of this case – but none are available and none will be. Malik makes much too convenient a scapegoat if the crimes go unsolved – which is exactly what her superiors expect from her.

But Malik has been shadowed, dogged, and out-investigated by Judith Potts and her two new friends and accomplices, dog-walker Suzie Harris and parson’s wife Becks Starling. They’ve found clues and leads at every turn, while Malik keeps coming up with exactly nothing.

Malik’s desperate, they’re determined. So she drafts them into service as volunteer consultants. Malik was told to do “everything in her power” to get this case solved – and that’s exactly what she does.

That it works, and the way that it works, surprises everyone in Marlow. Especially the killer.

Escape Rating B: Marlow is very cozy, in spite of the murder spree. But about that murder spree…I’ve seen this particular plot device before, so I recognized what was happening REALLY early on. At that point I didn’t have enough of a picture of Marlow to know precisely whodunnit but I knew precisely how it was done much too early on.

The initial suspect was a bit too smug, and resembled a real-life Lucius Malfoy entirely too much to be anything but the villain. Or at least, a villain, and thereby hung the whole, entire, tale.

That being said, the story still worked, not so much as a mystery but definitely as a cozy. The way that the “club” puts itself together was a hoot, as none of the members intend to band together for anything, with anyone, but they can’t resist not just solving the murder but the sense of camaraderie and outright sisterhood they receive from working together.

So it was great watching the gang pull together, and especially for all of these lonely people – and they are ALL lonely, even married Becks – find common cause, common purpose, and much-needed friendship – even if none of them would ever have admitted that they were in desperate need of all of the above.

The other thing I really liked was that, while the local police were completely overwhelmed by a serial killer in their tiny town, the reasons they were overwhelmed were much easier to understand and empathize with than the lackluster performance of the local constabulary in Monday’s book and its series – although I still like that series and intend to continue it.

The police in the Dr. Nell Ward series often seem distracted and incompetent and made more incompetent by their distractions. DS Malik, on the other hand, has been left in this soup very much over her head, knows it, and does a surprisingly good job of finding people to throw her a lifeline. I felt FOR her to the point that just as much as she drafts the “Marlow Murder Club” in as auxiliaries to the investigation, they adopt her as an auxiliary member of their “club”.

As much as the mystery in this first outing was screamingly obvious, I still stuck with the book and outright enjoyed it for the development of the characters and the setting. I’ll certainly be back for the next book in the series, Death Comes to Marlow, the next time I’m in a murder-y mood!

#AudioBookReview: The Mystery Writer by Sulari Gentill

Posted on by Marlene Harris | Author : | audio reviews> audiobooks> B- Reviews> book reviews
#AudioBookReview: The Mystery Writer by Sulari GentillThe Mystery Writer by Sulari Gentill
Narrator: Katherine Littrell
Format: audiobook, eARC
Source: supplied by publisher via NetGalley
Formats available: hardcover, paperback, ebook, audiobook
Genres: mystery, suspense, thriller
Pages: 400
Length: 10 hrs 52 mins
Published by Dreamscape Media, Poisoned Pen Press on March 19, 2024
Purchasing Info: Author's Website, Publisher's Website, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Bookshop.org, Better World Books
Goodreads

There's nothing easier to dismiss than a conspiracy theory―until it turns out to be true.
When Theodosia Benton abandons her career path as an attorney and shows up on her brother's doorstep with two suitcases and an unfinished novel, she expects to face a few challenges. Will her brother support her ambition or send her back to finish her degree? What will her parents say when they learn of her decision? Does she even have what it takes to be a successful writer? What Theo never expects is to be drawn into a hidden literary world in which identity is something that can be lost and remade for the sake of an audience.
When her mentor, a highly successful author, is brutally murdered, Theo wants the killer to be found and justice to be served. Then the police begin looking at her brother, Gus, as their prime suspect, and Theo does the unthinkable in order to protect him. But the writer has left a trail, a thread out of the labyrinth in the form of a story. Gus finds that thread and follows it, and in his attempt to save his sister he inadvertently threatens the foundations of the labyrinth itself. To protect the carefully constructed narrative, Theo Benton, and everyone looking for her, will have to die. 
USA Today bestselling author Sulari Gentill takes readers on a rollercoaster ride in The Mystery Writer, a literary thriller that turns the world of books and authors upside down and where a writer's voice is a thing to be controlled and weaponized, to the peril of everyone who loves a good story.

My Review:

The mystery – and the mystery writer herself – both kick off when a bedraggled, desperate Theodosia Benton knocks on her big brother’s door. Theo is uncertain of her welcome, but when her flight from Canberra fetches her up in Lawrence Kansas, she’s hoping against hope that the one person who has never failed her will rescue her one more time. Even if she and Gus haven’t seen each other in years.

Her hope in her brother is not misplaced. But her arrival pushes a small stone down a long, steep hill that gathers more than enough moss, snow and really big rocks to crush the lives that they are trying to build. And sweeps entirely too many people around them into its destructive path.

Depositing Theo – along with poor Gus and his ginormous dog Horse  – and the heart of the deepest and darkest conspiracy theory that neither of them could have possibly seen coming. Not even their best friend’s family of obsessive, true believing conspiracy nuts.

Escape Rating B-: I picked this up because I LOVED the author’s previous book, The Woman in the Library, and was hoping for more of the same. That isn’t what I got – emphasis on the “I” because I think that the reasons this book didn’t work for me until the very end were a “me” thing that may not be a “you” thing. Before I explain, let me state for the record that the dog is a VERY GOOD BOY and he’s doing FINE at the end of the story.

Even though I loved Horse nearly as much as Theo did, this book drove me bonkers. I was listening to it and it turned into a rage listen, but as much as the whole thing frustrated me no end, I couldn’t stop even though I couldn’t stand another minute. So I switched to text just to find out who done what and how and why a whole lot faster.

The audio was fine, and the narrator did a terrific job of dealing with Gus’ deliberately strong Aussie accent and Theo’s less pronounced one among all their American friends and neighbors. It was the story itself that was making me crazy, to the point where I tried thumbing to the end of the book just so I would know – but it didn’t make sense because things get very, very twisty at the end.

However, that twistiness did manage to redeem a great deal of my frustration, because the macguffin that powers this whole twisted mess that Theo has been dropped into was definitely a WOW to the point where it’s entirely too easy to fall down the rabbit hole of it being real. Really plausible anyway, in spite of itself. Or myself. Or both.

But it definitely middled in a place where it seemed obvious to this reader that there was a malign agency of some kind behind the way that Theo’s life goes so far down the road to hell in that handcart so fast. (Like Wednesday’s audiobook, people just aren’t THAT unlucky unless someone really is out to get them.) So I had a pretty good guess fairly on who was doing the dirty deeds – I just didn’t have the whys, the hows or the wherefores.

Which also frustrated me because I thought that at least one of the main characters, probably not Theo herself but either her older brother Gus or his friend Mac.

And that’s the point where I worked out that the part of the story that was not working out for this reader was that the entire house of cards relies on the protagonist’s innocence and naivete in order to work at all. And since the story is told from her perspective we get a lot of that naivete to the point where I just wanted to shake some sense into her. It’s not that she’s too stupid to live, it’s that she’s young and has led a rather peculiarly sheltered life in the remoter parts of an entirely different country.

Gus or Mac should have had a better perspective on just how high the terrible coincidences were piling up, and just how unlikely that was, as they are both a decade older than Theo and have, particularly in Mac’s case, considerably more knowledge of the way the world really does and doesn’t work. But the way the story works means that they are dealing with most of the events through what Theo tells them, and her naivete bleeds all over everything.

Plus, they are both trying really, really hard to protect her – even from her frequently misguided self.

In the end, I think the whole story and the way that it works can be summed up by the tagline that the most prominent group of conspiracy aficionados uses in their messaging, “We know what we know.”

The full quote, from Nicolaus Copernicus, feels like it’s a key to understanding the conspiracy theorists in the book as well as the book itself and how it hides its real mystery in plain sight.

“To know that we know what we know, and to know that we do not know what we do not know, that is true knowledge.” Clinging to what they know, the conspiracy theorists have no clue about all the many, many things they don’t know. Neither does Theo. And neither, as the book takes us on a not-so-magical mystery tour of the way that Theo’s, Gus’ and Mac’s lives go so very, very wrong, does the reader – at least not until the bitterly climactic end.

Review: Murder and Mendelssohn by Kerry Greenwood

Posted on by Marlene Harris | Author : | A Reviews> book reviews
Review: Murder and Mendelssohn by Kerry GreenwoodMurder and Mendelssohn (Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries, 20) by Kerry Greenwood
Format: ebook
Source: purchased from Amazon
Formats available: hardcover, paperback, ebook, audiobook
Genres: historical fiction, historical mystery, mystery
Series: Phryne Fisher #20
Pages: 338
Published by Poisoned Pen Press on December 4, 2018
Purchasing Info: Author's Website, Publisher's Website, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Bookshop.org, Better World Books
Goodreads

To the accompaniment of heavenly choirs singing, the fearless Miss Phryne Fisher returns in her 20th adventure with musical score in hand. An orchestral conductor has been found dead and Detective Inspector Jack Robinson needs the delightfully incisive and sophisticated Miss Fisher’s assistance to enter a world in which he is truly lost. Hugh Tregennis, not much liked by anyone, has been murdered in a most flamboyant mode by a killer with a point to prove. But how many killers is Phryne really stalking? At the same time, the dark curls, disdainful air and the lavender eyes of mathematician and code-breaker Rupert Sheffield are taking Melbourne by storm. They’ve certainly taken the heart of Phryne’s old friend from the trenches of WWI, John Wilson. Phryne recognizes Sheffield as a man who attracts danger and is determined to protect John from harm. Even with the faithful Dot, Mr. and Mrs. Butler, and all in her household ready to pull their weight, Phryne’s task is complex. While Mendelssohn’s Elijah, memories of the Great War, and the science of deduction ring in her head, Phryne’s past must also play its part as MI6 become involved in the tangled web of murders.

My Review:

Mayhem, music and murder – a combination set to intrigue both the indomitable Phryne Fisher and her legions of fans. A legion to which I am more than happy to belong – just because of delightfully complex mysteries like this one.

This entry in the series was particularly delicious because, as several of the characters remark during the course of the investigations, no one is going to mourn either of the actual murder victims. There are no grieving family members to notify in either case – in fact – no one is grieving at all.

The first thing both victims have in common is that they sowed contempt and disgust wherever they went. So it’s not a question of determining possible motives for either murder – it’s a matter of winnowing down a rather long list.

For Detective Inspector Jack Robinson, who is most definitely NOT the Jack Robinson of the TV series, it’s a case that he fully admits is not in his area of expertise – so he solicits his friend Phryne Fisher’s help.

Because everything that happens, whether in high or low places, is always in the bailiwick of Phryne and her friends. One way or another.

Very much like the case in yesterday’s book, there are so many possible motives and suspects for these murders that it’s difficult for even Phryne Fisher to narrow down just who done what to whom. Usually, when Phryne gets involved, she sees through the thicket of obfuscation and the churning sea of red herrings to determine who the guilty party might be.

With this case, it’s beginning to look like the long arm of coincidence might really have a hand in the affair, to the point where there might be more potential murderers than there are victims.

And doesn’t that make for a fine mess for Phryne to unravel – with more than a little help from her many, many friends. Especially since there’s an old and very dear one caught in the middle.

Escape Rating A: This turned out to be one of the longer and more convoluted entries in Phryne Fisher’s catalog of adventures – and I was just in the right mood for it. Phryne is always a comfort read for me, and that’s just what I was looking for, making this very much the right book at the right time.

While I came to the Phryne Fisher books from the Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries TV series, they are not the same in spite of their shared roots. Because the white-hot chemistry between Phryne and Jack in the onscreen version was never intended in the books and does not exist. Jack in the books is an older, experienced detective who is happily married and comfortable as an adjunct to Phryne’s menagerie of a household. He has come to be a friend and to accept her help willingly but that’s all there is.

Phryne in the books is intended as something a bit like a female James Bond – without the license from the Crown. She’s a complex character with a deep, rich history who has walked through a lot of dark places during her service in World War I. A darkness that she is not always able to put behind her – and does reach out for her in this entry in the series.

The mystery in Murder and Mendelssohn, while it is complex in some ways it isn’t what gives this story its depth. What gave this one both its heart and its zing was the way that it called back to Phryne’s service as an ambulance driver in World War I and her post-war stint in the intelligence service.

A dear friend from those bad old days in the trenches has arrived in Melbourne with an insufferable man who thinks he’s Sherlock Holmes. And he might be. But he’s also dismissive of everyone in the world because they aren’t as intelligent as he is. Of course he’s wrong, both in that Phryne is every bit as smart as he is, and being an arsehole to every single person you meet is no way to go through life AND you miss learning a lot of things you really need to know.

That her old friend is in love with this jackass, and that someone is out to kill one or both of them just adds to Phryne’s tasks in this mystery. She needs to solve the murders that Jack brought her, keep her old friend alive AND get the arsehole to notice that other people are human and worth just a bit of courtesy. Enough to appreciate that her dear friend John Wilson is in love with him and either love him back or let him go. If any of them survive the bit of their collective past that seems to be out to get them.

So a LOT happening, and a ton of fun in the resolution, with more than a bit of derring-do and just a soupçon of bittersweetness. A thoroughly delightful serving of Phryne Fisher’s fascinating brew. And I loved every minute of it!

Phryne is a comfort read for me, so I’ve been steadily working my way through the series whenever I need something guaranteed to let me lose myself in a good story in a fully-realized world. Next up in my journey with book-Phryne is Death in Daylesford, but I just learned that there is a new-to-me audiobook available, Tamam Shud. I’ll be diving straight into that as soon as I finish my current listen!

Review: The Woman in the Library by Sulari Gentill

Posted on by Marlene Harris | Author : | A Reviews> book reviews
Review: The Woman in the Library by Sulari GentillThe Woman in the Library by Sulari Gentill
Narrator: Katherine Littrell
Format: audiobook, eARC
Source: supplied by publisher via NetGalley
Formats available: hardcover, paperback, ebook, audiobook
Genres: mystery, suspense, thriller
Pages: 288
Length: 8 hours and 58 minutes
Published by Poisoned Pen Press on June 7, 2022
Purchasing Info: Author's Website, Publisher's Website, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Bookshop.org, Better World Books
Goodreads

In every person's story, there is something to hide...
The ornate reading room at the Boston Public Library is quiet, until the tranquility is shattered by a woman's terrified scream. Security guards take charge immediately, instructing everyone inside to stay put until the threat is identified and contained. While they wait for the all-clear, four strangers, who'd happened to sit at the same table, pass the time in conversation and friendships are struck. Each has his or her own reasons for being in the reading room that morning—it just happens that one is a murderer.
Award-winning author Sulari Gentill delivers a sharply thrilling read with The Woman in the Library, an unexpectedly twisty literary adventure that examines the complicated nature of friendship and shows us that words can be the most treacherous weapons of all.

My Review:

The mystery in The Woman in the Library is like one of those Russian nesting dolls. It’s a mystery inside a mystery inside yet another mystery.

Mystery writer Winifred (Freddie) Kincaid is sitting at one of the long reading tables in Boston Public Library’s Central Library on Boylston Street staring up at the ceiling for inspiration for her next mystery. When the ceiling fails to inspire, she observes her neighbors at the long table, and begins constructing a story around her three nearest neighbors, who she labels “Freud Girl”, “Heroic Chin” and “Handsome Man”.

Then they all hear a scream from a nearby room. As they wait at their table for security to investigate, they strike up a conversation. The characters on Freddie’s page become real people to her, and the story of who they really are becomes the second story.

But there’s a story wrapped around that, as we see correspondence from a writer named Leo, who seems to be making comments on the story of Freddie and her three new friends, Marigold, Whit and Cain. Now Freddie isn’t the author, Hannah is the author and Freddie and her friends are just a story while “Freud Girl” and her pals are the story within the story.

However, we don’t see the mysterious mystery writer’s responses to Leo’s commentary, so we don’t know if Leo is really writing to a fellow author or if he’s just making it all up.

But we do read the chapters about Freddie and her new friends as they form a surprisingly tight little group. The more they learn about each other, the more we learn about them. Cain McLeod, AKA Handsome Man, is an author like Freddie. Whit Metters AKA Heroic Chin is a law student determined to fail in order to avoid spending the rest of his life under his mother’s thumb as a member of the family law firm, while Marigold AKA Freud Girl is a graduate psychology student who seems to be in love with Whit as well as obsessively intrusive about the entire group.

And then it all goes a bit pear-shaped, as someone starts sending threatening messages to Freddie. The situation escalates when Whit is attacked and Cain’s past as a convicted murderer is brought to light even as Freddie realizes that she’s in love with Cain as much as Marigold is with Whit.

But along the way the comments on the manuscript from the mysterious Leo get creepier and creepier. The reader starts wondering about just how much of everything is either going on in Leo’s head – or is being caused by the increasingly unhinged would-be author.

That’s when all the stories inside the stories all blow up at once and we finally are able to start winding the ball of string that we thought was rolling in a straight line – only to discover that we’ve been wandering through a maze all along.

Escape Rating A: I would have loved to stick with the audio of this, because the narrator was doing an excellent job with the large cast and especially with all the accents. I just ran out of time and switched to the text. But the narrator was very good and I’d be happy to listen to her again. She did a particularly terrific Australian accent – unless she is Australian in which case she did several terrific and different American accents!)

That the narrator did such a good job differentiating the characters made it easy for the listener to distinguish who was speaking and or writing as the story twisted and turned. Because this is definitely one of those mysteries that twists and turns and doubles back on itself until the reader doesn’t know which end is up, down or sideways in the story, the story within the story, or even the story within that story. Or even which story is the story and which is supposed to be real life.

We don’t really see Freddie’s story about Freud Girl, Handsome Man and Heroic Chin, and at first it seems like Leo is commenting on the story we’re not seeing. That particular deception doesn’t last long, only for it to be replaced by questions about whether Leo is really communicating with his fellow author Hannah or whether he’s deluding himself and/or us because we never see Hannah’s side of the correspondence.

Once we do, the situation gets even crazier – and possibly so does Leo. At first his comments just seem very meta, literature commenting on literature. Then he seems obsessive and we start wondering whether he’s a true colleague or just a crazed stalker-fan. In other words, was the reference to Stephen King’s Misery a bit of foreshadowing or just a red herring?

But the story of Freddie and her new friends also gets more compelling – in spite of Leo’s increasingly creepy commentary. And even though we know that Freddie is a creation of some author’s imagination, we still become completely invested in her budding romance with a man who might be a serial killer. Or might just be the victim of an elaborate frame.

Freddie likens her own creative process to boarding a bus and watching as the characters drive that bus to a place or places unknown. Freddie’s story careens all over the road. She’s the only character we don’t suspect might be the murderer. There’s enough of a stew of clues and red herrings to make any explanation plausible.

Which is what makes this thing so damn much fun. We know it’s a story, so as much as we are invested in Freddie’s life, we also know it’s not real or serious. Leo, on the other hand, might possibly be both. Whatever conclusions we thought we had come to, in the end the resolution of all the mysteries is cathartic and surprising. It’s like arriving at the end of a roller coaster ride, smiling and laughing because it was fun not in spite of the thrills and near-spills, but because of them, even though our legs are still a bit wobbly as we depart. And because we feel just that tiny bit of astonishment that we survived everything that was thrown our way. Although there’s a ghost of a hint of a possibility that maybe neither story is truly over.

And isn’t that just a chilling way to end a mystery!

Review: Unnatural Habits by Kerry Greenwood

Posted on by Marlene Harris | Author : | A- Reviews> book reviews
Review: Unnatural Habits by Kerry GreenwoodUnnatural Habits (Phryne Fisher, #19) by Kerry Greenwood
Format: eARC
Source: supplied by publisher via Edelweiss
Formats available: hardcover, paperback, ebook, audiobook
Genres: historical fiction, historical mystery, mystery
Series: Phryne Fisher #19
Pages: 348
Published by Poisoned Pen Press on October 1, 2012
Purchasing Info: Author's Website, Publisher's Website, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Bookshop.org
Goodreads

The decidedly raven-haired Miss Phryne Fisher returns to delve deep into the dark side of Melbourne, Australia.

It's 1929, and girls are going missing. Little, pretty golden-haired girls. And they're not just pretty. Three of them are pregnant, poor girls from the harsh confines of the Magdalene Laundry. People are getting nervous.

Polly Kettle, a pushy, self-important girl reporter with ambition and no sense of self preservation, decides to investigate and promptly goes missing herself.

It's time for Phryne and Dot to put a stop to this and find Polly Kettle before something quite irreparable happens to all of the missing girls. It's all piracy and dark cellars, convents and plots, murder and mystery...and Phryne finally finds out if it's true that blondes have more fun.

My Review:

I was looking for a book where I would sorta/kinda know what I was in for, and one in which I could sink without a trace for a few hours. I realized that I hadn’t looked in on Phryne for a while (my goodness it’s been over a year!) so I took myself off and into the next book in the series and I most definitely got exactly what I was hoping for.

The mystery, actually the multiple mysteries, in Unnatural Habits take Phryne to dark corners of Melbourne where a lesser woman would fear to tread – if she could bring herself to even acknowledge that she knew about most of them.

But Phryne doesn’t care what other people think about much of anything, including, most especially herself. So when she sees a young woman about to be beaten up by a brace of thugs in one of the less salubrious parts of town, Phryne does not hesitate even a moment to weigh up the possible consequences.

After all, she knows that her lover, Lin Chung, has assigned several of his men to keep watch over her when she travels into parts of town where angels and demons alike would fear to tread. So Phryne rescues the young woman, Lin Chung’s men “explain” to the bullyboys the error of their ways and Phryne finds herself in the middle of a case that begins with missing pregnant women not even the police are investing much effort in searching for.

When the tally of the missing grows to include actresses looking for a break, very young – and blonde – daughters of the middle class, and even the young woman Phryne rescued – who turns out to be a newspaper reporter hunting for her first big scoop – Phryne calls on her friends in some very low places indeed. Where she manages to air the dirty laundry of the princes of the church, laundry that seems to be wrapped around the mangles of the church-sponsored workhouse known as the Magdalene Laundry.

In the end, Phryne commits piracy – with more than a bit of help from Bert and Ces – in order to bring justice in a case that no one is willing to admit needed to be solved.

Escape Rating A-: Phryne Fisher is a fascinating character because her conscience is explicitly NOT the voice of society, her parents, other people or any kind of powers-that-be telling her what she SHOULD or should not be doing because she’s a woman. Or for any other reason whatsoever. Phryne does what she pleases, however she pleases, because she can. She’s been rich and she’s been poor and she’s very much aware that being rich is not only better but that it gives her license to do the necessary without worrying about anyone’s approval.

And that’s important to this case because the missing women she is looking for are so-called “fallen” women. The Magdalene Laundry was a real place, and like so many of the charitable institutions operated by the Catholic Church in many places, it was horrifically abusive. The women sent there were unwed mothers who were expected to work under slave labor conditions until they got close to their due dates, when they were shipped off to rural “lying in” homes that could be just as abusive until they gave birth. Their babies were taken away without the women’s consent and put up for adoption.  Or they were if they survived the cruel treatment inflicted upon their mothers.

That three of these women managed to escape before their babies were born isn’t a surprise. That no one seriously wants to look for them is unfortunately even less of one. The theories for their disappearance – as ludicrous as most of those theories are – cause Phryne to search among the demimonde of Melbourne to make sure that they’re not in a brothel – and equally that none of the brothels or other private houses of pleasure will be blamed for their disappearance – because both are all too possible. Likewise, no one is looking for the missing actresses, because actresses are assumed to be prostitutes whether they are or not.

That Phryne is not just acquainted with Melbourne’s fleshpots but likes the people who work in these establishments considerably more than most people of so-called “polite” parts of society is not a surprise for Phryne but certainly would be for anyone in the upper or middle classes. Part of what makes Phryne so refreshing is that her internal voice – and frequently her external one – is not just clever and witty but is unequivocally pragmatic and remarkably free of prejudice in regards to race, religion or sexual orientation. For the most part she takes people as she finds them. Her most scathing commentaries are saved for hypocrites, pretenders and fakers and I love her all the more for it.

I’m probably belaboring this point by now, but if you come to the Phryne Fisher books in the hopes of seeing more of Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries, you’re probably going to be disappointed. But if you’re looking at the books for a sparkling, witty historical mystery with a take-charge female protagonist who strides through her world doing her best to make it better by ignoring social norms, taking no prisoners and puncturing as many of the pomposities of the powers-that-be as she possibly can, then Phryne is still very much your cuppa.

She certainly is mine. So I’ll be back the next time I’m searching for Phryne’s particular brand of derring-do with Murder and Mendelssohn. There’s only one more book in the series (so far) after that, so I’ll be stretching this little pleasure out as far as I can stand!