Storymusing: The Twyford Code by Janice Hallett

 

The Twyford Code

by Janie Hallett

The theme for our book club in July was “something from your to be read pile.” A friend had recently read The Twyford Code and spoken so enthusiastically about it that I immediately added it to be my “to be read” file and picked it up for this month.

Smithy is out of jail after a prolonged incarceration, and still on probation. He has a crappy job and his adult son doesn’t really want any contact with him. He begins to record his thoughts on a mystery that started years ago when he found a book by Edith Twyford on a bus and took it to school. His teacher snatched it up and began reading it to the class, telling them there was a code in it. Then she disappears on a class outing and Smithy never let go of that mystery. Now he’s determined to get to the bottom of The Twyford Code and find out what happened to his teacher.

In the beginning, I confess I had some trouble settling into this book, due to the format. It is told through the guise of audio recordings by Steven “Smithy” Smith on an old smart phone his estranged son has given him. Those recordings have been transcribed by an automated process, complete with phonetic spellings of some words or outright misspellings. One simple example is Kos in place of ‘cause, Or the word “mustard” in place of “must have.” Those were not hard to figure out, in context. “Bore Moth” in place of Bournemouth took a bit longer.

I think my trouble getting into the beginning goes a little deeper than that though. Because the entries are someone talking into a phone using a voice recording app, the story is being told to us instead of action being described.

Further, there are places where a conversation is recorded between Voice 1 and Voice 2, back and forth. In writer’s group, we call this “talking heads” — two voices carrying on a conversation but no physical actions or setting to ground the reader. You can’t really picture it in your mind.

I’m really glad I stuck with it. This turned out to be a fascinating mystery with plenty of action and many twists and turns. There are revelations upon revelations regarding Smithy’s family and his previous work with a crime family.

The twist at the end was magnificent. I would highly recommend this one.

Storymusing Book Review: Pranks, Poitin, and Pucas by Rowan Dillon

 

Pranks, Poitín, and Púcas: A Skye O'Shea Paranormal Cozy Mystery (The Skye O'Shea Paranormal Cozy Mystery Series Book 3)

By Rowan Dillon

Skye O’Shea inherited a lovely old pub in Ireland from her Gran, in the coastal town of Ballybas, but she also inherited the task of protecting the town from the Good Folk.

But the renovations seem to spark with trouble. It doesn’t help that Skye seems to catastrophize but that’s part of the nature of preparing for the worst that comes with surviving trauma in life.

The writing style draws the reader onward with the trials and tribulations of finding your place in a new country, along with renovations, and permit applications to run a bar.

Little things seem to keep happening – wiring sparking up, her new friend exhibiting very odd behavior, and creepy guys in stores.

Along with the usual problems, Skye has an abusive ex who shows up to let her know SHE can’t live without him, but Skye is pretty sure she can.

Of course, it’s only going to get worse as Samhain draws near.

The descriptions are lovely, like the town of Bantry that Skye visits with her friend, Jess. “Bantry’s charm unfolded in a lively mix of colorful shop fronts painted in rich reds, bright yellows, and sea-blues….”

The pace is lively and I couldn’t wait to get back to the book at lunch every day to read a little more.

I would highly recommend this charming series.

 

I’ve also read, or am reading, a few other books.

I’ve just finished Acqu Alta by Donna Leon, which brought Commissario Guido Brunetti back in contact with some interesting characters and some scary ones against the backdrop of a rainy season called Aqua Alta that raises the water level ominously in Venice. It’s a perfect setting and I just adore this character, a thoughtful policeman who is also a loving husband and nurturing father.

I’m also listening to another Martin Walker, The Resistance Man, bringing me back to the delightful Dordogne region of France with Chief of Police, Bruno. Life is good for Bruno but politics and affairs of the heart bring complications for him.

Lastly, I’m reading The Twyford Code by Janice Hallett. It’s an unusual stream of consciousness book from the perspective of a semiliterate former conman written under the format of audio files he records into an old phone given to him by his adult son. There are misspellings based on how transcription software often gets things wrong and it has been very interesting so far. A little bit conspiracy theory, a little bit mystery, and a little bit thriller. I wasn’t sure about the book at first, but it has held my interest and I can’t wait to see where it goes. 

Storymusing - A Colorful Scheme (A Pen & Ink Mystery Novel) by Krista Davis

A Colorful Scheme: A Pen & Ink Mystery Novel

by Krista Davis

Our book club theme for June was “Secrets & Lies.” This one fell solidly into that category, but with a fairly lighthearted manner, at least as much as murder can be. The cover itself is a “Color-It-Yourself” cover. I’m thinking I might do a little coloring this weekend now that I’m done with reading the book. (But I also like to pass books on, so maybe not.)

Our amateur sleuth is Florrie Fox, a bookstore manager and coloring book creator. She lives on the grounds of the Maxwell Mansion, and her boss, Professor Maxwell, also owns the bookstore.

As the book opens, her boss is getting remarried in a lavish wedding. Little bit of a hitch, the bride is missing. Florrie soon finds her under very odd circumstances. But the party gets underway, with the wedding as a surprise to most of the party goers.

The surprise for the party throwers is a dead body in the swimming pool, come morning. It’s one of the guests and there’s a little more to his death than drowning.

The book has a warm tone with details of the surroundings and dress and food of a wedding. But there are also secrets abounding, from the innocuous, to those simply made up in the minds of people like the wannabe reporter, Cara, and understandably suspicious police officers.

As with any cozy mystery, there’s a second body drop. This one is more immediately identifiable as a murder, and somewhat gruesome. The bumbling nature of the police officer investigating is a tiny bit overdone, imho.

There’s a light romance too, as Florrie is dating a handsome police officer named Eric. There’s even a butler named Mr. Dubois, but I was impressed with how fully his character is treated as a person instead of simply window dressing.

It’s a very privileged world, and the author does gloss over the financial aspects of running a business, especially one that seems as busy as this bookstore. Do people still leave keys outside where anyone could find them? I’m sure some do, but it seems a bit convenient.

I really did enjoy this story and it would make a lovely light, summer read for anyone. I recommend for cozy mystery readers. 

 

Storymusing Review: Vera Wong's Unsolicited Advice for Murderers by Jesse Q. Sutanto

 

Vera Wong’s Unsolicited Advice for Murderers

by Jess Q. Sutanto

I was perusing our library’s cart of returned mysteries when I came across Vera Wong’s Unsolicited Advice for Murderers. It looked good, and the book recommendation on the cover from Elle Cosimano, another favorite humorous mystery author, clinched the deal.

Vera Wong runs ‘Vera Wang’s World-Famous Teahouse’ in San Francisco. Unfortunately, the teahouse has gone out of fashion and she only has one customer left. Vera is a lonely widower whose only son is too busy to spend time with her. She texts him frequently, though he doesn’t often respond, and thrives on her routine of walking daily and searching the internet. Surprisingly, it isn’t an online scam that brings trouble to her door.

One morning she gets up and goes downstairs to find a man named Marshall has broken into her teahouse and died on the floor. Vera isn’t too happy with how the police handle the situation and decides to investigate on her own. She starts by placing an obituary for Marshall in the paper to draw the guilty party back to the scene of the crime.

Her plan works and four people show up— Rikki, Sana, Oliver, and Julia, carrying her daughter Emma. Rikki says he is a reporter for Buzzfeed and Sana says she runs a true crime podcast. Oliver is most clearly Marshall’s twin brother. Julia is Marshall’s wife, though he left her the day before.

It is less of a mystery to the reader about why these people are here than it is to Vera, because we hear the story from their perspectives as well. (It also makes it seem unlikely that one of them is the killer, in my opinion.)

As I read further in this book, there were a few things that required a suspension of disbelief. Primary is that Vera makes these amazing teas, seeming to know exactly what you need, but she only has one customer. Not one other tea lover has found her and become a fan, telling other tea lovers they know about it? That seems a bit odd. Tea drinkers make up a hefty percentage of the population.

That being said, I still loved this novel. The writing just drew me in and allowed me to suspend disbelief.

And you can’t help intensely disliking the person who was murdered. The mystery of who murdered him plays a lean second fiddle to the master machinations of Vera as she maneuvers people into talking about themselves and the relationships she helps bring to life.

I recently came across a post in a book forum asking for books that feel like a big hug. As strange as it may seem to put a murder mystery in this category, I think it applies to this one.

I began to wonder if this was even a mystery? About two thirds of the way through, though I knew Marshall was a jerk, I wasn’t sure he was murdered. He certainly could have been, but it might have been an accident, and I had real trouble believing that any of the people Vera considered a suspect, could actually have killed Marshall.

Well, I definitely didn’t see the truth that came out in the end. I highly recommend this book.

Storymusing Review: The Wormhole Cafe by G.H. Monroe

 

The Wormhole Cafe 

by G.H. Monroe

Our book group theme for April was "Travel." We allow our members to interpret the themes as broadly or loosely as they like. Time travel seemed like a good option to me.

The Wormhole Café. I've been looking forward to the release of this book since I read the first draft nearly ten years ago. I do know the author from my writer's group, but I will stand by my assertion that this is a very fine example of the genre. (I even know the closet in our local coffee shop where the wormhole is set.)

At one point, I accidentally left my copy at work and really wanted to continue reading at home. I thought to check our library Hoopla database and was very pleased to find it was there. Yay!

The characters are well rounded and engaging, drawing from a diverse group in a large town. Their voices are strong and distinctive. I could picture these characters easily.

Stacy, the first of our known time travelers, and is a teenager. She goes into the past where the vast majority of our characters reside. She’s had a hard time in her young life and is self-reliant, but she could use a friend. Enter Tess Yancey.

Tess is a part-time barista at a coffee shop and a part-time receptionist at a law office. Her  voice is pitch perfect for a good-hearted young woman with some self-assurance. Her chosen mission into the past is not for herself, and it’s not an emotionally easy one.

I LOVE the progression of the lawyer character that Tess works for, Gabe Denkenberger. He's a good guy though a bit pragmatic, in ways both slightly sleazy and noble.

There’s also Chief Corbett of the police, a little world weary, and has been fighting the good fight for decades. He’s a thoughtful person who wants to see justice done. But he also has something he wants for himself, and it’s not money.

There are a host of other characters that play small to moderate roles. Monroe did a wonderful job juggling and balancing then tying together all the varied story lines. 

Those story lines touch on some of the horrors of present day society. There is also suspense and even a mystery or two that are being solved.  There has to be a reason for these people to time travel and try to change the past, after all. But even the most horrific of the events only lasts two pages in the book. Then they become a motivation for the characters.

Nathan Jobe came home to find his family had been murdered. This broke his heart and mind. Tess Yancey is determined to stop it. But who killed Nathan’s family? Likewise, Chief Corbett could never forget the case of a child who disappeared. Who took her? His investigation will show him that he didn’t even have all the pieces.

And like life there is so much more to this novel than those story lines. There are relationships and friendships built between the characters that build through their interactions. It is a briskly paced story of many layers.

There are a small handful of typographical errors, but it really didn't impede my enjoyment of the story. I would have liked a little more spacing between the lines of text and a little more space in the gutter of the book, but I wouldn’t miss this book over that.

In the end, it is a very uplifting book. 

Storymusing Review: A Fatal Feast at Bramsford Manor Darci Hannah

 

A Fatal Feast at Bramsford Manor

A Food & Spirits Mystery

by Darci Hannah

Our theme for March was “Feasts and Feasting” at my thematic book group so I went to our handy Hoopla catalog and searched. This cozy mystery popped up and it sounded both intriguing and relaxing.

Bridget “Bunny” McBride is a chef on a food network. She loves her job but her boss is a bit jealous of her popularity and offers her the opportunity to have her own show – Food & Spirits. She’s led to believe it will be a travel show where she will work with the food of the place she is visiting and her co-host will handle the “spirits.”

Her obvious assumption is that spirits means alcohol. Of course, it has another meaning. One which Bunny is not okay with. You see, Bunny died in a boating accident in her home country of Scotland when she was about eighteen, but was revived. Her twin brother did not survive. 

It isn’t until she arrives at a meeting about the upcoming show that she learns what is really going on. She will be making meals to entice the “spirits” into manifesting while her co-host, ghost hunter Brett, tries to get proof of their existence. 

This is the last thing Bunny wants to be involved with, but she is in too deep to back out now. She is particularly unhappy to learn their “psychic medium” Giff is no medium at all, but an actor. Her own gran actually is a medium, so Bunny knows how real and serious this is. 

Bunny goes with the team to Bramsford Manor in England and throws herself into the cooking, determined to avoid the ghost side of things. Of course, they stick her in the very bedroom where the “Mistletoe Bride” is purported to manifest.” (That was a bit of a plot hole to me since the ghost hunting team should want to set up and monitor equipment in there.)

It becomes even more serious when a present day inhabitant of Bramsford Manor is murdered with one of Bunny’s chef knives, and Bunny becomes a suspect.

One of the really bright spots in this book is Bunny’s gran, who she calls to bail her out when she is arrested as the main suspect in the murder. Gran arrives and helps set things to right, getting the show back on course.

Another thing that I really liked about the book was that while Bunny can be a little overwrought she doesn’t just lie down and take it, she fights back.

Overall, this is a fun romp of a paranormal cozy mystery. More than anything, this story reminds me of Scooby Doo, where the whole “gang” is investigating the murder.

The mystery is well developed with a real investigation going on and lots of good interaction between the characters, as well as misdirection.

The actual writing itself could use a little more editing, but it didn't keep me from enjoying the story.

The writing and the reader on the audio can be rather melodramatic, but it certainly held my attention. I don’t think I’ll listen to another one right away, but I would certainly come back to it when I need something light to take my mind off other things.

Storymusing Review: Death at La Fenice by Donna Leon

Death at La Fenice: a Novel of Suspense

Comissario Guido Brunetti #1

by Donna Leon

I find it funny that the author only wrote this book as a joke then put it aside before submitting it to a contest and winning. Now it’s the first book in a long running series (33 as of 2024) that has been made into a television series.

Comissario Guido Brunetti of the Venice police is called in to investigate when the world-renowned conductor Helmut Wellauer is found dead partway through an opera.

I really liked the organic way that Brunetti followed leads and pursued avenues of investigation with very few leads. He has questions, he gets answers, and those lead to new questions. He knows how to handle people and uses, not exactly psychology, but knowledge of human nature. He observes, and he remembers.

Brunetti’s forthright pursuit of truth is a wonderful foil to some of the other characters. Wellauer’s widow is significantly younger than he, but she seems to have truly loved him. And yet, there is something off about her reactions. Likewise with the star of the opera, Flavia Petrelli, and her companion, Brett Lynch.

Brunetti delves into Wellauer’s actions during the war in order to better understand his character, and learns some dark truths.

These questions lead him to Clemenza Santina, a former singer who worked with Wellauer long ago. I really felt the bitterness of the old lady having lost her family and being all alone. Perhaps part of that is the setting – the cold damp of her little apartment with the narrow hallway leading to a chair where she sits covered in old shawls.

There is subtle humor as well, as in the description of the doctor who confirms the conductor is dead at the opera “She pulled in a deep breath of smoke and glanced down at her watch. Mickey’s left hand stood between the ten and the eleven, and his right was just on seven.” A doctor at the opera smoking and wearing a Mickey Mouse watch? Okay.

One of the most interesting images to me was that of Brunetti walking through the streets of Venice in a thick fog and having to reach out to know where the wall is. I imagine that a lot of people could end up in a canal over time due to intoxication.

What led to the death is barely hinted at fairly early on, but we don’t really know until very close to the end. Also, who exactly killed him is a surprise and yet not. I had begun to suspect about halfway through.

I would highly recommend this as an atmospheric and well written police procedural. I’ll definitely read more in the series.