Mar 25, 2018

Sunday Salon: A Kitchen in Havana and a Coffeehouse in NYC

Still waiting for spring. There is no new greenery to speak of in the yard, but the sun has come out the past few days!Hope for spring!

Two new books for review:
Death Comes in Through the Kitchen
Death Comes In Through the Kitchen by Teresa Dovalpage
March 20, 2018; Soho Press
Genre: mystery set in Havana, Cuba
Set in Havana during the Black Spring of 2003, a charming but poison-laced culinary mystery reveals the darker side of the modern Revolution, complete with authentic Cuban recipes (publisher)

Shot in the Dark (Coffeehouse Mystery #17)
Shot in the Dark by Cleo Coyle
April 17, 2018; Berkley
Genre: Coffeehouse Mystery #17
A new smartphone dating game turns the Village Blend into a hookup hot spot, until one dark night, when a gunshot leaves a dead body behind and the landmark coffeehouse becomes the center of a whole new scene--a crime scene. (publisher)

Finished reading:
Blue Light, Yokohama, Inspector Iwata #1
Author: 
Setting: Tokyo
Genre: mystery, police procedural
Source: library book
My comments:
A new mystery series with a very sympathetic main character, Inspector Iwata of Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department. A complex plot involving cults, murder, and corruption. I'm looking forward to the second in the series!


Elizabeth Is Missing by Emma Healey
June 10, 2014; Harper
Genre: mystery, thriller

My comments:
A surprising main character, Maud is in her late seventies or early eighties, is increasingly forgetful, and seems to get more disoriented as the book progresses. However, she remembers her childhood clearly, and her missing sister, Sukey, who left home and never returned. Maud is obsessed with finding her elderly friend, Elizabeth, who doesn't answer her phone and is not at her home.

Between periods of forgetfulness, Maud clings to a few memories - her missing friend Elizabeth, and her memories of childhood and Sukey. She pieces bits of items and clues together and her persistence pays off, even after the police have written her off as just a forgetful, demented lady who has to be humored when she insists on finding Elizabeth.

With her patient daughter Helen and her young granddaughter Katy, Maud eventually points the way to solving a murder. Engrossing and unusual. the book is being made into a TV movie by the BBC.

Ebook borrowed from the library. 

An Event in Autumn (Kurt Wallander, #9.5)
An Event In Autumn by Henning Mankell
August 12, 2014, Vintage
Genre: police procedural, crime fiction
Source: library book
My comments: 
Enjoyable police procedural with a Swedish policeman whose personal characteristics make him endearing. I have read two in the Wallander series and looking forward to the others.
What books are you reading this week?
The Sunday Post  hosted by The Caffeinated Bookreviewer,  It's Monday, What Are You Reading? by Book Date., and Mailbox Monday.

36 comments:

  1. Looks like some great books. I want to read An Event In Autumn and Shot in the Dark. I hope you enjoy your new books. Have a great week!

    Mary my #SundayRoundup

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  2. I love the mysteries here!! Death Comes in through the Kitchen and Shot in the Dark are now on my want to read list!! I enjoy good mysteries.
    http://justmeandmyblogreviews.blogspot.com/2018/03/stacking-shelves_24.html

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    1. Reading Death Comes in Through the Kitchen right now. Great setting, in Havana!

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  3. I loved Elizabeth Is Missing...and the Cleo Coyle books are fun. Have a great week, and here are MY WEEKLY UPDATES


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    1. So glad I found out about that book, Elizabeth Is Missing.

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  4. I haven't tried Henning Mankell. Wonder what his mysteries are like.

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    1. He is a good writer, Tea. Not too many subplots - he sticks to the crime he is writing about and doesn't fool about.

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  5. Elizabeth is Missing sounds perfect for my current psychological thriller obsession :)

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    1. The book is good, especially the main character Maud who is suffering from dementia but determined to find her friend.

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  6. I loved Elizabeth is Missing. Have a great week and enjoy your new books!

    Aj @ Read All The Things!

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    1. I enjoyed it too, such an unusual main character.

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  7. Death Comes in Through the Kitchen looks really good. I think I'd like Blue Light, Yokohama too.

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    1. I enjoyed Blue Light - setting, plot, characters.

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  8. Enjoy your new books Harvee. We have a cool, sunny hint of spring here today.

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    1. It's warmer and brighter, Pat. and I'm watching Netflix movies as well, lol.

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  9. Elizabeth Is Missing does sound like an interesting story. Come see my week here. Happy reading!

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    1. You might enjoy that book. Hope you get to read it!

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  10. What a great book week! I hope spring arrives soon :) I feel like we skipped spring and went straight to summer here in Texas.

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    1. Not summer here as yet. Enjoy your Texas summer!

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  11. I have Death Comes in through the Kitchen, which looks fun. I haven't read Mankell (I don't think) ... that one looks good.

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    1. You might like Mankell. Straightforward plots with an interesting main character.

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  12. You have some great looking mysteries on your list. See what I've been reading this month at Girl Who Reads

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  13. Love the cozies.

    Death Comes in through the Kitchen should be very good.

    ENJOY, and have a good week.

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    1. Reading it now and enjoying the setting - Havana.

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  14. We've had a few green shoots appear, but spring is definitely taking its time! Blue Light, Yokohama looks good- I think I'd like to read a mystery or thriller set in Japan.

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    Replies
    1. I've read some good ones written by Japanese writers! Nakamuro comes to mind, too.

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  15. I didn't know Elizabeth is Missing was made into a movie. I've seen a bit of green poking up.

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    1. BBC1 is making it into a movie, for TV I think.

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  16. Oooh. A new Cleo Coyle book. I'm so far behind in that series. Love the title! Come see what I'm reading

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    1. I love coffee, coffee shops, and mysteries!

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  17. I've read a couple of Cleo Coyle books and liked them so I hope the new one is a winner for you!

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  18. Movie set in Havana sounds interesting.
    Happy Reading!

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    1. The Havana book is revealing about how things are in Cuba, not to mention recipes.

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