Sunday Salon: Squirrel-Proof Bird House

Welcome to the Sunday Salon! Also visit The Sunday Post hosted by The Caffeinated Bookreviewer; It's Monday: What Are You Reading? at Book Journey.

Do you think this squirrel-proof bird feeder will work? We bought one similar to this, with only one side open for birds to perch and eat. A squirrel's heavier weight would weigh down the bird perch and close access to the bird seeds. We'll see....One squirrel investigated and left it, but I bet he'll be back!

New to my bookshelves this week:

Animal Wise

An Act of Kindness

One Night in Winter

Ophelia and the Marvelous Boy

The Headmistress of Rosemere

Animal Wise by Virginia Morell
An Act of Kindness by Barbara Nadel
One Night in Winter by Simon Sebag Montefiore
Ophelia and the Marvelous Boy by Karen Foxlee

The Headmistress of Rosemere by Sarah E. Ladd
The Accidental Book Club by Jennifer Scott

What's new on your bookshelves?

Book Review: KEEPING MUM by Alyse Carlson

Friday 56 Rules: *Grab a book, any book.

*Turn to page 56 or 56% in your eReader  *Find any sentence, (or few, just don't spoil it) that grabs you. *Post it. *Add your (url) post in Linky at Freda's Voice.

Also Book Beginnings by Rose City Reader.

Title: Keeping Mum:A Garden Society Mystery by Alyse Carlson
Published March 4, 2014; Berkley
Genre: cozy mystery

Book beginning:

Re: Fundraiser/Mystery Supper 

This Sunday a veritable who's who in Virginia at  Hunting Hills Country Club will gather for a Murder Mystery Supper and Fund-raiser where Jared Koonz is expected to announce his candidacy for the Virginia State Senate. 

Page 56:  

"Ella Chamberlain Schultz. Gold digger. I think Annie is her dad's primary heir, so Ella is better off with Senator Schultz alive than dead." 

About the book: Things start to go wrong from the get-go at this murder mystery supper. A well-known financier is found dead in the gardens of the country club, not the intended victim in the plan for the murder mystery. And retired Senator Schultz, Annie's dad, has gone missing. Annie and her friend Cam, both members of the Roanoke Garden Society hosting the supper, must find out if the two events are related.

My comments: There are so many possibilities here for solving the murder of the financier and the disappearance of Annie's dad, the Senator. The two women, Annie and Cam, with the help of their significant others, Rob and Jake, set out to find the solution in a maze of conflicts, suspicious motives, and interlocking relationships among guests at the mystery murder supper.

The different solutions for solving this murder keep the reader going. I wasn't able to guess the culprit(s) so this was a well planned plot. The main characters and even the suspects are fully developed personalities. The story line, setting, and people are realistic and seem very authentic. Because of the detail of place and interactions, in many ways a plus for the novel, I nevertheless felt this made the cozy a little too long.

You will love Annie and Cam though, and I would like to read more about them in future books in the series.

Thanks to the publisher for a review copy of this book. 

Book Review: The Accident, a thriller by Chris Pavone

Title: The Accident: A Novel by Chris Pavone
Published March 11, 2014; Crown
Genre: thriller

She is going to fly to California to find herself a new career. She has always wanted to try the film business, and now is the time. But she can't just land in LA. She needs a parachute.
"Yes," Camilla says, "a brilliant property called The Accident." (ch. 14)

About the book: At least four people are at risk of losing their lives because they stole or held on to a copy of a manuscript titled The Accident, an expose of crimes committed by a powerful media mogul. The Accident is written by an anonymous writer who wants the book published; the CIA and the mogul, the subject of the book, do not.

The manuscript is sent anonymously to Isabel Reed, literary editor, who shares it with editor and former lover, Jeff Fielder, who are expected to have it published. But copies are secretly made and kept by various other people. This creates a fire storm that puts everyone in danger and cost some lives. Isabel and Jeff think they know who the anonymous author is, but he is supposed to be dead!

My comments: Suspenseful, well written and plotted, The Accident has engaging characters as well as riveting and dramatic action. A must for those who like thrillers mixed with international intrigue. The ending has a few more twists and turns and surprises than I was prepared for, but they did add a lot to the story's complex plot and interest. My objective rating: 4.5/5

CHRIS PAVONE is the author of the New York Times-bestselling The Expats, winner of the Edgar Award. He was a book editor for nearly two decades and lives in New York City with his family.
Visit the author’s website at www.chrispavone.com.

Visit TLC Book Tours for more reviews and a tour schedule.
Thanks to TLC and the publisher for a review copy of this book.

Book Feature/First Chapter: Truth Kills by Nanci Rathbun

First Chapter, First Paragraph is a weekly meme hosted by Bibliophile by the Sea.

Truth Kills

Title: Truth Kills: An Angelina Bonaparte Mystery by Nanci Rathbun
Published July 26, 2013; Cozy Cat Press
Genre:  mystery

First chapter:

I'm a professional snoop and I'm good at it. While on the job, I can look like the senor partner of an accountancy firm in my pinstriped navy business suit, or the neighborhood white-haired old lady gossip. Off the job, I'm a fifty-something hottie: white hair gelled back, dramatic eye make-up, toned body encased in designer duds. Gravity has taken a small toll, but who notices in candlelight? 

Publisher's description:
In TRUTH KILLS, librarian-turned-private-investigator Angelina Bonaparte is a woman on a mission--to ferret out cheaters and lowlifes and bring them to justice. Angie has plenty of experience with such men--and not just because her former husband was the king of the lot. As a P.I. in Milwaukee, most of Angie's work is tracking down deadbeats and exposing unfaithful spouses. But, now she's been asked by a betrayed pregnant wife to prove her cheating husband, Anthony Belloni--aka Tony Baloney--innocent of the murder of his kept mistress. Angie's heart tells her to let the skunk rot in prison, but her head convinces her that adultery is not grounds for incarceration. During the investigation, Angie encounters so many people who wished the victim dead that she has to develop a chart to keep track of them all. She also encounters hunky police detective Ted Wukowski, who is still reeling from the death of his former female MPD partner at the hands of a narcotics gang, and thinks women don't belong in the path of danger. As they work toward the same goal--discovering the dead woman's killer--Angie and Detective Wukowski realize their attraction for each other and must decide whether they are strong enough as individuals to work through her lack of trust and his fear of loss.

About the author:
Nanci Rathbun retired early from a career at AT&T to pursue her dream of writing. A short story with a romantic theme, What’s in a Name?, was published in Woman’s World magazine. She wanted to focus on the kind of book she loves to read – the mystery. Her first novel, Truth Kills: An Angelina Bonaparte Mystery, is now available in Amazon in both paperback and ebook formats. Nanci has spent many years in workshops and coaching with AllWriters’ Workplace & Workshop, and is presently a member of the Murfreesboro Writers Group. She is a longtime Wisconsin resident who recently relocated to Tennessee to be closer to her granddaughters – oh, and their parents. No matter where she lives, she will always be a Packers fan. Visit her at www.nancirathbun.com

Thanks to the author for a copy of this book for feature/spotlight.

Mailbox Monday: A Mix of Genres

Mailbox Monday is a weekly meme to share what you received in the mail.

My mailbox had the following books for review:

Murder in Pigalle

Love Illuminated

The Idea of Him

The Winter Horses


What new books came in your mailbox last week?

Sunday Salon: Book Tours Galore!

Welcome to the Sunday Salon! Also visit The Sunday Post hosted by The Caffeinated Bookreviewer; It's Monday: What Are You Reading? at Book Journey.

Do enter my Book Giveaway, sponsored by Berkey Prime Crime, which is offering a commemorative tote bag filled with five different cozy mysteries. Enter the contest by the end of March 10.

I reviewed and posted two books for tours the first week in March:
Sweet Tea Revenge by Laura Childs and
The Sound of Broken Glass by Deborah Crombie

and have finished the next tour book,
The Accident, a thriller by Chris Pavone;
now reading for another tour,
Keeping Mum, a cozy mystery by Alyse Carlson.

The Deepest Secret, a family drama by Carla Buckley, comes next,
followed by
The Riot, a U.K. book by Laura Wilson.

 I am all book-toured-out for March. April will be much the same, with a break from May onward when I read at leisure!

In between, I am sandwiching in other books. I'm in the middle of Cara Black's newest mystery, Murder in Pigalle, the fourteenth book, Aimee Leduc Investigations series set in Paris.

I also plan to tackle

The Same Sweet Girls' Guide to Life

Murder on Bamboo Lane

Widow's Tears

I love the colors of the book covers, don't you?
What are you reading this month? 

Book Review: The Sound of Broken Glass by Deborah Crombie

Title: The Sound of Broken Glass by Deborah Crombie
Published February 25, 2014; William Morrow
Genre: mystery, police procedural
Objective rating: 3.5/5

From publisher's description: In the past . . . On a hot August afternoon in Crystal Palace area of London, Andy, a thirteen-year-old boy meets his next door neighbor Nadine, a recently widowed young teacher hoping to make a new start in the South London community. Drawn together by loneliness, the unlikely pair form a deep connection that ends in a shattering act of betrayal.

"A 1964 Stratocaster. Fiesta red. Marshall had it valued. Everything's original - headstock, body, the pickups. Three's an amp, too. You can get it tomorrow."
Finally, he looked up at her past feeling any shame for the tears in his eyes. "But I can't possibly -"
"Yes. You can. Just play, Andy." She touched one of the geranium blossoms. "No one has been kind to me except you. Think of it as red for red." (ch. 13)

 In the present . . . Detective Inspector Gemma James is back on the job now that her husband, Detective Superintendent Duncan Kincaid, is at home to care for their three-year-old foster daughter. Assigned to lead a Murder Investigation Team in South London, she's assisted by Detective Sergeant Melody Talbot. Their case, a crime scene at a seedy hotel in Crystal Palace. The victim, Vincent Arnott, a well-respected barrister, found naked, trussed, and apparently strangled. Gemma's team must find his companion - a search that forces them to contemplate the weaknesses and passions that lead to murder.

My comments: It was hard to see at first what the events in young Andy's life fifteen years earlier had to the present, when a man is found strangled in a nearby hotel, close to the bar where Andy and his band were playing. The novel switches back and forth in time and only toward the end do we start putting the pieces of the past together with the present to get the full story. This does keep you invested and interested in the mystery.

Interwoven with the crime story are the personal events in the life of Duncan Kincaid and Gemma James, the couple who are members of the police solving murders in the mystery novels. This is the fifteenth in the mystery series. Their personal lives do add a touch of lightness and normalcy to the baffling crime scenes in this novel. However, I think the personal events might have been a distraction from the crime story, which almost started to be overshadowed.

I enjoyed Crombie's previous novel as well.

Deborah Crombie is a native Texan who has lived in both England and Scotland. She lives in McKinney, Texas, sharing a house that is more than one hundred years old with her husband, three cats, and two German shepherds.

Visit Deborah at her website, connect with her on Facebook, and follow her on Twitter.

Thanks to the publisher and TLC Book Tours for a review copy of this book. See the tour schedule for more reviews.