The Dead Past – A Felicity Grove Mystery (The Felicity Grove Mysteries)“I received this book for free. I am voluntarily posting this review and any opinions expressed herein are my own.
I am actually closer to 3.5 than four stars so I gave this a four as I did not think it deserved a three-star rating.
This is a cozy mystery - having all of the elements of a cozy - small town, nosey main characters, incompetent law enforcement, etc. At times this cozy is downright charming, has some touching moments between the main characters [grandmother and grandson], with some very humorous/witty moments. However, the author also threw in a lot of events - and not just backstory on the characters but other cases which the MC and his grandmother previously solved - summed up in a few short sentences or a brief paragraph. It happened so often that I ended up checking several times whether this was actually the first book in the series as I felt that I was missing something - I wasn't, this is the first book.
The narrator, Daniel Dorse, does a good job but narrates slowly. I ended up speeding up the narration.”
The JFK Assassination: 11.22.63“I received this book for free. I am voluntarily posting this review and any opinions expressed herein are my own.
For the topic, this book is extremely brief, glosses over a lot of events, and gets some facts wrong. The book is listed as being 3 hours and 45 minutes long - it is only 45 minutes long.”
Lost Souls ParaAgency and the Illusion of a Vampire“I received this book for free. I am voluntarily posting this review and any opinions expressed herein are my own.
This is the third book in the Lost Souls Paragency series. It is a standalone.
I have not read the first book in the series but I have read the second. I found that I followed the characters better in this book than in the second and I enjoyed this one more. It was a cute story and I liked the addition of Sydney to the mix making it more interesting.
The narrator, Carrie Coello, did a nice job as always.”
Lost Souls ParaAgency and the Ghostly Reunion“I received this book for free. I am voluntarily posting this review and any opinions expressed herein are my own.
This is the second book in the Lost Souls Paragency series. More or less, I would say this is a standalone book = although the epilogue creates a bit of a set up for the next book in the series. I have not read the first book in the series and I think it might have helped as I felt like I was missing a bit here and there related to the characters. Overall, it was cute.
The narrator, Carrie Coello, is someone who I have listened to before. She is always enjoyable.”
15 Minutes“I received this book for free. I am voluntarily posting this review and any opinions expressed herein are my own.
I am actually somewhere between a 3 and 3 1/2 stars. Parts of this story, I really enjoyed and parts started to grate on me a bit as the book continued. There is some really fun humor and the romantic tension was enjoyable. The premise of a former child star returning back to her hometown to become a PI is a great concept. I really enjoyed the tension between Maizie and her momager - who doesn't want to leave Hollywood behind. What began to bother me about this book was the constant high fashion references and when Maizie declares herself separate from her TV detective character and wanting to leave it all behind but yet, she seemed to almost constantly be asking herself what would her TV detective character do in a situation - it just became a bit one note. Overall, it was an enjoyable light read.
The narrator, Joan Dukore, did a good job in a very light-hearted narration.”
The Peacemaker“I received this book for free. I am voluntarily posting this review and any opinions expressed herein are my own.
This is an action-packed story from beginning to end with so many curve balls thrown at you, you're unsure who to trust or who to really root for or what conspiracy theory to believe. Lots of fun and intrigue.
The narrator, Tom Lennon, overall did a good job. His downfall is his attempt at accents. For example, I did not know, from his narration, that Nero, the MC, was British until it was revealed in the description late in the story.”
A Fool’s Journey“I received this book for free. I am voluntarily posting this review and any opinions expressed herein are my own.
This is the third book in the Marketville Mystery series. It is a standalone book and has no cliffhanger ending. If you were to start with this book in the series, I believe you would not be lost or in any way inhibited in understanding the characters or their motivations. There are several references to events in prior books but the author provides a quick summary and overall, these prior events do not impact the current actions. Although, I would recommend any of the other books in the series.
I really enjoy the way the author writes from the first person POV of the main character Callie. Callie is a very likeable and relatable main character. The mystery is a missing person's case of a young man who walked away from his family and now, many years later, may have contacted his grandmother. What I really enjoy about this mysteries series is that from each mystery, you learn something new. This one delved into a bit of Tarot and into tattoos. I find the manner in which Callie and her friends investigate the mysteries to be very interesting, although I wish that Misty had been featured a bit more prominently as she is the Tarot card expert. Overall, a very enjoyable mystery series.
The narrator, Karen Satter, has a Canadian accent - which is appropriate as this occurs in Canada. However, I found her to be very dry and somewhat detached from the warmth of Callie's character. While she did a good job - comparing her to the previous narrator in this series, Claira Jordyn, who oozed warmth and sincerity, I found Ms. Satter to be a bit lacking.”
Skeletons in the Attic“I received this book for free. I am voluntarily posting this review and any opinions posted herein are my own.
This is the first book in the Marketville Mystery series. If you have read this author's other series - Glass Dolphin Mysteries - you will find some crossover in locations and a few characters.
One of the strengths of this book is the MC Callie [Calamity], who is very relatable. She is surrounded by a group of friends, who help in various ways to solve the mystery of Callie's mother's disappearance. I really enjoyed the mystery and how several of the characters are presented in such a way that you are not sure if they are friends or adversaries to Callie. What I felt to be a bit of the downfall of this story was the ending. I do not want to go into any detail as that would be a big spoiler but suffice it to say that the wrap up seemed rushed and to me, a bit unbelievable. I also found Callie's reaction to the solution of the mystery to be oddly lackluster - which seemed to be a bit [for lack of a better term] out of character.
The narrator, Claira Jordyn, has a wonderful warm voice which is very pleasant. Her voice did a great job in conveying the emotionalism of Callie's character.”
A Shattered Mind“I received this book for free. I am voluntarily posting this review and any opinions expressed herein are my own.
This is a quick story which has an intriguing premise, good dry humor and a likeable MC. However, it was a bit predictable and the ending was a very quick wrap up.
The MC is a male and is told in the first person. The book is narrated by Ann Bumbak, a female, so that slightly threw me as I was listening to the story. While she did a fine job, the female narration took me out of the story a bit.”
Baskets & Caskets“I received this book for free. I am voluntarily posting this review and any opinions expressed herein are my own.
This is the third book in the Bones and Drones series. It is not a standalone book and it does have a bit of a cliffhanger ending. [I am assuming that the series is going to continue?] You have to read/listen to the first two book in the series to have any understanding as to the events occurring in this book. It is best if you actually read all of the books in a row as each one picks up soon or immediately after the last one ended. While the author provides a bit of a recap, it is really not enough to fully understand the previous events from the other books.
This book mostly is a wrap/solving of the mystery of the from the first two books. Paislee is coming more into her own and a bit of a romance is brewing. Overall, it was an enjoyable wrap up.
The narrator, Carrie Coello, is the same for all three books in the series and did a fine job.”
Brooms & Tombs“I received this book for free. I am voluntarily posting this review and any opinions expressed herein are my own.
This is the second book in the Bones and Drones series. It is not a standalone and it does have a cliffhanger ending. This book is a continuation of book 1 and if you do not start there, you will be lost. The author does provide a few quick summaries of events from book 1 but not enough that a reader will be able to just dive in at this point.
This is a YA book and the MC character Paislee is solving a murder mystery - and the adults are really not that involved. I really like Paislee's quirky character and she is into a lot of odd things for a young girl [forensic facial reconstruction and historical research]. Paislee's family dynamic is fun and realistic. Plus there is some nice humor sprinkled throughout.
The narrator, Carrie Coello, is the same throughout the series and does a nice job. There were a few repeat phrases or sentences which were not caught during quality control.”
The Duke’s Governess in Disguise“I received this book for free. I am voluntarily posting this review and any opinions expressed herein are my own.
This is the second book in the Fairfax Twins series. It is a standalone with no cliffhanger ending. You do not have to read the first book in the series to enjoy this one.
I enjoyed the first book in this series and soon thereafter I read this book. While I really like the premise of this book [Prince and the Pauper retelling] and the manner in which the author writes, there is a lot of repetition which is the reason I downgraded it - I probably would have rated it higher if I had not just read the first book. The book starts almost exactly the same as the first book in the series. Instead of a brief summary of events which occurred in the first book, they are completely rehashed - some of it exactly [word for word]. Additionally, the POV of the story changes by chapter between the MC of the Duke and Emily. Again, the same scenes are rehashed - providing very little if any additional information from the new POV. Several times, I had thought I was listening to the same scene again that there was an error in the QC but no, it was only that the POV had changed.
I really enjoyed the characters and this book had a bit of mystery to it which I rather enjoyed. The story is clean with a bit of romance and some nice humor. I felt that between the two books, I probably enjoyed this one more.
The narrators, Duke DeFoix and Duchess DeFoix, did a very good job and have very pleasant voices.”
Spirits, Pies, and Alibis“I received this book for free. I am voluntarily posting this review and any opinions expressed herein are my own.
This is the first book in The Witches of Pinecroft Cove series. It starts in a similar vein to a lot of cozies in that the MC loses her job, her boyfriend, and her home which then allows her to, in essence, return back home. In this case, the MC Tamsyn moves in with her great aunt to help with the bed & breakfast and while living there, learns that her family and Tamsyn herself are all witches. Besides being a witch, there's also fun paranormal elements to this story. Tamsyn is a very likeable character - adorable even. I especially liked her conversations with her great aunt - which often brought a chuckle. I really liked that the awkward boy who had a childhood crush on her was now a very handsome doctor and that there was no insta-love between the characters. The mystery was interesting and entertaining.
The narrator, Stephanie Murphy, made you almost feel as if a friend were telling you a story - her voice was warm and inviting with just the right amount of tongue in cheek whimsy.”
Nightscape“I received this book for free. I am voluntarily posting this review and any opinions expressed herein are my own.
This book is labeled as horror but it is actually more paranormal. I did not find the story to be scary or creepy. There were several plot holes, which you just have to accept to move the story along. The ending, to me, did not mesh with the rest of the story. There was some good humor.
The narrator, Rebecca Ehrenpreis, was oddly flat and at times almost robotic. The character voice for Bonnie [Evan's mother] was just odd - kind of Betty Boopish and the detective's voice reminded me of Droopy, the Bassett Hound cartoon character.”
The Duke’s Bride in Disguise“I received this book for free. I am voluntarily posting this review and any opinions expressed herein are my own.
This is a female version of The Prince and the Pauper. Twins, who are separated at birth, are raised in a wealthy and a poor/servant household respectively. They meet by chance and switch places. It's cute and clean. There is not a lot of conflict or turmoil nor is this very deep but nonetheless, it was a very pleasant diversion.
The narration, done by both a male and female voice, reflects the changing POV between the Duke and Ava [the pauper twin]. I liked the narrators, Duke Defoix and Duchess DeFoix, and found the switching of their narration to be very smooth and entertaining.”
Queen of Dragons“I received this book for free. I am voluntarily posting this review and any opinions expressed herein are my own.
This story is not a re-telling of Sleeping Beauty but rather the story of Sleeping Beauty picks up when her daughter Azia is told that her parents have arranged her marriage - trouble is that Azia does not like her soon-to-be husband and wants to embark on her own adventures. So, she tells a white lie to keep the marriage at bay...
This is the first book in the series. It is not a standalone and does end on a cliffhanger. Having said that, the story about Azia trying to come into her own is very engaging but the undercurrent to Azia's hope for independence is Sleeping Beauty's curse and how Sleeping Beauty was actually rescued. I found the way the author deftly wove together Azia's story and Sleeping Beauty's story to be very interesting and at the end of this book, I found myself wanting to know more. This is great family fare.
The narrator, Melody Muzljakovich, is terrific. She makes these characters come alive through her narration. She provides distinct voices for all of the characters and made this a very enjoyable and entertaining listen.”
The Mistletoe Haunting: Legend of Minster Lovell“I received this book for free. I am voluntarily posting this review and any opinions expressed herein are my own.
What an interesting ghost story told from the POV of the ghost! The story is so well-written that author was able to deftly weave the story between two timelines and cause you to empathize with a ghost. This ghost story is not scary or anything that will give you nightmares but it is an enjoyable story of love and betrayal on a wedding day. - where the characters are from the past but also reincarnated to the present. Very entertaining.
The narrator, Lesley Dessalles, was really perfect for this book. She is able to convery the sadness of the ghost telling the story which pulls you into the narrative. She has a very pleasant voice with a slight British accent.”
Bones & Drones“I received this book for free. I am voluntarily posting this review and all opinions expressed herein are my own.
This is a very captivating YA cozy mystery. The MC Paislee is a teenager who likes to hang out in cemeteries talking to the dead [no ghosts, just headstones]; has a father who is a medical examiner and a mother who is a funeral director [they own a funeral parlor] ; has a penchant for her town's history and forensics; on occasion, helps her father investigate death cases; loves to read; and loves forensic anthropology. Paislee and her family were really likeable, relatable in their interactions and very quirky. On top of that, Paislee has all of the other issues of a typical teenager - college applications/acceptance, romance/dating, and getting her recommendation letter from the mayor. Overall, all of the characters in this story were well-drawn and interesting. I enjoyed the mystery - with several red herrings. But, most of all, I just enjoyed spending time with this oddball group of characters.
The narrator, Carrie Coello, made the story a fun listen.”
Ace of Spade“I received this book for free. I am voluntarily posting this review and all opinions expressed herein are my own.
This is a great mix of film noir detective, a bit of sci-fi, and some gangsters. Ace is a private eye on Mars with a bionic arm. He is hired by a one-night stand to find her brother - and that's when all the fun begins. Ace narrates the book, with sarcastic asides - and at times it felt like you had pulled up a barstool next to him and he told you this story. It's a very entertaining quick story. I look forward to more of his adventures.
The narrator, Lawrence Locke, does a good job - although I kept thinking he was doing an impersonation of Humphrey Bogart - which was not a bad thing.”
Finding Zelda“I received this book for free. I am voluntarily posting this review and any opinions expressed herein are my own.
This book centers on the MC Zelda trying to find her way after she experiences two life crises at the same time - loss of her job and her father abandoning her mother. This is well-written with some good humor and realistic family situations. What I enjoyed most was the heartwarming relationship Zelda creates with her grandfather during their road trip - I wish even more time had been spent on that. I will certainly look for other stories written by this author.
The narrator, Carrie Coello, did a very good job. The voice she created for Pops [Zelda's grandfather], in particular, was very good and fitting to the character.”
Stolen by My Knave“I received this book for free. I am voluntarily posting this review and all opinions expressed herein are my own.
This is a regency romance with a time travel element [which is a very minor part of the story]. I have not read any of this author's previous works - but from reading some of the reviews, I got the sense that some of these characters come from other stories. Perhaps if I had read those other stories, I would have enjoyed this one more. I found the story full of information dumps [which are likely the stories from her previous works] - where characters spend a lot of time recounting events. The mother of MC Lady Elizabeth is from the 20th Century - and she uses terms/language from that time period, even though she now lives hundreds of years in the past - I found this a bit jarring and odd that everyone understood her given that would not be the language of the time.
The narrator, Duchess DeFoix, did a nice job and her voice is enjoyable to listen to.”
Body in the Boot“This is the second book in the M Falcon Mystery series. It is a standalone book with no cliff hanger ending. I have not read the previous book and had no trouble following the flow of the narrative or the characters motivations.
I found the MCs to be likeable, feisty, endearing, and very enjoyable. There is some fun humor sprinkled throughout. The POV does change - which initially threw me a bit but once you get used to it, it's fine.
The narrator, Karen Gunderson, did a very good job. She made the characters very engaging, although they did sound a bit youthful.”
Whispers of Light“Overall, I liked the story and I am more at 3.5 stars. But, to me, it just seemed like it took a long time to get where it ultimately ended up. I did not find the actions of Harriet, MC Laurence Redbrook's sister, to be absolutely convincing. I also thought that the ultimate reveal regarding MC Isabel's marriage was odd given her behavior up to that point. And finally, it just seemed that MC Laurence was a bit to saintly at times - accepting of both his sister Harriet's and his wife's MC Isabel's behavior.
The narrator, Katherine Anderson, has a pleasant voice with a slight British accent. She did a nice job.”
Ghost Walk“This book is the first in a series. It is a standalone book with no cliffhanger ending.
Lacey is a former LAPD homicide detective, who left under a cloud and now works in a tedious job as a security guard. Sam is a medium. Lacey and Sam meet when Lacey reads an article in the newspaper about police finding human skeletal remains possibly related to a case Lacey had been working on when she was a homicide detective, but which had remained unsolved. Sam is reserved and initially reticent to work with Lacey. Lacey is the exact opposite and Sam's reserved demeanor drives her crazy. Lacey is a smart, conscientious, but a head-strong heroine. She doesn't quite know what to make of Sam and his abilities - which I really enjoyed as it allowed Lacey [and the reader] learn as the mystery moved along. What I really liked is that Lacey and Sam are slowly developing a friendship -- and, unlike so many mystery books, they do not immediately fall in bed with each other.
The story is well written and moves along at a good pace. The mystery which Sam and Lacey try to resolve is realistic and the culprit is believable and not out of left field. Overall, I really enjoyed the character development and the budding friendship between the main characters. I recommend this book and will continue with this series.
The narrator, Laura Wilson, did a very nice job. Some other reviewers mentioned hearing background noises or other distractions within the audio but I did not notice anything.”
The Kidnapped Bride“This is the second book in the Patricia Fisher Mystery series. It is a standalone book with no cliffhanger ending. I have not read the first book in this series and had no trouble following the characters or the plot.
Absolutely entertaining, well written, and a lot of fun! There are times where you will laugh out loud at either the antics of the characters or a very smart humorous quip. The characters are well developed and interesting. Patricia is smart, funny and a strong woman. Her cohorts do not blend into the background - each one has a distinctive personality. I absolutely adored Lady Mary and her ever-changing rules for drinking cocktails. And the butler's quirky past... The mystery is a good one with some really fun twists. Plus, there is a lot of action-packed scenes - so never a dull moment.
The narrator, Katherine Anderson, was pitch perfect. She did distinctive voices for all of the characters. She narrated at a good pace and landed the punchlines perfectly.”
The Hanged Man’s Noose“This is the first book in the Glass Dolphin Mysteries. It is a standalone story. I read the second book before the first [enjoyed both of them].
Here, Emily, a journalist, is offered an editor's job of the town magazine in Lount’s Landing. She accepts and begins trying to get to know the townspeople. She learns that a real estate developer is planning to convert the local school into a big box store and several of the townspeople are not thrilled. Soon one of fhe most vocal critics is dead, followed by another death both ruled accidents but is this too much of a coincidence? Emily decides to investigate.
This is a well-written cozy with likeable characters. There are plenty of twists in the mystery to keep you guessing. I enjoyed Arabella and her antiques shop The Glass Dolphin - the little details about the pieces and antiques in general were enjoyable. It was also fun to learn the history of the town, the various businesses and the name Hanged Man's Noose. Overall, a very entertaining cozy.”
