Coffee and Chocolate

Deadheads by Reginald Hill

2026-08-22T22:51:39.954-04:00

It had been a while since I read anything by Reginald Hill. Hill passed away a number of years ago and I had read most of them. However when I came across this one - number 7 in the Dalziel & Pascoe series, I knew I had to read it.

When the wealthy former owner of Elgood bathroom projects approaches Dalziel about one of the members of the organization (He sold it to a large company but he still runs the company) who seems to have death follow him, He wonders if it’s all just a coincidence.

Dalziel is at a police conference and instructions Pascoe to investigate. The results are detailed in this slim but intriguing novel. It’s a bit slow going at the beginning but in the end it’s an interesintg and fun book to read.

The Black Wolf By Louise Penny

2026-07-16T15:59:38.697-04:00

I read this book a few weeks ago and hesitated to even write down my feelings. Usually I really like her books. The last one Gray Wolf was an interesting read. This one was the “final” book in the two book series - I guess - and I found it to be tedious. It took me over a month to finish it. That’s not like me. Since then I’ve picked up a couple of books and found them boring. I’m reading a book called A Slow Fire Burning by Paula Hawkins that has caught my attention. However I’m also reading The Iliad and The Creative Habit: Learn it And Use It For Life not to mention I’m behind in the NY Times and have a pile of magazines to read. So there’s that. Anyway this book had a bit of a surprise ending but that was it. The rest of the book was, in my opinion, tedious. The book finally unearths the identiy of The Black Wolf who is behind what seems, to me at least, a bit of an absurd premise. It DOES involve the wildfires sent smoke over the border and that’s happening again. So there’s that. Still another reader might love it. I’m going to refill my iced tea, grab a couple of cookies and read Hawkins.

2025-12-18T11:59:00.001-05:00

I read Martha Grimes’ newest novel and realized I had missed this one. As usual it’s full of the characters that those of us who love her books recognize. Most of Inspector Jury’s friends are very well off - even rich - but they love him for a variety of reasons.

A body of a beautiful woman, a French tourist, washes up in Cornwall. Inspector Brian Macalvie is investigating but, as usually, he enlists the help of Inspector Richard Jury. Meanwhile Jury is enjoying a drink at the Old Success Pub with a legendary - now retired - police investigator when he gets a call from Macallvie insisting he come immediatley.

I love her books. I’m surprised but gratified that she is still writing.

2025-12-18T11:43:00.003-05:00

I’ve really been behind in both my reading and blogging. I pulled this book off the shelf and thoroughly enjoyed it. My husband and I watched his specials on HBO and loved them. His profanity and condemnation of social and politcal norms was hilarious.

I didn’t realize he went through the rough times he had. He traveled a lot which put a straing on his marriage. Both he and his wife parties with drugs and alcohol. She died and he remarried and said he couldn’t be happier. Then he died unexpectedly and way too soon.

A Puzzle For Fools: Patrick Quentin (Otto Penzler Reprint)

2025-09-24T18:39:00.001-04:00

I actually finished this book about 10 days ago but forgot to write a summary. The author's name is actually not his real name although the character seems to be based a little bit on his own life. He was a playwright and wrote Sweeney Todd among others. He also colaborated with several other authors all of whom went under various pseudonyms.. If you get this copy you can find them all. This is a classic locked room mystery. Peter Duluth has committed himself to a sanatorium after nearly drinking himself to death. He had a reason of sorts. Hi beloved wife was killed in a theater fire. She was wearing a very heavy costume which was also easy to ignite. There weren't a lot of fireproof fabrics when the book was published in 1936..

While he is trying to get to sleep Peter hears a voice say It Will Be Murder. Other patients hear the same thing. Peter starts to investigate at the behest of the psychiatrist and head of the sanatorium.

This was a fun read for sure.

2025-08-25T19:35:00.001-04:00

This is the latest in the Maeve Kerrigan series. Maeve comes from an Irish family who moved to Ireland and she feels like she hs a foot in both countries. If you haven't read any of them it is best to start at the beginning. Maeve is a detective with London Police. Her boss and partner is an arrogant and sometimes surly person. In this book hd is still with Melissa and not enjoying the relationship. However he has become attached to her son who is only 8 year old and has a mysterious ailment that brings him to the hospital over and over. When Josh comes home from jogging her discovers Melissa crumpled at the bottom of the stairs and bleeding. The police take him into custody. Thanks to Maeve he is exonerated.

Meanwhile they have been working on a closed door mystery. A beautiful woman walks into a hotel room, one that she uses every week, and is found murdered. This is almost an afterthought although it is a major part of the book. This is a good series and worth exploring.

King Of Ashes S.A. Crosby

2025-08-25T19:11:00.002-04:00

If you are looking for a book that is not dark, this isn't the one. Roman Carruthers is a financial wizard who has been making a lot of money for his clients and himself. He hasn't been home to his decaying hometown of Jefferson. His sister has been running the family crematorium. His brother is selling drugs and his mother disappeared when Roman was a teenager. The town speculated that his father had killed her because of her know infidelities.

His father was run off the road by drug dealers who wanted to give Roman's younger brother. Roman hatches a plan and convinces a friend to help him. In the end Roman's plan works at a great cost.

The Fifth Witness by Michael Connelly

2025-07-26T19:26:00.001-04:00

After watching Bosch, Bosch Legacy and Micky Haller on Amazon Video, I became particularly hooked on Micky Haller. He's an interesting character. In this book Haller's law practice is suffering from a lack of criminal cases. He's turned to foreclosures out of desperation. California is in the middle of a foreclosure crisis. He took a class and started collecting clients. One of them is Lisa Trammel who has been especially noisey. She has an online group that pickets the courthouse on a regular basis. Haller knows that it's only a matter of time before his clients have to leave their homes, but he tries to extend things for them as much as possible until they can make other arrangements.

Then something extraordinary happens. Haller's client is charged with the murder of the bank official who had started the foreclosure proceedings. Lisa protests her energy despite blood found on her shoes plus a hammer that was discarded. She continues to protest her innocence and insists she has been set up.

There's an interesting end to this one which I won't reveal. I enjoy the detail of these books although I doubt too many attorneys actually do what Haller does. One of these days I may watch Lincoln Lawyer with Matthew McConaghy. The author makes a sly reference to the actor.

It's going to take a while to read all of them. I have a lot of books to read, but I'll get to the next one.

Murder Takes A Vacation by Laura Lippman

2025-07-17T19:08:00.001-04:00

I've given up on most cozies but there are a couple of authors whose cozies I read. Laura Lippman normally doesn't write cozies. This is her first book in a few years. Her previous books include the Tess Monahan series which takes place in Baltimore plus stand alone books which have been uniformly dark and sometimes based on real stories in the news. This one is a light hearted - relatively speaking - about a 68 year old widow who who has won a rather large lottery and is taking a very expensive cruise up the Seine in Paris. She has invited her best friend who has been living in Kentucky. Mrs. Bloossom is at odds. After helping her daughter with her grandchildren she is too - rather rudely - that the family is moving to Tokyo for business and there's no room for her. On the first leg of a trip she meets a good looking older man who helps her get on the plane, get upgrades and more. Then a man 20 years her junior who claims to be a stylist takes her to a designer in Paris. There's a reason for all that attention and it involves a missing statue and jewels. This is a fun book and I loved what she said at the end. It helps to understand Maryland and Baltimore in particular. I loved in Maryland for 35 years and we went to Baltimore quite a bit. But you don't have to be from Maryland to enjoy the book.

2025-07-06T09:28:00.002-04:00

I read about this recently. There must be 100 mystery books that have this title. This is one of the newer ones. Honestly, there are a lot of holes in this story especially a bookstore that's thriving in an otherwise pretty much dead town.

The main character is Madeline Brimley who grew up in Enigma, Georgia and escaped as soon as she could. She had dreams of being an actor and had a few supporting roles before she found herself being passed over for younger actors. She's not sure what to do next until she gets word that her Aunt Rose has left her bookstore to her.

The town has a college so of course they buy their books from her. To me that was a major hole in the story.

Then she gets threatened and someone sets fire to the old gazebo that's been behind the house for generations.

This was ok and I'm sure there is already a new one in the works because romance seems to be beckoning.

If you like cozies, at least this one is well written for the most part.

The Black Loch by Peter May

2025-06-22T16:09:00.003-04:00

A few years ago I read the Lewis Trilogy which consists of The Blackhouse, The Lewis Man & The Chessman. It features Fin Macleod, a police officer. This book takes place a few years ago. Fin and his wife have returned to the Hebrides where they were born and raised because their son has been accused of murder. He is a teacher and was having an affair with an 18 year old girl at his school.

Soon Fin starts doing his investigation and discovers there is far more going on than a love affair gone wrong. There is also a heartbreaking chapter about beached whales. I couldn't read that and skipped over it.

I love this series and wish someone would make a series of the books on Netflix or some other streaming session. In the meantime read the books if you haven't and in order.

There is a lot of background a reader should know although the writer does fill the reader in on anything they may have forgotten.

The Brass Verdict by Michael Connelly

2025-06-10T15:52:00.000-04:00

In Mid May I picked up a copy of The Lincoln Lawyer at our apartment library/laundry room. I was in the mood for something in that vein and I was hooked instantly. After that read three other books and then this one came in from my library. This is the second in the series. After the first one, Mickey Haller, is mentally and physically exhausted and wounded in both body and soul.

His daughter, Hayley, is hurt because he breaks his promises to pick her up. His ex wife is mad at him for the same reason. He is addicted to drugs and alcohol and knows he has to stop. He goes to an addiction center and then for a rest and comes home determined to start being a lawyer again. He works out of his one of his collection of Lincolns and that's fine.

Then a judge calls him in. He wonders if there is going to be some kind of belated disciplinary action against him. Insead he learns that Jerry Vincent, a former prosecutor, now in private practice specializing in criminal law was shot and named him as his second to take over his cases if needed. Mickey is puzzled because they weren't particularly close friends but he helped Vincent step away from being a prosecutor and go into private practice where he was much more successful.

He goes to Jerry's office and discovers a wide variety of cases from simple drug possession or driving while impaired to a whopper. Vincent was defending Walter Elliot a wealthy movie producer who has been charged with killing his wife and her lover. Elliot protests his innocence and wants a quick trial. As Haller continues to comb through the file he finds a reference made by Vincent to a "magic bullet."

As always there was a real twist at the end - two actually. Once again Haller talk about not being a lawyer anymore, but we all know there are several more Micky Haller books out there.

Lessons In Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus

2025-05-22T10:09:00.001-04:00

I've read several really good books recently. While All The Colors of Darkness remain a favorite, this one is another really outstanding book. I can see why it was a New York Times Notable Book.

The story takes place from the early 1950's to about 1960. This is the time when I grew up and I can definitely relate. I remember those times and they extended well into the 1970's when a personnel manager for the DOD, when I asked about jobs with computers, said he didn't think the men would like that.

Elizabeth Zott is a genius. She leaves her undergraduate program without a degree after her professor want her to have sex with him. When she complains she is expelled.

When the book begins she is a lab tech at a local lab headed by a corrupt professor of chemistry. When she wanders into Calvin Evans' lab to borrow a couple of beakers. He is a genius who doesn't seem to get a lot done yet is constantly on the covers of science magazines.

Soon they are head over heels in love with another but, despite her beauty, and his ugliness, they are truly a meeting of minds, but also of their bodies!

Then tragedy strikes and Elizabeth has to take a job. She is offered a job doing a cooking show after a local producer discovers his daughter is trading lunches with her daughter. He offers her a cooking show and she accepts but makes it very much her own. Not only does she teach recipes but talks about the chemistry involved. Despite the station director thinking this is crazy her show grows in popularity and becomes syndicated.

This is really a wonderful book. I wish young women would read this because they need an education in the way it used to be - and still is to a certain extent.

The Relucant Sheriff (A Mick Hardin Novel) by Christ Offut

2025-05-13T00:43:00.000-04:00

This is the fourth book in a series about an ex-CID officer who came home after he left the army and was ready to leave until he had to step in as sheriff for his sister after she is shot. This book is part of a series and it's best to read the books in order.

The Killing Hills

Shifty's Boys

The Code Of The Hills.

Mick doesn't know what he wants. He came home but he doesn't have a home anymore. His wife has divorced him and was cheating on him while he was away. In this book his sister, Linda, is recovering and is living with a friend. Mick has moved into her house which was their mother's house. When she died she left it to Linda which as fine with Mick. He didn't want to be tied down.

When a bar owner is murdered the case is much more complicated than it seems. When his ex's now husband is arrested she comes to him for help and he does even though he doesn't want to.

The chapters are interspersed with chapters about the former deputy, Johnny Boy, who shot someone in the book before this one. Mick has talked about moving to Corsica and sends Johnny Boy there. Mick's friend, a British army officer, Sebastien is living there. Sebastien has giving up his British citizenship and is hiding from someone.

This is a bit complicated but it's a good read with an interesting ending. I wonder where Offut is taking Mick next.

The Lincoln Lawyer by Michael Connelly

2025-05-13T00:17:00.000-04:00

I picked this up at our "library" in my apartment building. Our two laundry rooms have shelves for books that people leave and find something new to read. I hadn't read this series. I enjoyed the Netflix series and am looking forward to the next season. I've also enjoyed the Bosch/Ballard series by the author. Amazon featured Bosch and then Bosch Legacy which we have been watching. (Apparently there is a Bosch/Ballard series coming to Amazon also.)

The book introduces Mickey Haller, a twice divorced lawyer whose clients are usually guilty and who still loves his first wife and is friends with his second wife who works for him. He doesn't have an office. He works out of one of his Lincolns. He has several he keeps in a locked area and sells them to a limo service when they reach a certain age.

When he is approached by a wealthy real estate broker to defend him in a case of rape and assault of a prostitute, Haller is thrilled to finally get a wealthy client. Then things unravel.

This book was an interesting read. Connolly really knows the legal system as well as he knows the police.

Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer

2025-05-12T23:51:00.000-04:00

This was an unexpected pleasure. I generally don't read books like this but I gave it a try and I'm glad I did. The author is a Native American woman who is a college professor, single mother, gardener, botanist and more. One of the things I enjoyed reading about was how Native Americans garden and hunt. It's all about gratitude and only taking what you need.

Different chapters offer different stories - about her time with her daughters, about celebrations, gardening, cleaning her pond that was clogged with algae and more. My favorite was actually the first essay about picking wild strawberries. She and her sister would pick wild strawberries in June and get enough to make a strawberry pie. It reminded me of picking wild strawberries with a friend when I was about 12 years old. They are tiny but delicious.

She weaves in Native American lore in every story and it made me kind of sad in a way because I love the philosophy of gratitude and taking only what you need.

Another chapter I loved was Thanksgiving. It's not the Thanksgiving we celebrate with Turkey and Pilgrims. It's a formal cemetery that thanks every aspect of their lives. It's a beautiful ritual.

This is a lovely book especially if you like to dip in and out of books and read other things at the same time. I made notes about certain pages.

If you get the opportunity pick up a copy and let me know what you think.

Life Hacks For A Little Alien by Alice Franklin

2025-03-31T00:11:00.000-04:00

Well before I started writing this blog, I read a book by Temple Grandin about the methods she had perfected for humane slaughter of animals. I don't know how many slaughterhousees use her methods. At the time quite a few of them had adopted her methods.

Dr Grandin started talking about autism/neurodivergence as it is more popularly called now when we were still using the term "retarded." In fact I recognized some of these traits in myself as well as in my family in varying degrees.

The author of this book was diagnosed with autism as an adult. She has an MA in creative writing and the POV of this book is interesting. There is a narrator about a little girl whose parents are concerned when she doesn't talk until she is three, has problems in school, is treated as if she can't read when she can.

One night when she can't sleep she turns on the tv and watches a documentary about the Voynich Manuscript currently in the Yale Library that has defied every attempt to decode it. It changes her life as she spends every weekend at the library learning new words and how they fit in and how there is a difference between tear (teer) and tear (tare) for example.

Then her friend, Peter, convinces her to go to London to see the manuscript which is currently on loan. She has already read everything she can find about the manuscript. As a result she has also learned a lot about language and words which were mysteries to her when she was very young.

It has an interesting which I won't spoil for you. I really enjoyed this book a lot.

All The Colors Of The Dark by Chris Whitaker

2025-03-21T17:58:00.002-04:00

I haven’t read a book that affected me this deeply since Demon Copperhead. This book was chosen for a meeting of a book club I’ve started and it is amazing. The story is set in the Missouri Ozarks where we meet two teenagers from poor families who are friends. Both are outsiders. Patch is mocked because he was born with only one eye and Sainte is a gawky teenage girl who doesn’t dress up and keeps bees. Patch wants to have Missy, the prettiest and richest girl at school, to notice him, but she is going out with Chuck who is one of the bullies that won’t leave him alone.

Then someone tries to abduct Missy and Patch saves her. He is stabbed and abducted and is missing for months until Sainte finds him. While he is imprisoned he is visited by a girl named Grace who tells him stories and brings him food. When he is finally freed, Grace is gone and he wants to find her. Most people are convinced that she never existed, that he was delirious and it was all dreams, but he is sure she exists if he can find her.

This book is amazing. It’s about love, loss, friendship, trauma, social status and more. It’s amazing and absolutely magical. I loved it.

Three Days In June by Anne Tyler

2025-03-17T22:14:00.000-04:00

Anne Tyler is one of my favorite authors. She is 85 and still writing. When she wrote the book before this one she said it was her last, but she had another book in her. I hope she has many more.

This is a lovely little book - very short - really more of a novella. It takes place over 3 days as Gail prepares to attend her daughter’s wedding. Gail is an administrative assistant to the head of a private school and also a former math teacher.

The book opens with Gail being told that her boss is going into the hospital for a heart procedure and that she is also retiring and a new administrator has been chosen. Gail had assumed she would succeed her but there is some concern about her “people skills.” The new administrator wants to bring her assistant with her. At that point she walks out of the office and prepares to resign.

Then her ex husband appears at her door with a cat that he is fostering and asks to stay with her because her daughter’s fiancee is allergic to cats. Gail lets him stay reluctantly, but in the 3 days some things change.

Her daughter confides a secret she was told that may stop the wedding. And soon we learn about how Gail came to be where she is today - a bit shut off from the world around her.

It is a a terrific book - quirky as only Anne Tyler can be with a good heart and wonderful writing.

Death And The Old Master: A St Just Mystery by G.M. Malliet

2025-03-17T21:55:00.002-04:00

The fact that I read this in February but never finished the blog post says a lot about the distractions in my life right now. This is the newest book by G.M. Malliet who writes about murder and her Inspector St Just and his beautiful fiancee, Portia, a university professor and sucessful mystery writer.

When a Cambridge Don who is an art expert dies mysteriously the reader is led through a number of rabbit holes. He inherited a large number of paintings from his late aunt. Most are worthless but there is one that may be a lost Rembrandt.

This was a fun read and I recommend this author to anyoe who likes British police procedurals with a bit of tongue in cheek.

Been Wrong So Long It Seems Like Right: A Joe Oliver Novel by Walter Mosley

2025-03-16T01:56:00.001-04:00

Walter Mosley is one of the writers I really love. In my humbler opinion he is one of the great American writers. His most famous character is Easy Rawlings, a private detective in pre civil rights era California. One of his more recent characters, Leonid McGill, is a favorite of mine.

This book features Joe Oliver, a relatively new characters. In this book Oliver is asked to find a rich man’s wife, but instead he protects her from him while trying to find his father for his grandmother.

I usually don’t like books with violence but somehow Mosley manages to make it happen as necessary but minimal.

Mosley manages to talk about the black experience in the United States without sounding like a preacher or a scold. He has a new Easy Rawlings book coming out later this year. I’m looking forward to it.

The Waiting: A Ballard And Bosch Novel by Michael Cunningham

2025-01-27T03:03:00.001-05:00

I came late to the Harry Bosch series, but started this one at the beginning. This series features Renee Ballard, a detective who heads the cold cases division. She is the only uniformed member. The others are volunteers from the public. Each of them have a specific talent including one who is very good at breaking computer barriers while staying on this side of the legal line.

Renee is a dedicated surfer who goes out several times a week. When she was first introduced she was living in a tent on the beach and using a gym shower to get ready for work. Now she is in her own apartment but still gets up to catch the waves.

The saying "there's an app for that" is an important part of the story. Renee checks an app to see where the best surfing conditions are.

When the book opens she comes back from her time on the water to find that someone has broken into her truck and stolen her police badge and gun. Renee doesn't trust the system to treat her fairly. She already has a reputation after making a formal sexual harassment claim and is afraid that the theft of her badge and gun will give some in the upper ranks an excuse to put her back in uniform directing traffic.

She soon tracks down the thief but her badge has been sold and it's the buyer of the badge who makes this theft become more than just a common theft.

Meanwhile one of the cold cases comes alive when one of the members discovers a dna match to a young man whose dna is in the system. His father apparently is or was the infamous Pillowcase Killer.

Renee's personal life is in something of a turmouil as well. When her father died she was only 13. Her mother never came forward to claim her but her grandmother took her to California. Now Hawaii has suffered a terrible storm and she asks a local investigator to find her. But is she read to meet her again after all these years?

This book started out a bit slow but the momentum built quickly. There's a lot of detail here about police procedures. Some people might want to skip over that. Stil it's a terrific read.

Guide Me Home By Attica Locke

2025-01-18T11:34:00.003-05:00

I am a devotee of Attica Locke. If one of her books is published I am at the library to reserve a copy. I've read every book she has written and am looking forward to more. This book is the most recent in her books about Darren Matthews, a black Texas Ranger, following in the footsteps of his uncle after dropping out of law school.

He is facing the consequences of an unethical incident with a racist district attorney trying to nail him. Warning: this book is political. The author has no time for Donald Trump. She was born in Texas and laments the rise of white nationalist groups and her tirade against Trump is worth reading more than once.

However it's obvious she loves the state where she was born despite it's politics and her descriptions of rural places is gorgeous.

Her prose is absolutely wonderful. This is more than a crime novel. It's the story of a man who had a difficult childhood despite having the best of everything and temporarily losing himself.

Start at the beginning of the series with Bluebird, Bluebird. Then go on to Heaven, My Home.

I'm looking forward to her next novel.

The Grey Wolf by Louise Penny

2025-01-07T09:00:00.000-05:00

I have been reading Louise Penny since her first book and have enjoyed every one of them for the most part. There are some things I haven't enjoyed including some of the overdramatization she employes. However, the story is usually so compelling I can overlook that. This is the case with this book with starts with Gamache receiving a call from the aide to a government minister. He refuses to speak with her and angrily tells her to go to hell because of an incident she was involved with that affected his son, Daniel.

When a young man breaks into his house and asks to meet with him, he goes. The young man tells him there is something going on but he doesn't know whether he can trust him. He promises to tell him more at another meeting but that never happens because someone runs him down with a car and then disappears. When they finally find the car the driver is dead.

Gamache and his team discover a plot that could change life as they know it and cost millions of lives. Gamache doesn't share his knowledge because he doesn't know who to trust.

The novel is long winded and dramatic but it's interesting although, in my opinion, it could have done with a bit more editing. Still I would recommend it. It has an interesting ending with an ending that hints to the next book.

Death Comes At Christmas Edited by Marie O'Regan and Paul Kane

2024-12-21T20:41:00.000-05:00

A long time ago I was buying a few Christmas themed murder mystery books in a local newspaper. The clerk seemed surprised. I said that mysteries take the edge off of Christmas. He laughed aloud.

A Facebook friend mentioned this book and it seemed perfect. And, for the most part, it is. It's a bunch of short stories. There were two I found kind of dumb to be honest but most were clever with that sly humor that British writers are able to achieve.

It was a quick read and enjoyable.