Basket Case: A Gray Whale Inn Mystery by Karen MacInerney

Fiction, Cozy Mystery, Novella

4****

Blurb: Innkeeper Natalie Barnes is hosting a Lithuanian egg-decorating workshop on quaint Cranberry Island when a killer decides to add a deadly twist to the festivities. With a peanut-laced drink claiming the life of unlikeable Justine Simonds, Natalie soon discovers that the workshop participants are cracking with motive. Was Justine’s daughter-in-law anxious to speed up her husband’s inheritance? Did the grudge of an egg-decorating neighbor turn deadly? Or is there another, deeper secret somebody was desperate to keep hidden? It’s up to Natalie to crack the case… before the Easter killer strikes again. This egg-citing cozy mystery is sure to leave readers hungry for more!

I liked this addition to the Gray Whale Inn series. The characters are great – especially Grandma! There were plenty of suspects even for a short novella and plenty of clues that kept me guessing. In this one, the characters are gathering at the inn for a workshop on Lithuanian egg decorating, so we have everyone in one place. And the challenges of living on a remote island where emergency people can’t get to you fast is shown nicely.

Oh, and at the end, after everything is tied up in a neat bow, we are treated to two delicious recipes and directions on how to do the egg decorating! I loved that!

Recommended. Note: Check out the first book in the series for insights into all the main characters and the setting.

Birthdays: George Herbert (1593), Washington Irving (1783), Jennifer Paterson (1928), Jane Goodall (1934), Harold Kushner (1935), Reginald Hill (1936), Vanna Bonda (1958)

Quote: “Do not wait; the time will never be ‘just right’. Start where you stand, and work with whatever tools you may have at your command, and better tools will be found as you go along.” – George Herbert

Tip: Show your characters no mercy. If your story has stalled, ask yourself what is the worst thing that could happen to your character? Make it happen.

Jumpstart: You’ve gone to see a psychic who will answer your deepest question. What do you ask? Why? What will the psychic say?

Birthdays: Giancomo Casanova (1725), Hans Christian Andersen (1805), Emile Zola (1840), William W. Warner (1920), George M. Fraser (1925), Anne Waldman (1945), Sue Townsend (1946), Camille Paglia (1947), Daniel Okrent (1948), Joan D. Vinge (1948), Mark Shulman (1962), Scott Lynch (1978),

Joan Vinge won the 1981 Hugo Award for her book “The Snow Queen”

Quote: “Everything you look at can become a fairy tale and you can get a story from everything you touch.” – Hans Christian Andersen

Tip: Action verbs make your work more vivid and interesting. Each action verb paints a specific picture. Go through your manuscript and change weak verbs to strong ones. For instance, if someone is looking at a picture—are they gazing, studying, pondering, or staring at it?

Jumpstart: Finish this: I closed my eyes, held my nose, and took a drink…

Birthdays: Edmond Rostand (1868), Abraham Harold Maslow (1908), Augusta Baker (1911), Anne McCaffrey (1926), Milan Kundera (1929) Samuel Ray Delany (1942), Francine Prose (1947),

Quote: “That’s what writing is all about, after all, making others see what you have put down on the page and believing that it does, or could, exist and you want to go there.” – Anne McCaffrey

Tip: The first week of April is National Library Week. Think about when you go to the library. What genre do you read? Why do you read this one? How often do you go to the library?  Do you browse or go straight for your favorite area? Do you use the library for anything other than books? Even small libraries are huge sources of information. Go visit one and take a look around.

Jumpstart: This is April Fool’s Day. Would your character be the one playing the jokes, or the butt of them? Why? What would s/he do?

To those who celebrate, happy Easter! To those who don’t, happy Sunday!

Birthdays: Anna Sewell (1820), Paul Verlaine (1844), Seán O’Casey (1880), Jean Giono (1895), Countee Cullen (1903), Alan Davidson (1924), Tom Sharpe (1928), Tobias Hill (1970), Rosecrans Baldwin (1977),

Anna Sewell’s only published work was “Black Beauty”

Quote: “No one really knows the value of book tours. Whether or not they’re good ideas, or if they improve book sales. I happen to think the author is the last person you’d want to talk to about a book. They hate it by that point; they’ve already moved on to a new lover. Besides, the author never knows what the book is about anyway.” – Rosecrans Baldwin

Tip: Start an idea file. You’ll need three: one for characters, one for settings, one for problems or situations. You can keep these as physical files or in a spreadsheet. Then mix and match to come up with stories.

Jumpstart: Plan the perfect date for your main characters. What will they do? Where will they go? What will they wear? What time will they go? (Maybe plan this for yourself!). Have fun.

THE MUTATES: THE CREATION by Peyton Leonard

Fiction, Science Fiction, YA, 216 pages

3***

Blurb: What would you do if your humanity was brutally stolen from you? How far would you go to reclaim that humanity? Tyler, Samy, Andy, and Lola are just a bunch of teenagers living in Ellwood City, Pennsylvania in 2009 when they are kidnapped and experimented on, becoming genetically modified feline humanoids with wings, called Mutates. They struggle to make sense of their mutations and fight for their freedom and humanity all the while growing their bonds with one another and the people they come across. Their journey is fraught with adversity, heartache, and pain, but they learn to overcome their challenges and become even stronger individuals in the process. Come and join Tyler, Samy, Andy, and Lola as they embark on the ride of their lives.

Thoughts: This was an interesting story that is very different from any other “mutant” story I’ve read. Aimed at young adults, the story centers on four teens (15/16 yrs old). Tyler, Samy, Andy, and Lola are friends who live in Pennsylvania. Tyler’s mother died two years ago. Samy lost her parents at a young age and lives with her aunt. Andy and Lola are brother and sister. They are all kidnapped and turned into mutants that resemble felines/birds/humans who can shift from full human form to the mutant form. They struggle to deal with their situation and work as a team to survive and escape the scientist who created them. 

The story moves rather quickly and you have to keep up with it or you’ll get lost in what’s happening. You can’t even skip a page – or a paragraph – because you’ll lose part of the story. Which is not a bad thing because it means you’re engrossed in the story. I will note that Andy is very religious and this plays into the story as well. 

Things I liked: the story is unique and interesting. The characters well-developed and true-to-life. 

What I didn’t like: I often felt like things went their way too much. They get attacked by mutant animals and Lola calms everyone down because she’s so sweet and can talk to them. They escape and the first person they meet has no problem with them being mutants and helps them out. And the “underworld” just seems too unreal even for science fiction. There’s no explanation of where it is and how it came to be. I liked the story overall, but some things were just a bit too unbelievable for me.

Recommendation: For something unique, I recommend this, but you really have to suspend your disbelief for the world building. 

Disclaimer: Disclosure of Material: I received a final and/or advanced reader copy of this book with the hope that I will leave my unbiased opinion. I was not required to leave a review, positive or otherwise, and my opinions are just that… My Opinions. I am posting this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising”

The first in a new series spun off from the Daisy Tea Garden Mysteries, Daisy’s daughter Jazzi Swanson has opened her own book and tea shop, providing a variety of literature and flavored beverages for a rural New York community. But Jazzi has not only inherited her mother’s gift for brewing tasty drinks—she also has a nose for sniffing out murder. New York State’s Belltower Landing is a lakeside resort town where tourists spend their summer days boating, floating, and paddle-boarding on the water. It’s also the perfect place to cuddle up with a good book and enjoy a cup of tea, courtesy of Tomes & Tea. Owned and operated by Jazzi and her best friend Dawn Fernsby, the book bar is beloved by vacationers and locals alike, but browsers grabbing brews in the off season aren’t enough to help them make ends meet. Between brainstorming social media publicity ideas for the shop and fending off flirtatious men she has no interest in or time for, Jazzi befriends a woman named Brie who has recently made contact with her biological father. As an adopted child herself, Jazzi is more than happy to give Brie emotional support, especially as her wealthy father’s wife and children see her as a threat. But Brie is also looking to start a family of her own. Unfortunately, all the potential princes she’s met through a dating app turn out to be frogs. Then, when Brie is found murdered, Jazzi finds herself playing detective. With a list of suspects ranging from jealous half-siblings to less-than-suitable suitors, Jazzi may need to consult some of her shop’s bestselling mysteries to help her uncover a killer . . .

BUY LINKS:

Amazon: Murder Marks the Page (A Tomes & Tea Mystery Series) – Kindle edition by Smith, Karen Rose. Mystery, Thriller & Suspense Kindle eBooks @ Amazon.com.

Barnes and Noble:  Murder Marks the Page by Karen Rose Smith, Hardcover | Barnes & Noble® (barnesandnoble.com)

Apple Books: Murder Marks the Page on Apple Books

Kobo:  Murder Marks the Page eBook by Karen Rose Smith – EPUB Book | Rakuten Kobo United States

Bio: Hi!  I’m Karen Rose Smith.  I write mystery, romance and women’s fiction.  MURDER MARKS THE PAGE is my 110th published novel.  Families are a strong theme in my novels, whether mysteries or romance. One of the highlights of my career was to see my romance turned into a movie—A Very Country Christmas. Besides writing, my passion is caring for our six rescued cats. I have herb and flower gardens that help me relax. In the winter, I cook rather than garden. And year round I spend most of my time with my husband, as well as my cats who are my purrfect companions. They chase rainbows from sun catchers, reminding me life isn’t all about work, awards and bestseller lists. I’ve ventured onto TikTok (@Karenrosesmithauthor). You can also chat with me on my Facebook author page at KarenRoseSmithBooks.

SOCIAL LINKS: 

Romance Website:  https://karenrosesmith.com/

Mystery Website:  https://karenrosesmithmysteries.com/

Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/KarenRoseSmithBooks/TikTok:  Karenrosesmithauthor (@karenrosesmithauthor) | TikTok

Today is National Tolkien Reading Day. The Tolkien Society created this observance in 2003 to encourage the readings of J.R.R. Tolkien. They chose the date of March 25th because it matches the fall of Sauron in Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings.

If you’ve never read them, the books can be difficult to get into, but they are worth the effort. The world building alone is beyond amazing. But if you just can’t do it, then sit back and enjoy the movies. 🙂

I was reading a book for a review the other day and checked the blurb first. And found a misspelling in the first line. Okay, mistakes happen. Everyone makes them. But then there were two more glaring (to me) grammatical errors in this short blurb, and I started to wonder how good the book could be if the author made this many mistakes in just the blurb. Unfortunately, I was right. Although the story was cute, and I did finish it because it was for a review and not just for fun, there were so many mistakes throughout that I couldn’t rate it above two stars. There were mixed tenses–sometimes in the same sentence–misspellings, name changes of major characters and more. I could maybe accept them if this was an unpublished draft, but it wasn’t. The book was published and out there. Thank goodness I didn’t pay for it, or I would have been really upset to have wasted my money on something that was definitely not ready for publishing. And before you ask, yes, it was a self-pub, though that shouldn’t mean anything. Any author, whether traditionally or self-pubbed should check their work thoroughly. If you don’t have the skills necessary, get a good editor, preferably someone who knows what they’re doing.

So, some words of advice to all authors: check your work, including your blurbs. Please.

This has been a test of the emergency reading system. You may now return to your regularly scheduled writing sessions. 🙂

Have a good day!