Category: Contemporary

The Paper Caper by Kate Carlisle

On By BarbaraIn Audiobook, Barb's Reviews, Contemporary, Mystery, Part of a Series2 Comments

The Paper Caper (Bibliophile #16)Barbara’s rating: 3.5 of 5 Stars
Series: Bibliophile Mysteries #16
Publication Date: 7/26/22
Period: Contemporary San Francisco
Number of Pages: AUDIOBOOK, 9 h 4 m Sara Young narrator

There are exciting times happening at the Covington Library because they have paired with the rich, handsome industrialist, Joseph Cabot to hold a Mark Twain festival. The festival, of course, is totally funded by Joseph. There is something for everyone and it is all based on events from Mark Twain’s books – there is a children’s fence painting event, a frog race, and even a series of live events showing the step-by-step restoration of a first edition of Mark Twain’s The Prince And The Pauper.

Brooklyn Wainwright and her handsome husband Derek Stone are intimately involved with the festival. Brooklyn because she is a renowned book restoration expert and paper artist and Derek because he owns an international security agency that once rescued Joseph Cabot from kidnappers and because Derek and Joseph are friends.

Part of the festivities is a look-alike contest. Strangely though, the lookalike contest wasn’t for a Mark Twain lookalike – it was for someone who looked like Joseph. I have to say, this plot point – and it was a major one – just made absolutely no sense to me. Anyway, the winner is a very affable, gregarious man who continued to march to his own tune throughout the book.

When attempted murders – and an actual murder occurs, everyone begins to look at everyone else to determine who the villain(s) are. Personally, I don’t think the author went to any great pains to hide the identity of the bad guys because it was very obvious from the beginning. However, you had to wonder throughout the book how it was managed and who, if anyone, was an accomplice.

I have read or listened to every book in this series and I have enjoyed all of them. That said, this one doesn’t have the strongest or best-written story, and when you add a new narrator to the mix — well, it becomes the least enjoyable book of the series – for me. I thought the narrator did an okay job with most of the voices and delivery, but when it came to Derek’s voice, I absolutely cringed each time I heard it and it jerked me right out of the story. Since Derek is a main character, that is a lot of jerking. 😊 So, while I will continue to read the series, I will skip listening if this narrator continues.

The narrator has a pleasant voice and a basically upbeat delivery – which seems wrong in some of the scenes. She also mispronounces the name of the library – the Covington. Since the Covington is the main location in the story, that is a great many mispronunciations. Her range of voices seems to be fairly narrow as well. Some of the voices were so similar I wasn’t always sure who was speaking until they identified themselves.

I voluntarily listened to and reviewed an Advance Audio Copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

View all my reviews

Bamburgh by L.J. Ross

On By BarbaraIn Barb's Reviews, Contemporary, Mystery, Part of a SeriesLeave a comment

Bamburgh (DCI Ryan Mysteries, #19)Barbara’s rating: 5 of 5 Stars
Series: A DCI Ryan Mystery #19
Publication Date: 3/31/22
Period: Contemporary, Northumberland, UK
Number of Pages: 312

This author excels at creating an excellently convoluted mystery while still allowing you to spend time with and get to know the members of the investigative team. This book is an excellent example of that talent. If you have read other books in the series, you’ll already know about the tragic event that shaped Melanie Yates’s life. If you haven’t read other books in the series, you’ll get enough background to easily follow the story. The author does an excellent job of weaving the events from 2007 into the contemporary story of 2022 and enabling us to better understand what is driving Melanie as an adult.

Woven into the background of several books we’ve seen there is a serial killer stalking England. This murderer has gotten much more clever over time and while the police know there are more victims, they never find the bodies. Melanie’s (Mel) sister Gemma was one of this sadistic killer’s earliest victims and Mel has blamed herself for what happened. It is why she joined the force and why she spends all of her off-time working the case. In the last book, one of the victims managed to escape – and miracle-of-miracles – there was trace DNA evidence found on her body. Sadly, the authorities haven’t found any matches in the system, so they’ve not been able to identify the killer – yet. Finding that DNA was enough to get the powers-that-be to agree to form a task team to concentrate on finding the dastard. However, that team has to exclude Melanie or risk being challenged in court.

We learn early on – almost at the beginning – who the serial killer is. The story is spent watching the team work toward identifying him – and watching him plot his course to thwart the team. It is quite interesting to see the inner workings of such a twisted mind, and you have to wonder how he can seem so normal and engaging.

While they are working on the serial killer case, they are also working on the case of a very wealthy older lady who is murdered in her home. It almost – almost – looked like an accident, but sharp eyes noticed that all was not as it seemed. We learn what a delightful lady she was and mourn her loss. It was a pleasure to see her murderer identified.

However, the very best part is watching the serial killer gloat and plan and – get caught. I will say, though, that the ending was a bit abrupt without a real build-up to it. Also, the aftermath with Mel, her family, and DC Lowerson was left sort of up in the air. I can hardly wait for the next entry into the series so I can, hopefully, see how it all worked out.

I definitely can – and do – recommend this book. It is well-written, excellently plotted, and excellently paced. I hope you will enjoy it as much as I did.

View all my reviews