Tag: Kate Carlisle

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.

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Absence of Mallets by Kate Carlisle

On By BarbaraIn Barb's Reviews, Contemporary, MysteryLeave a comment

Absence of Mallets (Fixer-Upper Mystery #9)Barbara’s rating: 4 of 5 stars
Series: Fixer-Upper Mystery #9
Publication Date: 12/7/21
Period: Contemporary Lighthouse Cove, California, USA
Number of Pages: 304

I love it when the authors I follow on social media post about their writer’s retreats, so it was great fun to see that this book featured writer’s retreats. As always, the writing is excellent and while the mystery isn’t terribly mysterious, it is interesting to see it unfold.

Between the last book and this one, Mac has moved in with Shannon and has turned his home, known as the lighthouse mansion, into a retreat for writers. Shannon and Mac are loving their lives and couldn’t be happier, especially with Mac’s writer retreats going so well. This latest batch of writers, however, seems very different from all of the others. There is an odd dynamic within the group and they are disrespectful of Mac and others within Lighthouse Cove. There is something – off – about them and they are definitely proving to be a handful.

Shannon and her crew are almost through with Homefront, the set of fifty tiny homes and service center dedicated to veterans. All of the completed homes are occupied and there is a waiting list for those on which the crew is still working. Shannon’s crew includes both her normal work crew and some of the veterans with building skills and they’ve really meshed into a finely tuned machine. With the homes going up at a rapid pace, Shannon adds a mosaic artist to the crew so the backsplashes in the last few houses will be something really special. Sadly, that artist is murdered before she’s hardly begun her work.

With a large work crew, a village full of veterans, the writers from the retreat, and the entire town of Lighthouse Cove available as suspects, it isn’t going to be an easy case to solve. Except, in her heart, Shannon is almost sure of who it is, but confirming that suspicion and finding proof that would satisfy a court will take the combined skills of Shannon, Mac, Eric (the police chief), and Chloe (Shannon’s sister).

BTW – I loved the new group of writers who come to the retreat at the end of the book. It is a group of successful, multi-published, Romance Writers known as the No Drama Queens.

I hope you’ll give Shannon and Mac’s adventures in Lighthouse Cove a read and that you’ll enjoy it as much as I do. Happy reading!

I voluntarily read and reviewed an Advanced Reader Copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

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