Pork Pies by Judy Nichols - #review

Crusty British transplant Ian Dodge is back on the beat, this time in the service of Her Majesty, otherwise known as Laura Lane, the Food Queen, star of a popular TV cooking show. A blackmailer has threatened to expose her sordid past as a con artist, so she turns to Ian Dodge to get it sorted.

When her blackmailer is found stabbed to death in his hotel room, Her Majesty is the prime suspect. It’s Ian’s job to untangle a web of deception and pork pies (lies) to find the real culprit, all the while dealing with the antics of his twin sons, Jesse and Mac.

An Incomplete Revenge by Jacqueline Winspear - #review

With the country in the grip of economic malaise, Maisie Dobbs is relieved to accept an apparently straightforward assignment to investigate a potential land purchase. Her inquiries take her to a picturesque village in Kent during the hop-picking season, but beneath its pastoral surface she finds evidence that something is amiss. Mysterious fires erupt in the village with alarming regularity, and a series of petty crimes suggest a darker criminal element at work. A peculiar secrecy shrouds the village, and ultimately Maisie must draw on her finely-honed skills of detection to solve one of her most intriguing cases yet.

GoodReads * Amazon

~~~oOo~~~

MY REVIEW

The fifth in the series?  Where have I been all of Maisie Dobbs' life?  (I mean, if she were a real person and not 100 years old (or so), I'd probably want to have Maisie meet my son! *lol*)

Ms. Winspear scripted a delicious tension in the story from beginning to end.  There's the whole 'I'm not getting the full story here' vibe, tension between the locals and Londoners, the Roma against - well - everybody, and the townspeople against a boorish land owner.  The village, as well, has one whopping big secret that will eventually out.

I also especially enjoyed the character of the old Roma 'Auntie'.  She had amazingly clear vision while all around her saw things the way they wanted them to be, or didn't like what they did see.

And I'm going to have to find another 12 spaces on my TBR shelf for the rest of the series.  Or build a new shelf.  Because not reading the rest of the series is as unthinkable as an entire English village swearing off tea.

~~~oOo~~~

MEET THE AUTHOR

Website * Facebook

Jacqueline Winspear is the author of the New York Times bestselling Maisie Dobbs series, which includes In This Grave Hour, Journey to Munich, A Dangerous Place, Leaving Everything Most Loved, Elegy for Eddie, and eight other novels. Her standalone novel, The Care and Management of Lies, was also a New York Times bestseller and a Dayton Literary Peace Prize finalist. Originally from the United Kingdom, she now lives in California.

Find out more about Jacqueline at her website, www.jacquelinewinspear.com, and find her on Facebook.

~~~oOo~~~

Click on the button to go to the readalong page, where you can find revieww for many of the "Maisie Dobbs" titles.  You can also find out how to become a readalong host for future events!

(Disclosure:  I received a copy of An Incomplete Revenge from the author and publishers via TLC Book Tours in exchange for my honest review.)

When Last We Spoke (Book and DVD) - #review

With the heart and humor of Fannie Flagg’s Fried Green Tomatoes and Rebecca Wells’s Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood, author Marci Henna introduces you to the Cranbournes—a mostly lovable and undoubtedly nutty family who’ve had more than their fair share of hard times.

Monday Bookish Things

     

   

Thanks to Stephanie of Tynga's Reviews, Kathryn at Book Date, Ramona at Create With Joy and Janice at Mostly Blogging for hosting these respective link-ups!  (Click on the buttons to go to the respective blogs.)

~~~oOo~~~

Recently Finished

With the country in the grip of economic malaise, and worried about her business, Maisie Dobbs is relieved to accept an apparently straightforward assignment from an old friend to investigate certain matters concerning a potential land purchase. Her inquiries take her to a picturesque village in Kent during the hop-picking season, but beneath its pastoral surface she finds evidence that something is amiss. Mysterious fires erupt in the village with alarming regularity, and a series of petty crimes suggests a darker criminal element at work. As Maisie discovers, the villagers are bitterly prejudiced against outsiders who flock to Kent at harvest time—even more troubling, they seem possessed by the legacy of a wartime Zeppelin raid. Maisie grows increasingly suspicious of a peculiar secrecy that shrouds the village, and ultimately she must draw on all her finely honed skills of detection to solve one of her most intriguing cases.

Thoroughly enjoyable.  The blog tour stops here on February 27 (two weeks from today).

+*+*+*+*+

Holden Ryland certainly didn't become a marshal just to end up busting his ex, Nicky Hart, for taking files from Conceptions Fertility Clinic. But only Nicky knows just what was really stolen: a newborn being held for ransom. A newborn who is kin to both her and Holden. The missing boy is only the start of a mystery that snakes through Texas, winding its way through their families. Bad blood may linger between them, but Holden can protect his nephew back at the Silver Creek Ranch. If they can lay their past to rest to rescue this child, is it possible for them to have a future together?

Another goodie, especially if you like your reading on the spicy side.

+*+*+*+*+

Currently Reading

The stark naked body was lying in the tub. Not unusual for a proper bath, but highly irregular for murder -- especially with a pair of gold pince-nez deliberately perched before the sightless eyes. What's more, the face appeared to have been shaved after death. The police assumed that the victim was a prominent financier, but Lord Peter Wimsey, who dabbled in mystery detection as a hobby, knew better. In this, his first murder case, Lord Peter untangles the ghastly mystery of the corpse in the bath.

Having a little trouble with this one.  Got it for a vintage reading challenge, and I remember I think a BBC series that looked like it had promise.  Lord Peter is a little vacuous for my taste.  But I will keep a stiff upper lip and soldier on.

+*+*+*+*+

Gemma Doyle, a transplanted Englishwoman, has returned to the quaint town of West London on Cape Cod to manage her Great Uncle Arthur's Sherlock Holmes Bookshop and Emporium. The shop--located at 222 Baker Street--specializes in the Holmes canon and pastiche, and is also the home of Moriarty the cat. When Gemma finds a rare and potentially valuable magazine containing the first Sherlock Homes story hidden in the bookshop, she and her friend Jayne (who runs the adjoining Mrs. Hudson's Tea Room) set off to find the owner, only to stumble upon a dead body....

So far, so good!  (I'm Crab Orchard's BIGGEST Holmes fan! :O)  My date on the tour is Wednesday, March 15.

+*+*+*+*+

Next Ups

Galina Rostova, the hot new star of Moscow’s theater scene—and mistress to a powerful Russian general—has reached out to the CIA. In exchange for information vital to U.S. security, she requests asylum in America. The Company’s top pick for the mission is Nora Baron. The wife of a CIA operative, this Long Island mother and drama teacher has proven to be an asset in the field before. And as an actress herself, her cover will be convincing.

I requested this title from NetGalley, because I've read and reviewed this author's work before (A Penny for the Hangman, and Mrs. John Doe).  I'm hoping to like this one as well as the others ... and since I have a background in theatre, it's got that going for it as well!  

+*+*+*+*+

Frances Ferguson is a lonely, sharp-tongued widow who lives in the wine country. Oliver Gaffney is a painfully shy gay man who guards a secret and lives out equally lonely days in San Francisco. Friends by default, Fran and Ollie nurse the deep anomie of loss and the creeping, animal betrayal of aging. Each loves routine but is anxious that life might be passing by. To crack open this stalemate, Fran insists the two travel together to Paris. The aftermath of their funny, bittersweet journey suggests those small changes, within our reach, that may help us save ourselves—somewhere toward the end.

I have a tour date of Thursday, March 16th for this title.

+*+*+*+*+

And to finish, here's a wee bit of wisdom for your week:

(found on the web here)

QUESTION OF THE WEEK

Taking myself out of the equation, who is one of your favorite book bloggers and why?  Feel free to leave a link with your comment. :O)

Have a great week, y'all!

Tough Justice: Countdown 1-8 (various authors) - #review

Tick. Tock. BOOM.

FBI Special Agent Lara Grant had thought that she’d put her past behind her—finally—with her last case. But now a serial bomber is targeting Manhattan’s elite power players, offering them a choice between saving hundreds of lives or seeing their darkest secrets exposed. Lara is working with the Crisis Management Unit to stop the bomber, but how will she react when she’s the one who has to choose between truth…or death?

Part 1 of 8: an explosive new installment in the thrilling FBI serial from New York Times bestselling author Carla Cassidy and Tyler Anne Snell, Emmy Curtis and Janie Crouch.

Monday Bookish Things

     

   

Thanks to Stephanie of Tynga's Reviews, Kathryn at Book Date, Ramona at Create With Joy and Janice at Mostly Blogging for hosting these respective link-ups!  (Click on the buttons to go to the respective blogs.)

~~~oOo~~~

STACKING THE SHELVES

Here's some of the books that found their way to me (yeah, I know! *lol*) this week (covers link to GoodReads):

   

    

   

~~~oOo~~~

IT'S MONDAY! WHAT ARE YOU READING?

Synopsis

When a baby goes mising, a Texas marshal and a woman from his past discover there's a whole lot more behind this kidnapping... 

Holden Ryland certainly didn't become a marshal just to end up busting his ex, Nicky Hart, for taking files from Conceptions Fertility Clinic. But only Nicky knows just what was really stolen: a newborn being held for ransom. A newborn who is kin to both her and Holden. The missing boy is only the start of a mystery that snakes through Texas, winding its way through their families. Bad blood may linger between them, but Holden can protect his nephew back at the Silver Creek Ranch. If they can lay their past to rest to rescue this child, is it possible for them to have a future together?

*-*-*-*-*

Wow.  Stealing someone's frozen embryo (where the mom is now deceased), birthing a baby by surrogate, and then kidnapping it for ransom from the grandfather...now that's cold!  (Pun not intended, but, you know...)  That got me 'riled up' from the get go.  I just started reading this book a little while ago, so I'm still not into it very far, but far enough that the spit's just hitting the fan at the place where the baddies were holed up with the baby.

And there's just something that melts your heart about a law man who's good with babies, right? ;)

Y'all are welcome back on Wednesday, March 8th, for my full review!

~~~oOo~~~

A LITTLE INSPIRATION FOR YOUR MONDAY!

(graphic is linked to the Pinterest board where I found it)

~~~oOo~~~

So, what are you doing to make this day YOURS?

I'll start:

I'm going to catch up on reviews for the books I've read so far this year.  Then I'm going to reward myself by getting back to Holden and Nicky and the baby (see the book "Holden" above)!

And I'd like to extend a special invitation for all y'all to connect to me on GoodReads!  (I follow back.)  Hope to see you there and have a great week!