Wrap Up of the 2023 Calendar of Crime Reading Challenge

Twelve books were required to be read for this challenge. The rules specify that for each month a book take place in that month, it's the author's birth month, or it's publication month. I met the challenge with all twelve books! Here is what I read:

Death on the Danube by Jennifer Anderson

Murder on the Beach by Dianne Harman

Murder in the Park by Jeanne Dams

Good Friday by Lynda LaPlante

Honey Drop Dead by Laura Childs

The Unexpected Mrs. Pollifax by Dorothy Gilman

Fourth of July Forgery by Tonya Kappas

Key Lime Pie Murder by Joanne Fluke.

The Shallows by Holly Craig

A Polluted Font by Mel Starr

Thanksgiving Treachery by Tonya Kappas

Murder at the Christmas Cook Bakeoff by Darci Hannah

Favorite Book:  The Shallows

Second Favorite Book:  Honey Drop Dead

Least Favorite Book:  Key Lime Pie Murder, Murder in the Park and Death on the Danube all received no stars out of 5 so I have a three way tie for my least favorite book. In addition, Thanksgiving Treachery received 1 star and Murder on the Beach only received 2 stars.  These two books I will also consider as my least favorite book for the challenge.  With 5 books that I disliked I have to think more thoughtfully about books that I choose for this challenge.  I will be participating again next year and want to have more success with my book choices.

Murder at the Christmas Cookie Bakeoff

Murder at the Christmas Cookie Bake-Off is my final selection for the Calendar of Crime Challenge. It is a lovely cozy mystery with recipes in the back of the book.  It the 2nd of 5 books in the author's Beacon Bakeshop Mystery Series.

The publisher's summary:  

Tucked away inside an old lighthouse in Beacon Harbor, Michigan, bakeshop café owner Lindsey Bakewellis ready to make her first Christmas in town shine bright. But her merry plans crumble fast when murder appears under the mistletoe. 

With the spirit of the holidays wafting through the Beacon Bakeshop, Lindsey thinks she has the recipe for the sweetest Christmas ever—winning the town-wide cookie bake-off. Unfortunately, striving for a picture-perfect December in Beacon Harbor is a lot like biting into stale shortbread. Low on staff and bombarded by visits from family, Lindsey can barely meet demands at work, let alone summon the confidence to face fierce competition . . .

 

Self-appointed Christmas know-it-all Felicity Stewart is determined to take the top spot in the bake‑off, and she’s not afraid to dump a little coal in everyone’s stocking to do it. Just as the competition heats up, everything falls apart when the judge is found dead—and covered in crumbs from Lindsey’s signature cookie!

 

Solving a murder was never on Lindsey’s wish list. But with her reputation on the line during the happiest time of the year, she’ll need to bring her best talents to the table in order to sift out the true Christmas Cookie culprit.

I loved this story. It has everything you want in a Christmas cozy mystery. There are engaging characters, a wintery but cozy setting,  and the smell of freshly baked pastries on every page. When. Lindsay rose at 3:00 a.m. each morning to begin mixing her doughs, I felt like I was there with her.  As a baker myself, I could easily see in my mind her sweet roll dough recipe as well as her cinnamon rolls and caramel pecan rolls.  She baked and fried the doughs before making a variety of danish pastries all hours before her bakery opened for the day.  

The characters were believable. Of course, Lindsay is a great character but the villain seemed all too real to me also.  Felicity, owner of a year-round Christmas shop, is the epitome of every jealous woman I have had to "compete" against when bringing treats to work.  She will sabotage the efforts of other bakers in order to always be first at everything.  A few years ago a co-worker threw my cookies in the garbage because no one was eating hers so I definitely feel Lindsay's pain.  The celebrity judge, Chef Chevy Chambers, is another villain in the story.   His character provides many of the twists and turns because he not only is having an affair with several contestants but he also put a few of them out of business with his scathing newspaper reviews of their restaurants.  When he ends up murdered, there are several possible whodunnits. The howdunnit should be obvious.  It's a rolling pin.

Murder at the Christmas Cookie Bake-Off is simply the best Christmas cozy that I have ever read.  Check it out.  5 out of 5 stars.

Thanksgiving Treachery

Tonya Kappes' Thanksgiving Treachery is her 7th holiday cozy mystery. It was published earlier this month on November 2, 2023.  The story takes place in the quaint town of Holiday Junction, where traditions run deep and festivities are the heart of the community.  When the prominent Harden family is struck by tragedy, everyone becomes a suspect. It’s up to journalist, Violet Rhinehammer of the Junction Journal, to unearth the truths buried beneath layers of deception and old grudges.  As Violet delves deeper, she discovers secrets that entwine the art district with the village in ways she never imagined.  As Holiday Junction gears up for its Friendsgiving festivities, one question lingers—can the town’s cherished unity withstand the weight of treachery?

It took me a few pages to become interested in the story.  After two murders had taken place I was excited about the prospect of a serial killer being on the loose.  However, I was disappointed with the investigation of the murders.  The police did not do any investigation at all.  It was 100% investigated by Violet under her responsibilities as a journalist.  Her interviews with the many characters in the story was the investigation. Violet advised the police when she made discoveries but in the end, there was no arrest.  The reveal of the whodunnit in the last chapter was satisfying but did not make up for the problems of having too many characters to keep track of and corny place names and character names that I found annoying.

1 out of 5 stars.

A Polluted Font

A Polluted Font is the 16th installment of the Chronicles of Hugh de Singleton, Surgeon series by Mel Starr.  I have read every book in the series and all of them were captivating stories. A Polluted Font is no different. I loved it!

The publisher's summary:  

When Hugh and Kate's new-born son is taken to the church to be baptized, they are astounded to find that the locked font is completely dry. The possibility of a leak is quickly ruled out, and just as Hugh is beginning to wonder if there may be a sinister explanation for the stolen holy water, Fr Robert is found lying motionless by the rood screen in a pool of blood . . .

Meanwhile, parliament has passed a poll tax, stipulating everyone above the age of 14 is to be taxed equally. Folk are soon scrambling to find the money to pay and, inevitably, unscrupulous elements in society see an opportunity to feed off people’s desperation and make some cash . . . But what connection can there possibly between this and events at Bampton?

After reading the first couple of chapters I thought maybe the plot wasn't up to par with earlier books in the series. It seemed the only crime for Hugh to solve was the theft of holy water from the baptismal font at St. Beornwald's Church.  The presumption was that the water would being used for the black arts. When Father Robert was found near death in the sanctuary, I was excited. I hoped he would die and there would be a murder to solve. That sounds mean but Father Robert survived not only the attack to his head but he survived Hugh's brain surgery. I thoroughly enjoyed how Hugh removed a blood clot under the skull as well as remove a loose bone that he was not sure where it belonged. He operated with the limited knowledge of medicine in the medieval era but also used common sense to treat his patient. Wine was used as the antiseptic to clean the head both before and after the surgery. Lo and behold Father Robert recovers!  

Hugh’s investigation of the theft and attempted murder were one and the same. If he discovered who was stealing the holy water he would discover who whacked Father Robert over the head. Hugh had to  travel on horseback, usually at night, over unsafe roads where robbers were prevalent. However, with the death of the king, the coronation of his 10 year old heir Richard brought more crooks out in full force. There were frequent all night watches at the church to catch the thief but the thief was wily. He continued to steal holy water and not get caught. Until he did. 

You gotta love a character who doesn't know what to do with a bone inside a brain so he throws it out. The Hugh de Singleton series is a fun read and I highly recommend it to historical mystery fans. I am rating A Polluted Font 5 out of 5 stars.

The Shallows

The Shallows is a gripping novel about two women who are neighbors in one of Sydney’s most exclusive suburbs. Emma and Ariella appear to have it all. They have expensive five story homes, wealthy husbands, and seemingly perfect lives. Both of them have dark secrets about their marriages that lurk beneath the surface. Ariella's secrets aren't too heavily buried. Her husband has a minder with her 24/7 and other neighbors have noticed. Mateo owns several strip clubs while Emma's husband Charles works for a security company. The two ladies slip notes to each other and share secrets when the minder isn't looking. Ariella's last message says she has a secret to share with Emma. However, Ariella was found murdered the next day after Emma’s daughter Kiki unknowingly filmed the killing while she made a You Tube video that she posted immediately. When Emma’s husband Charles forces the family to leave their perfect life and escape on their yacht, Emma feels trapped and tries to get answers from him. What or who are they hiding from? What did Ariella have to tell her? Does anyone else knows Emma’s own secret?

This story is a page turner. It is told from two perspectives. One is told three months in the past and the other is told in the current date. As the novel progresses three months become two, then one and then weeks. The suspense is ratcheted up from this literary device. Halfway through the book the story is only told in the present day. 

I loved the characters. Both Emma and Ariella were sympathetic ladies. Both of the husbands were villains but Mateo is the ultimate villain. He runs a string of strip clubs where teenagers work and people regularly disappear. He cannot even trust his own wife although he probably had no idea she wanted to leave him. They married when she was just 18 and had no idea what life had in store for her. Ariella did not know much about Mateo's business but she knew enough to fear him. Emma’s two kids, Kiki and Cooper, are a big part of the plot too. 

The Shallows is the debut novel of Holly Craig. It's amazing to me that her first book is this good. 5 out of 5 stars.

Key Lime Pie Murder

August 1 is National Homemade Pie Day. It occurs every year. Since I am too lazy to bake, I have substituted reading the Key Lime Pie Murder by Joanne Fluke. It counts as a selection for the Calendar of Crime Challenge as an August holiday.

The publisher's summary:  

It promises to be a busy week for Hannah Swensen. Not only is she whipping up treats for the chamber of commerce booth at the Tri-County fair, she's also judging the baking contest; acting as a magician's assistant for her business partner's husband; trying to coax Moishe, her previously rapacious feline, to end his hunger strike, and performing her own private carnival act by juggling the demands of her mother and sisters.

With so much on her plate, it's no wonder Hannah finds herself on the midway only moments before the fair closes for the night. After hearing a suspicious thump, she goes snooping–only to discover Willa Sunquist, a student teacher and fellow bake contest judge, dead alongside an upended key lime pie. But who would want to kill Willa and why? 
 
Now Hannah needs to crank up the heat, hoping that Willa’s killer will get rattled and make a mistake. If that happens she intends to be there, even if it means getting on a carnival ride that could very well be her last…

The book is one of the older books in the series. Hannah isn't even married yet but thinks that the man she eventually marries is interested in her.  Key Lime Pie Murder did not seem to be a cozy mystery but rather just a cozy.  There was not much of a mystery here to be solved. No twists, no turns, no nothing. What the reader gets is the social life of the main character Hannah Swenson. I have a few of the later novels in the series and the plots were pretty thin also. I am sure there is a demographic for this type of a story. It just isn't me.

No rating.

Fourth of July Forgery

Fourth of July Forgery is the 6th Holiday Cozy Mystery from Tonya Kappes. It was published on June 29, 2023. The 7th book in the series will be published just one year from now on June 20, 2024. The Santa Claus Surprise will be the Christmas themed book in the series.

The publisher's summary:

Fireworks aren't the only things causing sparks this Fourth of July in Holiday Junction! The much-awaited sixth book in the Holiday Cozy Mystery series, Fourth of July Forgery, immerses readers in a mystery that's more intricate than a firework's design.

When the festive atmosphere is dampened by the grim discovery of a body on the shore, it's up to our firecracker reporter, Violet Rhinehammer, to fizzle out the truth. Delving into the shadowy world of art dealing and potential forgeries, Violet must crack this case faster than a skyrocket, all while trying to keep her relationships and reputation from going up in smoke.

As she navigates the labyrinth of deception and accusation, Violet realizes that even in Holiday Junction, secrets can still explode like a M80. Can she solve the puzzle before the last sparkler has fizzled out, or will the fuse on this mystery burn too quickly for her to handle?

This is a charming story that moved fast. Violet is a news reporter for the Junction Journal and the amateur sleuth for the story. She uses her job as a journalist to investigate the murder of art dealer Graham Winston, whose body was found during the annual fireworks display. The police have no involvement in searching for the perpetrator, which is a little odd. The only time the police chief is mentioned is when he drives a car in the town’s Fourth of July parade and when he arrests the perp. However, this suspension of belief did not bother me much because Violet's mind worked fast. As a result there was a new twist on just about every other page. The  reveal of the whodunnit was satisfying.

All of the characters were memorable. From Violet to her southern mother Millie Kaye, town gossip Goldie and the paper's newest journalist Radley.  Violet is a return character from a prior cozy series by the author. She is the main character in each installment of this Holiday Cozy Mystery series so I already know I am going to be reading all of them.

4 out of 5 stars.

The Unexpected Mrs. Pollifax

This book is a re-read for me. Several decades ago I read every one of these Mrs. Pollifax cozy mysteries. There were fantastic. As I was looking for a book for the Calendar of Crime Challenge, I realized that author Dorothy Gilman was born in June. Books whose authors were born in June are eligible for the challenge. A match!

The publisher's summary:

Mrs. Virgil (Emily) Pollifax of New Brunswick, New Jersey, was a widow with grown, married children. She was tired of attending her Garden Club meetings. She wanted to do something good for her country. So, naturally, she became a CIA agent.

She takes on a “job” in Mexico City. The assignment doesn’t sound dangerous at first, but then, as often happens, something goes wrong. Now our dear Mrs. Pollifax finds herself embroiled in quite a hot Cold War—and her country’s enemies find themselves entangled with one unbelievably feisty lady.

Although the book was written in 1966, the writing is still current with today's language. While the premise for the stories may seem far-fetched, nothing about the plot is unusual. It unfolds just like any other spy novel. The knowledge that Mrs. Pollifax gained throughout her years as a wife and mother helped her to see situations clearer than professional spies. She is simply adorable.

The first three chapters reminded me how Mrs. Pollifax got into the spy business to begin with. While discussing with her doctor that she was bored with her life as a volunteer, she remembered that when she was young she wanted to be a spy. Feeling encouraged by him, Mrs. Pollifax traveled to Washington DC and applied for a job with the CIA. She did not know that you need to be asked to join but was hired for a courier job in Mexico City after being mistaken for another lady. Her age, including her white hair, would make her unexpected by the CIA's moles. From this auspicious beginning, readers were lucky to have 13 subsequent novels to enjoy.

5 out of 5 stars.

Good Friday

Good Friday is the third book in the author's Jane Tenneson Thriller series. I have never read anything by Linda LaPlante before and did not know what to expect. The book was selected as my choice for the Calendar of Crime Challenge for April. It was published in 2018.

The publisher's summary:

In the race to stop a deadly attack just pray she's not too late . . . March, 1976. The height of The Troubles. An IRA bombing campaign strikes terror across Britain. Nowhere and no one is safe. When detective constable Jane Tennison survives a deadly explosion at Covent Garden tube station, she finds herself in the middle of a media storm. Minutes before the blast, she caught sight of the bomber. Too traumatised to identify him, she is nevertheless a key witness and put under 24-hour police protection. As work continues round the clock to unmask the terrorists, the Metropolitan police are determined nothing will disrupt their annual Good Friday dinner dance. Amid tight security, hundreds of detectives and their wives and girlfriends will be at St Ermin's Hotel in central London. Jane, too, is persuaded to attend. But in the week leading up to Good Friday, Jane experiences a sudden flashback. She realises that not only can she identify the bomber, but that the IRA Active Service Unit is very close to her indeed. She is in real and present danger. In a nail-biting race against time, Jane must convince her senior officers that her instincts are right before London is engulfed in another bloodbath.

The story was well plotted and had a comfortable pace; Not too fast and not too slow.  It's a police procedural set in 1976 and is based on the IRA bombings in London. I was quite surprised that Jane's character was continually making mistakes during the investigation and was always being criticized by her male counterparts. I expected Jane to be a perfect investigator who was well respected by her peers. I cringed every time she said that she learned an investigative technique from her policing education. She really seemed like a beginner. Jane was a beginner, though. Her job in the novel was her first as a detective. I think that I missed alot concerning her character by not reading the first two books in the series. 

If you are interested in reading this book, I recommend that you start at the beginning and read all of the books in order of publication. It was hard to tell who Jane was as a character because she seemed to be a fish out of water in Good Friday. Still, the investigation was interesting and I enjoyed the setting of a British police station.

3 out of 5 stars.

Murder in the Park

I selected Murder in the Park for the Calendar of Crime Challenge. The book was published during March 2022 and because the story takes place in a town that I used to reside in, I knew I had to read it. The book is the first one in a new mystery series taking place in Oak Park, Illinois. Elizabeth Fairchild is the amateur sleuth. She is a widow living with her parents during the 1920s.

The publisher's summary:  

June, 1925. Having been widowed in the Great War, Elizabeth Fairchild lives a quiet life at the home of her wealthy parents in genteel Oak Park village, Illinois. Although she does her best to avoid emotional entanglements, determined never to be hurt again, Elizabeth forms a close friendship with gentle Mr Anthony, who owns the local antiques store.

But tragedy strikes when Mr Anthony is found stabbed to death in the alley behind his shop. Why would anyone murder a mild-mannered antiques dealer who simply loved beautiful things? A robbery gone wrong? A gangland execution? Or could it have something to do with the mysterious customer who bought a gold pocket watch from Mr Anthony on the day he died? 

When one of her father's oldest friends is accused of the crime, Elizabeth determines to expose the real killer. But her investigations soon attract unwelcome attention. With gangsters moving into the neighbourhood from nearby Chicago, Oak Park is no longer the safe haven it once was. Could Elizabeth be seriously out of her depth?

I enjoyed the beginning of the book; just the introduction of the characters. The murder occurred early and I expected the rest of the story would be about the sleuthing. However, there was no sleuthing. Elizabeth relied on other characters to set up a meeting with neighbors. In the meeting she asked too many questions, resulting in the Chicago police breaking into her house to scare her while she hid in the basement. Another character informs Elizabeth that the Chicago police are corrupt and controlled by the mob. He insinuates that Mr. Anthony was a mobster because he was Italian. Anthony's Catholic faith also made him appear suspicious to his Oak Park neighbors and most of them thought he was involved in criminal activity for this reason. Elizabeth thought that the Walosa group, the female branch of the KKK, probably had something to do with Mr. Anthony's death since there was a local branch of them in Oak Park. Elizabeth learns new information about what may have happened at social events she is invited to.

Murder in the Park is a straight murder mystery story. There was no real plot action though. It seemed to me that the author concentrated on the setting with narrative and dialogue. She forgot to write a story. The characters she created could make fantastic characters in future novels.

No rating.

Murder on the Beach

Murder on the Beach is the third book in a cozy mystery series called Chef Dani Rossetti Cozy Mysteries. There are 9 books in the series to date. I selected the book for the Calendar of Crime Challenge because it was published in the month of February. 

The publisher's summary:

Jackson Kelly may have been middle-aged and the vice-president of the exclusive Oceana Resort Hotel, but Jackson loved to surf and he loved the ladies, who were mostly young women he referred to as his “diversions.”When he dies on the beach while surfing with no apparent injuries, the question is: “What happened to him?" Too bad he had an angry looking rash on his leg. And Dani and Arthur were only at the resort to cater a dinner meeting for the resort’s stockholders! When the coroner says, yes, it was murder, they have their work cut out for them – another mystery to solve.The owner of the resort and his family have a lot to gain financially if Jackson’s dead. But maybe it was a crime of passion. His wife or current “diversion” could have done it. A lot of interests to be protected. Greed, revenge, hatred – those are all possible motives.

While cozy mystery writers are known for testing the limits of suspension of belief, I think Ms. Harman went too far. There were two sleuths in the story: Chef Dani and Arthur, her one-time bodyguard and owner of a private investigation firm. While Arthur was hired by the owners of the resort and had a reason to investigate, Dani didn't. I don't know why she questioned some of the suspects and I cannot imagine why anyone would allow themselves to be questioned by a chef about a murder. Since this is the first book in the series that I have read, perhaps how these two characters came to do their sleuthing together would have been explained in earlier novels. It just seemed odd to me that the chef did more sleuthing than the professional investigator.

What I did find interesting was that digital vehicle forensics was supposed to be used in the investigation. I had never heard about this type of forensics before. However, after Arthur brought this idea up with his clients, it should have been used to determine who the killer was. It not only wasn't used, Arthur never even looked into the car owned by one of the suspects that he was interested in. Why was digital vehicle forensics even mentioned?

One more thing bothered me. When visiting chef Dani arrived at the resort, she was given the Presidential Suite. Granted, Dani is a celebrity chef but this still was odd to me.

There were several flaws in the story but it still had some appeal for me. I enjoyed the first half of the book but when Jackson Kelly died at the midpoint, it fell flat. The second half of the novel, which was the investigation, was not plausible.

2 out of 5 stars.

Death on the Danube

In Death on the Danube, recent divorcee Lana Hanson agrees to fill in as a tour guide for her friend Dotty Thompson's Wanderlust Tours business during a Christmas Eve conversation. Dotty wants Lana to travel to Budapest in order to lead a group after one of the guides was injured in a skiing accident. With no job and being 2 months behind in rent, Lana agrees to go. It's a perfect way for her to ring in the new year and also pay her rent. Upon arrival in Budapest, Hungary the tour quickly turns into a nightmare when Carl, Lana's fellow tour guide, is found floating in the Danube River. The question is whether he was murdered or died in an accident. With all of the tourists having had problems with Carl, Lana finds her self trapped with nine murder suspects. When another tour guest dies, Lana has to figure out who the killer is before she also ends up floating in the Danube River. Death on the Danube is the first book in the Travel Can Be Murder cozy mystery series by Jennifer Alderson.

I did not care for the book. The murder didn't happen until I was 60% in to the story. There was no investigation by Lana other than checking the internet to find out who her passengers were. She did not interview the passengers nor did she interface with Budapest law enforcement. She did nothing to solve the crime as I was promised by the publisher's summary of the book. The passenger's problems with Carl did not surface until after he was dead so there was no point to the novel. All I read about was the tour itinerary and how Lana felt as she was pampered by hotel staff.

This story was boring. No rating.

2023 Calendar of Crime Challenge

I love mysteries and have my favorite authors.  This challenge, however, makes me search for new authors and new books fit for this challenge so I am signing up for the 2023 challenge. The challenge is hosted by the My Readers Block blog.

This challenge allows readers to include any mystery regardless of publication date. If it falls in a mystery category (crime fiction/detective novel/police procedural/suspense/thriller/spy & espionage/hard-boiled/cozy/etc.), then it counts and it does not matter if it was published in 1893 or 2023. 

 

 

 

A larger version of the spreadsheet may be found HERE. Click on the 2023 tab at bottom. 

 

The Rules

1)    Challenge runs from January 1 to December 31, 2023. All books should be read during this time period. Sign up at any time. If you have a blog, please post about the challenge. Then sign up via the form below and please make the url link to your challenge post and not your home page. If you don't have a blog, links to an online list (Goodreads, Library Thing, etc.) devoted to this challenge are acceptable OR you may skip that question.

2)    All books must be mysteries. Humor, romance, supernatural elements (etc.) are all welcome, but the books must be mysteries/crime/detective novels first.

3)    Twelve books, one representing each month, are required for a complete challenge.

4)    To claim a book, it must fit one of the categories for the month you wish to fulfill. Unless otherwise specified, the category is fulfilled within the actual story. for instance, if you are claiming the book for December and want to use "Christmas" as the category, then Christmas figure in some in the plot. Did someone poison the plum pudding? Did Great-Uncle Whozit invite all the family home for Christmas so he could tell them he plans to change his will?

5)    The "wild card" book is exactly that. If July is your birth month (as mine is), then for category #9 you may read any mystery book you want. It does not have to connect with July in any way--other than a July baby chose it. The other eleven months, you must do the alternate category #9 if you want to fulfill that slot.

6)    Chinese Zodiac: Animal must be important to the book in some way. Examples: animal name appears in title (stand-alone, not part of another word); animal itself is important to the story; animal appears on cover; important character is associated with the animal (nickname--for instance, owns one as a pet, etc.) OR book may have been published in a year that corresponds to the Zodiac year.

7)    Books may only count for one month and one category, but they may count for other challenges (such as my Vintage Scattergories Challenge). If it could fulfill more than one category or month, then you are welcome to change it at any time prior to the final wrap-up.

8)    Books do not have to be read during the month for which they qualify. So--if you're feeling like a little "Christmas in July" (or May or...), then feel free to read your book for December whenever the mood strikes.

9)    A wrap-up post/comment/email will be requested that should include a list of books read and what category they fulfilled. [Example: January: The House of Sudden Sleep by John Hawk (original pub date January 1930)]

10)    If you post on Facebook, Instagram, or other social media to log a book, please use #?CalendarOfCrime2023.