Wrap-Up of the 2021 Cloak and Dagger Reading Challenge

I signed up to read between 36 and 55 books in 2021 and I met the challenge by reading 50 mysteries.  18 of the authors were new to me. Here is what I read:

Death and the Maiden by Ariana Franklin

Plaid & Plagiarism by Molly MacRae

The Girls in the Snow by Stacy Green

Haunted Hibiscus by Laura Childs

The French Paradox by Ellen Crosby

Piece of my Heart by Mary Higgins Clark

With No One as Witness by Elizabeth George

Followed by Helen Macie Osterman

One by One by Ruth Ware

Now and Then Stab by Anna Castle

In a Dark, Dark Wood by Ruth Ware

Deliberate Duplicity by David Rohlfing

In the Blood by Steve Robinson

The Wedding by Ruth Heald

One Perfect Grave by Stacy Green

Raven Black by Ann Sleeves

The Lost Ancestor by Gill Paul

The Easter Sepulchre by Mel Starr

My Sister's Grave by Robert Durian

The Girl From Silent Lake by Leslie Wolfe

The Murder of Emma Brown by Rod Kackley

The Moonlight Child by Karen McQuestion

Play Dead by Ted Dekker

The Night Gate by Peter May

The Guest List by Lucy Foley

The Perfect Daughter by D. J. Palmer

Loch Down Abbey by Beth Cowan

Ice Blue by Emma Jameson

One Night in Tehran by Luana Ehrlich

The Fire Thief by Debra Bokur

The Fourth of July by Cami Checketts

Gone by Sharon Mitchell

Peaches and Schemes by Anna Gerard

The Cellist by Daniel Silva

The September Society by Charles Finch

Viral by Robin Cook

Top Producer by Leslie Wolfe

Hemlock by Susan Wittig Albert

The Bone Code by Kathy Reichs

An Untidy Death by Simon Brett

Murder on the Metro by Margaret Truman

The Last Odyssey by James Rollins

The End of October by Lawrence Wright

The Good Death by S. D. Sykes

Twisted Tea Christmas by Laura Childs

Thin Air by Ann Cleeves

The Tenant by Keith Veverka

Master Wycliffe's Summons by Mel Starr

Prayers of the Dead by Priscilla Royal

Roses Are Red by Miranda Rijks

Favorite Book:  The September Society

2nd Favorite Book:  Hemlock

Least Favorite Book:  Thin Air

Wrap-Up of the 2021 Calendar of Crime Reading Challenge

12 books were required for the challenge, one for each month of the year.  I read 14 and 5 of the authors were new to me.

The Girls in the Snow by Stacy Green

Piece of My Heart by Mary Higgins Clark

Murder at Malabar House by Vaseem Khan

The Easter Sepulchre by Mel Starr

The Guest List by Lucy Foley

Murder in Venice by Maria Luisa Minarelli

The Marriage Clock by Zara Raheem

The Fourth of July by Cami Checketts

Peaches and Schemes by Anna Gerard

The September Society by Charles Finch

The End of October by Lawrence Wright

Turkey Trot Murder by Leslie Meier

A Lancaster Family Christmas by Kate Lloyd

My Sister's Grave by Robert Deign

Favorite Book:  The September Society

Second Favorite Book:  Murder in Venice

Least Favorite Book:  The Fourth of July

The Walk

The Walk is TKO Short Limited Edition #9.  It was written by Michael Moreci and was published in September 2021. The story opens with Alice and her team of aquatic explorers setting out to determine what lies beneath the Atlantic Ocean. Their mission is to cool the planet. While the team is stationed at the Midnight Zone, 2000 meters below the surface, their supplies begin to run out. In order to survive they begin a dangerous 300 meter walk to the abandoned Aqua One Station where they hope to scavenge supplies. However, they encounter strange features under the ocean. The water becomes darker as they journey across the sea floor and they come across a few before unknown creatures.  

While this is a compelling story, the artwork encouraged me to read on. The aquanauts were dressed in astronaut ensembles which I thought was pretty cool. I guess both space and ocean are dark and cold necessitating the same type of apparel. The linework was shaded to make everything feel claustrophobic, showing the desperation that the characters felt. There are a few red and purple pages but the scheme mainly reflects being underwater with the use of green and blue. I learned a few things too about ocean exploration so the comic was also educational for me.

5 out of 5 stars.

Anticipation

 

I have been looking forward to reading Melodie Winawer's 2nd novel for awhile. Her 2017 The Scribe of Siena was my book of the year in 2017. However, Anticipation was a difficult read. It is not only historical fiction but also romance and supernatural. There are 3 alternating plots going back and forth from 1259 Mystras, 1259 France and July 2015. I found the 2015 plot line to be the most interesting, not a good thing for a historical novel. 

The publisher's summary:

After the death of her beloved husband and becoming a single parent to her nine year old son Alexander, overworked scientist Helen desperately needs an escape.  So when Alexander proposes a trip to Greece - somewhere he's always dreamed of visiting - Helen quickly agrees.  After spending several days exploring the tourist filled streets, they stumble upon the ancient city of Mystras and are instantly drawn to it.  Its only resident is Elias, a mysterious tour guide living on the city's edges...both physically and temporally.  

In 1237, Elias's mother promised his eternal service to the Profitis Ilias in Mystras in exchange for surviving a terrible illness.  But during his 800 years of labor, he's had one common enemy:  the noble Lusignan family.  The Lusignan line is cursed by a deadly disease that worsens with each generation, and a prophecy hints that Elias's blood is their only hope for a cure.  He has managed to survive throughout the centuries, but the line has dwindled down to the last Lusignan and he is desperate to avert his family's destiny.

When Elias runs into Helen, he meets his match for the first time - but he unwittingly puts both her and her young son in danger as a result.  With time running out and an enemy after them, Elias and Helen are forced to choose between the city they love, and each other. 

I did not enjoy this novel. I had high expectations because of Scribe but I couldn't get interested in the story. While it was impeccably researched, there were too many details to keep track of and all of those lengthy Greek names were hard to read. However, there is a ton of Greek history here for the reader who likes this. In at least one of the alternating plots the author wrote in the thoughts of a character who belonged in a secondary plot. I was seriously confused. 

Although Anticipation has received top reviews it just didn't do anything for me. 2 out of 5 stars.

Wrap-Up of the 2021 Cruisin' Through the Cozies Challenge

I signed up to read 10 books for this challenge.  I met the challenge with 18 books! Here they are:

The Hawaiian Discovery by Wanda Brunstetter

Plaid and Plagiarism by Molly MacRae

Haunted Hibiscus by Laura Childs

The French Paradox by Ellen Crosby

Followed by Helen Macie Oysterman

Killer Deadline by Lauren Carr

The Blended Quilt by Wanda Brunstetter

Persian Perpetrator by Katherine Hay-don

Peaches and Schemes by Anna Gerard

The Amish Quilter's Unexpected Baby by Jennifer Beckstrand

Return to the Big Valley by Wanda Brunstetter

Ice Blue by Emma Jameson

Loch Down Abbey by  Beth Cowan-Erskine

Hemlock by Susan Wittig Albert

Twisted Tea Christmas by Laura Childs

The Beginning by Beverly Lewis

Turkey Trot Murder by Leslie Meier

A Lancaster Family Christmas by Kate Lloyd

Favorite Book:  Hemlock

Second Favorite Book:  Twisted Tea Christmas 

Least Favorite Book:  Plaid and Plagiarism

7 of the authors were new to me. It's interesting that 5 of the books are Amish fiction and that 3 of them were written by Wanda Brustetter. I didn't start out expecting to read Amish fiction but it worked out that way.  I have lost some of my enthusiasm for cozies but still read favorite authors Susan Wittig Albert, Laura Childs, Cleo Coyle and Ellen Crosby.  I began reading some new authors but couldn't become interested in them and gave up. I have always enjoyed Amish fiction and, frankly, could not complete the challenge without them.

Wrap-Up of the 2021 Color Coded Reading Challenge

The Color Coded Reading Challenge requires a participant to read 9 books with either the book title or book cover being blue, red, yellow, green, brown, black, white, any other color, or an image that implies color, such as polka dot.  I had the challenge completed early in the year but waited until December to read my last entry.  Here is what I read:

Plaid & Plagiarism by Molly MacRae

A Yellow House by Karien Van Ditzhuizen

Djinn Patrol on the Purple Line by Deepa Anappara

Raven Black by Ann Cleeves

White Ivy by Susie Yang

Ice Blue by Emma Jameson

The Murder of Emma Brown by Rod Kackley

The Woman in the Green Dress by Tea Cooper

Roses are Red by Miranda Rijks

Favorite Book:  White Ivy

2nd Favorite Book:  Djinn Patrol on the Purple Line

Least Favorite Book:  Plaid and Plagiarism

All of these authors were new to me, which is rather cool. It's not every reading challenge that forces you to look for something new.  I believe that is the brilliance of the color coded challenge.  

Roses are Red

Roses Are Red is a gripping psychological thriller that will keep you up all night. I was a little scared after finishing the book because our protagonist was a trusting person who almost got killed by 2 of the closest people to her. Lydia's close calls with her husband and a girlfriend just shows that you shouldn't take everything people tell you at face value. Sometimes it's good to do a little research for your own peace of mind.

The publisher's summary:  

"Lydia Palmer seems to have it all - a thriving business, a beautiful house, a picture perfect husband and two wonderful kids.  But things are different behind closed doors - Lydia is desperately unhappy and wants a divorce. Then, shockingly, her husband Adam dies. When her grief eases, Lydia starts online dating and almost immediately meets Patrick. Handsome, successful, loving, he'll make the perfect second husband. But is Patrick too good to be true?  Can you really find prince charming online? These are questions Lydia is forced to ask when her world begins to collapse. First, the police say Adam may have been murdered.  Then her daughter turns against her, her business disintegrates... Lydia is convinced that someone is trying to destroy her happiness.  She's wrong.  They want so much more than that..."

To say that this was a gripping story is quite an understatement. The author had me guessing all along on how the novel would end. I was surprised by the ending but shouldn't have been.  It would have been easy to figure this one out but the author ended each chapter with a cliff hanger. It could have been story action, a twist and turn, or just a character's inner dialogue but it kept me reading. I just did not know how each twist was going to turn out. 

There is a moral to this story for women who are desperately seeking love. It is always best to discuss with friends and family your forays into online dating. There are always warnings but to get a nudge from someone who loves you is the best way to avoid disaster. 

A great read!  5 out of 5 stars.