The House at Devil's Neck by Tom Mead

 Nine strangers.

A notorious mansion.

An isolated island. 

A suicide that might be murder.

And a locked-room mystery.

The plot:  While Inspector George Flint of Scotland Yard investigates the apparent suicide of Rodney Edgecombe in London, Joseph Spector, former magician extraordinaire, heads to Devil's Neck for a weekend seance. When one of the other guests ends up dead, Spector immediately figures out it's murder. But finding the murderer is another matter.

My thoughts: Tom Mead's mysteries are like an homage to those classic locked-room Golden Age mysteries I love to read. There are always clever tricks and deceits in them. And Joseph Spector, a master of illusion himself, can spot them all. He's the other reason I really love these books. He and Flint work so well together. And even though they are apart for most of this book, I love how their two separate investigations come together at the end. There are a lot of surprises along the way, but also enough clues for you to figure it out if you're really clever. Which I was not. But I sure did have fun reading this one! 

My rating:  ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Happy Reading!

October's bookish art...

 

Nicolaas Van Der Waay--Amsterdam Orphan Girl

"Reading is better than life. Without reading, you're stuck with life."

--Fran Lebowitz

Haiku Reviews...

 

Dead Man's Folly by Agatha Christie

Poirot's sleuthing skills

are tested when a murder

game becomes all too real. 

Mystery .... 226 pages .... 3.5/5 stars.

(I always enjoy reading Christie's mysteries.)

Strong Poison by Dorothy L. Sayers

Lord Peter and his 

cattery work to prove Harriet

is innocent of murder.

Mystery .... 240 pages .... 3/5 stars.

(Miss Katherine Climpson and Miss Joan Murchison go undercover in this one; they were my favorite characters.)

Sasq'et by Maxim Langstaff

A strange legacy

from her grandfather hints that

Sasquatch might exist.

Fiction .... 639 pages .... 2.5 stars.

(Loved the premise. And it's full of historical Sasquatch sightings. But there was too much research, not enough action, and it was way too long. Plus, the ending was a bit of a letdown.)

Happy Reading!

Top Ten Tuesday

 

Top Ten Tuesday is a fun weekly meme hosted by Jana at That Artsy Reader Girl.

This week's theme:  BOOK COVERS FEATURING AUTUMNAL COVERS.

Here are mine:

Aren't these fun? I love the fall vibes. 

Happy Reading!

The Last Sister by Kendra Elliot

 

from the blurb:  Twenty years ago Emily Mills’s father was murdered, and she found his body hanging in the backyard. Her younger sister, Madison, claims she was asleep in her room. Her older sister, Tara, claims she was out with friends. The tragedy drove their mother to suicide and Tara to leave town forever. The killer was caught. The case closed.

Ever since, Emily and Madison have tried to forget what happened that night—until an eerily similar murder brings it all back. It also brings FBI special agent Zander Wells to the Oregon logging town. As eager as he is to solve the brutal double slaying, he is just as intrigued with the mystery of Emily’s and her sisters’ past.

my thoughts:  I've read many of Elliot's mysteries, but somehow missed this one. And it's a good one. I really liked Agent Zander Wells and his partner, Agent Ava McLane; they worked well together, even when the local sheriff  wasn't very cooperative. I also liked Emily and her three elderly aunts. They are an eccentric bunch and made me laugh. I thought Elliot did a great job of weaving together the past and present mysteries. And she always brings life to her Oregon setting, which is another thing I like about her books. This is a compelling and well-written novel. 

rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Happy Reading!

Fighting Edge by Margaret Mizushima

 

Deputy Mattie Walker and her K-9 partner, Robo, have their hands full when a simple welfare check leads to murder, and a routine traffic stop reveals drugs and a possible link to a human trafficking ring. 

Once again Margaret Mizushima has crafted a tightly plotted and dynamic mystery. This is the 11th book in her Timber Creek K-9 series, and it's every bit as good as all her previous books. This is one of my favorite series. The mysteries are always interesting and the characters entertaining. I really like Mattie and her veterinarian husband, Cole, and how well they deal with their demanding jobs, his two daughters, and their ever-deepening relationship. And I love Robo! He's such a cute and engaging character. Dogs make every book better imo. And Robo is the best.

Happy Reading!

Other books in this series that I've reviewed:

Killing Time (#1)

Stalking Ground (#2)

Hunting Hour (#3)

Burning Ridge (#4)

Tracking Game (#5) 

Hanging Falls (#6) 

Striking Range (#7)

Gathering Mist (#9) 

Dying Cry (#10) 

Randomness

 I finally got around to watching the first season of Wednesday last month, and I loved it! Especially the clever dialogue and all the quirky characters. It was just so fun. 

And I'm very excited that a new season of Tracker starts on Sunday. It's one of my favorite shows. My other favorite? The Amazing Race! I don't always love the teams, but I do love seeing all the places they go. 

I'm still DNFing a lot of books. I'm not sure why...maybe because I'm running tired, or feeling more stressed lately. Maybe it's work taking up so much of my free time. Whatever the reason, I'm finding it hard to stick with a book that doesn't instantly pull me in. I don't seem to have any patience for slower starts, so-so plots, or 3-star characters. But I did do a lot of rereading last month because of it. Thank heavens I have so many favorite books sitting on my shelves. I'm hoping to actually finish more books this month; I have a new stack checked out from the library and they all look good. So fingers crossed! 

Favorite line from a recent read I did manage to finish: "The next morning, the autumn weather had changed from golden to Gothic." --Julia McKay, Something About September