Giveaway! Poppy Redfern!

This is A Woman of World War II Mystery!

Hello Peoples! Berkley Prime Crime is giving away one copy of Poppy Redfern and the Midnight Murders by Tessa Arlen. 

If you would like a chance to win this cozy, just leave a comment below, informing me you would like to be entered in the drawing. The winner will be announced, on this blog, along with my review of the book, Tuesday, November 5, 2019.

This giveaway is for the U.S.A. only. You must have a valid U.S.A. address to win. Don’t be shy.

Happy Reading!

 

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Shot Through the Hearth by Kate Carlisle

A fixer-Upper Mystery

A BIG thanks to Berkley Prime Crime!

“Shannon’s good friend and retired tech billionaire, Raphael Nash, is loving his new retired life but he can’t stay unoccupied for too long. He started the Marigold Foundation that helps fund small companies and indiviudals who do humanitarian work around the world. It’s an exciting time in Lighthouse Cove as Raphael hosts the first ever global conference inviting big thinkers from every area of industry to give presentations on eco-living.” 

“Raphael’s old business partner arrives in town with a grudge and a plan to steal him away from his important new passion project. Shannon knows her friend has no intention of giving up Marigold and is proud of Raphael for sticking to his guns. But when his former associate winds up dead, all signs point to Raphael.”

“It’s up to Shannon to hammer out the details of the murder before her friend gets pinned for the crime . . . ” ~goodreads

Shannon Hammer, our favorite carpenter, is a great character. I like her. She wears a tool belt!  🙂   She’s smart, feisty and funny. Her boyfriend is a former SEAL and a writer. The two of them together make a great couple.

There are some quirky characters in this cozy, which make it entertaining, to say the least. When you have a feisty protagonist, a former SEAL, quirky characters, a puzzling mystery, you’re reading a good story. And! I found myself chuckling off and on throughout the mystery. I mean really, clicking??? 5***** stars! The smart mice give the book five stars also!  🙂   I’m looking forward to the next book in the series.

Announcing the winner of the drawing ~

James J. Cudney     Congratulations!!!  🙂   Happy Reading!  Stay warm!  🙂

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Classic Movie Friday!

H

Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1941)

Spencer Tracy  Lana Turner   Ingrid Bergman   Donald Crisp   Ian Hunter

I think most of us know the story of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, however, what I didn’t know ~ Spencer Tracy played Jekyll and Hyde in the 1941 classic film! It surprised me! I never thought I would see the day . . . I don’t believe he was wrongly casted either. Not at all. He did a fine job. Not only is Spencer Tracy in this film, but, Lana Turner and Ingrid Bergman are in this movie also! Another surprise! And! Both ladies were great in this classic film. In fact, I thought Ingrid Bergman did exceptionally well in her role as Ivy Peterson.

Dr. Jekyll believes there is good and evil in everyone. He creates a formula and experiments on himself ~ turning himself into a monster.  He was trying to draw out and rid people of their dark side. It did not go well and over time he suddenly, without wanting to, becomes Mr. Hyde without taking the serum. Beatrix Emery (Lana Turner) is Dr. Jekyll’s fiancé and is hurting. She is witnessing the man she loves become mysterious and disappear for periods of time and she doesn’t really understand why. Her dad, Sir Charles Emery (Donald Crisp) doesn’t like Jekyll’s theories and the experiments Jekyll is conducting. He’s deeply concerned for his daughter’s well being if she marries Jekyll.

This isn’t a happily ever after movie. Not at all, but it is good. Rick thought it was creepy.

Have you seen this classic film?

Enjoy!

Giveaway! Shot Through The Hearth by Kate Carlisle

Hello Peoples!  🙂  Berkley Prime Crime is giving away one copy of Shot Through the Hearth by Kate Carlisle. This cozy is a Fixer-Upper Mystery! 

If you would like a chance to win this book, just leave a comment below, informing me you would like to be entered in the drawing. The winner will be announced on this blog, along with my review on Tuesday, October 29, 2019.

This giveaway is for the U.S.A. only. You must have a valid U.S.A. address to win.

Don’t be shy.  🙂

Happy Reading!

Classic Movie Friday!

Crossroads (1942)

William Powell   Hedy Lamarr

Claire Trevor   Basil Rathbone   Felix Bressart

David (William Powell) and Lucienne Talbot (Hedy Lamarr) are newly married and very much in love. David is a member of the French Foreign Service working in Paris. David and Lucienne are looking forward to David being named French Ambassador to Brazil. David is responsible for a LOT of public money. We’re talking millions of francs here. Soon, David receives correspondence in the mail addressed to “Jean.” He is being accused of being Jean Pelletier, a bank robber and a murderer. Not good. The letter asks David to pay one million francs and deliver it to a specified location. At the time of the bank robbery and murder Jean Pelletier had a partner and his partner wants his half of the money. The person who receives the one million francs is arrested and the case goes to court. During the hearing it is discovered David was treated for amnesia and of course, he can’t remember his past as Jean Pelletier. And, that’s all your going to get from me. It has a great ending! Anything else I say would be a spoiler!

I’ve been wanting to see this film for a long time. It was difficult to find. I like a good noir and I have several I really like. But, I think Crossroads is one of the best film noir I’ve seen. Of course, no surprise there, I can always count on William Powell to make a great film and Hedy Lamarr was wonderful. Rick really liked this film too! Highly recommend!

Enjoy!

 

Top Ten Tuesday! Extraordinary Book Titles!

Hello Peoples! This week’s Top Ten Tuesday, from The Artsy Reader Girl, is something I wanted to take a crack at~ Extraordinary Book Titles! I’m going to change it just a tad, as I read many cozy mysteries and the cozy mystery authors create many cute *chuckle worthy* titles for their cozy mysteries! So, here is a list of ten cute cozy mystery titles. I chose these mysteries because I chuckled at the titles when I read them. So! Let’s get started.  🙂

 

Tide and Punishment by Bree Baker

Just Killing Time (A Clock Shop Mystery) by Julianne Holmes

Live and Let Fly by Clover Tate

Live and Let Chai by Bree Baker

A Very Merry Murder by Mary Angela

Yule Be Dead by Lorraine Bartlett with Gayle Leeson

T’was the Knife Before Christmas by Jacqueline Frost

Curses, Boiled Again! by Shari Randall

A Tale of Two Murders by Heather Redmond

And then there were Crumbs by Eve Calder

Happy Reading!

Much love ~

Kathy

Two Harbors Lighthouse ~ Lake Superior ~ Minnesota ~ Vacation

Hello Peoples! I’m still excited about this trip to Lake Superior. This vacation is going to stay with me for awhile!  🙂  Early in the morning, with the wind blowing and Lake Superior slapping against the jetty, Rick and I walked out on the jetty. While Split Rock Light is high on a cliff and has a woodsy feel all around it, Two Harbor Light sits at Agate Bay, a working harbor where everything has a nautical feel to it. Just click on the photo to make it bigger.

Ships come into this harbor, dock and are loaded with ore. It’s an interesting harbor. The sounds of the sea can be heard at Two Harbors. As big as Lake Superior is, it’s not surprising one would feel like they are at the sea.

This is the dock where the ships are loaded. Click on this photo. It’s interesting.

Two Harbors Lighthouse is also a bed and breakfast. It’s the oldest working light in Minnesota. If I remember correctly, it was operational in 1892. They’ve converted it to electricity. Rick and I climbed to the top.

This lighthouse is loud. I didn’t realize it would be so noisy.

On our return trip we were going to drive north and camp in Chippewa National Forest. However, as we watched the weather, we discovered it was snowing in the north, so we decided to drive through Minneapolis. Now I know why I never go to Minneapolis. The traffic was intense! It rained most of the drive home. I would have rather faced the snow!  🙂

Much love ~

Kathy

Lake Superior ~ Shoreline ~ Gooseberry Falls ~ Vacation

Hello Peoples! This is the continuing tale of our journey to Lake Superior. Just click on the photos and they’ll enlarge.  🙂

This is a section of the shoreline of Lake Superior.

This is a different section of the shoreline in the evening. I really thought the shoreline was beautiful. It had a rugged quality and the lake waters crashed against it sending a spray of white water into the air. I could have hiked and explored for days.  🙂

Gooseberry Falls! It’s a lovely hike to the falls. The trail goes straight down and straight back up again. We hiked early in the morning, so there weren’t many people at the falls yet.

This is the cabin/lodge we stayed at ~ Great Superior Lodge in Two Harbors, Minnesota. The food was great, the people were friendly and helpful and they had a nice gift shop where I kept them in business buying post cards!!!  🙂

This is the room we stayed in at the lodge. The lodge, the room, everything had a woodsy feel to it. Our room was so very snug.

This is an extra bed for a child that was in our room. I gushed when I saw it. I wanted to climb in and snuggle up to the bear blanket.  🙂

This is a patio for the lodge guests. Every night, if the weather allows, a worker lights a fire in the firepit and we can sit outside and enjoy a fire by the lake. It’s very nice.

Much love ~

Kathy

Lake Superior ~ North Shore, Minnesota ~ Split Rock Lighthouse

Hello Peoples! Oh my word! Now I know why I never drive to Minneapolis! But! Let me start at the beginning.  🙂  Rick and I decided to savor and enjoy an autumn vacation! I am so glad we did. We traveled to Lake Superior ~ way up high ~ on the North Shore of Minnesota. We went to Split Rock Light House! We hiked to Gooseberry Falls and we visited Two Harbors Light. We drove to Fargo, North Dakota and stayed the night in a nice hotel. In the morning we journeyed to Duluth, Minnesota, ate lunch and then we drove the scenic drive to the lodge we stayed at whilst we were vacationing. The weather was perfect. It was in the 60’s and Minnesota’s trees were blazing yellow with autumn. It was a lovely drive.

Split Rock Lighthouse

We went on a guided tour of the lighthouse, we were able to climb to the top. If you click on the photos they will enlarge.

The above photo is inside the lighthouse. It’s the stairway we climbed to reach the top of the lighthouse.

That, dear blogging friends, is the light. I think the tour guide said, it is a size 4 lense. I’m standing right underneath it to get this photo. The lighthouse keeper powers up the lighthouse twice a year. Once on November 10th and on the last day of July. The tour guide gave us so much information, I can’t remember everything, but I think she said, the last day of July is the anniversary of the first time the lighthouse was operational. And, November 10th is the anniversary of a ship that sank on Lake Superior.

Lake Superior is ginormous! In a few places one can see to the other side of the lake, but there are places where all one sees is water. It seemed more like the Atlantic Ocean than the Pacific. And! The lake does speak. Just listen, it has something to say.  🙂

Our internet is a acting up today. So, I will continue tomorrow. It’s snowing here!

Much love ~

Kathy

The Bodies in the Library by Marty Wingate

A First Edition Library Mystery

Release Date ~ October 8, 2019

A BIG thanks to Berkley Prime Crime!

“Hayley Burke has landed a dream job. She is the new curator of Lady Georgiana Fowling’s First Edition library. The library is kept at Middlebank House, a lovely Georgian home in Bath, England. Hayley lives on the premises and works with the finicky Glynis Woolgar, Lady Fowling’s former secretary. Mrs. Woolgar does not like Hayley’s ideas to modernize The First Edition Society and bring in fresh blood. And she is not even aware of the fact that Hayley does not know the first thing about the Golden Age of Mysteries. Hayley is faking it till she makes it, and one of her plans to breathe new life into the Society is actually taking flight –an Agatha Christie fan fiction writers group is paying dues to meet up at Middlebank House.”

“But when one of the group is found dead in the venerable stacks of the library, Hayley has to catch the killer to save the Society and her new job.” ~Berkley Prime Crime

This is the first book in a new series. I thought the characters in this mystery were hoity toity, more so, than any mystery I’ve ever read. I do mean hoity toity in a positive way. Especially Mrs. Woolgar, but, I think she was suppose to be hoity toity, it was her character.

Hayley is a good gal and she’s always busy even though she seems to think she isn’t busy. She was a hustle and a bustle! She has a good relationship with her daughter and mother. Hayley’s boyfriend, the inventor, was a piece of work. He left my head spinning! Every time him and Hayley had a conversation, I thought, okay, what just happened here?  🙂  I shake my head.

And! The fan fiction writers group!!! They certainly had some unique writing ideas. In many ways this book was entertaining. However, I thought there were to many questions. Hayley sounded like she was over thinking the mystery. I don’t care for a considerable amount of questions throughout the story. I do look forward to the next book in the series and I plan to read it. I didn’t solve this mystery, however, I wasn’t surprised when the identity of the nefarious person was revealed. There is romance in the air and I do hope the Society has that “fancy dress ball.” 3.5 stars!

And the winner of the drawing is ~

Michelle

https://apudiem.wordpress.com/

Congratulations Michelle!!!

Have a great week! Happy Reading!