Pages & Paws

Writing, Reading, and Rural Life With a Border Collie

Category Archives: Mystery


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‘The Retreat’ Hits a Snag

The Retreat

By Sarah Pearse

Publisher: Viking, 2022

Pages:  Waaaaay too many

Genre: Who cares?

Via: Library

Ever grab a new book by an unfamiliar author? Feel that surge of excitement as you peruse the cover blurb and the synopsis? Break in to your happy dance with that “Oh yeah!” feeling? …

… Only to start reading and feel like you just walked into a blender.

That’s what Sarah Pearse’s The Retreat is like. It came highly recommended as a “cliffhanger murder mystery” by someone who shall remain nameless.

What we wound up with was a badly overwritten hunk of junk that doesn’t really get going until Chapter 44. We would’ve ordinarily bailed out long before then. But we promised a friend (who shall remain nameless) we’d read the whole thing.

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‘Citizen K-9’ Offers Mystery, Levity

Citizen K-9

By David Rosenfelt

Publisher: St. Martin’s, 2022

Genre: Fiction/Murder Mystery

Pages: 263

Via: Library

An unsolved double murder. A cold case. A crackerjack team of private investigators specializing in cold cases. Playing cards. Like, the king of clubs. A high school reunion where two friends vanish without a trace. Not a single clue that makes sense. At all. A retired cop, Corey Douglas, and his brilliant German shepherd, Simon Garfunkel. A scene stealer extraordinaire and the smartest member of the team by far, Simon is also recently retired from law enforcement. And Really Bad Dudes.

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Gripping Suspense in ‘The Second Wife’

See the source imageThe Second Wife

By: Miranda Rijks

Via: Book Blog Tour

Publisher: Inkubator Books, 2022

Genre: Fiction: Psychological Thriller/Murder Mystery/Suspense

Note: We received a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Summary:

When a down-on-her-luck violinist takes a menial job for a famous composer, she gets more than she bargained for in this intense and compelling murder mystery/suspense story.

Mia Benton is a former student at the Royal College of Music in London. Desperate for a job in the aftermath of a dark secret from her recent past, Mia takes a cleaning job at the residence of composer Robin Featherstone. Recently divorced, Robin’s new wife Tamsin is 25 years his junior. Tamsin’s not exactly thrilled with the new hire, to put it mildly.

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‘The Secrets Left Behind’ Will Leave You Breathless

The Secrets Left Behind : An emotional and evocative tale spanning three decades. by [Antoinette Tyrrell]The Secrets Left Behind

By Antoinette Tyrrell

Spellbound Books, 2022

Genre: Fiction/Historical Fiction/Women’s Fiction

Via: Zooloo’s Book Tours

Note: We received a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

“If only I’d known and now it’s too late.”

– Kate Millington

This is a story about four women. At first blush, they’re as different as night and day. But there’s more to the story as revealed in this masterful blend of history, mystery, tragedy, regret, and redemption.

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Cozy Up With ‘Death at the Abbey’

Death at the Abbey

A Kipper Cottage Mystery

By Jan Durham

Published by: Inkubator Books, 2022

Genre: General Fiction/Murder Mystery & Thrillers

Via: Book Blog Tour

Note: We received a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

A medieval religious artifact. A budding romance.  A middled-age widow and amateur sleuth who wonders if there’s a connection between two murders, and why? And who might benefit from a religious relic with healing properties?

Liz McLuckie’s husband died five years ago. Working through her grief, she’s neck-deep in renovating two dilapidated old cottages in Whitby on the North Yorkshire Coast. Out walking her faithful bull terrier, Nelson, at a cliffside Benedictine Abbey one morning, Liz stumbles upon a dead body. She later discovers that a break-in occurred at the church the same night as the body showed up. Coincidence or not?

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