Category Archives: Bookish

Visits to book releases, signings and any author or book related event.

5 Mysteries Set Outside of the US

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It was a slow summer socially, but a lot transpired for me to have enough material to share in therapy for the rest of the year! It’s been that kind of summer. I did have a lot of time to catch up on my reading though, and I decided to finish reading some mysteries set outside of the US by authors that were not American. Without further ado, here are five recent reads that I recommend:

The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency by Alexander McCall Smith (Zimbabwe) is set in Botswana. The story follows Precious Ramotswe who uses her inheritance to start a detective agency. You meet a lot of interesting characters along the way as this first novel in a series explores her past and future. I know there’s a series on Max, and it’s on my list of things to watch.

A Disappearance in Fiji by Nilima Rao (Fijian Indian Australian) is set in Fiji. After an embarrassing professional fumble, Akal Singh was relocated to work in Fiji. When he is assigned a case of a missing indentured Indian woman, he is faced with the harsh realities of indentureship and the racism of the British colonizers. This part of the story felt very familiar to what happened in Guyana with indentureship, and having not explored that history outside of what I learned in school I found the historical aspect of the story fascinating (and difficult).

The Decagon House Murders by Yukito Ayatsuji (Japan) is set in Japan. If you’re familiar with the And Then There Were None plot and love that kind of story then I highly recommend this. It’s a fresh take on that story and kept you guessing on the why and the hows all the way through.

Everyone in My Family Has Killed Someone by Benjamin Stevenson (Australia) is set in Australia. It has a wild title but it was a fantastic read. Everyone in the Cunningham family has killed someone and Ernest takes you through all the deaths as well as the circumstances. He does all of this while trying to solve the most recent death, as he’s trapped in a ski resort with his family (most of whom want nothing to do with him). This book had me in a chokehold from the beginning, and while I had a good guess as to who the murderer was, it kept me locked in until the very end.

The Enigma of Room 622 by Joël Dicker (Switzerland) is set in Switzerland. It’s a mystery within a mystery. A writer goes to a Swiss hotel for a writing retreat and gains inspiration for his novel from the real mystery of Room 622 – a seemingly non-existent hotel room. What might have been a dry story about banking turned into an intriguing story that kept me glued to the book until the very end. I think I read this one in a day!

Five Things (28)

Posted in Bookish, Crafty, My New York, Thoughts by

What happened to September??

— Thing One —

One thing that I did for the first time ever – seeing a WNBA game in person at Barclay Center (my first time at that venue). I had an absolute blast at the game. While not a sports fan in general, watching a game in person is always thrilling and I always leave with an understanding of why sports fans are the way they are. Liberty won their match that night, and as of writing this, they are playing in the finals!

— Thing Two —

I finished two craft projects, the first is the blanket below – which came out so beautifully, and which I gifted to a neighbour. The next was the scarf I’ve been knitting, I finished the pattern but I may want to repeat it a few more times to make it longer, I’m still deciding.


— Thing Three —

I saw three movies recently, Barbie (at the end of August), A Haunting in Venice (which was so different than the source material!) and You’re So Not Invited to My Bat Mitzvah. I would recommend each of them to different audiences, but all were great.

— Thing Four —

I went out to four dinners with friends in September. We went to Lil’ Frankies – get their Spaghetti Limone, Jongor BBQ – sweet cocktails and amazing BBQ, Tea and Sympathy – always a fan, and always a fan of their sweet shop next door, and Tacombi – the location we visited had these cute little coatracks at each table for your coats and bags!

— Thing Five —

Five books mysteries that I’d recommend (including some read in September) are, The Enigma of Room 622 by Joël Dicker, Vera Wong’s Unsolicited Advice for Murderers by Jesse Q. Sutanto, Charlotte Illes Is Not a Detective by Katie Siegel, The Mountains Wild: A Mystery Maggie D’arcy by Sarah Stewart Taylor, and The Manners and Monsters series1 by Tilly Wallace.

~*~

1. Not a single book, but I read the entire series in August and September and it was quirky and I loved it.

… I’m free and I love to be free, to live my life the way I want… to say and do whatever I please.

Lesley Gore; You Don’t Own Me

Books I loved (so far) in 2023…

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Looking through my Storygraph I decided to pull out five of my top-rated books this year, so without much preamble, let’s get into it!

A Brush With Shadows by Anna Lee Huber is book six in the Lady Darby Mysteries, a series that I absolutely love. Set in the 1800s, Lady Darby is a widow, whose husband wasn’t the best person when he was alive. He forced her to draw human cadavers and when that was revealed after he passed away, she was shunned from society, so she’s a bit salty with society. Each book follows a different mystery that she and her partner Sebastian Gabe ends up solving, but my favorite thing about this book (outside of Huber’s great storytelling) is just how real the characters feel.

The other Anna Lee Huber book that I loved this year was Treacherous Is the Night, the second book of the Verity Kent mysteries. This one is set after WWI when Verity worked as a spy – something that she couldn’t tell anyone in her life, including her husband1. Just like her Lady Darby series, Huber knows how to pull you into her worlds, creating complex characters and weaving exciting mysteries. While I won’t call either series a cozy mystery, the independent amateur female detective motif is the center of both.

Continuing in the mystery vain, Murder on Mulberry Bend by Victoria Thompson is the fifth book in the Gaslight Mysteries series set in New York City at the turn of the century. This follows a midwife (who comes from an affluent New York family), who solves crimes while also taking care of pregnant women across the city. One thing I love about this series is how Sarah Brandt’s backstory and the mystery of her husband’s death are interwoven across all the books. I’ve read eight of these books so far and will definitely be reading the rest.2

This book has been on my TBR pile for a long time and I finally read it this year, The House in the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune was an excellent read. The story is heartwarming and the children are wonderfully written, I love them all. The characters are complex and the world-building is great. I would call this more of a cozy fantasy book, because while there is conflict the focus is more on the characters and relationships.

Finally Vespertine by Margaret Rogerson. I have loved every Margaret Rogerson book that I’ve read so far, and I’m surprised I don’t see her mentioned a lot more on BookTok, but Vespertine was a good read with her signature style of world-building and her down-to-earth female protagonists. The ending leaves it open for a second book, which I would definitely be adding to my TBR.

~*~

1. This reminds me a little bit of the Bletchley Circle – only because there is a group of women who worked in codebreaking during WW1.
2. At this point I realized that my top 15 books this year were all mysteries so if I decided to throw a few of my favourite fantasies that I read this year into the mix.

“We all must deal with our shadows the best we can. No one can conquer them for us.”

Anna Lee Huber, The Anatomist’s Wife

Five Things (24)

Posted in Ballet, Bookish, Cultured by

I’ve had some rough years recently, and because of that, I stepped away from many social events1. I finally feel like being social again so here are five things from June.

— Thing One —

I went to see the ballet! The last time I saw an Alvin Ailey show was b.c.2 so going to see them again, and at BAM, was a treat! They did a selection of performances but my favourite had to be “Are You In Your Feelings?“, the music they chose and the choreography were spectacular. Afterwards, BAM Cafe was hosting Endea Owens, it was free to watch so we hung out for a little while enjoying the jazz. It was a fun night all around and now I want to see more shows!

— Thing Two —

Earlier in the month I invited my cousins over for the Inaugural Cousins’ Lawn Games Day! I hosted and purchased several lawn games, including croquet3, and ordered some BBQ for everyone. While not the first time hosting, nor the first time hosting a large group, because it was a themed day and because I decided to cater instead of going the potluck route, there were a lot more moving pieces to consider. While we didn’t play a single round of croquet – the kids did – we did have a grand time together. I’m hoping next year to expand on the celebrations and make it better – learned a lesson in catering the right amount since wow there was SO MUCH FOOD.

— Thing Three —

I joined a knitting/crochet club. In an attempt to meet more people in my neighbourhood, I decided to sign up for a few clubs and met with the knitting/crochet club folks some days ago. It was a total of five of us, and everyone is so much more advanced than I am so I’m looking forward to learning some new techniques. The first thing I worked on was a lopsided bunny4 and now that that’s finished I’m working on a blanket. Maybe I’ll make everyone presents for the holidays, but I’m trying not to be too ambitious, I still owe a few people scarves from when I took up knitting.

— Thing Four —

I was influenced into purchasing Murdle, a murder mystery puzzle book. I’m trying to support the B&N near my house, especially since I have a B&N membership, so I ordered it for pickup at that location. When I got to the register to pick up my book, two cashiers were excited for me because they both wanted to get the book since they loved the premise, this is one of the reasons I love going to bookstores in person, you get the bookish people who will confirm you made a good purchase. I am looking forward to digging into this for the summer!

— Thing Five —

Sand, it’s nature’s glitter. Going to the beach and dealing with the sand is not my favourite thing in the world, but when my friend suggested we do a beach day for her birthday I had to go. We went to one of the few beaches I enjoy5 and spent almost the entire day there. I thought I’d get a lot of Murdle done because I don’t like going into the water but it turns out that there were quite a few of us who didn’t like the idea of being submerged, so we spent a lot of the time talking and having tons of laughs. I am so thankful for friends and family who lift you up and celebrate with you. I have some of the best people in my life and I am forever grateful for the good times we have together.

~*~

1. And let’s be honest, covid played a big role in not wanting to go out.
2. Before Covid
3. I’ve been fascinated with this game since reading it in stories and seeing pall-mall play out on screen in Bridgerton sparked my curiosity again. I’m lucky to have the space to play it.
4. The pattern isn’t for a lopsided bunny, but with my skill levels that’s the final product. I still love him!
5. The sand is clean and it’s easy enough to find parking.

And I am not afraid of a thousand eyes if they’re above five hundred smiles.

Opportunity, Sia

Five Things (22)

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Five cozy mystery series with a magical twist.

Does it have mystery or intrigue; I’ll read it! Whether it’s Agatha Christie or Tara French, any novel with a good mystery and a good twist is a novel for me. I’ve started reading more in the cozy mystery subgenre since the shutdown as a way to get away from “real life” so I feel like I have a good selection of books I can recommend.
Cozy mysteries that I gravitate towards generally have three key elements:
a. there must be an amateur sleuth and the crime affects either the amateur or their friend/loved one.
b. a romantic interest that’s either in law enforcement, or law enforcement adjacent, or else some close friend turned love interest.
c. most of the novel is spent doing something completely unrelated to the crime (which happens off page) like attending parties, baking cookies, knitting… you get the drift.

Within the cozy mystery subgenre, my favorite type is a cozy with a magical twist! These are cozies where the protagonist is also a magical person, like a witch or a psychic. I tend to lean toward the witch device, so here are five cozy mysteries with a magical twist.

Kicking this off with the witchy cozy mystery that made me love the witchy cozy mystery subgenre – Heather Blake’s Wishcraft Mystery. This remains one of my top five cozy mysteries. Darcy and Harper recently lost their dad when their mom’s sister comes back into their lives to tell them that they are witches, and not just any kind of witches but witches that grant wishes. It’s such a funny premise but quite endearing and the characters are pretty out there, but somehow it all works. The romantic interest is of course a retired cop – a single dad with an eleven-year-old who later goes back into law enforcement. There are nine books in the series and while you don’t have to read them in order I would recommend reading them in order since there are some repeating themes that tie the entire series together.

Amanda Flower’s Magical Bookshop series with fun names like Crime and Poetry, and Prose and Cons is next. Currently, there are five books out about Violet, who rushed to her grandma Daisy after she thought Daisy was ill. Instead, she found that Daisy tricked her into coming back to her small town so she could continue the family legacy of running the magical bookshop – the one with a huge magical tree growing inside. Violet ends up staying after her Grandma becomes a prime suspect in a murder case and of course, with the help of the books (yes books) and a magical cat, she solves the crime! This one also has a law enforcement beau, though that comes a little later in the series.

Due to the campiness of the premise I have to include Nancy Warren’s Vampire Knitting Club. Lucy’s grandmother died and left her a knit shop in Oxford so, to get away from her annoying ex she decided to spend time running the shop. Except, her grandmother isn’t really dead because she is a vampire, and those vampires meet in the shop at night to knit; oh, and Lucy finds out from her grandmother that she’s a witch. It’s so silly, and even though they didn’t play the witch plot up as much as I hoped I still devoured all fourteen books. While the love interest here isn’t law enforcement adjacent, he is a vampire who was around since the Elizabethan times. I do have to make an honorable mention to Warren’s Village Flower Shop series which also follows a witch but this time the magic is explored more.

While I consider Juliet Blackwell’s Witchcraft Mystery series to be cozy I think this one might be a bit darker than the rest. Lily runs a vintage clothing shop and part of her magic is to feel vibrations off of old clothing, so a lot of the mysteries deal with clothing in some way. I’ve read the first three from the series so far and will definitely keep reading but I like to keep these for the fall when the spooky season rolls around. I say it’s a little darker because it explores a lot of legends and Blackwell’s descriptions are so immersive at times that you may or may not want to keep the lights on when you go to bed.

While there are only two books in the series and the author has yet to announce a third I will also mention Auralee Wallace’s Evenfall Witches B&B series. Brynn is living with her aunts after the death of her husband. Brynn’s magic is affected – she can speak to the dead – and so we see her dealing with both losses while also trying to save her aunt from a murder conviction. It has a large cast of characters and all of them are interesting to read, the aunts in this series remind me slightly of a version of Zelda and Hilda from Sabrina. From what I found online, Wallace has been sick so unable to write, I wish her well and a speedy recovery.

Happy reading!

~*~

“Oh,” Harper said solemnly. “I love books.”

Heather Blake, It Takes a Witch