Books 125-126
Deadly Dram by Melinda Mullet
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
I received this from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review and I can honestly say I want go back and grab books one and two, that's how much I enjoyed it. The one thing I didn't like was addressed in an author's note at the end (and honestly maybe it should have been at the beginning because I know people who would have stopped reading) and I'm wondering why include it at all since added so little (it's part of the reason I didn't go the full five stars). Abi Logan, who had inherited a Scottish whiskey distillery, lets her terrier, Liam, have alcohol (the note says never to do it because this is toxic to dogs).
That weirdness aside, Abi makes for a great character. So often in cozy mysteries the amateur sleuth is a bit dodgy or hard to believe in for me but Abi is a photojournalist used to work in war zones. So she's bright, brave and used to digging for the truth.
This one is set up at a resort where her distillery is up for awards so she's there with Grant, her partner in the distillery and Patrick another friend who is a judge. She's one of the few women in the business, the other being Brenna, Grant's former girlfriend (i.e. competition, though I wasn't impressed with the idea of Abi and Grant). So she is competition that the old school distillers don't what there (read cis white dudes) but worse is another person Abi likes, Hinatu a Japanese distiller.
Quickly enough someone is taking out judges using liquid nicotine. Michaelson, the local cop (a character I really liked. In fact I was taken with him and Abi especially), enlists Abi not to investigate but to take crime scene photos. He's short handed so he gives her small jobs, hoping to keep her busy and out of the investigation (good luck)
There were plenty of good twists and red herrings. I thought this was a very well done mystery and it's definitely a mystery series I'll be keeping up with so thanks again to Netgalley for introducing me to Abi Logan.
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The House with a Clock in Its Walls by John Bellairs
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
I literally have no idea how I never heard of this book until the movie came out. I would have been a child when it first came out and it would have been right up my alley. Lewis Barnavelt is an orphan who has been sent to his Uncle Jonathan's home in Michigan in Post WWII America. Lewis is, of course, sad but he likes his Uncle Jonathan however weird he is. Jonathan spends a lot of time trading barbs with the old woman next door and his house is filled with clocks. And he walks the halls late at night.
Lewis learns that there is a clock hidden in the walls that his uncle can't find and doesn't know what it does but Jonathan is a wizard. Lewis is enthralled, even after hearing about the wicked witch and wizard who used to own the house and are now buried in the town cemetery. Lewis wants to learn magic and starts sneaking his uncle's books.
He makes one friend at school, one of the jocks who's broken his arm and can't play sports. Lewis is thrilled to have a friend, especially since he's non-sports and new to the town . In fact there is a crap ton of fat shaming in this (which okay would have been par for the course in the 40s when this was set and the 70s in which this was written). Once he realizes he's losing this friend, Lewis tries a big spell to impress him.
And everything goes sideways fast. Villains appear. The clock comes into focus. It's good but it also feels rushed.
I did enjoy this and would read more but it also didn't make me fall in love with it so there's that. There weren't much in the way of girls in this but that appears to be addressed in book two. I was delighted however to see my version had art by Edward Gorey through the whole thing.
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