Sunday Summary, 28 June 2015

Road Trip! By the time you read this, I'll be on the highway. Early Sunday morning, we left our home in Texas, headed for Nevada. It's partially a short vacation. We're also delivering our granddaughter back to her mother after a lovely six-week visit with her family here in Texas. I'm looking forward to some quality—and uninterrupted—reading time.

Where I've been reading

This past week I was in Minneapolis. My flight out of DFW was delayed by an hour and a half, so I spent that time reading. I had intended to read all the way to Minnesota, but instead I fell asleep and dozed all the way northward. My hotel was near the airport and my work location was right downtown, so I listened to Confessions of a Murder Suspect on my daily commute. Each evening after returning to my hotel, I curled up in the bed with my Kindle instead of turning on the TV. Though I tended to fall asleep with the Kindle in my hands, I did get in at least a half-hour of reading each evening.

 

What I've been reading: Completed this week

Format: eBook
Source: gift from Kiri, June 2014
Completed: 22 June

★★★☆☆

It's Christmas time in St. Germaine, North Carolina, and Hayden Konig, police chief and organist/choir master, is putting on a cantata for the Christmas Eve service. Found in the archives of the city hall, from the pen of an unknown composer and long forgotten, this cantata had debuted on Christmas Eve of 1942 at St. Barnabas Church. Konig figures that's a good reason to give it a re-run this year. But even more interesting: who was the composer?

I simply adore the Liturgical Mysteries. In most of them, I laugh myself silly over the antics of the characters. This particular volume wasn't as humorous and the mystery wasn't the typical one that starts with a dead body. Instead, it was a more gentle episode, quite appropriate for the winter holiday—full of good cheer.

COYER book #1

Format: eBook
Source: borrowed from library via Overdrive
Completed: 24 June

★★★☆☆

If you haven't experienced J D Robb's In Death mystery series, you've missed some good reading. Eve Dallas is a lieutenant in the NYC police department in the 2050s. So the books are set just a little way into the future, which allows Robb to have cars that fly, off-planet prisons, and Pepsi dispensed in tubes. But otherwise, the series doesn't have too much of a science fiction-y feel to it.

Book number 26, Strangers in Death has the New York City homicide cop investigating the murder of business tycoon Thomas Anders. Anders is found strangled and tied to his bed, apparently the victim of a kinky sex encounter. Of course, her husband, Roarke, and assistant, Det. Delia Peabody, assist Eve as she questions Anders's widow, Ava, and his nephew, Benedict Forrest—searching for the identity of the murderer.

Format: eBook
Source: eGalley ARC from NetGalley
Completed: 26 June

★★★★☆

Maggie O'Shea, brilliant pianist, is deep in sorrow. Within a month's time, she lost her best friend and her husband. Grieving, she hasn't touched the piano since Johnny O'Shea's death almost a year before. Simon Sugarman, a CIA agent, comes to Maggie asking for her help in locating her friend's missing 5-year-old son—Maggie's godson. Traveling first to Paris and then to Italy, Maggie comes face-to-face with someone from her past who might provide the key to young Thomas's location.

Classical music and works of art are as prominent in The Lost Concerto as the locale. Helaine Mario draws the reader deeper and deeper into the mysteries

COYER book #2

Format: Audio
Source: Free from SYNC Summer 2014 give-away
Completed: 27 June

★★★☆☆

Told in the first person, Tandy Angel describes the events following the murder of her parents as they slept in their penthouse apartment. Doors were locked, alarms were set, and there's no evidence of an intruder. The only other people in the apartment were fifteen-year-old Tandy, her twin brother Harry, their younger brother Hugo, and Mrs. Angel's personal assistant—all of whom fall under suspicion. With the police looking closely at Tandy as the most likely suspect, she realizes that it may be up to her to discover the motive and track down the killer.

I enjoyed listening to Confessions of a Murder Suspect. At first, I was put off by the reader's rather flat delivery, but as Tandy's character is revealed through the narrative, it becomes obvious that it's exactly the voice that was required. Any other style and the narrator would not have been true to the character. I'm planning on borrowing the second book in this series from the library.

COYER book #3

What I've been reading: In progress

Stepping away from the COYER challenge for a while, Salvation in Death is the second book of four in the ominibus of In Death mysteries that I borrowed from the library. I've got six more days before the loan expires, so I'm pressing forward to read as many of the books as I can. I'll renew it if it's available, but I can't count on it.

Father Miguel Flores is celebrating a funeral Mass and drops dead immediately after drinking cyanide-laced wine. It's now up to Lieutenant Eve Dallas and her partner Detective Peabody to find out not only who did it and how, but more importantly, WHY.

I'm starting another episode of the Elm Creek Quilters series with The Winding Ways Quilt. In Circle of Quilters, the reader was introduced to a number of new characters as interviews were held to find replacements for Judy and Summer who were moving away. Newly hired Gretchen and Anna join the staff of the quilting camp.

This Week on the Blog

1. COYER Summer 2015, goals
2. COYER: Red, White & Blue Read-a-Thon
3. Stacking the Shelves (38)

 

I'm pleased to be linking up with The Sunday Post, hosted by Kimba @ The Caffeinated Book Reviewer.

 

The Sunday Post is a weekly meme hosted @ Caffeinated Book Reviewer. It’s a chance to share news~ A post to recap the past week on the blog, showcase books and things received. Share news about what is coming up on the blog for the week ahead.

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