Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

Finding the Killer with the Weapon in the Place my own way

Murdle vol.2 by G.T. Karber

by Leave a Comment

I have noticed that the eastern Midwest has a somewhat superior version of WalMart called Meijer. I was in one recently killing time before heading to the airport; I did an impulse grab of Murdle vol. 2. I’ve seen these puzzle books around and thought it looked interesting but never enough to really get into one. The series started as a web game based on the word-based game of great popularity, and apparently has grown into print. The general premise is (as noted on the […]

If Mary Berry and Paul Hollywood were American and hated each other

The Golden Spoon by Jessa Maxwell

by Leave a Comment

So, it turns out, that Goodreads Giveaways are real! I won a copy of The Golden Spoon and about a week and a half after the email, the book did indeed appear. I have to admit, I’d only been submitting to those only half believing it was a real thing. The Golden Spoon was billed as Great British Bake off meets Clue, so I was figuring it’s a murder mystery on a baking competition, which is accurate. Ever wonder who would win in a fight […]

Watch enough tv crime shows and cook for everyone and you’ll find the killer

Vera Wong’s Unsolicited Advice for Murderers by Jesse Q. Sutanto

by Leave a Comment

I needed a cozy mystery and Vera Wong’s Unsolicited Advice for Murderers is indeed just that. Vera’s the stereotypical Chinese mom/grandma who runs a tea shop virtually no one goes to anymore. Then she finds a dead guy in there when she goes to open her shop, and people just start turning up (not just the police but them too, a little). Various folks who have some connection to the victim or crime including his wife Julia, “reporter” Riki, “podcaster” Sana, and the victim’s brother […]

The meter of the poem fired his blood until he was a molten core. The hammer’s song was a charm for living, a way to keep singing himself into existence.

The Winter Knight by Jes Battis

by 2 Comments

The word eôel meant home turf. People trust home. Through years of investigation, her grandmother had learned that what people told you depended on where you talked to them. Lies for every space, but occasionally a truth snuck its way in.” ― Jes Battis, The Winter Knight When she had interviewed him, she’d traced a discreet rune on his phone case. It was sketchy magic, but it should have given her access to the phone’s GPS. The problem was that it wasn’t working. His location […]

Book related murder in the presence of book club in book themed place and bookish knowledge

The Raven Thief by Gigi Pandian

by Leave a Comment

I like the characters and premise, but the pacing seemed to drag in places in The Raven Thief. There’s a lot of contemplation and conversation in between occasional bits of action. The main murder is of the “it had to be someone in this room” variety but everyone had an alibi (or do they?) and there’s four impossibilities that Tempest and her sidekick Sanjay (Kumiko calls him this at one point, and he’s slightly offended) need to figure out. Both of them are/were magic performer […]

True to the Literary Source but not the Cover Vibe

Murder on the Christmas Express by Alexandra Benedict

by Leave a Comment

When I saw the cover of Murder on the Christmas Express, I had two thoughts: ooh, cozy, and Agatha Christie homage. One of those two impressions was correct. This is so very not a cozy mystery; rape and partner abuse, past and present, features prominently. The trauma is given some respectful attention, but it’s all over most of the book, making it distinctly not cozy. Similarly, the main investigator is also awaiting the imminent birth of her first grandchild, and that’s not going well medically […]



Help Our Mission

You can donate to CBR via:

  1. PayPal
  2. Venmo