Month: April 2017

Mom’s Monday Mysteries #2 – Reading Up a Storm

I grew up without computers so I still enjoy holding a good book.  Enjoy the flopping of the pages and the smell of the paper and ink.  Lately, I moved near a used book store and picked up a cozy mystery to read. Not only was it at half price but was also on clearance.

Reading Up a Storm by Eva Gates was perfectly situated in North Carolina’s Outer Banks.  The Bodie Island Lighthouse is home to a library and Lucy Richardson, the librarian, along with her feline companion, Charles.  In my opinion a book can only be made better with a cat, in this case, a Himalayan.

When a former resident returns after he has made good strange things begin to happen and then he is found dead.  What had happened so long ago that would make someone want to kill now?

This is an easy to read book and has chapters just long enough to read during a coffee break at work.  I do want to pick up the first two in the series and see what brought Lucy back from Boston and to also find out how her love life continues.    So I guess you could say I am hooked.  All in all I would recommend this if you are a cozy mystery lover like I am.

And just in case you are a light house lover, go visit the real thing. The Bodie Island Lighthouse is in Cape Hatteras National Seashore on the Outer Banks of North Carolina.  It is a fully functioning lighthouse and if you wish to see the spectacular view you are welcome to climb the two hundred fourteen steps to the top.  And no, it is not a library.  That part, like this book, is fictional.

 

 

ReadingUpaStormMisfortune blows into North Carolina’s Outer Banks when a dead body in a boat on the shore leaves local librarian Lucy Richardson racing to solve a strange new mystery….

After a successful party at Bodie Island’s Lighthouse Library, librarian Lucy Richardson is ready to curl up with her cat, Charles, and a good book. But her R and R is cut short when she notices some mysterious lights leading a small boat to crash into the coast.
 
The two shipwrecked seafarers survive the ordeal—but one of them shows up dead ashore a few days later. Lucy finds herself again roped into a murder investigation and navigating a sea of suspects, all of whom had motives to deep-six the deceased. And this time, she has a sinking feeling that finding the real killer won’t be so easy…

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The Courting Campaign

The Courting Campaign is the first in the series by Regina Scott. I actually read this series completely out of order, so this was the last book I read. Each story stands independently but shares some common characters (including lovable match-making servants), making all of the books thoroughly enjoyable even out of order. Regina’s stories vary in their faith content, from not mentioning God at all to having it as a large part of the character’s life. This story includes a focus on faith but never overwhelms the story.

One aspect that I really love of the storyline is the focus on natural science and the development of a pivotal invention that had never occurred before to me, but was so important to a major industry. Vague enough? I’m trying not to give anything away! Nicholas goes through several experiments and I think Regina does a good job of describing them. He is certainly singularly focused, to the detriment of his relationship with his daughter, which is where Nanny Emma come in. During a period of time where “A woman must have a thorough knowledge of music, singing, drawing, dancing, and the modern languages, to deserve the word,” Emma shines as STEM beacon. (For those not familiar with the term? Here’s a good article.)

Overall this was an enjoyable story that I’ll read again. It was a good way to spend some enjoyable hours; light-hearted, but with enough depth and character development to give it some levity.

 
CourtingCampaignEmma Pyrmont has no designs on handsome Sir Nicholas Rotherford—at least not for herself. As his daughter’s nanny, she sees how lonely little Alice has been. With the cook’s help, Emma shows the workaholic scientist just what Alice needs. But making Nicholas a better father makes Emma wish her painful past didn’t mar her own marriage chances. 

Ever since scandal destroyed his career, Nicholas has devoted himself to his new invention. Now his daughter’s sweet, quick-witted nanny is proving an unexpected distraction. All evidence suggests that happiness is within reach—if only a man of logic can trust in the deductions of his own heart.

 

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