93.
Author: Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
Title: The Valley of Fear
publication: paperback
Pages:
Genre: mystery
Acquisition: work text
Date: December 5, 2011
Rating: ***1/2

The Valley of Fear is published by Conan Doyle in 1914. Feeling shackled by the character for which he is best known, Conan Doyle's writing of the famous eccentric shows his narrative burden; Holmes himself is literally absent for over half of the book, as Part II explores the background of a particular character from Part I. This shift in genre is not entirely successful, as it does not seem to manage the expectations of the established audience; however, both narratives are enjoyable when read as separate bodies of work, and I would argue that they would be most successfully read as such.

92.
Author: Lorna Barrett
Title: [Sentenced to Death]
publication: Kindle
Pages:
Genre: cozy mystery
Acquisition: Necessary baby-feeding ebook
Date: December 5, 2011
Rating: ***1/2

I have apparently missed a book or two in my reading of this series, but my understanding was not hindered by the oversight.

My reading of Sentenced to Death is mixed. I appreciate Barrett's acknowledgement of the difficulties all cozy authors must face: most importantly, how librarians/booksellers/bakers/candlestick makers keep coming across bodies in an otherwise "perfectly safe" environment. Barrett's characters readily recognize the growing crime rate in their community, and proper concern is mixed. This seems to be a flag for the end of the series, as the murder rate will soon outgrow the constraints of a small tourist town.

What I found most difficult about the novel is the murder itself; while Barrett eventually justifies such an outlandish act, the details of the murder are still so extraordinary that it's dificult to believe the murderer could even get it right.

This is one for fans of the series, but probably not one worth picking up for readers not already invested in Tricia and her community.

61. Bookmarked for Death
Publication: Kindle
Pages:
Genre: Cozy Mystery
Acquisition:
Date Completed: August 5, 2011
Rating: ***1/2

Nothing will put a damper on a book signing like the guest of honor dying in the bathroom, but it's just Tricia Miles' luck that that's what happens when famed mystery author Zoe Carter agrees to a book signing, despite her reclusive tendencies. With her shop closed as a crime scene, Tricia feels she has no choice but to do some investigating of her own. However, she soon finds that the instincts of an armchair detective aren't always up to snuff.

62.
Author(s): Laura Childs
Title: Death by Darjeeling
Publication: Kindle
Pages: 40% finished
Genre: Cozy Mystery
Acquisition:
Date Completed: abandoned August 7, 2011
Rating: *

Death by Darjeeling is completely without soul. Consisting almost entirely of exhausted adjectives, Laura childs continually and consistently violates the first rule of freshman creative writing: to show rather than tell. The prose is awkward and punchy, and the plot itself is tired by the time Childs even bothers coming back to it. This is a truly terrible piece of writing, and I can't force myself to soldier through another dull and laden paragraph.

19.
Author: Lorna Barrett
Title: Murder is Binding
Publication: Berkley, 2008
Pages: 288 pages
Genre: mystery
Acquisition: Purchased February 18, 2010, suggested by LT member alcottacre
Date Completed: February 28, 2010
Rating: 3 stars out of 5

Murder is Binding is the first book of a cozy mystery series by Lorna Barrett. I found the book to be charming, but fairly slow-paced; it could not hold my interest for long periods of time, and so it often got lost in the day-to-day bustle. I'm not sure if I'll continue the series, but I enjoyed the book for what it is.

Challenges
75-Book Challenge: Book 19
1010 Challenge: Suggested by Others Book 3
Off-the-shelf: