"Murder Takes the Cake" and "Three Blind Mice"

Murder Takes the Cake- Gayle Trent
260 pages


"Cozy murder mystery. When the meanest gossip in Brea Ridge dies mysteriously, suspicions turn to cake decorator Daphne Martin. But all Daphne did was deliver a spice cake with cream cheese frosting--and find Yodel's body. Now Daphne's got to help solve the murder and clear her good name. Problem is, her Virginia hometown is brimming with people who had good reason to kill Yodel, and Daphne's whole family is among them."

This book was free through the Kindle app a few weeks ago. I snatched it up fast! Kindle books are "free today, not tomorrow." lol

I really enjoyed this book.
It kept me interested, and I read it rather quickly.
The characters were believable and likeable (except for Daphne's mother. I'm not sure what's going on there. Maybe more will be revealed in future installments).
I admit, I skipped over some of parts that went into detail about cake making.
If you're a cake decorator, or interested in learning, you would love this book.




Three Blind Mice- Agatha Christie

275 pages


This book is a collection of short stories starring Poirot and Miss Marple.

In addition, it includes the story "Three Blind Mice" upon which Christie's play "The Mousetrap" is based.

"Three Blind Mice" is by far the best short story in the collection. It is of the same caliber as her better novels, in my humble opinion.


Currently reading: O Pioneers! - Willa Cather
2010 total: 3 (really? Only 3? I need to step it up a bit.)

"Daddy- Long-Legs" and "The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society"

88 pages

"A trustee of the John Grier orphanage has offered to send Judy Abbott to college. The only requirements are that she must write to him every month, and that she can never know who he is. Judy’s life at college is a whirlwind of friends, classes, parties, and a growing friendship with the handsome Jervis Pendleton. With so much happening in her life, Judy can scarcely stop writing! "

I started this book in December, but finished it in January. I already counted it as part of my 2009 reads, but I wanted to review it here.

I remember reading this book in 5th grade. I checked it out of the school library. I remember wishing I had a window seat just like Judy's.

This book never gets old. It is simply charming. It will always be among my favorites.






290 pages

From Publishers Weekly

"The letters comprising this small charming novel begin in 1946, when single, 30-something author Juliet Ashton (nom de plume Izzy Bickerstaff) writes to her publisher to say she is tired of covering the sunny side of war and its aftermath. When Guernsey farmer Dawsey Adams finds Juliet's name in a used book and invites articulate—and not-so-articulate—neighbors to write Juliet with their stories, the book's epistolary circle widens, putting Juliet back in the path of war stories. The occasionally contrived letters jump from incident to incident—including the formation of the Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society while Guernsey was under German occupation—and person to person in a manner that feels disjointed. But Juliet's quips are so clever, the Guernsey inhabitants so enchanting and the small acts of heroism so vivid and moving that one forgives the authors (Shaffer died earlier this year) for not being able to settle on a single person or plot. Juliet finds in the letters not just inspiration for her next work, but also for her life—as will readers."

This was not a book I would have chosen on my own.
After hearing my friend, Pattie rave about it, and learning that it was the first book in an online book club I've joined, I decided I should read it.
I was pleasantly surprised.
I really enjoyed this book.
I would recommend it to anyone.


2010 reads: 1
currently reading: Three Blind Mice- Agatha Christie

Read in November

The Secret Adversary- Agatha Christie
The Mysterious Affair at Styles- Agatha Christie
The Murder of Roger Ackroyd- Agatha Christie
By Hook or By Crook- Betty Hechtmann
Chocolate Chip Cookie Murder- Joanne Fluke

Read Jan-Nov 2009

21 total

Home to Holly Springs- Jan Karon
Tamar Myers:
Monet Talks
The Cane Mutiny
Between a Wok and a Hard Place
Just Plain Pickled to Death
Too Many Cooks Spoil the Broth
Hell Hath No Curry
Grape Expectations
Thou Shalt Not Grill
Eat, Drink, and Be Wary
Three Little Words: A Memoir- Ashley Rhodes-Courter
Tea Time for the Traditionally Built- Alexander McCall Smith
Grave Sight- Charlaine Harris
On the Street Where You Live -Mary Higgins Clark
Embrace Me- Lisa Samson
Tiger Lily- Lisa Samson
The Edge of Town- Dorothy Garlock
The Secret Adversary- Agatha Christie
Dracula's Guest (short story)- Bram Stoker
The Mysterious Affair at Styles- Agatha Christie
The Murder of Roger Ackroyd- Agatha Christie

I think I may close this blog.
I was mainly keeping it to record what I've read.
I've found a website that makes it SO much easier than this blog.
It is Goodreads.com

You simply look up the book you want, then add it to your "shelves."
If anyone would like to keep up with me on Goodreads, just leave me a comment or look me up there. :-)

Books I've read since last time:
Thou Shall Not Grill
Grape Expectations
Hell Hath No Curry
- all my Tamar Myers

Currently reading: Dead Days of Summer- Carolyn Hart

Tamar Myers' PennDutch Inn series

255 pages

When a new guest takes a fatal fall down the little PennDutch inn's quaintly steep stairs, Miss Magdalena Yoder, the no-nonsense owner, is more worried about a lawsuit than foul play. Magdalena also has a bushel of other troubles: An arrogant congressman and his wife check in for deer hunting, offending the other guests who are animal-rights activists. Her Amish cook up and quits when vegetarians refuse to eat her hearty Pennsylvania-Dutch cooking. But when a second guest is found stiff, cold, and dead on Magdalena's handmade quilt, she's sure there's a killer somewhere on the premises. (First in the series)



272 pages

It's another case of meals, mayhem and murder in Pennsylvania's Dutch country! Magdalena Yoder's finally getting married, but this special affair is quickly spoiling. The cook preparing the wedding feast has found a corpse in a barrel of sauerkraut--the cousin of Magdalena's bridegroom, a woman reported missing for two decades. And when Magdalena takes it upon herself to find the killer, she soon discovers that one of the key suspects is none other than her beloved! .





272 pages

Ever since her new husband flew the coop, Pennsylvania Dutch inn owner Magdalena Yoder has had plenty of time to kill. But the suspicious death of an Asian tourist proves that time is not the only thing around here that's getting murdered! Magdalena follows the trail to the local Amish community where a dangerous secret is being concealed, and a killer who's really using his noodle awaits! .



I realize I've been a bit lazy about doing book reviews lately (not that I've ever been that great at them anyway ;-)). I have a good excuse. Almost my entire family has the flu.
On the bright side, I've been getting a lot of reading done. :-)

2009 total: 6
pages read: 1,887

The Cane Mutiny & Monet Talks- Tamar Myers

384 pages

Abigail Timberlake Washburn understands the antiques game is a gamble -- so she doesn't know what to expect when she wins the bidding for the contents of an old locker that has been sealed up for years. It's a delightful surprise when she discovers inside a collection of exquisite old walking sticks -- and a not-so-delightful one when she pulls out a decrepit gym bag containing . . . a human skull!

The last thing the diminutive South Carolina antiques dealer needs is to be suspected of foul play. So she grabs her chatty assistant (and future sister-in-law), C.J., and heads out to search for a killer they can stick it to. But this cane case will be no walk in the park -- with its arcane clues hinting at poaching, counterfeiting, smuggling . . . and homicide, of course. And when a fresh corpse turns up, things are about to get really sticky for Abby and her staff of one.

336 pages

Charleston antiques dealer Abigail Timberlake Washburn is thrilled by her recent estate auction purchase of a spectacular bejeweled birdcage from India, but not so much by its occupant, a mouthy mynah named Monet. Still, her customers at the Den of Antiquity seem charmed by the insufferable birdbrain, so Abby figures she's stuck with him. That is, until she finds a stuffed starling resting on his usual perch with a ransom note demanding a real Monet (the painted variety) in exchange for her purloined pet.

Since she doesn't happen to have a priceless masterpiece on hand -- and since a mynahless existence isn't all that distasteful a prospect -- Abby figures she'll let the thief keep the annoying avian. But when her mama Mozella is abducted by the craven birdnapper, Abby must leap into the fray to rescue mater and mynah alike ... before the feathers really start to fly!

These books were light, enjoyable reads. They were just perfect to read while sitting up with a toddler that has insomnia. ;-)

2009 total: 3

pages read: 1,088