Review: Death of a Gossip (Hamish Macbeth, #1) by MC Beaton

Death of a Gossip by M.C. Beaton

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


This was recommended to me by a friend that also enjoys mysteries set in the UK... I enjoyed the laid back character of Hamish Macbeth-- but was greatly annoyed at the silliness of Alice. It struck me that she didn't seem so ridiculous at the beginning of the book, but seemed to get dumber as the story continued.


Overall a good book. I will certainly give #2 a look.

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Review: Faithful Unto Death by Caroline Graham

Faithful Unto Death by Caroline Graham

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


I am a HUGE fan of the Midsomer Murders TV show which is based off these books. And I have read one of the other Caroline Graham books-- which I really enjoyed. I listened to this audiobook, and didn't enjoy it as much as the other CG book I read. Maybe these books are just better when read?

I am also not a fan of the character of Det. Troy in this book. I realize characters are changed when TV shows are made from stories-- and I am GLAD that Gavin Troy's was changed for the show. His character in the book is rather despicable.

I still look forward to reading more of these stories-- but I think from now on I will READ them, and not listen. That being said, the narrator was fine. That is not the reason I didn't especially LOVE the book.



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Up Next: The Paris Wife by Paula McClain

From Amazon.com:


Paula McLain on The Paris Wife

Most of us know or think we know who Ernest Hemingway was -- a brilliant writer full of macho swagger, driven to take on huge feats of bravery and a pitcher or two of martinis -- before lunch. But beneath this man or myth, or some combination of the two, is another Hemingway, one we’ve never seen before. Hadley Richardson, Hemingway’s first wife, is the perfect person to reveal him to us -- and also to immerse us in the incredibly exciting and volatile world of Jazz-age Paris.

The idea to write in Hadley’s voice came to me as I was reading Hemingway’s memoir, A Moveable Feast, about his early years in Paris. In the final pages, he writes of Hadley, “I wished I had died before I ever loved anyone but her.” That line, and his portrayal of their marriage -- so tender and poignant and steeped in regret -- inspired me to search out biographies of Hadley, and then to research their brief and intense courtship and letters -- they wrote hundreds and hundreds of pages of delicious pages to another!

I couldn’t help but fall in love with Hadley, and through her eyes, with the young Ernest Hemingway. He was just twenty when they met, handsome and magnetic, passionate and sensitive and full of dreams. I was surprised at how much I liked and admired him -- and before I knew it, I was entirely swept away by their gripping love story.

I hope you will be as captivated by this remarkable couple as I am -- and by the fascinating world of Paris in the 20’s, the fast-living, ardent and tremendously driven Lost Generation.