Dog Day Afternoon by David Rosenfelt

May 14, 2024

Dog Day Afternoon by David Rosenfelt

Lawyer Any Carpenter and his ex-cop wife Laurie Collins return with a new case. This time, Andy is defending a man wrongly accused of a mass shooting at a law firm. The more they dig, the more irregularities they uncover.

The latest entry in a very enjoyable mystery series does not disappoint. The mystery here involves the Dark Web, a complex conspiracy, and a mass shooting, all of which could be taken from a daily newscast. I love Andy's snarky sense of humor, the quirky supporting characters, and there are dogs - what more do you need?

Many thanks to Edelweiss and the publisher for providing an eARC for review.

Paterson, New Jersey

Olive, Mabel and Me: Life and Adventures with Two Very Good Dogs by Andrew Cotter

May 18, 2022

Olive, Mabel and Me: Life and Adventures with Two Very Good Dogs by Andrew Cotter

During the COVID-19 pandemic, BBC sportscaster Andrew Cotter learned that all of the events that he was supposed to cover for the BBC (including the 2020 Summer Olympics) were cancelled. On lockdown with his two Labrador retrievers, Olive and Mabel, he began videotaping their activities and adding a running sports-style commentary. He described in exciting detail their morning contest at their breakfast bowls, walking in the woods near their home and splashing in the pond, and even held a Zoom meeting with the two dogs to discuss their performances. The videos became an Internet sensation and can be viewed on YouTube. In this memoir, Andrew talks about making the videos as well as his outdoor adventures hiking with his two best girls.

Loved this memoir! Happy, funny and touching. Any dog or animal lover (or any living person) will enjoy reading about their exploits.

Andrew with Mabel (the blonde) and Olive (the brunette)

Queenie Malone's Paradise Hotel by Ruth Hogan

 July 24, 2020

Queenie Malone’s Paradise Hotel by Ruth Hogan

Tilda and her mother Grace were never close.  Tilda always suspected it was because she inherited an ability to see the dead from her father, a trait that her mother detested.  After her father’s death, the best thing to happen to Tilda was moving into Queenie Malone’s Paradise Hotel in Brighton, where Tilda found a second mother in Queenie and a family in the quirky group of employees and guests at the hotel.  But shortly after their move, Grace inexplicably shipped Tilda off to a remote boarding school, wrenching her away from the only real home she had ever known.  After Grace’s death over 40 years later, Tilda fears that she has inherited not only her father’s psychic ability, but also her mother’s mental illness.  She is desperate for answers, and with her faithful canine companion Eli by her side, Tilda returns to Brighton to search for answers about their lives, why her mother always seemed to be punishing her, and what really happened to her father.

My sciatica was acting up yesterday, so I spent most of the day lying down on a heating pad, reading.  I was fortunate to have Queenie Malone’s Paradise Hotel checked out from the library.  I fell in love with Queenie and her hotel at the first description.  Brighton in the 1970’s sounds like a child’s paradise.  There is a slight supernatural element in Tilda’s ability to see those who are no longer living – she can’t always distinguish between the living and the dead.  Things aren’t always the way you think they are (especially when you’re a child) and the plotline has a number of unexpected developments.  But children also accept some things without question, while adults might be put off or make judgments.

Eli the dog is a wonderful character, and yes, he is fine and living with Tilda at the end of the book.  Queenie also is a marvelous flamboyant character, but she makes only sporadic appearances until the middle of the book.

Although the story has a dark side and there are complex issues here, I found Queenie Malone’s Paradise Hotel to be a delightful and engaging read.  I finished the novel in a day, and I highly recommend it if you enjoy quirky fiction.

Separation Anxiety by Laura Zigman

February 27, 2020

Separation Anxiety by Laura Zigman

Judy Vogel wrote a highly successful children’s book that became a children’s television series, but she hasn’t been able to write another book.  Her current job is writing 300-400 word articles for a wellness site, producing three or four articles a day.  Not only does Judy have writer’s block, but she also feels totally disconnected from everyone she knows.  She is separated from her husband Gary, but they can’t afford to live in separate residences because Gary works as a part-time snackologist and spends large amounts of time smoking pot.  So Gary lives in their basement and Judy and their teen-aged son Teddy live upstairs.  While working on de-cluttering their storage area, Judy comes across a baby sling left from when her son was born.  On impulse, she slips the sling over her head and puts Charlotte, the family’s Sheltie in the sling.  For the first time in years, Judy feels a connection to another living being.  Meanwhile, their son attends a Montessori school that is also in crisis.

I initially picked up this title because of the cover art, a woman wearing a baby sling with a small dog’s head sticking out.  While depression is a main theme, there is also commentary on marriage, parenting, and progressive education.  There is just enough humor to keep the story from wallowing in sadness.  We have one of those wellness sites where I work so I know the kind of peppy little useless articles that Judy writes.

At age 50, Judy feels invisible:  not only is her marriage falling apart and her son doesn’t need her anymore, her best friend and editor is dying of cancer and she is crushingly lonely.  Wearing the dog in a sling at least attracts some (mostly) harmless attention.  Maybe that’s why middle-aged men buy a Corvette, divorce their wives of 25 years, and get a trophy wife – anything so that they can feel someone SEES them (never mind how people see them).

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing an e-ARC in return for a review.

The Love Story of Missy Carmichael by Beth Morrey

December 11, 2019

The Love Story of Missy Carmichael by Beth Morrey

Seventy-eight year old Missy Carmichael is adrift:  she recently lost her husband, her son and his family live in Australia, and her relationship with her daughter is strained at best.  She decides to attend an event at the local park, just so she can tell her children that she is getting out of the house.  But her decision to go to the park unexpectedly opens up a whole new world for her, filled with friendship, new experiences, and dogs (that's Missy with her dog Bobby on the cover).

Quite a few novels have been compared to A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman and Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman, but this is one of the few books that actually deserves that comparison.  Missy is a senior citizen version of what Eleanor would have become if her friends hadn’t held an intervention, and there is also a tragic and heartwarming story similar to Backman’s protagonist Ove.

This is another book to add to my favorites shelf.  I found myself reading slowly since I didn’t want the book to end.  The Love Story of Missy Carmichael will be published early in 2020 and I highly recommend it.