The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman

May 9, 2025

The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman

Four senior citizens who live in a post retirement community (and really have nothing else in common) entertain themselves by reviewing and investigating unsolved crimes. They meet every Thursday afternoon, hence the name of their group, the Thursday Murder Club, where they lay out all the evidence of a crime and assisted by a few bottles of wine, try to ascertain the perpetrator. When one of the contractors who works at the community is found dead in his kitchen, the club has their newest case, and this time it's a real active case.

The characters are what make this mystery, a group of smart quirky senior citizens with nothing but time on their hands and a certain joie de vivre. Entertaining but it did get a little drawn out (does the author have to cast suspicion on everyone? It got a little repetitious.). The police detectives are much more tolerant of the amateur detectives than in most mysteries. BTW, I would love to live in Coopers Chase. If you enjoy mysteries with quirky characters and amateur super sleuths, you'll enjoy this first book in a charming mystery series.

Yeah, this is who I though of right away (picture Sicily, 1922...)

Vera Wong's Guide to Snooping (on a Dead Man) by Jesse Q. Sutanto

April 17, 2025

Vera Wong's Guide to Snooping (on a Dead Man) by Jesse Q. Sutanto

Vera Wong - Chinese mother, tea house proprietor, and amateur sleuth - is back for another adventure. Life has been good for Vera since she solved the murder of the dead man in her tea shop. Business has been brisk, Vera has a new group of friends, and her son has a girlfriend. But in the midst of all this good fortune, Vera finds herself secretly bored. While she doesn't really want to see anyone get murdered, she feels she has a knack for collecting information (and people) and solving mysteries. So when a social media influencer disappears and an unidentified body is found, Vera just knows she can find the answer to both mysteries.

The sequel to Vera Wong's Guide to Murder, with a new cast of strangers who become friends added to the group that Vera collected in the first book. Vera learns about social media and influencers, posting videos of herself cooking and making tea while solving the problems of her new friends. Funny and heartwarming, recommended for readers of cozy mysteries who enjoy their mysteries with more humor and less romance than most cozies.

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

What I imagine Vera's tea shop must look like

Vera Wong"s Unsolicited Advice for Murderers by Jesse Q. Sutanto

December 12, 2023

Vera Wong's Unsolicited Advice for Murderers by Jesse Q. Sutanto

Vera Wong is a lady of a certain age who owns a failing tea shop in San Francisco's Chinatown. She adheres to a strict daily regimen of rising early and opening the shop, even though she has only one regular customer. This leaves her plenty of time to follow (read: stalk) her only son online. But one morning when she comes downstairs to open the tearoom, Vera finds a dead body on the tearoom floor.

Heartwarming cozy mystery. Vera is a nosy older woman who had advice for everyone, whether they want it or not. She's correct that 20 somethings tend to be self-focused and dramatic - I base that statement on the 20 somethings in my own family. Very enjoyable.

San Francisco's Chinatown

The Girl Next Door by Ruth Rendell

October 25, 2022

The Girl Next Door by Ruth Rendell

When a pair of severed hands are found in a biscuit box during the excavation of an old house, it turns out that the skeletal remains are at least 60 years old. The police ask for information from anyone who lived in the London suburb during World War II, especially about anyone who went missing at that time. A group of senior citizens who were children during war and lived in that area meet to talk to the police and get reacquainted, which has unexpected consequences for some of them.

LARGE cast of characters that is sometimes hard to keep straight. There are the seniors, and then there are their children, grandchildren, extended family, neighbors, friends, and in one instance, even a parent. Not bad psychological fiction but the sheer number of characters is confusing and probably not necessary.

Attractive London suburb

A Quiet Life by Ethan Joella

October 23, 2022

A Quiet Life by Ethan Joella

Three ordinary people experience terrible loss: 70-something Chuck loses his beloved wife to cancer; Kirsten is a young woman just out of college, whose father is murdered in a gas station robbery gone wrong; and Ella's daughter has been taken by her estranged husband. All three are going through the motions of living while trying to come to terms with their grief. They find themselves again when they unexpectedly come together to help each other.

This is a wonderful heartfelt novel that will stay with you long after you finish reading it. It's about grief, it's about loss, it's about how to get up every morning and keep going. Loss takes many forms: losing a spouse, losing a parent, a child gone missing, even the pain of having to give up a beloved pet. It's very much character-driven with each person having to find their way forward. The characters are at different places in their lives but they are all well-developed and you care about them. Part of the reason they are so relatable is because they are regular people: they're not celebrities or super-wealthy or rich and famous. They are nice people who care about others. The story reminded me somewhat of Fredrik Backman's writing where the characters are written with great feeling and often have hidden connections to each other. One of the characters tells others to be someone's cardinal - the cardinal stays through the winter when all the other birds have gone - be there for others when times are good but especially when times are hard. Lovely book, highly recommended.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing an eARC.

A winter cardinal

Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt

October 22, 2022

Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt

Marcellus is a giant Pacific octopus, being held prisoner (his opinion) at a small aquarium in Washington state. He knows that his species lives only about four years, and he is past three years old. He's very smart and has learned many things, including reading, unlocking boxes, and how to escape from his tank so that he can go snack on the other inmates at the aquarium (particularly the sea cucumbers). He knows things. Marcellus forms a bond with Tova, the senior citizen who cleans the aquarium at night. Tova's son Erik disappeared over 30 years ago, and Marcellus has answers to some of Tova's questions.

In California, Cameron Cassmore is down to his last few dollars. His former girlfriend tossed him out and he can't seem to hold a job for longer than a few days. He doesn't even have a car to sleep in. After his aunt gives him a box of stuff that belonged to his mother, Cameron is convinced that one of the guys in her senior class is his biological father, and incidentally, the guy is now a rich property developer. He decides to go to Washington state to shake the rich guy down.

I loved this book! It's one of the most satisfying books that I've read this year. It's heartwarming, the characters are wonderful, the writing is fluid, and the plot moves along at a good pace without the wandering off topic that is so common in many books.

And I LOVED Marcellus the octopus! READ THIS BOOK!

Giant Pacific octopus

When All Is Said by Anne Griffin

February 19, 2020

When All Is Said by Anne Griffin

Maurice Hannigan, an 84 years old widower, has sold his huge property holdings, packed up all his worldly goods, and found a new home for his dog Gearshift.  He hasn’t told anyone about his plans except his solicitor, telling the solicitor he is going to a senior citizen home.  He sits in a hotel bar, reminiscing about the five people who have meant the most to him and drinks a toast to each one, addressing his memories to his absent son. 

I usually love books set in Ireland, but this wasn’t as enjoyable as I expected it to be.  Maurice is a curmudgeon, but he’s not as appealing a protagonist as Ove in Fredrik Backman’s A Man Called Ove (which I’m kind of glad about since I loved Backman’s book).  Much of Maurice’s story centers around a gold coin that he stole as a boy.  He is angry, stubborn, and depressed his whole life, seeking revenge on the local family he believes to be responsible for all of his misery.  Although he claims to adore his wife, he was a domineering husband who never took her to a restaurant that she really wanted to eat at, or let her order a cup of tea in a restaurant (in Maurice’s opinion, they had perfectly good tea at home).  He was a wealthy man but never gave her any gifts except her wedding ring – instead, he would just hand her cash on her birthday or Christmas.  Ultimately, Maurice never tells those five people how important they were to him.

Great writing, depressing story. 

If you want a really good story about a curmudgeon, read Backman’s A Man Called Ove.  If you want a really good story set in Ireland, read John Boyne’s The Heart’s Invisible Furies instead.

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.

Atomic Lobster by Tim Dorsey

Atomic Lobster by Tim Dorsey

More Florida mayhem with Serge A. Storms, Florida-phile and looney knight errant, and his druggie pal Coleman, who never met an addictive substance he didn’t like.  The boys are short on cash as usual, and need to drum up some fast money.  And what's faster and cheaper than printing your own money?  They have new friend, a stripper named Rachel who literally stumbled into their apartment (she sounds like a reincarnation of Sharon from Florida Roadkill).  Meanwhile, the G-Unit (the four grannies who hit it big in investing) have discovered that it’s cheaper to live on a cruise ship than in senior citizen housing, so they start booking back-to-back cruises – and a lot of other retirees have figured this out, too (free food available 24 hours/day including room service, daily maid service, onboard activities like mini golf and movies, pool and exercise room, nightly live entertainment – all included in the cruise price).  Jim Davenport and his wife are just trying to find a house in a nice quiet neighborhood, Tex McGraw is still trying to kill them, and the Diaz brothers want to get into smuggling big-time.  And Johnny Vegas (the Accidental Virgin) is still trying to get laid.

Another reason I like Serge is that he has a thing for librarians – reference and information is such a turn-on, and what’s better than having sex with a librarian in a storage unit on a door from Jim Morrison’s house?  The audiobook is narrated by Oliver Wyman who does a great job with all the voices.

Shark Skin Suite by Tim Dorsey

September 17, 2019

Shark Skin Suite by Tim Dorsey

When Florida-phile Serge A. Storms goes off his meds, anything can happen.  In this adventure, Serge decides that his latest calling is the law.  But never mind law school, Serge is going freelance in the style of the heroes in his favorite movies, writing wrongs and dishing out justice to those who would scam the innocent.  The plot is more complicated than some of Serge’s stories, with plenty of crooked lawyers, planted evidence, and double-crosses.  Characters from past novels appear, including Brooke Campanella, Mahoney, the Four G’s, and Coleman – we even get to meet Coleman’s brother, lawyer Ziggy Blade.  No matter how dire things seem, remember that Serge always wins.

Tim Dorsey’s Serge A. Storm series is sometimes classified as mystery or suspense but I think they fall into the adventure category (wild car chases, a zany knight errant who fights for the innocent, exploration of unfamiliar cultures, the hunt for treasure, a group of misfits who band together).  If you enjoy your mayhem mixed with some sick humor, this series is for you.  I listened to the audio version and the reader, Oliver Wyman, gets Serge’s voice just right.