Christmas Crimes at the Mysterious Bookshop edited by Otto Penzler

 

Title: Christmas Crimes at the Mysterious Bookshop

Editor:  Otto Penzler

Narrated by:  Jennifer Pickens, Graham Rowat

Publisher: HighBridge, a division of Recorded Books

Length: Approximately 7 hours and 21 minutes

Source: Review Copy from NetGalley.  Thank you!

 

Do you have a favorite bookstore that focuses on a specific genre?  I was interested to learn about the Mysterious Bookshop in New York City that specializes in selling mysteries.  I have never been to a genre specific bookstore.  Each year, the store commissions an original short story for its customers.  It must be set at Christmas, include a crime or suspicion of a crime and must have at least have a partial setting at the Mysterious Bookshop.  This is a collection of twelve of the stories.

My thoughts on this audiobook:

·       I enjoyed this collection.  The main narrator, Graham Rowat, has a newsman type voice that was interesting to listen to.  It gave it an old-time mystery feel.

·       One of my favorite authors, Laura Lippman, had a story in the collection.

·       The 1^st story had a lot of cheating in it, which I didn’t like, but the ending was something else and thought provoking.

·       One story seemed to be if a Tony Soprano type character had come back to New York City out of witness protection to see his son give a talk at the Mysterious Bookshop.  Things do not go as planned.  Never threaten a dangerous man’s family.

·       I loved the story where an expensive bottle of vintage cognac travels through New York City with everyone adding to it and resealing it.

·       An interesting story included a puzzle to solve that included classic Christmas stories by classic mystery authors.  I had read a few and it was fun to solve. 

·       I liked how the last story had a mysterious component involving the completion of the novel Edwin Drood by Charles Dickens.

·       I loved how each story was unique and seemed to be even more enjoyable than the last story.

Overall, Christmas Crimes at the Mysterious Bookshop was a wonderful, unique collection of Christmas mystery short stories that were a perfect read for the Holiday season.  I highly recommend it. 

My Life as a Villainess by Laura Lippman

I love Laura Lippman’s mystery novels.  This book arrived last week. I had just finished reading a heavy novel and decided I was going to read this to lighten my mood.  I started reading it and couldn’t put it down until I was finished.

My Life as a Villainess is a collection of essays by Laura Lippman talking through different issues and thoughts in her life.  Lippman may be a New York Time selling author married to the producer of The Wire, but I’ll admit, I related to her in her essays.  Our daughters are the same age and many of the items she discussed about her Georgia Rae were similar to my Penelope Rose.  Lippman is an older mother and I liked her discussion about the trials, tribulations, and judgements as an older mother.  I am a middle of the road mother on age.  I also related to her discussion of reading books at the Waldenbooks at her mall growing up.  My Mom worked at PearleVision in the mall when I was growing up.  I would go to work with her as a tween/teen during the summer or weekends and spend my day roaming the mall.  A large part of my time would be spent at B. Dalton.

Lippman’s essays varied and discussed different times in her life.  I loved the story of her first job in Texas as a journalist, as well as her frank discussions about both of her husbands.  There were so many memorable moments.  I enjoyed how she took over her father’s bar where he would go for afterwork drinks.  Lippman looked inward for her essays and realized that at times she wasn’t a good person, hence the “villainess” of the title.  I like that she was proud of who she is, although I looked at her picture when she kept saying she was fat and was very confused.  She looks great – but your family can always find a way to make you not feel good about your body image as I well know. Each and every essay was an interesting look into Lippman’s thoughts and life, and I enjoyed them.  I hope she writes more essays. 

Favorite Quote:

“She conceded this was basically true, but also told me that I must stop writing ‘happily ever after’ at the end of my friends’ stories.  People’s stories are never finished, not as long as they’re alive.  They don’t even end with death.”

Overall, My Life as a Villainess is an enjoyable set of essays that give you a glimpse into Laura Lippman’s life.

Book Source:  Review Copy from William Morrow.  Thank-you!