Review: Picture Miss Seeton

Picture Miss Seeton by Heron Carvic
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This book was originally Published in 1968 and has just been reissued. If you want a light, cozy mystery with a touch of parody, you should enjoy this book. The story takes place in a small village that is relatively self-sufficient, but only has about 500 inhabitants. The villagers are enjoyable for the most part but very different. You have the vicar who has lost his belief but is too lazy to change careers, and his sister, Sir George, his wife and son Nigel as well as many others. They are all busy bodies and when the find out that Miss Seeton took on a murderer with her umbrella, they all want to know what happened. Every incident that she is involved in becomes fraught with rumor and inuendo in the village. Miss Seeton is a retired art teacher who has inherited a house from her aged cousin/godmother. After leaving a performance of Carmen in London, she stumbles onto a murder that draws her into a mystery involving drugs, murder, greed and embezzlement. She seems to bumble her way into situations and uses her trusted brolly to save the day. When questioned by the police, she draws her way out by providing Scotland yard with artist's impressions of suspects and situations that just happen to hold the keys to more than one case. Her pictures show her impressions of the subject, not just a picture of the faces. The various police officers also add some comic relief to the stories. There are five books in this series and so far they have reissued 3 of them. I am going to try another one in the series and see if I enjoy it a little more.

I received a copy of this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

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Review: Yitzi and the Giant Menorah

Yitzi and the Giant Menorah by Richard Ungar
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

“Yitzi and the Giant Menorah” is an absolutely gorgeous book. It is Illustrated with watercolor monoprints, both color and black and white. The pages could be framed and placed on the wall, they are so eye catching. If you look carefully at the coloured illustrations, you can find animals and objects hidden within them. The story is also beautiful and engaging.

In this story, the Mayor of Lublin gives a giant Menorah to the village of Chelm. It is beautiful and each night they light another candle. When the people of Chelm try to come up with ideas of how to thank the Mayor of Lublin, they keep getting diverted and none of their gifts make it. On the final night of Hannukah, Yitzi comes up with a meaningful, appropriate, and perfect way to give thanks. This is the lesson of the book: that saying “thank you” doesn’t always require material goods or fancy gestures.

This is a beautiful book that can add to children’s knowledge of other cultures as well as learning about heartfelt thank-yous. The author included a short history of how Hanukkah came to be and why it is celebrated. Throughout the story we learn some of the traditions of this holiday such as dreidels, the menorah and latkes.

This book would be a welcome addition to holiday libraries in homes, schools, public libraries and houses of worship.

I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

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Review: Flee, Fly, Flown

Flee, Fly, Flown by Janet Hepburn
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Meet Audrey and Lillian, two ladies with alzheimers who feel like prisoners living at "Tranquil Meadows" nursing home on the locked floor. Lillian hatches a plan that they need to escape and go on vacation without telling anyone. They get their hands on scissors to cut off the arm bands that monitor their whereabouts, get their hands on a car (Lillian kept a set of keys to her car when it was sold to the neighbour boy), get some cash and head off. Lillian is not the best of drivers, so when they meet a nice, young man, Audrey is able to convince him to drive them to B.C. where his home is. It takes a day or two, but "Rayne" finally figures out these are not just two nice old ladies on vacation, there is definitely something wrong with them, and so the fun begins. When they do not want to get caught they decide to call themselves Lucy and Ethel, of course the youngsters they meet do not realize the irony of that. They become like a little family complete with a dog they find along the way. They share information about their lives with one another in between their stops, overnight stays and funny situations.

This is a great road trip story. We gain some insights to the world of dementia as well as the life of someone living in a nursing home that really does not want to be there. We also gain some perspective on the struggles of someone young trying to make their way in the world. The pain and anguish Lillian's family must go through not knowing where she is or if she is hurt was apparent in the brief glimpses with phone calls.

This story gives us an appreciation of what it is like to get older and lose some of your faculties. It also reminds us to be gentle and kind to others, do what you can to help them and sometimes it is important to slow down, admire your surroundings and take a vacation.

I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

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Review: Homeschooling Can Be Murder

Homeschooling Can Be Murder by Susan Lyttek
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Jeanine, "Neenie" as her husband calls her, is an army wife. Being an army wife means moving often, but this time, Jeanine is reluctant to upend her children from the town they have been in for the past few years. Her children and family are so involved in the community, that when her husband gets orders to move she sends him on to look for a house without her. He finds the house of their dreams, her says, but forgets one detail, it's next to a civil war graveyard. Jeanine does NOT like being next to a graveyard, in fact her father mentions her aversion to cemeteries at one point in the story. Adding to Jeanine's frustration is the fact that James, her husband, is sent out of town for training almost right after they arrive and move into the new house. Normally you would expect a graveyard to be quiet, but not this one. At night, there are lots of noises and lights floating around that scare her, the dog and the kids. The next morning she lets the dog out to do his business and finds the gate open. Jelly, the slobbering bulldog, heads off into the cemetery and when Jeanine reluctantly goes after him she finds him guarding a dead body. Only this one is not buried, he is newly dead. Can they solve the mystery of the dead man? What is causing the moaning and the lights at night? Jeanine and the kids find themselves in the midst of a great mystery involving treasure hunters and town secrets.

This was a relatively quick read. It is definitely a Christian story as the characters pray, attend church, etc. as a major part of the storyline. There were some instances of misuse of pronouns as well as omitted words. One thing I noticed which always bothers me, is the use of "on accident" instead of "by accident". I guess they just slipped through, but I expect published works to be more flawless.

I did enjoy the story and the characters, especially the children and the Folgers, the people they bought the house from. There are two more books in this series that I will need to check out.

I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

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A Silent Prayer

Where Romance meets the Spiritual???

I received a copy of this book from the author in exchange for an honest review.  I was not sure about this book as I started it. Adam, a millionaire from Toronto is an atheist and has sworn off any kind of relationship.  He  uses women and thinks that is their only purpose. He stumbles into a place where he watches a woman dance and becomes entranced. He does not know who she is, but continues to think about her months later. The second character is Rania. A muslim living in Toronto working for a friend of her family. She has a devout faith and many secrets. She keeps her true self hidden from everyone except the son of her boss who is in love with her, but his feelings are not reciprocated. Rania is resigned to the fact that she will never get married and have a family. Every other chapter is told by either Adam or Rania.

Once I got into this book I was amazed at how the spiritual and romantic sides of this novel blend together.

Adam runs into Rania months later and realizes she is the woman he has been dreaming about. Rania has no idea who he is or why he is interested in her. Both of these characters are wounded and hurt from things in their past. Can their love for one another heal the hurts and show itself to the other?  A great read with an ending that makes you want to read the next book right away to see what happens next.

This is Book one of "The Prayer Series"....waiting for Book 2!

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Review of Walking on Water, by Richard Paul Evans

This is the final book in The Walk series and it tied up the story nicely.  As other reviewers have said, it is a diary and some of the entries can be tedious, but that is what makes it seem like a real diary to me. Like the other books in the series, the walk is interrupted, this time by his father's heart attack.  Alan flies home to be with his father and of course, encounters Nicole. He finds his father's "family tree" which is more like a life story and he finds out a lot of things about him that he did not know before. It helps him to understand why his father is the way he is and how that shaped him as well. He has still not made a decision about Falene and has not yet called her.  Kalaimai also makes a reappearance in this final chapter, with all her jokes and positive thinking.  He again meets some strange characters once he heads back out and there are some profound discussions in this book. Alan finally makes it to Key West and makes some decisions about how to spend the rest of his life. A wonderful series with some tedium, some excitement and a lot of thought provoking ideas.  I really enjoyed this series and hope to be able to introduce and share it with others.

Deadly Lies by Chris Patchell

I could not put this book down.  It kept me interested until the last page.  Jill Shannon was a victim of abuse from her step-father after the death of her mother and brother. After he dies, she vows never to be a victim again. Fast forward several years and Jill is a successful computer program creator married to a detective, Alex, who works in Cyber Crimes. Alex is working on a kidnapping murder case that takes him to California.  He meets up with a detective who assists him and later asks if he can look into the computer dating angle of a couple of murders he is working on.  Meanwhile, after being dumped by her boss, who she is having and affair with and being a victim of a date rape drug, Jill takes matters into her own hands and things spiral out of control. When the two situations overlap, Alex and Jill come to a crossroad where a serious decision must be made. A gripping read and a great debut novel.