And the Winner Is...

 There is a winner for the Mystery Giveaway, 

but first a little mystery chat.

On Wednesday I made a quick trip to Riverside Park to see the goats who will be having a working vacation there this summer. Despite the heat it was a lot of fun and I enjoyed taking lots of goat photographs. For the last two days I've had goats on my mind and it got me to thinking, "Is there a mystery (or series) that involves goats?" I thought it was pretty unlikely, but to my surprise, please meet...  Murder, She Goat

I haven't read it, but if you're a cozy fan, looking for a farm theme, this looks like a fun read. It's a two book series, with good reviews on Amazon.  

The winner of two mystery novels is Jeanie at Marmelade Gypsy. I'll be sending The Beckett Factor and Murder at the Masque. There will be another winner at Welcome to Buttercupland, and I'll be doing the post there in the next little while. 

Congratulations to Jeanie and keep cool wishes to all of Coffee Light. It's a great time to find a cool spot, get an icy drink and do some reading. What's at the top of your To-Read list? 

As ever, thanks for visiting and happy reading! 

It's a Pop-Up Summer Reading Giveaway

 

Two of these books will be wending their way to a Coffee Light reader this week! 

This week's mystery is: Will it be you? 

I know I've sadly neglected this sweet blog, and a big apology. I'm hoping to blog more regularly this summer and in an effort to kick off summer reading with a splash I'm doing a giveaway to readers of both Coffee Light and my alternate blog, Buttercup Counts Her Blessings. 

I was gifted a collection of fun mystery novels and I know I won't get to reading all of them. In the interest of perking up Saturday (Sunday and Monday) nights around the country I'm going to do not one, but two, blog giveaways for two mystery novels each. One will be here in Coffee Light, and one is posted in Buttercupland. There will be one winner chosen from each blog.  Leaving a comment on both blogs increases your chances of winning. So please stop by at Buttercupland  and leave that sweet blog a little mystery love. 

There's some good summer mystery reading here with The Terrible Tide, set in New Brunswick, Amends for Murder, a Peggy O'Neill mystery, Murder at the Masque, a Victorian mystery and The Becket Factor, the first book in a series that takes place in Canterbury Cathedral.

Entering is easy-peasy. Just leave a comment about which book sounds most interesting to you. This is a quick giveaway and there's just 72 hours to enter. Entries close at 11:59 PM on Tuesday and I'll announce both winners on Wednesday, June 30. 

I hope everyone is having a good summer. New York City is returning to its usually livelier pace and while it's taking a little (or more than a little!) getting used to, I'm grateful for all that's going on. 

Take good care and happy and healthy reading! 

Happy Saint Patrick's Day

The Library at Trinity College, Dublin

One day I hope to make a return visit to Ireland. But until then I'll enjoy sweet memories, including, perhaps, my favorite library anywhere, this beautiful reading room at the Trinity College. 

A birthday shout out to our blogger buddy, Respice, Prospice. May the road rise to meet you for many years to come. Happy and healthy wishes, my friend. 

Happy St. Patrick's Day and happy reading!

Three Hours in Paris

 

I was reading through what seems like hundreds of email this morning and came upon one from Soho Press, one of my favorite publishing houses. Since I'm always on the lookout for new mystery titles I decided to actually read this email and not automatically hit the delete button. I discovered that one of my favorite mystery writers, Cara Black, was doing a live virtual event tonight discussing Three Hours in Paris. The three hours in question concern a very brief visit to Paris that Hitler made in June of 1940, the purpose of which has been lost to history. 

Three Hours in Paris was first published in April, 2020, when most of us had so much on our minds and didn't keep up very well with new books. The paperback edition comes out at the end of March and I will be looking for it. I've so enjoyed Cara Black's mysteries set in Paris and this mystery/thriller set in one of my favorite historical times is going to the top of my almost infinite To Be Read pile. Here's the link to RSVP for tonight's discussion. It's at 7:00 Pacific time, which translates to 10:00 Eastern time. It's past my bedtime these days, but it's Saturday night.

It's hard to believe that this is my first post to Coffee Light in 2021. I'm not sure where 2020 went, but I'm glad it's gone. It's almost spring, the gas lines for my building have been fixed -- sixteen months without a working stove -- and I'm all vaccinated, plus a month. I've been walking, cooking (Yay!), doing some Zooming and reading. I've also been blogging away on my general blog, Buttercup Counts Her Blessings,  which helped keep me sane more times than I can count last year. I hope you're all doing well. 

As ever, thanks for visiting and keep reading! 

I Discovered Vera Stanhope

 

I'm not sure where I've been for the last twenty years. Ann Cleeves published the first Vera Stanhope mystery, The Crow Trap, in 1999. The television shows based on this series began in 2011, and I missed all of them. I did read a number of books in the Shetland series, as well as seeing some of the television episodes and I am an enormous fan of Jimmy Perez, the police inspector who is the main character. I've also read The Long Call, which was published last year. It introduces Detective Matthew Venn, and it is well worth a separate post of its own. But somehow I missed my introduction to Vera Stanhope. 

Thanks to my friends at Net Galley, I received a copy of the Darkest Evening and literally read most of Saturday and then finished the book on Sunday. I can't remember when I've read a book virtually non-stop and didn't commit the crime of skipping to the end. In The Darkest Evening Vera returns to her extended family's estate and the countryside surrounding it. A young woman is found dead in the snow and as the investigation of her murder proceeds we meet most of the village and discover many not-so-well hidden secrets.   

I particularly enjoyed getting to know Vera Stanhope and learning her story. Vera is an eccentric workaholic Detective Inspector and we come to understand how Vera entered police work and the source of her personality. I am now totally engaged in the series and look forward to catching up on the books that I've missed. I generally wouldn't start with the most recent in a series, but better late than never. I'm very pleased to share The Darkest Evening today, which is its publication day in the United States. 

If you're interested in learning more about Ann Cleeves, please visit the link for The Long Call above. It links to a very interesting interview with Lori Rader-Day in the Chicago Review of Books. 

I appreciate the comments over the last few months asking about my welfare and I hope I've properly responded to all of them. I've been well -- thankfully -- and cozy, especially during the worst months of March through May. Honestly, I've been lonely, like so many others, and all the Zooms and virtual tours on the internet don't make up for spending time with friends and family.  I hope you're all well, cozy and reading.

As ever, thanks for visiting and wishing you many happy hours of mysteries.     

What I'm Reading on My Winter Vacation

Not surprisingly, Ian Rankin

I'm off tomorrow on a quick winter vacation and, of course, I've got a mystery novel with me. Somehow I missed Ian Rankin's In a House of Lies when it came out in 2018, but luckily found it when I was looking for books to take with me on the library website. It's not my only book, but it's the one that I plan to read on the plane tomorrow. 

 How do you find new books to read? Do you browse the library shelves? I do! I still enjoy spending time looking at the array of books at my local branch library. It's one of my favorite things to do. Until very recently I didn't know that the "open stacks" library system wasn't part of libraries until the beginning of the Twentieth century. Before that it was necessary to know what book you wanted and to request it from the librarian. 

I also find read reviews online, browse my terrific local independent bookstore and read the NY Times book review. What are your favorite ways to find new books?  

Another favorite way to find new books is to chat with friends. Dear book-loving friends, what are you reading these days? 

As ever, thanks for visiting and happy reading!

In Memory of Mary Higgins Clark

It may have been the simplest obituary in today's New York Times. It was succinct, with simply a name, dates of birth and death and the details of the wake and funeral. It was a little lost among the longer obituaries that had a number of paragraphs and a photo.

This was the woman known in life as "The Queen of Suspense," Mary Higgins Clark. Beginning in 1975 with the publication of her first suspense novel, "Where Are the Children," she published over 50 suspense books that sold an amazing cumulative total of over 100 million books. All were bestsellers and all are still in print.  

Mary Higgins Clark left the world and us, her readers, with a legacy of decades of reading pleasure, for which I am most grateful. But it's the final sentence of her obituary that may tell those of us who never met her, her true legacy. We are asked to "perform an act of kindness for someone in need." If the millions of us who read one of Mary Higgins Clark's novels performed just one kind deed in her memory, that kindness would light the world.

My prayers are with Mary Higgins Clark's family and with her family of readers throughout the world.  Is anyone else a fan of her writing?

What is your favorite Mary Higgins Clark novel? I'm going with her first and still my favorite, "Where are the Children?"

As ever, thanks for visiting and happy reading!