Red Wolf's Room

Cover and Campaign Ghost Hunters Adventure Club and The Secret of the Grande Chateau is a special book for two reasons: It's a tribute to the classic YA and children's mystery novels published between the 1930s-1980s (roughly). Its marketing campaign is unorthodox. With a mere glance at the cover, it's easy for anyone familiar with YA books of the kid detective era to recognize how much  The Secret of the Grande Chateau  resembles Nancy Drew , the Hardy Boys and The Three Investigators , for example. From the vibrant color choices to the various font styles to the character poses, this book has a strong essence of nostalgia.  I do have two issues with the cover, however. There is no snow depicted on the cover when the book repeatedly states that the location is snowy; the second sentence of the first page specifies "snowy pavement" and a big storm occurs later on when the trio ventures outside. The other thing is that, while I love that they added to the nostalg...

The writing of Murder Your Employer: McMasters Guide to Homicide, Volume 1 is masterful. Even for someone like myself who has read and watched all kinds of mysteries over the years, there was a lot of "bait and switch," things hidden in plain sight and passing truths off as lies (and vice versa). The beginning provides the reader with enough description to give them the sense that it's the 1950s, which it later confirms. The type and level of humor is similar to Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman, I find. I'll admit, it was hard for me to follow at times because we're not presented with the characters' plans of murder in a linear fashion. It also doesn't help that the author alternates between three characters and not always in the same order. It's just a lot to take in. Photo by Daniela Constantini Summary  The book is written as if Dean Harbinger Harrow of the McMasters school is a real person and the true author, Rupert Holmes, is the editor of this v...

While I love books that incorporate baking, mystery, Sherlock Holmes, a new town and a dog, the book Two Parts Sugar, One Part Murder by Valerie Burns wasn't my cup of tea. I was surprised and disappointed. The cover may be indicative of this. Maddy is on the cover, holding her phone for a selfie and several lopsided cakes surround her. While the cakes are symbolic of her inability to cook or bake, she is often on social media, posting pictures of food, her new dog and her new business. However, someone wasn't paying attention to her wardrobe; aprons are supposed to protect the wearer's shirt and, for some reason, it was drawn with very long drawstrings. If this was indicative of Maddy not knowing how an apron works since she's never in the kitchen, it's overkill. Maddy is intelligent and would know how to put an apron on. I like the play on the series' title: "Baker Street" because it's a baking series and the characters talk about Sherlock Holme...