Rosepoint Reviews – October Recap – Welcome Holiday Season (or not)

Rosepoint Reviews-October Recap

October kicks off the end of the year for us, beginning with our daughter’s birthday in the middle of October and then Halloween of course, although we no longer celebrate the latter as much as we did when the kids were young, I still decorate. Seems like it then begins a mad dash to the end of the year and this year a presidential election here in the colonies—so glad to see the end of that!!

As much time spent in the spring setting up the yard, the gardens, and all things outdoors, it takes as much to clean it back up. Perhaps more so this year with tackling the veggie bed and cleaning up roots and dirt clods turned to cement. It was a disappointing year for a garden, veggie or flower.

Trying to recognize a full year with Punkin the Pom, I read several doggie genre books, adventure or service animals. A Pomeranian is meant to be a companion animal, of course, but she has no clue that’s her job. I am still finishing up a doggy theme book I’d hoped to include in October, the latest from Sara Driscoll, and ran out of time and will post that review in early November. As mentioned before…Punkin is still learning to be a dog. I guess eventually we’ll have to begin teaching her some commands. In the meantime, it’s sufficient to be working on housetraining. (Yeah, still.)

I continue to get books from NetGalley as well as author and publisher requests, and my local library, both ebooks and audiobooks. The review count for the month was fourteen, but I included both W Bruce Cameron’s novels in one post. As always, links on titles are to our reviews that include purchase or source information.

Rosepoint Reviews-October Recap

The Johnstown Flood by David McCullough (audiobook)
Here One Moment by Liane Moriarty (audiobook)
Echo by Tracy Clark
What Have You Done by Shari Lapena (audiobook)
Going Dark by George K Mehok (CE review)
Death by Jelly Beans by Susan Black
A Dog’s Courage and A Dog’s Promise by W Bruce Cameron (audiobook)
Late Checkout by Alan Orloff (CE review)
An Insignificant Case by Phillip Margolin
Margo’s Got Money Troubles by Rufi Thorpe (audiobook)
The More the Terrier by David Rosenfelt (audiobook)
Local Gone Missing by Fiona Barton (audiobook)
Death Comes in Threes by Michael Jecks (CE Review)

Favorite Book of the Month

The CE gave Going Dark by George K Mehok five stars but we both listened to The Johnstown Flood audiobook in our travels to and from Arkansas in September and loved it. The research, details, and characters so well-fleshed the reader cares what happens to them in the flood. I’m going with:

Favorite for OctoberThe Johnstown Flood by David McCullough     

 

Reading Challenges

My Reading Challenges page…Reading Challenges page—pretty much status quo. My Goodreads Challenge is at 110 towards a goal of 130 at 85%.

Thank you new subscribers—welcome! I always appreciate those of you who continue to monitor, read, and comment on my posts. Hope this recap finds you well and looking forward to the holidays!

©2024 V Williams

Have a great weekend!

Late Checkout: A Mess Hopkins Novel by Alan Orloff #BookReview #amateursleuthmysteries

Book Blurb:

Late Checkout by Alan OrloffMotel proprietor Mess Hopkins is more interested in helping others than turning a profit, so he opens the doors of the Fairfax Manor Inn to those seeking refuge from a bad situation. But when his cousin Finn shows up in trouble, his world is rocked, because Mess had thought Finn was dead, having run away six years earlier.

Unfortunately, Finn was in the wrong place at the wrong time and saw the wrong thing—an incident with deadly consequences.

It’s up to Mess, his girlfriend/newspaper reporter Lia Katsaros, and buddy Vell Jackson to solve the crime before some bad men achieve their goal—killing the only eyewitness.
Mess’s frightened cousin Finn.

His Review:

Running a motel is not an easy task. Mess Hopkins expects to inherit one from his parents, but he has been left with the management task. Problem is, Mess is a very compassionate man and is a sucker for a sob story.  The motel is barely staying afloat and continues to limp along.

Late Checkout by Alan OrloffFinn is his cousin who has been missing for years. He suddenly shows up after being a lost soul and his family is very irritated with him. Mess and Finn were best friends as youngsters and they are happy to be back together. Finn has declared that he is gay and also that he witnessed a murder. He is sure that the murderers are after him.

The manager that Mess hired to help run the motel is a character who really does all the work. He is continually admonishing Mess for his lack of attention to detail and also for letting rooms to vagabonds who are unable to pay.

C E WilliamsKillers hunting for Finn and continual management issues keep this novel moving. Will mismanagement finally doom the motel? Will the killers catch up with Finn and eliminate the family problem? Will the rest of the family finally accept Finn for who he is and bring him back into the fold? Read this well-written novel and find out. 4.5 stars – CE Williams

Note: The CE read and reviewed Sanctuary Motel last year and greatly enjoyed it. This series is well-plotted and moves smoothly through the storyline. Mess is an emotive character, garners empathy, and is easy to become invested in.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with the opportunity to read and review this book.

 

Rosepoint Publishing: Four point Five Stars 4.5 stars

 

Add to Goodreads

Book Details:

Genre: Amateur Sleuth Mysteries, Crime Thrillers
Publisher: Level Best Books
ASIN: B0DGJY67Q2
Print Length: 310 pages
Publication Date: October 22, 2024
Source: Author and NetGalley

Title Link(s):

Amazon-US  |  Amazon-UK   |   Barnes & Noble  |  Kobo

 

Alan Orloff - authorThe Author: Before Alan stepped off the corporate merry-go-round, he had an eclectic (some might say disjointed) career. As an engineer, he worked on nuclear submarines, supervised assembly workers in factories, facilitated technology transfer from the Star Wars program, and learned to stack washing machines three high in a warehouse with a forklift. He even started his own recycling and waste reduction newsletter business. Now he writes fiction.

Alan Orloff’s debut mystery, DIAMONDS FOR THE DEAD (Midnight Ink), was a 2010 Agatha Award Finalist for Best First Novel. He’s written two books in the Last Laff mystery series, KILLER ROUTINE and DEADLY CAMPAIGN (also from Midnight Ink), and writing as his darker half Zak Allen, he’s published three books: THE TASTE, FIRST TIME KILLER, and RIDE-ALONG. His novel, RUNNING FROM THE PAST, was one of the initial Kindle Scout selections.

His novel, PRAY FOR THE INNOCENT, won the 2019 ITW Thriller Award for Best E-Book Original.

His novel, I KNOW WHERE YOU SLEEP, was a Shamus Award Finalist for Best First PI Novel.

HIs YA thriller, I PLAY ONE ON TV, won both the Agatha Award and Anthony Award for Best Children’s/YA Mystery.

His short fiction has appeared in numerous publications, including JEWISH NOIR, Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine, CHESAPEAKE CRIMES: STORM WARNING, Mystery Magazine, Black Cat Mystery Magazine, WINDWARD, SNOWBOUND, LANDFALL, SEASCAPE, and MASTHEAD (BEST NEW ENGLAND CRIME STORIES 2016 – 2020), THE NIGHT OF THE FLOOD, MYSTERY MOST GEOGRAPHICAL, GUNS + TACOS, and MICKEY FINN: 21st Century Noir, Volumes 1 and 3.

His flash fiction story, “Happy Birthday,” was nominated for a 2018 Derringer Award, and his story, “Dying in Dokesville,” won a 2019 Derringer Award.

His story, “Rent Due,” won the 2021 ITW Thriller Award for Best Short Story, and “Rule Number One” (SNOWBOUND, Level Best Books) was selected for the 2018 edition of THE BEST AMERICAN MYSTERY STORIES anthology, edited by Louise Penny.

He loves arugula and cake, but not together. Never together.

Alan can be followed/stalked on Facebook (www.facebook.com/alanorloff) and Twitter (@alanorloff). For more info, visit http://www.alanorloff.com.

©2024 CE Williams – V Williams

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