Rosepoint Reviews – October Recap – Snow? On Halloween? Uh oh…

Rosepoint Reviews-October Recap

 

Hoping that early snow is not a portent of a long, hard winter, we did have flurries on Halloween. I guess we had just a bit of the same in 2019, but usually when we had an early snow in California, we were hurting for decent skiing conditions even in December. I’m still getting used to the different weather climate out here.

I took advantage of a slight warming last week to get my yard stripped of the last vestiges of both the veggie and flower gardens. Not much to bring in, as we’d used most along the way and, sad to say, the tomatoes just sort of petered out. Crazy summer!

In the meantime, strongly feeling the absence of our Frosty and the encouragement of our kids (and the neighbors!), we began looking for another dog (as I mentioned last month)—this time a mature one (no puppies). I was looking for a small companion—the CE fell in love with an ex-breeder. Punkin, the PomeranianA Pomeranian—one I never would have considered and she is proving to be the problem I expected she might. A 4 ½+-year-old with absolutely no history has apparently never been introduced to a house, never mind house training, commands, or even knows what treats or pets are. While she is extremely human shy, she doesn’t seem to have that problem with other dogs. Perhaps lived in a kennel all her life just turning out puppies? Who knows? This kind of shelter/rescue dog will take months of patience, kindness, and consistency. We’ve been at it now three weeks. According to the 3-3-3 rule, the first two big hurdles done. Hopefully, progress by three months. How do you go about house-training a dog that was never turned out to potty and won’t allow you to take them?

So you might have guessed where a bulk of my time went in October. Even deleting one post per week, I’m still backlogged and playing catch up. We did manage thirteen books in October, always including NetGalley books. I’ve experienced fits and starts with audiobooks but you’ll note one at five stars in the list below. (And as always, links below are to my reviews that include purchase or source info.)

Rosepoint Reviews-October Recap

Pretty Girls by Karin Slaughter
Danger in Numbers by Heather Graham (audiobook)
The Constant Soldier by William Ryan (CE 5* review)
Out of Nowhere by Sandra Brown
Quarter to Midnight by Karen Rose (audiobook)
Closure by Garrett Addison (CE review)
The Ghost Orchid by Jonathan Kellerman (5*)
Twas the Bite Before Christmas by David Rosenfelt (5* audiobook)
Rescuing Crockett by David Pyke (CE review)
Secrets of the Greek Revival by Eva Pohler
Sold on a Monday by Kristina McMorris (audiobook)
Head Case by Bonnie Traymore (CE review)
Death by Cutting Table by Susie Black

Favorite Book of the Month

The CE greatly enjoyed several of his books and I always enjoy my auto go-to Rosenfelt books (audiobooks especially). My vote for October, however, is going to Jonathan Kellerman’s The Ghost Orchid. Love the way the author plays off the main characters and maneuvers two negative victims to sympathic.

Book of the Month for OctoberThe Ghost Orchid

Reading Challenges

My Reading Challenges page… I have 122 books of a goal of 145 in Goodreads (at this point two books ahead of schedule) and still at a 97% feedback ratio in NetGalley. My Reading Challenges page has suffered from neglect–again.

Up for Discussion

In another move of the social media upheaval separating from each other, I got a notice that Goodreads will no longer connect with your Facebook account. First the change of Later for Instagram scheduling, the disconnection from Twitter (BIG BLACK X) and the push to sign up for paid accounts, then the change in Canva with an eye on providing all that scheduling if only you’ll go “Pro.” Soon the privilege of sneezing will require a paid account or risk the redoubling of the work and effort to continue a simple blog. Any change at my age is difficult, but change that comes with increased expense, more so. How are you coping? Signed up for paid accounts formerly free?

As always, welcome to my new subscribers! And I never stop appreciating those who read and comment.

©2023 V Williams

Goodbye October

‘Twas the Bite Before Christmas by David Rosenfelt- #AudiobookReview – #AnimalCozyMysteries

An Andy Carpenter Novel Book 28

#1 New Release in Animal Cozy Mysteries

Rosepoint Publishing:  Five Stars 5 stars

Book Blurb:

Reluctant lawyer Andy Carpenter is at the Tara Foundation’s annual Christmas party. The dog rescue organization has always been his true calling, and this is one holiday tradition he can get behind because every dog that’s come through the rescue—and their families—are invited to celebrate.

'Twas the Bite Before Christmas by David RosenfeltThis year’s party is no exception. But before the stockings can be hung by the chimney with care, homicide detectives ruin the evening. Derek Moore, one of the foundation’s best foster volunteers, is arrested for murder.

Andy discovers Derek—whose real name is Bobby—is in the witness protection program after giving evidence against his former gang. The police believe Bobby murdered a member. But Bobby swears to Andy he didn’t do this. He’s built a new life, a new business, has two new dogs after being a double foster-failure.

There isn’t much Andy likes about this case, but he likes Bobby. If he’s innocent, Andy wants to help. Before Andy can settle down for his long winter’s nap, he has a client’s name to clear, a murderer to catch, and two new dogs to look after: a golden and a Dalmatian. Andy’s golden retriever, Tara, will have to adjust to not being the only golden at the house while Andy gets to the bottom of this one…

My Review:

Once a year the Tara Foundation throws a Christmas party for the people and their adopted rescue dogs. Andy Carpenter is NOT a fan of eggnog and is relieved when Pete Stanton, homicide detective (and an old buddy of his), calls him outside. The problem is that he warns him one of his party guests is about to be arrested. Surely they can’t be talking about Derek, a foster failure for having decided to keep the two dogs he was fostering.

Andy, though supposedly retired and avoiding working as an attorney, ends up believing Derek’s (Bobby’s) story, and agrees to represent him. Andy’s cases are never simple and neither is this one. The investigation will become complex and uncover some ugly issues from mobsters and drugs to murder.

Andy has an unusual crew that includes his wife Laurie (an ex-cop) and her K-9 team, as well as Marcus, and a guy he calls on for quiet IT work. (Laurie loves Christmas and starts the season by Halloween (which Andy tries to avoid as much as possible—especially the music), so this novel won’t be including a lot of Christmas detail.)

'Twas the Bite Before Christmas by David RosenfeltAnd then there are the dogs, Tara, for whom the rescue foundation is named, Andy’s pug Hunter, and Sebastian, who does little besides warm a bed. While Tara may have featured more prominently in previous installments, not so much in this one. Still, I love the stories of the doggos that this time includes Bobby’s two foster failures, Sasha and Jake. I always remember with a chuckle the times I went to the breeder’s house when we were waiting for Frosty to be released, and the hubby would answer the door to a cacophony of barking and dogs scrambling to see who was there. He would merely sigh—“We have dogs.”

As always, I enjoy the courtroom scenes with Andy doing his best to alienate everyone including the judge with his legal wrangling of appropriate precedent. While he worries about how strong he’s made his case, he always keeps his eye on proving a plausible alternative to his own client.

Along the way is the signature Andy Carpenter sense of humor, the wise-cracking, snarky observation of events, and his interpretation delivered beautifully as only Grover Gardner can do. He has sold this character many times over and the author’s love of dogs shines through every time. You gotta love them.

I downloaded a copy of this audiobook from NetGalley and the publisher. These are my honest thoughts. This series is an easy go-to. My only problem is that they are too short.

Book Details:

Genre: Animal Cozy Mysteries, Animal Fiction, Traditional Detective Mysteries
Publisher: Macmillan Audio
ASIN: B0BV8X894N
Listening Length: 6 hrs 33 mins
Narrator: Grover Gardner
Publication Date: October 10, 2023
Source: Local Library (Audiobook Selections)
Title Link: ‘Twas the Bite Before Christmas  [Amazon]
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David Rosenfelt - authorThe Author: David Rosenfelt, a native of Paterson, New Jersey, is a graduate of NYU. He was the former marketing president for Tri-Star Pictures before becoming a writer of novels and screenplays. “Open And Shut” was his first novel; “First Degree,” his second novel, was named a best book of 2003 by Publishers Weekly. He currently lives in Southern California with his wife and 35 dogs.

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The Narrator:

Grover Gardner - narrator Grover Gardner’s narration career spans twenty-five years and over 550 audiobook titles. AudioFile Magazine has called him one of the “Best Voices of the Century” and features him in their annual “Golden Voices” update. Publishers Weekly named him Audiobook Narrator of the Year for 2005. His recordings have garnered 18 “Golden Earphones” awards from AudioFile and an Audie Award from the Audio Publishers’ Association.
http://grovergardner.blogspot.com/

©2023 V Williams

Audiobook review-David Rosenfelt

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