Book Reviews for February 2026

I’m sitting at my computer near my window with a warm cup of Lady Grey tea watching the grey clouds multiply. It’s going to rain and Barnaby feels edgy. He’s circling the table and asking for love. Writing is secondary to him. In the background Poirot episodes play on BBC giving my day a nice British Belgian accent. It’s all cozy and I’ve read some interesting cozies as well.

Death by Bingo: A Senior Sleuths Mystery Series is by Cathlyn Sweets. It’s a short mystery and a cute novella. The story takes place in a retirement/rehabilitation facility. The usual Bingo caller is a curmudgeon named Harold who thinks that he’s a comedian. Thus, he uses his so called comic routine for calling the numbers at the weekly Bingo game. Each of the Bingo participants use dabbers to show their card’s winning numbers and when one’s card is filled the winner calls “Bingo.” Of course Harold also uses a dabber to show what has been called. Poor Harold ends up dead and the mystery begins. How, why, and who are the questions. To answer them the group solicits the newest member of the community, Violet. She’s considered the best detective because she’s “a retired principal …. ‘Same skill set,’ Dolores observed. ‘Dealing with troublemakers, investigating suspicious behavior, maintaining order in chaos…’”  is the observation that persuades Violet to lead the investigation in Sunset Manor. It’s the first novella in a proposed series and was recently published. Ms. Sweets doesn’t treat her senior citizen characters as if they’re fragile. Each character has strengths and is cognitively intact. For those of us older than 70 – we thank you!  It’s an enjoyable novella at any age.

                  Gloria Chao’s The Ex-Girlfriend Murder Club is a cozy romance mystery. The community (village) is the group of ex-girlfriends that form when each finds out that Tucker, the love interest, has been lying to each of them. They band together and decide to take revenge on Tucker by messing with his favorite lotions, attire, and humidifier. The funniest scene is when Tucker is about to propose to Liv while Kat is hiding in the bathroom. Kat, not realizing that Liv is in the condo, thinks Tucker has realized that Kat is there and is actually beginning to propose to her. She jumps out of the bathroom half naked and is shocked to see Liv. Liv is equally shocked to see Kat. Liv and Kat are not nearly as shocked as Tucker who attempts to propose to Kat when Liv turns on her heels to walk away. The third member of the group, Elle, pops up when Liv and Kat meet to discuss their plans to take revenge on Tucker. The book is funny, a bit sad in that each of the three really lhought that this was going to be the “real thing” with Tucker. But Tucker turns up dead. Who did it? Why? Is there another woman fooled by Tucker’s charm?  There is a massive twist at the end which makes the novel all the more a most recommended novel. You’ll enjoy it.

The novel was published in June of last year and is part of a planned series. It’s book 1 of 2 published already.                                             

                  Every month I read at least one Agatha Christie novel. I’m an addict and have no apologies about it. This past month I read A Pocket Full Of Rye. There are two adaptations on film available on Britbox. The more recent is the better script and more closely resembles the book. Although, the actress who plays Gladys in the adaptation from the ‘80’smore easily fits the woman described in the book. Watch both and pick your favorite. Reading the book is my favorite. There are the usual Christie characters, the maid, the housekeeper, the cook, the wealthy parent with the ungrateful children, then there’s the manor, the office with attractive secretaries, the necessary horses and stable, the other man, and the mysterious find in a country in Africa. These are all seen in many of Christie’s novels. How she handles the ingredients makes the so-called cake. The novel’s wealthy family is the Fortescue clan, and this time Christie’s ending has Miss Marple teary-eyed. Miss Marple had trained Gladys after taking her in from an orphanage. Gladys was one of the Fortescue victims. She was found with a clothespin on her nose amidst the clotheslines. Rex Fortescue was found dead in his office with grains of rye in his pocket. It is this murder that gives the novel its name and the tie in with the nursery rhyme that starts with four and twenty blackbirds baked in a pie. Rex’s second wife was found dead in the drawing room having been eating a scone with honey. There are, of course, the red herrings, the older aunt who lives in her room and doesn’t come out to eat with the others, the insinuation of Miss Marple to investigate and solve the crime, and the detective that doesn’t want to, but finally has to, give Miss Marple credit for her perspicacity. It’s a real Christie novel that is so fun to read while tucked up in an easy chair with soft music in the background and a hot cup of tea.

                  The Mysterious Case of the Missing Motive is by Michele Pariza Wacek and was published in 2024. The cozy mystery centers around a new detective agency that was started by Emily’s Aunt Tilde in a town named Redemption in Wisconsin. Oh, to live in a place that has a name that’s a prime choice for a novel! Anyway, poor Emily was fired from her job in the big city when she discovered who had embezzled money from the firm. Emily’s discovery had touched a sensitive nerve. At the same time, Emily lost her boyfriend, the apartment in which they were living (he had lied to her when he said her name was on the lease), and many of her belongings. Most importantly, naïve Emily had been depositing her money in an account that actually didn’t have her name as an account holder. It was in her boyfriend’s name. Thus, Emily had no money and no job. Fortunately, although her mother and sister were sympathetic they didn’t have the room for her, her aunt took her in, gave her an apartment above her garage, and a job. The job was to be an investigator in this new detective agency that was housed in an office at the edge of a shopping center and had no signage. Emily’s first question was ‘how will anyone find you?’ But, as luck would have it, the phone rang and they were off and running with a mystery. It’s true the author uses the trope of a cold case that’s about a wrongly convicted killer. But it’s done with good humor. Meanwhile, Aunt Tilde is sure that the Redemption Detective Agency is up for the job. Aunt Tilde is funny, dear, and very intuitive. Emily is hurt, lonely, confused, and very organized and smart. She doesn’t seem to like pets. By the end of the book there’s the possibility of a romance ready to become more complicated in the next novel and perhaps Emily will grow to like a dog and Aunt Tilde’s cats. The writing has a light touch and the story flows. Since the author set the novel in the 1990’s there’s room for many more books in the series. I’m looking forward to them.

                  For those of you who are looking for more cozies to read this week and beyond, here’s a link to a website that will give you free cozies written by some notable authors:

https://books.bookfunnel.com/luckyleadscozyreads2026/gjbjm22cvc

MY TBR

1.        Murder Most Bookish by Anthea Fraser

2.        Embroidered Lies and Alibis by Lois Winston

3.        The Wishing Game by Meg Shaffer

4.        Chanukah Guilt by Rabbi Ilene Schneider

5.        Dead Man’s Folly by Agatha Christie

6.        The Devil’s Foot by Arthur Conan Doyle