EMMA

EMMA

Jane Austin

Review by Author Roy Murry

 

I saw the movie before I purchased and read this book. The written novel is much funnier than the movie.

Jane's English prose is exquisite. The characters and their quirks, opinions on mundane items, as someone going out in the light rain to the post office, are hysterical.

 I could go on and on about the many episodes that explain and describe characters' traits, but I will not. EMMA faults in all her evaluations of who is in love with whom.

EMMA concludes, at the end of 500 pages of indulgences, that she could not see what was in front of her for many years, her love for another.

This is a romance comedy you will love.

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A STUDY IN SCARLET

 

A STUDY IN SCARLET

 Arthur Conan Doyle

 

Review by Author Roy Murry

 

SCARLET is the first in the Sherlock Holmes series, where he meets Dr. Watson to become roommates in 1878. "No man burdens his mind with small matters unless he has some very good reason for doing so," Holmes answers Dr. Watson's question on deduction.

Their relationship develops between the two when a London detective arrives at the new residence, facing a quagmire of being unable to solve a crime. Watson and the detectives have cluttered minds as they watch Sherlock go about developing a resolve.

A man is found dead with no apparent wounds. When a second man, who had been in the company of the first man, is dead in another part of London, Sherlock has solved the crime and has put a trap in place because of a carriage imprint.

Every one of Sherlock's cohorts, including the reader, is oblivious to his deductions until the crime is solved and he enlightens the men with cluttered minds. How did Holmes do that? --- will be on everyone's mind.

Arthur Conan Doyle's SCARLET is a fast-paced adventure that will bring in a new reader of the adventures. Years ago, it did for me, and I've been a mystery-genre lover since.

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The BODY in the BOOKSTORE

The BODY in the

BOOKSTORE

ELLIE ALEXANDER

Review by Author Roy Murry

 

All my followers know I am a mystery nut. This cozy mystery by Ms. Alexander is one of the better ones I have read for some time.

Annie, the main character, has a college degree in snooping but works selling books because of a past event. Out of her past, at a Mystery Festival in the small town of Redwood Grove, her classmates and professor show up.

All, other than the professor, who is a Town Detective, are suspects in the murder of a classmate hidden in the bookstore vault. Annie teams up with the professor and a friend to solve the crime.

Who done it? Well, that doesn't lead to who did. However, the reader will have a choice, which is the fun part of the novel, a la the book CLUE.

Supporting characters make this a series to read.

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Since the Day We Danced

SINCE THE DAY WE DANCED

KERK MURRAY

Review by Author Roy Murry

 

Emma and Luke met because of unusual circumstances and immediately liked each other. Their family problems interfere with the relationship, and they keep it a secret.

When the secret is found out, separation begins. Everyone involved believes that Emma and Luke, including his son, will not get back together.

But does love help them find a way for reunion? The twists and turns bring this novel to an end that the romance lover will enjoy.

Each chapter is one of the main characters commenting on the situation at hand. This made the novel's prose move smoothly forward with their feelings known.

'DANCED' is a good novel.

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MANUFACTURING DELUSION

MANUFACTURING

DELUSION

BUCK SEXTON

 

Review by Author Roy Murry

 

As you know, I'm an ex-Green Beret Operations and Intelligence Specialist (Vietnam Veteran) and a graduate of the JFK Warfare Center. I believe Mr. Sexton has described the world as it is today. Using historical data on how people react to psychological manipulation, he outlines the stepping stones to how people are swayed into a delusional mindset.

He describes how past civilizations, including current ones, often show instances where humans have bowed to a small group's ideology, resulting in nations or small groups being controlled, believing nonsense. Brainwashing and indoctrination are spread through propaganda on many levels, which the left uses constantly.

Buck Sexton's nonfiction is well written, so anyone with a cognitive mind will understand and enjoy his narrative. Those on the left of the Democratic Party in the USA, Muslim countries, and places like Iran and Cuba will condemn this book as fantasy.

Read MANUFACTURING DELUSIONS and decide for yourself.

Purchase: https://amzn.to/4uF3iLD

 

A HIGH PRICE TO PAY

A HIGH PRICE TO PAY

CYNTHIA HAMILTON

Review by Author Roy Murry

 

Madeline (Maddie), a P.I./Party planner, is caught up in an unconventional cluster of murder and thievery. As a party planner, she is hobnobbing with the Hollywood elite by overseeing a birthday party for the unhinged wife of a famous director.

Maddie Dawkins and her partner, Mike, try to unravel the crimes using clean police procedures, while dealing with a psychopath who is possessed with Madeline. It all comes to a head in a thrilling event that will leave the reader wanting more from the series.

This is the second book in the Madeline Dawkins Mystery Series; however, an avid mystery reader like me would have figured out a key point early on. Nevertheless, all readers of mysteries will be entertained to the end of this character-driven novel.

I liked the characters and the plot, and will return to read another in this eleven-book series.

Purchase Series: https://amzn.to/4diqKb9

A Cat's Garden of Secrets

A CAT'S GARDEN OF SECRETS

JACQUELINE DIAMOND

Review by Author Roy Murry

 

"Cat's" is a quirky journey into another world adjacent to California, where the main character, nineteen-year-old Chess Vevoda, travels through fog to Loobly. This land has magick in every endeavor, where the cats talk to each other, and Chess learns this quickly.

Chess has been brought to Loobly by a self-controlling car to claim an inheritance due to her grandmother's death, but many contest it. There is a question as to how her powerful grandmother died.

With her close family and friends, Ms. Vevoda embarks on a turbulent journey to clarify the situation. Control of a library of historical importance is at the heart of the Loobly society and part of the inheritance.

The reader will enjoy the colorful circumstances of this story, which is more of a fantasy than a cozy mystery. When the epilogue begins, the mystery is solved, and the reader will be content purchasing another of Ms. Diamond's fun novels about cats.

Purchase: https://amzn.to/3OMvkVa