↓
 

The PolyBlog

My view from the lilypads

  • Home
  • Goals
    • Goals (all posts)
    • #50by50 – Status of completion
    • PolyWogg’s Bucket List, updated for 2016
  • Life
    • Family (all posts)
    • Health and Spiritualism (all posts)
    • Learning and Ideas (all posts)
    • Computers (all posts)
    • Experiences (all posts)
    • Humour (all posts)
    • Quotes (all posts)
  • Photo Galleries
    • PandA Gallery
    • PolyWogg AstroPhotography
    • Flickr Account
  • Reviews
    • Lilypad Library (Books)
      • Book Reviews (all posts)
      • Book reviews by…
        • Book Reviews List by Date of Review
        • Book Reviews List by Number
        • Book Reviews List by Title
        • Book Reviews List by Author
        • Book Reviews List by Rating
        • Book Reviews List by Year of Publication
        • Book Reviews List by Series
      • Special collections
        • The Sherlockian Universe
        • The Three Investigators
        • The World of Nancy Drew
      • PolyWogg’s Reading Challenge
        • 2026
        • 2023
        • 2022
        • 2021
        • 2020
        • 2019
        • 2015, 2016, 2017
    • Movies
      • Master Movie Reviews List (by Title)
      • Movie Reviews List (by Date of Review)
      • Movie Reviews (all posts)
    • Music and Podcasts
      • Master Music and Podcast Reviews (by Title)
      • Music Reviews (by Date of Review)
      • Music Reviews (all posts)
      • Podcast Reviews (by Date of Review)
      • Podcast Reviews (all posts)
    • Recipes
      • Master Recipe Reviews List (by Title)
      • Recipe Reviews List (by Date of Review)
      • Recipe Reviews (all posts)
    • Television
      • Master TV Season Reviews List (by Title)
      • TV Season Reviews List (by Date of Review)
      • Television Premieres (by Date of Post)
      • Television (all posts)
  • About Me
    • Subscribe
    • Contact Me
    • Privacy Policy
    • PolySites
      • ThePolyBlog.ca (Home)
      • PolyWogg.ca
      • AstroPontiac.ca
      • About ThePolyBlog.ca
    • WP colour choices
  • Andrea’s Corner

Tag Archives: cozy

Post navigation

Next Post→

Under the Dragon’s Tail by Maureen Jennings (1998) – BR00042 (2004) – 🐸🐸🐸⚪⚪

The PolyBlog
October 28 2004

Plot or Premise

Murdoch gets to investigate the death of Dolly Merishaw, a drunkard, a midwife, and an abortionist. She lived with two boys whom she treated horribly, as well as a young woman who is also a little unbalanced. It doesn’t take much for Murdoch to realize there was blackmail involved, the question being of who?

What I Liked

Murdoch’s investigation is relatively straightforward, but the fun part is seeing him trying to figure out the morals of dating and ballroom dancing while he still grieves his fiancée’s death. He’s also training for a bicycle race. It’s a good introduction of some supporting characters too.

What I Didn’t Like

The view of the young woman being unbalanced is far too simplistic and poorly portrayed.

The Bottom Line

A good addition to the series but not the best.

Posted in Lilypad Reviews, Lilypad-Library | Tagged Amazon.ca, Amazon.com, B&N, book review, Chapters, cozy, crime, detective, fiction, Good Reads, Google, hardcover, historical, Kobo, library, Library Thing, Murdoch, mystery, Nook, novel, police, PolyWogg, prose, romance, series, sleuth | Leave a reply

Malice Domestic by Mollie Hardwick (1986) – BR00053 (1999) – 🐸🐸🐸⚪⚪

The PolyBlog
June 5 1999

Plot or Premise

St. Crispin’s Village, although not quiet per se, is at least restful. Until Leonard Mumbray retires to the village and tries to exact evil upon its townsfolk, with words here or suggestions there. Extortion, blackmail, threats, sneers…whatever it takes to stir up trouble. And trouble leads to deaths, including suicides and murder.

What I Liked

Miss Doran Fairweather doesn’t like it, not one bit. And if Christie had written Ms. Marple at age 26, it might have been Miss Fairweather who resulted. Written in the classic style of life in an English village, there are lots of characters. Besides Mumbray and Fairweather, there is her love — the local widowed vicar, Rodney Chelmarsh. Only love does not run smoothly because Rodney has a handicapped daughter who exaggerates her ailments to monopolize all of Rodney’s time and throws fits if he tries to make friends with others.

What I Didn’t Like

Well-written, but there are too many little twists and turns that are not needed for the story. As well, the ending is a little anti-climactic in terms of the mystery, although it is slightly made up for with a twist in the love story part. Not enough to save the mediocre ending to the mystery but a nice ending nevertheless.

The Bottom Line

Nice ending

Posted in Lilypad Reviews, Lilypad-Library | Tagged Amazon.ca, Amazon.com, B&N, book review, cozy, crime, detective, Fairweather, fiction, Good Reads, library, Library Thing, mystery, novel, paperback, PolyWogg, prose, romance, series, sleuth | Leave a reply

Post navigation

Next Post→

Countdown to Retirement

Days

Hours

Minutes

Seconds

Retirement!

One of my favourite sites

And its new sister site

My Latest Posts

  • Frog writing book review entries into a journal
    Book clubs 2026-08: Getting back on track in AugustAugust 26, 2026
    You might have noticed I’m a bit late again this month — I’m working on a big project related to my Calibre database, which has slowed me down; I was hoping to finish it quickly and get back to my book clubs. I didn’t, and it’s still going, but I wanted to get my lists … Continue reading →
  • Frog writing book review entries into a journal
    Book clubs 2026-07: The noise drowned me outAugust 22, 2026
    I worked on the list of books for July back in July, even though I wanted to just sit on the back deck and read all summer. I’d have invited you over, but, well, (shaking Kindle), “Book!”. But life got away from me, and I never did post the July list. As I mentioned in … Continue reading →
  • A red-eyed tree frog dressed in brown leather armour on his torso with a sword attached to his hip and a shield resting against one knee, while standing on a rock in a swamp. The shield has a ying-yang symbol on it.
    Saying goodbye to my nephew BrianJuly 3, 2026
    Last night, we had a celebration of life for my nephew Brian. He was 51. There was a good turnout, as the saying goes, of family and friends. A group that Brian himself would have felt was too large and too much fuss. And as I looked at the picture boards that his sister Julie, … Continue reading →
  • A red-eyed tree frog wearing a panda apron is stirring food in the Lilypad Kitchen.
    English Muffin Pizza in Four FlavoursJune 18, 2026
  • A red-eyed tree frog wearing a panda apron is stirring food in the Lilypad Kitchen.
    Cowboy Beef Dip with Salsa and Nacho CheeseJune 17, 2026

Archives

Categories

© 1996-2026 - Paul Sadler aka PolyWogg Privacy Policy
↑ imunify-bot-check