Book Review and Giveaway - Murder on the Toy Town Express: A Vintage Toyshop Mystery by Barbara Early

Book Synopsis

Liz McCall has come to love running her father’s vintage toyshop back home in East Aurora, NY, so when the Train and Toy Show comes to town, she’s all aboard for a fun toy-filled weekend. The only hitch is that her childhood bully Craig McFadden, now local business rival, has set up a booth next to hers. But the fun and games are over when Craig falls from the ceiling in a publicity stunt gone wrong.

What was initially thought to be a fatal accident proves much more sinister. Pulled into the case by her feelings for both Ken, the police chief, and Jack, her high school sweetheart whose brother is one the prime suspects, Liz dives headfirst into the investigation. But as she digs deeper, she’s shocked to learn her father may have been the intended target.

The trouble train is barreling down and Liz may have just bought herself a first class ticket in Murder on the Toy Town Express, Barbara Early’s delightful second installment in her Vintage Toyshop mysteries.

My Review
Murder on the Toy Town Express is a fun read for cozy mystery fans, and anyone who loves retro toys will especially enjoy it.  I love all things retro, including vintage toys, and sometimes sell a few vintage toys in my online shop, so I especially enjoyed this book.

Liz works with her father in his vintage toy store in East Aurora, New York.  When they work a vintage toy show, she is shocked when her high school bully, now a comic book dealer, dies suddenly.  With the help of her father, friends, and semi-boyfriend, Ken (who also is police chief) she becomes involved in working to solve the crime.

This was such a fun read!  I couldn't put it down.  The characters are quirky, interesting, and likable.  And there are twists and then more twists.  I am usually pretty good at solving mysteries but did not have this one figured out until I was about 75% in!

This is the second book in the Vintage Toyshop Mystery series.  I have not read the first (yet!), but this book worked fine as a standalone mystery.

I loved, loved, loved the vintage toy details in this book.  As well as great details about model trains, there are mentions of toys like The Addams Family Card Game, The  Beatles: Flip Your Wig Game, Candy Land, Life, Lite-Brite, and more.  At one point the characters have a 1970's games night featuring Yahtzee, Risk, Clue, Mousetrap, Rebound, Which Witch, Sub Search, and Manhunt.  The party was complete even with '70's candies:  Good & Plenty, Milk Duds, Necco Wafers, Chuckles, and Sky Bars.

I enthusiastically recommend Murder on the Toy Town Express to other cozy fans.  It makes a great weekend read, and it is really fun!

Author Bio
Barbara Early earned an engineering degree, but after four years of doing nothing but math, developed a sudden allergy to the subject and decided to choose another occupation. Before she settled on murdering fictional people, she was a secretary, a school teacher, a pastor’s wife, and an amateur puppeteer. After several years living elsewhere, she and her husband moved back to her native Western New York State, where she enjoys cooking, crafts, classic movies and campy seventies television, board games, and posting pictures of her four cats on Facebook. She writes the Vintage Toyshop series and the Bridal Bouquet Shop Mysteries (as Beverly Allen).

Author Links
http://www.barbaraearly.com/
https://www.facebook.com/AuthorBarbaraEarly/
https://twitter.com/BarbEarly
https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/1671291.Barbara_Early
Author Newsletter: http://eepurl.com/cUh3Wn
Cozy Café: https://www.facebook.com/CozyCafeMysteries/
Killer Characters: http://www.killercharacters.com/search/label/Barbara%20Early 

Purchase Links
Amazon     B&N   BAM    INDIEBOUND    Book Depository

GIVEAWAYS
There are two (!) giveaways on this book tour.

Giveaway #1
Book swag!  Prize is a brightly colored vintage toyshop tote bag, key ring, train whistle, bookmarks, and assorted fun Toyshop swag (color and selection will vary).   U.S. Only.   Ends 10/23.
a Rafflecopter giveaway


Giveaway #2
Prize includes signed copies of MURDER ON THE TOY TOWN EXPRESS (hardcover) and DEATH OF A TOY SOLDIER (paperback), a Vintage Toyshop tote bag, keyring, booksmarks, and assorted fun toyshop swag. U.S. Only.  Ends 10/19.
a Rafflecopter giveaway

I received a copy of this book from Great Escapes Book Tour and NetGalley.

Dear Abby - Famous TV Dogs: Wishbone

Dear Friends,

Today I am looking forward to chatting about famous TV dog Wishbone.   When I asked friends on Facebook for famous dogs, several people said Wishbone.  This cute TV dog is new to me (because I wasn't born when his show was on!) and also to my Momma (who was a child quite a while before Wishbone aired on PBS).

Wishbone was a PBS series that aired from 1995 - 1998.  It starred a lovable Jack Russell named Wishbone and his person, Joe.  Wishbone loves books and dreams about appearing in stories from classic literature.  As well as a TV series, there was a popular series of books starring Wishbone.

To give you an idea of what the show storylines were like, there were books featured by William Shakespeare, Charles Dickens, Jane Austen, Mark Twain, Washington Irving, and more.   Wishbone also played Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle in more than one episode.

The series was created by a Jack Russell fan named Rick Duffield.  His own dog inspired the Wishbone character.

Wishbone was played by a handsome Jack Russell dog named Soccer.   I have to add that I am partial to Jack Russells as I am a Doxie-Jack or Jackshund (Dachshund - Jack Russell mix)!   Soccer lived from 1988 - 2001.  He was from Texas and lived with his person and trainer, Jackie Martin Kaplan.  Soccer got the part because he did an impressive backflip in his audition.   When Soccer wasn't available, there were four other Jack Russells who sometimes appeared as Wishbone.  Phoebe, Slugger, and Shiner did stunts, and Bear did publicity stills.

Here is a short video showing the opening to the Wishbone show in the 1990's.


Have you seen Wishbone, and do you have any memories of this show?  I would love to hear from you in the comments.

Wishing you a great weekend!

Love,
Abby xoxoxo

Book Spotlight and Giveaway - Mining for Justice (A Chloe Ellefson Mystery) by Kathleen Ernst

Book Synopsis

Chloe Ellefson is excited to be learning about Wisconsin’s Cornish immigrants and mining history while on temporary assignment at Pendarvis, a historic site in charming Mineral Point. But when her boyfriend, police officer Roelke McKenna, discovers long-buried human remains in the root cellar of an old Cornish cottage, Chloe reluctantly agrees to mine the historical record for answers.

She soon finds herself in the center of a heated and deadly controversy that threatens to close Pendarvis. While struggling to help the historic site, Chloe must unearth dark secrets, past and present . . . before a killer comes to bury her.

Author Bio

Kathleen Ernst is a social historian, educator, and author. Her Chloe Ellefson mysteries reflect the decade she spent as a curator at a large outdoor museum, and feature historic sites in the Upper Midwest.  Library Journal says, “Ernst keeps getting better with each entry in this fascinating series.” Kathleen has also written many mysteries for young readers.  Honors for her work include a LOVEY Award and Agatha and Edgar nominations.  Kathleen lives and writes in Wisconsin.

Webpage – www.kathleenernst.com
Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/kathleenernst.author/
Blog – https://sitesandstories.wordpress.com

Purchase Links

Amazon – B&N 

Giveaway
(3) Print Copy - Mining for Justice (A Chloe Ellefson Mystery) by Kathleen Ernst.  Ends 10/19.
a Rafflecopter giveaway

 

Book Spotlight and Giveaway - The Case of the Clobbered Cad (Nosy Parkers Mysteries) by Debra E. Marvin

Book Synopsis

Inspired by the famous Girl Detective, the members of the Olentangy Heights Girls’ Detective Society, affectionately known as the Nosy Parkers, spent their formative years studying criminology, codes, and capers. Unfortunately, opportunities to put their unique skills to work were thin on the ground in the post-war boom of their little corner of suburbia and they eventually grew up to pursue more sensible careers. Until…

Heather Munro’s youthful devotion to The Girl Detective led to a passion for digging around in history. Now pursuing her Master’s Degree in Celtic Studies, Heather must balance exploring Edinburgh with her determination to excel in her all–male classes at the University. Unfortunately, on her first night working in the Archives room, she discovers the dead body of a visiting professor, the same would-be lothario she’d hoped never to see again.

As clues come to light, it’s clear someone hopes to frame Heather for the murder. Besides her quirky landlady, whom can she trust? How can she clear her name? The police and the American Consul have plenty of suspects, but only two seem to have both motive and opportunity: Heather and the quiet Scottish historian she longs to trust.

Author Bio
Debra E. Marvin tries not to run too far from real life but the imagination born out of being an only child has a powerful draw. Besides, the voices in her head tend to agree with all the sensible things she says. She is a member of American Christian Fiction Writers, Sisters in Crime, and serves on the board of Bridges Ministry in Seneca Falls, NY. She is published with WhiteFire Publishing, Forget Me Not Romances, and contracted with Journey Fiction, and a judge for the Grace Awards for many years. Debra works as a program assistant at Cornell University, and enjoys her family and grandchildren, obsessively buying fabric, watching British programming and traveling with her childhood friends.

Author Links:
Twitter,
Facebook,
Website,
Pinterest
Amazon Author Page
Instagram

Buy Links
Amazon  B&N  kobo

Giveaway
(1) Prize Package Including Paperback of The Case of the Clobbered Cad --Paperback of The Counterfeit Clue --Hardcover of The Clue of the Whistling Bagpipes (Nancy Drew)-- and a hand quilted table runner in shades of green.  Ends 10/23.
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Book Review - Caroline: Little House, Revisited by Sarah Miller

Book Synopsis

In this novel authorized by the Little House Heritage Trust, Sarah Miller vividly recreates the beauty, hardship, and joys of the frontier in a dazzling work of historical fiction, a captivating story that illuminates one courageous, resilient, and loving pioneer woman as never before—Caroline Ingalls, “Ma” in Laura Ingalls Wilder’s beloved Little House books.

In the frigid days of February, 1870, Caroline Ingalls and her family leave the familiar comforts of the Big Woods of Wisconsin and the warm bosom of her family, for a new life in Kansas Indian Territory. Packing what they can carry in their wagon, Caroline, her husband Charles, and their little girls, Mary and Laura, head west to settle in a beautiful, unpredictable land full of promise and peril.

The pioneer life is a hard one, especially for a pregnant woman with no friends or kin to turn to for comfort or help. The burden of work must be shouldered alone, sickness tended without the aid of doctors, and babies birthed without the accustomed hands of mothers or sisters. But Caroline’s new world is also full of tender joys. In adapting to this strange new place and transforming a rough log house built by Charles’ hands into a home, Caroline must draw on untapped wells of strength she does not know she possesses.

For more than eighty years, generations of readers have been enchanted by the adventures of the American frontier’s most famous child, Laura Ingalls Wilder, in the Little House books. Now, that familiar story is retold in this captivating tale of family, fidelity, hardship, love, and survival that vividly reimagines our past.

 

Purchase Links

HarperCollins | Amazon | Barnes & Noble

 
My Review
Like most young girls, I grew up with Little House on the Prairie.  First came the books, checked out time and again from the little local library.  Then there was the TV series.  I loved everything about Little House, and this love of all things Laura Ingalls Wilder has endured into my adulthood.  I still listen to three Little House podcasts and read everything I can find that is related to this series.

So of course I wanted to read Caroline.  From the first description of this book, I anticipated reading it.  And I have to say the book far exceeded my expectations.  It is amazing!

Caroline tells the Little House story from the perspective of Laura Ingalls Wilder's mother, Caroline.  When we first glimpse Caroline in this novel, she is a young wife and mother living in Wisconsin with her beloved husband Charles and her little girls, Mary and Laura.  She is pregnant with her third child when Charles tells her he wants to move to Kansas.

Caroline bravely puts aside her personal feelings and travels across the country in a covered wagon.  The descriptions of the journey are so vivid and detailed.  I could visualize everything from the storytelling.

I will admit that I grew up focusing on Laura's story, and had not thought as much about what this journey and pioneer life meant to Caroline.  I am so glad that Sarah Miller masterfully brought her story to life here.  I found Caroline so remarkable as she left her relatives and friends behind and braved this long trip despite being pregnant.   I admired her resourcefulness and her loving care of her children.  I also loved her relationship with Charles!

The writing in this book is absolutely beautiful. Sarah Miller writes about the journey:

"The West was a song Charles wanted a hand in composing" (eBook loc. 100).

She also adds about Laura:

"Like her pa, all of Laura's visions of the West had begun with the journey, not the departure" (eBook loc. 353-54).

One more example of the beautiful writing in this book is seen when Caroline soothes the girls en route:

"Under her fingers, Laura's pulse had slowly quieted into a beat of feathery kisses.  Caroline drew up her knees, making a nest of herself.  Laura was too big now to fit inside it as she once had, but her breath, still tinted with maple sugar, filled the small spaces between them" (eBook loc. 821-23).

I have to add that the historical details in this book were fascinating.  I enjoyed details like reading how Caroline cooked over a fire when the family was traveling cross country.  The food descriptions were also very interesting, and I was very struck by how grateful the Ingalls family was for such simple things.  This was one of the things that stuck with me most from Caroline's story.

Caroline will surely be one of my favorite reads of the year, and I recommend it highly for anyone who loves children's literature, historical fiction, and especially for other Little House on the Prairie fans.

Author Bio
Sarah Miller began writing her first novel at the age of ten, and has spent the last two decades working in libraries and bookstores. She is the author of two previous historical novels, Miss Spitfire: Reaching Helen Keller and The Lost Crown. Her nonfiction debut, The Borden Murders: Lizzie Borden and the Trial of the Century, was hailed by the New York Times as “a historical version of Law & Order.” She lives in Michigan.

Find out more about Sarah at her website, and connect with her on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

I received a copy of this book from HarperCollins and TLC Book Tour.