The Running Bibliophile

Book Review: The Book of Lost Names by Kristin Harmel The Book of Lost Names by Kristin Harmel opens in the present day in Florida with Eva Traube Abrams, a semi-retired librarian, falling on a photograph of a book in a magazine. The accompanying article describes the looting of libraries during World War II by the Nazis. Recognizing the book she hasn't seen in sixty-five years, Eva makes plans to fly to Berlin to retrieve it, and ends up reminiscing of her life in Nazi occupied France as a Jewish woman. I recently joined a new book club, and The Book of Lost Names  by Kristin Harmel was the selection for March 2025. I literally only had 2-3 days to read the book before the meeting. Needless to say, I wasn't able to get the entire book read before the meeting, but I did end up finishing the story the day after my book club met.  Let me begin by saying that Kristin Harmel is a talented storyteller and author. I found myself immediately drawn into the story of Eva Traube Abrams...

Murder Ties The Knot (A Haunted Souvenir Shop Mystery, #4) by Christy Fifield takes place in Keyhole Bay, Florida and souvenir shop owner Glory Martine tries to pick up a quilt from a vendor in Alabama. However, the vendor and her husband aren't home and are missing and two dead men are found at their house the next day. This cozy mystery series has been a favorite of mine, but I have to say that this installment is my least favorite. There really isn't much to the mystery sections of the story, and the rest of the storyline just felt a bit flat and forced to me.  As far as suspects go, there really weren't too many. In fact, two men randomly show up in the driveway while Karen and Glory were waiting for Beth and Everett. The men take Karen's cell phone and force Glory into their truck only to drop her off at the end of the driveway and put the cell phone in the mailbox. It was very anti-climatic and not quite believable. I felt like Fifield was trying to add other s...

The St. Valentine's Day Cookie Massacre (Hatter's Cove Gazette Mystery, #1) by Elisabeth Crabtree opens with Kat Archer being assigned to cover the grand opening of Miss Dolly's Cookie Jar and Sweets Emporium  by the Hatter's Cove Gazette in Hatter's Cove, Florida. What is supposed to be an ordinary assignment, turns into a treacherous investigation when one of the employees at the 'Cookie Jar' is found dead. What's not to like about this first book in a series? I absolutely fell in love with The St. Valentine's Day Cookie Massacre , and I can't wait to read the rest of the books in the series. Although, it's considered a cozy mystery, it has a bit of everything in the story, including a bit of humor. It was such an enjoyable read and one that I could see turned into a television series. One can hope, right? For such a quick read, I was pleasantly surprised that the characters were as developed as they were. The writing was done in such a wa...

While scrolling through my Instagram feed, I came across a post from OnTheBookList that featured the novel The Accidental Beauty Queen by Teri Wilson. Having been a former beauty pageant contestant and beauty queen, the name of the book intrigued me. I immediately looked at the synopsis on Goodreads.com and decided that I had to buy and read this particular book. The Accidental Beauty Queen is a romantic comedy about identical twins Charlotte and Ginny Gorman. Charlotte decides to fly to Orlando, Florida a few days early to visit Harry Potter World while her sister Ginny is competing in the Miss American Treasure pageant. However, in less than 24 hours of being in Orlando, Charlotte has to rush Ginny to the hospital when she has an allergic reaction to something that makes her face swell up and a rash break out. Not able to compete in the pageant until her face clears up, Ginny convinces Charlotte to pose as her in the pageant. If you'll be going on vacation soon, t...

When Back Bay Bank in Keyhole Bay, Florida makes a risky loan to a local husand and wife, and it goes belly up, the corporate bank sends in senior auditor Bridget McKenna to investigate the shady dealings the local branch is involved in. When Bridget turns up dead, Glory Martine knows something is fishy about her death. The Haunted Souvenir Shop Mystery series is one of my new favorite cozy mystery book series. Although the plot lines are very typical, the way the series is written sucks you in and makes you fall in love with the characters. The third installment, Murder Sends A Postcard , by Christy Fifield is no different from its predecessors. I absolutely love all the characters and feel like I'm right there with Glory as she goes through her day. It's as if I'm part of the book too. One thing that I thought was dead on in the description in Murder Sends A Postcard (A Haunted Souvenir Shop Mystery, #3)  was how distrustful most everyone was of the character...

A while ago, I was looking for an inexpensive book to read that would fill the void of finishing another cozy mystery book series, and I came across Murder Buys A T-Shirt (A Haunted Souvenir S hop Mystery # 1) by Christy Fifield . It took me quite some time to actually pick it up to read, and I am so very happy I picked it up because I think I have a new favorite cozy mystery book series. The main characters in Murder Buys A T-Shirt (A Haunted Souvenir Shop Mystery #1) are all very likeable, especially Glory Martine whose point of view the story is told from. However, the character that steals the show is her pet bird, Bluebeard. Although this is a cozy mystery, the mystery wasn't too big of a mystery. I didn't mind it too much because the story line and characters were so engaging. It made me feel as if I were part of the friend circle and actually lived there. I loved the fact that the story took place in a town called Keyhole Bay, which is just outside of Pen...