Claudia Bishop (2)Recensioni

A collection of mystery stories, each one related to a song or a piece of music. Although the opening story is by one of my favourite music/mystery writers, [[Bill Moody]], there was little in this bland collection that was memorable.½

Modest success in this collection, Ann Perry, Rhys Bowen and Lyn Hamilton worth a look. Quaint recipes.½

Sarah "Quill" Quilliam is the owner/manager of the Inn at Hemlock Falls, in Hemlock Falls, New York. Her sister Meg is the chef. They're not natives of this little upstate New York town, but moved there from New York City, after Meg's husband died and Quill decided she needed a break from her art career. They're both enjoying their new life, and the Inn is just starting to be profitable--when they have a week out of their worst nightmares and disaster may be upon them.

It's the week of the town's annual History Days, a major feature of which is a play reenacting a famous local witch trial. The local girl intended to play the witch is down with the flu, and one of the guests at the Inn, Mavis, is recruited to stand in for her.

Even though Quill doesn't like her, and she's friends with Quill's biggest local problem, Marge Schmidt, owner of a local diner, this is okay--until the first night audience for the play realizes that the body that has just been crushed under a barn door piled with rocks is not the dummy it should be, but Mavis herself.

Among the other guests are Keith Baumer, a salesman with roaming hands and not nearly as charming as he thinks he is, Edward Lancashire, possibly the L'Apperitif reviewer come to award Meg her coveted fourth star, and Amelia (I'm blanking on her last name), Mavis' elderly employer, for whom she works as a companion. Some of these people offend Meg, who responds by doing interesting things to their food (baking soda, ipecac), even as she is falling all over herself to impress the presumed restaurant reviewer.

There were some silly things that annoyed me that likely wouldn't bother most people, such as the fact that their town's witch was executed by crushing, and there's mention of witches elsewhere in the colonies being burned, whereas English law prevailed throughout the colonies, and convicted witches were hanged. Always. Accused witches who refused to enter a plea, whether innocent or guilty, were crushed to death. Burning was the law in much of Europe--but not where English law prevailed.

But I assume that wouldn't bother anyone who isn't a history buff.

More annoying is that Meg comes off as a flighty, irresponsible, spoiled brat, right up till the end where we are supposed to believe she's the observant, level-headed one. Quill's character development also seems inconsistent. There are clear mentions throughout the book of the sisters having collaborated on, or interfered in, a previous case. This is clearly identified as the first in the series, but it really didn't feel like it; we weren't being introduced to the characters, and there's a lot of back story incorporated in ways that made me feel strongly that there was an earlier book that I'd missed.

And a point which did not bother me, but will bother people who read cooking/restaurant mysteries in part for the fun, creative recipes: Just one recipe.

All in all, this was okay, but just okay, and I will not be making any effort to hunt down later books in the series.

I borrowed this book from the library.

This anthology left a bad taste in my mouth, (pun intended). Not only were these stories not well written, they were not even interesting. I didn't really even like the recipes.

Couldn't even skim-finish this. The plot just didn't work for me. Put it in the used bookstore bag after only 100 pages.½

Hedrick Conway has moved to Hemlock Falls and started up a newspaper that is printing gossip about the town. Soon Hedrick's mother is murdered at the site of the towns new minimall and the Quilliam sisters start investigating. I like this series of cozy mysteries and will have to look for more of them.

Enjoyable characters with well paced story.

The town of Hemlock Falls is in the midst of preparations for History Days when several unexpected guests arrive at the Hemlock Falls Inn. Mrs.Hallenback and her companion asked for a specific room but were given another and Keith Baumer arrived without a reservation.

Problems continue with the portrayer of the central character of the history play falling ill, a suspected food critics arrival, the death of one of the townsfolk during play rehearsal, and the disappearance of the inn manager.

Sarah Quiliam the owner needs to get to the bottom of the problems before her property is shut down and she loses her investment.

The details of the history play as well as the "Holy Rollers" arrival added a touch of humor and kept the story moving to an interesting conclusion.

Another good whodunit with Dr. McKenzie

I'm a longtime fan of this series, but I had thought that I wouldn't see another book after the last one. So I was pleasantly surprised when I heard this one was coming out, but also a little hesitant. I got the feeling reading the last book that the author was worn out over this series.

I really liked Dread on Arrival. It was set up differently from your standard cozy fare, which oftentimes, no matter how much you enjoy reading it, is very formulaic. The first almost 2/3 of this book is setup for the murder - so if you're looking to jump right into the crime, this book isn't for you. And much more time passes in the course of solving this mystery; nothing neat and tidy about summing up the mystery before all the suspects leave. The murder itself isn't obvious at all, and the one plot device I felt for certain would end up being significant, wasn't. These are small differences, but they're enough to make the book feel a bit fresher to me.

I've always loved the characters and Hemlock Falls, and Dread on Arrival is like a visit with old friends. I still wish Quill would stop being a pushover and I'd love to see more of Myles. Meg was slightly more of a background character this time, but still her same old feisty self. I found the sub-plot with Marge and the election hilarious, and as much as I like Marge, I loved seeing the tables turned on her.

If Ms. Bishop keeps writing about the Inn and Hemlock Falls and the Quilliam sisters, I'll continue to look forward to reading about them.

I've been enjoying this series from the beginning and I'm happy to say that even after 18 books these haven't yet started to feel stale to me in the slightest. Meg and Quill have had their ups and downs and have always weathered them with wacky humour. The characters of Hemlock Falls are all eccentric and fun and it's a bit of a mini vacation every time I open one of these books up. My only complaint would be I'd like to see Myles actually in Hemlock Falls for one of these stories. I miss him, and the Skype moments just aren't cutting it. :)

The plot of A Fete Worse Than Death is probably one of the wackier ones, if not the wackiest, but it's done well and it's entertaining. I'm not sure if the murderer was supposed to be as big a mystery as the details surrounding the murders, but either way, the journey to the end was interesting and the book held my attention all the way through.

Few series actually make it to 18 books, but here's hoping for #19!

Synopsis: Quill hates committee meetings, so why is she having to attend a bazillion and one? It's time for the Finger Lakes Autumn Fete, that's why. Murder results when an outside firm is hired to manage the event and Quill is, of course, swept in.
Review: Several of the transient characters are more interesting than the main ones. Myles's appearance is minimal and standard for these later books. Still, the story was fun to read.½

Synopsis: Sara settles into her role as a mother, enjoying watching Jack grow as well as his interactions with his adopted grandmother, Doreen. This idyllic setting is upset by the appearance of Edmund Tree, the host of 'Your Ancestor's Attic' (think 'Antiques Roadshow') and his fiancée, Rose Ellen Whitman. The filming of his program and their impending nuptials end with, of course, murder.
Review: This is another fun romp through inn keeping and meal preparations. This particular story builds the 'who done it' suspense across the entire book with the very cleaver reveal coming in the last chapter.½

Good start for this series, I'll be reading the others soon.

Fluff book. Listened to at workout. Book 7 of series. Two women have given up historic inn and can't adjust to changes being made by purchaser- richest woman in town, and a force all by herself. As of part two, still haven't gotten past rehash of earlier stories in the Hemlock Falls mysteries. Got bored with it and deleted it.

Another Hemlock Falls mystery from Claudia Bishop. Love the characters of Quill and her sister, Meg, and their bed and breakfast of death. People keep getting killed there or near there, and Quill always seems to figure out the mystery. A fun beach read.

I don't usually give a three rating to a cozy! I struggled to get into the story this time. Maybe if I had read all the books in the series before this, I would have enjoyed it more.

Usually a cozy has the murder fairly early in the book but this one did not appear until page 174. Also, it the guilty suspect was obvious to me.

There was some wit and humor in the book but I think that the book could have been enriched with more. Some of the recipes were dreadful but was that on purpose? The one for squirrels had me perplexed.

Now the good points of the book. I loved the setting in a small town, Hemlock Falls. Also, the idea of mimicking Antique Roadside and some TV shows that look for treasure in junk really sounded like a wonderful book idea. But I got bored by the spats by the three female main characters, Meg Quillen, Sarah Quillen and Clarissa Sparrow. I felt relief when Jack, Meg's son had short parts in the story.

Sorry, but in my opinion, this one cozy that I am not too crazy about.

This is a good read. Ms. Bishop has kept her characters consistent and keeps us up with the continuing stories in their lives. A trial jury will be sequestered at the Inn and the girls need do keep things running smoothly despite a protester being murdered and Marge Schmidt's ex-husband disappears. Meg and Quill track down the murderer in their inevitable style. I like these books.

A solid entry in the Hemlock Falls mystery series. I found the story a little thin, but the characters are still engaging and interesting.

Fun book for a rainy afternoon. Quill and her sister, Meg, are fun amateur sleuths. A quick, easy read.

It's been a while since I read a Hemlock Falls mystery, and I realized that I'd missed Quill and Meg like old friends I hadn't seen in a long time. The previous book in the series (#15, A Carol for a Corpse) was published in 2007.

Since then, Quill has become a parent to Jackson Myles McHale, almost two. Her husband, Myles, is overseas on an extended assignment for the government, so she and Jack have moved back into her rooms in the Inn. A culinary school (the Bonne Goute Culinary Academy) has opened nearby and the Inn at Hemlock Falls, though filled with guests, is not serving many meals. Most of the people registered at the Inn are there to tour and dine at the Academy.

Meg, the head chef at the Inn, is understandably upset. But when the owner of the Academy, well-known chef Bernard LeVasque, begins to harass her by spreading rumours of deadly viruses at the Inn, and advertising that the Inn is serving free food, she is also extremely confused. Is it because she took in the pastry chef he fired?

When, a few days later, LeVasque is found in his wine cellar with a knife in his throat, pastry chef Clarissa is the prime suspect. Certain that the Hemlock Falls sheriff is not going to look any further, Meg and Quill begin investigating again.

Welcome back to the Quilliam sisters. Here's hoping we see you again soon!

Good compilation of stories!

A collection of short mystery stories revolving around food or poisoning. I didn't find any stories that I just loved, but the one by Donna Andrews was good, as was the first one by Parnell Hall. Disappointing, really.

As well as this series, she writes the Hemlock Falls mysteries. This is the second in the series about Dr. Austin McKenzie, who practices veterinary medicine in rural upstate New York. In this outing, Dr. McKenzie must solve the mystery of who killed a most unpleasant turkey farmer, in order to absolve the young man who sells him turkey feed.

May 8, 1999
A Dash of Death
Claudia Bishop

Picked this up at Bookstop because the back cover synopsis read that the protagonists were two sisters who run an upstate NY inn together. It sounded wonderful. It was okay, but a little disappointing. Told from the POV of only 1 sister, mostly. Not enough sisterly interaction, and not quite “cozy” enough. Not the atmosphere I was expecting. I bought two in the series, but I won’t read the other one right away.