#miss underhay mysteries series

[bookgeekgrrl]

My media this week (5-11 Feb 2023)

ˢᵒ ᵗʰᵉ ʰᵃʳˡᵉʸ ᵠᵘᶦⁿⁿ ᵛᵃˡᵉⁿᵗᶦⁿᵉˢ ˢᵖᵉᶜᶦᵃˡ ᶠᵉᵃᵗᵘʳᵉᵈ ᵇʳᵉᵗᵗ ᵍᵒˡᵈˢᵗᵉᶦⁿ ˢʰᶦʳᵗˡᵉˢˢ ʳᵉᵃᵈᶦⁿᵍ ᵇʸʳᵒⁿ'ˢ ˡᵒᵛᵉ ᵖᵒᵉᵐˢ ʷʰᶦˡᵉ ᵖᵒˡᶦˢʰᶦⁿᵍ ʰᶦˢ ᵉᵐᵐʸ ᵃⁿᵈ ᶦ ᶜᵒᵘˡᵈ ⁿᵒᵗ ˢᵗᵒᵖ ˡᵃᵘᵍʰᶦⁿᵍ

📚 STUFF I READ 📚

😊👂‍Murder at the Charity Ball (Miss Underhay Mystery #11) (Helena Dixon, author; Karen Cass, narrator) - another episode in this cotton candy cozy series

🥰Plastered (Zenaidamacrouras1) - 59K, stucky no powers AU; single dad bucky + architect Steve - charming; solid versions of the characters, very enjoyable

😊Half a Soul (Regency Faerie Tales #1) (Olivia Atwater, author; Rafe Beckley, narrator) - quite enjoyed this, liked the neurodivergent rep, very relieved at the lack of 'cure' ending - it did make me want to read/finish the Sorcery & Cecelia series by Patricia C. Wrede

😍Knife Skills (Hark_bananas) - 72K, post-WS recovery fic; reread, forever fave, absolute perfection

💖💖 +180K of shorter fic so shout out to these I really loved 💖💖

save a horse, ride an ex-jock (alligator_writes) - Stranger Things: Steddie, 9.8K - hilarious, almost-crackfic of a meet-cute at a country bar where electric bull riding shenanigans ensue. If you've seen that video, you get it

eat me alive (emryses) - Stranger Things: Steddie, 7.2K - baby's first rimming - eddie gets the full 'steve harrington treatment' - just delightfully filthy and also tender af

Auld Lang Syne (Annakovsky, drunktuesdays) - AEW: OC/Chuck Taylor, 36K - Family Man AU - do I watch wresting? I do not. Did I still get emotional while reading this? I very much did. shoutout to the great writing here!

shipling rivalries (ScarlettSwordMoon) - Batman: , 5.2K - HILARIOUS crackfic where all the batkids debate & present their cases for who Dick should be in a relationship with. Bruce regrets his entire life. Damian gets to say "That’s what Richard deserves: a strong warrior who can care and provide for him. I believe the correct terminology for it is a ‘daddy’."

📺 STUFF I WATCHED 📺

Scooby Doo, Where Are You! - s2, e5-6

Night Court - s1, e1-3

Harley Quinn - "A Very Problematic Valentine's Day Special" [s3, e11]

Hot Ones - Kate Hudson Stays Positive While Eating Spicy Wings

🎧 PODCASTS 🎧

It's Been a Minute - The love and longing of Luther Vandross; Plus Grammy nominee Samara Joy

ICYMI Plus - The Anal Bead Cheating Scandal That Rocked the Online Chess World

The Sporkful - A French Chef And Cincinnati: A Love Story

The Atlas Obscura Podcast - Marchand Dessalines

Shedunnit - A Detective's Farewell

⭐Off Menu - Ep 139: Nadiya Hussain

You Must Remember This - 1983: MTV Aesthetics, Flashdance and Risky Business (Erotic 80s Part 6)

The Atlas Obscura Podcast - The Rainmaker

Strange Customs - Andrew Seidel | The Lines

⭐Vibe Check - Happy Black History Month, Gahdamnit!

ICYMI Plus - How a 9-Year-Old Took Over TikTok

Into It - Rihanna Should Take Notes from These Super Bowl Halftime Shows

The Atlas Obscura Podcast - Creston Dinosaur

Song Exploder - MUNA "What I Want"

Off Menu - Ep 178: Fern Brady

Endless Thread - My Canadian Girlfriend

Ologies with Alie Ward - Scotohylology (DARK MATTER) with Flip Tanedo

The Atlas Obscura Podcast - The San Juan Island Pig War

It's Been a Minute - Hot and kinda bothered by 'Magic Mike'; plus Penn Badgley on bad boys

Our Opinions Are Correct - Encore Episode: Gender Essentialism

Digital Folklore - The Internet is The New Woods (Monsters, Ostension, & Moral Panics)

You're Dead To Me - Valentine’s Special: Georgian Courtship

⭐Hit Parade Plus - A Little Love and Some Tenderness Edition

🎶 MUSIC 🎶

The Essential Luther Vandross

Lizzo

Presenting Bad Bunny

Reggaeton Essentials

Folk Metal Forever

Old-School Reggaeton

Alestorm

CREDITS: Burt Bacharach

MUNA

Pop Tropical Bailable

[annarellix]

Murder at the Village Fair by Helena Dixon (A Miss Underhay Mystery #13)

Kitty Underhay is riding a carousel… with death.

Summer 1935. Enjoying a belated honeymoon visiting her new husband Matt’s family in the rolling Yorkshire hills, Kitty strolls through a village fair. But when Kitty persuades Matt to visit the fortune teller’s tent, the lovebirds are shocked to find the body of Madame Zaza slumped over her crystal ball, pearl necklace askew and a half-drunk cup of tea at her elbow. After predicting so many of the villagers’ misfortunes, how did she not foresee her own murder? From a pompous old colonel to a reticent reverend and a dodgy village doctor, Kitty soon feels like half the village had a motive for murder. But with more suspects than tarot cards, she and Matt are no closer to finding the culprit. Madame Zaza had been a part of the community’s life for decades and discovering a photograph album of the villagers through the years gives Kitty and Matt the breakthrough they’ve been searching for. Kitty is soon hot on the killer’s trail when her sleuthing puts her in terrible danger. Will her lucky stars align, or is her life line about to run out?

My Review: This is the most intriguing mystery in this series, I loved them all but this one was a bit darker and the unusual setting was an added bonus as it featured different characters. Kitty and Matt are two characters that evolved and changed since the first novel, their relationship is solid and they are more mature and a solid couple. The setting and the characters were the strength of this novel: there’s a lot of the classic tropes of the Golden Age mysteries like the busybody, the manor, and its inhabitants but there’s also something very modern and fascinating. Read the novel and you will understand. The mystery is solid, there’s wasn’t a lot of suspects and a lot of surprising twists. I didn’t guess the culprit and thoroughly enjoyed the plot. Even if it’s not the first in a series it can be read as a stand-alone. It was the perfect read for a lazy summer afternoon. Highly recommended. Many thanks to Bookouture r for this ARC, all opinions are mine

Buy Link(s): https://geni.us/B0C3M9B31Rsocial

The Author: Helena Dixon splits her time between the Black Country and Devon. Married to the same man for over thirty-five years she has three daughters, a cactus called Spike, and a crazy cockapoo. She is allergic to adhesives, apples, tinsel and housework. She was winner of The Romance Prize in 2007 and Love Story of the Year 2010 as Nell Dixon. She now writes historical 1930's set cozy crime.

Social Media Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/nelldixonauthor Twitter: https://twitter.com/NellDixon Website: http://www.nelldixon.com Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/helenadixonuk Bookouture Email Sign Up: https://www.bookouture.com/helena-dixon

[moonglotexas]

Book Review: Murder at Elm House by Helena Dixon

Book Review: Murder at Elm House by Helena Dixon

On the recommendation of my mum, I picked up “Murder at Elm House” by Helena Dixon and what a delight! This is book six of the Miss Underhay series but I connected immediately with the characters and the story. Whilst I look forward to reading the previous novels, it isn’t necessary to enjoy this adventure. With witty banter and a fast-paced mystery, I eagerly followed Kitty as she tries to…

[bookgeekgrrl]

My media this week (11-17 Jun 2023)

📚 STUFF I READ 📚

🥰 Grounds For Divorce (Tepre) - 122K, drarry, accidental soulbound - the years of them dealing/not dealing with the Bond, the angst, Harry being a mess & figuring shit out, a trip to Egypt, family, lemon trees, a cat and a garden

😊👂‍ Murder at the Beauty Pageant (Miss Underhay Mystery #12) (Helena Dixon, author; Karen Cass, narrator) - Kitty & Matt solve a beauty pageant murder while hampered by a new, obstreperous Inspector

😊 Once Upon a Tome: The Misadventures of a Rare Bookseller (Oliver Darkshire) - charming, amusing & affectionate account of Oliver's journey in becoming a rare bookseller. (Oliver runs Sotheran's twitter account & if you know, you know.) [when I put the hold on this at my library there was no audiobook available but upon returning it, i see that one is there now, and i'm salty bc honestly this was the perfect book for an audiobook!]

💖💖 +74K of shorter fic so shout out to these I really loved 💖💖

A Place of Healing (this_wayward_life) - MCU: stucky, 12K - very cute & fluffy modern no-powers AU with nurse!bucky and doped-to-the-gills recovering steve who falls head-over-heels at first sight

Memories are Made of This (eleveninches) - MCU: stucky, 13K - recovering bucky angst-with-a-HEA

Long Time Coming (BewareTheIdes15) - Smallville: Clark/Lex, 14K - not my usual playground but I've enough osmosis cultural knowledge to enjoy this excellent fic; the characterizations were great - Lex's POV was absolutely hilarious, he was really going thru it

📺 STUFF I WATCHED 📺

Hot Ones - Jason Sudeikis

Why city flags may be the worst-designed thing you've never noticed | Roman Mars

Food for the Gods | 1909 Recipe

Songs That Changed Music: Ian Dury & The Blockheads - Hit Me With Your Rhythm Stick

Game Changer - s5, e7-8 "The Bachelor"

🎧 PODCASTS 🎧

Switched on Pop - Listening 2 Daft Punk: Random Access Memories

⭐Smart Podcast, Trashy Books - 566. The Blessings of Comfort Reads with KJ Charles

Desert Island Discs - Simon Pegg, actor

Our Opinions Are Correct - Mini Episode: Which Star Trek Character Deserves Their Own Show?

Rachel Maddow Presents: Déjà News - Episode 1: Riot at the Gates (Again)

Radiolab - The Seagulls

⭐Into It - How Netflix Envy Broke TV

⭐The Sporkful - Inside The World Of Food Smuggling

The Atlas Obscura Podcast - The Greenbrier

Shedunnit - Miss Marple, Spinster Sleuth

⭐Vibe Check - I’m Not Gonna Smile for You, but I Might Twerk

Ologies with Alie Ward - Pectinidology (SCALLOPS) with Samantha Lynch

Outward Plus - Lesbian Bars: A Love Story

The Waves Plus - Your Period Deserves Respect

You Are Good - Men in Black w. Stef Rubino

Our Opinions Are Correct - A Sense of Place with Jessica Johns

Into It - 'The Flash,' 'The Idol,' and 'The Ultimatum': Watch, Hate-Watch, or Skip?

Dear Prudence Plus - I Tested My Partner’s Parenting Readiness and He’s Upset. Help!

Pop Culture Happy Hour - The Flash and What's Making us Happy

The Atlas Obscura Podcast - World Famous Crochet Museum

Radiolab - Beware the Sand Striker

Endless Thread - Treasure in the Woods

Welcome to Night Vale #230 - Carlos, Explained

99% Invisible #540 - The Siren of Scrap Metal

Re: Dracula - June 17: Die Away in the Distance

ICYMI Plus - Was the MirandaSings Controversy Inevitable?

Outward Plus - Pride Special: Why the Law Cares About Your Sex

Switched on Pop - Chartbreakers: Mexican regional y más

⭐Hit Parade Plus - Yes We Can Can Edition

Wait Wait… Don't Tell Me! - James Marsden

🎶 MUSIC 🎶

Juice Newton radio

The Essential John Denver

The Complete Albums 2000-2009

Pop Radio • Workout

Kylie Minogue's entire 14 album, 32 yr discography in order + 3 special compliation albums

Pop Radio • Pump-up

Trip Hop Instrumentals

The Pointer Sisters

[bookgeekgrrl]

My media this week (9-15 Jun 2024)

actually me this week. week full of office meetings. did not like.

📚 STUFF I READ 📚

😊 Murder on the French Riviera (Miss Underhay Mystery #16) (Helena Dixon, author; Karen Cass, narrator) - Kitty & Matt do a bit of off the books espionage on the French Riviera. I find this series relaxing - it's entertaining, predictable, charming & superficial.

🥰 the warmth of your doorways (cicer) - 00Q, 384K (WIP) - fake marriage that starts as a QPP, fairly quickly becomes romantic, eventual even sexual as they both heal trauma & become domesticated; great slow burn journey to get there, never got bogged down, just took its time. Loved being in JB's POV as he slowly becomes domesticated, realizes he doesn't hate it, grapples with that, realizes he's actually in love with his husband, starts working thru & healing trauma. WIP (possibly abandoned) but honestly where it currently ends makes for a reasonably satisfactory stopping point. I liked that the author was very clear upfront that QPP aren't inferior in any way but that this is the story they wanted to tell about these characters.

💖💖 +15K of shorter fic so shout out to these I really loved 💖💖

You Were a Kindness When I Was a Stranger (DevilDoll) - TW: Sterek, 8K - another forever fave reread; a bdsm arrangement-to-lovers

📺 STUFF I WATCHED 📺

Romancing the Rainbow (with Alyssa Cole, Dominic Lim, Cat Sebastian & Rebekah Weatherspoon) [author panel hosted by Wade County Public Library]

Girls5eva - s1, e3

Thousandaires - s1, e2

🎧 PODCASTS 🎧

Desert Island Discs - Greg Davies, comedian

Pop Culture Happy Hour - Am I OK? is a coming-out movie for adults

Short Wave - Illegal Wildlife Trade Is Booming. What Does That Mean For The Confiscated Animals?

The Allusionist - 196. Word Play 6: Beeing

The Atlas Obscura Podcast - The Secret Nazi Weather Station Named Kurt

The Sporkful - Book Tour 2: How’d You Get So Good At Failure?

WikiHole - Renaissance Faires (with Thomas Lennon, Kerri Kenney-Silver and Michael Ian Black)

Here & Now Anytime - Diddy's downfall: 'Vibe Check' weighs in

Persuasion by Jane Austen - Persuasion 5. | Behind the Hedgerow

Persuasion by Jane Austen - Persuasion 6. | Lyme

Pop Culture Happy Hour - Our favorite graduation moments in pop culture

Short Wave - From The Physics Of G-Force To Weightlessness: How It Feels To Launch Into Space

⭐ Switched on Pop - Freaking out about songwriting with Nile Rodgers

The Atlas Obscura Podcast - Black Cultural Archives

Persuasion by Jane Austen - Persuasion 7. | Lady Russell Returns

99% Invisible - The Los Angeles Leaf Blower Wars

Today, Explained - Was that antisemitic?

Vibe Check - We Have Different Gay Voices

Worlds Beyond Number - WWW #16: Everything

Dinner’s on Me - Sarah Paulson

⭐ Slow Burn - Gays Against Briggs | Bonus Interview: Silvana & Larry

⭐ Wild Card - A rare dive into David Lynch's mind

Wild Card - David Lynch on the afterlife + Bowen Yang's childhood memento

Worlds Beyond Number: Fireside - Fireside Chat for WWW ep16 "Everything"

Song Exploder - Crowded House "Don't Dream It's Over"

Clean Water Works - Dam Removals and the Cuyahoga's Comeback

Dear Prudence - I’m Sick of Feeling Like I’m Always the One Doing All The Work in Dating. Help!

Endless Thread - Looking for a Man, Finding a Record Deal

It's Been a Minute - Conservatives want to burn flags too; plus, the power of a singing POTUS

Pop Culture Happy Hour - Inside Out 2 And What's Making Us Happy

Short Wave - Why You Shouldn't Worry About Invasive Joro Spiders

Dinner’s on Me - Justin Long

Hit Parade - I Wanna Rock with Q. Edition

Welcome to Night Vale #250 - Father Kevin

🎶 MUSIC 🎶

Disco 2024

Pop Radio • Deep cuts

Kylie Minogue

[bookgeekgrrl]

My media this week (12-18 Nov 2023)

📚 STUFF I READ 📚

🙂 Stuff Like Love (lambchop33) - 51K, stucky no-powers friends-to-lovers AU; enjoyable enough, lots of angsty pining

🥰 Stargazer (LemonadeGarden) - 47K, delicious angsty batfam feels, mostly between Jason & Bruce

😍 Artificial Condition (The Murderbot Diaries #2) (Martha Wells, author; Kevin R Free, narrator) - Murderbot reread in prep for System Collapse

😍 Rogue Protocol (The Murderbot Diaries #3) (Martha Wells, author; Kevin R Free, narrator)

😍 Exit Strategy (The Murderbot Diaries #4) (Martha Wells, author; Kevin R Free, narrator)

😍 Home: Habitat, Range, Niche, Territory (The Murderbot Diaries, #4.5) (Martha Wells)

😍 Fugitive Telemetry (The Murderbot Diaries #6) (Martha Wells, author; Kevin R Free, narrator)

😍 Network Effect (The Murderbot Diaries #5) (Martha Wells, author; Kevin R Free, narrator)

😍 System Collapse (The Murderbot Diaries #7) (Martha Wells, author; Kevin R Free, narrator) - MURDERBOT IS BACK! And so is ART! Murderbot has PTSD! [this is my surprised face] Another fantastic episode and I already want more.

😊 Murder at the Highland Castle (Miss Underhay Mystery #14) (Helena Dixon) - Kitty & Matt go to a remote Scottish castle for a case in time for Hogmanay

💖💖 +120K of shorter fic so shout out to these I really loved 💖💖

My Big Fat Wolf Wedding (AggressiveWhenStartled, galwednesday, quietnight, silentwalrus, skellerbvvt) - MCU: stucky, 12K - reread; comic accidental marriage between vamp!Steve & werewolf!Bucky

Crocodile Jock (entanglednow) - Stranger Things: steddie, 4K - short but super hot

Slide To Answer (relenafanel) - MCU: stucky, 6K - reread, forever fave; no powers wrong number AU

📺 STUFF I WATCHED 📺

Shakespeare & Hathaway - s1, e6

QI - series Q, ep 15

QI - series T, ep 12-14

Oops: 250,000 people came to your book club

Aabria Iyengar On Dimension 20: Burrow's End, Critical Role & Much More

Finding Your Roots - "Breaking Silences" (s6, e15): Gayle King, Jordan Peele, Issa Rae

Finding Your Roots - "Far From Home" (s9, e4): Cyndi Lauper, Danny Trejo, Jamie Chung

D20: Burrow's End - "The First Stoats" (s20, e7)

D20: Adventuring Party - "If I Had A Nickel" (s15, e7)

🎧 PODCASTS 🎧

Vibe Check - The Battle None of You Have Been Waiting For

Outward - Amy Schneider is a Champion

Culture Gabfest - Does Voice-Over Kill the Killer?

Ologies with Alie Ward - Road Ecology (ROAD KILL) with Ben Goldfarb

The Atlas Obscura Podcast - The Lightning Field

The Atlas Obscura Podcast - Tiny Bread Box

The Atlas Obscura Podcast - Montezuma Well

The Atlas Obscura Podcast - Café 't Mandje

What Next: TBD - How Deepfake Porn Infected a School

Dear Prudence - My Family Won't Let Me Host for the Holidays. Help!

Today, Explained - F1: Gears and Loathing in Las Vegas

The Atlas Obscura Podcast - Dolly Parton’s Dreambox

The Atlas Obscura Podcast - A Long Walk Home

The Atlas Obscura Podcast - Gregynog Hall

The Atlas Obscura Podcast - The Immovable Ladder

Switched on Pop - Why Country Music Dominated 2023's Charts

Ed Zitron's 15 Minutes In Hell - Max Collins

Submitted for the Approval of the Midnight Pals - S01E02 The Tale of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde

Welcome to Night Vale #238 - The Big Dig

Cautionary Tales - Laser Versus Parchment: Doomsday for the Disc

99% Invisible #559 - The Six-Week Cure

Twenty Thousand Hertz+ - Sounds That Sell

Song Exploder - Sampha - Spirit 2.0

Shedunnit - The Pimlico Poisoning Mystery

99% Invisible #560 - Home on the Range

Cautionary Tales - Wrong Tools Cost Lives

🎶 MUSIC 🎶

Iron Maiden

Presenting Blue Öyster Cult

Rockstar [Dolly Parton] {2023}

[bookgeekgrrl]

My media this week (20-26 Aug 2023)

my absolute fave line in all of heartstopper, so glad they left it unaltered

📚 STUFF I READ 📚

😍 how a resurrection really feels (LiarsandThieves22) - 176K, steddie - post s4 fixit with a timeline merge - just brilliantly executed, lots of great emotional moments as well as even more laugh out loud ones. Big, big rec.

🙂 The Wedding Bait (Golden Years #1) (Adele Buck, author & narrator) - novella; cishet romance but MCs in their 50s, which was a nice change

😊 Murder at the Village Fair (Miss Underhay Mysteries #13) (Helena Dixon, author; Karen Cass, narrator) - Matt & Kitty are on a sort-of delayed honeymoon & get involved in murder in Yorkshire while visiting his aunt

😊 here there be dragons (theundiagnosable) - 66K, original hockey fic - epitome of sunshine/grumpy - POV char has extreme anxiety/anxiety-induced paranoia/anger outbursts due to fear etc - he gets better & it does end very happily but first we gotta watch him train wreck everything & suffer (to be clear, I did enjoy reading this! but it's a lot!)

🥰 Lemon Meringue Lies (Nejinee) - 111K, technically stucky modern no-powers AU but honestly such an AU that it's really more of original fic WHICH ISN'T at all bad - best friends to lovers, lots of oblivousness, pining, angst, emotional dumbassery but also a really great external setting & compelling supporting characters (who just all happen to have names/physical traits as MCU characters) [reread]

😍 if I'm gonna get back to you someday (napricot) - 46K, post Endgame fixit with "a clusterfuck of Steves" from different multiverses [reread for stucky bookclub]

😍 Golden Handcuffs (seekwill) - 70K, Good Omens human AU where they're both professors at a small Scottish university - brilliant fic, great characterizations, solid story development, absolutely loved it

💖💖 +246K of shorter fic so shout out to these I really loved 💖💖

Mandatory Fun (One-EyedBossman (desert000rose), SecretFandomStories) - MCU: stucky, 39K - Part 11 of Differently Okay Local Idiots; Bucky & Steve go suit shopping with Natasha & together navigate another bump in their road

To the Waters and the Wild (rainbow_nerds) - MCU: magical shrunkyclunks, 23K - selkie!Bucky finds Captain America frozen when he's 10 years old, but no one believes him; ~15 years later, Cap finally thaws out

To Kiss the Tender Inward of Thy Hand (circ_bamboo) - Band Sinister (KJ Charles): Ned Caulfield/George Penn, 32K - beautiful backstory of how Ned & George met

Sit (fandomfluffandfuck) - MCU: stucky, 21K, Part 1 of You Can('t) Teach An Old Dog New Tricks - modern, no powers AU - promising start to a series about older/old guard dom Steve & newbie dom Bucky

📺 STUFF I WATCHED 📺

Game Changer - s2, e1-4; s3, e5-8; s5, e9

Make Some Noise - s2, e6

Um, Actually - s8, e11

Heartstopper - s2, e1-8

Only Murders In The Building - s3, e4

Harley Quinn - s4, e7

What We Do In The Shadows - s5, e8

D20: Mentopolis - "F For Freezer" (s1, e3)

D20: Adventuring Party - "We Are Feeling Machines That Think" (s14, e3)

Much Ado About Nothing (Wyndham Theatre 2011) {Tate/Tennant version}

🎧 PODCASTS 🎧

Re: Dracula - August 20: We Shall To-night Play

Re: Dracula - August 21: Goods are Delivered

Vibe Check - A Special Conversation with Emily King

Ed Zitron's 15 Minutes In Hell - Episode 3 - Taylor Lorenz, The Washington Post

The Atlas Obscura Podcast - Embracing Adventure in Fayetteville

⭐ Shedunnit Book Club - Murder-on-Sea

⭐ Switched on Pop - Wonders: "Stacy's Mom" and Adam Schlesinger

⭐ 99% Invisible #550 - Melanie Speaks

Vibe Check - Did AI Write That Song?

Re: Dracula -August 23: Ominous in His Calm

ICYMI - How to Make Millions Playing Dungeons & Dragons

⭐ The Atlas Obscura Podcast - Mysterious Sinkholes of Mt Baldy

Twenty Thousand Hertz+ - The Voice Inside

The Atlas Obscura Podcast - Arthurdale

Re: Dracula - August 24: Some Terrible Shock

Strong Songs - "Soul Vaccination" by Tower of Power

Dear Prudence - My Wife Goes Braless Around Our Teenage Sons. Help!

Re: Dracula - August 25: Another Bad Night

What Next: TBD - TikTok's Shady Deal with the U.S.

Into It - Did Taylor Swift Curse Scooter Braun? And Will Fyre Fest Fool Us Twyce?

Endless Thread - PARKS! Pt. 4: Death Sea

⭐ Smart Podcast, Trashy Books - 577. Killing Folks with Deanna Raybourn

Wait Wait… Don't Tell Me! - WWDTM: Mark Ronson

🎶 MUSIC 🎶

Soft Rock Ballads

'80s Soft Pop

Relaxing '80s Rock

Unreal Unearth [Hozier] {2023}

'80s Training Montage

Tower of Power

Presenting The Doobie Brothers

Presenting Steely Dan

Presenting Electric Light Orchestra

[annarellix]

Murder at the Beauty Pageant by Helena Dixon (A Miss Underhay Mystery #12)

Kitty Underhay is awarding first place… to murder.

Spring, 1935. Newlywed Kitty Underhay has been enlisted by her old nemesis Mrs Craven to help organise the Miss Dartmouth Jubilee pageant at the Dolphin Hotel. Being bossed around by her arch enemy is not quite what Kitty had in mind for the start of her married life, but she’s excited to launch the glamorous show. Sparkling smiles are quickly replaced by audible gasps however, when one of the girls goes missing during the interval…

When pretty Peggy Blaine is discovered dead, Kitty can’t help but notice that none of the other contestants seem particularly shocked. Can jealousy over a sash and a diamante tiara be a motive for murder? But when she discovers the threatening notes the young women have received, Kitty enlists her husband Matt to figure out who’s scaring the competitors. However, before Matt can speak to them, another entrant turns up dead after an apparently accidental overdose. Taking part in a beauty pageant seems to have turned into a fatal occupation! The daring duo are sure that someone close to the girls is responsible. But can they sort the harmless face powders from the fatal poisons before it’s too late? Or will Kitty and Matt find they are next to be crowned… with death?

Buy Link: Amazon: https://geni.us/B0BSXJN485social

My Review: I was on all blog tours for Miss Underhay series sot it’s starting to be a bit complex to write something new as each story is better than the previous. This is the best one: a complex and twisty mystery that I read in one sitting as I wanted to know who-did-it and how Kitty and Matt were going to beat an obnoxious new DI that we already met. There’s a solid and gripping mystery but I also appreciated the historical details as the pageant is part of the celebrations King's Silver Jubilee. Kitty and Matt are facing the changes of their new life and Kitty is discovering what it means not working at the Dolphin. They’re a good couple of detectives and I love their strength and brain. I could write a lot or simply write that this is one my favourite historical cozy and to go and enjoy these stories. Highly recommended. Many thanks to Bookouture for this arc, all opinions are mine

The Author Helena Dixon is the author of the best-selling Miss Underhay murder mystery series and lives in Devon. Married to the same man for over thirty-five years she has three daughters, a cactus called Spike, and a crazy cockapoo. She is allergic to adhesives, apples, tinsel and housework. She was winner of The Romance Prize in 2007 and Love Story of the Year 2010 as Nell Dixon. https://www.nelldixon.com/ https://www.facebook.com/nelldixonauthor/ https://www.instagram.com/helenadixonuk/ https://twitter.com/NellDixon

Sign up to be the first to hear about new releases from Helena Dixon here: https://www.bookouture.com/helena-dixon

You can sign up for all the best Bookouture deals you'll love at: http://ow.ly/Fkiz30lnzdo

[annarellix]

Murder at the Charity Ball by Helena Dixon (Miss Underhay #11)

Kitty Underhay is dancing… with death.

Winter 1934. Kitty Underhay is enjoying a night off from wedding planning as she attends a charity ball at the home of Lady Eliza Foxley. She’s excited to see her father, roguish Edgar Underhay, who is also a guest in the house. But the evening of cocktails and waltzing turns into a dance macabre when Edgar finds their lively, fun-loving hostess dead, strangled by her own silk stocking. Who has made this uncharitable donation to the evening’s entertainments? When suspicion falls on Edgar and he is arrested for murder, Kitty has to act fast if she doesn’t want her father walking her down the aisle in shackles. Together with her fiancé Matthew, they vow to clear Edgar’s name and discover who used hosiery to commit homicide. Lady Eliza’s widowed sister is the main beneficiary of her will, but before Kitty and Matt can question her, she is struck down by a severe case of poisoning. Time is running out for Kitty to solve this case and make it to the church on time. But with a devious killer on the loose, will she end up leaving as a newlywed, or newly dead…?

Buy Link(s): https://geni.us/B0BJ2HQ7MSsocial

My Review: I read this series since the first instalment and liked all of them. This is a very good one: fast paced, full of surprises and highly entertaining. Kitty and Matt are a great couple of investigators, they work well together and are able to interact and collaborate. There's a lot going on in this book: a wedding that should take place a week after a murder, a father who is the main suspects, family and friends and everything necessary for the wedding. I was happy to catch up with the characters, had fun, and the solid mystery kept me guessing. This is the 11th instalment and Helena Dixon did an excellent job in always delivering solid and entertaining mysteries. Even if it can be read as a stand-alone it's better to read the rest of the series before. Highly recommended. Many thanks to Bookouture for this arc, all opinions are mine

The Author: Helena Dixon splits her time between the Black Country and Devon. Married to the same man for over thirty-five years she has three daughters, a cactus called Spike, and a crazy cockapoo. She is allergic to adhesives, apples, tinsel and housework. She was winner of The Romance Prize in 2007 and Love Story of the Year 2010 as Nell Dixon. She now writes historical 1930's set cozy crime.

Social Media Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/nelldixonauthor Twitter:  https://twitter.com/NellDixon Website: http://www.nelldixon.com Instagram:   https://www.instagram.com/helenadixonuk Bookouture Email Sign Up: https://www.bookouture.com/helena-dixon

[bookgeekgrrl]

My media this week (12-18 Jun 2022)

📚 STUFF I READ 📚

😊 👂‍ The Under Dog and Other Stories (Hercule Poirot #4) (Agatha Christie, author; Hugh Fraser, David Suchet, narrator)

🥰 Lock, Stock and Peril (Lindenshaw Mysteries #6) (Charlie Cochrane, author) - still enjoying this Midsomer-Murders-but-queer series a lot

🥰 👂‍ Three Act Tragedy (Hercule Poirot #12) (Agatha Christie, author; Hugh Fraser, narrator) - this one is fun because it's Mr. Satterthwaite-meets-HP

😊 The Alpha and His King (Kincaid Pack #1) (Kiki Clark, author) - sometimes you just want an old-school wolfpack/alpha mate story with a heaping spoonful of angsty backstory

😊 👂‍ Murder in Mesopotamia (Hercule Poirot #15) (Agatha Christie, author; Anna Massey, narrator) - good mystery puzzle, HP is a delight but you def gotta be braced for the period-typical colonialism/racism/misogyny.

🥰 Murder at the Country Club (Miss Underhay #9) (Helena Dixon, author) - continuing to enjoy this competently written & satisfying cozy series, plus the author spells discreetly correctly so that's just a bonus these days

💖💖 +46K of shorter fic so shout out to these I really loved 💖💖

why are we always stuck and running (from the bullets, the bullets) (inevitablemeow) - MCU: Stucky, 12K - just let the geriatric supersoldiers rest!

📺 STUFF I WATCHED 📺

2022 Tony Awards - the highlights were definitely Ariana DeBose as host (absolutely delightful) and Joaquina Kalukango's incredible performance

Stand Out: An LGBTQ+ Celebration - overall entertaining but Marsha Warfield was def my #1 fave

Legends of Tomorrow - s6, e5-7

🎧 PODCASTS 🎧

Still Processing - When Your Neighbor’s the Highway

Desert Island Discs - Bradley Walsh, presenter and actor

You're Dead To Me - Frederick the Great of Prussia

The Atlas Obscura Podcast - The Places You Return To

Switched on Pop - Kate Bush, Stranger Things, and a hit song four decades in the making

99% Invisible #495 - Meet Us by the Fountain

Lingthusiasm - #69: What we can, must, and should say about modals

Ologies with Alie Ward - Dipterology (FLIES) with Bryan Lessard

Richmond Til We Die: A Ted Lasso Podcast - LGBT+ Inclusion in Sports Media (with Jon Holmes)

Sidedoor - The Sex Lives of Giant Pandas

Still Processing - We Belong Together

The Atlas Obscura Podcast - Garbage Goat

The Atlas Obscura Podcast - The Cincinnati Subway

The Atlas Obscura Podcast - The Divorce Colony

Hit Parade - Friends in Low Places

Shedunnit - Looking East

Song Exploder - Maren Morris "Humble Quest"

Strong Songs - "Silent All These Years" by Tori Amos

You're Dead To Me - Hatshepsut

🎶 MUSIC 🎶

Gentle Latin Electronic

Ray Of Light [Madonna]

Company (2018 London Cast Recording)

Into The Woods: Original Cast

Shaun Cassidy

Six: The Musical (Studio Cast Recording)

Rebel Girls: '90s Visionaries

Recollection [k.d. lang]

Rob Zombie

Lizzo

Presenting Kate Bush

Presenting Gwen Stefani

Presenting Ariana Grande

Presenting Lady Gaga

[bookgeekgrrl]

Sunday reading recap (20-Jun-21)

STUFF I WATCHED

Agatha Raisin and The Deadly Dance (s3, e2)

The Great Pottery Throw Down: s1, e3-6; s2, e1-2

In The Heights (3rd time)

Agatha Raisin and The Love From Hell (s3, e3)

Speed

F9: The Fast Saga - actually ventured out to a movie theater for this one & what a marvelous, bonkers ride it was

STUFF I READ

💜 Cinnamon Roll (Bold Brew #9) (Anna Zabo) – loved this – Max is exactly my Preferred Flavor of Dom

Murder at Elm House (A Miss Underhay Mystery #6) (Helena Dixon) – still really enjoying the escapades of Kitty and her boyfriend Matthew; Kitty gets a car & learns to drive & finds a murderer & escapes death yet again.

Clammed Up (A Maine Clambake Mystery #1) (Barbara Ross) – decent start to a new cozy series (for me)

💜 👂 Game Changer (Game Changers #1) (Rachel Reid, author; Tor Thom, narrator) – rereading this series ‘cause I had a craving. I read this in audio & the narrator made the decision to give Kip the THICKEST Brooklyn accent, which is 10000% correct as per the text but which I was absolutely not expecting. After adjustment, I loved it though, and missed it when Kip appeared without it in later books.

💜 👂 Heated Rivalry (Game Changers #2) (Rachel Reid, author; Tor Thom, narrator) – absolutely the BEST enemies/rivals-to-lovers I’ve ever read, full-stop. Featuring the most romantic tuna melt ever and Stupid Canadian Wolf Birds.

My Dinner with Hayden: A Heated Rivalry Short Story (Game Changers #2.5) (Rachel Reid) – now Shane’s gotta get this best friend and his boyfriend (formerly archnemesis) to get along

💜 👂 Tough Guy (Game Changers #3) (Rachel Reid, author; Tor Thom,  narrator) - after HR this is prob my 2nd fave – I love Ryan Price and his sweet soul and how he’s so good at something he kind of loathes doing

💜 👂 Common Goal (Game Changers #4) (Rachel Reid, author; Cooper North, narrator) – I’m a sucker for the experienced younger/inexperienced older age gap set up.

💜 💜 Subtle Blood (The Will Darling Adventures #3) (K.J. Charles) – FINALLY. A most satisfying end to Will & Kim’s Zodiac troubles. I’m just gonna quote May Peterson because she put it perfectly: “KJ’s storytelling is like if you took your favorite pulpy detective stuff and gave it much more class consciousness, hot sex scenes, and also made it about queers, so A+++.”

plus 60K of shorter fic so shorter work shout out

💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜

Somewhere, Under Your Skin (thiccbuckybarnes) - 16K, modern AU - “Or, a Big Grump Bucky has a hot one night stand with a college kid who is popping up everywhere in his everyday life and he doesn’t know how to deal with it.” - reread, one of my favorites

wake up and smell the roses (sunshineforthesoul) - Nursey/Dex, 6K - Nursey & Dex buy each other flowers, pine, are oblivious and test poor Chowder’s friendship. 

[bookgeekgrrl]

Sunday reading recap (11-Apr-21)

THINGS I WATCHED

All Creatures Great and Small - S1, ep 7

We Could Be Heroes - basically i wanted to see this entry in the Pedro Pascal Hot Dad Universe - it was cute and everyone seemed to be having a blast

Space Sweepers - this was as fantastic as I’d heard - *stefon voice* this movie had everything: space battles, found family, humor, drama, scenery-chewing villain, adorable moppet, sarcastic trans robot

The Yarmouth Castle Disaster | Fascinating Horror - as a Gordon Lightfoot fan, I had heard of the Yarmouth Castle but assumed it was much further back in time. (honestly, same with Edmund Fitzgerald! I assumed all his ship tragedy songs were from events in like the early 20th C at the latest, not 1965 and 1975!)

To All The Boys: P.S. I Still Love You

Avatar: The Last Airbender - S3, ep 2-17 - i’m so close to the finish! was very excited to see the ‘that’s rough, buddy’ moment! 

THINGS I READ

💜 Murder in the Belltower (Miss Underhay Mysteries #5) (Helena Dixon) - and now I have to wait until JUNE for the next one!

💜  a flame in two cupped hands (notcaycepollard) - 91K, Natasha-centric, post EG fixit series, : when i die i’ll sacrifice (more than enough for the afterlife) [41K]; the edge of a life (in the present tense) [14K]; you made it this far (just a little bit more) [35K] - possibly one of my favorite post-EG fix-its, centered on Natasha - just a fantastic fic

💜   An Unseen Attraction (Sins of the Cities #1) (K.J. Charles, author; Matthew Lloyd Davies, narrator) - decided it was time for a reread!

💜   An Unnatural Vice (Sins of the Cities #2) (K.J. Charles, author; Matthew Lloyd Davies, narrator)

💜   An Unsuitable Heir (Sins of the Cities #3) (K.J. Charles, author; Matthew Lloyd Davies, narrator)

💜   Interlude: Snow & Winter Collection Volume One (Snow & Winter) (C.S. Poe) - a collection of short stories about my favorite grumpy antiques dealer & his big beef boyfriend.

The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde (Robert Louis Stevenson, author; Richard Armitage, narrator) - i read this mainly because i just really wanted to hear RA’s voice in my ears and he was stellar. 

plus 226K of shorter fic so shorter work shout out

💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜

Want and Need (story by justanotherStonyfan, art by elkleggs) - 1K - excellent short PwP with some fantastic art - i can’t get enough of smol dom steve

9 Lives (Speranza) - 8K - we are blessed by a new installment in the 4 Minute Window universe - the danger with a new installment is that it reminds me of just how fucking good this series is, and really, really makes me want to go back and reread the ENTIRE thing 

Taste Life Twice (victoria_p (musesfool)) - 8K, batfam - “Jason's learned a lot of things from a lot of people, but Alfred's the one who teaches him to cook.” - so, so good. it will make you crave grilled cheese and lemon cake but there are links to every recipe which is going above and beyond really

Bucky Barnes Has His Shit Together (and Other Lies He Tells Himself) (betts) - 14K - this is one of my 5-star, all time fave fics with recovering vet Bucky and single dad baker Steve - one of the tags is Everything is Beautiful and Nothing Hurts and that’s the truest statement.

[bookgeekgrrl]

Sunday reading recap (28-Mar-21)

i’m doing this thing where i’m trying to reset my sleep schedule and i’m not supposed to read during the pre-bed ‘relaxation’ period so that leaves TV watching

THINGS I WATCHED

Avatar: The Last Airbender - S2, e 14-20. We’re really in it now, gaang.

The Repair Shop - S1, e 1-3

A Very Brady Renovation - e 5-6 (Behind The Build)

Farscape - S1, e 15-16

Schitt’s Creek - S3, e13

This Is How Underwater Structures Are Built

Songs that Changed Music: New Order - Blue Monday

Forging Gandalf's Sword [Glamdring]

THINGS I READ

💜 👂 Red Heir (Adventures in Aguillon #1) (Lisa Henry, author; Sarah Honey, author; Nick J. Russo, narrator) - the very beginning was a little rocky but i quickly started to absolutely love it! a bawdy, silly, funny fantasy romance romp.

💜 Murder at Enderley Hall (Miss Underhay Mysteries #2) (Helena Dixon) 

💜 Murder at the Playhouse (Miss Underhay Mysteries #3) (Helena Dixon) - really enjoying these historical cozy mysteries a great deal

👂 A Perilous Undertaking (Veronica Speedwell #2) (Deanna Raybourn, author; Angèle Masters, narrator)  - the things i enjoy are still outweighing the things that annoy me in this series. i did absolutely fucking ADORE Lady Wellingtonia.

💜 Blue Line (Tripping #5) (Ariel Bishop) - yummmm, another fun installment in lovely hockey romance series - i love that this didn’t have any super duper black moments or hugely drawn out angst, just the perfect amount of pining before they both decided to use their words and pull their heads out of their asses.

💜 💜 The Wedding Planner('s Assistant) (crinklefries) - shrinkyclinks, 40K - “Bucky Barnes is in a bit of a conundrum. For example, on the one hand, he’s the former extremely polished, brutally efficient, and impressively ruthless brainwashed weapon of mass murder for the secret Nazi arm of the United States government. On the other hand, he has an uncontrollable crush on the cute blond wedding planner who lives next door.” - what a wonderful, fluffy, delightful fic!!!! 

💜 The Things You Have Caused Me Most to Want (are those that furthest elude me) (BrighteyedJill) - 43K, The Witcher - a non-traditional a/b/o fic with a LOT of pack feelings and tons of both emotional satisfaction and delicious filth, featuring these accurate tags: their abandonment issues are rubbing off on each other as much as their dicks are, I shook a witcher and intergenerational trauma fell out

plus 200K of shorter fic so shorter work shout out

💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜

Assistant to the Consulting Detectives (idyll) - Sterek, 18K - a really great crossover where Stiles gets a job assisting Sherlock & Joan, I loved it a lot. (this was one where i got the ‘you have already left kudos here’ and had to do the gandalf ‘i have no memory of this place’ thing) [reread, apparently]

Where the Rippling Waters Go (littleblackfox) - Stucky, 33K - fantastic Practical Magic AU

when he gets older, he might be the one (cobaltmoony, CoraRochester) - Stucky, 32K - an (unexpectedly) silver fox Steve and younger Bucky (based more on some comics canon) [reread]

[bookgeekgrrl]

My media this week (16-22 Oct 2022)

ᵛᵃᶜᵃᵗᶦᵒⁿ ʷᵉᵉᵏ ʷʰᵉᵉᵉᵉᵉ

📚 STUFF I READ 📚

😍Dishonor On Your Cow (mandarou) - 111K, shrunkyclunks - this fic is just fucking hilarious and so, so good - I had forgotten just all the great moments AFTER the initial meet-ugly, like bucky (sort of) becoming a cat and a multiverse Steve and repeated guest appearances by deadpool

🙂👂‍Curtain (Hercule Poirot #44) (Agatha Christie, author; Hugh Fraser, narrator) - though published last, it was written right after WW2 which made it interesting to read after later written novels. I've always thought this was a solid end to HP though.

🥰👂‍A Thief in the Night (Gentle Art World) (KJ Charles, author; James Joseph & Ryan Laughton, narrator) - delightful - KJC is an autobuy and never disappoints

🥰👂‍The Gentle Art of Fortune Hunting (Gentle Art World) (KJ Charles, author; Cornell Collins, narrator) - reading Toby's story (A Thief In The Night) made me want to revisit Robin & Hart - I forgot just how GOOD this was in terms of exploring different power differences and communication styles and how everyone is always bringing their own baggage/interpretations to what one thinks is a straightforward communication - fascinating and complex

🥰Whatever here that's left of me is yours (rainbow_nerds) - 41K, stucky AU - I'm a sucker for a ghost romance with a happy ending (esp if it gives me ghost sex first!)

😊Okay, so he can play… (pretty's got nothing to do with it) (darter_blue) - 50K, stucky college hockey AU (mildly a Check Please AU)

😍World Enough And Time (laiqualaurelote) - 51K, brilliantly done MFMM/Doctor Who AU

🥰👂‍The Spare Man (Mary Robinette Kowal, author & narrator) - MRK's self-stated mission was 'The Thin Man but in space' and she succeeded brilliantly. Loved ALL the characters and the plotty sometimes tortuous plot (very reminiscent of all the AC I've been reading). Gimlet (space Asta) is of course the biggest star. [There were one or two places where i had a flash of annoyance? irritation? at the plot/characters but I actually think this might have been because of the audiobook format? Like, if I had been textually reading i would have maybe rolled my eyes but it would have moved on more quickly. It was DEFINITELY a me thing, not truly a book thing.]

😊Murder on Board (Miss Underhay #10) (Helena Dixon) - Kitty & Co continue to be quick, light, cozy mystery fun. I do absolutely love the absurdly high body count this series is accumulating in such a short time.

🥰Clean Slated State (Justkeeptrekkin) - 42K, BlackBonnet AU with newly divorced/dating Stede & bartender Ed - fantastic characterizations, so enjoyable

😍by the moonlight side (wearing_tearing) - 92K, Steddie, werewolf!Steve - stayed up way, way too late for my old woman body reading this! SO. GOOD. Full of found family pack feels and wolfy goodness, tender and hot and emotional.

💖💖 +102K of shorter fic so shout out to these I really loved 💖💖

How we rolled up the carpet so we could dance (rohkeutta, SulaSafeRoom) - MCU: Stucky, 7K - featuring Cap!Bucky and the tag "Tired Old Men In Need Of A Break"

Feeling I'll Forget, I'm In Love Now (smithsonianstucky (thelarenttrap)) - MCU: Stucky, 8K - great WS recovery fic - Bucky's touch starved but also traumatized so they get a cat

Apes Debemus Imitari (We Should Imitate the Bees) (buckysbees) - MCU: Stucky, 15K - semi-annual reread of this wonderful The Little Shop Around the Corner AU set in a farmers' market with beekeeper!Bucky. I love this fic so much. Basically any time someone mentions it I immediately have to reread it.

✨✨ also this absolutely marvelous essay ✨✨

‘Family Means No One Gets Left Behind’: An oral history of Lilo & Stitch, the Disney movie that almost brought hand-drawn animation back

📺 STUFF I WATCHED 📺

Ghosts (US) - s1, e15-18; s2, e1-3

Columbo - s1, e6-7

ParaNorman

The Forgotten Disaster of the SS Eastland

🎧 PODCASTS 🎧

Ologies with Alie Ward - FIELD TRIP: I Go France and Learn Weird French Stuff

The Atlas Obscura Podcast - Louie Mattar’s Fabulous Car

Switched on Pop - Steve Lacy brings bedroom pop to the Billboard top

Shedunnit Book Club - The Kidnap of Elizabeth Canning

The Atlas Obscura Podcast - Meramec Caverns

99% Invisible #512 - Walk of Fame

Vibe Check - It's the Gayest Candy

Twenty Thousand Hertz+ - A Thousand Words

Song Exploder - Santigold "Ushers of the New World"

Into It - A Portrait of the Artist as Taylor Swift

Ologies with Alie Ward - Metropolitan Tombology (PARIS CATACOMBS) with Erin-Marie Legacey

One Year - 1942: The Most Hated Man in America

The Atlas Obscura Podcast - Times Square Hum

Off Menu with Ed Gamble and James Acaster - Ep 155: Taron Egerton - where you will learn that Taron loooooooves mayonnaise and does occasionally like to just...spread it over a slice of pizza 'like a crumpet'. [if i have to have that knowledge you do too]

Strong Songs - "The Biggest Ball of Twine in Minnesota" by "Weird Al" Yankovic

🎶 MUSIC 🎶

'80s Rock

Journey

Presenting Iron Maiden

Presenting Joni Mitchell

Presenting Taylor Swift

The Loneliest Time [Carly Rae Jepsen]

Presenting Carly Rae Jepsen

[bookgeekgrrl]

My media this week (13-19 Feb 2022)

📚 STUFF I READ 📚

🥰 His Boy Next Door: #38 Top to Bottom (RJ Moray) - another lovely episode of Jack & Channon's story

🥰 Pictures at a Revolution: Five Movies and the Birth of the New Hollywood (Mark Harris, author; Lloyd James, narrator) - "Explores the epic human drama behind the making of the five movies nominated for Best Picture in 1967-Guess Who's Coming to Dinner, The Graduate, In the Heat of the Night, Doctor Doolittle, and Bonnie and Clyde-and through them, the larger story of the cultural revolution that transformed Hollywood, and America, forever." This was fascinating & well-told & I thoroughly enjoyed it but my overwhelmingly my thought, multiple times through the whole thing was, the more things change, the more they stay exactly the same.

🙂 Whiplash (CBFirestarter, TrenchcoatBaby) - 142K, Destiel dystopian BDSM AU -

😊 Haven werewolf 'verse (YumeArashi) - 96K, Haven OT3 no-Troubles, werewolf AU - 37K is main story, the rest is vingettes/deleted scenes/notes and outline for intended sequel -

😍 The Trials and Tribulations of the Watermelon Werewolf (BlueSimplicity) - 147K, werewolf/soulmate AU - FANTASTIC fic: funny, fluffy, hot, great characterizations (esp of supporting characters as well) - instant forever fave

😊 Murder in First Class (Miss Underhay Mysteries #8) (Helena Dixon, author; Karen Cass, narrator) - this continues to be a quietly enjoyable cozy mystery series

💖💖+119K of shorter fic so shorter work shout out to these I really loved💖💖

Fierce (leveragehunters (Monkeygreen)) - MCU: Stucky, 15K - gorgeous little fantasy AU

Maybe the Real Gold Medal Was the Friends We Made Along the Way (thedishandthespoon) - MCU: Stucky, 18K - Olympics AU

TWO new episodes in the fabulous To Be Seen Aright verse by Deastar! Ours Will Still Be Hot (1.9K) & this braided business (10K)

📺 STUFF I WATCHED 📺

Explained - s1, e1

The Larkins - s1, e3-4

Agatha Raisin - s4,e3: A Spoonful of Poison

Star Trek: Discovery - s2, e1-4 - started back up again with these nerds

The Brokenwood Mysteries - s1, e1-3 - shout out to @door for convincing/reassuring me to give this a shot, it is delightful.

🎧 PODCASTS 🎧

The Present Age - Climate journalist Eric Holthaus believes in a better world

Last Seen - Episode 4: Africa’s Lost Year of Hope

Desert Island Discs - Leslie Caron, actress (literally did not realize Leslie Caron was still alive! also they last interviewed her in 1956 which makes this the longest gap between interviews in their history)

Lore - Episode 192: Time Will Tell

The Atlas Obscura Podcast - Panorama of the City of New York

Aaron Mahnke's Cabinet of Curiosities - Fill In The Blankenship

The Atlas Obscura Podcast - International Cocoa Quarantine Center

The Present Age - Joe Galbo is the man making memes for the U.S. government

99% Invisible #477 - Call of Duty: Free

Ologies with Alie Ward - Cycadology (RARE PLANT DRAMA) with Nathalie Nagalingum

The Atlas Obscura Podcast - Extreme Travel with Dave Seminara

Shedunnit - Bonus: Jennifer Morag Henderson Interview

FILMS TO BE BURIED WITH Patreon Crew! - Ellie Taylor!

Twenty Thousand Hertz - Pirate Radio

The Atlas Obscura Podcast - The Last Sears in New York City

Aaron Mahnke's Cabinet of Curiosities - The Right Word

You're Dead To Me - Eleanor of Aquitaine

This is Good for You - Ep 25: Collecting Sneakers Is Good For You

Strong Songs Bonus Episodes - And Now, Some More Beatles Covers

Grim & Mild Presents - Sideshow 4: A Living Curiosity

Endless Thread - Space Heist! (Or, How to Steal a Planet)

🎶 MUSIC 🎶

Presenting Debussy

Video Game music (station) - this ended up being a random mix of pop songs, occasional video game tunes in the mix; good but not what I was expecting

Presenting Backstreet Boys

Gentle Latin Electronic

Golden Age of Boy Bands

Mamma Mia: Original London Cast

Dancing Queen

CREDITS: Diane Warren

Tell the World: The Very Best of Ratt

Whitesnake

CREDITS: Charli XCX

Waiting To Exhale (Original Soundtrack Album)

[annarellix]

Murder at Elm House by Helena Dixon (Miss Underhay #6)

My Review (4,5*): I love this series and think that it improves any time I read a new story. This one is highly entertaining and gripping, full of twists and turns and I had a lot of fun. My only note is that Kitty is very reckless and sometimes it seems she's got a death with but she's also able to fight and doesn't need any hero to save her. There's plenty of action in this story, it's slow burning but when it get going it's fast paced and I wasn't able to stop reading. Kitty is becoming a very interesting character: independent and clever, brave and strong willed. I like how her relationship with Matt is evolving. The author did an excellent job, plot and character development are excellent and I like the solution. I cannot wait to read the next installment as I want to know what will be next. Highly recommended. Many thanks to Bookouture and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine

Book Description: Kitty Underhay feels the touch… of death. 1934. Accidental amateur sleuth Kitty Underhay is being escorted by ex-army captain Matthew Bryant on an errand of mercy, as she takes a basket of grapes to her nemesis Mrs Craven, who is recuperating from a recent operation. But their arrival at Elm House Nursing Home coincides with the mysterious death of Lady Wellings, a long-term resident. The woman was known to be ill, so when the police turn a disinterested ear to Mrs Craven’s suspicion that Lady Wellings was poisoned, Kitty decides to look into the case herself. And when another invalid, the gentle Mrs Pearson, collapses fatally in the breakfast room, it seems her suspicions are well-founded. For an institution promising health and rejuvenation, there seems to be a very low survival rate amongst the guests! When the nurse Eloise Hibbert hints at sinister goings on among the staff, Kitty arranges to meet her away from the home to uncover how deep the treachery lies. However, before she can make the rendezvous, Eloise meets an unfortunate end falling from the top of the building. Was she pushed by the hand of fate, or a cold-blooded killer? Meanwhile, Matt has been following an entirely different trail of evidence, and what he finds out chills him to the bone. When Kitty fails to return from her unsuccessful meeting, it is clear she has stumbled onto a plot far more devious than they could have imagined, and into a trap laid by an unscrupulous killer… Buy Links:  https://geni.us/B08V1VY7TBsocial The Author: Nell Dixon was born and continues to live in the Black Country. Married to the same man for over thirty-five years she has three daughters, a cactus called Spike, a crazy cockapoo and a tank of tropical fish. She is allergic to adhesives, apples, tinsel and housework. Her addictions of choice are coffee and reality TV. She was winner of The Romance Prize in 2007 with her book Marrying Max, and winner of Love Story of the Year 2010 with her book, Animal Instincts. She also writes historical 1930's set cozy crime as Helena Dixon. Author Social Media Links: Website: http://www.nelldixon.com Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/nell.dixon Twitter:      https://twitter.com/NellDixon