(Image from Barnes & Noble)

Put-in-Bay is a quaint village on an island in the middle of Lake Erie.  Even with a population that balloons during the summer tourist season, it's a peaceful town full of neighborly folks who do their best to get along.  Mostly.  Bea Cartwright—a brash Manhattanite who recently moved to Put-in-Bay to open a posh B&B—has had it up to here with her neighbors.  Chandra Morrissey won't silence the annoying hippie music she plays at all hours or keep her cat out of Bea's pansies.  Bea's other neighbor, winery owner Kate Wilder, won't quit whining about the traffic problems caused by constant deliveries to the B&B, complaints which are costing Bea time and money.  The women have brought their squabbles before the town magistrate so many times that he'll do anything to end the fighting.  Even something totally unconventional.

Sentenced to start a book club and meet for a weekly discussion for one year, the trio reluctantly accepts their punishment.  Almost as soon as they begin reading Murder on the Orient Express, life begins to imitate art a little too close to home.  Peter Chan, the genial owner of a new Chinese restaurant in town, is stabbed to death.  Horrified, the neighbors turned book club members turned amateur detectives vow to get to the bottom of the grisly murder.  In order to do so, they'll have to do something radical—get along.  Can they put aside their differences long enough to figure out what happened to Chan?  Or will they end up killing each other first?

Mayhem at the Orient Express, the first installment in Kylie Logan's League of Literary Ladies mystery series, is just as fun as it sounds.  Far-fetched?  Totally.  Still, it's a light-hearted novel with a colorful setting, likable characters, and a fun bookish theme.  It's nothing super original or memorable, but I enjoyed Mayhem at the Orient Express enough to pick up the next book in the series.

(Readalikes:  Reminds me of the Ethnic Eats series by Kylie Logan and the Noodle Shop Mystery series by Vivien Chien)

Grade:

If this were a movie, it would be rated:

for brief, mild language (no F-bombs), mild sexual innuendo, and violence

To the FTC, with love:  Another library fine find

(Image from Barnes & Noble)

Billie O'Brien has a busy summer ahead of her.  Not only will the 12-year-old be harvesting her bees' honey to sell in town, but she's also got to check her fishing traps, help her friend scoop llama poop (lots of llama poop), assist her dad with cheese making, and—most importantly—grow the biggest, best pumpkin she can so she can beat the socks off her former BFF in the pumpkin race that happens every fall on Madeline Island.  Sam Harrington cheated her out of her win last year and she can't forgive him for that.  The only way to get her revenge is to skunk him fair and square this year.

Of course, things aren't going to go smoothly when you've got cucumber beetles gorging on your pumpkins, an ex-BFF sabotaging your growing efforts, storms churning up your favorite fishing spot, and a mysterious stranger whose sudden appearance throws your family into a confusing whirl.  Can Billie survive a summer full of unpleasant surprises?  Can she beat Sam in the race?  As Billie stumbles through three months of hard work, stinging disappointment, trying challenges, and unexpected revelations, she will learn some valuable lessons about family, friendship, and, forgiveness.

The Pumpkin War by Cathleen Young is a warm, engaging novel that has the feel and appeal of a timeless classic.  Its bucolic rural setting offers readers a unique, insider's view of farm life while emphasizing the value of kids helping out and working diligently to achieve their goals.  While The Pumpkin War is a slim novel, it's got lots going on inside.  It tells a fun, exciting story that's also touching and real.  Readers of any age can pick this one up and enjoy.  I certainly did.

(Readalikes:  Reminds me of books by Cynthia Lord)

Grade:

If this were a movie, it would be rated:

for scenes of peril

To the FTC, with love:  I received an ARC of The Pumpkin War from the generous folks at Penguin Random House in exchange for an honest review.  Thank you!