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Mystery at Monrovia Castle: The Rebecca Orange Castle Cozy Mystery Series by Valerie Brandy

Reviewed by Nancy Eaton

This first book in the Rebecca Orange Castle Cozy Mystery Series delivers a fun, comforting escape: a charming castle setting, quirky characters, a loyal dog, and a mystery that stays light without losing its intrigue.

Rebecca Orange has a rough day at the start of Mystery at Monrovia Castle—she loses her job and her relationship almost back‑to‑back. It’s a mess, but it pushes her into this unexpected chance to work with the royal animals in Monrovia, a tiny country that feels like something out of a storybook. It’s a fun setup, especially if you like cozy mysteries where someone gets a fresh start in a completely new place.  Purchase Here.

When Rebecca gets to Monrovia, she’s not impressed. The place feels a bit weird, and the people she meets are all quirky in their own ways. She can’t figure anyone out yet. The flower shop sounds nice, though. Even though the Duke is polite, he is definitely holding back something. Her dog Joe is honestly one of the best parts. Big, calm, and just kind of comforting whenever he shows up.

The mystery starts to matter once the castle’s architect turns up dead. Someone Rebecca barely knows but already feels okay around suddenly looks like they might be involved, which throws her off balance. Even with that going on, the book doesn’t get dark. She spends a lot of time wandering around the castle and the town, trying to figure out who’s being straight with her and who’s just acting strange because that’s how the place is.

The setting sticks with you more than anything. Monrovia is easy to picture — old stone buildings, little shops, people who seem to know everyone else’s business. The writing leans more toward comfort than tension, so the mystery feels like something you can read at night without getting wound up.

If you like mysteries that are easygoing and have a main character you can root for, Mystery at Monrovia Castle is a nice start to a series that seems like it’ll only get more fun.

 

Venera LTD.

Venera LTD. by Stuart Nosler

Reviewed by Lily Andrews

“Venera LTD.” by Stuart Nosler begins in 2025 in Australia, under the shadow of a global radiation crisis where Dr. Hendrick Campbell, a nuclear physicist, is pulled from university research to investigate a mysterious wreck of a sunken warship, a North Korean vessel, which was carrying radioactive material, and whose contamination is spreading quickly, collapsing fishing economies and seeding cancers in populations across the Pacific. What follows is a journey that sees him rise from an academic to a rich head of Venera Ltd, a space logistics company that begins as a student initiative to launch a satellite cheaply, before it transforms into a monopoly that dumps the world’s most dangerous waste on Venus. Alongside this ascent is his life’s slow unraveling, which slowly grows into a desperation that later threatens to consume everything that he has built.  Purchase Here.

“The amount of plutonium aboard was absurd.” Hahn continued.”  From this passage, as the reader, I understood the weight of the catastrophe, even as I was primed for a journey that would be unforgiving and test the resolve of a team of researchers tasked with containing an escalating global crisis. Campbell’s journey forms the backbone of the story. He is a protagonist whose importance, I believe, lies in his transformation and in how he reveals ambition, grief, and what happens when compromises accumulate. Watching him move from a man who gets terrified that he has poisoned his pregnant wife to someone willing to suppress uncomfortable truths felt like watching the slow death of conscience by a thousand justifications. Then there is Henry Rockford, who, unlike traditional villains, is a brilliant and charismatic figure. Seeing him discover Campbell’s capabilities and then exploiting his vulnerabilities reveals the quiet art of manipulation at play. He carries the image of a predator circling not with claws, but with a patient, unblinking assurance that everything is just business until the prey believes it too.

One of the most outstanding elements of this book is its structure, which spans several years of its characters’ phases. The story rides on a deliberate, measured pacing in the first part, which then noticeably accelerates in the second and third parts, before slowing down a bit in the fourth part. One feels like the chapters, which grow tenser with each new one, directly work one-on-one with the pacing, making the reader feel the unbearable weight of events way before they come to pass. A shorter novel feels like it couldn’t have sufficiently captured the protagonist’s transformation with the same conviction. Personally, I would have resisted the leap from professor to a compromised titan, had the novel not made me live inside the duration of that fall. “Venera LTD.” by Stuart Nosler is a book worthy of its length. It understands that life’s greatest horrors are rarely the ones that come explosively, but those that accumulate patiently, silently, and without blinking. It is a book I would recommend to fans of character-driven tragedies as well as those who enjoy slow-burning science fiction.

 

Mrs. Shim is a Killer

Mrs. Shim is a Killer: A Novel by Kang Jiyoung

Reviewed by Ephantus Gold

“Mrs. Shim Is a Killer” by Kang Jiyoung follows Shim Eunok, a widow and mother of two whose husband took his life five years ago following a series of complications with his health. She is now unemployed, hopeless, and ashamed, and dreads going home to the sight of a mailbox overflowing with unpaid bills. We meet her at one of her lowest moments, overwhelmed by despair, where we are reminded that the family had to sell their butchery to pay off the damages of a pub her husband drove into, in what police ruled as suicide.  Purchase Here.

As fate would have it, Eunok stumbles upon a Help Wanted notice from a private detective agency.  She’s all too aware of the worn clothes on her back and the fact that her schooling ended early, and the worry creeps in that they’ll judge her before she even gets a word out. As she pauses outside the building, an older guard gives her a salute that feels strangely knowing. It’s a small, unsettling moment that hints at something bigger already moving around her—something she hasn’t begun to piece together.

The interview shifts from odd to chilling as the interviewer focuses on her experience with knives. And much to her shock, he offers her a job on the spot, leaving her feet frozen to the floor in disbelief. You almost want to scream at her to resist the offer, but that is just before a gold bar is placed on the table, promising quick wealth that could secure her children’s future, if she does the new “job” well.

From there, the novel expands outward, shifting perspectives to reveal the agency’s inner workings and the many lives entangled within it. You are drawn into a layered story that moves between various voices, among them, The Boss, a relentless secret agent, a watchful daughter, and clients whose pain is so deep that revenge feels like their only remaining answer. These voices do not unfold in a straight line, and by taking that form; readers are offered the thrill of assembling the puzzle pieces themselves. Through it all, Eunok remains at the center, not as a cold professional but as a reluctant woman learning to survive inside a world that demands detachment. In that light, as a reader, you might feel forced to root for her even when questioning the morality of her choices, especially when consequential figures from her personal life begin brushing dangerously close to her new reality.

This book will surprise you with how well it balances humor and horror. It moves steadily, allowing tension to build through shifting viewpoints and quiet revelations, as well as unsettling realizations that raise the underlying personal stakes into something that can’t be solved with skill alone. If you enjoy stories that blur the line between dark and playful, or where characters are underestimated only to quietly reinvent themselves in ways that surprise even them, then “Mrs. Shim Is a Killer” by Kang Jiyoung should be your next read!

 

 

 

 

First Loser

First Loser by Scott Walker Cunningham

Reviewed by Matthew McCarty

Life is full of choices. The choices we make often lead us down the wrong path, or one full of potholes and sadness. Choices are what help us make sure we make the right decisions. “First Loser“, the recent book by Scott Walker Cunningham, outlines the choices that open up in life and how those choices can influence the journey of life. The characters in “First Loser” illustrate just how important making the right choices can be, but also just how often the right choices are overlooked.  Purchase Here.

Connor Castaway is an all-state wrestler. He works hard to be the best wrestler in the state, but struggles with his personal life and the loss of his dad. He also struggles with the damage that wrestling is causing to his body and how he has to turn to narcotics to manage the pain that he experiences throughout his life. Connor is emblematic of a tortured soul who often wonders why his life has turned out as it has. He feels like he is responsible for not helping his dad recover from the illness that claimed him in the prime of life.

Connor experiences many ups and downs and difficulties as he navigates trying to succeed in wrestling. He manages to gain a new perspective when he sees his best friend struggling with how to win a match and fight off his own demons that will eventually consume him and leave Connor wandering about what might have been. Connor prevails through a world of hurt, anxiety, stress, and confusion to become a strong provider who learns how to conquer his doubt and fear. The lessons that Connor learns help him to become a father to his own children and a dedicated husband to his wife Isla. These lessons underscore the humanity that comes with life’s struggles.

“First Loser” is a work that could be useful in guiding young lives in decision-making. The lessons presented deal with behavior, choices, and dealing with pain and doubt. These lessons not only affect the lives of star athletes but also those of all human beings. While not a book for a general reading audience, “First Loser” can be impactful on the lives of teens and their family members. It could definitely help with some difficult conversations and could be a light for any young person struggling with what choices to make and how those choices can impact everything that happens in their lives.

 

 

 

Ms. Mial and Murder at the Grand Island Hotel

Ms. Mia and Murder at the Grand Island Hotel by Jennifer Branch

Reviewed by Nancy Eaton

The cover of Ms. Mia and Murder at the Grand Island Hotel caught my eye – enough to make me want to read the book, and I’m really glad I did. It has that classic cozy‑mystery feel, but it never drags or gets too predictable. The whole story has this easy flow to it, like you’re just tagging along with someone who’s naturally good at noticing things the rest of us would miss.  Purchase Here.

Ms. Mia herself is a great character. She’s sharp, but not in an over‑the‑top “super detective” way. She feels like a real person who happens to be curious enough (and stubborn enough) to poke around where others wouldn’t. I liked her right away.

The hotel setting is perfect for a mystery — a little glamorous, a little eerie, and full of people who all seem to be hiding something. The author does a nice job giving each character just enough personality that you start forming your own theories about who did what.

As for the mystery, I thought I had it figured out twice, and both times I was wrong. The clues are there, but they’re subtle, and the ending actually makes sense once everything clicks into place. It’s satisfying without feeling forced.

Overall, Ms. Mia and Murder at the Grand Island Hotel is a fun, quick read with a good balance of humor, suspense, and character moments. If you like cozy mysteries with a smart but relatable lead, this one is definitely worth picking up.

 

The legend of the Iron Warrior Vol 3

Vendetta: Legend of The Iron Warrior Vol. 3 by T.V. Holiday

Reviewed by Lily Andrews

T.V. Holiday’s “Vendetta: Legend of the Iron Warrior Vol. 3” is a gripping story that, as you start, lets you sense an impending conflict, far larger than any imaginable hero-villain battle. The opening pages reveal a world where the ancient rivalry between heaven and hell continues to shape humanity’s destiny. Readers are invited to a city called Carnage Coast, a place that carries the weight of being the final battleground in a cosmic wager, a feat that had once seemed unfathomable several years earlier. It is referred to as “Home to the worst of the worst” and “The last stand for God’s light… a place whose darkened essence tests the will of the almighty’s chosen champions with soul-wrenching trials of faith.” In this installment, the spiritual pressure becomes even more personal, as the protagonist is forced back into the conflict after a two-year self-imposed exile.  Purchase Here.

Within this landscape emerges Travis Holiday, a man powered by faith, and one chosen to bear the mantle of the Iron Warrior. You get the sense early in the read that he is destined to embody divine resistance as the final defender standing between mankind and annihilation. He is presented as a man who already lives with the full awareness of what he has been called to be. The novel presents his calling as something tested in deeply human ways, first in the painful opening stretch where he races towards the mountains and towards a son he still cannot reach, and then in the moment he turns away from that longing and willingly takes up the mantle of the Iron Warrior once more. That alone gives his awareness of purpose a lived and costly dimension, which the novel deepens even further when his return is met with unease from his own allies, and when the question shifts from whether he can still fight to whether he is still worthy of carrying what he knows he has been called to do.

The reader is drawn into a series of intense confrontations that involve a dangerous set of villains whose motives range from chaos to calculated manipulation. One of the early crises arises when the city defenders are forced to respond not only to open violence but also to layers of manipulation unfolding simultaneously, with the Simpleton bringing his unnerving brand of chaos, Hypnotion weaponizing the minds of ordinary people, and Diversion turning illusion itself into a tactical advantage. Yet what gives this novel its sharpest edge is the presence of a sadistic woman whom Travis once saved and who has since turned that act of mercy into a long-nurtured vendetta against him. Rather than confronting him, she manipulates events from the shadows, placing the lives of citizens connected to Travis under threat, and forcing him into a cruel game that tests not just his strength but also his resolve. The resulting scenes are not only cinematic, memorable, and adrenalizing, but also gripping as readers slowly realize that the enemy’s design is always unfolding several steps beyond what is immediately visible.

Beyond the spectacle of superhuman battles and dramatic rescues, the novel quietly explores themes that linger longer after the action scenes have passed. You find deep meditation on faith and responsibility beneath the explosions and confrontations, the burden of leadership, and the unsettling possibility that the line between light and darkness might actually not be as clearly defined as legends suggest. The story repeatedly suggests that the struggle between light and darkness is not confined to battlefields, but also unfolds in moments of doubt, strained loyalties, and the quiet question of whether one is still worthy of the role one has been chosen to carry. Its characters are definitely larger than life, but what’s most remarkable about them is how easily each leaves their mark on the reader’s memory, through conviction, tension, and the way they respond to Travis’s presence. The pacing deserves notice as well. It opens with urgency, and then carries that energy into large confrontations without losing its emotional undercurrent.

One of the greatest strengths of this book is Holiday’s choice of topic. It gives the work a distinct identity while making its conflicts feel heavier than ordinary good-versus-evil clashes. The setting, a place filled with atmosphere and symbolic force, contributes to that effect as well.  The storyline is the kind you feel approaching even as you read, and the type that continually leaves you wondering what might still be waiting in the shadows. If you are a reader who is drawn to stories where the past refuses to stay silent, where old choices and buried histories trouble the present, then T.V. Holiday’s “Vendetta: Legend of the Iron Warrior Vol. 3” should be in line for your next read.

 

 

 

 

The Brighter the Light, the Darker the Shadow

The Brighter the Light, The Darker the Shadow by Verlin Darrow

Reviewed by Rahul Gaur

Long before this book, Carl Jung famously said, “The brighter the light, the darker the shadow.” This means that we all have a light side and a shadow. When something becomes more intense or prominent, its opposite also becomes more pronounced. This book is about what happens when both are exposed.  Purchase Here.

The Brighter the Light, the Darker the Shadow by Verlin Darrow takes place in the Santa Cruz mountains, where spiritual leader Kade Tobin leads a small spiritual community called the Brethren of Congruence. They want peace and to live in harmony with life. But everything changes when Kade’s dog finds a dead woman near his home. Soon, this peaceful retreat becomes the site of multiple murders.

As the story progresses, different characters are introduced whose lives intertwine. Each character comes with their own set of complexities and acts from their backstories. Trauma shapes behavior. Ambition shapes judgment. Fear shapes accusations. The good thing is the book doesn’t label anyone good (bright) or bad (dark). It just showcases human beings’ reality. The community is full of regular people with problems. This is evident in characters like Jim, Martha, Susan, and Wayne. Then there is Detective Bill Cullen, who shows some interest in Kade’s philosophy. Other cops, like Jeff McCall and Michael Quinn, treat the community like a cult. The DA, Marion Burke, has personal reasons to go hard on Kade. Her daughter, Susan, lives in the community. Every character plays an important role in the story progression.

The Brighter the Light, the Darker the Shadow explores the clash of identity and power. Kade believes people suffer when they fight reality instead of accepting it. When the police arrest him for murder, his belief faces a real test. Some officers push hard during questioning. They try to scare Kade. The prosecution uses weak witnesses. This tussle is shown beautifully, and some descriptions are outstanding. One example is the moment Cullen receives the preliminary forensic report: it identifies the victim as a fit, fair-skinned Caucasian woman in her early twenties, shot at close range with a large caliber handgun sometime between 2 and 4 AM. Another is Cullen’s sharp, methodical way of cornering liars during his interview rounds.

The second half happens in court. The court system does not look fair. The judge is biased. Kade is stuck in jail, but he makes friends with a gang leader for protection. However, the pace drops during court scenes and jail reflections. But this seems intentional. It wants us to think about how belief systems work under pressure.

The author’s main argument is clear. The more someone shines, the more they attract doubt and attack. Light creates shadow. Life is not a straight line or just yes or no. There is a greyish area with lots of ups and downs. Kade is not perfect, and his spiritual authority makes him a target. He also lives in the U.S. without legal status and hides that truth. That is part of his shadow. The legal system sees facts and records. Kade sees meaning and lessons. These two views clash throughout the novel.

This is a solid story. It has suspense, court drama, and real thoughts about life and justice. The clever tricks and character ties make it fun to read. If you like mysteries with deeper meaning, pick this one up.

 

 

 

The Winter Verdict

The Winter Verdict: A Legal Thriller by Dan Buzzetta

Reviewed by Lily Andrews

“The Winter Verdict” by Dan Buzzetta is a book that follows Tom Berte, a lawyer who has traded the chaos of the high-stakes world of Washington D.C. for a quiet life as a small-town attorney in the ski resort town of Castle Ridge, or “the Castle” as locals call it, in upstate New York. Through his harrowing journey, the novel explores themes of redemption, the inescapable pull of the past, and the impossible choices a man must make when his family’s safety hangs in the balance. It is set against the brutal beauty of an upstate New York winter, and weaves together the stories of Tom, who is trying to rebuild his life far from the corruption he left behind, Faith McReynolds, the third generation owner of the ski resort who is fighting to protect her family’s legacy, a shadow consortium called Phoenix Holdings who has mysterious designs on a plot of land by the reservoir and an unknown threat that will force Tom to confront the question of how far he’s willing to go to save the people he loves.  Purchase Here.

The story begins with what should be a perfect morning, with Tom skiing the empty slopes before dawn, enjoying the peace he worked five years to build. He glimpses movements in the woods over his right shoulder, right before a shrill shriek stops him in his tracks. Thinking someone might be injured and in dire need of help, he scrambles down the icy embankment only to be ambushed and brutally attacked and left for dead in the snow.

The state police believe that whoever attacked him deliberately avoided killing him, likely intending it as a warning or simply to scare him. But soon after he is cleared by the doctors, the ski resort’s main chairlift gets sabotaged in a devastating cyberattack that kills numerous people. But before the dust even settles, a cryptic note warns him that something far worse is planned for the Fourth of July, and that his wife and daughter will be harmed if he goes to the authorities. This leaves him alone and feeling trapped between his oath as an officer of the court and his primal duty to protect his family.

Buzzetta, a litigation partner in a national law firm – the author of this book – brings an authenticity to the legal maneuvering and investigative work that few thriller writers can match. His novel carries a sense of relentless pacing and a willingness to put its protagonist through what feels like a hell designed to finish him off completely. He has not drawn Tom as an invincible hero but as a man who bleeds, who doubts himself, who makes mistakes, and whose love for his family is both his greatest vulnerability and his only weapon.

The author’s intimate knowledge of how power actually works in the courtrooms, corporate boardrooms, and in the shadowy spaces between is what I believe lends every twist and revelation in this book a chilling credibility. I could not fail to notice the well-drawn bond between Tom and the resort’s former marine head of security, through whom we are shown how trust can be forged in the crucible of shared danger. The depiction of the antagonist’s compound, with its cold ideology and meticulous planning, felt brilliant, and like the perfect reminder that the most frightening enemies are sometimes the very people who believe utterly in the justice of their cause.  “The Winter Verdict” by Dan Buzzetta is a gripping, pulse‑pounding thriller that left me wondering, ‘What then?’ when the law won’t protect the innocent. With its unforgettable protagonist, breakneck pace, and deeply satisfying conclusion, I believe that it cements Buzzetta’s place among the finest writers of legal suspense today. For anyone who believes that the line between hero and outlaw is actually thinner than anyone would dare to admit, this novel is an absolute must-read.

 

 

The Malady of Love

The Malady of Love by Sierra Ernesto Xavier

Reviewed by Lily Andrews

There are some lies that enter a relationship so quietly you do not notice them at first, and by the time you do, they have burrowed too deep to be removed without pulling your heart and emotions apart. In Sierra Ernesto Xavier’s novel, “The Malady of Love,” a single deception does exactly that. It worms its way into the space between two people who believe they have found in each other a refuge from their deepest wounds and psychological traumas. This all unfolds through dialogue, where both their voices weave in and out of each other’s sentences.  Purchase Here.

The first character, a man, carries a wound he cannot name. It is something that has lived inside of him since childhood, something that has made him afraid of his own voice. When he was young, he learned that speaking could be dangerous, in that it could make some people laugh at him or simply disappear from his life altogether. Therefore, he grew up believing that silence was safer and that keeping his thoughts locked away would protect him from further hurt. The woman he meets understands this fear. We learn that she carries her own wound in the form of a memory of her twin sister, who died inside their mother’s womb. This was a tragedy she has been unable to shake, and one she has always believed was her fault.

When the two meet and begin to talk, something shifts in both of them. The man finds himself eager to speak, and the woman finds herself eager to listen. You can sense that she wants to hold his fears as gently as she would have held her sister if only she had been given the chance. For a while, it seems like their love might actually heal their old wounds, which undoubtedly have kept them lonely for so long, but unbeknownst to them, the foundation they have built that love on might not be as solid as they think. Beneath their happiness lies a secret, a deception tied to loss and motherhood, one that feels like something that might rise up when they least expect it and test everything they think they know about each other.

What I believe makes this book powerful is how deeply it makes you care for these two characters. It doesn’t make external descriptions of how they look or what their names are, which I believe is deliberate in order to force the reader to focus entirely on what matters- their inner lives. I also believe that by employing this approach, the author trusts the reader to fill the blanks and bring their own imagination to the story. Their dialogue feels raw and honest, primal in its need to be heard, and the gentle pacing pulls you right into their struggles. The chapters unfold with what feels like a quiet precision, tender and hopeful at first, then tighter and more urgent, before arriving at moments so sad and painful, they might leave you breathless for a while. I believe this structure deepens the reader’s emotional investment, so that by the end of the story, they feel they have lived it, and the final revelation lands not as a magical twist but as an expected outcome.

This story implores us to recognize the lies we sometimes convince ourselves are necessary and how they often become the very things that destroy us. It does not offer a happy ending, only hard truths about grief that has not been allowed to fully heal, about childhood wounds that shape everything we become as adults, and the devastating weight of betrayal that leaves you wondering whether you can personally forgive when the damage runs this deep. “The Malady of Love” is a book I believe will stay with the reader long after they finish it, not because it is easy or comforting, but because it is real and true. They should, however, be aware that it explores sensitive topics which may be distressing to some audiences.

 

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Cachinnation/Doc In A Box by William Leroy

Reviewed by Douglas R. Cobb

Two, two, two books in one! That is how I’d initially describe the two short novellas, Cachinnation and Doc In A Box , included in the prolific and talented author, William LeRoy’s, latest page-turning book. After you read Cachinnation, simply turn the book over and upside-down, and viola–there is the second novella, Doc In A Box , awaiting your engaged perusal! I thoroughly enjoyed reading both of these novellas, but I’d say, of the two, I give the edge to Doc In A Box. I would add that I definitely recommend this book to anyone who loves mystery novels combined with a generous dose of humor. I have read several of LeRoy’s novels before, and I always look forward to reading any new one he has written, and this book is no exception.  Purchase Here.

I would also recommend that  Cachinnation is read first. That’s because it covers Max Morgan’s case in the month of November, while Doc In A Box covers one in the month of December. Morgan, who is a rather corpulent man, is retired from the Postal Service and is a Notary Public who is unmarried, still lives at his mother’s house at the age of 52, and has as his office a “work station cubicle” at a local “Mister Quickie copy shop” in a small town in Oklahoma.

Morgan doesn’t have many, if any, actual friends, but he does have a lot of acquaintances, like the ones who make up a group of men who call themselves the Furries. The two members of the Furries who play the largest roles in Cachinnation are Possum McGill and Leo Wolfe, two ostensible friends who also have a mutual love interest, Possum’s wife, Lil. The two names, McGill and Lil, sort of reminded me of of a love interest in the Beatles’ song, “Rocky Raccoon,” though this might be coincidental.

Along the course of Cachinnation, Max discovers not only some dirty little secrets of some of the local townsfolk, but also learns how to laugh at himself and others. So, I would say that IMHO Cachinnation is a great start to this two novella combo, which, potential Spoiler Alert, also features a poisoned cupcake and a dead beaver.

In the second novella, Doc In A Box , it is the following month, December. Author William LeRoy’s always intrepid Max Morgan finds himself getting a bit of unwanted attention from his doctor’s wife, Candy Sanders, a “cougar,” who he believes is always on the prowl. Candy has other motives for what she does in Doc In A Box , but Morgan deduces, shall I say, otherwise.

Candy perhaps should be happy with having a doctor as her husband, but her marriage has grown from being one of convenience to inconvenience. She finds herself in an economic position where she uses her job working for her husband to get some of the doctor’s aging male clientele the prostate and ED treatment she strives to convince them that they need.

Dr. Sanders has dreams of retiring to Florida to play golf there and enjoy his retirement years, but he is retiring too early for his wife’s liking. He has not saved up enough money to satisfy her because she is several years younger than him and she wants to make sure her golden years are spent comfortably, with or without her spouse. Also, in Candy’s viewpoint, her husband’s life insurance policy wouldn’t make her golden years comfortable enough, so she doesn’t want him to retire yet.

Morgan believes Candy’s “treatment” at Dr. Sanders’ office must be because she is attracted to him and has a lustful, rather than financial, motivation for her actions. If the famous detectives he has read about in literature and their cases are any indication, Candy must be a femme fatale with murder on her mind to get her husband out of the picture, permanently. Morgan does the best he can to warn Dr. Sanders before it’s too late, and his wife does him in.
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William LeRoy’s two novellas, Cachinnation and Doc In A Box, are both entertaining and page-turning reads. Mystery fans who like playful and satirical humor tales will get a kick from checking out this two-for-one Max Morgan combo by LeRoy. I also highly recommend the other novels that this prolific author has written, and I look forward to reading more of LeRoy’s books in the near future.