2025 Pick Your Poison Challenge

•  

I keep telling myself that I'm going to cut back on challenges (ask me how that's going 😏😂). It doesn't help that folks like Gregory post challenges that I've loved doing and then tell us that this is the last year it's going to be sponsored. I mean, how am I supposed to say no to the last year? Answer? I don't. So...here I go for a last walk down Gregory Road for the Pick Your Poison Challenge. Why don't you come for a walk with me? 

As with previous years, I'm committing to the baker's dozen level. Since it's the final year, I'll probably see if I can manage all of them--but my commitment will be met at 13 from different topics.

Basic Genres

~Western

~Biography

~Travel Book: Death on the Nile by Agatha Christie [takes place on a boat traveling down the Nile] (9/11/25)

~Classic: John Mcnab by John Buchan (12/22/25)

Sub-Genres

~Mundane Science Fiction

~Eldritch Horror

~Alternate History: Lord Darcy by Randall Garrett (3/9/25)

~Comedy of Manners

The Interwebs

~About Social Media

~Cute Cat on the Cover

~About Online Shopping

~Written by Internet Influencer

Change Things Up!

~Coin in the Title

~About Switching Places: Top Bloody Secret by Stanley Hyland (5/25/25)

~Author with More Than One Pen Name: A Thief or Two by Sara Woods [Lana Hutton Bowen-Judd; also wrote as Mary Challis, Anne Burton, & Margaret Leek] (3/13/25)

~Genre You Don't Normally Read: The Silver Peril by Maryse Rutledge [spy/action/thriller] (3/30/25)

Let's Go Small

~About Minimalization

~Fewer than 150 pages: Poisoned Apples: Poems for You, My Pretty by Christine Hepperman [114 pages] (3/20/25)

~With Characters That Are Very Small

~Set in a Small Town: The Price of Silence by Kate Wilhelm (1/10/25)

Delve Into the Past

~About Someone Who Could Be Your Ancestor

~By Author Who Has Been Dead More than 50 Years: The Art School Murders by Moray Dalton (1/20/25)

~About an Ancient Civilization: Indiana Jones & the Lost Treasure of Sheba by Rose Estes (12/31/25)

~Word "Classic" in Title: Classic Mystery Stories by Douglas G. Greene, ed

Measuring Up

~With a Long-Distance Relationship: One Fell Sloop by Susan Kenney (7/3/25)

~Includes Recipes

~Word "Height" in title: On Beulah Height by Reginald Hill

~By Author Who Has "Made It Big": Death at Victoria Dock by Kerry Greenwood [TV show & a movie based on her characters] (3/27/25)

Tired Tropes

~Multiple Timelines

~Love Triangle

~"Chosen One" Fantasy

~Vampire Story

Ticklish

~Feather on Cover: Blood & Circuses by Kerry Greenwood (4/18/25)

~Makes You Laugh

~By a Comedian: In Such Good Company by Carol Burnett (1/22/25)

~Touchy Subject

That Wedding Tradition

~Something Old (set at least 3 decades before you were born): Murder by Lamplight (set in 1866) by Patrice McDonough (3/19/25)

~Something New (published in 2025): Who Will Remember by C. S. Harris (4/19/25)

~Something Borrowed (from library/friend): The Devil's Flute Murders by Seishi Yokomizo (1/5/25)

~Something Blue (blue cover): Murder British Style by Martin H. Greenberg, (4/26/25)

Beach Days

~Towel on the Cover

~By Author Who Lives Somewhere Sunny & Warm: The Cloisters by Katy Hays [from California] (1/24/25)

~Described as "Beach Read": Landscape of Lies by Peter Watson [described as "beach read" in a review on Goodreads] (6/10/25) 

~Book taken on vacation: Appointment with Death by Agatha Christie (7/11/25)

Sinners & Saints

~Demon or Devil Character

~Angel on Cover: Murder in the Grave by Irina Shapiro (8/16/25)

~By Author Known for Philanthropy

~Cover Reminds You of One of the Seven Deadly Sins

That 9 to 5 Thing

~About Commuting to Work

~By Author Whose Name Is an Occupation: The Strange Case of Eliza Doolittle by Timothy Miller (4/11/25)

~Book You Hope to Discuss at the Watercooler

~Workplace Romance

Just For Adults

~An "Adult Beverage" in Title

~About Group of Friends Reuniting as Adults: The Rewind by Allison Winn Scotch (8/5/25)

~About Mid-life Crisis

~Book You Wouldn't Recommend to a Child: The Voice of the Crab by Charlotte Jay [I honestly wouldn't recommend it to anyone...] (5/12/25)

Isolation

~About Being Ostracized

~"Lone" or "Lonely" in Title: Bachelors Get Lonely by A. A. Fair

~Single Person on Cover: Deadly Is the Diamond by Mignon G. Eberhart (2/22/25)

~Hermit Character: The Four of Hearts by Ellery Queen (7/15/25)

State of Mind

~Set in State Where You Live

~About Having a Positive Outlook

~Picture of Brain on Cover

~"Mind" in Title: He Didn't Mind Danger by Michael Gilbert OR Death in the Mind by Richard Lockridge

Mistakes Were Made

~Story of Misadventure: The Incredible Umbrella by Marvin Kaye (3/21/25)

~About Mistaken Identity: Murder Listens In by Elizabeth Daly (9/30/25)

~About Righting a Wrong: The Sleep Is Deep by Hugh Lawrence Nelson (3/14/25)

~About Leaving a Bad Relationship

Love Those Sitcoms

Cheers (set in a bar)

The Odd Couple (about roommates): The Case of the Hijacked Moon by Thomas Brace Haughey (6/28/25)

The Simpsons (graphic novel): Murder on the Orient Express: The Graphic Novel by Agatha Christie/Bob Al-Greene (2/22/25)

The Munsters (non-human characters)

Colors

~Hair Color in Title

~Author with a Color Name: Murder in Williamstown by Kerry Greenwood (2/15/25)

~Favorite Color on cover: Dead Babes in the Wood by D. B. Olsen [blue skirt] (4/29/25)

~Rainbow on Cover

School Lunches

~"Sandwich" in Title

~YA Novel: Sherlock Holmes: Death Cloud [Young Sherlock Holmes #1] by Andrew Lane (3/25/25)

~Cheesy Cover

~By Someone Who Works/Worked in Food Service

Cardinal

~Cardinal Direction in Title: Murder, London-South Africa by John Creasey (7/23/25)

~Bird on Cover: Dick Van Dyke by Christy Webster (1/25/25) [penguins]

~Main Character Belongs to Religious Order

~Cardinal Number in Title: Bodies from the Library 5 by Tony Medawar, ed (3/2/25)

Elemental

~Ghost, Spirit, or Similar Character: The Ghost & Mrs. McClure by Alice Kimberly (10/7/25)

~"Earth," "Water," "Fire," or "Air" in Title: Death in Shallow Water by Miles Burton (2/24/25)

~Author Whose Initials are the same as a (two letter) Chemical Symbol: A Murder Is Announced by Agatha Christie [Ac = actinium] (10/25/25)

~Sherlockian Character: Murder on the Ballarat Train by Kerry Greenwood [character refers to Phryne Fisher as "such a famous Sherlock"] (3/24/25)

Board Games

~Life (epic family novel)

~Trivial Pursuit (nonfiction about obscure topic)

~Twister (hands and/or feet on cover): No Vacation from Murder by Elizabeth Lemarchand [hands] (3/18/25)

~Clue (mystery set in a house party): "Inquest" by Harriet Clandon (2/21/25)

Age Old Tales

~Elderly Protagonist: Behold a Fair Woman by Francis Duncan (2/26/25)

~Fairy Tale/Myth Retelling: The Snow Queen by Joan D. Vinge (2/1/25)

~Book by Someone Older Than You: Dangerous Davies: The Last Detective by Leslie Thomas [born in 1931] (1/11/25)

~Coming of Age Story

Card Suits

~Diamonds (gem on cover): Nothing Is the Number When You Die by Joan Fleming (3/12/25)

~Spades ("garden" in title): The Cipher Garden by Martin Edwards (4/17/25)

~Heart (by author you love): Clouds of Witness by Dorothy L Sayers (8/29/25)

~Clubs (about exclusive group or club): The Girl from the Mimosa Club by Leslie Ford (2/6/25)

Opening a Can of Worms

~Controversial book

~About creepy crawlies

~Memoir by Someone Known for Outrageous Behavior

~About a Scandal

Wildcards

~About Climate Change: The Last Resort by Michael Kaufman (2/13/25)

~About a Museum

~Short Story Collection: Capital Crimes by Martin Edwards, ed (2/10/25)

~Book of Nursery Rhymes

~Set in Continent You Would Like to Visit: The Book of Killowen by Erin Hart [Europe] (2/4/25)