You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!
Click here to enterThursday, January 1, 2026
Mount TBR Headquarters
Here you will find a link to the original challenge post. Also each month I will enable a Monthly Review link where review posts for the month can be linked up. With the linky provider I currently have, the review link will close on the last day of the month. But no worries--you are welcome to post any review from the previous month on the current linky. There will also be a Wrap-Up link enabled at the end of the year.
2026 Climbing Crew
February Reviews
March Reviews
April Reviews
May Reviews
June Reviews
July Reviews
August Reviews
September Reviews
October Reviews
November Reviews
December Reviews
Vintage Scavenger Hunt Headquarters
Here you will find a link to the original challenge post. Also each month I will enable a Monthly Review link where review posts for the month can be linked up. With the linky provider I currently have, the review link will close on the last day of the month. But no worries--you are welcome to post any review from the previous month on the current linky. There will also be a Wrap-Up link enabled at the end of the year.
Vintage Scavenger Hunt Detectives on the Case 2026
January Reviews
February Reviews
March Reviews
April Reviews
May Reviews
June Reviews
July Reviews
August Reviews
September Reviews
October Reviews
November Reviews
December Reviews
The Ultimate My Reader's Block Challenge Wrap-Up
I'm still playing catch-up on so many things in the blogging world after being away so much during November & December. [New links/headquarters for the 2026 challenges coming soon!] Here is the wrap-up one-stop shopping plan for all of the Block challenges in 2025. If you participated in any of the Reader's Block challenges, then you may submit your wrap-up posts here. The linky will be open until Sunday, January 18th. Then on Monday, January 19th, I will pick a random winner from all the challenges to select a prize from the prize vault. If you have participated in more than one challenge, you are welcome to submit a separate wrap-up post for each challenge and earn yourself an entry for every challenge.
Please list your name in the following manner (especially if you've got more than one entry):
Name (challenge name) [example-- Bev@My Reader's Block (Vintage Scavenger Hunt)]
If you don't blog and don't have an URL to link up, you may post your wrap-ups in comments below (one comment per challenge) and I'll add you into the drawing. I will keep my eye on the entries and enter everyone onto a spread sheet in the order I see the entries appear. That order will determine the number for the random number generator to select.
GAD Word of the Day
In 2026, I'm going to try out a new bookish meme: the Golden Age of Detection (GAD) Mystery Word of the Day. Whenever I find a word that I'm unfamiliar with, I'm going to actually take time to look it up and share it with mystery-lovers everywhere. 😊
Today's GAD Mystery Word of the Day is Squamous (adj): Covered with or characterized by scales.
From Don Among the Dead Men by C. E. Vulliamy (1952)
It was a large untidy car with many of those squamous and iridescent silvery blobs on its glass which, like the patination of metal, seems to indicate antiquity.
Feel free to share any new/unusual words that you find today (or this week) in the comments below.
Wednesday, December 31, 2025
The Message in the Hollow Oak
The Message in the Hollow Oak (1935) by Carolyn Keene
Review coming soon...reading as much as possible before midnight.
First line:
Last line:
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The Ghost of Blackwood Hall
The Ghost of Blackwood Hall (1948) by Carolyn Keene
Review coming soon. Working on reading as much as possible before midnight...
First line: "If I ever try to solve a mystery with a ghost in it I'll use a smart cat to help me!" Nancy remarked laughingly.
Last line: "Anyway, it's much more fun to catch the people who try to do the flimflamming!" Nancy said, smiling
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Deaths = 6 (three natural; one shot; one drowned; one in war)
Indiana Jones & the Lost Treasure of Sheba
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Indiana Jones & the Lost Treasure of Sheba (1984) by Rose Estes
A Find Your Fate Adventure #2 (very similar to the Choose Your Own Adventure Books)
Dr. Roger Ballentyne, a military engineer and colleague of the famous Indiana Jones, has developed a plan for anew diamond laser that will cut through anything in moments and he also has discovered a map that leads to the long-lost treasure of the Queen of Sheba. A treasure that is said to consist of a lot of diamonds [what a coincidence!]. The Nazis are very interested in both things and arrange for Dr. Ballantyne to be kidnapped. His son George is in the apartment at the time, but manages to grab the plans for the laser and escape--right into the arms of Indiana Jones who is on his way to see Ballantyne. They aren't able to prevent the doctor's abduction, so Indy and George set off for Ethiopia to rescue the boy's father and--maybe--find the treasure along the way.
But there's a catch...in this story, YOU are George and you will make all the decisions about how the story goes. Choose wisely and you'll solve the mysteries and rescue your dad. Choose even more wisely and you'll bag the treasure as well. But...choose unwisely and at best you'll be waiting a long time in a Nazi jail while the war rages and at worst you'll be trapped in an underground cavern surrounded by jewels but with no hope of escape.
I couldn't resist this one when I found it at our annual community book fair about four years ago. I loved the Choose Your Own Adventure books when I was growing up and I loved Harrison Ford and the Indiana Jones movies. I don't remember the Find Your Fate books being in the bookstores like the CYOA books were. But maybe it's because by the mid-1980s I'd moved on to mystery novels like Agatha Christie and science fiction from Asimov, Silverberg, Clarke, etc.
Anyway...back on subject...this was a fun adventure that, at times, caught the flavor of of the Indiana Jones franchise. Estes made a good attempt at capturing the action/adventure on the page, but the dialog wasn't quite as true. I tried very hard to hear Ford when Indy was talking, but the rhythm just didn't seem quite right. Some of the scenarios seemed more plausible (as Indy scenarios) than others, but I'm sure that it would be difficult to come up with enough variety to provide 12-15 endings that would ring true in the Indy universe. Overall, a good read. ★★★
First line: It was ten-thirty on a windy fall evening.
Last line: As we watched the African coast disappear over the horizon, Jones and my father lifted a glass and toasted the day when we would return to the treasure of Sheba.
A Vow of Fidelity
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A Vow of Fidelity (1995) by Veronica Black (Maureen Peters)
Sister Joan is one of ten art school students who promised each other to meet up in twenty years time for a reunion. Since entering the convent and becoming a nun, Sister Joan had long forgotten the promise until a photograph of the class of ten arrives anonymously--no note, no return address. The proposed reunion date, September 15th, is fast approaching and Sister Joan doesn't plan to go. But Mother Dorothy has just proposed a new venture to help the convent raise funds to cover expenses--offering retreats for those outside the community, a time of rest and rejuvenation. And she thinks that this reunion would be a great time for Sister Joan to do a bit of advertising.
When the time comes, only six of the other nine former classmates arrive and Sister Joan learns that two have died--one in a fall from a car park, in what seems to have been an accident, and the other killed by a hit and run driver. The group is sure that Serge, the third of the missing, must have forgotten--he never was very good about remembering social engagements. The others decide to make a night of it--have dinner and maybe see a show, but Sister Joan needs to get back to the convent. She volunteers to stop by Serge's apartment and see if he wants to join the others for the night. She finds that Serge had a really good reason for not appearing at the reunion...he too is dead from an apparent drug overdose.
The coroner's court determined it was a suicide, but Sister Joan meets a Patricia, a current friend of Serge's, who says he didn't do drugs and would never have committed suicide. This is what Sister Joan thinks too. The Serge she remembered loved life too much to mess with drugs or take his own life, even when depressed. But did she ever really know Serge? Or any of her classmates, for that matter. No one seems to be anything like what she remembered. The next thing she learns is that Patricia has been murdered--no question this time, her throat was cut from behind. Sister Joan tells the entire story to her friend Detective Sergeant Mills, but after checking on details about the deaths he tells her it looks like coincidence. But just in case--Sister Joan should be extra careful.
Then all six of Sister Joan's former classmates decide that a retreat is just what they need and they all descend upon the convent. Our dear sister is not sure that is going to be the great idea Mother Dorothy thinks it is. And she's right. A few more deaths break up the peaceful retreat and Sister Joan finds herself next on the killer's list....
As with my previous read of a Sister Joan book, I found this to be an entertaining mystery with a bit more darkness than the usual cozy. This one is even darker (for me) than A Vow of Penance because of a particular thread that involves a subject I have difficulty with. The culprit wasn't quite as easy to spot this time, but even if I had, I definitely wouldn't have come up with the motive. There really weren't any clues that I noticed that would have given that away. ★★ and 3/4
First line: Sister Joan of the Order of the Daughters of Compassion sat demurely on the only hardbacked chair in the studio, sipping bitter lemon, watching the others gyrate in the center of the room, legs flashing, arms windmilling.
Last line: Later, she would talk to the others, do what she could to help [redacted], but for the moment she must go where her first fidelity was housed.
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Deaths = 7 (one fell from height; one hit by car; two poisoned; three throat cut)
Death in Blue Folders
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Death in Blue Folders (1985) by Margaret Maron
Clayton Gladwell was a successful lawyer with some very prominent clients--from Justin Trent, a millionaire whose grandson had disappeared several years ago, to the family of Elena Dorato, 1940s and '50s film star fell off an ocean liner, to Penelope Naughton ("Naughty Penny"), one of the Algonquin Round Table who wrote wildly popular frothy novels by day and helped the put the roar in the Roaring Twenties by night, to Dr. Bhattacherja, a well-known radiologist whose niece had immigration troubles, to Howard Tachs, a local art gallery owner. He kept his special clients info in special blue folders that even his confidential secretary was allowed to see.
When he received a health report telling him he didn't have long to live, he decided to retire and enjoy what time he had left. So he set up final appointments with his blue folder clients--to settle accounts and return their information. But someone decides that Gladwell has even less time left than anticipated...and he's found shot to death, papers scattered everywhere, and the blue folders are on fire. Fortunately, the fire was discovered fairly quickly, so some of the material is preserved.
It doesn't take Lieutenant Sigrid Harald long to realize that Gladwell's blue folders represent clients who were also his blackmail victims. It seems likely that one of his victims didn't think retirement would put a stop to Gladwell's blackmailing ways and decided they had just had enough. But which one? Then others connected to Gladwell are found dead and a pattern begins to emerge....
Harald is a no-nonsense, straight-forward policewoman and Maron writes a solid, straight-forward police procedural. The suspects and clues are handled without fuss and fanfare, but the mystery is interesting because Maron has created interesting characters that make you want to keep reading about them. In fact, you want to know more than what's necessary for the mystery itself. Solid mystery, great characters. ★★★
First line: By nine o'clock that Thursday night, there was little outward indication that murder had occurred six floors above the busy midtown Manhattan avenue.
Last line: "I don't think so," said [redacted], and pulled the trigger.
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Deaths = 7 (three shot; one car accident; one drug overdose; two natural)
Sunday, December 28, 2025
Reminder: My Reader's Block Challenges for 2026
The new year is almost upon us and I just wanted to remind my faithful challengers and all those looking for reading challenges that the posts for my regular Reader's Block Challenges went up a little late this year, but are ready and waiting. The Headquarters links in the sidebar will be updated for next year's challenges as soon as possible. Here's a handy list of each one. Come join me for new reading adventures in 2026!
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Reporter's Challenge 2026
The Reporter's Challenge 2026 is sponsored by Ellie in The Challenge Factory on Goodreads.
My post in the challenge: HERE
Who? What? When? Where? Why?
How--In a cozy chair with a hot cup of cocoa and a box of bonbons!
I'll be going for the Columnist level (2 books from each basic category) and hoping to complete them all.
Cub Reporter: 5 books (one from each category):
Columnist: 10 books (two from each):
News Anchor: 15 books (three from each):
Editor: 20 books (four from each):
Newspaper Mogul: 25 books (all five from each):
Bonus Category:
Pulitzer Prize Winner = Newspaper Mogul plus bonus categories (30 books):
Extra Bonus Category
Nobel Prize for Literature = Pulitzer plus final bonus category (31 books):
WHO
Protagonist is a baker:
Any character is a dead person:
Side character is kooky:
Protagonist is a mother or father:
Character who works with books/writes
WHAT
Supernatural element in title:
Proper Name in title:
Title starts with any letter in your last name:
Holiday in title:
Title is a play on words:
WHERE
Set in city that starts with D, P, or S:
Set in a small town:
Set in a New England state:
On vacation:
On foreign soil (NOT US/England):
WHEN
During a holiday:
In the 1900s:
During summer:
During fall:
During a snow storm
HOW
Strangled
Stabbed
Shot
Poisoned
Blunt Instrument
BONUS: Pulitzer Prize
WHO--Protagonist is married:
WHAT--Title is at least seven words:
WHERE--Fictional place you'd love to live:
WHEN-- During a conference/convention:
HOW--Accident
EXTRA BONUS: Nobel Prize for Literature
Horoscope: Pick a horoscope from the 3rd of any month and read a book related to the horoscope
Saturday, December 27, 2025
Puzzle in Paisley
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Puzzle in Paisley (1972) by Elizabeth Gresham
Jenny Gillette thinks that after helping Hunter Lewis solve a few mysteries that she's ready to do a little undercover work of her own. So, when William Rowan, a merchant seaman, needs someone to check on his grandmother, she's all set to answer an ad for a maid-of-all-work. Rowan's Granny lives in an isolated house on the Nantucket Sound left to her in her son's will. The will allowed the house to be rented for a small sum as long as the occupants allowed Granny to stay there and they took care of any needs she might have. Ted and Linda Parkinson decide it's just the place for them. Ted is a scientist who needs isolation and a water supply for his work.
While Rowan is away at sea, his Granny had a stroke which paralyzed her left side and interferes with her ability to talk. She seemed very frightened of her boarders and anxious to tell him something, but he couldn't find out what. He wants someone to get in the house and have time to gain Granny's trust and find out what's going on. Jenny thinks it would be a great idea to pose as a deaf-mute in the hopes that if there is something he Parkinsons don't want known they won't thinks she's a threat. She's able to make some headway in the case, but then Ted discovers that her cover is a fraud and she realizes that there's a bigger danger than she dreamed of...An opportunity arises to send a coded message to Hunter. But will Ted realize what's she's doing? And will she be able to discover what he's really doing in the laboratory he's set up in the basement before it's too late?
Not sure I'm a fan of Jenny Gillette on her own. She gets herself into a real pickle with her undercover sleuthing. And the mystery, once Jenny is on the spot, really isn't much of one. Our villain pretty much spills all the beans as soon as Jenny learns what Granny knows and the villain realizes that Jenny isn't really a deaf/mute. We aren't anything like near the end of the book. The mystery story turns into a suspense novel. Will Hunter show up with the cavalry in time to rescue her? What reveiws I've found for Gresham books, have been for other titles where Jenny works more closely with Lewis. It sounds like they make a good sleuthing pair and that other titles have been stronger entries. I have a couple others and will have to try again to be sure what I think of Gresham. ★★ and 1/2 for this one.
First line: I've had some fantastic dreams in my life, but this one topped them all.
Last line: Well, I figured you were risking your neck doing a job you had no business doing, so I could play too.
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Deaths = 3 (two natural; one stabbed)
*Finished on 12/25/25
Thursday, December 25, 2025
John Macnab
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John Macnab (1925) by John Buchan
The great lawyer/politician Sir Edward Leithen is feeling a bit under the weather, so he goes to see his friend and doctor who gives him the worst news possible. There's nothing wrong with him--at least not physically. But if that's the case, then what's a man filled with ennui and who doesn't feel like doing anything to do? His friend jokingly suggests doing something a bit dangerous and slightly illegal...something that will get the old adrenaline pumping. Of course, that would be an absurd thing for such an eminent man to do...
Then Leithen goes to his club where he finds two of his friends, the banker John Palliser-Yeates and Charles Lamancha, a nobleman and fellow politician, in the same boat. They've all lost the zest of life. None of them feel like doing any of the things they're supposed to do. And then...a fourth friend, Sir Archie Roylance--war hero and rising aspiring politician--comes along and tells them about the legend of Jim Tarras, a man who was bored in the Scottish Highlands and sent anonymous notes to local landowners warning them that he planned to poach on their land on certain days. The thrill of doing what he wasn't supposed to do and trying to evade the gamekeepers provided him with enough excitement to knock him out of his ennui.
The men are thrilled with the idea and talk Rolance into inviting him to his Scottish estate where they will play the same game with some of his neighbors. They decide to send the challenges out under the nom de plume John Macnab. The rest of the book revolves around the antics of the men as they scope out the land and the response of the local landowners to their challenge.
John Macnab strikes me as a cross between Jerome K. Jerome (of Three Men in a Boat fame) and pretty much any P. G. Wodehouse book. We have three bored gentlemen doing a fair amount of fairly ridiculous things to achieve their ends. And on the other side we have equally determined landowners hiring navvies and going to other great lengths to prevent them It's fun to watch. And along the way Buchan gives us the most amazing character sketches and charming interplay between the various characters. The characterization is the best part of this one.
My previous experience with Buchan is The 39 Steps. And this definitely is not that. It's far more farce than adventure...and there's even less mystery. The biggest mystery is whether the men will be caught or not and, if so, how. But it is a lot of fun and a nice, comfortable read. ★★★
First line: The great doctor stood on the hearth-rug looking down at his friend who sprawled before him in an easy-chair.
Last line: Below four signatures were engraved--Lamancha, Edward Leithen and John-Palliser-Yeates, and last, in a hand of surprising boldness, the honoured name of Benjamin Bogle.
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Deaths = two natural
*Finished on 12/22/25
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