Dollycas's Thoughts

The Jane Doe Book Club is reading Crooked House by Agatha Christie. The group discussion focused on whether the heroine's actions were believable. Soon thereafter, Lyla Moody and her grandmother find a dead body at a charity event hosted by Lyla's mother. Eerily, the murder has similarities to that very mystery.  A brass candlestick to the head appears to have killed Leonard Richardson and his pockets have been emptied.  His widow, Harper is the police's prime suspect but Lyla and the other members of the reading group believe her to be innocent. They work together to piece together the clues while referring to the Christie mystery for anything that will help pin down the real killer. Lyla's investigation uncovers some secrets that personally affect her life too.

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Ms. Young has created dynamic characters for this series and in this installment we delve deeper into Lyla's mother's and uncle's past and it is quite intriguing. While the Jane Does want to help their friend, Harper, Lyla's mother takes a special interest as well.

The murder mystery was fully entangled with every subplot along with the parallels to Christie's Crooked House. I found the story gripping and layered. The victim's family was an eclectic dysfunctional group, each stranger than the next and all suspects. Secrets and lies abound with twist after twist and a powerful turn that kept my eyes glued to the pages. I was so taken aback by the ending. The author brought everything together with an expert hand.

I have not read Crooked House. From what I had read others say about the book I thought I should read it before reading this one.  But the synopsis kept calling me. I loved the first book, On Borrowed Crime so last week I decided to start reading.  I found Ms. Young did a wonderful job filling in everything readers like me needed to know and I was able to enjoy Reading Between the Crimes fully. My apologies to her. I still have Crooked House on my To-Be-Read shelf so I will read it someday but I am so glad I didn't wait any longer to read Ms. Young's book.

Reading Between the Crimes is a riveting story with characters who are well-developed and continue to evolve. I am very excited to read the next Jane Doe Book Club Mystery, Crime for the Books. I see it has parallels to another Agatha Christie novel but I am not going to let that hold me back again. I have learned my lesson. I hope I can find a spot on my reading calendar soon.

Super fun book. I enjoyed the characters and the plot of the story. I cannot wait to read more from this author. It had a great mystery, that keep me guessing to the very end.

Reading Between the Crimes is a very interesting mystery book. There are several mysteries explored in the story. I was more invested in the personal mystery of Lyla's family than the murder mystery itself, even though they did end up linked. This series feels more like a suspense thriller series than a cozy mystery, but I still enjoyed it. So far there's only one more book after this one, but I'm definitely going to read it. This is a good series so far so I really hope the third book doesn't end up being the last.

This is the second book in the Jane Doe Book Club Mystery series and I loved it just as much as the first! Kate Young wrote this cozy mystery so well that I never could decide who I thought was guilty. Every time I’d think I was sure of who the culprit was, there’d be a twist that completely threw me. To me, that’s the sign of a great mystery writer! There was a large cast of characters that took me a bit to learn but I enjoyed getting to know all of them...even if I didn’t trust any of them until the actual murderer was revealed. 😂 If you enjoy cozy mysteries set in cute small towns that are solved by amateur sleuths, definitely check this book out! Also, I’d just like to add that this book especially felt like I could be living in it as it’s set in Sugar Mountain, Georgia, a fictional town about 45 minutes north of Atlanta, and I live in a small town in NW Georgia about an hour and a half from Atlanta. I’m no Lyla though so don’t expect me to go snooping around to solve any Jane Doe cases anytime soon!

Wow this series really left me on the edge of my seat with its intense storyline and quirky characters including the Joe Does club ladies, Lyla, her Gran, etc. Highly recommend all cozy mystery lovers.

I appreciate the publisher allowing me to read this book. I really enjoyed this one the plot kept me interested until the end which is not easy, and the characters were engaging and believable. I highly recommend this book.

Book Club, Cold Cases, Murder, and Southern Charm.... oh and add Cult Living to this one!!

This is definitely a Cozy Series but feels a little heavier than some. No, there isn't anything graphic or vulgar, it's just the story line hits a little deeper. I feel like this could have been ripped from the headlines news or there should be a docuseries on the ID Channel.

Excellent read for all Mystery lovers, whether you prefer Cozy, True Crime, or Hard Boiled, you will love this book.

Reading Between the Crimes is a fun and fast murder mystery, set around Halloween. The novel has memorable characters and keeps the intrigue going.

Honestly, this book had me at the title!


Thank you #NetGalley and Crooked Lane Books for giving me the opportunity to read this!

Lyla and her Gran find Leonard Richardson dead on the floor of her parent's new library during a charity event hosted by Lyla's mother. His wife, Harper is arrested for his murder when the police find incriminating evidence against her. Did Harper really do it or is she being set up by someone in Leonard's family?

I found this book very delightful and interesting. I couldn't put it down.! I loved the characters, especially Lyla's spunky Gran, Daisy. She made the story so full of life and added some humor to an unpleasant subject. Some of the action scenes at the end were a little hard to follow, but it was a good read overall. I would recommend this book to cozy mystery fans!

Thank you to NetGalley and Crooked Lane Books for the ARC in exchange for my honest review!

The Bottom Line: I am, overall, very consistent in what qualities will cause me to DNF a book or series. I have little patience with a tremendously slow-paced book; I understand the need to build a background and build up to a story, but slow pacing will kill a good story for me and cause me to DNF a title. I am also a very character-driven reader and if I can’t find something, literally anything to like in a set of characters, I’m going to DNF a title/series. Particularly irksome are characters that are flat and seemingly have no real personality. I have often stated that good characters can mask a mediocre plot, but bad characters can kill a potentially very good plot.

Jane Doe Book Club Mystery #2: Reading Between the Crimes – I had a load of issues with the first book in this series and while I hoped they would be resolved with book two, I couldn’t even get past the first chapter.

Kate Young can do no wrong in my eyes! Her characters are always top shelf and the plots are chiefs kiss. Add on to that a book series about books and you have perfection!

This is the 2nd book in the series and it's just as enjoyable as the first one. The characters are a lot of fun and I really enjoy the setting. The mystery itself was fun to solve and I'm looking forward to the next book in the series.

I enjoyed this book more than the first in the series. Lyla and her grandmother arrive at a charity function hosted by Lyla's parents and stumble upon a dead body. The whole situation has Lyla's mother acting very strange and Lyla embroiled in another mystery. Lyla was much more likable in this book and the mystery kept me guessing until the end. I look forward to the next installment in the series.

I really liked the characters and the setting. I love a good Halloween Murder Mystery. However, I felt it would have enjoyed this book more if I had read the first book. Still a fun and fast read.

This book was a page turner! The ending was a surprise and I enjoyed playing along with the mystery!

Lyla Moody works for her uncle Calvin's private investigation agency, working to become a PI herself. When she's not working, she spends some time with her book club, the Jane Does, who discuss mystery books. One of their part-time members is Harper Richardson, who seems to be having trouble of her own. It doesn't help that there's a mysterious writer in town, and he's garnering attention from people who would rather he wasn't there.

After one of their meetings, Lyla and her Gran head over to Lyla's mother's home, where Frances Moody is hosting a charity event. But they aren't there long before Gran stumbles upon a body, and Lyla recognizes the man as Leonard Richardson, Harper's husband. When Harper is targeted for the murder, Lyla and her fellow book club members know they have to prove her innocence. But doing so isn't going to be easy.

Harper's family members are overly strange -- to say the least -- and her mother has become a woman she's never seen before, scared and a ghost of herself. Also, the writer, Charles, is making a pest of himself, and her even Calvin, who's normally unflappable, seems rattled and warns Lyla to stay clear of Charles. When there's an incident and in the process of helping Lyla is purposefully attacked, she wants to know who's doing it. But when she starts to dig, she discovers that there are secrets that are better left alone -- and they're coming to the surface...

First off, I must say that this book has nothing to do with Halloween, as the blurb states. Saying that, this is the second book in the series, and I found it completely riveting. The story is one of secrets held, both old and new, and people who are not what they seem. Curiosity kept me reading, but I found a familiarity in it, only for where I live, and have been near people like this more than once. (Although not as strange as the characters in the book).

It's difficult to write a review without giving away too much of this plot; for it is a story that connects one thread to another, and another; until all the threads pull it together giving us a final story that was long buried and should have remained so.

The ending was as surprising as an ending could be; the killer was most of all. What we know we really don't; and what we see isn't always what is there. The author has done an excellent job of this tale, and I eagerly look forward to the next in the series. Highly recommended.

I was given a copy from the publisher and NetGalley but this in no way influenced my review.

Loved reading this book and author. If you haven't read it yet I highly recommend her books. Happy reading and enjoy

What a great addition to the cozy mystery genre. I really enjoyed this book and cannot wait for the next installment.

So you think you really know your family and friends? Lyla Moody certainly thought she did. Unfortunately in Reading Between the Crimes, the second book in the Jane Doe Book Club Mystery series, Lyla finds out the hard way that people are not always what they seem and that sometimes even one’s closest loved ones are keeping huge secrets.

From the moment Lyla finds the body of the husband of her enigmatic friend Harper in the library of Lyla’s parents home during a party at which Harper and her husband were guests, Lyla makes it her mission to investigate.

Harper, along with Lyla is a member of the Jane Doe Book Club. On the surface Harper seems like something of a lost soul and when she is quickly arrested and charged with murdering her husband, Jane sets out to prove her friend’s innocence.

For a book that appears to be marketed as a cozy mystery, there is an unusual amount of violence, although it’s not described in graphic detail. On the plus side, are plenty of red herrings and Young is adept at writing interesting and often quirky characters. I found the plot to be somewhat unrealistic, although well-developed.