Sophia Rose Reviews The Underdog and Other Stories by Agatha Christie

 

The Underdog and Other Stories by Agatha Christie

Narrated by David Suchet and Hugh Fraser

Historical Mystery

Publisher:  Harper Audio

Published: 8.14.12

Time:  5 hours 54 minutes

Rating: 4.5 stars

Format: audio

Source:  Bought

Sellers:  Amazon

ADD TO: Goodreads

 

GoodReads Synopsis:

A beautiful heiress has been found dead on a train. A playboy has been stabbed through the heart during a costume ball. An elderly woman suspects that she is being slowly poisoned to death. A prince fears for his reputation when his fiancÉe is embroiled in another man's murder. A forgotten recluse makes headlines after he is shot in the head.

Who but Agatha Christie could concoct such canny crimes? Who but Belgian detective Hercule Poirot could possibly solve them? It's a challenge to be met—in a triumph of detection.

 

Sophia Rose Reviews Whispers at Painswick Court by Julie Klassen

 

Whispers at Painswick Court by Julie Klassen

Inspirational Fiction, Historical, Romance

Publisher:  Bethany House

Published:  12.2.25

Pages:  360

Rating: 5 stars

Format: eARC

Source:  NetGalley

Sellers:  Amazon

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0F2PVVHGZ/ref=x_gr_bb_kindle?caller=Goodreads&tag=x_gr_bb_kindle-20

GoodReads:  https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/228133922-whispers-at-painswick-court

 

GoodReads Synopsis:

Anne Loveday, a surgeon's daughter, is determined to live a single, useful life. To escape her matchmaking stepmother, she accepts an invitation from an old friend to return to Painswick, the place she and her sister spent many happy summers until that last, fateful year.

Soon after arriving, Anne is asked to serve as sick-room nurse to Lady Celia, who forbade her nephew to marry Anne's sister years before. Pushing aside resentments, Anne moves into Painswick Court, a shadowy old house rumored to be haunted. Also in residence are Lady Celia's spinster daughter, her handsome adult nephews, and a secretive new lady's maid. Two local doctors visit regularly as well, one of whom admires Anne while concealing secrets of his own. As an escalating series of mishaps befalls her patient, Anne realizes someone is trying to kill the woman. But who? When Anne finds herself a suspect and her determination to avoid romance challenged, can she discover the real killer--and protect her heart--before it's too late?

Acclaimed Regency author Julie Klassen marries the best of historical romance and mystery in a novel full of English village charm, intrigue, and love.

 

Sophia Rose Reviews A Fickle Fortune by Christina Dudley, narrated by Katherine Anderson

 

A Fickle Fortune by Christina Dudley, narrated by Katherine Anderson

#6 The Hapgoods of Bramleigh

Historical RomCom

Publisher:  Tantor Audio

Published:  10.28.25

Time:  10 hours 41 minutes

Rating: 5 stars

Format: audio

Source:  Tantor Audio

Sellers:  Amazon

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GoodReads Synopsis:

Scandal makes its own rules....

Harriet Hapgood has always delighted in arranging the lives of others, while generally doing as she pleased. And after having thwarted her cousin Caroline's engagement, what better way to pass a dull winter than in helping Caroline to a new husband? Her cousin sets her sights on the glittering Mr. St. John Rotherwood, so Hetty cheerfully puts her shoulder to the matchmaking wheel.

St. John Rotherwood didn't always glitter.

A magnificent inheritance has catapulted the erstwhile impoverished Oxford mathematics tutor to the top of London society, where he finds himself eagerly pursued as a matrimonial prize. This apotheosis has not been an unqualified blessing, however. The attention is wearisome, and his formerly humble mother has been transformed by ambition. Is it nostalgia for his university days that draws St. John to Miss Hapgood, sister of his former pupil?

Hetty feels the lure of the season's most eligible bachelor, but when an evening's lark leads to scandal, she discovers society has laws as rigorous as any found in mathematics.

She could let Mr. Rotherwood rescue her, but if the world breaks her will, will it also break her heart?

Sophia Rose Reviews - Monster in the Moonlight by Annelise Ryan

 

Monster in the Moonlight by Annelise Ryan

#4 Monster Hunter

Cozy Mystery

Publisher:  Berkley

Published:  1.27.26

Pages:  336

Rating: 4.5 stars

Format: eARC

Source:  NetGalley

Sellers:  Amazon

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GoodReads Synopsis:

Do werewolves exist? That’s the question skeptical cryptozoologist Morgan Carter has to answer in the latest entry in this USA Today bestselling mystery series.

The discovery of a dead body along Bray Road in Wisconsin sparks rumors of The Beast of Bray Road, a werewolf-like creature that is said to inhabit the area.

The dead woman has been mutilated by some kind of large animal. The community is convinced that the legendary beast is not only real but responsible for this brutal killing. In an effort to prove them wrong, the police bring in cryptozoologist Morgan Carter, who soon finds that the mystery runs considerably deeper than whether or not one mythical predator is on the prowl.

 

Sophia Rose Reviews - Taming Demons for Beginners by Annette Marie

 

Taming Demons for Beginners by Annette Marie

#1 Guild Codex: Demonized

Urban Fantasy

Publisher:  Self-Published

Published:  9.11.19

Pages:  315

Rating: 5 stars

Format: ebook

Source:  KU borrow

Sellers:  Amazon

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GoodReads Synopsis:

Rule one: Don't look at the demon.

When I arrived at my uncle's house, I expected my relatives to be like me—outcast sorcerers who don't practice magic. I was right about the sorcery, but wrong about everything else.

Rule two: Don't listen to the demon.

My uncle chose a far deadlier power. He calls creatures of darkness into our world, binds them into service contracts, and sells them to the highest bidder. And I'm supposed to act like I don't know how illegal and dangerous it is.

Rule three: Don't talk to the demon.

All I had to do was keep my nose out of it. Pretend I didn't find the summoning circle in the basement. Pretend I didn't notice the shadowy being trapped inside it. Pretend I didn't break the rules.

But I did, and now it's too late.

--
From the author of The Guild Codex: Spellbound comes a new series that will plunge an unprepared young woman into the darkest magic of the mythic world.

Sophia Rose Reviews - The Shop on Hidden Lane by Jayne Ann Krentz

 

The Shop on Hidden Lane by Jayne Ann Krentz

Paranormal Romance, Suspense

Publisher:  Berkley

Published:  1.6.26

Pages: 329

Rating: 4.5 stars

Format: eARC

Source:  NetGalley

Sellers:  Amazon

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GoodReads Synopsis:

New York Times bestselling author Jayne Ann Krentz dives into an enthralling new romantic suspense novel filled with deeply entrenched grudges, psychic dangers, and a conspiracy that threatens not only two families but also the entire paranormal community.

The Harper and the Wells families have regarded each other with deep suspicion for four generations. The Harpers have been known to offer their psychic talents for less-than-legal purposes, and the powerful Wells clan has a reputation for playing both sides of the street. But for all the years of history and distrust between them, there is a mysterious pact binding the two. They share the responsibility for protecting a long-buried and very dangerous secret.

Sophy Harper and Luke Wells are shocked to learn that her aunt and his uncle have been sleeping together—and now they are both missing. Not only that, but the last traces of them are at the scene of a murder soaked in negative paranormal energy. Clearly, someone is willing to kill to obtain the secret their families have been charged with protecting. Despite their mutual distrust, which, as far as Sophy is concerned extends to Luke’s hellhound of a dog, they both know that the terms of the pact must be honored. 

Their investigation uncovers a psychic trail leading to a bizarre desert art colony where nothing is as it seems. But Luke and Sophy are concealing a few secrets, too. By a strange twist of fate, a Harper and a Wells have no choice but to trust each other and the fierce attraction that is binding them as surely as the pact between the families.

 

Sophia Rose Reviews - The Purloined Portrait by Christina Dudley, narrated by Katherine Anderson

 

The Purloined Portrait by Christina Dudley, narrated by Katherine Anderson

#5 The Hapgoods of Bramleigh

Historical RomCom

Publisher:  Tantor Audio

Published:  10.7.25

Time:  10 hours 45 minutes

Rating: 4 stars

Format: audio

Source:  Tantor Audio

Sellers:  Amazon

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GoodReads Synopsis:

Youngest of the Hapgood daughters, Edith is the petted darling of her family, her artistic ability a source of pride to all. But with a heart full of painting, there’s no room for romance, not even with Lionel, her brother-like distant cousin who has long adored her. But when Edith’s art career stands in jeopardy, Lionel champions her, at the cost of his own future. Will the eyes of her heart be opened too late, or can she somehow rescue their chance for love?