Book Review: The Examiner by Janice Hallett

 This book is both compelling and confusing (in a good way.) It kept me guessing all through until the last pages. There were good plot twists. I liked the format of chats and reports. I liked most of the characters, except for one who was so irritating I was sure she would be the murder victim! Overall, I enjoyed it and recommend it. I will be looking for other books by this author. Thank you to Netgalley and Atria books for giving me a copy.

Book Review: The Beanstalk Murder

 This is a fantasy-mystery middle grade novel. Anwen lives in a village called Old Stump with her grandmother. They are Meadow Witches but Anwen dreams of going to the Magic Academy and learning High Magic. She is rejected but her arch-nemesis Cerys gets in. None of that matters when a giant body from the Sky Kingdom comes crashing down on the village. After helping the townspeople, Anwen and her grandmother Eria examine the giant's body only to discover he had been murdered. Since a war between the giants and humans there has been no communication between the two kingdoms. Eria decides to send a message to the Sky Kingdom to let them know what happened (and possibly stave off another war.) She plants a magic beanstalk to take a message to them, but Anwen and Cerys accidentally get caught on it as it shoots to the sky. When they reach the Sky Kingdom, Anwen discovers that the body belonged to the king. She is determined to help with the investigation.

I liked Anwen and the way she was able to find allies, eventually including even Cerys. It was an interesting mystery with an unusual background. Thank you to Netgalley, the publisher and author for letting me read it.